Chapter 106: The Smoke of Kanto

On November 30, the third year of Koji, as Ashikaga Yoshiteru sent the public and shogunates to the daimyo in various places to ask for support, gradually all parts of the country began to identify the Furukawa shogunate as a puppet shogunate and puppet regime. The Ashikaga Fuji clan also lost the object that the Kanto Eight countries could woo.

And Yoshizaki Kakubei also quickly arrived at Katsuo Castle and asked Murakami Yoshikiyo to go out in person. But after all, it takes time to gather troops, and he was not ready to fight from the beginning like the Uesugi family. If you want the Murakami family to enter the Kanto region to assist, you won't see a lot of 'Kami' banners until mid-December. However, Murakami Yoshikiyo still sent a thousand of his troops to Yoshizaki Castle, and the main commander was Kiyono Kiyohide, a major minister of the Murakami family.

Minoru Honjo, who was at Tochio Castle in Echigo Province, learned of the establishment of the Furukawa Shogunate, and quickly consulted with important ministers such as Naoe Keitsuna and Kaji Kiyotsuna about whether to go to Ueno from Ueda or from Okushinano to Ueno. After the ninjas of Regulus informed Honjo that the area around Numata Castle could not be marched, the Echigo people could only prepare to send troops to Kanto via Okushinano, but only Honjo Minoru knew that the dragon girl in Kasuga Mountain Castle was a shadow warrior.

Soma Shengyin is different, he has always been at odds with the Date family, he has long been ready to mobilize at any time in the territory, and the Tamura family began to send a batch of arrows, grain and grass and other materials to the Uesugi army in Shimono Province. The 1,000-strong forces of the Soma Army also entered Shimono Province on December 5. Even Mori Takahiro of Suga River Castle was ordered by Tao Qingxian to lead his headquarters to participate in the battle in Shimono, and Tao Qingxian also knew that if all the Nasu Prefecture in Shimono was lost, then Aizu would be completely isolated! Although Aizu borders Echigo, it does not mean that the Echigo people will be able to come to support in time.

Due to Nasu Ziyin's call, the ronins and wild samurai in Nasu County gathered under Nasu Ziyin's command, causing Nasu Ziyin's original army of 1,200 to rapidly swell to 2,700. This made it very difficult for Wise Guangzhong. The Nasu family is a famous samurai family, and the samurai under his command can fight well. If it weren't for the fact that Chaoding entered the lower field and used crowd tactics and attacks from all over the place, then Su Ziyin would not have surrendered so quickly. This time, however, it was different. Once Nasu regains all of the old domains of Nasu-gun, the Uesugi domains of Aizu and Nanji-ku will lose contact with the Kanto region. The Furukawa shogunate army will also go north to attack Aizu at any time.

Akechi Mitsutada's 1,700 troops can be regarded as waiting for Soma Shengyin's reinforcements in Shimono. With the joint battle with Ei Yinji and Okada Shigein, Nasu Ziyin was counterattacked by the same number of crusaders outside Kuroba Castle.

With the death of the Nasu family's retainers Shiotani Yoshitaka, Shiotani Moritsuna, and Okamoto Masakin, after the Nasu army lost 400 troops, Nasu Ziyin was forced to temporarily withdraw from the army. He didn't expect that the Oshu Soma family would rush to support the Uesugi family, so he spent a lot of time on recruiting wild samurai and ronin. Even the planned attack on Black Feather City has been delayed a bit.

Although Akechi Mitsutada and Ei Yinji repelled the attack of the Nasu army at Kuroba Castle, it did not mean that the crusading army had enough strength in Shimono to repel the rest of the Furukawa shogunate army. Akechi Mitsutada and the others can only prepare for defense in the Nasu County Akechi Domain.

As the offensive of the Furukawa shogunate army became more and more fierce, the real castle where Utsunomiya Hirotsuna was located was also captured by Sannomaru, and the retainer Kimishima Takayin stayed in the castle in order to cover the retreat of everyone.

In just half a month, Moka Castle, which had thousands of defenders, was completely surrounded by the Furukawa Shogunate Army, and Utsunomiya Hirotsuna also returned to Utsunomiya Castle after the retainers struggled to break through. On the evening of December 5, Kimishima Takayin also cut his stomach in Honmaru, and a total of 1,330 people were killed in the battle.

With the loss of Moka Castle, the Utsunomiya family also lost a strong bridgehead. Tobiyama Castle was also conquered by the Furukawa shogunate army, which was chasing after him. The defender Yoga Takada, with two hundred defenders and three thousand Kogawa shogunate troops, fought for five days and was conquered. Haga Gaoding was also captured, and all the defenders were killed.

The rapid defeat of the Utsunomiya family made the arrogance of the Furukawa shogunate army even more arrogant, and the 10,000 troops of Nagao Nakanaga, Onodera Nagatoruna, Mibu Circumference, Mibu Tsunago, Koyama Hidetsuna, and Shiotani Takanobu completely surrounded Utsunomiya Castle, which was only garrisoned by 2,000 troops. This time, Utsunomiya Hirotsuna no longer has a place to break through. All the territories in the north were conquered by Mibu Tsunashi and Mibu Tsuno, and even Mashiko Katsumune, who had been following the Utsunomiya family, defected at a critical moment. The Mashiko family also became a member of the Furukawa shogunate.

The Utsunomiya family, as a separatist party, would not submit to the military of the Furukawa shogunate like a defector, and Utsunomiya Hirotsuna firmly believed that he would be able to defend his ancestral castle and defeat the Furukawa shogunate army. But this is all wishful thinking on his part. The morale of the only defenders was low, and even the retainers who broke out with him were most likely wounded, and the grain and grass in the city could only supply the defenders to support them for half a month. If the Uesugi army or the Satake army arrived in time, it would still allow the Utsunomiya family to continue to exist, and if the two armies were blocked and could not arrive in time, then the Utsunomiya family would be cut off.

As soon as Naito Masatoyo returned, he handed over the crusade to Takeda Shingen, who had fought against Taka Yoshiteru, and the retainers who still fantasized about reconciling with the Hojo family completely gave up this idea.

Takeda Shingen immediately asked Takeda Shinshihiro and other Suruga and Enoe people to immediately send troops to Izu, and Kai was also beginning to gather troops to fight at any time. This crusade was tantamount to adding an Izu country to the Takeda family, and although it was originally won, it was returned in order to be able to truce with the Hojo family.

At present, the Hojo clan Yasushi has established the Horikoshi Gongfang in Izu, and he recognized the Furukawa shogunate as the 'Gomoto Castle Palace' of the Hojo clan along with the Hojo clan, and also earned the coveted guardian position. Although the Izu people suffered heavy losses in battles with the Uesugi army in various places, they were still able to gather 4,000 troops. As long as Izu Province wants to hold on, it can still rely on the mountains in the territory to 'fight guerrillas' with the Takeda Army.

Speaking of the Horikoshi Shogunate, it is also very interesting, the Horikoshi Princess, who was originally sent by the Muromachi Shogunate, was cut off by Hojo Sakumo, who was still a retainer under the Imagawa family. Now the Hojo family has come to restore this public square.

During the "Totoku War", the "Horikoshi Gongkata" sent by the shogunate to Horikoshi in Izu Province was also claimed to be the orthodox Kanto Gongfang, but in 1467, when the Onin Rebellion broke out and the shogunate was unable to look eastward, it was destroyed by Imagawa Kinkashi of Suruga Province in 36 years when Ise was in his prime.

In 1455 (the 4th year of the 4th year of the Japanese Sentoku), the 5th Kamakura Gongkata Ashikaga Narishi moved the base from Kamakura to Furukawa, becoming the first "Furukawa Gongkata". It lasted for about 130 years, including the five generations of the Masaka, Takaji, Haru, and Yoshiji clans, and was regarded as the descendant of the Kamakura Prince.

In order to fight against the Ashikaga Nari clan, the shogunate sent Ashikaga Masachi to succeed the Kamakura Gongkata in 1457, but due to the war, he could only temporarily reside in Horikoshi, Izu Province, and was called the "Horikoshi Gongkata". In 1467, the Onin Rebellion broke out, and the shogunate was unable to look eastward, leaving the Horikoshi government isolated and helpless. In 1487, after a long period of war, the shogunate and the Furukawa Dukes finally reached an armistice agreement (historically known as the "Tokai Combination"), and the shogunate recognized the status of the Ashikaga Nari clan as the orthodox Kanto principality, and the Horikoshi Dukes lost their nominal legitimacy. In 1493, the Imagawa family of Suruga Province took advantage of the war in the Kanto region to seize the territory of Izu Province, and the Horikoshi family was wiped out.

When the Ashikaga clan founded the shogunate, in order to fight against the Southern Dynasty, the shogunate had to be set up in Kyoto, and in the Kanto, the center of the samurai's heart, the Shogunate divided his son Yu Kamakura for the Kamakura duke. And with the Kanto Governor as the auxiliary. Later, the Kamakura Ashikaga clan was dissatisfied with the Kanto governor Uesugi Kentada, and assassinated him. This sparked a long-term confrontation between the Kanto Governor and the Principality, which led the shogunate to send Suruga to guard the Imagawa clan to fight and force the Ashikaga Nari clan to move to Shimoso Furukawa and become the first Furukawa Principality.

The eight countries of the Kanto region of the Kamakura Principality, Izu and Kai, the guardians of the above ten countries and the Kanto governors, and the Kamakura Prefecture all have the right to appoint and dismiss, so it can be said that they are the shoguns of the Kanto region.

At the same time, the organization of Kamakura Prefecture was almost identical to that of the Shogunate, and it was sometimes referred to as the Kanto Shogunate. Later, when the Kamakura Prefecture reached the fourth generation of the Shogun, it was rebelled against the Shogun because of the succession of the shogun, and finally he was killed, and the Kamakura Prefecture came to an end. From that time on, some of the eight Kanto countries were appointed and dismissed by the shogunate.

It was in December that the Hojo Army finally made a move. And there's more than one way. Hojo Nagasuna (Hojo Phantom An) sent the 3,000 Hojo Army with Hojo Tsunashige as the main general and left Musashi directly. Their purpose was to go to Izu to support Hojo Shiyasu.

And Imagawa Shinya also got the post of Tokai exploration from the Furukawa shogunate, and he was responsible for omitting Okabe Motonobu and others. But he really didn't dare to leave Odawara Castle, and he also learned that Okabe Motonobu, Asahina Shinji, and Asahina Taichao were 'surrounded' by the Uesugi army, and going to Musashi now was tantamount to death. However, Asai Masatoshi and other retainers were incorporated into the military service account of the Hojo family by the Hojo clan, and completely became the retainers of the Hojo family. The Imagawa clan was also kicked out of Odawara Castle by the Hojo clan and sent directly to live in the Horikoshi Mansion. Of course, Mrs. Hayakawa is also with Imagawa Shin.

Hojo Shiyasu didn't expect that Takeda Shingen would quickly transfer troops to attack the Hojo family. With the complete destruction of Tokaido's intelligence network by the Takeda family ninjas, the Wind Demon basically existed in name only, and Wind Demon Kotaro himself could only go to Izu Province with 200 cavalry to assist the Hojo Army in the battle.

On December 7, Takeda Nobuyoshi transferred Yokota Tsunamatsu (Suruga Fukasawa Castle), Murozumi Toranobu (Suruga Kambara-jo), Gan Ri Masataka (Suruga Maruko Castle), Takeda Nobuyoshi (Suruga Kokokuji Castle), Kawawa Nobumi (Suruga Tokura Castle), Katsuyama Clan Motomo (Suruga Katsuyama Castle), Shimosone Nobuthiro (Toe Fumata Castle), Takasaka Masasumi (Toe Shimoto Castle), Ashida Nobubo (Toe Kutou Castle), Naito Masahiro (Toe Mitsuki Castle), Ogasawara Nobuki (Toe Mafutsuka Castle), The army of Takasaka Masanobu (Enoe Yinma Castle) and 12 retainers of the Takeda family was assembled at Sunfu Castle. The strength of the Takeda army was 17,000. The senior general is Takeda Nobuyoshi, and the deputy generals are Takasaka Masanobu and Takeda Nobuyo.

Takeda Shingen took the 1,000 troops of the Anayama Nobuyuki (Shimoyama Castle) of Kai Province as the first of his team and went to Suruga Kokokuji Castle to stand by.

The Takeda family's sailors also began to act. They moved faster than Takeda Nobuyoshige's march. Yasunao Itami, Masatsuna Mukai and other Suruga sailors quickly sailed the main force of the navy out of the port, and instantly surrounded the four Koza and one Seki ship that the Hojo family's Izu navy was patrolling along the coast of Izu. Shigemasa Miura and Shigezumi Miura led the naval forces and the Suruga naval forces before they were completely annihilated. Shigeju Miura was captured, and Shigeru Miura took only one ship to break out of the siege and go to the port outside Anrari Castle.

When he learned that the Takeda family had already moved, the Hojo clan immediately deployed 4,000 Hojo troops in the area from Nirayama Castle to Yamanaka Castle, and let all the sailors who were still in Izu enter the port and not fight with the Suruga sailors without authorization.

Since Yasuei Shimizu and others were still fighting along the coast of Kamicho Province to support the Hojo Army of Anbo Province such as Naotari, the only naval force of the Izu Navy in Izu Province was only seven Kozao and two Seki ships. However, after the patrol boats were annihilated by the Suruga Naval Army, there were only four Kohaya and one Sekibune. However, the Suruga Navy had one Ataku ship, 12 Seki ships, 10 Sengoku ships, and 20 Kozao ships.

There is only one reason why Hojo Shiyasu personally guards Izu Province, he doesn't want Izu Province to be lost again. As the Izu country, which the Hojo family has managed for four generations, this will be the last position of the Hojo family. And the first generation of the Hojo family, Hojo Sakumo, once dreamed of a scene: under the two fir trees, there was a mouse constantly gnawing at the roots of the cedar tree, and after a while, the two cedar trees collapsed, and then looked at the mouse, which had become a tiger. The Hojo family made their fortune from this. The Hojo family made their fortune in Kokokuji Castle and Izu Province in Suruga. That's why Izu is so important to the Hojo family.

Hojo Naotari and Tame Motoko and others divided 11,000 Hojo troops into two routes and attacked Kamisokuni at the same time, and one Hojo Naodai was the main general along the north of Anbo Province and entered Kamisokuni. The other main player will be Tominaga Naokatsu and advance from the eastern part of Anbo Province towards the territory of Toki Nori. Satomi Yoshihiro could only gather 7,600 troops at this moment. This time, the head of the country did not respond to the Hojo family's internal response, and they were all desperate followers of the Satomi family. The Satomi family knew that this time there would be no more brilliant victory at Mifuneyama, and the Hojo family would not be toyed with by the Satomi family again. And Satomi Yoshihiro and Satomi Yoshiyao, based on the idea that if they could fight, they did not need to ask for reinforcements, and did not send envoys to Higaganese Castle to seek assistance from Hideharu Kano.

Satomi Yoshihiro led an army of 3,000 troops into Sakan Castle and Hojo Naotari, and Satomi Yoshiyao held on to Kururi Castle with 2,000 troops. Toki relied on 1,500 troops to stand by in Manki Castle, and Masaki Tokitaka defended Katsuura Castle with 1,100 troops. And Masaki Tokitaka's opponent is Tominaga Naokika.

Although the Satomi family has the right location, people, but the time is not. And the lack of time will completely destroy the house and home.

Yasuei Shimizu's Izu naval army was very cooperative with the Hojo Army's offensive on land, attacking and harassing the Satomi army one after another along the coast of Kamisokoku, and from time to time landing sailors and looting all the fishing villages along the coast. And Yoshihiro can only see all this, and he doesn't have the strength to stop it. Even the Okamoto Navy was defeated twice by the Izu Navy Army, not to mention that the Okamoto Navy was still 'vacationing' in Kawasaki Castle on the Musashi coast at the moment.