1902
Episode Sixty The Battle of Goryoukaku
I can't imagine that the government, the de facto masters of Hokkaido,
are going to hand over the land just because we have this deed book.
Ask Enomoto Takeaki for help.
And how are we supposed to meet somebody so important?
The Meiji government is after the deed book.
That's why we've hid it here.
The deed book will be stolen before it gets to Enomoto-san.
But I know one Nispa who may help.
1869
When we were negotiating the land purchase with Enomoto-san,
we would often go to Goryoukaku.
Without knowing that the Hakodate War was only going to get worse...
Kimuspu, water the horses, please.
Okay.
That's an unusual tattoo.
Does it mean anything?
No...
I'll help.
I need to water my own horses, too.
No, it's all right, Nispa.
Are the Ainu who just went into the magistrate's office with you?
Yes.
They'll buy the clams and seaweed we harvest, they say.
I see.
I leave Enomoto-san in charge of everything here.
All I'm good with are battles, horses, and women.
This handsome young man was, I later learned,
one of the leaders of the Ezo Republic, Hijikata Toshizou.
Enomoto-san had not told Hijikata-san,
or any of his close allies, about the land purchase.
The plan was carried out in secret.
We were preparing to give the gold to the Ezo Republic.
Keep your guard up.
If they find out that we're hiding the gold in the Russian consulate,
they'll steal it all.
If we can take out just what we're using for the deal,
and split it up, carry it by land and by sea...
But while we were preparing, the central government began an all-out attack.
They fired their ships' guns from off the coast.
The defeated soldiers set fire to the city. It was chaos.
Looks like everybody's fleeing to Mt. Hakodate.
The handsome Nispa from before!
Forget him!
He's with Enomoto-san!
We have to help him!
We treated him in an inn whose owner had fled,
and helped him hide from the government's soldiers.
The Kaitenmaru was burned.
"The invincible Kaiten is nothing but bones," they're saying.
The Kaitenmaru was a warship that Hijikata-san fought aboard.
Fort Benten Daiba is all that's left...
We must protect it.
Or the ships' guns will bring down Goryoukaku...
He was shot on his way to reinforce Benten Daiba.
The fort surrendered yesterday while you were asleep, Nispa.
Kimuspu-san...
I have a request...
Take me to Mt. Hakodate.
You've come to see this statue of Kannon?
It was the sound of ships' cannons firing on Goryoukaku.
Hey, you!
I knew it!
You're Hijikata Toshizou!
Don't shoot!
I thought that if the Ezo Republic fell,
the Ainu would lose their land. I was desperate.
Stop it, Kimuspu!
Everyone will be killed!
I'm sorry...
I won't forget the debt I owe you for saving me.
I felt guilty for handing him over to the government's men,
and never told Enomoto-san about him.
But for some reason, I never heard any stories about Hijikata Toshizou
being arrested, or executed.
Several years later, I heard rumors here and there that he was imprisoned.
I once heard it from a man who was his jailer, too.
Hijikata Toshizou yet lives.
Perhaps that Nispa may get word to Enomoto Takeaki for us.
Are you going to become a prison guard and help him escape, then?
Hijikata Toshizou...
After that, the Meiji government began to follow us.
We killed many of theirs, and they killed many of ours.
So we kept it hidden.
The deed book, and this cursed gold, all of it.
Let's move it somewhere else, for now.
Kimuspu, you told your younger brother about this consulate, right?
I know a good place.
We'll hide the gold dust here,
and try to inspire the Ainu to rise up.
And if Hijikata Toshizou hasn't forgotten his debt...
He'll help the Ainu in the future.
Asirpa...
They're back!
Into the holes!
Oh, shit!
It's started again.
Get out of there!
All three of you, grab the rope!
Shiraishi, let's leave the gold for now.
No, I'm staying here!
You idiot! One hit from that cannon and you'll be buried alive!
We're gonna have to stay holed up in here and fight.
If we lose, we'll never see the gold again!
They didn't believe the deed book was real?
We need to hurry!
So they stopped firing the ships' cannons for a while
because Nagakura-san pretended to surrender and bought us time, I guess?
Nagakura told the truth about the deed book.
That's what I would do to get them to stop firing those cannons, if I were him.
During the Hakodate War, Goryoukaku had a tall magistrate's office in it.
The Meiji government targeted it with their warships from off the coast,
opening hole after hole in its roof.
The Ezo Republic couldn't take it, and surrendered.
The government won the battle at Goryoukaku
without having to fight at close range.
If there was any better way for the Ezo Republic to fight,
it would've been to use fortifications to wait out the cannon fire.
We don't have the magistrate's building to aim for.
But we can use balloons to be far more accurate than we were then.
They're aiming solely for the fortifications we built on high ground.
We learned during the Siege of Port Arthur
how dangerous those fortifications could be.
Hey, get inside!
It's dangerous out there!
The key to strategy is limiting your opponent's options.
The government of the Manchurian frontier
passed from military to civilian hands,
and now it's falling apart as everyone scrambles for power.
It won't be long before both Manchuria and Hokkaido are stolen by Russia!
We must bring back military rule and concentrate
all power in Manchuria in its hands,
expanding our development of the frontier!
We needed easily-sold gold for that to happen...
But now what we need is the deed book it seems.
But purchasing land in Hokkaido was always part of the plan!
We'll defeat Hijikata Toshizou and his men,
and recover the deed book!
That book should be ours!
We'll use the land to grow mass quantities of opium poppy!
I expect that someday,
the opium we harvest from it will be as valuable as gold in China!
We'll use Hokkaido-grown opium to monopolize power in Manchuria,
and start growing it there as well!
The path to wealth for all of us can also be a way
of memorializing our fallen comrades!
I'll cover the land where the ones I love sleep with opium poppy flowers!
Okay, here they come.
Attack!
Golden Kamuy
After destroying the fortifications on high ground,
155 of Tsurumi's men all rushed the three bridges that lead into Goryoukaku!
South Entrance
North Entrance
East Entrance
Hurry! Get inside Goryoukaku!
Get across the bridge as fast as you can!
Knowledge of the deed book
took away the choice of leveling Goryoukaku.
The area a few dozen meters past the fortifications was unharmed.
The fortifications we took out were decoys!
The trees in the windbreak are 300 meters behind them,
and too far for a retreat.
There's no place to hide on the outside of Goryoukaku.
Keep going! Get inside!
North Entrance
Across the bridge! It's the only way!
If there's no place to hide, jump in the moat!
Hide between the gaps in the bridge's supports!
Order the ships to fire on the fortifications again!
Have them hit near the entrances, too!
Right!
We're too close to the fortifications!
They'll hit Lieutenant Koito over there!
Let's believe that he's worthy to be our flagbearer.
I have to protect the deed book no matter what!
Survivors of the Boshin War, and survivors of the Russo-Japanese War...
I wonder which'll win.
Experience or spirit.
Hey, that soldier.
He's sending a signal!
He's going to have them resume fire! Shoot!
We can't have that!
Okay, I stopped them!
Prepare all the grenades you have, Sergeant Tsukishima!
Gather up grenades!
Lieutenant Koito, follow me!
Take out the enemy on the high ground!
Hang in there! Don't let them inside!
Hijikata-san, let's retreat to the trench behind us!
No, if we fall back they'll charge at us through their own cannon blasts!
We must stop them here!
We'll all be blown to shreds at this rate.
We'll believe in Kadokura's luck.
This is the Kannon statue!
Kannon-sama will have to move.
What is this?
During the Battle of Hakodate,
Hijikata-san and the Shinsengumi hid it here, I'm told.
The Kaitenmaru's main gun.
If the deed book is real,
either Immortal Sugimoto, Hijikata Toshizou, or Asirpa has it!
They should be somewhere inside Goryoukaku, trying to dodge cannon fire.
We'll capture Goryoukaku and take it!
If I send the soldiers in, the enemy's defense will collapse from the inside.
We will be the spear that collapses their defenses!
Let's cross the bridge between shots!
We're sitting ducks out here!
No, wait for Lieutenant Tsurumi's signal!
Look! It's Lieutenant Tsurumi!
The enemy!
Don't get scared!
If your daddy loves you,
then his shells won't land on you!
Just a little more...
Once the cannons blow a few more of them away, we charge!
We're finished, Sofia! Let's fall back!
Get in the holes! I'll stay here!
Near miss off the starboard bow!
An attack from Goryoukaku?
All ships, hurry and weigh anchor!
Hurry.
Right... little to the right. Right.
The four destroyers had lowered their anchors to make their shots
on the Goryoukaku more accurate,
which made them slow to react.
Got 'em!
Yes!
Mansur, you're amazing!
You hit 'em with this antique gun!
Sophia said you were one hell of an artilleryman!
Hurry! Keep 'em coming!
Ship #2, Inazuma, has taken a hit! It's burning!
Gunfire coming from Mt. Hakodate to our starboard!
Cut anchors!
Fleet, begin advancing at minimum speed!
Gun loaded!
Ship #3, Akebono, has taken a hit!
Ship #2, Inazuma, is burning!
Ship #4, Oboro, has taken a hit!
It's going to explode!
Get away from it!
Hey, look! The balloon!
The cannons stopped, too!
Did Kadokura's group pull it off?
We protected Goryoukaku with the Kaitenmaru's main gun.
It's one of the things I didn't get to do last time.
Fleet, turn eight points to starboard!
Ship #4, Oboro, moderately damaged and on fire!
This ship, the Ikazuchi, is the only one still unharmed!
Fire all weapons!
Our target is the enemy on Mt. Hakodate to our port side!
All guns, fire when ready!
They hit back!
Shit! Run!
Mansur, stand up!
Hit him back!
Kirawus, we've done enough!
We need to run!
We need to take down that ship!
We're hit!
Fire back!
Abandon ship!
Prepare the lifeboats!
Commander Koito! Please head to the lifeboats!
I'll stay with the ship.
Commander Koito!
Forget me! Abandon ship!
This is an order!
Otonoshin...
There's the signal!
They've taken the high ground on one side!
Look under the bridge!
They got down there somehow!
I don't hear any gunfire from that hill.
Were they all taken out?
Next time Bushido
Next time: Bushido!