On July 12, the thirteenth year of Tianwen (1544), a group of people set out to leave Matsuyama Castle and march towards the Furukawa Imperial Palace where the Kanto Crown Prince was located. On the way, Takeda Harunobu and Kasuga Torasuna seemed to have reconciled, and they were talking and laughing about something unknown.
Three days later, on July 15, the 13th year of Tianbun (1544), I went to the Furukawa Imperial Palace of the General Kingdom and entered the castle tower.
Here, Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu saw the Ashikaga Haru clan who were truly worthy of the name of "the king of the country's subjugation" and the "waste governor". He actually reprimanded Imagawa Yoshimoto and Takeda Harunobu in front of all the Kanto Duke's retainers on the grounds that they had not informed the Lord Kanto of their appearance many days in advance according to etiquette - the problem was that the matter was secret. How can there be any reason to report multiple days in advance?
Naturally, Takeda Harunobu couldn't bear it. If word spread that "the Takeda family's governor was scolded by the Kanto Crown Prince and dared not raise his head," wouldn't the Takeda family's prestige in the Eastern Kingdom be ruined? So, he took Imagawa Yoshimoto and walked away together, and they parted on bad terms.
Not long after the mission left the Furukawa Imperial Palace, Takasuke Tsukuda, the elder of the Kanto Lord, chased them out and apologized to Takeda Harunobu and Imagawa Yoshimoto. However, it was impossible to return to the city, so the group rested temporarily in the samurai house in the castle town. Takeda Harunobu and Tsukuda Takasuke negotiated the alliance and then left.
"I thought you were very angry. Aren't you still very rational when negotiating terms?" Imagawa Yoshimoto teased Takeda Harunobu, "Then why were you so angry in the lobby just now? You were kicking the table and It was a glare, I thought you were furious."
"It's all just for show. Do you think I've ever been a little bit angry?" Takeda Harunobu showed a slightly proud smile, "How could such a level of insult and reprimand break my defense? But if this matter gets out, It would be detrimental to the prestige of the Takeda family and make the world laugh at me, Harunobu - I am not afraid of being laughed at, but I am afraid that such ridicule will shake the morale and loyalty of the Takeda family retainers, so as the governor of the family, I have to get angry."
"Then the Kanto Kōhoden had the same idea?" Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly drew inferences, "He was actually not angry because we didn't abide by traditional etiquette, but he deliberately feigned anger and reprimanded us in order to establish his authority. The reputation of the Kanto Lord was quite good before. He fought among the Kanto daimyo and fought several good battles. Isn't it much better than the governor of Ryo Uesugi? It shouldn't be as bad as you said."
"No, that guy is just Malanoro. He was just reincarnated into the position of Lord Kanto. It happened that several big names were begging for him, and he also had the reliable and pragmatic Nakafu (Takasuke Tsukuda). The elder of the family had just had a good time and achieved some results, but he was actually a parallel import. If he had been replaced by Ryo Uesugi, he would have been dead a long time ago." Takeda Harunobu mentioned the Ashikaga Haru clan and cursed without hesitation:
"Doesn't he fucking know that we can never sacrifice our own prestige to establish it for him? Why do we want to do this on such a critical occasion as forming an alliance? Once word spreads, our Hojo family's siege network has not even begun. We’re about to break up! He just wants to force us to compromise for the sake of alliance harmony, how can such a good thing happen?”
"Are you really not angry?" Imagawa Yoshimoto snickered twice, and then chatted about another topic: "By the way, my ninja Tsuchhara reported that the Hojo family's Fumari has begun to take action, and it seems that he wants to On our way back, they ambushed us in the Musashi and Ueno areas."
"Kansuke also told me that he found signs of ninja activity in Fuma." Takeda Harunobu did not feel panicked and shrugged his shoulders calmly, "I have sent people back to Kai to mobilize ninja support."
"No, we won't go back the way we came." Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his head and raised his finger to the east, "I called the Imagawa family's navy to pick us up at the port of Hitachi. After we visited the remaining wealthy families, we went directly Take the boat back to Suruga, and then you can return to Kai."
"Sir, you just don't want to take the mountain road." Ginkgo complained quietly behind her.
"No way, isn't this just for safety's sake, avoiding the ninjas of the Hojo family." Imagawa Yoshimoto seriously found an excuse for himself, "Isn't the sea route much safer?"
"Although the ships of the Hojo family's Shimizu navy have been given to you before, it is said that they are rebuilding the navy in recent years. You don't have to go from Hojo by water.
Did it happen under the eyes of the navy? Is it really safe? "After all, Takeda Harunobu is a landlubber from the mountains," he confirmed with great vigilance.
"Don't worry, the number of ships is at least 8 times worse. It couldn't be safer." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a smile like a "flying dragon rider", "With 8 times the number of troops, can there be any accidents?"
·
On September 2, the 13th year of Tenmon (1544), after concluding the visit to many daimyo in Kanto and negotiations on the formation of a siege network, a group of people boarded the Suruga navy sent by the Imagawa family from the port of the Satake family in Hitachi Province. .
"Why are there so few ships?" Takeda Harunobu looked at this slightly shabby fleet and felt that something was wrong. After stepping on the deck, he began to regret it. He grabbed Imagawa Yoshimoto's arm and said, "Didn't you mean the Imagawa family's water?" Does the army have more than 300 ships? Why are there only 50 ships here? And there are 3 Anzhai ships?"
"Because other ships have to escort the passing merchant ships, the Shimizu navy of the Hojo family has repeatedly attacked passing merchant ships in the past year or so, causing a lot of losses to merchants. The series of taxes brought by sea trade are a huge part of our Imagawa family's income. How can you ignore an important source of financial resources?" Imagawa Yoshimoto explained to Takeda Harunobu seriously, "But the route is too long and there are many areas that need to be taken care of, so the Hojo family obviously only has more than 40 ships, so they have 300 The Imagawa family can't even take care of a warship, so the escort has been stretched thin by dedicating 50 ships to pick me up."
"Um..." Takeda Harunobu's face was full of black lines, and he was completely speechless about Imagawa Yoshimoto's brain circuit. "Is there a possibility that the life of the family governor is more important than the merchant ship?"
"Of course." Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded matter-of-factly.
"Is there another possibility? The Hojo family's navy might attack you on the Hojo family's coastline when you only have 50 ships?" Takeda Harunobu's face turned darker.
"Of course." Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded more cheerfully.
"Then your mother!" Takeda Harunobu yelled in anger, pushed Imagawa Yoshimoto away, grabbed the side of the ship and was about to capsize it and jump into the sea. "I won't be on your ship anymore! What if your mother dies at sea?"
"Hey, hey, hey!" Imagawa Yoshimoto was startled by Takeda Harunobu's sudden movement, and it took him a while to stop him, "Don't panic, what's the point of panic, there's no danger."
"Last time I followed you to your family's territory and returned home. When your retainers rebelled, I had a big gash on my body to protect you from the knife. I almost died. Now you want to do it again? I don't even have enough lives. Are you such a waste?" Takeda Harunobu was already so angry that he shouted at Imagawa Yoshimoto, "Can't you bring 50 more ships?"
"Bring 50 more, so the Hojo family won't dare to attack us." Imagawa Yoshimoto quickly replied.
"Huh?" Takeda Harunobu couldn't help but widen his eyes after hearing this answer.
"My teacher said that I should use my whereabouts as bait to deceive the Hojo family's Shimizu navy from the military port and eliminate them in the open sea. This way, the merchant shipping routes can be stable for another two or three years - until the Hojo family stocks up the next batch. The location of the warships. Our Suruga navy does not need to be deployed frequently, which is quite expensive." Imagawa Yoshimoto very seriously relayed Taiyuan Xuezai's plan to Takeda Harunobu, "So we must bring a just right number of naval forces. It won’t put us in danger, and it won’t make the Hojo family afraid to attack.”
Takeda Harunobu was completely speechless. He looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto with the same look as he looked at the enemy who killed his father - well, maybe Takeda Harunobu felt that the person who "killed his father" was not his enemy.
"But is there a possibility - you know my character. I am definitely not a person who would sacrifice my own comfort for the benefit of the family, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto saw that Takeda Harunobu was so angry, She didn't tease him, but smiled and said: "Don't worry, if it's a naval battle, we can't lose. There's no danger at all."
"Why?" Takeda Harunobu had doubt written all over his face.
"You'll know just by looking at it." Imagawa Yoshimoto crossed his arms confidently.
·
On September 4, the 13th year of Tenmon (1544), the Suruga navy bypassed the Miura Peninsula and sailed into the waters of Sagami Bay where the Hojo family navy was active. Not long after, you can faintly see
There were about 40 ships coming from a distance in the opposite direction. Among them, 2 are Anzha boats, and the rest are flexible Kansai boats and small morning boats.
No matter how strong Takeda Harunobu is in land battles, a mountain man who rarely rides in boats will still be instinctively afraid of the ocean, let alone scenes like water battles. When I think about the unreliable companion Imagawa Yoshimoto next to me, I inevitably feel nervous.
"Attack." Imagawa Yoshimoto issued an order to the neighboring ship - the Ataka ship as the flagship of Kotsu Shohei. After Xingjin Zhengping received the order, he immediately commanded the fleet to greet them. At this time, the ocean current flows from east to west, which is conducive to the Suruga navy flowing downstream.
"The leader of the Shimizu navy, Shimizu Tsunayoshi, the lord of Shimoda Castle in Izu Province, has experienced many battles and should not be underestimated. However, he just fell seriously ill a few days ago and is probably unable to go to sea." Tsuchi Atotsune took half a step forward and said, Imagawa Yoshimoto reported: "The leader of the expedition may be his legitimate son Shimizu Yasuhide, who is 13 years old and has just served in the Yuan Dynasty."
"It's just a little baby." Kira Usei, who was behind Yoshimoto Imagawa, laughed after hearing the news. "Then why fight? Can he sail a boat?"
·
On the other side, there was an ordinary customs ship belonging to the Shimizu Navy of the Hojo family.
"Shimono Mamoru, I have to thank you for your hard work." Hojo Genan sat on the futon in the cabin and said to Shimizu Tsunayoshi on the deck, "I have to trouble Shimono Mamoru to pretend to be sick, and I have to ask Shimizu Marines to prepare for this attack. I really can’t regret being used as a bait... Afterwards, the Hojo family will try their best to make up for the losses of the Shimizu Navy."
"It doesn't matter, as long as it's for the Hojo family, it doesn't matter how much the loss is." Tsunayoshi Shimizu straightened his still strong body and clasped his fists towards Hojo Genan, "But the Suruga navy is large in number and they are still following the current. I can only lead them away. Contain them for a while. After that, it’s all up to Master Huan’an.”
"No problem, the poor monk has his own killer move." Hojo Genan sneered, and then looked at the black figures hiding deep in the cabin, "Don't worry, if it is a naval battle, we cannot lose, there is no danger at all nothing."
