Pillars of the Wu family

Ashikaga Yoshiyasu hesitated for a long time, and his childish face was tangled for a long time. After thinking for a while, he said: "If there are three roads, you should choose to defend Mino or Mikawa! The overall situation of the thick tail will not change should be more important than anything else. , The time-consuming and laborious beating of Sakamoto is completely incomprehensible."

"Did you think so?"

"Yes!"

Yuan Yoshiki chuckled and said, "What about Sakamoto? Nakajo Tokihide commanded 20 troops to guard Sakamoto. If you are more aggressive, you can capture Ashikaga Yoshiaki in Kyoto, and support Emperor Masakimachi to regain the throne. If you are conservative, you can attack." Guanyin Temple occupies Xiaogu, but it can rely on not breaking through the pass to defend against danger, blocking Oda Nobunaga and the [-] Western troops in Mino Country and preventing them from entering or leaving.

If you want to return to Kinai, you can only break through the closed gate, or turn around and go south to enter Kinai from Suzuka. No matter which one you choose, it will bring great room for the Eastern Army. It must collapse in an instant, Oda Nobunaga dare not take this risk. "

It seems that the Eastern and Western armies are confronting each other like the Yingren Rebellion. In fact, the situation is very different. The morale organization of the Eastern and Western armies is all adjusted by the generals of all parties. The royal family of Dongguo, who respected Yuan Yishi as the master, was at an absolute disadvantage in all aspects.

The Western Army, which was hastily organized by the emperor's order, even lacked basic unity. When [-] soldiers were sent from Kyushu, and [-] soldiers were sent from the West Kingdom and the Four Kingdoms, many samurai were half-hearted about the order. They quarreled together for three days, and the warriors below were like a group of bandits robbing territory, gathering restlessly and wielding swords.There is no such thing as unity from beginning to end.

The chain reaction brought about by Shimadzu Suijiu's actions pulled away all the military forces in Kyushu.This had an extremely bad impact on those Xiguo and Shikoku samurai families who rushed over excitedly thinking that they could reap benefits.Morale suffered a blow, and the cohesion of the army was also declining rapidly. With so many innate factors constrained, Oda Nobunaga, who had always been arrogant, did not dare to choose head-to-head.

Ashikaga Yoshitaka asked unwillingly: "Then what if Oda Nobunaga leaves an army to stare at Sakamoto?"

Genyoshi knew what the child was thinking, and probably felt that Oda Nobunaga should not be so stupid, so he said: "There is no specific figure for how much to keep, 20 or [-]? The main force of the Western Army, or the Allied Army that left the Western Army? Can you ensure that the army left behind can indeed defend against Tohide Nakajo, you must know that he is also a general who has been in Kinai for [-] years. It is definitely not something that can be resisted by just sending a samurai If the remaining major generals are weak and want to keep an eye on Sakamoto, then they are lying to themselves.”

Ashikaga Yoshiyasu thought for a while, and suddenly had an idea: "If 6 people are left behind, it will be no problem for Yoshikawa Motoharu, Kobayakawa Takakage, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, and Akechi Mitsuhide to keep an eye on Sakamoto?"

"That's a good score! It looks like Saburo is much smarter than Oda Nobunaga." Genyoshi praised his son's intelligence, and then shook his head and said: "The essence of Xiguo and Shikoku is the Mori family and Miyoshi family. You The main force of the Western Army, the Maori family, the main force of the Shikoku Miyoshi family, and the main force of the Kinai Shogunate Mitsuhide Akechi were transferred to Omi to suppress Sakamoto. The main force of the Western Army under Oda Nobunaga was only available to the Oda family, Asakura, Asai, and the Kinai people. Such a western army is no match for the eastern army."

"Then..." Ashikaga Yoshitaka thought for a while.Said: "It is definitely feasible to assist the Echizen country!"

Yuan Yishi said: "It's not feasible to make a bad move."

"why?"

Yoshitoshi Minamoto took the trouble to answer: "First of all, the terrain of the Echizen Kingdom is narrow. It is difficult to use all of its strength when an army of 20 is poured into Echizen in a short period of time. Secondly, when the army is dispatched to rescue Echizen, it must pass through Ika County of the Omi Kingdom. This county was once occupied by Yu's division. Takumi Yamamoto's Taoist ghost seized it, just repeat the old tricks and then seize it back to block the streets of Tsuruga, the 20 Western troops will only have a dead end, and leaving tens of thousands of troops stationed in Ika County can perfectly prevent Sakamoto's changes However, how much military protection does Kyoto need to leave behind?

How much military protection is left in Minami Omi? If the Hida Army suddenly attacks westward to take Gifu Castle, the Sakamoto defenders will then advance eastward to capture Kannonji Castle and Otani Castle, and completely open up the Higashiyama Road. Oda Nobunaga will aid Etsuzen in the north The meaning of this is gone, and the [-] troops of Uesugi's bullets are repelled by superior forces to occupy Kaga.

And this has no impact on the battle situation, even if Oda Nobunaga fights all the way to Etchu, it doesn't matter. Uesugi Dansho only needs to guard the natural danger that he doesn't know, and he can play a game of catching a turtle in a pot, entering Hida and taking Mino Only Hida River can choose. Without the support of the navy, it is tantamount to a dream. If you go to Shinano, you will seek your own death. The farther you go, the faster you will die. "

Ashikaga Yoshiyasu thought thoughtfully: "So...is it the only way to attack Sakamoto?"

"The first thing to attack Sakamoto is to eliminate hidden dangers. Nakajo Tokihide left half of his army and fled to Maizuru Port with the other half. He has lost the ability to control the situation of the battle. The capture of the emperor of Masakimachi probably wanted to take this opportunity to force the emperor to withdraw the announcement. By the way, I will point out another imperial enemy to Yu, and bring back the disadvantages of fame and righteousness, but he did it too rashly, and the emperor failed to catch him and burned Mount Hiei instead." Yoshitomo Minamoto can understand Oda Nobunaga's way of thinking Guess is close to ten.

Based on the experience of the two of them exchanging letters for many years, and then the relationship gradually faded from a confidant to a friend and then to an enemy and friend. It is not a day or two to speculate on each other's thoughts. Judging his thoughts is actually not very difficult to guess.

The most important thing is that he is confident enough that no matter which one of the three options Oda Nobunaga chooses, he will not succeed. It is an accident that Emperor Masakimachi escaped smoothly, but it is not an accident that the mainstay of the samurai family raised troops at Tsurugaoka Hachimangu For the samurai family, Xuan and Lunji are just a name for convenience. This can be seen from Minamoto Yoritomo raising troops under the order of King Nioh, and Ashikaga Takaji changing banners under the order of Emperor Go-Daigo.

After raising troops, the role of this name becomes less important. What warriors compare is the bloody battle of strength, not the victors who use their mouths to play tricks and tricks to win. Shouting slogans to each other across hundreds of thousands of miles will determine the outcome.

The Battle of Shangluo was rehearsed countless times by Yuan Yishi and his retainers, with various unexpected factors and countless sets of corresponding solutions prepared.For example, Hokuriku Road, Dongshan Road, and Tokai Road go to Luo at the same time.Dongshan and Donghai jointly fight to destroy the remnants of the difficult Kai Takeda clan.To complete a task that usually takes years to complete in two months is not something that can be done with a flash of inspiration.

This kind of mental calculation is reflected in all aspects of the war. Taking advantage of the moment when the main force of the Western Army is transferred to Mino Country to confront the main force of the Eastern Army, Uesugi Kenshin, who is a partial division, led an army of [-] troops, and captured Kaga in late April. The last bastion of the country, the Echizen Ichigoku Congregation General Shima Yoriyo fled to Echizen Kingdom for refuge, the Kaga Ichigotsu Congregation General Qili Laizhou, Choshoji Koyoshi and other Kaga monks, disciples, and local officials collectively harmed themselves. He Yixiangzong's entire staff, Yu Sui, was not spared.

In fact, it's not that I don't want to be spared.It is really Uesugi Kenshin who did not want them to be spared. Thousands of people from the old to the young, from the monks to the officials, were all exterminated. Those in the army are all thieves, and those who block are monks, then they are called thieves and monks.

After staying in Kaga for a few days, he continued to attack Echizen with his troops westward. Anzi Asakura Kagegami, who was buried in Echizen, immediately rebelled. It is the biggest unstable factor in the Chaokura family, and his ambition is to bring down the Chaokura family and kill all relatives.For this reason, he also deliberately changed the name to Dohashi Kagegami, and asked Uesugi Kenshin to recite it to Yuanyitoki.Seeking the opportunity to worship the next character, he couldn't wait to change his name to Dohashi Shijing, discarding all the common characters passed down from generation to generation in the Asakura family.

When the leaders of Ohno conquered the bridge, they rebelled in the mirror, exposing the entire Echizen government to Kenshin Uesugi, just like an invulnerable tiger suddenly exposed its soft belly. A stab can kill a ferocious beast. Uesugi Kenshin is not a child, nor is he a sharp knife in his hand, but the Eastern Army Rangers that quickly increased to 6 people after entering the Echizen Kingdom. Most of them fell into the control of Uesugi Kenshin.

While Uesugi Kenshin is paying close attention to attacking the Echizen Kingdom, he is cleaning up Shimoma Yoshikaru and his remnants. This Echizen Ichikui is no longer the famous and powerful army that was more than ten years ago. Ever since Uesugi Kenshin invaded the Kaga Kingdom , killing a large number of elite members of the Kaga Echizen Ichikui in one go, they basically lost their blood-forming ability, and then caught up with the Sanrihama Incident, and the furious Asakura Yoshikage led an army to attack the Echizen Ichikuj, which greatly weakened the power of the Echizen Fangguan. The courage of the past has long been lost.

The sporadic resistance of Ichijo Valley City did not cause any trouble for Uesugi Kenshin. The only force that can be called resistance is the old Tsuruga County Governor Asakura Kageki, who is nearly [-] years old and staged a white-haired man in his later years. The old samurai who sent the black-haired man still persisted and led the five thousand Tsuruga people who stayed behind to resist Uesugi Kenshin desperately, and hurriedly sent his second son Asakura Keiheng to Mino Country to deliver a message to Asakura Yoshike.

This man who lived in Gifu City is living in a chic way, and every day he gathers with the literati and refined scholars of the Western Army. Knowing the most trusted general Asakura Jingjing, he changed Miao characters to Tong characters to show his determination to sever his friendship with the Asakura family. With the help of this leading party, most of his home nest was sent out, and Asakura Yoshikage yelled loudly on the spot Cursing wildly, he hurried back to his lair with Chao Cangjun in a panic.

Seeing that something was wrong, Asai Nagamasa hurried back with his own army. He had never seen how powerful Uesugi Kenshin was, but he had always heard of how terrifying the Northern Army God was. Asakura If Jing Jiwan couldn't bear it and handed over Tsuruga County, then wouldn't he have to fight all the way to Beijinjiang to take away his lair.

Takeda Yoshitomo was more worried about the safety of his own family than he was. The loss of Tsuruga Port would expose the territory of the Wakasa Kingdom. It would be difficult for him to protect his vitals with his head and body. For the existence of Wakasa Shuangbi, don’t even think about being loyal and desperate, pushing back the legs and deceiving first-class experts. The meaning of the existence of these two families is to avenge the Wakasa Takeda family.

Isshiki Yoshimichi was even worse than them. As early as Nakajo Tohide fled to Maizuru Port, before the Mino confrontation began, Isshiki Yoshimichi fled back to Tango Country to guard his lair with his own army in a state of embarrassment. Tango Guoman has only four thousand troops, more than half of them are peasant uncles who put down their hoes and carry bamboo guns. If these farmers and soldiers are talking about farming skills, I dare not say that the first-rate can be mixed with second-rate.But if you compare your ability to kill the enemy on the battlefield.I'm afraid it doesn't even count as a crop.

A major general with few morale is equal to none.Isshiki Yoshimichi himself had no idea of ​​what kind of ambition to achieve at all. He was frightened by the [-] troops in Maizuru Port at the door of his house. He guarded the castle built by the Ashikaga family and dared not go out. It's scary that people's hearts have changed too much, and it's safest to stay in a stable home. The so-called Hokuriku Allied Forces have long since become a joke.

The departure of Asakura Yoshikage, Asai Nagamasa, and Takeda Yoshitaka without saying goodbye indicates that the disintegration of the Western Army system is accelerating. The so-called West Japan Allied Forces will sooner or later become the Kinki Allied Forces west of the East China Sea.Both the Mori family and the Miyoshi family were reluctant to stay, clamoring to go home and guard their lairs, but how could Oda Nobunaga let them go, the samurai might follow them as soon as they approached, so how could he? It's not like becoming a polished commander.

The Western Army once again reduced its personnel to more than 14, and its morale also dropped to a new low. Oda Nobunaga hoped to boost morale with a small-scale victory, so he actively planned a plan to regain control of the southern bank of the Nagara River. This combat plan The core of the army is simply pitiful, just wanting to drive the Eastern Army from the south bank of the Nagara River back to the south bank of the Kiso River.I dare not even dream of greater expectations, because the lower reaches of the Kiso River and the Nagara River have been controlled by the navy of the Eastern Army.Little Chuan Bingzhong even went out to investigate and had to rely on the advantage of being familiar with the terrain before he dared to act.

Oda Nobunaga's plan has not yet been put into action. June, the most stormy month, has passed quietly, and July is a good time when the rain is relatively relieved and sunny. Gifu City has received bad news from Kinai. Hojo Shizheng, The Kakizaki Kei family combined [-] troops from Iga to invade the Yamato Kingdom. Facing the [-] army and the support of the leading party Iga Ninjas, Tsutsui Junkei and the Yamato people he accompanied made a wise decision to surrender.

Then the 1 army engulfed the people of Yamato and joined forces with 500 soldiers, and stormed and captured Shigui Mountain Castle and Iimori Mountain Castle all the way. , with more than [-] soldiers from Jiyi Kingdom and Genlai people, they approached Gaowu City, but at this moment there were only a pitiful [-] defenders in the city.

Because the nonsense Western Army left Hanoi empty, You Zuo Xinjiao led more than [-] people from Hanoi to participate in the Mino National Front. The genealogy family Lao An who stayed behind in Gaowu City saw that the situation was not good, and quickly sent the family governor Hatake Shanzhao Gao was tied up and sent out of Gaoya Castle, thinking that he could be forgiven for pleading guilty, but he didn't expect Saito Chaoxin to take out a Taidao and chop off his dog's head when accepting surrender.

This kind of success is more than failure, and it is also a disaster to keep a retainer who is extremely ill-intentioned and vicious. Yuan Yishi deliberately spared his life, just wanting to kill him in front of everyone. Hatakeyama Takamasa Kicking the dog's head away with his feet, cursing and disliking this bastard for betraying himself again, there are not many loyal and stable samurai in the Kawachi Hatakeyama family.

After Hanoi was captured, Nagao Yoshikage led an army of [-] to attack Izumi, while Hatakeyama Takamasa and Tsutsui Junkei's [-] troops attacked Settsu. Hojo Tokimasa and Saito Asanobu were ordered to go north The attack on Yamashiro Country took only six or seven days before and after this series of drastic changes. If it hadn’t been for the torrential rain at the end of June that caused the river to swell and indirectly lead to communication interruptions, Oda Nobunaga would not be so embarrassed that even the information would be delayed so much.

After receiving this news, it is really impossible to continue fighting. Even the Mino country that he has worked so hard to manage for many years cannot be defended. Whether it is Oda Nobunaga himself or for the Western Army, Kyoto is a place that must not be lost. , Oda Nobunaga stayed up all night and finally made a painful decision to abandon the entire Mino army and retreat to Kinai. In order to cover the retreat, he deliberately chose to retreat in the evening. It was not difficult for all the 14 troops to retreat overnight. .

While Oda Nobunaga led the army to retreat, Yoshitomo Minamoto also received exact information on the retreat. After weighing the pros and cons, he gave up his plan to pursue and kill. The main force of the Western Army was in Gifu City, the main force of the Eastern Army was in Komakiyama Castle, and the Western Army It is very convenient to retreat to the west without breaking the barrier, but it is very difficult for the Eastern Army to chase after them. They need to cross the Nagara River and the Ibi River in turn. With the barriers of these two rivers, it is very unrealistic to continue the pursuit. Forced pursuit is easy to fall into a trap. Take a head-on blow.

With a comprehensive advantage, he was determined to transfer the main camp to Gifu City first, and ordered Sanada Yutaka to lead an army of [-] to cross the unbreakable pass to attack the Asai family, in order to force Oda Nobunaga to turn around and rescue the Asai army. In the end, this Oda Nobunaga was really ruthless enough, so he just watched his brother-in-law Asai Nagamasa be defeated, and the cage city of Otani Castle was breached by artillery in less than a day, and the whole family committed seppuku without sending a single soldier The four-nation coalition forces in the north were abandoned by him.

The man did extraordinary things, abandoned his allies again and again, and lost his last trace of confidence. The more than 14 western troops who retreated into Kyoto for defense also lost their basic morale. Oda Nobunaga suddenly regretted his cowardice, When he took the first step back for various reasons, it became a habit to take the next step back, which showed that he was still afraid of Yuanyi from the bottom of his heart, afraid of the giant dragon in Kanto.

His guilty conscience ruined the little advantage of the Western Army. The only merit that can be obtained is that when he retreated to Kyoto, he successfully forced back the troops of Hojo Shizheng and Saito Asanobu, but this achievement is really embarrassing. Last year When Oda Nobunaga went to Luo, he was a strong man compared to Yuanyi. Now, looking back, the gap between the two is not so big, just like the difference between Yinghuo and Haoyue. (To be continued..)