More than a day later than the cavalry that had gone ahead, the infantry of the Matsue army arrived at the foot of Asahikawa Castle in the evening of the next day. 『』『Words*love*first*hair http://www.Klxsw.com

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After the infantry and cavalry converged, the complete blockade of Asahikawa Castle was quickly completed. The fundamental city of the Shimazu family was cut off from the outside world from this moment.

After a night's rest, the Songjiang army did not stop long and immediately launched an attack.

As early as the days when the Shimazu family forces were lured to take the initiative to attack, the craftsmen accompanying the Matsue army had already built a number of simple ladders. At this moment, under the cover of the archers, a number of ladders were moved to the front of the formation. Although it looks quite rudimentary, it puts a lot of pressure on the samurai of the Shimazu family on the stone walls of Asahikawa Castle.

With such a two-day buffer, they had already learned that the Shimazu family had suffered a major defeat. You know, it was almost all the main forces of the Shimazu family who went on the expedition. With so many samurai defeated, the strength of the enemy in front of them was by no means something that these samurai left behind or even the peasants who had been temporarily recruited could resist it.

What's more, as long as the eyes are not blind, anyone who stands on the top of the city and looks out can see the excellent armament and high fighting spirit of the Songjiang army. The contrast between the two made these hastily assembled defenders more and more worried.

It's just that although the Shimazu family was defeated, the residual power remains. Although they were uneasy, they subconsciously obeyed the order when the Shimazu family personally went into battle to suppress them and told them that they would soon be supported by other daimyo - it is worth mentioning that this sentence to appease the hearts of the soldiers in the castle was not Shimazu Yoshida's nonsense.

He really sent people to break through at night and ask for help from other daimyos.

After the failure of the previous surprise attack, the remnants of the Shimazu family could barely hold the castle. Even holding back for a while is a problem, let alone fighting back. If you want to defeat this army of the upper kingdom, you can only rely on other daimyos. Although it is likely that this is a lure of wolves, even if you know it. Shimazu Yoshida, who had no other way, could only do so.

As for whether the other daimyo were willing to send reinforcements, Shimazu Yoshida was not worried.

The prestige of the Qianyuan Empire is clear to every daimyo on the island. to this vast empire across the sea. There is a deep shadow in the hearts of all Dongyi people, for fear that that country will one day suddenly be tempted by the Cook Islands. Although this empire's sailors came to take revenge because of the matter of the Haikou (Shimazu Yoshida still does not know the true purpose of Chen Wu's troops)reads(); Ming Dynasty Raiders Notes [Wear Book]. But other daimyo may not know!

The people sent by Shimazu Yoshida to ask for help will declare to the other daimyo in unison that the reason why the empire is attacking the Asahikawa domain is to gain a good foothold, and then use this as a springboard to plot the entire island of the Cook Islands!

This statement will hit the point that all the daimyo are most worried about, so that they will finally send troops to help them fight off the Imperial Mariners.

Maybe there is still a high chance that he will lose Asahikawa Castle in the future. But if the Imperial and the Daimyo on the island are both defeated, there may be a small chance that they will be able to take advantage of the fire - even if Shimazu Yoshida himself feels that there is little hope, but it is better to still retain that glimmer of hope than to just sit back and wait for death!

It's just that although Shimazu Yoshida's plan is good, there are two necessary prerequisites.

First, the Matsue Army should cooperate with his actions, instead of repeatedly communicating with other daimyo in a peaceful posture and saying that they had no intention of annexing the Cook Islands; Second, the Shimazu family was able to hold Asahikawa Castle until the nearest daimyo reinforcements arrived!

If even the samurai of the Date family had not arrived, Asahikawa Castle would have fallen. Shimazu Yoshida's plan to survive was only half the battle.

Of course, Song Wudaunt knew that the Imperial Marines had come across the sea to break the peace that had not been set foot on Cook Island for more than three hundred years, and might cause the other daimyo on the island to worry and share their hatred. Therefore. The ladder that had been rushed before and after the battle was moved, he didn't even make a tentative attack, and directly used the main force to launch a real siege.

The soldiers of the two brigades carried the ladder and rushed to the stone wall of Asahikawa Castle.

In all fairness, the terrain on which Asahikawa Castle was built is really good. With this raised hillside and terrain, even though the defense system of Asahikawa Castle itself is very average, it is still easy to defend and difficult to attack. In the past few years, the Shimazu family has also been attacked twice by the daimyo of the island. But no matter what time, the samurai of the enemy daimyo failed to attack. Eventually, they ran out of food and grass, and returned home.

But this time was different.

Not only because the samurai in Asahikawa Castle suffered heavy casualties, but also because it was Matsue's elite army that attacked!

as the defensive side. Shimazu Yoshida stockpiled a lot of rolling wood and stones, and also mobilized the civilians in the city to boil boiling water and gold juice. It's just that. Although the preparation is good, someone must use it. These warriors, or civilians defending the city, would be immediately sniped by the archers if they dared to peek out of the walls. Although there were surviving archers in the Asahikawa Domain, who could hide under the protection of the castle walls and shoot from the battlements, the number was too small to pose a strong threat to the Matsue army.

Although it was true that some soldiers were wounded or even shot by the scattered arrows, and some fell under the rolling wood or were burned by boiling water, many more resolutely climbed up the ladder and rushed to the top of the city.

Similar siege battles, the Songjiang army has fought too much, and is very experienced in this. The first three or five soldiers who rushed forward were not in a hurry to kill inside, but lined up in an arch and used their bodies to form a protective circle around the perimeter of the ladder. While fighting with the swarming samurai and improvised civilians, he generally guarded the ladder so that more soldiers rushed up.

In just a few waves of attacks, the Matsue Army captured several footholds on Asahikawa Castle.

In the past, the battles between the daimyo on Cook Island were often loose samurai fights. The scale is only a few thousand people, and the soldiers on both sides can add up to more than 10,000 soldiers, which is already a top battle. The wars of ordinary daimyo are more common with the fighting of a few hundred or even less than a hundred. Shimazu Yoshida was accustomed to the intensity of this kind of war, and now he suddenly encountered the powerful Matsue army, and was frightened by the powerful offensive ability they displayed!

He had to urgently mobilize the few samurai to reinforce the battle, and he did everything he could to mobilize the civilian forces in Asahikawa Castle.

Thankfully, although the samurai class of the Shimazu clan already knew about the unfavorable news of the war, the Shimazu clan was defeated too quickly and so badly that the civilians in Asahikawa Castle did not know much about reads(); Baby, it turns out that you are attacking. They only knew that the enemy seemed to be relatively strong, and they came quite suddenly, directly under the city. Out of trust in the past reputation of the Shimazu family, there were still many civilians who depended on the Shimazu family to survive, and joined the battle with rudimentary weapons and brought their own rice balls.

Although they are bullying the weak and afraid of the hard, these people living in a barren island country do have a ruthless spirit when they are desperate. Be ruthless to your enemies, and even more ruthless to yourself. It was precisely by relying on this ruthlessness and sacrifice at any cost, coupled with relying on the defense of the city wall, even though the military strength and morale of the Songjiang Army had an absolute advantage, it failed to break through Asahikawa Castle in one fell swoop!

In this regard, Song Wuxing was not too anxious.

Although it was known that Shimazu Yoshida was likely to ask for help from other daimyos, in all fairness, it was not as fast as expected. Even the Date family, which was the closest and could pose a threat to the Matsue army, was three days away. On the other hand, the daimyo on Cook Island are relatively scattered in non-war times, and it takes time to assemble and prepare for the army. Even if the Date family did not hesitate to send troops after receiving the request, instead of thinking about it and reaching an agreement with the other daimyos, it would be at least a week before they arrived.

Not to mention, the roads on Cook Island are rough and difficult, and it is impossible to march at the desired pace.

In fact, Song Wudaunt was too cautious. He had far more time than he had expected to be at least seven days.

Although Shimazu Yoshida fled back to Asahikawa Castle on the night of the day, he sent his henchmen to break through and ask for help. However, due to the mutual distrust between the daimyo on the island, and the fact that the Date family had a disagreement with the Shimazu family, it was not until the end of Song Wuda's siege that the head of the Date family, which was closest to the Shimazu family, met the messenger of the Shimazu family.

"Shangguo sent sailors to cross the sea to conquer the Asahikawa Domain in an attempt to seize the Cook Islands?"

Just as Shimazu Yoshida had just heard this, the head of the Date family was also incredulous. He even doubted the accuracy of the message because he had not experienced it firsthand.

Everyone knows that the poor in the Cook Islands are going to die. Whether it is a Lena or an Imperial, they can attack Cook Island at any time in the past hundred years, but there is no movement, how can they suddenly change their minds? What's more, because it is located on the west side of the Cook Islands, which is closer to the Empire's maritime frontier, the head of the Date family also has a better understanding of the recent situation of the Empire, and knows that the Qianyuan Empire has not been very good recently, and it is troubled by internal and external troubles.

In this case, it is still difficult to protect oneself, how can it be enough to use troops against Cook Island?

There is a conspiracy!

The head of the Date family, instinctively suspects that the Shimazu family has forged the news and has some ulterior motives. Although the envoy sent by the Shimazu family swore an oath to the ancestors of the Shimazu family, the head of the Date family finally reluctantly believed in it. However, the head of the Date family still had doubts about whether to immediately send troops to break the siege and fight against the army of the upper country.

Eventually, while ordering his retainers and samurai to assemble and be ready for battle at any time, he urgently sent people to contact other daimyo to hear the meaning of the top daimyo on the island, such as the Mori family, the Shibata family, and the Tokugawa family. Even if the empire really suddenly changed its mind and wanted to take Cook Island, these daimyo would be the main force of the coalition.

The Date family has a clear understanding of their own strength, and they simply cannot compete with the huge empire. Even, even if there are no follow-up reinforcements, just the Imperial forces that have already landed, can easily defeat the main force of the Shimazu family and encircle Asahikawa Castle, which is not something that the Date family can easily confront it.

While doing the above two measures, the head of the Date family hesitated for a moment, and then secretly ordered someone to go to the territory of the Shimazu family, preparing to secretly contact the imperial sailor to find out the other party's intentions.

He always felt that the Empire would not be greedy for the barren land of Cook Island! (To be continued.) )