Yiyin put aside the thought of wooing Daxiong Chaoxiu and asked Honzo Minao.
"The army is approaching, and we must defend it for at least five days.
If we are besieged in the city early, the risks on the Chinese and Vietnamese side are unpredictable, what do you think?"
Honjo Minoru replied.
"Daxiong Chaoxiu's rebellion was caused by a moment of anger. I want to send someone to appease her. I don't ask for success, as long as she hesitates for a few days.
After all, Lord Nagao Masakage is a relative of His Highness, so the Fushi Nagao family can coordinate and let her wait and see.
If she rebels, no matter whether she succeeds or fails, His Highness will not punish her too harshly. If you can see the situation first and then choose, you should not refuse."
Yiyin glanced at the upright-looking warrior Ji, but he didn't expect her to have such a dark heart.
After Daxiong Chaoxiu was killed miserably, he still wanted to lie to her, stabilize her, and settle the score later. The two of them must have suffered a lot from this person when they worked together before.
As for the Ueda Nagao family, what she said was indeed good.
Nagao Masaki is the most free-spirited among the several rebel forces. Even if he fails, he will be punished by drinking three drinks. This will not happen next time.
The fact that the Fuchu Nagao family can rule Echigo is the political structure of the three Nagao families, which is the foundation of Uesugi Teruhora's rule.
Although Nagao's political situation was muddled, members of the three families had long been squeezed together by the Nagao family in the mansion and became the largest interest group in Echigo.
The Nagao clan is Uesugi Teruhora's most loyal followers and the backbone of the military.
If she severely punishes Nagao Masakai, the governor of the Ueda Nagao family, what will the Nagao clan think? What will the Fushi Nagao family think?
The Wu family gathers under the same name to seek benefits. The so-called blood connection is just a betrayal. Are there not many cases of blood relatives killing each other?
Teruhora Uesugi wants to transform the Fuchu Nagao family into the Yamauchi Uesugi family, which can only appease the uneasy mood of the Nagao family, but cannot stimulate them and cause the fundamental collapse.
Nagao Masaki's behavior can be seen as the most intense reaction from Nagao's family to her changing her family name.
To stabilize the fundamentals, Teruhora Uesugi can only handle it with care. It is impossible to kill Nagao Masaki with one blow and hurt the hearts of the Nagao community.
Yiyin shook his head and strengthened his determination to follow his own path and increase his strength.
Terutora Uesugi's love is really unreliable. This guy has so many troubles. It's good to just take care of yourself. Count on her? Forget it.
Yoshihiro continued to ask Honjo Minano.
"What about Yangbeizhong?"
"Stick to the city, use Nakajo Fujitsu and other members of the Yangbei clan who are close to His Highness as internal agents, and confuse their internal discussions.
The casualties in sieges are far greater than those in field battles. Whoever is willing to take chestnuts from the fire in Yangbei is the best person who preserves his own strength.
After a few days of chaos, by the time they reach an internal consensus, His Highness's reinforcements should arrive.
Otaisuo, what do you think?"
Yoshigami glanced at Honjo Mino, and her suggestion was ultimately to avoid fighting.
He shook his head and said firmly.
"not good.
The most important thing in defending the city is to seize the initiative. How can there be any reason to place all hope on the rebels?
What I mean is, before they are surrounded, take the initiative and fight!"
Honjo Minoru narrowed his eyes and said nothing.
Her approach is very conservative.
Since the lord has returned to the country and can bring reinforcements in a few days, he can use words to confuse the rebel army and achieve the purpose of delaying it.
The method is feasible, but it is a pity that Yoshigage cannot agree. Publicly and privately, he must fight before Uesugi Teruhora arrives.
Yu Gong, I have some confidence in Uesugi Teruhora's army. My lord said that the meeting will arrive in ten days, so I will find a way to postpone it for ten days.
But how can there be any absolutes in battle?
Since ancient times, when defending a city, the most taboo thing is to defend passively and be trapped in the city. If something goes wrong, the defenders who have lost the initiative can only be beaten passively.
This hurts morale, and there is a group of grasshoppers in Tonglewei City, which increases the danger.
Honjo Sano's approach was to show weakness. Although it delayed time, it also exposed the guilty conscience of Tomei City, which would increase the rebels' arrogance and military morale.
This is not beneficial to the subsequent battles, and Yiyin cannot agree with it.
In private, when Yiyin first came to Guizhou, the stubborn Kanto warrior family did not recognize the reputation of Kansai's achievements.
They would only laugh at the Kansai samurai family for being cowardly and unable to defeat even a man.
The prestige of the martial arts family must be watered by the achievements of iron and blood.
In order for Yoshigan to gain a foothold in Kanto and Echigo, in addition to being a direct descendant of Kawachi Genji with the blessing of a sword, he also needs to prove that he is good at fighting.
The only way for a man to stand out in this female-dominated martial arts society is to be tougher, better at fighting, and better at killing than these Ji warriors.
There is no other way.
Therefore, Yoshigan must take the initiative and use this rebellion to establish his prestige among the Echigo samurai.
Yiyin said to Honjo Minoru.
"Your strategy can indeed make the rebels hesitate, but it also makes us appear cowardly.
The morale of the rebels is high, and our army is holding on to the city. With the arrival of reinforcements led by His Highness Uesugi, we must put in more effort to subdue these rebels.
Therefore, we cannot passively defend, we must take the initiative to suppress the rebellious momentum.
When His Highness Uesugi arrives, we can defeat them more quickly and end this chaos as soon as possible."
Benzhuang thought for a long time and couldn't help but nod.
"What Yutai said is that we really shouldn't increase the risk of the confrontation for His Highness. It was my lack of consideration.
So what do you mean, how should we deal with it?"
Yiyin said.
"Yangbeizhong still has three days to arrive. The troops of Daxiong Chaohide and Nagao Masaki have already approached Toruo Castle with the intention of encircling them.
Give me some military strength, and I will lead the elite members of the Sibo family as the backbone, and take the initiative to attack Daxiong Chaoxiu to the west.
The Shangshan people also detached an army to the east and sent envoys to join forces with the Nagao family of Fushi to attack Nagao Masaki.
Attack from both sides, limited to three days. It's best if you can defeat the rebels. If you can't win a battle, return to the city immediately.
The rebels never expected that we would dare to send troops to fight in the field, so they would be caught off guard. The worst we can do is to give them a blow and damage their morale.
You sit and guard the city, rush to make the flags of the Ashikaga family, plant more white flags on the city head, advertise this city as my imperial palace, and wait for the arrival of the rebels from the north."
Yoshigan buried a small thought in it, letting everyone know that Uesugi Teruhu had given Toruo Castle to him, so as to stop the Uesugi family from wanting to ask for it back after the war.
Honjo Sano did not think about his selfish motives, but carefully considered the pros and cons of taking the initiative.
After a while, she nodded and said.
"The imperial court is wise, I will give you a few Chinese and Vietnamese soldiers who are close to the master's family, and take them to fight against the big bear Chaoxiu.
It is still Naoe Kanetsugu-sama who is responsible for coordinating the military situation and leading the way."
Naoe Kanetsugu cheered, bowed and accepted the order.
Honjo Sano said to Saito Asanobu again.
"Lord Saito, you can bring half of the troops close to Hatamoto and his troops to stop Nagao Masakage. I will send an envoy to contact Nagao Kagenobu-sama and ask her to send troops to assist you in the battle.
If the attack fails, then join forces with Nagao Kagenobu-sama and come to Torowei Castle. Please put the overall situation first and don’t be obsessed with fighting."
"Hi!"
Honjo Minoru looked at Yoshiyin and bowed.
"I wish you good luck in martial arts.
I will guard the city strictly, prepare flags, and wait for the return of the two armies."
Honjo Minoru is not worried about Saito Nobubu. This man has experienced many battles and fought bravely. What she is worried about is whether the imperial office of Shiba Yoshigan will work?
But if Sibo Yiyin was left to defend the city, she would be more afraid of losing the city if she went alone.
Given the lesser of two evils, she chose to guard the more important Tomei City by herself.
Yiyin nodded, understanding her worries in his heart. He had to show off his skills to give these guys a chance to avoid being looked down upon in the future.
It is useless to talk more at this time, Yiyin nodded.
"We spent the night repairing and asked our village to coordinate logistics and make rations overnight, which is enough for the army for three days.
Tomorrow morning we will bury pots and make rice, and when we are full we will immediately send out troops."
None of the Ji warriors had any objections. They cheered and bowed to accept the order.
———
While Yiyin was frightening the Zhongyue military family, he was trying to find a way to seize the military leadership from Honzo Sano.
Terutora Uesugi also led his army over Yoneyama and joined Kakizaki Keie and Usami Sadamitsu who were stationed outside Hojo Castle.
There are two major plains in Echigo, the Takata Plain of Joetsu in the west and the Echigo Plain in the east. The Agano River divides the border between Central and Shimotsu.
Between the two plains is a mountainous area derived from the Echigo Mountains to the northwest.
Here, the west is called Mishan, and the east is called Shiji, a hilly area of rocky wasteland.
Between the two, there is a small piece of plain, surrounded by mountains and sea, which is the Kashiwazaki Plain.
As the main road connecting the two plains of Echigo, the samurai families from Joetsu and Central Vietnam were mixed here, and the situation was quite complicated.
Hojo Castle is stuck near the stone entrance to China and Vietnam. It is a city that must be grasped for logistical stability.
Hojo Takahiro has been working for the Fuchu Nagao family since he was the mother of Teru Uesugi.
No one expected that she would actually respond to the rebellion and instantly cut off the ties between Joetsu and China that were loyal to the Uesugi Teruhora samurai family.
This made the Shangshan people quite passive in the face of the rebellion. Fortunately, the Lord returned to the country and took charge of the army to put down the rebellion. The Ji warriors finally found their backbone.