On October 3, the ninth year of Tensho (1581), the Oda family's army, which had been prepared for a long time, was dispatched in large numbers. Oda Nobutada led the Ono Army and the 60,000-strong reinforcement force sent by the Oda family to him, and joined 20,000 people from Tokugawa Ieyasu.
, advancing along the Tokaido and pointing directly at Higashi Suruga. At the same time, the 50,000-strong army of the Hokurikudo Army of the Oda family's first army was also led by Shibata Katsuie towards Kasugayama Castle in Echigo Province - they had to rush to
The heavy snow in Hokurikudo blocked the Ochishiko Mountains before passing through, otherwise they would be trapped in Echichu and unable to join the offensive.
At the same time, unlike the two Oda armies that marched eastward, the Hongye Army's eight infantry units and one cavalry reserve of about 40,000 people did not go east, but instead went west to Kishiwada Port. At the port
, Ikeda Hengxing, who had been waiting here early, wanted to see Yu Qiuping off.
"I'm really sour..." Ikeda Hengxing looked at the Hongye Fleet and Hongye Army ready to go at the port with resentment. The smell of vinegar could almost make people faint, "I was not brought along in the battle to pacify the Western Kingdom...This time to pacify the East.
The country is fighting without me... The world is about to be unified. Do I have to disband and return to the fields like this, and let my horse go to Nanshan? I don't want to stop at a small guardian of Settsu..."
"Then what else do you want? Do you want to be a legion commander?" Yu Qiuping teased his good brother with a smile, patted him on the shoulder and encouraged him.
"There must be at least two or three countries. Isn't this too much to ask?" Ikeda Hengxing pointed to his chest and gestured to the west in the distance, "Maybe our Ikeda family will have lush branches and leaves in the future, and it can be divided into several countries.
As for the branch, there are several powerful countries west of Kinki."
"Maybe it can really come true." Yu Qiuping laughed when he heard this. In the history of the previous life, the Ikeda family correctly followed the people of the world twice in the Yamazaki battle and the Sekigahara battle.
The Western Region is home to several countries.
"How can this come true? The world is about to be peaceful! With your nearly 200,000-strong army, even all of Kanto combined may not be your opponent. I guess we can defeat them before the middle of next year." Ikeda
Hengxing said gloomily and sourly again, even his eyes that had always been full of energy in the past were a little dazed, "No more...no more for me."
"You're not the only one staying to look after the house." Yu Qiuping looked at his dull look and kindly relieved him, "Didn't Tengpachi and Kolong come this time? Didn't the Sanyang Dao and Sanin Dao legions also come?
Not going? There was such a big trouble before, and now there are still troubles happening one after another in various places. The lord must leave someone he can trust to watch over Kinki and the West Country for him."
"Then why don't I keep you? My back hurts when I stand and talk, really!" Ikeda Hengxing angrily hammered Yu Qiuping's chest a few times, then sighed and said, "Hey... it's too difficult.
"
"It's okay, you will definitely be more than just this country in the end. The Lord has decided the world, so the extra land in Kanto must be divided up. The fiefdoms of us veterans who followed from Owari will definitely rise." Yu Qiuping said very firmly.
Using the method used by Tokugawa Ieyasu in his previous life to divide the dynasty after unifying the world, he explained to Ikeda Tsuneaki, "And maybe I can't persuade the lord, and the lord will still go to fight against Korea. By then, there will be no one who has made a great contribution.
Chance?"
"Hey, that's true." Ikeda Hengxing shook his head vigorously, raised his head to look at the sky and took a deep breath. When he lowered his head again, he returned to his usual awesome look, and joked with a smile,
"Besides, maybe you, the world-famous military god, will be severely defeated in the Eastern Kingdom! If your Eastern Expedition fails miserably, won't we need our reserve team to clean up the mess? I'm just saying,
Without Ikeda Hengxing, who can win this Kanto?"
"We're about to go on an expedition, can you say something nice?" Yu Qiuping suddenly had a black line on his face. He looked at the progress of the landing fleet at the port, then waved to Ikeda Hengxing and said, "It's almost my turn.
We’re at the headquarters, I’ll leave first.”
"I wish you good luck in martial arts." Ikeda Hengxing said it casually with great reluctance, as if he was wishing Yu Qiuping bad luck. When Yu Qiuping saw this, he laughed and galloped towards the headquarters.
·
"Your Highness, Tokiwa Bei, Mingdi Bei, Xiliu Bei, Liaoyuan Bei, Wanjun Bei, Jincao Bei, Xinghuo Bei, Tianhe Bei and Tongqiang Bei have all landed, and the fleet can set sail at any time." Commanded the flagship Kawauchi Maru.
In the cabin, Fukuzawa Yunan was reporting the progress to Yu Qiupei. Since he had to travel a long distance this time, he did not take the heavy Suruga Maru with him, but left it in the port for repairs. As an alternative, the Kawachi Maru became the flagship
.
"Kibei, when do you think it's appropriate to set off?" Yu Qiupei did not give the order himself, but turned his attention to Masayuki Sanada. This time, a large number of personnel from the Military Intelligence Department also accompanied the expedition, while Masayuki Sanada had to run both directions and was responsible for military intelligence at the same time.
Division and Staff Affairs.
"We can set off today. We need to sail to the open sea first so that the Red Leaf Fleet can disappear from the sight of all the enemy's intelligence systems as soon as possible." Sanada Masayuki confidently replied to Yu Qiupei, "It depends on where we should sail next.
The enemy is moving."
·
As the Momiji Fleet carrying 40,000 Momiji troops disappeared into the ocean, the Daimyos of the East Kingdom Alliance immediately fell into tension. They had long heard of the Western Kingdom Daimyos being helpless and defeated in front of the Momiji Fleet, and the Daimyo of their Eastern Kingdoms
The navy is only weaker and has no ability to resist the Red Leaf Fleet at all.
Therefore, they could not rest for a moment without being able to grasp the whereabouts of the Hongye Fleet. Japan is a long and narrow island country, and the entire Eastern Kingdom also has a long coastline. The Hongye Fleet has the ability to appear in any port in the entire Eastern Kingdom within ten days, and lay down
The 9 red leaves army on standby destroyed all resistance under the cover of naval guns. The Hojo family's Odawara Castle, the Satake family's Ota Castle, and the Higashi-Uesugi family's Shinbada Castle were all in a position where the Momiji fleet could land in one day from the sea.
The troops are approaching the city. If the Red Leaf Fleet does not show up for a day, their city will be in danger and may fall at any time.
Because of this, the Eastern Kingdom Alliance, which originally planned to gather all its troops on the front line to compete with the Oda Army, fell into a dispute. Under the huge deterrent of the Momiji Fleet, the Satake family did not dare to lead the army to leave Hitachi.
Considering that the Momiji Fleet might land with Anbo and penetrate into the hinterland of the Hojo family with the support of the Satomi family, Hojo Ushimasa did not dare to lead his army to leave Sagami. Therefore, Takeda Katsuyori planned to gather the Eastern Kingdom Alliance army at Kabara Castle.
-The idea of ​​​​Hakone was shattered. In Mutsu Kingdom, Date Masamune was also worried that the Momiji Fleet would escort his father and other daimyo back, so he postponed the siege of the Mogami Army and instead dispersed many troops.
Ensure the security of the newly occupied areas. The Eastern Kingdom Alliance, which was originally full of ambition and tried to fight with all its strength, instantly became fighting on its own.
·
On October 8, the ninth year of Tensho (1581), the Momiji Fleet off the western coast of Kyushu Island received the latest information from Honshu. They had previously taken advantage of the foggy weather to conduct a supply operation in the Amakusa Islands, and they should not be caught by the Kyushu daimyo.
Discovery - Even if it is discovered, with the Oda family's layered intelligence network, it will take at least a month for the Kyushu daimyo to pass on the whereabouts of the Momiji Fleet to the Eastern Kingdom.
"Your move is really good." Yu Qiuping finished reading the official document and couldn't help but admire Sanada Masayuki.
"The most threatening time for a projectile is when it is loaded into the barrel of the gun. After it is fired, those who were not hit are no longer afraid." Sanada Masayuki was analyzing the situation on the sand table in the cabin, casually
He replied, "So keep the projectiles and turn the cannon to point at people to achieve the best deterrent effect."
"Then, this bullet has to be fired, right? Where are you going to shoot it?" Yu Qiuping also walked to the sand table and found that Sanada Masayuki had been staring at the area of ​​​​Kita Shinano.
"Are you going to land on Hokurikudo?" Amakihei pointed at Kashiwazaki Port in Echigo Province, "It's a pretty good port."
"Yes, but you have to wait a moment." Sanada Masayuki nodded, then shook his head.
"What does this mean?" Yu Qiuping asked curiously.
"Your Highness, we need to be clear about our goals. If we just want to win this battle, it would be best for the Red Leaf Army to remain non-landing. If we don't land, the Eastern Alliance will only be defeated by friendly forces one by one. Victory
It is only a matter of time, but the casualties may not be small if we attack the city all the way." Masayuki Sanada straightened up while holding the sand table and looked at Yu Qiuping, "So our landing has only one purpose: to be faster and at a lower cost.
Defeat the Eastern United Nations in a field battle."
"It's very good." Yu Qiuping nodded slightly, thinking of Takenaka Shigeharu's body, "And the world is about to be peaceful... If we can reduce the number of people who will die, let's die as few people as possible. No one wants to fall before the end of troubled times."
"So we can't blindly land. What we have to do is to find a way to gather the entire Eastern Kingdom Alliance army together, and then defeat it in one fell swoop in the field." Sanada Masayuki put his finger on Kitano Shinano, "Here is the next choice.
battlefield."
"What should we do?" Yu Qiuping frowned, "The only ally of the East Kingdom Alliance in Echigo is the weak Higashi-Uesugi family. If our army directly lands on Echigo, the East Kingdom Alliance will definitely abandon Uesugi Kagetora at the last resort, right?
——Anyway, coming from Kanto, it will definitely be too late for rescue."
"Your Highness Mingjian, so we must first lead all the Eastern Kingdom Alliance troops to a place where they can support Echigo, so that they are reluctant to give up Uesugi Kagetora." Sanada Masayuki smiled confidently, "I have some connections before, I should
It’s already been done.”
"Are you relying on a relationship?" Yu Qiuping was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled and said, "What relationship are you relying on?"
"Thanks to my family's previous connections in Shinano, I contacted a person." Sanada Masayuki pointed at Kitakashi Shinano's hand and slowly moved down, "That person is the starting point of our game."
Chapter completed!