Hikone Castle was the forefront of the shogunate army's defense.

Emperor Ming "missed the fighter" and delayed until now and still did not send troops to the east, which made the shogunate army feel like seizing the fighter.

Sakai Tadakatsu, who had been in the dust along the way, received the news that the Ming army had finally sent troops, and immediately ordered the army to speed up and rush to Sekigahara.

The shogunate army has already left Edo and is in the middle of the road, and even if I hear the news of the loss of Hikone Castle now, I am ready to send it.

Sakai Tadakatsu had to choose the location of the decisive battle in the area of Sekigahara, because once the Ming army entered the Kanto Plain, the terrain of Ichima Hirakawa was very unfavorable for the shogunate army to defend.

Fighting a war is fighting for national strength, and it is obvious that the Tokugawa shogunate does not have the capital to fight for national strength with the Ming Dynasty.

Only by relying on the favorable terrain around Sekigahara could the shogunate army effectively reduce the Ming army's advantage in firearms, thereby increasing the chances of victory in the war.

......

On the first day of October, tens of thousands of Ming troops gathered in front of Hikone Castle, and the shogunate army quickly formed a defensive formation, and guns and cannons were placed on all sides to wait.

However, the Ming army only assembled for a short time, and then set up twelve camps on the northeast road, and set up trenches and earth barriers outside the camps, which were unusually strong.

The commander of the front line of the shogunate army, Naotaka Ii, sent the cavalry of the Honfu clan out to closely monitor the Ming army.

Ii Naotaka was the second generation lord of the Hikone Domain, he inherited his father, the famous Warring States general Ii Naomasa's Red Reserve Army at the age of thirteen, and was favored by Tokugawa Ieyasu in his early twenties, and named the general to participate in the Osaka Winter Battle, he lived up to Tokugawa Ieyasu's expectations, defeated the two armies of Kimura and Nagamune, and has since become famous.

Now Naotaka is sixty-five years old, and he once served as the first elder of the Tokugawa shogunate, and his seniority is higher than that of Sakai Tadakatsu.

Sakai Tadakatsu was worried that this old guy would be overconfident and would be killed by the Ming army, so he sent three daimyos, Matsudaira Tsunaka, the lord of Matsue Domain, Matsudaira Yoritsune, the lord of Takamatsu Domain, and Inaba Masanori, the lord of Odawara Domain, to lead an army of 30,000 people into the Hikone Domain to help the feudal lord Ii Naotaka garrison.

Coupled with the 20,000 horses of the Hikone Domain, there were 50,000 shogunate troops in Hikone Castle at this time, and as long as no one was stupid, it was no problem to hold it for ten days and half a month.

Naotaka Ii is also a famous Japanese general, he patiently listened to the advice of his colleagues, admitting that the artillery of the Ming army was awesome and needed to be extremely careful.

According to the Japanese view in the past, the role of artillery in field battles is not great (the terrain determines it), and if it is not done by the artillery of the Ming army, it will not change this common sense.

Just as several daimyo of the Castle of Hikone were discussing how to fight, spies came to report that the Ming army had suddenly withdrawn from the camp that had just been settled, leaving only some men and horses.

Jing Yi Naoxiao was puzzled, and after a while, another spy came to report, and this time the report was very detailed.

It turned out that it was the appeasement army, that is, the Japanese army, who withdrew from the Ming army's camp, and they all retreated for 20 miles, leaving only more than 10,000 Ming troops.

This news surprised and delighted the four daimyo in Hikone City, and they didn't understand what was going on inside the Ming army, could it be that there was infighting?

According to the assumption of Xu Qingshan, the commander of the Ming army, Edo was about 800 miles away from Hikone, and it would take at least ten days.

There are only more than 100 miles from Kyoto to Hikone, and the roads are basically flat, and counting the time when the news of the departure of the shogunate army is not received at night, the Ming army has three to four days to siege the city, which is completely sufficient.

Similarly, the commander of the shogunate army, Naotaka Ii, who learned that the Ming army was retreating, also thought so, the remaining men and horses of the Ming army were no more than 10,000 people, and he had 50,000 troops, so it would definitely be no problem to defend it.

But if it's keep, it's too cheap! I'm also a famous Japanese general! Defend the city with 50,000 horses and deal with 10,000 Ming troops, and it won't sound good to spread the word!

Therefore, Naotaka Ii decided to take the initiative and eat the 10,000 Ming army first, so as to refresh and cheer up the decadent shogunate army!

Moreover, he also considered that if the Ming army transferred artillery and followed the routine of attacking Osaka City, the small Yanne City would not be able to bear it at all, so it would be better to take advantage of the small number of Ming soldiers to go out and fight with them in the field, and even eat all the people and artillery!

Perhaps because he was afraid of the strength of the Ming army's artillery siege, but also out of trust in Jing Yi Naotaka, surprisingly, the other three daimyo had no objection and unanimously decided to go out of the city to fight.

Jing Yi Naoxiao was very pleased, and immediately ordered to stay 10,000 horses to defend the city, and the remaining 40,000 troops all went out of the city, and set up a formation in the south of the city to meet the Ming army, and all four daimyo went to fight!

In the early morning of the second day of October, after Jing Yi Naoxiao determined that the army of the Japanese traitors had retreated for twenty miles, he couldn't wait to take the initiative to fight Xu Qingshan.

It can be seen that the old man is very anxious and shrewd, and he is afraid of being knocked out.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Naotaka Ii led 15,000 men and horses into the middle and laid out a beautiful goose-shaped formation.

Matsudaira Tsunataka led 12,000 men and horses as the left flank, and set up a formation on the east side of Mt. Imasu; Matsudaira Yoritsune led 13,000 men and horses as the right flank and lined up against Lake Biwa.

The shogunate army was in formation, and the Ming army was also invited to arrive at the battlefield.

There was a rumbling sound from the south, and several daimyo who occupied the commanding heights looked up at the same time, only to see a thousand Ming cavalry galloping in, and a large cloud of dust rose on the dry earth.

Farther away, the Ming infantry was approaching, the red tassels on the red uniforms and helmets dancing in the wind, like a trembling red wave on the horizon.

Although the army of the Ming Dynasty has given up its armor, the neat military formation, the shocking pace, is still unchanged, and the thunderous array of 10,000 troops is enough to create a magnificent momentum of 100,000 people!

With a grunt, Jing Yi Naotaka's throat rolled, and he couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva, muttering, "Is this the army of the Ming Kingdom?" ”

The old man swore that this was the most shocking opening army he had ever seen in his life!

The other three daimyos, as well as tens of thousands of soldiers of the shogunate army, are also beating drums in their hearts, and in the next battle, they want to fight with them?

Although Naotaka Jing secretly sighed that he was sloppy, but since he opened the formation and made an appointment, he can't go back now, then his reputation will be really ruined!

Worried that the army's heart would change, he held the flag and shouted in a deep voice: "All the troops are ready to fight, ready to meet the enemy!" ”

The sound of various musical instruments in the shogunate army indicates that the war is about to begin, and everyone is serious and steady.

The sound of drums and horns was endless, accompanied by the sound of neat steps, and the Tianwu army continued to enter the battlefield, quickly arranging two miles away from the shogunate army, changing from a column to a horizontal formation, covering the entire front.

The Tianwu Army was the strongest army of this era, and the formation was carried out quickly, and then, the commanders of the two armies looked at each other under their respective banners to observe each other's formations and movements.

In this attack on Yangen City, Xu Qingshan only dispatched 10,000 Tianwu troops, not because of the infighting in the Ming army, but on his own initiative.

Xu Qingshan asked that the first battle be fought by the Tianwu army, and all the Japanese daimyo who were attached to it participated in the war with the army to observe how the strong army of the kingdom destroyed the withering and clever!

As the coach, Xu Qingshan felt that it was necessary to give these new little brothers a dismount and deter those who were still a little wavering in their hearts.

At the same time, Xu Qingshan also considered that in the case of the lack of artillery, the siege battle was not easy to fight, and if the Tianwu army was charged, there would be great losses, and he was reluctant.

If the appeasement army is allowed to be used as cannon fodder to attack the city, it will be troublesome in case it causes dissatisfaction and defection.

These Japanese can't do anything to survive!

But what Xu Qingshan didn't expect was that Naotaka Ii, a Japanese general, not only took the initiative to go out of the city to face the battle, but dared to fight himself!

"This is the most arrogant Japanese Ben Shuai has ever seen!"

On the tall chariot, Xu Qingshan stood with his chest upright, staring at the general flag opposite, with a trace of ruthlessness on his face.