Taking into account what Kaihime said, if the Shimazu family joins the Western Army with more than 600,000 koku, it will indeed add a very important bargaining chip to the Western Army. Moreover, Kaihime also specifically pointed out that she wanted the Shimadzu family to "seriously help Sancheng fight this battle," which made this even more important.
The combat effectiveness of the Shimazu family is obvious to all, especially when Yoshihiro Shimazu, the "Ghost Shimazu", can personally participate in the battle. If the combat effectiveness of their soldiers is calculated as twice that of ordinary famous soldiers, it may not be possible. That's too much.
Of course, the total strength of the Shimadzu family is not large. According to the Japanese custom of "two hundred and five thousand shi" (every 10,000 shi can provide 250 soldiers), the Shimadzu family in normal conditions only has 16,000 troops. [Note: The Shimazu family's territory was greatly reduced after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "Kyushu Conquest", and part of it was returned after the Korean War. It is currently about 640,000 koku. ]
Of course, it is impossible for these 16,000 troops to go out in full force, because not far to the north of the Shimazu family's territory is Kato Kiyomasa's territory, and both sides have to be wary of each other to avoid being robbed. Gao Pragmatic predicted that if the Shimadzu family could produce 6,000 people, it would be considered a great effort.
Historically, Shimazu Yoshihiro only brought more than 1,600 troops to the Battle of Sekigahara, and was even ridiculed for bringing too few troops - of course, after the war started, he was ridiculed with his record. His people. Now if Shimazu Yoshihiro can bring an "army" of 6,000 to join the war and fight seriously, he might really be able to bring about a reversal of changes to Ishida Mitsunari's Western Army. After all, both the Eastern and Western armies have a lot of goods that are not working hard. .
After considering this point clearly, we need to consider another thing: Now the situation between Ieyasu and Mitsunari is deteriorating very quickly, and it even seems to be faster than the progress in the original history. So can the Shimadzu family be ready to send six thousand troops? ?
If there are no accidents, of course it is possible in theory, but the problem is that Gao Pragmatic has already learned about the murder of Ijuin Zhongdong. According to the original historical process, the issue of sending troops is difficult to say. Because in the original history, shortly after Tadashi was killed, a major rebellion broke out in the Shimazu family: the Shonai Rebellion.
Why did Shimazu Tadashi want to kill Ijuin Tadō? There are different opinions on this matter in history, and the reasons can be summarized as follows:
The first theory is that Ijuin Zhongdong committed an act of transgression. The Shimazu family's historical material "Shouchi Jinki" records: "Ijuin was fortunate enough to build a house in Fushimi. It was built with the utmost luxury and beauty. The layout was modeled after the king's, and the king's mansion could not match it. The arrogance and arrogance became better than before. "
It is said that Ijuin Tadō played an important role in the Shimazu family's surrender to the Toyotomi regime, and was favored by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. In fact, he was independent of the Shimazu family, but he was still a retainer of the Shimazu family in name. However, Tadō Ijuin had already regarded himself as a daimyo at the level of a country's lord, and did not take the Shimazu family, the head of the family, into consideration.
The so-called luxurious furnishings and arrogant styles are all superficial phenomena. The arrogant, authoritarian and arrogant mentality of Ijuin Chudong reflected behind this phenomenon is the essence of the problem.
According to the views of people at the time, such actions by Ijuin Tadō were tantamount to "treason" in nature. This is intolerable to both Shimazu Tadahashi, Shimazu Yoshihisa and Shimazu Yoshihiro.
The second theory is that Tadō Ijuin was not very popular in the Shimazu family, and Tadashi Shimazu killed him to establish his authority. Ijuin Tadō is like Ishida Mitsunari of the Shimazu family. He holds great power and has outstanding talents, but his interpersonal relationships are very poor. Everyone in the family has been offended by him.
Basically, except for Shimazu Yoshihisa, he did not dare to quarrel with him. He had quarreled with almost everyone in the Shimadzu family, including all important civil and military officials, including Shimazu Yoshihiro, Shimazu Iehisa and other family members.
According to the "History of Shimadzu", one time when the Shimazu family held a meeting, Ijuin Tadō and Shimazu Noihisa had a dispute and made rude remarks. Shimazu was so angry that Shimazu Noihisa complained to Shimazu Yoshihisa: "This son will definitely become a man in the future." National disaster!" But at that time, Shimazu Yoshihisa was very fond of Ijuin Tadō, and everyone could only denounce him as a "sycophant" and "treacherous official", but there was nothing they could do against him.
After the Shimazu family surrendered to the Toyotomi regime, Ijuin Tadō acted as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's spokesperson and sought personal gain for himself. Especially in the fourth year of Bunroku (1595) when the Shimazu family was "replaced by two palaces", he tried his best to exclude and He denounced Shimazu Seihisa, Hokugo Tokihisa, and others, and obtained for himself a territory of 80,000 koku in Hyuga Village. Everyone in the Shimazu family hated Ijuin Tadō so much that they dared to get angry but did not dare to speak out.
At this time, Shimazu Tadahashi has newly succeeded to the throne, and the people are still unconvinced. He just wants to win the support of everyone in the family by getting rid of Ijuin Tadō, a "sycophant" and "treacherous official". This is not only killing people to establish authority, but also killing people. Harmful, can win a lot of hearts for Shimazu Tadahashi.
The third theory is that Ijuin Tadashi once sought to adopt his son Ijuin Tadama as Shimazu Yoshihisa's adopted son, which undoubtedly violated Shimazu Tadashi's political taboo.
There is a premise here. Ijuin Taduma's son Ijuin Tadama married Shimazu Yoshihiro's daughter and became his daughter-in-law. Shimazu Yoshihiro also adopted Ijuin Tadama as his adopted son and allowed him to use the Shimazu surname and call himself "Shimadzu". Loyalty".
When Shimazu Kubo died of illness and neither Shimazu Yoshihisa nor Shimazu Yoshihiro had decided on the next heir, Ijuin Tadashi suggested to Ishida Mitsunari that Ijuin Tadama become Shimazu Yoshihiro's heir as his son-in-law and adopted son. If Shimazu Yoshihisa is adopted as his adopted son, he will be able to inherit both Shimazu Yoshihisa and Shimazu Yoshihiro in the future, thus achieving the internal unification of the Shimadzu family.
However, this plan was so bold that even Ishida Mitsunari felt it was unreliable, so he did not adopt it. But Ijuin Tadō's idea undoubtedly exposed his huge ambition to usurp the Shimazu family - because this is not impossible. At that time, there was a precedent of Nabeshima Naoshige successfully replacing the Ryuzoji family as the daimyo - and it is also confirmed. It turns out that he is indeed "conspiracy".
In a country with an autocratic monarchy, the issue of establishing heirs is often referred to as "the foundation of the country." It is considered extremely taboo for ministers to intervene and interfere in the establishment of heirs, which is regarded as "shaking the foundation of the country." This point is the same regardless of Ming Dynasty or Japan.
Ijuin Tadō violated the political taboo of the Shimazu family, especially threatening Shimazu Tadashi's status. Even if Shimazu Yoshihisa and Shimazu Yoshihiro were willing to spare him, Shimazu Tadohashi would not let him go. Ijuin Tadō was destined to die from the moment he attempted to make Ijuin Tadama the heir to the Shimazu family through political manipulation.
However, there are some interesting clues here. For example, according to "Shouchi Formation Record": "Ishida Jibu Shaofu Sancheng was originally a famous name promoted by Taikaku, and his status was close to that of Laozhong. It was discovered that General Ieyasu of the inner government had taken over the government affairs of the world. Quan, the internal conspirator was entrusted to the emperor to eliminate the internal government, and he wanted to rely on the imperial family for support. He secretly informed Duke Zhongheng of Xing Kan's conspiracy one by one. Therefore, Duke Zhongheng was eager to discuss the matter with Xingong, thinking that the matter could not be postponed, otherwise the plan could not be postponed. It’s hard to try to vent it again.”
According to this theory, Shimazu Taduhane knew about Ijuin Tadō's "conspiracy", but it was Ishida Mitsunari who took the initiative to reveal it to him. The purpose was to win over Shimazu Taduhashi and show his favor to Shimazu Taduhashi. At the same time, he also used Ijuin Tadō to divide, Contain the Shimadzu family.
Of course, Ishida Mitsunari himself is a person who loves to use "conspiracies", so he is somewhat judging others by himself. Obviously, he did not expect that Shimazu Tadahashi would react so fiercely and directly, and would adopt such a simple and crude method of beheading him on the spot.
In addition, Shimazu Tadahashi must have discussed with Shimazu Yoshihiro before he killed Ijuin Tadō. Although "Shōnai Formation Chronicle" does not record how Shimazu Yoshihiro expressed his stance, judging from the context, Shimazu Yoshihiro should be Those who agreed, at least acquiesced. You must know that Shimazu Yoshihiro and Ijuin Tadashi are sons and daughters. If he does not nod or acquiesce, Shimazu Tadashi may not be able to kill directly.
Of course, this may also be due to the inherent ambiguity of the Japanese language: it is very likely that what Shimazu Yoshihiro actually meant at the time was just "Ijuin Tadashi's problem really needs to be solved," but Shimazu Tadahashi deliberately understood it as "Ijuin Zhongdong can be killed."
As for the issues after the killing, Shimazu Tadashi said he would pardon Ijuin Tadō’s family, but that was not the case. After he killed Ijuin Tadō, he ordered people to go to the Ijuin family's residence and move Ijuin Tadō's wife Kiriki and Ijuin Tadō's second son Kodenji, third son Saburo Goro, and fourth son Senjiro to the east of Fushimi Castle. Imprisoned by Fukuji.
The purpose of this is obvious, to use Kirito and others as hostages to coerce Tadama Ijuin, who is staying in the Hyuga Shonai territory, into submission. Shimazu Tadahashi also sent people to Osumi Fukuma Castle to report to Shimazu Yoshihisa about the execution of Ijuin Tadō.
Ijuin Tadō and Ishida Mitsunari had a very good personal relationship. They were also a pawn planted by the Toyotomi regime in the Shimazu family. They were considered the number one figure in the Toyotomi regime. Shimazu killed Ijuin Tadō without permission. Violating the laws of the time. Although Ishida Mitsunari lived in seclusion in Sawa Mountain Castle, he still secretly controlled the followers in the capital, so he was particularly angry when he found out about this. He sent Hideyasu Anzhai to the Shimazu mansion to question Shimazu Tadahashi:
"Fortunately, I have inherited the favor of the former Taige, and I am a minister of the Duke's dynasty, not just a minister of the Shimazu family. Now I will punish him without inviting him first. It is better for you to avoid it and wait for the crime."
According to Ishida Mitsunari's instructions, Shimazu Tadahashi was taken away from his residence and placed in Hase-dera Temple, then Takao-dera Temple, and then Jingo-dera Temple. Of course, Shimazu Tadahashi is the lord of the country after all, and his status is extraordinary. The followers cannot directly punish him, but have to wait for the ruling of Tokugawa Ieyasu and other elders, so they can only be imprisoned first. However, Ishida Mitsunari was afraid that someone from the Shimazu family would kidnap him, so he moved there three times, making outsiders confused as to where Shimazu Tadahashi was being held.
Tokugawa Ieyasu was also very concerned about Shimazu Tadayagi's unauthorized killing of Ijuin Tadō. He sent Naomasa Ii, Tadashi Ina and other capable men to visit Shimazu Tadayagi to understand the details of the matter.
The most nervous person during this period was Shimazu Yoshihiro. Because the general situation of the world was unclear at the moment, and such a big thing happened to Shimazu Tadashi again, Shimazu Yoshihiro was afraid that the gang members of Ijuin Tadashi would come to cause trouble, so he had to order the Shimazu family residence to be closed. The gate was under strict security, and everyone in the family set up battle formations in the courtyard according to the battle pattern between the two armies, set up camp, and were on duty day and night.
In the Shimazu family's hometown of Satsuma Osumi, Shimazu Yoshihisa of Fukuma Castle also received a report that Shimazu Tadashi had killed Ijuin Tadō. According to "Shimadzu National History" and "Shōnai Formation Chronicles", Shimazu Yoshihisa also knew in advance and "agreed to kill Ijuin Tadō" (it cannot be ruled out that his situation was the same as Yoshihiro), so he deliberately left the capital early. Return to China to create "alibi".
Even the veteran Shimazu Yoshihisa rebelled against the general and took the initiative to write to Ishida Mitsunari: "I wonder if the murder of Yukikan was under the instruction of Mitsunari? I think this matter is very inappropriate, and Tadashi has never waited with a fool. It is extremely reckless to discuss it.”
In the letter, Shimazu Yoshihisa not only completely shied away his responsibilities, but also asked in turn, "I wonder if it was the instruction of Mitsunari-dono." It is estimated that Ishida Mitsunari was furious when he saw this letter.
After teasing Ishida Mitsunari, Shimazu Yoshihisa had to deal with Ijuin Tadama. Shimazu Yoshihisa sent people to the Hyuga capital to inform Ijuin Tadama and asked Ijuin Tadama to come to Fukuma Castle to see him; at the same time, he mobilized troops and ordered Niina Tadashimoto, Kitago Tokihisa, Ewa Hisune, Iruiin Shigetoki and other Satsuma They blocked the main passages from Hyuga Capital to Osumi and Satsuma, and carried out a strategic siege of Hyuga Capital.
While calling people to come, but not letting them come at the same time, Shimazu Yoshihisa's operation was obviously to force Ijuin Tadama into a desperate situation, force him to raise troops to resist, and then kill him to death.
Ijuin Tadama is not stupid, he probably understands Shimazu Yoshihisa's intention. To this day, he can only write to his father-in-law Shimazu Yoshihiro to express his difficulties: "I was shocked to hear that my father Yukan was suddenly executed. As for what I should do with my body, I urgently need to be informed by Long Bo. However, at present, all the intersections in and out of the village are blocked. It has been banned, and sometimes soldiers set fires everywhere, which is confusing and incomprehensible. If it can ensure the continuation of my family, I am willing to go to see Long Bogong and accept any punishment."
It can be seen that Ijuin Tadama did not intend to fight against the Shimazu family to the end at the beginning. He would rather sacrifice himself in exchange for the continuation of the Ijuin family. It's a pity that the Shimazu family has already planned to eliminate the Ijuin family (in fact, the Ijuin family has other branches, and the Ijuin Tadashi branch is the clan), so Shimazu Yoshihiro cannot provide the guarantee that Ijuin Taduma wants.
In his reply, Shimazu Yoshihiro was vague, talked about empty truths, and promised: "I will try my best to preserve the things that you know and do in your territory. Please go to see me as soon as possible to apologize. If you are a little late, I will only regret it." .”
At such a critical moment of life and death for the Ijuin clan, Shimazu Yoshihiro's promise was only to "try his best", which disappointed Ijuin Tadama.
Because it takes time to transmit news, what Gao Pangshi doesn't know at the moment is that Ijuin Tadama has now launched an army.
In April of the fourth year of Keicho, Ijuin Tadama, who felt that he had no way out, gathered his family members and gang members to raise troops in Hyuga-sho. The Ijuin family obtained 80,000 koku in the Shimazu family's territorial adjustment, and many of their retainers also shared the huge benefits. These retainers all formed an inseparable interest dependence on the Ijuin family.
It is not difficult to imagine that if the Ijuin family were destroyed, the territory that these retainers had entrusted from the Ijuin family would be returned to the Shimazu family. Who could bear this? Therefore, these retainers all followed Ijuin Tadama and the Shimazu family to the end.
Besides, from the perspective of the Ijuin family, Shimazu Tadashi was indeed quite bullying when he killed Ijuin Tadō. Now that the head of the family has been humiliated, the retainers want to avenge him, which is in line with the values of the samurai. Therefore, the morale of Ijuin Tadashi's troops is actually very high and should not be underestimated.
Now that the troops have been raised, the two sides can only meet each other in battle. Capital City [Note: Capital City is a name, not the capital city. ] is the center of Shonai Township, the counties and counties of Hyuga Kingdom. Geographically, it is a basin, known as the "Shōnai Basin" or "Capital Basin". It has always been the territory of the Hokugo clan, the royal family of the Shimadzu family.
During the period when Shimazu Takahisa and Shimazu Yoshihisa were pacifying Hyuga, in order to prevent the Ito family from invading southward, the Hokugou family built Tsunekichi Castle, Umeboku Castle, Sueyoshi Castle, Kajiyama Castle, Katsuoka Castle, and Yamanoguchi Castle with the capital as the center. , Kodaka Castle, Shiwaike Castle, Nono Miya Castle, Yamada Castle, Yasunaga Castle, and Mobu Castle, a total of twelve branch cities, respectively guarding the key points entering the Shonai Basin from the outside, and established the so-called "Twelve Outer Castles in Shonai" Castle defense system.
After the Shonai territory changed hands, the newly arrived Ijuin family inherited this defense system, reinforced the walls, dug trenches, and continuously strengthened the defense. After Ijuin Tadayama raised his army, he naturally assigned generals to garrison in the Twelve Outer Castles to prevent Shimazu's army from attacking the capital.
Shimazu Yoshihisa saw that Ijuin Tadama had stepped into the designed trap, so he issued a "formation touch" to assemble the army, mobilizing the lords, localities, and people of the three countries of Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga (prefectures and counties) to send troops to the village to assemble and rendezvous.
The generals who participated in the expedition to conquer the Shonai Rebellion included Shimazu Toyohisa (Lord Hyuga Satohara), Shimazu Masihisa (Lord Osumi Tarumi), Shimazu Tadanaga (Lainaka, Lord Satsumabozu), Kiiri Hisamasa (Lord Osumi) Lord Nagayoshi), Hirata Masumune (old middle school, Satsuma Yoshida land), Kamada Masaichika (old middle school, Satsuma Yoshida land), Hishijima Kunisada (old middle school, Satsuma City Lai land), Joushouin Morijun (old middle school, Satsuma Yoshida land) , Ohsumi Kamojitou), Hokugo Tokihisa (Satsuma Ketainjitou), Shinna Tadashimoto (Satsuma Oguchijitou), Tanegashima Hisatoki (Satsuma Chiranjitou), Iryiin Shigetoki (Satsuma Yu no Ochitou), Ying Wakuon (Satsuma Valley Sanchitou), Yamada Ariei (Satsuma Fukuyama Sanchitou), Katsura Takanori (Osumi Takayama Sanchitou), Terayama Kukane (Osumi City Seijitou), Genzuma Shigemasa (Osumi Yoshikichichi), Kashiwara Yukuni (Osumi Matsuyama district), Kaguyama Kudaka (Hyuga Shibushi district), Kaminouzato Kane (Hyuga Kobayashi district), Shikine Yoriyo (Hyuga Nojiri district), etc.
As mentioned before, according to the Ishigao of the Shimazu family, their total military strength in ordinary times is about 16,000, but when peacetime returns to peacetime, and wartime returns to wartime, it is natural to temporarily recruit additional troops during wartime.
Therefore, as soon as the war started, both sides raised some additional troops. Because Ijuin rebelled, the Shimazu family first lost 80,000 koku of Hyuga and 2,000 elite soldiers, and then recruited troops within the territory. The Ijuin family also recruited 2,000 more elite soldiers as the main force.
In the end, the Shimazu family's military strength was about 20,000, and the Ijuin Tadama's military strength was about 4,000. The Shimazu family's conquest troops in the village were divided into two groups, the Satsuma and Hyuga troops were in the north, and the Osumi troops were in the south. With their absolute superiority in strength, they were like a huge iron pincer, attacking from the north and south of the capital.
According to the Shimazu family's practice, for such a large army, either the head of the army will personally go into battle, or a member of the clan or a veteran will serve as the general. However, at this time, Shimazu Yoshihisa was ill for a long time and was unable to go into battle. Shimazu Yoshihiro and Shimazu Tadatsuki and his son were both in Kyoto and could not lead the troops into battle.
But it's okay. The Shimadzu family has swept across Kyushu in the past few years and trained many famous generals. It can be said that they are full of talents. Currently, among the Shonai expeditionary army, there are several people who are qualified to serve as generals including Shimazu Toyohisa, Shimazu Seihisa, Shimazu Tadanaga, Hirata Masumune, Kamada Masaichika, Hishijima Kunisada, Joushouin Morijun, etc.
These few people have a strong political awareness. After discussion, they all agreed that Shimazu Tadahashi was the most suitable person to play the great role of quelling the Shouchi Rebellion this time. Because it is of great benefit to both the Shimadzu family and Tadashi Shimazu personally, but it would not have this effect if it were someone else. Therefore, they elected Shimazu Tadanagi as their representative, advised Shimazu Yoshihisa, and suggested that Shimazu Tadahashi be appointed as the general general of Shonai's expeditionary army.
In fact, Shimazu Yoshihisa had this intention for a long time. Unfortunately, Shimazu Tadashi was in Kyoto and was imprisoned by Ishida Mitsunari and other followers. Is there any way to bring Shimazu Tadashi back? After thinking about it, the only one who can fight against the followers now is Tokugawa Ieyasu. Therefore, Shimazu Yoshihisa didn't say much and immediately wrote a letter to Tokugawa Ieyasu asking for help.
Tokugawa Ieyasu has long known that Kyoka has a close relationship with the Shimadzu family, so he will naturally not hold back the Shimadzu family - here needs to be explained: Ieyasu has already guessed that Gao Pangmin had the intention to provoke a civil war in Japan, but he There are not many solutions to think of, but I can only try my best to "influence" Ishida Mitsunari during this period of time. If we can successfully inspire Ishida Mitsunari, then the "best strategy" has been achieved.
If the best strategy cannot be achieved and war will eventually break out, then there is also the "middle strategy", which is to recruit all the forces that can be attracted and strive to end the war as quickly as possible and at the lowest cost. There is no doubt about the fighting power of the Shimazu family, so after Ieyasu received Shimazu Yoshihisa's letter, he immediately realized that this was an excellent opportunity to deepen his relationship with the Shimazu family.
As long as the Shimazu family can be won over, if nothing else, it will be difficult for Kyushu's biggest hidden danger, Kato Kiyomasa, to act rashly. This will greatly reduce the difficulty of the Tokugawa family's war.
Therefore, Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately agreed that Shimazu Tadahashi would lead the troops to quell the chaos in Shouchi. Although Tokugawa Ieyasu is known as the old turtle, he always implements the things he decides on vigorously and resolutely, and is never sloppy. Just go ahead and make arrangements immediately. Ieyasu issued a writ jointly signed by him, Terumoto Mori and Hideie Ukita: "Major General Tadashi Shimazu killed Ijuin Yukan. The king punished his traitor, and he cannot be judged as killing without authorization." .”
The nominal issue was not over yet. Ieyasu then ordered Ina Tadaji to lead fifty cavalry, go to Jingoji Temple with a warrant, release Shimazu Tadayagi, and escort him to Shimazu's residence.
In June of the fourth year of Keicho, Shimazu Tadahashi returned to Satsuma. He first went to Fukuma Castle to meet Shimazu Yoshihisa, and then rushed to Shonai without stopping. At 4 o'clock on June 23rd (5:00 to 7:00 in the morning), Shimazu Tadatsune personally led the team over Higashi-Kirishima Mountain in the morning fog and arrived at Higashi-Kirishima Shrine Kongobuzhuji Temple, where he established this temple. Array.
As a result, the northern route of Shonai's expeditionary army was personally commanded by Shimazu Tadahashi, while the southern route was handed over to the veteran Shimazu Tadanagi.
At midnight (8:00 a.m.) on June 23, Shimazu Tadahashi ordered an attack on Yamada Castle in the northwest corner of the twelve outer castles in Shonai. The main siege force was the troops of Toyohisa Shimazu, Tokihisa Hokugo, and Shigetoki Iruin.
Among them, Beixiang Shijiu and his retainers fought most effectively. This is because Shonai has long been the territory of the Hokugō family. However, during the Shimazu family's territorial adjustment in the fourth year of Bunroku (1595), Hokōnai was captured by Ijuin Tadō and the rich Shonai territory fell into the hands of the Shimazu family. In the hands of the Ijuin family, the Hokgo family was driven to Qitain in a corner of Satsuma Mountain.
Naturally, the Beixiang family will remember such a deep hatred, so putting down the chaos in the village is the time for his family to take revenge. The entire Beixiang family, headed by Beixiang Shijiu, vented their grievances that had been accumulated for many years on the Yamada Castle guards.
The Yamada Castle garrison of the Ijuin family was the powerful Nagasaki Harubu. Facing the Shimazu army, he commanded decisively and defended according to danger. The Hokgo army who was at the forefront could not take much advantage for a while.
Seeing that the Hokugo army was making unfavorable progress, Shimazu Toyohisa took over and used a battering ram to storm the "Otemon" (main gate) of Yamada Castle. This battering ram was so powerful that when Yamada Castle's Otemon gate failed to hold up, the Nagasaki Administrative Department was caught off guard and simply ordered the city gate to be opened. The defenders swarmed out and turned from defense to attack, catching Shimazu Toyohisa off guard and even Satohara. The Shimadzu family's Aoki Mizumon wheel cross flag was also taken away by the defenders.
Nagasaki Harubu was very proud of winning the flag dedicated to Shimazu Toyohisa, and ordered the flag to be erected on the arrow scull. Nagasaki Osamu's original intention was to show off that he had captured the opponent's general's flag. However, what he never expected was that after seeing it, Kitago Tokihisa's troops thought that Shimazu Toyohisa had already invaded the city.
Hokigo Tokihisa's son, Hokigo Sankyu, was so excited that he raised his arms and shouted: "How can the Hokigo family lag behind others here and now?" Everyone suddenly became more motivated to fight, and they successively broke through Otemon and Ni no Kukirun. At the next moment (11:00 am), the Nagasaki Administrative Department could no longer withstand the attack and had no choice but to set fire to the Honmaru Imperial Palace and abandon the city and flee.
If Gao Pragmatic knew about this accident, I'm afraid Gao Low would have commented: He was struck by lightning for pretending.
On the same day, Shimazu Tadanaga on the southern route also commanded Kaguyama Kudaka, Kashiwara Yukuni and others to begin attacking Henji Castle, the southernmost of the twelve outer castles in Shonai. The defender Ijuin Soemon resisted for two days, but seeing that he was defeated, he abandoned the city on the night of June 25 and led his troops to retreat to Sueyoshi Castle.
Although everyone is a veteran of the Shimadzu family and both sides have elite soldiers and generals, after all, the Shimadzu army has the advantage and started well. But the Shimadzu family probably didn't expect that they would encounter a tough nut next.
After Hokugo Tokihisa captured Yamada Castle, Shimazu Tadashi's troops were divided into two groups. Shimazu Toyohisa, Kiiri Hisamasa, Iriin Shigetoki and others attacked Shiwaike Castle. Shimaku Toki and others attack Nono Miya Castle. The Ijuin family also shared the same hatred and resisted desperately. Until July 10, the Shimazu army still failed to capture Shiwaike Castle and Nono Miya Castle.
At this time, according to Tokugawa Ieyasu's instructions, Terasawa Hirotaka, the lord of Hizen Karatsu Castle who had close relations with the Shimadzu family, sent the family elder Hirano Genzaemon to the house to try to mediate the internal strife of the Shimadzu family.
Hirano Genzaemon went to the capital to meet with Ijuin Tadama. Ijuin Tadama expressed his willingness to surrender, but the condition was that the Ijuin family lineage would continue and the territory would remain unchanged. Shimazu Tadahashi couldn't accept this, and he insisted that the Ijuin family's seal must be reduced and moved elsewhere. Both sides have their own opinions and cannot reach an agreement. Hirano Genzaemon failed to mediate, so the war resumed.
At this time, Gao Jingshi had learned about the previous events and expressed his support for the Shimadzu family to quell the rebellion. At the same time, he asked the Shimadzu family to report the battle situation every few days - the reporting channel was the Shimadzu family's Clearwater City Crystal Building. Flying pigeons deliver messages. Of course, just expressing support is meaningless. Gao Pragmatic happily ordered Qingshui City Crystal House to allocate 20,000 Guan Yongle Tongbao to the Shimadzu family as military expenses.
[Note: Japan has always recognized the copper coins of the Ming Dynasty, especially the Yongle Tongbao. Even though they are now in the Wanli Dynasty, Yongle Tongbao is still privately minted in Jiangsu and Zhejiang areas to supply Japan because it is profitable. However, because Jinghua controlled trade with Japan, this business was also controlled by Jinghua. Therefore, Jinghua had a large amount of Yongle Tongbao in its hands and could almost control the circulation of Japanese coins. ]
On July 13th of the fourth year of Keicho (1599), the guard of Yamanoguchi Castle, Kurano Shichibei, took the initiative to bypass Shiwaike Castle and raid Shimazu Tadahashi's main formation at Higashi Kirishima Shrine. Shimazu Tadahashi was caught off guard and fell into a passive position for a time. Fortunately, Lieutenant Kurano Nanibei was killed by a musket in the melee, and the Ijuin army retreated. The Shimadzu army was able to avoid the base camp being destroyed.
Here’s something to mention: Japan’s iron cannons were originally derived from Western muskets obtained from Tanegashima. However, now that the Shimadzu family has fully surrendered to Gao Pragmatism, it has obtained a batch of Wanli Type 1 muskets produced by Keihua in its early years. This has made Shimazu The Jin family's muskets are much more advanced than ordinary Japanese iron cannons.
The Wanli Type 1 was almost never installed in the Ming Dynasty, because not long after it was developed, Jinghua developed the Wanli Type 2. However, in terms of range and accuracy, Wanli Type 1 is not inferior to Wanli Type 2. The difference is mainly in the ignition method - Wanli Type 1 uses a match rope to ignite, while Wanli Type 2 uses flintlock to ignite.
This time, it was the Shimadzu army's Manli-1 musket that killed Kurano Shichibei, and this victory also made the Shimadzu family more convinced of the power of Kyoka.
On the same day, the defenders of Nono Miya Castle also turned against the visitors and took the initiative to attack. Kitakou Tokihisa was also caught off guard and had to retreat to Yamada Castle.
From July to August, Shimazu's army launched several attacks on Shiwachi Castle and Nono Miya Castle, but failed to capture them. Because the Ijuin Army had too few troops, it was unable to completely defeat the Shimazu Army, and the battle suddenly fell into a stalemate.
On September 10, in order to break the stalemate, Shimazu Yoshihiro sent Shimazu Yoshihiro from Kyoto to sneak into Sakai Port to ask for a meeting with Kaibi, hoping that Kyoto could provide a batch of artillery to the Shimadzu army to attack the enemy. It stands to reason that Kaiji has high pragmatic authorization for the "Japan Plan", and it seems that allocating a batch of artillery is no big deal.
However, Kaihime knew that her identity was relatively sensitive and she was somewhat afraid to agree easily to the allocation of artillery. Therefore, she only expressed her agreement with Kyoka's plan to allocate twenty No. 3 cannons and four No. 2 cannons to the Shimadzu family. But you must first report to your husband for approval.
Shimazu Yoshihiro expressed his understanding and gratitude, and took the risk to stay in Sakai Port to wait for approval. Therefore, Ji Feiji immediately sent a letter to the capital to report the matter. Gao Pangshi didn't hesitate when he received the news, and quickly approved it, but with a restriction: twenty No. 3 guns were directly allocated to the Shimadzu family, and four No. 2 guns were temporarily allocated by the company's gun crew members. Need to be recovered later.
The reason he gave was that the No. 3 gun was easy to operate and fast to train, so the Shimadzu family could keep it. However, the No. 2 gun was very complex to operate, difficult to maintain, and difficult to train the gun crew. Therefore, Jinghua needed to send people to operate it, and it was useless to leave it to the Shimadzu family after the war.
Of course, having said that, Shimazu Yoshihiro certainly knows that the reason is that Jinghua will not allow the Shimadzu family to master a huge cannon like the No. 2 gun - he has seen the power of this thing in North Korea. After a few shots, If they are all hit near one point, that city wall will collapse, especially Pingcheng (in Japanese terms, it refers to a city in a plain area). Shimazu Yoshihiro knew that he couldn't ask for this thing, so he expressed his complete agreement.
But what Shimazu Yoshihiro didn't expect was that Shimazu Tadahashi felt that this battle was closely related to his prestige. He didn't even want to wait for this time, so he decided to bypass Shiwaike Castle, Nono Miya Castle and Yasunaga Castle and send a surprise force. Go deep into enemy territory and take the capital city where Ijuin Tadama is located.
According to Shimazu Tadahashi's deployment, Shimazu Toyohisa continued to attack Shiwachi Castle, Hokgo Tokihisa continued to attack Nono Miya Castle, and Joushouin Morijun attacked Anyong Castle, but they were all feint attacks, just for show, to contain the defenders in the city. Army, the real attack can wait until the artillery arrives.
The task of raiding the capital was handed over to the young veteran Hirata Masumune. Shimazu Tadatsune personally led Kiiri Hisamasa, Niina Tadashimoto, and Tanegashima Hisatoki as his successors and stationed at Jomanji Temple.
But he never expected that Ijuin Tadama had already anticipated that Shimazu's army was likely to raid the capital, and had already taken precautions, setting up an ambush at a place called "Otobo Maru" northwest of the capital.
Hirata Zengzong marched here and the capital was in front of him. He thought he had a plan and couldn't help but feel secretly happy. At this moment, the ambush soldiers lying in ambush on both sides of the road suddenly burst out, and a burst of iron cannon knocked down many unsuspecting soldiers of the Shimadzu army who were rushing in front. Hirata Masumune went deep into the area alone. He didn't know how many ambushes there were. He was afraid that his retreat would be cut off, so he quickly ordered his troops to retreat.
The incident occurred suddenly. Many soldiers in Shimazu's army did not know what happened. They thought that the former army had lost the battle, and suddenly the whole army retreated. The Ijuin army pursued closely, and even Ijuin Tadama in the capital personally went out of the city to join the pursuit. Masumune Hirata was in such a state of embarrassment that he even had to hold a spear himself, and with the cover of several kinxi, he was able to fight his way out.
Shimazu Tadatsune was furious when he saw Hirata Masumune retreating in defeat, and ordered Niina Tadashimoto, Tanegashima Hisato and others to drive the army to counterattack. Shinna Tadamoto was injured in his right leg during the Battle of Iwaya Castle in the 14th year of Tensho (1586) and became disabled. This time he went into battle and could only sit on a "banyu" and have people carry him to command the battle. He lost his former strength. Brave. On the other hand, Tanegashima Hisatoki's iron artillery team had higher morale because it had been equipped with Manli-1 muskets, and relied on its large number of people to repel the pursuit of the Ijuin army.
Now it was the Shimazu Army's turn to pursue. The Ijuin Army retreated while fighting. They retreated to a place called "Komatsuo" and met the defenders who came from Katsuoka Castle and Kajiyama Castle to support them. With the backup, the Ijuin army suddenly became more courageous, and actually fought evenly with the Shimazu army, with no winner or loser. It was not until nightfall that the two armies retreated.
In the battle on this day, the Shimazu army suffered more than 200 casualties and numerous injuries, while the Ijuin army only suffered 80 casualties. Shimazu's army, with an absolute strength advantage of four to five times, actually achieved such a result. Shimazu Tadahashi was really unexpected, and it is no wonder that he became angry.
On the South Road, Shimazu's army also hit a wall. Shimazu Tadanaga besieged Sueyoshi Castle for a month, but made no progress. He also sent Yamada Yuei to attack the Ministry of Finance, but failed to capture it. Shimazu Yoshihisa was unable to go out in person due to poor health. He was very anxious when he heard that Shimazu Tadahashi was going unfavorable in the war. While sending the messenger Ichichi Shigemasa to the Ministry of Finance Castle to supervise the battle, he also asked Kyoka where the artillery had been transported.
Under the urging of Shigemasa Ichichi, Yamada Ariei launched several more attacks on the Ministry of Finance, but they only lost soldiers in vain, and the Ministry of Finance remained unmoved.
However, the news from Jinghua is pretty good, and it is expected to be delivered to the front line in three or four days.
A great war is about to usher in the high...water dynasty.
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Thanks to book friend "Cao Mianzi" for your reward and support, thank you!
Thanks to book friend "2736" for your monthly ticket support, thank you!
PS: My son is on summer vacation, and his family asked him to take him out to play for a few days. It is difficult to update, so this chapter is two in one, with nearly 10,000 words. Now that I'm home, updates will be more normal later.
(End of chapter)
