Imagawa Yoshima, who had narrowly escaped death, watched helplessly as the Imagawa Yoshinori army, who could have put thousands of his troops to death, hastily retreated. He had no idea what was happening, but he only felt that it was a bit unreal.
And more than 90 miles away on the banks of the Fuji River, the Hojo family's main shogunate was set up on the west bank of the Fuji River. The important officials of the Hojo family gathered together.
"How cruel, Gen'an." Hojo Utsusuna thought of his younger brother who was still on his way back from his mission to Toe. "You knew clearly that there were suspected soldiers on the banks of the Fuji River, and you knew that the main force of the Imagawa family was going to Toe, but you just didn't tell them. Imagawa Yoshima, let him run into it and die without knowing it."
"At least my uncle's plan has held back the main force of the Imagawa family for us." Hojo Utsuna's adopted son, Hojo Tsunadaka, was excited and eager to try, "Imagawa Yoshima went to fight the main force of Imagawa Yoshimoto, and we can cross the void without any blood. Fuji River."
"I don't think this is a good plan. When Genan comes back, I have to ask him personally. Why should I defy all opinions and resolutely implement this plan." Hojo Ujizuna frowned and let out a few dissatisfied snorts. :
"If you just want to drag the main force of Imagawa Yoshimoto in Yuanjiang, you can tell Imagawa Yoshima half a day in advance after the plan is successful. Tell him that the main force of the Imagawa clan may have gone to Yuanjiang, and let him be careful not to fall into an ambush. Why does Genan have to kill his allies? Imagawa Yoshima is in a state of despair. In the future, Toga will not be a threat to Suruga, and we will have to face the entire force of the Imagawa clan alone. It is really harmful to others and not beneficial to ourselves."
"It's a pity that there are so many territories in Fujiyoshida Castle and Tsuru County, and the sea salt given to the Takeda family for free." Thinking of the ceded land, Hojo Ushimasa, the third son of Hojo Ujizuna, still couldn't help but feel regretful. "In order to cease the war with the Takeda family, we ceded back the territory we had worked so hard to gain."
"What if the Takeda family is not satisfied?" Hojo Ujiyao, the fourth son of Hojo Ujitsuna, couldn't help but remind him, "Our main force has all come to Suruga, and the rest of us have to guard against Ryoesugi, but we don't have the extra troops to deal with it. The Takeda family is gone. If he takes advantage of the situation and invades Sagami and Kadō, it will be difficult to handle."
"The Takeda family are not fools." Hojo Ujiyasu nonchalantly patted his chest and said carelessly, "If he really dares to continue marching, our Hojo army will have no choice but to go back and fight him in a bloody battle. What good will it do to him? Takeda and Imagawa are It’s a feud, he wants us to have a fight with the Imagawa family, right? As long as he stands still, he can see that both us and the Imagawa family will suffer losses, so why wouldn’t he do it?”
"This is what my father wants to ask you, Chiyomaru." Hojo Ujitsuna cast a serious look at Hojo Ujiyasu, "Why are you so strongly recommending this plan during this period? You would rather give Toru Junbai to Takeda, just in exchange for a chance to march into the army. A chance to win over Suruga? Don't you also know that this may hurt both the Imagawa family and the Takeda family?"
"What's the benefit of that quiet place in Tsuru County, where the folk customs are still strong? If you cut it, cut it." Hojo Ujiyasu said nonchalantly again, "How can it compare to the rich Suruga? And when will we attack the Takeda family? You can fight them all, but there are not many opportunities to fight against the Imagawa family. Now, while the main force of the Imagawa family is not around, we can swallow Nakasuruga in one fell swoop and attack the Imagawa Hall. The two big fat pieces of Ejiri Port and Kojin Port are ours. In your mouth?"
·
At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto was leading his army on the official road of Tokaido, rushing to the Fuji River for support. However, considering the marching speed of ancient troops, the 90-mile journey would take two days even if it were faster. Not to mention that the Imakawa family had just traveled a long distance to Yuanjiang, entered the position overnight, and had another big battle in the morning, and their physical strength was also severely exhausted. It is estimated that it will be very good to reach Hedong in three days.
On the evening of September 26, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), the army returned to the border of Suruga Kingdom and stationed at Shimada Castle to rest. In the early morning of the next day, before dawn, Imagawa Yoshimoto urged his men to rush on again and arrived at Imagawakan at noon. Along the way, the soldiers urgently recruited from the territory by the retainers of each family were also incorporated into the army as supplementary soldiers. Miura Ujimitsu, Abe Motoma and Uden Nagamochi, who were ordered to stay at Imagawakan, also hurriedly reported to Imagawa Yoshimoto the complete battle situation transmitted from the banks of the Fuji River:
In the early morning of September 26, a battle broke out in the Fuji River Basin - Imagawa Yoshimoto calculated based on the time that it was even before he ambushed Imagawa Yoshima - could it be that the Hojo family had long seen through that the Imagawa family camp on the banks of the Fuji River was a suspected soldier? ? In this case, why didn't you tell Imagawa Yoshima?
The Imagawa Army on the west bank of the Fuji River obviously did not expect that the Hojo family would actually send tens of thousands of troops to attack - because the Hojo family clearly needed to guard against Ryo Uesugi in Kanto and Takeda in Kai, so there was no reason to be able to mobilize so many mobile troops. Later, news came that the Hojo family might have reached a secret peace agreement with the Takeda family. The total number of Imagawa troops in the Fujigawa area was less than 1,500, and they had almost no ability to prevent the Hojo family from crossing the river. Taiyuan Xuesai tried to lead his troops to retreat to Kamabahara Castle, but Hojo Ujiyasu, who was the first to cross the river, led the Hojo family banner to stop him. He had no choice but to retreat to Fujizhai, a temporary rock village built on the edge of the Fuji River. It was at that time that Taiyuan Xuezhai sent Tu Yuanjing to break out of the encirclement and seek help from the west.
Shortly afterwards, the Hojo Army, which fully crossed the river, surrounded Puhara Castle and the Yanzhai where Taiyuan Xuezhai was located. The Hojo family's ninjas and scouts also quickly advanced westward, forming a powerful intelligence barrier. Imagawakan has lost contact with Kabara Castle and Fuji Village, and it is not known what the current situation is like on the Fuji River side. However, the elders of the Kotsu family who stayed behind in Hengshan Castle reported that they have not yet detected the Hojo family's movement to continue westward, which means that Kamahara Castle and Fuji Village should still be holding on.
After hearing the news, Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't say a word, and immediately led his army to continue eastward for reinforcements. Not only that, he also took all Miura Bei, Abe Bei and Udono Bei who were staying at Imagawakan. Ignoring the advice of his retainers, he led more than 8,000 troops and headed towards Fujikawa with almost nothing.
On the evening of September 27, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), the Imagawa army arrived at Hengshan Castle, which was only 20 miles away from Fuji River. Imagawa Yoshimoto wanted to continue traveling through the night, but was stopped by Asahina Tainou, Okabe Otsuna, Sena Ujisada and other veterans.
"Your Highness, we really can't rush this time." Asahina Yasunou was very determined, and even stopped in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto's horse with a bottle of wine to stop him from continuing to march, "The infantry has been running for many days, and there is another big battle. , My physical strength is on the verge of reaching its limit. There will be a fierce battle with the main force of the Hojo family tomorrow, and if we don’t take a good rest, we will definitely lose.”
"Who knows how long Fuji Village can last? What if it falls tonight?" Thinking of the safety of Taiyuan Xuezhai, Imagawa Yoshimoto was so anxious that his eyes were red. Fortunately, he couldn't see clearly in the night.
"That means Master's fate is bad, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. But if His Highness insists on marching overnight, he will risk his own life and that of the entire army." Okabe Oyatsuna also remonstrated without explanation, and his words were very unpleasant.
"Your Highness, on a dark and windy night, even with a torch, I still can't see the road clearly. Just like me, there are many soldiers who can't see the road at night." Sena Shisad almost narrowed his eyes. There was a crack, but the dim old eyes still couldn't do it at night when the light was so poor. "What's more, there are dangerous mountain roads ahead. How can we march in the dark?"
Sena Ujisada is right, Suruga Country is originally a kingdom dominated by mountains. Suruga to the west of the Fuji River is almost entirely mountainous, except for the fertile plains in the southwest. Since then, the road east of Hengshan City, where the Sichuan Army is located, has become even more dangerous: there is only a narrow official road leading to Guandong. There are high mountains to the north and the endless sea to the south. There is no other smooth road except this road. . Therefore, this section of the official road was always crowded with merchants traveling between Kanto and Kinki via the Tokaido, and it also brought a large amount of customs revenue to the Imagawa family. But this stretch of road, which has very limited traffic, is a nightmare when it comes to military traffic.
"I understand." Imagawa Yoshimoto knew in his heart that the elders were right, and finally agreed reluctantly, "Set up camp and rest. We will set off early tomorrow morning as soon as it becomes light enough to support the march."
·
At four o'clock in the morning on September 28, the fifth year of Tianwen (1536), Imagawa Yoshimoto was woken up by Hayasaka Nao earlier than expected.
"Your Highness, there is an urgent military situation." Hayasaka Nao shook Yoshimoto Imagawa's shoulders anxiously. "Come out and take a look."
Imagawa Yoshimoto got up hastily, Hayasaka Nao put some clothes on him and helped him out of the tent. I saw that many people were already gathered around the watchtower, chattering about something. After seeing Yoshimoto Imagawa coming, they made way for Yoshimoto Imagawa to climb up to the watchtower himself and look to the east——
A bunch of wolf smoke was vaguely visible in the hazy sky, and it was changing its posture violently.
"The direction of Kabara Castle." Nagoya Furuno, who arrived earlier, compared the map with his, while Himura Umoha and Akai Kurotaka also nodded.
"It's urgent..." Akai Kuroko read out the meaning of the smoke signal, and then said to Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Your Highness, listen, can you vaguely hear the sound of the siege over there? The Hojo family is attacking the city overnight."
"Is Kabara Castle almost undefendable?" Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath and told Hayasaka Nao to arrange the troops to get up and set off. However, just before he left the watchtower, a wisp of wolf smoke rose vaguely in the east in the distance again - coming from a few miles southeast of Puyuan City - where Fuji Village is located and where Taiyuan Xuezhai was buried. Sleepy place.
The signal transmitted by the smoke is——
"Don't come near."
Akai Kurotaka and Himura Umoha read out the meaning of the wolf smoke in a daze, "Master Yuksai asked us to retreat."
On ancient battlefields, orders transmitted over long distances through the simple and crude means of beacon smoke usually did not contain much information, but could only be simple instructions.
But for Imagawa Yoshimoto, the amount of information in this order almost brought him to tears.
"You stinky old man, you lecture me every day, who wants you to take care of me?"
Imagawa Yoshimoto ignored the signal from Fuji Village and led the Imagawa army to stand up and head east.
