Ming Zuo

Chapter 1678 Prelude to the Final Chapter

Hidetoshi Date and Mitsuhiro Mori collided head-on, and it could be said that enemies met each other, and they were extremely jealous.

What Date Hidezong wants to do most is to defeat the daimyo coalition forces as soon as possible, and then return to Sendai to quell the chaos.

Mao Li Guangguang has nothing to say. If he wants to escape, there is only one way.

In the narrow Saku Valley, the two sides had no room to move around and could only fight head-to-head.

Fortunately, the daimyo coalition forces have more troops, and with no other way to escape, it is very terrifying to fight for their lives.

After fighting for more than an hour, Date Xiuzong couldn't stand it anymore.

Seeing that the front line was crumbling, Date Xiuzong became anxious.

He is absolutely unbeatable here.

Once the main force of the daimyo's army is released, all previous plans will come to nothing.

No one knows how the chaos in Sendai will develop. The resources of the shogunate have bottomed out, and they really can't afford it.

Compared with the Tokugawa shogunate, the foreign daimyos are at a disadvantage in terms of population, resources, territory, etc., but at this level of fighting, the Tokugawa shogunate absolutely cannot make up for one advantage of the foreign daimyos.

That is sea power.

The foreign daimyo has the Satsuma domain, a traditional maritime power, and the most convenient aspect is that it can smoothly trade with foreign countries.

In this era of Japan, the objects of trade are undoubtedly in the West.

This has led to foreign daimyos being able to pass trade or some resources, but the navy of the Tokugawa shogunate is not very strong, and it is almost impossible to pass through the control area of ​​foreign daimyos.

If it weren't for the empire ignoring the foreign daimyo's blockade and being able to come and trade some supplies to the Tokugawa shogunate, the situation of the Tokugawa shogunate would be even more difficult.

This time, taking advantage of the eagerness of the foreign daimyo, he finally set up a killing situation.Once missed, the following situation will be very unfavorable to the Tokugawa shogunate.

Date Hidezong is well aware of this.

Thinking of the terrible ending after the defeat, he also began to go crazy.

"All are not allowed to retreat, and follow this general to attack with all our strength."

Date Xiuzong no longer sat firmly in the middle army, but urged the horses under his crotch to rush to the forefront.

At the critical moment, the performance of the main general can play the role of Dinghaishenzhen.

The soldiers of the shogunate, who were a little scared at first, saw the main general leave the field in person, and their morale was immediately boosted, and they turned around and followed.

How the shogunate army changes, the daimyo army doesn't care at all.

They want to escape, there is only one way.No matter how stubborn or wavering the enemy is, they cannot change their determination to fight bloody to the end.

The battle in the valley has reached a fever pitch.

"At this point, there is no wisdom to speak of between the two sides, it is purely a contest of brute force. Date Xiuzong's personal bloody courage can only slightly hinder it, and it will not play a key role."

On the nearby hillside, the military observers of the empire were like spectators, giving comments leisurely.

Although there are a large number of generals in the armies of both sides as their students, in the eyes of these observers, these students are undoubtedly unqualified.

But there is no way, this is the character in the bones of Dongying people, and it cannot be changed by acquired teaching.

Besides, from the standpoint of the empire, of course I hope that the two sides in Japan will fight as hard as possible.

Sure enough, it was hit.

In the ensuing battle, Date Xiuzong's courage only persisted for a short period of time.Facing the tide of daimyo's army, he paid a desperate price.

During the melee, he and his guards were separated from the others, unable to support each other.

Mitsuhiro Mori, who was scarred and bruised, found Date Hidezong's handsome flag in the chaos, and was still a little suspicious for a while.

Mao Liguang was overjoyed when he saw Date Xiuzong was precarious and full of dangers.

Like a poisonous snake lurking in the darkness, the elite he led without saying a word suddenly bumped into Yida Xiuzong from the side.

Ita Xiuzong was already struggling to survive, and the sudden appearance of Mori Mitsuhiro made it too late for him to deal with it.

The cold light was like lightning, and a 20-centimeter-long incision was made in Yida Xiuzong's rib, and blood and internal organs gushed out in an instant.

Accompanied by Date Hidemune's little remaining strength.

He hooted twice, trying to see what happened.Before turning around, his head flew into the sky.

Mao Li Guangguang's face was ferocious, he grabbed the falling head and shouted loudly.

"Yida Xiuzong is dead, who dares to fight?"

The surrounding shogunate troops paused one after another, and when they saw Date Hidezong was indeed killed in battle, their morale collapsed rapidly.

Everyone scrambled to escape, for fear of being left behind and dying under the butcher knife of the daimyo army.

Seeing that the shogunate army's blocking was broken, Mori Mitsuhiro couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief, then felt his body empty, and sat on the ground on the spot.

"General, you can't rest, you have to go as soon as possible, we are not out of the woods yet."

The subordinate's reminder was very timely.

Just when Mitsuhiro Mori defeated Date Hidemune, Toshikatsu Doi from behind finally caught up.

This is the main force of the shogunate army, and it is a new force full of energy.

The daimyo's army that was dragging behind did not end well either, bearing the brunt of it.

Exhausted, they were chased by Doi Toshikatsu's army and fled frantically forward, only to break up the front formation again.

Hearing the loud shouts of killing from behind, Mao Liguangguang's hair stood on end, and he had to keep his head on his way with the help of his guards.

After Tosho Doi leveled the battlefield, he learned the news of Date Hidezong's death from the surviving soldiers, and felt powerless.

For this battle, his plan can be described as impeccable.Even so, it still fell short.

It is not difficult to see from this that the shogunate has indeed reached the point of exhaustion.

Fortunately, this battle ended with the victory of the Tokugawa shogunate.

The five-day pursuit caused the daimyo army to lose more than two-thirds of its strength and lost all its supplies.Not only will they no longer be able to organize an offensive in the short term, but they will also be pushed back by the Tokugawa shogunate.

As long as the shogunate army can stabilize the internal situation, even if resources are insufficient, they can advance by leaps and bounds.

On the contrary, on the side of the daimyo coalition forces, it must be impossible to raise more troops.

All the young and strong people in the west of Japan have been hollowed out, and even children over the age of 15 have already gone to the battlefield.

Without the army, the Gaiyang daimyo was doomed to failure.

The most terrible thing is that another army led by Mitsuhisa Shimadzu is still in the east, and how to withdraw has become a huge problem.

But none of that matters anymore.

Inside the Imperial Embassy in Edo, the murder of an Imperial businessman by the Shogunate troops has come to light.

The ambassador who heard the news was furious, and immediately realized that the long-awaited opportunity had finally come.

"Send the news back immediately, this will be the best excuse for the empire to enter Japan."

(End of this chapter)