The weather in early winter, the climate changes extremely fast.

Yesterday there was a slight north wind, but today it is suddenly a north wind howling, and the temperature has dropped a lot.

Uenohara, the only way to get from Nagoya to Edo by land, is already full of battle flags fluttering and crowded.

Tokugawa Iemitsu, the shogun, dressed in traditional samurai attire, stood on a cliff outside Taniguchi surrounded by Toshikatsu Doi, Tadashi Aoyama, Nobutsuna Matsudaira, and Tetsutsu Toda.

The view of this terrain is excellent, and when you stand on the cliff and look down, you can see the canyon from outside.

On the flat ground outside the canyon stood a large and well-guarded military camp.

The barracks were surrounded by a two-man high fence, and outside the fence were a trench covered with sharp antlers, and the camp was covered with dense marching tents.

An army of 500,000 conscripts from all over the Kanto region has been stationed in this huge military camp.

Among them, there are 300,000 Ashigaru and ronin, who have responded to the call of the shogunate from all over the world, and have only arrived in the past few days.

The north wind hunts, and the flag flutters.

Looking at such a huge military camp and the army gathered in the barracks, Tokugawa Iemitsu's face couldn't help but flush with excitement, this is an army of 500,000!

Not to mention that in the Kansai direction, there are nearly 300,000 Kansai coalition troops led by Sakai Tadashi!

However, the current Kansai Coalition Army is just coming quickly and secretly.

Their purpose and plan were to block the back of the arrogant and domineering Ming Expeditionary Force at the most critical time.

Of course, the actions of the Kansai coalition army will not be dispatched until the upcoming Ming army enters the Uenohara Gorge.

Since Tokugawa Ieyasu seized power in one fell swoop and opened the Edo shogunate, the Tokugawa shogunate had never assembled such a large army, and in the history of the Wa Kingdom, only Toyotomi Hideyoshi had ever assembled such a large army.

Although the land area of the Wa Kingdom was not large, there were many princes in the country, and each prince only owned a small amount of land and population, so the scale of the melee between the princes was very small, generally a few hundred, or at most tens of thousands.

During the entire Warring States period of the Wa Kingdom, more than 100,000 people fought in the General Assembly, so in the Wa Kingdom, the impact of the war on the population was not large, and the agricultural civilization learned from the Han Empire had a natural population development advantage, so the population was large.

In the historical Han Empire, whether it was internal or external, it was often a general war of 100,000 people, or even nearly a million people.

Great wars of this magnitude, coupled with the occasional invasion and massacres of the nomadic peoples of the northern steppes of the empire, had a great impact on the population.

You must know that 1,500 years ago, the population of the Han Empire reached nearly 100 million, and as a result, it was repeated several times, and more than 60% of them were slaughtered by those nomads.

Therefore, the population of the Han Empire has been rising in a spiral, rather than a steady rise like the Wa Kingdom.

It is precisely because of this that the Japanese country is now able to have a population of more than 10 million, which is also among the top countries in the world today.

Tokugawa Iemitsu clenched his fists and said in an excited tone: "Those arrogant, brutal and cold-blooded Ming invaders, if they dare to come, they will die." ”

"I'm afraid that the army of the Ming Kingdom will not go to the wilderness and take the southern coastline instead, and our national mobilization this time will be in vain!"

Tadashi Aoyama said worriedly, "Lord Shogun, most of the main forces of our Kwantung Coalition Army and Kansai Coalition Army are gathered in Uenohara, and there are only a small number of troops stationed in Edo in the rear, which is ......"

"Once the Ming army does not go to the wilderness and takes the southern coastline instead, the consequences will be unimaginable."

That kind of situation, as long as it happens, is a disaster-like disaster that destroys the country, and just thinking about it makes people tremble.

"No, it won't."

Doi Toshikatsu said confidently, "The expeditionary force of the Ming Empire will never take the southern coastline. ”

Tadashi Aoyama asked suspiciously, "Why?" ”

Doi Toshikatsu said: "As early as when I was in Edo, I said that the expeditionary force of the Ming Empire deliberately chose to land in Osaka to give us enough time to prepare, and they wanted to finish their work in one battle and completely annihilate our shogunate army. 652 Literature Network

"Therefore, the enemy's target has always been our shogunate army, not a certain castle, so I am sure that they will definitely go to the wild plains and not take advantage of the situation to sneak up on Edo."

While he was talking and discussing, Masamori Kusada ran over and reported breathlessly, "General, there is news. ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu hurriedly said, "Speak quickly." ”

Masamori Higata gasped, "According to the report of the Tanma, the Ming Dynasty army in Nagoya suddenly accelerated its march after leaving Nagoya on the second day after joining up with the 80,000 naval officers who rushed to the scene! ”

"A day ago, they had already crossed the Kiso Mountains and entered the Nanai Mountain Road."

"Because the other side has cavalry to open the way, and the logistics materials are also transported in a peculiar four-wheeled carriage, it is estimated from their marching speed that it will take about a day to cross the Chishi Mountains."

"In other words, in about three days, the expeditionary force of the Ming Empire will be able to enter the Uganno Plain."

Aoyama Tadashi glanced at Doi Toshikatsu in some surprise, and said in a low voice: "The expeditionary force of the Ming Empire is really here?" ”

He is now convinced of this Tokugawa shogunate's wise man.

It's so clever and clever!

His Excellency Toshikatsu Doi is estimated to be comparable to Zhuge Liang in the best-selling book of the Han Empire and the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

"What?"

Tokugawa Iemitsu was shocked when he heard this, "Those Ming army suddenly accelerated their march? ”

"Don't be surprised, General."

Doi Toshikatsu said indifferently, "It's not surprising that the Ming Expeditionary Force suddenly accelerated its march. ”

"They must also have a lot of intelligence officers and scouts, who went out to investigate the situation, and when they learned that our shogunate army has gathered outside the valley mouth on the east side of the Uenohara Grand Canyon, they will definitely take action."

"Now, the goal of the Ming Empire Expeditionary Force has been achieved, of course, there is no need to deliberately slow down the march."

Tokugawa Iemitsu thought for a moment and asked again, "Digata-kun, is there any news about Sakai-sama's Kansai Group Army?" ”

Masamori Kutaka replied respectfully, "Lord Shogun, Lord Sakai has assembled a mixed Kansai Group Army of 300,000 men in Kyoto, including 30,000 iron artillery teams and 1,000 Franco mercenaries. ”

"At present, Your Excellency Sakai is ordering all the troops to secretly disperse and advance in the direction of Uenohara, if nothing else, they will definitely be able to cut off the retreat of the Ming Dynasty army as soon as it enters the canyon."

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded, turned around and asked Doi Toshikatsu, "Doi-kun, what should I do next?" ”

Doi Toshikatsu replied without hesitation: "Continue to gather the army, carry out a national mobilization, raise enough grain and grass to carry out the baggage, and prepare to fight to the death with the Ming Dynasty army!" ”

"This battle is not only related to the life and death of my shogunate, but also to the life and death of our empire, and even more to the life and death of my Yamato nation, so we must go all out!"

Doi Toshikatsu said coldly, "I have gone down, and anyone who disobeys the military order, no matter who he is, will be killed on the spot!" ”

He understands the importance of this battle, and there is no third choice for both sides of the enemy.

Therefore, it is impossible to pay too much attention to this battle.

On the side of the Ming Empire's expeditionary force, it was the same.

If they suffer a crushing defeat, not only will the expeditionary force that cost a huge amount of money be wiped out, but it will also inevitably cause a huge blow to the Ming Empire.

Since then, the Ming Empire has collapsed, and it seems to be doomed.

And if the Japanese side fails, the result will be even more miserable, and there is a great probability that the country will be destroyed in a war!

Both sides cannot afford to lose, and they will inevitably do their best to fight to the death, without the slightest mercy to speak of.

It is conceivable how tragic the Armageddie battle is about to be launched this time.