Chapter 225 The Battle of the Kyushu Allied Forces
Tachibana Muneshige also defeated the Ming army in the first battle of Ulsan. At that time, Ming general Gao Ce took advantage of the majority of the Japanese army to leave the Busan main formation to rescue Ulsan. He led the Ming army of 22,000 and the Korean army of 30,000 to plan a surprise attack on Busan.
The Japanese main force marched to Bandan as a check on the Japanese army's rescue operation of Ulsan. On January 2, 1598, Munesege received an urgent order from Ukita Hideie and selected 800 elite troops from the troops who rescued Ulsan Castle.
, this battle was marched on a cold and rainy day with poor visibility, against the 22,000 troops of the Ming Army Gao Ce. Before the march, a retainer once cried: "It's so wet and cold, and the vision is poor, it's better to wait until daylight before setting off."
Zongmao said: "Only with a small number of soldiers can we win at night. If the enemy knows that our army is strong, a major general will have no chance of victory."
He led 300 men to attack the Ming army at night and beheaded more than 700 prisoners and more than 1,600 prisoners. At the same time, Gao Ce led the coalition forces back to Ulsan because the main force of the Japanese army had arrived in Ulsan. The Japanese army finally felt relieved.
The pressure for this formation to be captured was due to the Battle of Pandan.
In the Second Battle of Ulsan, Tachibana Munege led a thousand people to assist Ulsan and harass the rear of the Ming army. He also made great efforts in defeating the Ming army. During the Battle of Luryang, when the Japanese army retreated, Munege's efforts were
Under the call, on the one hand, he gathered his younger brothers Takahashi Tomasu, Kobayakawa Hidehiro, and Terasawa Hirotaka in Gucheng, with a total of 7,000 troops. On the other hand, he contacted Shimazu Yoshihiro and Mune Yoshitomo's 11,000 Japanese troops.
Five hundred warships accompanied the Tachibana Army to rescue Konishi Yukinaga who was besieged by land and sea in Suncheon Castle. On the way, they fought fiercely with Yi Sun-shin and Chen Lin of the Ming and Korean naval forces in the Noryang Sea battle. According to "Tanida Rokurobei Kakusho"
, Tachibana's retainer Ikebe Sadamasa decided to board Chen Lin's warship, but was assassinated and killed in battle.
The Japanese army succeeded in this battle and Konishi Yukinaga escaped from the siege. At this time, the Tachibana Army served as the rear of the Japanese army, returning the main warships to Busan and supporting other Japanese troops to return home first.
In the end, Munesege and Kobayakawa Hidehiro jointly broke through the naval blockade of the Ming and Korean armies on November 26 at the end of the year and became the last army to return to Japan. Because of Tachibana Munesege's high integrity and bravery in fighting, he was very popular among Japanese celebrities during the Warring States Period.
, although he was on the wrong team during the Battle of Sekigahara and was converted into a ronin, he was welcomed and recruited by major celebrities. Faced with the persuasion of officials such as Kato Kiyomasa and Maeda Toshinaga who appreciated Munesege's talent, he was persuaded by Munesege.
After refusing, Munesege accepted the kindness of Kato Kiyomasa and worked as a diner at Seigenji Temple in Takase, Higo Tamana County for a while. After autumn in July of the 6th year of Keicho (1601), he went to Kyoto with about 20 retainers.
Later, he wandered in Edo. Honda Tadakatsu was admired by Toyotomi Hideyoshi and arranged for him to temporarily stay at Takada Hoshoji Temple.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, who felt sorry for his talent, summoned Munege through Honda Tadakatsu in February of the 9th year of Keicho (1604). Tachibana Munege met with Ieyasu on July 25 and was appointed as the Goshoin Daibantou (Shogun) of the shogunate.
The captain of the bodyguard) received 5,000 koku. On January 3, the 11th year of Keicho (1606), Ieyasu planned to give Munemo the territory of Mutsu Tanakura. However, because the position of shogun had been given to Tokugawa Hidetada, Muneshige gave it to him in early September.
After meeting with Hidetada, he officially gave Mutsu Tanakura 10,000 koku to regain his daimyo status on November 11, and this was increased to 30,000 koku on July 25, the 15th year of Keicho (1610).
After Tachibana Muneshige, who had just regained his status as a daimyo, heard about the defeat of the Satsuma Domain, he did not gloat about the fact that the Shimazu family of the Satsuma Domain was his old enemy. Instead, he took the initiative to lead his direct samurai across the sea to join the Kyushu Allied Forces. Because of his Due to his reputation, he was elected as a vanguard general by the Kyushu daimyo coalition.
More than 1,000 Shimadzu soldiers led by Shimazu Tadanoge and Shimazu family retainer Yamada Minbei voluntarily obeyed the command of Tachibana Soshige. This was also the Shimadzu family's show of goodwill to their former mortal enemy Tachibana Soshige.
Now, inspired by the personality of Tachibana Munesege, and with Munesege as the leader, the Kyushu Allied Forces finally began to march south. The Kyushu Allied Forces were led by Tachibana Munesege as the vanguard, the military supervisor Itakura Shigemasa as the general, and the deputy envoy Toda Ujitetsu as the general. The lieutenant general, under his command, gathered 15,000 Kashima Domain Nabeshima Katsushige troops, 1,500 Arima Toyo clan from Chikugo Kurume, 10,000 Hosokawa Tadayoshi from Kokura Castle, 7,000 Terasawa Kaneka from Karatsu Domain, and Kuroda Tadayuki. The troops sent by ten daimyo including Ogasawara Tadayama, Matsudaira Shigenao, totaled more than 50,000 troops. When entering Satsuma, Shimazu Tadahashi led more than 1,500 troops from Hyuga, Ogasu and other places to join them. The more than 1,000 people from Shimazu Tadanobu and Yamada Minbu are already all the soldiers and horses that the Shimadzu family can recruit now.
Yin Feng has obtained a large amount of relevant intelligence through his own investigators and bribed Japanese spies. However, after all, the Chinese army is fighting in a foreign country, and the sources of intelligence are very limited. He can only rely on scattered reconnaissance and reports from informants. Therefore, Yin Feng decided to defend Kagoshima Castle with all his troops and fight the Kyushu Allied Forces under Kagoshima Castle.
…
On top of the castle mountain, the newly built earth and stone prismatic fortress of the China United Company looks very rustic. It does not have any tall buildings such as a castle tower and is not impressive at all. However, this elongated pentagonal fortress has ten 30-pound cannons. The artillery fired from the Castle Mountain covered the entire area from the foot of the Castle Mountain to the coast of Kagoshima Port. The parts above the mouth of the Inari River and the Kodoku River were within the range of its firepower. The entire Castle Mountain Fortress also had 30 various cannons. caliber artillery, and was stationed by more than 1,000 people from the Huanglue Division of the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment.
At the same time, a fortress of earth and stone structure was built at the mouth of the Inari River where the former Shimazu family fort was located. A curved fortress wall structure was in an inverted W shape, extending from the Inari River to the seaside. The forts are called the South and North Forts, and are also equipped with 10 heavy cannons over 30 pounds and 30 various artillery pieces; there are also 10 carts loaded with rainstorm guns on the fort wall, each with 100 guns. Guan, stationed here are ten sentries of the Feizihao Sailor Musketeers, the foreign mercenary sentries, and the Yiwu Gunslingers sentry, with a total strength of more than 1,500 people.
The Inari River, the only route for the Kyushu Allied Forces to go south, has become a fortification of the Chinese army. The Chinese army built two trenches and earth walls on the north bank. On this position, the Chinese army stationed the first regiment and the second regiment. The regiment's two battalions have more than 3,000 men, with 25 battalion field artillery pieces. A large number of Japanese laborers were used to build a small highland on the south bank of the Inari River, which became the position of Li Kuiqi's artillery battalion. The two banks were connected by five rafts and pontoons. Simple parapet fortifications have also been built on the south bank. Once the north bank cannot be defended, the defenders can retreat to the south bank to defend. There are also 1,000 sailor musketeers as a reserve team.
On the defensive position of Shiroyama-Inari River-Inari River Estuary Fortress, the Chinese Army stationed a total of 7,500 people. The main strongholds were divided into three places. The positions were thin and the line was too long. In the old camp of Tsurumaru Castle, The total reserve force in Yin Feng's hands was only 250 members of his own guard (half black and half Chinese), 150 soldiers from Luo Aquan's special battalion, and 60 cavalrymen from the cavalry regiment that had just arrived in Kagoshima.
The Chinese fleet is rushing back from Kitakyushu, but the typhoon is raging these days, and all parts of Japan are suffering from storms. The Chinese fleet will not be able to come back for a while, and the Chinese troops stationed in various places in Satsuma cannot All of them were mobilized, so Yin Feng lacked troops on hand.
However, Yin Feng unexpectedly received intelligence help, which made him not worried about the menacing Kyushu Allied Forces.
As a rule, the Catholic daimyo armies such as the Arima Toyoji in the Kyushu Allied Forces had a small number of Catholic priests accompanying them. These people were basically Japanese clergy, and there were also a few Jesuit missionaries. Due to the Tokugawa Shogunate's increasing emphasis on the Catholic Church, The more hostile the society is, the more hostile the Jesuits in Japan are, so in addition to doing their best to do high-level work, the Jesuits in Japan are also planning to find foreign aid nearby. After Yin Feng allowed the Jesuits to missionary in Taiwan, the Jesuits in China have regarded Yinfeng and the China United Company as missionaries in China. important partner, and clearly ordered the Jesuits in various places to help the China United Company.
Originally, the Jesuit missionary areas were divided into China and Japan. Now many Japanese Jesuit missionaries have also been to China. In view of the hostile policies of the Tokugawa shogunate, the Jesuits are very willing to help Yin Feng's army. Therefore, the movements and internal information of the Kyushu Allied Forces were quickly passed to Lu Ruohan through the Western merchants in Nagasaki and Hirado.
"...There are too many internal problems in the Kyushu Allied Forces. Except for the Shimadzu family, Tachibana Muneshige, and the Kumamoto Kato family, the other daimyo have no interest in attacking Kagoshima. We publicly stated in the Six Nations complaint that we would withdraw our troops once we receive compensation. It seems that the explanation has worked," Lu Ruohan accompanied Yin Feng at the east gate of Chengshan Fortress and looked at Sakurajima in the distance while explaining the information he had obtained to Yin Feng.
"Although we have 50,000 enemies in front of us, the only ones who really have the desire to fight are the Shimazu family, Tachibana Soshige, and the Kumamoto clan. Their strength is about 10,000,"
Yin Feng looked at the smoke that had been lingering in the Sakurajima crater for many years and chuckled: "Yes, as long as these more than 10,000 people are defeated in the forward force, the rest of the Kyushu Allied Forces will retreat without a fight."
Lu Ruohan nodded and said: "The intelligence also mentioned that the Kyushu Allied Forces had a total of 3,000 iron gunners, but they were all old-fashioned matchlocks; and there were more than 800 cavalry. I estimate that the various lords did not include their own elite troops. They were sent out and only hired some second-rate samurai ashigaru to handle the errands,"
Yin Feng smiled and patted the earth and stone wall on which he stood: "The Japanese killed so many Chinese people in Korea with their Japanese castles. Now, it's their turn to taste the power of the Chinese army's castle,"
By noon, the Chinese Army's forward security posts in Kirishima and other places in northern Satsuma had returned one after another, bringing news from the Kyushu Allied Forces: "The enemy's brigade is less than a day's journey from the Inaikawa River."
Yin Feng picked up the telescope and looked to the north. Everywhere in the valleys and coasts, thick smoke filled the air and fireworks filled the sky.
The Chinese Army's special battalion and a battalion under Med's command, together with Dutch cavalry officer Andre's cavalry, and with the help of local Chinese overseas Chinese, have implemented a thorough "three-guang policy" in the northern part of Satsuma in the past few days;
Now the entire northern area of Satsuma is engulfed in flames and smoke. A large number of local Japanese people have been driven south, making the route along the Kyushu Allied Forces' advance almost a no-man's land, with no material or personnel support available.