Mikawa Okazaki, the place where Tokugawa Ieyasu rose, once again welcomed a large army.

After learning that the Ming army had captured Hirado Island, Tokugawa Iemitsu proposed to his father Hidetada to personally lead the army to Kyushu and fight the Ming army to the death.

Although Tokugawa Iemitsu had taken over as shogun, the real power remained firmly in the hands of his father.

Therefore, there are many things that he cannot handle at will, and he still needs to go through his father.

Xiuzhong didn't agree at first, Jiaguang hadn't experienced much war, he was a complete outsider to war, and he didn't know how complicated war was.

If he goes to Kyushu in person, he may not help much, but will only add to the chaos.

However, Tokugawa Iemitsu persevered, and his heart was full of desire to defeat the Ming army.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi and the Ming army lost the battle that year, as long as he can defeat the Ming army, he can prove that his ability surpasses that of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Moreover, now the Wa State is fighting on its own soil, and it has a lot of advantages.

If the Ming army can be blocked in a small place, without a fierce battle, only need to consume his grain and grass, then the Ming army will naturally defeat itself without a fight.

Therefore, this battle is very attractive to Tokugawa Iemitsu, and as long as he can win, he will surely become a master of the ages.

Unable to convince Tokugawa Iemitsu, Hidetada finally decided to let him go, but told him to be careful on this trip and listen to the advice of old courtiers such as Sakai Tadakatsu in everything.

The trip was a bit slow because of the need to gather the armies of the various daimyos, and Okazaki had a very special meaning for the Tokugawa family, so Tokugawa Iemitsu stayed here for a few days.

Kneeling in the house where his grandfather, Tokugawa Ieyasu, once lived. Tokugawa Iemitsu is receiving a special ninja.

Hattori knelt respectfully in front of Tokugawa Iemitsu. Then he said with a sincere face, "On behalf of the Hattori clan, I hope to be able to serve your team again." I hope the Shogun will agree. ”

Soon after arriving here, Hattori Masashi, a very important descendant of the Hattori clan and the grandson of the second generation of Hattori Hanzo (aka Oni Hanzo), came to see him.

Tokugawa Iemitsu was silent for a while, the Hattori clan had made great contributions to the Tokugawa family, and it can be said that without them, Tokugawa Ieyasu would probably have died.

But since the death of the second generation of Hattori Hanzo, the third generation of Hattori Hanzo, that is, Hattori Masa, can be called a real mediocre talent.

Tokugawa Ieyasu handed over the most important Iga gumi to him, but he was there to act as a prestige and punish his men for all kinds of construction at will. The two team leaders were confined to their homes for a long time, and while one team leader was on duty, he forcibly beat his wife, forcing the team leader's wife to bite her tongue and commit suicide.

His evil deeds finally forced his men and nearly a thousand ninjas to launch an armed rebellion.

In the ninja world, this is definitely an unprecedented event. The Tongxin not only demanded that the shogunate remove him from his position, but also wanted to deprive him of his status as a shinobi

Eventually, Tokugawa Ieyasu agreed to their demands, and the Hattori clan was demoted to commoners.

Later, although Hattori repented and hoped to make a contribution to the Osaka Summer Battle and revive the family, it was a pity that he died in battle. The desire to revive the family was also completely frustrated.

And Hattori Masashige also died because of the defection of his wife's maiden family (Okubo Chang'an). Wandering the countries alone, the once prominent wealthy family has finally declined.

After learning that the Wakoku was about to go to war with the Ming Dynasty, Hattori Masasshige knew that this was his last chance, so he traveled thousands of miles to meet Tokugawa Iemitsu, hoping to give him another chance to revive the family.

In fact, for the Hattori family, the Tokugawa family is a little disliked.

Because Hattori's performance can only be described as stupid, but now that he is in the process of employing people, of course he doesn't mind that his subordinates are a little stronger.

But he still had to be beaten, so he said quietly, "Do you know what the other ninjas think of you Hattori?" ”

Hattori apologized with a serious face, and then said, "Of course I know, I am deeply ashamed of what happened back then, but my father has atoned for his death in the past, and I hope that the Shogun will give us another chance, and we will definitely kill the enemy on the battlefield to repay the Shogun's trust." ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded, "Okay then, I'll promise you." ”

Hearing this, Hattori Masashige couldn't help but be overjoyed, and kowtowed again and again and said: "Thank you for the trust of the general, our Hattori family is willing to go to the soup for the general, and we will not hesitate." ”

"But I can only appoint you as a middle ninja, and your subordinates can only be summoned by themselves, because I am afraid that there are very few ninjas who are willing to become your subordinates."

Tokugawa Iemitsu said lightly.

Hearing this, Hattori's face couldn't help but stiffen, but it quickly returned to normal.

"Please rest assured, Lord Shogun, this time we have brought more than twenty ninjas, all of whom are elite ninjas who are proficient in Iga-ryu ninjutsu, and I believe they will not disappoint Lord Shogun."

Tokugawa Iemitsu nodded faintly.

"Then you can follow me, I believe that there will be a task assigned to you soon."

"Hey!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu instructed him something and let him get out of here.

It wasn't long before a chaotic sound of footsteps sounded outside the door.

This made Jiaguang frown, who was ignoring his orders, but he had ordered him not to disturb anything important during this time.

Soon, the door was pushed open.

Yagyu Jubei walked in with a simple samurai.

Tokugawa Iemitsu recognized the samurai as a disciple of Yagyu Muneki, and his heart couldn't help but move.

When the samurai saw Tokugawa Iemitsu, he knelt down with a thud, and then said with a sad face, "Shogun, something is wrong. Our 70,000-strong army stationed in Hirado fought fiercely with the Ming army, resulting in a great defeat, and the 70,000-strong army was almost completely wiped out. Matsudaira-sama was martyred ......"

Hearing this, it was like a thunderbolt from the sky, and Tokugawa Iemitsu and Yagyu Jubei were both stunned.

"What do you say? That's impossible! That's impossible!! ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu screamed in shock, "That's not 70,000 troops, we still have nearly 200,000 troops in Kyushu. As long as they hold out for a while, can't they wait for reinforcements? Moreover, Date Masamune and Kato Tadahiro are both there, they are our famous generals, how can they be defeated. ”

The news was so shocking that Tokugawa Iemitsu completely lost his bearings.

"General, this is a battle report written by Lord Yanagi himself."

After speaking, he took out the battle report from his arms and handed it to Tokugawa Iemitsu.

Tokugawa Iemitsu snatched it from him, and then hurriedly looked at it.

Yanagi Zongju's battle report was written very pertinently, without too much emotion, but 1510 told what happened on the battlefield.

But Tokugawa Iemitsu can still see the greasy in it.

The annihilation of the 70,000-strong army shocked and angered him, which made him hate Torii Tosa even more.

This is an army of 70,000, and it is definitely the backbone of the fight against the Ming army.

He pondered for a while with a gloomy face, and then said, "Passing on my order, Torii Tosa is not effective in battle, and he is ordered to seize his fiefdom and behead him for public display. ”

Yanagi Shibei couldn't help but be surprised, he hadn't seen the battle report, so he didn't know the content of the battle report.

What did Torii Tosa do that people and gods are angry about, why did Tokugawa Iemitsu behead Torii Tosa, did he rebel in battle?

Soon someone went out to announce his order, waiting for the samurai to leave.

Tokugawa Iemitsu said in a rage: "This damn bastard! Damn it! What a damn one!! ”

It was his deliberate delay that led to the disembarkation of nearly 10,000 Ming troops.

If it weren't for him, maybe this battle wouldn't have been lost.

Of course, the fact that the 70,000-strong army could not drive the 50,000-strong Ming army into the sea was ignored by Tokugawa Iemitsu, intentionally or unintentionally.

Seeing Tokugawa Iemitsu's angry appearance, Yanagi Shibei was so amused that he didn't ask anything, and let Tokugawa Iemitsu vent his anger.

After a long time, Tokugawa Iemitsu's mood barely calmed down.

Thinking of the consequences of this incident, Tokugawa Iemitsu was afraid for a while.

The importance of this battle is undoubted, and if he is defeated, he will surely become a sinner for the ages of the Wa Kingdom, and the great cause established by Tokugawa Ieyasu will also die at his hands.

At this time, he thought of Tadadai Nayan, who was located in Suruga not far from here, and a hint of cruelty flashed in his eyes.

"Pass on my order, and say that the loyal chief has fornicated with the Ming Kingdom, connived at his subordinates to secretly help the Ming army, and dismissed him from his post and questioned him."

"General, don't do it!"

At this moment, a familiar voice came from outside the room.

Soon, Tokugawa Iemitsu's important ministers such as Sakai Tadakatsu, Doi Toshikatsu, and Abe Shigeji walked in one after another.

"We heard that Yagyu-sama had sent a battle report, so we hurried here. What happened to provoke the general to be so angry and want to take down His Royal Highness Tadashi. ”

Sakai asked with a look of surprise.

"Look at it, my good brother connived at Toi Tosa to secretly help the Ming army, resulting in the total destruction of 70,000 troops. If such a great crime is not punished severely, it is simply intolerable. ”

Tokugawa Iemitsu said angrily.

After saying that, he handed them the battle report in his hand.

After reading the battle report, everyone was also surprised, how did this happen?

That's an army of 70,000, how can it be wiped out overnight?

Some people are still immersed in the shock caused by this incident, and some of them have no master, but Doi Toshikatsu has suppressed the shock in his heart.

As Tokugawa Iemitsu's most important think tank, he had to stand up and remind: "Lord Shogun, I'm afraid this matter needs to be reported to the Great Imperial Office before it can be handled." Without tangible evidence, the Grand Imperial Palace will not approve of you doing so. ”

In the final analysis, how to deal with this matter is still up to Xiuzhong, because the real power of the Wa Kingdom is still in his hands. (To be continued......)