Chapter 284: Going South Again

At the same time that Honjo Shiganaga, Omori Minori, and Soga Yushige received an order from Asadachi to begin storming Takayama Castle, Kohata Keitada, Ayukawa Kiyonaga, and Oishi Tsunamoto did not disappoint Asada. They led their troops to successfully deliver military rations and ordnance to the two castles of Uesugi at Matsuida Castle and Anaka Castle. Kohata Keitada even led his troops to repel the Anayama Nobuyan Division, which was preparing to deliver military rations to Takayama Castle, making it impossible for them to continue their advance towards Takayama Castle.

In order to curb the momentum of the continued development of the people of Nishi-Ueno Province, he ordered Nagao Keitaka to lead more than 500 horsemen from the head office of the head office of the Ao family and some of the former retainers of the Shirai Nagao family into the Nagano Pavilion, and was ready to support Nagai Masashi of Kuragano Castle at any time. At the same time, Nagao Keitaka can also contain Wada Castle and Okai Castle, so that Wada Nobukatsu and Okai Yarokuro dare not act rashly.

At the same time, after the siege of the castle day and night, the former retainers of the Kiryu clan, Matsuzaki Yamatomori, Satomi Suimi, Satomi Katsuyasu, Tsukubu Hitachimoru, Yamagoe Daizenryo and other former ministers of the Kiryu clan who were stuck in Kiryu Castle, as well as the general Satomi Kamiso Irimichi (the former Kiryu family elder) were all begged to death. On the other hand, the new governor of the Kiryu clan, Shinju Mutoshi, was attacked by his uncle Ohu Litada, who was led by Zen Soji's uncle, Ohu Lizhong, when he entered Akagi Mountain in Higashi-Ueno. Munetoshi Shini and his companions from the Kiryu clan, Tanukyo, and Oya Kanseyu, were all killed, and their heads were then sent to Hirai Castle to be inspected by the court.

In this way, the rebellion caused by the former ministers of the Kiryu clan was quelled by Zen Soji.

And after Zen Soji captured Kiryu Castle and killed the new governor of the new family, Shini Sotoshi, who was supported by the former ministers of the Kiryu clan, he still thought that his contribution to the Uesugi family was not enough, and he wanted to continue to lead the army to fight, and his enthusiasm was very high.

After that, Zen Soji also took the initiative to lead the army to assist Ota Shimasa to quell the rebellion of the old ministers of the Akai clan. The good army alone killed four of the seven Akai horsemen, leading to the rapid rout of the Akai army. Ota Shimasa quickly relieved the siege of Tatebayashi Castle and put down the rebellion of the former Akai clan.

The generals of Higashi-Ueno, such as Ota Shimasa, were impressed by the activity of Zen Soji during this time. Subsequently, Ota Zimasa sent a letter to Chaoding, and directly stated that Zen Zongji was a rare fierce general, and hoped that Chaoding could recruit Zenzongji as an old minister, so that he could better contribute to his own side.

Asadaki was indeed happy when he got the letter that Ota Shimasa had given him. However, the Zen clan is also a countryman lord who maintains his autonomy and self-reliance in Higashi-Ueno, and he is still a castle lord worth more than 12,000 koku (table height). If he took the initiative to ask for a master, it would be better to say, I am afraid that he will not be willing to leave his native land of Ueno. And the ability of the people to fight well is also in the eyes of Chaoding, and Chaoding does not want to miss the opportunity to get a fierce general. But for this matter, after thinking about it again, Chaoding felt that he couldn't be in a hurry, so he still suppressed the troops raised by the lords of all parts of the country in Ueno.

At the same time, the court also began to prepare for the deployment of a group of retainers in various parts of Changlu Province. The various parts of Changlu have only been pacified for a short time, and they cannot be without the lord of the castle and the city for a long time. Therefore, the court first placed Yusa Sumitsu and Nishino Sokei in Hitachi Province, and made them the lords of Shimazaki Castle (11,000 koku in the heights) and Kotaka Castle (6,000 koku in the heights) respectively. After that, the court also had the idea of transferring the family's important minister, Ota Shimasa, to Hitachi Province.

Today, Ota Shimasa and his Iwaki people have become the largest samurai group in the family. Now, the Shimoso Province and Shimono Province bordering Musashi Province and the surrounding Kamiso Province and Anbo Province have been pacified, and there is no reason for the Iwaki people to continue to stay in Musashi. Rather than continuing to be in the eastern part of Musashi as a door god and decoration, it is better to send them elsewhere to play a greater role.

At the same time, Kenshin, who had already returned to Echigo, also sensed that the close ministers around Uesugi Kenmasa were suspected of having a relationship with the Takeda family. She immediately sent a letter to Chaoding, and the content of the letter was very concise and clear, with only one sentence - "Shangzhoukou Yu Horse". This statement directly and clearly shows that Qianxin is about to personally lead his troops and horses south to Ueno again. This not only prevented the Takeda family from further expanding its influence in Ueno, but also relieved the pressure on the people of the country, such as the Asadachi and Minowa.

On August 1st, Echigo Kasuga Yamajo Honmaru Bishamondo. It was already late at night, and the bell that Sannomaru used to make an emergency in the castle was suddenly ringed. Under normal circumstances, the bell should not be rung casually, except in an emergency.

"What's the matter?!" Awakened by the sudden sound of the bell, he immediately walked outside the hall.

"Report to the Imperial Palace, the Constitutional Prince, his close ministers, Ma Xia, and a total of more than 100 people have left the Fuchu Imperial Hall under the mountain!" At this time, Arakawa Nagami hurriedly ran to Kenshin to report.

"What do you say?! How long have they been gone? "Humbin instantly realized the seriousness of the matter. Once Uesugi Kenmasa, the official Uesugi family, later joins forces with the Takeda family, it is difficult to guarantee that Ashikaga Yoshiteru, the Kyoto prince of Kyoto, will not reappoint Uesugi Kenmasa as the governor of the Kanto region. At that time, the name of righteousness will also be in the hands of the Takeda family. This is not a good thing for Chaoding either.

"According to the servants of the Imperial Palace, they should be gone for a few hours. They had quietly put on makeup and left after dinner, I'm afraid ······" Arakawa Nagami noticed the change in Kenshin's face and stopped talking.

"Quick! Quickly send envoys to Ueda, Tsumari and other places in Uonuma County, and make sure that the Uonuma generals stop them and never let them leave Echigo! Kenshin immediately thought that there was only one route for Uesugi Kenmasa and his party to go, and that was to go south to Kanto through Ueda Nagao. And Okushinano has long been under martial law, and Saito Asanobu, Yamaura Kunikiyo and other generals will not let anyone from the Echigo side go to Takeda.

"Yes!" Arakawa Nagami immediately took the order and left.

However, Humility is still a step slow. Uonuma Prefecture's Komorisawa Masahide, Nishibo Katake, Hagiwara Shojo, Jimbo Daisuke and other retainers were still unable to stop Uesugi Kenmasa and his party, so they successfully entered the Ueda Nagao Domain. The Ueda Nagao family has been negligent in their duties for a long time since they restored their family name and re-surrendered to Kasugayama, which allowed Uesugi Kenmasa and his party to successfully pass the Ueda Nagao Collar and leave Echigo.

When Kenshin learned that Uesugi Kenmasa and his party had left Echigo, he was furious and sent more than 30 retainers from the Ueda congregation to Okushino Iiyama Castle to assist Saito Asanobu, Yamaura Kunikiyo and others in garrisoning. The current Ueda Nagao family governor Nagao Keikoku, his son Nagao Kimasa, and son-in-law Shimakura Toshitsugi were directly ordered by Kenshin to shave their homes, and most of the Ueda Nagao collar was confiscated.

Subsequently, Kenshin quickly assigned Nagao Tokimune among the clans to Sakado Castle as the lord of the castle, Katori Yaheita (Daishikaya Banner) among the banner members as the lord of Arato Castle, and Shinho Keiyuki from the retainers of the spectrum as the lord of Sakaki Castle. And the head of the Ueda Nagao family, Kanetoyo Higuchi, was able to stay in Sakado Castle as a commissioner because of his good dedication. In this way, the Ueda Nagao family, one of the three major long-tail families in Echigo, officially broke off the family name. Although the Ueda Nagao family was once resurrected, its retainers and members of the family were completely lost in the continuous internal conflict with the main family, and they could no longer compete with the Kenshin who was born in the Sanjo (Fuchu) Nagao family. And one of the three major long-tail families, the Koshi Nagao family (Suyoshi Nagao family) also existed in name only, and its family governor Uesugi Keishinobu was killed in a battle with all the family members in the Noto Raiders, and then the few remaining retainers went to Ueno with their family members to join Uesugi Keizamitsu, the son of Uesugi Keishinobu. Even the original base of the Koshi Nagao family, Suyoshi Castle and the surrounding branch cities of Nagaoka Castle and Zao Tang Castle were vacant, and there was neither a castle lord nor a castle dynasty or a priest.

After placing his henchmen in some important towns in Uonuma Prefecture, Kenshin remobilized 6,000 troops again in a short period of time and headed south to Kanto after being led by Ueda in Uonuma Prefecture. This time, her goal was no longer to be set in the morning. Due to the suddenness of the incident, Kenshin was unable to mobilize the generals of Echigo, Yangbei and Yuezhong in a short period of time, so he could only mobilize his own bannermen, Yimenzhong and some of his retainers to go south.

Happily, Takeda Nobuyomo, Anayama Nobuyum, Itagaki Nobuyashi and others knew that they were invincible after learning that Kenshin's army was moving south to Kanto, and then they quickly retreated. They withdrew to the western part of Azuma-gun in one go. The task of Takeda Nobutomo and the others was not to confront the Uesugi army head-on, but to deliver food and ordnance to the anti-Uesugi lords from all over Ueno for a long-term cage battle.