"My lord! Why say such unlucky words! Hearing Tokugawa Iemitsu say such a thing, Kasuga was shocked. Pen ~ fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info "Although the current situation is difficult, but there are still so many people loyal to assist you, there are so many armies to defend you, and there are gods in the sky to protect you, you will definitely be able to turn evil into good fortune and repel the Han Kou!" ”

Although she said it very earnestly, Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't feel too touched by it, and only sighed slightly. A person in a high position like him, of course, knows that there are countless gods and Buddhas who can protect him, and the only thing in the world who can talk is swords and guns, and now the shogunate is at a loss for swords and guns, and there is nothing to do about Han Ko.

What is even more frightening is that the authority of the shogunate is actually based on the coercion of the feudal domains by force, and if this coercion is lost, and the support of the imperial court's righteous name, the position of the shogunate will be greatly shaken - and this vacillation has already appeared.

After the Han Kou launched a war against the shogunate, the shogunate has never been able to bargain on the battlefield, and has repeatedly lost its teachers and land, its reputation and prestige have been exhausted, and people everywhere have raised the flag of rebellion, seeing that the shogunate is about to become a loner.

Now even the Kanto region is facing the terrible situation of being landed by the Han Kou, and it can be said that it has reached the most dangerous moment, for fear that the Han Kou will advance directly to Edo and then turn this prosperous city into ruins.

His nurse just said lightly that he wanted to run, but now there are strong enemies everywhere, and even if he wants to retreat, there is nowhere to retreat, and he is still a general in Edo, and he is afraid that he will not be able to be a prisoner in the hands of others.

He didn't want to explain these things to the Kasuga Bureau, he just felt weak all over his body, and his head was still hurting all the time, and he didn't want to think about anything.

"I'm much better, you can stand down first," he waved his hand lightly, signaling that the Kasuga Bureau could leave now, "you pack your bags, and leave Edo in the next two days and go somewhere else to recuperate." ”

"No, my lord, I must not leave you." As soon as he heard that the general was going to drive him away, the Kasuga Bureau immediately stopped, and then looked at Tokugawa Iemitsu anxiously, "Please let me stay and continue to take care of the general!" ”

"Now that Edo is going to be under martial law, guarding against the Han Kou, the female dependents are going to be evacuated, and it is natural for you to leave with them, and you can't do anything if you stay here anyway." Tokugawa Iemitsu shook his head, and then said in a weak tone, "I'm going to face the enemy now, and I don't need anyone else to take care of me." ”

"My lord, I am also the daughter of the martial family, and the lord I serve is you, you can't leave, can I still leave?" Kasuga couldn't help crying, "As the retainer of the general, the head of the O'o, I must live and die with the general, and fight the Han Kou together, and ask the general's permission!" ”

After saying that, she fell directly to her knees and touched the ground with her head.

Tokugawa Iemitsu originally wanted to say something more, but after seeing such a resolute attitude of Kasuga, his words were swallowed again.

That's fine, let's fight the Han Kou together.

That night, the shogunate, which had received the news of the Han Ko's landing, finally calmed down and began to do its best to deal with the sudden situation, and the shogunate's envoys began to dispatch from Edo to various places, preparing to mobilize shogunate troops from all over the country to help Edo.

Unlike Edo, where there was no sleep, Yokosuka Castle was surprisingly calm that day. After the capture of Yokosuka, Zhao Song, the commander of the Japanese army of the Great Han Expedition, began to assign different tasks to his subordinates, some of whom were responsible for guarding the spot, while others were sent to expand the occupied area and guard the movement of the shogunate troops.

And after all these transfers began to be carried out step by step, Zhao Song and his senators became leisurely, and Zhao Song fell asleep early that night.

His current residence is Sogenji, a Buddhist temple of the Soto sect and an ancient temple in the Yokosuka area. After the Han army landed in Yokosuka, the monks in the temple fled directly with the common people, and the few remaining ones were also driven out by the Han army, and then this time they were requisitioned to become Zhao Song's temporary residence.

During the night of Tokugawa Iemitsu's panic, Zhao Song spent it easily, and he didn't wake up until the next morning.

At this time, Yan Guang and several other senators were already asking to see him, and after a brief wash, Zhao Song immediately met with these senators.

"Was there any change in the shogunate last night?" As soon as they met, Zhao Song asked directly.

"There was no movement from the soldiers and horses mobilized everywhere, but it was calm." Yan Guang immediately replied, "At least until now, there has been no sign that the shogunate has gathered troops and horses in front of our army to prepare for an attack. ”

"So, the shogunate has already been frightened and decided to let us land like this, pretending not to see it?" A trace of disappointment and disdain flashed in Zhao Song's eyes, "I thought that we were bullied to this extent, and this kid from Tokugawa Iemitsu should be unbearable." ”

"It seems that they want to hold on to Edo and fight a war of attrition with us." Yan Guang was very serious, "My lord, our landing is very smooth, we can transport all the troops to the land in these two days, the artillery and war horses will be a little late, but it will not be delayed for too long." ”

"Very good, it seems that Cai De really put his heart into it." Zhao Song nodded approvingly, "In this case, we don't need to stay here all the time waiting for others to come and beat us, Tokugawa Iemitsu doesn't dare to come to beat us, so we'll go to find him!" ”

"My lord, that's what we think too." Yan Guang also agreed with him.

Then, Yan Guang and the others spread the Japanese topographic map in their hands on the table and began to replan the use of the troops in the future. Fortunately, before landing, these senators had already prepared for various situations, so now that the situation has changed, they do not feel at a loss.

"Where we are now, the southern tip of the peninsula......" Yan Guang said, pointing to the map with his finger, and then slid lightly, "So if you want to advance, there is no other way to go at first, you can only attack north, but when we hit the peninsula, there are more places to consider......"

He set his hand on the northernmost tip of the peninsula and rested on one of the cities.

"This is Kamakura, which is a well-known ancient city in Japan, and it is also the seat of the shogunate when Minamoto Yoritomo first established the shogunate, and it can be said that it is a spiritual shrine for the samurai of Kanto and even the samurai of Japan as a whole, and it is of extraordinary significance. If we can quickly capture Kamakura, it will definitely deal a big blow to the prestige of the shogunate, and it will also make our momentum even stronger...... In addition, Kamakura is located in the west of the shogunate, which is also a choke point, and the shogunate must be very anxious about our sudden landing, and mobilize troops everywhere to rush to the aid of Edo, and we can wait for work near Kamakura, destroy or defeat the troops that come to the aid of the shogunate, and then go directly to attack Edo, so that Tokugawa Iemitsu has no way to escape! ”

When he was explaining, Zhao Song was silent all the time, thinking about the credibility of Yan Guang's plan. From the point of view of reason, Yan Guang's plan is also the most appropriate - Edo is the throat of the shogunate, and the shogunate does not dare not save it, so if it wants to save it, it will naturally have to mobilize a large number of troops, and the Han can intercept these armies in the middle, weakening the shogunate's military strength, and at the same time making the shogunate more isolated.

"It will take a long time to attack it, and it is good to encircle the point and send reinforcements...... Not bad......" Finally, he nodded and agreed to Yan Guang's plan, "Then let's take Kamakura first, let Tokugawa Iemitsu rest for a few days, and then the whole army will directly attack Edo." ”

Yan Guang was the chief senator, and he was personally approved by Zhao Song, so the strategy he put forward became the new battle plan of the Han army in the future, and the other senators began to plan the marching route and the deployment of officers and soldiers according to Yan Guang's requirements, and Zhao Song and Yan Guang went to the troops together to comfort the landing officers and soldiers, and at the same time prepared to lead the army to start as soon as possible.

Early the next morning, the Han army, which had been rested, started on time, and the mighty army, like a tiger out of the gate, began to press deep into the hinterland of the shogunate.

And just when the Han army was marching out, the envoys of the shogunate finally came to the area of Iga, found the army led by the shogunate boss Ii Naotaka himself, and then explained the predicament that the shogunate was facing now and Tokugawa Iemitsu's order to Ii Naotaka.

When he heard that the Han army had actually landed in the hinterland of the Kanto region and was already close to Edo, Naotaka Ii was almost stunned and speechless for a while.

"I ...... I have a negative general, and I have a negative god! In the end, he could only sigh a long sigh, annoyed and painful, and his face was almost dead.

Because of his previous advice, Tokugawa Iemitsu handed over a large number of elite troops to him and asked him to go to to fight the Han Kou, but now he led a large army to fight the Han Kou, and failed to recover much land, but instead made the Kanto appear empty, and as a result, the Han Kou now landed directly in Kanto, and he felt that he was indeed guilty.

"Your Excellency...... Now is not the time to talk about this! As if feeling his current pain and guilt, the messenger comforted him, and at the same time urged, "Now that Edo is in an emergency, please send troops to Edo to rescue it, only to save Edo is the most important thing at the moment, and everything else can be ......relieved."

However, Naotaka Ii still has a dead face.

It was no longer a question of delay, but a question of whether he wanted to retreat back to Kanto to rescue Edo in the face of a confrontation between the two armies, and there was no way to do it immediately - if he really retreated regardless of the ground, he would definitely be annihilated by the enemy.

Moreover, even if he was able to return to help, he didn't know if Edo would be able to save him, at least now and Saikoku would definitely not be able to return to the rule of the shogunate...... The shogunate is now in decline.

As an important minister of the shogunate, he assisted the Tokugawa family in ruling Japan from the beginning of the establishment of the shogunate, and he served three generations of shoguns, and helped them strengthen their control over the daimyo and the imperial court in various ways, and he also watched the shogunate gradually become a behemoth that dominated Japan.

However, just when the shogunate was in full swing, it was suddenly struck and the shogunate was already in danger, and this pain was really unbearable.

He was at a loss, not knowing how to face the gods and the previous generals, and not knowing what to do to save the shogunate in such a crisis.

"Your Excellency!" Seeing that the elder was so uneasy, the envoy couldn't help but urge, "Please make a decision quickly!" ”

"yes...... It's time to make a decision as soon as possible. He nodded.

Under the current situation, it was impossible to escape with the entire army, so a part of the army could only be left as a rearguard, delaying the pursuit of the enemy and bringing the main force back to Kanto to defend Edo.

But the part of the army that is left behind will definitely lose morale, and how long will they be able to withstand the enemy army? Naotaka Ii is really not sure, but now I can only try.

That morning, he immediately gathered all his generals and told them about the situation he was facing.

When they heard that the Han Kou had landed directly in Kanto and threatened Edo, these generals were all in a state of panic and panic like Naotaka Ii, they were all generations of the shogunate, and many of their families lived near Edo, and the encounter with the war in Edo was tantamount to saying that their families were in danger.

Immediately, almost everyone said in unison that they would return to Edo.

Originally, they fought all the way from the Kanto region with high spirits, and they were full of energy to fight to the death with the Han Kou and recover Kyoto for the shogunate, but after so many days of fighting, the shogunate army still made little progress, their patience and morale had been exhausted, and the original excitement was no longer repeated. Now that they have heard the news that Edo is under threat, it is natural that everyone is only thinking about going back.

And this is what Naotaka Ii was most worried about, he thought about it, and finally selected a few generals who were most loyal to the shogunate, and asked them to take their respective troops to break off the rear and cover the retreat of the army, and these generals finally agreed with tears in their eyes.

Although the middle and high levels of the army finally reached a unified opinion, but tens of thousands of troops were scattered, and the advance and retreat and redeployment could not be solved at once, and in the next few days, Naokaka Ii had been personally directing the movement and preparation of the troops, and at the same time paying great attention to secrecy, hoping to deceive the enemy troops on the opposite side and try to make it easier for him to retreat.

However, even if he was so cautious, the abnormal movement on the other side still did not escape Zhou Pu's eyes.

Because he had known the plans of the Han army before, and he also knew that he would definitely ask for Naotaka Ii to return to support when Edo was threatened, so he paid close attention to the movements of Naotaka's army, and when the opposite side began to redeploy and deploy, he also concentrated his army and began to prepare for an attack on the shogunate army.

As soon as the shogunate army began to retreat, he would attack, not seeking to annihilate Ii Naotaka's army, but only to firmly hold them down, so that this shogunate army could not return to the Kanto region and affect the war on Zhao Song's side.

At the same time, in order to further delay and divide his opponents, he also prepared a strategy to attack the heart.

On the same day, when he received an order from the shogun, Edo sent people every day urging him to lead his army back as soon as possible, and his eagerness increased day by day. And in the past few days, he has been receiving bad news, after the Hanko landed in Yokosuka, he began to relaunch the attack after a short rest, and then went all the way north to the peninsula and captured Kamakura.

Kamakura is the old land of the samurai, which is of great significance, and it fell into the hands of the Han Kou, which really made Ii Naotaka feel painful, and I heard that the fall was very easy, although there were many defenders in the area, but they were directly defeated by the Han Kou, and had to escape from Kamakura.

Moreover, even without mentioning the historical significance of Kamakura, the fall of Kamakura made it very difficult to connect Kanto and, and made his road to aid a little more difficult. The intention of the Han army was also clear, they wanted to destroy some of the shogunate troops that had returned to Edo there, and then attack Edo directly—but even if they knew what they were thinking, Naotaka Ii had no way out now.

Under the pressure of anxiety, he has hardly slept these days, and his whole person seems to be more than ten years old, and even his voice is hoarse. However, thanks to his efforts, the redeployment of the shogunate army was finally almost complete, and tomorrow he could leave the Iga region with most of his men and turn in the direction of Edo.

And on this very day, the enemy army on the opposite side sent a messenger, claiming to ask to see Naotaka Ii. The shogunate had sent envoys several times to negotiate peace with the Han Kou, but there had been no result, and it was the first time that the Han took the initiative to send envoys to him.

Surprised, Ii Naotaka immediately summoned the envoy of the Han - although he knew that the other party would not be able to put forward too good conditions, but there was still a slim hope in Ii Naotaka in his heart, hoping that he could turn the corner at the last moment.

However, although Ii Naotaka was sincere, the Han envoy was quite arrogant, and after coming to the front of Ii Naotaka, he did not salute solemnly, but just bowed his hands - according to his words, now the shogun and the shogunate minister have been dismissed from all court official positions by the Japanese court, and they are no longer officials, so they can only be treated like this, and although Ii Naotaka is angry, he finally endures it.

"I wonder what you're looking for me right now?" He asked coldly.

"Sir has been working so hard day and night lately, but is he ready to retreat and leave?" But this envoy was-for-tat, looking directly at Jing Yi Naotaka, without the slightest consciousness that his life was in the hands of others, "If this is the case, then I will tell you the truth, our envoys of the Celestial Empire have prepared the army, as long as Mr. and the army run back, our army will attack with the whole army and pursue the adults all the way, so please think twice before you act, don't make a decision to regret for life!" (To be continued.) )