September 7, the tenth year of Tianwen (1541), at the foot of Gaoyuan City.
Imagawa Yoshimoto had to admit that Takeda Harunobu was right. In just a few days, most of Minami Shinano was defeated. The tragedy of Uehara Castle had spread throughout the country, and when the Takeda Army knights arrogantly dragged a
When string after string of heads were thrown in front of the castle town, the small and weak towns no longer had the will to resist, and they all opened the city to send their sons. Takeda Harunobu announced that any castle that dared to resist would end up like Uehara Castle.
The same thing - these little daimyo ask themselves if they don't have the strength of the Suwa family, who would dare to resist - Takeda Harunobu has proven that he is not bluffing, and he will kill thousands of people at will.
Arakami Castle, Kasuga Castle, Nose Castle, Matsuoka Castle, Iida Castle, Ajima Castle, Fukuyo Castle...the important towns in Minami Shinano were announced one after another, and only Kiso Fukushima Castle and Takato were left in the entire Minami Shino.
The castle is still resisting the invasion of the Takeda family. Kiso Fukushima Castle is located in the mountains to the west of Shinano, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack. And Kiso Yoshiyasu is also one of the four generals of Shinano, so naturally he is not willing to surrender without a fight. And Takato Castle
The Takato family was a descendant of the Suwa clan. The blood feud of the clan's massacre was unforgettable for them, so they did not surrender immediately. Takeda Harunobu was also unambiguous and led his troops to garrison at the foot of Takato Castle. He claimed that if Takato Castle did not surrender within five days, all the people would be massacred.
city.
Unlike the vigorous Takeda Army, the Imagawa Army's camp was - a bit like a refugee camp? The cause of the matter was the Takeda Army's looting everywhere - although they abided by the rule of "surrender without slaughtering the city", they looted the castle town.
But one is indispensable - this gave birth to a series of homeless refugees.
At that time, Imagawa Yoshimoto was worried about how to take care of the children taken in from Uehara Castle - some children needed milk, and more children kept crying, and even the soldiers who were big and small could not take care of them. So Imagawa Yoshimoto
They took in a group of fleeing women and asked them to help take care of their children. However, as soon as this case started, they could no longer be taken in. More and more refugees ran to the Imagawa Army's camp to seek refuge when they were plundered by the Takeda Army.
Imagawa Yoshimoto could not bear to embarrass them. Finally, when the troops marched to the foot of Gaoyuan Castle, the number of refugees sheltered by the Imagawa army was already as many as 2,000.
"How can we march with so many refugees?" Takeda Harunobu came to Imagawa Yoshimoto camp to visit, and saw a bunch of tents sparsely set up by refugees with their families in a simple camp outside the camp, and he couldn't help but sigh,
"If the enemy comes by then, won't you have to abandon them? Why bother taking them so far with you?"
"There won't be any more enemy troops, right? Minami Shinano has been pacified." Imagawa Yoshimoto fanned himself with a folding fan as if nothing had happened.
"Why, sister still looks happy?" Takeda Harunobu saw Ginkgo behind Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was leaning on the door buckle, looking at the smoke rising from the refugee camp with a smile.
"At least they don't have to starve, right?" Ginkgo rolled her eyes at Takeda Harunobu, "Or do you think it's an honor for you to have caused so many families to die?"
"Look, didn't a lot of people die?" Takeda Harunobu saw Ginkgo mentioning this topic, and couldn't help showing off proudly, "If dozens of cities were attacked one by one, wouldn't the number of casualties be higher than that of Uehara Castle?
How many thousand people do you need?”
"Perhaps you are right in terms of absolute numbers." Imagawa Yoshimoto was relieved to see that many people died less. "It's just that the method itself is too bad and unacceptable. I definitely can't do it.
Come out."
"That's why I said you are a hypocritical hypocrite." Takeda Harunobu laughed, while Ginkgo didn't even mean to talk to her brother, and turned around and left.
"There is really no way..." Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed, then shook his head and said, "Speaking of this, Tora Chiyo was too cruel to your younger sister. Gingko has been extremely sad these days, and has not thought about food or tea.
I'm talking about your sister."
"I told you, that was not my intention. Although I did give the order to cut Suwa Sakon into pieces, I did not mean to force Mimi to death." Takeda Harunobu also shook his head, "In the end, Suwa
If Sakon surrenders obediently, wouldn't there be so many things?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a messenger from the Takeda family running all the way from the direction of Takato Castle. He dismounted in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu and said, "Report to my lord, the messenger from Takato Castle has surrendered!"
"Choose wisely." Takeda Harunobu laughed with satisfaction, "Except for the Kiso family, who are far away and have no time to take care of themselves, the entire Minami Shinano has surrendered to our Takeda family. He can't even wait for reinforcements. In this case
, why is there any need to hold on?"
"You actually restrained the hatred of clan members being killed?" Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed, not knowing whether to sigh or appreciate, "Takato Shinano Mamoru...at least in terms of protecting the clan, he did better than Suwa Sakon
It’s much better.”
At noon on September 7, the tenth year of Tenmon (1541), Takeda Harunobu led the Takeda army into the city and surrendered. Takato Yoritsugi restrained all the troops in the Honmaru house, and he personally led a group of retainers to accept Takeda Harunobu in the castle tower.
Affidavit. Imagawa Yoshimoto followed Takeda Harunobu into the castle tower. He watched Takeda Harunobu casually take the oath from Takato Yoritsugi who was kneeling on one knee with his hands at eyebrow level, rubbed it and put it in his arms.
"Tora Chiyo, that's so rude." Imagawa Yoshimoto leaned into Takeda Harunobu's ear and whispered at a volume that only he could hear, "How can you humiliate a general like this?"
"Just have the courage to kill them. Don't think they are local snakes in Minami Shinano all day long. From now on, we have to listen to the Takeda family here." Takeda Harunobu didn't care, and answered loudly at the top of his voice.
"Why lose the hearts of the people?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked around with some worry. Many retainers of the Gao Yuan family showed resentment on their faces. If in normal times, who dared to humiliate their lord like this, they samurai would have been beaten.
He went up to the sword and fought hard - but the situation forced him to bow his head under the eaves. Among the retainers, there was a tough-faced samurai who was gritting his teeth with hatred - the family crest on his samurai uniform was Bing Jiuyao
, it is probably Masatoshi Hoshina, who is the elder of the family and an expert in spear skills.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Not all people are worthy of Corporal courtesy. For some small characters, the best way is to use both kindness and power." Takeda Harunobu sneered and said from his heart.
He pulled out a document he had received and threw it in front of Takato Yoritsugi. The latter hurriedly thanked him and took it. Takeda Harunobu didn't say much, turned around and walked away.
Imagawa Yoshimoto followed Takeda Harunobu out of the castle tower and arrived at the castle gate of Takato Castle Sannomaru, but suddenly found that the castle town was already in chaos. The Ashigaru of the Takeda family were looting the castle town and breaking into houses from house to house.
He went in and took away all the valuable items in the house. If anything went wrong, he would punch and kick the resisting people, and at worst, he would set fire to the house, and at worst, blood would be splattered on the spot.
"Didn't everyone surrender?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned, and then asked in surprise, "Why still..."
"What's the point? Didn't I massacre the city? How could I go back on my promise to surrender without killing? Otherwise, no one will surrender to me in the future." Takeda Harunobu also turned his head and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto in surprise, and it took him a while to react.
, "Are you asking me why I arranged 'random arrests'?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto did not answer, the confusion in his eyes already answered for him.
"Isn't this nonsense? Have you never fought a war? Oh, you have fought, but they were all civil wars within your own territory. It's hard to start with relatives and friends, right?" Takeda Harunobu thought for a moment and then suddenly realized.
, and then burst into laughter, "It's different to go out to fight. If you don't give your sons some sweetness, who would be willing to enlist in the army to fight with you? For the Takeda family? For me, Takeda Harunobu? For loyalty? I can still believe what the samurai said,
Do you believe it when Ashgaru, who is called a commoner, tells you this? Who would believe it?"
"Everyone puts their heads in their belts and fights with you on the battlefield. There is no benefit at all, is it possible? Then what benefit can you give them? It's nothing more than dividing money and land among women. There is so much land, how to divide it? Kaibi
If they are so poor, how can they divide the money? Women can't even divide it. Don't they have to let them rob in the enemy's territory? When they are satisfied with the plunder, they start fighting fiercely, thinking that if they win, they can launch a large army.
If you want to plunder, you are still willing to come with me next time. If you don’t let them rob, do you believe that I won’t even be able to recruit 2,000 people during the next recruitment?"
Takeda Harunobu told the cruel reality in straightforward words, and Imagawa Yoshimoto did not know how to refute. After a moment of silence, he had no choice but to say, "Then you also promised not to kill anyone... Look at the castle,
It’s obvious that people have died in many places, why don’t you take care of it?”
"Care? How to care? Are you going to make things difficult for your loyal subordinates because of the strangers in the enemy's country? Are you going to kill your own soldiers to pay for them because they killed someone? Who would be willing to fight with you if that's the case?
?Isn't this deliberately causing trouble for himself and his family?" Takeda Harunobu shook his head repeatedly with laughter, "There was a little friction, it doesn't matter. I have told my subordinates in advance to keep an eye on it and don't kill too many people."
"But you have acted so violently all the way, are you really not afraid of being punished by God?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was at a loss for words in front of Takeda Harunobu's words, and in the end he just mentioned God.
"God's punishment? Would I be afraid of this? If I were afraid of this, I would not be me, Takeda Harunobu." Takeda Harunobu was amused by Imagawa Yoshimoto and laughed out loud, "I only believe in strength, not in the sky. All South Shinano will crawl on my knees.
At the feet of Gaoyuan City, what if I betray my faith and massacre the city again? Who can do anything to me? Destiny has always only helped the strong and has no mercy on the weak. This is the troubled times, and this is the way for the daimyo to survive in troubled times."
"After all, all the 'rights and wrongs' you mentioned are based on 'family interests'. Whatever is good for the family is right, and what is not good for the family is wrong. Once a heinous atrocity like murder is punished, it will
In the name of 'family', it becomes high-sounding and even righteous. However, is the family the highest source of justice? Above the family, isn't there a higher justice that belongs to man and heaven?"
Faced with Imagawa Yoshimoto's question, Takeda Harunobu did not answer, but just looked up at the sky, and then ended the conversation with a laugh.