Chapter 2377: Decisive Battle in Tokyo
Just after escaping from Kinki, Oda Nobunaga issued a handwritten "Message to the People of Japan" and posted it in all areas that had not yet fallen.
In this article, Oda Nobunaga truthfully explained the collapse of Shintoism, but claimed that it was the result of the Han people's underhanded tactics, in order to incite hatred against the Han people among the Japanese who did not know the truth.
In addition, Oda Nobunaga also admitted the disastrous defeat of Kinki, claiming that Japan has reached a critical moment of life and death, and the whole country must work together to survive this crisis.
At the end of the article, Oda Nobunaga expressed his determination to refuse to surrender and fight to the end for Japan. He hoped that the people of the country could support him, and even the entire country could not surrender to the Han people.
This article by Oda Nobunaga can only be described as average in terms of provocation, but the period of publication was very good, just after the collapse of Shintoism.
Shintoism is the belief of most Japanese people, but now it has been exterminated without any warning. For the Japanese people, this is simply a bolt from the blue, no less than the collapse of their faith, and they naturally need a channel to vent their hearts.
Oda Nobunaga guided it very well, transferring all the hatred of the upper-class nobles, middle-class samurai, and lower-class people to the Han people, while at the same time absolving himself of the responsibility he had deliberately concealed.
Under the deliberate guidance of Oda Nobunaga, the people of the Japanese country were filled with resentment, and their hatred of the Han people reached its extreme. They all actively participated in the great cause of resisting the Han people. Those who had money donated money, and those who had food donated food, and those who had no money did not have food. Then people come out.
The Oda family suffered heavy casualties in the First Battle of Kinki. After retreating from Kinki, the original army of 280,000 was even less than 140,000. Even with the local strength of Nobi included, the total strength was still less than 200,000.
But under this nationwide anti-Han wave, Oda Nobunaga re-raised an army of 300,000 in such a short period of time.
The reason why the recruitment was not continued was not because Oda Nobunaga did not want to recruit, but because all the young and strong people in the Nobi area had been recruited. If the recruitment continued, only the old and the weak would be recruited.
But in the face of the Han Chinese coalition armed to the teeth, letting the old and weak go to the battlefield is not much different from sending them to death. No matter how many they are, it will not have much effect.
The Noo area is where the Oda family started, and the capital of the Japanese Empire, Seiju Castle, is also located here.
The Oda family's rule in Nooo was the most consolidated, so they were able to recruit so many troops in such a short period of time.
As for the Kanto region hundreds of miles away, although it had only been occupied by the Oda family for a few years, due to the destruction of Shintoism, it was also responding to Oda Nobunaga's call, and all the young and strong were recruited.
As of the time when the Qin, Wei, Song and Wu kingdoms sent out troops, the total strength of Kanto, the largest plain and most populous region, had reached 200,000. They were composed of Shibata Katsuie and Sakuma Morimasa among the "Oda Four Elders", and Led by Takigawa Kazumasu among the 'Oda Four Heavenly Kings'.
Including the military strength in the Kanto region, that means the Oda family still has an army of 500,000.
Including the four allies Tokugawa (80,000), Takeda (40,000), Shimazu (60,000), and Oyezaki (50,000), Japan's total military strength is still 730,000.
The total population of the five countries is only three to four million, but their military strength is as many as 720,000.
Adding in the troops who died and surrendered in previous battles, the total has reached four to five million.
In other words, in order to resist the invasion of the Han people, the total number of troops mobilized by the Japanese country has completely exceeded one million, reaching nearly one hundred and twenty.
The total population of the Japanese country was only more than six million, but it mobilized a full 120,000 troops. The ratio of soldiers to civilians reached five to one, or even higher.
This is completely beyond the scope of extreme military expansion. Even if the countries in the Central Plains cannot afford this level, they can do it in Japan, which has no human rights and has a fixed class system.
After Oda Nobunaga learned that the Qin army was sending troops to the Kingdom of Kai, he decisively sent additional reinforcements to the Kai Kingdom area, but unfortunately it was still a step too late.
Zhou Yu had long guessed that Oda Nobunaga would send more troops to Kai Kingdom, so before sending troops, he secretly sent his elite troops to Shinano in the north, including Wu Qi, Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, Mi Houwang, Huang Zhong and many other generals. After officially dispatching, they immediately launched a fierce attack.
The total strength of the Oda family in Minami-Shinano is only 20,000, and more than half of them are new soldiers. Their will to resist is not strong, and they cannot stop the fierce attack by Wu Qi and others.
In just two days, all the eight cities of Minami-Shinano were captured by the Qin army, and then they invaded the country of Kai.
Minami-Shinano fell, Kai Kingdom lost its northern gateway, and the Qin army came too fast and fiercely. The Oda army had no time to react and lost a lot of territory.
At this time, it was too late for Oda Nobunaga to send reinforcements. By the time they arrived at Kai Kingdom, the entire territory might have fallen.
Once the Kai Kingdom falls, the connection between Noo and Kanto will also be cut off, and the Japanese troops in the Noo area will also be trapped in a situation where they are attacked from both sides.
After realizing this, Oda Nobunaga ordered Yukimura Sanada, who was guarding Suruga Province, and Mitsuhide Akechi, who was guarding Toe Province, to lead an army of 50,000 each, for a total of 100,000 troops, to recapture Kai Kingdom at all costs.
Akechi Mitsuhide and Sanada Yukimura were originally enemies of the Oda family.
When Japanese pirates invaded the eastern coast, Akechi Mitsuhide and Tokugawa Ieyasu invaded the Yangzhou area, and Sanada Yukimura invaded the Youzhou area, and both plundered a large amount of wealth and returned.
The territories of the Akechi family and the Sanada family were both under the nose of the Oda family. After their return, they were attacked by the Oda family.
The Oda family was also short of money and food. Knowing that the two families had robbed a large amount of food, how could they not eat the fat that came to their lips?
In order to prevent the Uesugi Takeda and other families from ruining his good deeds, Oda Nobunaga mobilized a total of 300,000 troops and started an undeclared war. It only took half a month to destroy the Sanada and Akechi families.
Before other countries could react, the Sanada and Akechi families were already wiped out. Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide were also forced to surrender to the Oda family, and all the money and food they robbed were taken advantage of by the Oda family before they were warmed up.
Oda Nobunaga was originally not prepared to reuse Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide, but the Han people's revenge came too quickly, and he had few generals available for the uprising.
In addition, Akechi Mitsuhide and Sanada Yukimura were both one of the culprits of the invasion of the Han people, and they were absolutely impossible to be accepted by the Han people, so Oda Nobunaga continued to appoint Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide.
Oda Nobunaga naturally knew that it was impossible to recapture Kaiguo from the 150,000 Qin army with only the 100,000 troops of Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide.
Therefore, he also ordered Shibata Katsuie in the Kanto region to lead the 150,000 Kwantung Army to launch an attack on Kai Kingdom from the Kanto region.
Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide's 100,000-strong army will attack Kai Country from west to east.
Shibata Katsuie's 150,000 Kwantung Army will attack Kai Kingdom from east to west.
Under Oda Nobunaga's arrangement, the Oda family could not only avoid a two-sided attack, but could even form a two-sided attack on the Qin army, which can be said to be the best of both worlds.
It only took Zhou Yu six days to occupy most of the Kingdom of Kai, but then he received news that the Japanese countries in Kanto and Kinki were attacking the Kingdom of Kai from the east and west.
The mountainous and narrow terrain of Kai Country is not conducive to large-scale army deployment.
If the Qin army's offensive drags on for too long and the Oda family's east and west armies arrive, it is very likely that due to the terrain, they will be completely trapped in the realm of Kai Kingdom and unable to move.
After seeing through Oda Nobunaga's sinister intentions, Zhou Yu ordered the entire army to speed up the offensive. It took another three days to occupy the entire territory of Kai Kingdom.
After occupying the Kingdom of Kai, Zhou Yu immediately began to divide his troops. After all, even fighting on two fronts was better than being trapped and dying in the territory of Kai.
After some discussion, Zhou Yu decided to adopt the strategy of "defending in the east and attacking in the west".
Send a general to lead a partial division to block the 150,000 troops from Guandong.
Zhou Yu personally led the main force to attack Nongwei, and cooperated with the allied forces of Wei, Song and Wu to attack Oda Nobunaga from east to west, all the way to the capital of the Japanese Empire.
As long as Tokyo City can be breached and the Japanese emperor and Oda Nobunaga can be killed, the Kanto region will be victorious without a fight.
Both Zhou Yu and Oda Nobunaga wanted to attack each other from both sides, and the key to success lies in which side's Western Route Army can win first. The winning side will naturally be able to attack the other side from both sides.
The total strength of the Oda family's east and west armies reached 250,000, while the total strength of the Qin army was only 150,000.
Zhou Yu was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength. In order to minimize casualties, Zhou Yu decided to concentrate his best troops and strong generals to defeat the Oda family's Western Route Army as quickly as possible.
If this is done, the Eastern Route Army will certainly not have too many troops, and the pressure will naturally be greater.
After discussion, Zhou Yu decided to give the Eastern Route Army 30,000 troops and select a general who was good at defense to lead the army.
A 30,000-strong army faced off against a 150,000-strong Japanese army. This was an arduous task.
With such a huge gap in military strength, it stands to reason that not many generals should be willing to take over.
But it was just the opposite among the Qin army. All the generals were very enthusiastic and took the initiative to fight. Even if the enemy was five times more powerful than themselves, they would still be regarded as dirt.
Zhou Yu did not dare to be careless about the choice of the general of the East Route Army.
After all, if the East Route Army fails to hold on, the main force will really be attacked from both sides by the Japanese army, and it will also be in danger of annihilation.
After some thought, Zhou Yu and Guo Jia both decided to let Wu Qi, who was outstanding in strategy and command, serve as the commander-in-chief of the East Route Army, commanding 5,000 Qin troops, 25,000 Qin auxiliary troops, as well as Huang Zhong, Mi Houwang, Gao Shun, Chen Dao and other generals.
After being appointed by Zhou Yu, Wu Qi did not set a direction in Kai's country. Instead, he led an army of 30,000 to capture the Hachioji Castle of Musashi before the 150,000 Kwantung Army arrived in Musashi.
The Japanese defenders of Hachioji City did not expect that under such circumstances, the Qin army would dare to invade under the encirclement of 250,000 troops. Therefore, they were unprepared and were successfully occupied by Wu Qizhi.
Hachioji Castle is a mountain city built on the mountain, which is easy to defend but difficult to attack.
If Wu Qi occupied this city, even if he only had 30,000 troops, he could easily block the offensive of the 150,000 Kwantung Army.
On the other hand, if the Kwantung Army wanted to retake Hachioji Castle, in addition to a strong attack, it could only go from Musashi Country, detour to Sagami Country, enter Suruga Country, and attack Kai Country from Tonomiba Castle.
Such a long road has to be detoured, and regardless of whether the Kwantung Army will be exposed or not, even if it is not exposed, it must capture Fujiyoshida Castle, the gateway to the southern part of Kai Country.
Fujiyoshida Castle is also a fortified city, and it is also the southern gate of Kai Kingdom. As such a hub of the Central Plains, it is naturally impossible for Wu Qi's command to remain undefended.
Even if Wu Qi was really undefended, it would be more than half a month before the Kwantung Army arrived at Fujiyoshida Castle. By then, the Qin Army on the western front might have already won.
After learning that Wu Qi had occupied the Eighth Prince City, Zhou Yu was completely relieved, because the dominance of the subsequent war would return to the Qin army.
Although Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide had as many as 100,000 troops, they were not taken seriously by Zhou Yu.
Zhou Yu held an army of 120,000, including 25,000 elite Qin troops. Under his command were not only powerful Han generals such as Lu Bu, Zhao Yun, and Yue Yun, but also powerful Japanese generals such as Uesugi Kenshin.
Whether it is the military strength or the lineup of generals, Zhou Yu's side is much stronger. How can Sanada survive and Mitsuhide Akechi resist?
Under the fierce attack of Zhou Yu's 120,000 troops, the Oda family's army suffered repeated defeats. In less than half a month, they lost the ten cities of Suruga Kingdom.
Sanada Yukimura and Akechi Mitsuhide had no choice but to retreat to Eotō Country and Mikawa Country. Once these two countries could not defend themselves, the Qin army would invade Owari Country, and Tokyo, the capital of the Japanese Empire, was in Owari Country. within the territory.
At the same time, after the allied forces of Wei, Song and Wu reunited, a total of 200,000 troops were launched from Kinki to attack Noo.
With the two leading parties, Yamata no Orochi and Shuten Doji, the Three Kingdoms Allied Forces' offensive on the thin line was also extremely smooth. After paying a certain amount of casualties, they also successfully occupied Iga Country, then invaded Ise Country and officially set foot in Nongtail Plains.
The Qin army and the Wei, Song and Wu armies all invaded the Nobi Plain, which also showed that Oda Nobunaga's plan to attack from both sides completely failed.
Man proposes, God disposes.
Oda Nobunaga has done everything he should do and shouldn't do. He has tried his best, but the situation is still so decadent.
The only thing Oda Nobunaga can do next, besides waiting for news from the front line, is to strengthen Tokyo's defense. After all, if the east and west fronts cannot be defended, the final decisive battle will definitely break out in Tokyo.
At the same time, Susanoo and others went to rescue Himihu. After searching for more than a month, they could not find any trace of Himihu. However, they learned that the Uesugi family was forced to surrender to the Qin Dynasty, and the troops of the four kingdoms of Qin, Wei, Song, and Wu entered the Nobi area. News of the upcoming rendezvous in Tokyo.
Neither Susano'o nor Tsukuyomi expected that the situation in Japan would decline to such a degree in just one month, and they were both shocked and regretful in their hearts.
If they had not left, would the Uesugi family have persisted longer? The situation would not have deteriorated to this point.
