Chapter 207 11. Night Fog Surprise Attack on Gao Tianshen
"Uncle, immediately organize the foot soldiers in Ejiri Castle and the iron artillery troops under my command and go to Futamata Castle. Set off tonight and be sure to arrive tomorrow morning."
"Aji, you now hold my nameplate, leave Futamata Castle, and hand my letter to the Iwase father and son, ordering them to immediately mobilize all the troops in Futamata Castle, and join uncle tomorrow morning to attack Takatenjin Castle and control Oi River." Kobayata wrote a letter and handed it to Aji, asking him to quickly deliver it to Iwase Tojiro Motomasa.
"Gagakusuke, as the leader of the Ejiri front party, this is difficult for you. All the disciples, all the remaining envy, do your best to mobilize the Ejiri people." Matsushima Ichima was embarrassed when he heard this. The Ejiri people had just lost hundreds of people, and now they have to mobilize the whole territory, and it is a full-scale mobilization of the whole territory in a way that exhausts the pond to catch fish. It is very difficult.
"Don't worry, I won't make it difficult for you." Kobayata asked Tatsuzo to immediately summon Heiroku from the castle.
"Heiroku, how much money is left in Ejiri Town?" "More than 3,000 kanmon, which has not yet been delivered to Yamanouchi." Heiroku immediately reported a rough number.
This number is not much different from the number estimated by Kobayata in his mind, although Kobayata did not actually intervene in the specific affairs of the town. But he can always know the actual situation of Ejiri Town through Heiroku, and the general taxation can always be understood.
"Open the treasury immediately, and everyone who comes to Ejiri for service will be given 200 kan as departure money first." "This? This money is this year's town fee, and it cannot be used." Heiroku was shocked when he heard it. It is a serious crime to use public funds for private purposes.
"The blame is mine, not yours! I'll leave everything to Gagakusuke." Matsushita Ichima saw that Kobayata had taken such a big risk, and it would be a bit shameless if he didn't agree. So it was not difficult to do it. He immediately agreed to Kobayata, turned around and left the hall, and went back to the Ejiri Castle to mobilize the people.
"Lord Saemon, in theory, I am only the castle lord of Ejiri, acting as the military and civilian affairs of Ejiri. And you are the head of your highness's hatamoto clan, I cannot mobilize your 600 hatamoto foot soldiers, but I ask you to lead the troops to the border of Ejiri tomorrow to stop the returning Totomi clan and Suruga clan." Kobayata bowed his head and kowtowed to the ground.
Konishihara Saemon looked at Kobayata, who was only a small and powerful man with a few dozen kanwen during the Battle of Tenryu River, but now has reached the position of the castle lord of Ejiri. Although the two have some personal acquaintances and the relationship is not bad, he even asked Kobayata to go through the back door for his distant relatives.
Kobayata's head was bowed to the ground, and Konishihara Saemon could not see Kobayata's expression at all. But he could more or less guess that Kobayata's face was full of solemnity, and how much courage this decision required.
At this moment, Konishihara Saemon's cognition was also refreshed. He suddenly felt that Kobayata was no longer the young man he was familiar with and appointed. He had never seen such a strong and decisive person before.
"Okay, it's all up to Dansho!" Konishihara Saemon stood up and hurried down the camp to reorganize his hatamoto foot soldiers. A few hundred people went to stop the thousands of fleeing soldiers who were eager to return home. The task was arduous.
These people were sent away, leaving only Imagawa Yoshichika who was still sitting blankly on the table. He was still immersed in the words that he was already Imagawa Yoshimoto's son. This news frightened this young man who had never experienced any storms.
"Young master, you have been unknown all your life, and finally became a monk, with a green lamp and an ancient Buddha. Or do you want to risk your life, inherit his family, earn a foundation, and leave a legacy for your descendants?" Kobayata looked at this young warrior who was just sixteen years old and childish.
"Saburo and Goro will never forget what Dansho-sama taught us today!" Imagawa Yoshichika took three steps back and saluted Kobayata respectfully. It was as quiet and peaceful as when they first met three or four years ago.
The next day, Konishihara Saemon set off with hundreds of hatamoto soldiers who had recovered, and Kobayata hugged Imagawa Yoshichika and rushed to Toudaji Castle to urge Matsushita Ichima to mobilize the people of Ejiri.
It's not that Kobayata was afraid that he would disobey in secret, but it was the first time to make such a big decision, and it was really difficult to calm down. Find something for yourself to do so that this anxiety in your heart can be covered up.
After dawn, Uncle Tsunayoshi also led the Ejiri garrison that had been ready to go (didn't leave last night), and cooperated with Iwase father and son to go to Takatenjin Castle. As long as Takatenjin Castle was controlled, it would be equivalent to completely locking the Imagawa forces in Kakegawa Castle in Totomi, and Kakegawa would lose all foreign aid.
Of course, Takatenjin Castle is a famous strong castle in Kaido, built on the 350-meter-high Ogasayama. In addition to the main castle, there are also the To-no-maru and the Nishino-maru. The lord of the castle, Okabe Motonobu, was still in Owari at this time, and the castle lord was Ogasawara Ujioki, and the castle soldiers would not exceed 50 people. But if the surprise attack failed, then the Makino Castle soldiers in the nearby Makino Terrace and the people of Haruna County in the left vicinity would enter the city to defend it, and the number of soldiers would exceed 500, and it would be almost impossible to capture it by force.
Kobayata could only hope that his uncle Tsunayoshi would succeed, while urging Matsushita Ichima to mobilize troops quickly.
At the same time, the news of the Battle of Okehazama became more and more clear. Imagawa Yoshimoto's main force and Go-je suffered a devastating blow. More than 3,000 soldiers were killed on the spot by the Oda army alone, not counting those who were not beheaded and those who died in the attacks of the locals.
In addition, the Suruga Imagawa samurai group, including Imagawa Yoshimoto's uncle Kamara Ujimasa, nephew Kunou Mototada, and brother-in-law Asai Masatoshi, were captured and executed in the chaos. Almost half of the core samurai of the three generations of old, middle and young, including Yamaguchi Samasuke Yoshitsugu, Anhara Misaku-no-kami Motomasa, Yoshida Musashi-no-kami Ujiyoshi, Katsurayama Harima-no-kami Nagayoshi, Ekenminbu Shosuke Chikanoji, Ito Inaba-no-kami Chikakone, Okabe Kai-no-kami Nagasada, Tengeda Iga-no-kami Ujiaki, and Asakitana Shukeisuke Hidenori, were killed on the battlefield.
It can be said that the samurai group of Suruga suffered the most horrible loss since its inception, and the entire control system of the Suruga group collapsed completely. Even if there was enough money and food in Sunpu Castle to recruit soldiers, most of the officers had all died in the war. And an army without officers and organizations? That can't be called an army.
And training a samurai is not just about recruiting an ashigaru, and the necessary survival skills such as spears, katana, bows and arrows, and horsemanship are required. At least digital calculation and document reading must be learned, and there is no systematic education. It is all passed down from father to son or the local schools set up by the lord in the territory, and they are all elites.
These warriors in Suruga are the ones that Imagawa has accumulated over the years, and now they are all ruined.
In addition, the two most important lords of Totomi, Asahina Taitomo and Okabe Motonobu, are not in the city, and Imagawa Yoshimoto's Totomi chief Matsui Munenobu died a few years ago. The entire Imagawa side in Totomi is temporarily in a state of being leaderless.
Kobayata is taking advantage of this time difference, hoping for a quick victory!