803 The whole army went south, and the shogunate decided

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"Lord, through the two battles of the Ming army's annihilation of the Hitian Domain and the annihilation of the Shimazu army, it can be seen that the Ming Dynasty Marquis is not an easy lord to deal with, and he is good at intrigues and tricks.

In addition, he has many elite soldiers and generals, and he is indeed a strong enemy.

Therefore, Weichen felt that in the face of this powerful Ming army, we must shrink our forces, and there are too few garrisons in the cities and checkpoints in the north, and it is impossible to block the other party.

It's better to transfer all those men and horses back to Kumamoto Castle, as long as we hold Kumamoto Castle and hold out until the shogunate army arrives, it will be victory.

Kumamoto Castle is our foundation, and as long as Kumamoto Castle is not lost, even if other places are lost, they can be regained in the future. ”

Hosokawa Qi Nian thought about it and suggested to Hosokawa Mitsushang.

"What, if you want to give up so much territory in the north, that's seven or eight cities, dozens of villages!"

After hearing Hosokawa Qi Nian's words, someone exclaimed, reluctant.

"Confused, the earth is dead, people are alive, as long as we have an army in our hands, wait for the shogunate army to arrive and defeat the Ming army.

We can take back the territory at any time, and we can even take the opportunity to get our hands on the territory of the Nabeshima family in the north and the Shimazu family in the west.

Anyway, they have been destroyed by the Ming army, and they have been crippled.

At that time, as long as we preserve our strength, we will be the strongest daimyo on this Kyushu Island in the future. ”

Hearing the painful cries of those civil officials, Hosokawa Qi Nian scolded, and then told his long-term ambitions.

After Hosokawa Qi Nian's words were finished, he couldn't help but make Hosokawa Mitsusang's eyes light up.

"General Hosokawa is right, do you have any other ideas?"

Hosokawa Mitsushang spoke, and then looked at the many retainers below.

But at this time, those Wenchen, who had just been a little opposed to Hosokawa Qinian's proposal, were all silent at this time.

Hosokawa Mitsusang's words just now, as soon as he came up, he first set the tone for Hosokawa Qi Nian's words, and he was reasonable, and then asked for their opinions.

The Hosokawa retainers who can sit here are all smart people, so naturally they can hear that Hosokawa Mitsusho has actually approved Hosokawa Qinian's proposal.

At this time, even if there are still objections among them, they will be very amusefully silent.

"Okay, since you don't have any other ideas, let's do what General Hosokawa says.

While the Ming army in the north has not yet come, call back all the soldiers and horses in several cities in the north.

Let's hold Kumamoto Castle, but I want to see what the Ming army is capable of capturing the fortified city defended by tens of thousands of my troops. ”

Hosokawa Mitsusho finally spoke, and he seemed confident in the defense of Kumamoto Castle.

After all, Kumamoto Castle was built over decades by the Kumamoto and Hosokawa families, and the scale is not comparable to that of other Wakoku castles.

In addition, if Hosokawa Mitsusho transferred all the troops of the Hosokawa family to Kumamoto Castle, there would be more than 50,000 people.

With so many troops, plus a strong, tall, and well-defended city, this gave Hosokawa Mitsusho such a lot of confidence.

Just when the Hosokawa family made a decision and planned how to dare to face the White Dragon Army next, they were in Kagoshima Castle, the Mosa feudal city to the west.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa, the current head of the Mossa Domain, has also received the news of the annihilation of Tsuruta Masao's army.

"Baga, this is impossible, you dare to lie about the military situation, you should be killed!"

After Mitsuhisa Shimazu received this information, his emotions were out of control on the spot, and then he drew a long knife and directly slashed the messenger who delivered the message to death.

The soldier who gave the order was also stunned until he died, and his eyes were wide and dead.

Lao Tzu is just sending you a letter, and the victory or defeat of the war has nothing to do with Lao Tzu!

If you lose the battle, you can't rely on me, but now you say that you will cut Lao Tzu, and I am not unjustly killed!

But at this time, the retainers of the surrounding Shimazu family didn't care about the life or death of such a soldier, they were more concerned about what made their feudal lord so violent.

It was the first time they had seen their feudal lord look so out of shape, something big must have happened.

"Lord, what's wrong?"

A retainer of the Shimazu family asked.

Shimazu Mitsuhisa's eyes were red at this time, and after slashing the herald to death with a knife, he roared twice before he calmed down and slowly regained his senses.

"Masao Tsuruta was defeated at Sano Castle, the whole army was annihilated, and Masao Tsuruta also died."

Mitsuhisa Shimazu gritted his teeth and spat out this sentence.

"What!"

At this moment, many of the retainers of the Shimazu family around also exploded at once.

"It's impossible, isn't it always good news from the other day! How did it suddenly become like this! ”

The reactions of these retainers of the Shimazu family were basically similar to those of the Hosokawa family, they were all surprised and incredulous.

"Look at it for yourself, these news just sent by the Hosokawa family, and at the same time, our spies have also confirmed it."

Shimazu Mitsuhisa was so angry that he threw the two letters in his hand below for others to see.

Two letters, one from the Hosokawa family and one from their own spies from Higo Province.

All of them confirmed one thing, that is, the 30,000 elites sent by their Shimazu family and commanded by Masao Tsuruta were wiped out in the battle of Sano Castle, and even the commander Masao Tsuruta was killed.

"This ...... This...... How is it possible, the army of 30,000 is gone, Tsuruta Masao, this old horseman, mistakenly I am the Mosa Domain! ”

After reading the letter, someone beat his chest and shouted, still cursing the dead Tsuruta Masao.

Mitsuhisa Shimazu sat on top with a gloomy face, not saying a word.

"Ming Army, this revenge will not be avenged, and I, Shimazu Mitsu, will not be a man for a long time."

Mitsuhisa Shimazu said through gritted teeth.

At the beginning of March, the White Dragon Army, which had rested for several days at Kiyama Castle, regained ammunition supplies from Nagasaki and officially headed for the territory of the Kumamoto Domain.

This time, Li Zixiao deliberately waited for a few days, just to prepare fully, and he was ready to decide Kyushu for this battle.

In terms of artillery alone, Li Zixiao brought more than 300 pieces this time, in fact, more than 30 mortar cannons are even more powerful weapons for siege.

This time, Li Zixiao will accompany Li Zixiao to the end, regardless of whether the Kumamoto Domain and the Mosa Domain are fighting a field battle with them or a battle to defend the city.

At this time, the White Dragon Army experienced two major victories, and its morale was like a rainbow, and the military spirit was available.

On the other hand, the other Wajin clans on Kyushu Island, except for the Hosokawa family, were all greatly injured in the battle of Sano Castle, and it was a good time for them to go south to use troops.

And when Li Zixiao sent his troops south, the Tokugawa shogunate, which was far away in Edo Castle on the island of Honshu, had also received the news of the defeat of Tsuruta Masao's coalition army.

"Waste, the Shimazu family is also waste."

In the Tokugawa shogunate, the next shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, was also furious when he received the news.

"General, the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa family joined forces with other daimyo in Kyushu, and the 60,000 allied army was defeated by that Ming army in less than a month.

It can be seen that we did underestimate the strength of this Ming army from afar!

The development of things has exceeded our expectations, and our shogunate can no longer sit idly by, otherwise the entire island of Kyushu may really be swallowed up by this Ming army. ”

An old minister of the shogunate said to Tokugawa Iemitsu.

"Delusional, this is Japan, not his Ming Dynasty, if he wants to swallow Kyushu, General Ben wants to see how much appetite the Ming Dynasty marquis has."

The Tokugawa family said in a cold voice with a gloomy face.

"The order was sent to the Owari family, the Kii family, and the Mito family to come to the Shogun's Mansion to discuss matters."

"Hey!"

Hearing that Tokugawa Iemitsu convened these three daimyo to discuss the matter, those shogunate officials knew that Tokugawa Iemitsu was going to be serious this time.

You must know that at this time, the Owari family, the Kii family, and the Mito family were called the 'Gosanka', and they were also the three most powerful daimyo of the three clans, all of whom were members of the Tokugawa family.

These three are undoubtedly the three strongest among the many daimyo in the entire Wa Kingdom, and their fiefs are all around the vicinity of Edo Castle on the island of Honshu.

They had a large territory, a large population, and a strong strength, and if Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted the shogunate to send troops, he would inevitably have to negotiate with these three families, and they could not do without the support of these three families.

Soon after, Tokugawa Iemitsu and the feudal lords of the 'Gosanya' discussed overnight, and the decision was also made to send troops to Kyushu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu gave the three families a month to gather other Wa vassal vassals to transfer troops, gather 100,000 troops, and send troops to Kyushu Island.

At the same time, Tokugawa Iemitsu also sent people to Kyushu Island to give orders to the Hosokawa family of the Kumamoto Domain and the Shimazu family of the Mosa Domain, telling them to hold on until the shogunate army arrived.

In addition, in order to share the pressure on the island of Kyushu, the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa family, Tokugawa Iemitsu sent an order to the Mori clan of the Choshu domain.

Let them send their troops, cross the strait, land on the northeast coast of Kyushu Island, Chikuzen Province, support the Hosokawa family and the Shimazu family, fight against the White Dragon Army, and buy time for the arrival of the shogunate army.

Soon, the Hosokawa family received a message from the Tokugawa shogunate.

At this moment, the Hosokawa family was extremely excited, and the morale of the army was greatly boosted, and it also made Hosokawa Mitsushang's originally worried mood and wavering attitude immediately firm.

Whether it was the Hosokawa family or the Shimazu family, until this time, they still believed that they would be the ultimate victor in this war.

After the White Dragon Army landed on Kyushu Island, it experienced two great victories, destroyed the Hida Domain, severely damaged the Mosa Domain, and fought a great victory.

But Hosokawa Mitsusho believes that it is still impossible for this Ming army to gain a foothold on Kyushu Island, after all, this is not the Ming Dynasty, it is the Wa Kingdom, and this Ming army belongs to foreign invasion.

As long as the support of the shogunate army arrives, the White Dragon Army will definitely be defeated.

Therefore, at the beginning, Hosokawa Mitsusho had the idea of surrendering to the White Dragon Army in his heart, in order to save their family, but now this thought completely dispelled him.

At the same time, on March 3, Li Zixiao led an army of 50,000 to arrive outside Kumamoto Castle.

From the time he sent his troops to Kiyama Castle to the time they arrived outside Kumamoto Castle, they took less than four days.

In fact, being able to kill Kumamoto Castle so quickly, Li Zixiao was a little surprised.

Originally, Li Zixiao thought that if he led his army south this time and wanted to hit the Kumamoto Castle of the Hosokawa family, he would at least break through the four cities and two passes north of Kumamoto Castle, which lasted about a week.

This has been estimated by Li Zixiao with the fact that the White Dragon Army's offensive is going well.

However, when he led his army into the territory of Hosokawa's Higo Province, they discovered that several castles north of Kumamoto Castle had long been unguarded.

Even, all the officials, wealthy merchants, and landlords in the city have fled with their belongings, and even many people have fled to the south with their families.

In fact, after two major battles, the White Dragon Army annihilated 60,000 or 70,000 daimyo such as the Nabeshima family, the Shimazu family, and the Ito family.

Cutting off the heads of all these Japanese soldiers and placing them in the Kyoto Temple, leaving no one alive, not only frightened the Japanese daimyo such as the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa army, but also frightened the common people of the Japanese country.

In addition, before the Hosokawa family withdrew from the army, they also spread the demonic image of the White Dragon Army killing people everywhere in various cities, and the old and weak women and children did not let go.

Frightened, the people of the Japanese country dragged their families and fled to the south, which was also the situation that the Hosokawa family wanted to see.

Then, when Li Zixiao led the army south, the road was unimpeded, and he went straight to Kumamoto Castle, without losing a single soldier or a single shot.

"Haha, Master Hou, we couldn't have thought in advance that we would kill Kumamoto Castle so quickly!"

Outside Kumamoto City, in the marshal tent of the White Dragon Army barracks, Luo Chao said to Li Zixiao with a smile.

"The Hosokawa family probably wants to defend Kumamoto Castle to the death, and they are reluctant to waste their troops in other places, and they also know that they can't stop our army in other places.

They have staked all their treasures on Kumamoto Castle, mobilized all their troops, and prepared to fight us in Kumamoto Castle! ”

Zhao Zilong next to him also said with a smile.

"Well, most likely." Peng Hao next to him nodded.

At this time, Li Zixiao stood up, walked to the handsome tent, and looked at the big city in front of him, Kumamoto Castle, with a sneer on his face.

"His Hosokawa family wants to compete with us in Kumamoto Castle, and then Benhou will fulfill them.

Since they have gathered all the horses and horses in Kumamoto Castle, it is just right for us to eat them all in one battle, and it will also save the trouble in the back, and we will encircle and suppress them everywhere. ”

"Haha, what Hou Ye said is extremely true."

"Master Hou, when will you attack, this time I will be the vanguard of the siege, and no one will rob me.

Although we won the two battles before, they were too boring, and they were all the musket battalions that were sudden.

Before the Japanese soldiers could rush over, they were all killed by the musketeers, and it was not interesting at all.

This time to attack the city, I must bring someone to go up in person, my sledgehammer is already hungry and thirsty. ”

At this time, Li Tianba stood up violently and blocked Li Zixiao, his eyes were resentful, and he roared with an urn.

That voice, Li Zixiao's eardrum really hurt, and he quickly covered his ears.

"I said Tianba, if you want to ask for war, please fight, why are you so loud, Benhou's ears are not deaf."

Li Zixiao took two steps back, distanced himself from Li Tianba, who looked like a wall in front of him, and said.

"Hehe, I'm not a little excited! Master Hou, you have to agree to my request! ”

Li Tianba smiled innocently and said with some embarrassment.

"Okay, when the siege begins, it's up to you to be the siege vanguard."

Li Zixiao smiled and agreed to Li Tianba's request.

"Haha, thank you Master Hou, Master Hou, you wait.

I won't let you down, and I'll take this city for you.

I would like to make a military order. ”

Li Tianba patted his chest and reassured.

(End of chapter)