"Kasawara-sama is right, although the Takayama family itself can't dispatch so many troops, but don't forget, now that they have returned to Oda, and joined the Takayama camp, in this way, I think it is necessary to calculate for you, once the Takayama family completes the expansion of the army, then its available military strength will be 30,000 people, this is still its mobilization ability after obtaining Ueno, I don't believe that after obtaining Ueno, it will not expand the army again, even if it is calculated according to 30,000, Sakuma Nobumori obtained the land of 300,000 stones, It is still possible to send 20,000 troops, although Shibata has suffered a great loss in strength after the defeat of Uesugi, but there is no problem in dispatching 5,000 people, plus 10,000 in Uesugi and at least 10,000 in Asai, please calculate, once the war starts, how much can the Takayama Army reach? Let me tell you that there are 75,000 people in these alone, and this is still too little, and once a full-scale war starts, then I don't believe that Satake will not take advantage of the fire to rob.

And the family, the five colors are not more than 40,000, and the army under the command of your lords is only more than 50,000 people, the reason why the family can be proud of the world, by virtue of the number of troops, once the number of troops is surpassed by the other party, and it is still more than doubled, it is conceivable that the blow to the family is undoubtedly huge, so the expansion of the army must be carried out immediately. ”

Speaking of this, Hojo Tsusunari couldn't help but think like the Hojo clan was pondering, in order to be able to strengthen the determination of the lord, so he continued: "Lord, the family is already one step behind when it starts to expand the army, if you hesitate, I am afraid that there is no possibility of resisting the attack of the Takayama army at that time. And the subordinates believe that according to the current situation, there is no need for the family to continue to expand the five-color preparation. Rather, more elites need to be built. That's the only way. to be able to make the family's tactics more flexible. This is the opinion of the subordinates, and I ask the Lord to decide. ”

Hojo Tsunari said three in a row, the focus of these three is no longer Ueno, but the development of the Hojo family, he thinks that if it is still like the original, if there is a fluke, then the family will definitely follow in the footsteps of Imagawa and the Takeda family in a few years. This is something he absolutely does not want to see, so he thinks that the key to changing the fate of the Hojo family is in the concept, the Hojo family is now full of flashiness, and he has not even realized that the danger is very close to him, if they don't face up to the current situation in the eastern country, then in the end the Hojo family can only become a stepping stone for Oda to dominate the world and Takayama to gain fame.

And he said that the mountain side could send an army of 100,000. It's not alarmist, and he said it. is already the most optimistic, and the most commonly used tactic of the family is to crush the opponent with superior forces, if the opponent's army exceeds their own, then not to mention how the tactics are used, there will be problems with morale alone. Therefore, he believes that his family should not only expand the army, but also have at least seventy or even eighty percent of the strength of the Alpine Coalition Army, and only in this way can he fight with the other party.

The Hojo clan didn't want to take Ueno, not because he wasn't interested in it, but because he knew that his family no longer had such strength. So when Hojo Tsusunari finished speaking, the Hojo clan took it very seriously, and he had already thought about the expansion of the army, but he had not made a decision on how much to expand, whether to expand the five-color reserve or to build a new army. And today is just taking this opportunity to have a good discussion with the retainers, after all, it is not those retainers who want Hojo to perish the most, but his Hojo clan.

"According to what you said, if the family wants to resist the attack of the Takayama family, then it needs to at least double the existing military strength, but do you know that even if the family wins the lower headquarters, the lower field and the house, it will not be enough to support the 80,000 army, if the expansion is less, then it will not be able to achieve the goal at all, do you have a solution to this?"

"Lord, if you directly double the strength of the army, it is indeed a little unrealistic, but it is not unattainable, the subordinates believe that the family can now expand two 10,000 elites, so that the army can be used for defense, then once the family launches a war with the outside world, there are four armies of nearly 40,000 troops that can be used, with such an army, it is completely possible to destroy Satake in the east first, and after destroying it, the family can recruit two elites of 10,000 people by virtue of the country of Changlu, so as to complete the purpose of multiplying the army, once completed, The family has nine elites in hand, plus other military forces, so not to mention the Alpine coalition army, it is Oda Nobunaga himself, the family with nearly 100,000 troops and strong cities, can also let it stop outside the territory, the lord This is the strategy of the subordinate strong soldiers and rich families, and please ask the lord to decide. ”

Hojo Tsunari said three in a row, and everyone present could understand that this was no longer a question about Ueno Ichikoku, but about the entire Hojo family, the entire Kanto region's grand development strategy, once it could be done step by step according to what Hojo Tsunari said, then the family would no longer be afraid of external threats, and even had the ability to fight abroad, so everyone present expressed support for such a statement, and no one of them, as retainers of the Hojo family, wanted the family to perish, Why don't they support what is good for their family?

Therefore, after expressing their opinions one after another, they all looked at the Hojo clan and waited for the lord's decision.

After thinking about it carefully, the Hojo clan saw his eyes stare at him and said, "Okay, just do what you say." ”

After the matter was decided, Hojo Tsusunari turned the topic back again, only to hear him speak: "My lord, if such a decision is made, then my subordinates think that Ueno Ichikoku still has hope of regaining it." ”

After hearing this, the retainers were immediately attracted by this topic, especially after Hojo Tsusunari finished talking about the expansion of the army, they were even more enthusiastic about expanding their own territory, because once they could really recapture Ueno, wouldn't they be able to recruit an additional army of 10,000 people? And this Ueno is different from Changlu, the Hao clan in Ueno has basically been wiped out, once it is recaptured, it can directly become a direct land, looking at Changlu, the Satake family has an army of 20,000, and the Satake family has been fighting for so many years, everyone knows, although Hojo Tsusunari is easy to say, but it is not so easy to eliminate Satake, even if the two new armies are recruited, but how strong can the combat power be, and then it is not necessary to count on the two reserves, if this is the case, even if it is an all-out attack. There is no possibility of eliminating each other in three or five years. But the problem is. Can the Oda family give themselves so much time, Oda Nobunaga's task of occupying Kanto for five years is now known to the world, and now a year and a half have passed, which means that a full-scale war with the Takayama family will definitely break out in three years, and if the family has not eliminated Satake by then, it will be dangerous.

The thoughts of the Hojo clan and these retainers are also very similar, and with his intelligence, when Hojo Tsunade is one. I had already guessed his plan, so I only heard him speak: "You mean, concentrate your forces to destroy the wealthy clan in the territory first, and then go to capture the wilderness?" Expand your forces after retaking Ueno? And then attack Changlu? ”

"The lord is wise, this is exactly what his subordinates think. Please also ask the Lord to decide. ”

Because this time, if the family sends troops, it will definitely be indispensable to prepare for the army, so it is necessary for Yasukatsu Kasahara to say what he thinks, so he just listened to him and said: "Lord Hojo, I think it is below. Although once such a strategy is completed, it will indeed make the family more than twice as strong. But this is a long-term thing, I don't want to say it, I just want to say it in the present, if it is an army this time, what the family can use is 16,000 people under the command of the adults and Bai Bei, so that not to mention attacking the wilderness, just to eliminate those wealthy families, it is dozens of large and small, and scattered all over the territory, it will take at least three months to eliminate them, and have you ever thought that the Gao Shan family has begun to expand the army since the end of last year, if it is in three months, with the financial resources of the Gao Shan family, These forces could be expanded, and at that time, the Takayama family had enough troops, how could they not deploy heavy troops in Ueno? And after the family arranges its military position, it will also lose hope of taking this place. ”

And when he finished speaking, the Hojo clan also looked at Hojo Tsunari.

For this matter, Hojo Tsunari has already thought very thoroughly, the difficulty of eliminating those wealthy clans is that they unite, once they are united, then the three months that Kasahara Yasukatsu said are all upward, don't look at the strength of those wealthy clans is not strong, but once united, it is still possible to make up an army of more than 10,000, especially if they abandon the separation of soldiers and peasants, it is not impossible to pull up an army of 30,000 people for a while, if it is a field battle, then they are not afraid, they are afraid that they will hold on with the help of a strong cityIn this case, the time spent will be calculated in months.

And if you want to solve this problem, it's actually very simple, then it is to prevent them from uniting, as long as you don't give them time to unite, then how can these wealthy clans resist the attack of the army?

Thinking of this, I only heard Hojo Tsunashi speak: "My lord, Kasawara-sama don't worry, I have already planned in the next day, most of these wealthy families of the vassal family are entrenched in Sagami, as well as the former Utsunomiya, Shimono, where Yuki is located, and the three places of Shimo, and the most powerful is undoubtedly the Musashi Hao, in this way, it will be much easier, the lord only needs to issue a summoning order, first identify the forces that need to be eliminated, and then the army of the family is eager to recapture Ueno, these noble families see this, even if they are a little uneasy, they will not unite for the time being." In this way, you only need to eliminate them along the way, and the strength of the Hao clan of Shimono and Xia Zong is not very strong, once the Musashi Hao clan is eliminated, it is completely possible to divide the military strength of the retainers of the family and attack the Hao clan of these two countries, so that not only will it not delay too long, but it can also fully achieve the goal. This is the foolish opinion of the subordinates, and I ask the Lord to decide. ”

In September 1576, nearly a month after Ueno was captured by the Takayama family, the Hojo clan finally reacted, and after the meeting, the Hojo clan issued another order to the wealthy clans in the domain, ordering each of them to assemble and wait for the army in Musashi with their own troops, and then attack Ueno together.

It's just that after the assembly order was issued this time, as the Hojo family thought, most of the wealthy clans in the territory were really waiting, and only a small part of them sent troops to participate in the war, which was equivalent to giving the Hojo clan a good excuse, if you don't come, then okay, I'll go to you.

It's just that those wealthy families don't know that the danger has come to them, especially those who are undecided whether to send troops to help, they also made the final decision after learning that the goal of the Hojo family this time is Ueno, that is, not to send troops to participate, after all, in the Echigo War, they have already suffered heavy losses, if they go back this time, then there will really be nothing. The wealthy family with such an idea accounts for the majority in the territory, of course, if everyone goes out to the army, then they have to go, but when they see that few people participate, they finally put their minds at ease, they still have a thought in their hearts, that is, you don't go, I don't go, everyone doesn't go, when the time comes, see how the Hojo family treats, once the Hojo family wants to move themselves, then there are so many forces to resist, as long as everyone unites, there may not be no hope of survival, instead of going to death now, It's better to wait for the time to do it, and fight to the death with the Hojo family.

This time the Hojo family dispatched the Hojo Tsunari's Huang Bei and Bai Bei, 16,000 people, and 10,000 troops under the command of the retainers, a total of 17,000 people, because the ultimate goal of the Hojo family this time is to eliminate these wealthy families, so there is no need to leave the army to deter them, the two armies since the army, all the way to the north, the land where they passed through is not left behind, because the Hojo army moved quickly, before the extinct Hao clan spread the news, they went to the territory of the next family, so that in the end, Even if those wealthy families received the news and wanted to join forces to resist, it would be too late.

With the 17,000 army constantly sweeping in the territory, the well-informed Hao family was all dumbfounded, the Hojo family did this, completely tearing off the disguise, at this time the Hao family regretted it, and as a Hao family, what they are best at is swinging, and now they see that the Hojo family is serious, so they want to return to Hojo again. But what they didn't expect was that this time, Hojo Tsusunari didn't give them such a chance at all, anyone who resisted, anyone who surrendered, wanted to live? Yes, take advantage of the fact that the army did not come and quickly abandon the territory and escape from the Kanto region with the family, otherwise there will be no way to live.

Because these wealthy clans were already weak, and the incident happened suddenly, they didn't have time to unite at all, plus the Hojo Army was numerous and extremely elite, so it was not at all that the wealthy clans could be low-grade, they were just like those wealthy clans in Ueno, and within a month, the wealthy clans of Musashi were swept away. And from this moment on, the Hojo family can be regarded as completely in control of the country, although because of those caught fish, continue to plunder in the territory, but this just gave the Hojo New Army the opportunity to train. (To be continued.) )