Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 337 Battle of Kyushu ([-])

Kawayama Chusuke brought his son Kawayama Kudaka from Hideka Honjin Satsu Liujo back to Shimadzu Yoshihiro Honjin Oiwa Castle. The sun had already set, but all the important officials of the Shimadzu family in the Oiwa Castle Shogunate gathered again. He left alone, waiting for the news that Zhongsuke Huashan brought back.

At the foot of Oiwa Castle, Huashan Tadsuke and his son happened to meet Kawakami Tadakura who came out of the city, "Cadasuke, you are back. Lord Hyogo sent me down to look for you several times."

Kawayama Tadsuke, who saw the person coming, saluted him and said, "Why did Uenosuke come out in person? I'm really flattered."

It's no wonder that Tadsuke Kawayama attaches so much importance to it. It's because Tadaka Kawakami is too divided within the Shimadzu family. He has been in the Shimadzu family for more than 40 years, and he is a figure at the level of the Shimadzu family.

Kawakami Tadakura was born in the Kawakami clan of the Shimadzu family, commonly known as Gensaburo, who was once appointed as an official Uenosuke.During the Tianwen period, because his second daughter became the second wife of Shimadzu Mihisa, the head of the Sazhou Shimadzu family, he became Mihisa's retainer.

However, due to the defeat of Shimadzu Mihisa and Shimadzu Takahisa, he fell behind and surrendered to Shimadzu Takahisa in the 8th year of Tianwen (1539).After that, he was exiled to Zeng Island, and after 3 years, he was pardoned for his crimes and became the elder of the Shimadzu family.

Kawayama Tadasuke and his son followed Kawakami Katsutaka all the way to the top of Dayayan Castle. Although this old man is 75 years old, he still walks so fast. It is estimated that only Takeuchi Hisamori from the Uki family can compete with him in the world. .

As soon as the two were brought into the palace, Shimadzu couldn't wait to ask for a long time, "How is it? Which adult's army is opposite, how strong is the army? What is the strength of the army?"

The father and son looked at each other, and Kawayama Tadsuke asked first, "The general who is commanding the army on the opposite side is Toyotomi Chuji Hideka, the super daimyo who commands the Kibi Seven Kingdoms with millions of stones."

"Ah?!" Kawayama Tadsuke's words caused exclamation in the hall. Only one daimyo within the Toyotomi family was as strong as his own Shimadzu family. How powerful is the Toyotomi family?

Of course, there are also samurai in the hall who don’t know much about the Hide family’s background. They asked their companions: “Is this Toyotomi Hide family the same as the former Uki family? I remember it was a small daimyo under the Mori family. Why is there such a thing now?” Is it of normal size?"

Kawayama Tadsuke ignored everyone's surprise and continued, "I walked all the way from Fukura Castle. The enemy's main camp was set up in Satsuzuru Castle. The city is too small to accommodate a large army. The army spread all the way along the Usuki River. There are garrisons in all the cities and villages, and the number of them is no less than ten thousand."

Huashan Chusuke said that at this time, Huashan Jiudao said, "Not only that, I saw the captured Yamada Yunobu over there, and he said that there were about ten thousand enemies who attacked Huaicheng, although some of them may An imaginary number, but the total number of Toyotomi's army should be more than 2."

Kawayama Tadsuke heard his son give a higher force forecast, and did not refute it, but responded with silence.After all, in his opinion, it is possible for as many people as possible to come from the Toyotomi family on the opposite side.

At this time, Yoshihiro Shimadzu, who had been sitting in the seat for a long time, finally spoke: "How is the morale and combat strength of the soldiers of Toyotomi's family opposite?"

When asked this question, the most qualified person to answer was Kawayama Kudaka. After all, he had fought a real battle with the Xiu family's army.

He took a deep breath and said to everyone, "The soldiers in this formation have fought against the enemy for a while, so they have a deep understanding. The enemy soldiers are extremely capable, and each division is equipped with arched foot light, iron cannon foot light, etc. The coordination between them is orderly, and it looks like a veteran soldier who has been fighting for a long time.

Moreover, the morale of the enemy army is high, and they still do not lose their ambitions in the face of our iron cannon salvo, which is beyond the reach of ordinary daimyo troops.And he also has a team of cavalry warriors with hundreds of people. When they charge, they are like destroying the front and pulling out the city, and everyone who looks at them is afraid. "

Shimadzu Yoshihisa seemed to have some doubts about Kawayama Kudaka's answer, "This should be the elite of the Toyotomi family on the opposite side. It is understandable for the vanguard to use the elite. How about the soldiers in the rear?"

"That's not true," countered Kawayama Kudaka, "It seems to me that most of the enemy's soldiers are like this. When fighting with them, you can even see yourself in their eyes."

"Hahahaha" Huashan Jiugao's answer caused everyone to laugh again, "I can see myself in my eyes, what kind of bastard are you talking about, I can't understand it at all."

Kawayama Kudaka is a well-known handsome man in the Shimadzu family, so he was ridiculed, "Gonbei, you are too narcissistic, are you admiring yourself from the eyes of the enemy?"

Kawayama Kudaka responded indifferently to their ridicule, looked at Yoshihiro Shimadzu with murderous eyes, and said slowly, "Like this look, in their eyes, I am like a prey, and they will take me even if they die Down."

In fact, although Yoshihiro Shimadzu didn't speak up just now, he laughed with others, but when he saw Kawayama Kudaka's eyes, his body still couldn't help leaning back and trying to avoid it, and his body shook uncontrollably. I shivered.

With only 1 second of ecstasy, Shimadzu Yoshihiro quickly adjusted his posture, looked at Kawayama Tadsuke, father of Shimadzu's old Kawayama Kudaka, and wanted to find the answer from his mouth.

Kawayama Tadsuke frowned as if there was something hard to say, and after sorting out his words a bit, he said, "My son was stimulated by the enemy cavalry charge, so I overestimated the combat power of Toyotomi's army.

In my opinion, the Toyotomi army on the opposite side should be comparable to our army. Of course, their armor rate is higher than ours. This is understandable. After all, the Kinki area is relatively richer. "

Huashan Zhongsuke actually knew very well in his heart that maybe his son was wrong, but the difference was not too big. The Toyotomi army on the opposite side was indeed the most elite army he had seen in so many years, even the powerful army of Otomo's family back then Nothing compares.

But this counterattack against Otomo is a national war, and the Shimadzu family is fighting with all their strength. How can I say something depressing before the battle begins.

The most important thing is that people always only believe what they want to believe. Since the victory of the Shimadzu family in the Battle of Erchuan, the land has expanded several times, and the idea of ​​​​the world's only one has been born from top to bottom.

Now tell them that the military strength between yourself and Kinki is like a bumpkin, do you think they will believe it?
I'm afraid that as soon as I said it, I would be treated as cowardly, and the Shimadzu brothers and other samurai families would directly swallow the Huashan family alive.

Shimadzu Yoshihiro was very satisfied with Kawayama Tadsuke's answer, so he echoed his expectations. No matter how strong the Toyotomi family on the opposite side is, they are also famous families. How strong can they be?

Could it be that they are the masters of a hundred battles, and why didn't their own Shimadzu army come out of Satsuma step by step?
He just feels a little regretful now, it's a pity that Huashan Jiugao, a young man, has his fighting spirit knocked down in this way, and he once wanted to train him as the next generation of family elders, it seems that he still needs to temper it.

Shimadzu Yoshihiro looked at Kawayama Tadsuke, and asked him again, "What did the Secretary of State say about the exchange of captives?"

Kawayama Tadsuke revealed all the conditions of the Hide family. Before Shimadzu Yoshihiro could speak, Shimadzu Yoshihisa on the side vetoed, "This is absolutely impossible."

After he vetoed it, another person expressed his opinion, "Well, the negotiation will not go so smoothly the first time. Since the Toyotomi family has offered a price, it can naturally be negotiated. Don't be impatient."

The person who spoke was called Youmatou Yuwa Hisutora, commonly known as Koshiro, who called himself Zuomasuke, a retainer of the Satsuma Shimazu family and the seventh generation family governor of the Yuwa family.

He was born in the first year of Yonglu (1558), and died in the 15th year of Tianzheng (1587) in history.

Because of the murder of his half-brother Yingwa, he succeeded the governor of the Yingwa family. He worked with Tianwen for 8 years and became Shimadzu Takahisa's subordinate.

In the 4th year of Tensho (1576), he assisted the Shimadzu family in attacking Takahara Castle, participated in the Battle of Otogawa the following year, and was ordered to lead the attack on Minamata alone in 1580.

At that time, he already owned Samowa and Ibusuki, granted 8700 shi to Zhixing, and concurrently served as the banner head of these two counties (the total amount of knowledge and practice in the two counties was about 2.4 shi, and the land inspection in Qingchang period was 3.2 shi).

Later, in the 10th year of Tensho (1582), he participated in the joint battle between the Hizen Kingdom and the Hyuga Kingdom, but was wounded in the offensive and defensive battle of Sensenwa Castle (Thousand Stone).

In the 12th year of Tianzheng, Yuwa Jiuhu became one of Shimadzu Yoshihisa's think tanks, and later handed it over to Shimadzu Yoshihiro as a power.

In the battle of Erchuan, the battle of Higo country's attack, and the battle with daimyo Ryuzoji Takanobu, such as the battle of Okitagan, he won brilliant records, and was promoted to Wanshi Zhixing for his meritorious service.

Yoshihiro Shimadzu has won the trust of Yoshihiro Shimadzu himself. Yoshihiro Shimadzu praised him as a brave general many times, and gave him the appreciation that "all the battles of fat and fat depend on Jiutora to succeed."

From the above, the Huashan family, the Kawakami family, and the Yuwa family here are all from the Shimadzu family. From this point, we can also see how deeply the Shimadzu family and their branches have had a profound impact on Satsuma and Osumi. strength.

No wonder Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu are so conservative about Shimadzu's handling. It is really that the surname Shimadzu is too deterrent in southern Kyushu.

After all, even if you uproot the four Shimadzu brothers, this land is still the Shimadzu family's business. The most effective way to deal with it is to uproot the Shimadzu clan and branch families and transfer them all.

But which place in Japan has such a capacity to accommodate such a big family?Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Hideyoshi launched the invasion of Korea. He wanted to transfer the Shimadzu family to North Korea, so as to exercise actual control over Southern Kyushu.

Jiwa Jiuhu turned to Shimadzu Yoshihiro and said, "Otherwise, send me there tomorrow, and let me meet the legendary 'Nishiguo Wushuang', maybe there will be a different result."

Shimadzu Yoshihiro has absolute trust in Yuwa Hisutora, so he agreed with his proposal.

However, the reality does not allow Yoshihiro Shimadzu to relax. On the second day when Yoshihiro Shimadzu was about to send Hisawa to go to Zuojin Liucheng for talks again, Ukita had already launched an offensive against Fukura Castle.

The offensive was divided into three directions. On the front, the Hoki people led by the Ukita Kan family were in charge, launching a surprise attack on the Shimadzu family army under Fukura Castle with a total force of 3300.

The side was handed over to Hanabou Masanari's head office and its subsidiary reserve team of 2000 people. They were responsible for attacking Fuliang Castle under Fuliang Castle and containing the defenders of Fuliang Castle.

The third direction is a surprise soldier, led by Nagao Nao Nao, who is in charge of Nagao, and under the leadership of Otomo's guide, climbs up from the back mountain of Fuliang Castle and attacks the back gate of Fuliang Castle.

In order to ensure the safety of the Long Ship Steel Straight Team, Hideka also sent Qinglong Bei led by Date Masakura out to approach Dayan City 600 meters forward to oppress Dayan City.

In fact, the Xiu family's military plan had already been agreed yesterday, and many reserve troops had already dispatched at night, in order not to fall behind, the soldiers were connected in series with ropes, and the soldiers with good night vision led the way forward.

As the sky began to brighten and the soldiers of the Shimadzu family were still preparing to wash up, the Hoki people and Soshabei in front of the Toyotomi family had already been dispatched, stepping on the rhythm of drums and coming to Fukura Castle.

Hearing the actions of the Toyotomi army on the opposite side, the defenders of Fukura Castle hadn't eaten breakfast, so they hurriedly put on their armor and prepared to fight.

Even if the defenders in the city are blocked by the city wall, the Shimadzu army in the army village under the city will be miserable. In the early morning, when they are deeply asleep, people wake up one after another to see the densely packed Toyotomi army coming towards them. It was too late to wear it, and I was ready to fight with the spear in my hand.

In fact, today was another foggy day, and Xiujia could have taken advantage of the fog to sneak under Fuliang City, and then launched a surprise attack on the military village and Fuliang City.

But Xiujia didn't do this, he was afraid that he would really have a decisive battle in the first battle, and Yoshihiro Shimadzu would be crippled in the first battle.

Before he set off, he warned himself more than once that he was only here to expel the Shimadzu family, and he had to leave them with a certain amount of military strength to ensure that they were able to organize resistance against Hideyoshi.

More importantly, Hideka wanted to fight Shimadzu Yoshihiro in a dignified manner, so that he could realize his own strength, and only in this way could he compromise with himself.

That's why Xiujia made a long jump before the thick fog cleared up, allowing the army to come out under the eyes of the enemy.

Of course, the width of the battlefield under Fuliang Castle cannot accommodate more than 5000 people. Ukita Quanjia and Hanafang Zhengcheng's generals split into two formations, with 200 people in each row in front of the Quanjia formation, and 85 people in each row in front of the Hanfang Zhengcheng formation. They began to approach Fuliang .

Unexpectedly, Huafang Zhengcheng took the lead in attacking and began to attack Xingshan Temple under Fuliang Castle.

Xingshan Temple was built on a small soil slope at the foot of Fuliang Mountain. The breakthrough height is only more than ten meters, but it is an important node in front of Fuliang Castle. Therefore, the Shimadzu family once again left a small team of about 150 people stationed.

What's ridiculous is that when the flower house was attacking Xingshan Temple, most of the defenders in the temple hadn't woken up yet, so they were kicked out of the temple in such a daze, thinking about Fuliang City and ran.

After Huafang Zhengcheng occupied Xingshan Temple, Ukita Kanjia also came here, and set up the main formation here together with him. After all, this is the commanding height second only to Fukura Castle, which is very suitable for commanding operations.

(End of this chapter)