Chapter 346 5. Rise and Fall
At the command of Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, the war machine started immediately.
The bells were struck, the drums were beaten, and the names were called. The envoys were sent out in all directions, and the animals were seen galloping, and the men and horses were gathered.
Kobayakata hurriedly purchased soybeans, barley, horse shoes [Note 1], straw mats, straw sandals, and hemostatic drugs, and counted and took out the swords, guns, and armor stored in the treasury.
There was a commotion under Fuchung Castle. Although there were wars every year, everyone had seen a lot of them. But after all, it was a war that would kill people, and no one would take it lightly.
This time, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu wanted to mobilize 10,000 people, join Uesugi Terutora, and fight fiercely with Takeda Harunobu, attacking from the front and back.
When the army gathered and the military supplies and supplies were prepared, the most dramatic thing happened.
Uesugi Terutora was also very anxious when he first heard about the large-scale rebellion in Echigo, but his IQ for war was still far superior to others. As long as it was related to war, nothing could stump him.
After a little panic, he calmed down. On the one hand, he asked his uncle Takanari Masahiro to send him a few days of food to stabilize the morale of the army so that the soldiers would not panic because of the cut-off of food.
Secondly, he immediately ordered his close associates, Ueno Ienari, to pass through Agatsuma County and return to Tone County in Kamishū, where he served as the county governor, to mobilize the soldiers of the Numata clan.
At this moment, Numata Akiyasu was still very close to the Uesugi forces. Before the Hojo clan invaded Ueno, they directly sidelined him and stuffed him with a son, Hojo Yasumoto. Of course, he was very dissatisfied, but his elbows could not twist his thighs.
Later, Uesugi Terutora sent Echigo soldiers to enter Ueno, directly helping him to drive away the forces of the Hojo party and help him regain control of Numata Castle. Numata Akiyasu was definitely grateful. As long as Kamishū was still in the hands of the Uesugi party, he would never have second thoughts under normal circumstances.
Ueno Ienari rushed to Tone County overnight, only to find that the Numata tribe had already received orders from Uesugi Terutora and mobilized to go to Kanto with him to rob and make a fortune.
That was just right, the Tone tribe and the Numata tribe immediately joined forces and turned around to rush to Ueda Sakado Castle, which was under attack.
When Okuma Asahide saw that the reinforcements were coming quickly, he immediately restrained the rebels who had already numbered 3,000, and repeatedly sent letters asking Takeda Nobufusa to quickly fight out of Xiaoxian County and come to join him.
Under normal circumstances, Okuma Asahide would have held on and waited for reinforcements, and Echigo did not have the troops to eat more than 3,000 rebels. The main force was held back by Takeda Nobufusa, and it was hard to say who would win in the end.
As a close confidant who had slept in the same bed with Uesugi Terutora, how could Ueno Ienari allow this to happen. He contacted Nagao Masakage while contacting the samurai such as Oida and Okuni who stayed in Sakado Castle.
On the third day, the contact arrangement was completed. With the Numata clan as the pioneer, the Ueno retainers and Nagao Masakage attacked Okuma Asahide from both sides. Among the Numata clan, there was a samurai named Fujita Tadakuni who fought bravely and attacked the main force of Okuma alone.
Because of his momentum and panic of being attacked from both sides, Okuma Asahide's troops collapsed in just an hour, and a large-scale rebellion was eliminated invisibly.
When the news came, Uesugi Terutora was of course amazed. He immediately decided to take Fujita Tadakuni's son as a junior surname and list him among the close people. The Fujita clan went from being a countryman to becoming a confidant of Uesugi Terutora. This is a later story, so let's not talk about it.
The news of Okuma Asahide's defeat and escape soon spread to the small county of Toishi Castle. After both Uesugi and Takeda knew about it, Takeda Nobufusa, who had been confronting for four or five days, had to retreat to Kai.
He had no idea that Okuma Asahide was so weak that he was defeated in three days, leaving him with no place to hit with his clenched fists.
Uesugi Terutora was saved from danger, the chaos was quelled, and he continued to go to Kanto to make a fortune happily.
And Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, who was just about to send troops, was dumbfounded. Three or four days ago, he said that Echigo was in chaos, the retreat was cut off, and the food supply was destroyed. Takeda Nobuharu's 12,000 troops were right in front of him, and he couldn't move forward or backward.
As a result, he had just gathered 10,000 Yamanouchi troops and hadn't set off yet, but he sent a message saying that everyone should go back to their own homes and find their mothers, and that trivial matter had been settled by my little brother.
Well! Worrying in vain!
Takeda Harunobu was also wronged. He spent a lot of effort and finally fooled a heavyweight like Okuma Asahide into starting an army. When he was about to show his strength, Okuma Asahide was finished!
After mobilizing such a large army and spending countless money and military supplies, they went to Shinano in vain and got nothing. They just walked away.
All right!
The morale was broken and they could not fight anymore. Takeda Harunobu had no choice but to feel even more resentful.
Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was happy to have nothing to do and disbanded the army. After arranging various matters, he prepared to go to the capital as planned.
At the end, his father Yamauchi Yoshiharu gave him a few hundred kan of wealth and asked him to make some moves in the capital to see if he could get Yamauchi Yoshiharu appointed as a junior rank in his lifetime.
After all, the Yamauchi family had been promoted to the rank of lower-ranking officials, not far from the Ashikaga Go-ichimon-shu. Ashikaga Yoshiteru could be a junior rank official, and Yamauchi Yoshiharu also wanted to give it a try.
After all, it was a rare thing for a samurai family to be a junior rank official before Yamauchi Yoshiharu, and there were actually not many samurai families who could be posthumously awarded the rank of junior rank.
The Ashikaga shoguns of the Muromachi shogunate were also posthumously awarded the title of Grand Minister of State or Left Minister. During their lifetime, they were usually the third rank of Councillor or Grand Minister, and even then they had to wait for years to get the title.
If Yamanouchi Yoshiharu could also get the third rank of Junior Minister, it would be very helpful in raising the status of the Yamanouchi family. You can neither see nor touch the false reputation, but it does exist. You can't say he is useless or a loser.
…
Before leaving, Yamauchi Yoshikatsu indeed told Koyata to bring a pair of silver-clad mother-of-pearl fish-sheathed broadswords and a fine horse to try to get close to Oda Nobunaga.
There were no specific requirements, the main purpose was to keep him stable. He was told to fight Saito Yoshitatsu well and not to have any tricks on Shinano.
Of course, Koyata was still very curious, and he indirectly asked about Oda Nobunaga's opinion on Yamauchi Taromaru's marriage.
Although it seemed ridiculous to talk about the marriage of a two-year-old boy, Yamauchi Yoshikatsu actually showed that he could consider it.
When Koyata asked in detail whether it was specifically Mrs. Ikoma's daughter, Yamauchi Yoshikatsu indeed said that it was right. He believed that if an unfavored daughter married in and did not get the support of her father and brothers, then it would be a waste of time to marry her.
This is a terrible thing!
[Note 1]: It can be understood as a Japanese characteristic horseshoe. The importance of horseshoes to war horses is self-evident. The cuticle on the horse's legs is similar to human nails. If the horse walks and runs too much, it will also wear out. If it is worn out, it will hurt the horse's legs and the horse will be useless. So the Japanese made straw sandals for horses, which are cheap and still usable.