With Tokugawa Iemitsu's bold words, everyone in the watch hall was a little confused all of a sudden, and everyone didn't understand why Tokugawa Iemitsu suddenly made such a decision. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Before the Tokugawa family started, the ancestor Tokugawa Ieyasu started slowly from a corner of the country, and finally inherited the careers of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and established the shogunate to rule the whole of Japan.

Even during the two sieges of Osaka twenty years ago, the aging Tokugawa Ieyasu personally led his troops into battle, and forcibly forced Toyotomi Hideyoshi's orphan Hideyoshi to die before he would give up, and just a year after the conquest of Osaka, Tokugawa Ieyasu died suddenly.

And his heir, Tokugawa Hidetada, also led troops to fight with his father. So it is not surprising that the Tokugawa generals led their troops into battle decades ago.

However, since then, several decades have passed, and the current situation is completely different, Tokugawa Iemitsu has never led troops to fight since the day he was born, and even after becoming a shogun, he actually knows nothing about military affairs.

Although the general is a pillar of the samurai family and the first samurai in the world, this is the truth. So when Tokugawa Iemitsu actually said that he was going to go to the battlefield to fight the Han Kou, the first reaction of these important ministers of the shogunate was not to be in high spirits, but to be more worried.

But when Tokugawa Iemitsu was so excited, no one dared to come out to question it, so many people secretly aimed at Toshikatsu Doi, the head of the old middle pen, hoping that he could stand up to prevent Tokugawa Iemitsu from committing stupid acts at this critical moment, and even more hoped that he could come up with a better countermeasure.

Toshikatsu Doi, on the other hand, remained silent, as if he had not heard Tokugawa Iemitsu's decision.

"My lord, the current situation is critical, don't act rashly!" The old middle Matsudaira Nobutsuna couldn't sit still, and kowtowed and begged Iemitsu to take back his life, "The shogun is responsible for the safety of the shogunate, and there must be no mistakes, if there is any accident on the battlefield, then ...... Then the shogunate is even more precarious! ”

After the war between the shogunate and the Han Dynasty, because they were considered responsible for provoking the war between the two countries, the two heavyweight old middle schools Sakai Tadashi and Sakai Tadashi are now ********, and even when the shogunate discusses together, they rarely dare to speak, so Matsudaira Nobutsuna faintly became the second seat of the old middle under Doi Toshikatsu.

But this position brought him not glory and joy, but endless busyness and trouble, and these days he had been coordinating the movement of men and supplies, busy settling the troops assembled in Edo and other parts of the Kanto region, and even raising food and weapons, and there was no spare time.

And this busyness did not lead to victory, and he watched Han Kou win victories everywhere, and then press on the gate of Kanto step by step, the feeling was too unbearable. Han Kou was so sharp, of course he didn't dare to let the shogun risk a direct confrontation with them.

However, his suggestion was not taken on board by Tokugawa Iemitsu, and the shogun instead frowned and glared at him.

"If we lose at Edo Castle, will there still be a shogunate at that time?"

“…… This...... This is ......" Matsudaira Nobutsuna was a little speechless all of a sudden, and he couldn't speak.

Obviously, if it had failed in Edo, the Tokugawa shogunate would have been wiped out, but Tokugawa Iemitsu dared to say such things, and he didn't dare to say it.

"So, if I don't lead the troops to fight the Han Kou, who do you think can lead the troops?" He couldn't answer, and Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't follow up, but asked another question.

In front of Tokugawa Iemitsu's sharp gaze, Matsudaira Nobutsuna sweated on his forehead, but he still couldn't answer.

After the last 20 years of rule of the shogunate, most of the surviving generals in the Warring States period have died of old age, and a small number of those who are still alive are already dying of old age, and they are unable to lead a large army to fight at all.

Thinking about it, only the old man Toshikatsu participated in a few major battles, but he was only a minor officer in the Tokugawa army back then, if he was used to personally lead the army and fight a battle that was related to the life and death of the shogunate...... It's a bit too risky.

At this time, Matsudaira Nobutsuna suddenly felt the gaze of Doi Toshikatsu secretly handing over, although his expression was calm, but it obviously implied that Matsudaira Nobutsuna should stop questioning the shogun.

"Mamoru Izu, in my opinion, is now the only way for the Shogun to personally go out to gather a large army to fight the Han Kou, and there is hope to resolve the current crisis facing Edo Castle." Doi Toshikatsu whispered, "It would be devastating for Edo if the Han Kou cut off the water transportation and water supply in Edo, so we must not let this happen, even if we have to fight the Han Kou." ”

When the old man spoke, the whispering between the ministers suddenly ended, not only because of Doi Toshikatsu's prestige, but also out of practical considerations - yes, if the general is not allowed to personally lead the army to a decisive battle with the Han Kou, who can lead the army?

The current shogunate army was urgently mobilized by the armies of many places, and it was only possible to effectively mobilize it with the help of the authority of the shogun himself.

But...... Can the Shogun really do it? Everyone is still very confused, and some people are even pessimistic.

But thinking about it, there is only Tokugawa Iemitsu as the only option.

Matsudaira Nobutsuna now understands that the general's shouting just now was not so much excitement as a resolute decision in despair.

He has been a close companion of Tokugawa Iemitsu since he was a child, and his feelings are very deep, and at this time, seeing the shogun behave like this, his heart is extremely painful.

"General, please let the ministers follow you on the expedition and fight the Han Kou together!" He bowed his head again, and then said loudly to Tokugawa Iemitsu, "The Han Invaders have penetrated deep into the Kanto region, and there are not enough troops, as long as we work together, we will be able to defeat these Han Invaders!" ”

Matsudaira Nobutsuna's rhetoric also represented that Tokugawa Iemitsu led his troops to personally meet the Han Kou and became the consensus of the shogunate.

These days, as the shogunate continued to scout the enemy, they began to be frightened, because they found that the Han Kou did not have as many troops as they thought, and there was no sign of a large reinforcement from the sea all the time. After deliberating for a long time, the important ministers of the shogunate came to the conclusion that there should still be a large number of troops in the Han Kou that were still being pinned down by the armies of and Ii Naotaka, so they could only land in the Kanto region with a large number of troops.

It is precisely because of the judgment that the Han Kou have fewer troops, so Tokugawa Iemitsu has been urging Ii Naokataka to return to help as soon as possible, and then flank this Han Kou on both sides to completely eliminate them, but before Ii Naotaka returned to the division, this group of Han Kou actually took the initiative to attack, first occupied Kamakura, and then now turned to advance to Edo, so Tokugawa Iemitsu also had a sense of contempt and annoyance.

In his opinion, there are quite a few troops gathered in Edo now, at least several times as many as these Han Kou, and as long as everyone fights with their hearts, not to mention destroying them, it should not be difficult to repel them.

However, although Tokugawa Iemitsu was arrogant, he also knew that he had no experience in leading troops to fight, so he only planned to let himself grasp the strategy, and by the way, he would give orders with the authority of the general, and the rest of the specific command would be handed over to those banner-based generals.

After Tokugawa Iemitsu and the shogunate's important ministers made their final decision, orders began to be issued one by one, and the troops inside and outside Edo Castle began to be assembled and ready to be mobilized, following the shogun to conquer the Han Koko.

At this time, Edo Castle, which had been in turmoil for many days, began to become even more chaotic. Ever since the Shogunate and the Han Kou began to fight, gossip began to circulate among the inhabitants of Edo Castle.

At the beginning, everyone was still full of confidence, and there were constant rumors that the Han Kou had suffered a heavy defeat in a certain place, and was defeated by the shogunate or even wiped out the entire army, but as the shogunate retreated, the position of these rumors began to slowly change, and finally became completely opposite.

In the past few days, there have been rumors that the shogunate has lost all of its land except for the Kanto region, that the daimyo of various places have rebelled, and that the army led by the shogunate boss Naotaka Ii has been wiped out in, and that Edo will no longer receive reinforcements.

These rumors spread everywhere, and greatly undermined the confidence and will of the people in the city, especially the last rumor, which was even more disturbing because the families of these shogunate troops were near Edo.

In order to stabilize people's hearts, the shogunate has always paid great attention to cracking down on rumors, and even executed many people who bewitched the public for a while, but the more this is the case with the shogunate, the more fierce the rumors become, and finally it was even rumored that Edo was about to become an empty city, and grain transportation would be cut off, and as a result, people everywhere rushed to buy grain and rice, and finally almost caused a commotion.

Some people tried to escape from the castle, but because there were shogunate troops everywhere, they couldn't do so, so they stayed in Edo Castle and prayed for the war to end soon.

After the army began to assemble in the castle, the commotion in the city increased, and when Tokugawa Iemitsu led the army out of the castle, countless families were worried about the fate of their husbands and sons.

However, Tokugawa Iemitsu can't control so much now, he put on the armor of the general, left the Oku where he had been living deeply, and left Edo with his generals and the entire army, wearing a bright armor as bright as gold, but because of his weak body, he always looked a little nondescript in armor.

Twenty years ago, his grandfather Tokugawa Ieyasu led his army out of the city in such an early morning, marched all the way to Osaka Castle, and finally eradicated the last remnants of the Toyotomi family and obtained the whole world, but today, he is only fighting to keep the last corner of the shogunate, Kanto, and the sourness is indescribable.

There was no cheering or grand ceremony, and in the cool morning breeze, Tokugawa Iemitsu led his army to the northwest of Edo.

At this time, the Han army led by Zhao Song had also occupied Yokohama, and directly changed direction from the Yokohama area, maneuvering to the north, and the Yokohama they occupied was handed over to the Han Navy to garrison, under Zhao Song's order, the Han Navy is now fully covering the back road and logistics of the army deep inland, and other plans have been forcibly interrupted, although the navy has quite a few complaints, but under the authority of Zhao Song, he finally obeyed the order.

The Kanto region was a large plain, with no mountains and no dangerous passes, so it was easy for them to maneuver in this inland area, they opened several passages, and routed almost all the enemy troops they encountered along the way, and then advanced inland.

Although the war was still going very well so far, Zhao Song, Yan Guang and others were already very careful, constantly sending cavalry as scouts to scout and sweep around, fearing that anything would go wrong - now they were alone in the inland, and if anything went wrong, the army would be doomed, and they would never take any risks.

According to their plan, they marched all the way to Tama Castle, a castle located in the middle of the Tama River basin, which guarded the key waterways of the Tama River, and if they could capture the castle, they would cut off the Tama River and paralyze the water and food supply of Edo Castle by a small part.

In the fields of the countryside, Zhao Song led his soldiers all the way to march, and what caught his eye was endless patches of green, with grass and rice. The area they set foot in is one of the most fertile areas in Japan, and it is the height of summer, so everything as far as the eye can see is green.

If it hadn't been for this war, we would have had a good harvest in a month or two. It's just that now, there is no one to be seen along the way, whether it is a rural village or a small town, as if everyone has suddenly disappeared from the world.

Zhao Song went all the way down the country road, and finally came to Tama Castle when it was about to fall that day. It was a small city, and the shogunate officials and inhabitants of the city had already fled in all directions, so it didn't take much effort to occupy it.

Because it was close to night, Zhao Song decided to let the army rest for the night today, and then let the scouts continue to search around to listen to the traces of the enemy.

At this time, Zhao Song was in the camp outside the city to observe the surrounding situation.

It was already nightfall, and the last rays of the sun had turned the horizon a golden yellow, and the clouds drifted across the sky, and the earth was dyed gold. He spotted a grove in the distance, full of old trees, sticking out of their branches along the twisting banks. The gray-black branches and forks are criss-crossed, and the grass stems and flowers of the onion cage are covered in it, and the more withered and old, the more faint and gloomy. There are a few trees lying almost horizontally on the surface of the water, and the branches near the water are paddling the water, appearing and disappearing.

And a group of Han cavalry, now resting by the river, and letting their horses drink in the river, these war horses surround the river, neighing from time to time.

That's the Tama River.

It is already a place for our Han army to drink horses. Zhao Song's heart suddenly passed through an indescribable sense of pride.

At this moment, several scouts suddenly rushed back, and they reported to Zhao Song a piece of news they had just heard.

"Traces of the shogunate army have been discovered?" When he heard the news, Zhao Song's original ease was quickly replaced by solemnity.

According to Zhao Song's orders, these scouts roamed around the Han army to reconnoiter the enemy, and a group of scouts who went east to reconnoiter found the traces of a large army, which was numerous, and it was also rushing straight to the side of Tama City.

Judging by the scale, it seems that the shogunate army in Edo is seeking a decisive battle with the Great Han.

However, as it was close to night, the army began to stop and encamp, and their camp was so large that it seemed that the number of troops was not small.

"It seems that Tokugawa Iemitsu also knows that the situation is not good, and he wants to fight with us to save Edo......" According to the information provided by the scouts, Zhao Song roughly had a certain judgment of the current situation.

"We threaten Edo's water transport and water, and they can't fight us if they don't come out." Yan Guang looked like he was in control of everything, "My lord, since they are here to fight hard, then as long as we defeat this army, Edo will be tantamount to opening the door." ”

"That's how I see it, too." Zhao Song nodded, obviously a little excited.

Then, the two of them continued to draw a rough area on the map based on a steady stream of information, determined where the shogunate army was stationed, and then observed the nearby terrain. At this time, they did not know that the shogunate army was actually led by Tokugawa Iemitsu himself to fight a decisive battle, but judging from the aggressive movements of the shogunate army, this was definitely the battle they gambled on for the last time.

After taking a look, Zhao Song and Yan Guang both felt that the map was very simple and could not bring them much help.

Zhao Song thought for a while, looked at the cavalry by the river, and then looked up at the sky, the afterglow of the setting sun was about to dissipate, and it was about to fall into the night.

"Let these scouts and cavalry go to fight with them first, give us a survey of the terrain, and surprise the shogunate army by the way." Zhao Song made up his mind, "They have just set up camp now, and they have not yet discovered the location of our army, we will give them an attack first, they will definitely be in chaos!" ”

"What you have seen!" After Yan Guang stayed for a while, he immediately agreed with Zhao Song's opinion. "It's just that the return of the cavalry at night must be prepared."

………………

It was already nightfall, and Tokugawa Iemitsu called his retainers to the temporary camp, although the people around him had done their best to ensure Tokugawa Iemitsu's life, but the two days of turbulence still made him uncomfortable.

In addition, every time he made a further trip to the northwest, his mood became a little nervous, and now he only felt a little short of breath, and he couldn't sleep well at night, so he also felt very sleepy during the day, and just wanted to rest.

But now there was still important things to discuss, and he couldn't rest.

He had just received the news that the Maeda family of the Kaga Domain had officially rebelled, and they had begun to attack the shogunate forces on the border, with the intention of attacking Kanto with the Great Han.

When these important ministers were gathered, and Tokugawa Iemitsu wanted to tell them about the current grim situation, "Bang! "Bang!" Dull and shrill voices rang out from the sky, and a commotion erupted in the camp, and everywhere there were shouts of bewilderment and fear. (To be continued.) )