Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 207 Fish Sees Yamashiro

As the central route army led by Asano Nagamasa came out of Takamatsu Town, after a moment of hustle and bustle, Takamatsu Town gradually fell silent, but it didn't take long for it to fall into the busy business again.

At sunrise, Yuxijia's reserve team, which underwent a personnel change yesterday, began a new day of training.

To be honest, now there is only one family like Yuxi Family that regularly organizes the training of the leaders. The other daimyos let the leaders make their own arrangements in this respect. When it comes to wartime, no matter how good they are, they can be recruited The battlefield will do.

As for the off-duty standing in the hands of the Xiu family, there is one day off every three days of training, and it is non-stop throughout the year in spring, summer, autumn and winter.

Of course, while improving the standing combat effectiveness, it also allowed them to develop a rebellious character, especially for the airborne chief officer, who did not fully agree with it at first. This is a problem for Zhuang Zhiqing and others who are new to the standing reserve. , but it can only be resolved by themselves.

Xiu Jiaben was enjoying the rare quiet time in Hesheng City, and began to think about the possible battle plan of the Chang Zong Ibu Yuanqin, but there was a noise outside, "What happened outside the house, you go and see" Xiu Jia said to Shimizu Shin also ordered.

Nobuo Shimizu, who went out to investigate, quickly brought back the news. It turned out that Masanori Fukushima had come to make trouble, and Hideka had no choice but to have him printed.

"Your Highness promised me to be the vanguard earlier, why did you break your word after only a day?" The people hadn't seen it, but heard a voice from outside the house, which was the loud voice Masanori Fukushima questioning Hideka.

Masanori Fukushima, who turned around the pillar and came to the door, saw Hideka who was lying on the map thinking, suddenly put away the hot temper just now, walked into the hall and sat down opposite, Kato Kiyomasa and others sat behind.

"Light, Master Fukushima, you have blocked the light outside." Hideka stopped drawing in her hands and said without raising her head.

Masayoshi Fukushima moved his position slightly to make room for the direction facing Xiujia, and he stretched his head to look at the map in Xiujia's hand.

The posture of the enemy and us, as well as the deployment of troops that have been proven, are drawn with red and black paint on the top. Now there are 2 troops on the Yumizaki line preparing to attack 2000 people.

And in the direction of Iyo, the red representative of Nagamune's family is heading towards Sanuki, "Have the flower thieves stopped attacking Yuzuki? Have you chosen to come to Toiyo to fight us?"

Seeing the situation on Xiujia's map, Fukushima Masanori asked curiously. Obviously he didn't know the news that Tang Zhucheng had fallen. Xiujia raised his head and looked at Fukushima Masanori from the corner of his eye.

What Xiujia thought in his mind at this moment was "You're a flower thief, you don't look at your opponent squarely, how can I put you in the vanguard position with confidence." Then he buried his head down to calculate the possible combat area.

Choosing a combat area is not a random choice with your head covered. An encounter is a situation that neither family wants to see. Before choosing a combat area, you must first understand what the advantages and disadvantages of both the enemy and the enemy are. The selected area must be able to carry forward your own advantages. , Limit the exposure of one's own shortcomings, and at the same time suppress the local advantages.

Especially for the Xiu family, the biggest advantage is of course the advantage in numbers. The total strength of the Xiu family at this time should be nearly three times that of the opponent. If Changzong and our family choose to fight him, then the Xiu family must choose one who can The fully expanded area ensures that there is enough battlefield width to take advantage of his numbers.

The Xiu family knew this, and the relatives of Chang Zong Gabu on the opposite side must also know that, for them, blocking the Xiu family in Sanuki was the best choice.

Therefore, Xiujia judged that they would definitely speed up their march to Yumizaki. If it was too late, they could only choose to fight Xiujia at the Samkawa area in Uma County, the narrowest piece of land in Eastern Iyo.

For Xiujia, only by breaking through Yu Muqi can the battle of the Four Kingdoms be fought. As long as they break through Yu Muqi, the initiative on the battlefield will be on Xiujia's side.

After all, the main force of the Nagamune family is Awazhong and Tosa. The Hide family can divide their troops to harass the two countries, disturb the morale of the opposing army, and force the Nagamune family to abandon Samkawa and go to the Kawanoe area to fight against the Hide family.

"You let us in, but you stared at the map and didn't tell us what's going on." Fukushima Masaki, who had only been silent for a few minutes, couldn't hold back when he saw Xiujia ignoring them. I started nagging.

"Your Highness, I have no other intentions in Bingwei. It was Shikoku that His Highness ordered me to come to. Yesterday, I agreed to be incorporated into the vanguard.
Why did I go to Lord You Jingliang early this morning, only to find that all his reserve troops had left the camp, and the people around said that they had gone to Iyo with Lord Asano's central route army in the morning, so how could His Highness not talk about anything? "

After Masayoshi Fukushima finished speaking, he pushed his hands together and looked at Hideka with a very aggrieved expression, which made Hideka feel annoyed and funny.

"I never lied to you. Yesterday you wanted to be included in the first team. Did I fulfill your request?" Xiujia also said innocently.

"But why is Mr. You Jingliang missing? Isn't he the vanguard general who is in charge of commanding me?" Fukushima Masahiro asked.

"Indeed, I asked You Jingliang to follow Lord Asano first. The purpose is to quickly open up the situation. Our army can't be trapped in Sanuki." After thinking about it, Xiujia decided to confess to them. How long it may take to hide it, they will know that Tang Zhucheng has fallen sooner or later, and they will face the news of the main force of Changzong's department.

"Just last night, I received news that Tang Zhucheng fell, and Kobayakawa's life and death is unknown."

Hearing the news from Xiujia, everyone present was surprised. After all, Kobayakawa Takakage is considered a wise general of the West Country, and he was the "Wushuang of the West Country" before the Xiujia. How could he be defeated by Tu Wangba of the Four Kingdoms?
"Is what you said true, Daisuke Chubu of 'Nishiguni Warriors' lost?" Kato Kiyomasa, who was behind Masanori Fukushima, asked in disbelief.

Judging from the historical stories, the relationship between Kato Kiyomasa and Kobayakawa Takakage is relatively good, and he also respects Kobayakawa Takakage. Historically, Kobayakawa Hideaki stayed in Kato Kiyomasa's residence for a period of time after being changed.

Perhaps a long time ago, Kato Kiyomasa began to understand the general of the Mori family by reading Kobayakawa Takakage's record, and secretly took him as a role model in his heart.

Hideo didn't directly answer this question. In his opinion, Kato Kiyomasa's rhetorical question was extremely stupid, as if Hideie had to lie to them, so he continued:
"I asked you to come over from His Royal Highness Sun Qi, and naturally I will use you well. Now Yu Muqi in front of me is just suffering from a disease, so I just leave it to Mr. Asano and the others to deal with it. What you have to do now is to recharge your batteries , and wait for the next decisive battle, don’t go to the battlefield until you meet Changzong at the end and my relatives have no strength.”

What Hideka said was so true that everyone couldn't see a trace of falsehood, Fukushima said excitedly, "Really? Will the left gate guard Dudian really let us be the vanguard of the decisive battle?"

"Of course it's the truth. At that time, you will have to take off the head of the head of the Changzong family for me!"

"That's natural, you just wait to give credit for me." After getting the answer, Fukushima Masahiro smiled with satisfaction, bid farewell to Xiujia, and Xiujia looked at this 20-year-old but still simple-minded man, As if he had found some tricks to master him, the corners of his mouth curled up unconsciously.

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After a day's march, the Central Route Army, which departed from Takamatsu in the morning, finally arrived at Tianwu City for repairs in the evening, and continued on the second day to arrive at Guanyin Temple City. Zongzheng is responsible for the supply of military rations.

After resting overnight, everyone continued to set off on the third day, heading to Taihei Castle, the southernmost tip of the Sanuki Kingdom currently controlled by the head. It is only 3km away from Mount Uomi. It is a flat castle. The castle on the top of Mount Uomi and the flag of Changzong Gabu's family planted on it.

Busy until the evening, the entire former enemy headquarters, Ohei Castle, was finally set up. Nagamasa Asano, who started late, and Tadake Hosokawa, who had just returned from a tour of Mt. Uomi, stepped into the main formation together.

Before all the generals were seated, Asano Nagamasa couldn't wait to ask, "What's the matter with Yujian Mountain Castle, but you are confident to win it. His Highness Yu Chai is still waiting for the news that we have defeated the enemy."

Hosokawa Tadake looked unkindly at Ukita Kanya who was sitting opposite, apparently Asano Nagamasa had communicated with him a few days ago.In his opinion, the Xiu family sent their own elites here just to look down on him, so he really had to fight a good battle to show the lofty "Chief General Er" what a real warrior is.

"Yujian Mountain City is indeed a city that is heavily guarded by Chang Zong and my family. I went to see it in the afternoon. The entire city was built on the back of the mountain. It is easy to defend and difficult to attack. It is not an exaggeration to use it as the main city."

Hearing Hosokawa Tadake's introduction, Asano Nagamasa frowned and asked, "It's too broad, can I have a castle as an analogy?"

"If you have to make an analogy, Sawayama Castle is more suitable." Tadake Hosokawa thought for a while, and reported the most suitable name of the city.

At this time, Sawayama Castle has not experienced the expansion of Ishida Mitsunari, that is, it has been repaired under Niwa Changhide, and it is no longer the appearance of the previous branch castle. But it is not as strong as the five-story castle tower of later generations.

Asano Nagamasa, who was born in Owari, knew the defensive strength of Sawayama Castle in his heart. A stone hanging in his heart finally fell. He looked up at Tadake Hosokawa and asked, "Are you sure how long it will take to break the castle?"

Hosokawa Tadakeshi replied confidently, "The three drums have not yet blown, so I will come to see you."

"Okay, capture Yujian Mountain City, I will celebrate for you!"

Asano Nagamasa was not good at military strategy at all, and this was his first time commanding a battle as a general, so he didn't put forward his own ideas about Uomi-san's battle plan. For him, since Hosokawa Tadakashi has confidence , then let him try it.

In the early morning of the next day, a dense army surrounded Uomiyama Castle. The flag patterns on the backs of those soldiers were complicated, indicating that this was an army composed of troops from multiple families, but they all attacked the Oda family in a unified way. The papaya-patterned formation flag swears that this army belongs to the troops of the Oda family, the overlord of Kinki.

To be honest, when he saw the defenses of Uomiyama Castle with his own eyes, Asano Nagamasa was really sweating. He asked himself that he was not capable of breaking through the defenses in a short period of time. After repeated confirmations from Tadake Hosokawa, he got an affirmative answer. Finally, Asano Nagamasa ordered the whole army to attack the city.

With the sound of the Conch, the Tango people led by Hosokawa Tadaoki approached Uomiyama Castle on drumbeats. Due to the width and narrowness of the flat land in front of the mountain castle, the Hosokawa family could only move forward in an array of 200 people wide. Fortunately, the narrow array also increased the average defense area of ​​bamboo bundles and wooden traps.

"Fire the arrows. Let the arrows go." Seeing the Hosokawa army approaching the city, the samurai stationed at Waimaru said to a dozen archers under his command, and then the archers thought about the Oda army and shot a rain of sparse swords.

In old Japan, the main component of arched foot light is the Orion. They need to bring their own bows and arrows to contribute to the main family. Because they are born in the bottom class, the bows in their hands are made by themselves with limited materials. The materials and craftsmanship of the bows cannot be guaranteed. The shooting effect is not the same.

The real threat is the arrows shot by the bow warriors on the scull platforms on both sides of the crown wooden gate. Fortunately, there are only two people, so the impact can be relatively small.

Under the command of the samurai in the Hosokawa Army, the Hosokawa Army was not in a hurry to fight back, but approached the bamboo beams and wooden tunnels to the root of the city wall before ordering, "Iron Cannon Squad, shoot!"

"Bang bang bang~" "Crackling!~" With a burst of gunfire, the bow warrior on the right side of the crown wooden door fell to the ground, fell from the 3-meter-high scull platform, and hit the ground heavily, until the enemy's firepower was output. a stagnation.

"Good job, it can be attacked by force." Tadake Hosokawa looked at the performance of the city from a distance, and said excitedly.

In fact, there was no need for him to give an order. Some retainers seized the opportunity and ordered six ashigaru carrying logs to rush up from the gentle slope and smashed at the crown wooden door.

The defenders at the top of the city want to stop them from smashing the door, but there are iron cannons who are staring at the scull towers on both sides, and the archers are shooting each other with the archers in the city. This is the creation of Oda Nobunaga, The Oda siege method improved by Hashiba Hideyoshi.

It can be said that the reason why the cage battle caused headaches for other daimyos is that in the hands of the Oda family, there is always a way to break the castle.Of course, when it was really difficult to destroy the city, the Oda family just returned to the situation of besieging the city and starving to death, but it couldn't be worse.

The arrow feathers in the city only caused a little pressure on the Ashgaru who hit the door at first, but the Hosokawa army cleverly resolved it by taking advantage of their numbers and firepower.

With a loud noise, the bolt behind the crown wooden gate was broken, and the crown wooden gate lost its restriction and opened to both sides. The defenders who lost the support of the city gate wanted to retreat to the upper level.

A samurai with goose feathers on his back rushed into the city with a spear in his hand, and killed a slow-running Ashgaru, saying arrogantly, "The one who broke the city is Yoshikakubei~ Who dares to come and fight!"

(End of this chapter)