256 Advance Battle (1)
256
In fact, Yamazaki Nagatoku is not as idle as Maeda Keiji imagined, and he is bored to the point of missing his wife.
At this time, he was mobilizing his troops in a low-key and active manner.
As the lord, the wise Kogoro gave him a strange order, asking him to merge with the troops of several other generals to form a [special team], travel lightly, and carry out a special mission.
As for what mission and where to carry it out, Wise Kogoro didn't mention it, but just asked him to follow the instructions of the acting general in the army, Hosokawa Warhead Daisuke Fujitaka at that time.
It seems that a big battle is coming, and the experience of many years of marching has made Yamazaki Nagatoku feel this way.
[To add, about Yamazaki Nagatoku:
Yamazaki Chotoku (1552~1620), also known as Nagagage, Koshichiro, Shobei, Nagato Mamoru, and Kansai. Originally a retainer of the Echizen Asakura family. After the destruction of the main family, he became a wise family. Participated in the attack on Nijo Castle during the change of Honnoji. Yamazaki participated in the war during the war.
After the demise of the Akechi family, he returned to Echizen and participated in the Battle of Shibadake under Sakuma Yasuji. Later out of the Maeda family. During the Sekigahara War, Masahiro Yamaguchi and his sons, who attacked Daishoji Castle of the Western Army, added 14,000 kokuroku after the war. Both Osaka formations also participated in the battle. 】……
The weather on San'in Avenue has always been rough, and the salty and humid air makes it difficult for people from Kyoto to eat, and in autumn, it is rainy and misty.
But today, the sky suddenly became beautiful, the rain and fog and other things were gone, and the autumn day in San'in was rare and cloudless.
The sun, which has been hidden for several days, breaks through the gloomy sky and shines on the earth, which is really [heavenly time] for the [Yamazaki Rangers] (this name, the sense of déjà vu of the anti-Japanese drama) who is preparing for action.
Taking advantage of the clear sky, the team followed a winding mountain road and meandered north.
The sequence of marches on this day was that Yasuda (Yasuda was a soldier who served as the advance team at the time of the change in Honnoji) was the advance team, the Yamazaki Nagatoku team was the main team, and the Kimura team (Kimura Yaichi Uemon Yoshikiyo, this person was familiar to everyone, although he was appreciated by monkeys in history and got a fief of 300,000 koku, he was played to death by the Kamisaki clan and Date Masamune) as the rearguard, and in addition, the team of Hebei Issei marched behind the front guard.
At the beginning of the day after the fog, the autumn air was biting, and it seemed that it was already winter, and the members of the Einsatzgruppen only showed their eyes, nose and mouth. The generals are okay, they are wearing leather gloves of various colors on their hands, and the only treasure of the Ashigaru soldiers is the straw sandals under their feet, and they stride forward barely to keep warm, hoping to dispel the cold in their bodies through exercise.
At noon that day, the troops reached the foot of a high mountain.
In normal times, as soon as the army arrived at the camp, except for the big enemy, they would camp at any time.
On this day, although there were no hostile concerns, except for those who were in charge of the distribution of houses, they all stood in a square outside the camp.
It is said to be a square, but it is actually just a relatively large flat land, and before the Einsatzgruppen arrived, there were a few children who were not afraid of the cold playing sumo wrestling.
Because the Einsatzgruppen did not fly the flag, the villagers who lived here could not tell who they were.
Hebei Yicheng gave the village chief thirty copper plates, and the latter did not hesitate to report the recent situation around the village to the [Imperial Army].
What are the thirty copper plates? It is as absurd and unforgivable a sin in our eyes to sell our country for it as it is to betray Jesus with thirty silver coins, but what is wrong with this country man who has no concept of nation or nation at all?
What is a bit of black humor is that it is Hebei Yicheng who really feels that the loss is big -- the village chief said that the people in his village have not left the village in the past few days, so they do not know the movements of the Maori army.
Except for some miscellaneous things, Hebei Yicheng did not find out anything useful.
Isn't this money given for nothing?
The next morning, the Einsatzgruppen immediately marched north, and under the guidance of the villagers (no money can be given, it is really a poor mountain and bad water, and the ancients are honest and do not deceive me), they successfully crossed a river.
At this time, in front of them was a large castle defense. There is a castle every five or six or seven or eight miles. Stretching for more than 20 miles, in the terminology of the experts in positional warfare in the aftermarket, this kind of thing should be called: [Castle Belt].
Around each castle, outer moats were dug.
Outside the outer trench, another layer of sharpened branches lined up in a circle.
The castle is divided into three floors, the top of which is open-air and has a three-striped star representing the Maori family; On the second floor, there were small doors for one person to enter and exit—the only gate in the castle—all facing the town, about eight or nine feet above the ground, with wooden stairs erected to make it easy to get in and out. There were many gun holes on each floor of the castle, and the guards often fired iron cannons or bows at the town and its surroundings to block traffic in the streets and villages.
The army in this castle was sent by Masuda Motosho, the general under the throne of Yoshikawa Motoharu. During the garrison period, the fortifications were constantly strengthened, and sufficient supplies and ammunition were stored.
Before the expedition, the soldiers of the Einsatzgruppen obtained a lot of sophisticated weapons from the base camp and the arms dealers, and they were very interested in attacking this kind of enemy, and they also had some experience.
The commander of the castle attack was the advance team of Kunitsugu Yasuda of the Einsatzgruppen.
First, Kunitsu Yasuda commanded the advance team to surround the castle. During the siege, he specially appointed a few of his more vocal warriors, armed with bows and arrows and iron cannons, to go up to a higher mountain not far from the castle north of the town and hide them. At the same time, shout to the Maori army:
[Brothers of Iwamikoku! You live in this dark castle, and the humidity is so heavy, you must have worked hard. We are not here to oppose you, but to have a few words with you. 】
[Brethren! Think about it, who is the one who gets promoted and makes a fortune? It's Maori Terumoto, Yoshikawa Motoharu, and those things that eat and drink all day long, but don't work (stir up hatred of the rich?). )。 They lived in a tall house of silver glittering on Mount Inn (was this house made of silver?). What about you? but here live a small, dilapidated castle; They sleep on soft silk quilts, and you sleep on torn quilts that are harder than iron. And what they eat...... Brethren! Think about it, what is the benefit of living a hard life and still having to sacrifice your life to guard the castle for them? 】
Of course, this kind of low-level shouting is more useful for some recruits who have just joined the army and have a particularly poor family background, but for those veterans and samurai who are used to seeing strong winds and waves, it is annoying to hear.
They used only two things to reply - bows and arrows and iron cannons.
[Ahem! Brothers, don't [chicken jelly], we are all poor, we wise families are willing to be friends with the poor, don't shoot......]
I've heard of being friends with local tyrants, but I've never heard of being friends with silk.
No one paid any attention to him.
The castle replied with the sound of gunfire, but the bullets flew a little higher.
Since they are so ignorant of lifting, then they have no choice but to go to war.
The battle continued until the afternoon, when the castle was breached by fire.
[Actually, I think our previous method is stupid, what to shout, just can't hit it directly.] 】
[Yes, I think so too. 】
Kunitsu Yasuda stood on top of the castle in high spirits, feeling that he had become the greatest samurai in the world.
He looked around, then lowered his head to see the ashigaru with the flag behind him at the bottom of the castle, and exclaimed:
[You! It's you! Hurry up and talk to Lord Hebei, and ask him to call all the villagers over, and the castle will be leveled. 】
[Hai! 】
When the villagers who were elated and ready to [fight the local tyrants and divide the land] came, he walked down the castle and stood among the common people.
[Folks! 】
Righteous and awe-inspiring, Lord Yasuda, who represents the vast number of poor people, pointed to the castle,
[You go to the flat castle, wood and bricks, and whoever demolishes it belongs to whom. 】
However, in fact, Yasuda had already looted all the more valuable things in the castle, leaving only some things that could not be taken away, were not valuable, and had no use value.
But these are enough to excite the [hillbilly] who has never seen the world.
Suddenly, more people stood on the castle, some moving furniture, some tearing down windows and lower door panels, some using pickaxes, some using pickaxes, hoes, and machetes to cut the stakes around the castle. Some are still rummaging through boxes and cabinets looking for valuable treasures.
The Einsatzgruppen mingled with the common people.
Originally, it was a lot of effort to demolish a castle, but under the hot work of the [Villagers' Demolition Team], the demolition work would be completed before dinner.
Having demolished the enemy's castle and saving a lot of labor costs, Kunitsugu Yasuda was proud of his clever plan.
[Folks, you are building a castle here, have you suffered? 】
Kuniji Yasuda asked as he watched.
It wasn't until after the war began that the villagers knew that the gang in front of them was the enemy, but they were so conscious that they simply went all the way to the end and followed the Einsatzgruppen.
[Alas! And said! When the castle was built, it was said that it was to protect the lives and property of the common people, and everyone had to pay for it, and those who couldn't afford it had to work. The castle was built, and they said that they would pay for the soldiers, oh my God! We are all poor, and we are not afraid to open the door and sleep at night. When the soldiers are raised, it should be over, but it is not over. As soon as they leave the castle, they will be powerful, and they will have to spend extra, and it is not for us, alas! It really hurts us. 】
Although these [Diao Min] knew that the castle had been leveled, and after the [Samurai Lords] were gone, the next wave of [Samurai Lords] from nowhere would ask them to rebuild it, but out of hatred for the castle and greed for treasure, they were unwilling to think about these problems.
(Originally, I was going to write a big book about this chapter, after all, I haven't written a war plot for a long time, but come to think of it, this kind of battle is completely invigorating, so I have to put the main event to the back)