A few months later, on April 17, the 14th year of Astronomy (1545), Imagawa Yoshimoto was taking the Imagawa family’s horses back to the Hedong area for training—it was said to be training, but in fact, Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to go for a ride. Why? He is coming to Hedong - because Shougini is also going to worship at the Imagawa Family Bodhi Temple next to Imagawa Hall today. If Shouguini bumps into him and is wandering around instead of training, he will inevitably be criticized again.
Not long ago, the additional 200 iron cannons purchased from Sakai Town arrived. After being tested by Sano Shinbei, they were all installed on the Imagawa family's horseback clan. Now there are 400 horseback warriors in the horseback clan, and everyone has them on their backs. He carried an iron cannon on his back and wore light leather armor to reduce the burden on the horse - there was no need to wear heavy armor when outing.
"It's such a nice weather today, let's go for a walk together." Imagawa Yoshimoto hummed some folk songs and galloped freely in the fields of Hedong. "It would be great if I brought Ginkgo with me. Who told her to sleep by herself?" I was too lazy to get up."
"Your Highness, how are you preparing for the fight with the Sagami guy?" Akai Kurotaka asked from behind eagerly, "Didn't Master Yukisai say that he would build a Hojo encirclement net?"
"It's almost time. We have to wait until the Kanto daimyo are ready. Let's wait until the second half of this year, maybe after the autumn harvest." Imagawa Yoshimoto replied casually, while looking at Mount Fuji in the north - the mountains in late spring are unique. The flavor is in it.
However, as he looked at it, he discovered that there seemed to be characters appearing in the landscape painting - a small ink dot in the distance was approaching rapidly. After getting closer, he could see that it was a man and a horse, coming straight from the east of the river.
"Alert." Himura Hiroyuki raised his hand, and the Imagawa family's hatatos all drew their swords in their hands and dispersed the battle formation.
It didn't take long before they saw the man approaching, and there was no one else following him. The horsemen gradually felt relieved, and Akai Heitao stepped forward to check the items that the man was carrying. After unloading his weapons, He let him come to see Imagawa Yoshimoto. The man saw the formation of 400 cavalry, and took a look at Imagawa Yoshimoto's appearance and clothes. He recognized the man in front of him as the governor at a glance.
"Your Highness, I didn't expect to meet you here. It's true that the ancestors of the Kazuyama family are wise. Please save the Kazuyama family!" The man didn't say much. He knelt down in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto and said: "My Majesty, the Qing Dynasty's Qing Dynasty, please send your troops to Geshan City as soon as possible!"
"Katsuyama clan Kiyo?" Imagawa Yoshimoto immediately remembered this name. Taiyuan Xuezai mentioned it to him many times, "You are my teacher..."
"That's right, I'm the internal agent placed by Master Xuezhai in the Katsurayama family." Katsuragi Kiyoshi clasped his fists at Imagawa Yoshimoto and said in a deep voice. At the same time, he took out the token given by Taiyuan Xuezhai from his arms: "I wanted to secretly gather forces and take back The Katsurayama family has taken the lead and returned to the Imagawa family. However, the matter was exposed and the Hojo family has sent troops to suppress it. I finally escaped from the city. There are still many of my deployments hidden in the city. I hope your highness will come to my aid as soon as possible!"
The Katsurayama family is the most powerful noble family in Kotō, Suruga country. Its territory is located in the easternmost part of Suruga County, which is also the easternmost border of Suruga. It is adjacent to Sagami and Izu. Its residence, Katsurayama Castle, is located on the top of Mount Atago, overlooking Mount Aitaka and The valley between the Atago Mountains strangles the two main roads from Suruga and Izu to Sagami. The geographical location is very important...
The Katsurayama clan has a long history and was already a member of the shogunate's family in the Kamakura period. Katsurayama Keiron even served as a valet of the third generation general Genmitomo and was entrusted with the mission of crossing the sea to the Song Dynasty. Later, as a confidant of the Hojo Tokusune clan,
The Katsurama family began to operate in the eastern part of Suruga and gradually became a local leader. During the Muromachi Shogunate period, they submitted to the Imagawa family who was appointed as the guardian of Suruga and acted under the command of the Imagawa family.
However, because the territory of the Katsurayama clan borders Kai, Sagami, Izu and Suruga, and is located in the area of the Four Wars, it had to maintain delicate relations with many parties to ensure security. During the Katsurayama clan's full period, the Katsurayama clan
Once married to Hojo Soun, a woman from the Katsurayama family gave birth to Hojo Genan, who is now the mastermind behind the Hojo family. It was also because of this relationship that Hojo Soun adopted his three sons into the Katsurayama family and changed his name to Hiroshi Katsurayama.
At that time, the Imagawa family and the Hojo family had a harmonious relationship, so they did not express much dissatisfaction with this move of the Hojo family. After all, the Imagawa family and the Hojo family are also related by marriage, Hojo Soun
of
The son and the Imagawa family are also cousins.
However, during the Hanakura Rebellion and the First Kadō Rebellion, the Hojo family and the Imagawa family turned against each other, and the position of the Katsurayama family became subtle. The then family governor, Katsurayama Ujihiro, chose to betray the Imagawa family and join his brother, the Hojo family.
The defection of Tsuna and Katsurayama clan also caused the Imagawa family's rule in Kadong, which was already shaken by civil strife, to completely collapse. A large number of wealthy families followed the Katsurayama clan and defected.
However, the Katsura clan had no children. After he died of illness in the seventh year of Tianwen (1538), his younger brother Katsura Sadashi's son, Katsura clan Yuan, had to inherit the position of family governor. Katsura clan died young, leaving the Katsura clan Yuanhe.
The second son of the Katsurayama clan, Kiyoshi. Katsurayama clan Moto married the daughter of Hojo clan Tsuna, and continued to maintain his policy of getting closer to the Hojo family. However, before Katsurayama clan had a son, his wife from the Hojo clan died unexpectedly, so he moved from the Hojo family again.
A child was adopted as an adopted son in the common family, and they planned to completely hand over the Katsurayama family to the bloodline of the Hojo family. However, his younger brother, Ujikiyo Katsurayama, wanted to get rid of the bloodline and control of the Hojo family, so he was developed into Imagawa by Taiyuan Xuezhai.
The internal response of the family.
According to Taiyuan Xuezai's instructions, the Katsurayama clan Kiyoshi should secretly unite the anti-Hojo forces in the Katsurayama family, cooperate with the offensive scheduled to be launched by the Imagawa family and the Takeda family in the second half of this year, and respond to the uprising in Katsurayama Castle. However, things were interrupted by Katsurayama in advance.
The pro-Hojo forces in the family found out and immediately informed the Hojo family to send troops to suppress it. Katsuragi Kiyoshi fled desperately and unexpectedly met Imagawa Yoshimoto who was visiting Kadong.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "The vacation was ruined, and the trip turned into a safari." Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a little headache after hearing the news, but he had to go for this support trip.
He had heard Taiyuan Xuezai say it many times - the most important part of this Hojo siege and the Imagawa-Takeda coalition's plan to send troops to Kadong was the uprising in Katsurayama Castle. If the pro-Imagawa forces in Katsurayama Castle are now established,
After its destruction, Katsurayama Castle became the fortress of the Hojo family. When the Hojo family clings to the fortified city of Katsurayama Castle and cannot leave, the Imagawa-Takeda coalition forces really have nothing to do against the Hojo family.
"Immediately send an order to Hatamoto Mitsuto, who is stationed along the Fuji River, to prepare for the eastward march, and then send troop dispatch instructions to the Fuji family, Ogi family, Kotsu family, Anhara family, and Kamahara family. At the same time, report the news to Imagawakan and ask the teacher to Decide how to deal with it." Imagawa Yoshimoto issued a large number of orders to the messengers, and then said to the horsemen: "We will go eastward immediately and arrive at Katsurayama Castle before sunset today."...
"Yes!" Everyone said with their hands in hand.
"How many enemies are there in total?" Imagawa Yoshimoto confirmed to Katsurayamaji Kiyoshi.
"In the Katsurayama family, my brother has a total of more than 360 people and more than a hundred soldiers. The Hojo family has already arrived with 1,000 people, and the leader is Hojo Tsunadaka."
"Hitachi Hojo...the leader of the Akabei team in Goshikiberi." Imagawa Yoshimoto pursed his lips slightly, and then said: "They only have about 400 soldiers. We are 400 elites, so we are not afraid of them."
On the evening of April 17, the 14th year of Tianwen (1545), after galloping all the way, the horseback riding members of the Imagawa family arrived at a place not far outside Katsurayama Castle. Along the way, many villages and towns that were once prosperous in the past now looked a bit... It was desolate, and after seeing 400 cavalry roaring past, the few common people they encountered also fled with their families and families to hide from the soldiers.
"When I was a child, I left Zentokuji Temple and often came here to play...I found pictures of flowers and birds, Japanese songs, etc. here. The east part of the river was very lively at that time." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the deserted roads on both sides. He sighed sadly, "I don't know what happened to the folks in those villages at that time."
"Your Highness, please stay focused and be careful." Himura Umoha, who was following behind Imagawa Yoshimoto, did not forget to admonish: "Your Highness, even if you have eyes and ears in all directions and have entered enemy-occupied territory, you must Be careful. We didn’t encounter any sentries from the Kazuyama family along the way. Something is wrong. Or they are hiding in a more hidden place that we don’t know.”
"Katsuyama, this is your family's territory. Do you think this is normal? Is there an ambush?" Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Katsurayama Kiyoshi beside him with suspicious eyes. After all, Imagawa Yoshimoto had never seen Katsurayama Kiyoshi before. , although he holds the secret token given by Taiyuan Xuezhai, it may not be able to confirm his identity.
"Everything is correct. Please give me your Highness' direction. There are not many sentries on this road. They may have been transferred back due to the previous fierce fighting in the city." The Geshan family assured them with all their sincerity.
"Tsuchihara, take the ninjas to investigate the nearby area, and then investigate the information about Katsurayama Castle to see if it is what Katsurayama said." After all, it is about his own life and the lives of hundreds of horses. It is impossible for Imagawa Yoshimoto to believe it. A one-sided statement from an insider who had never seen it before, they would rather delay some time and stay at a safe distance - so that even if there is an ambush, their 400 cavalry can retreat unscathed.
Kazuyama Ukiyo seemed to fully understand Imagawa Yoshimoto's concerns. Even though he was worried, he did not say anything to urge him.
Soon after, when the sun was almost hanging on the horizon, Tsuchi Atomsuke led the crowd back: "Your Highness, the reconnaissance is over, there are no hidden troops to the west of Katsurayama Castle, and the east is unknown. There is a small group of troops in Sannomaru, west of Katsurayama Castle. The resistance has been surrounded from the outside of the city and the retreat has been blocked. I wonder if it is the second son of Katsurayama. In addition to the flag of the Katsurayama family, the flag of the Hojo family was also seen in Katsurayama Castle."
"That should be it." Kazuyama Shiqing responded anxiously.
"As long as there is no ambush in the west, even if there is in the east, we will have time to evacuate after discovering it." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his hand and pointed: "March to meet the friendly forces in the west of the city."