Chapter 641 The Arrival of the Black Ship (Part 2)

"Lord Ishigaki, I'm afraid it won't work. The enemy is too big."

Another elder said. He was well versed in Dutch studies and knew that the twenty guns in Edo were at least a hundred years old. It was a problem whether they could be fired now, not to mention firing against the fleet of the Austrian Empire.

"Then we can let them stay in Nagasaki for a while. In this way, we can borrow guns from various feudal domains in three months and gather all the strength of Japan to defend Edo and make the Austrians retreat."

Abe Masahiro's method was reasonable, well-founded and restrained. It could not only resolve the crisis, but also unite the feudal domains. If it were in normal times, it would definitely attract the admiration of the elders.

However, the situation at this time is more difficult than he imagined.

"Lord Ishou, please forgive me for speaking frankly. The Austrian fleet has ten large ships and a hundred guns each. I am afraid that even if all the forces of Japan are gathered together, they will not be able to compete with them."

"Are you serious? The Netherlands and Austria are just small Western countries. It seems that the whole country is going to war. Then can we gather brave warriors who dare to fight and die to assassinate the enemy chief?"

After learning that he could not fight, Abe Masahiro immediately changed his mind and prepared to punish them with a divine punishment. Maybe he could even recapture these barbarians and then "use barbarians to control barbarians".

But soon his hope was shattered again, and another old man, Nakazawa Masashi, said.

"Lord Ishouji, according to the Dutch, Austria has been in existence for more than 600 years, and it is not a small country. This time, the leader is a member of the royal family.

According to this calculation, this fleet may not only not be the full strength of the Austrian army, but may not even be the main force."

This time, Abe Masahiro was completely confused. He had read a lot of books since he was a child, and he was well-versed in ancient and modern times, but no book could teach him to face today's situation.

Abe Masahiro could perfectly solve the problems of the Tokugawa Ieshige era and the monk cholera in the Ooku, without embarrassing the Shogun's family or losing his life.

The former catfish was really at a loss at this time.

In the end, it was the boss of the Pingdingsho who said some nonsense to avoid Abe Masahiro's embarrassment.

Pingdingsho, the highest judicial body of the shogunate.

"The most urgent task is to stabilize Edo's coastal defense first, and then order the mobilization of samurai in the city for reinforcement. In addition, people should be sent to inform the daimyo of various places for help."

On the surface of Edo Bay, Friedrich put down the telescope.

"Why did the Japanese transport so many bells to the shore? Are they planning to use Flying Thunder God?"

Friedrich seemed very confused, because he felt that only Franz, that freak, could come up with such a thing as Flying Thunder God, and he could not help but turn his eyes to Kagura, who was dressed in a shrine maiden's costume.

The latter naturally understood what the former meant, and she did listen to Franz's explanation, but she was honestly loyal to Franz, and she had not had any contact with the Japanese for so many years.

"My shrine maiden is my profession, but I don't know witchcraft myself, please rest assured. I didn't reveal the secret of Flying Thunder God to anyone, and Flying Thunder God is nothing to be afraid of for your fleet."

Princess Sineka didn't know what the two meant, let alone what the so-called Flying Thunder God was, but she was not stupid.

"Stop arguing, look! They are pointing the bell mouth towards us, like the muzzle of a cannon!"

At this time, Friedrich and Kagura looked at the big bells on the shore, which seemed to be turned upside down in the position of the turret. From a distance, they did look like large-caliber cannons.

This made Friedrich breathe a sigh of relief. Although, as Kagura said, Flying Thunder God was not a big threat to the Austrian naval fleet, it would bring a lot of trouble to the formulation of tactics.

Seeing the other party's behavior at this time, it was clear that the Japanese had no idea what Flying Thunder God was, and what they did was just bluffing. According to Franz, this meant that the other party had run out of tricks and could implement the next plan.

It must be said that the Japanese at this time were still quite principled. After several shogunate bureaucrats asked the Austrian fleet to go to Nagasaki to wait for the news, they actually pulled out wakizashi and committed suicide on the spot.

However, Friedrich could not feel the other party's determination at all. Instead, he felt that the Japanese were disgusting himself. After all, blood and grease are difficult to clean up.

So he issued an ultimatum to the remaining Japanese officials:

"If you can't get a satisfactory answer within three days, Edo Castle will usher in its doomsday."

Including Abe Masahiro, several bigwigs at the pre-sentence meeting unanimously decided to agree to negotiate with the Austrian Empire.

The chief elder, Masahiro Abe, was naturally pushed to the forefront. Some people said that he was afraid of the enemy and was afraid of fighting, while others said that he was a family elder in name but a traitor in reality.

But no matter what, Masahiro Abe personally led 500 armored warriors to the seaside to prepare for negotiations with the Austrian envoys.

Masahiro Abe sat in the layers of battle screens, and the warriors behind him were all carefully selected warriors. Each of them was dressed in bright armor, holding a long sword, and was full of murderous intent.

In fact, only the first row wore iron armor, and the warriors behind were all painted with bamboo armor and leather armor to bluff.

There was nothing they could do about it. After all, the shogunate was in decline and the military was in disarray at this time. They couldn't even afford to support the samurai, let alone armor?

There were also three rows of guards holding iron cannons standing outside, and in front of them were foot soldiers wearing simple armor and battle hats. The flags behind them were blown by the sea breeze and fluttered, which was quite impressive.

(The so-called iron cannon is a matchlock gun, which was basically eliminated in Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries.)

Soon, two warships of the Austrian Empire Navy docked at the shore. The towering black iron city and the sharp whistle made the warriors who saw them shaken.

Then the Austrian Navy Guard of Honor began to land. These people were carefully selected from the troops in various regions. Their height, clothing, and weapons had uniform requirements:

White clothes, black pants, exquisite carvings on the semicircular logo on the helmet, and black and gold feathers looked very imposing, and the heavy leather boots made a heavy sound when they fell on the ground.

Especially after these people had gone through Franz's military training, their uniform steps made the earth tremble, and the sharp bayonets and exquisite rifles in their hands were even more frightening.

Accompanied by the melodious "Double-Headed Eagle March", the Austrian Empire Navy Guard of Honor finally came to Abe Masahiro.

At this time, Abe Masahiro felt the despair of Atobe Ryuta and Hayashi Chubei. Bright armor and swords and guns like a forest? These words are not enough to describe the shock in front of him.

Each soldier of the Austrian Imperial Navy Guard of Honor was over 185cm tall, and the uniform sound was terrifying. Even when the guard of honor finished the action of shouldering the gun, many warriors subconsciously took two steps back.

At this time, the warriors' faces were already covered with big beads of sweat under the visors. Not to mention the number of the opponent's "iron cannons", even if it was a hand-to-hand fight, they would not have much chance of winning against so many strong men.

However, the shocking thing had just begun. A shrine maiden in white clothes and red hakama walked out of the imposing Austrian army.

"Hello, Lord Abe Masahiro. I wish our negotiations can go smoothly."