On December 4, news that the Oda family's remaining troops in Kyoto were reinforcing Maple Leaf Mountain Castle reached the ears of Yoshihide Miyoshi, who was taking command at Takaya Castle.
"Has Yuqiu Hongye solved the food and grass problem?" After hearing the news, he asked his subordinates in surprise, "He was going to run out of food in the next few days, but he still still has food and grass to supply the friendly forces?"
"Your Highness, I don't know." Miyoshi Yoshiken's ninja leader whispered in a very confused voice, "The surrounding area of ​​Iimori Mountain Castle is heavily guarded, and we cannot sneak in to find out."
"Have the merchants from Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town started to supply them with goods again?" Masayasu Miyoshi pondered for a moment and then came up with a hypothesis, "Do we need to send more people to crack down on those profit-seeking merchants?"
"It is absolutely impossible for Sakai Town." Miyoshi Yoshiken shook his head when he heard this, and whispered very firmly: "It is possible for the merchants of Ishiyama Town. But Ishiyama Town has always rarely conducted trade with other daimyo, and Ishiyama Town's
The volume of grain trade is much smaller than that of Sakai Town. Even if Ishiyama Town trades with Iimoriyama Castle, it cannot support the food rations of so many people. Umeki Momiji must have obtained grain from other channels."
"Why does Minikyu think Sakai Town is impossible?" Miyoshi Choitsu frowned and thought for a moment, but couldn't figure out the reason, so he asked.
"Because I am a businessman, I understand their calculations." Miyoshi Yixian snorted contemptuously, "Those businessmen are only interested in profit, and their accounts are very clear. There is almost no doubt whether to support the Miyoshi family or the Yuqiu family.
To support the Miyoshi family, they don't need to pay any price. They only need to stop supplying Iimori Mountain Castle to ensure that the Yuqiu family will collapse without a fight and the Miyoshi family will win without a doubt. And after the Miyoshi family captures Iimori Mountain Castle
, they will not lose money if they also trade with them. And if they support the Yuqiu family, they will not only have to provide grain, grass and other materials to Yuqiu Hongye out of their own pockets to ensure that they continue to have food. Even so, whether the Yuqiu family can defeat us is unclear.
It’s hard to say, the risk is huge. And afterwards, what benefits can the Yuqiu family give them more than us? At most, we can just pay more when buying goods from them.”
"The benefits that the Yuqiu family can give them can also be given by our Sanhao family. And our Sanhao family has a greater chance of winning than the Yuqiu family. Supporting us does not require taking risks and paying the price. How can those shrewd businessmen do this?
What if you don’t have a choice?”
Miyoshi Yoshihide's words convinced the three Miyoshi people present. Iwanari Tomomichi also smiled and joked: "Unless Amaki Momiji promises the businessmen of Sakai Town that after the matter is completed, half of Hanoi will be allocated to them, otherwise I will
They don’t believe that the merchants in Sakai Town will help them.”
"Uncle, what should we do next?" Miyoshi Yixing asked Miyoshi Yixing with a very respectful hand.
"Delay a little longer, my dear nephew, don't worry." Yoshihide Miyoshi picked up the tea cup and took a slow sip of tea. He really didn't seem to be in a hurry, "Anyway, there will be no new supplies of food and grass for Yuqiu Hongye before next autumn harvest."
, what are we in a hurry for?”
·
However, on December 6, new information reached Hanoi. The guardian of Hanoi, Hatakeyama Takamasa, led the Nerai people and many people from Kii Province to the north from Kii Province, aiming directly at Kishiwada Castle in Izumi Province. At the same time, Hatakeyama Takamasa also demanded that all
The wealthy families in Hanoi responded to his call and supported
The Yuqiu family drove the Sanhao family out of Hanoi.
After receiving this news, the wealthy families in Beihebei who were at war with Yu Qiuping offered hostages and land deeds, and expressed their willingness to join Yu Qiuping's army. Yu Qiuping immediately issued land security documents to them to ensure the security of their territory.
The total number of troops from the small wealthy families in North Kawauchi who are willing to fight alongside Yu Qiuping is nearly 2,000. This brings the number of the Oda family's army to about 11,000.
One after another, the wealthy families in Nanhei broke away from the troops of the Sanhao family and returned to their respective territories. Although they did not launch an uprising to attack the Sanhao army, they would definitely not cooperate with the Sanhao family anymore. In this way, the Sanhao army
There were only 12,000 people left.
Since Kishiwada Castle was threatened, Miyoshi Yoshihide had to arrange for Miyoshi Yoshihiro to lead 3,000 troops to garrison at Kishiwada Castle. But now he only has 9,000 people from Miyoshi and the others in his hands.
The number of people was even smaller than that of the Oda family, and the situation was reversed.
"Why did that old fellow Hatakeyama Takamasa want to help Yuqiu Momiji?" Seeing the situation reversed, Miyoshi Nagasaki hammered the desk a few times angrily, "We gave him such generous treatment before, then what?
The old guys are going to rebel. Can Uaki Momiji really give him the Kawachi Kingdom and become his guardian? Will Oda Nobunaga agree? This Hatakeyama Takamasa may not be awake!"
"They are just using each other. Yuqiu Hongye can't offer any bargaining chips to attract Hatakeyama Takamasa." Miyoshi Yoshixian was a little overwhelmed by the situation in front of him. First, Yu Qiuping didn't know where he got enough to consume him.
After the food went down, Hatakeyama Takamasa suddenly announced his support for the Yuqiu family. "It was my miscalculation. The plan to recapture Iimori Mountain Castle changed this time. It was all my mistake."
"I'm going to ask for reinforcements from my brother. The attack on Tosa may have to be slowed down a bit." Miyoshi Yoshiken let out a long sigh, "Let's wait until some of my Awa people arrive before we make plans."
·
The Mihaoshi family wants to drag it on, but Yu Qiuping wants to defeat the Mihaoshi family quickly. Although there is no need to worry about food and grass now, transporting food all the way from Sakai Town and Ishiyama Town will consume a lot of money. If the fight can be completed as soon as possible
In the battle, disbanding the auxiliary troops can also save some food.
However, the armament of Tokiwa Prep has not been completed yet. Lan Xianghuaju told Yu Qiuping that even if the Military Industry Department has expanded its manpower and gone all out, production will not be completed until the end of the month at the earliest. And the training of new recruits will be around that time.
It can come to an end. In the past, Tokiwabi's recruits were trained for three months before entering the battlefield. However, this time they may only have less than two months, and the pressure is very high.
The good news is that the weather has warmed up a little in the past few days, which has allowed the people to improve the progress of defense construction. It seems that it is not impossible to complete the house repairs before the coldest weather. Yu Qiuping has purchased a lot of charcoal in advance
, it is planned to distribute it to every household for heating.
The two armies currently facing each other in the north and south of Hanoi, for their own reasons, no one can easily break the deadlock. The anxious situation lasted until December 28, the day when the production of Tokiwa armaments was finally completed. On the same day, Yoshihide Miyoshi's 3000 Awa
public
Arrive at Takaya Castle. In order to maintain the integrity of the front line on Shikoku Island, the Awa people cannot be mobilized all at once, but have to leave in batches. The remaining 5,000 people are currently gathering at Katsuri Castle, waiting for Anzai Fuyuyasu's fleet to take them
Transported over.
·
December 28, in Ruojiang City.
"The Miyoshi family's reinforcements arrived yesterday. Due to their tight ninja defenses, we were unable to get close to conduct reconnaissance. However, judging from the passing time, the total number of people is estimated to be around 4,000." Sanada Masayuki was repeating the ninja story to Yu Qiupei at this moment.
According to the intelligence returned from the investigation, "The total number of Miyoshi troops in Shiki County to the south is estimated to be around 13,000."
"There are still more soldiers than I do." After hearing the report from Sanada Masayuki, Akechi Mitsuhide sighed helplessly and said: "The Miyoshi family has been the family that has dominated Kinki for more than ten years. Even if it takes only a few months to encounter changes, it can still be
So many people gathered in one corner."
"But we can't delay it any longer, we have to fight." Yu Qiuping smacked his lips, looked at the map, and then at the Sanhao Army's position in the south. "We won't have any reinforcements, but the Sanhao Family will
The more reinforcements sent from the four countries are not good for us. Besides, the pressure on our food supplies will also be greater."
"Hanbei, let the staff formulate a plan to send troops." After Yu Qiuping made up his mind, he said to Takenaka Shigeharu, "Tokiwabei has completed the change of uniforms. Tomorrow we will march south from Wakae City with the entire army."
·
In the early morning of December 29, all the departments of the Oda Army received the white paper on the battle plan issued by the Yuqiu family's staff. The Yuqiu family's own subordinates were already used to it, but Kinoshita Hideyoshi, Akechi Mitsuhide and other small wealthy families were like Ikeda Tsune.
Xing and Sen Kecheng were as surprised as when they first met the staff, marveling at the perfection of the plan and the efficiency of the staff.
At nine o'clock in the morning, after having breakfast, 11,000 troops slowly moved south from Ruojiang City. Since the Sanhao family's army was only 15 miles away, no one dared to be careless. Not long after leaving the city, the morning fog gradually dissipated, and the Sanhao family's camp was already there.
Faintly visible, the Miyoshi family also noticed the movements of the Oda family, and also began to slowly leave the village.
The place where the two armies faced each other was a plain about three and a half miles wide. The width of the battlefield was very narrow. The reason why the width was so narrow was because the shape of Hanoi itself was like an hourglass, tightening at the waist in the middle. When the two armies met
The place where the waist is located is the plain. On the west side of the plain is the Neyagawa River, which flows from south to north, and on the east side is the Kumgang Mountains. The narrow plain between them will become the battlefield for the two armies.
Thirteen miles to the south of this plain is the bifurcation of the Neya River and Yamato River. The Yamato River flows from east to west, across Hanoi, dividing Hanoi into two parts, north and south. It is less than 7 miles south of the Yamato River.
, is Takaya Castle, the main city of Kawachi Province. The Yamato River also branches from the Neyagawa River here as a tributary, first going north, then turning southwest of Maple Leaf Mountain Castle and turning west, merging into the Seto Inland Sea.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the two armies faced each other on the plain in Shiki County. Both sides lined up in armor, with their soldiers moving forward, while their auxiliary troops hid behind the battle formations. The Oda family's 3,600 soldiers and the Miyoshi family's 4,000
The soldiers are about to engage in an upright battle on this narrow plain.
Chapter completed!