Chapter 2358: The Eight Japanese Gods of War
In addition to the Takeda family, the Date family also received requests for help.
Today, there are only two families left in the northeastern part of Honshu, the Takeda family and the Date family.
The Date family is a local force in northeastern Honshu, while the Takeda family is an outside force.
After the Takeda family was defeated by the Oda family, they were forced to retreat all the way to the northeast of Honshu and established a country again.
The northeastern part of Honshu is a barren land. The re-emergence of the Takeda family in the northeastern part of Honshu naturally affects the interests of the Date family. There is constant acrimony between the two countries.
In order to prevent the snipe and clams from fighting and benefiting the Oda family, Takeda Shingen smartly promised to the Date family that once they regained their original land from the Oda family, they would voluntarily withdraw from the northeastern part of Honshu.
Naturally, Date Masamune would not believe Takeda Shingen's verbal promise, but if the two families continued to fight each other, it would indeed benefit the Oda family, so they took over this step, and the relationship between the two families also changed. The confrontation turned into a joint fight against the Oda family.
Date Masamune was also a hero of his generation, but he had to admit that Takeda Shingen was better than him.
The Takeda family was once destroyed by the Oda family. This hatred could not be resolved and would never end. However, Takeda Shingen temporarily put aside his hatred for the Oda family for the sake of the greater good, and joined forces with Oda Nobunaga to deal with the outside world.
This kind of heart and courage were something that Date Masamune did not have, so he who was originally hostile to Takeda Shingen gradually changed his attitude and became more and more respectful of Takeda Shingen.
This time the Uesugi family was robbed, Date Masamune originally wanted to ignore it. After all, it was not his Date family that was robbed, and God knows if he sends troops, will the Han coalition forces suddenly land in his country?
It can be seen that Takeda Shingen was so decisive and even personally led the army to support the Uesugi family. This made Date Masamune realize his shallowness again, so he changed his mind and decided to personally lead the army to support the Uesugi family.
When he learned that the Date family was also willing to send troops to help, Uesugi Kenshin was overjoyed.
The Takeda family had 30,000 reinforcements, and the Date family had 40,000 reinforcements. The total strength of the two families reached 70,000.
Including the 80,000 troops of the Uesugi family, the total strength of the Uesugi, Takeda, and Date families has reached an astonishing 150,000 troops.
The total strength of the Qin army was less than 60,000. Even if the 6,000 or 7,000 surrendered troops of Echigo Kingdom were included, the strength was less than one-half of the three alliances.
What's more, the Uesugi family is in the south, the Takeda family is in the north, and the Date family has also entered the mountainous area, and is about to come from the east, as if they are going to be surrounded on three sides.
Once the three families are encircled on three sides, the Qin army will undoubtedly be passive. This is something Zhou Yu cannot bear no matter what.
Therefore, after some discussion, Zhou Yu decided to adopt Guo Jia's strategy and divide his troops to resist the enemy.
The Qin army does not have many troops to begin with. If they divide their troops, it will only further weaken their strength.
In this regard, except for a few people such as Wu Qi and Wang Jian, most of the generals such as Lu Bu, Dian Wei, Xu Chu, etc. were puzzled. It was not until they heard Zhou Yu's explanation that they suddenly understood.
“The two countries of Echigo, Vietnam and China are facing the sea on one side and surrounded by mountains on three sides. It can be said that it is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
If our army hadn't landed from the sea and attacked directly, I'm afraid it would have taken a lot of effort.
Now the Takeda family's army is coming from the north. If they want to enter the Echigo Plain, they must cross the mountainous area in the north.
Zhou Yu stood in front of a map that was as tall as one person, and as he spoke, he placed the small flag in his hand on the mountainous area, and then continued: "In the same way, if the Ida family comes from the east, they must also cross the mountains to the east. , in order to successfully enter the plain area.
If our army can occupy it first and rely on the favorable geographical location to set up camps for defense, it can completely block the 70,000-strong army of the two families with a small number of troops and buy time for the main force to destroy Uesugi. "
This is the reason why Zhou Yu decided to divide his troops despite knowing that dividing his troops would disperse his strength, because his purpose was just to resist the enemy and buy time for the main army to defeat the Uesugi family.
Although the Qin army has a small number of troops, its combat effectiveness is strong enough. If it relies on the favorable location, it will definitely buy enough time for the main force, and this period of time is the prime time for the main force to destroy the Uesugi family.
Hearing Zhou Yu's words, most of the generals present looked surprised. Only a few people, such as Wu Qi and Wang Jian, had indifferent expressions on their faces, as if they had guessed it a long time ago.
"In order not to affect the upcoming war, the two divisions separated this time can only have a maximum of 5,000 troops. I wonder which general is willing to take on this important task?"
As soon as Zhou Yu finished speaking, Wang Jian and Wu Qi seemed to have expected it. They immediately stood up and asked for orders in unison: "The final general is willing to go."
Upon seeing this, generals Gao Shun, Zhang He, Ju Yi and others who were a little slow also quickly stepped forward to ask for orders.
In the eyes of the generals of the Wei, Song, and Wu kingdoms, a five-thousand-strong army facing off against thirty-forty-thousand Japanese troops might be an extremely difficult task, but in their eyes, it was just like that. If they were lucky, they might be able to win.
Seeing this, Zhou Yu thought for a while and said: "The three generals Gao Shun, Zhang He and Ju Yi commanded are elite battalions. In the battle with the Uesugi family, the enemy defended and we attacked, so the elite battalions must contribute." That’s all.”
Hearing this, General Gao Shun looked helpless, and then retreated together. Zhou Yu's eyes also fell on Wu Qi and Wang Jian.
"Wu Qi (Qi) and Wang Jian (Jian) obey orders." Zhou Yu shouted in a low voice.
"Mo will be here." The two of them clasped their fists together and responded.
"I have ordered you two to lead an army of five thousand each. Wu Qi goes north to resist the Takeda family's army, and Wang Jian marches east to resist the Date family's army. We will never let the two armies come over to fight with each other."
"promise."
Wu Qi and Wang Jian responded in unison.
Wang Jian subconsciously glanced at Wu Qi, only to find that the other person was also looking at him. Both of them also saw a hint of something strange in the other's eyes.
Wu Qi: (￣ω￣)
Wang Jian: (￣︿￣)
Zhou Yu only asked them to guard the northeastern two directions to buy time for the main army to destroy the Uesugi family, but what the two of them wanted was not just to buy time.
Even if they only have 5,000 troops in hand, and the enemy's strength is six or seven times more than their own, what they want is still to defeat the enemy, not to passively defend.
"There will be some disobedience to military orders abroad."
Both Wang Jian and Wu Qi saw the meaning in each other's eyes, and their decision was destined to add a lot of color to this battle.
Facing the encirclement of the Uesugi, Takeda, and Date families, Da Qin not only did not give in at all, but instead divided its forces to fight against the three coalition forces.
This courage and courage frightened Uesugi Kenshin again, and he then increased the recruitment of troops for defense.
"Your Highness the Daimyo, we can no longer continue to conscript troops. If we continue to do so, the people will not be able to bear it." Usami Sadamitsu, one of the Uesugi Four Heavenly Kings, commented.
"No, conscription cannot stop, it must continue."
Uesugi Kenshin's eyes were full of solemnity, and he said in a deep voice: "Zhou Yu is a man of both wisdom and courage. Since he dares to divide his troops to fight on three fronts, he must be certain that before Takeda and Date can break through the two fronts of the north and east , destroy my Uesugi family."
Uesugi Kenshin has been lurking next to Zhou Yu for more than a year. She asked herself that no one in Japan knew Zhou Yu better than she did. It was precisely because she knew Zhou Yu well enough that she came to such a conclusion.
"Why is Zhou Yu so confident? What are his trump cards? We don't know.
The only thing we can do is to continue to recruit troops, improve ourselves as much as possible, and narrow the gap with the Qin army, so the recruitment must not stop. "
Hearing Uesugi Kenshin's words, Kakizaki Keike, Naoe Keetsuna and others couldn't help but look helpless, feeling that the family governor was too cautious.
The Uesugi family had an army of 80,000, but Zhou Yu only had 50,000. Moreover, the Uesugi family was on the defensive, and Zhou Yu was the attacker.
So, is it really necessary to be so cautious? Even at the expense of overloading the army?
Uesugi Kenshin saw the expressions of his subordinates, but he didn't listen to her words, but he didn't care, as long as his governor treated them with caution.
"By the way, have you contacted Amaterasu-sama?"
Uesugi Kenshin asked. She also belongs to the Onmyoji lineage. When facing the leader Himiko, even as a daimyo, she must be addressed as 'sir'.
"We got in touch. Amaterasu-sama took the message very seriously after receiving it, and decided to send Susano-o, the great god, and two guardian deities to come to support our family."
Uesugi Kenshin couldn't help but breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this. She was afraid that Amaterasu would reject her request for help. After all, Amaterasu didn't even help her husband Oda Nobunaga, but she didn't expect that Amaterasu would come to help the Uesugi family now.
Uesugi Kenshin clearly knew that the gap between the Uesugi family and the Qin army was not only the overall quality of the soldiers, but also the gap in the strength of the generals.
Uesugi Kenshin is the most powerful person in the Uesugi family, but she is not even ranked among the Qin army. Therefore, if you want to block the Qin army's offensive, you must have a general who can match the Qin army in terms of force. .
The overall strength of Japan's generals is indeed not that strong, but it does not mean that Japan has not produced strong men. It is just that these masters are concentrated in the Shinto religion, and the most famous among them are the five male guardian gods.
The five major protective male gods of Shintoism are: Susanoo (god of the sea), Gokenrai (god of thunder), Kagutsuchi (god of fire), Oyama Tsumi (god of mountains), and Shinato Hiko (god of wind);
To put it bluntly, even Honda Tadakatsu, the most powerful general in Japan, is no match for any of the above five people.
In addition to these five people, there are three top powerhouses who were labeled as monsters by Shintoism. As far as Uesugi Kenshin knew, their strength was not weaker than these five male gods.
These three demons were all fierce generals who were active in Japan during the Yamatai period. However, during the rise of Oda Nobunaga, they were defeated by the powerful Shintoists one after another. After that, they never showed any trace of the country again, and their life and death are unknown.
They are: Yamata Torochi (Yamata no Orochi), Shuten Doji, Abiryu Wei (Otakemaru);
Yamata no Orochi, the strongest among the three great monsters, even had the record of single-handedly challenging three of the five great male gods except Susanoo.
Although Yamata no Orochi was defeated miserably in the end, he was able to escape unscathed, which is enough to prove his strength.
As for the other two demons, Shuten Doji and Otakemaru, they are also not weak in strength. If they are one-on-one, they are no weaker than the other four gods except Susanoo.
The five great male gods and the three great demons are all top warriors born in Japan.
This also shows that Japan has been glorious for a period of time, and there are not a few masters.
It wasn't until Himiko was sequestered to break through the Grand Master, and Oda Nobunaga took the opportunity to usurp the throne and establish the Japanese Empire, that the conflict between religion and state completely broke out.
During the previous Yamatai Kingdom, the state system implemented was a political model. The people were all Shinto believers, and they would learn from the prophets and then learn about the country.
Oda Nobunaga felt that long-term implementation of this model would be harmful to the country, so the Japanese Empire he established implemented a model of separation of politics and religion.
Oda Nobunaga's strategy was right. The state system that separated politics and religion was indeed more superior than Japan, but it also offended a large number of Shinto leaders.
The five male guardian gods, headed by Susanoo, were all dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga's move to usurp the throne and separate politics and religion, and even wanted to kill Oda Nobunaga.
But Oda Nobunaga is Himiko's husband after all. As the leader of the cult, Himiko didn't nod, so Susanoo and others naturally did not dare to attack Oda Nobunaga.
Although Susano'o and others could not kill Oda Nobunaga, they would never serve the Japanese Empire, so they all announced their retirement, which also greatly weakened the vitality of the Japanese Empire.
With the five male guardian gods retreating and the life and death of the three demons unknown, the most powerful general in Japan turned out to be the most powerful general of the Tokugawa family, Honda Tadakatsu.
But Honda Tadakatsu is just a god general. He doesn't even have the strength of a junior god of war. How can he afford the title of 'the strongest'?
Since then, Japan has also fallen into a period of inactivity with a gap between top military commanders.
Uesugi Kenshin knew that it was not that there were no masters in Japan, but that the real masters were unwilling to come out, and the only one who could make them come out was Himiko, so he asked Himiko for help through the Onmyoji lineage.
After receiving the news, Himiko immediately convened the Shinto high-level officials for discussion, and came to the conclusion that once the Uesugi family was destroyed, the situation in Japan would completely deteriorate, so he decided to let the strongest Susano'o lead two guardian gods. Go to support the Uesugi family.
Long before the Battle of Tsushima, the Onmyoji lineage and the Shinto sect had reached a consensus and decided to help the local forces expel the Han coalition forces.
Facing the Han coalition forces including Da Qin, Himiko, Abe Seimei and other Onmyoji lineage knew that they must unite all the forces that can be united, so Abe Seimei went to Kyushu Island alone to find Yamata no Orochi.
In addition to Abe Seimei, Tsukuyomi was also sent to Hokkaido to find the reclusive Otakemaru, while Himiko personally went to invite Shuten Doji.
That's right, Yamata no Orochi and the other three demons are not dead, and they were deliberately let go by Shinto.
Himiko originally thought about subduing her and absorbing her into Shintoism, but she did not expect that her husband Oda Nobunaga, who had high hopes for her, betrayed her.
Now that the Yamatai Kingdom has been destroyed, and the Japanese Empire has separated politics and religion, there is no point in conquering the three demons.
Yamata no Orochi and the other three demons did not know Himihu's intentions. The reason why they had been hiding incognito in Tibet over the years was not from Oda Nobunaga, but from the Shinto sect headed by Himihu.
