Chapter 553 15. Trapped in Dishi City for a Long Time
Kobayata and Yamauchi Taro were divided into two groups. At that time, Kobayata led more than 7,000 troops directly, bypassed Kawanakajima, and then went south to support Toishi Castle.
Hosokawa Saijo took Yamanouchi Taro and a group of Yamanouchi generals back to the palace, launched military service, checked the books, and summoned the remaining troops of the Yamanouchi family.
The two sides agreed that if Kobayata arrived at Kawanakajima, he would find out the situation of the battle in Toishi Castle. Regardless of the situation, they would leave envoys in Kawanakajima. If Toishi Castle was broken, they would work together to eat up the suspicious troops of the Takeda army in Kaizu Castle. If Toishi Castle was still holding on, Hosokawa Saijo would cooperate with Kaizu Castle Lord Takanari Masahiro to go out of the city to repel the suspicious troops of Kosaka Danzheng, and quickly move from the side and rear to diagonally penetrate the rear of the Takeda army, attacking the Takeda army from both sides.
This time, all the forces of Yamauchi must be mobilized. It would be best if Oda Nobunaga ordered the generals of East Mino to support and join, so that there would be another 3,000 troops.
The Yamauchi army and the Takeda army are both known as the elite soldiers of the Kaishin Army, and they are unparalleled in the world. When the number of people is roughly the same, the more the better.
"Your Highness, please gather the entire army within three days and arrive at Kawanakajima within six days. Victory or defeat depends on a quick battle!"
"Uncle, don't worry, please trust me as much as you trust your father!"
Although Yamauchi Taro is young, his face is full of solemnity. The two are both uncle and nephew, and also master and apprentice. But to be honest, Xiao Pingtai can trust Yamauchi Yoshiharu and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu without reservation, but he is still a little worried about the child in front of him.
Just because the war is fierce and dangerous, one step cannot be wrong. But for now, the only way is to trust Yamauchi Taro and Hosokawa Nainome, and hope that they can arrive at Kawanakajima on time for the final battle.
"Okay! I'll wait for your army in Toishi Castle!"
"Don't worry, Kobayata. I won't delay the army with me!" Hosokawa Saijo pointed at Kawanakajima on her horse and vowed.
So we parted ways!
The army under Kobayata's command should be the most elite team in the entire Warring States period, with 500 hatamoto samurai cavalry, 1,500 public cavalry, 4,500 regular foot soldiers (mostly iron cannon and bow and arrow foot soldiers), and 500 small flag holders, taiko holders and other necessary military personnel.
After ruthlessly extorting five days of food and grass from Ogasawara Sadakei, Kobayata turned north without looking back. Passing through Nakata, Iwahara, Furusha, Hiki, and Makishima, it took about a day and a half to reach Kawanakajima.
Contacted Takanari Masayasu who was facing Kosaka Tanjo in Kaizu Castle south of Kawanakajima. At first, Takanari Masayasu was surprised (actually a little dissatisfied) that the Yamanouchi army only had 7,000 troops. After Kobayata explained that the opposite side was just an empty camp of the Takeda army, Takanari Masayasu suddenly realized.
He was about to pull Kobayata with him, and the two armies joined forces to go out of the city and attack Kosaka Tanjo. In the end, he was naturally persuaded. Kobayata hoped that Takanari Masayasu would continue to contain Kosaka Tanjo's suspicious troops in Kaizu. If he found that Kosaka Tanjo was about to leave, he would go out of the city without hesitation to chase him. Or wait for the follow-up large force of the Yamanouchi army to arrive and work together to eat it.
Another request was that Takanari's precious 500 cavalrymen should leave the city from the north of Kaizu at night and join the Yamanouchi army. Anyway, cavalry is not very useful in defending the city, so it is better to follow Kobayata to fight in the field first.
Moreover, there are 10,000 troops in Kaizu Castle, and the loss of 500 dismounted infantry will not cause any serious damage. With so many people, it is more than enough to deal with the feint attack of the Takeda army.
Takanari Hidemasa once again led 500 cavalry to meet with Kobayata, and naturally asked about the specific plans of the Yamanouchi army.
There is nothing to hide, the node of this battle is at Toishi Castle.
Kobayata went to attack the Takeda army that attacked Toishi Castle rather than to rescue Toishi Castle.
As the leading mountain castle in northern Shinano, Toishi Castle is also called Toishi Castle. The east and west sides of the entire castle are completely cliffs, the kind that monkeys are worried about climbing. The only way to climb the city is the slope on the southeast side, which is relatively a small road.
Therefore, although Toishi Castle is small, it has become a key position to control the entire northern part of the county. Its degree of easy defense and difficult attack is far better than most mountain castles.
Even if the Takeda army brought the Portuguese cannon, it would not work, because the Portuguese cannon could not fire at a large angle, which was the job of the mortar, and Japan did not have such high-tech gadgets at the moment.
Then it is very likely that according to Kobayata's estimate, the Takeda army should have been trapped under Toishi Castle for more than a week. Kobayata can reach Toishi Castle by turning from Naganuma Castle and crossing the Yoya Mountain in two to three days.
It is conceivable what kind of expression Takeda Shingen would have for the Yamanouchi Army that suddenly appeared in front of him.
"Toishi Castle is exactly where Yoya Mountain and Sai River meet. If there are mountains on one side, rivers on the other, and a strong city that is difficult to conquer on the other side, what would the A army think if thousands of enemy troops came out from the last side?"
"It looks like a very dangerous place, but the Sai River is shallow, and now it is autumn and the water is dry, just like a strategy of encircling three sides and missing one." Takanari Hidemasa knew the situation in northern Shinano very well.
"That's right, but the A army is durable and our army has fewer soldiers. Even if we have the advantage on horseback, it will be difficult to gain the upper hand for a while."
"If we can't catch him off guard, we may be in a difficult battle."
"So the specifics need to be considered in the long run!"
Discussing the battle situation with Takanari Hidemasa, both of them thought it was very likely that there would be a sudden attack on the Takeda army. But it was hard to say whether they could succeed in one strike. It was almost there, just a little bit short of a powerful force that could crush everything.
…………
Takeda Shingen, who had been trapped in the city for ten days, felt very disgusted. There were only 500 soldiers in Toishi Castle, and he had an army of 17,000 people. He fought day and night, but even with the death of 300 or 400 people, he could not shake Toishi Castle at all.
Seeing that the army began to feel tired of war, they had been out for more than half a month, but they had not robbed anything, and they even died in the siege. This was a tough job for any contemporary army.
However, Takeda Shingen could not retreat. He had spent a lot of effort to plan such a big chess game that coordinated the entire East Country. There would never be a better opportunity than now.
Or he felt that there would never be a better opportunity in the future. How could he hold back Yamanouchi and Uesugi every time?
So Takeda Shingen now felt like he was in a dilemma. He thought that the small Toishi Castle, which he had captured easily, was now a chicken rib. It was tasteless to eat and a pity to abandon it.
But retreating in disgrace would not only make the soldiers who had nothing to plunder resentful, but would also shake his reputation.
Let's fight!
He didn't believe that 17,000 people would be unable to capture a castle with 500 people. Kai no Tora had this confidence!