Imagawa Yoshima, who had narrowly escaped death, watched helplessly as the Imagawa Yoshinori army, which could have put thousands of his troops to death, hastily retreated. He had no idea what was happening, but he only felt that it was a bit unreal.
But more than 90 miles away, on the banks of the Fuji River, the Hojo family's main shogunate was set up on the west bank of the Fuji River. All the important officials of the Hojo family gathered together.
"How cruel, Genan." Hojo Utsusuna thought of his younger brother who was still on his way back from his mission to Toe. "You knew clearly that there were suspected soldiers on the banks of the Fuji River, and you knew that the main force of the Imagawa family was going to Toe, but you just didn't tell them.
Imagawa Yoshima, let him be kept in the dark and hit him to death."
"At least my uncle's plan has held back the main force of the Imagawa family for us." Hojo Utsuna's adopted son, Hojo Tsunadaka, was excited and eager to give it a try, "Imagawa Yoshima goes to fight the main force of Imagawa Yoshimoto, and we can cross the void without any blood.
Fuji River."
"I don't think this is a good plan. When Genan comes back, I have to ask him personally why he must defy all opinions and resolutely implement this plan." Hojo Ujitsuna frowned and let out a few dissatisfied snorts.
:
"If you just want to drag the main force of Imagawa Yoshimoto to Yuanjiang, you can tell Imagawa Yoshima half a day in advance after the plan is successful. Tell him that the main force of the Imagawa clan may have gone to Yuanjiang, and let him be careful not to fall into an ambush.
Why does Genan have to kill his allies? Imakawa Yoshima is in a state of despair. In the future, Toga will not be a threat to Suruga, and we will have to face the entire force of the Imagawa clan alone. It is really harmful to others and not beneficial to ourselves."
"It's a pity that there are so many territories in Fujiyoshida Castle and Toru County, and the sea salt that was given to the Takeda family for free." Thinking of the ceded land, Hojo Ushimasa, the third son of Hojo Ujizuna, still couldn't help but feel regretful.
"In order to cease the war with the Takeda family, we ceded back the territory we had worked so hard to gain."
"What if the Takeda family is not satisfied?" Hojo Ujiyao, the fourth son of Hojo Ujitsuna, couldn't help but remind him, "Our main force has all come to Suruga, and the rest of us have to guard against Ryo Uesugi, but we don't have the extra troops to deal with it.
The Takeda family is gone. If he takes advantage of the situation and invades Sagami and Kadō, it will be difficult to handle."
"The Takeda family are not fools." Hojo Ujiyasu nonchalantly patted his chest and said carelessly, "If he really dares to continue to march, our Hojo army will have to go back and fight him in a bloody battle. What good will it do to him? Takeda and Imagawa are
It’s a feud, he wants us to have a big fight with the Imagawa family, right? As long as he stands still, he can see that both us and the Imagawa family will suffer losses, so why wouldn’t he do it?”
"This is what my father wants to ask you, Chiyomaru." Hojo Utsusuna cast a serious look on Hojo Ujiyasu, "Why are you so strongly recommending this plan during this period, and would rather give the Toru County White to Takeda, just in exchange for a chance to march into the army?"
A chance to win over Suruga? Don’t you also know that this may hurt both the Imagawa family and the Takeda family?”
"What's the benefit of that quiet place in Tsuru County, where the folk customs are still strong? If you cut it, cut it." Hojo Ujiyasu said nonchalantly again, "How can it compare to the rich Suruga? And when will we attack the Takeda family?
You can fight them all, but there are not many opportunities to fight against the Imagawa family. Now, taking advantage of the absence of the main force of the Imagawa family, we can swallow Nakasuruga in one fell swoop and attack the Imagawakan, Ejiri Port and Kojin Port. Aren't we the two fatties?
In your mouth?"
At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto was leading his army on the official road of Tokaido, rushing to the Fuji River for support. However, given the marching speed of ancient troops, the 90-mile journey would take two days even if it were faster. Not to mention the Imagawa family.
I just made a long journey to Yuanjiang, entered the position overnight, and had another battle in the morning, which was very physically draining. I estimate that I can reach Hedong in three days, which is already very good.
On the evening of September 26, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the army returned to the border of Suruga Kingdom and stationed at Shimada Castle to rest. In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, Imagawa Yoshimoto urged his men to go on the road again and arrived at noon.
Along the way, the soldiers urgently recruited from the territory by the retainers of each family were also incorporated into the army as supplementary soldiers. Miura Ujimitsu, Abe Motoma and Uden Nagamochi, who were ordered to stay at Imagawa Hall, also hurried to Imagawa Yoshi
Yuan reported the complete battle situation from the Fuji River:
In the early morning of September 26, a battle broke out in the Fuji River Basin - Imagawa Yoshimoto calculated based on the time that it was even before he ambushed Imagawa Yoshima - could it be that the Hojo family had long seen through that the Imagawa family camp on the banks of the Fuji River was a suspected soldier?
?In that case, why didn’t you tell Imagawa Yoshima?
The Imagawa Army on the west bank of the Fuji River obviously did not expect that the Hojo family would actually send tens of thousands of troops to attack - because the Hojo family clearly needed to guard against Ryo Uesugi in Kanto and Takeda in Kai, and there was no reason to be able to mobilize so many mobile troops. Only later did they
The news came that the Hojo family had probably reached a secret peace agreement with the Takeda family. The total number of Imagawa troops in the Fuji River area was less than 1,500, and they had almost no ability to prevent the Hojo family from crossing the river. Taiyuan Yuksai tried to lead his troops to withdraw to Kabara Castle, but failed.
Hojo Ujiyasu, who was the first to cross the river, led the Hojo family to block the enemy, and had no choice but to retreat to Fuji Village, a temporary rock village built on the edge of the Fuji River. It was at that time that Taiyuan Xuezhai sent Dou Atomic Sutra to break through the encirclement and seek help westward.
Shortly afterwards, the Hojo Army, which fully crossed the river, surrounded Kamahara Castle and the rock village where Taiyuan Xuezai was located. The Hojo family's ninjas and scouts also quickly advanced westward, forming a powerful intelligence barrier. Imagawakan and Kamawara Castle
, Fuji Village has lost contact, and we don’t know what the current situation is on the Fuji River. However, the elders of the Kotsu family who stayed behind in Hengshan Castle reported that they have not detected the Hojo family’s continued westward movement, which shows that Umahara Castle and Fuji
The stronghold should still be holding on.
After hearing the news, Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't say a word, and immediately led his troops to continue eastward for reinforcements. Not only that, he also took Miura Bei, Abe Bei and Udono Bei who were staying at Imagawa Hall with him, regardless of his retainers.
With his advice, he led more than 8,000 troops to attack Fujikawa, almost empty-handed.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! On the evening of September 27, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), Imagawa's army arrived at Hengshan Castle, which was only 20 miles away from Fuji River. Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to continue traveling overnight, but
They were stopped by Asahina Taino, Okabe Chizuna, Sena Ujisada and other veterans.
"Your Highness, we really can't rush this time." Asahina Yasunou was very determined. He even stopped in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto's horse with a bottle of wine to stop him from continuing to march. "The infantry has been running for many days, and there is another big battle."
, my physical strength is on the verge of reaching its limit. There will be a fierce battle with the main force of the Hojo family tomorrow, and if we don’t take a good rest, we will definitely lose.”
"Who knows how long Fuji Village can last? What if it falls tonight?" Thinking of the safety of Taiyuan Xuezhai, Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes turned red with anxiety. Fortunately, he couldn't see clearly in the night.
"That means Master's fate is bad, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. But if His Highness insists on marching all night, he will risk his own life and that of the entire army." Okabe Otsuna also remonstrated without explanation, and his words were very unpleasant.
"Your Highness, on a dark and windy night, even with a torch, I still can't see the road clearly. Just like me, there are many soldiers who can't see the road at night." Sena Shisada almost narrowed his eyes. There was a crack, but the dim old eyes still couldn't do it at night when the light was so poor. "What's more, there are dangerous mountain roads ahead. How can we march in the dark?"
Sena Ujisada is right. The Suruga Kingdom is originally a mountainous country. Suruga to the west of the Fuji River, except for the fertile plains in the southwest, is almost entirely mountainous. Since then, the area east of Yokoyama Castle where the Sichuan Army is located The road is even more dangerous: there is only one official road that is not wide, leading to Guandong. There are high mountains to the north and the endless sea to the south. There is no other smooth road except this road. Therefore, this section of the official road is always crowded. It was full of merchants traveling between Kanto and Kinki via the Tokaido, and it also brought a large amount of customs revenue to the Imagawa family. However, when the army was passing through, this road with very limited traffic was a nightmare.
"I understand." Imagawa Yoshimoto knew in his heart that the elders were right, and finally agreed reluctantly, "Let's set up camp and rest. We will set off early tomorrow morning as soon as it becomes light enough to support the march."
On September 28th, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Yoshimoto Imagawa was woken up by Nao Hayasaka earlier than expected.
"Your Highness, there is an urgent military situation." Hayasaka Nao shook Imagawa Yoshimoto's shoulders anxiously, "Come out and take a look."
Imagawa Yoshimoto got up hastily, Hayasaka Nao put some clothes on him and helped him out of the tent. I saw many people gathered around the watchtower, chattering about something. When Imagawa Yoshimoto arrived, After that, they made way for Imagawa Yoshimoto to climb up the watchtower himself and look to the east——
A bunch of wolf smoke was vaguely visible under the hazy sky, and it was changing its posture violently.
"The direction of Kabara Castle." Nagoya Furuno, who arrived earlier, compared the map with his, while Himura Umoha and Akai Kurotaka also nodded.
"It's urgent..." Akai Kuroko read out the meaning of the smoke signal, and then said to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Your Highness, listen, can you vaguely hear the sound of the siege over there? The Hojo family is attacking the city overnight."
"Is Kabara Castle almost undefendable?" Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath and ordered Hayasaka Nao to arrange the troops to get up and set off. However, just before he left the watchtower, the east in the distance rose vaguely again. There was a wisp of smoke - coming from a few miles southeast of Puyuan City - where Fuji Village was located and where Taiyuan Xuezhai was trapped.
The signal transmitted by the smoke is——
"Don't come near."
Akai Kurokaka and Himura Umoha read out the meaning of the wolf smoke in a daze, "Master Yuksai asked us to retreat."
In ancient battlefields, orders transmitted over long distances through the simple and crude means of beacon smoke usually did not contain much information, but could only be simple instructions.
But for Imagawa Yoshimoto, the amount of information in this order almost made him cry.
"You stinking old man, you lecture me every day, who wants you to take care of me?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto ignored the signal from Fuji Village and led the Imagawa army to break out of camp and head east.
