Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 769 Xiuji reprimanded the Niwa family, and Nagashige personally attacked Uozu
Monk soldiers are an extremely ancient military armed force in Japan. In the Heian period, monks were granted land, and most of the presiding officers were heirs of the emperor who became monks.

Out of the need to protect their own land, they also need armed forces similar to the Lang Party and Land Attendants to protect their finances, just like the manors of the Gongqing's family, and the monks and soldiers came into being.

Therefore, monks and warriors actually went to the same goal at the beginning, and many monks even served in the military service undertaken by land servants.It's just that when the land belonged to the ministers, they were warriors, and when it belonged to the temple leaders, they were monks and soldiers.

If you want to ask them which one is more suitable for them, it must be monks and soldiers.

In the Heian period, Buddhism was the state religion of Japan, and even the emperor had a record of making contributions like Buddhism.

At the end of the Heian period, the monks used Kofuku-ji Temple, Enryaku-ji Temple, Enjo-ji Temple, Todai-ji Temple and other temples as their bases. They often competed with each other for power, and even dared to sue the imperial court and the Shiseki family. (armed protest)

The Shirakawa Emperor once cited the three unsatisfactory things in the world, namely "the water of the Kamogawa River (the Kamo River flood) the double six match (backgammon gambling breeds social problems) the mountain master (the monks and soldiers on Mount Hiei)", it can be seen that the brutality of the monks and soldiers is the imperial court. uneasy element.

I really like the name of Wang Lu Class [-] at station B to the monks and soldiers at that time. Are they called monks?People call it Buddha, Faye!The status is comparable to that of the princes in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

In the later shogunate era, the samurai suppressed the monks a lot, but with the advent of the Warring States period, the monks once again let them see how powerful they are. Kaga has always been the same, but he personally sent Kaga’s guardian Fu 樫 Zhengqin to meet his ancestors .

It is precisely because of the existence of monks and soldiers, coupled with the detached social status of monks in Japan, that gave Mount Hiei the courage to fight against Nobunaga.As for the result, we all know that the barbecue banquet at Mt. Hiei burned the monks' underpants all at once.

Afterwards, Nobunaga and Hideyoshi suppressed monks a lot. In the history of Edo, the Tokugawa shogunate even introduced the "Monastery Laws" to control monks, and imposed more restrictions on monks and temples. This completely solved the problem of monks and soldiers. .

But at this time, Hideyoshi didn't have much control over the daimyo below. Even if he became a member of the world, he was still a traditional Japanese samurai, and he habitually practiced the rule of jimi.

As the Uesugi family is a remote daimyo, many systems in Luozhong are not here. They have their own political system that has been maintained for decades.

Uesugi's family is a staunch Buddhist. Uesugi Kenshin himself sacrificed his life to follow the Buddha. He himself became a monk at Echigo Linquan Temple and Koyasan twice, and has a deep connection with Buddhism.

Confident that since the extermination of the Buddha in Mt. Hiei, some monks in Kinki fled to Echigo Uesugi Kenshin, and Uesugi Kenshin gave them asylum, and they needed to join the army as monk soldiers to supplement the combat effectiveness of Echigo Uesugi's army when necessary.

As Hideyoshi imposed control and restrictions on Buddhism and agreed on the upper limit of monks in each temple, monks from many Buddhist houses in the Kinki area came to Uesugi's house to ask for life, and Uesugi Jingsheng also arranged for them.

Now that the Uesugi family is in the autumn of life and death, it is not at all surprising that Uesugi Jingsheng sent monk soldiers to Uojin City.

The individual combat effectiveness of monk soldiers is not weaker than that of samurai. Even compared with the samurai class who usually need to work in agriculture and learn military formation, their daily life is chanting scriptures and wielding swords and guns.

Coupled with the bonus of faith on them, monks and soldiers can be defeated by ordinary warriors in chaotic battles.

But the monk soldiers also have their own problems. Today's monk soldiers are no longer the time to run amok in peace.The daimyos from all over the world have restrictions on them, even if the Uesugi family needs them, there are restrictions on them.

The number of monks and soldiers in each temple is strictly limited, and they are divided among the various temples in the Uesugi territory.This time, there were more than 2000 monks and soldiers out of 130 garrison soldiers in Uojin City, of which more than 80 came from various temples in Etsuchu, and more than 50 were transferred by Uesugi Jingsheng from Echigo Torin Temple.

Donglin Temple is the Bodhi Temple of the Uesugi family. Uesugi Kenshin once became a monk here again. The teachers of Uesugi Kenshin and Uesugi Jingsheng all came from Donglin Temple.Two generations have worshiped this temple, so there are more monks in the temple, and the monks are more and more powerful.

The ones who had just left the city to fight were the monks and soldiers of Donglin Temple as the main body, mixed with some Echigo monks and soldiers.

Another defeat in the siege made Hideji's face extremely ugly, but the big names obviously made up their minds to work hard and finally Fukushima worked hard, and it seemed that the city was about to be broken, but just like this expelled.

While Toyotomi Hideji was still worrying about not being able to break the city today, Fukushima Masaru walked over in disgrace, "Zuofu. I am ashamed of my expectations for Zuofu in Shimoshimatsu! Although the bloody battle broke the city, I was chased away from the opposite side in the end." out."

Seeing the arrival of the biggest hero Fukushima in this battle, there was a smile on Hideji's serious face, and he took the initiative to help him up and said, "You don't need to blame yourself so much. Today's battle let us see the Kyushu strong army." The strength is really amazing. I wonder if the servants can organize another force to fight again tomorrow?"

Facing Hideji's request, Fukushima's face was a little dignified. Today's battle was the main attack, and his losses were not small. Later, he was attacked by Uesugi's monk soldiers.

Just after the military report, the Fukushima army with a total strength of less than 1000 people died and injured more than 300 people, and only a little more than half remained. This has exceeded the limit he can bear.

Toyotomi Hideji naturally saw Fukushima's hesitation, and he understood that Fukushima might not be able to count on this battle.

Fukushima Masanori is his own hardcore, and he has been in step with him since he was in North Korea. Afterwards, he participated in the Qingchang riots and other wars and was reduced because of this.

Not only can Hideji not bear to spend the Fukushima army here like this, but he also has to comfort him.

"I have a servant today. I will record the merits of today. When the Uesugi family is destroyed, I will definitely give a generous reward. The authority promises His Royal Highness Hyuga Ikuni. It is still effective. Now it has been a day to attack the city, go back and rest quickly Bar."

Fukushima was sent away, which does not mean that Hideji's life is over. In this battle, Niwa's army met Uesugi's monk soldiers and collapsed at the touch of a finger.

Hideji directly called Niwa Nagashige to punish him, and Hideji ordered him to replace Fukushima Masanori's position as the main attack tomorrow. If he failed to break through the city, he would deal with the Niwa family.

At the same time, Nagamasa Asano was recruited, hoping that the local snakes around Etsuchu would give him more strength.

The siege on the second day was still unsuccessful. Niwa Nagashige did his best in the face of Hideji's threat, but Niwa's family foundation was too weak, and nearly 2000 people were mobilized just because his leader was in Kaga. But you can't really lose all your money.

The whole battle is more like a performance game in which the upper echelons are desperately spurring, while the soldiers below are playing foreign workers.The vanguard is generally served by the most elite and bravest group of people in the army.

However, the long-range soldiers who were responsible for the cover behind failed to provide enough cover, so that all 14 of the pioneers organized by the Niwa family died in battle at the gate of the city.

After the battle ended, Hideji was completely furious.He ordered someone to summon Niwa Nagai to re-enter the main camp to participate in the military meeting, then detained him, sent his retainers to take over the Niwa family's army, and asked the Niwa family to take charge of the main attack from the next day onwards.

Now that their patriarch is in the hands of others, the samurai of the Niwa family are completely panicked, and they spur the soldiers below to attack the defense line of Uojin City desperately.

But the defenders have decided to defend Uotsu City to the death. The east gate, which was broken twice before, has also been blocked with various bricks, stones and sundries.

Fortunately, after the filling of the previous few days, the width of the frontal battlefield has eased, and the attackers have set up ladders on some of the outer walls to attack the city, and the battle has entered a fever pitch.

However, it is clear that the combat power of the soldiers of the Niwa family under extreme mobilization is very high. The team over there was just applauding for the Niwa family, but in a blink of an eye the defenders pushed the ladder down with various forks, and the soldiers who had already climbed over the wall into the city blamed them The defenders in the city were quickly strangled.

Having lost the vanguard, the morale of the Niwa family quickly lost their morale, and Ashigaru continued to escape from under the stone wall. Even though there were samurai desperately trying to restrain the military discipline, this round of offensive failed again.

"Niwa Counselor, the performance of the Niwa family in the past two days is really disappointing." Hideji was dissatisfied with today's siege performance, and chose to vent his anger on Niwa Nagashige, "Niwa's soldiers need to be trained.

The defeat is like a mountain before the gold is called. If you, the lord of Kagatsuba Castle, cannot manage the soldiers below, you should report to the Toyotomi family as soon as possible, and I will replace you with another capable person. "

This is Hideji blatantly threatening Niwa's growth, but his military strength is indeed not as good as that of Fukushima Masanori yesterday. Facing Toyotomi Hideji's questioning, he also proved that he bowed his head to show his loyalty.

Seeing Niwa Nagashige's posture so low, Hideji's stern face stretched a little, he decided to give Niwa Nagashige a chance, "Tomorrow you attack the city yourself, and prove to me that you are indeed the son of Niwa Nagashige (Nagahide Niwa) If you can take this city, I will give you a lot of rewards, if you can't take this city, I will find you another relatively easy area to go to the people."

After all, Hideji still dare not directly change Niwa's house, what is the reason for changing?Did you fail to take Uojin Castle?

In the Warring States period, the relationship between the samurai family and their superiors was the relationship between Yuen Fenggong, not to mention that you Xiuji are not my lord, even if you are my lord, the land is rewarded to me and it is mine. I am not wrong, you can only transfer it to me Feng, why change me!
But Niwa Nagashige knew that the place Hideji talked about was definitely a remote and difficult place, how could there be a familiar place like Kaga?
Besides, after the 10 years since I granted Kahe the title, my knowledge and practice have grown somewhat, but if Hidetoshi transferred the title to himself, he would not come based on his real height.

Niwa Nagashige had no choice but to receive orders from Toyotomi Hideji and return to his own army.The family elders were all very excited to see the return of the Patriarch, but when they heard from Niwa Nagashige that he would be pushed up to attack the city tomorrow, the retainers showed obvious resistance.

"What's the significance of what everyone said to me today? Don't I know that my Niwa family suffered heavy losses in the two-day battle?" Niwa Nagashige was unwilling to listen to the excuses and reasons of his retainers, and pointed to Toyotomi Hideji behind him to continue the battle He said, "Look over there, that's where His Royal Highness Zuofu's main formation is, and he's been watching us over there! If Yujin City can't be taken tomorrow, everyone and I will be punished."

Early the next morning, just as the sky was turning white, the Niwa family drove towards Uozu City under the leadership of his daimyo Niwa Nagashige.

The ashigaru at the bottom are somewhat confused. According to the past habits of siege warfare to the present level, they should be replaced even if they do not fall into the siege and sit-down warfare.

What do you think of the samurai masters on my side, all of whom regard death as home?
With the sound of the Hona wafting through Uozu, the army of the Niwa family began the siege operation on the second day.

The ashigaru in the front row walked forward slowly towards the head of the city holding bamboo bundles and wooden poles, and when they were 50 steps away, the iron cannons at the top of the city had already fired towards this side. Fortunately, there were bamboo bundles as a resistance, only Some unlucky ones were shot and fell to the ground.

But after he fell to the ground, Ashgaru stepped forward to take his place and continued to lead the team forward. From time to time, iron gunners or bow warriors came out from the gaps to roll their names at the top of the city.

Compared with the past two days, today's offensive is obviously much more organized.

When the army formation advanced to the edge of Mizubori, the defenders and the Niwa side poured their long-range firepower on each other.

It is not wise to directly send people up to fight hand-to-hand when the defender still has enough strength.

When the Niwa family was in charge of attacking the city, the Asano Army and the Hori Army in the south of the city and the castle also began to feint, trying to attract the attention of the defenders to their side as much as possible to reduce the pressure on the Niwa family.

The three of them were originally the three neighboring families on the Hokuriku Road, and it was only right for them to help each other if they looked up and looked down.

The defenders in the city also seemed to be puzzled, didn't they all act in the past, why is it that the Toyotomi army outside today is as excited as if they had taken a drug?

The attacking side outside Uojin City has a numerical advantage and can easily rotate alternately, while the number of defenders in the city is limited, and the foundation for rotation is not enough.

An ordinary archer has to stop and rest after drawing the bow 10 times, and unstring the bow after drawing the bow 30 times.

The two sides seized fiercely until noon, and Niwa Nagashige saw that the time was almost up. He took a deep breath and seemed to have made a big decision, "Otani-sama, I leave everything to you."

The full name of Master Otani that Niwa Nagashige said is Otani Motohide, his mother is Imagawa Yoshimoto's younger sister, but their family is a native of Owari, and they began to serve the Niwa family after Imagawa Yoshimoto's death.

With the death of Niwa Changhide and the reduction of the title of Niwa's family, Otani Motohide became the head of the family in the era of his father Yoshihide, and gradually became the head of Su Lao.

He is also a well-known figure in history. During the Battle of Sekigahara, he blocked the Maeda family's offensive, and single-handedly captured many Maeda family members.

Today, he is the leading general entrusted by Niwa Nagashige, with 60 elite soldiers drawn from various samurai under his command to be responsible for today's first wave of offensive.

Following Otani Motohide's order, a group of samurai in heavy armor came out of the Niwa family's army.

I saw them advancing steadily with wooden poles in one hand, and behind them was Ashgaru who was carrying a ladder for them.The wounded weapons of the samurai were also very simple. Many of them did not hold long-handled weapons, but held an axe, a short spear, or a golden rod (an iron rod, called a golden rod) on their backs. It's a fight to the death.

Apparently, such an army was also found in Yujin City, and iron cannons from all over the place began to focus their fire on this side.But late yesterday, Niwa Naga Shigeimei strengthened the wooden pole in the hands of today's siege leader, and put iron sheets on the outside to weaken the power of the iron cannon.

Of course, the wooden pole cannot keep all the positions, and there will always be unlucky people who fall from the formation because they are shot in the calf or in the head.The ashigaru behind will immediately drag him back to his formation.

After finally getting the ladder up to the top of the city, following Otani Yuanxiu's order, the samurai began to climb the ladder into the city.The iron cannons in the shooting port were replaced by long spears by the defenders. They kept stabbing outside, trying to stab the soldiers of the public side off the ladder.

But they were pushed aside by the samurai holding the short spear and then pierced the short spear through the shooting port.

Taking advantage of the chance that the soldiers in the city were injured, the samurai quickly climbed to the city and landed, drawing a golden rod from behind to fight the people.There are also fallen warriors who are not used to using the golden stick. They pick up the spears of the defenders who fell on the ground, and wave them left and right to open an open space for the soldiers behind to land.

The account on the side is still firing iron cannons here, but because the upper layer is designed to face the long-range firepower of the Niwa side, only 5-6 iron cannon ports on the first floor can hinder the attack of the public side, and the effect is not very obvious.

Seeing that his side seemed to have opened up the situation again, Niwa couldn't help but praised: "Good job! Send the second team quickly!"

The so-called second formation in his mouth is the 75 people of the Niwa family's banners. This is the treasure of the Niwa family's bottom of the box. There were originally about 120 people. The part of the samurai who stayed behind in Tsubata Castle was removed, and now only the guards are still behind. There are only 3 people.

With the support of the second wave of samurai, the east city of Uozu City seems to be in danger. Seeing that he is about to break the city, Niwa Nagashige can't wait to join Ashgaru in it.

But at this moment, the monks and soldiers who had previously shined in Uojin City also rushed to the outer city to support them, and strangled together with the Samurai of the Tamba family.

(End of this chapter)