Yamato Seito's words were only half spoken before many of the family members reacted. The significance of Hojo Ujiyasu's choice was far more complicated than imagined. The most obvious one was that the Izu clan sent 3,000 troops, accounting for about half of the total strength of the junior high school. , as long as the Takeda family and the Kira family do not plan to invade Izu, the remaining three thousand people are enough to defend the security of Izu country.
Secondly, the more profound thing is to tell the clan retainers not to get into trouble. If there are more than 3,000 people, it may not be possible to defend the aggressive Kira army, and if there are less than 3,000 people, it may not be able to withstand Echigo's all-out invasion. The key to resisting the invasion is It depends on the family governor's ability to grasp the overall situation and the execution strength of the family retainers group, rather than on this mere coalition of 3,000 Chinese people.
Under the mobilization of Hojo Ujiyasu, the war machine of the Hojo family quickly started to operate. Within a few days, the 3,000-strong army of the Izu Kingdom set off to enter Suruga Country's Kadong County. This place was the starting point of the Kadong chaos more than ten years ago. , entering Suruga Country again in another way after many years, I wonder what the Hojo Army will think at this moment.
When the news came that the Hojo Army was sending troops to intervene in Suruga Kingdom, Terutora Uesugi in Otake Castle of Musashi Province immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity and immediately held a military meeting. As the general of this expeditionary army, he also shouldered the responsibility of the military representative. , during the time of Kira Yoshitsune, this family governor made it clear that he would sit in the rear and hold the battle for him, so Uesugi Terutora did not hesitate to use the power of the general to declare the battle.
The 45,000-strong army turned into a long black dragon, and rushed out like a group of wild horses. That morning, Hojo Tsunasei, who was guarding Hakota Castle, received emergency reports from all directions one after another. There was no movement, and the few groups of detective horses sent out were like pebbles thrown into the sea without a trace.
"Uncle! What should we do!" Hojo Clan walked around anxiously. He had been circling here for almost two hours since he received a series of unfavorable information in the morning. As a member of this eight-thousand-man garrison, Lieutenant General, the importance of Hachiko Castle to him is no less than the first battle in his life. If he defends this place, he can be promoted to the Lord of Hakota Castle. If he cannot hold it, he will have to go back to Odawara Castle and continue to be a prince.
The young Ujikuni Hojo is the fourth son of Ujiyasu Hojo. He happens to be the same 21-year-old as Kira Yoshitomo. Compared with Kiragishi, who is deep, old-fashioned and as powerful as a demon, his impatience and hurried behavior are more in line with the situation. A young samurai of this age group. His nervousness corresponded to the chaos in the city. The eight thousand defenders were completely unaware of the current changes in the situation in Musashi Country and fell into chaos.
After all, Hojo Tsusunari was a proven battlefield general. After a brief pause, he said: "What a clever way to use the powerful military strength to clear out the branch cities around Habitat City, so that the eight thousand defenders in Habitat City can gain access." With less than a scrap of information, I was completely turned into a deaf and blind man, forcing me to huddle in Hakkata Castle and wait for death. Is this Uesugi Danmasa’s military strategy and Sanada Danmasa’s resourcefulness? It’s really terrifying!”
After all, the Hojo Clan was not as calm as Hojo Tsusunari, and stressed anxiously: "Uncle! This is not the time to lament military strategies! What should we do? If this continues, the morale of the military will be shaken!"
Hojo Ujikuni is not stupid at all, or there are too few examples of tiger fathers and dogs in this era. Even though Hojo Uyasu's sons are generally not as capable as their father, as a young samurai who grew up in the military, . He is still very aware of the importance of military morale to an army. If military morale is unstable and goes to war rashly, defeat will be certain.
Hojo Tsunagi said: "There is no other way but to wait until the situation changes."
"Wait? Waiting like this will damage morale!"
"Wait! Keep waiting! The movement of the enemy's main force is unknown. No matter how we move, it will be a wrong choice, and the more we do, the more mistakes we make. It is better to be still than to move. Wait!" Hojo Tsunari dismissed his nephew with a few words.
Seeing that there was no other choice, the Hojo clan could only retreat in dismay.
On the surface, Hojo Tsunari was calm and unfazed. In fact, he was more anxious than the Hojo clan. However, the situation in front of his younger nephew was useless no matter how anxious he was. Uesugi Teruhora made up his mind to use this force to attack.
He used his advantage to set a trap, and he was waiting for the defenders in Bo Xing City to take the lead in taking action. He could be sure that any move he made would inevitably lead to a series of blows.
Hojo Tsuna let out a sigh and said feebly: "But what can I do if I don't move?"
In Sugiyama Castle not far away, Teruhora Uesugi looked at the quiet Habitat Castle and said: "Hojo Kamisuke still endured it, but what can we do if we are huddled in Habitat Castle? We dare not move even with eight thousand troops.
It is an opportunity for our army to advance. Hojo Kamisuke used this strategy wrong! If it were me, Teru Hu, commanding the troops, I would definitely march out to attack the invading enemy!"
"Danshoden is famous in Kanto for his bravery and skill in battle. Although Hojo Kamisuden is a brave general, his military strategy is still far inferior to that of Danshoden." Yukitaka Sanada said with a smile: "The immobility of Habitat Castle is a good thing for our army.
It's a good thing, why not take this opportunity to sweep across North Musashi and force Hojo Kamisuke to lead the troops to fight, as long as he makes a move, he will be able to defeat it."
"Oh? Does Sanada have any new ideas for the main hall?" Terutora Uesugi thought for a while and said, "Surround the area to bring reinforcements or move the tiger away from the mountain?"
Sanada Yukitaka said: "Take the tiger away from the mountain! This is the only way to deal with the Hojo Army, especially when the main force of the Hojo Army does not dare to come out to attack. As long as the force is captured, the Hojo Army will be forced to abandon Musashi Country, so
We must win a big victory in this battle, and leave the rest to the main hall."
In the evening of the same day, Terutora Uesugi led a force of five thousand troops to raid Kokura Castle, and then surrounded Matsuyama Castle the next day. Three thousand Matsuyama soldiers led by Towa Ujisuo guarded Matsuyama Castle and called for help from several directions overnight, and then Kira
The rest of the army was divided into several groups to attack everywhere. For a time, both Ninja Castle and Kawagoe Castle were attacked by Kira's army.
In an instant, the entire North Musashi was caught in a war. Masashige Daidoji, who had just returned to Kawagoe Town to guard the city, hurriedly wrote a letter to Odawara and Habagata Castle asking for help. At least there was a reply from Odawara to reassure him to hold on to the city and told him
He would not abandon the city and retreat unless absolutely necessary, which probably meant that he would flee as a last resort.
Even Hojo Ushimasa, the governor of the family, had no confidence, let alone the front-line garrison and garrison. With the invasion of the Kira Army, they were dragged into North Musashi. Many Hojo samurai regained their fighting spirit in the panic of the siege of the Hojo family.
The samurai persisted with their tenacious perseverance. They did not give up hope and still looked forward to the moment when Kira's army retreated.
Kira Yoshitoshi, who was in charge of Hirai Castle, just smiled lightly at the latest information sent to him. He smiled secretly and said: "The Hojo Army probably thought that they could hold on, but they didn't know that Yu was completely different from the Kanto commander in history and would not let it go.
If you defend the city and don't retreat, how can you establish the authority of Kanto if you don't take down Musashi Kingdom?"
He still remembered that it was also the fourth year of Eiroku (1561). In another time and space, the eight thousand tigers of the Echigo army rushed into Kantō under the leadership of Uesugi Teruhora. He found that the troops were insufficient and had to take the name of Kantō commander.
Summoning a coalition of Kanto people to jointly attack Odawara Castle, his choice was to abandon Musashi Province and the Hojo Army that was defending Sagami and focus on Odawara Castle. He expected that the capture of Odawara would end the short life of the Sagami Hojo clan.
It is a pity that the idealist in history faced a fruitless siege under Odawara Castle. The confusion and ulterior motives of the people in the Kanto Kingdom destined him to only gain a defeat. The Hojo Army guarding various parts of the Musashi Kingdom and Sagami Kingdom was Hojo.
The biggest cornerstone of the family's comeback, it didn't take long before he had to retreat in frustration.
The background is different and the situation is naturally different. Kira Yoshi is not afraid of the Hojo family's iron barrel formation tactics. He is confident that he can open a gap in the Hojo family's iron barrel formation and tear apart their proud defense system. He believes
Under the irreversible trend, Hojo Ujiyasu will definitely reap the bitter fruits of failure that he carefully tailored.
Facts have proved that Kira Yoshitoki's judgment was correct. During the half-month-long violent advance, the lord of Ninja Castle, Narita Choyasu, was the first to surrender and stir up the rebellion of the Musashi Kingdom's leading party. Then the former lord of Matsuyama Castle, Ueda Asanao, suddenly launched a rebellion.
In Kaicheng, Gohe Shizuo was surprised to find that most of the people in Songshan stood on the side of Ueda Chao Nao. These rebels almost captured Gohe Shizuo alive, so he had to retreat to his main pill and put up a desperate resistance.
Seeing the Kira army outside the city joining the rebels of the Songshan people and rushing into the city, the political skills of the city lord Tohe Shizuo were not very good, but the escape route he arranged for himself was first-rate. Two years earlier, he had fought in the Gaoshan Battle
After realizing that the Hojo family was no match for the Kira family, he secretly built a secret passage in Matsuyama Castle to facilitate his escape when the army was besieging him. Knowing that the situation was over, Towa Shisui escaped from the secret passage with his family and a small number of cronies.
As soon as he ran away, the stubborn Songshan people in the Honmaru were pushed to the edge of the cliff. Some of these unlucky warriors who were standing in front and slower to react were killed on the spot. Those who were huddled behind saw that something was wrong and could not find the city lord.
They hurriedly surrendered, and Kira's army easily captured this important town of North Musashi with minimal losses, indicating that the direction of this war was beginning to turn against the Hojo family.
As the Kira Army succeeded in breaking the Hojo Army's delusion of persisting in resistance with a series of military victories, the Hojo Tsuna in Habagata Castle fell into contradictions. The successive letters asking for help and the various bad news brought by the envoys made Hajojo
The defenders in the city became more and more anxious and confused, and quarrels and fights broke out from time to time in the city, which meant that the warriors fell into a state of nervousness, anxiety and anger, and even with their high prestige, they could not suppress the situation.
Hojo Clan said anxiously: "Uncle! Nephew, please send troops immediately! Once Kawagoe Castle is lost, half of Musashi will have fallen into the hands of the Kira Army. If it continues to be defended like this, the morale of the army will collapse! The main force of the Kira Army is here
To besiege Kawagoe Castle, this is the best time for us to act!"
Hojo Tsuna grew up and sighed: "Yes! It's time to take action! If you don't move, you may have no chance, but if you do this, Habitat Castle will definitely fall... Order the army to prepare to leave tomorrow, and don't leave a grain of military rations.
Come down! And please reassure the townspeople that you must not rob the property of the townspeople. We will come back eventually!"
Looking at the back of Hojo Kuniaki hurriedly leaving, Hojo Tsunari had no choice but to prepare for the retreat of the army. His original intention was to wait and see the situation to figure out the movement pattern of the main force of Kira's army before taking action. However, the current situation was completely different. Without giving him any chance, not to mention the elusive Uesugi Teruhora's whereabouts, the 20,000-strong army in Hirai Castle in Ueno Province not far away was enough to make him sleepless and uneasy.
Hirai Castle is only half a day's journey from Ontake Castle, and it only takes less than a day's journey from Ontake Castle to Matsuyama Castle. Kira Yoshi, who is in charge of Hirai Castle, can reach Habagata Castle in less than two days with just one movement. It's so fast. Speed is not a problem. The problem is that without intelligence support, we don’t know whether Kira’s army will move. When will it move and what should we do?
In the words of Yoshitoki Kira, this is a typical information asymmetry war. It is fought in a state where Kira's army is completely overwhelmed in terms of intelligence formed under various advantages. Just like a brave general like Hojo Tsunari relies on a strong castle. Neither of them has the confidence to persevere, which shows that the huge gap between the two sides makes the Hojo family feel desperate.
Hojo Tsunari's bizarre appearance quickly attracted the attention of the Kira ninjas. Not long after the strange action of the Hojo army took place, Uesugi Teruhu, who was at Kokura Castle on the Taiping Mountains, received accurate information and prepared the plan for a long time. Five thousand troops were waiting to ambush the Hojo Army on the only way southward.
It's just that he didn't expect that Hojo Tsunari was so vigilant that he chose to sneak around through the path on the side of Sengen Mountain to the west of Taiping Mountain. This mountain road had been in disrepair for a long time and as the spring flowers bloomed and the ground thawed, it became very... The muddy road is not usually used as a marching road. But Hojo Tsunayoshi really used this inconspicuous mountain road. If the Kira ninja hanging behind had not delivered the information in time, he would have really ambushed him on Taiping Mountain. Kira Jun was deceived.
Uesugi Teruhora received the information and made timely adjustments. He marched southward from Taiping Mountain to catch up with the troops from Hojo Tsuna Castle before rushing to Tabami Castle. He rushed to station himself at Enmeiji Temple outside Tabami Castle. He followed the plan he discussed with Yukitaka Sanada. As a plan, he sent dozens of horse-riding samurai disguised as envoys to Tianbamu Castle to request reinforcements. The master of Tianbamu Castle, Tanimoto Shige, was tricked into coming out and captured.
Tabami Castle only became a new castle for the Kira Army in a moment. The mayor of Tabami Castle, Shige Tanimoto, and his gang were imprisoned in the Iwaguchi Shrine outside the city. Only 500 Kira Army members were left in the city disguised as the Hojo Army as usual. Garrisoned. The remaining 4,500 Kira troops led by Terutora Uesugi are still sitting at Enmeiji Temple, waiting for work.
That afternoon, Hojo Tsunari brought the tired and hungry Hojo army to Tabami Castle to stay. Hojo Tsunari felt strange when he saw Shigeri Sukiya greeting the army unnaturally. So he asked: "Huh? Why didn't you see Sutani?" Ubeiden? I’ve missed it so much since I said goodbye on the first day of the new year!”
"Well...my brother is not feeling well and is recuperating in the city. I will come down to welcome you to the Shangsuijie Hall." Sugu Shigeli stuttered and said: "Please go to the Shangsujie Hall and Anfang Shouden to rest in the city. I have prepared soup for you two. There will be a bath and a banquet, which will be held soon."
Hojo Ujikuni, who had been riding a war horse for a whole day, was overjoyed when he heard the news. "Really? That's great! Let's go in quickly! I'm all sore now and just want to eat a big meal, take a bath and have a good sleep." !”
"Yes! I didn't even have time to eat lunch, and now I'm already ravenous!" The samurai of the Hojo Army also relaxed and whispered, laughing, and after a while, they entered Tabami Castle under the leadership of Sugaya Shigeri.
, it is human nature to relax when you arrive at your destination, but this common sense is very dangerous.
But Hojo Tsunari stood still. He frowned and pondered for a moment and suddenly said: "Wait! Something seems wrong! How did Sutaniden know that our army was marching here, and how did he prepare baths and banquets in advance?
?I did not send an envoy to contact you, where did you get the news?"
"Oops! I let it slip!" Shigeri Sutani scolded himself for being stupid. When he turned around, he saw the Kira Army samurai dressed as the Hojo Army in the castle suddenly pulled out his sword and slashed at the Hojo Army beside him. Nagao Kagechichi was shocked.
Roared: "Send the signal! Take action immediately!"
"Kill!" A short word revealed the identity of Kira Jun. The samurai of the Kira family immediately took off their cyan camouflage, revealing the black armor leaves and the white Ashikaga Futiki family crest. The Hojo clan was greatly deceived.
Humiliated and angry, he drew his sword and shouted angrily: "Death to the evil thief of the Kira family!"
Hojo Tsunari secretly cursed himself for being too careless, forgetting that the Kira family was best at using tricks and conspiracies. While directing the troops in the city to organize a counterattack, he ordered the Hojo army blocked outside the city to immediately climb the city. If at this time,
Being blocked outside Tianbomu City with no support, death was really certain that night.
Suddenly a firecracker exploded at the top of the city, and the next moment the Kira troops from the woods on both sides of the Otemon gate suddenly came out. Hojo Tsusunari's expression changed drastically and he immediately ordered the Hojo troops outside the city to turn around to meet the enemy. However, this delay caused the entire formation to collapse.
It became a mess, Hojo Tsunari was furious but could do nothing.
At this time, the gap in morale became apparent. The Kira army was ready to work, well fed, and ready to fight, which made them full of morale and strong will to fight. However, the Hojo army dragged a small load-carrying team and couldn't run fast and trekked in the mountains for a whole day. They were scared, tired and hungry.
Unable to exert even 60% of its basic combat strength, the Hojo Army, which was in an uneven formation, had low morale, was tired and hungry, had no confidence in resisting the Kira Army's attack.
Matashiro Arakawa pulled his reins, widened his eyes and shouted: "General, run away! Run back to Odawara and bring reinforcements to avenge us!"
"Escape? Where will I run away? Clan is still trapped in the city and cannot escape. I, Tsunade, have been entrusted by my lord to take care of him. If something happens to Clan, I will have no shame in escaping back to Odawara Castle." Hojo Tsunari
He sighed and said: "It seems that today is the day that I hope to be successful!"