Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 213 Iyo Doubts
The location of Baidi City is important, and Changzong's department will inevitably deploy heavy troops again.

According to intelligence, even though the main forces of Awa and Tosa were transferred to Iyo to fight, Nagamune and Gabu Yuanqin still deployed an army of more than 2000 people in Baiji, Ikeda, and Nakanishi Sancheng, among which there were more than 1000 in Shiroji Castle garrison.

And the guard guarding Baidi City was even more unexpected by the Xiu family. He was actually Yuan Qin's right-hand man, the only surviving younger brother Xiangzong and I, Qin Tai!
You must know that Baidi City is now the base city of the Daxi family, and it was specially rewarded to them by the Yuan relatives of Changzong Ibu to reward Daxi Laibao for persuading Daxi Laibao to open Baidi City, and after jumping back.

There is also a story here. When Yuanqin went north from Tosa to attack Awa, it was the time when the Miyoshi family was weakest. The head of the family, Miyoshi Nagaji, loved leisure and hated work, and did not think about political affairs. .

Yuanqin took advantage of this time to successfully mobilize the master of Daxi City, Onishi Jueyang, to attack Baidi Castle and Awa in the name of supporting Awa to protect Hosokawa Shinyuki, and gave Baidi City to Daxi Jue as promised after the capture of Baidi City keep.

It stands to reason that Daxi feels that he should swear allegiance to the elders of the Changzong family if he can afford such a great favor, but who knows that Daxi feels that he wants to learn from Qian Bojun, who has a milk is a mother. Not long after he obtained Baidi City, he jumped back to The Miyoshi family was under the command and successfully blocked the retreat of Changzong's army.

The usual Warring States army was defeated when the back road was cut off. Yuan Qin was also a ruthless person. He blocked the news first, and calmly asked people to negotiate with Daxi Laibao, who was a hostage in Toyooka City, and successfully got him back to Baidi City. Became "Alsace" once.

Onishi Laibao's behavior can be regarded as completely tearing apart from Miyoshi's family, and he also successfully handed over the nomination certificate to Changzong's family, and was continuously rewarded and sealed in the subsequent battles, becoming the fastest among the new relatives of the Yuan family to become the generation of family members .

Here are so many introductions, not for the sake of word count, but to describe the relationship between Onishi Laibao and the Yuanqin of Changzonggabu through stories. He also absolutely trusts.

But even with such a firm relationship between the monarch and his ministers, the relatives of Changzong and our tribe did not let him refuse to defend the city in this life-and-death battle, and those who would rather face the alienation of the monarch and his ministers may have to replace them with their own younger brothers!

From this combat deployment, Hideka saw the determination of Chang Zonggabu Yuanqin, which is why Xiu sent his white tiger equipment and peace equipment to Asano Nagamasa, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of the Asano Army.

"After Shiraichi Castle fell, a partial army was sent out to capture Nakanishi Castle and Tano Castle, cut off Tosa's support route for Shiraichi, and the main force continued eastward to sweep Awa's territory. At that time, Miyoshi Hideho-sama of Takamatsu Castle will cooperate with you to participate in Awa's strategy Work."

After Hideka finished speaking, he put his combat deployment and the marching map drawn in a brocade box to Asano Nagamasa, and said, "Let me deal with the main force of Nagamune's department, and the liberation of the land of Awa is all up to you." .”

Asano Nagamasa took the brocade box and put it away carefully, Xiang Xiujia solemnly saluted and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, I will not let you down."

"It's not that you won't let me down, it's that you can't live up to Da Nayan's trust." Hideka corrected him in time when he heard Asano Nagamasa's flattery. After all, this was an army of dozens of people, and if he was a little careless, he might fall into the trap Hashiba Hideyoshi was displeased, so why not let Hideyoshi be cautious.

"I shall lead the West Route Army, go out of the city after the Asano Army's action, and go west to find the main force of Changzong's army for a decisive battle."

Xiujia still didn't reveal his entire plan at this moment, and said to the daimyos, "Everyone just needs to follow the leader of the legion to which you belong. As for how to arrange it, I have already informed the leader of the legion, and you all just follow orders."

"Master Asano, do you want to temporarily use the evaluation room to make arrangements for the generals?" At this point, the topic of Hideka was over, and he even actively asked Asano Nagamasa if he wanted to make arrangements for his army.

After receiving Asano Nagamasa's confirmation, Hideka said to the daimyo of the West Route Army to which he belonged, "After all the troops go back, the army will be reorganized immediately, and the third formation will fill the position of the second formation, and advance according to the previous marching formation." Said After that, he took the name of the West Route Army and left first.

In the afternoon of the same day, although Hideka's army had a large number of people, due to its strict organization and well-trained training, it actually left Enokawa Castle one step ahead of Asano's army.

Of course, the Hide family has already made arrangements. After everyone leaves, Hisaji Takeuchi will be responsible for guarding Enogawa Castle, and at the same time he will be responsible for escorting the senior samurai of the Hoki Kingdom who were previously detained to Takamatsu for custody.

Shikoku in November of the Gregorian calendar has already started to snow.

The army of the Hide family is headed by the Kurashiki people of the Ukita Kan family, and then followed by the army of Kamichi Zuobei and Fukushima Masanori, with a total of 5700 people.

It can be seen from the marching array that the Kurashiki right-behind and Shangdao left-behind who are leading the battle are all well-armored and full of energy, and they look like a strong army at first glance.

Behind them are the national army of Fukushima Masamori, Kato Kiyomasa and others. Benefiting from the wealth of Kinki and Nooo, coupled with the fact that they have won many wars with fewer victories and more losses over the years, they have won a lot of spoils. Composed of farmers and soldiers, the equipment looks varied, but the armor rate is not low.

In addition, Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa are really good at training soldiers. Although the equipment is messy and worn out, their mental outlook is not inferior to that of Ukita's reserve team in front.

As for the last one, it is Kurashiki Zuobei, which is composed of proletarian townspeople and peasants. Even the Ukita Kan family uses them as auxiliary troops. The rate of wearing armor depends entirely on self-consciousness. Clothes, bare feet and straw sandals are struggling in the snow.

As the second team is the original third team of Tanba members. Horio Yoshiharu is the general. The total number of people is 4600. Thanks to the governance of Akechi Mitsuhide and Hashiba Hideka, Tamba is also considered a fertile land because it is close to Kyoto.

As a reinforcement, although the armor rate is not as good as Fukushima Masamori and others, the iron cannon service policy started by Akechi Mitsuhide has allowed this reserve team composed of Chinese people to have more iron cannons than other troops.

According to Akechi Mitsuhide's military service certificate, for every 300 shi, one must have an iron cannon. Wanshi's retainers sent troops with 1 horsemen, 40 arched ashigaru, 60 iron cannon ashigaru, and 33 gun ashigaru. 187 people.

Compared with the military service status of 400 or even 500 people in other countries, it seems a lot easier, but the regulation on the number of iron cannons actually raises the threshold for the composition of the army.

In other words, the entire 4600-person Danba Congregation has 458 iron cannons, which is close to 1/10. The number of iron cannons even exceeds the Hideka's direct-controlled equipment, let alone the usual daimyo army.

The only problem is that during Akechi Mitsuhide’s time, the Iron Cannons would be used together. With Akechi Mitsuhide’s death in battle, the Tamba congregation lost a unified manager. Horio Yoshiharu only managed them on his behalf, without the prestige and ability of Akechi Mitsuhide to order them Hand over the iron cannon Ashgaru.

In other words, the iron cannons of the Tanba people have lost unified management, and cannot be concentrated to maximize their advantages. They can only be used by the powerful families and daimyo themselves, and the impact they can cause is greatly reduced.

Of course, the Xiu family didn't know about this matter. If he knew, he would definitely not allow this matter to happen. He would rather take the risk of recruiting an evil lord, and parachute a retainer to take charge of the iron artillery team under Danbo.

Hideka's third team is different from the previous plan. Since Fukushima Masanori and others have been transferred to the pioneer's first team, Hideka's team at this moment is completely Hideka's own team, so it is also convenient for Hideka to split.

He divided Qinglong Bei and Shangdao Youbei into the third team, with Qiu Shangjiu's family as generals, with a total of 3000 people.

In addition, Zhuquebei and Yijiubei were divided into the fourth formation, with the Gaoshan clan as the general, with a total number of 3000 people

He led a total of 3400 people from Huoqibei, Yuyebei, Bannermen, and entourage to the main formation.

Afterwards, Hanabou Masako replaced Togawa Hidean as general, including 900 leader Togawa Tatsuan, 850 Osafune Sadakins, 500 Akashi Kagekins, 1000 Hanabō Masashiro, and 320 Zhuang Shinshige. Muguo Guoxin has 280 people, Mu Changliang has 350 people, and the total number of people is 4200.

In the end, there were 1500 Harima under the temporary command of the He Songzhong and Akasaka troops led by Suga Masori and the temporary command of Kamei Tomoki, and the total number of the army was 28.

Although this army lacks some of its military strength compared to the plan, it is still much stronger than the nationalist coalition army led by Chang Zong's Ibu Yuanqin with mixed generals and different hearts. This is why the Xiu family dared to face the generals themselves. The reason why the reserve team poached people to supplement Asano Nagamasa was that his army was already over-allocated.

The army of the Xiu family left Jiangzhichuan City first, which really aroused the attention of the daimyos inside and outside the city. After all, many daimyos had only heard of such a strong army from the Western Kingdom in His Royal Highness Yu Chai Zuomen Weidu before, but they had never actually seen it. Now they can see the truth Rong expressed admiration one after another, "Is this the magic weapon for Yuxi's family to sweep the Western Kingdom?"

That night, the Hide family settled in Matsuo Castle in the Iyo Samkawa area, and the vanguard of the Ukita Kan family settled in Shiwagaki Castle, and sent people to Noda Mountain to investigate.

Whether it is Hanchuan or Noda Mountain, the Hide family had previously predicted that the Changzong family would block the area, but the information received that night was "No enemy troops were found on the line between Noda Mountain and Dongchi Mountain."

Holding the information in hand, Xiujia frowned tightly, and the whole of Iyo revealed a taste of conspiracy.

Logically speaking, the cold river in Iyo is in the narrowest area in East Iyo, with Mount Fengshou hundreds of meters high on the south side, the endless sea on the north side, and the plain that can be expanded in the middle is only 300 meters.

A decisive battle with the Xiu family here is the best place to erase the advantage of the difference in strength between the two sides.

Well, even if Changzong’s relatives are afraid of the possible Asano reinforcements behind Hideka (Hideya thinks that Changzong’s family doesn’t know the specific deployment, but they should guess based on the number of reinforcements behind), they can also go to the Noda Mountains and the East. Chishan is in ambush.

Here I would like to introduce to friends who don’t know geography, Noda Mountain is regarded as the remaining vein of the Shikoku Mountains, directly speaking of the truncation of the plains of Higashi Iyo, which is the junction of Uma County and Niiju County.

If you want to go from Uma County to other places in Iyo, you can only go through the Doi Line that passes through the mountains on the middle road or the Matsuyama Line between the south side and Higashi Chiyama, and the north side is a cliff that directly connects to the sea.

But whether it is the selected road or the south road, it is a canyon terrain that passes between two mountains. This is the natural terrain for ambushes!After passing Noda Mountain, you can see the endless East Iyo Plain!
The relatives of Changzong's family can be regarded as veterans in the battlefield, and the Xiu family is puzzled. What made the relatives of Changzong's department abandon the place where they would rather abandon the terrain and change the decisive battle?
Worried, Hideka called Tsushue Sanzhicheng, and asked him to send ninja troops to search Noda Mountain and Dongchi Mountain overnight, and report to himself immediately if there were any abnormalities, and at the same time, Takahashi Ryosuke was asked to lead the left side of the road to end After rest, go out to camp at Noda Mountain.

The fact that the Xiu family was so cautious was the reason why the long family member Yuanqin was regarded as an opponent of the same level. Unexpectedly, Yuanqin posed a puzzle to the Xiu family as soon as he came up.

On the second day, the latest information from the front came, and it was still "no enemy troops were found on the Noda Mountain and East Chishan lines."

The Xiu family ordered Kamei Izumi to garrison Matsuo Castle, and the second formation occupied the foothills on both sides of Noda Mountain to ensure the safe and orderly passage of the whole army. It seems that Changzong and our family will come out from both sides.

Since the marching troops were separated and marching at a relatively slow speed, the sun had already set to the west by the time the Xiujia army passed the foot of the mountain. Fortunately, the vanguard had already taken the Jinzi Mountain Castle, Okazaki Castle, and Shengzi Mountain Castle in front of them. Xiujiaben team was able to enter the city to rest.

What's even more weird is that Gu Yu Xiduo's family came to report that there were no one in the three cities that guarded the traffic arteries, and they were the three cities that were directly taken over.

After hearing the news, Xiujia even doubted himself for a moment, did he really worry too much?Have PTSD for Chang Zonggabu Yuanqin and Xinqin?

This is the first time that the Xiu family has been confused in many years, which made the Xiu family suspicious of the surrounding information. While ordering the San Zhi Cheng to expand the scope of the information, it also caused the scouts of the various backup teams to spread in a large area. go out.

Now Xiujia feels that what he is in is not like Shikoku Iyo, but a dungeon that stretches as far as the eye can see. The main battlefield area is obviously small, but there is a large area of ​​fog, and the opposite side suddenly launches a surprise attack on Xiujia from somewhere.

In the absence of the enemy's detection, in order to prepare for a sudden attack by Chang Zongga's family, the Xiu family could only order the vanguard army to separate from the main force, and the two armies continued to advance with an interval of half a day.

It was not until the vanguard marched to Notsuko Castle that they encountered some resistance. The defender was Kondo Shangsheng, a native of Iyo, but Notsuko Castle was a small city. How could it resist the attack of Uki's main forces? Just a charge show declared the city broken , the castellan Kondo Namorori was captured.

Kondo Shangsheng, who was captured, was brought in front of Xiujia and interrogated by Xiujia himself.

"Bold Shangsheng Kondo, have you seen the flag with the five-three tung pattern? Why didn't you come down when you saw the tung pattern flag? Are you trying to resist the heavenly soldiers?"

"I dare not have the idea of ​​resisting the Heavenly Soldiers. It's just that all the relatives and heirs of the family are imprisoned in Tangzhu City. I have no choice but to fight with His Highness. I pray for His Highness's forgiveness." Kondo Shangsheng was very depressed, and said that his son couldn't bear it even more. I kept thinking about Xiujia and kowtowed and said.

The Xiu family was moved by his sympathy, and planned to give him a chance, "Do you know where the relatives of the Changzong family are now?"

Kondo Shangsheng raised his head to look at the teenage boy on the main seat, but he didn't dare to look down on him at all, he lowered his head and replied, "Answer Hashibaden, I don't know, I was just ordered to guard Notsuko Castle, and try to delay His Highness from going to Iyo pace of."

"As far as I know, many people in Dongyiyu have received this order, and the envoys who came to inform him even said that as long as they can delay His Highness's pace, their families will be safe."

"How do you know that the other family has also received this news?" Zheng Xing, who was sitting in Xiu's house, asked in surprise, "Is this an order from Yuan Qin himself?"

"Don't dare to hide anything from the angel. It was the order that Miyauchi Shaosuke specially summoned me to Tangzhu Castle to accept. After I returned to the base, I ordered the messenger to pick up the family members. Therefore, I know Higashi Iyo's Other families should have received this order as well."

After hearing the news, the Xiu family turned their heads and exchanged glances with Hanafang Zhengxing, and a thought popped into his head, "What the hell is this Changzong, my family, Yuanqin going to do?"

(End of this chapter)