Chapter 284: Generation Gap

"What a bunch of people who don't know how to live or die."

Sven stood on the deck, looking at the Japanese fireship floating in Kanagawa Bay and said.

Next to him stood armed employees of Global Shipping Company. Due to the limited number of Dresser needle guns, only 3,000, Liang Yao prioritized equipping them to the California Infantry Regiment and Arizona Infantry Regiment.

Employees of Global Shipping Company are equipped with Walter M1851 rifles produced in Sacramento, California. Although this gun is not fired by a firing pin, its performance is not much worse than the Dresser needle-fired gun.

In some aspects, it is even better than the Dresser needle gun. For example, the metal cartridge edge needle bullets used in this gun are more resistant to moisture on a wet ship than the paper shell bullets used in the Dresser needle gun. Suitable for these crews.

These rifle-equipped crews were responsible for killing shogunate sailors on fireships at close range.

But there were not many opportunities for them to shoot. Most of the Japanese fireships were sunk by the ship's guns before they got close to them.

The counterattack on land was sharper than the counterattack at sea. Liang Yao used all his artillery to bombard the shogunate's barracks.

Faced with the sudden offensive of the American army, the generals of the shogunate were at a loss. They could not believe that the American army with less than 3,000 people dared to take the initiative to attack the shogunate army that was seven or eight times their number.

In fact, Liang Yao did not have even 2,000 combat troops that could be used for the attack. He only had one and a half regiments of serious regular troops, including the artillery and engineer companies of the two regiments, and the cavalry of the California Infantry Regiment. Company, the number did not even reach 2,000 people.

The remaining people were handymen in charge of logistics at the Kanagawa military camp, but the shogunate army mistakenly thought they were combat soldiers.

The shogunate army finally organized three thousand archers and firecrackers with bows and firecrackers to approach Liang Yao's army, hoping to use their numerical advantage to suppress the attack of Liang Yao's army.

Unexpectedly, the US military took the lead in opening fire outside their range. Facing these three thousand shogunate archers and fire muskets were five companies of the California Infantry Regiment.

Facing the shogunate archers and gunmen who were six times their number, the officers and soldiers of the California Infantry Regiment did not panic at all. They methodically loaded and fired in place like factory machines.

Mechanically and skillfully repeating the work they had trained thousands of times, at this time, they were more like emotionless bullet launchers than humans.

Their only job is to shoot the bullet out of the gun's chamber.

Five companies of soldiers fought with the momentum of three thousand gunmen.

The shogunate army had never fought against Liang Yao before, and they did not understand the weapons equipped by Liang Yao's army.

In the eyes of the shogunate army, Liang Yao's army only held more sophisticated firecrackers.

These ignorant shogunate soldiers wanted to take advantage of the gap between the opponent's reloading and get close to the opponent. Unexpectedly, before they took a few steps, the opponent's next volley came towards us, and in an instant there was another row of shogunate soldiers. Like wheat in autumn, it is harvested by the merciless rain of metal bullets.

The shogunate army had never seen such a formation before. The formation was quickly disrupted, and their morale collapsed. The remaining shogunate archers and fire musket soldiers scattered one after another.

The two thousand shogunate cavalry wanted to take advantage of their mobility and break through the flanks of Liang Yao's army.

Soon, the Arizona infantry regiments deployed on both wings crushed the attempts of these shogunate cavalry with their Dresser needle guns.

Rather than cavalry, Arizona infantry soldiers preferred to call these shogunal cavalry monkeys riding dogs.

The short Japanese cavalry looked very funny riding the short Japanese horses. From a distance, they looked more like monkeys riding dogs, without the majesty of the cavalry at all.

The fighting near the Kanagawa military camp ended quickly, even faster than Liang Yao expected.

"I still overestimated the combat power of the shogunate's army."

Liang Yao was riding on a horse with a telescope in his hand. What he saw was the defeated shogunate army.

"This is not a war at all. This is simply a one-sided massacre."

Kang Enze, who was watching the battle on the sidelines, was eye-opening. He suppressed bandits in Guangdong not as easily as Liang Yao defeated the shogunate army.

Before the war, Kang Enze was not optimistic about the prospects of the U.S. military. He believed that although the U.S. military had sharp guns and artillery, the gap between it and the shogunate army was too big in terms of strength, and it would be difficult to defeat the shogunate army.

Kang Enze even had the feeling that Liang Yaozhen was hitting a stone with an egg. This battle completely subverted his understanding of war.

Presumably it was just as easy when the British conquered the Qing Dynasty ten years ago.

"The war has developed to this day, and the outcome of the war is no longer determined by the number of people, but by technology." Liang Yao put down the telescope in his hand.

The medieval feudal army was vulnerable to the modern army. The disadvantages of generational differences in technology and civilization can no longer be made up for by sheer quantity.

"science and technology?"

Kang Enze didn't know what Liang Yao meant by this word he had never heard of. It probably meant utensils.

Kang Enze thought to himself, if the Guangdong Navy could have equipment like Liang Yao's army, and even a small number of its soldiers could obtain such equipment, it would not only ensure Guangdong's coastal defense was safe, but also cause serious troubles and defeat Guangdong and Guangxi. There is no need to worry about the helpless Changmao in the Green Camp in the Lianghu area.

Liang Yao even had half a regiment of California Infantry soldiers and a cavalry company left unused.

These troops were originally intended to be put into battle as the reserve, but they did not expect the shogunate army to be so vulnerable. They were not as good as the army of Hizen Saga Domain.

Seeing the shogunate army being defeated, the officers and soldiers of the reserve team were eager to fight, and the company commanders of each company asked to fight. If they did not fight, they would not even have the chance to capture prisoners.

Seeing that the shogunate army was doomed and it was almost impossible to organize an effective counterattack, Liang Yao only left two companies to be responsible for vigilance and sent the remaining troops to defeat the last shogunate army that was resisting stubbornly.

In less than half a day, the 20,000 shogunate troops near Kanagawa collapsed.

As for how many shogunate soldiers were killed, Liang Yao did not even have time to count.

After tying up more than 1,500 captured shogunate prisoners and handing them over to employees of Global Shipping Company for custody, Liang Yao led the main force to advance towards Edo.

Speed ​​is of the essence in war. The sooner the troops arrive at Edo Castle, the greater the psychological shock to the Tokugawa shogunate high-level officials.

The troops deployed by the Tokugawa shogunate around Kanagawa were already the elite forces under the shogunate.

The remaining elite troops of the shogunate were all hiding in Edo Castle.

The probability of encountering a counterattack and ambush on the road was very small, and Liang Yao did not think that under the pressure of the bombardment of the American East India Fleet in Edo Port, the shogunate leaders had the courage to go all in and release the elite troops in Edo Castle to fight him in the field.

Of course, if the shogunate army wanted to fight in the field, it would be exactly what he wanted.

As Liang Yao expected, after defeating the army near Kanagawa, Liang Yao marched forward all the way, as if he was in an unmanned place, and arrived at Edo Castle without encountering any decent resistance.

At this time, the people in Edo Castle were panicked and in chaos.

The shogunate leaders did not expect the American army to arrive at Edo Castle, but they did not expect the American army to come so quickly, and they were advancing by land and sea.

Obviously, the shogunate leaders underestimated the strength of the US military.

The frail Tokugawa Ieharu could even see the American flag fluttering in the wind from afar at the foot of Edo Castle.

This war was completely beyond Tokugawa Ieharu's understanding.