After Ling Yunyi arrived in Kyushu, the whole of Japan was closely watching the movements of the Ming army. For nearly two months, Ling Yunyi began to be stationed in Hirado, and later went to Nagasaki to play with maritime merchants from various countries day and night, as if he was not in a hurry to act, waiting for the Japanese court's reaction.
I didn't expect that if I didn't move, it would be earth-shattering. On September 25, Kumamoto Castle faced the oppression of the Ming army coming across the sea. The castle lord Seikuji opened the gate and dedicated the castle without any resistance, which shocked the world.
The news was transmitted at the speed of light. Almost all the samurai families in the world who had just finished the meeting at Guangming Temple received detailed news at the end of September. They understood that the Otomo family was in danger, and the Shimazu family and the Ming army joined forces to take over all Kyushu.
Subsequently, Hashiba Hideyoshi, who had just taken over the position of leader of the samurai alliance, received a report that Shimazu Yoshihiro, who had made an impassioned speech at the Guangming Temple meeting that he would join everyone in resisting the Ming army, had disappeared without a trace in Kyoto and had probably fled back. to Kyushu.
Dayou Zonglin from Kyushu vomited three liters of blood, and his son complained about it. After the two men hugged each other and cried, of course they couldn't sit still and wait for death. They immediately informed the world and fired the first shot of the anti-Ming war.
The surrounding forces in Kyushu also reacted quickly. Because Terumoto Mori went to attend the meeting at Guangming Temple, Motoharu Yoshikawa, the most intelligent general of the Maori family, had already reminded Kobayakawa Takakage to beware of the sudden and deep intervention of the Ming army in the situation in Kyushu. According to his strategy, Kobayakawa Takakage sent his Maori retainer Hoida Genkiyo to Nagasaki to visit Ling Yunyi with heavy gifts.
At that time, Ling Yunyi told Suijing that the Ming Dynasty had no intention of occupying Japan, and that he came here just to settle accounts and ask for an explanation. After Hoida Motoki reported back, Yoshikawa Motoharu immediately asked Kobayakawa Takakage to gather troops to take precautions, and said to Kobayakawa Takakage: "It is unheard of to raise a large army to attack a small country without asking for anything."
Maori Yuan, the most intelligent general of the Warring States Period of the Maori family, was not only great in martial arts, he was also great at fathering sons: there were nine in total, and all of them became talents. Yoshikawa Motoharu was his second son, known as the "Warring States Ghost General". He was later adopted into the Yoshikawa family of his mother's family, Sanin, and was renamed Yoshikawa Motoharu.
Kobayakawa Takakage and Yoshikawa Motoharu were the same. It was Moton who adopted him into the Takehara Kobayakawa clan in order to expand the power of the family. Therefore, Kobayakawa Takakage and Yoshikawa Motoharu are brothers. They are the second uncle and third uncle of the current Mouri family governor, Moto Terumoto. During the meeting with Terumoto Mori, Kobayakawa temporarily acted as the family governor.
As soon as Otomo Zonglin's messenger for help arrived, the 12,000 troops prepared by the Maori family immediately set off and crossed the Shimonoseki Channel by boat to assist Otomo in the battle.
The Chosogabe Motoin family, who are about to unify the four countries, are enemies of the Mori family, but they have an even less favorable impression of Shimazu, a new force in Kyushu. They believe that the Shimazu brothers are ambitious and if the Otomo family is destroyed, they will inevitably conquer the four countries - so the four countries will also Send five thousand troops to support Dayou Zonglin.
However, as soon as the Shikoku troop transport ship passed the center line of the Bungo waterway, the second son of Nagasogabe Motochika, Kagawa Okawa, was heartbroken - they were watched by the two Fuha-class warships of the Ming Dynasty that were rapidly approaching.
Although Japan during the Warring States Period was surrounded by the sea, it did not have a so-called navy. It was not that it did not want to, or that it had no technology, but that it simply could not build one. When the feudal lords are fighting endlessly, being able to equip the Ashigaru with iron spearheads has drained the daimyo's money. Who has the ability to build large warships?
Oda Admiral Kuuki Yoshitaka, who later became famous as an "iron-clad ship", became famous at the Battle of Kizukawaguchi. He used seven iron-clad ships as the main force to defeat the so-called "navy" of 600 Maori ships. How big is Kuki Yoshiro's armored ship? It is six feet long and three feet wide, about the same size as the Ming Dynasty's 200-material sand ship.
The Fuha-class warships that gathered around Kagawa were 2,500 materials and had a displacement of more than 1,000 tons. The soldiers of Changzong's family looked up from their sampan, and it looked like a hill.
At this time, the portholes on the side of the Fuha ship facing Kagawa had been lowered, and the muzzles of two rows of thirty-two "big barrels" were pointed at his "fleet".
Kagawa was considered a hero. He immediately raised the white flag and waved it vigorously. At the same time, he commanded his three hundred troop transport ships to immediately turn 180 degrees and return to the original route.
The Fubo playfully fired two shots at the water in the distance. The turbulent sea almost scared the soldiers of the four countries to death, and the white flags of each ship were almost convulsing.
Seeing that they had understood what they meant, one Fubo-class ship left immediately, and the other one lowered its sails and followed the Shikoku troop transport ship from a distance for an hour, and finally walked away with full sails out of boredom.
Watching the second Fubo leave, Kagawa knelt on the bow of his own ship, sweating all over his body.
News of the intimidation incident in Bungo Waterway has not yet spread, but Otomo Sorin and the Mori family are aware of it. Otomo Sorin wanted to cry but couldn't. Kobayakawa Takakei, the leading general of the Mori family, sweated on his forehead - Did I bring the Mori family into a ditch this time?
After all, the meaning expressed by the Ming army was very clear. They didn't want to beat up the famous names from all over the country one by one. They just wanted to stop making trouble with Ling Qin. The Maori family's 12,000 troops intervened in the situation in Kyushu, which was a political statement to make a big enmity with the Ming army.
But it's already here. If we turn backwards, the Maori family will definitely become the laughing stock of the Warring States Period warrior family. Kobayakawa Takakage's calf muscles were spinning, but Otomo Sorin still stated that they would support him to the end.
So Otomo Sorin gathered 25,000 troops from his headquarters, plus 12,000 Maori reinforcements, and set out from his family's main city, Usuki Castle, to aid Tachibanayama Castle.
As the name suggests, Tachibanayama Castle is a mountain castle. Different from other mountain castles during the Warring States Period in Japan, it has seven peaks, with Matsuo Peak in the center and Hakudake (West Castle) on the far left in the northwest. Each peak is a part of the castle, connected to form a continuous castle.
Its name is related to China: in the 24th year of Japan's Enryaku, the famous Japanese monk Saicho learned Tiantai Buddhism from the Tang Dynasty in China and returned to China. He promoted Tiantai Buddhism in this mountain and established Dugu Temple. At the same time, Saicho planted mustard seeds brought back from China next to a rock in the mountain. Later, they grew straight and lush, and bloomed with many flowers, so the mountain was named "Tachibana".
If Kumamoto Castle is the hub between northern and southern Kyushu, Tachibanayama Castle is the strategic point between northern Kyushu and western Honshu in China.
A battleground for military strategists will inevitably be attacked many times, and it will also need to be guarded by generals and heavy troops. At this time, the owner of Tachibanayama Castle was Tachibana Michizuki, a top minister of Otomo Sorin. Together with Takahashi Shoun, they were called Otomo Shuangbi. Later generations of Kyushu people called him the "Kyushu Military God" because of his bravery.
In the process of the Otomo family's conquests in the east and west, and the annihilation of the heroes of Kyushu, Tachibana Michyuki made numerous meritorious service and was awarded the title of Tachibanayama Castle. He has five thousand troops and horses under his command, ranking first among the retainers of Dayou Zonglin.
Kumamoto is in the middle of Kyushu, while Tachibanayama Castle is in the north of Kyushu. The straight-line distance between the two is two hundred miles - therefore, the marching route of Shimazu and Rei Yunyi needs to go directly through Otomo Sorin's territory. Wherever the army passed, people everywhere watched the wind and surrendered, not daring to fire a single arrow to fight against the army.
In fact, this was very normal during the Warring States Period in Japan. The local fortresses had no ability to resist large armies. A wooden fence on top of the earthen city wall could only prevent bandits. How could it resist an army of tens of thousands. When a local wealthy family faces an enemy attack, the enemy generals will not harass the place easily after having enough food and grass and a banquet to greet the laborers.
As for which side these fortresses will ultimately belong to, who will provide supplies and pay taxes to, and even invite the enemy to "jointly fight" with my lord. As long as you decide the winner, it doesn't matter who we hang out with.
When future generations look at the history of Japan's Warring States Period, they will feel that there are countless "joint battles", and even thousands of people killed or injured are considered major battles, which are very local characteristics. In fact, this is a typical manifestation of the form of war in which the coaches of both sides have the intention of "joining the war" to determine the ownership of a place.
In the next chapter of the battle, Lao Mo asks for votes!
(End of chapter)
