Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 93

"Maeda is here, it must be repairing to delay and confuse us"

It was Hideyoshi's think tank Kuroda Kanbei who spoke. Hideyoshi received the news when Maeda Toshiie had just arrived in Omi, and called a meeting of core retainers.Perhaps it was a subtle habit, but Ukita Hideka actually participated in this meeting called "Retainer Meeting".

Unknowingly, the Yuxi family had a tendency to be converted by Yuchai's retainers.If Hideyoshi really Conghua Ukidakami, then he will have an absolute advantage in the battle against Shibata.

"That's right, Shibata's pain is the heavy snow in winter." Gamo clan echoed Kanbei Kuroda and said, unknowingly Gamo clan filled Hideyoshi's think tank, replacing the original position of Takenaka Hanbei, and Kuroda officers and soldiers cooperated together to make suggestions for Hideyoshi.

Although the latitude of Hokuriku where Shibata Katsuya is located is not high, the warm current from the Pacific Ocean cannot reach Hokuriku due to the obstruction of the Shinano Mountains.

The cold current from Siberia is also blocked by the Shinano Mountains here, and it accumulates on the land of Hokuriku. Therefore, every winter, when Kanto does not necessarily snow, Hokuriku is already in the same snowy environment as Tohoku. under.

The valley connecting Echizen and Omi will also be blocked due to snow, making it impossible for Shibata Katsuya's main force to support the Kannai battlefield.

In the Cheongju Conference, Shibata Katsuie thought he had obtained Omi's portal Jiangbei and the joint with Mino, and since then Takikawa Kazuyoshi has been firmly sealed, which seems to have cut off the connection between Hideyoshi and Oda Nobuo. In fact, he himself ignored the power of Hokuriku Winter.

"Where is the decisive battle?" Hideyoshi asked his two military advisers.

The two looked at each other, pointed to the valley south of Jinzaki on the map and said, "It's right here—Jianyue"

"This is the hinterland of the Shibata family. Only by conquering Jiangbei can we confront the Shibata family here." Hashiba Hideyoshi said, resting his cheek.

"So this winter is extremely critical. We must take advantage of the winter and when Shibata Katsuya cannot support us, we must clear the outer obstacles and regain control of Jiangbei." It was Kamo's hometown who spoke, and his suggestion was very constructive.

"Ise Nagashima must also be taken, otherwise the Nobuoden will be cut off from it, and the head and tail will not be able to look at each other. If they are defeated by the Nobukoden and Takikawaden, the flanks of the main family will be completely exposed." Kanbei Kuroda made up his sword at the side Said.

The suggestions of the two think tanks are very brilliant. Hashiba Hideyoshi has previously mobilized 3 troops in advance in the name of holding a funeral for Nobunaga.Hashiba's family has already completed the preparations for the winter battle, and the only thing they owe is the snowfall in Hokuriku.

Since both sides have their own ghosts, Maeda Toshiie's peaceful meeting in Kyoto this time has naturally achieved "excellent results". Out of the principle of reciprocity, Hideyoshi sent his younger brother Hashiba Hidecho to Kitanosho to return the gift.

Compared with the 2 barrels of salted fish, 2 barrels of pickles and 1000 cotton plants that Shibata gave to Hashiba, Hideyoshi’s gift to Shibata was Kinai’s specialty pen and ink, and Bizen Ukita’s specialty celadon and Tsuyama stack.

The implication here may be to imply that he has mastered Ukita Territory of Kinki and West Country, and then show off to Shibata Katsuie: Your Shibata family Hokuriku is really poor, come and see my territory of Hideyoshi.

It's a pity that Shibata Katsuie, who received the gift in return, couldn't understand Hideyoshi's meaning. He just habitually mocked Hideyoshi's nouveau riche character and thanked Hashiba Hidecho, and entrusted Hidecho to convey his greetings to Hideyoshi on his behalf.

(This is also weird, I just scolded my brother in front of others, and now I thank him again.)
Hideie returned to Bizen Okayama after participating in the meeting, and was responsible for mobilizing troops to prepare for the Hashiba family's winter offensive.Maybe it's because they know that Yuxi's family has just taken control of the new leader, and the retainers are in the process of being transferred.

In addition, the manpower of the Uki family has indeed been fighting for more than a year, and the people's strength is exhausted. Hideyoshi deliberately Kane, so that the Hide family only needs to mobilize 1 people to participate in the crusade against the Shibata family.

The Hide family returned to Okayama, dealt with some internal affairs, listened to Masayuki Hanabou's report, expressed his affirmation of his efforts over the past month, and expressed his approval of the system of the third courtyard and nine halls revised by Masayuki Hanabou, Using this as a system, carry out reforms, and discuss how the military service of 1 people should be apportioned.

First of all, Xiujia's banner has expanded to 2000 people, officially changed its name to Standing, and split into two full-staffed squads, named Qinglongbei and Suzakubei respectively, as the only full-time professional soldiers in Yuxiduo. They exist to fight.

The Xiu family also used the samurai of the entourage team composed of the second sons of the wealthy family as the captains of each team, and used the original elite banner equipment as the backbone to fill in the low-level land and warriors, filling up the establishment of 500 people, and becoming the new banner equipment for the personal defense of the Xiu family.

The original entourage team was reduced to 60 people by Xiujia.

As full-time professional soldiers, these 2560 people are the absolute trump card in the hands of the Xiu family. They usually only do three things: training, training or training.

Although many people have just joined this army, they have initially integrated into the Xiu family under the system of bringing the old to the new. The new army is worthy of a battle, so the Xiu family plans to bring them all, so that the problem will be solved. half of the quota.

In the past year and a half, Hideka's Bizen team has played the most and is the most exhausted, especially the two backup teams directly under Hideka's own control, and Toyama Bei, who used to be Ukita's interpreter, participated in almost every battle.

Therefore, Xiujia decided to let them participate in the battle of Jianyue for one year. 1 people from each wealthy family allocated 2500 people to Jinshan for training. Commander Oka Toshikatsu came to Okayama to report.

1000 people were apportioned to the head of the new leader Bei Zhong's retainers. Although it was just a new collar that had just been mastered, compared to the 20 shi Bei China, each family allocated 1000 young men according to Shi Gao, which is not a big deal Difficult things, after the Beizhongbei assembled, they will conduct training in Okayama, under the command of Akashi Jingqin.

The number of military service certificates apportioned by Hideka this time is very small, so each family is required to send out their own elites, and it is stated that this time strictly in accordance with the requirements of the military service certificate, all ashigaru must have complete armor, and the army will strictly review each The situation at home.

Because the number of Xiu family's military service certificates is not large, after receiving the order, each family will soon select the clans and elites of the local people to serve in the army. Equip your own inventory for them.

Oda Nobunaga's military service requirement for his subordinate daimyo is 22 people mobilized per thousand stones, 15 armored samurai, of which 5 are horse-riding samurai, and the remaining 7 are arched or iron cannon ashigaru, according to Akechi's military service According to the book, in the configuration of the Zhizhi Army, 5 iron cannons are required for every thousand stones. Of course, under special circumstances, the extreme mobilization of 60 people will be required.

宇喜多家的原本的军役状要求前面就有说过，每千石动员人数20人，要求着甲武士/足轻10人，骑马役3人，剩下10人为5人持枪足轻5人弓2足轻或者10人都是无甲农兵。

As for the Xiu family's directly-administered reserve team, due to the military equipment loan, the Xiu family provided the equipment and weapons. After the war, the military exploits and spoils were used to offset the loan.

Previously, due to the shortage of armor, the armor-making rate of the directly governed reserve team was only 80%, and many of them were made up of bamboo armor from the Heian era. This part will be gradually completed.

The Xiu family has all the standing equipment provided by the Xiu family, so the armor rate has reached 100%, and it looks like an absolute elite from the outside.

As for the iron cannon, there is no mandatory requirement from Yuxijia, and each family configures it by itself.

Xiujia previously had a 500-person directly subordinate Tie Pao Zhong, which has always been subordinate to Banamoto Bei, and it is now the standing stock.Tie Pao Zhong was also split into Qinglong Bei and Suzaku Beizhong, each with 200 battalions, and the new banner has 100 battalions.

In order to make up for the shortage of firepower caused by the shortage of iron cannons, the Xiu family worked hard to develop longbows, and required everyone to have bows on hand.

In the past two years, although the Meizuo Workshop has been rushing to work day and night, there is still a huge gap.It is worth dispatching the longbows that are usually allocated to each directly subordinate from the county arsenal when the battle is over, and temporarily handing them over to the standing use.

The time came to December of the tenth year of Tensho, and the cold current from Siberia swept across Japan, and even Bizen began to snow.Beizhongbei and Meizuobei, who have been training for more than a month, also have some appearances.

The Xiu family stopped talking about waiting, and after giving them the New Year's holiday in advance, each of them gave some rice and meat to bring back, and asked everyone to gather at the foot of Okayama Castle on the fifth day of the first month, and the whole army went out to Kinki on the sixth day .

(End of this chapter)