Located in the middle of Honshu Island, Osaka is the border between Japan's traditional Kanto region and related areas, and it is also one of the strongest castles in Japan during this era.

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi (Toyotomi Hideyoshi's son) confronted Tokugawa Ieyasu, he used Osaka as a base, and once the Ming army captured Osaka, it would not only hold the Kansai region in its hands, but also threaten Kyoto and occupy political significance, so there would be more room for maneuver.

The Japanese emperor lives in Kyoto, and although the new emperor supported by the shogunate is only a symbolic puppet and has no real power, he still occupies a very special position in the hearts of the Japanese.

According to Japanese legend, the emperor is a descendant of the god Rizhao, and even after the Emperor was overthrown after the Seki Politics, and after the Genpei War, the Kamakura Shogunate, the Muromachi Shogunate, the Azuchi-Momoyama period, and the Tokugawa Shogunate, no actual Japanese ruler dared to abolish the emperor and replace him.

In the past, Japanese traitors who held real power would meet with the emperor, get the emperor's confirmation, and be given official positions to show the legitimacy of their rule, and take pride in it.

Takeda Shingen, the first general of Japan's Warring States period, Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Tokugawa Ieyasu and others at the end of the Warring States period, after gaining the right to rule Japan, did not forget to go to Kyoto to meet the emperor, called "Kamiraku".

In Chinese parlance, it is to coerce the Son of Heaven to order the princes, and I don't know if Little Japan is learning from Cao Cao.

Of course, for hundreds of years, successive Japanese emperors seem to have been domesticated by powerful ministers, without too much political pursuit, and a few uneasy about the status quo also ended miserably, such as the young and promising Shaoren.

It is also the acquaintance of the emperors that allows them to maintain the glory of the "one line for all generations".

At the beginning, Toyotomi Hideyoshi set up his base camp in Osaka, mainly because of Osaka's geographical location, and it was convenient to control Kyoto and the emperor hundreds of miles away.

Tokugawa Ieyasu was more confident and went directly to Edo, 800 miles away, to establish the shogunate.

Even so, the Tokugawa shogunate also attached great importance to Osaka, and sent a large number of cronies to garrison it, especially after the shogunate moved its capital to Kyoto, in order to prevent the Ming army from landing, it strengthened Osaka's defense in all directions.

Zhu Cihong wanted to fight Osaka, but he was worried that he would not be able to fight for a while, and the Ming army would encounter hard bones in the first battle, and if it could not be won cleanly, it would inevitably affect the morale of the army, and even drag on the battle for a long time.

I heard that the shogunate elder Sakai Tadakatsu had recruited soldiers from Japan in the name of the emperor and the general of the Seiyi, organized anti-Ming donations, and continuously reinforced Kyoto and Osaka.

Zhu Cihong looked at Xu Qingshan and said, "If you are asked to lead an army of 40,000 to attack Osaka, how long will it take to take it?" ”

Xu Qingshan immediately replied: "Forty thousand horses, with the cooperation of sea and land, the minister can take Osaka within a month!" ”

Xu Qingshan said very conservatively, because Osaka Castle will never be defended only by the current 70,000 Japanese troops, and he doesn't know how many reinforcements the Japanese will send next, maybe 50,000, maybe 100,000.

In a month's time, Xu Qingshan was able to fully understand the movements and arrangements of the Japanese army, so that he could adopt the best strategy and tactics according to the strength of both the enemy and the enemy, relying on the superiority of the Ming army.

Zhu Cihong nodded slightly, the army of the Tokugawa shogunate is still relatively abundant, there were two or three hundred thousand standing troops before, since the last time it was beaten by the Ming Dynasty, there have been a lot of losses, but the shogunate has added a lot in recent years.

Moreover, Japan has a large population, according to the Ming Dynasty, at least more than 10 million people, or even more. (The population data of the Tokugawa Ieyasu period was 12 million, and now Kyushu and Shikoku are the land of the Ming Dynasty, so it needs to be subtracted by a few million)

With such a large population base, as long as the Tokugawa shogunate has propaganda in place, it is no problem to raise more than 100,000 in a short period of time, and use crowd tactics to fight against the Ming army.

So many troops, and at the same time exposing an important problem, they have to eat!

The Ming Dynasty's food war against Japan basically abolished their economic system, and now Japan's farmland is scarce, and it is surrounded by the Ming in a corner of the East Asian Sea.

The Korean Peninsula in the north of Japan is the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ryukyus and Taiwan in the south of Japan are also the territory of the Ming Dynasty.

It can be said that as long as the Ming Dynasty does not provide food to Japan, their plan to fight a protracted war will not work, after all, they have no international aid, which is equivalent to being choked by the throat by the Ming Dynasty.

The Japanese wanted to fight a protracted war, but Zhu Cihong still didn't let it, even if it was a year, they couldn't wait.

If it drags on for another month, it is the consumption of the national strength of the Ming Dynasty, even if it drags on for a year, the Japanese will be starved to death by at least one million, and the Ming Dynasty is also needed to carry out the aftermath work, which is a big deal!

Therefore, Zhu Cihong solemnly reconsidered the plan to attack Osaka.

He glanced at several Japanese feudal lords again and asked, "On the way from Shimonoseki to Osaka, there are more than ten feudal domains such as Fukuchiyama, Toyooka, Tatsuno, and Okazaki, and I hope that your feudal lords can contain their forces on land. ”

After hearing this, Mao Li Outline and the others hurriedly said: "Please rest assured that His Majesty the Great Emperor, we will definitely assist the Emperor Ming army to fight this battle!" ”

There is something to do, and a few Japanese traitors are very excited, they feel that Sakai Tadashi is ignorant and ignorant, and he doesn't even know what kind of enemy he has provoked!

How could the Ming Dynasty's heavenly army be able to fight against the shogunate? With Japan's current strength, it is absolutely impossible to be the opponent of the Ming Dynasty.

Since it is inevitable to lose, it is better to take refuge in the Ming Dynasty early, stand in the team of the victors, and enjoy the fruits of victory.

At this time, the ideas of Japanese traitors and traitors rarely coincided, and this may be the traitorous ideology unified all over the world.

Zhu Cihong nodded, then turned his head and said, "Xu Qingshan!" ”

Xu Qingshan immediately got up and said, "The minister is here!" ”

Zhu Cihong said: "You will command 40,000 horses to attack Osaka, and within a month, Osaka must be taken, understand!" ”

Xu Qingshan said: "Your Majesty rest assured, I promise to complete the task!" ”

Zhu Cihong said again: "Li Shaoyou, you lead them, the appeasement army, to set out from the land and gradually recover the Chinese region, and make a big noise along the way, the bigger the better, so as to attract the attention of the shogunate. ”

The appeasement army that Zhu Cihong said was naturally the Japanese traitors who surrendered to sincerity, commonly known as the Ming Association Army.

He had to give this gang of Japanese traitors a code name, otherwise it would be difficult to call them and it would be difficult to command them in a unified manner.

Being a Ming dog is not a simple matter, and a plate of loose sand is not good.

In this way, Zhu Cihong still decided to divide his troops, one route Xu Qingshan led 40,000 elites to attack Osaka by land and water, one route Li Shaoyou led 30,000 miscellaneous troops to scrape territory by land, and 10,000 Eastern Army stayed behind to guard the imperial camp.

In order to avoid being weak by dividing the army, Zhu Cihong specially transferred the 20,000 Tianwu army to Xu Qingshan.

If the shogunate army resists stubbornly and the Ming army is not strong enough, Zhu Cihong will not hesitate to continue to increase troops from the country, strive to sweep Japan within three months, and celebrate the National Day at the beginning of next year.

After the matters were decided, Zhu Cihong announced the end of the imperial meeting.

At this time, the Maori outline came to the matter, and he said: "Your Majesty, generals, the land of Shimonoseki is sparsely populated, and there are not many products, but fortunately, there is abundant puffer fish here, the meat is delicious, and it is a special flavor of Japan. ”

A general frowned and said, "Pufferfish? Is it the kind of thing that is highly poisonous? ”

Then, Li Shaoyou said violently: "Okay, you Maori child, you want to murder the Son of Heaven, and we can't be annihilated!" ”

Maori Outline hurriedly said: "No, no, no! Most of them misunderstood, these puffer fish have been specially processed, and someone has tried them in advance, which is absolutely safe! ”

According to his nervous introduction, the puffer fish meat is delicious, tender and delicious, and Japanese dignitaries and aristocrats like to eat it.

Although it is true that the belly of the fish is highly poisonous, Japan has formed a set of methods for preparing puffer fish, after cooking, some people will try it first, and also serve a pot of reed root soup for detoxification, which can basically ensure safety.

Most of the people who eat puffer fish poisoned to death are families and inexperienced taverns.

Zhu Cihong knows a little about this thing, puffer fish is a famous dish that has been popular in Shimonoseki for hundreds of years, and the Japanese Prime Minister Ito Hirobumi, who signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki, is a native of Shimonoseki, and he likes to eat this thing very much, so the place of negotiation and signing with the Qing State is set in Xiaguan Chunfan Tower, in order to show off the merits of returning to his hometown in brocade.

However, when the battle was about to begin, in order to avoid unnecessary dangers, Zhu Cihong emphasized: "When the expedition is out, all the generals, including me, are not allowed to eat those messy things, but only the food in the army!" ”

"The Last General's Order!" The generals answered.

Cold sweat broke out on Maori Outline's forehead, and he wanted to slap the dragon's fart, but he almost suffered.