Chapter 48 7. First Meeting with Echigo Yu
After more than a month of heavy snow, the Nanxin Plain gradually revived, the ice and snow melted, and the green dots in the mountains and forests gathered into a pleasant spring.
Fortunately, there was a heavy snow last year, and there must be a good harvest in the summer. The people in the territory also started to move out of the winter hibernation. Digging ditches and diverting canals, and cultivating soil and raising ridges.
Xiao Pingtai was finally busy. Fighting was a common thing in life, but farming was a necessity in life. The people who were given a winter vacation for two months were all on standby 24 hours a day to arrange spring plowing for the people in all the villages in the county as soon as possible.
The people in the same heart and power also knew that this matter could not be delayed at all. If they were lazy today, they might starve in the future. Food is something that cannot be deceived. No one can survive if the farming season is missed and the harvest is poor.
After arranging the spring plowing, the military magistrate, Hosokawa Harumiya, mobilized nearly 5,000 troops in the territory. In mid-March, Yamauchi Yoshikatsu followed the army to Ueno.
His uncle, the chief of his family, Yamauchi Shuketou Yoshisada, served as his military commissioner and gave him advice. Kobayata was responsible for the logistics of the army as the governor of Uchida. He was also responsible for dispatching the supplies of the local tyrants of Shinano Ueno who followed him to ensure that there was no shortage of transportation.
Yamauchi Yoshiharu was also afraid that his son would have an accident, so he sent nine of the eleven hatamoto generals over, and all the horse rings were given to Yamauchi Yoshikatsu. It's pitiful that parents in the world are worried about their children, after all, they are expecting to take over.
Yamauchi Yoshikatsu didn't come for nothing. After so many years of being influenced by the military family, he treated people perfectly, and fooled those little local tyrants. Willingly took most of his family's troops to fight a mess, and thus smoothly gathered the people of the country who supported the Kanrei family in the north of Shinano along the way and entered Nishi Ueno.
Sure enough, the Minowa Nagano clan did not move their troops and all defended the castle. They even secretly sent some food and grass to the Yamanouchi army. According to the Nagano clan, they were temporarily bowing to the Hojo clan in order to protect the territory and the people. If the kanrei could lead the Echigo army to attack Kanto, they would immediately rebel.
After receiving the report from the secret envoy, the Yamanouchi generals were relieved. It turned out that their initial analysis was correct. Although Nagano Yoshimasa was now holding the banner of the Hojo clan, he was still thinking about the kanrei who had killed his three sons.
Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu could understand their difficulties to some extent, so he did not force it, quickly passed through the Nagano territory, turned north, and echoed with the main shrine and the two Nagao clans of Shirai to attack Numata Castle.
When they arrived in Numata, they settled 7,000 troops and joined the remaining 700 to 800 soldiers of the two Nagao clans to appease the two old Nagao uncles who were about to collapse. While Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu sent out imperial edicts to the Kanrei, calling on the nobles of the country to attack Hojo Yasumoto, he ordered Kobayata to arrange for people to requisition or openly rob the food from the local forces that followed Hojo.
Kobayata himself could not see through the distribution of power in Ueno. When he came last year, except for a few traitors, the rest were gathered under the banner of Uesugi Kento. Now that Uesugi Kento has run away, these people are changing their flags on the city walls. Who knows who this person belongs to?
This is a bit difficult for Kobayata. If he accidentally robs the subordinates of Nagano Yoshimasa, or the people who are loyal to the Kanrei family. Wouldn't that hurt the hearts of the loyalists, and it would not be good for his reputation.
As a result, the two long tails of the defeated soldiers who were brought into the camp attracted Kobayata's attention. They have been guerrilla warfare in this area for more than half a year. They must know everything about the area, and they will take revenge if there is a grievance.
After being pinned to the ground by Hojo for almost a year, the remnants of the two long tails were proud and happy to lead the Yamauchi army from house to house, pointing at someone and saying that this person stabbed me with a gun three months ago, this person punched me five months ago, etc.
There was no trace of the misery and pain when they first entered the camp. They were all very proud. There was even a blind-eyed two long tail soldiers who ran for several miles with more than a dozen fierce samurai foot soldiers of the Yamauchi army. Pointing at a local, he cursed, "I have been waiting for this day for a long time. You beat me up so much before." The soldiers of the Yamauchi army immediately helped him to beat him up. It was a relief.
The whole Numata Basin was like a hot house-raiding scene. As long as someone was identified, they would first take away food without saying anything, and then beat him up. Those who were willing to join the expedition would be spared and tied up, and those who refused would be directly demolished and their wives, children, servants and property would be divided.
As expected, when doing this kind of work, all the soldiers were incredibly active. In just two days, this group of people swept the entire Numata. The speed of the disaster was amazing. Kobayata just stood by and watched. As long as the food was in place, he didn't care about other property. If you don't give these big-headed soldiers a little bit of money, no one will come out to fight with you in the future.
At the same time, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu also waited for the reinforcements of the Echigo Nagao clan (mainly Tochio/Fuchu Nagao, that is, Nagao Kagetora; Koshi Nagao, that is, Nagao Kagenobu; Ueda Nagao, that is, Nagao Masakage). The arrival of the soldiers was the horse mark of the Ichimonji Sanxing Mori clan. The number of people was a bit disappointing, just over a thousand, led by Yangbei Hojo Takahiro. It was the legendary Yangbei clan that mainly studied internal strife and rebellion.
Except for Nakajo Fujisuke, who was reliable and loyal, the others, including the Honjo clan and the Shinbata clan, had a long-tested tradition of rebellion. It’s pitiful to think about it. For three generations of Jingqing, Jing and Jinghu (brothers by blood, but Jinghu is Qingjing’s son in family lineage), they have not been able to completely turn these people into vassals.
Kobayata was too lazy to care about Echigo's mess anyway. He only cared about whether Hojo Takahiro (a good Mori surname) had brought a certain amount of food. Now he had to take care of seven or eight thousand mouths, which was very worrying.
Hojo Takahiro arranged the soldiers and brought his entourage, and Nagao Toukage of Ashikaga Nagao, an acquaintance of Kobayata, came to meet Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu. The two sides boasted about business in a cordial and friendly atmosphere.
No one bothered to bring up the old accounts of Nagao's attack and killing of the guardian and forcing the governor to death. Anyway, they boasted happily for a while. Hojo Takahiro saw that it was almost done, so he put out the thirty Kishu iron cannons, ten horses, and one thousand taels of gold sent by Nagao Kagetora.
Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu was satisfied when he heard the price, and asked about the food and grass issue, and Hojo Takahiro also said a number. Kobayata frowned, ten days were not enough.
Seeing Kobayata frowning and thinking hard, Hojo Takahiro laughed proudly: "Although we don't have food, Numata Castle has abundant food reserves. I will take it down for His Highness Yamanouchi Samasuke."
Kobayata suddenly thought of a sentence: "You are still the coolest, big brother!"