In the early morning of March 25, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Anhara County, Suruga Province, the rice area on the upper reaches of the Fuji River.
"Here comes another person." Tsuto Atomic, who was lying in ambush here, saw another group of messenger soldiers sent by Imagawa Pavilion heading towards this road.
It seemed that their previously unknown companions had put pressure on them. There were actually 10 people in this team. However, Taiyuan Xuezhai had long expected that Imagawa Yoshizhin would expand the number of the messenger team and adjusted the deployment. If the intelligence barrier of Taiyuan Xuezhai's subordinates a few days ago was a fine and thin network, the intelligence barrier these days has been It turned into a thick sparse net.
Fine nets are spread all over the passages to catch small fish that are scurrying all over the mountains and fields; while thick nets abandon those remote and difficult paths and concentrate their forces on the main roads to catch big fish - because Imagawakan has limited manpower at its disposal. They increased the number of people in each messenger team, which is bound to reduce the total number of messenger teams. Those trails that are not conducive to the passage of large groups of people do not need to be guarded individually, and only a few sentries can be arranged.
After the messenger team entered the ambush circle, Dou Atomjing threw out his shuriken as a signal. The soldiers and ninjas who were ambushing on both sides of the road immediately pulled up the snagging ropes, knocking all the messenger team off their feet. Then they swarmed up and quickly resolved the battle.
"Clean up the scene." Tu Atomjing ordered to his men. They had experienced many ambushes and were now familiar with it.
“No one can even think of passing through Hedong.”
·
Almost at the same time, in the castle tower of Odawara Castle in Sagami Province, Tatsuchi Yanagi, who had arrived by water, was kneeling in front of Hojo Uzuna, Hojo Genan, and Hojo Uyasu, presenting a letter written by Imagawa Yoshima.
"Ceding Hedong? Do you want us to betray Imagawa Clan and support your master on this condition?" Hojo Genan nodded with satisfaction after reading the letter and looked at Tatsuki Yanagi, "It's better than the empty-handed white wolf before. The Fourth Young Master is very sensible, no wonder your Young Master is able to win the support of the ministers, while the Fourth Young Master has already fled Hedong in embarrassment."
"Then the Hojo family agrees?" Yanagi Tatsuki raised his head and looked at the kind-faced Hojo Genan. The expression on the side of Hojo Ujitsuna did not reveal any information.
"Agreed, our Hojo family will support His Highness Ryōzhin and will send troops to Kadong." Hojo Genan glanced at his silent brother beside him and replied with a smile, "I will ask my brother to draft a reply. Bring it back to your envoy to confirm the ownership of what happened in Hedong, and hope that your son will keep his promise."
When Tatsuchi Yanagi retreated outside the house to wait, Hojo Ujiyasu, who had been paying attention to his father's face, suddenly stood up anxiously.
"Father, you won't refuse, will you? A large piece of fat meat like Kadong is brought to our mouths, there is no reason for us not to eat it!" Seeing that his father was unmoved, Hojo Ujiyasu couldn't help but continue to persuade, "You don't really miss your kinship with Imagawa Shimoto and don't want to betray him, do you?"
"Chiyomaru, you are not a deceitful father. How can you go against the interests of the family?" Hojo Utsusuna shook his head and looked lovingly at the fierce-looking legitimate son who looked nothing like him. "I miss my old friendship, but It is limited to the fact that after capturing the Imagawa family, they are willing to let their descendants live a peaceful life and inherit the family name. The kindness they usually show is just to show the people and allies. If they were really so indecisive, they would have been destroyed in the troubled times. How can the Hojo family flourish in my father’s hands?”
"Then why did father hesitate?" Hojo Ujiyasu looked puzzled, but Hojo Genan understood what Hojo Uzuna was thinking and spoke eloquently:
"Brother must be thinking that this Imakawa Ryouzhen is very talented. If we support him to ascend to the throne, won't we be adding trouble to ourselves? It would be better to let that idle monk Imagawa Ujimoto succeed to the throne. In the future, won't the Imakawa family just have fat on their lips?"
"Oh!" Hojo Ujiyasu looked at his father in sudden realization. Hojo Utsuna also nodded slightly, agreeing with Hojo Genan's speculation. But Hojo Genan changed the subject and added:
"But in the opinion of the poor monk, the talent of Monk Yuksai is equally terrifying. If the Imagawa clan succeeds to the throne, he will entrust all the family affairs to this person, and the Imagawa family will still become a powerful enemy of Hojo, and the result will be the same. It is better to first Promise to Imagawa Yoshima, swallow Hedong, let the power of the Imagawa family and the Hojo family increase and decrease, and then slowly plan for it."
"No, the Hojo family will not help Imagawa Yoshima." Hojo Ujitsuna shook his head. Hearing this, Hojo Ujiyasu dropped his head in disappointment, but his father's next words cheered him up.
"Destroy Ujigen first, then Yoshima." Hojo Uzuna, who had always been kind-hearted, had a stern look on his face, but he looked more like a lion than anyone else.
"The east side of the river and the west side are taken together."
On the afternoon of March 25, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the Hojo family sent troops to Suruga.
·
On the evening of March 25, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Suruga Zentokuji Temple.
"Master, this is the letter captured in this ambush." Tu Yuanjing, who came back for his shift, handed a bundle of scrolls to Taiyuan Xuezhai, "No one was allowed to pass."
"Well done." Taiyuan Xue Zhai nodded with satisfaction, casually put the bundle of scrolls aside, and at the same time motioned for Dou Atonsune to sit down and rest, "The Hojo family has sent troops in the afternoon, there is no need to block it anymore, you can rest. "
"Have the reinforcements finally arrived?" Tsuchi Atonsune glanced at Obara Masumi, who had returned from the Hojo family's mission, "Thank you, Lord Hizen Mamoru."
"You're welcome." Obara Jinmi nodded, obviously as a samurai, he didn't want to talk to Tsuchi Atonsuke, a lowly ninja. Tu Yuanjing also knew the former's nature, so he smiled and said nothing more.
"Master, my brother's ambush was successful!" At this time, Xingjin Zheng'an also hurried into the room and handed a letter to Taiyuan Xuezhai, "As you expected, it's exactly the same."
"Okay." Taiyuan Xuezhai remained calm, carefully put the letter into his arms, and ordered at the same time, "The ministries should first move their families, old and young, to the mountainous areas beside the Fuji River to hide. If there is a war, Zentoku Temple may become a The battlefield must be evacuated at any time. When we win, let them cross the river on the spot, return to the west bank of the Fuji River, and return to their duties."
"Yes." After everyone took the order and left, Imagawa clan Motonori stayed.
"It's finally over." Imagawa Ujimoto stretched out and looked towards the east. "As soon as the reinforcements of the Hojo family arrive, we will win. As promised before, old man, I will become the governor of the family. , I’ll leave all government and military affairs to you, don’t go back on your word.”
Taiyuan Xuezhai laughed twice and said, "Of course I won't forget it. It's an appointment."
He glanced at Imagawa Shigen again, then frowned and asked in a low voice, "But I always feel like you, a brat, did something bad behind my back."
"Well... now that things have happened, it does seem to be a bad thing. I didn't expect that the Hojo family is quite humane. They really sent troops for the sake of family ties and face." Imagawa Ujimoto smiled and scratched his head, as if he was beaten by Taiyuan when he was a child. It was like that when Xuezhai caught him. After being on tenterhooks for many days, Imagawa Ujimoto finally relaxed back to his usual free and easy state, "Old man, you see how good the chances of winning are now."
"Seventy percent." Taiyuan Xuezhai made a sign of seven with his hand.
"Is this only 70%?" Imagawa Shigen laughed dumbly, "When there were only a few dozen of us left and we were running away, the old man said it was 50%. Why is it that now we are sure of victory, but it has only increased by 20%?"
·
On March 26, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the 8,000 troops of the Hojo family, led by Hojo Ujiyasu, joined forces with the 2,000 troops of the Imagawa family in Kadong and stationed in Mishima. At seven quarters on the morning of March 27, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the Hojo army arrived near Zentoku Temple. I saw the flags fluttering, the armor strong and the troops strong. Sagami's elite troops were already marching with astonishing momentum.
"We are finally here. With them, we can fight back to Imagawa Hall. With the Asahina family as internal support, Imagawa Hall can definitely win in one battle!" Leaning on the railing at the top of the mountain, looking at the dark blue Hojo scale pattern Imagawa Ujimoto couldn't help but sigh, "When Jiayan was in dire straits, I saw Lord Soun traveling thousands of miles to come to my aid. That's how I felt right now."
"Teacher?" However, when Imagawa Shiyuan turned to look at Taiyuan Xuezhai, he found that the latter's expression was not very good, "Why do you seem to be in a bad mood?"
"The two envoys sent to the Hojo family just now to confirm have not returned." Taiyuan Xuezhai's eyes narrowed, staring at the appearance of the Hojo army, "But the Imagawa family's troops did not know why they took another route and deviated from the battlefield. It seems that Deliberately led astray. The leading unit seems to be the banner of Kazuyama Central Affairs Bureau (Kazuyama Ujihiro)."
"Ah?" Imagawa Shiyuan was stunned when he heard the words and did not think about it - because he did not dare to think about the hidden meaning of this sentence - he simply could not accept such a result.
However, reality soon shattered Imagawa's pretense of escape. The Hojo army stopped at the foot of Zentokuji Mountain, and the marching column slowly expanded into a battle formation. The leading samurai were shouting commands in Sagami dialect, directing their subordinates to prepare to outflank and go up the mountain. Their target was Imagawa Ujimoto in Zentoku Temple.
"Evacuate." Taiyuan Xuezhai ordered without hesitation. The entourage who had been prepared for battle immediately covered Imagawa Ujimoto, who was falling into an ice cave, and quickly evacuated down the mountain. Imagawa Shigen hurriedly picked up the green-edged folding fan and a few cherished calligraphy and paintings, and ran down the mountain in embarrassment surrounded by everyone. The mountain road that he was used to walking on now seemed so steep and terrifying that Imagawa Ujimoto almost fell down twice.
When they ran to the foot of the mountain with their heads full of men, the leading troops of the Hojo family had already arrived a mile away. Taiyuan Xuezhai was also unambiguous, and led everyone to draw their horses and flee to the west of the Fuji River. When the Hojo family saw someone running away, they immediately arranged for several groups of cavalry to attack. Two teams are running, one is chasing, and the distance is getting shorter.
Another quarter of an hour later, the pursuers of the Hojo Army were already a hundred feet away, and the outline of the knight could be clearly seen with the naked eye. Feather arrows kept flying from behind, and the sound of leaving the string sounded like a reminder. From time to time, unlucky people would be hit in the back by an arrow and throw off their horses, wailing, but those running for their lives could no longer care about them.
"Why are the Hojo family attacking us? Aren't they here to support us?" Imagawa Ujimoto, who was galloping on his horse, looked at Taiyuan Xuezai beside him in a panic, only to find that the latter was calm as if there were really friendly forces behind him. He also carried the broken box with a hidden treasure on his back. "Teacher, why don't you look afraid at all?"
"Didn't you say it yourself before? The Hojo family are not fools. How could they send troops to help just because of family ties and face?" Taiyuan Xuezhai steadily controlled the reins and threw back what Imagawa Ujimoto had said before. , "Since the troops have been sent out, they must have ulterior motives."
"Then teacher..." Imagawa Shiyuan was choked by Taiyuan Xue Zhai's words and was speechless for a moment. The arrows continued to fly, and people around him fell down one after another. The shouts of death coming from behind urged Imagawa Shimoto to run away, his mind went blank, and he couldn't think of anything.
At this moment, a group of people who finally reached the edge of the Fuji River suddenly saw the long-awaited huge military presence on the west bank of the Fuji River under the Imagawa Erbiki Ryōri flag and the red bird horse seal - the red wooden comb inverted on the There is a bird head pattern, which is the horse seal passed down from generation to generation by the governor of the Imagawa family. Needless to say, it was the 6,000 Imagawa army led by Imagawa Yoshizhin himself that came.
"How did they get here..."
Imagawa Ujimoto and others hurriedly reined in their horses and stopped by the Fuji River. The Hojo army behind them had already fought their way behind them.
"It's over."
There were interceptions in front and pursuers in the rear. The situation took a turn for the worse within a few quarters of an hour. Imagawa Ujimoto, who had been so proud just now and was preparing to recapture Imagawakan, was suddenly surrounded by tens of thousands of troops along with hundreds of troops fleeing in embarrassment. Imagawa Shimoto, who fell into despair, was completely dumbfounded, but Taiyuan Xuezhai next to him still looked calm and calm, which made Imagawa Shimoto lose his energy:
"Old man, tell me what's the chance of winning now?"
Taiyuan Xuezhai raised his hand high and made a number "nine".
"That's 90%?" Imagawa Shiyuan couldn't help but seriously doubted whether it was because he forgot to buy hangover medicine that day and Taiyuan Xuezhai was so drunk that he was still awake.
