Chapter 281 15. A Last-Ditch Battle in the Mountains
On the streets of the north country with cold wind, Kobayata's words made people feel even colder.
"Kobayata, what do you mean?" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was a little impatient and spoke earlier than his father.
"Wait a minute, Shinshu, I have something to ask Choshu-no-kami." Kobayata looked at Ogasawara Sadane who was surrounded by the Ogasawara people.
"Choshu-no-kami, the roads and geography of northern Shinano are all in your mind, right?" "Of course, when my father was there, the heroes of northern Shinano bowed their heads, and there was no place in northern Shinano that I didn't go."
Ogasawara Nagatake was a great leader. During his lifetime, he truly suppressed the big and small tyrants in northern Shinano. His prestige is still passed down by word of mouth.
"Then how long will it take for tens of thousands of troops to get from Kaizudaira to Kawanakajima?" "About noon tomorrow."
"Then will it take our army until tomorrow evening to reach Kawanakajima?" "It may even arrive at sunset."
Ogasawara Sadane glanced at the boundless, vast Yamauchi army of 23,000 people, all over the mountains and plains.
Some envy, some melancholy, some helplessness.
Ogasawara Sadane's feelings were complicated, but Kobayata's were not. It was obvious that he said that they might arrive after dark.
This time, there were too many miscellaneous soldiers in the Yamauchi army, really too many. The Kiso and Asahina people were both forced to be recruited unwillingly. The Mikawa people were recruited with money, and the Ogasawara people were forced to come.
More than 8,000 people were thinking of working without putting in any effort. Do you think this team can get up quickly?
The second is the huge logistics team that is almost hopeless. Among the 23,000 people, only 10,000 of the samurai, magistrates, and foot soldiers are outstanding, and the rest are all small ones, military officers, servants, family members, and followers.
The organization is poor, the discipline is low, and even those who are forced to come want to run away. How to manage such a logistics team? It took Kobayata and a group of Yamanouchi family magistrates to try their best to keep it running.
"Your Highness, at the speed of our army, it will be too late to reach Kawanakajima tomorrow evening!"
According to Kobayata's estimation, let alone being late, it is really possible that the daylily will be cold.
"Murakami's defense has been trying to delay our army, but the Takeda army is about to arrive at the battlefield. We must fight at noon tomorrow!"
"Even if His Highness Kasugayama Kanrei has unparalleled military strategy, he can't withstand the fierce attack of the 28,000 troops of the Murakami and Takeda armies!"
"If His Highness Kanrei loses, our army may lose all its previous efforts!"
Everyone knows the principle of the majority bullying the minority. The reason why Murakami Yoshikiyo and Uesugi Terutora are still confronting each other is because the two of them are evenly matched and neither can swallow the other in one breath.
That's why they are willing to wait patiently for reinforcements in Kawanakajima. Whoever's reinforcements arrive first can immediately start a battle!
"Our army must arrive at Kawanakajima at noon tomorrow!"
Yamauchi Yoshiharu looked solemn after hearing this. If he were Murakami Yoshikiyo or Takeda Harunobu, he would definitely try to create a time difference. Put yourself in their shoes and you can understand everything.
Several old ministers also agreed with Kobayata's opinion that the march must be accelerated!
"Well, we won't rest tonight. Order the soldiers to march overnight and speed up the march!"
"Your Highness, even if the 20,000 exhausted troops arrive at Kawanakajima, it will be useless." Isshiki Miyano disagreed with the overnight march.
"What if we abandon all the baggage and travel light?" Hosokawa Saijo said.
"No, how can we form an army without complete military supplies, armor and weapons, and flags and drums?" Hosokawa Harumiya didn't mind talking about his son.
The Yamauchi army was not a cavalry. The total number of cavalrymen who could fight on horseback was 1,500 to 1,600. They couldn't make a long-distance raid because most of the cavalrymen were grassroots officers, and the ones who could actually move freely were about the same as the cavalrymen of Murakami Yoshikiyo's unit, only 400 to 500 cavalrymen.
"How about this, Your Highness? Take off all the food and fodder immediately, order the soldiers above the military service to rest now, prepare at 3:00 tomorrow morning, and set off at 5:00."
"But this will still take us to the evening tomorrow." Uncle Tsunayoshi came to the side of Xiao Pingtai without knowing when.
"No!"
Xiao Pingtai's idea is to completely separate the army, one part is the combat soldiers, and the other part is the logistics.
Tonight, the combat soldiers will eat and rest immediately, while the logistics soldiers will make rice balls and fried rice. And fetch water and boil light salt water for all the soldiers to change for drinking and eating tomorrow.
Tomorrow, all combat soldiers will set off in their clothes, and all soldiers will be equipped with a logistics person, who will carry the combat soldiers' armor and weapons, as well as two days' worth of rice balls and fried rice kettles for two people.
All the pack horses of the Xiaohe pack team were emptied, and the food, arrows, swords, guns, tents, etc. were all abandoned on the spot. All of them were used to carry the necessary flags, enough lead bullets and arrows for a war, and bean and wheat feed for the war horses. The extra supplies were used to carry the samurai, saving the horsepower of their war horses.
The extra logistics soldiers picked up the abandoned supplies on the spot and slowly transported them to Kawanakajima through Kobayata's military station.
Kobayata was betting that he could win this battle.
If they lost, the soldiers of the Yamauchi Army going to Kawanakajima would not even have replacement swords and guns, nor bullets and arrows to fire, and even hunger would mean nothing, not even food.
It was a complete risk-taking, like burning the boats, risking the fate of the country to fight a battle.
Only in this way could the soldiers still have enough energy to fight when they arrived at Kawanakajima at noon tomorrow, and of course they would not care about the life and death of the logistics.
"This seems too risky." Such a battle that completely abandons logistics would require a very "extremely vicious" situation to encounter, and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu could not decide for a while.
The surrounding warriors all hesitated, it was difficult to gamble everything when there was still a way to retreat.
"Your Highness, if you don't make a decision, you will suffer from the chaos!" Xiao Pingtai was a little anxious. Now was a time to race against time, so there was no time for everyone to hesitate here.
"Father, the public official in the capital is eagerly looking forward to your victory." Mitsuyuki Fujitaka guarded the Sun Wheel Hachiman Imperial Flag.
The Yamanouchi family ministers present also longed for victory, but the first thing they thought of was the interests of the Yamanouchi family. Mitsuyuki Fujitaka was different. He was a close minister of the shogunate. He hoped that this battle with Ashikaga Yoshiteru as the general commander would win!
Must win!
Must win!
This is the face of Ashikaga Yoshiteru!
It is the face of the common lord of the world, the Muromachi shogunate, and the Shogun!
"Hmm." Yamauchi Yoshiharu looked back at the Hinawa Hachiman Imperial Flag and shook his head.
"His Highness has said before that if the mission is accomplished, he will not hesitate to reward the dismounted soldiers."
Mitsuyuki Fujitaka said slowly and casually, as if it was just a casual remark.
What does it mean to be a dismounted soldier? It means that you will have the opportunity to join the Ashikaga Imperial One Monshu.
It means the legal succession to the position of the shogun!
"Okay! Let's do as Kobayata said!"
I haven't recommended a book so far. The "Ming Dynasty Qian Guogong" I read last night, although it has 50,000 words, is the second author I have seen on Qidian who knows the financial income of the late Ming Dynasty. I recommend it here. I hope this writer can finish the book seriously!