Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 788 East-West War (5.2) Edo Inquiry ([-]K)

Seeing Yu Xita's current performance, Xiujia was also a little surprised.

Xiujia took the initiative to step forward to help the already aged Quanjia, looking at his gray temples and recalling how he held his hand in the first battle in Shangyue City when he was young, and sometimes expressed emotion.

"It's been a while, brother. Have you and I reached this age?"

The corners of Yuxi Duo's eyes were also wet with tears at this moment, he held Xiu's hand tightly and said, "It is the sinner's blessing to be able to get the right mansion to miss you all the time. It was the sinner's fault that he didn't know the right mansion's wishes back then."

Yuxi's family and Toyotomi's family are facing the same problem, that is, the number of heirs is too thin. Don't say that the Quan family has softened to the Xiu family today. Even if the Quan family does not surrender to the Xiu family, their family's power will inevitably be in the new court occupy a place.

"Let him pass on the past. From now on, I still need to rely on my brother." Xiujia patted Quan's hand and said in relief, "I also happen to have something to ask my brother in this battle."

Yu Xiduo's family knew that the Xiu family was giving him a chance, so he urgently expressed his loyalty to the Xiu family.

The Hide family greeted their son Toyotomi Shigeie, and an older son Uki Toyasu, and said, "This is my son Fukushiro, and Satake Hitachi is his black hat relative, so call Make heavyweights.

And this is my adopted son, Ukita Tarobei Ieyasu.This battle is about the fate of the family. I need to take care of the overall situation, and it is difficult for me to take care of myself.

So I want to entrust them to my elder brother to take care of them, let them follow him in his own team, and go out together with Heishiro and Kurō.

Tarobei and Heishiro have made achievements in the previous battle of Ezo, and I intend to let the two of them lead a team of Ezo soldiers to support you and form a team with you.I don't know why my brother has any opinion? "

Tsugawa Heishiro is the son of the Ukita Kan family, the oldest of these children, and he is 23 years old this year.Naturally, he didn't need to make more introductions to the Quan family, but after experiencing the Ezo War, Heishirou and his father were directly and obviously alienated.

The other two children, Zhong Jia and Jia Tai, came forward to meet their uncle. Although Zhong Jia had already passed away, he was only 12 years old after all. Jia Tai had already experienced his first battle, but now he is only 15 years old. teenager.

If it weren't for the awakening of Jurchen's bloodline, he looks stronger than Heren, and Jiatai's face, the scars left by Ainu arrows on him look a bit fierce, you wouldn't compare him with future generations at all. contact with the first-year boys in high school.

Hideka wants to hand over his son to the Anto family, just like Tokugawa Ieyasu handed Matsudaira Tadakichi to Ii Naomasa in history, hoping that he would lead his son to fire the first shot of the decisive battle.

However, the Anfang people led by Yu Xita's family were originally a marginal force in the Warring States Period, and their knowledge and actions were only 5 shi. Even if the civilian husbands were included in this mobilization, there were only more than 1500 people participating in the battle.

This kind of power is not directly proportional to the 6600 legion of Matsudaira Chukichi + Ii Naomasa in history.

This is why Hideka intends to strengthen Ukita’s idea of ​​the family department. Tsugawa Heishiro’s department was originally a mixed army of Ezo and people + Koreans + assimilated tribesmen organized by Hideka in Ezo, with a number of 2000 people. .

The Xiu family plans to add another 300 Jurchen heavy armored soldiers to Yuxi Duotai's commander. In this way, the total strength plus the Quan family's own team can reach 3800 people.

The number of people is really small, and the first battle now usually has iron cannons firing at each other. You can't expect the Ezo Corps and Ukita Kanjia to have enough iron cannons.

Therefore, in Xiujia's vision, another standing team directly under the Chong family was assigned to be the nominal commander. The 300 iron cannons directly under the standing team were not enough, and the Xiujia added 200 iron cannons as an additional supplement, making this only The total strength of the troops can reach 5500 people.

Of course, the Xiu family did not disclose these specific arrangements to the Quan family here, because now is the time for the brothers to let go of their old suspicions for many years, and the Xiu family handed over their son to him to show their trust in him.

However, it is impossible for the Xiu family to hand over the right to lead the troops to the Quan family. He is an impatient guy, and the Xiu family is really worried about entrusting him to lead more than 5000 people in the first battle.

But, can you tell the interpreter now?Having said that, what will the Quan family think?Does your Xiu family look down on me so much?Then what else will I cook with you?

The real layout needs to be announced at the military meeting later, and now is the time to renew the family relationship with the Quan family.

The Xiu family did not mention any rewards to the Quan family after the war, and the Quan family did not ask the Xiu family about this matter.

This is the advantage of the character of "rebellious and honest people". They don't need to negotiate conditions in advance to seduce them for things that they think are worthwhile. They generally think that their efforts will be seen by others, and the other party will give appropriate rewards.

In fact, the Xiu family has long wanted to reward the Quan family. After the war, the Yuxita Quan family will receive a total of about 30 shi as a reward, but the Xiu family will forcibly divide them into two groups.

The first son Yuki Takayuki will inherit the big head, and his ability is either Sanuki with 18 koku or Awa with 18 koku.

The eldest son, Tsugawa Heishiro Katsuya, will receive a small collar of 10 koku, or Tajima, or Iwami and other countries.

Although the Xiu family even insisted that the nephew who followed him from Ezo to the end inherit the big collar, but the order of the elders and the children, and the differences between the sons and daughters, this is a fact that the Xiu family cannot change.

The Xiu family also intends to let him restore Ukita's original surname, but these things still cannot be discussed with the Quan family now.Although the talk now will inspire Tsukawa Heishiro's will to fight even more.

But the current status of the Xiu family is not enough to discuss the separation of the family with Yu Xita's family. It is more appropriate to talk to him after the world is stable.

Yuxi Duo's family left contentedly. In his opinion, the Xiu family handed over their son to him to return to her army. After all, the Xiu family still trusted and valued him as a cousin.

But in fact, after Ukita's Anan family left, Xiujia immediately summoned the elder Kamei Tomoki, and asked him to take command of the Ezo Bingfan team, including Musashi Bei, and supplemented to the Anan family.

According to the plan, the Xiu family will go to Shangluo after resting in Edo for 1 day. During this time, the Xiu family needs to learn about the preparations of the armaments from several elders.

Although Takatora Todo, who was the coordinator, had already explained to the Hide family before he left for the battle, but at this moment he had already left for Shinano as a lieutenant general, so he naturally needed to find someone else to understand the current situation.

The first person to be summoned was Yingwa Jiuhu, who was the chief envoy of the Privy Council and was responsible for the Fengchun family's military strategy and general armament deployment.Even Fujido Gaohu didn't know as much about many things as he did.

The Xiu family didn't need to know more about the things on the general plan. What the Xiu family cared most about was the preparation of the iron cannon pellets, gunpowder, and artillery.

"Because Sado took the Nakasendo, only 12 small gold cannons were taken away, which is equivalent to the number of cannons in an artillery battalion.

目前陆炮上还有载轮6磅小金炮36门，12磅大金炮9门，18磅神威大炮2门。

The big golden cannon needs 2 horses to pull it, and the Shenwei cannon needs 4 war horses to pull it.I have prepared the relevant ammunition, horses, and gunpowder, enough to fire a hundred rounds. "

The Xiu family was quite satisfied with the preparations made by Yingwa Jiuhu. The forging of the main body of the land cannon was the same as that of the ship cannon, but the gun mounts were different.

In this era, it is only possible to cast cannons in one piece, and there is no concept of segmented casting. The gun mounts of land cannons with wheels must be arranged when the mold is cast.

It is not impossible to land the naval guns ashore, but such artillery can only become a fixed artillery after landing, and can only adjust the shooting angle and left and right angles. It is very cumbersome to move the artillery.

The land cannon planned by Xiujia is a bronze cannon that is integrally cast with a carriage that can be mounted on wheels during the cannon casting stage. This makes casting more complicated, which is why the cannon casting has been so slow over the years.

Of course, there is also a reason why artillery gave priority to supplementing the navy in order to deal with the Korean War.

"Your Highness, with all due respect, the Big Golden Cannon and the Small Golden Cannon are nothing more than that. The Shenwei Cannon is too heavy to be transported over long distances. In Kanto, it's nothing more than a stone road built by His Highness, but in the territory of Donghai Dechuan, it's nothing. Dirt road, if it is raining, I am afraid that the artillery will be stuck in the quagmire and cannot travel."

"Then walk slowly, with these siege weapons, I'm not afraid of him eradicating every country and every city."

Anyway, based on the current Japanese fortification technology, 12-pound guns are enough to use, and the existence of 18-pound guns is entirely for the purpose of dealing with the cities of Junfu and Osaka.

As for the 6-pound gun, it might still be effective when used in the field to bombard the enemy's physical troops, or to bombard artillery towers and city gates. It is better to think about it when it is used to bombard stone screens and stone walls.

After Xiujia confided his thoughts to Jiuhu, he asked him the second question: "Are those cotton armors, axes and sticks ready? That's a total of 5000 sets!"

Regarding the task assigned to him by the Xiu family, Ji Wa Jiuhu naturally completed it, but this still couldn't stop him from complaining about the Xiu family: "I really jumped when His Highness gave me the order, For this reason, I also went to North Korea and Hokuriku to collect cotton, and it took two years to raise the number of armors you want.

As for the giant ax and the golden rod, 1500 pieces were also added by the way. With all due respect, your Highness’s standard armament is not something ordinary people can use. Your Highness expects to spend so much pig iron to cast so many ceremonial weapons, so it’s better to cast a few more stalks of iron cannons. really. "

Xiujia laughed loudly when he heard his complaints, "These are not ceremonial weapons for play, but real combat weapons."

Said that Xiujia sat upright, and said to him, "Did you see those Eizo and Jurchen soldiers outside the city yesterday?"

Ying Wa Jiuhu remembered those "barbarians" outside the city yesterday who shouted long live the Xiu family and were full of religious belief towards the Xiu family, he nodded solemnly.

When Kamei Tomoku introduced the Xiu family to the leader of the barbarians yesterday as the "sons of gods", Jiuhu was beside him. He thought it was inappropriate to call him that, but as a retainer, he couldn't judge himself casually. My lord, has been looking for opportunities to insinuate.

"I asked Kamei Tomoki, Tachihara Hisanobu, and Osafuna to pick out the 2000 strongest Jurchens and Ainu, and everyone is a 'giant' over 7 feet.

They are in charge of chopping huge axes all the year round, felling trees and providing timber for various tribes in Ezo, and their ax skills are superb.

Despite the toughest lumberjack jobs, they are carnivores every day.Even I can't match the food, and everyone is extremely strong and strong.I asked you to prepare 5000 sets of cotton armor for them.

Jiuhu didn't know about this layout before, it was the result of the Xiu family's deliberate concealment, and many secrets were only known to the elders who were in charge of this matter, and the Xiu family strictly prohibited the elders from inquiring about each other's information.

But Ying Wa thought about it and felt something was wrong, so he asked Xiujia, "This is wrong, isn't this only 2000 sets of armor? What are the other 3000 sets for?"

"Hahaha~" Xiujia laughed loudly after hearing this, and explained to Jiwa Jiuhu, "You should have tried the defense of the cotton armor against iron cannons, and wearing cotton armor can't penetrate its protection at all 30 steps away.

But I am not satisfied with this. More than 2000 barbarian soldiers will be killed. At that time, they will each wear two layers of cotton armor and will only rush to the enemy's first line.No matter how the iron cannon on the opposite side shoots, it's just a mosquito bite! "

"I don't want to spend so much time with the enemy on the opposite side, until the opponent's flaws are exhausted before a decisive battle. You should know that pulling the enemy will also expose your own problems, which is not safe.

I just let them bear the responsibility of breaking the formation.With them, I don’t need to rack my brains to adjust the formation of the opposite side, just break the formation with force.”

"The heavy armor on their bodies is not afraid of the three long spears facing them, and the long spears can't pierce their protection at all.

Each of them holds a huge ax and a big stick. After rushing into the enemy's formation, they only need to slash left and right, just like they are cutting wood in Ezo, and the enemy's formation will inevitably have flaws.

Once a flaw appears, the second and third teams can continue to invest in it to expand the results.In addition to the artillery I asked you to prepare, I will use this to tell those people in the inner palace that the game of war is no longer the way they used to play it. "

Xiujia didn't say what the remaining 1000 sets would be used for. In fact, Xiujia had already thought about this part.

That is when Hideka was in Ezo, he mobilized the elite of the Banner, and joined forces with Ezo Kazuto, Ainu, and Jurchens to train a team of 800 heavy cavalry.

Originally, the Xiu family planned to let them march on the Nanman's trunk, but now that they have more and lighter cotton armor, let them fight in cotton armor, so that their physical strength can be guaranteed even more.

When they are really on the battlefield, they will cooperate with the heavy infantry in the front to charge the enemy from the side, and cooperate with the bannermen on the outside and the Jurchen rangers' Mingdi arrow feathers to break through the formation from two sides.

Of course, these armors and weapons are the secret weapons of the Xiu family, and he will not distribute them so early.Only when it comes to the decisive battle will they be distributed. At present, they will still be allowed to prevent them from going to Luo with the team in the baggage.

After discussing with Yuwa Jiuhu for a while, Xiujia invited Tachihara Hisanobu and Osafune Tsunao who had been waiting outside for a long time.

I don’t know if book friends still remember that Tachihara Hisanobu is the son of the chief of the Jurchen tribe adopted by Tachihara Hisakuna. He has received Quanhe education since he was 12 years old. Now he looks like a Japanese samurai with his head scratched. .

If it weren't for the dark reply and the face shape of the Chinese character, it would be difficult to combine him with the Ainu tribe wearing fur.

Xiujia asked the two about the heavy infantry and heavy cavalry, mainly whether they had been transported by the fleet.

This is very important, because for many Ainu people, this is the first time in their life to take a boat, and it is a long-distance route from Ezo to Kanto, and it is very likely that some people will die of seasickness.

Tachihara Nobuhisa also replied very clearly, "I have prepared 200 more people as backup for this purpose, and the loss of a few by sea is harmless."

And Osafune Tsunao nodded and said, "Northern horses have some reactions to shipping, but fortunately they are all taken care of properly, and we have reserved enough horses for redundancy. Whether it is the horses of the Banners, the heavy cavalry, or the Jurchen Rangers All the horses have been transported to Edo."

There is no way, the upper limit of sea transportation in this era is there. In order to transport as many important troops as possible, Hideka wasted so much time, letting a large number of soldiers go south on foot after landing in Aomori by boat in Hakodate.

To this day, some daimyo soldiers walk on the Ou Avenue, and they are not included in the organizational system of each legion.

If it is really for the pursuit of speed, Xiujia can transfer more than 1 soldiers from Ezo to Kanto to fight directly within one month.

"Wait a minute, Gentahei (Tachihara Nobuhisa), you find a reliable deployment, pick 200 from the Jurchen heavy armor, Tsunao, you are picking a few reliable deployments and hand them over to Heishiro for deployment."

"Heishiro?" The two asked in unison in confusion.

"Tsukawa Heishiro, brother's eldest son. The child you met when you were in Ezo."

After the Xiu family reminded the two of them, they finally remembered who they were. A good retainer commander silently accepted the orders of the master, and would not ask the Xiu family why they made such an arrangement. This is how these two people are.

"Zuo Masuke (颕娃久虎), first distribute the equipment of these 200 people to them, and in addition, distribute the armor and armaments of the soldiers deployed under Yuan Taibingwei, the captains, and let these officers Familiarize yourself with your equipment first."

Xiujia thought about it, and finally decided to allocate part of the army first.

The 200 members of Toyotomi Shige's family no longer belonged to the formation, and it would be too troublesome to come back to receive equipment at that time.Others are to equip the officers first, so that when they actually arrive on the battlefield, even the officers are not familiar with the military equipment.

"Ki Yi (Osafune Tsunao's official position is Ki Yi Shou), you should not go to Luo with the army, and stay behind to take care of the transfer of armaments. You will be stationed in Edo first, and follow us when we move forward."

In history, Osafuna Tsunao served as the elder of Ukita, and in this life, he successively served as the chief envoy and then the governor of the Ezo Governor's Mansion. There is absolutely no problem with his internal affairs ability.

In marching and fighting, what really determines the outcome of a war is often outside of the battle. The transportation of armaments and the replenishment of military rations are the most important.

Keeping Osafune Tsunao in Edo is not because Hideo doesn't trust him. On the contrary, compared with Togawa Tatsuyasu and Yanyuan Jiaji, who have no military force, Osafune Tsunao is one of the few second-generation retainers. A person who can assume the status of its logistics officer.

In fact, Kamei Tomoki and Yuwa Jiuhu can also undertake this task.But they are all old, and the Xiu family intends to let them use the last chance to make meritorious deeds. In this way, we can only suffer from Comrade Osafune Tsunao.

(End of this chapter)