Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 225 Storming Okatoyo Castle
To be honest, even the Xiu family was taken aback by such a scene, not to mention the famous names of other countries. After all, this was the first time that the Xiu family mobilized all their forces to launch an offensive against the enemy regardless of the cost. It was something the Xiu family did not expect.

The momentum created by Hideka was huge, and after just one meeting, Okatoyo Castle's Waimaru castle defenses were declared ineffective, and Ukita's army invaded the city, directly starting hand-to-hand combat.

The noble soldiers watching the battle couldn't see the specific situation clearly. They only knew that Toyotomi Oka's Waimaru had started to catch fire, and soldiers from Ukido's family poured into the city like a tide.

As for the daimyos on Xiaolian Mountain, they were all shocked by Yuxi's powerful offensive power, and sincerely sent a sentence of "Sikuyi."

Seeing their shocked expressions, Xiujia felt quite satisfied. This is the effect he wanted to achieve, but he didn't know what would happen when they knew that there were only 2000 defenders in the city and the Xiujia launched such a large-scale offensive. Such an expression.

Xiujia shook his head, and put this idea out of his mind. In the battle of Gangfeng City, in the end, it will only be recorded in the document that "Hashiba Wuwei Xiujiadian was furious and led an army of 8 to besiege Gangfeng City. , and wiped out more than [-] enemies."

It's not that Hideya lied about the results of the battle, Hideyoshi Hashiba Hideyoshi's battle report will be written truthfully, but the military strategy documents displayed to the outside world are slightly modified with Shunqiu's brushwork to show the martial arts of the family, which is also a common habit in ancient times .

"It's collapsed, the castle has collapsed!" someone shouted, pulling Hideka back to reality from his thoughts, and the voice of that person also attracted everyone's attention. The continuous bombardment of cannons caused a slope section to collapse, and the defenders stationed on this section fell down along with the earthen walls and screens.

Fukushima, who had just entered the city, seized the opportunity and no longer went to support Suzaku Bei who was fighting against the defenders. Instead, he led people up from the collapsed city wall and directly attacked Sannomaru Castle. Masanori Fukushima couldn't wait to shout, "The one who broke the city—Matsuya Fukushima City!"

As soon as the words fell, two warriors defending the city came to stop him.

Fukushima was calm and took the opportunity to pierce the chest of one of them with the spear in his hand, and then used the gun to block the samurai sword hacked by the other.He pulled out his ribs from his waist, and inserted himself into the warrior's neck, beheading the two warriors at the top of the wall in just one round.

The bravery of Masanori Fukushima was completely displayed in the eyes of the daimyos on Xiaolian Mountain, even Ishida Mitsunari had to admit his bravery.

The collapsed city wall appeared, and the slope has become quite gentle.Behind Fukushima Masanori, Kato Kiyomasa, Wakisaka Yasuji and others climbed up with hands and feet. The Takayama Clan, who was the first to enter the city, fell to the bottom, and entered the Sannomaru through the gate after defeating the outer guards. So far, Sannomaru has been successfully held by Hashiba Fang.

The outer pills in many cities in Japan are only temporary buildings to deal with the war, and the breach of Sannomaru really means that Hashiba's side has successfully invaded Okatoyo Castle.

From Hideka's order to attack the city, to Fukushima Masanori's attack on Sannomaru, the hot tea in the hands of many daimyos was not completely cooled, and it took only about 30 minutes. Such a swift offensive was something they had never seen before. .

As Fukushima Masamori attacked Sannomaru, the artillery on Xiaoren Mountain raised its elevation angle and began to bombard the Honmaru Quwa and the castle tower.

The castle tower of Okatoyo Castle is not a real castle tower, but a large three-story and two-tier oar tower, which is located in the south of the city, near the Niyodo River.

The mountain of Xiaoren Mountain is lower than the main mountain where Okatoyo Castle is located, so it is not possible to shoot directly at the Honmaru, but there are still shells passing by the city wall and crashing into the roof of the castle tower, which actually collapsed the roof of the castle tower.

Regardless of whether there is an element of luck in it, in the eyes of the uninformed wealthy families of the Four Kingdoms, this is the true power of the cannon.

Everyone began to count the achievements of the cannon in their hearts. Before that, the earth wall was destroyed, the turret and the wooden gate were destroyed, and now the castle tower was destroyed. The main defensive offensive of the Japanese city construction has been swept away. How big is this? The iron cannon is clearly a weapon capable of destroying a city and a country!
"The country collapses!"

I don't know who said this word, and it quickly gained wide recognition from everyone.

The term "National Beng" first came from "Wu Yao Ben Lue", which records that in the 20th year of Tianwen (1551), a Portuguese ship moored in Bungo fired a salute at the church, and the sound of a huge explosion spread to Funai Castle.Master Zonglin went to watch in shock.

Due to Otomo Zonglin's pro-Christian attitude, under the intermediary of missionaries, the artillery on the Portuguese fleet was passed to Otomo's house.Zong Lin was overjoyed and called it Guobeng.

But this is just a simple artillery similar to the Huomen Gun.It is a short-barreled projectile weapon with a large caliber and a relatively short range. It is filled with ammunition such as iron sand and gravel. Although it looks similar to a mortar, it plays the role of killing personnel. The guns are somewhat similar.

And what Xiujia is using at the moment is a serious bronze cannon dismantled from a European ship. It is a cannon that is actually loaded with iron bullets and shoots directly at the city wall. of.

Aside from the different shapes of cannons, Otomo’s family was placed in Usuki Castle by Otomo Zonglin after they obtained the “National Beng” and used as a defensive weapon. Otomo Zonglin’s knowledge of this weapon is only in the category of Western wonders. Put it into actual combat.

In other words, at this moment, the name of "National Beng" has not been truly extolled.

On November 1586, 11, the Shimadzu family led 25 soldiers and horses to besiege Usuki Castle, where Otomo Zonglin lived in seclusion.Although Dansheng Island is a fortified city surrounded by water, it is extremely fragile in front of the Shimadzu army sweeping across Kyushu, and it is crumbling under the offensive of the Shimadzu family.

Fortunately, Dansheng Island is equipped with "National Beng".Facing the limited defenders, Otomo Zonglin immediately ordered Wu Gong to launch the "National Beng" placed in the city.

After a cannon shot, Shimadzu's army fell into chaos.It is precisely because of the invincibility of Dansheng Usuki Castle and the hard work of the generals of the Otomo family that the Otomo family waited until the arrival of the Kyushu Crusade Army of the Toyotomi family.

It was not until this time that the news that Otomo's family had the collapse of the country really spread from Kyushu to the whole of Japan.

Now this group of daimyos from the Four Kingdoms, who have never seen the world before, even directly named the "National Beng" on the cannons fired by the Xiu family. fear.

The attacking soldiers outside the city are afraid of the power of the country's collapse, let alone the defenders.After the first round of artillery salvo, the defenders in the city rioted, which gave Yu Xiduo a chance to attack quickly.

At the moment when Sannomaru was attacked from the north, Qinglongbei and Baihubei, who were attacking Nishimaru from the west, finally entered the castle under the restraint of the frontal battlefield.

Zhuang Zhiqing, who was from the entourage team, took the lead and rushed into the city with the deployment, and won the first victory in winning the city.The city was broken on both sides, and in fear of the bombardment of cannons, some defenders attempted to hang down from the Niyodo River on the south side.

Ukita Kane was originally assigned the task of containing the defenders from the south side, but as a result, the city was in chaos due to the artillery bombardment, and he became a person who sat in a daze like Yoshiharu Horio.Now it is not easy to wait for someone to come to the door and directly order the iron cannons to shoot at them.

A dozen defenders who wanted to escape from the south side were shot several times under the concentrated fire of hundreds of iron cannons and fell into the Renyodo River heavily, their bodies drifting down with the river.

After Masayoshi Fukushima attacked Sannomaru, relying on the mountain, he attacked the higher Nizhimaru. Unable to wait, he even acted as the vanguard himself, and together with the others, he carried the bumper to the gate of Nizhimaru. .

The garrison troops started by Erzhimaru were all Motokin's cronies, and they didn't respond to artillery as much as others. After all, in the Battle of Sanuki a year ago, some Tosa soldiers had already experienced the power of cannons, but Now that the cannonballs are constantly flying over his head, it will indeed limit part of his combat power.

Since Fukushima Masamori was wearing gorgeous armor, he naturally became the focus of the defenders. Fortunately, after being blocked by the Ashigaru in front of him, Fukushima Masamori finally recovered from the blood of the above. "If this Hit me, and I'm finished."

Masanori Fukushima, who had calmed down, returned to the formation under the support of his retainer Hatakemoto, and no longer engaged in the important work of hand-serving.

Because of the task of knocking on the door, the first-hand soldiers are the troops who suffer the most from the siege. Most of them are filled by the bottom of the society who have nothing to worry about. Before joining the army, they may be beggars or bankrupts, but after joining the army, every daimyo will give them the best treatment.

Those who served as the vanguard were given 1 guan of military salary per month, 5 guan of military salary regardless of life and death when attacking the city, and 5 guan of military salary after breaking the city.

For rural peasants who can't use 1 kan in a year, they can get 10 kan mon for breaking the city.

With a sound of "Bump!", Erzhimaru's door bolt was finally smashed, and the mission of the vanguards was completed, and they threw down the stakes and hid behind.Masayoshi Fukushima swung his spear and shouted loudly, "Break into the city, and all the rebels will be slaughtered!"

After all, he rushed in with a long spear in his hand. Masanori Fukushima is quite strong. Hideyoshi had already made a fortune when he was young, so he could be given a relatively good samurai education. His spear skills are not weak, and the cooperation with Kato Kiyoshi It was really like entering the land of no one, and the defenders of Changzong's family scattered and fled.

"The breakers are Fukushima Ichimatsu and Kato Toranosuke!"

"Hey~! Hey~! Roar~!" Seeing that the morale of Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa was like a rainbow, the soldiers on the attacking side also gave them great respect and cheered for them.

Hideyoshi on Xiaolian Mountain took a deep breath when he heard the news that Masaru Fukushima broke through Erzhiwan, and suddenly felt a sincere love for the two of them. It is no wonder that Hideyoshi Hashiba can have such a fierce general. Kiyake killed Sakuma Masamori's Rangers.

In this space-time Battle of Jianyue, due to Xiujia's outstanding performance, the two of them just did the work of chasing down the enemy after the war. As for the battle of Komaki Nagakute, it didn't happen, so naturally there was no chance for the two of them to perform.

But gold will shine no matter where it goes. Even though there was no chance to prove itself in the early stage of the Battle of the Four Kingdoms, but in the Battle of Okatoyo Castle at this moment, the performance of the two in front of the big names finally gave themselves a name. million chances.

At noon, the shouts of killing at the head of Gangfeng Castle gradually subsided, which also announced the end of the battle of Gangfeng Castle.Those present, such as Xiyuanji Gonghiro, Kono Tongzhi, etc., had been beaten by Changzong's family before and couldn't take care of themselves. My family surrendered.

Now I see the indomitable Changzong Ibu Yuanqin, who only persisted for half a day, and the city was declared to have fallen. I was even more afraid of the strength of the Xiu family and the Hashiba family behind it, and they all began to think about their own ability to be safe. Is the request too much? I am afraid that it will attract the wrath of the Xiu family.

Not long after, a samurai with a centipede flag on his back galloped down from Okatoyo Castle, shouting along the way, "Shaosuke Miyauchi, the chief minister of Changzong, has been captured alive!"

When this news was transmitted to the Xiaolianshan headquarters, all the daimyos in the shogunate were shocked and frightened without exception, causing a commotion.

It wasn't until Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa rosy-faced that they took Changzong and Ibu Yuanqin to the Xiaolian Mountain main camp that everyone saw clearly that this man lying on a stretcher with disheveled hair and covered in smoke was actually a powerful man from the past. The Sogabu Yuanqin, the man who made the four countries fear, swept the four countries with no rival Miyauchi Shaosuke.

"Wuweidian, we are lucky enough to live up to our fate, and now we have captured Changzong and my family as a prisoner." Fukushima Masanori and Kato Kiyomasa knelt on one knee and said to the Hide family.

"Father!" "My lord!" Seeing the plight of Changzong's relatives, Changzong's relatives and Gu Zhongcheng, who were detained by Xiu's family in the battle, were both sad and happy. The relatives are safe and sound, the next generation is a generation of heroes who passed the whole army from Gangfeng City to Xiaolian City like monkeys.

How could Yuanqin, who was physically stronger, stand up to this kind of humiliation, and covered his face with his sleeves, so that no one could see his appearance clearly.

Xinqin and Gu Zhongcheng of Changzong's family tried to rush up to meet Yuanqin, but they were stopped by warriors on both sides of the road. Finally, with the consent of the Xiu family, they were allowed to meet their father and son.

At this moment, the father and son no longer have the previous intrigues, only the strong family affection. Yuan Qin no longer covers his face, caressing the face of Xinqin with trembling hands, and whispering in his mouth, "Misaburo, I am sorry for you as a father."

"Don't talk about it, don't talk about father, our family will always be together." The true feelings of the father and son's family were revealed, like a bitter drama, and Xiu Jiadao became the villain in the play.

The Xiu family, who had lost his father since childhood, was also moved by the father-son relationship between the two, and was moved with a little compassion. Just as he was about to speak, another person from the shogunate stood up and knelt down to the Xiu family and said, "Wu Wei Dian, I would like to use my 3 shi The knowledge and action, in exchange for my brother's life."

The one who spoke was Xiangzong and I, Kintai, who, after surrendering to the Hide family the day before yesterday, together with Asano Nagamasa, persuaded Awa to surrender to the people of the country who were still resisting.Later, he was summoned by Xiu's family to come to Toyooka to watch the formation.

Qintai, who grew up in Gangfengcheng since he was a child, is full of memories of this city. Every time Ukita Jun breaks the city, it feels like a heavy hammer hitting his heart.

If it hadn't been for Xiangzong and our troops to join the ranks, the Xiu family might have forgotten that there was such a surrendered daimyo from the Four Kingdoms in the formation.

The reason why he didn't stand up is because he knew that the Hide family's plan to siege Okatoyo was irreversible, and he also acquiesced in the fate of his elder brother Yuanqin. As a samurai and a governor, it is best to die together destiny.

And he will return to the main family from the branch family, and shoulder the important task of revitalizing the family name of the Changzong family.Therefore, even though he was suffering in his heart, he secretly hid aside and wept quietly, and he didn't even dare to sob, for fear of attracting attention.

But people's hearts are fleshy. When he saw his elder brother or his nephew standing here intact, the feelings of the father and son were transmitted to his heart, and Xiangzong, who could no longer hold on, was ready to let go. Fight, ask Xiujia for forgiveness.

The appearance of Xiangzong's relatives interrupted Xiujia's thinking, and he habitually looked at Zhengxing, the flower house beside him, for advice.Before Hanafang Masaaki opened his mouth, Fukushima Masaaki scolded first, "What a country samurai, this is the first traitor of a flower thief, you dare to intercede for him, I think you must be a slave thief, I am not afraid that His Highness will kill you together Yet!"

Instead, Kato Kiyomasa, who was beside him, pulled him and whispered a few words in his ear, and Fukushima Masanori suddenly realized, "It turns out that he is the younger brother of the flower thief. Needless to say, I will follow the thief." The Xiu family pleaded, "Your Highness, please allow me to kill this thief together!"

Good guy, this person didn't listen to what Xiangzong Ibu Qintai said at all. He said from the beginning that he was the younger brother of Changzong Ibu Yuanqin.

Fukushima Masanori's voice was extremely loud, and his saliva was scattered in line with the business. When Xiujia heard Fukushima Masanori's croaking, he felt a pain in the head, and his love for him that had just arisen for a moment suddenly disappeared.

It was Mitsunari Ishida who asked from the side, "Master Fukushima, you are so courageous. Master Xiangzong has surrendered to the family. Naturally, he is a retainer of Dai Nayan. You are calling out from the thief one by one, but you are talking about Master Xiangzong. From which thief?"

As soon as Ishida Mitsunari's words came out, everyone in the shogunate suddenly gasped. This man has such a vicious heart. He took advantage of the opportunity to buckle such a big hat, and even Hideka who was sitting in the first seat shuddered.

Masanori Fukushima hadn't recovered yet, and was about to speak, but was stopped by Kiyomasa Kato next to him, and immediately asked Ishida Mitsunari, "What kind of nonsense is Mr. Ishida talking about? Such a big hat is placed on our heads. I can't afford to wait.

Mr. Fukushima was just a slip of the tongue caused by a moment of impatience. Now that Oka Toyojo has just been captured, are you going to start murdering your colleagues? "

"Colleague, who treats him as a colleague." Fukushima Masanori has not yet understood the twists and turns, and he bluntly said that he has a bad relationship with Ishida Mitsunari. Even Kato Kiyomasa couldn't help frowning and sighing secretly.

Just when the two were about to quarrel again, Xiujia hammered the table in front of him heavily, and scolded, "Arguing before the army, do you still have me as the coach in your eyes?"

(End of this chapter)