Under Zhou Pu's guidance, Dongxiang Shigefang finally understood the other party's intention to promote him, and he very much hoped to seize this opportunity to make himself famous and become a member of the daimyo - even if it was just a small daimyo with only twenty or thirty thousand stone territory. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Okay, then you will take this army south to Sakai City and bring it under the control of our army." After he agreed, Zhou Pu continued to order, "If the war goes well, you will continue to go south, and if you encounter any enemy army, do not fight a decisive battle with it, but try to contain it as much as possible, and at the same time deliver news to our army, understand?" ”

"I understand it below!" Dongxiang Shigefang hurriedly responded.

Sakai City and Osaka are very close to each other, and most of the merchants on both sides are actually from the same origin, and their thoughts and actions are similar, so Zhou Pu is sure to expect that they should not put up much resistance, as long as this partial division of Togo Shigekata arrives in Sakai City, it should be able to open the castle as unharmed as Osaka.

After taking Sakai, Togo Shigemata will continue to move south, seeking to contain more enemy forces and find out the enemy's specific movements and reality.

He did not face many enemies along the way, and the area had always been a highly valued area of the shogunate due to its geographical location and political and economic center, so he deliberately did not set up daimyo here, but tried to turn it into a zone under the direct rule of the shogunate.

Therefore, in this generation, there were very few feudal states, and the territory was very narrow. For example, the Kishiwada Domain, which was owned by the pro-clan Matsudaira Yasushige, was only a daimyo of 50,000 stones. In today's environment, these small feudal clans must not be able to bring any trouble to the Togo Shigekata.

What really needs to be concerned is the Kishu Domain of Kii Province, which is located in the southernmost part of the country, and is one of the three feudal clans of the Tokugawa family, with a total of more than 500,000 koku. They are the direct descendants of the Tokugawa family, and they will definitely find ways to make enemies of the Han, so the next task of Togo Shigemata going south is to monitor the movements of the Kishu domain.

However, the Kishu Domain had previously sent troops to support Itakura Shigemune, but as a result, they also suffered a lot of losses in the previous fiasco of the shogunate army, so Zhou Pu was not particularly worried that they still had the strength to raise troops to rescue Kyoto.

In this way, Zhou Pu informed Dongxiang Chongfang of his arrangement, and while he was grateful to Zhou Pu for his support, he also secretly vowed to complete Zhou Pu's explanation and return to this adult with his own merits.

After sending Dongxiang Shigefang away, Zhou Pu summoned his very relied on deputy general Tachibana Soshige.

Like Togo Shigemata, he was also prepared to let Tachibana Muneshige lead an army to take charge of operations in one direction. This will be a direct eastward march from Osaka, attacking Nara and Iga along the way.

Nara is the ancient capital of Japan, and its geographical location is important, it is the gateway to Kansai in the region, as long as the Nara and Iga line is occupied, then it can cut off the connection between Kyoto and the whole of Kinai and Kansai, which greatly responds to the strategy of the main army to attack Kyoto.

As you can imagine, this task was much more important than that of Togo Shigekata, and the pressure was much greater—the shogunate's army would certainly resist with all their might so as not to lose all of Kyoto.

Therefore, this army must be strong enough, and it must also be commanded by the best generals, and Zhou Pu decided to let Tachibana Soshige command this army after thinking about it.

Tachibana Soshige has been fighting in Japan for many years and has rich combat experience, and Shimazu Tadashi, who can be compared to him, is too selfish, so after thinking about it, Zhou Pu can only send Tachibana Soshige over.

And he will also hand over nearly half of his troops to Tachibana Soshige so that he can complete this difficult task.

After hearing about his arrangement, Tachibana Muneshige was slightly puzzled - because in this way, the army under Zhou Pu would be greatly reduced, which might affect the war against Kyoto.

However, Zhou Pu didn't care.

After the disastrous defeat at Himeji Castle, the shogunate army had become a frightened bird, and his strength was greatly damaged, and it was impossible for him to have too many troops left in Kyoto, so he would be able to maintain his advantage even after dividing his troops. Moreover, Itakura Shigemune also suffered a heavy blow in the previous fiasco, and he definitely did not dare to confront the big man head-on.

So for him, as long as Tachibana Muneshige completes the scheduled task to cut off the connection between Kanto and, then Kyoto will be nothing more than a thing in the palm of his hand.

Moreover, there are more important considerations for him to arrange this way - he divided his troops this time, and the troops he gave to Tachibana Muneshige were the armies of those wealthy families in Kyushu and Western Province, and now the main thing left is the army of Nijo Yasudo and Hashimoto Minoru that belongs to the Japanese Imperial Court, that is, the army of the Japanese Imperial Court will be responsible for the main force of the attack on Kyoto.

This is exactly what Yasudo Nijo and the others are asking for him.

One of the main banners of the Han Dynasty in this war was to support the Japanese imperial court's social discipline, so that Japan's discipline could be restored, and let the army directly under the imperial court to conquer Kyoto, which would show the correctness of this banner, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the Japanese imperial court had an army that could be directly controlled, and they also very much wanted to "return home" once again.

In addition, the shadow left on these ministers by the Onin War was too heavy, and in the turmoil that lasted for almost ten years, the armies of the Hosokawa clan and the Yamana clan faced each other, almost turning Kyoto into a blank field, and both the imperial court and the ministers suffered from it, so they did not want this past to happen again.

In the eyes of Nijo Yasudo and others, although these feudal armies are now their own people, they are fierce and barbaric, and they are no different from savages, so they are unwilling to let these people set foot in Kyoto and bring new disasters to Kyoto.

At their plea, Zhou Pu also pushed the boat along the river, agreed to their request, and decided to let Tachibana Muneshige attack Nara with other troops, while he himself took Nijo Yasudo and others to Kyoto.

Kyoto was very sensitive to Japan's position, and the Japanese court was a very important pawn for him, and he was the banner that called on the whole of Japan and attacked the prestige of the shogunate, and he knew that he needed to consider this issue with the utmost caution.

After the Battle of Himeji Castle, the Japanese Imperial Army's troops suffered heavy losses, but the remaining officers and soldiers gained valuable experience and sharpened themselves into an army that could at least be used for battle, and it was not difficult for them to deal with the remaining troops of the shogunate in Kyoto.

Besides, he also had a large Han army under his command that had almost no losses, which was enough to give him the information to crush the enemy in the whole of Kyoto.

Under Zhou Pu's orders, the large army in Osaka quickly completed the division of troops, and then marched in their own predetermined directions.

Because the shogunate army had been badly wounded before, the advance of the various armies was very smooth, and Togo Shigekata, as Zhou Pu expected, soon conquered Sakai City, Tachibana Muneshige advanced all the way to Nara, and Zhou Pu also marched along the Yodo River, approaching Fushimi, and Kyoto began to be in a hurry.

For a time, the Han army attacked in many ways, and there was a momentum that swept through the entire Kinai and collapsed the shogunate's rule in, and most of the regions chose to surrender without a fight, and some people were even glad that they were not forcibly relocated to Kanto by the shogunate.

A black haze grew heavier and heavier over Edo Castle.

In Oku, in the center of Edo Castle, this cloud has become more and more breathless, and it has been becoming more and more silent lately, and it is only when the latest situation report reaches Oku and the Shogun summons the minister to discuss countermeasures.

In the middle of the temple, a close man whispered a report from Kyoto, and because the report was so serious, he became more and more nervous, and his voice became lower and lower.

And on the couch, Tokugawa Iemitsu, a kneeling shogun, listened to his narration expressionlessly, his eyes narrowed slightly, as if he had fallen asleep.

Even though he was not yet thirty years old, his face was very haggard, his eye circles were very thick, and there were even fine wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, as if he had been drained of all his energy by the recent series of bad news.

This young man's childhood was not happy, his parents snubbed him because they doted on his younger brother, and even deliberately abolished his heirship, but with the help of his grandfather, he finally stabilized his position and finally inherited the position of general. In order to consolidate the world of the Tokugawa family, he has been using his own power and commanding all these years, so that the imperial court and various powerful feudal lords dare not disobey his will, and the power of the shogunate has become unprecedentedly strong.

But when he was so high-spirited and felt that there was nothing to do in the world, how could he have thought that a catastrophe would suddenly befall him?

Who would have thought that the Great Han actually launched an attack on Japan, and their troops were so sharp that they had been victorious since the beginning of the war, not only suppressing the shogunate at sea, but even on land, and now they had reached the gate of Kyoto.

This nightmarish reality weighed on his shoulders, putting the young man under pressure never before before, and he had been exhausted by all these days, trying to find ways to resist the Great Han and maintain the shaky rule of the shogunate. And he has been anxious and insomnia, and almost every night he is awakened by nightmares, such as scenes where his grandfather and father harshly reprimanded him, and scenes where he is consumed by the flames of Edo Castle, so recently, in order to be able to sleep, he has been drinking a lot of alcohol every day to numb himself.

Under such terrible suffering, he has aged a lot recently, and his original high-spirited attitude has been replaced by a muddy and depressed attitude, almost the same as before, and his temper has become more prone to anger than before, so now the people around him are more cautious, and no one dares to talk to him much.

However, no matter what, he still has to face the things he should face, because he is the shogun, the heir of the god king, and the hope of the Tokugawa family.

Because of this, although Tokugawa Iemitsu was very angry after listening to the report of the close person, he still forcibly suppressed the anger in his heart and tried to make himself appear insensitive.

"In this way, the Maeda family is unwilling to send troops to help no matter what?"

While asking, he waved his hand and motioned for the person close to him to leave, and the other party also bowed down and left in a hurry.

At this moment, only Tokugawa Iemitsu and his cronies were left in the temple.

Tokugawa Iemitsu's question was brief and clear, but when he asked, everyone chose to remain silent, as if the Shogun had asked an incomprehensible question.

But even if it's ugly, someone has to answer it – even if it's bad news.

"Yes, General." The chief pen head of the old middle school, Doi Toshikatsu, bowed down and replied, this is also his responsibility. "At present, it seems that the Maeda family has made up their minds to watch our war with the Great Han. What's even more worrying is that, according to the information passed on by our people in the Sendai Domain, the Date family of the Sendai Domain has been seeking to communicate with the Kaga Domain recently, and the two families seem to be secretly plotting, and there are frequent exchanges of envoys between them......

Although Doi Toshikatsu tried his best to make his tone sound calm, these words still made Tokugawa Iemitsu feel a pain in his heart, and his eyes were almost dizzy. He managed to endure the pain and looked at Toshikatsu Doi as calmly as possible.

"What are they planning, is there any sign of rebellion?"

"Judging from the information we have obtained so far, the Sendai Domain has no plans to rebel, and they have not strengthened their forces on the border." Toshikatsu Doi immediately replied, "But...... They are no longer at the disposal of the shogunate, and they have been recruiting troops from the domain, and it seems that they have a wait-and-see mentality. ”

After a pause, he continued, "As for the Kaga Domain, the signs are much more obvious, they are not only watching from the sidelines, not only secretly communicating with the Sendai Domain, but also the mobilization of troops within the domain is obviously much more frequent, and what is more worrying is that from the perspective of the mobilization of their troops, it seems that they are more guarding against the shogunate...... It is conceivable that the Kaga Domain was more disobedient than the Sendai Domain. ”

"They're all the same, and who is better than whom?" Tokugawa Iemitsu couldn't help but sneer. "It's nothing more than that the Sendai Domain is in a remote location, so they can only endure it, and the Kaga Domain is close to, so they are even more impatient, they are all anti-thieves, and no one can believe it!"

Tokugawa Iemitsu could see that in today's turbulent shogunate rule, powerful daimyo in various places must have had the idea of self-preservation and even taking advantage of the chaos to expand their power, and the Date family and the Maeda family, as the biggest external daimyos, would not be surprised that they would have done these things, and it is possible that they are already trying to find ways to contact the Daihan.

What is the difference between the Date family, the Maeda family, and the Maori Shimazu family? They are all henchmen, and they are all enemies of the shogunate.

As soon as he thought of this, he regretted that he had been too lenient to these daimyos, so that they even had the strength to defect to the Han and rebel against the shogunate. If only they had been brought under control earlier.

"The Shogun is right." Seeing that Tokugawa Iemitsu was showing signs of anger again, the eldest old Ii Naotaka hurriedly said, "No matter what they think in their hearts, since they don't obey the shogunate's dispatch, it is no different from rebellion, and we must punish them severely." ”

After reassuring the shogun with cruel words, Naotaka Ii changed his words, "However, now that they have differences in their behavior, then we should treat them differently, especially to be careful not to let them contact against the shogunate, in the current situation, we really can't afford the price, even if we want to punish them, we can only talk about it later." ”

After this implicit persuasion by Naotaka Ii, Tokugawa Iemitsu finally calmed down.

"You're right, since the Sendai Domain is still hesitating, it means that they are still timid, and we should go and appease them, as for the Kaga Domain...... It is time to deal with it with a decisive attitude. The troops on the border must not be withdrawn, but strengthened, so that they will not dare to act rashly. ”

Obviously, the Maeda family is a million-stone daimyo, and the strength of the domain is very huge, if they really defect to the Han and the shogunate as enemies, then it will bring a heavy blow to the shogunate, and it will make the shogunate's prestige even more declining, and it may even cut off the connection between Kanto and Kansai, so that the shogunate's main army in Kansai will become a lone army.

Therefore, the Maeda family must be guarded against and intimidated, and now they no longer plan to deploy the Maeda family, as long as they remain neutral and watch from the sidelines.

"What your lord says is very true." Toshikatsu Doi bowed his head and agreed with Tokugawa Iemitsu. "My lord, this is a critical moment for the survival of the shogunate, and we must be careful every step we take, and we must not miss anything again."

Tokugawa Iemitsu understood that he was suggesting that he would simply abandon the entire western kingdom as he had suggested earlier.

In the past, Doi Toshikatsu was very pessimistic about the situation in the western country, he believed that the people in the western country were not evenly matched, and the shogunate's army there was too weak, and it was very difficult to rescue the western country from the Kanto region, so the best strategy was to stick to the Kanto region, and delay as long as the western country could procrastinate, and if it was really unable to support it, he would simply withdraw from the western country and defend the Kanto region.

After the defeat of Himeji Castle, Doi Toshikatsu became even more pessimistic, believing that even if the shogunate went to reinforce Kyoto now, it might not be able to save it, and it was better to stay in the Kanto region and use the advantages of the country to preserve the shogunate's last luck.

Recently, he has been making this suggestion to Tokugawa Iemitsu, but after hesitating repeatedly, Tokugawa Iemitsu still did not agree to his suggestion.

Because he couldn't afford to lose Kyoto, it was even more difficult for him to endure this humiliation.

"If we give up the western kingdom, where else can we retreat?" Under Doi Toshikatsu's gaze, Tokugawa Iemitsu smiled miserably, "Besides, if the western kingdom falls and we retreat all the way, then the Maeda family and the Date family will definitely have nothing to fear, and in the end, we will face the siege of the world." ”

"But......" Toshikatsu Doi still wanted to persuade him.

"What the Shogun said is very true!" At this moment, the big guy Naotaka Ii suddenly interrupted Doi Toshikatsu's words, "We can't retreat again and again, everyone in the world is watching us, can we still sit back and watch Kyoto and even Mikawa lose?!" (To be continued.) )