Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Even someone like Ōtomo Sōrin, who was widely respected and respected in Kyushu, did not...

We'll either forcibly detain you or poison you. You bunch of small fry with tens or hundreds of thousands of koku of grain, what are you still hesitating about at home for? Just come and surrender!

Meanwhile, with the assistance of the Mori navy and the Kurishima navy, the Mori army successfully landed in Hakata Bay, and more than 700 ships appeared in the port at lightning speed.

Having anticipated this and made preparations, Kamiya Sozen, Shimai Munemuro, and others immediately welcomed the Mori army and Oda clan envoys ashore. They also provided ample tents and meals to reduce the difficulty for the Mori army in regrouping after landing.

Having attacked northern Kyushu several times and even once supported the Mori army led by Akizuki Fumitane and Takahashi Kane, they were very familiar with this route. However, previously they had no place to land after landing, but now they had both support and a base of operations.

After setting up camp and regrouping in Hakata, Miyoshi Nobutaka arrived in Hakata the following day. With over 30,000 people arriving, Ryuzoji Masaie, who was besieging Hōmanzan Castle and Tachibana Castle, was not deaf and was greatly alarmed.

Then he made a decision that couldn't be called wrong: he ordered the besieging troops to immediately retreat to Dazaifu. On one hand, they had the backing of Ryuzoji Temple in Chikuzen, held by the powerful lords Akizuki Tanezane and Chikushi Hiromon; on the other hand, they firmly controlled the main transportation routes to Hizen while simultaneously advancing towards Saga Castle.

Send a telegram.

The defenders of the castle, including Tachibana Dōsetsu, Takahashi Shōun, and Tachibana Muneshige, had long known that the Oda army would land this winter. Seeing the Ryūzōji army, which had besieged the castle for almost ten months, suddenly retreat in large numbers, they knew there was a reason for this. Without hesitation, they led their remaining troops out of the castle to launch a strong attack on the Ryūzōji army.

Ryūzōji Masai led his troops in a fighting retreat, and Ryūzōji Yasufusa and Ogawa Nobutoshi, who were in charge of the rearguard, were killed on the spot. However, their deaths did buy time for Ryūzōji Masai's retreat, allowing the main force of the Ryūzōji army to successfully withdraw to Dazaifu.

After retreating, Ryuzoji Masai immediately informed Saka Castle of the news that the Mori army had landed in Chikuzen-Hakata, and asked his father to send a large army to their aid as soon as possible.

Just then, Akizuki Tanemori, the lord of Kokiyama Castle, arrived to join the forces and provided some rations for Ryuzoji's army. Akizuki Tanemori even invited Ryuzoji Masaie to rest temporarily in Kokiyama Castle to prevent any trouble.

Ryūzōji Masai had originally planned to go to Kōchūyama Castle, but Narimatsu Nobukatsu, who was assisting him in attacking Chikuzen, reminded him that the people of Chikuzen were newly annexed and might not be trustworthy. He suggested that they establish defenses based in Dazaifu, since Ryūzōji Takanobu would arrive very quickly, in three to five days at most.

Therefore, Ryuzoji Masane chose to camp at Taishifu, but...

He distanced himself from Akizuki Tanemin, yet expressed gratitude for Akizuki's assistance. He also entrusted one of his wing flanks to Akizuki Tanemin and Tsukushi Hiromon. While preparing for war against the Mori, Ōtomo, and Oda armies, he also fortified his camp, awaiting reinforcements from his father, Takanobu.

Ryūzōji Takanobu was also shocked to learn of this, but he was not too flustered. It was impossible for him to surrender, after all, he had worked so hard to build such a large estate.

We have to fight at least once, to see who's stronger, and to let Oda Mori know that the Ryuzoji family is not to be trifled with, before we can consider the rest.

He then dispatched 30,000 troops, including Matsuura Shigenori and others, with General Hyakutake Kenkane as the first to strike and Tanekane as the follow-up, to aid Chikuzen Dazaifu.

561. The Shuijiang genealogy was completely destroyed.

Outside the manor, the harbor was filled with the sounds of people and horses, a bustling scene of noisy crowds. The Oda army, which had crossed the sea from the Kinai region, was in a state of chaos after disembarking, with generals searching for soldiers and soldiers searching for generals, heads everywhere.

Shichibei isn't the magistrate of the Jinbu (military command); that position belongs to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Our mission is to haul these tens of thousands of men, along with their weapons, armor, and warhorses, to Funai Port, and incidentally, to ensure they have food to eat. Everything else is someone else's business; at most, Shichibei is also responsible for guarding the rear of the main army.

In Japan, surprise attacks on the central army are commonplace, but surprise attacks on the rear are unheard of. What samurai would steal from a small pack animal convoy? That's ridiculous.

Cutting off their supply lines is an option, and it's a legitimate tactic. However, Nobunaga had previously stated that there was no rush to immediately advance into Hyuga. The Kyushu Campaign could be completed within three to six months, since the new emperor's arrival at Azuchi-Seiryo-den wouldn't be until after March of next year.

The main force of the Bungo Area Army would only be stationed in Bungo and wouldn't advance rapidly towards Hyuga. If the Shimazu army could proactively charge into Bungo, allowing the Oda army to wait in ambush, Hideyoshi Hashiba and Ieyasu Tokugawa would be overjoyed.

Come.

Ōtomo Yoshitomo personally came to greet Oda Nobukatsu, and Nobukatsu, in turn, adopted the demeanor of a prime minister, accepting Ōtomo Yoshitomo's bows and prostrations. At least Nobukatsu wouldn't be foolish enough to humiliate Ōtomo Yoshitomo at this point. He not only offered gentle words of comfort but also accepted Ōtomo Yoshitomo's hospitality, preparing to dine at the Funai-kan (a banquet hall in the Funai-kan).

Historically, the Funai-kan (府内府) was burned down by the Shimazu army that invaded Bungo. In this world, before the Shimazu army fully invaded Bungo, this centuries-old Funai-kan still existed.

Similar in meaning to Shunpu Castle, as the location of the provincial capital, its residential function outweighed its military function. It could be called the "Funu-kan" (府内馆), the "Fuchu-ju" (府中城), or, of course, the Bungo Fuchu-ju.

The Oita River flows past the castle, but the castle, which is only 0.7km long from east to west and 2.2km wide from north to south, cannot accommodate tens of thousands of troops. It is just a residence, and even including the surrounding branch castles such as Uehara Castle and Manjuji Castle, it cannot house so many people.

Fortunately, Oda's army split into two groups. Kagawa Nobusumi, Chosokabe Motochika, Chosokabe Nobuchika, and others landed at Usuki Port. Although Usuki could not hold 20,000 men, some entered the city while others set up camp outside, forming a pincer movement, which was quite effective.

Oda Nobuo interacted with Ōtomo Yoshitomo, and Jubei Ichimon Shin...

He thought about unloading the Oda army soldiers from the ship. Only after they were all off the ship could he feel at ease. Especially Tokugawa Ieyasu's 8,000 cavalry, who were to serve as the vanguard later, needed to be disembarked as soon as possible to assemble, form ranks, and restore their fighting strength.

Amidst all the noise and chaos, it's still a relief that there's support. I can't even imagine how chaotic the team would be without it.

The organization of feudal armies is really not something to be expected to be very effective.

"Great news! Great news! Great news!"

Just as they were gesturing for Tokugawa Ieyasu to disembark and hand over the army to his captains to attend Ōtomo Yoshitō's banquet, a small boat rushed into Funai Harbor. A envoy with a white flag bearing the Ichimonji and Sanxingdui (three stars) on his back jumped off, shouting loudly and attracting everyone's attention.

Needless to say, this man was soon brought before Oda Nobukatsu. Surrounded by his generals, he recounted how the Chikuzen Army had decisively defeated the Ryuzoji army in Dazaifu, capturing and killing countless soldiers and taking 530 named warriors. More importantly, this battle had crippled the core governing body of the Ryuzoji clan.

The specific situation is not very difficult to explain. After the Ryuzoji Takanobu army and the Ryuzoji Masaie army merged in Dazaifu, Chikuzen, they faced off against the Oda army.

Oda's army, starting with Miyoshi Nobutaka, had 32,000 cavalrymen who had initially set out. They were originally waiting for the arrival of the western troops, including Ikeda, Ukita, and Nanjo. However, Miyoshi Nobutaka believed that his army of over 30,000 was already well-organized, and if they delayed until the arrival of the 25,000 western troops, the Ryuzoji army would establish a complete defense at Dazaifu.

Even if Akizuki Tanemi betrays them, they will still be caught in a fierce battle. Because at that point, it will no longer be a field battle, but a de facto siege.

During a siege, the surrender of one commander of a siege tower doesn't significantly affect the other commanders. Japanese castles are nested layer upon layer; if the outer siege towers fall, the inner ones can continue to resist. Unless Akizuki Tanemi can defect from the center of Dazaifu's main camp, the surrounding area will inevitably collapse.

But is that even possible?

It is absolutely impossible.

Even Oda Nobunaga placed the local lords (outside daimyo) on the periphery and flanks. Otherwise, why were the Mori clans the first to break through Chikuzen? It's because the Mori were still considered outside daimyo. Although they were related to Oda Nobukatsu by marriage, they couldn't be fully trusted without serving him for two or three generations.

Nobunaga Nobukatsu can currently entrust his trust primarily to the core samurai of Owari. Everyone else has to be relegated to the second tier—it's that straightforward.

After hearing Miyoshi Nobutaka's words, Yoshikawa Motoharu and his son Motonaga were the first to agree. Gathering over 30,000 men and not going to fight would indeed seem cowardly. Besides, the Mori clan would definitely have to cut off a few heads of the Ryuzoji family members to be considered a testament to their loyalty.

Battles in the field are always better than sieges. No Japanese general wanted to fight sieges; it was better to annihilate the enemy in open battle.

After the Yoshikawa father and son agreed, the Kobayakawa father and son also expressed their agreement. Kobayakawa Takakage was not inclined towards open field battles or siege warfare. Rather, he had heard that Ryuzoji Takanobu, in order to strengthen his rule over Chikugo, had actually killed the entire family of Yanagawa Castle lord Kamachi Shigenari.

Isn't this a golden opportunity, a moment when people's hearts waver? The Pu Chi family is different from others. Zhen Lian's father, Jian Sheng, once helped the Long Zhao Temple Long Xin family when they were in trouble, and was Long Xin's great benefactor.

Even a family like theirs was killed, so naturally, the people in the Ryuzoji family were in turmoil.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, we can launch a fierce attack and quickly defeat the Ryūzōji army, thereby seizing the provinces of Chikuzen and Chikugo and blocking the land routes in and out of Hizen.

The three expressed their support, and Terumoto Mori had no reason to refuse, so he immediately agreed.

How many troops did the Ryuzoji Army of Dazaifu have? Not many, but not few either, totaling 42,000 cavalry. They were basically the main force of Hizen and Chikugo provinces, as well as half of Chikuzen province. The troops from Buzen and Higo provinces could not come to participate in the battle because the incident happened so suddenly and they did not have time to mobilize.

The two armies clashed immediately, resulting in a stalemate. Having received no orders, Akizuki Tanemitsu and Tsukushi Hiromon did not launch their attack. As for Matsuura Shigenori, he provided fire support to Ryuzoji Takanobu on his flank.

The initial skirmishes left Ryūzōji Takanobu feeling that the so-called Oda army was nothing special. Judging from their banners, there were approximately 30,000 cavalrymen, and Ryūzōji's army still held the upper hand.

Therefore, Ryuzoji Takanobu decided to take advantage of his numerical superiority to either eliminate the Oda army in front of him or drive them into the sea. He also planned to thoroughly eliminate the Hakata followers who had allied with Oda, preventing the Oda army from landing successfully again.

It must be said that Ryuzoji Takanobu's ability to build such a large empire was truly due to his genuine bravery and skill in battle; he was a worthy opponent for Oda's army.

But he came out!

After escaping the fortifications of Dazaifu, the two armies clashed again. Akizuki Tanezane was the first to defect, taking Tsukushi Hiromon with him to launch a counterattack on the right flank, led by Ryuzoji Masai. At this point, Ryuzoji Takanobu was still not in disarray. He ordered Narimatsu Nobukatsu, who was between the central army and the right flank, to support Ryuzoji Masai, while simultaneously intensifying the offensive against the Oda army.

Then Matsuura Shigenori and Hata Chika, who were on the left wing of Ryuzoji, rebelled, inciting Nabeshima Naoshige (Nabeshima Nobuo) and his troops on the left wing, causing great chaos in the left wing of Ryuzoji's army.

The outcome of the war was self-evident: Ryūzōji Takanobu suffered a crushing defeat. However, he did not come to the battle in a sedan chair; he arrived on horseback. Moreover, Dazaifu was no quagmire. Protected by his close retainers and samurai, he fought his way out and fled to Saga Castle in Hizen Province.

Takanobu himself and his eldest son Masaie escaped, but the core retainers who covered the rear were wiped out. The local lords of Hizen, Chikuzen, and Chikugo provinces, seeing the situation was dire, fled on the spot. Only the most core retainers of the Ryūzōji family, known as the "Mizue Fudai," were willing and dared to fight, remaining to cover the rear.

The so-called "Mizue hereditary retainers" refers to the core retainers of the Mizue Ryuzoji family, whom Takanobu brought from the branch family of Mizue to the main family in Naka Ryuzoji Village. The Nabeshima family is not included; its core consists of only two families: the Ishii and the Nabumi. Among them, Ishii Kanekiyo of the Ishii family is closely associated with Nabeshima Kiyoshi.

Fang was the greatest contributor to the establishment of Longxin and can be called a founding father.

After Takanobu secured his position as the head of the Ryuzoji clan, the ranking of the Ryuzoji family's top samurai was, in order, Nabeshima, Natomi, and Ishii. The so-called Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuzoji were all ranked after him.

Then there are the clans below Ishii Nobuyoshi: Ishii Angenmori (Nobutada), Ishii Shinemon, Ishii Echigomori, Ishii Hōbu Shaosuke (Ishii Tadamasa), Ishii Shirozaemon (Ishii Nobutada), Ishii Uchizo Yun, Ishii Ozen Ryo (Nobui), Ishii Gen'emon (Ie Roshi), Ishii Miyauchi Shaosuke (Tadahide), Ishii Kurozaemon, Ishii Genzaemon, Ishii Obito, Ishii Zaemon Wei (Tadaaki), and Ishii Shirobei all asked for death.

The core members of the Nafu clan, including Nafu Tajima no Mori no Kage, Nafu Sama no Kenkage, and Hideshima Kawachi no Mori no Kage, were all killed.

The Mizue family, which had maintained its rule through the Ryūzōji clan, vanished into thin air, leaving behind a trail of dead, almost wiping out the entire bloodline of both families. Although Ryūzōji Takanobu survived the battlefield, he suffered more than if he had died.

Some people are truly alive, but in reality, they are already dead.

Even if Ryuzoji Takanobu retreated to Saga Castle with the support of Nabeshima Naoshige and others, it would be meaningless. Ryuzoji's core retainers were gone, not completely wiped out. What remained was less a Ryuzoji retainers and more a Nabeshima retainers.

Nabeshima Naoshige, as Takanobu's sworn brother, immediately became the core pillar of the entire family. Although he also suffered heavy casualties, he fared somewhat better than Takanobu.

With the victory at Dazaifu, the people of Chikuzen, Chikugo, and Buzen collapsed one after another, abandoning the Ryuzoji family and surrendering to Miyoshi Nobutaka's army.

Meanwhile, Tachibana Dōsetsu, Tachibana Muneshige, Takahashi Shōun, and others handed over all the castles in Chikuzen as agreed, and were already on their way back to Bungo.

Of course, some powerful figures in Chikugo and Buzen were unwilling to surrender, such as Tajiri Kanesane in Chikugo and Shiroi Shigenori in Buzen. They each had their reasons. Tajiri Kanesane was disgraced in Chikugo because he had participated in the massacre of Kamachi Shigenori's entire family. No matter who the new daimyo was, they would choose to kill his entire family to appease the people of Chikugo.

Ryūzōji Takanobu, who was known as the governor of five provinces and two islands, suddenly became the governor of half a province, which was both pitiful and laughable.

The expansion was too rapid, and there were too few core warriors, resulting in this situation. Everything was fine when things were going smoothly, but once setbacks occurred, the vulnerabilities immediately became apparent.

"So, that means Kitahigo can come and go easily then," Tokugawa Ieyasu said thoughtfully.

"That's not necessarily true," Yoshitomo Otomo replied instinctively.

The Ōtomo clan was truly experienced. Back then, Ryūzōji Takanobu was reduced to only a few thousand men, trapped in Saga Castle. Meanwhile, the Ōtomo army, with tens of thousands surrounding the castle, was poised to seize it. Then the Ryūzōji clan turned the tables, suffering a crushing defeat at the Battle of Imayama.

Oda's army has not yet completely besieged Saka Castle, and Ryuzoji Takanobu still has the possibility of gathering troops to protect himself. If he really besieges the castle and defends it to the death, who knows what the outcome will be?

"Hmph." Hideyoshi chuckled, but said nothing.

"..." Shichibei looked at Oda Nobuo, wanting to see if Nobuo's expression had changed.

Oda's army did hope for a quick victory, but with Ryuzoji Takanobu suffering such a crushing defeat, how could he possibly have the strength to defend the castle? Defending a castle isn't as simple as just capturing all the old farmers outside the castle walls.

In addition to necessary military supplies, at least several hundred core warriors are needed to form the core of the city's defense, organizing peasant soldiers for combat and defense. They should also be able to launch surprise attacks on the enemy or steal their supply lines when necessary.

Does Ryuzoji still have that condition? Clearly not at all. Ryuzoji Takanobu barely escaped with his life; where would he get the information?

One hundred loyal and dedicated core warriors.

"Our army can immediately send 20,000 troops to Higo," Hideyoshi immediately suggested to Oda Nobuo.

"That's fine." Nobuo nodded slightly, whether he was genuinely caught off guard or had mastered the skill of maintaining a calm expression.

Although he was the supreme commander and Hideyoshi was the vice-commander/military magistrate, Hideyoshi was actually the one in command. This was decided at the pre-battle meeting, and Nobunaga made the decision himself.

Hideyoshi said we could divide our forces, so why not? Taking advantage of our growing momentum, we should try to conquer all of Kyushu as quickly as possible, which was also Nobunaga's request.

Conquer the Nine Provinces in three months!

So now the question is, who should go to Higo? Normally, it should be Shichibei. Because Shichibei is the designated lord of Higo, with a fief of 500,000 koku.

But looking at Shichibei, everyone was unsure whether such a military mission, especially a military operation in a completely unfamiliar area, could be entrusted to him.

Considering Shichibei's past record, it is actually quite remarkable and has some highlights.

562. Divide the troops and send commanders to Heihou.

Everyone stared at Shichibei, and Shichibei, feeling a bit jealous, came over and asked me to go.

No way, buddy, I only brought about 10,000 men with me this time. I was supposed to be the logistics and transportation captain, so why are we suddenly discussing splitting up our forces and taking Higo?

Although Higo had already planned to divide the land among Shichibei, it was only after Nobunaga had calmed down, completed the land inspection, and scraped off all the money, that the land was handed over to Shichibei.

"Lord of the Capital." Oda Nobuo called out. Now that he had guessed it, shouldn't he make a statement?

"I, I..." To be honest, Shichibei was a little reluctant, because he hadn't come prepared for a war.