Ming Zuo

Chapter 1675 Battle of Qianqiao
In crisis and crisis, there are opportunities in danger.

While others only saw danger, Toshikatsu Doi saw opportunity.

Regarding the protracted war, he always felt that it was not a good thing for Japan.

After all, the empire was watching from the sidelines. Although there was no action for the time being, if the evil dragon was so kind-hearted, Doi Lisheng would not believe it even if he killed it.

He is different from Tokugawa Iemitsu who only sits in the shogunate.

Over the years, for the sake of war, he has traveled all over the country, supervising government affairs, and has the best understanding of the situation of the people.

He knew that the people had reached the point of collapse.

What the common people can afford has gone beyond the limit.

If the war continues, before the Tokugawa shogunate and the foreign daimyo decide the outcome, the rioting people will make them die without a place to bury them.

Now the news of riots in various places, especially the result of the failure of Date Zongsheng to counter the rebellion, made Doi Toshikatsu think that the war could not be dragged on any longer.

It is necessary to eliminate the foreign daimyo as soon as possible, and then recuperate in order to preserve the national system of Japan.

Before the two sides were evenly matched, there was no hope of an immediate end to the war.But the crisis within the shogunate this time made him feel that this is a good opportunity to invite the king into the urn.

"The riots on the rebellious side are far less serious than ours, and they will definitely be quelled quickly. At that time, those foreign daimyos will definitely take the opportunity to send troops to kill us. Their eagerness is an opportunity we can take advantage of."

Toshikatsu Doi talked about his ideas, but Date Masamune was anxious.

"What about Sendai?"

Sendai is the home of the Date family. Others don't care about it, but Date Masamune can't ignore it.

If there is no Sendai, the Date family will not exist.

"As long as the shogunate is in place, the Date family will have a future."

Doi Toshikatsu's cold words forced Date Masamune to calm down even though he was aggrieved.

"The war has been going on for too long, and the money and manpower of the shogunate have bottomed out. It is undoubtedly the best to end the war as soon as possible."

Tokugawa Iemitsu spoke and set the tone for this matter.

At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu was somewhat regretful.

Although he is an excellent leader, he is not as good as his father and grandparents because he has no battle experience.

So that in the face of war, he can only count on the ministers and generals below, but his own eyes are darkened.

Never underestimate this.

This means that he does not have much say in the military, nor can he effectively control the progress of the war.

This is why the Tokugawa shogunate has been unable to defeat the foreign daimyo for a long time.

Compared with him, the foreign daimyos, whether it is Kato Tadahiro, Shimadzu Mitsuhiro, Mori Mitsuhiro, etc., all have rich experience in the battlefield.

These people are always on the front line and can make adjustments to the battle situation at any time, which effectively avoids the shortcomings of foreign daimyos in all aspects.

But Toshikatsu Doi was right, the foreign daimyos had reached their limits, and they must have been impatient to end the war.

And this eagerness is an opportunity that the Tokugawa shogunate can take advantage of.

On the seaside of Tottori, the sound of shouting and killing was overwhelming, and the smell of blood permeated the world.

Seeing the daimyo's army pressing from all directions, the rebels were filled with grief and indignation.

They asked the leader angrily: "Where is the agreed reinforcement? Why haven't they come yet?"

The leader of the rebel army was powerless and looked desperate.

At this time, he still didn't understand that he was deceived.

The people of those empires only used them as cannon fodder, and they didn't intend to invest too much in them at all.

They retreated to the seaside, hoping that the empire would respond from the sea.

However, there was nothing at sea.

The daimyo's army continued to shrink the encirclement, and batch after batch of rebels were killed.

Even if someone surrendered, the daimyo army would not accept it.

The foreign daimyo hated these troublemakers to the core, and vowed to use the cruelest means to frighten those who dared to resist.

"These people are wolves and ambitious. Once they are in power, they will definitely be greedy. Their use value is over. Now let their death make the people of Dongpu completely desperate."

In the army of foreign daimyo, the observers of the empire leisurely watched the battlefield.

They didn't care about the destruction of the rebel army at all.

Even if these rebels were instigated by them.

After all, the leaders of these rebels are basically not good people, and few of them are pure farmers.

They just hoped to rely on the help of the empire to make a fortune. Once they succeeded, they would not have any loyalty to the empire, and it would be a kind of harm to the people of Dongpu.

That being the case, it is in the best interest of the empire to use them to cause trouble and damage to foreign daimyos.

Now it seems that the effect is very good.

The entire Tottori area has been completely destroyed, a large area of ​​land is barren, and the population has dropped to only [-]%, most of whom are old, young, women and children.

The status quo in Tottori is also the status quo in the entire western part of Japan.

The source of soldiers that foreign daimyo can recruit from the people has gradually dried up.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that they were about to lose their hold.

The battle was quickly over.

None of the Tottori rebels survived, and they were all killed by the daimyo army.

The only place left behind has become a ghost.

If there is no external investment, these places will not be able to recover their vitality for at least 30 years.

But the foreign daimyo no longer cared about this. Knowing that the shogunate troops retreated in large numbers and went to Sendai to suppress the rebellion, they felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"My lords, the rise and fall of the imperial kingdom will be done in one fell swoop!"

Maori Guangguang is the most active.

The Changshu Domain is different from other domains in that it is located on the island of Honshu.As a result, most of the wars in the past few years were fought in the territory of Changzhou Fan.

The Changzhou Fan suffered the most serious damage.

Mori Mitsuhiro most hopes that the war will end quickly, even if the battlefield is pushed outside the Changzhou Domain.

Shimadzu Mitsuhisa and others also felt that this was a godsend, and immediately marched eastward.

The navy of the Satsuma clan rushed across the Seto Inland Sea, braving the strong winds in July and August, and rushed to Shizuoka along the south coast of Honshu Island.

Once Shizuoka is taken, it is equivalent to opening the west gate of Edo.

Mori Mitsuhiro, Kato Tadahiro and others led the army to advance rapidly along the north coast and reoccupied Nagano.

Their next goal is to cross the narrow Saku Valley and rush into the Edo Plain.

"Ogasawara-kun, you must defend Saku to the death, even if the entire army is wiped out, you must not retreat."

Doi Toshikatsu took over as the general of the shogunate army, showing an extremely tough side.

He wants Saku Shou to kill Saburo Ogasawara.

It is a real death.

With the [-] soldiers and horses on hand of Saburo Ogasawara, it is absolutely impossible to stop the attack of the foreign daimyo.

And Doi Toshikatsu did not intend to support, but sat back and watched the foreign daimyo capture Saku, and finally rushed to the Maebashi.

When you reach Maebashi, you enter the Edo Plain.

This will inevitably greatly increase the morale of the foreign daimyo, prompting them to march more quickly.

The long and narrow Saku Valley must be very cautious because of the dangerous terrain.But once they came to the flat front bridge, they would inevitably relax their vigilance.

Maebashi was the location chosen by Toshikatsu Doi for the decisive battle.

Saburo Ogasawara's battle to the death was the first step in tactical deception.

Convincing the foreign daimyo that the shogunate army really went to Sendai to suppress the rebellion, and the entire Edo Plain was extremely empty.

(End of this chapter)