In the western part of Hitoyoshi Castle, across the Kuma River, the largest water system in southern Kyushu, the crusading forces of Hirate Honhide and the main force of Shimazu Yoshihisa maintained a standoff.

For dozens of miles before and after, there were no bridges on the water at all, and I don't know whether they had never been built or were demolished by the enemy. At the same time, due to the turbulent water and the height difference with the ground, it is also extremely difficult to ferry the boat, which can be called a natural hazard. It's no wonder that the other side chose to defend themselves here.

Fortunately, the width of the river was limited, and if the Shimazu army was to defend the shore, the soldiers with a tie could attack with advanced firearms.

The distance of about 100 paces is just enough to make it difficult for most bows and arrows, roasting and iron cannons to use, but the big barrel can still exert its full power.

However, the Shimazu family is not a mountain monkey who has never seen the world, and strictly speaking, they are the first pioneers in the Fuso countries to come into contact with Nanban firearms. The proportion of iron artillery in their army is not low at all, but it is limited to insufficient financial resources and cannot afford to support the coarse-caliber big guys.

A total of thirty or forty heavy guns were repaired and imitated by the "Spring Field House", all of which weighed several thousand pounds, and they needed to be loaded on wheels and pulled by oxen, horses, and animals. But the power is also amazing, when launched, there is a momentum that shakes the ground and mountains, no matter what warrior is hit, it immediately turns into a lump of flesh, and even the whole corpse cannot be saved. If you hit a stone wall, you can also smash a large pit visible to the naked eye.

So it has the reputation of "national collapse".

Recently, I am trying to produce a small cannon weighing two or three hundred pounds, with a length of less than three feet and a caliber of about one inch, so that the cost is only one-sixth, and four big men can carry it up and walk by tying up the rope and making two flat poles, and will no longer be hindered by the terrain. The effective range will be greatly shortened, and it will be powerless in the face of stone fortifications, but considering that there may be a law and order battle in the future, it is enough.

In fact, this scale is already at the level of "big cylinder" in the eyes of Fuso people.

When I came to Kyushu this time, I asked the Qiben troops to bring 12 "national collapse" gates and 47 "big tubes". Now it is just across the riverbank, so the Shimazu family can experience the "enthusiasm" of the people.

The other side is also capable of fighting back.

Hirate asked the local "Belt and Road Party" in Kyushu how many large firearms the Shimazu army had, and the answer was that there were different opinions, and the bull's head was not the horse's mouth. However, Inatomi Yunao, a native of Tango who was good at this, concluded by observation and listening that the opponent had a total of nine artillery pieces that could cause an effective blow across the river. Seven of them should be "big cylinders" in the ordinary sense, and the other two have the power of "national collapse" by six or seven percent.

Kii native Tsuda agreed with the number "nine" for a while, but the other two gave "six" and "three".

The official authority on local firearms in the Hirate family is actually Omi Tafu Kesumi, but he was appointed as the "Iron Cannon Officer" in charge of R&D and manufacturing, and generally did not fight on the front lines.

All in all, the long-range strike capability of the Shimazu Army is about one-seventh of that of the Crusader Army, and the side that will suffer greatly from shooting across the river is definitely the one who suffers greatly.

Satisfied with this situation, he told the generals with a smile: "If you can kill twenty or thirty people a day, then after two hundred days at most, it will be difficult for the enemy to hold on!" ”

Of course, there must be no shortage of retainers and outsiders who think they are brave and good at fighting, and stand up and actively ask for battle - the Shimazu family will never be able to defend it completely when the Kuma River is so long, and they can always find a suitable place to build a pontoon bridge to cross it and see if they can create an opportunity.

If you don't send out the baggage troops, and only let the soldiers carry rations, it seems that it is indeed worth trying.

However, many attempts were unsuccessful.

The places that the generals could find that were conducive to crossing the river were basically guarded by small detachments of the Shimazu army, all of which were of one or two hundred people, but they showed very strong combat effectiveness, and they could completely block the attack of a thousand people by relying on the river.

Whether it is shooting or hand-to-hand combat, the soldiers of the daimyo in various places are at a disadvantage, and they can only fight in a group formation to take advantage of their numerical superiority, and they are not opponents at all after being dispersed.

Unless it's one or two, or three or five scouts, there's a chance not to attract the attention of the patrol, to avoid fighting, and to sneak up on the past.

Many people have reported that "the Satsuma people are more fierce and brutal than the soldiers of Echigo and Kai, and I am afraid that among the nations, only the flag around the Uchifu is enough to win the battle." ”

Of course, this is an obvious polite remark.

The flag of the Heite family can only be said to be very powerful in the situation of lining up in the plain terrain and giving full play to the advantages of the car formation and firearms, and the ability to fight with white knives under the scattered formation is still insufficient compared to Echigo Uesugi and Kai Takeda, and it is even more impossible to compare with Shimazu horizontally.

The morale factor is decisive in the small-scale chaos of cold weapons, and a series of efforts by the tie to make his flag surpass eighty or ninety percent of the "peers" in this regard, but there are always a few local cultures that are too strange to be treated with common sense.

Therefore, even with a numerical advantage and the complete superiority of large-caliber firearms, it is still very difficult to cross the rapids and land on the opposite riverbank.

Hirate ordered the soldiers to maintain an offensive posture and prepared a large amount of pontoon equipment, but did not really act.

This change of hands was arranged on a secondary front.

During the confrontation near Hitoyoshi Castle, a navy consisting of more than 1,000 ships and 20,000 sailors surrounded the port of Hotsu in Satsuma, and launched a fierce attack on the inner and outer three layers, destroying all the resistance in only two days.

Most of the ships under Shimazu's command have always been in a state of half-merchant and half-army, with little combat effectiveness, and can only undertake transportation tasks, and have never had the experience of being besieged, so they are easily defeated.

Then a part of the navy came to the Yatsushiro area and assisted the 10,000 soldiers of Mori Terumoto to bypass the defenders of the Yatsushiro area and go south directly to Satsuma to attack. Not only can you destroy logistics along the way, but you can also find Ashikaga Yoshiaki's residence by the way.

The other part of the navy was rerouted to the east to Hyuga Province, loading the remaining teams that could still fight after the last defeat, and also bypassing the solid frontal defenses and heading to Osumi. It was also the core area of the Shimazu family.

At the same time, Yamanaka Yukimori led 5,000 elite troops from San'in, who were familiar with the rugged terrain, and under the guidance of the "Belt and Road Party" provided by Kai Soun, bypassed the valley of the Kuma River and avoided the edge of the Hitoyoshi Basin, with the goal of directly threatening the supply line of the enemy's main force.

To put it simply, it is to advance in multiple ways, and attack it must be saved. This is a strategy that can only be used in the case of absolute superiority in all aspects, and it is also the best strategy to use in the case of absolute superiority in all aspects.

Unlike against the Mori family, Hirate did not expect this form of attack to bring the Shimazu family to its knees. Not all daimyo are so loosely structured.

It's also completely different from the war against Kanto.,The Hou Hojo family is cohesive enough.,But they lack the courage to make decisions.,It's just staying in Odawara Castle and waiting for death.。

He didn't surrender as soon as Takeda Katsuyori did, or fight as easily as Takanobu Ryuzoji.

What would the Shimazu family, who had so far shown to be tough and not flexible and steady, do in such a situation?

The mood of the tie is slightly contradictory.

I have dealt with so many daimyo along the way, and in general, none of them have been pleasantly surprised, and sometimes I can't help but wonder if Mori Motosashi, Takeda Shingen, Uesugi Kenshin, and Hojo Shiyasu were still alive, would the situation be completely different?

The Shimazu family is really still in its prime, will it play a little interesting and exciting tricks?

- The sensual side is calling like this.

Intellectually, he kept telling himself not to think too much about messing around, and that mediocre and simple winning every battle was the best outcome.

Really, isn't this kind of inexplicable emotion of looking forward to a legendary story only a kid as big as Yoshimitsu have?