On the ninth day of the first month of the ninth year of Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen issued an order to conquer the Japanese and sent an envoy to the Japanese state, the main envoy was the military department squire Fang Bin, and the deputy envoy was the Korean political envoy Si Zuo to participate in the politics of the country, and the time for their arrival in the Japanese country was strictly set, and it must be the fourth day of the first month of March. What they brought with them was an ultimatum, which gave the Wa Kingdom only five days.

Because Sheng Yong, the commander-in-chief of the Japanese army, received an order that he must gain a firm foothold in Kyushu and Shikoku by May. Because after May, it is the rainy season in the Wa Kingdom, and there are often typhoons raging along the coast, Zhu Yunwen does not want another "kamikaze".

However, the navy has a completely different view on this issue, believing that as long as it is not a particularly big typhoon, the impact on the naval fleet is very small, and the battle fleet and troop transport fleet on this expedition are all specialized sea vessels, which are extremely strong. At this point, the Ming Dynasty was completely different from the Yuan Dynasty in the past, their so-called sea ships were actually just river boats in a hurry, not only draught money, but also the ship board was very thin, not resistant to wind and waves, so there were two fiascos.

After being the emperor for so many years, Zhu Yunwen is immune to this kind of words, but the two fleets of the Ming Dynasty have been around the country for nearly a year, and they have also encountered typhoons, but relatively speaking, the losses are still within the acceptable range.

In order to avoid the recurrence of the "kamikaze", Zhu Yunwen also sent officials and engineers from the Ministry of Engineering and the College of Engineering to the small islands around the Wa Kingdom to actually measure the wind, rainfall, rising and falling tides, wind and waves, and other information, so as to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

At the same time, the naval fleet also measured the local hydrological situation as much as possible while cooperating with the landing of the Marine Brigade, and the Marine Brigade would also capture some villagers along the coast of the Japanese Kingdom as much as possible to obtain detailed information on the sea conditions.

After these preparations, Zhu Yunwen finally gave the order to recruit the Japanese.

The commander-in-chief of the Japanese army was Sheng Yong, which was divided into two front armies, the commander-in-chief of the southern front army was Sheng Yong, the commander-in-chief of the northern front army was Qu Neng, and the combat direction of the northern front army was the northern part of the Japanese country, that is, the northern part of Kyushu and the northern part of the main island; The southern front was operated in the western and southern parts of Kyushu, the southern part of Shikoku Island, and even the southern part of the main island, and the armies within the operational range were under the command of the two commanders-in-chief.

In order to ensure the success of this conquest, Zhu Yunwen assigned the Haiyunlong Division of the Fourth Guards Army and the Shaoyun Division of the Sixth Guards Army to the northern and southern armies of the Beijing Division, and at the same time transferred the Zhang Lun Division of the First Guards Army and the Cao Yushu Division of the Second Army, which were being repaired and replenished, to the Beijing Division to take over the defense of the Sixth Army and the Fourth Army.

......

On the other hand, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu, who decided to fight a bloody battle with the Ming army, made a decisive decision and sent the hawks Ashikaga Yoshinori, Spo Yoshisho and others to Kyushu to preside over the defense of Kyushu, and Imagawa Sadayo, Shibukawa Mitsuyori, Ouchi Morumi, Ouchi Hiroshige and others were under his control.

After Ashikaga Yoshinori arrived in Kyushu, he immediately held a military meeting in Dazaifu, but the result of the discussion made Ashikaga Yoshimochi very disappointed, and the Kyushu generals who attended the meeting, now Kawa Sadayo, Shibukawa Mitsuyori, Ouchi Morumi, Shimazu Motohisa and others are generally a little pessimistic.

If the Ming army attacked Hakata Port, which had been prepared, everyone was confident that they could deal with it, because the three-meter-high stone barrier along the coast was enough for the Ming army to shed the last drop of blood, but the Ming army's naval division was strong, and they did not need to choose Hakata Port, they could also choose Kagoshima, Osumi, Chikuzen and even Higo and other places, these places also have natural harbors, of course, the most likely is Kagoshima, where the Ming army once landed.

Now Kagoshima has been recovered, but the troops are insufficient, in fact, the entire Kyushu is insufficient, because there are too many places to defend, and the daimyo represented by Ouchi Morami, Shimazu Motohisa and others are worried about the safety of their territory, among which Shimazu Motohisa is the most, because his Kagoshima Castle has been breached once, and his distant brother Yoshihisa was killed on the spot.

The meeting was very difficult, everyone wanted to defend their own territory and increase troops to their own territory, and finally reached a compromise, Imagawa Sadayo and Ouchi Morami were in charge of the Hakata Bay defense line, Shibukawa Mitsuyori and Shimazu Motohisa were in charge of Kagoshima and Osumi directions, and Ashikaga Yoshimochi and Shogun Spo Yoshisho sat in Dazaifu and provided timely support.

In response to this opinion, everyone is not satisfied, but no one can think of a better way.

After the meeting, Ashikaga Yoshimochi quickly sent someone to report to Ashikaga Yoshimitsu and at the same time asked for reinforcements, and Ashikaga Yoshimori, who arrived in Kyushu, already felt that the situation was serious, and there was no longer the optimism of the past.

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"Your Excellency General, Commander Spo urgently asks to see you!"

"Please!"

Ashikaga Yoshimori, who was studying the map, hurriedly put down the map and sat upright, waiting for Spo to arrive.

As soon as the words fell, General Spoyi hurriedly walked in with a military newspaper in his hand: "You all go down!" ”

Sensing the anxiety in Spo's words, Ashikaga Yoshinori waved his hand and told everyone to go down.

"What's wrong? Spo pipe collar? ”

"General, yesterday afternoon, the Ming marines captured Xiaguan and cut off the Xiaguan Strait."

"What?"

Ashikaga Yoshimari stood up suddenly, and his face lost his blood in an instant: "What about our reinforcements?" ”

"I'm afraid I won't be able to come for a while!"

"Then," Ashikaga Yoshimoru felt the world spinning and weak, he tried to hold on to the table, sat down slowly, then took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly, "Then how do we deal with it?" ”

Looking at the calm Ashikaga Yoshimori, General Spo Yoshinori was satisfied, but his face was still a little panicked, and said: "Things are a little troublesome, our army's naval division is not the opponent of the Ming army, and the target of the troop carrier is too big, it is difficult to smuggle over, so I am afraid that we can only rely on us to recover the lower pass in the short term." ”

"But now the troops are so tight......"

"There is no other way," General Spoyi walked to the map, pointed to Iki Island and Tsushima Island, and said: "Before, we misjudged and thought that the target of the Ming army's attack was Hakata, but now it seems that it should be Shimonoseki." ”

"If the Ming army gains a foothold in Shimonoseki, then not only will our connection with the main island be cut off, but they will also use Shimonoseki as a base to attack Dazaifu or attack the Hakata defenders from behind, then we will be in a good position."

"Well, General Ben understands," Ashikaga Yoshishi pressed his hands on the map and said, "Then who do you think should be sent to recapture Shimonoseki?" ”

"Let Ouchi Morimi and Hiroshige Ouchi go together!"

"Together?"

"Yes," General Spoi hesitated for a moment, and said, "The two of them have been competing for the position of Ouchi Governor, and although Ouchi Hiroshige is recognized by His Excellency the Minister of the Interior, Ouchi Morimi is not a mediocre person. ”

"The general can privately promise Ouchi Morimi, and if he can take the lower pass, then he will be the governor of the Ouchi family."

"This," Ashikaga Yoshichi said with some uncertainty, "can my father agree?" ”

"Hehe," General Si Boyi smiled bitterly: "If the lower pass cannot be captured, our army will be defeated, and the general and the last general will probably become prisoners of the Ming army. ”

"Good!" Ashikaga Yoshimochi woke up like a dream and immediately said, "Then you should go and give the order immediately!" Tell Mori that I won't forget my promise to him! ”

"Yes!"

.......

Ashikaga Yoshimochi and Shogun Spo did not try to block the news, because when they got the news, Imagawa Sadayo, Ouchi Morimi and others had already gotten the news.

Soon, when Dazaifu issued an order for Ouchi Morimi and Ouchi Hiroshige to attack the lower pass together, Hiroshige Ouchi had no opinion, but Ouchi Morimi proposed to meet the shogun. Yoshimochi immediately met with him and reaffirmed his promise to him, and Ouchi saw that he got what he wanted, so he took the order.

At this moment, the eyes of the entire Wa Kingdom turned to the westernmost point of Kyushu Island, Shimonoseki, which the Chinese people called Maguan.