Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 696 News
In Harima Akashi Castle, Ishida Mitsunari, who had experienced a day of bloody battle, finally retreated to the castle.Since the result of the war did not develop in the expected direction, at this moment he was facing criticism from other Toyotomi generals.

Ishida Mitsunari's record in the past was not outstanding. The only time he served as general manager was when Odawara was in charge of attacking Ninja Castle and Hachioji Castle.

But in front of Toyotomi's retainers, there were still veterans like Sengoku Hidehisa who had followed Hideyoshi in the battle early, but they did not take the position of generals, it was entirely because Chacha directly ordered three to become the main general.

"Today's battle lost troops and lost generals. Famous generals such as Nomoto Shimamoru and Tagano Nagato are all veterans who followed Guanbai all over the world, but at this moment, they don't know whether they are alive or dead. For such a result, you have to bear the main responsibility!"

Yamashiro State Sanmu 2 Stone Lord Tsuda Nobuyuki is Oda Nobunaga's nephew of the same clan, and was born in the Katsuhata Oda clan.He followed Hideyoshi since he was a child, and fought everywhere as a member of the Yellow Mother's Clothes. At the beginning, Hideyoshi had just become the lord of Nagahama.

Although his father changed the Miao character from Oda to Tsuda after the decline of the Oda clan, his status in Toyotomi Banner is not low at all.

Seeing that Tsuda Trust took the lead in launching a no-trust challenge to Ishida Mitsunari, other big names also accused Ishida Mitsunari one after another.

In the face of these accusations, Ishida Mitsunari can only accept it completely. Who made God not stand on his side today.But he is also trying his best to appease the emotions of the generals, and plans to initiate adjustments to Toyotomi Hideji again after a short rest.

After today's battle, it is not all fruitless. Ishida Mitsunari found that there is a big problem in the dispatching of the various units under Toyotomi Hideji's command. As long as he seizes the opportunity to fight today's situation, he is confident that he can fight more major general Feng locally. Chen Xiuci fought back.

While the battle was in full swing in the battle today, there was a flying foot who ran straight into the Honmaru and didn't dismount until before the palace.

It can be seen from his travel-stained face that he must have brought extremely important news.

"Osaka Express!" The flying foot with the centipede flag on his back rushed to the generals, took out a bamboo tube from his arms and put his hands in his hands to present it to Ishida Mitsunari, but it was Hineno Hiroshi who was closest to him. Grab it.

Ishida Mitsunari frowned when he saw Hineno Hiroshi's rude behavior, and was about to get angry with him when he saw the expression on his face change rapidly.

The other generals who were still arguing saw the sudden silence here and gradually closed their mouths. Seeing Hineno Hiroji's expression, they asked him one after another, "Old General, what's wrong?"

Hinenohiro didn't dare to give an answer. He was angry with Ishida Mitsunari because of today's battle, but now he became extremely indifferent, and even handed over the information in his hand to Ishida Mitsunari with some fear.

Because he knew very well that such important information was likely to shake the morale of the army, and the chief general, Ishida Mitsunari, had the final say on how to announce and deal with it.

But his abnormal performance just now has attracted the attention of the surrounding daimyo, even if he kept silent, some people took the initiative to ask Ishida Mitsunari about the situation.

Ishida Mitsunari was also shocked after seeing the above content, and this information was taken by his subordinates in front of so many big names, if he didn't give an explanation, it would be unreasonable.

And he has never been a person who can tell lies. Facing the inquiries of the generals, he could only bite the bullet and say, "Mrs. Dasaka Yodo wrote a letter. Dana Yan brought Shimadzu and other legions back from North Korea. On the 1st After taking down Kyoto, and even controlling the entire Yamashiro country, the power overwhelmed Osaka Castle."

"what!"

All the generals couldn't believe the news. Originally, their only enemy was Toyotomi Hideji, who was fighting so reluctantly. If Hideyoshi personally praised the "Tianxia Wushuang" Toyotomi Hideji, how could this battle be fought?

Looking back at all the battles that Hideka commanded, it seems that only a long time ago against Maoli and Chang Zonggabu each had a draw, and the others were all victories, which means that they have still maintained an undefeated record after more than ten years of fighting.

Although the current daimyo samurai would brag about his invincible martial arts in his own collar, it was really not enough for the Xiu family.

Who did they fight in the past?What level of battle are the Xiujia commanding?What people trade is all strategic wars!
Going far, when talking about the battle of Nobi, everyone's eyes were on Nobi. Tokugawa-Oda boasted that they blocked all the important passes, but they suddenly thought of the navy crossing Ise Bay. The penetration of the enemy's weak Sanhe hinterland disrupted the enemy's strategy.

During the battle of Odawara, Hideie led the army alone, and persuaded the Tokugawa family to set up a suspicious formation in Suruga to attract the attention of the main force of Hojo, and then led his team of more than 3 people out of Ueno Usui, and drove straight from Ueno to kill Hojo leader. wear.

The unconstrained ideas of the above two wars are beyond the reach of everyone here, and the Bizen under his command followed Toyotomi Hideyoshi to conquer the whole world from Harima, known as "the most elite Kibi Army".

Although the reputation of the Hide family has gradually faded after the transfer of the Kanto, perhaps it is not well-known in the ears of the new low-level samurai and ashigaru, but it is a frightening existence in the ears of these old guys.

Even Tsuda Nobuyuki, Hineno Hiroyuki, Sengoku Hidehisa and others who were originally arrogant and domineering were silent after hearing the news, and their hearts had already retreated.

Some people, like the former daimyo of the Western Army, had different thoughts in their minds when they saw the Eastern Army's dominance.

Even Ishida Mitsunari waited for a while before saying to everyone: "Mrs. Yodo means that we will bring the main force back to Osaka to guard Osaka."

Danba daimyo Tani Weiyou asked Ishida Mitsunari: "Jibu, did you mention in the letter how powerful the army led by His Highness Toyoharu is? Who are the daimyos participating in the battle?"

"The exact strength of the army is unknown, but I saw the flags of the Shimadzu, Ikeda, Mori, Asano and other families. Adding up the several legions led by them and Koriyama, there must be about 8 people at most."

"8!" This is an unacceptable number for many daimyos. Now they mobilize a total of only 7 troops. The number of people in each direction is not weaker than their own military strength.

At this moment, Kato Yoshiaki posed a fatal question to Ishida Mitsunari: "If I remember correctly, there is the Uesugi family's power under the Toyoharu-den army, and the Tokugawa family's army is also under the Koriyama-den army. Even if the daimyo are not personally leading the army, but if they appear in the capital, does it also represent the attitude of the two big men?"

This problem is very fatal. The reason why they are desperate here is naturally because the Eastern Army still had the advantage before.

Maeda Toshiie has made it clear that he will stand on the side of Chacha and Shimaru, and has sent a letter to Maeda Toshinaga of Etsuchu, asking him to organize an army to attack King Luoqin.

Although Tokugawa and Uesugi have not made a clear statement yet, both sides have handed over the vassals who stayed in the Kyoto and Osaka mansions to Chacha for guarding Osaka, and their inclination towards the Eastern Army has become very clear.

But tendencies are tendencies, and many things can change in this month's time.If these two big names wanted to go to Luo, they would have already come to Osaka with their military power to join the battle, so why would they keep finding various excuses to delay.

If the army of the Xiu family really has the army of these two big men, does it mean that the two big men have chosen to stand in line, if they are on the side of the Xiu family, then it is necessary to continue this battle ?

"Jibu, what should we do now? Should we just withdraw?"

"Yes, Osaka is where Toyotomi's family is based. Mrs. Yodo and Young Master Shimaru are both in the city, so nothing can be lost!"

The situation is changing, and everyone is waiting for Ishida Mitsunari, who is in charge, to make up his mind.

However, although it is said that Ishida Mitsunari is going to make up his mind, it can be seen from the words: whether it was on Ishida Mitsunari's side or on the opposite side, they seem to have reached a consensus at this moment, and they are constantly urging Ishida Mitsunari's class teacher.

"Akashi Castle is very important and cannot be abandoned easily. Even if it is to be withdrawn, someone must stay behind." Ishida Mitsunari said, "The most important thing at the moment is to find out the attitude of Toyoharu Dai Nayan and the strength of the troops he leads."

Changtoshi Yamanaka accepted Ishida Mitsunari's suggestion and continued to express his position: "In addition to this, we must send people to ask questions from Kamisugi and Tokugawa, and urge them to go to Luocai as soon as possible."

This is the issue that the Eastern Army is most concerned about at the moment. If the two big shots can clearly stand on the side of the Eastern Army and lead troops to Shangluo, then it can play a role in stabilizing people's hearts.

"What Yamashiro Shou said is the truth." Ishida Mitsunari responded to Yamanaka Changtoshi's suggestion, "I will send a letter to Osaka, so that Osaka can prepare early. As for the preparations for the withdrawal of the army, let me think about it overnight. making a decision."

After Ishida Mitsunari finished speaking, he waved and issued the order to drive away the guests. It was not until the generals retreated that he felt a sense of powerlessness.

When Hideyoshi was alive, he mentioned to him more than once that the country wants to reduce the knowledge and influence of the Hideo family, all because the Hideo family is a hidden minister who has made great contributions over the years.

In addition, the Xiu family is his adopted son and niece and son-in-law, and is his closest pro-vassal relationship. Without a suitable reason, his fiefdom cannot be reduced.

For so many years, Hideyoshi has been looking for opportunities, and even tried again and again to force Hideyoshi to make a move to leave the cabinet, so as to use this as an excuse to reduce him.

But this guy has a maturity that doesn't match his age. Facing Hideyoshi's hard times, he chose to give in and refused to push back. This made Hideyoshi lose the excuse to change Hideyoshi.

After finally catching the opportunity of Xiuchang's death, Hideyoshi wanted to reduce his brother Xiujiu's title, but Xiuzhen objected, and finally negotiated with Duolun to get the current situation.

At that time, when Hideyoshi was extremely angry, he complained to Ishida Mitsunari that the two sons of Hideka's family, and none of his own sons were caring for him, and they did everything against him.

It's a pity that Hideyoshi passed away just at the beginning of the reduction of the three families, and this burden directly overwhelmed Ishida Mitsunari.

Looking at the current situation, Hideyoshi has just passed away for more than 2 months. In addition, Toyotomi Hideji and Hideho, who fought against each other before, and several nephews of Hideyoshi's family have all rebelled, all of whom are ambitious.

"My lord, you guessed really well at the time, and today His Highness Okayama Hidehisa has joined forces with the rebellious minister Hideji, and when the situation is already critical, the Hide family of Toyoharu and Hideyoshi of Koriyama are stabbing knives in the back at this time! "

Ishida Mitsunari can't say these words to anyone, he can only confide them in his heart.

At this moment, he suddenly thought of his retainer Shima Sakon and his good friend Yoshitsugu Otani: "If they were here, I might not be as passive as I am today. I don't know their situation in Mino. how's it going."

Thinking of his best friend, he thought of a like-minded friend.

Ishida Mitsunari looked in the direction of Kyoto, and kept praying in his heart, "Samurai, I hope you don't really do such disobedient things."

It is great news that Hideka led troops into Kyoto to control the Yamashiro country, not to mention Ishida Mitsunari's side, Osaka's side is even more excited.

After confirming that Katsuryuji Castle, Yodo Castle, and Kumiyama Castle were all controlled by the Hide family, and all the roads from Settsu to Kyoto were cut off, Katagiri Katomoto, Maeda Genichi and others who stayed behind persuaded those who wanted to send troops to recover Kyoto. Dian Ji, decided to send someone to find out the attitude of the Xiu family.

After 2 days of intense discussions, Osaka decided to send Katagiri Kasumi, who is familiar with Hideka, to test Hideka's attitude.

At the same time, he sent Masuda Nagamori, one of the Five Obligors, to Suruga to urge Tokugawa Ieyasu to go to Luo, and by the way, he could further mobilize Yamato and Kii.

Masuda Nagamori is no better than those retainers and samurai in the past, this is a proper important minister of the Toyotomi family.Yodohime hoped to show the attitude of the Toyotomi family, and even said to Masuda Changkatsu before leaving, "You can promise the rewards of the Tokugawa family's Ueno, Musashi, and Sagami Three Kingdoms."

In their view, as long as Tokugawa Ieyasu cooperates with Otani Yoshitsugu to defeat Toyotomi Hideji's ability in Gifu, then the Western Army will be defeated without a fight, and Hideka will not be able to make any waves.

In addition to Tokugawa Ieyasu, they also urged Maeda Toshinaga and Uesugi Kekatsu to go to Los Angeles as soon as possible, and Tomita Nobutaka was in charge of urging them here.

Since the Hide family cut off the Yamashiro country, he could only go to Hokuriku via Yamashiro country and Iga via Omi.

As a result, it was a coincidence that near Hachiman Mountain Castle in Omi, I met the rangers of Date Masamune's troops who were besieging Hachiman Mountain Castle, and was sent to Kyoto by a group of captives.

Under such circumstances, Katagiri Kamoto came to Kyoto with the expectations of everyone in Osaka City, and had the first meeting with Hideka.

(End of this chapter)