Chapter nine hundred and seventy-third fight for the initiative
Terutora Uesugi glanced at the sincere Uesugi Keishin, suppressed his selfishness, and said reluctantly.
"Then hurry up and ask mother to come forward. Soldiers are so quick that we won't be able to delay it for too long."
"Hey! I will send the envoy Ban Kuaima back to Echigo to report the news. I will first ask for a letter from His Highness Kenmasa Uesugi, asking Nagao to bow his head and open the border.
Please ask her to come forward if she is troubled, go to Ashikaga Castle, and have a good talk with the Nagao leader."
Terutora Uesugi nodded and expressed satisfaction. This approach is comprehensive, clearing things up first, meeting people later, so as not to delay the business.
Terutora Uesugi glanced at Shima Katsuo below. She was the one who brought up this strategic change. But she was calm and unhurried, which made people look up to her.
Looking at Yoshigan Shiba on the main seat, Terutora Uesugi said.
"From the military rations we have in stock, we will allocate three thousand koku to prepare and transport them directly to the Sano Territory after the Ashikaga Territory is opened.
Mr. Jing Xin, I leave the coordination of Sano Masatsuna to you. After that, it will be her turn to fulfill her promise."
"Hi!"
Shiba Yiyin couldn't help laughing.
It's really interesting that Teru Uesugi is unwilling. She pretends to be open-minded and doesn't care about the three thousand koku, but in fact her flesh hurts very much.
Shiba Yiyin himself is very optimistic about this matter.
Previously, he and Terutora Uesugi's Kanto strategy focused on opening up the two countries of Ueno and Musashi, but ignored the blocking strategies of the Hojo family.
Hojo Ujiyasu supported the Musashi people economically, let go of the opposition politically, and militarily gathered heavy troops in Kawagoe Castle, forming an oppressive force on the string.
The sharp sword of Kawagoe's military power was not unsheathed, and no one in the samurai family in the core area of Kanto dared to move. The Echigo army that entered Ueno suddenly fell into an embarrassing dilemma, and no one responded.
But looking at it from another angle, this situation will form sooner or later.
The Hojo family, the Kamakura Ashikaga family, and the two Uesugi families have been fighting around the core area of Kanto for so many years. Hojo Ujiyasu's understanding and control of the local samurai family far exceeds that of the newly arrived Echigo family.
If you want to break the deadlock and get rid of passivity, the last resort is to fight all the way. Uesugi Teruhu's idea is to use violence to break the situation.
But Yoshigan Shiba was unwilling. Shima Katsuruo's suggestion gave him another way of thinking, to find a way to mobilize the Hojo army and turn passivity into initiative.
The Hojo family was able to suppress the core area of Kanto just because the Hojo army in Kawagoe City did not move. Everyone was afraid that they would be hit hard by this.
But what if the Hojo army attacks or even suffers a setback? The attitude of the Kanto samurai family will definitely change. These people have no moral integrity at all and will mess with whoever is stronger.
As long as the Hojo army moves, the Echigo army may seize the initiative.
What is a war fought for? Hard power, information gap, and initiative.
The two sides in the war started a game around these three aspects, fighting for hard power, information gaps, and taking the initiative, and racked their brains for this.
If you pay three thousand dan, you will have the opportunity to seize the strategic initiative. Sibo Yiyin will not be stingy with this small amount of money.
The northern part of Shimono Province is a mountainous and hilly area extending southward from the Echigo Mountains.
In particular, the Nishishimotano area stretches from Mount Akagi to the Ashio Mountains, making it easy to live in the mountains. The Watarase River originates in the mountains, flows southward to Shimosoukuni, and reaches the sea in Edo Bay.
The plain area along the Watarase River belongs to Ashikaga Territory in the north and Sano Territory in the south.
Although the Ashikaga Castle Nagao family and Sano family are not as powerful as the Utsunomiya family in central Shimono, the Oyama family is stronger.
But compared to Utsunomiya Castle, which was easily captured on the plains, Ashikaga Castle and Karazawayama Castle relied on mountains and were easier to defend.
Whether it is the Echigo army of Upper Uno Country in the west or the Hojo army of Musashi Shimoso in the south, if you want to get involved in Shimono Country, you must pass the southwest foot of the Ashio Mountains.
The Sano family is a descendant of Hidetoshi Fujiwara and belongs to the Fujiwara Kita family. After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate, her family enshrined Ashikaga Tobashi as their ancestor and followed the Kanto shogun system of the Kamakura Ashikaga family.
The territory of the Sano family and its branch, the Kiryu family, is from the southwest foot of the Ashio Mountains to the Kiryu River, a tributary of the Watarase River. It is the northeastern part of the core area of the Kanto Plain and the gateway to Shimono Country.
Today, the Kiryu family has been defeated by the Yura family, the largest family in Ueno. The Sano family also lost the protection of the Kanto shogunate after the Battle of Kawasaki, and the family business declined.
However, from the perspective of the overall situation in Kanto, this place can be used to spy on the core area of Kanto, and when retreating, it can defend the homeland of the wild country. It is a battleground for military strategists.
Since the Echigo army can no longer open up the situation in Ueno, the best choice is to use Sano Masatsuna to make a show of his face and mobilize the Hojo army.
All in all, these three thousand stones are worth spending.
After discussing the matter of Sano Masatsuna, there were only some trivial matters left, nothing more than logistics and transportation, the garrisoning of various armies, etc.
Before the situation changes significantly, the Echigo army will stay in the Numata Basin and wait for opportunities. There will be no major incident for the time being.
After the meeting ended, the concubines filed out.
After the arrival of Shiba Yoshigan, the Numata Castle Castle was naturally given up for the noblest man to live in.
Kawada Nagachi has never lived in the castle tower at all, so she cleaned it early and waited for the emperor to arrive. She has always been steady in her work.
Uesugi Teruhora stayed in a annex in the city, while the others left the city and returned to their base.
Sanada Nobushige and Ogasawara left Numata Castle chatting and laughing for a while. Their two families were not far from each other's residence, and both came from the direction of Azuma County.
Ogasawara has been at the Kanto Palace for a long time and belongs to the United Front Army. Although her territory is not large, she still squeezed out a reserve team this time to participate in the battle south and serve the Imperial Palace.
The two chatted and laughed all the way, and when they arrived at the Ogasawara station, Sanada Nobushige bowed gracefully on his horse.
"Your Highness Ogasawara, I'll take my leave now."
Ogasawara didn't dare to say goodbye for a long time, so she returned the favor and said goodbye. Looking at Sanada Nobushige and his entourage walking away, she couldn't help but sigh.
Your Highness Ogasawara? How can she be called Your Highness now? The old leadership of Shinano has been lost long ago, and now she is just surviving in the Iiyama Castle area with the help of Yoshigan Shiba.
She was able to pull off this old face and get close to a young girl like Sanada Nobushige, but she was forced to have no choice. Even though she came from Shinano's famous family, Ogasawara, she is now so weak that only this sign is left.
Internally, she has to deal with Murakami Yoshikiyo's soft knife in Hokushin. Externally, she has to pay attention to the Takeda family's movement north.
Therefore, she must stay close to the Kanto Palace to resist the erosion of Murakami Yoshikiyo who surrendered to Uesugi Teruhora.
The Sanada clan was divided into two branches at the Kanto Palace and the Takeda family. Ogasawara Nagatoki also wanted to use Sanada Nobushige to establish a relationship with Sanada Yukitaka of the Takeda family to ease the external environment.
Bending down at the end of the road, Ogasawara smiled bitterly for a long time, shook his head and entered the station.
In the distance, Sanada Nobushige, who had just left, said to Umino Riichi next to him with a playful smile.
"How is it? I know how to advance and retreat very well today, right? Isn't it very heroic?"