As early as the first year of Tensho, Shoheng set a strategy of conquering Kyushu first and then destroying Kanto, so he gave up a lot of good opportunities to attack Kanto, and let go of Honda Masanobu, Imagawa Yoshimoto, Takeda Shingen and other forces, and did not surrender them when they were at their weakest. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

In late August of the third year of Tensho, Masahiro learned of the war in Kitakyushu and knew that a good opportunity had come, and before leading an army of 60,000 to leave Osaka Castle, he had already sent a large number of soldiers and horses: 8,400 Izumo of Kiyokawa Hengxiu; Matsushima Hengkatsu's Misaku Department 4,200; Iwase Hengzhong's Tanba Department 3,000; Katayama Hengchang's Boqi, Tajima, and Dunsheng six thousand five hundred; Katsuhisa Kuriya's Wakasa 200; two thousand of the Danhou part of Ge Cage Hengyi; Hisataka Ishikawa's Bichu 3000; , Iga Kutaka and Urakami Muneshi, Akashi Keikin, Kuroda Kataka 5,500 Harima Division; Ueno Masacho and Yoshida Masanari, Kawaki Yorihiro Yamato 12,000; The Shikoku army of Noyama Masato, Shimizu Soji, and Murakami Tsuyuki was 38,000.

The total strength of the army of 85,000 has set off first, and all the soldiers and horses of Masahiro have exceeded 150,000, of which nearly seventy percent of the samurai are all directly under the Masahiro, and more than ninety percent of the ashigaru is paid by Masahiro, so it can be said that most of this group of men and horses belong to the Date family and are directly under the control of Masahiro.

The people of the world originally thought that there were more than three members of the Date family, but the real first appearance still shocked everyone. When the unified feet and banners marched in the direction of Kyushu by land and water, everyone along the way was in awe of this strong army.

In three years, two harvests and two harvests, the Date family controlled all the territory, coupled with the gathering of such a strong army, so that many people who were not willing to be lonely either fled far away, or welcomed the new lord, and no one had the heart to resist.

The news of Zhengheng's expedition reached the ears of his enemies through various channels.

Echigo Province Ichijo Valley Castle.

From the time Asakura Takakera moved from Kuromaru Castle to Ichijoya Castle, the Asakura clan, a famous clan of the Hisakabe clan, ruled from this castle until the fall of the fifth generation of the Governor Asakura Yoshikei.

First under the jurisdiction of the Kaga Acting Officer, Shichiri Yorishu, and then Shichiri Yoshishu was defeated and his prestige was lost, so Honda Masanobu, who had received the help of the Hiraisenji monk corps, entered Ichijo Valley Castle and stabilized the scattered Honganji people.

Honda Masanobu then used the castle as a base to defend against the threat from Tsuruga in the west, and to expand his prestige in the east, uniting the Honganji people. Honda Masanobu knew that he would not be able to get the sincere service of Kaga Honganji Temple as an outsider, so he promoted the followers who followed him while recruiting the relict ministers of Asakura for his own use, and the important ministers of Asakura, such as Uozumi Keigu, Koizumi Nagatoshi, Mizoe Nagaitsu, Mae-Ha Yoshitsugu, Tomita Nagashi, Yamazaki Yoshiie, and Kawai Yoshito, all surrendered to Honda Masanobu.

Today, after learning the news of Date Masahiro's personal expedition to Kyushu, Honda Masanobu recruited Wasuka Masakatsu stationed in Fuchu Castle, and Wasuka Masakatsu led a heavy army to garrison Fuchu Castle, the gateway to Ichijo Valley Castle, and confronted Matsugayama Morikayama in Tsuruga Prefecture from afara. Honda Masanobu originally didn't want to recall Wasuka Masakatsu, but whether it was the relict of the Asakura family or someone else, he couldn't believe it completely, and only Wasuka Masakatsu, who had the same heart as him, was the person he trusted the most, so he was recalled.

Honda Masanobu asked, "How many soldiers and horses does Hikoemon need, and how many days will it take to break through Tsuruga Castle?" ”

Wasuka Masakatsu's heart sank, he didn't expect Honda Masanobu to want to attack Tsuruga Castle, he hesitated, pondered for a moment, and finally shook his head dejectedly, and said: "Honda Temple, it's not cowardice, it's really impossible. ”

Honda Masanobu never imagined that the always arrogant Wasuka Masakatsu would say such a thing, and asked, "Why?" ”

Wasuka Masakatsu said: "To the south of Echizen Province, Omi Province to the west of Mt. Ibuki and Wakasa Province in the Nosaka Mountains, the situation in Nanjo-gun is also deteriorating due to the loss of Suijo-gun. If Suijo Castle cannot be breached in one day, the news will be received from Tsuruga Prefecture, and then the Date forces in Wakasa, Omi, Ise, and Mino will also be reported, and then it will turn into a protracted war. By the time the war is not over, the Date family's expedition to Kyushu may have returned, and how will we deal with the steady stream of Date troops when the time comes. What's more, Wakasa and Tango also have a large Date naval army. ”

Honda Masanobu listened to Wasuka Masakatsu's words, he knew that the other party, as a front-line general who had been confronting the Date Army for a long time, naturally knew some of the things he had overlooked, and he was slightly disappointed, and regained his spirits and said: "Hikoemon, can you tell me how to resist the attack of the Date Army?" ”

Since it is impossible to attack, then it is necessary to consider the issue of defense, and everyone can see that once the expedition to Kyushu is over, the Date family will no longer sit idly by and watch Hokuriku and Kanto, and at that time it will be too late to consider the attack of the Date family, and it is necessary to take precautions first.

Wasuka Masakatsu said: "I am always thinking about this problem when I stay on the front line, how to resist the attack of the Date army, although it is difficult for us to attack Suijo, but it is also difficult to attack us from Suicheng, as long as we deploy heavy troops in the Nosaka Mountains and deploy defenses layer by layer, with the wisdom of Hondaden, we can always seize the opportunity to launch a surprise attack to stop the Date army." However, there is one issue that I have been thinking about below, and that is the Date Navy stationed in Tango and Wakasa countries. Once the Date family made up their minds, this already large naval force would become the biggest threat to the coasts of the Echizen, Kaga, and Noto regions. ”

Honda Masanobu heard the words of Wasuka Masakatsu, and bowed slightly, he arrived in Ono County from before the Omi crossing, and naturally knew that it was really difficult to take the land route, if it wasn't for Asakura Yoshikage's carelessness and the Austrian aid of Kaga Honganji, he was lucky to pass. If he is heavily defended and blocked by layers, he is confident that he can resist the attack of Date Army, but it is true that as Wasuka Masakatsu said, the navy is their shortcoming, and it is urgent to form a navy.

Honda Masanobu bowed slightly, and then talked about his plan, and said: "It is difficult to form a naval army from scratch, and only Echigo and Noto have two ready-made naval armies in this Hokuriku. My idea was to take advantage of the Date Army's expedition to Kyushu and the shrinkage of the Date Army in Tsuruga and other places to fight against the disobedient people in Kaga, Noto and other places. At the same time, he contacted the Uesugi family of Echigo Province and carved up the Echigo-China family in order to achieve a military alliance against the Date family. ”

Wasuka Masakatsu nodded slowly, it is true that as Honda Masanobu said, during the period of Shohiro's personal expedition to Kyushu, the Date army such as Tsuruga Prefecture will definitely shrink their men, which will give them a chance to expand.

While they were still discussing how to expand their territory, the news came from outside that they had been slapped in the face: Moricho Katayama of Tsuruga Prefecture led 3,500 people to burn twelve sentry posts in a row, and came straight to Fuchu Castle.