Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 684 Battle of Akashi

Many people think that Ishida Mitsunari has a problem with his EQ, but if there is a problem, how can he make friends like Otani Yoshitsugu and Naoe Kanetsugu?

In fact, for people like Ishida Mitsunari and Naoe Kanetsugu, they are more like a paranoid personality. Everything in the world must be measured by me, and there is no human feeling in them.

In history, Hideyoshi once asked him to deal with Toyotomi Hideji, but there was nothing wrong with Hideji at that time, and Ishida Mitsunari directly rejected it on the grounds that His Highness Kanbai was not at fault. It can be seen that he will not distinguish between forces and enemies when dealing with people.

Similarly, from the perspective of the current Western Army, the Eastern Army under Toyotomi Hideji's command is all rebellious. Since it is rebellious, there are naturally standards for rebellious disposal.

According to the samurai law promulgated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, rebellion will be changed and beheaded, and if the circumstances are serious, the whole family will be hunted down.

For the daimyo who rein in the precipice, they must be divided by the reduction of seals, at least by half of the seal reduction. Therefore, for the current active contact daimyos divided by 2/3~1/2 of the seal reduction, in fact It is in line with Toyotomi's law.

But it only meets the standards of Toyotomi's law, but it does not meet the current actual situation.

Ishida Mitsunari's persistence undoubtedly blocked the chance for the daimyo who wanted to leave a way out for himself to turn back to the Eastern Army, and to a certain extent helped Hideji to reunite the hearts of the people.

On August 3rd, Keicho 8, after a round of negotiations, there were only minor daimyos like Soyoshi Tomo, because the geographical location was too remote, Ishida Mitsunari made a promise to retain his skills after making great contributions.

On the other side, it is impossible for Toyotomi Hideji not to have known about Ishida Mitsunari's actions secretly by the daimyos. He also visited several major daimyos under his command during this period, and made promises of rewards for each.

As his military adviser, Kuroda Rusui is the life-saving straw that he must grasp absolutely. At this time, the Kuroda family owned 14 koku in Buzen. , Now that the situation is changing suddenly, he directly promised that he could return to Himeji after the war and possess 25 koku of the Harima Kingdom.

Kuroda Rusui is a very shrewd egoist. He just wants to maximize the strength of his family. For this reason, it doesn't matter even if the final fiefdom is in Kyushu, but it would be great if he could return to Harima, where he was born. up.

Hideji directly promised that he would give the Ryuzoji family a feudal feudal half of the kingdom, and implicitly reminded that this knowledge would be given to Naoshima Naoshige in the future, making him the number one vassal in the world.

At this time, Naoshima Naoshige actually had the idea of ​​wanting to conquer the top in his heart, but when Toyotomi Hideji was educated, Hideyoshi had gradually gained momentum, and he had been receiving the orthodox samurai education under Takenaka Hanbei, Essentially disgusting the behavior of Xia Keshang, so it didn't capture Naoshima's true thoughts.

For the Sanuki daimyo Ukita Kanye, who had contributed a lot to him before, Hideji directly promised him to obtain the half country owned by the Iyo Hideka after the war.

When Ukita's interpreter asked him, "Toyoharu Dainagon is not in the camp of the Eastern Army, is it a bit inappropriate for you to make arrangements for his territory?" Toyoharu Hideji just smiled and said that he would take care of it. all of these.

In addition to the above daimyos who are already in the Western Army, he is trying his best to recruit other daimyos to join him, including the Mori family where Terumoto Mori, who sent him the information, and Toyotomi from Bizen Okayama Hidehisa, the Kinoshita family of Himeji Castle.

In his mind, the Mori family is a daimyo with a huge territory of 85 shi, and the army under his command is more than 3. If he can join the Western Army, it will undoubtedly increase his power.

In addition to the increase in superficial data, Mao Li, as one of the five big bosses, if he can win Mao Li in, he has obtained the endorsement of legitimacy.

At that time, I can use this to tell the world, "Look, even Mori Terumoto, who was beside Hideyoshi in Kyoto, is on my side. Do you still say that there is no problem with Hideyoshi's death?"

Most importantly, the joining of the Maori family will greatly improve the morale of the Western Army and condense the determination of the Western Army daimyos.Moreover, the Maori family's territory is in the West Country, so they can provide food support nearby.

Hideji had previously promised Bizen to Kuroda Rusui, and now he promised it to Fukushima Masanori, so Hidehisa, who is sitting in Okayama, must give up his position.

But he was not worried that Xiujiu and his retainers would reject the proposal, because after Kuroda Rusui was settled, Kuroda Rusui directly proposed to him to establish Xiujiu as the new Guanbai to temporarily replace Hideaki.

Kuroda Rushui's original words are like this: "Your Highness sweeps out the traitors for the world, but are Yodohime and Jibu the biggest traitors who caused Guan Bai's death soon?
Would His Highness still want to save their lives after the war?If you don't keep it, His Highness killed Mrs. Dian, would you still support her son, His Highness Shiwan, as the new Guan Bai? "

Xiuci was a little confused when he heard Kuroda Rushui's words, and asked him: "Why do I have to set up Shiwan as Guan Bai? Can't I sit on it by myself? Mrs. Dian has committed a lot of crimes, as his son, why should I become Guan Bai?" white?

Besides, Husong has already adopted into the Gifu family, so he may not be ahead of me according to the ranking. I am the adopted son of His Highness Guan Bai, so am I not qualified to succeed? "

However, Kuroda Rushui shook his head and explained to him, "Even if we defeat the Eastern Army now, Your Highness must not forget that there are His Highness Toyoharu and His Highness Koriyama in Kanto, they are both sons of the Toyotomi family.

Even if we try our best to win, we will still lose a lot of power, so we should focus on stabilizing the court.If His Highness directly takes the seat of Guan Bai, where are the two His Highnesses?Wouldn't it be telling them that if they raise troops, they can also become Guan Bai?

When the time comes, the two Highnesses will march westward with the names of the Kanto and Northeast. Your Highness will ask himself whether the army can defeat Fengchun?With the addition of Tokugawa and other daimyos sitting on the wall, our strength has been damaged and has not yet recovered. I am afraid that Kyoto will be lost again.

On the other hand, if you support His Highness Okayama as the Governor of Guan Bai and Toyotomi, the two Highnesses must be afraid to act, and the Daban and Okayama Palaces are in your hands, and you can govern the world according to Cao Cao's old affairs.In the future, when the power is restored, the Guandong can be settled by all the troops in the world. "

Hideji raised his eyebrows proudly when he heard the perfect blueprint that Kuroda Rusui drew for himself, but then suddenly thought of the walking monk he met in Himeji a few days ago.

He told himself that he has the destiny of being a man of the world, and he should be a man of the world before the age of 30, otherwise his destiny will disappear.

Xiuci was born in 11 (Eongrok 1568th year), and this year happened to be his 30th year of age. He had to become the world before he lost his mind at the age of 30, which made him have some reservations about Kuroda Rushui's proposal.

But since he wanted to talk to Toyotomi Hidehisa's retainers, Hideji naturally offered excellent conditions. Hideji said that he could give Hidehisa Ise and Iga two 70 koku arrangements, which is almost sealed for the Okayama family. become.

Because this proposal is actually very tempting, so even though the Hideo family has repeatedly told Shinmenkanzong and Miura Hidekatsu who stayed in Misasa to become the vassals of the rookie Hisazu, let them not easily intervene in the struggle of the Toyotomi family. Unless you get your own latest notification.

Especially Miura Hidekatsu, he is the son of Miura Zhenkatsu, the half-brother of Hideka and Hidehisa, and the elder of the vassal family that the Hideka deliberately left in Miura for Hidehisa.

But because in the past when I was in Gifu, the affairs of the domain were actually decided by Yokohama Ichian, Haneda Masao, Ogawa Shimono Mori, and Kinoshita Masatoshi.

Even though they were transferred to Okayama, most of the other samurai were abolished, including when they were transferred to the Western Kingdom, Haneda Zhengqin did not transfer along with him, but became Hideji's retainers, while the other three still followed him. Hidehisa.

The most important thing is that most of Meizuo's territory is controlled by the rich local families left by the Xiu family. With the relationship between Xiujia and Xiujiu, it is difficult for Xiujiu's retainers to carry out drastic reforms on Meizuo.

This made Hidehisa's retainers actually reduce the seal directly from 105 million koku to Bizen of 25 koku, a reduction of more than 7%.

And if it is possible to return to Ise and Iga, then most of the knowledge and practice must be controlled by Hidecho's former ministers who came to Okayama from Gifu, which is undoubtedly a very strong temptation for these former ministers.

As the price for retaining the knowledge and practice of the Mizusaka clan, the two parties agreed that the Mizusaka clan would not intervene in the Okayama vassal administration, and this resulted in the loss of the Meisaku faction's right to speak within the Okayama vassal administration.

However, Miura Hidekatsu, who was the only representative of the ruling class of the Okayama domain, was too young, and he was also an opportunist.No one wants to have a shadow called Toyotomi Hideka forever on their heads.

Under the persuasion of Hideji's envoys, the elders of the Okayama domain finally let go, and Kinoshita Toshimasa led Miura Hidekatsu to gather 1 troops from Bizen and Misaku to join the war.

But when it came time to call up, the Misaku Kunisan refused to be called because of the order that Hideie had ordered. In the end, only more than 5000 people were gathered, most of whom were led by the Bizen Kunisan army to go to Harima.

The arrival of Toyotomi Hidehisa undoubtedly gave a very strong political signal to the people of the world, that is, the Toyotomi family has officially split into two families, and this is a war of separating and provoking the clan.

As for Kuroda Nagamasa's so-called proposal to persuade Hideji to stand up for Hidehisa to fight against Chacha and Shimaru, Hideji listened to it but he planned to delay it.

If the Xiu's family is discouraged after he wins Shiwan, it will save him the series of character-defeating operations of supporting Xiujiu and then kicking him down.

And in his impression, Hideyoshi was like a little quail in recent years, he was unwilling to make a sound no matter what Hideyoshi did to him, even when Hideyoshi's Gifu domain was reduced from Gifu, he didn't even see him express his opinion at all.

The Okayama domain sent troops and provided food and grass, which further prompted the change of Kinoshita family's attitude.Although he did not provide troops to Xiuci, nor did he open Himeji Castle to Xiuci, but he provided 8000 shi of military food to Xiuci.

If it is said that Ishida Mitsunari's attitude was rather ambiguous before the Okayama Domain sent troops. He thought that delaying would be more powerful for the Eastern Army, and he hoped that the Western Army would not be able to provide enough supplies.

With the joining of the Okayama Domain and the provision of food by Himeji Castle for Hideji, the attitude of the Saigoku daimyo, who originally expressed his desire to surrender to Ishida Mitsunari, also became ambiguous, which changed Ishida Mitsunari's attitude towards Hideji.

At present, Himeji Castle has not opened the city to Hideji, and if it is opened, it will be equivalent to gaining a strong fortress in Harima for Hideji.

At that time, even if Noo's territory is blocked by himself in Ogaki, he can still transport his soldiers to Harima by sea. Don't forget that the navy that went on an expedition to North Korea is now in the hands of Hideji!

On August 3, Keicho 8, with the approach of autumn, changes in the situation in the West Country, and the arrival of the third wave of Kii and Yamato reinforcements, Ishida Mitsunari finally made up his mind to take the initiative to launch an offensive against Hideji.

At this time, the troops of the Western Army were consumed under Akashi Castle. Even if the reinforcements from the Okayama Domain were counted, the Western Army still only had a strength of about [-].

After three rounds of mobilization on the Eastern Army's defense line, Kikuhime now has more than 7 troops under Akashi Castle. Ishida Mitsunari must solve Hideji's food problem completely before the autumn harvest is over, and before the Kinoshita family completely turns around. Defeat Toyotomi Hideji.

The two sides lined up along the Akashi River. It is now autumn, and the water level of the Akashi River has dropped, but it is still up to the waist. At present, the pontoon bridges in front of the Akashi Castle on the Akashi River are all built by Hideji. When the army is about to attack the city, it is necessary to seize these bridges.

However, Xiuci's strength here is not weak. If he attacks head-on, let alone seize the bridge, he is afraid that Xiuci may take Akashi Castle instead.

Therefore, Ishida Mitsunari decided to send people to cross the river tentatively from the upper reaches where the water is shallow. It is not accurate to say that it was a tentative attack. There are more than 4 troops tentatively crossing the river here.

But don't forget that Hideji's army has a strength of 10 people, spreading mightily on the Harima territory in the west of Akashi Castle, and the movement of the Eastern Army can be seen by the Western Army stationed upstream in Nakatsu Castle.

Soon the military report was sent to Hideji, and under the suggestion of Kuroda Nagamasa, more than 3 people, including Nabeshima Naoshige, were directly mobilized to the north.

The two sides fought along the upper reaches of the Mingshi River for half a day, but they failed to win each other, and the balance of victory did not even appear.

The main reason is that the composition of the Western Army is complicated, and some small daimyos are still concerned about the final results of the Eastern and Western Army. They are afraid that if the Western Army loses in the end, they will be liquidated by the Eastern Army. ambiguous.

As for powerful names like Naoshima Naoshige, although they want to do their best, the military force they carry in their hands is their own heart, and they don't want to do their best to make wedding dresses for others. Pull back.

Most of the Eastern Army's army was recruited from Hideyoshi's hiding place. They only had one lord, and when they fought out, it was like a closed fist going all out. Therefore, although they were weak in number, the two sides unexpectedly The fight was evenly matched, and no one could take the opponent down for a while.

　Notice: Closed on Monday (20) and Tuesday (21)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)