"Huhuha! Huhuha! Huhuha..."
The Toyotomi soldiers who stood in layers outside Fukuyama Castle, the main city of Bingo Fukuyama Domain, let out loud cheers. The five-seven-tung pattern flag that symbolizes the Toyotomi family has appeared on the tall and majestic Fukuyama Castle. On top of the city wall.
After several months of siege and two brutal battles under Fukuyama Castle, they finally won a major victory for the Toyotomi family, no, it should be for the Shimazu family. The lords of the Fukuyama Domain, Mizuno Katsada and Shitsuki Mizuno Katsune, who had led their retainers and feudal troops to hold out for several months, walked out of the city gate dejectedly in white mourning clothes an hour ago, and both of them were inside a white curtain. Commit seppuku... This is the Shimadzu family's condition to save the lives of the remaining members of the Mizuno clan and the defenders of Fukuyama Castle!
Standing on a high hillside outside the city, Mitsuhisa Shimazu, the governor of the Shimazu family and the chief eldest son of the Toyotomi family, finally showed a satisfied smile.
This Fukuyama clan was a nail in the Tokugawa shogunate's power in China!
The former lord of the Fukuyama Domain, Mizuno Katsunari, was a famous general. He served as the vanguard general in the Osaka Summer Formation, commanding a total of 3,800 troops from the Yamato domains to attack as the vanguard of the Tokugawa Army. In the subsequent Battle of Komatsuyama, Mizuno Katsunari led his troops to engage in a fierce battle with 2,800 men from Goto Matabei's troops who came for a sneak attack. They fought from early morning to noon and finally defeated them, and also killed Goto Matabei himself. Later, Mizuno Katsunari led his troops to pursue, and once again encountered more than a thousand people from Kanegoshi Susukada's command, defeated them again, and killed Susukada himself.
Because of these two victories, Mizuno Katsunari received a fief of 60,000 koku in Yamato. During the Yuanwa period, he was moved to Bingo in China to monitor foreign daimyo such as Mouri, Yoshikawa, and Asano. And with the support of the shogunate, the tall and majestic Fukuyama Castle was built using the remains of Fushimi Castle - such a castle is not something that a daimyo with 110,000 koku can own. The iron-rooster shogunate is willing to use its own money to support the Fukuyama Domain The construction of the city shows how much expectations were placed on the Mizuno family.
It's a pity that Mizuno Katsada is not Mizuno Katsunari...he doesn't know how to defeat the enemy in the field. As a result, in the first battle of Fukuyama, the troops were first blown away by the artillery battalion commanded by Bassabo, and then fell apart under the impact of Shimadzu's spearmen, and also brought down the main force of the shogunate army commanded by Masayuki Hosanna. After this battle, Mizuno Katsada retreated into Fukuyama Castle and wanted to use the strong castle left by his father to kill the Shimazu family.
As a result, the Shimadzu family brought a 24-pound cannon salvaged from the sunken Spanish warship. After a few hits, Mizuno Katsusada was so frightened that he sent an envoy to seek help from Hoshina Masayuki, who had evacuated to Himeji Castle.
And Masayuki Hoshina did not dare to give up an important city like Fukuyama Castle - if Fukuyama Castle could not be used to block the Toyotomi family in China, then the war of the Toyotomi Resurrection Campaign would have reached Kinai! Therefore, Masayuki Hoshina had no choice but to bite the bullet and lead the shogunate army that had not completed training to attack. As a result, he was defeated again at Fukuyama Castle.
After witnessing another disastrous defeat of the shogunate army, Mizuno Katsada was frightened and actually sent someone to ask for surrender from the besieging Shimazu army.
As soon as the news of the surrender spread in Fukuyama Castle, it caused the disintegration of the Fukuyama feudal army... Fukuyama Castle, which could have been able to hold on for a while, collapsed instantly. As a result, Mizuno Katsuda and Mizuno Katsune also lost their bargaining power, so they had to commit seppuku to preserve the family bloodline. It was not Shimazu Mitsuhisa's request that Mizuno and his son be killed, but the Mori family's request. Because the Mizuno family is responsible for monitoring the Mori family, they have bullied the Mori family a lot in the past thirty or forty years...
After forcing Mizuno and his son to death and seizing Fukuyama Castle, the Toyotomi army, led by the Shimazu, Mori, and Asano (Hiroshima Domain) families, has blocked the access to the China area from Sanyo Road.
It cannot be said that victory is in sight, but at least we can be invincible!
Shimazu Mitsuhisa, who was in a good mood, turned around and was about to say a few encouraging words to the generals who were following him in his expeditions. He saw his younger brother Kawasama Hisao running out of breath from the foot of the mountain, holding a hand in his hand. letter, and his face was quite solemn.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Hisao Kalashama was the chief of the secret service, that is, the spy chief... Looking at him like this, there must be some bad news, right?
The biggest difference between the current Japanese civil war and the earlier Warring States Period is that external intervention forces play a decisive role!
The reason why the Shimadzu family is able to kill Shima Bizen is because more than 2,000 Spanish sailors joined the Shimadzu family's army after the Battle of Kagoshima Bay. Therefore, the Shimazu family's musketeers and artillery teams had an overwhelming advantage over the Tokugawa shogunate army.
But there was also a big country behind the Tokugawa Shogunate, and it was the Celestial Empire that was big enough to crush the Shimazu family!
For more than a year, Shimazu Mitsuhisa has been looking for a way to join the Ming Dynasty, but the problem is that the Shimazu family cannot do without the Spaniards! Therefore, there is no way to knock on the door to join the Ming Dynasty...
"Lord, Ming Guo has taken action!" As soon as Huashan Jiushang spoke, there was a sound of inhalation all around.
Shimazu Mitsujiu kept his composure and snorted coldly: "Why panic? The advantage is on our side now, and the Toyotomi family already has a hundred thousand troops. Even if the Ming Dynasty sends troops, we will still be able to fight! I don't believe it, The Ming Dynasty could invest as many troops on Japanese soil."
His judgment was correct. Zhu Cihong had to settle accounts before fighting a war - it was not a battle that was a loss and he would not fight it. Strategic losses were okay, but they must be within an acceptable range!
Sending 100,000 or even 50,000 troops to directly intervene in Japan's civil war is a loss of little value... Emperor Zhu has already obtained the Nagasaki he wanted. If he continues to invest in Japan's civil war, he can still make money. To what? Sado's gold? Iwami’s silver? Now the Tokugawa shogunate and the Shimadzu family will spend large sums of gold and silver to buy the Ming Dynasty's arms!
"It's not about sending troops!" Huashan Jiushang quickly added.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa laughed, "What can we do if we don't send troops? Empty words cannot scare the Shimadzu warriors!"
"Hahaha......"
The surrounding Shimazu family samurai all laughed - as long as no troops were sent, everyone had nothing to fear.
However, Hisao Kayama still looked like he was in imminent danger, "My lord, tomorrow we will take part in Japan's imperial examination!"
"Nani?" Shimazu Mitsuhisa was confused.
What kind of operation is this?
"Japan's state-owned imperial examination?"
"What is the imperial examination?"
"Huashan adheres to the principle, let's make it clear..."
The surrounding generals of the Shimazu family all urged the implementation of this strategy.
"Lord," Huashan Jiushang handed the letter to him with both hands, "you'd better read it yourself!"
See for yourself? What news is so scary? Shimazu Mitsuji didn't say anything else. He took the envelope, took out the letter paper inside, unfolded it and read it.
At first glance, his expression changed drastically!
"Baga...the emperor of the Ming Dynasty has a very bad conscience!" Shimazu Mitsuhisa gritted his teeth and cursed, "He actually came up with such a sinister method!"
"Lord, what happened?" Someone among the generals of the Shimazu family present asked immediately.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa's face was ashen and he said word by word: "The Ming Dynasty and the Tokugawa Shogunate will jointly organize Japan's imperial examination... Any samurai who has no family income can take the exam. Those who pass the exam will Official positions or military quotas will be awarded based on merit in the civil and military examinations.
The 300 people with the best scores can become royal family members.
In addition, there are 20,000 shogunate troops and 80,000 Ming Dynasty Nanyang Expeditionary Forces. Anyone admitted to the Ming Dynasty's Nanyang Expeditionary Force will receive a salary of 26 taels of silver every year, and they do not need to bring any equipment or armor... Those who have meritorious service in battle can also get a fiefdom in Nanyang and become a warrior of the Ming Emperor. ! "
Having said this, Shimazu Mitsuhisa's body shook a little, and the two young people around him quickly supported him.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa let out a long sigh and whispered: "This is the biggest crisis for our Shimazu family. Only by uniting as one and uniting can we overcome the difficulties and continue the family... I hope you will unite and fight to the end! "
It's a good thing to say, but everyone knows that it will be difficult for the Shimadzu family to survive this difficulty...
