Chapter 154: The Decisive Battle (Part II)

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Amagasaki Castle, where Zhou Jing is stationed, is located on the side of Otoura at the mouth of the river on the right bank of the Yodo River. Since 600 years ago, it has prospered because of the port; In the 4th year of Shouei at the time of the Battle of Genpei in 85), Minamoto Yoshishi sailed through here, braved the storm to attack the Taira clan's final Sanki Kuniya Island, drove it out of Shikoku, and then, together with Minamoto Yori of Kyushu, destroyed the entire Taira clan in Tanoura; Fifty years ago, there was a great battle here, as a result, Miyoshi Motocho, Hosokawa Mochitaka, and Akamatsu Harumasa (the father of Miyoshi Chokei) defeated the 20,000 troops of the former leaders Hosokawa Takakuni and Urakami Muramune, and Takakuki himself was captured in the dye vat of an indigo-dyeing house in Amagasaki Town, and Hosokawa Harumoto ordered him to commit suicide by seppuku, and when another general, Urakami Muramune, fled back to Bizen, he was also ambushed by the Akamatsu family, which led to a decades-long struggle between the two families until the complete decline of the Akamatsu family.

As things stand, it is likely that there will be another major battle that will determine the fate of Kinai and the world, and Ikeda Tsuneko's 30,000 Settsu and Mino clans are stationed at the Arioka Castle position north of Amagasaki Castle, and the two sides are only seven kilometers apart, and there are already several frictions on the edge of the defensive line. Considering that his forces were only half of the opponent's strength and that he was in the opponent's ruling area, Zhou Jing showed great restraint and twice contracted his defensive line to the south, ceding the positions in the middle of the two sides to Ikeda Hengxing.

However, when Naoto, Keimasa, and Tsutsui Shunkei arrived in Settsu with 30,000 troops, the balance of forces between the two sides was immediately reversed. Zhihu made a quick decision, taking advantage of the opportunity of the opponent's front formation to launch an attack, and soon retracted the central defense line, and won more than 300 ashigaru from the opponent.

I don't know if he was worried about the disadvantage of his troops, or if he received instructions from Hideyoshi, Ikeda quickly adjusted his deployment. He shrank back most of his forces and moved to the area of Shinyaji Temple and Washirinji Temple at the foot of Mt. Kozan to the west of Arioka Castle, leaving only more than 5,000 men to garrison Arioka Castle.

Shinmarji Temple and Washirinji Temple, also known as Shinjiji Castle and Washirinji Castle, are located right at the junction of the Mt. Rokko Mountains and the Osaka Plains, making them a rare place of beauty. In the battle when Miyoshi Gencho defeated Hosokawa Takakuni, Akamatsu Harumasa was stationed here as a key reinforcement; When Araki Village retook control of Settsu Province, both of these places were divided into branch towns of Arioka Castle, and they were responsible for the connection between Hanakuma Castle and Arioka Castle, and when Nobunaga surrounded Arioka Castle, this node supported Arioka Castle three times and twice, which disgusted Nobunaga a time. Therefore, immediately after conquering Arioka Castle, he ordered the castles around the two temples to be demolished, and the main hall of the temple was also burned.

Today's Shinma Temple is not a strong defense, but Ikeda Hengxing resolutely moved his main camp to the temple, and then laid two lines of defense, and built a large number of fortifications on the mountain.

When the news reached Fushimi Castle, I immediately understood that this should be preparing for a decisive battle, and this Kozan defense point was probably Hideyoshi's intended main camp.

It has to be said that the location of this defensive point is indeed very good. To the west and north of this defensive point is the Rokko Mountains, which stretch for more than 30 kilometers, and there is little fear of being threatened; Underneath the defensive point is the Osaka Plains, which stretches to the Ikoma Mountains on the border between Hanoi and Yamato, and if we want to take this defensive point, we will have to attack with our heads up, and this will inevitably pay a great price.

After receiving the communication from Zhou Jing and Zhihu, and then looking at the indications on the map, I couldn't help frowning. However, this is not to blame for Zhou Jing and Naotoka, both of whom are fighting in Settsu for the first time, and it is impossible for them to grasp the local terrain better than Hideyoshi, Ikeda Tsuneko, and others; Moreover, the place west of Arioka Castle has always been controlled by the Yura family, and the other party's choice and action are naturally more convenient.

"Do you have any countermeasures with Jin Wu and Tiger Gozen?" I asked Shushin Katsugano as a messenger.

"I was about to ask the main hall to consider it," Katsugano Shushin nodded, "The lord said that you can set up a gun emplacement at the foot of the mountain and keep shooting at the mountain. Then, for the sake of the safety of the commander, the enemy may have to abandon this predetermined position...... The lord said that when he followed the main hall to attack Kii's Momijiyama Heronmori Imperial Workshop, he used artillery to force those monks to retreat. ”

"It's different!" I shook my head slightly, "There is no way for the naval artillery to hit the Jiashan position. ”

What Zhou Jing said happened at the time of the first Kii Expedition, which was also the first battle of Shinkyo. At that time, I only had one Isemaru ironclad ship, and only one cannon in the bow could be used, but I forced the monks who were afraid of death to hand over the imperial workshop on the mountain early. However, the power of naval artillery can be harnessed because Mt. Momiji is located right on the edge of the Wakayama River, and Isemaru can easily reach it, but today's Kozan is seven or eight kilometers from the coast, far beyond the effective range of naval guns.

"The lord has already thought about this issue," Katsugano Shushin relayed, "and the lord said that there is a Susu River on the side of Kozan, which leads directly to the Seto Inland Sea, and that the naval guns can be unloaded from the frigate and transported to the bottom of Kozan using this small river. ”

"How wide are you talking about?" I looked at the map again, and there was nothing on it.

"It's about six." Katsugano Shushin replied.

Six rooms, that's about eleven meters...... With such a narrow river, the riverbed must be too shallow for boating, so it's no wonder that the map doesn't show any of them.

However, if only one gun is transported at a time, and the transport ship is towed by manpower, it is very difficult, but it can be done. In addition, Amagasaki Port has ready-made port facilities, which can be easily used when disassembling frigate guns.

I nodded, and agreed with Zhou Jing's proposal: "You go back and tell Jin Wu to let him secretly transport ten naval guns, and I will ask the navy to send the Jianye to cooperate." ”

……，……

With the transfer of the Shinkei Honjin, Hideyoshi really took action. He withdrew his attack on Bizen and Misaku, leaving some of his cronies to garrison Harima, and he led most of his main force to quickly march towards Settsu Province. And as soon as he withdrew like this, the Awa and Sanki countries of our Hosokawa family, the Tosa people of the Hidekei Honjin, and the southern Kyushu army of Gamo Nobuhide, which was pre-divided, were also immediately freed from the war. Considering the limited capacity and the fact that this part of the army has been fighting for many days, I am not going to involve them in a decisive battle, but I am going to let them retreat to the two cities of Bichu and Misaku to rest and recuperate, and at the same time put pressure on Yoshikawa Motoharu in San'in. Otherwise, if Yoshikawa Motoharu breaks the cauldron and gives up the Izumo Province ability, which was invaded by the Nagato people, and heads east to join Hideyoshi's main force through Tajima Province, it will inevitably put considerable pressure on the decisive battle of the army.

As for the remaining second part, the forces of Nakyushu and Iyo Province, which were deployed on the second line, could naturally move to the eastern front at this time. I left the third part of the army under the command of Gamo Nobuhide to recuperate, and ordered Hidekei to lead the second part of the army to Kojima Port, and overnight boarded the ship and rushed to Amagasaki with Ii Nobunao's cavalry. At the same time, I myself took the Yong'an from Quanzhou Port to the sea to meet Xiujing.

In the vicinity of the Akashi Strait, which is more than 30 kilometers away from the port of Quanzhou, I met Xiujing's transport fleet and the two detachments of Dinghai and Fubo escorting the ship. They drove more than 70 kilometers by sea overnight and finally reached Osaka Bay. At this time, it was the beginning of the morning, the weather was cloudless, the sea was slightly undulating, reflecting the brilliant golden light under the sun's illumination, nearly 500 neatly arranged large and medium-sized warships, and more than 1,000 large and small transport ships covered the sea, marking white water marks one after another. The Dinghai and Fubo were located on the two wings of the fleet, and their tall and majestic hulls were so conspicuous even in such a large fleet, and when they saw the blue Sasasa-gentian military flags fluttering on the Yong'an, they hung colorful flags on the side of their respective main flags to echo each other, and fired a salute to show their respect for me and the flagship.

This is my fleet! He is also the absolute master of the entire sea! Although I was accustomed to seeing many scenes, I was still a little excited by the grandeur of the fleet in the sea and sky.

"Change the direction of the voyage immediately. At the same time, a flag order was issued, so that the escort fleets on both wings would speed up and come to join the flagship to prepare for the attack on Hanakuma Castle! I tried to tell Maeda Toshinaga in as calm a voice as possible.

Tian Lichang took the order and left. His attitude was extremely serious, I don't know if it was because of the fleet in front of him, or because of the upcoming decisive battle.

After receiving the flag order issued by the Yong'an, the forward teams of the two fleets lowered their oars, like two huge crab claws, and closed in front of the Yong'an after turning, and then the two ships of Dinghai and Fubo and several large escort warships around the Yong'an formed a new core of the Chinese army, and the rest of the warships also adjusted, reinforcing the sides and rear of the Chinese army, and forming several mobile detachments, waiting for the next instructions outside the Chinese army.

Four small boats were lowered from the side of the Dinghai and Fuba, and carried high-ranking generals such as Hidekei, Yoshikei, Otomo Yoshito, Ii Nobunao, Fujido Takatora, Kamune Ibu Hidemasa, Takahashi Shoun, and Tachibana Soshige aboard the Yongan. I laid out a large map in the captain's room and discussed the upcoming battle with everyone.

"Ikeda Tsuneko's main forces are all in Kozan and Arioka Castle, and Hideyoshi's main forces have not yet arrived, so there should be no problem in conquering Hanakuma Castle. After that, I was going to garrison with 5,000 naval troops, echoing with the Dinghai and Fubo and iron gunboats, to prevent this city from being used as a support point by the Yuliang family," I ordered Hanakuma Castle, which is more than ten kilometers southwest of Jiashan, and looked towards Yoshijing and Iwamatsuke, "This matter is naturally handed over to the naval army...... Yijing, do you have the confidence to complete the task? ”

"Please rest assured, Father, I will definitely stick to the castle and ask for a lot of advice." Yijing replied in a deep voice.

Nodding with satisfaction. He obviously understood the crux of this task, and his attitude was very cautious and open-minded, and he would not make the mistakes of youth.

"Then there's the battle on the main battlefield," I said, glancing around the room, "as for the importance of this battle, everyone must be able to understand; And the scale of this war is also unprecedentedly grand. To be able to participate in and command this war is the honor and achievement of our life! Therefore, I hope that if you can show your best efforts and determination, your great name will spread all over the world, and will be remembered by future generations as the eternal pride of your family and descendants! ”

"Yes!" Everyone replied solemnly.

"Now, then, let's talk about the specific deployment," I said, pointing to a huge arrow in the eastern part of Harima Province, "this is Hideyoshi's main force. According to the information, he left Harima Sei to stay behind Himeji Castle, and the rest of the Minami-Omi, Kita-Omi, Yamashiro, Tanba, and Tajima Zhusei followed him, and the other was Tokugawa Ieyasu as a reinforcement, and the Ikeda Tsuneko Division, which became the vanguard, and the two countries of Settsu and Mino, which became the vanguard, with a total number of about 110,000 troops...... At present, they have either lost their foundation or are isolated from their own territory, and the morale of the army will definitely be greatly affected, but this final counterattack will also be very fierce. ”

"In that case, why is His Highness the Inner Mansion in a hurry to fight a decisive battle?" Otomo Yoshitomo raised his question, "As long as the family holds the battle line on the east and west, it won't be long before the army of the Yura family will collapse on its own." ”

"Lord Bingwei thinks that if the other side's 110,000 troops attack Kinai with all their might, how many troops will be needed on the eastern front of the family to block it? How many troops are needed to defend Kinai to prevent the wealthy clans of various countries from colluding with Hideyoshi? I asked Otomo Yoshitomi.

“…… It is not well thought out under it. Otomo Yoshitomo understood.

"It doesn't matter. In addition to determining the strategy, this gathering also needs to unify the morale of the military. The question raised by Lord Bingwei was raised at the right time, and I believe that many people will have this idea, so I just took the opportunity to solve the confusion together," I smiled slightly, "Moreover, the decisive battle as soon as possible is also for the sake of everyone in Kyushu, so that you can end the war as soon as possible and return to the territory as soon as possible to live in peace." ”

"This is the kindness of the Great Hall, and we are truly grateful! I will also show the greatest determination to fight bravely for the great cause of the Kira family and the future of my own family! Kikuchi Takeshige hurriedly praised.

"Well, it's to borrow your bravery," I calmly accepted his praise and continued to talk about the arrangement of my family, "This decisive battle with the Yura family, the military strength of the family is divided into three parts, one is the Kii, Izumi, Yamato, and Ise countries led by Kishu Jingo, who are in charge of the right wing of the family; the second is the North Kyushu army led by Yulin, as the Chinese army of the family; The third is the Iyo Kunizhong and the Central Kyushu Army led by Yushu Kyotsu, supervising the left flank of the family. In addition, among the elite reserves directly under the family, Waka and Ueno were assigned to Kishu Jingo, Lotus Pond and Awaji were assigned to Zhou Jingzhao, and the rest of Tsushima, Crab River, Mie, and Asamei were handed over to Iehisa and Xuanzhi as the vanguard of the Chinese army...... I hope that the two of them can take the lead and start the road to victory for their own family!"

"Yes!" Shimazu Iehisa and Ii Nobunao excitedly received the order.

It is a great honor to be at the vanguard of such a crucial and magnificent battle! ro！ ~！