Chapter 2356: Ming Dynasty joins the war, Zhu Di personally fights
Zhou Yu ordered Xu Huang to lead 10,000 troops and 10,000 surrender troops to land in Shijian Kingdom first. Naturally, this was because most of Shijian Yinshan was in Shijian Kingdom.
That's right, Iwami Ginzan is not a mine, but a whole mountain of mines.
There are also many silver mountains in the three countries of Izumo, Aki, and Bingo. This is the main reason why Zhou Yu captured all six countries in the western part of Honshu.
After allocating 20,000 troops, Zhou Yu still had 60,000 troops at his disposal, so he personally commanded the troops to land from Echigo country in the middle of Honshu Island and mainly attack the four countries of Echigo, Echichu, Echizen, and Noto.
The reason why Zhou Yu chose to land in Echigo Country is naturally because within the territory of Uchichigo Country, there is the largest gold mountain in Japan, the Sado Gold Mountain. This is the goal that Zhou Yu must win in this conquest of Japan.
Echigo Country is the territory of the Uesugi family, which means that Zhou Yu will once again face off against his old rival Uesugi Kenshin during this expedition.
As for the Kai gold mine in Kai Kingdom, after capturing Iwami Ginzan and Sado Gold Mountain, Zhou Yu will naturally send troops to occupy Kai Kingdom.
Zhou Yu didn't know that Uesugi Kenshin was the maid Shang Shanshan who had served him. If he knew about it, he would probably be frightened into a cold sweat. After all, Shang Shanshan had more than one chance to kill him.
This time, the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu agreed to send troops to Honshu together. The wealthy Qin army chose to split into two groups and land at the same time from Ishimi Kingdom in the west of Honshu and Echigo Kingdom in the middle. The three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Wu were far less wealthy than the Qin army. So they concentrated their forces to attack all the way.
The Wei army will land in Inaba Kingdom and attack the four kingdoms of Inaba, Boqi, Tajima, and Tango.
The Song army will land in Bizen country and mainly attack the four countries of Bizen, Bizhong, Meisaku and Harima.
The Wu army will land in Tango country and attack the four countries of Tango, Tanba, Wakasa and Omi.
According to the arrangement of the four countries, if troops are sent out, the entire western and central parts of Honshu will face the front of the Japanese conquest coalition and will be divided among the four countries.
Just before the Allied Forces of the Four Nations were about to invade Honshu, something happened that surprised everyone, that is, the Ming Dynasty navy suddenly appeared and attacked Shikoku Island by surprise.
The Ming army's sudden participation in the war not only caught the Japanese forces off guard, but also the princes of the Central Plains were also extremely surprised. Obviously, they did not expect that the Ming country would also come to grab the cake.
Zhu Di originally intended to obtain a large amount of money and food through the conquest of Japan, which could be used to develop his country's internal affairs. The reason why he had been holding back was that he just wanted the four-nation coalition to take the lead and test the reality of the Japanese country.
After receiving the news that the Four Nations Allied Forces had occupied Kyushu Island in just one month, Zhu Di felt that Japan was simply a weak persimmon, so he decided to personally lead 20,000 navy troops and 40,000 army troops to conquer Japan. Suck the blood of Japanese people to strengthen themselves.
Zhu Di originally wanted Zhu Tianpeng to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Japanese expedition, but he was persuaded by Fan Zeng. The reason was also very simple. He could not increase Zhu Tianpeng's prestige.
Zhu Tianpeng had always wanted to promote the merger of the Ming and Qi states, but the process was not smooth. Not all Qi generals were willing to join the Ming state.
The Ming Dynasty, which has a weak foundation, does not have the financial resources to digest the Qi Kingdom in one go, and if it is forcibly merged, the command will suffer from indigestion.
Therefore, even though Qi and Ming have become one country now, Zhu Di still has not officially announced that Qi will be merged into Ming.
As long as this merger announcement is not announced for a day, even if Qi Ming has merged militarily, legally speaking, the two countries are still not the same country, and Zhu Di and Zhu Tianpeng are equal beings.
Zhu Tianpeng's prestige is already higher than that of Zhu Di. His selfless move to annex Qi to the Ming Dynasty won the favor of a large number of Ming troops. If he is allowed to serve as the chief general in the Japanese expedition and continues to establish his prestige, he will really succeed. Gaogai Lord.
In order to protect Zhu Tianpeng, Fan Zeng prevented him from taking the post of general and suggested that Zhu Di personally conquer the Japanese and establish his power.
Nowadays, many generals in the Qi army are very critical of Zhu Tianpeng's defection to the Ming Dynasty. Some of Zhu Tianpeng's confidants even feel that Zhu Di is not as good as Zhu Tianpeng at all, so the Ming Dynasty should be merged with Qi.
Zhu Di did not have enough prestige to convince the Qi generals, so he had to perform meritorious service to improve his prestige. This conquest of Japan was a good opportunity for Zhu Di to make meritorious service and establish prestige.
As for whether Zhu Di's personal expedition will be in danger and be targeted by the four-nation alliance? Or even a war?
Fan Zeng thinks absolutely not. After all, the main theme in all countries now is self-cultivation, and no one is willing to take the lead in breaking the balance at this stage.
Among the four Central Plains kingdoms, no matter which king experiences turmoil, it will only be Qin that ultimately benefits.
Therefore, if the Qin State targets Zhu Di, the three kingdoms of Wei, Song, and Wu will never sit idly by and ignore it, and will even stand up to stop it.
Moreover, Zhou Yu is also a smart man. Before the Japanese local forces are completely eliminated, he will never take the risk of falling out with his allies and target Zhu Di.
Zhu Di felt that Fan Zeng's words were reasonable, so he decisively decided to conquer the Japanese personally.
He personally conquered Japan this time with the mentality of establishing his power and conquering the generals of Qi State, so naturally he did not dare to be careless at all, and the lineup of generals who conquered Japan was also extremely luxurious.
Ming Army Commander: Zhu Di
Military Advisor: Yao Guangxiao
Generals accompanying the army: Zhang Yan, Zhou Cang, Zang Ba, Xiang Zhuang, Li Yan, Li Guo, Chang Yuchun, Chang Mao, Tang He, Mo Ying, Lan Yu, Feng Guoyong, Feng Sheng, Fu Youde, Kang Maocai, Guo Xing , Guo Ying, Zhou Dexing, Wang Yanzhang, Wang Yantong, Xia Rucci...
Troop strength: 20,000 navy, 40,000 army (3,000 Overlord Cavalry, 3,000 Fifth Army Camp)
Among the war gods in the Ming army that conquered Japan, there were three gods: Chang Mao, Wang Yanzhang, and Xia Luqi.
Even among the four coalition forces of Qin, Wei, Song and Wu, only the Qin Dynasty dispatched more war gods than the Ming Dynasty.
Zhu Di dispatched such a lineup, which fully shows his determination to conquer Japan.
Zhu Di did not attack Honshu rashly, but instead attacked Zhou Yu and established a stable logistics base first. As a result, the Four Nations Allied Forces looked down on Shikoku Island, and it became the target of the Ming army.
Eighty percent of Shikoku Island is mountainous, with little cultivated land, and there are no gold or silver mines, so it is extremely barren. The total population is only half a million, which is less than half of Kyushu.
It is precisely because Shikoku Island is too barren that it cannot squeeze out much oil and water, let alone divide it among the four countries.
Therefore, after the Four Nations Allied Forces captured Kyushu Island, they never thought of attacking Shikoku, but chose to directly attack Honshu.
The Four Nations Allied Forces looked down upon Shikoku Island because they had already tasted the sweetness of Kyushu Island. They were used to eating big meals and naturally couldn't eat Kang Yan Cai.
But Mingguo just wanted to use Shikoku as a springboard, and if it could monopolize the entire Shikoku Island, the island's population and resources would be a good meal, so it targeted Shikoku Island.
There are only two forces in Shikoku Island, Imagawa and Hojo, but they are not the native forces of Shikoku. Instead, they were forced to retreat to Shikoku Island after the Oda family destroyed the country. They then destroyed all the major forces in Shikoku and divided Shikoku Island into two parts.
Both Imagawa Yoshimoto and Hojo Ujiyasu received news that the allied forces of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu were about to send troops to attack Honshu.
Both of them realized that the Central Plains Allied Forces might look down on the barren Shikoku Island. Although they felt a little humiliated, they were more relieved and relaxed a little on their defenses.
Imagawa Yoshimoto and Hojo Ujiyasu never expected that in addition to the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu, the Han coalition forces would also have another country, the Ming Kingdom, and they would also target the barren Shikoku Island.
The sudden attack by the Ming army caught the Imagawa Hojo family off guard. By the time they reacted, all 40,000 Ming troops had landed, and naval forces were also sent to destroy major ports, preparing to completely blockade the entire Shikoku Island.
After learning about the actions of the Ming army, the Imagawa Hojo family was greatly frightened. They quickly formed a coalition to fight against the Ming Dynasty. At the same time, they contacted the major forces in the state and asked for support, hoping that they could send people to support Shikoku.
The six daimyo of the six major forces on Honshu Island, Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, Date Masamune, Mori Motokiyoshi, and Uyizaki Nobuhiro, were all horrified after receiving the summons from Shikoku Island.
After all, the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu had already suffered enough for them, but now there was an additional Ming Kingdom. Would this still allow people to live?
Although the six daimyo all wanted to support the four kingdoms, the armies of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu had already made it clear that they would attack Honshu, and they didn't know where they would land from.
The coastline of Honshu Island is too long, and the six countries are all close to the sea. They don't have enough troops to defend their own coastlines. They already lack a sense of security when they are passively attacked. How can they allocate troops to support Shikoku Island.
But if it doesn't help at all, once Ming Dynasty completely captures Shikoku Island, it will definitely use it as a springboard to attack Honshu, and then the pressure on Honshu's forces will be even greater.
Therefore, for the Honshu forces, the best situation for the Shikoku war situation is to let the Ming army fall into the quagmire of Shikoku Island and be unable to allocate troops to attack Honshu Island.
Although the six families could not allocate troops to support the Shikoku Road, they were able to provide ordnance and material support to help the Imagawa-Hojo family expand their army, thereby using the Imagawa-Hojo family to hold back the Ming army.
As for the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song and Wu, they naturally welcomed the Ming Dynasty's attitude towards conquering the Japanese.
After all, we are all Han people, and the Japanese country's territory is not small. The Ming Dynasty is free to attack wherever it wants, as long as it does not seize the territory designated by the four countries and affect their respective interests.
However, in order to prevent everyone from fighting for their own interests in the future, Zhou Yu decided to send an envoy to express his attitude to the Ming Dynasty on behalf of the four-nation coalition.
The Four Kingdoms Alliance can allow the Ming Kingdom to enter the Japanese Kingdom, or it can not interfere with the actions of the Ming Army, or even admit the Ming Army into the alliance, but the Ming Army cannot harm the interests of the Four Kingdoms Alliance, nor can it attack the territory that the Four Kingdoms have occupied, otherwise it will be attacked The four-nation alliance jointly suppressed.
Zhu Di had no intention of becoming an enemy of Zhou Yu. He had only two purposes in conquering Japan, one was to accumulate merit and the other was to make money.
Since everyone has the same purpose, and the Japanese cake is big enough to be divided among the five countries, there is no need to fight. The best policy is to unite and defeat Japan first.
Therefore, after learning that the alliance of the Four Kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu was eyeing the western and central areas of Honshu, Zhu Di decided that after occupying the Four Kingdoms, he would lead his army to attack the eastern area of Honshu, trying his best to avoid the Four Kingdoms Alliance and not fight with it. conflict.
But as for whether to join the Four-Nation Alliance?
Zhu Di originally intended to join. After all, the other four countries were allies, and it would be weak for him to fight alone. However, after Yao Guangxiao's persuasion, he finally gave up this idea.
The Ming Kingdom is different from Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu. The reason why the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu were able to form an alliance and cooperate seamlessly with each other was because the other three kingdoms were all younger brothers of Qin.
The Ming Kingdom is not the younger brother of the Qin Kingdom, nor does it want to be the younger brother of the Qin Kingdom. If it joins the alliance, it will be more likely to be secretly targeted by the four countries, so it is better to fight alone.
Zhu Di declined to join the alliance and wrote his thoughts in a letter, asking the envoy to forward it to Zhou Yu on his behalf.
Zhou Yu originally wanted to dig a hole for Zhu Di when he brought Zhu Di into the alliance. However, after reading Zhu Di's reply, he realized that Zhu Di had experts around him and it was unlikely that he would easily fall into his scheme, so he temporarily gave up and continued to dig holes for him. A plan to cheat.
In the second year of Shenwu, April 10th.
General Xu Huang of Qin led an army of 20,000 troops and landed at Ishimi Country on Honshu Island, kicking off the Honshu War.
Immediately afterwards, the armies of the three kingdoms of Wei, Song and Wu also landed in Inaba, Bizen, and Tango respectively.
For a time, the western and central areas of Honshu Island were in flames of war.
Oda Nobunaga, Mori Genkiyo and other daimyo were horrified after receiving the news, and quickly mobilized their armies to resist.
In fact, after the Battle of Tsushima, Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen, and Uesugi Kenshin made a lot of preparations to fight against the Central Plains coalition forces during the period after escaping, such as rebuilding warships and building weapons. , and internally publicize the brutality of the Han people, etc.
If the countries of Honshu, which are located on the islands, do not regain control of the sea, they will continue to be passively beaten without end.
Therefore, even though they knew that the Japanese shipbuilding technology was not as good as that of the Central Plains, all the major forces chose to continue building ships, which could at least shorten the gap a little.
However, warships that can go to sea are not the same concept as ordnance, and they cannot be built in a short time.
Therefore, in addition to shipbuilding, the six major forces are also building weapons on a large scale and publicizing the brutality of the Han people in order to stimulate people's hatred of the Han people and thus expand their armies on a large scale.
In addition, Oda Nobunaga even recruited coalition forces and prepared to transfer them to the frontline Kyushu Island to help Otomo, Mori, and Shimazu fight against the Central Plains coalition forces.
But what Oda Nobunaga and others never expected was that the entire Kyushu Island had fallen before their army had even been mobilized.
It took the Han coalition forces less than a month to not only destroy the Otomo and Shimazu families, but also occupy the entire Kyushu Island.
The speed was so fast that Oda Nobunaga and others had no time to react.
Now that Kyushu Island has been completely occupied, the Han navy has also blocked Kyushu, and the supporting army cannot board Kyushu Island. Naturally, the significance of rushing to rescue has been lost.
(End of chapter)
