different warring states of japan

Chapter 2197 The time for a decisive battle has come

Tachihara Hisasuna was determined to defend Mikōmiya to the death. The Mori army, which was crossing the Uji River and attacking northward, was blocked on the riverside street line. Without taking the commanding heights of Mikōmiya, they would not be able to move forward.

On the south bank of the Uji River, to the east of Mukaishima, is the Kobayakawa Takkei main formation.

It was already dark at this time. Several generals in the curtain sat silently around the campfire. Sparks from the firewood would occasionally break the awkward silence.

Yoshikawa Hiroie glanced at Kobayakawa Takakage who had a gloomy face and spoke softly.

"The Amago clan fought to the death, and our army's reckless charge has caused huge losses. In just one day, my two reserve troops have been crippled.

Should we change our strategy? This kind of strong attack is too damaging to morale."

Kobayakawa Takakage glanced at the princesses and saw that they all agreed. Finally, he fixed his eyes on Yoshikawa Hiroie's face and said unhappily.

"Change strategy? How do you want to change it? Slow down the attack and wait and see?
The Kanpaku and the saint faced off at Toba-Fushimi, and the two armies faced each other, with a war about to break out.

If we can capture Mikamiya before the decisive battle, we can greatly restrain the flank of Fushimi Castle, squeeze the movement space of the Sōma Army, and help the Kanpaku.

At this moment when the whole world is watching, when life and death are at stake, do you want me to sit back and watch the outcome, and leave everything to fate?

The Amago family was weak, and the garrison of the Mikami Palace had at most six to eight reserve troops, with less than two thousand people.

Our Mori army, with more than 30,000 men, was blocked on the south bank of the Uji River by a mere 1,000 men. We could not advance an inch and could only wait for the outcome of the battle.

Don’t you think it’s ridiculous?

The Mori family had no way out, and the Amago family was unwilling to let the Mori family go. In order to maintain internal stability among the descendants of the gods, the sage rejected all of the Mori family's efforts to communicate.

Takeda Shingen went to Kyoto a few days ago. He didn't even have time to take care of many important affairs in Kanto and had to go to Kyoto to keep vigil for Kousaka Masanobu.

If one of our armies is defeated, do you think Takeda Shingen will let us go?"

Yoshikawa Hiroie was silent for a while and then sighed.

"My army has suffered heavy losses. If I were to forcibly capture the Yuxiang Palace, I'm afraid I would suffer a serious loss of vitality."

Kobayakawa Takakage said firmly.

“I don’t want to hear your casualty figures, I just want Yuxiang Palace.

If you can capture Mikagamiya and effectively support the Kanpaku's frontal battlefield, you will be the first hero of my Mori family. No matter how much you lose, I will report your merits to the Kanpaku after the war and make up for your losses."

Although Kobayakawa Takakage looked calm and spoke sharply, her heart had actually been in turmoil for a long time.

The bastard Kuroda Kotaka forced her to use the body of Kousaka Masanobu to attack Katsuryuji Castle, but she failed to capture the city and the three sisters of the descendants of God, but she did end up with an irreconcilable blood feud.

Uesugi Yoshikage's first battle was a disastrous defeat, and Takeda Yoshinobu even lost the close retainers with whom he had grown up.

The eldest and second eldest of the Shiba clan hated Kobayakawa Takakage to the core and would never let her go.

In addition, there were two mothers of the gods, Amago Yukimori and Takeda Shingen. . Kobayakawa Takakage was completely trapped in a dead end by Hideyoshi Ichijo, and he could only fight desperately.

The Mori family owned a million koku of land in the western part of the country and could be called the overlord, but in fact they were more like the leader of the samurai alliance.

The core Mori Ryokawa system became turbulent due to the early death of Mori Takamoto and the different political lines of the Yoshikawa and Kobayakawa sisters, not to mention the fence-sitters on the periphery.

There are more than ten countries in the west, and each of them has its own powerful families. In Izumo alone, there are the Ten Flags of the Amago clan, the former subordinates of the Amago clan. There are also hundreds of large and small forces in more than ten countries. The Mori family is not sure how many people they can control.

This is the biggest drawback of Maori rule.

Mori Motonari came from a small powerful family and was born with congenital deficiencies. In order to suppress the emergence of a large force in the territory that could rival the Mori family, she chose to have all the powerful families, big and small, pay a letter of allegiance to her at the same time.

This means that the feudal system of the Mori family was not a system of monarchs and ministers with layers upon layers, but a flat management system in which everyone was equally loyal to the Mori family and there was no distinction between high and low status.

The advantage of doing this is that small forces will not become dependent on large forces and become a threat to the Mori family.

But the downside is that the country is a mess, with everyone being an ally and subject of the Mori family, and no one is willing to submit to anyone else.

Since everyone is equal, the existence of countless small hills is an inevitable result.

Others were unable to control the small forces that opposed the Mori family, and the Mori family itself was unable to control the situation.

Therefore, the Mori family, the leader of the samurai alliance, could only rely on its prestige to rule over many small clans. Once a major defeat occurred, the Mori family could collapse at any time.

Just as the Mori clan themselves lamented, with the first defeat they lost half of their territory, with the second defeat they retreated to Aki Province, and with the third defeat there would be no Mori clan anymore.

Kobayakawa Takakage is the general-in-chief of the Mori clan in this expedition. The 30,000 troops under her command seem powerful, but when it comes to a fight to the death, who can she command?

Yoshikawa Hiroie was grateful to Ichijo Hideyoshi and was willing to fight for her, which was why Kobayakawa Takakage kept exploiting her.

When other troops went up, Kobayakawa Takakage was also worried that they would be perfunctory and not serious.

The Sasaki family specifically wants to kill Mori, but what does this have to do with the powerful families in the western country?
Apart from the rigid Mori Ryokawa system, the other peripheral clans are not named Mori, so it is none of their business if all the Mori clan members die.

As the current de facto leader of the Mori family and the culprit who killed Kousaka Masanobu, Kobayakawa Takakage is the one with no way out.

Now she could only bite the bullet and help Hideyoshi Ichijo, pulling the Mori family's chariot, which looked huge but was actually full of scrap metal, towards an unknown fate.

---

Following Kobayakawa Takakage's fierce words, "I don't want to hear the casualty figures, I only want the Mikami Shrine", Yoshikawa Hiroie began a violent attack regardless of casualties.

Overnight, Yoshikawa's army launched thirteen charges and forcibly dispersed the mercenaries. Even if he received three times the commission at this time, the mercenary leader could not stop the collapse of the cannon fodder.

In the darkest hour before dawn, Yoshikawa's army finally reached the main gate of Mikamiya Shrine.

The general of the reserve force looked at the crumbling gate of the shrine in front of him and shouted, "Hold them with bows and cannons! Prepare to break down the gate!"

In the dark night, the light from a row of cannons was imprinted on the numb faces of people. In this darkest and most tiring moment before dawn, everyone was already exhausted and hoped to end the war as soon as possible.

The cannon firing in a straight line could not reach behind the door and could only blindly pass through the wooden wall. A sparse rain of arrows covered the area behind the door, and it was unknown whether anyone was hit.

As the bows and cannons attacked perfunctorily, three or five foot soldiers lifted up the logs that had been cut down nearby. The branches and leaves on the trunks had been roughly chopped off, and it was a bit prickly to lift.

At the urging of the female samurai, the foot soldiers carefully crossed the crowd, carrying logs and preparing to hit the gate of the shrine.

---

Inside the Imperial Fragrance Palace, the main hall.

Tachihara Hisasuna tightened his kurta and looked at the dozens of samurai princesses from the Amago family in front of him. They would serve as the vanguard death squad and be the first to rush out of the shrine.

"Take your rewards and follow me out to kill those Maori bastards!"

The leading Ji warrior laughed and threw the few gold coins that were rewarded to him on the ground.

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"I am about to die, who would want to be buried with these things? I have wasted more than ten years, and all I want is one sentence.

"Old man, can we succeed this time? Can we go back to the West?"

Tachihara Hisasuna nodded vigorously and said firmly.

"Nagoda will surely be revived, and we will definitely go back, stepping on the bones of the Mori family!"

The princess warrior smiled with satisfaction and said to the princesses behind him.

"Then our death is worth it. Your Highness and Little Prince, please take our souls back to our homeland."

There was a series of clanging sounds on the ground, and a group of female warriors dropped their valuable gold pans one after another, revealing bloodthirsty smiles as if they were ready to die.

---

The Maori foot soldiers outside the door had carefully stepped onto the steps, ready to hit the door with a log.

At this moment, the door suddenly opened, and seven or eight horse-riding female warriors rushed out first. The female warrior in the front had gray hair and a look of indomitable spirit in his eyes.

"For the sake of the Niwa family! Kill!"

Seven or eight riders passed through the gate, and the foot soldiers were so frightened that they dropped their logs and fled in all directions, only to be chopped to the ground by the female warriors who followed them.

The flickering torches in the darkness reflected the heroic figures of the cavalry. Tachihara Hisasuna, who had already increased his horse's speed, rushed straight towards the enemy's reserve formation flag.

Under the flag of the formation, the general of the reserve army had not yet reacted. The situation was going well just now, but how could they be suddenly killed by surprise?

She had been fighting all night and was too exhausted to react quickly. She was knocked to the ground by the warhorse and trampled by several horses. She was obviously dying.

Tachihara Hisasuna didn't even have time to pay attention to the enemy general who had fallen to the ground, and he chopped straight at the enemy's flag. As the flag fell, the enemy's reserve force, which had been stunned by the counterattack, collapsed immediately.

The remaining Mori troops dropped their torches and turned to flee down the mountain. The Niwa army, which broke out, took advantage of the situation to chase them and pushed the enemy further away.

"Old man! We won!"

Tachihara Hisasuna stood in front of the fallen enemy flag, gasping for breath. The excited shouts of the female warriors around her did not receive any response from her.

She was old and felt that she was almost at her limit. In one day and one night, the crazy Maori army had launched thirteen attacks.

They had originally hoped to hold out for three days, but after only one day, almost all of the female warriors of the Amago family had died.

The mercenaries were scattered, the defenses at the foot of the mountain fell into the hands of the enemy, and with the ruined Mikami Shrine behind them, how long can they hold out?
The sky was dimly lit and a new day had arrived. Tachihara Hisasuna stared blankly at the sky and suddenly felt his face wet.

She looked up at the sky. Raindrops were falling, and they were getting heavier.

---

Toba Imperial Villa.

It was just getting light in the morning when a tall and graceful figure hurriedly walked down the porch and entered the room.

"Kanpaku, it's raining."

In the dim room, there was a person sitting in the main seat, motionless.

Ichijo Hidena couldn't help but shout.

"Sister, it's raining."

The person sitting in the main seat nodded, slowly stood up, and walked out from the shadows. It was Hideyoshi Ichijo with red eyes.

"Order all troops to finish breakfast and prepare for the attack. The time for the decisive battle has come."

Ichijo Hidena hesitated.

"Over at the Maori family..."

Ichijo Hideyoshi interrupted.

“We no longer have time to wait for the Maori family’s breakthrough. We don’t know how long this rain will last, three days, two days, or just one day.

Let's fight to the bitter end, defeat Shiba Yoshigane, or die."