Warring States Eagle

Under the brave performance of the generals of the Luo family, after more than a month, Kai's direct army marched all the way, uprooting the blocking forces along the way.

In the 16th year of Tianwen ([-]), in September, it was the time of the autumn harvest, and Kai's direct army also killed the city of Minamata, the last important town in Weibei County.

In order to strengthen the defense of Minamata City before the arrival of the Kaijin army, Inudo Ryan, the general guarding the city, summoned almost all the surrounding forces to Minamata City.At this time, Minamata Castle had a garrison army of nearly 1000 people, while Kai's army had more than [-] people.

And when Inutong Ryan transferred all the guards on the border of Safei to Minamata City, Aso Yuichi, who had been in charge of restraining Inutong Ryan's guarding army near Minamata City before, seized the opportunity to seize the guards from Wei Nakao Castle, a small walled city in North County and out of Satsuma Izumi County.

Taking control of this fortress will not only give early warning of the invasion of the Shimadzu family in the opposite Izumi County, but also form an army close to Kai to form a front and back attack on Minamata Castle.

The two armies faced each other, and immediately launched a fierce cage battle.After several days of unsuccessful siege, Kai directly changed the siege strategy decisively. He suspended the siege and instead sent people to remove all the forces near Minamata Castle first, and at the same time drove away the guards' families in the city. At the foot of Minamata Castle, I loudly persuaded relatives in the city to surrender every day.

During this period, the two sides experienced several fierce cage battles, but they still could not tell the difference. The people in the city could not repel the people outside the city, and the people outside the city could not conquer Minamata City.

The fierce battle has lasted for several months, and it is about to enter the end of the year.According to the agreement with Zheng Liang, Jia Fei secretly transported a large number of exclusive siege weapons of the Luo family through the navy that had completely controlled the Luo family for eight generations.Prepare to take Minamata City in one fell swoop.

The reason why these siege weapons were not used immediately before.One is that the morale of the defenders in the city is booming.Even if these weapons are used to forcibly attack the city, it is estimated that the casualties will be heavy.

The second is that Zheng Liang hopes to exercise the newly formed seventh standing Ashgaru team through this war.Although this team also adopts the method of bringing the old to the new, some veterans from other teams are selected to join the new team as the leader, so as to promote the rapid growth of recruits, but after all, the recruits in the team still occupy Most of the time, I just took advantage of this battle of Nanfeihou to exercise.

The third is that Kai directly intended to use siege warfare to weaken the power of the local defected wealthy clan.This was also approved by Zheng Liang.It's just that it's winter now.The weather is gradually turning cold, which is not conducive to combat, so both Kai Chinao and Masara hope that the war will end as soon as possible.

At this time, the morale of the defenders in the city actually dropped.The main reason is that winter is about to enter, and if the other party still stays outside the city and does not retreat, their spring plowing next year will be ruined.You know, because of the war, they have already missed this year's autumn harvest. If they miss next year's spring plowing, then the army outside the city will retreat.They are also preparing to eat the northwest wind next year.

Just when Kaizhi was sharpening his knife and preparing to launch a general attack on Minamata City, a mysterious man entered Kaizhi's barracks with an order from Masaragi himself.After a short stay.He went to Minamata Castle again and got the chance to enter Minamata Castle.

Two days later, the city gates of Minamata City were opened, and Minamata City, which had been guarded for several months, finally surrendered under the decision of the general guarding the city, Inudo Ryan.This can be described as a happy ending.

And the mysterious person in charge of persuading the capitulation this time is none other than Uemura Changshige, a retainer of the Hara Sagara family.Previously, his elder brother Uemura Laixing tried to poison him, but he was rescued by the ninja of the Luo family who secretly protected him.After learning that Yoshiki Sagara died in Yingfeng City, he became a retainer of the Luo family.Before coming to Minamata Castle, he had been assisting the Luo family's cabinet to take over the territory in the area occupied by the Luo family in Yatsushiro and Kuma counties.

When he learned of the situation in Minamata City, he immediately asked Zheng Liang to go to persuade him to surrender.After all, the dog boy Ryan in Minamata City can be regarded as his best friend, and it is impossible for him to watch the dog boy Ryan get killed.That's why the dog boy Ryan later offered the city to surrender.

With the fall of Minamata City, only the Higashi-Kuma County remained unconquered in the entire Nanfei area.However, at this time, Higashi-Kuma County has formed an alliance against Kai's direct army, and even recruited the Kitahara family of Minamisatsuma and the Ito family of Hyuga as backers. Visibly tired, the weather began to turn cold again, which was not conducive to the army's operations. In the end, Zhengliang had to temporarily give up his plan to continue to attack Higashi-Kuma County, and planned to wait until next year to make a decision.

Taking advantage of this period of truce, Zhengliang once again changed the location of the relevant fan teams.

The Seventh Standing Ashgaru Division led by Kai Chinao, Kosaka Masanobu, Yoshikawa Kokeke, and Uemura Motozuna is stationed in Nanhigo. The specific division of labor is that Kai Chinao and Yoshikawa Kokeke lead [-] permanent garrisons in Yatsushiro County Takatsuka Castle; Takasaka Masanobu led [-] permanent garrisons to Minamata Castle in Weibei County, and at the same time divided troops to guard Nakao Castle bordering Izumi Castle in Satsuma Izumi County and Oniyama Castle bordering Oguchi Castle in Izumi County; And some temporarily recruited farmers and soldiers are responsible for guarding Renji City.

The third standing squadron of the Navy will be based at Yatsushiro Castle near the mouth of the Kuma River in Nanhigo Yatsushiro County. Apart from this place, the squadron will be divided into several teams and will be stationed in Fuzen, Hizen Plateau County, Nanhigo. Jiangcheng, Qimoto Castle in Amakusa County, Shiki Castle, and Kuyu Castle mainly guard the Ariake Sea, Shimabara Bay, Orange Bay, Amakusa Beach, and Yatsushiro Sea to guard against threats from the sea, especially the Higo clans opposite Shimabara Bay and the Yatsushiro Sea, At the same time, it is responsible for collecting certain tolls from merchant ships passing through the sea area where the family is located, and ensuring the safety of these ships.

In addition, this time in the battle under Yatsushiro Castle, many ships of the Sagara family's navy were also captured. Therefore, Masara also expanded the navy.

The number of the first squadron of the navy increased from 160 to [-]. In terms of ships, there were [-] early morning ships and [-] closed ships.The chief officers are Son Goro and Murakami Takashi, and the vice-commanders are Oyano Tanemitsu and Kamizuura Tsuneko. They are stationed at the seaport of the former Hatata Navy in Karatsu Bay, and are responsible for the defense of the sea area from Karatsu Bay to the coast of Kabe Island in Huzi Bay. It is mainly to guard against some pirates along the coast and the threat of sea forces from Iki and Chikuzen.At the same time, it is also responsible for collecting certain tolls from merchant ships passing through the sea area where the family is located, and ensuring the safety of these ships.

The number of the second standing squadron of the navy also increased from 190 to 65, with [-] ships in the early morning and [-] closed ships. Hirado Port in Matsuura County, Shiroyama Castle in Goto Islands, Jiangchuan Castle in Goto Islands, and Fukuda Castle in Hachiki County mainly protect the waters of Hirado Island, Goto Islands, and the coast of Nagasaki Peninsula to guard against threats from the sea, especially It is the threat of the navy in the direction of Satsuma. If necessary, it will promptly support the first and third standing navy squadrons on both sides.

As for the final third standing squadron of the navy, the standing squadron remains unchanged at 600, with 180 early morning ships and [-] closed ships.Masatora Tao and Takekichi Murakami will be the chief executives, and Oyano Tanesato and Uku Junsada will be the deputy generals.

The generals who surrendered were also resettled.

Among them, under the persuasion of Chief Uemura, Ken Fukamizu and Segata Fukamizu finally decided to take refuge in Luo's family.Ken Fukamizu became the head of the Luo family, and was sent to the Hizen country to assist Togo Heiji in managing Hizen civil affairs and farming.Setakata Fukamizu also became the enshrinement of the Luo family, and was sent to the Chikugo country to assist Arima Haruka in managing Chikugo's civil and agricultural affairs.

Even the son of Ken Fukamizu, who had just been served by Yuan Yuan, and Nagatomo Fukami, who would become the pillar of the Sagara family in the future, was appointed by Masara ahead of time and became the follower of the Luo family. He stayed in Higo country to assist Nabeshima Qingfang in managing Higo civil and farming affairs .

Assisting the Luo family in attacking Kuma County, and sending troops to rescue the family members of the Sagara family who were under house arrest in Hitoyoshi Castle, Sagara Jiyai, who caught Yoshikamura by surprise, also became the follower of the Luo family, staying in Higo country to assist Nabeshima House cleaning management of civil affairs and agricultural affairs in Higo.

At the same time, in order to reward him for his previous contribution to the Luo family, Zhengliang not only retained his original territory, but even entrusted him with another piece of territory in Chikugo.

Uemura Chief Shige, who is similar to Sagara Jiyori, also became the enshrinement of the Luo family, and was sent to the Chikugo country to assist Arima Harujun in managing Chikugo civil affairs and farming.Since his original territory was near Uemura Castle, and it is still occupied by the Uemura family, Zhengliang also entrusted him with a territory twice the income of his original family territory in Chikugo.It made him grateful on the spot.

In terms of marching generals.

In Yatsushiro County, Akaike Changren and Marume Yorimi surrendered to the Ro family through the persuasion of Nao Nao Kai.The former is called the Roshi family Ashgaru general, and was appointed as the deputy general of the fourth standing Ashgaru team led by Masao Kinoshita.The latter also became the ashigaru general of the Luo family, and was appointed as the deputy general of the sixth standing ashigaru team led by Enjoji Shinyin.

Samuda Nagaken, who surrendered in Takao Castle, was appointed as the ashigaru general and was assigned to the second standing ashigaru team led by Oishi Tomohisa as the deputy general.

Inudo Ryan, as an ashigaru general, was appointed as the deputy general of the third standing ashigaru team led by Shigemasa Yoshida.

After everything was settled, Zheng Liang immediately let everyone settle down to their duties, and quickly took control of the newly occupied territory.In particular, the Cabinet must try to find out the Shigao and population of the newly occupied territory within a short period of time. (to be continued..)