Verbatim video transcript of "Three-Point War" (Condensed Edition)

The War of the Three Divisions

【Preview】

A great war about 150 years ago

Unveiled the Meiji Restoration

Since then, Japan has embarked on the road of great powers

It all started with the arrival of the Black Ship

Westerners broke the tranquility of the archipelago

Founding or Destroying?

King or Samuel?

Many forces gathered in Kyoto

The world is in this battle!

What is the flag that is raised?

Where will aizu clan go from here?

Is the samurai era over?

What is the true armament situation of the Shogunate Army?

Why is the Okuyu Yue Domain Alliance determined to resist?

Can the old magi establish a republic in northern Ezo?

What are the sinister intentions of the new government?

Why did the shogunate turn against each other?

What is the obedience of the Nagaoka Domain?

What role did the Secretary of State play?

What ended in the War?

How did Tohoku capture the Iron Ship?

How did the Yumoto fleet perish without a fight?

Will the samurai charge fearlessly at the guns?

What was the relationship between the old shogunate and the alliance?

How did the Choshu Clan force the Northeast to a dead end?

How to avoid proxy wars among the Great Powers?

What is the difference between the Sachang view of history and the view of Samuhi?

Watch the "Three Points Of War" historical commentary video!

【Three Points Of War】Phase I From the return of Daisei to the Battle of Toba Fushimi

Divide the War into three

Many people's first impression of the "Meiji Restoration" is that in the middle school textbooks, the four strong clans satsuma, Choshu, Tosa, and Hizen launched the "fallen curtain" war, and then Japan ushered in a new era. So what is this war called? What kind of process did it go through? In this series of videos, I will take you to understand the largest civil war in Japan's modern history, the Bochen War.

Put it at the beginning of the video to explain what the "three points" in the series title are. Three points is to divide the Pengchen War into three stages and three forces to analyze. In secondary school textbooks and some general history books, the civil war of 1868-1869 is generally regarded as a war of collapse, and the warring parties in the war are also reduced to "new government" and "old shogunate". As an overview, there is nothing wrong with it, but it is not rigorous enough, and it reflects more of the "sachang view of history". I think that as a lover of Japanese history or Japanese drama, I should have a more detailed understanding of the end of Japan's last shogunate era, so I will study this war that determined Japan's fate from the perspective of the shogunate side with the "Sakuma History View", in order to change the traditional view of the problem from the perspective of only one side - only talking about how the new government army won and not how the shogunate army lost. And it is carefully divided into three stages as shown in the figure,

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A subject described from the perspective of the old shogunate

Influence on Japan established by the new government of Sasaga

Stage 1

Battle of the Shogunate

Power wars

Stage 2

Battle of the League

Revenge war

Stage 3

Samurai Wars

War of Unification

and three forces: the new government of Sacho, the old shogunate, and the ally of Okuwa Yue domain. It should be emphasized that these three forces are a general term and have different names at different stages of the war, as explained in detail below.

Battle of the Shogunate (War of Power)

This phase of the war began with the outbreak of the Battle of Toba Fushimi and ended at the end of the Ueno War. The period was January 27, 1868 – July 4, 1868 (and January 3 of the 4th year of the calendar to May 15th of the 4th year of the Qingying Dynasty).

In 1866, the situation in Kyoto became extremely tense, 13 years after the Black Ship Incident, which had brought about a drastic change in Japan. The "Shōgun Shōjō faction" has changed from its initial hope of using the shogunate to unite the various clans to expel foreigners, to establishing a new regime centered on the emperor, then overthrowing the old shogunate system, and finally achieving shogunate. In sharp opposition to this was the "Kobu-Mitsumi faction", which held that the konya headed by the emperor and the samurai led by the shogunate should not be opposed in times of national crisis, avoiding civil war and leading to unity, and eventually forming a unified new government. On November 9, 1867, Tokugawa Keiki daisyo was returned, announcing that he would return power to the imperial court. Subsequently, in early 1868, due to the suspicion of the imperial court, the secretary of state with Iwakura as the dominant secretary of state once again initiated a small imperial council to exclude the old shogunate, and the promulgation of the "Imperial Retro Grand Order" overthrew the shogunate from name, and Kyoto was immediately controlled by the army of the fallen shogunate such as Sasaga, and the new government was proclaimed, so the shogunate was renamed the "old shogunate". The army of the old shogunate was expelled, and the disgruntled generals of the old shogunate believed that this was Sasaga's coup d'état plot and proposed the "Kiyogun side"; Tokugawa Keiki also wanted Tokuro to personally declare his duties to the emperor, so the contradictions between the two factions were sharp and irreconcilable. The new government sent troops to deploy heavy troops in the Toba and Fushimi areas near Kyoto to prepare to block the shogunate army in Jorakura, and the Battle of Toba Fushimi broke out, and the Botatsu War began.

Since this series is a little more in-depth research rather than a narrative, I will brush up the process here, and the detailed process of the Battle of Toba Fushimi can be watched in the documentary "150 Years of the Meiji Restoration Special Battle" produced by NHK! The Battle of Toba Fushimi decided the next 7 days of Japan.) There are many resources on the Internet, and many of my video footage come from them. What is valuable is that the film is also more from the perspective of the shogunate, to a certain extent, breaking through the "Sa naga view of history", although it is slightly different from my point of view.

The so-called "Battle of the Shogunate" is due to the fact that the main force at this time is the shogunate army, the main body is the will of the "old shogunate", and the beginning and the end are defined by the independent will of the shogunate in the war; and this is a war that determines the domestic situation in Japan, on the one hand, the new government established by the two domains of Sacho wants to achieve "imperial retrospection" through war, and on the other hand, the army of the Tokugawa shogunate with the "Table of Seeking Sa" asks for "Kiyō side". The winner will occupy the geographical advantage and control the world, so it is also called the "power war".

If the shogunate side wins, it will make the Tokugawa family rule continue for a period of time, and it will be a good time to reform the shogunate system, and if the enlightened faction such as Tokugawa Keiki completes the shogunate reform that was stalled by the war, it may shape Japan into a country that we cannot imagine, and its status and culture are completely different from the current status and culture. If the new government army can win the first battle, it can gain great support and have the ability to continue to push forward the war of overthrowing the old shogunate and forming a destructive trend.

The wheel of history turns to the latter. The Sasaga army stationed in Toba was the first to open fire on the shogunate army, and the beginning of the war fell into chaos, which seemed to indicate the end of the shogunate army. The victory of the new government greatly consolidated its legitimate position after the Battle of Toba Fushimi, and some clans such as Tsu Domain, Tottori Domain, and Suwa Domain, which expressed a wait-and-see view of the war situation, joined the ranks of the new government one after another.

The reasons for the defeat of the shogunate army have been detailed in the previous series "Tokugawa Keiki Quanshu", and there are roughly three points, one is that the shogunate army is not fully prepared for combat, the second is a major mistake in command, and the third is the huge psychological gap caused by the appearance of the Kinnoki Imperial Banner. Here we will focus on the common misunderstandings of the Battle of Toba Fushimi, mainly in two aspects. The first is the readiness of the shogunate army, and the second is the weapons and equipment used by the shogunate army. In terms of preparation, the Choshu Domain, which had sent troops to the imperial court during the Forbidden Gate Change, was accused of being an enemy of the Imperial Court, and in the late shogunate era when the imperial court's authority was unprecedentedly strengthened, Tokugawa Keiki was afraid to fire at the emperor's imperial palace, so he ordered his troops to carry only a small amount of ammunition and disarm their rifles while marching, so as not to cause accidents. At the same time, some generals in the shogunate army believed that as long as the shogunate army, which had absolute superiority in troop strength, did not take the lead in attacking, the sagunate army did not dare to take the initiative to attack the shogunate army. After The death of Emperor Takamitsu, Tokugawa Keiki had not yet met emperor Meiji, so the shogunate army put forward the slogan of "seeing the new emperor", hoping that after the march of the army, the sasaga army would give way on its own, and Tokugawa's army would successfully reach the imperial palace to save the government. However, the result was that the Satsuma domain and the Choshu domain laid a tight defense along the shogunate army's upper rope, and ordered the artillery to take the lead in shelling the marching ranks of the shogunate army, resulting in the shogunate army falling into chaos and losing the first battle. The new government army then raised Iwakura's forged Kinnogoki banner, which demoralized the shogunate army and shook Mito's confidence in victory for Tokugawa Keiki, who was loyal to the emperor. This eventually led to The return of Tokugawa Keiki with his retainers to Edo, and the shogunate army was defeated on the Battlefield of Toba Fushimi.

False Royal Banner

Why is the Kinnoki Imperial Flag a forgery? This was due to the fact that before the outbreak of the Pengchen War, Iwakura, the secretary of the Fallen Curtain Sect, secretly contacted sahara to engage in curtain-down activities, and as a member of the imperial court, he constantly fought for legitimacy for sa's military raising in the name of the imperial court, of which the pennant was a product of this situation. Legend has it that the Kinnoki Imperial Banner was first assigned by Emperor Go-Toba to the ranks of the Kamakura shogunate during the 3-year Sekihisa Rebellion of the Kamakura period, and was appointed as an officer (another legend is the fall of Emperor Go-Daigo). Since then, there have been almost no records of use, and no ready-made pennants have been preserved in the imperial palace. In order to make sacho clan's army an officer, Iwakura, without even knowing the appearance of the historical pennant, sewed the kinno imperial flag according to her own understanding based on the legendary fragments. This flag, which was secretly made, was neither approved by the imperial court nor authorized by the emperor, and was naturally forged. However, the shogunate army never heard of what a pennant was, and at the Battle of Toba Fushimi, only to see sasaka's soldiers raising the pennant while shouting "This is the symbol of the imperial court, we are the official army", so they believed it, after all, who would joke about the emperor, morale was devastated.

Many people may not understand, and often ask questions such as "how can the pennant have such great power" and "why the shogunate army will be scared off by a flag". So this must be explained in detail. Influenced by certain film, television and game productions, many fans of the shogunate history mistakenly equate the shogunate and the emperor simply, but this understanding is wrong. As far as the end of the shogunate era is concerned, whether it is the shogun's side that wants to realize the "honor of the king" and "the retrospection of the king's government", or the shogunate side that implements the "combination of public and military forces" and "shogunate reform", the forces with different lines when the two sides are restoring and reforming are trying their best to win the support of the emperor. In Japan, especially in ancient times, before the introduction of democratic ideas, the emperor had a very high status, had the highest prestige, and represented "justice" in war. Although the emperor was restricted and far removed from politics during the shogunate era, he could still punish the daimyo for disrespecting the emperor in the name of "enemies", which not only directly destabilized the legitimacy of his rule, but also caused other daimyōs who were already eager to attack him. Especially when the shogunate was weakening, the effect was even more pronounced. Before the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, the shogunate army sent troops under the slogan "Kiyo-kun's side", and the generals believed that Emperor Meiji was under house arrest by Sasaga and wanted to rescue him, and he was naturally an "official army". However, the appearance of the pennant and the imposition of the name of the enemy on the shogunate symbolize that the emperor has taken the opposite side, and that his side is not only not an "official army", but even an unjust "thief army". The psychological gap is naturally huge. Although some of the upper generals may be well aware of the principle of success and defeat and are not afraid of a banner, the middle and lower-level soldiers do not dare to make enemies with the emperor, and the military is confused, no longer obeying orders, stopping attacking passive defenses or even fleeing. It should be further pointed out that when looking at the question of history, it is necessary to "insist on explaining history in terms of history itself". Looking at the problem from the perspective of the present person and issuing the accusation that "if the shogunate army ignores the pennant, then I am sorry that this "if" does not hold. Just as many people today have gradually lost their goals in their study work, it is absolutely not feasible for you to unrealistically accuse them of "if you don't study and work".

This video first leaves you with the concept of a "three-point war", and also gives you a rough idea of the political causes of the Battle of Toba Fushimi, which is equivalent to making a foreshadowing. In the next video, we will delve into the factors of the defeat of the shogunate army in the first battle, probably far more than many history books, please watch.

Thanks for watching

Next issue

The difference in armaments, the Aoi flag fell

【Three Points of the War】The second phase of the difference in armament between the shogunate army and the commander of the sahara, the Aoi flag fell

The previous issue mainly analyzed the causes and effects of the Battle of Toba Fushimi and the political factors that led to the defeat of the old shogunate army, and this video re-examines the aspects that have a direct impact on the battlefield, that is, the difference in armament between the shogunate army and the sasaga army.

Armament of the Shogunate Army

In some films and television works of the earlier era, the shogunate army is often depicted as a samurai armed with a samurai sword and wearing armor, and launching a white-knife battle against the enemy's fearless charge. This is clearly untrue. What causes such an image to appear? Let's do a little bit of analysis.

In recent years, more and more historical materials have been disclosed, and the history books related to the end of the shogunate have become more popular, especially films that are more considerate of scenes and props have successively appeared on the screen, which has intuitively changed the inherent concept of the shogunate army being extremely backward. However, this shallow understanding is not enough, and here is a little in-depth explanation on this basis.

Let's start with the composition of the shogunate army. Since the opening of Edo, the shogunate has rarely sent its own direct subordinate units, but has formed "allied forces" with various domains to jointly complete combat tasks. For example, during the Choshu Conquest, the combined shogunate army consisted of the shogunate's direct subordinate forces, and the Yangen domain, the Kokura domain, the Kishu domain, and the Iyo Matsuyama domain were formed; at the Time of Toba Fushimi, the shogunate coalition army consisted mainly of the shogunate's direct subordinate forces, Aizu Domain, Kuwana Domain, and Ogaki Domain. Among the shogunate alliances, the earliest and most thorough modernization was the shogunate's direct subordinate units, and the weapons and establishments and tactical ideas were basically westernized, and they were highly modernized troops. Other pro-shogunate domains were still equipped with old muskets, equipped with long guns and katana to make up for the lack of firearms equipment, and adopted the ancient method of war; the new selection group of the Roshi organization belonging to the Aizu Domain did not complete the modernization of the equipment before the Battle of Toba Fushimi, so there was indeed a scene of flesh and blood against guns on the battlefield. However, judging from the entire campaign, it is definitely not the mainstream, and it is often supplemented by fire support during surprise attacks and ambushes, which is more of a helpless move. In addition, the new selection group also began modernization reforms around the Time of Toba Fushimi, adopting a new formation, equipped with rifles and artillery, and transforming from a ronin organization to a formal army in the Battle of Theochen War.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with the scenes of shogunate samurai launching a fearless charge against the new government army in film and television works, and film and television works adapted from history need to attract more audiences rather than rigidly state reality. It cannot be said that it is completely fabricated out of thin air, but the point of magnifying the samurai charge and the cold weapon against the hot weapon is more in line with the aesthetic needs.

What does the real shogunate look like? In the 1860s (Bunju), the shogunate had begun to build modernized troops modeled on the West. It is worth noting that from 1867 onwards, with the military assistance of France, the shogunate established the elite new army "Transmission Team" with French training. It was first equipped with the Enfield 1853 rifle, then the more advanced Schesebo rifle, and some of them with seven-shot Spencer rifles. This army not only meets Western standards in terms of weapons, but the biggest feature is that its military system is also highly modernized, divided into three branches of infantry, artillery, and cavalry, and is equipped with Western-style military flags, slogans, military music, and logistics systems. It is the first unit in Japan to truly modernize it. Together with other armies, the Shogunate formed an armed force to be reckoned with by the Shogunate Army.

So why could the shogunate army, which was so powerful on paper, not be able to withstand the test of war? I think there are roughly the following reasons:

The most shallow is that although the quality of the rifles of the shogunate army generally exceeded that of the new government army, the new government's advantage in artillery far exceeded that of the shogunate army, which was a big gap in weapons.

At the same time, the mass base of the shogunate army was relatively poor, and although it had become a consensus to break the class limit and absorb people outside the samurai class into the army, the samurai class was the basis of the shogunate's rule, and the shogunate had to give them privileges.

Moreover, as the backbone of the samurai training cycle is long, it is difficult to quickly replenish after suffering losses.

Merchants and peasants still accounted for a low proportion of the army, and when there was a shortage of soldiers, they had to recruit unemployed vagrants with poor quality and discipline; for various reasons, the mobilization ability of the shogunate army was poor. This was one of the reasons why the shogunate had to unite with other clans and borrow the strength of other clans.

In terms of the command system, modern non-commissioned officers cannot be trained overnight, and the outbreak of war is not long before the reform of the shogunate. The shogunate army faced the problem of insufficient number of middle and lower-level commanders and insufficient professionalization, so that after the outbreak of war, military orders could not be well implemented, and soldiers lacked effective command;

Most of the generals at the top are vested interests under the existing system, have a weak sense of crisis, have little interest in opposing military merit, are more willing to maintain existing interests, are strategically conservative, cowardly in battle, and even avoid battle and protect themselves.

Although the old shogunate army also achieved certain results in the battle, the top level of the old shogunate did not intend to attack Kyoto by force, or even to prepare for a decisive battle in Kyoto, so it did not expand the results in time and failed to achieve a small victory into a big victory.

Various reasons led to the strength of the old shogunate army on the surface, and defeat was naturally inevitable.

Changes in the leadership and organization of the Southwestern Provinces

When it comes to the difference in armament between the shogunate army and the sasaga army, it is necessary to mention another factor that affects the army in addition to equipment, that is, the form of leadership and organization of the army. According to the traditional military system of the Edo period, the military system of the domain consisted of upper-class samurai led by daimyō and his vassals commanding the middle-level samurai, and then middle-level samurai managing an army of lower-level samurai. However, the southwestern clans represented by the Sachang Tufei Domain were far from the control of the shogunate, which facilitated all-round exchanges with Western countries in secret, so that Western ideas in the late shogunate period were rapidly disseminated. The idea of "democracy" sprouted among the middle and lower-class samurai of the Southwestern Domains, who questioned the power of the monarch (daimyō), were no longer completely limited by the unconditional obedience of the feudal monarch to the monarch, and changed from focusing on the interests of the daimyo and the individual to participating in politics from the interests of the daimyo to the small to the individual, demanding more power. For satsuma domain in the late shogunate era, due to the long-term struggle for the throne of the domain and the fact that Shimazu Tadaoyoshi did not have real power after he became the lord of the domain, his biological father Shimazu Hisamitsu took control of the domain, and the legitimacy of Hisamitsu's participation in political affairs was also controversial, which undoubtedly provided excellent conditions for the rise of the clan's important vassals, so Okubo Ritsuru, Saigo Takamori and others gradually controlled the military power of satsuma domain, and later during the Southwest War, Saigo Takamori's prestige led the old shi clan to elect him as the leader of the rebellion. It can also be seen that the original clans from the bottom of the domain transcended the traditional daimyo; the situation in Choshu Domain was similar, and after the outbreak of the Shimonoseki War, the clamor for innovation among the clans became increasingly loud, and after the change of the forbidden gate, the Maori Clan (Maori Keijin) and the Maori Hiroho (Maori Gentoku) were placed by the shogunate and were not allowed to participate in political affairs, giving the middle and lower-level clans a good opportunity to control the power of the domain. It was in this situation that the new army of the Choshu Domain was established and became strong, and the lord of the clan did not play a decisive role, but only symbolically approved; the same was true of Takasugi's Gongshan Temple's efforts to raise troops and defeat the secular school. After the establishment of the new government, the powerful generals of the SouthwestErn domains used the reason of "handing over the army to the new government" to make the military power independent from the domain, further getting rid of the traditional daimyo's control over the army. At this time, many clan lords could no longer freely mobilize their own troops as in the past, and the middle and lower-level clans achieved control over the military and government. In order to consolidate their power, the generals who counterattacked further expanded their armies and purchased new weapons, which objectively enhanced the combat effectiveness of the armies of the southwestern provinces. But this is not enough, as we all know, military merit is everything for generals, in order to pursue power they urgently need to achieve results; soldiers from low births also hope to change the predicament through military merit, so the army in the era of peace is eager to hope for the outbreak of war, in the era of war to dare to take risks, and objectively strengthened the will to fight of the armies of the southwestern provinces.

At the end of the Shogunate War, power was finalized

The defeat at the Battle of Toba-Fushimi was a major blow to the morale of the old shogunate army, and the combined forces of the various domains fell apart. However, the old shogunate army did not lose the first battle and immediately withdrew from the stage of history. The losses of the soldiers directly under them were not large, and within about a month they returned to Edo to be reorganized and restored. At this time, the problems faced by the old shogunate army were due to the pressure of the new external government and the instability caused by internal factional disputes, which caused the army to lose effective leadership, the officers did not have clear combat objectives, and the morale of soldiers continued to be low. In this case, although the old shogunate army launched or was forced to participate in several battles, such as the Battle of Katsunuma in Koshu, there was little success. Finally, in mid-March 1868, Tokugawa Keiki decided to abandon the route of armed resistance to stop the civil war, and Edo Kaesong saved the ancient city from war and expressed his loyalty at Ueno Kanei-ji Temple. Since then, the old shogunate has not only lost its former rule over Japan, but also declared its rule over the last territory, and the Aoi Banner has fallen from Edo Castle forever.

However, the main war faction of the old shogunate was not willing to lose, and some generals such as Keisuke Otori and Takeyoshi Yukimoto refused to hand over the army to the new government according to the agreement reached in Kaesong, Edo, and led the army to leave Edo to continue fighting. At this time, the "old shogunate" was no longer led by the last shogun Tokugawa Keiki, but the anti-war generals in the shogunate represented the will of the "old shogunate", at this time the old shogunate army still had a strength and influence that could not be underestimated, and the first and second brigades of the shogunate's most elite new army "transmission team" totaled more than 3,000 people continued to resist under the leadership of the resistance faction, causing a lot of losses to the new government. The subsequent battles such as the Battle of Utsunomiya and the Battle of Ichikawa Funabashi proved this.

After several battles, in contrast to the growing number of supporters of the new government, the old shogunate army not only lost its righteous name, but also lost a stable replenishment of soldiers, and was gradually weakened by the loss of many shoguns, generals, and soldiers. It was not until after the Battle of Ueno that the old shogunate army no longer had the strength to fight alone against the large numbers and supplies of the new government army, and also lost its strategic depth and logistical support, so it had to choose to fight together with the Okuwa Etsu domain alliance, which had declared war on the new government at this time, and accepted the leadership of the main ship of the alliance, The Temple, the governor Date Keibun, Uesugi Kiken and Matsudaira Ronho in exchange for supplies. The change from dominance to equality and even subordination can be seen as the complete loss of the independent will of the "old shogunate", which ended the first phase of the war.

What happened when the old shogunate chose to fight together with the Okuwa-Etsu Domain Alliance? Aren't they all fighting together on one front? Wasn't the Okuba alliance under the command of the shogunate? If you think about this problem, it means that you have a certain understanding of the history of the end of the curtain, and you can't finish it in one issue, and then we will study this problem in detail in the next few videos.

【Three Points of the War】The Third Phase of choshu was difficult to defeat the defeated side, and the Aizu Domain fell into a desperate situation

At the end of the previous video, it was mentioned that "the old shogunate army had to choose to fight with the Okuwa Yue Domain Alliance, which had declared war on the new government", in order to better explain this phenomenon, this video first sorted out the political factors of the war between the new government and the tohoku region. This phase of the war began with the outbreak of the Battle of Aizu and ended with the surrender of shonai domain. The period was June 10, 1868 – November 6, 1868 (and April 20 of the 4th leap year of the calendar to September 22 of the Meiji first year). It can be seen from the time that it intersects with the previous part of the war (shogunate war/power war), but the two battlefield locations are different, the participants are different, and the nature is different, so it needs to be viewed separately. The process is long and complicated, if you are afraid of not remembering or pursuing fun, you can watch the "Pengchen War" series of film and television clips I released in the past issue.

The era of the Gong-Wu Ensemble

Back in 1836, Matsudaira Ryōho was born in the Takasu domain residence in Edo, the sixth son of Matsudaira Yoshiken, lord of the Takasu domain in Mino Domain, whose mother was the Furumori clan. Later, due to the lack of successors to Matsudaira Eikei, the eighth lord of the Aizu Domain, In 1846 (Hirowa 3rd year), When Rongho was twelve years old, he succeeded to the Aizu Domain, and six years later he succeeded to the ninth domain in 1852. In 1862, when he was in danger, he resolutely took over the position of guardian of Kyoto and led the army to Shangluo, making immeasurable contributions to stabilizing the security of Kyoto and consolidating the relationship between the shogunate and the imperial court. Later, the Langshi group was recruited to form the famous "New Selection Group", which participated in a series of major events such as the "August 18 Coup" and the "Forbidden Gate Change", which made the ordinary domain located in the northeast and only 200,000 stones well known to everyone within a few years. In the midst of the trend of the emperor and the samuku, the Aizu domain, under the leadership of Matsudaira Ronho, always respected the imperial court and respected the emperor, and even received the highest honor since the Edo shogunate, the imperial family, the imperial family, the imperial family, and the imperial system, and at the same time, they were loyal to the shogunate and supported the shogunate's shogunate reform; and actively promoted the combination of public and military forces, which won the trust of Emperor Hyomi and General Iemo, and both the imperial court and the shogunate regarded him as a rare virtuous person.

What is the significance of promoting the integration of public and military forces? The strongest military force at the end of the shogunate was the shogun, and the maintainer of the shogunate system was also the shogun of the Tokugawa clan, and he was also the head of the samurai clan, that is, the elder of the Genji clan, who nominally led the major names. Therefore, the daimyo who sought to rebel independently against the shogunate inevitably sought a higher rank than the shogun, and they attached themselves to the imperial court in the hope that the emperor would give them an excuse to rebel against the shogunate, which objectively intensified the antagonism between the imperial court and the shogunate. In the late shogunate era surrounded by great powers, if a large-scale civil war could not be avoided, it could easily turn into a proxy war, which would cause great obstacles to Japan's transformation and modernization. Therefore, most people of insight hope to promote the modernization of the Japanese political system in peace. The public-military ensemble came into being - that is, there was no need to completely break all the old systems, but also to effectively avoid civil war, through marriage, cooperation and other means, to promote the relationship between the imperial court and the shogunate, and finally the two were integrated, together constituting a modern government. Emperor Takaaki and Tokugawa Ieshige were the representatives of the Gongwu faction, and Matsudaira Eiho was a staunch supporter, trying his best to match the Gongjia samurai, eliminate the saboteurs, prevent the collapse of force, and defend the peace of Japan.

After the Black Ship Incident, the Aizu Domain participated in the construction of the Shinagawa Battery and the deliberations on coastal defense affairs, and had a deep understanding of the establishment of a stable and unified country in order to prevent the great powers from taking advantage of the void, so they vigorously advocated peace. For example, after the change outside the Sakurada Gate, Matsudaira Ryoburi persuaded the crowd to abandon the force of force against the Mito Domain. In the Battle of Toba Fushimi, the Aizu Domain, along with the shogunate army "Kiyogun Flank", attacked the Sachoto army that controlled the government and prevented Tokugawa Keiki and others from meeting the new emperor, but after several days of bitter fighting, they were finally defeated. Since then, Matsudaira Ryoho has confirmed the name of "Enemy of the DPRK".

Armed and obedient

After the defeat of Toba Fushimi, Tokugawa Keiki finally decided to make peace after many days of thinking in Edo, and a few months before the establishment of Kaesong, he dismissed the generals of the main battle and ordered the domains to return. As a result, the Aizu clan army had broken away from the shogunate alliance and withdrew to Iwashiro's diet, Tsuwakamatsu, and in the subsequent battle between the old shogunate army and the new government army, it did not assist the old shogunate side, but rested in the country. Embarked on military reform, purchased new rifles, and introduced French training. At this time, the Aizu Domain did not intend to accumulate strength against the new government, but decided to "be obedient to the armed forces". The so-called "obedience of military armament" is, in short, to show obedience to the new government while still having strong military strength in hand, and to use force and armament to prevent the other side from proposing too harsh conditions, so as to preserve the property and reputation of the domain. After the Battle of Toba Fushimi, the Aizu clan was not the only one in the Aizu clan, and it became almost the norm in the Eastern Kingdom. Because the remote Eastern Domains were far from the Kyoto Imperial Court, the Daimyo was unable to maintain close ties with the new government; it was close to the shogunate's stronghold of Edo, which was inevitably suspected by the new government; or it was worried that the two sides would be at war and the army would invade the domain, and the domain would be invaded by war, and the army would be prepared to protect the border and the people.

After the opening of Edo, the history of the Tokugawa shogunate as a political power has officially ended, by which time the Tokugawa family has become a general daimyō, marking the complete collapse of the shogunate system of more than 260 years; Tokugawa Keiki also gave up his leadership of the army and accepted the punishment of Theoju, and the relationship with the former Kuwame domain Matsuhei Tsuneyoshi and Aizu Domain Matsuhira Ronho has also been officially dissolved. After that, the new Meiji government had effectively ruled the japanese regions southwest of Edo, so with Edo Castle as its base, it continued to march northeast to pursue the remnants of the shogunate that refused to surrender, and along the way surrendered to other domains, ordering them to submit to the leadership of the new government. More and more clan troops joined the ranks of the new government forces to show their deference, so the new government army grew stronger and stronger, not only changing the inferiority of troops at the Battle of Toba Fushimi, but also far exceeding the old shogunate side by several times. At this time, the new government army faced the northeast provinces, not only in terms of reputation and equipment, but also in terms of strength and depth, and the strength and weakness of the two sides were clear at a glance. After the new government became the orthodox regime, the various clans in the Tohoku Okuba region, such as Yonezawa Domain, Sendai Domain, Shirakawa Domain, and Nihonmatsu Domain, all expressed their deference, accepted the leadership of the new government army, and submitted a written document of deference to the governor of Okuwa, Kujo Michitaka, the governor of Okuwa, appointed by the new government; the Aizu domain, in order to avoid becoming enemies of the DPRK, submitted a submission of obedience to the new government army, which mentioned that the Aizu domain adopted "military obedience", was willing to donate land, and Matsudaira Ronho accepted the new government's punishment of hiccupation, but was refused.

Echigo's Nagaoka Domain, at the behest of Makino Tadayoshi, appointed Hasai Shunosuke as the head of the pen family and military governor, and also practiced military obedience, which was later rejected by the new government forces. It has been suggested that "the practice of military deference in aizu, Nagaoka, and other clans is itself a resistance to the new government, and it cannot be called deference without complete disarmament, which will lead to local divisions." Such a view may sound reasonable at first glance, but it is a view of history in the eyes of today's people. In the era of the Late Restoration, there was no precedent for the disarming of the domain in order to obey the new government, without exception, the domain maintained its own army to join the new government, the lord or lord of the domain obtained the seat of the new government, called the army of the new government the army of the new government, and the new government did not directly manage the area and still maintained the original daimyo's rule, the essence was still an alliance centered on the imperial court, so it was also called the "dynasty system". The one-step transition to centralization is still too far ahead of its time. In contrast to other domains at the time, Ogaki Domain, which had participated in the shogunate's alliance against the new government forces at the Battle of Toba Fushimi, Owari Domain, which was the Tokugawa Imperial Family, and Kaga Domain, which remained neutral, were allowed to submit to the new government while remaining armed, and appointed them to send troops to pacify Tohoku. And why were the Tsu and Nagaoka clans not accepted? Discrimination is clear at a glance. Therefore, it is incorrect to accuse the Aizu Domain of being stubborn in its military consolidation.

Two alliances

The obedience of most of the domains was agreed, but the request for obedience from the Aizu domain was rejected by the Choshu faction of the new government. The reason is that Matsudaira Ronho was a rival at the Battle of Toba Fushimi and must be killed. Since taking up his post as the guardian of Kyoto, he has long suppressed the radical Choshu Domain, defeated the Choshu army, and inflicted heavy casualties on it; the Aizu Domain has repeatedly thwarted the fall of force, so it has long been regarded as a stumbling block in the political situation by the governor. The new government forces won the Battle of Toba Fushimi, and the Choshu Clan wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to shame and demanded that matsudaira Ronho and the head of the main war faction must be sacrificed or no negotiations would be held. The elders said that their heads could be given to the new government, but they were determined to save Rong Bao's life, so the negotiations broke down.

In Japan before modern times, it was ethically and morally unacceptable to claim the daimyo's first rank, and the execution of the lord of the domain was regarded as an intolerable humiliation to the entire domain, and the Aizu clan was bound to refuse. Even the Choshu Domain, which had become an enemy after the Forbidden Gate Rebellion, was only punished by the shogunate for stripping the lord of the domain of his father and son of the official position and staying in the middle of nowhere, without fear of his life, which naturally angered the samurai in the tohoku region. Putting forward unacceptable conditions to force the other side to resist by force was the choshu clan's plan to retaliate against the Aizu clan by force. It can be seen that the avoidable Battle of Aizu was essentially retaliation by the Choshu Domain, so it was called the "War of Revenge". The Shouchi clan, which was near Aizu, saw that the new government deliberately refused the petition and understood the intentions of the Choshu clan. Since the domain attacked the Satsuma domain mansion that secretly sent ronin during the Edo riots before the Battle of Toba Fushimi, it was feared that the new government would use this to raise a crusade, so it immediately agreed with Aizu and reached a military alliance, the "Kaisho Alliance".

The Okuwa clans, led by the Sendai domain, petitioned the new government to relax the conditions of obedience of the Aizu domain, which was again rejected. Instead, he threatened the Okuma clans of Sendai and Yonezawa to attack the Aizu clan before Sachoto sent troops, otherwise their position in the new government would be revoked. The Tohoku Okuwa clans were originally in harmony, but they were provoked by people with ulterior motives in the new government to let them kill each other, which caused the anger of the tohoku clans. The clans responded with another petition to the ultimatum, demanding a peaceful handling of the Northeast issue, which was again rejected. The war eventually broke out, and since the main body of the war with the new government forces at this time was the "Okuwa Yue Domain Alliance" and the "Huizhuang Alliance", it was called the "Alliance War".

After combing through the general framework, the next video will talk about the details of this great war, identify common misunderstandings, and use the perspective of the "three-point war" to explain the relationship between the old shogunate army and the alliance. Welcome to the show.

【Three Points of the War】Fourth Phase The desperate Okuwa Yue Domain Alliance

The previous video mainly sorted out the political history of the Aizu Domain at the end of the shogunate, and this video is a little bit of analysis.

The War of Alliance (War of Vengeance) mainly included the North Vietnamese War, namely the battle between the Echigo Nagaoka Domain and the New Intergovernmental Government, the Aizu War, that is, the battle between the Various Domains and the New Intergovernmental Government, and the Akita War, that is, the battle between the Alliance and the defective Akita Domain.

It is customary for us to refer to the Okuwa-Etsu domain alliance as the Samu force, and many people will mistakenly believe that the Okuwa-Etsu domain alliance is a monolithic and prepared for the arrival of the new government army. This is not true and is why it must be listed separately as the second stage. This misunderstanding is mainly due to:

Under the shogunate system, the Okuba clans accepted the leadership of the shogunate.

After the Battle of Toba Fushimi, the Okuba clans generally sympathized with the shogunate.

The shogunate and the Okuwa clans were both enemies of the new government of Sasaga.

However, on the side of the Okuwa Etsu domain alliance camp, except for Aizu and Shonai, the other clans are basically not allowed to be called "Samu factions". The reason is also very simple:

The Tohoku Okuwa clans did not join the shogunate coalition in the Battle of Toba Fushimi and maintained a wait-and-see attitude.

Prior to the War of Theotsu, the Okuba clans had limited influence on the political situation, hardly participated in political affairs, and were not active in the samuku cause.

After the opening of Edo Castle, the tohoku domains generally broke away from the shogunate and submitted to the new government army, under the leadership of Kujō Michitaka, the "Governor of Okuwa Town" sent by the new government. The Sendai clan even obeyed the orders of the new government and sent troops to the Aizu domain.

Before the Tohoku War, the Tohoku domains could be regarded as part of the new government, but the domains could not tolerate the atrocities of the new government, and chose to form alliances to resist in order to save the Aizu domain, so they preferred to "rebellion" in nature rather than assisting the old shogunate army in battle.

Not only did the Sendai Domain prepare for a crusade against Aizu before the alliance was founded, but the Morioka Domain also remained neutral until the End of the Aizu War, and with one month left, the Akita Domain (Kubota Domain), which had betrayed the Alliance, sent troops to support the Alliance with actions.

So, how did the old shogunate armies and allies move on the path of cooperation, and what was the outcome of the war?

Step by step

In the negotiations between the Okuwa Domain headed by Aizu and the new government represented by Sasaga, there was a detail that the new government appointed Kujō Michitaka, the "Governor of Okuwa Town" who administered the Okuwa region. He was the head of the Kujō clan of the Prominent Fujiwara Kita clan and a highly respected elder of the last Fuji clan. In 1864, he served as the Imperial Household Minister of State affairs, and Keio became the Left Minister for three years. Like his father, Kujō Shōjo, he was a supporter of the Gongqing faction of the Gongwu Fusion Sect at the end of the shogunate. Due to their attitude toward the shogunate, the father and son were punished in a coup d'état in the imperial government, and the punishment of Kujō Michitaka was lifted in the first year of Meiji (1868). Subsequently, he was appointed by the new government as the governor of Okuwa, and together with Ōyama Tsunayoshi of Satsuma Domain and Shira Shuzo of Choshu Domain, he went on an expedition to the northeast. Since Kujō Michitaka sympathized with the Aizu Domain, which had sent forces for the Gongwu Community, and the Tohoku Domain, which had defended the shogunate to the north and consolidated coastal defense, they had already expressed their agreement at the beginning of the negotiations between the two sides that they could accept the aizu Domain's request for obedience.

(The last elder of the Fuji clan, The Governor of Okuba Town, Kujo Michitaka)

Originally, the new government's surrender to the Okuwa region could have ended peacefully, but at this time it was unreasonably obstructed by the new government's Choshu Pai Shi liang shuzang. Seryo Shuzo was originally a staff officer at the Governor's Office of Okuwa Andyo, and was supposed to be under the command of Kujō Michihito, but he was firmly opposed to Kujō in the face of The Aizu's surrender. The reason was still that he had to kill Matsudaira Ronho, a north enemy who opposed the new government forces at the Battle of Toba Fushimi, and made an unreasonable demand that he not negotiate without executing him. The elders of the family who put life and death aside unanimously expressed their willingness to die, but resolutely saved Rong Bao's life, and the negotiations broke down.

At this time, the Sendai Clan still did not abandon the peaceful negotiations, and on April 11, 1868, keio 4 (1868), a meeting of the representatives of the Okuwa clans was convened in Shiraishi Castle, and the meeting finally decided to submit a petition to the Governor's Office of the Governor of Okuwa Town, asking for the relaxation of the conditions of obedience of the Aizu Domain, but was rejected by the staff officer Seryo Shuzo. Not only that, but Seiryo Shuzo also demanded that the Okuwa clans of Sendai and Yonezawa attack the Aizu clan before Sachoto sent troops, otherwise their position in the new government would be abolished. He even uttered a wild speech: "But when the flowers are not finished, Ping Mu'ao, Qi cherry blossoms." According to the "History of Sendai Pengchen", また仙台藩士を嘲り,傍若無人な振る舞いもあるなど, 次第に周囲からの反感を高めていく (he also laughed at the Sendai clan at the venue, and there was no one around him, which aggravated the disgust of those around him). The Originally Harmonious Tohoku Okuba Domains were provoked by people with ulterior motives in the new government, and the new government's staff officer Shiryo Shuzo was so rude that it aroused the anger of the Tohoku Okuba domains. The clans again petitioned for an end to the crusade against Aizu and peaceful handling of the affairs, but they were again refused.

The new government appointed Kujō Michihito, a member of the Gongwu faction who sympathized with the tohoku domains, to dispose of the northeast, and ordered a crusade against Aizu to deliberately undermine their harmonious relations, which was evident in their sinister intentions. There are also many people in the Okuwa Domain who believe that the new government, which has been established for less than half a year, is now in full swing, and if the strong domain Aizu is defeated by the new government, the new government will be more unscrupulous in the northeast region in the future; they are worried that the new government army may probably take the means of first dividing and then breaking them one by one, and even sit back and watch the Oyu clan kill each other and then wipe them out.

Give up your fantasies and start fighting

Finally, out of affection for the Aizu Domain and out of the consideration of seeking self-preservation, the clans, who had been cornered, gave up their illusions of peace negotiations and prepared for battle. On the night of June 10, 1868, Seryo Shuzo hid in a restaurant in Fukushima, Kanazawa House, and made a drunken battle against the Okuwa clans, and forbeta finally broke out, such as Takeshi Takeshi and Tanabe, who had been fighting for many days, and took the lead in attacking the retribution team of more than ten people who were resting here, and the next day dragged the mastermind of the clans who wanted to plunge the clans into a civil war, Seiryo Shuzo, to the Abu Kumagawa River Kawahara, beheaded, and the body was thrown into the Abu Kuma River, and the first level was brought back to Shiraishi Castle for public display. Immediately after that, the "Okuwa Alliance" was formed to save the Aizu Domain, and the "Okuwa Alliance" was established, and the government of the various domains was adopted, and the last Natsunoji Palace was established, and Prince Nohisa of Kita-Shirakawa Palace was made the "Emperor Tobu". The lord of Sendai Domain, Date Keibun, and the lord of Yonezawa Domain, Uesugi Kiken, served as governors, and the former shogunates Ogasawara Nagayuki and Itakura Katsushige assisted as staff officers. The proclamation of opposition to the new government has the potential of a northern and southern dynasty.

At the beginning of the establishment of the Okuwa Alliance, Nagaoka Domain was invited to join the Alliance, but was rejected by the Nagaoka Clan family, Kawai Nosuke, on the grounds of "avoiding involvement in war", and actively advocated for peace on both sides. However, Nagaoka Domain was immediately met with harsh demands from the new government. On June 21 of the Gregorian calendar, Seiichiro Iwamura of the New Government Military Governor of Tosa Domain met with Kawai Jinosuke, the acting lord of Nagaoka Domain, at The Ciyan Temple in Kochiya. Iwamura Seiichiro offered to borrow Nagaoka and asked Nagaoka Clan to also send troops to Aizu. According to the record, Jinosuke said, "If you are real officers, you can be obedient. But what was the justification for the crusade against the shogunate and Aizu, and while saying that the crusade against the old shogunate and Aizu was actually aimed at private sanctions and the seizure of power, I refused the new government's excuse to invade Nagaoka's territory and fight against Aizu. Enosuke's questioning made Iwamura Seiichiro unable to refute it, and the Kochiya talks eventually broke down. Subsequently, the Echigo Five Clans also resolutely rebelled against the new government and joined the Okuwa Alliance, and the "Okuwa Etsu domain Alliance" was officially established. It is worth noting that although the Okuwa-Etsu Domain Alliance was established with the aim of saving Aizu, in the Aizu War, which expanded to the entire tohoku region, the Aizu Domain did not join the alliance from beginning to end, but maintained a military alliance with the Shonai Domain, that is, the "Kaisho Alliance", but the Kaisho Alliance and the Okuwa-Etsu Domain Alliance were similar in goal, closely related, and cooperated with each other, and when we did not discuss it rigorously, we generally did not subdivide it, but regarded it as a whole.

Combined with the contents of the second period, since the old shogunate army no longer had the strength to fight against the new government army alone, it chose to cooperate with the Okuyu Etsu domain alliance, which had a common enemy; and the alliance was sympathetic to the defeated shogunate, coupled with the fact that it had served the shogunate and remembered the Edo period, it gladly accepted the cooperative support of the old shogunate army, providing rest and logistical supplies for the shogunate army, and providing maintenance and fuel for the shogunate fleet; in addition, the remnants of the Kuwana domain, which had been a joint shogunate army, were in a similar situation to the old shogunate army. Even under the leadership of Tachimi Shobun, he also made a request for cooperation with the alliance. There was a real need to expand military strength, and the Alliance accepted the request.

The Aizu War (Tohoku War), which broke out in June 1868, lasted through a series of battles, including the Battle of Shirakawaguchi, the Battle of Nihonmatsu, the Battle of Nikkoguchi, and the Battle of Munariya, and under the suppression of the absolute strength of the new government forces, the Okuwa-Etsu Domain, which was extremely inferior in strength and armament, won fewer victories and lost more, and gradually retreated.

Aizu is located north of 37° north latitude, close to the city of Taiyuan in Shanxi Province; Morioka Domain is located between 39° and 40° north latitude, close to Beijing; and the battlefield is further north. The Northeast War had been going on for nearly four months at this time, and soon the harsh winter in the Okuwa area was coming. The winter climate in the north made the soldiers of the new government from the south uncomfortable, and the clothes for the cold were not prepared; on the other hand, the Oyu-le-Léan alliance was on the verge of collapse, and there was no food and no soldiers to use. Both sides are facing severe tests, what will be the end of the war? We'll see you in the next issue.

【Three Points of the War】The Fifth Phase aizu Surrender ・ The Moon of the DesertEd City

In the previous issue, we learned about the establishment of the Okuyu Domain Alliance and the Kaisho Alliance, the relationship between the two alliances and the old shogunate, and the beginning and details of the Tohoku War, and now let's talk about the outcome of the war.

Severe winter is coming

The war in the Okuwa region has lasted from the summer of June to October, the autumn wind has chilled, the winter in the Northeast region is coming, the supply of the new government army will face a big test, the Oyu Domain understands that the war situation will be beneficial to them, and the students and officers and men of the French Army are also well aware that the "Winter General" of Tsarist Russia broke Napoleon's invincible army. But can they wait until then? The new government also considered temporarily withdrawing its troops because it did not prepare winter clothes and the supply of grain and grass was difficult, and waited until the following spring to attack. However, in the end, after repeated insistence by the generals represented by the Tosa Domain Itagaki Retreat, it was finally decided to step up the attack and not leave a breathing space for the Oyu Domain.

With the defection of the Akita Domain and the Sanchun Domain, the situation at the Battle of Aizu became increasingly severe; the Nagaoka Domain was lost, the port of Niigata was besieged, resulting in insufficient supply of weapons, obstruction of the march route, and eventually Sendai and Yonezawa were isolated and surrounded by the new government forces. In August of the old calendar, the Yonezawa clan submitted to the new government, and in mid-September, Sendai, the largest domain in the northeast, also surrendered. After the members of the Okuwa-Etsu Domain Alliance were rebelled and broken one by one, only the Aizu Domain and the Shouchi Domain continued to fight. The remaining Northeastern male clans, such as Sendai and Yonezawa Domain, although they had submitted to the new government, were still biased toward Aizu, and they continued to intercede for Aizu Domain while delaying the order to send troops to Aizu for the new government army as much as possible. Fearing that the surrendered Tohoku clans would once again raise the anti-flag, and that braving the bitter cold in winter would be extremely unfavorable to the officers and men of the new government army from the western country, and not conducive to establishing a positive image of the new government as a unified country, the new government army finally agreed to leniently deal with Aizu and accept the request of the Aizu domain to surrender. After the surrender of aizu domain, Shonai domain, as the last domain to surrender, submitted a letter of surrender to the new government, which ended this stage of the war. Some of the subsequent local wars, such as the Battle of Hongdōkan and the Battle of Matsuyama, although they also belonged to the category of the Bochen War, but because of their different nature, they were not counted in this stage and the next stage of war.

Later, the victorious choshu faction retaliated against Aizu: the aizu samurai who died in battle were not allowed to be buried and their bodies were exposed to the wilderness; Aizu was withdrawn, and all the land and assets were confiscated; the old Aizu clan was allowed to establish the Dounan domain, but in fact they moved to the barren far north (present-day Mutsu City, Aomori Prefecture), suffering from cold and starvation. The new government had promised to give 30,000 stones of land to the Dounan Domain, but when the clan moved to the local area, it was learned that the domain was a sparsely populated area that could not engage in agricultural production, and after the land inspection, it was learned that the actual FengLu was only about 7310 stones, less than a quarter of the promised. The belief that underpinned these old Aizu clans to open up a new homeland in a desperate situation was to tell the world that matsudaira Ronho actively promoted the integration of public and military forces, policy reform, and peace maintenance before the war, and that aizu was really worried about the country and the people; the Aizu clan, which repeatedly proposed obedience and was rejected, was by no means an enemy and chaotic party. Unfortunately, the results were minimal, and the story of Aizu Tadayoshi was forgotten.

Most of the former Aizu area after the abolition of the prefecture had a more familiar name, Fukushima Prefecture. Since the Meiji period, the Japanese government has long snubbed Fukushima Prefecture in development, sent them to the most brutal places during the war, and later built dangerous nuclear power plants in Fukushima, not to mention that a number of chemical plants that few people know of have safety hazards have also been placed there, and now the nuclear wastewater problem in Fukushima has heated up again, which is lamentable.

As a result, the locals of Fukushima Prefecture and Wakamatsu City still hate Yamaguchi Prefecture and Kagoshima Prefecture, and still refuse to reconcile after a hundred years of the Bochen War. In contrast, it may be difficult for most people to say clearly what happened in their hometown 100 years ago, and the feud of Bo tatsu is deeply engraved in the memory of the generation of Aizu people. About three years ago, in order to collect historical information, I contacted several locals in the Aizu area on Twitter, including students in their teens, office workers in their twenties, and uncles in their 40s and 50s, who told me that the descendants of the Sasaga government did not publicly apologize for this, and now the Aizu area still holds an annual festival, and some people still worship Matsudaira Ryoho in their homes to remember the Aizu War and comfort the Aizu samurai who died in the war.

The Month of the Deserted City

The song "Wasteland Moon", which is famous for its Eclecticism with the Ocean, was written against the backdrop of the Northeast War. The original lyrics are shown in the picture, and the four lyrics are beautiful and sad. Born in 1871 in Sendai Prefecture, the author Doi Washitsu was commissioned by the Tokyo Conservatory of Music (now Tokyo University of the Arts) to compose middle school lyrics in 1898, and then recalled that his hometown was the ancient battlefield of Bosutaki, and saw the devastated Aizuwakamatsu Castle (another said to be Sendai Castle), feeling that the former glory had been hidden in the yellow sand, and the bright moon in the sky was still the same, lamenting that things were not human, and nostalgic for the Edo era that had departed due to modernization.

"Deserted City Moon" is a song that touched me a lot, and I later translated its lyrics into a more rhyming poem, reading the clumsy work as follows.

Arajo Sogetsu

One.

On the night of the spring high-rise building and the bright moon, the grand feast was held in Huatang. The shadows of the people are staggered, and the wine of Yao is flowing.

The thousand-year-old pine leaves are luxuriant, and the ancient strings are melodious. The prosperity of the past is now gone, like sand drifting to wherever it goes.

Two.

The autumn battlefield is frosted, and the remnants of flowers and grass reflect the slanting sun. The sound of geese chirping has been in the sky for a long time, and the twilight clouds are yellow.

The sword light of the Hongying Sword shines brightly, and the strings of the plucked piano are thoughts. Where the flowers are, the moon and the moon, looking back and remembering the heart of sorrow.

Three.

On the night of the fifteenth bright moon in the deserted city, the four wild winds rose and became desolate. Haoyue was still the same as before, and the silver glow was cold and clear.

The decadent walls are left behind, and the dead vines and wild vines surround the remnants of the walls. The pine forest only listens to the wind and rain, and the cold night does not hear the strings.

Four.

Vast space is ancient, dust and moonlight for thousands of years. The prosperity and prosperity of the world are fleeting and vicissitudes.

The clouds of smoke passed over the twilight, and the sleep and dreams had been forgotten. Tonight the bright moon rises in the deserted city, and the clear light shines on me alone.

Far-reaching significance

Back to the point. After combing through the causes of the founding of the Alliance and the Tohoku War, it is not difficult to find that although this war was part of the Bochen War, the various clans did not participate in the war for the purpose of aiding the shogunate, nor did they resist the new government of the Aizu Domain. It was the struggle of the Okuba clans to resist oppression, to seek means of self-preservation, and to defend their homeland. It is essentially egoistic rather than altruistic, so it cannot be called a "shogunate force", and the leaders of the alliance during the Tohoku War and the leaders of the fleeing old shogunate army had disputes over many issues, including leadership, and it is even more impossible to classify them as "remnants of the shogunate". The reason why the Okuwa Etsu domain alliance cooperated with the old shogunate generals Takeyoshi Yukimoto and Keisuke Otori to fight against the new government was out of morality and simple feelings for the shogunate, and affection was not their duty. Thus this war needs to be discussed separately. However, from the perspective of the new government, whether it was the "Shogun Army", the "Kaizhuang Alliance" or the "Okugo-Etsu Domain Alliance", and later the "Ezo Republic", they were all enemies and had deep intersections, so they were hastily classified as "Shogunate Side". I believe that seeing this you can already identify the similarities and differences between them. In order to distinguish the confusion that the various domains are the "shogunate side" under the shogunate, I prefer to call it the "shogunate side", that is, standing on the side close to the shogunate, the other side of the new government, and not necessarily affiliation.

Some people said: "In the end, we must also surrender, why did the Oyu Lie clan know this in the first place?" Could it be that in the face of a strong enemy they could not have guessed that they would be defeated? In fact, the Okuwa Yue-Etsu Domain Alliance had anticipated the defeat of this battle before the war began, and for example, the old Saigo Laimu of the Aizu Clan had repeatedly advised not to use force against each other, that is, to see the inevitable end of defeat. However, this battle had to be fought, and it was fought with great significance. The Tohoku clans were worried that if the new government army were allowed to ravage the lands of Aizu, a powerful clan in the northeast, how would the new government treat other clans in the future? The truth of the cold of the lips and teeth is known to the world.

The execution of Matsudaira Ronho was a great insult to the Daimyo from the Daimyo to the Matsudaira clan down to the Aizu samurai. Before the Tohoku War, the condition for the surrender of the Aizu Domain was to save the lord of the domain, and in the end they did it. In the end, the Aizu courtiers urged the Meiji government to deal with the defeated side according to the customs of samurai society, and the courtiers were punished by the abdomen and pardoned by the father and son. Matsudaira Eiho, the lord of the Aizu Domain, was spared the death penalty and moved to Tottori Domain; Tosa Tanaka and Jimbo Uzosuke, who were the elders of the family, should have been sentenced to self-punishment, but they had already been cut off due to the humiliation of defeat; Saigo Raimu had left Aizu at this time and went to Ezo to continue to resist, and was not in the ranks of punishment; so in fact, only 1 member of the Family's oldest seat, Susano Kwonbei, was sentenced to be responsible for the war and committed suicide by cutting his abdomen, reducing the punishment to the lowest point.

In the end, the new government army failed to achieve "but when the flowers are not exhausted, Hiraru Ao, qi cherry blossoms." The hysteria, and the Choshu staff officer Seira Shuzo, who said this at the end of the war, had also moved his head for 5 months, which was the best ridicule of the Sasaga by the Okuyu Domain. Although the defeat of Yu Rong not only preserved the reputation of the Aizu Domain, but also played the backbone of the Tohoku Domain. They used their actions to let the new government know that the people of this area were fierce and not soft persimmons that the people of the new government could handle at will; although the Okuwa Yue-Lie Domain Alliance was militarily defeated, it not only gained political room for negotiation with its opponents, but also preserved the reputation of the Tohoku domains, surrender was not unconditional surrender, and the conditions for the surrender of aizu Domain after the war were much more lenient: Matsudaira Ryōho's life and the inheritance of his young son Matsudaira Hiroyō were guaranteed. It was not in vain, preserving the last dignity of the samurai era that was coming to an end.

In contrast, the Akita, Hirosaki, and Sanchun clans, which had defected to the new government, were abandoned after the war, and the new government refused to honor its promises to them, and war compensation and post-war aid were not received, which became the reason for the civil rights movement in these domains. Crossing the river and demolishing bridges is a major feature of the Meiji government, which warns us not to trust the rhetoric of the enemy and not to become a disposable tool for others.

We should not measure the integrity of the samurai through the eyes of today's people, nor can we measure the habits of samurai society by today's laws, let alone misunderstand what the samurai fought for. To evaluate history, we must return to history itself, and under the specific conditions of the time, Aizu's struggle fulfilled both righteousness and obligation, showing the supreme samurai spirit of that old era, which can still be remembered by future generations a hundred years later, and it has to be said that it is the best ending.

【Three Points of the War】Sixth Period Northern Conquest and Ezo Pacification (Yumoto Fleet Conquest of the Northern Land, Tufang Year Sanping Ezo)

The War finally reached its final stage, the Battle of the Samurai (Unification War). This phase began with the Hakodate War (Hakodate Scramble) and ended with Kaesong goryokaku. The period was December 4, 1868 – June 27, 1869 (october 21 to May 18 of meiji 2nd year of the Meiji calendar).

Since the new government forces planned to take Aizu before the winter, the attacks have become more and more intense, and the alliance has fallen apart. Knowing that it would be more difficult to stay in the northeast, Takeyoshi took together the old shogunate army and the Okuwa samurai who were reluctant to surrender, and gathered on the coast of Sendai, preparing to set off for the other side of the Tsugaru Strait in the north, where they continued the resistance in the barren land of Ezo.

At this time, the Sendai Clan was already obedient, and when he heard that Takeyoshi Yukimoto was going to continue fighting, Hoshito Taro, who was dissatisfied with Sendai's humiliating surrender, resolutely led the clan soldiers "Advance Troops" to break out of the clan and join the ranks of Yumoto. Hoshikantaro was a brave man who had studied Western tactics in Edo, and his troops were also elite divisions, using the British training method, dressed in a red woolen military uniform imitating the British style, holding British equipment, not only with infantry, artillery, sappers, non-commissioned officers, but also military bands, as if it was a replica of the British army, and their joining made the old shogunate army ignite a glimmer of hope.

The forces of the old shogunate's army, navy, remnants of various clans, Akiyoshi, Stormtroopers, Seeing The Nation, and the New Selection Group were reunited, and with hatred, they braved the cold sea breeze and embarked on a journey of nine deaths on a warship.

Ezo's Hakodate was once the first port for the shogunate to sign a treaty with the United States, and it was also an important place for coastal defense. After the start of the Bochen War, it was taken over by the new government, and the Hakodate Prefecture was established, and the Hakodate Army was organized, and Goryokaku became a stronghold to block the shogunate army. Takeyoshi Yukimoto had a plan to establish a new regime, and for this reason he needed the support of other countries. In order not to disturb the foreign emissaries and merchants moored on foreign ships in the harbor, the fleet was ordered to dock north of Hakodate and land in the Vulture wood area on the other side of the mountain range, preparing to launch an attack on the defenders of Hakodate Province. Knowing that they were invincible, the Hakodate government asked the new government for help in advance, and reinforcements from fukuyama, Ono, and Matsumae arrived one after another.

Hakodate (present-day Hakodate) is located at 41 degrees north latitude, equivalent to the city of Shenyang in northeast China. This was October 21 of the Old Calendar, December 4, 1868 AD. There were snowflakes in the sky, and the earth was frozen hard. The old shogunate army that landed in the harsh winter was faced with a cruel physical and mental test, and it was easy to suffer losses in rushing to send troops, waiting for the opportunity but not being able to withstand the continuous cooling weather.

Due to the lack of clothing to protect themselves from the cold, there was not much time left for the old shogunate army, and it was necessary to immediately enter the town to obtain supplies. The generals had gone through hundreds of battles, and the elites who remained in the array knew that the inexperienced Hakodate Army was not an opponent, and the victory or defeat had long been decided before the battle began. In order to avoid unnecessary casualties, the old shogunate army marched and sent a group of emissaries led by Hitomi Katsutaro to Goryokaku with a petition, hoping that the Hakodate government would hand over the castle in exchange for their personal safety and thus avoid fighting. However, the Hakodate government, which had miscalculated its own strength, sent troops to attack the envoys who were resting in the camp, and the provocative behavior ignited the anger of the samurai, and war broke out.

Crusade against the rude

Under the planning of Takeyoshi Yukimoto, three thousand troops crossed the snowy mountains on foot and marched in many ways. The army led by Keisuke Otori and Hitami Katsutaro's emissaries defeated several enemy troops, and the three-body pioneer of Tokata, known as the "Oni Vice Chief", entered the enemy line and broke through the heavily fortified new government forces along the way, which was unstoppable. Hearing that the old shogunate army was approaching, the governor of the Hakodate Prefecture, Kiyomizutani Gongkao (Gongqing), who had been defeated in a series of defeats, believed that Goryokaku was not enough to resist the old shogunate army, so he fled in a hurry, and fled with his troops to the Aomori area of Honshu Island by foreign ships, and the old shogunate army was able to enter and occupy Goryokaku without blood. This day is October 26 in the Old Calendar, just 5 days after the landing. The next day, the Akimoto fleet sailed into Hakodate Port, and the soldiers of the Akita Domain, who had betrayed the Okuwa-Etsu Domain alliance, had not yet heard the news of the approaching of the old shogunate army, and the Akita warship "Kaohsiung Maru" moored in the harbor was captured, and the captain Keizo Tajima and a group of sailors were taken prisoner. The old shogunate changed the name of the "Kaohsiung Maru" purchased from the United States to "The Second Heaven", and later the ship also participated in the Miyako Bay Surprise Attack.

After occupying goryokaku and Hakodate Port, the old shogunate army decided to take advantage of the victory to pursue and completely pacify Ezo. So he advanced along the coastline and defeated the soldiers of Fukuyama and Ono. As in the march to Goryokaku, the generals sent emissaries to Matsumae, the only domain in the Ezo region, to avoid war by sacrificing the castle. However, matsumae clan was even more arrogant in killing the emissaries. No need to talk about it, just go straight to the army.

On October 27, 700 soldiers led by Togata Tsuchizo attacked Matsumae Domain, and the lord of the domain, Matsumae Tokuhiro, fled on news, and by the time Tokukata arrived, he had taken refuge in Tatemura New Town (Tateyama Castle), leaving behind 500 soldiers in the city. On November 1, after the defeat of the Matsumae clan army, the Matsumae clan changed their combat strategy and refused to meet the battle, and according to the siege of the castle, the strong main gate was not conducive to the samurai's frontal attack. The old shogunate army began to besiege the castle in support of warship shelling, and a small group led by Togata crept around to the back gate south of Matsumae Castle. Matsumae's soldiers responded urgently, brought in a cannon to open the back door and shoot outward, then withdrew to close the city gate to load, and then opened the door again to open the cannon, repeated many times. The defenders of the city walls blocked the samurai who tried to approach the back door with fire. At one point, it caused a lot of trouble for the soldiers who were short of troops attacking the back door. However, it was not long before the sharpshooters of the old shogunate army were in place, and they saw the opportunity to open the door and shoot the Matsumae soldiers who were responsible for opening and closing the gate and moving the cannon. The enemy army panicked, and Tufang took advantage of the situation to draw his sword and enter the city first to launch a white-knife battle, killing many people and boosting morale. At this time, the gates on the north side had also been breached, forming a front-to-back attack, and within a few hours, they attacked Honmaru and occupied the entire Matsumae Castle. On November 5 (December 18, 1868 in the Gregorian calendar), Matsumae Castle fell, and the clan soldiers fled in the direction of Tate castle and Eda in the north, and before leaving, they did not forget to set fire to the castle town, and the residents of the town were miserable.

After a short rest, the old shogunate army sent troops again, pursuing the remnants of the fleeing Eno cha coast all the way and capturing the castle of Kanseong all the way. Shocked by the news, Matsumae tokuhiro led his relatives to flee again on November 12 and hid in Kumagaishi Village. In the early morning of November 15, the old shogunate army arrived at Kanka Castle, and after an hour of fierce fighting between the two sides, the old shogunate army broke through the main gate and broke into the city to start a brutal white-knife battle, and at noon The castle fell. There were also good news in the direction of Kawaza, the coast was blocked by the Tsukimoto fleet, and the land was controlled by the advance troops, but unfortunately, an abnormal storm suddenly blew up on this night, and Kaiyang Maru hit the reef in the fierce wind and waves, and sank along with the Shensu Maru who came to the rescue.

At this point, sighing and mourning are meaningless, and brave acceptance is the real hero. The generals regained their morale and decided to pursue the fleeing Tokuhiro Matsumae and his entourage. The army reached kumashima on the 22nd, where there were still 300 Matsumae soldiers, but unexpectedly there was almost no resistance, and the demoralized Matsumae soldiers surrendered their weapons to the old shogunate army. After inquiry, I learned that the lord of the clan had abandoned his subordinates again, and he did not know when he fled by boat, carrying only his family and cronies, and the generals of the old shogunate army could not laugh when they heard it. Later, Matsumae Tokuhiro and others fled by boat to the Hirosaki domain on November 24, but due to excessive fright and long distances, Tokuhiro finally could no longer run, heptysis and fell, and died on November 29.

At this point, the resistance forces in the Ezo area were completely eliminated and the pacification was completed. It has secured a foothold against the new government and is ready for a general attack by the new government forces when spring comes.

After everything had settled down, the samurai planned to produce weapons and build new warships here, retake Honshu Island in the future, and rebuild the shogunate. However, in this icy and snowy and inaccessible land, how much hope does the dream of these three thousand samurai be realized?

Samurai Republic

The optimistic samurai did not despair of the harsh environment, but on December 15 (January 27, 1869 in the Gregorian calendar), they proclaimed the establishment of the Hakodate regime (also known as the Ezo Island Government, the Ezo Regime, and the Hakodate Regime), and established Asia's first elected republican regime through a more advanced universal suffrage system, which had the prototype of a country. These three thousand samurai were by no means shallow and learned elders, and among them were not only veterans who had experienced hundreds of battles, but also translators, engineers and technicians, as well as French officers who spontaneously left behind to support the old shogunate army, which constituted the necessary condition for the construction of a promised land. Takeyoshi Yukimoto, who was elected president, was a new type of talent who had studied in Europe, and had made great achievements in colonization, reclamation, trade, diplomacy, chemistry, etc.; the army pursued Keisuke Ohtori and was also a famous physician, engineer, orchidologist, and inventor who accepted Western ideas and spoke English.

Thanks to the efforts of the samurai, not only the defenses were reinforced, but even the valuable time of the winter was used to improve and produce new armor-piercing shells (later sunk the Sunrise Maru). They planned for the future of planting cash crops, building factories, establishing modern companies, and trading with countries, not only to strengthen the army, but also to become rich. To address the shortage, the samurai recruited non-commissioned officers from the inhabitants of the city and planned to make contact with the Ainu further north. And from time to time, samurai joined the Ezo regime by boat. As long as you can hold on here, there is still hope!

Thus, a mini-republic founded by elite warriors blossomed in this barren land.

【Three Points of the War】The Seventh Period Of the Fifth Period Ends with the Samurai

Pentagram Epilogue

When the old shogunate army pacified Ezo in the middle of a severe winter, the new government decided to recuperate and launch an offensive attack in the spring of the following year in order to avoid winter attrition; although it took advantage of the precious winter to barely gain a foothold, it lost the warships "Kaiyang Maru" and "Shensu Maru" and lost the ability to defend the sea. Thus a war with no suspense in the outcome is about to begin.

In the spring, the new government sent three times as many troops as the Ezo regime, advancing on land and sea, determined to break through the last defense of the samurai. The Turkish generals of the third class were flexible in alternating position warfare and guerrilla warfare, and had successfully blocked the new government forces on many occasions, but they did not help with the huge disadvantage of losing coastal defense and not having reliable logistics. The overall situation deteriorated, and the front line continued to shrink. When the old members of the new selection group, Shimada Takashi, and others were besieged in Bententai, the anxious Tufang, in order to rescue them, rode on horseback to lead a small number of soldiers to meet the battle, and finally fell off his horse during the battle at the gate of Ichiki, and died and was buried in the box hall. Seven days later, on June 27, 1869 (old calendar: May 18, Meiji 2), the Ezo regime collapsed. Takeyoshi originally decided to take charge of the soldiers by cutting the abdomen, but was persuaded by Otsuka Ho no No. Ōtsuka, and finally Yukimoto attended the surrender ceremony.

After the opening of the castle, more than a thousand remaining Ezo soldiers were taken prisoner, and Takeyoshi Yukimoto, Taro Matsudaira, Keisuke Otori, Ukunosuke Arai, Naoshi Nagai, Iwayoshi Matsuoka, and Soma were arrested and imprisoned.

The most empressed samurai in the box is a famous phrasing, Aridokata 3rd "Sogo-so-shi martyrdom, Tadatama Nagae 岛"(Even if the body decays to the island root of Ezo, the soul is the eastern you and yamaran). Insolving town, the name of investible color, the name of the underworld-like, but with the two children, the underworld-like Naka-Saburo assisted Shiro Shōkuya-Yin- Residence: Koyu-du-Yin blood is here and there It is a shōgisu bloody spirit (I also vomit blood), the self-serving general death person, and the White Peony general high arrogant shore (I am also called a dead man white peony). The first term of the first term of 还迖过过迂fu 递谪愿书见书胜书胜战褨脵证诃诟谪谭书谭肐肐褨褅

Tens of thousands of traitors came by land and sea

Piles of lonely skeletons

All the money has been put to this day

Good to make five-year-old under the moss

The surrendered samurai were either executed or died in prison, some died, and some were pardoned and expelled from the new government because of their talents, and the War of Pengchen came to an end.

Samurai War (Unification War)

As mentioned earlier, during the Tohoku War, the independent will of the "old shogunate" had been lost, and the Okuwa-Etsu domain alliance had been defeated, so the war at this stage was not led by these two, but the will of the "Ezo government army" reorganized from the "old shogunate army", so it was listed separately. To speak of the nature of this war, it is necessary to combine the ideas of the participants.

Although the soldiers of the Ezo regime came from different places and belonged to different parts, they were not forcibly taken to Ezo land, but voluntarily participated; and after the end of the Northeast War, it was learned that Takeyoshi Yukimoto had successfully established power in Goryokaku, and some of the clans of Oyu Lie domain left the clan and crossed the sea to Ezo land by boat to continue to participate in the struggle against the new government. In order not to be insulted by the righteous battle, Yumoto also released the captured new government soldiers before the war. This is in stark contrast to the new government forces that broke into the neutral Hakodate Hospital. It is worth mentioning that the French officers and soldiers in the Ezo regime also disobeyed the order of the French government to return to China and joined the war according to their own will. Perhaps the people of the Hakodate regime know how difficult this road is, but they go forward without regret for the justice in their hearts.

So what is their purpose? Is it to build a new country that does not belong to Japan? Not really. As a de facto regime, the Ezo clan internally called itself the "Lord of the Samurai Order of the General Tokugawa of Ezo" and was willing to provide part of the income to the Shizuoka Domain (i.e., the Tokugawa clan, which was reduced to a common daimyo after the abolition of the shogunate) to maintain its expenses, showing that the original intention was still to serve the declining Tokugawa family. Fundamentally, the Ezo regime was established for two main reasons:

Denying the legitimate status of the new government of Sa Chang, he demanded that the Qing emperor be exonerated from the crime of "enemy of the DPRK".

He hoped to rebuild the shogunate and restore the samurai regime, and restore the samurai era under the shogun Tokugawa Keiki.

Because of the second point, this part is called the Samurai War. Some people mentioned that some works refer to Saigo Takamori as "the last samurai", so can the Southwest War also be called "samurai war" from this point of view? I don't think so. Because the Southwest War took place in 1877 (Meiji Decade), the Meiji government had already stripped the samurai of their privileges, and it had been nearly a decade since the demise of the samurai regime and the demise of the samurai class, and the samurai who participated in the rebellion, the Satsuma region, had now been transformed into the "old samurai clan", so it was more appropriate to call it the "War of the Samurai Clan".

The Ezo regime is not subjectively a force dividing Japan, but since the new government has just been established, it will be difficult for the new government to cope with problems such as financial constraints, chaotic government decrees, many daimyo, and estrangement between the central and local governments. Although the shogunate system can no longer be maintained in the context of the modern era, the thinking of most Japanese people has not changed at this time, so it still has a strong appeal, and there is a serious threat to the new government, which will make Japan's break of the old system to become tortuous and repeated. Just like the many dynastic changes in France, the restoration of the Chinese monarchy. In order to prevent the future recognition of the Ezo regime by other countries, the Ezo regime caused the division of the Ezo regime, and Japan was de facto divided. Therefore, the new government decided that it must capture Ezo, so it called it the "War of Unification".

It is important to point out a misconception: although there were a considerable number of Okuba warriors in the Ezo regime, the Ezo regime should not be regarded as a successor to the Otsugoku-Etsu Domain Alliance. Not only was the establishment of the Ezo regime a general of the old shogunate rather than a general of the alliance, but most importantly, their policies and ideas were very different. To cite one point, the Ezo regime did not claim to oppose Emperor Meiji, but still used the name of the Kiyogun side as a big difference from the alliance that established another "Emperor Tobu".

I remember a long time ago when someone asked me a question, probably "Why did the shogunate side still lose the battle by far outstepping the new government forces?" I would like to see that many people here can already give explanations, such as the shogunate army is not well prepared, the new government army uses pseudo-pennants, the shogunate side is not monolithic, etc., but to answer this question, we must first return to the problem itself, that is, the problem itself is a false proposition. In the entire Boshin War, only the first phase of the Battle of Toba Fushimi was fought by the two sides in a limited contest, when the shogunate's flank was more than twice as strong as the new government army. After the defeat of the shogunate army, many feudal states joined the ranks of the new government, so the balance of combat power fell to the new government. In almost all the major battles (thousands of men and above) since then, the old shogunate army has fought with sporadic combat units and a few isolated clans against the new government forces, which have a much advantage in strength, weapons, logistics, and fame. Sometimes the difference in strength in a single battle would be more than 4 times (in the case of Nagaoka Castle, for example, there were about 6,000 people on the shogunate side and about 28,000 on the new government side), but during the Tohoku War, the total strength of the new government forces could be 10 times more than the alliance.

Thoughts

If we were to look at the Pengchen War and the Meiji Restoration from a materialist perspective of history, would this war have the character of capitalist overthrow of feudalism? Yes, but not enough. If the war to overthrow the Tokugawa family's rule over Japan can be called a class struggle bourgeois revolution, and if it has a certain advanced nature, then because the initiators and participants are the samurai class, this restoration movement retains a large number of feudal remnants that are endlessly harmful, and becomes a breeding ground for militarism. At the same time, the Aizu War was an internal contradiction of the ruling class and an internal contradiction of the (Japanese) people, and the new government did not properly handle the contradictions among the people, which led to the outbreak of war, which can also be explained by the long-term persecution of the people of the Fukushima area by the government afterwards. It is by no means as advanced as the new government and the modern Japanese government claimed to be "safeguarding national unity." It is right to safeguard national unity, but it is unjust to wantonly launch a civil war under the pretext of "safeguarding national unity."

All in all, the War of Pengchen is not a smooth process, which can be divided into a multi-stage war and a confrontation of multiple forces, with twists and turns. This series also puts forward some new ideas, such as "The War of The Five-Fold War can be divided on two levels", "The Okuwa Yue Domain Alliance is not the Samu faction", etc. It is worth mentioning that before writing this manuscript, I consulted many articles and found no similar views. Therefore, if there is a similar article in the future, it is inevitable that there will be a suspicion of plagiarism, and I hope you will inform you. It is a pity that due to the limited space, there are still many details about the Pengchen War that have not been told in time, leave a suspense, and then add it to the video later.

The Pengchen War is a historical event that has passed more than one hundred and fifty years, and we cannot completely restore history, but can only infinitely approach the truth. The views of this series are also to provide a new perspective for the general audience and lovers of the history of the end of the curtain, and also welcome the public to continue to study on this basis, and to support or argue for this article. The video also identifies many common misunderstandings and rumors in the history of the end of the scene, so it prompts everyone to be good at thinking, self-study, remember "knowing is knowing, not knowing is not knowing", being proud of humility and self-pastoralism, and being ashamed of misleading others.

Tokugawa Iejin

2021.4.10