"My military strength is only about half of Saigo Bei's, and I have never been known for being good at fighting. I'm afraid I may not be Saigo Bei's opponent. The route back to the west of Mikaka Castle and Hizen's Yoshida Castle has also been cut off.
, there is no way to fight back. There is no danger to defend on the plain, and there is no camp. We must retreat to the southeast before Saigo Bei starts to attack." Uden Nagamochi made no secret of his disadvantage and said frankly to Imagawa Yoshimoto: "
To the southeast of us is Hamana Lake. Either go east and go around the north side of Hamana Lake, or go south and go around the west side of Hamana Lake. Please make your decision."
"Hmm..." Imagawa Yoshimoto once again tried hard to mobilize his memory about the geography of Yuanjiang and the situation of the wealthy family - he actually knew very little about it, and he was not sure whether he remembered it correctly.
If you go south and go around the west side of Hamana Lake, you will encounter Maisaka Castle in the south of Hamana Lake - that is the residence of the Horikoshi family. The Horikoshi and Sena families were both descended from the Imagawa family, the Toe Imagawa clan. The Toe family
The Imagawa clan and the Suruga-Imagawa clan had a very unhappy relationship in the early years. However, as the territory of the Toe-Imagawa clan was gradually usurped by the Shiba family and they lost power, the Toe-Imagawa clan also split into two branches due to disagreements - the Sena clan and the Horikoshi clan.
Shi.
The Sena family chose to actively approach the Imagawa clan and cooperate with the Imagawa clan to take back the Toe River that originally belonged to the Imagawa clan from the Shiba family. The Horikoshi clan has always kept a distance from the Imagawa clan, adopted a confrontational attitude, and even fought against their enemies for land.
The Shiba family united to resist the Imagawa family's Enji expeditionary army. During the previous Hanakura Rebellion, the Horikoshi family also sided with Imagawa Yoshima and started a war with Imagawa Yoshimoto. Although they were forced to surrender after the defeat, the territory was also
A lot of it was cut off, and I hold a grudge in my heart.
At present, we are encountering a situation where Imagawa Yoshimoto has lost contact and is alone. Many wealthy families, such as the Okudaira family and the Kanuma family, have rebelled and besieged Imagawa Yoshimoto - the Horikoshi family will participate in it without even thinking about it, right? Even if they don't rebel, they certainly won't.
I will help Imagawa Yoshimoto.
If you go east and go around the north side of Lake Hamana and then go south, you can come to Horie Castle built on Lake Hamana - it is the residence of the Osawa family. The head of the Osawa family, Motosou Osawa, is deeply loved by the Imagawa family.
Hounen, he clearly supported Imagawa Yoshimoto during the Hanakura Rebellion, besieged the remote city of Toe, and resisted Imagawa Yoshima's troops. His son Osawa Motoin was also promoted by Imagawa Yoshimoto to one of the five banner captains of the Imagawa family.
, the territory of the Osawa family was more than doubled by Imagawa Yoshimoto.
But if you go east towards Horie Castle, you must pass by Iidani Castle and go around it under the nose of Iidani Castle - the straight-line distance from Iidani Castle is estimated to be only about five miles. If the powerful Ii family suddenly sends troops to intercept, then
Imagawa Yoshimoto is in trouble.
On the contrary, if he goes south, Imagawa Yoshimoto can also choose not to go to the Maisaka Castle of the Horikoshi family, and directly escape to Yoshida Castle in a detour to the west. Saigo Bei probably won't be able to catch up. But if the Horikoshi family goes out of the city to intercept, then
Imagawa Yoshimoto was surrounded by enemies from both sides and was desperate.
Which way should we go? If you choose wrongly, you may not only lose your life, but you may also get Ginkgo, Takeda Harunobu, and Uden Nagamochi involved.
Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath and finally made a decision:
"Go east. Ii Ibi should have cooperated with Ohei Bei to go north to search the mountains. We all saw it just now. There should not be many people in Ii Valley City now. We can take the opportunity to rush over!"
At 7:00 on May 7, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), a group of people crossed to the southwest of Ii Valley Castle in fear. Apparently there were not many troops left behind in Ii Valley Castle, so they waved flags crazily and lit beacon smoke to signal the troops searching the mountains to the north to hurry up.
When they came back, Imagawa Yoshimoto had already escaped with Uden Bei. Saigo Bei followed behind him, but he still did not launch an attack.
"What does this mean?" Imagawa Yoshimoto felt very confused.
At this moment, a messenger came from Saigo Preparatory Army on horseback and asked to see Imagawa Yoshimoto. Imagawa Yoshimoto did not dare to delay at this time, so he did not dismount and directly asked the messenger to report verbally:
"Reporting to the main hall, my highness has come to suppress the rebellion in the name of Obara Hizenmori. Where are the rebels from Okuhira and Kanuma?"
"It should be in the north." Imagawa Yoshimoto was also confused by the Saigo family's messenger - judging from their behavior not long ago, they were clearly rebels who came for Imagawa Yoshimoto himself. How could they come instead?
What about counterinsurgency?
Could it be that the Saigo family, seeing that their plan to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto was unlikely to succeed, wanted to find a way out, saying that the Saigo family sent troops to suppress the rebellion, not to attack Imagawa Yoshimoto - in fact
It is true that they have not taken action yet and have left some leeway. Based on their performance so far, it is indeed impossible to convict the Saigo family.
"Yes! Please also ask the family governor to come and command our army in person!" After hearing this, the ordering soldier immediately leaned over and invited.
"The order is for you to go north to quell the rebellion." Imagawa Yoshimoto replied calmly, while looking at the expressions of the messengers, "This is an order, do the Saigo family want to disobey it?"
"How dare you do that? It's just that the Jing Yi family seems to be in danger of rebellion now. How can the family governor's palace not be protected by heavy soldiers?" The messenger spoke sincerely and remonstrated with "loyalty": "Your Highness, please allow Xixiang to prepare guards!"
At this point, Imagawa Yoshimoto finally understood - the Saigo family was complete and utter failure. They were afraid that they would not catch Imagawa Yoshimoto if they raised the flag of rebellion, and would be liquidated by the Imagawa family afterwards. Therefore, they refused to rebel clearly and only
Dare to secretly approach Imagawa Yoshimoto, hoping to wait until Imagawa Yoshimoto is under control before declaring a rebellion. The Saigo family will probably not actually fight against Imagawa Yoshimoto until victory is guaranteed - in this case, they are considered rebels
If the matter fails, the Saigo family can excuse themselves later by saying that they just want to help suppress the rebellion.
"In that case, please ask Saigo Bei to follow Uden Bei." After weighing one and two, Imagawa Yoshimoto made a safe arrangement. Uden Bei's strength is not as good as Saigo Bei's. At this time, if he is completely different from Saigo
It would be bad if the irritated Saigo takes the risk and rebels directly. It is better to stabilize them first and wait until Imagawa Yoshimoto is safe before questioning the leader of the Saigo family.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Yes!" The ordering soldier took the order and left, while Imagawa Yoshimoto continued to lead Udonabi around the northeast corner of Hamana Lake and headed towards the lake.
Heading to the Horie Castle of the Ze family. Horie Castle is surrounded by water on three sides and is easy to defend but difficult to attack. Back then, Osawa Moto relied on only a few hundred soldiers to resist Imagawa Yoshima's thousands of soldiers and horses for two years in Horie Castle.
.As long as you escape into Horie Castle, you no longer need to be worried.
At three o'clock on May 7, the twelfth year of Tianwen (1543), Horie Castle.
In the past few days, the Osawa family also received a letter from the Odaira family urging the wealthy families to rebel together, and an order from Ohara Zhenmi asking the wealthy families of the Toe River to suppress the rebellion. Naturally, they knew what was happening in front of them. But the letter from the Okuhira family said
Imagawa Yoshimoto was living in exile in the mountainous area at the junction of Toe and Mikawa, while Obara Masumi's letter stated that Imagawa Yoshimoto had arrived safely at Kakegawa Castle - this contradictory information made Osawa Kisho not know where to go for a while.
It would be better to send troops, so he led his troops to stay in Horie Castle.
What a coincidence, I happened to meet Imagawa Yoshimoto and Udonabi coming to defect.
"Your Highness, please come into the city quickly!" Kisang Osawa rode his horse to the city gate in person, and anxiously almost took Imagawa Yoshimoto's reins and pulled him into the city.
"Introduce Uden Bikou and stop Saigo Bibi outside the city." Imagawa Yoshimoto whispered the order to Osawa Kisho, "I don't know Saigo Bibei's enemy. It is very likely that he will be rebellious."
"Understood, your highness, please wait a moment and help you get it done right away!" Osawa Ki Primero accepted the order and left. Osawa Bei's soldiers took action, letting Udono Bibgo go, and immediately showed their intent to Saigo Bei.
No matter what Saigo Bei said, they would not let them in. There were more than 450 people in Osawa, while Saigo Bei only had more than 300 people. Naturally, they did not dare to force their way in, so they had to watch helplessly as Imagawa Yoshimoto escaped into Horie Castle.
Go and watch the gates of Horie Castle slam shut in front of them.
After Imagawa Yoshimoto entered the city, he immediately arranged for Ginkgo to take the injured Takeda Harunobu to the castle tower to rest. Before Imagawa Yoshimoto could take a break, Osawa Moto Prime Minister called Imagawa Yoshimoto to the top of the city again. I saw them in the north.
On the way here, the troops of the Ii family came in a hurry.
"Your Highness, are you considering taking the lead in breaking out of the encirclement?" Osawa Momo pointed at Saigo Bei under the city and Ii Ibei coming from a distance, "Before Ii Ibe arrived, we relied on the strength of more than 600 people from Osawa Bei and Udono Bei.
The military strength is fully capable of covering your departure."
"Why, Osawazaemon doesn't have confidence in the guards of his city?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked with a smile.
"No, I have the confidence to guard you until the end of the world." Upon hearing this, Prime Minister Da Zeji said seriously, then paused, and decided to persuade: "It's just that the most dangerous situation at the moment is that the ministers in the family can't contact you, so that's why
It will cause chaos in Dongsanhe and Xiyuanjiang. The most urgent task is to let you leave the isolated city, restore contact with your retainers as soon as possible, and calm people's hearts."
"It makes sense." Imagawa Yoshimoto understood that Osawa Motozo was right. Just as he was preparing to prepare men and horses to break out, he found that two armies suddenly came from the southeast. The total number of people was about 800, and they were immediately blocked.
The route taken by Yoshimoto Imagawa to break out of the encirclement was the waterfront of Horie Castle. There were dense swamps nearby, and there were only a few roads for war horses to pass through.
"The reamer has a gold pattern of wild geese, and the two lead to two - the Iio family and the Horikoshi family." Osawa Momo recognized his two neighbors, "What is the purpose of coming here? Is it to counter a rebellion? Or to rebel?"
Just when Imagawa Yoshimoto was trying to recall the stance of the two families, Kira Usei walked over quickly with a young man.
"Your Highness, they said they were from the Horikoshi family and came from Lake Hamana in a small boat." Kira Usei pushed the man, but the man couldn't stand still and staggered and knelt directly in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto -
- He was not discouraged and took advantage of the situation and gave him a big gift.
"The Horikoshi family?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked in a low voice.
"Yes, I am Horikoshi Sadatō, and I will pay my respects to the family governor at the main hall!" Horikoshi Sadōtō kowtowed, "Please be careful, Your Highness, the Horikoshi family has come to visit with bad intentions! At the evaluation meeting of the Horikoshi family, my elder brother (Horikoshi Nobuhiro) strongly advocated
rebellion, but my father (Horikoshi Sadaki) was hesitant, and finally the family decided to march north with troops and wait and see the situation. If your situation in the House Governor's Hall is good, the Horikoshi family will help put down the rebellion. If you are in danger, the Horikoshi family will take advantage of the situation to capture you!
But now that the House Governor’s Palace is trapped in the isolated city, we’re probably going to be in trouble! Even if the Horikoshi family won’t fight with you, they certainly won’t help you put down the rebellion! They’ll probably block your retreat and prevent you from leaving!”