798 60,000 coalition troops came to attack

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At the beginning of February of the 16th year of Chongzhen, in the north of Higo Province on the island of Kyushu in the Wa Kingdom, at the junction with Chikugo Province, near the small town of Tule on the side of Higo Province.

At this time, the northernmost town of the Kumamoto domain of the Hosokawa family was not unpeaceful, because more than 60,000 Japanese soldiers were gathered here at this time.

The 30,000 Japanese soldiers of the Shimazu family of the Mosa Domain, the 20,000 Japanese soldiers of the Hosokawa family of the Kumamoto Domain, and 10,000 Japanese soldiers from the seven smaller feudal clans on the island of Kyushu joined forces here.

In the end, there is no doubt that the Shimazu family's general Tsuruta Masao was finally selected as the commander of the coalition forces, the main general of the Hosokawa family, Hosokawa Qinian, as the deputy commander, and another Ito Kateng as the deputy commander.

Ito Hetenai is the chief general of the Ito family, and the Ito family is another small vassal in Kyushu, and among the other seven small vassals, it is considered the strongest, sending 3,000 troops.

The seven small clans also know that by forming a group, they can have a little say in the hands of the two powerful clans of the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa family.

Therefore, before they met in Tule City, these seven small vassals had already reached a consensus, united with each other, and advanced and retreated together.

Moreover, the selection of the strongest Ito family's main general, Ito Hateng, as their commander-in-chief, gave Ito Hatten the same qualifications as the Hosokawa family to serve as the deputy commander of the coalition forces.

Subsequently, Tsuruta Masao ordered the whole army to rest for a day in Tule City, and tomorrow the whole army will go north.

The generals of the Hosokawa family, looking at the generals of the Shimazu family who were pure and eager to try, were very excited, and they all frowned.

This time, the Shimazu family really planned to obey the orders of the shogunate and go north to attack the Ming army that occupied Saga Castle at this time!

But the Hosokawa family and the Shimazu family think differently, the Hosokawa family is not as ambitious as the Shimazu family, and the military strength is not as strong as the Shimazu family.

To say that the military strength of the Shimazu family is indeed much stronger than that of the Hosokawa family, and at the same time, the ancestors of the Shimazu family have produced several famous generals of the Japanese country.

Therefore, the Shimazu family, as always, inherited their family's demeanor, tough and domineering, full of ambition.

And because the Shimazu family has a gold mountain on the territory, there is no shortage of money, so the Shimazu family not only has a large number of troops, but also has the most sophisticated weapons and equipment.

"General, it seems that Tsuruta Masao really plans to fight the Ming army in Saga City, what should we do?"

After the generals of the Hosokawa family returned to their camp, a retainer of the Hosokawa family said to the main general Hosokawa Qi Nian.

Hosokawa Qi Nian smiled and said, "This battle, after all, will be fought, and we have to obey the orders of the shogunate.

Since the Shimazu family is so active, let's let them act as the main force, and let's assist them.

If they can only defeat the Ming army in Saga Castle, we also have a credit.

If they are defeated, then we will definitely not be able to defeat that Ming army, and the shogunate will not be able to blame us at that time, no! ”

"Roaring, what the general said is extremely true."

When the Hosokawa family heard Hosokawa's words, they all laughed.

To put it bluntly, Hosokawa Qi Nian received an order from their feudal lord Hosokawa Mitsusho this time.

That is, no matter whether they can defeat the Ming army in Saga Castle this time, their own army must not lose too much, and the main thing is to preserve their strength.

As for the Shimazu family, they love to fight, so let them fight, and the Hosokawa family wishes that someone would weaken the strength of the Mosa Domain.

In fact, with such a powerful neighbor as the Mosa Domain next to him, the Hosokawa family has always been terrified.

On the fifth day of the second month of the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, Tsuruta Masao officially issued an order, and the coalition forces immediately left Tule City and went to Chikugo Province.

Chikugo Province, which originally belonged to the Hita Domain, has been occupied by the White Dragon Army after the Nabeshima family was defeated by the White Dragon Army.

At this time, in the southernmost part of Chikugo Province, at the junction of Hosokawa Higo Province, a place called Tsuchiban Castle also gathered.

It was Yoshino's 3,000 Japanese soldiers, who had been sent here by Yoshino Shuiichiro in advance.

As early as when the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa family sent troops north, Shuichiro Yoshino received information that he was secretly spying in Kumamoto Castle and Kagoshima Castle.

You must know that in the year that Yoshino returned to the Japanese Kingdom, he took so much silver from Li Zixiao, but he also did a lot of things.

Among them, he bought off many small family samurai and ronin of the Wa Kingdom, as well as some merchants, so that they could provide him with information.

Li Zixiao then learned from Yoshino that the Tokugawa shogunate did not send troops to attack them, but first let the other two powerful feudal lords on Kyushu Island send troops to attack him.

For Li Zixiao, whether the Tokugawa shogunate sent troops to attack, or the other two powerful feudal coalition armies on Kyushu Island came to attack, it was the same for him.

All they have to do is defeat the enemy they are attacking.

Immediately, Li Zixiao summoned Li Yan, Luo Chao, Zhao Zilong, Yoshino Shuichiro and other generals to discuss the battle plan.

At this time, Li Zixiao already had 20,000 White Dragon Army, 20,000 city defense troops, plus 25,000 newly recruited Japanese soldiers under Yoshino.

Compared with the more than 60,000 Japanese soldiers on the side of the Kyushu Island coalition army, the strength is not bad at all, and it is still excessive.

What's more, at this time, according to the information collected by the Hosokawa family about the White Dragon Army, they only knew about the White Dragon Army under Li Zixiao and the men and horses under Shuiichiro Yoshino.

As for the 30,000 horses of the White Dragon Army that had just landed from Nagasaki, they did not know about it now.

According to this situation, Li Zixiao planned to repeat his old tricks, and make another move to invite Jun into the urn, preparing to annihilate the 60,000 allied troops on Kyushu Island in one fell swoop.

Li Zixiao believed that if he could destroy the Shimazu family, the Hosokawa family, and the 60,000 allied troops of the other seven feudal clans in one battle.

At that time, on the entire island of Kyushu, there will be no more that Japanese daimyo who can stop the footsteps of his army.

It's just that this time Li Zixiao summoned the generals and discussed the tactics of luring the enemy, which was more complicated than the previous deal with the Nabeshima family of the Hitian Domain.

After all, when Shuiichiro Yoshino seduced Nabeshima Mitsushige before, Nabeshima Mitsushige didn't know anything about the White Dragon Army.

And now, the Shimazu family and the Hosokawa family, at least knowing their existence, are afraid that it will be difficult to succeed if they directly lure the enemy.

Li Zixiao gathered the generals and discussed all night before he could formulate a more suitable battle plan.

Immediately, the next day, Li Zixiao issued an order, and Luo Chao, Zhao Zilong, Yoshino Shuichiro and other generals led the army to leave Saga City.

Among them, Shuiichiro Yoshino led 25,000 Japanese soldiers to Chikugo Province, the southernmost part of the Hida Domain, and their mission was to deploy several castles in Chikugo Province.

Shuiichiro Yoshino left 15,000 men and horses at Kiyama Castle, the northernmost castle in Chikugo Province, which was also the only way to go north to Hida Province.

Then, Shuiichiro Yoshino deployed another 10,000 men and horses along several castles in Chikugo Province, with only two or three thousand soldiers and horses in each city.

Yoshino Shuiichiro didn't even give these 10,000 horses a fine armor, and what was issued to them was still the ordinary armor and bamboo armor worn by the Japanese soldiers in the past.

Because, these 10,000 recruits are completely prepared by them to sacrifice and lure the enemy, and no matter how good the armor is issued to them, it will be wasted.

Moreover, these 10,000 recruits were recruited by Shuichiro Yoshino at the end, and they have only been trained for about a week, so they don't have much combat power at all.

The subsequent battle basically confirmed this.

The 60,000 allied forces led by Masao Tsuruta entered Chikugo Province.

In five days, he conquered the city of Rokudo in one go, directly penetrated the territory of Chikugo Province, and approached the border of Hitian Province.

And the 10,000 horses sent by Shuichiro Yoshino to defend the city were defeated one after another, and under the onslaught of the Shimazu army, they simply could not hold out for long.

"Haha, these rebels are simply vulnerable."

The consecutive wins of several days made the coalition coach Masao Tsuruta arrogant.

"General, something doesn't seem right!"

At that time, there was someone on the Hosokawa family's side, and he whispered to Hosokawa Qi Nian.

"Well, the general also discovered that up to now, the cities we have conquered have been defended by rebels under the command of Shuiichiro Yoshino.

As for the army of the Ming Dynasty, it has not shown up until now.

Moreover, Ben always felt that our progress in the past few days was too smooth, and he was inexplicably uneasy. ”

Hosokawa Qi Nian said in a low voice.

"The general ordered the Hosokawa family to lead the army to Nagasaki, seize Nagasaki, and cut off the retreat of the Ming army."

At this time, Tsuruta Masao sent an order to Hosokawa Qi Nian, asking him to lead his army to attack Nagasaki, preparing to cut off the retreat of the White Dragon Army.

He led an army of 30,000 and 10,000 horses from other minor vassals to continue north to attack Hita Province and kill Saga Castle.

In fact, Tsuruta Masao asked the Hosokawa family's army to attack Nagasaki, not only with this intention.

He also had the intention of separating the Hosokawa family, and when the time came for them to invade Hita Province and take Saga Castle, the Hosokawa family would share the spoils with them.

At this time, Tsuruta Masao, who was already fluttering because of the winning streak, thought that it would be basically no problem for them to defeat the Ming army and attack Saga Castle.

"General, what shall we do?"

After receiving Tsuruta Masao's order, the Hosokawa family's family will ask.

"Since Tsuruta Masao wants to divide the troops, then let's separate, let's march towards Nagasaki, and keep Saga Castle for Tsuruta Masao."

Hosokawa Qi Nian sneered and said.

He always felt that this time their march was too smooth, and there was a strong smell of conspiracy.

Although the Hosokawa family also knew that the White Dragon Army only had 10,000 people, and it was only by ambushing the Nabeshima family that they won the victory.

However, no matter what, if you can destroy the 20,000 main army of the Nabeshima family in one battle, then the strength of this 10,000 Ming army is definitely not weak.

Moreover, judging from the ambush battle in which the White Dragon Army destroyed the Nabeshima family, the commander of the White Dragon Army is not a simple person.

Hosokawa did not forget the orders of his own feudal lord, and this battle was mainly focused on preserving their strength.

Therefore, at this time, Tsuruta Masao gave him a combat order to divide his troops to attack Nagasaki, which happened to be what Hosokawa wanted in the year.

So, on the 10th of February, Hosokawa Qinian led an army of 20,000 Hosokawa families, left the coalition army, marched in a northwest direction, and rushed to Nagasaki.

But in fact, Hosokawa Qi Nian didn't really plan at all, and immediately led his army to Nagasaki.

After leading his army to separate from Tsuruta Masao, after marching thirty miles to the northwest, he ordered the whole army to stop advancing and find a hidden mountain forest to take refuge.

Subsequently, Hosokawa sent many scouts to inquire about the battle situation on Tsuruta Masao's side.

Hosokawa made up his mind that if the battle on Tsuruta Masao's side could continue so smoothly next.

In the end, he really let Tsuruta Masao lead the coalition army, defeat the Ming army, and attack Saga Castle, and then he will really lead the army to attack Nagasaki.

If during this period, there was an accident on Tsuruta Masao's side and it failed.

At that time, Hosokawa Qi Nian could also react in time, and then lead the army back so that he would not be surrounded by the White Dragon Army.

It can be said that compared to the Shimazu family, which is bent on fighting, the Hosokawa family, even if there are conservatives, is focused on preserving their strength.

On February 12, in the middle of Kiyama Castle in Chikugo Province, Zhao Zilong led 5,000 foot soldiers of the city defense army and arrived here to join Shuiichiro Yoshino.

Zhao Zilong is flying the banner of the Ming Dynasty and pretending to be the main force of the White Dragon Army.

"General Yoshino, you're ready."

After Zhao Zilong arrived at Kiyama Castle, he asked Shuichiro Yoshino.

"Haha, General Zhao, we're ready."

Shuiichiro Yoshino replied with a smile and a little excitement.

By noon, Tsuruta Masao led 30,000 Shimazu troops and 10,000 Ito troops (a coalition of seven small vassals, collectively known as the Ito Army) to Kiyama Castle and immediately launched a siege.

It's just that this time, the Shimazu army and the Ito army did not successfully break through Kiyama Castle as before, but let them hit a nail at the beginning.

"General, look, there is a banner of the Ming Dynasty hanging on the head of the city."

A general of the Shimazu family pointed to the Ming banner hanging on the head of Kiyama Castle and said to Tsuruta Masao.

"Haha, Ben will just say, hit here, it's finally a little difficult.

It turned out that the defenders of the city were no longer the rebels of the dog thieves of Shuichiro Yoshino, but the Ming army, which made sense. ”

Tsuruta Masao laughed, the haze in his heart disappeared, and said.

"Pass the order, the first to break the city will be rewarded with 100 taels of gold, kill a Ming soldier, and kill 5 taels of silver."

Masao Tsuruta was very generous in giving a reward order to boost the morale of the Japanese soldiers on the front line.

"Kill, give!"

After hearing the order given by Tsuruta Masao, the Japanese soldiers of the Shimazu Army fought more heroically one by one, roaring and launching a siege.

In the city, Zhao Zilong and Yoshino Shuichiro led 5,000 city defense troops and 15,000 soldiers of the Japanese barracks to fight the Shimazu army in Kiyama Castle.

In order not to expose the true strength of the White Dragon Army, Zhao Zilong led the 5,000 city defense army, all of which were foot soldiers, and there were no musketeers.

Only Shuiichiro Yoshino's side had 3,000 musketeers, and they were musketeers armed with flintlock pistols.

Zhao Zilong and Yoshino Shuiichiro relied on the 20,000 horses in their hands to fight fiercely against the 30,000 elite Shimazu troops and 10,000 Ito troops who were besieging the city.

Two days after the Shimazu army and the Ito army stormed, they still failed to take Kiyama Castle in front of them.

This made Tsuruta Masao even more sure that the one stationed in Kiyama Castle in front of him must be the Ming army and horse who destroyed the Hita Domain.

After two days of strong attack, Tsuruta Masao ordered the whole army to stop the attack, rest for a day, and then gather men and horses again, and launched a more fierce attack on Kiyama Castle.

(End of chapter)