The Ming Dynasty did not revolutionize

Chapter 249 "Luring the Enemy?"

After Tian Yiming's report and suggestions were sent to Edo, Shen Chu, as the head of the civil service, immediately went to discuss with Liu Biao, the head of the military service.

Shen Chu said uncertainly:
"General Liu, what do you think of Tian Yiming's proposal? Should we take the initiative to release the families of the feudal lords west of Kyoto?
"If we can free the rebellious vassal states from their worries, will we be absolutely certain of victory on the battlefield?"

Liu Biao read the report twice:
“We are certainly confident on the battlefield, and it makes no difference to us whether these vassal states have worries or not.

"According to Tanuma Okitsugu, there were about 600,000 samurai in all the feudal domains in Japan.

"Now the Japanese king's samurai, plus the samurai recruited from the feudal lords east of Kyoto, including Tian Yiming's troops, total about 300,000.

"In the process of incorporating the feudal lords, we have successively eliminated 50,000 to 60,000 samurai.

"The rebellious feudal lords still have at most 250,000 samurai, and some of them must be left to guard and manage their fiefdoms. They cannot use all of them to attack us.

“We have the Ming Dynasty’s garrison in Japan responsible for local administration, and our 300,000 samurai divisions can all be deployed in combat.

“In terms of power comparison among Japanese samurai, we may be twice as strong as our potential opponents.

“Even if they temporarily recruit militia, it will be difficult for them to quickly surpass us in numbers, and recruiting militia also means a decrease in average combat effectiveness.

"We also have the support and support of the Ming Dynasty's Japanese garrison's rapid-fire rifles, so we can't lose even in a head-on battle.

“There is no point in keeping these Japanese feudal lords’ families.

"These Japanese feudal lords don't pay much attention to their wives, and it's not like only the sons of their wives can succeed to the throne.

“But Tian Yiming obviously has bad intentions.

"These family members of the feudal lords are safe in Edo, and we will not execute them directly.

"Once they return home, they may be killed in the melee."

Shen Chu also understood:

"Tian Yiming has such a strong desire to kill, will he be a disaster in the future?"

Liu Biao thought for a moment:
“It shouldn’t be a problem. When Tian Yiming was in Africa and North Korea, he didn’t have any particularly strong murderous intentions.

"He hated the daimyo and shogunate officials in Japan just because of his father's death.

"With a desire for revenge in mind, I wanted to kill as many Japanese Wu family members as possible.

“It doesn’t matter to us, but we can’t indulge him indefinitely.

"We can let the families of the feudal lords go, but we can't wait indefinitely in Kyoto.

“What if the daimyo who opposed the king did not unite to attack, but instead devoted all their efforts to building castles and garrisons in their respective territories, and constantly trained and expanded the peasant army?

"By that time, our attempts to integrate Japan would be fraught with difficulties.

“So I will go to Kyoto immediately and lead all the Japanese samurai divisions, including Tian Yiming’s troops, to continue the attack westward step by step.

"Capture a vassal town, transform it, and then attack the next place, step by step.

"End all wars within Japan within two years at most."

Shen Chu felt that Liu Biao's plan made sense, so he just bowed and said:
"I think the general's strategy is the most sound. I wish the general a successful start."

Liu Biao smiled and cupped his hands and said:
"Thank you Mr. Shen for your kind words."

Liu Biao bid farewell to Shen Chu, Zhou Dahu and other civil and military officials who stayed in Edo.

He led his escort troops, boarded a navy warship to land at Amagasaki Castle, and then prepared to go to Kyoto along the Yodo River.

When Liu Biao entered the entrance of the valley where Kyoto was located, he saw a scene of two armies facing each other.

The two sides were separated only by a narrow tributary of the Yodo River.

The Japanese Samurai Division troops in Yodogawa-xi arranged scouts to meet with the scouts of Liu Biao's troops and guide Liu Biao and his party to the military camp of the Samurai Division's main town.

When Liu Biao and his staff walked into the camp, Liu Wei immediately came out with his senior officers to greet them.

After the two sides exchanged military salutes, Liu Biao directly asked Liu Wei:

"What's going on? Why are the two armies facing each other across the river? Which unit are they from? Where is Tian Yiming now?"

Liu Wei immediately reported:
"General, the army on the other side belongs to the Kii Tokugawa clan.

“But it was not led by the current Kii Domain Lord Tokugawa Haruhiro, but by his father Tokugawa Shigetsu.

"Tokugawa Shigetsu had been ordered by the previous Japanese king to retire and become a monk.

"As a result, during the time when Tokugawa Haruhiro stayed in Edo and was controlled by us, Tokugawa Shigetoshi took control of the Kii Domain.

"I am following the orders of General Tian Yiming and am leading 30,000 warriors to garrison here to lure the enemy.

"General Tian is leading the main force of the army to wait outside Kyoto. If the troops of Tokugawa Shigetsu of the Kii Domain cross the river to attack our troops, we will try our best to hold them back.

"General Tian's army is coming to our aid. Surround and annihilate the Kii clan's army."

The situation that Tian Yiming had expected occurred in the Kii Tokugawa family.

When Tokugawa Shigetsu received the news at the beginning of the year that his son had been ordered by Tanuma Okitsugu to stay in seclusion and reflect on his mistakes, he immediately began to make moves.

He ignored the dissuasion of those around him and forced his way back to Wakayama Castle, the main castle of the Kii Tokugawa family.

Later, he learned that a coup had taken place in Edo. Tokugawa Shigetoshi learned that Tokugawa Ienari was going to become the King of Japan in the Ming Dynasty, and he wanted to capture the emperor and send him to the Ming Dynasty.

Tokugawa Shigetsu immediately demanded that all the retainers of the Kii Tokugawa family obey his orders.

And arrange personnel to contact other powerful vassal states in the west.

Tokugawa Shigetsu took advantage of the situation and, through a de facto coup d'état, regained control of the Kii domain.

A total of more than 20,000 samurai were gathered from the Kii domain and its subordinate domains, and 30,000 peasants were forcibly conscripted into the army.

It was several months later when he finished all these tasks, organized these samurai and peasant soldiers into a team, and prepared to go to Kyoto to control the emperor.

Tian Yiming has taken control of Kyoto and started to clear out the residents around Kyoto. The samurai divisions gathered in other places are on their way.

Tokugawa Shigetsu led his troops through the Nara Valley and arrived at the gate of the valley where Kyoto was located, where he encountered Japanese samurai divisions stationed on the other side of the Yodo River who had gathered there.

Tokugawa Shigetsu did not dare to attack rashly. He first sent troops to scout the situation east of the Yodo River to confirm that there were no samurai divisions loyal to the king in other places around.

The Japanese samurai division on the west bank of the Yodo River also stayed there to lure the enemy according to Tian Yiming's orders.

After listening to Liu Wei's report, Liu Biao thought about it for a moment and then gave the order:

“Since the enemy doesn’t dare to cross the river and attack, we should give them some space and let them fight after they cross the river.

"You guys get ready. Move out of camp tomorrow at noon to lure the enemy. I will go to Kyoto with the main force to meet you." Liu Wei hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed with an unreserved salute:

"I will obey my orders."

Liu Biao, with his escort team, left the camp in Xi'an of Yodogawa with great fanfare and headed for Kyoto City.

At the same time, the lookouts of the Kii clan army on the other side of the river reported their findings to Tokugawa Shigetsu.

"What did you say? A troop under the Ming flag has arrived?"

Tokugawa Shigetsu was originally hesitant about whether to force a crossing of the river to attack, and he was immediately annoyed when he heard the news:
“If I had known earlier, I wouldn’t have hesitated. A direct attack might have given us a chance. The number of foreign king’s troops is increasing.

"Now the Ming army is coming directly here. When will Shimazu and Mori arrive?"

Tokugawa Shigetsu didn't hesitate for long, as a new report was soon delivered to him:
"The troops flying the Ming flag are heading towards Kyoto City!"

Tokugawa Shigetoshi immediately frowned and began to consider what this army was going to do and whether he should give the order to charge.

Time slowly came to the next morning, and Tokugawa Shigetsu received a more important report:
"The king's troops on the other side are preparing to withdraw—"

When Tokugawa Shigetsu heard the report, he immediately went to the temporary observation tower and observed the situation in the opposite camp with a telescope.

“They are indeed retreating… because the officers from the Ming Dynasty have come and asked them to withdraw to Kyoto for defense?

"How many shogunate troops...and the king's troops are there in Kyoto? Is there no way to confirm that?"

The family elder who was with Tokugawa Shigetsu immediately reported:
“There’s no way to confirm it. Our scouts can’t get close to Kyoto City. We can only confirm that they have been transporting farmers out.

"The farmers in and around Kyoto may have been emptied out by them. I don't know why they did this."

Tokugawa Shigetoshi frowned and muttered:

"Perhaps they are making room for the army coming from the east. The Todo family of Isejin Domain has already surrendered, and most of the land west of Kyoto should have been conquered by the king.

“So this is most likely an ambush—we can’t just cross the river and attack.

"Leave 10,000 men to guard the main camp, 10,000 men to move south to control the west bank of the lower Yodo River, and 30,000 men to pretend to move south but stop before crossing another tributary downstream.

"If the enemy troops cross the river to attack us, we can strike back..."

Tokugawa Shigetsu used wrong information to draw the correct conclusion and formulate a quite reasonable plan.

The scouts and lookouts left behind by Liu Wei soon discovered that the Kii army on the opposite side did not try to cross the river, but was preparing to go downstream, and immediately reported the situation.

Liu Biao had already reunited with the generals of various divisions headed by Tian Yiming yesterday and took over the command of all Ming Dynasty corps and samurai divisions stationed in Japan.

At this time, in addition to Tian Yiming's 50,000 samurai division and 10,000 corps stationed in Japan, two other armies had arrived in Kyoto.

There are now 150,000 samurai divisions and 30,000 Ming Dynasty troops stationed in Japan near Kyoto, and 180,000 troops have gathered in Kyoto.

According to Tian Yiming's plan, 100,000 of them were on standby, ready to encircle and annihilate Tokugawa Shigetsu's army.

If Tokugawa Shigetsu took the initiative to attack, he would be seeking death.

However, it would be useless even if he did not attack, and it would be useless even if he formulated a suitable battle plan.

After Liu Biao met with generals led by Tian Yiming and learned about the local situation in Kyoto, he decided to take the initiative to launch an attack on the surrounding areas.

Liu Biao and Tian Yiming received the same instructions, but they focused differently on the task.

Liu Biao preferred to complete the task more safely, so he decided to take over the Osaka Plain and its surrounding areas as a whole and prepare for the decisive battle directly on the Osaka Plain.

Tian Yiming preferred a larger scale of battle and greater consumption, so he deliberately left the Osaka Plain unoccupied to lure the enemy to seize it.

At the same time, if the enemy does not take the initiative to attack within the year, Liu Biao will take the initiative to attack.

Tian Yiming just wanted to continue waiting.

Liu Biao stayed in Kyoto for one day. When he was preparing for battle the next day, he learned that Tokugawa Shigetsu did not cross the river, but instead led a large army to the lower reaches of the Yodo River.

Liu Biao immediately dispatched a 100,000-strong samurai division to cross Henan, and 20,000 Ming troops stationed in Japan to accompany them to provide support.

The army of 100,000 is too large to act together, so it has to be divided into several groups and set off one after another.

When a division of the vanguard arrived at the river bank, the main force in the rear had just left the camp.

According to Liu Biao's order, the vanguard of the Japanese samurai division launched a direct attack on the 10,000 decoy troops left by Tokugawa Shigetoshi of the Kii Domain.

The Japanese samurai division, which has won countless victories, now has a great psychological advantage when facing enemies from other feudal domains and has no idea what fear is.

Tokugawa Shigetsu of the Kii Domain lured the enemy troops to fight immediately, and at the same time sent a message for the main force to come back for support.

However, as soon as the message was sent out, the officers of the Kii Domain's decoy force regretted their decision, because as soon as the two armies came into contact, their side quickly fell into a state of defeat.

Not only the newly recruited peasant soldiers could not withstand the attack, even their own elite warriors could not withstand it.

When the number of people exceeds 10,000, it becomes difficult to assess with the naked eye. It requires large-scale reconnaissance and comprehensive investigation to determine the size of the camp.

Now the people of the Kii Domain had no idea how many people were attacking from the opposite side, and of course they had no way of telling Tokugawa Shigetsu how many enemies they had "attracted".

Tokugawa Shigetsu had not walked far when he received the report and was very happy, thinking that the enemy had been fooled.

Tokugawa Shigetsu immediately led 30,000 main forces to return for support.

Then, before he could get back to the original camp, he encountered the decoy enemy troops that had already fled.

If you don't lure the enemy correctly, you won't be able to withstand the attack of the opposing samurai division.

An unknown number of Japanese samurai divisions were chasing after them with great momentum.

Tokugawa Shigetsu tried to command his army to fight, but the main force soon merged with the scattered decoy troops.

The entire army began to suffer an endless and comprehensive defeat.

The Japanese samurai division under Liu Biao caught up with the main force of Kii Domain led by Tokugawa Shigetsu, and then even caught up with the detachment that Tokugawa Shigetsu had arranged to take over the lower reaches of the Yodo River.

They chased all the way to the coast, surrounded the main force of the Kii domain on the beach, and started a one-sided annihilation battle.

The samurai and peasants of the Kii Domain had never fought a war before, and had no courage to fight under such a huge disadvantage. After falling into chaos, they quickly began to surrender and beg for mercy.

The melee continued until noon of the next day, and the largest battle since the Ming-Japan operation began finally ended.

Of the more than 50,000 people in the Kii Domain, nearly 20,000 were killed on the spot, more than 20,000 were horrified but fortunately managed to surrender, and nearly 10,000 were missing.

Tokugawa Shigetsu was also captured by a group of peasant soldiers and presented to the pursuing Japanese samurai general as a gift for surrender and seeking credit.

(End of this chapter)