"Elder" Sakai Tadashi frowned and said, "Your Royal Highness, although the fire damage of the citizens in the city is heavy, it does not hurt our roots. The most important thing now www.biquge.info is to expel Li Zhi's soldiers and horses from Osaka. As long as Osaka is recovered, the daimyo with dissenting intentions will be deterred. No one will jump out and follow Lee Sik to make trouble. ”

"As for the three daimyo who have rebelled, as long as they repel Li Zhi in Osaka, it will not be a problem. If the army of the Tokugawa family goes all out to fight against it, the tens of thousands of troops of these three daimyo will not be vulnerable at all. ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded and asked, "How many troops have been assembled in Edo now?" ”

Sakai Tadashi said loudly: "We have recruited 200,000 troops from various places to pro-feudal daimyo and genealogy daimyos. Today, 180,000 have arrived outside Edo Castle. In just five days, the 200,000-strong army will be able to gather all. ”

Doi Toshikatsu said worriedly: "Now Li Zhi's fleet is blocking the sea, and the speed of transporting troops is much faster than ours. What if Li Zhi attacked Edo when our army left Edo? ”

Sakai Tadakatsu said, "We left some soldiers and horses to guard Edo Castle. We left 80,000 troops to defend the city, and sent 120,000 troops to attack Osaka. Li Zhi only has 20,000 people in Osaka, and 120,000 people can trample Li Zhi's soldiers and horses to death even if they step on them. ”

When everyone heard Sakai's words, they did not speak. At present, it seems that the enemy can only be dealt with according to Sakai.

Tokugawa Iemitsu looked at the fire in Edo Castle Town, nodded and said, "That's it!" When the soldiers and horses were gathered, I personally led an army of 120,000 to the west to recover Osaka Castle. ”

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On December 20, Lee Sik was in the middle of Osaka Castle, carefully looking at a map of Japan.

The front line reported that Tokugawa Iemitsu's 120,000-strong army against Li Zhi had left Edo and should now be in the Sagami area of Japan. At the speed of the Tokugawa family's march of 30 miles a day, the 120,000-strong army would have to walk for more than 20 days to reach Osaka.

In fact, on December 10, Li Zhi led the fleet back to Osaka Castle. Li Zhi's fleet has much more mobility than the army. From Osaka, the ironclad can sail to any city in Japan within five days. Seventy-three steamships can transport 20,000 soldiers and horses at one time. In other words, Li Zhi could deploy his own forces throughout Japan at will.

Lee Chimoto hoped to make the Tokugawa shogunate compromise by bombing Edo and accept his own conditions for peace talks. In fact, all he wanted was for the Tokugawa shogunate to redevelop the fine cloth trade and at the same time cede Osaka Castle. And the sealing of the Satsuma Domain and the Choshu Domain did not hurt the foundation of the Tokugawa family.

The reason why Li Zhi gave the Tokugawa shogunate such favorable terms for peace talks was because Li Zhi found that he could not rule Japan. Li Zhi occupied Osaka Castle for a month and a half, and the Japanese residents of Osaka Castle were still fleeing outside. Hardly a single Japanese citizen returned to their homes in Osaka to accept their rule.

According to Zheng Kaida, the cities outside Osaka are full of down-and-out Osaka refugees. While these refugees are struggling to survive in other places, various rumors about Li Zhi are circulating. These refugees said that Li Zhi cut out the Japanese and cut out his heart, and said that Li Zhi ate the thigh meat of the Japanese as if Li Zhi was an uncivilized beast.

These rumors made nearby Japanese residents even more hostile to Lee Sik.

Li Zhi knew that it was because the Japanese were hostile to the invaders that they spontaneously fabricated such rumors. These rumors made Li Zhi understand that as an aggressor, he could not simply rule the country of Japan. If you want the Japanese to completely surrender, I am afraid that you will have to bloodied Japan with absolutely superior forces.

However, Li Zhi only had 20,000 people, and it was impossible for Li Zhi to confront the entire Japanese nation for the time being.

So Li Zhi was not ready to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate. The Tokugawa shogunate was in the twilight and let him rule Japan, which would only decay little by little. If a vigorous warlord like the Satsuma Domain or the Choshu Domain were allowed to rule Japan, it would not be long before Japan became a great power. In that case, maybe Lee Sik will be swept away by the powerful Japan.

Therefore, considering the pros and cons, Li Zhi gave the Tokugawa family generous negotiation conditions.

However, the Tokugawa shogunate was still intoxicated by their superiority in numbers and horses, and dreamed of expelling Li Zhi completely. In Tokugawa Iemitsu's eyes, if an army of 120,000 troops surrounded Osaka, Li Zhi would surrender immediately.

The Tokugawa shogunate had not yet adapted to the battlefield innovations brought about by Li Zhi's technical means.

Li Zhi stood on the top of the castle tower, looking at the walls and moats of Osaka Castle, thinking about how to meet the 120,000 troops of the Tokugawa shogunate.

After watching for a while, Li Zhi saw a group of samurai dressed in gorgeous silk and haori walking from outside the castle walls, and they handed their swords to Li Zhi's personal guards, and then walked into the castle tower of Osaka Castle.

Lee Sik welcomes his guests at the castle tower - Mitsuhisa Shimazu, Mori Hidesa, and two new subordinates with unfamiliar faces.

The four of them knelt in front of Li Zhi, and one of the two new subordinates, a bearded samurai, suddenly burst into tears, prostrate on the ground and shouted: "Changzong and my clan have knocked on the Daming Tsu Guogong, thanks to the soldiers and horses of the Tsu Guogong, my Changzong and my clan have recaptured the territory of Tosa!" ”

The Nagasome Ibe clan was a powerful prince in Japan's Sengoku period, and once controlled the entire island of Shikoku, which can be said to be deeply entrenched in Tosa Province in Japan. However, due to the hostility with the Tokugawa shogunate, the Choshone Ibu family was deprived of their territory and became a low-ranking samurai in the local area.

However, the Chosamune family has deep roots, and almost all of the local samurai are retainers of the Chosamune Ibu family. The foreign feudal lords did not dare to destroy this samurai group, so they could only coexist with it and try to do it slowly.

Under such circumstances, Li Zhi, under the mediation of Shimazu Mitsuhisa, sent 2,000 soldiers and horses to land in Tosa Province to help the local low-ranking samurai drive out the feudal lords appointed by the Tokugawa clan and restore the rule of the Chosamune Ibu clan in the region.

The local lower-ranking samurai rejoiced and soon took control of the area and joined Li Zhi's army of the Shogun. So Li Zhi added 4,000 Japanese soldiers and horses.

Changzong and my clan roared loudly: "Changzong and my clan are willing to break their bones for the Jinguo Palace!" All 4,000 Tosa soldiers and horses have arrived in Osaka with me, and are now stationed on the east side of the pier. ”

Li Zhi nodded and asked, "What about the soldiers and horses of the other three families?" ”

The head of the Nabeshima family, who was sitting next to Nagamune's family, said loudly: "The five thousand soldiers and horses of the Nabeshima family are already waiting at the port, and as soon as the fleet of the Tsu Kuni Gong arrives, they will immediately sail to Osaka with the fleet." ”

"The Shimazu family left 2,000 soldiers and horses to defend the city, and will support the great battle of Tsu Guogong with 10,000 soldiers and horses!"

"The Maori family will send 7,000 soldiers and horses to fight with the Duke of Jin!"