Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 338 Battle of Kyushu ([-])

Only 10 minutes after the start of the battle, Shimadzu's side lost Xingshan Temple, an important fulcrum outside Fukuliang Castle, which cast a shadow over the entire battle.

At the same time when Ukita Kanke and Hanafo Masanari chose to set up the main camp in Xingzan Temple, the Hoki people under Fukura Castle rushed straight along the Usuki River to the Shimadzu camp under Fukura Castle.

There are two reasons why the Shimadzu family can rule the roost in Kyushu. At least the four Shimadzu brothers have a set of views on marching and fighting that surpass their contemporaries.

Knowing that in the military formations of the Japanese daimyo at that time, when they went out to fight and set up camp at night, they always sat on the ground, and the soldiers used branches to prop up straw mats outside to count as camp tents.

The tents are so simple, they naturally will not dig trenches and set up fences outside the camp, after all, for them, a camp with fences has risen to a semi-permanent "village".

When Oda Nobunaga's commander made a surprise attack on Ozama, the entire Imagawa Army had only one military tent, Imagawa Yoshimoto, standing in the formation, which became the guiding light for Oda Nobunaga's surprise attack.

Just imagine if the Imagawa Army honestly set up fences outside the camp, the Oda Army's raid would not be so smooth.

However, the Shimadzu army led by Shimadzu Yoshihiro today surrounded the camp under Fuliang Castle with wooden fences, which made Ukita's family feel a little uncomfortable all of a sudden.

In fact, the Xiu family has its own method for breaking the fence, and it is often used when attacking the small city with the fence.That is to hook the fence with a hook lock and drag it hard to destroy the integrity of the fence.

However, Yuxita's family did not carry a hook lock when they went out today, which hindered the Hoki people's assault.

Some soldiers from Hoki wanted to climb over the one-person-high fence with bare hands, but were stabbed to death by the enemy in the camp with long spears. Ukita’s family had no choice but to send knights back to the camp to get the hook lock and ramming wood for breaking the city. , and at the same time ordered people to form an array outside the camp, using bows and iron cannons to consume the enemy remotely.

The Shimadzu side quickly responded with an eye for an eye, and mobilized the iron cannons and the Hokis to shoot each other across the iron cannons.

Since the total number of iron gunmen mobilized by the two sides exceeded 600, the first time in ancient Japanese history that hot weapons lined up and fired guns at the foot of Fuliang Mountain.

The entire battlefield is located from the foot of Mount Fukura to the edge of the Usuki River, and the width of the battlefield is only more than 200 meters. Ukita has to allocate part of the width of the battlefield to the head community of Masanari Hanaba to implement the oppression of Fukura Castle.

The two sides squeezed into the narrow valley of the battlefield, using all the long-range weapons available in their hands to greet each other face to face. In the end, because Xiujia's 4-stage attack method had a stronger firepower, they gradually reduced the iron opponents on the opposite side. The artillery fire was suppressed.

After the fight, the thick smoke from the iron cannons on both sides covered the entire battlefield, and the ashigaru couldn't aim at all. The iron cannons were just suppressing the opponent's firepower.

The battlefield at the foot of Mt. Fukura naturally attracted the attention of the four cities on both sides of the Usuki River (Tomuro, Mizuyama Castle, and Usuki Castle on the Toyotomi side, and Oiwa Castle on the Shimadzu side.), such a high-intensity war like today has never been seen in the past of.

In fact, halfway through the shooting, the Hoki people wanted to send someone to put the hooks on the fence, but the opponent's firepower was also very fierce, and none of the ashigaru sent back came back.

In fact, there is only one opportunity to break the stronghold today, when the Boqi people had no choice but to go back to get the hook and rope and hit the wood, they had already lost the opportunity on the battlefield.

Although Xiujia was at the back of the formation and was unable to see the battle at the foot of Fuliang Mountain due to limited sight, he frowned when he heard the dense sound of iron cannons coming from there.

This is not the same as what he expected. He thinks that even if it is a frontal assault, after the iron cannon fire at the beginning of the battle, the two sides should enter hand-to-hand combat, but after fighting for so long, the sound of the iron cannon fire has intensified Happening.

Realizing that the situation was not right, the Xiu family naturally couldn't continue to sit firmly in the central army in the formation, so they hurriedly rode their horse Heiyun to Xingshan Temple with the bannermen and attendants.

In Xingshan Temple, Ukita Kanjia was exchanging ideas with Hanafang Zhengcheng, but he heard the report from the Samurai stationed outside the temple: "My lord, the main hall is here."

When the two heard that Xiu's family had arrived, they looked at each other. Yu Xiduo had a premonition that it might be because of his stagnation that he attracted Xiu's attention.

Yu Xita interpreter shook his head and said helplessly, "It seems that the lord is here to supervise the formation."

"Although it's a feint, you still have to show your bearings," Huafang Zhengcheng responded with a smile.

While talking, the Xiu family entered Xingshan Temple with their attendants, and quickly took over the temple's defense.

The vassals of Ukita Kan's family led Hide's family to the northwest corner of the temple, where the two temporarily built a wooden platform, and they were standing on the wooden platform to observe the battle at the foot of the mountain.

"What's going on, why is the sound of the iron cannon so loud?" Xiu Jiaren, who was fully dressed, began to question the two of them before they came in front of them.

The two of them reached out to help Hideo climb to the high platform, and Hideo directly took out the brass monocular telescope bought in Sakaimachi to observe the battle situation under the castle.

However, due to the exchange of iron cannons from both sides, the entire foot of Fuliang Mountain was covered by gunpowder smoke, and the situation on the front line of the battlefield could not be seen clearly at all.

There was no way of knowing the situation on the battlefield, and the stagnation of the war made the Xiu family a little anxious, so they blurted out and cursed, "What kind of a shitty battle is this fucking fighting?"

The two people standing beside Xiujia heard Xiujia's scolding voice, and lowered their heads a little embarrassedly, waiting for Xiujia's tactical guidance.

After a while, Xiujia put away his binoculars, and said to the two of them, "Since this is already the case, then simply use the momentum and I will transfer you 400 Iron Cannons from other reserve teams. You must send Fuliang The momentum on the front of the mountain made it difficult for them to pay attention to the movement behind the mountain."

After Hideka finished speaking, he asked Nobushige Sanada to send an order to dispatch a battalion of 400 iron cannon ashigaru from the firearms battalion to come to the front for support.

It's a pity that before the reinforcements arrived, there was a shout of killing from the back mountain of Fuliang City, and the long boat led by Changchuan Gangzhi was ready to enter the city.

Due to the presence of Shimadzu, Fuliangshan Castle has been expanded to a certain extent. Now there are 1200 soldiers stationed in the city, which is basically the same as the long ship.

However, due to the massive feint attack by Hanabou Masanari and Ukita Kan's family at the foot of Fukuliang Mountain, it attracted the attention of Fukurajo Castle, allowing Osafune Tsunao to enter the city calmly.

Hearing the movement from Fukura Castle, Hideya directly ordered Samukawa Beihe of Iemitsu Samukawa of the fourth formation, and Yoneko Bei of the fifth formation led by Kamei Suzuki to rush to Fukuliang Mountain for support.

So far, Xiujia has invested a total of 12000 troops at the foot of Mount Fuliang, and the war has essentially become a full-scale decisive battle from a partial battle.

What Hideka originally thought was that the Hoki led by Ukita's family would break through the Shimadzu army formation at the foot of Fuliang Mountain, cooperate with Huafang Zhengcheng to isolate Fuliang Mountain City, and Fuliang Mountain City will not be able to look after each other when the end of Fuliang Mountain City is over.

However, due to the failure of Ukita's family to break the formation, Hideka had to add chips to Houshan Osafuna's side, and instilled all the hopes of breaking through Fukura Castle here, and the frontal restraint still could not be relaxed.

Yoshihiro Shimadzu of Dayan City saw that the back gate of Fuliang Castle was attacked, and wanted to send people to support from the back mountain, but was blocked by Qinglong Bei at the foot of the mountain and could not advance an inch.

The battle continued until noon, and the fighters on both sides were already exhausted. The disadvantage of the Shimadzu army formation at the foot of Fuliang Mountain was finally revealed.

Since the fence of the Shimadzu army was built south of the gate of Fuliangshan City, it protected Fuliang Castle, so that the Shimadzu Army could calmly enter Fukuliang Castle from the main gate to support the defenders in the city.

Ukita's siege was blocked!

"Saburo Goro, I want you to rush up with the Hoki people and cut off the Shimadzu's support to Fukura Castle."

The Xiu family standing on the high platform saw that the battle situation fell into anxiety again, and even directly called the Quan family's common name to give him orders.

You must know that the Quan family is the cousin of the Xiu family, and the Xiu family usually respects him very much, and they usually call him by the official name of "Elder Brother of the Quan family" or "Dai Zai Dian".With Xiu's attitude now, it was obvious that he was really in a hurry to get angry.

After hearing the order from the Xiu family, the Ukita Kan family no longer dared to neglect, came to the formation in person, and directed the Hoki people to start breaking the formation of the Shimadzu camp.

In order to break through the Shimadzu camp, the ashigaru held iron-clad wooden bunks and bamboo bundles against the iron cannons on the opposite side and kept shooting close to the fence.

In just 50 steps, no less than a hundred people were shot and fell down. Fortunately, the smoke from the iron cannon prevented the Shimadzu family on the opposite side from knowing what Ukita was doing.

When the queue reached 20 steps in front of the fence, Azuharu swung the rope to put the hook lock on the fence, and passed the hook rope backwards. Dozens of people dragged the rope vigorously in an attempt to break the fence.

At the same time, Ashigaru used a special sling to throw the cannon and the oil tank into the fence. The cannon exploded in the Shimadzu army, and the broken pottery wounded a large number of people, causing a riot.

Not long after, the fence was also pulled by the hook rope, and the ashigaru of the Hoki, led by the samurai, rushed into the camp.

With a distance of 20 steps, there was no time for the opponent to react. The Hokis pushed to Mudun, who was temporarily blocked behind the fence in order to defend against the iron cannon bullets, and fought with the Shimadzus with their spears and samurai swords.

Masanari Hanabou saw the Hokis entering the camp to attract the opponent's attention, and led the head office to attack Fukurayama Oteguchi from the foot of Fukurayama. After 20 minutes of hard work, they successfully blocked the Shimadzu's rear and Fukurajo Castle contact.

At this point, the battle has officially entered a fever pitch. The head office needs to face the attacks of Shimadzu's reinforcements and the defenders in Fukura Castle at the same time. In the case of a fire attack on the headquarters under the castle.

The anxious battle situation on the front line made Akashi Jingqin, who was sitting in the rear, unable to stay. Before assigning the task, the Hide family expected to control Fukurayama Castle before noon, and then forced the Shimadzu family in Daya City to retreat.

But it has been fighting for so long, and the battle situation has not calmed down at all. On the contrary, the intensity of the war has continued to expand as time goes by.

"Your Highness, are you preparing for a decisive battle?" Akashi Jingqin, who was standing beside Xiu's family, asked worriedly when he saw Fuliang Mountain unfolding.

The Xiu family also felt bitter and couldn't tell. If they knew this, it would be better to take advantage of the fog to launch a surprise attack. Maybe it would be easier to pull out the city.

But now that Fuliangshan City has already been invaded in this situation, and I have invested more than half of the army, and I have a slight advantage, if I choose to withdraw my troops, I am afraid it will lead to a total collapse.

The most important thing is that at this time, the soldiers of both sides are mixed together. It is when you have me in you and you in me. At this time, it is a bit difficult to withdraw and reorganize.

Seeing the battle situation before the battle, Akashi Jingqin frowned, but still made a suggestion like the Xiu family, "There is no way to retreat after fighting like this, and we can only continue to send more reinforcements."

Hideka nodded, turned around and ordered to the attendants waiting behind him, "Have Togawa Tatsuyasu Marugame Bei and Maeda Keiji Bei Naka Oda Bei prepare in the seventh formation, step forward to support His Highness Dazai and Hanabang-sama."

Just after the order was issued, Akashi Jingqin, who was staying by Xiu's house, stopped him and said, "Wait a minute"

He looked at Xiu's family and suggested, "It's all done like this, should we let Toyotomi's army increase as well, so that they can experience that my Yuxi family is really in a hard fight, so as not to suffer slander?"

Xiujia asked a little strangely, "Why, do those two guys, Yasuji Wakisaka and Yoshiaki Kato, have any unreasonable opinions about our family?"

"Is that true?" Akashi Jingqin shook his head and said, "It's just that I will have a witness when I get to the Guanbai tent in the future."

After hearing Akashi Jingqin's thoughts, Xiujia was silent. Xiujia, who was on the front line of political struggle, was deeply touched by this and expressed acquiescence to his proposal.

The Uki family fought very fiercely, and the Shimadzu family on the opposite side also resisted completely. After 2 hours of hand-to-hand combat, Masanari Hanabou's head office was shaken. It was replaced, but Yu Xijia's front retreated a little.

At the same time, the Hoki members of Ukita Kan's family were also replaced by Hideka's Marugame Bei and Bichu Oda Bei because of exhaustion.

The two sides fought until 3 p.m., and as the shouts of killing above Fuliangshan Castle gradually stopped, Fuliangshan Castle was finally completely controlled by the Toyotomi family.

Yoshihiro Shimadzu finally gave up sending additional reinforcements after seeing Fuliang Castle's loss. The troops on both sides of Fuliang Mountain calmly and orderly withdrew from the battle, and the siege of Fuliang Mountain Castle finally came to an end.

However, Ukita, who had been fighting since the morning, had no energy left to continue the pursuit of the Shimadzu family, and the two sides tacitly chose to leave the battle at the foot of Fuliangshan Castle.

Seeing that the Ukita Hide family had successfully attacked Fukurayama Castle and pulled it out, Otomo Zonglin, who had been watching the show for a day on the other side, finally took the 8000 reinforcements from Funai Castle, crossed the Usuki River under the cover of the Kuki Yoshitaka Fleet, and arrived at Fuliang Yamashiro meets Hideka.

At the same time, the defenders in Usuki Castle, who saw Ukita's successful attack on Fukurayama Castle, also erupted in loud shouts.

If Otomo Zonglin’s reinforcements on the west bank of the Usuki River a few days ago were more formal reinforcements, now the Toyotomi army has invaded Fukurayama Castle, which is less than 1.6km away from Usuki Castle, and it is the defenders who have held on to Usuki Castle for more than a month. I really saw the hope of life.

However, the loss of Fukurayama Castle, Otomo's reinforcements crossing the river calmly, and the high morale in Usuki Castle all made Shimadzu Yoshihiro in Oiwa Castle understand that it was impossible to continue fighting in this battle, and he already had the idea of ​​retreating.

(End of this chapter)