Chapter nine hundred and ninety eight countdown to battle
Sibo Yiyin thought for a while and nodded.
"I gave fifty heavy plate-armored cavalry to Shima Katsuo, and together with the Hime Warriors led by Kanto Shiba on horseback, followed by the heavy cavalry, I could make up one hundred and fifty cavalry, which was enough to change the situation of the battle.
But I have to thank you for the hard work. The iron cavalry’s attack is the final word, so timing is very important. You must hold on to your formation for a long time.”
Teruhora Uesugi grinned and said with murderous intent.
"Kakizaki Kageie and Saito Asanobu have followed me for many years, and their reserve troops are my most elite troops. I left them in the center, not to hold on, but to prepare for a counterattack.
Hojo Ushimasa dared to join me in battle because she thought her number was two and a half times greater than mine. I will tell her today, what a wishful thinking! A daydream!
I will beat these soft-footed shrimps of the Hojo family to fear. From now on, even if the army is ten times stronger than mine, they will not dare to go out of the city to fight with me in the field!"
Yiyin smiled helplessly, this arrogant man is always a bully, Honghong, so confident that it makes people speechless.
How can Hojo Elite be so easy to fight?
But this was before the war, so he couldn't suppress Uesugi Teruhu's self-confidence, so he could only smile sweetly and speak softly.
"I trust you."
Hearing these four words spoken softly by Yoshigami, Uesugi Teruhu's bones almost went numb. She giggled twice, then suddenly remembered something and felt a little embarrassed.
"Mr. Qianxin, I have something I don't know if I should tell you?"
"But it doesn't matter."
"Um... Irobe Katsunaga asked me to ask, can the Irobe Chief of Kaijin City return home?
She said that as she got older, she often felt powerless and hoped that her daughter could come home and help her manage the family business."
Terutora Uesugi said it coyly, but Yoshigan Shiba understood her meaning immediately.
At the beginning of the Battle of Kawanakajima, Shiba Yoshigan was abandoned on the battlefield by the Yutai people, and the three leaders of the Yutai people were severely punished.
Honjo Manchang became a traitor to the Yangbei Zhong and made great contributions to dismantling the Yangbei Zhong group. As a result, his reputation was ruined and he could only earn a living with Yamanaka Yukimori, a minister of Yujin whom she had looked down on before.
Shigeya Shibata was hacked to death by Shimakatsu fiercely. Choatoshi Shibata was so angry that he launched the Shigeya Shibata Rebellion, and finally committed seppuku, wiping out his family business.
As for Irobu Minoru, because Shiba Yoshigan was concerned about Irobe Katsunaga behind her, she was promoted and secretly demoted, leaving her in Kaijin Castle in Hokushin to waste away her youth.
The Uesugi and Takeda families called a truce, and the Matsushiro territory near Kaizu Castle was awarded to Nobushige Sanada by the gift of righteousness.
Minister Se was actually Kaijin Castle, but he didn't even have enough soldiers to guard the city gate. When he went out, he was led by Matsudai, and no one cared about her at all.
She was young and had both civil and military skills, but she was left to waste her time in a corner. This punishment could be considered a different kind of harsh punishment.
Now one year has passed, and Irobe Katsunaga took advantage of this war to ask Uesugi Terutora to come and intercede, hoping to get Irobe Minoru back.
Her daughter abandoned the imperial office on the battlefield and would definitely not be able to get along in the Kanto Palace in the future, so she asked the imperial office to be kind and let her go home.
Yoshigan glanced at Terutora Uesugi and saw that she looked away in shame.
Terutora Uesugi was also very angry that Mihime, an Odai, abandoned Yoshigan Shiba during the Battle of Kawanakajima. But this battle was important, and she needed Katsunaga Irobe to lead her troops to defend the southern front.
Irobe Katsunaga took over the important task without hesitation. He only made this request, and it was really hard for Uesugi Teru to refuse.
Teruhora Uesugi felt that he was sorry for his sweetheart, and was afraid that his sweetheart would think that she didn't value him, so he acted coyly, which was also interesting.
Sibo Yiyin smiled indifferently and said.
"Since Irobe Katsunaga asked you to come forward, of course I am willing to step down from the position of Shirodai as Irobe Katsunaga and let her go home to help her mother take care of the family business.
Kaizu Castle is under the control of Matsudai, and Sanada Nobushige is in charge. As for Shirobu Minoru, I will keep my status as an imperial minister, but I will just work hard at home from now on, and there will be no need to come to the Kanto Palace."
Shiba Yoshigan also gave Irobe Katsura some face by releasing Irobe Masato without depriving her of her status as an imperial concubine, so that she could live her life with peace of mind.
The Wu family attaches great importance to face, although everyone knows that Minister Se was actually punished for abandoning his master and was expelled from the Kanto Palace.
But if she is not even given any face, and is directly deprived of her imperial status, then she has no choice but to commit seppuku and apologize, and she has no shame to live anymore.
Now that Yoshigan is leaving her with dignity, I hope Irobe Katsunaga can understand this kindness. At least Uesugi Teruhora is satisfied and feels that Yoshigan has given her face.
She smiled and nodded.
"Humility, justice, justice."
Yiyin smiled and shook his head, no longer thinking about this small matter. The war was coming, and there were still many things to be busy with.
———
The Hojo clan was firmly in charge and looked majestic in the shogunate. In fact, her mind was fluctuating with orders of varying lengths from outside, making her uneasy.
At this time, an envoy hurriedly entered the tent and bowed.
"Your Highness, the enemy troops are descending the mountain to form a formation, with the left and right wings spread out in the shape of crane wings. The Kwantung Minister is determined to be on the left wing and is arranging the formation on the northern line."
Hojo Umasa stood up with a loud noise, clapped his hands and walked around with a smile on his face.
"Okay! The long-tailed rebel's thoughts are all within my expectations!
Pass the news to the left and right wings and ask Kamakura-den. Tominaga Yasukage-sama knows what he is doing and stabilizes the positions of both wings.
Order each team in this formation to prepare, arrange the fish scales as planned, and all units to line up in sequence."
She glanced at the sundial beside her and continued.
"Three quarters from now, we will march forward in formation. Let's do this for the time being."
"Hi!"
Twenty thousand soldiers were ready to go, and Hojo Ushimasa's orders were passed one by one to the bosses of all parties, and then spread to the entire army.
Three moments later, drums were beating loudly outside, Warrior Ji's scoldings came one after another, and the roar was like thunder, and the army finally started to move.
———
On the endless plain, on the measurable horizon, a black line composed of people is getting deeper and deeper, and the faint sound of drums can be heard.
The large and small mountains go to the southeast, and the rolling hills are called Mount Kegi. Following Mount Kegi to the east, there is another highland on the plain, called Mount Okazaki.
After Uesugi Teruhora descended from the mountain, he set up his main formation on the Okazaki Highlands, overlooking the Akiyama River to the east.
The Akiyama River is a small river flowing north-south in the central part of the Sano Territory. It could have been forded originally. Now that autumn and winter have entered the dry season, the water level is even lower, almost turning into a creek that can submerge the ankles.
Although the Qiu Shan River does not affect the crossing operations, it is the natural dividing line between the east and west formations of both sides.
Echigo's army was in the west and Hojo's army was in the east, forming a formation across the Akiyama River.
The Echigo side spreads its wings like a roc, with its north and south wings spread out, revealing the central front, forming a C shape.
The Hojo family's political formation is like fish scales, with the two wings bent backwards and convergent, and the middle part is plump and solid, showing an O-shaped shape.
The two sides in this battle are like betting on whether C will burst O first, or whether O will burst C first.
Uesugi Teruhora and Hojo Ushimasa were ten miles apart, but they seemed to have a clear understanding of each other. They looked at the sun together, knowing that the time agreed in the gauntlet had arrived.