In the colorful autumn colors of Northern California, a team of 2,000 people was forming a long, thin line, marching through the mountains, forests and streams, advancing with difficulty.
It is impossible to build an official road manually. Between the Riverside Fort in America and the Satsuma Valley in California, there are only a few Indian tribes who make a living by hunting. They don't even have wheels, so of course they won't build roads. , just take a casual walk in the woods.
Therefore, Zhu Cihuan's journey south from Hebianbao really felt a bit like overcoming obstacles. Zhu Cihuan, who was a noble man, was also forced to go to Liangshan. From the moment he left the riverside fort, he set an example and stopped riding horses. Instead, he walked with everyone. Not only walking, but also carrying some large but light luggage, wearing straw sandals, Holding a wooden stick, he walked hard in the mountains without roads.
Although the luggage he was carrying did not weigh much, the plate armor Zhu Cihuan wore was real, weighing not more than 20 pounds but only 15 pounds. He wore it when he was marching every day, as if he was always ready to go into battle - mainly because he was afraid of being ambushed. , although he foolishly did not doubt Shimazu Mitsuhisa, there were still some who were more wary among the samurai under him. So when he set off from the Riverside Fort, the prince was already a little scared!
However, his spirit of not being afraid of hardship or fatigue, and being ready to fight at any time, still impressed the people who followed him, such as Masaki Hoshina.
They originally thought that the princes of the Chinese dynasty were similar to the princes of Japan, the kind of losers whose faces were covered with makeup, who spoke in weird ways, and who took a few steps to take a breath. Who knew that the prince of the Ming Dynasty had such good physical strength and could endure hardships so much that he could walk seven to eight hundred miles of mountain road on two feet?
And the most rare thing is that this prince is not particular about life, and he doesn't want to eat anything good. He just likes to take two pieces of very rough baked bread (moon) and stuff it with some minced meat. It tastes so delicious!
It is said that this Chongqing County Prince is the least useful among the adult brothers of the Emperor of Heaven today! The most useless ones are like this, what should the most powerful ones be like?
It seems that it makes sense for me, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, not to be ignored by the warriors of the Ming Dynasty.
The team didn't move very fast because they couldn't go very fast over the mountains and ridges. Although there are guides sent by Satsuma Valley to lead the way, we still get sidetracked from time to time. Even if there is no detour, the path will be cut off by the unknown depth of the river. At this time, you have to explore the road and find shoals. If that doesn't work, you have to build a pontoon...
Therefore, the marching speed has slowed down, and the average day is only twenty or thirty miles. However, the mountain road of more than 800 miles has not reached the end after walking for a month and a half. Because we walked too slowly, the dry food we carried when we set off was almost exhausted. Since 12 days ago, the team led by Zhu Cihuan has been relying on hunting and fishing to survive - the dry food has not been completely exhausted. According to Baoke Zhenghui's suggestion, everyone must withhold enough dry food for three days and is not allowed to eat. in case......
Fortunately, there were only 2,000 people who followed Zhu Cihuan south, and there were many warriors who were good at shooting. Moreover, there were enough wild animals in the mountains and forests of Northern California, and they could feed these 2,000 people. If there were more people, such as reaching It is not easy for 10,000 people to find enough food in the mountains and forests.
Near dusk today, Zhu Cihuan and his party arrived at a huge valley. An unknown river flowed at the bottom of the valley. Both sides of the river were very flat and there were no tall trees.
"Your Majesty, this is the flood valley," Masaki Hoshina had just talked with the Shimazu family guide, and then came to Zhu Cihuan excitedly to report, "This small river will flood every spring, and the river water will overflow the entire valley bottom. However, in autumn, the amount of water decreased, which is what it is now.
Although the water in the river has receded, there are still a lot of fish in it... Your Majesty will immediately send people to fish, so we can have a good meal tonight. "
"Very good!" Zhu Cihuan nodded and asked, "How far is the Satsuma Valley?"
"It's not far," Masaki Hoshina said. "After leaving the valley, we will reach the Satsuma Valley! So, we have to work harder tonight and set up defenses in the valley!"
"Arrange defenses..." Zhu Cihuan looked back at Masahui Hoshina, "Masahui, are you worried that Shimazu Mitsuhisa will..."
"It is essential to be on guard against others!" Masaki Hoshina said, "I believe that because of the overnight logging and construction of camps, we should first maintain our defensive position and then contact the Shimazu family."
Although this Hoshiki Masaki is young and a bit handsome, his military qualities are still excellent. He had previously proposed to withhold three-day rations, and now he wanted to build a camp first and then contact Shimadzu, all to prevent the Shimadzu family from breaking the alliance and raiding.
Zhu Cihuan was also a little nervous, "Zhenghui, how can we determine whether Shimazu Mitsuhisa committed fraud?"
Hoshina said: "It's impossible to be foolproof... But as long as the Shimazu family can deposit 3,000 koku of noodles to Honsunji Temple as agreed, it will be worth the risk."
Honshoji Temple is a Japanese Warring States-style Buddhist temple...it doesn't matter what the Buddha statue looks like, but the wall must be strong enough and there must be trenches around it.
This temple is across a river (named Satsuma River) from the Shimazu family's Satsuma Valley Castle and is surrounded by large rice fields. It is said that it was built to ensure a good harvest.
The envoy in charge of negotiating with Shimazu Mitsuhisa (a Japanese retainer of Zhu Cihuan) took a fancy to the Honxun Temple at a glance and asked the Shimazu family to withdraw the monk soldiers from the temple and hand over the Honxun Temple to the Ming Dynasty who went south. Used by Wang Yejun.
At the same time, the Shimadzu family was also asked to transport 3,000 koku, enough rice and noodles to feed 2,000 people for three months, into Honsunji Temple.
Hoshina continued: "We bring many muskets and gunpowder, and Honsunji Temple is very strong. As long as there is enough rice and flour inside, we are not afraid of Shimadzu betraying the alliance."
He paused and said, "The Shimazu family only has 4,000 troops at most. If they want to attack Honsonji Temple, even if they win, they will lose more than half. Mitsuhisa cannot afford it, and there is no need to do this for the Spaniards."
Zhu Cihuan nodded: "Yes, I will not treat him badly... After I take over Angel City, I can seal the entire San Diego area to him."
Masaki Hoshina smiled and said: "I will go and tell Shimazu Mitsuhisa in person... I believe he will be grateful for the king's kindness!"
...
While Zhu Cihuan and Masaki Hoshina were talking, the Shimadzu warriors of the brigade were leaving Satsuma Valley City and heading south along the Satsuma River.
Shimazu Mitsuhisa crossed his arms, looked at the army that had left the castle and meandered south, and sighed softly.
Standing next to him was a young woman wearing kendo uniform, who was his daughter Yoshino. Shimazu Mitsuhisa had many children, but most of them were detained in Edo by the Tokugawa family. Now their life and death are uncertain. Only Shimazu Yoshino was released by the Tokugawa family (asking her to bring a message to Shimazu Mitsuhisa), so she has been following him. By Mitsuhisa's side.
I don’t know if it is because of his old age, but Shimazu Mitsuhisa has not had any more children in the past few years, so Yoshino, who originally had no status in the family, has become very important - if Shimazu Mitsuhisa really has no way to leave an heir, Then we can only use Yoshino to recruit a son-in-law.
Of course, Japan allows close relatives to marry, so there is no contradiction between Yoshino's recruitment and the Shimazu family's adoption of a close relative. Shimazu Mitsuhisa can definitely marry his daughter to his nephew...
"Father," Shimazu Yoshino understood why his father sighed, "the Spaniards are so cunning. We handed over so many women and children, but they still refused to believe us, and even transferred more than half of our soldiers away... Relying on the remaining people, it’s impossible for us to capture the Ming Kingdom’s prince!”
Shimazu Mitsuhisa smiled bitterly: "It doesn't matter whether we can win the Ming Kingdom. What matters is whether we can express our position... As long as we express our position, the Spaniards will solve Honxunji themselves."
"The Spaniards..." Yoshino's expression changed, "Do you think the Spanish army has arrived in the Satsuma Valley?"
Shimazu glanced at his daughter: "What do you think? If we don't attack the Ming Kingdom's prince, Spain will kill us and the Ming Kingdom's prince's troops together!"
