Let's take a look at Kato Duanzo, which is far away in the west. He arrived in the province in early August, but at first he did not believe that the Ouchi family would be completely defeated by the Mori family, but he still stayed and waited for the opportunity.

"My lord, the Ouchi family is now under the control of Lord Tao Qingxian, do you really want me to wait to save it?" An Uesugi ninja dressed as a foot merchant walked into the liquor store and asked Kanzo Kato, who was drinking in the corner.

"The Lord ordered me to wait for absolutely nothing in vain, so wait!" Kato Duanzo poured another glass of sake and drank it and said.

"Yes." The ninja had no choice but to sit down next to Danzo Kato, who was dressed as a samurai.

"The rest of the people are lurking?" Danzo Kato cares about every step of the action.

"Yes, the Maori family is now mobilizing a large number of troops, and it looks like a big war is about to break out." After speaking, the ninja also poured a glass of wine, not treating himself badly at all.

"That's good." Kato Duanzo knew exactly what this place was, and if he was found out, he and his men would not get out of the way.

"Now Itsukushima is full of gunsmoke, and it's up to the villain to you." The ninja said after taking a sip of his drink.

"You stay, go to Tao Qingxian's residence and stand by. I'm going to Itsukushima. "Kato knew it was going to be a big battle, and nothing could go wrong.

In September of the 20th year of Astronomy, there was a rebellion in the Ouchi family of Zhoufang and Nagato. Ouchi Retainer - The powerful Tao Qingxian murdered the lord Ouchi Yoshitaka who was obsessed with waka and painting, and welcomed Ouchi Yoshinaga from the Bungo Kuni Kokutomo family as the family governor, and he himself held the real power of the Ouchi family. At this time, Aki's Mori Yuan skillfully used a counter-plot to make the head of the Nizi family, Haruha, kill the Shingu Party clan, which represents the strongest combat power of the Nizi family, and remove the threat from the east. With the assistance of Yoshikawa and Kobayakawa two families, the expansion momentum is strong.

In the 22nd year of Astronomy, Yoshimi Masayori (son-in-law of Yoshitaka Ouchi) of Iwami Province refused Tao Qingxian's persuasion to surrender, leading to Tao's attack. Masari asked Mori for help, but Mori Moto decided that the time was ripe, and the Mori army marched south from Yamajo Castle in Yoshida County and captured Ito Ginzan Castle, and then fell to Kusatsu Castle and Sakurao Castle, occupying the whole of Aki. After capturing Itsukushima, Tao Qingxian defeated the Maori army's army in Zhoufang and also approached Itsukushima. A decisive battle between the two sides is inevitable.

Itsukushima is named after Itsukushima Shrine, where the Taira clan is located. Given the strength of the Tao army (25,000 Tao and 4,000 Maori), it was impossible to win a frontal battle. Yuan built Miyao Castle for a short time on the road to the island in the northwest of Itsukushima, made the illusion of defending the city, and then launched a surprise attack. But there are two difficulties, one is how to fool Tao Qingxian, and the other is that the naval army is insufficient to launch an effective surprise attack. At this time, Yuan showed the ability of the first wise general of the Warring States period, and through rumors, Tao made a wrong judgment, mistakenly thinking that the construction of Miyaoo had failed, and then asked the old family Gui Yuancheng (the Taira clan, in charge of managing the Itsukushima sacrifice) to pretend to agree to make an internal response, so that he thought that it would not be a problem to take Miyao Castle. Then he sent Nomi Munekatsu (Kobayakawa clan) and Kurishima Tsuyasu to take charge of entrapping the pirates in the Seto Inland Sea to serve him.

In the spring of the first year of Koji, Mori Motomo sent troops to build a castle in Arinoura (also known as Miyaochi) in the northwest of Itsukushima. Corresponding to Yuan's strategy, Tao Qingxian personally commanded an army of 25,000 (one says 30,000), and after defeating the Maori army in the Battle of Oshikihata, he went straight to Itsukushima. At that time, the Yuan could mobilize only 4,000 soldiers and horses, and if it clashed head-on with the enemy, it would definitely be defeated.

So, Yuan began to plan a surprise attack, set traps, and waited for Dow to take the bait. He ordered Nakamura Jiro Saemon of Miyao to prepare for the cage castle, and sent 500 soldiers of Hi Toyo and Shinri Miyasuke to help. The construction of the castle at the end of the palace has been completed, but it is declared a failure to the outside world, and at the same time, the old Gui Yuancheng of the Maori clan also used a counter-plot to secretly communicate with Tao Qingxian. Through these strategies, Tao's army immediately went out of Itsukushima and stepped into the trap that had been laid long ago......

On September 21, more than 20,000 Tao troops sailed from Murokihama in Zhoufang to Itsukushima on board 500 warships, and landed at Itsukushima Oyuanura on the morning of the 22nd. The vanguard of the Tao army was Miura Bokiyo, and after landing, they were stationed in Tanooka, which was very close to Miyao Castle, and used the shrine to lay down the main formation. The second formation is arranged in the vicinity of Mt. Zhongdadang, Daisshoin Temple, and Juwangdang, and the third formation is the main formation of Haruken, which is located in the mountainous area of Mt. Miyama and Koma no Forest.

Mori Motosho, who had already moved his main camp from Yoshida-gunyama to Sato Ginzan, learned that the Tao army had landed on Itsukushima, and immediately ordered the Shindo Takashi family to stay at Koriyama, while the marshals Takamoto and Motoharu set out from Ginzan Castle on September 24. On the road, Kumagaya, Hiraga, Amano and other lords of the Aki Kingdom came to rendezvous, and the military strength increased to 3,500. The Maori army marched to Kusatsu and joined forces with Kobayakawa Takakei's army, with a total strength of 4,000.

Tao and Maoli, the ratio of the two armies is one to five, but the ratio of the navy is not so disparity. Mori's direct naval army, Tatama Shokabu, and Kobayakawa's Numata naval army are Mimune's Katsubu, with a total of 120 ships. In addition, it is necessary to add that the Innoshima Murakami naval army, which has been negotiated with Numata and used as a supporter, has a total number of ships of more than half of the enemy.

At this time, the fierce battle under Miyao Castle has reached the most critical juncture. The city soldiers fought valiantly and repelled the attacks of Dow's superior forces several times. However, in the end, the disparity in forces was too great, and it was only a matter of time before the city fell. On September 26, Motogaku sent an additional general Kumagai Nobunao to Kumazu to reinforce Miyaoo, and the city soldiers received news and their morale was boosted again.

However, in fact, Miyao Castle was just bait for fishing, and Yuan's real purpose was to surprise Qingxian's main camp and defeat it in one fell swoop. In order to achieve this goal, it is first necessary to blockade the waters of Itsukushima with a superior naval army. The one who pinned his hopes on replenishing the naval force was the two Murakami clans of Nojima and Kuroshima. The naval forces of these two Murakami clans were very powerful, and they were called "Chongjia Water Army". Although Yuan had already sent Naomi Munekatsu to plead for assistance from Toyasu on the island, the reply of the Chongjia Navy was vague and unclear.

On September 26, Motogami sent a message to Kobayakawa Takakei: The Numata Navy had come to Kusatsu to join the battle - the battle could not be delayed any longer, and he had already given up hope that the hedged pirates would come to help.

On September 28, Motojo moved his main camp to the front line of Jigozen and Hitateyama, and sent the Numata Navy and the Kawauchi people to reinforce Miyauchi Castle. That night, suddenly 300 warships with the "Shang" character on a white background went north with the tide and appeared in the waters near Miyao Castle. The light of dawn hung over Maori's head......

Kurishima Toyasu only promised Naomi Sokatsu's help for one day: "There is only one day, and we will leave from Miyajima on the first day of the battle." "Do you remember KOEI's "Maori Moto's Oath of Three Arrows"? Friends who don't know history are often greedy and have always come to the island to ask for help for three days, but the result is, of course, completely refused.

On September 30, Moto's main camp advanced to the coast near Mt. Hotachi, which was later called "Yunkatsu Nose". When crossing the sea to Itsukushima, it coincided with a storm, and Yuan ordered: "Only my ship will be lit as a reminder, and all ships will follow up, and shouting and beating oars and beats are forbidden!" He also encouraged morale by saying: "The storm is protected by heaven, take advantage of the enemy's negligence to break it in one go, and let not one escape!" ”

At the turn of the night, Yuan broke through the headwind and landed at Baozhiura, and at the time, the whole army landed on Itsukushima. Yuan was ready to cross the tail peak of the game before dawn on the second day, and directly attack Tao's former army in the main formation of the tower.

On October 1st, the Motoko's main formation was already waiting at the peak of the game, aiming at the right back of the Tanooka enemy formation. Mori Takamoto commanded the main army, and the spearhead was Yoshikawa Motoharu. The second time was the naval force led by Kobayakawa Takakei, who made a detour from Miyajima Chong's Ono and Kuba, joined forces with the defenders of Miyao Castle, and attacked Tao's main formation. Commanded by Takeyoshi Murakami of Nojima, the Miban team guarded the sea with all the forces of the Okiya navy, defeated the Dow navy attempting to reinforce the battlefield from the sea, and cut off the enemy's retreat.

In the dark night, the enemy and the enemy were unknown, and Kobayakawa's second team of sailors actually invaded the front of the Tao military police escort group. The general Naimei Zongsheng had a plan in his mind, and asked his subordinates to shout: "We are waiting for the construction of the front to increase the momentum, the alliance forces such as Zongxiang, Qiuyue, and Thousand Hands, and I have come to meet His Highness Tao!" ”

At six o'clock in the morning, the drums sounded in unison, and Maori Yuan issued an assault order, and 2,000 soldiers and horses rushed straight to Tao's main formation. The change was hasty, Tao Jun was embarrassed, and Tao Qingxian hurriedly turned around and attacked the top of the mountain, which caused even greater chaos. At this time, the Kobayakawa army, which had landed in the middle of the enemy line, launched a charge against Tanooka from the front, and the defenders of Miyao also opened the castle to kill, and the Tao army, which was attacked by the enemy, was soon on the verge of collapse.

At this time, the Okiya naval forces on the sea, with Murakami Takeshi of Noshima as the commander-in-chief, attacked the enemy naval forces in three times. The first one opened the way with random arrows, interspersed and divided the enemy formation; the second time, use rockets to drive the enemy; The third time he burned the enemy ship with secret gunpowder. In the end, it is the white-edged attack of the warrior ship. The chaos and misery of the Dow Navy is no worse than that of the land battlefield.

The battle lasted until one o'clock in the afternoon, and the Tao army finally collapsed completely. A large factor in the victory of this battle is very similar to the subsequent battle between the barrels and narrows, that is: because of the narrowness of the terrain, the 20,000 troops of the Dow Army could not be spread, and the large number of people not only did not become its advantage, but directly became a source of chaos.

At six o'clock in the morning, the battle began. More than 2,000 Maori troops launched a surprise attack on the Tao army's main position. The unsuspecting Tao army immediately fell into chaos. Kobayakawa's troops also joined forces with the soldiers of Miyao Castle to flank the besieging Tao army, causing it to collapse.

At the same time, battles at sea unfolded. Murakami led a strong naval army, first split the Tao Shui Army, then set fire to the enemy ship with fire arrows, and also threw powerful gunpowder at the enemy ship.

After several shocks, the Tao army on land has fallen into a state of total collapse. Ignoring Tao Qingxian's loud reprimands, the soldiers rushed to flee to the shore, colliding with the defeated navy, causing even more chaos. Due to the large number of Tao soldiers, there was no room for turning back in a small space, so there were countless casualties in trampling on each other.

By 2 p.m., more than 4,700 Tao troops had been killed, and other Tao troops who had no way to escape began to scatter into the small roads and mountains on the island. Maori Takayuan has always pursued Tao Qingxian. Seeing such a big rout, Tao Qingxian once planned to rush into the Maori army and die, but was held by Miura Fangqing to the death. With Miura's idea, if you escape to Oura Moto, who landed at the time of landing, you can always find a ship, and as long as you escape from Itsukushima, there is hope of recovery. So after the Miura Palace, he escorted Tao Qingxian to retreat to the shore. However, when Kobayakawa Takakei knew Tao Qingxian's whereabouts, he immediately pursued him as well, catching up with and killing Miura Fangqing. After Tao Qingxian arrived at the shore, there was no shadow of a ship, and the pursuers had arrived. Disheartened, he prepares to kill himself when his cochae is bounced off.

"Who?!" The ten samurai who followed Tao Qingxian to fight their way out of the encirclement clenched their swords and stared at Kato Duanzo and the four ninjas.

"Kato Duanzo, a retainer of the Uesugi family, see Lord Tao Qingxian." In order to make Tao Qingxian and the others let down their guard, Kato Duanzo took four ninjas to put away the ninja knives in their hands.

"The Uesugi family in Aizu or the Uesugi family in Echigo?" Although Tao Qingxian is only 35 years old, he is still very young and can't see it at all. If you don't know, others will definitely look at him as twenty years old!

"Aizu Uesugi Family Governor Repair Doctor Chaoding, sent me and others to rescue Lord Tao Qingxian, let's go." Kanzo Kato motioned to the four shinobi to quickly pull out the two sailboats that were hiding nearby.

"This ship?!" Tao Qingxian's samurai saw the small sailboat pulled out by the ninja one after another, and they saw hope.

"I'm sorry, but these two ships were also taken from your army, and if they were any later, they would have been burned by the Maori men." Danzo Kato was also almost trapped here with four ninjas.

"Without further ado, abominable Maori!" Tao Qingxian gave up committing suicide, he thought that if he died, the Ouchi family would have no future!

"Please!" Danzo Kato motioned for the ninjas to prepare to throw smoke bombs.

"Boon" With more than a dozen explosions, thick smoke filled the shore. In this way, Tao Qingxian and Kato Duanzo and a dozen others fled Itsukushima under the noses of thousands of Maori troops. It can be said that there is no pursuit of the Maori army, but there is still the Murakami army.

It just so happened that the Murakami Navy was still assisting the Maori Army in recovering the remnants of the Ouchi Army, and Tao Qingxian and the others returned to the Zhou Defense Country tremblingly. In the early morning of October 3, Yoshikawa Motoharu eliminated more than 500 people of the stubbornly resisting Hongzhong Takaho father and son, which basically ended the decisive battle that lasted for several days.

This great battle that decided the fate of the Maori and Tao families ended with the victory of the Maori side, but Maori won so thrillingly, and the Tao army was so embarrassed to lose under the absolute superiority of troops, which were rare classic battles in the Warring States period. Mori won a complete victory with less than one-fifth of the enemy's forces, and only Oda Nobunaga's performance in the battle of Tsubakusama was rivaled.

With the Tao family's fiasco in Itsukushima, Defense Minister Toyotsuki set off a wave of rebellion. Yuan seized this opportunity to launch a defense offensive and forced Ouchi Yoshicho to die in the castle. The Mori family replaced the Ouchi family in China, and Niko was on the path of no return with the death of Haruhisa and the succession of Yoshihisa to the throne. Since then, a new page has been opened in the history of the Warring States period in the western region.

By the time Tao Qingxian and the others returned to Futian Wakayama Castle, Mao Liyuan continued to march at the fastest speed! Many wealthy families and retainers of the Ouchi family directly defected to Maori! When Tao Qingxian learned of Ouchi Yoshicho's death, he couldn't help but kneel and shed tears.

"Father, my son-in-law has dismissed all the servants and maids." Tao Changfang knew that Yoshikawa Motoharu's army was almost here.

"My lord, please come to Aizu! My lord has long expected the fiasco of your army, and our Uesugi family will help ......" Just as Kato Duanzo was about to continue, Tao Qingxian grabbed him by the collar.

"Then why didn't you say it sooner! The 20,000 troops of my Ouchi family were wiped out in this way! "Tao Qingxian is unwilling! Even the Ouchi family, which he was loyal to, has been wiped out.

"Father, the western country is already in Maori's pocket, so let's go to Aizu and hide." Tao Changfang didn't want to die here, he wanted to leave here.

"Well, there's nothing to do, since I've already died once on Itsukushima, let's go to Aizu." Tao Qingxian reluctantly and Tao Changfang took twenty henchmen and retainers to disguise themselves, and set foot on the road to Aizu with six ninjas including Kato Duanzang. However, the road from Zhou Fangguo to Aki Province is no longer possible, so the only way to go to Kyushu and then take a boat to Shikoku! However, the entourage also added a woman, she is Tao Xiaozhi, who is also known as Ah Guo.