Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 347 Suppressing Chikuzen
When the Ukita Kan family broke through the Tara River, Shimadzu Tadachomono in Beppu Castle had already received the message. At first he sent some reinforcements to the front line, intending to continue to block the Toyotomi family on the north bank of the Tara River.

However, judging from the continuous disintegration of the front line, the Taragawa defense line has collapsed, and Beppu Castle is small and a Hirayama castle located in the Great Plains of Fukuoka, which is not enough for defense at all. (more than [-] meters east of Fukuoka Airport today)
Tadacho Shimadzu wanted to bring the general power back to Iwakiya Castle to garrison, relying on Iwaya Castle, Shuicheng, Ono Castle, and Baoman Castle to prevent Hideka from continuing to advance southward.

After all, it has been half a month since Hideo sent troops, and Shimadzu Yoshihisa of Satsuma has already mobilized reinforcements, and he will be able to come to support Chikuzen soon.

But Tadaga Shimadzu overlooked a very serious problem, that is, the terrain of this line of defense.

If you have Google Maps, you can take a look at the location of Iwaya Castle, which is at the bell mouth of Fukuoka Plain in Chikuzen Country.

Yanwu Castle and Ono Castle are located on a sudden mountain in the plain at the entrance of the trumpet mouth, while Homan Mountain Castle is in the Chikuzen Mountains on the east side, both of which are key passes guarding Chikugo and entering Chikuzen.

But Shuicheng is different. It is a flat city located at the foot of Ono Mountain. Because there were not many cities surrounded by water in Japan in the past, its existence can be regarded as an epoch-making appearance in Kyushu, so it was named Shuicheng.But in the end, looking at this rammed-earth flat city from the perspective of the Warring States Period, it has already fallen behind the times.

Water City has undoubtedly become the most vulnerable weakness in the entire exhibition. However, facing this weakness, the problems faced by the Shimadzu family today are completely different from those faced by the Otomo family back then.

The reason why Otomo’s family could retreat calmly after the Shuicheng was destroyed was because behind them was the vast Fukuoka Plain.

However, the Shimadzu family wanted to retreat south after the water city was broken, but they could only retreat back to Chikugo from the bell mouth less than 2 kilometers between Mount Tianzhu and Mount Miyaji.

In other words, for Tadacho Shimadzu, once Shuicheng was breached, there was no chance for his defenders in Iwakiya Castle and Baomanshan Castle to retreat, and they all had to make dumplings.

After Shimadzu Tadaga returned to Iwaya Castle, he looked at Taniguchi and quickly realized that Iwaya Castle was a fortress for the northern army, but it was like a chicken rib for the southern soldiers.

Fortunately, he is not as pedantic as some people, so he quickly re-ordered, requiring the entire army to withdraw from the four cities and retreat to the south side of the valley. Wait for the city.

For Tadaga Shimadzu, he could no longer retreat. Continuing to retreat would be tantamount to completely abandoning the Akizuki family in Chikuzen.

Qiuyue is not a small daimyo, who can be discarded if they say they can be discarded. They have a lot of power in Zhuqian, and they are strong dragons with no less than 20 shi.

At the same time, Shimadzu Tadacho's defense line has actually withdrawn from Chikuzen, and began to rely on Chikugo Mihara County and Hizen Kisi County to establish a defense line.

Obviously, the news I got from a month ago is that the Shimadzu family invaded Bungo on the east front, captured the Kyushu fortress Kokura Castle on the west front, and drove the Otomo family back to Bungzen and Bungo with tens of thousands of Toyotomi reinforcements. How come it only took a few days to break through the blockade, and even directly occupied most of Chikuzen?
(At this time, the Akizuki family still owns all of Chikuzen's southern Kama-gun, Yasu-gun, Kamiza-gun, and Shimoza-gun.)
Not to mention that the nobles of Feizhu Shikoku can't figure it out, even Shimadzu Yoshihisa who is far away in Satsuma doesn't understand that Toyotomi (Maori) is not retreating steadily under the pincers of himself and Yoshihiro, but can only rely on the favorable terrain of the city The Cage City is firmly defended, why did it start to fight back so quickly?
Ogura Shigejo was sent 2000 defenders by himself. It was hoped that he could hold on for several months, but it didn't seem to have any effect at all. It was broken through without any splash.

At this moment, Yoshihisa Shimadzu had just gathered the forces of Satsuma and Osumi when he heard the news from Tadacho Shimadzu that the Toyotomi Army broke through the blockade and recaptured Iwaya Castle.

The terrain of Kyushu is very peculiar. After logging in from Honshu Island, there are only two roads to go, one is the Nippon Line to the east, the other is the Safone Line to Chikuzen, and in the middle is the Kyushu Mountains. Several mountain passes can communicate with each other.

After breaking through Chikuzen, the roads became more accessible, and they could directly attack Chikugo and Higo to the south. This is the hinterland of the Shimadzu family, and there is no danger to defend the endless plain.

Hizen can be supplied to the west. This is the territory of the Ryuzoji family and its former ministers. The Ryuzoji family has just been suppressed by the Shimadzu family and forced to surrender. When more powerful forces come, no one will believe that they are against the island. The loyalty of the Tsu family.

To the west, you can go directly to Bungo along the Chikugo River, which can be described as a transportation hub extending in all directions.

Therefore, the original plan of the Shimadzu family was to use Chikuzen and Bungo as the main battlefields, and deal with the Toyotomi family from both sides.

But now that Zhuqian has basically missed, the Qiuyue family has only three counties and less than 7 shi in the territory to support them. It is hard to guarantee that they will not choose to surrender for the sake of family continuation.

Yoshihisa Shimadzu had a headache when he received the report from Tadaga Shimadzu. Now he even started to swing between "war" and "peace". , Pre-fertilization, and post-fertilization preparations.

So, should we take advantage of the advantage now and let it go and win a good security, or should we give it a go for that poor hope?

Shimadzu Yoshihisa thought about it for a long time, and finally pressed the idea of ​​sending troops to rescue.Just after sending 3000 reinforcements to him, Yoshihiro and others in Hinata are planning to reconvene to discuss a resolution on the future of the Shimadzu family.

On the Hide family's side, after persuading Mingniaocheng to open and learning of Takahashi Tozeng's whereabouts, Hide's family found that Tachibana Muneshige was very useful. After having him, he didn't even need to use his brain to think about what to do next. What, let yourself worry a lot.

This is not just breaking the city, Xiujiajiu pulled Tachibana Zongshige and asked, "Now that the Taragawa River has been broken, and our army has successfully entered Nanzhuqian, I will definitely report to His Highness Kanbai about the merits of Hida Shou.

Ah, I almost forgot, you have already made an appointment with His Royal Highness Guan Bai. I heard that His Highness Guan Bai specially sent a certificate of "a thing of Kyushu", right? "

The so-called "one thing in Kyushu" means that Tachibana Soshige did not surrender because of the obvious difference in strength like ordinary samurai when he faced the siege of Shimadzu's tens of thousands of troops alone.

Instead, he took advantage of his familiarity with the terrain to fight guerrilla warfare with the Shimadzu family, and successively seized many cities, killing thousands of enemies. feeling like.

There is a sentence in it that commented on Tachibana Soshige's "Gangyong Zhenxi No. [-], Zhongyi Zhenxi No. [-]", in other words, it is equivalent to giving Tachibana Zongshige the title of "Wishuang Wushuang".

Hearing Xiu's question about himself, Tachibana Muneshige responded a little embarrassedly, "How can I compare with Your Highness for my little contribution."

"Hida Mamoru is humble. I have already witnessed the resourcefulness of your lord during the Battle of Taragawa. I think His Royal Highness must be very familiar with the Iwaya Castle below. Then please continue to give advice if you are capable."

Just when the Xiu family wanted Tachibana Soshige to give advice, a flying cavalry rode up from the south side, with a black centipede pattern on a red background inserted into the back representing the envoy, and the surrounding soldiers gave in one after another.

The samurai dismounted 50 paces before the Hideo family, walked quickly to the Hideo family, knelt down on one knee, and said, "According to the order of Tansho (Samkawa Iemitsu), I have reported to Your Highness that the Shimadzu army in Iwaya Castle seems to be retreating." I mean, the number of flags on Daye Mountain keeps decreasing, and the water city below the city is still defending, so I want His Highness to seek military guidance."

Hearing this news, the Hide family cast a curious look at Tachibana Zongshige. He didn't know what caused the Shimadzu family to abandon the rock house and not defend the castle, and chose to withdraw troops further. The most important thing was that he needed to know the Shimadzu's withdrawal the real situation.

"What does Hida Mamoru think the Shimadzu family is doing? Is Iwaya Castle gone?"

Tachibana Muneshige himself grew up in Chikuzen, and he dug loaches in this place when he was a child. He knew the geographical environment very well, and quickly understood the reason for it, and explained it to Xiujia.

Xiujia also understood after listening, and gradually let go of the hanging heart.

Tachibana Muneshige continued to advise the Hide family, "His Royal Highness, please give an order to storm the water city. The water city is small and must not be defended. Once the water city is broken, the Shimadzu family's retreat can be cut off and Shimadzu will be dealt a heavy blow."

This suggestion is very good. Everyone present knew very well that the main force of Shimadzu Tadacho's powerful clan fled in all directions during the Battle of Taragawa. The Shimadzu people he brought from Higo and Hizen had no choice but to retreat. Block the most important pass for the pursuers.

When the Xiu family sent people to attack Shuicheng, in order to ensure that most of the Shimadzu soldiers could withdraw smoothly, he must increase the defense force of Shuicheng. This is equivalent to treating the defenders of Shuicheng as abandoned. It was too late to escape to Chikugo.

Regardless of the number of defenders stationed in Shuicheng, no matter how small the number is, it is a military exploit, not to mention that if Shuicheng cannot stand it, everyone can directly chase after the retreating Shimadzu army. This is a big piece of fat! .

So when they heard Tachibana Muneshige's suggestion, everyone was gearing up and challenged the Xiu family one after another, wanting to monopolize the credit.

Even Ukita Kanjia, who fought all night last night, didn't feel sleepy at all, and wanted to take over this job from Xiujia.

But the Xiu family rejected them one after another and sent the envoys back to deliver orders, ordering Iemitsu Samukawa to be in charge of the siege of the water city, and ordering the flower house Zheng Cheng, who was sweeping nearby, to lead troops to reinforce them. Other than that, no additional reinforcements were sent.

Xiujia's suggestion made everyone a little confused, so, isn't now the best time to put all your efforts into breaking the water city and hunt down Shimadzu's remnants?

Including Tachibana Zongshige himself looked at Xiu's family with doubts. The young man in front of him didn't seem to be as resourceful and skillful as the Internet rumored, but when he thought about it carefully, maybe he was stupid, and he only thought of the second floor. Xiujia thought that the atmosphere is not necessarily the same.

The Xiu family ignored the request of the retainers to fight, and handed them over to Akashi Jingqin to appease them. He took Tachibana Zongshige's little hand and walked aside, explaining to him the reason why he did not attack Shuicheng by force.

"The reason why I didn't let someone storm Shuicheng and annihilate the Shimadzu army was for the safety of your brother." The Xiu family said solemnly, "The reason why the Shimadzu family still kept your brother's life is because they coveted your brother's life." The ability, thinking that one day I will take you under my command.

However, if I attack the water city with all my might, trap Tadaga Shimadzu in Chikuqian, or even eat this Shimadzu soldier, it will mean that you and the Shimadzu family will never die, explaining that your brother's life cannot be guaranteed . "

In fact, the Xiu family still didn't say a word, the Xiu family and the Xiu family were raising pigs, and they wanted to retain their influence as much as possible, so that Hideyoshi's battle in Kyushu would be a joy.

If it weren't for Ogura's failure because of his private affair with Yoshihiro Shimadzu, he might have been dealt with by Hideyoshi, and he had to make up for his merits and demerits. The collar was taken.

Of course, these words cannot be said in the name of others.

Tachibana Zongshige heard that it was because of his younger brother that the Hide family had taken care of not ordering the storming of the water city, and suddenly became choked up. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that the water city is easy to break, and the retreating troops of the Shimadzu family will be taken down after the water city is broken. A layer of skin, this is the military exploits brought to the mouth.

But for the sake of his younger brother, the Hideo family didn't want the military achievements they got, and Tachibana Zongshige felt that he owed him a big favor. He said with a choked voice, "Yashichiro is a warrior. I have been ready to die from this moment, and I don't know where he is now, so how can I save him?"

In fact, Tachibana Muneshige once had a chance to save his younger brother. He once broke through Katsuo Castle, which had previously surrendered to the Shimadzu family's Chikushi Hiromon, and then abandoned Katsuo Castle to attack Takatorii Castle after attracting the Shimadzu army. When the Shimadzu army pursued him again They also took a small road and went around to the rear of the Shimadzu army to attack the city behind it.

At that time, my younger brother was imprisoned in Musashi Village not far away from Tianzhu Mountain. Perhaps it was because Tachibana Muneshige saw that Tachibana's guerrilla was too powerful, so he moved Takahashi Tongzeng to the back, and the two brothers passed each other like this. Pass.

The Xiu family knew that although Tachibana Zongshige had a strong mouth, he still missed his younger brother in his heart, so he took the opportunity to tell him the information he had found out from Harada's retainers.

Of course, the Harada family only knew that Takahashi Tozeng was transferred to the rear, but they didn't know where. Hideyoshi told the Higo Yoshimatsu area where Takahashi Tozeng was imprisoned based on historical records, and asked him to Immediately go to rescue Takahashi Tongzeng.

The reason why the Hide family is so anxious is because he remembers in history, and also because Tachibana Muneshige defeated the Shimadzu army after receiving reinforcements from Toyotomi, which made the Shimadzu family plan to transfer Takahashi Tōzen to Satsuma to continue to be detained, in other words to stay There is not much time for Muneshige Tachibana to react.

After hearing his brother's whereabouts, Tachibana Zongshige's eyes suddenly became eager, and he looked excitedly at Xiujia to express his gratitude.

Don't think this is a trivial matter. You must know that Tachibana and Takahashi are the only two left in Tachibana and Takahashi. The inheritance pressure is even greater than that of the Xiu family!

In history, Tachibana Muneshige adopted his adopted son from his younger brother Takahashi Tozengsu to inherit the Tachibana family name because he could not give birth to a son.

Don't look at what Tachibana Zongshige said so indifferently. At the moment when the future is still unclear, the Hide family's actions are tantamount to sacrificing their own opportunity to make meritorious service, in exchange for the opportunity of Tachibana and Takahashi's two families to continue, how could Tachibana Zongshige? Don't you appreciate Xiujia?

It can be said that Tachibana Muneshige owes this favor a lot!
As far as the Xiu family is concerned, it is just because they are afraid of taking advantage of the trend of the high-powered master.

The Xiu family continued to say to him: "I will delay as much as possible in the water city until the right time to defeat the enemy, and then I will send troops to the rock house city and continue to confront the Shimadzu family.

You are more familiar with Chikuzen and Chikugo than I am. You must know that there are other ways to get past Taniguchi's defenses to Higo, so I won't worry about it.

After you cross Chikuzen, if you don't know the geographical conditions of Hizen and Higo, you can go to Saga Castle and get Naoshima Naomi's help.You send the messenger to him with this letter, and he will know what to do. "

The reason why Hideka is so sure that Naoshima Naoshige will provide help is because Hideka knows that Naoshima Naoshige has already sent people to Kyoto after he learned that the Toyotomi family intends to intervene in Kyushu, and after the emperor identified Shimadzu as an enemy of the dynasty. Presented an oath to Hideyoshi, and continued to encourage Hideyoshi to send troops in advance.

Hideka knew very well that the Ryuzoji family under the regency of Naoshima Naoshima didn't really surrender to Shimadzu at all. Before that, it was just that the form was better than others. As long as there is a strong dragon that overwhelms Shimadzu, the local snake, he will be the first to stand up. The one who rebelled must be the Dragon Temple.

And the army led by the Xiu family is that mighty dragon.

That's why Hideka took the initiative to suggest that Tachibana Somo contact Naoshima Naoshima and asked him to facilitate his rescue of his younger brother, which can be regarded as allowing the two heroes of Kyushu to join forces in advance.

　Friends who read these chapters carefully should be able to see that the Xiu family has already planted a wedge in Kyushu.

　　Tachibana Muneshige and Nabeshima Naoshige are both well-known wise generals in the Western Kingdom.

　　But comparing the two, Naoshima Naoshima is more sensitive to the world, and Hideka believes that with Naoshima Naoshima's eyesight later on, he should be able to see how to stand in line.

　　But Tachibana Muneshige is not, this person is a very friendly person, ordinary small favors and even marriage are not enough to win him over, only making him feel that he owes you a favor and recognizes you as a friend will choose to stand by you.

　　It can also be a spoiler, the Hide family actually plans to marry their youngest sister to Hideaki Kobayakawa as the main wife, because Hideaki is a person who attaches great importance to family affection.

　　Xiujia implements policies according to the individual.

　　In this way, the four most important daimyos in Kyushu: Nabeshima, Tachibana, Kobayakawa, and Otomo have all become allies of the Hide family. Judging from the history of Shimadzu's inaction, even Konishi and Kuroda, who were sealed in Kyushu, joined forces , and only the points that were pressed down.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)