Crisis, crisis, and danger naturally bring opportunities.
Others only saw danger, but Doi Toshikatsu saw opportunity.
Regarding the protracted war, he always felt that it was not a good thing for Japan.
After all, the empire is watching eagerly from the side. Although there is no action for the time being, if this evil dragon is so kind-hearted, Doi Toshiki would not believe it even if he beat him to death.
He is different from Tokugawa Iemitsu who only sits in the shogunate.
Over the years, he has traveled around the country to supervise government affairs for the sake of the war, and he has the best understanding of the situation among the people.
He knew that the people had reached the point of collapse.
What the people can afford has exceeded the limit.
If the war continues, before the Tokugawa shogunate and the Gaibei daimyo decide the winner, the rising common people will make them die without a burial place.
Now that news of riots in various places is coming, especially the failure of Date Munekatsu to counter the rebellion, Doi Toshikatsu believes that the war cannot be dragged on any longer.
The foreign daimyo must be eliminated as soon as possible and then recuperate in order to preserve Japan's national system.
Before, the two sides were evenly matched, and there was no hope of ending the war immediately. But this time, the crisis within the shogunate made him feel that this was a good opportunity to invite you to the urn.
"The riots on the rebel side are far less serious than ours, and they will definitely be put down quickly. At that time, those outsiders will definitely take the opportunity to send troops to kill us. Their eagerness is an opportunity we can take advantage of."
Doi Toshikatsu expressed his idea, but it angered Date Masamune.
"What about Sendai?"
Sendai is the home of the Date family. Others don't care about it, but Date Masamune cannot ignore it.
Without Sendai, the Date family would not exist.
"As long as the shogunate is here, the Date family will have a future."
Doi Toshikatsu's cold words forced Date Masamune to calm down even though he was aggrieved.
"The war has been going on for too long, and the shogunate's money and manpower have reached the bottom. It is undoubtedly best to end the war as soon as possible."
Tokugawa Iemitsu spoke and set the tone for this matter.
At this time, Tokugawa Iemitsu felt a little regretful.
Although he is an excellent leader, he is not as good as his father and grandfather because he has no battle experience.
So much so that in the face of war, he could only count on the ministers and generals below, but he himself was completely blind.
Don't underestimate this.
This means that he does not have much say in the military and cannot effectively control the progress of the war.
This is also the reason why the Tokugawa shogunate has been unable to defeat the daimyō.
Compared with him, the foreign daimyo, including Tadahiro Kato, Mitsuhisa Shimazu, Mitsuhiro Mouri and others, all have rich battlefield experience.
These people are always on the front line and can make adjustments to the battle situation at any time, which effectively avoids the shortcomings of foreign daimyo in all aspects.
But Doi Toshikatsu was right, the foreign daimyo had reached their limit, and they definitely couldn't wait to end the war.
And this eagerness was an opportunity that the Tokugawa shogunate could take advantage of.
On the beach of Tottori, the shouts of killing were overwhelming, and the smell of blood filled the sky and the earth.
Seeing the Daimyo army under pressure from all sides, the rebels were filled with grief and anger.
They asked the leader angrily: "Where are the promised reinforcements? Why haven't they come yet?"
The leader of the rebel army was helpless and looked desperate.
At this point, he still didn't understand that he had been deceived.
Those in the empire only regarded them as cannon fodder and had no intention of investing too much in them.
They retreated to the seaside, hoping that the empire would provide support from the sea.
However, there is nothing on the sea.
The daimyo's army continued to narrow the encirclement, and batch after batch of rebels were killed.
Even if someone surrenders, the Daimyo army will not accept it.
The foreign daimyo hated these troublemakers and vowed to use the cruelest means to frighten those who dared to resist.
"These people are ambitious and will definitely be greedy once they get to power. Their usefulness has ended. Now let's use their deaths to make the people of Japan completely despair."
Outside the Daimyo's army, Imperial observers watched the battlefield leisurely.
They didn't care at all about the destruction of the rebel army.
Even if these rebels were instigated by them.
After all, the leaders of these rebels are basically not good people, and few of them are pure farmers.
They just hope to become successful with the help of the empire. Once they succeed, they will have no loyalty to the empire and will be a harm to the Japanese people.
In this case, it is in the best interest of the empire to use them to cause trouble and damage to the daimyō.
Now it seems that the effect is very good.
The entire Tottori area has been completely destroyed, large tracts of land are barren, and the population has dropped to only 30%, most of whom are old, young, women, and children.
The current situation in Tottori is also the current situation in western Japan.
The sources of troops that foreign daimyo can recruit from the private sector have gradually dried up.
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that they can no longer hold on any longer.
The battle ended quickly.
No one from the Tottori rebels survived, and they were all killed by the daimyo army.
The only place left behind has become a ghost.
Without external investment, these places will not be able to recover for at least thirty years.
But the daimyō no longer cared about this. When they learned that the shogunate's troops were retreating in large numbers and heading to Sendai to put down the rebellion, they felt that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
"My lords, the rise and fall of the empire depends on this!"
Maori Guangguang is the most positive.
Choshu Domain was different from other vassals in that it was located on Honshu Island. As a result, most of the wars in the past few years were fought within the territory of Choshu Domain.
The Choshu Domain suffered the most severe damage.
Mouri Mitsuhiro most hoped that the war would end quickly, even if the battlefield was pushed outside the Choshu Domain.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa and others also felt that this was a God-given opportunity and immediately marched eastward.
The Satsuma clan's navy rushed across the Seto Inland Sea, braved the strong winds of July and August, and rushed to Shizuoka along the southern coast of Honshu Island.
Once Shizuoka is captured, it will be equivalent to opening the west gate of Edo.
Mitsuhiro Mori, Tadahiro Kato and others led the army to make rapid progress along the north coast and reoccupied Nagano.
Their next goal is to cross the narrow Saku Valley and rush into the Edo Plains.
"Ogasawara-kun, you must defend Saku. Even if the entire army is wiped out, you cannot retreat."
Doi Toshikatsu took over as the general of the shogunate army and showed an extremely tough side.
He wants Sakushou General Ogasawara Saburo to die.
It is the true meaning of dying.
With the five thousand soldiers and horses Ogasawara Saburo had at his disposal, there was absolutely no way he could stop the attack of the Daimyo.
Moreover, Doi Toshikatsu did not intend to support, but sat back and watched the Daimyo capture Saku, and finally rushed to Maebashi.
After arriving at Maebashi, we entered the Edo Plains.
This will inevitably greatly increase the morale of the foreign daimyos and prompt them to advance even faster.
Due to the dangerous terrain of the long and narrow Saku Valley, the daimyo would definitely be very cautious. But once they came to the flat Maebashi, they would definitely relax their vigilance.
Maebashi was the place chosen by Doi Toshiki for the decisive battle.
Saburo Ogasawara's deadly battle was the first step in tactical deception.
To convince the daimyō that the shogunate army really went to Sendai to put down the rebellion, the entire Edo Plain was extremely empty.