Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 767 The battle of Yujin is difficult to break through the city, Xiusheng will be forced to stand up
Toyotomi Hideji was very dissatisfied with the battle on Uozu Castle's defense line. The mountains in Hokuriku were blocked by heavy snow, and the Uesugi family's reinforcements were no longer willing to come.

But it was almost the Chinese New Year, and there was no news of the fall of Yujin City. This was very different from his previous military strategy.

He originally wanted to take Yujin before the beginning of spring, but in the end he strangled Uesugi with three groups.I don't know if I don't know if I don't know, it's really dangerous, but the Uesugi family's troops are limited, how many troops can he allocate to deal with the three-way army?
But now the first step of this plan is facing the problem of abortion.If Uojin Castle can't be taken down, the main force of the Uesugi family will inevitably attack after the beginning of spring. At that time, will I have to fight a tough battle with Echigo's strong soldiers here?

"Xiaoji (known as Hidekatsu), why does a small city of Uojin hold you back for so long?" As soon as we met, before Hideji even stepped into the army, he began to reprimand Toyotomi Hidekatsu: "You Do you know that there are tens of thousands of pairs of eyes looking at me. Your brother, I cannot die here!"

Facing his brother's responsibilities, Xiu Sheng was about to explain, when Xiu Ci interrupted rudely again, "What's the matter with these soldiers, why are they sitting lazily on the ground. Send them all to attack the city! "

The soldiers that Xiuci refers to are the Echizen Congregation led by Xiusheng.In fact, there are already 2000 people attacking the city in the east of the city at this moment.The battle section of the siege is so long, it is meaningless to send more people up after the crowd is full.

As the general in charge of the army, Xiusheng must always allocate his troops reasonably, and it is reasonable to set aside a reserve team for himself.

Moreover, as a daimyo, Hidekatsu couldn't send everyone there at once. The daimyo said that they were just the lords of the lower-level samurai, and it was these lower-level samurai who really fought and did things.

It's impossible for Xiuci to really use a whip to force others to rush forward!

"On the way I came, the offensives in the east and south of the city were weak, why did they fight like this!" Xiuci continued to complain to his younger brother, "Send all your soldiers to me!"

Xiu Sheng was speechless after being so fiercely attacked by Xiu Ci.I'm fighting for you, can you talk to me properly.What good will it do me if I win Uojin?

But at this moment, Xiu Sheng didn't dare to disobey his brother's will, and went to arrange his own army to replace Kinoshita's army who was attacking the city in the south of the city. Of course, swearing was indispensable.

Xiuci personally sits in the main formation in the east of Uojin City to supervise the battle, hoping to encourage the soldiers to use their lives.

It's a pity that he doesn't have the prestige of Hideyoshi and Hideo, and the big names are already quite critical of the crusade against Uesugi, so naturally they refuse to use their lives.That's why Xiu Ci pushed his younger brother Xiu Sheng up, wanting to set an example.

However, the Yujin Castle is too strong, and there is almost no difference in the armaments between the two sides.In the absence of epoch-making weapons, shooting through stone screens and bamboo beams and iron cannons is already the most lethal way to attack the city.

Originally, the two sides were very happy to fight the iron cannon. As soon as Xiuci came to supervise the battle, Xiusheng was able to supervise the battle on the front line.Under his persecution, the retainers had to leave the relatively safe bamboo bundles and attack the gate of Yujin City.

In fact, there were several battles at this city gate long before Xiuci's arrival. Due to the extremely reasonable design of the gate and tiger's mouth, the attackers were not given a chance at all.

As soon as you get close to the right side, there will be a design opening and the upper layer of the stone screen will have iron cannon balls shot out, killing the soldiers who are still attacking the city.Moreover, the caliber of the iron cannon used by the Uesugi family is not small. Even if it is a soldier holding a wooden pole, the projectiles of the iron cannon can easily penetrate the protection of the wooden pole.

The elite of Echizen had already lost most of them in the internal fighting of the Asakura family, and then they were wiped out in Chiyake and Kitanosho along with the Shibata Katsu family. Later, the fighting power of the Echizen people led by Hideji and Hidekatsu has long lost the reputation of the past .

But anyway, they still recognize the reward.

"Come on, those who have made some achievements in the city will be rewarded with 500 stones of knowledge and practice!"

With Xiusheng's serious injuries, the Echizen soldiers who were originally repulsed rarely broke out to a certain degree of combat effectiveness.But the soldiers who can be sent to the front line by the Uesugi family are a group of mobs?
The general who is stationed here is called Sansheng Nakajo. His father, Jingtai Nakajo, was stationed at Uozu Castle back then, and died in battle against the Oda family's offensive.

The Nakajo clan was one of the Yangbei Congregation, and the 1000 people Uesugi Kagekatsu sent to support Uojin Castle were the Yangbei Congregation with the Nakajo clan and the Takemata clan as the backbone.

The so-called Yangbei people refer to the people in the northern part of Echigo in a broad sense.The so-called Yang refers to the area on the north bank of the Agano River (Yang River). Because of the relatively difficult conditions here, it has always been the most important source of troops for Echigo.

The strongest part of Echigo's strong soldiers refers to Yang Beizhong. The 3000 people led by Honjo Shigecho, who Uesugi Kagekatsu sent to Hide's family before, are the soldiers in Shonai and Yang Beizhong (Xinfa Tianzhong) combined.

Since Uesugi Jingsheng sent all the Yangbei people to Yujin City, he made up his mind to fight you Xiuji to the end.

Now look at the historical equipment of the Yangbei Congregation that was really poor. When the Echigo Army’s general iron cannon penetration rate was around 15%, the Yangbei Congregation only had three or two iron cannons.

This made Yang Beizhong have to find alternatives to iron cannons due to the lack of long-range firepower.Slingers, this uncommon unit in Japan is the long-range unit developed by Yang Beizhong.

This time, in order to support the Yangbei people to finish Yujin City, Uesugi Jingsheng gave them 300 iron cannons and corresponding ammunition with a wave of his hand, so that the Yangbei people finally fought a battle of prosperity.

Even with the blessing of the iron cannon, the catapult soldiers of the Yangbei people are still exerting their strength.The stones that were thrown from the city like raindrops were mixed with the projectiles of the iron cannon, and Toyotomi Hidekatsu's troops on the attacking side couldn't lift their heads.

In just a few minutes of charging, dozens of soldiers were already lying down on the street at the gate of the city. What's more, the corpses rolled directly into the side of the water because of being piled up.

The combat quality of Japanese soldiers during the Warring States Period was limited. Facing the rain of offensives, Hidekatsu's Echizen congregation only knocked on the city gate a few times before failing because too many people died.

With the corpse lying at the gate of the city, and the wailing of soldiers who were still alive, Xiu Sheng felt that the pressure was even greater than when he was in North Korea.

"Go get stones and earth bags and fill up the water hole for me." In fact, he didn't even need to order, someone had already done so.It's just that as long as you get out of your body and want to throw stones at Mizubori, you will be called by the defenders who are shooting from the opposite side.

The openings of the Japanese city walls are designed in a variety of shapes, but they all have a special design, that is, the outer opening is large and the inner opening is small.In this way, it is convenient for the person holding the iron cannon to change the angle of the iron cannon inside, and it is difficult for people outside to shoot the projectile through the small opening.

The two sides fought from noon to the evening, except that someone put a ladder on the gate of the city again in the middle, the Echizen Army did not pose much threat to Uojin Castle.

Uozu's performance here was naturally noticed by Hideji who was supervising the battle from behind.He needed to take down Yujin City, but what to do if everyone didn't work hard, he had to use someone to make an example of others.

And Xiusheng is his younger brother, so the effect of this knife is the best.

"It's just that Xiuci wins after suffering. When I win the world, I will definitely compensate him twice." Xiuci thought in his heart.

When Xiu Sheng returned to the front with a haggard face, what he waited for was not Xiu Ci's relief, but another scolding.

"How did you fight like this, Xiaoji!" Xiuci blamed Xiusheng, "How come my Echizen strong soldiers are as soft as a group of crabs in your hands! This is not like fighting!
We are ordered by the lord to attack the rebels. Since the fight against rebellion is like the autumn wind sweeping the fallen leaves, the world will be decided by a battle. It is the face of the lord that is damaged by a situation like yours! "

"I'm really sorry, brother." Xiu Sheng was going to explain at the beginning, and sold favors to his brother by the way, but was interrupted by Xiu Ci before he finished speaking.

"This is the army, you and I are colleagues, you should call me the chief general, or Zuo Fudian!"

"Uh, yes, Your Highness Zuofu. I'll go back and train my soldiers, and let them fight the enemy bravely tomorrow, and take this city for brother Zuofu."

"If tomorrow is like today again, I will definitely punish you as an example to others!"

Xiusheng went back and really trained the army, reprimanded the retainers who performed unfavorably in the siege today, and let them serve as the vanguard tomorrow.

But it turns out that it's not that Echizen's feet are soft, but that the defenders guarding Uozu Castle are too strong.Facing the desperate attack of the Echizen crowd, the east and south gates of Uojin Castle were once in jeopardy. Xiu Sheng thought that he was about to break through the outer city.

However, the soldiers who entered the city were still caught in the sea of ​​enemies. Although their bodies were not as gorgeous as Echizen's, many of them even wore half-armored armor, and they had all kinds of weapons in their hands, they showed bravery that Echizen did not have. .

The two sides fought fiercely for a day, and the east gate was once broken. Xiu Sheng also planned to step up sending people into the city to consolidate his advantage.

But the defenders dug a trap behind the city, and after a few soldiers fell into the trap, they threw a bottle of kerosene from one side of the tiger's mouth to the dirt road in front of the city gate, and then set it on fire to block the attacker's backup.

In addition, they sent people to fight hand-to-hand with the soldiers who had already entered the city, hacked and killed them all in the city, and then re-fortified the city gate.This series of actions stunned the Echizen people who had been in battle for a long time.

The siege failed again the next day, and Xiu Sheng reluctantly returned to his brother's place, but his complexion today was more condescending compared to yesterday, and he even called Xiu Sheng differently.

"Echizen Councilor, what do you think of the effect of today's siege?" Xiuci asked Xiusheng with a dead face.

"Today, the soldiers used their lives, and we once attacked the city. But the enemy is indeed too cunning. Tomorrow, if we make persistent efforts, we may be able to take Yujin."

"There's no tomorrow!" Hearing that Xiu Sheng was still evading his failure today, and then looking at the daimyos on the left and right, and looking at him with the eyes of watching a drama, this person Xiuci had a feeling that his authority was being challenged. Feel.

"Are they so sure that I won't punish Xiaoji?" Xiu Sheng couldn't help muttering to himself while watching the big names. "In that case, I will punish you today."

"Toyotomi Echizen issued a military order yesterday, and if he fails to breach the outer city today, he will be punished!" Hideji stood up from his seat and said, looking around at the daimyos.

"Many people think that Echizen is my younger brother, and I will indulge him. You are wrong! This is a military camp, and there are only superiors and subordinates. Since you have issued a military order, you have to accept the consequences."

After that, he tremblingly said to Xiu Sheng with a nervous tone, "You have failed the lord's expectations, go down and prove your loyalty yourself!"

In Japanese culture, when your superior tells you "to prove your loyalty", he doesn't ask you to be a death squad, he asks you to prove yourself by harakiri.

"What?" Xiu Sheng couldn't believe his ears.I really used my strength today, but the defenders in the city were really able to fight, so I didn't attack it. How can you say that I am not strong enough to attack the city?

That's fine, you can just scold me a few words, why do you let me prove my loyalty?I'm your real brother!
Not to mention that Xiu Sheng couldn't believe his ears, and the big names couldn't believe what they heard.From their point of view, Xiu Sheng played very well today, how could he accept such a punishment?
"Brother." Xiu Sheng couldn't believe it, and wanted to ask Xiu Ci for confirmation, but Xiu Ci rudely interrupted, "Echizen, are you unable to even do the way of the samurai? Since the military order has been issued and you can't do it today, you have to accept it." as a result of!"

After all, he looked around at everyone and used Xiu Sheng's example to educate him, "It's the same with you, tomorrow I will lead a team to attack the city, and those who fail to enter the city will be punished!"

The big names dared not say much because of his power, they could only agree with him.Xiu Ci turned his head and saw Xiu Sheng was still kneeling in front of him, and his face was serious again, "Why are you still sitting here? Could it be that you want me, a brother, to do it for you, or you want Councilor Asano to intervene for you?"

Asano Nagamasa is such a smart person. He didn't know what kind of plane the brothers were doing before, but now he suddenly mentioned himself regardless of his own affairs, and after a little brainstorming and comparing Hideyoshi's performance before, he already understood that the two brothers It's singing oboe.

It is impossible to kill a person, after all, he is his own brother.But the words have already been spoken, and the chickens that should be frightened have been frightened. At this time, someone has to come forward and say good things to save his younger brother.

"Wait a minute" Seeing that Xiusheng was about to be pulled out, Asano Nagamasa quickly stopped the samurai who came to lead people, "The Echizen Councilor has been out of battle for a long time, and the command made many mistakes today, but it also achieved good results. It’s a bit of a misunderstanding to let him cut seppuku like this. I think it’s better to let him commit crimes and make meritorious deeds, how about going to attack the city tomorrow to prove himself?”

To Asano Nagamasa's intercession, Hideji pretended to be merciless and said, "This is impossible. Yesterday I asked him to break through the city in front of all the big names. How can he be sentenced lightly if he fails to do so today? Such a large number of troops are acting as military orders." Is it a joke?"

"All the daimyos have been warned. We really admire the uprightness of the Zuo Mansion, but the Echizen Council is yours after all."

"Hey~" Asano Nagamasa didn't finish his second reason, and was stopped by Hideji, "Since you said just now that I am an upright person, how can you mention that he is my younger brother? This is the only place in the military camp. The distinction between generals and subordinates, how can there be brotherhood?"

"Yes yes yes" Facing Hideji's refusal again, Asano Nagamasa was also confused, do you want me to save your brother's life?

Fortunately, at this time, Tadake Hosokawa came forward to make peace and said, "The Echizen people have indeed used their lives in today's battle, and it is not the fault of the council that they failed to win this city.

I just feel that today's battle has set a good example for me, and I will make persistent efforts to break through this city tomorrow.

As for the failure of the Senate to complete the military order, I think it is better to give a lighter punishment, after all, it is not a crime of war.Change the sentence to whipping 10 and order him to be sent to the post. "

Hideji pretended to ponder for a moment and accepted Hosokawa Tadake's suggestion, "In that case, according to Major General Zuo's words, the sentence should be changed to a prison sentence as a warning. As for you and you, let's go back to Takaoka Castle and stay behind."

(End of this chapter)