Chapter 593 55. The Time Is Not Right, but the Horse Will Not Go Away
Imagawa Yoshichika entered Sunpu, and the original Makino clan transformed into Suruga clan. Our Totomi defenders did not take off their armor or saddle their horses, and took more than 2,000 people to Matsuno Castle to control the Hojo clan's soldiers in Kokokuji Temple.
The newly acquired Sunpu Castle would naturally not be handed over to the former Takeda Imagawa retainers who were still untrusted. Iwase Motomasa, the lord of Takatenjin Castle, was renamed the lord of Takamatsu Castle in Suruga Province as a yoroki, and was given a salary of 1,000 kan and served as the lord of Sunpu Castle. He replaced Imagawa Yoshichika to guard Sunpu to prevent riots.
And the sister of the lord of Futamata Castle, Oji Tsunayoshi, was given an additional title of 5,500 kan in Toyoda County, Totata, and served as the lord of Hamamatsu Castle as the lord of Futamata Castle. To put it bluntly, it was prepared in advance for Koheita's adopted brother, the original Yamanouchi Jigoro, who later married the youngest daughter of Tsunayoshi's uncle and married his aunt as a nephew, becoming the son of his grandfather.
Of course, Uncle Tsunayoshi had to handle state affairs in the government, so he couldn't stay in Hamamatsu for a long time. It's hard to find a master who is good at handling domestic affairs. You can still find a samurai who can kill people, but it's really hard to find a samurai who can handle civil affairs.
Because of his good work, Kawabe Ienobu, the governor of Shikichi County, was promoted to the general magistrate of Hamamatsu, and handled the civil affairs of Totomi Province as the 400-kan magistrate of Mitsuki-go, Iwata County.
The army dispersed after the fall of Sunpu Castle, including the Takanari army that continued to plunder in the eastern part of Abe County, and retreated back to the country happily. Only the 5,500 hatamoto standing guards of the Yamauchi headquarters that could fight for years were left, ready to go to Hachioji to watch the battle.
Koheita also protected Yamauchi Taro and prepared to return to the country. The great cause of pacifying Takeda was already hanging on Yamauchi Taro's head, and he didn't need to continue to do the rest of the cleanup work, and the ministers could do it for him.
Hachioji and others were secondary, the main thing was the head of Takeda Yoshinobu.
Hosokawa Nainae took the hatamoto jobei to join the battle, so there shouldn't be too much of a problem.
As for Kanto, Uesugi Kenshin led the Ueno people to attack the various branch castles of northern Musashi, and in a short period of time, the castles of Fukaya, Kisai, and Yamane fell one after another. When the Yamanouchi family besieged Uehara Castle, Uesugi Kenshin finally besieged Oshi Castle.
Hojo Ujinao, with the assistance of Fujita Ujikuni, gathered 22,000 troops to rescue Oshi Castle. The two sides lined up along the important crossings and mudflats of the Arakawa and Tone Rivers.
There was a general on the Uesugi side who performed very well. He was Uesugi Kagetora, who was 16 years old and went to battle for the first time. He replaced his father Uesugi Kagenobu to lead the Koshi Castle Seiyoshi and launched a strong attack on Oshi Castle. He fought against the retainer of the Narita clan, Sakumaki, and broke the wooden wall of the Otemon Gate of Oshi Castle.
Fujita Nobuyoshi, who was in the first battle with him, held two swords and fought with him into Oshi Castle. Uesugi Saburo wore a black-style fish-scaled torso with Iyo-style armor, and danced with a long spear in one hand.
The Qijishu were also strong soldiers from Echigo who had followed Uesugi Kenshin in battle for many years. They were brave and strong, and they were victorious in every attack.
In just a few moments after breaking through the Ote Gate, Uesugi Saburo Kagetora killed eleven enemy soldiers. His heroic appearance was so great that even the veterans standing around Uesugi Kenshin sighed.
Especially Uesugi Kagetora, his face was full of red, and his son made him proud. Isn't this the same look as Uesugi Kenshin when he was young?
The two even have the same name, Kagetora!
Due to Uesugi Kagetora's brave attack, Oshi Castle, where many branch castles fell, was completely surrounded by the Uesugi army. Although the Hojo reinforcements were on the side, they were separated by the rolling water of the Tone River and could not enter the city immediately. In addition, Narita Nagatsuda personally appeared and hoped that the castle would surrender, and the entire Oshi Castle was in a dark cloud.
When Takeda Yoshinobu was defeated in the Uehara-Ariga Battle and the news came that the Yamanouchi Takanari coalition forces of 45,000 cavalry were about to attack, the last breath of Oshi Castle was completely collapsed.
Narita Nagayasu, despite his 75-year-old age, personally went out of the castle to welcome Narita Nagatsuda into the castle to succeed the head of the Narita clan under the condition of expelling Narita Ujinaga to the Hojo clan.
When the news came, the Hojo army was also panicked. Especially within two days, Oishi Ujiteru led more than a thousand remnants to flee to Musashi, the Takeda family was destroyed, and the Yamanouchi army entered Kai. Various situations of hunting down the Takeda clan and important officials were placed in front of Hojo Ujinao.
Facing the Yamanouchi clan who could immediately join forces to attack after taking all of Kai, Hojo Ujinao never expected that they had the same idea as Shoukeni, and Suwa was definitely going to be lost. As for Kai, Takeda Yoshinobu will definitely be able to survive even if the tiger dies.
Who would have thought that the Takeda family would collapse and fall. In just over ten days, the world's famous family, the Kai Takeda clan, was finished.
The Hojo army, which was confronting the Uesugi army in Matsuyama Castle, was in a dilemma. The small fish in Kanto were not scary. As long as they were not backed by Uesugi Kenshin, they were just brothers who could be squeezed flat. But the Yamanouchi family was very different. Kaishin's elite soldiers were famous all over the world. If the 45,000 reinforcements really came from Kai to Musashi, the Hojo family would have no choice but to return to Odawara to besiege the city.
But Odawara had long been torn to pieces by Uesugi Kenshin. Even after slowly recovering over the years, it was still far less magnificent than before.
Ask for peace!
Oishi Ujiteru saw with his own eyes the chaos of the people of Kai swarming up to kill the Takeda retainers. He had a very clear understanding of the Yamanouchi clan, which dominated the Kaidao.
In addition, he had replaced Hojo Ujinao for many years and had a high prestige in the Hojo family. As soon as Oishi Ujiteru spoke, many Hojo retainers expressed their support. They also saw clearly that it was inevitable to seek peace after the defeat of Oshi Castle.
As for the remaining Hojo retainers, most of them also expressed their concerns about this matter. Although Fujita Ujikuni was strong-willed and far less flexible than his brother Oishi Ujiteru, he also knew that it was not useful to just fight to the death at this time.
Although they were dissatisfied with the peace talks, they did not oppose it. Although they were tough, they were not fools.
Moreover, there was a ready-made intermediary on the other side. Their good brother Uesugi Kagetora was serving as a general in the Uesugi camp, and it was said that he was deeply loved by Uesugi Kenshin.
Just as they were hesitating about who to go to Uesugi Kagetora, the news that Takeda Yoshinobu retreated to Hachioji came.
As the brother-in-law of Hojo Ujinao, Takeda Yoshinobu almost knelt down to him, almost begging the Hojo family to help him quickly, otherwise Takeda would be finished.
This time, Hojo Ujinao could not wait, and immediately sent his uncle Oishi Ujiteru to the Uesugi camp to let Uesugi Kagetora as an intermediary to negotiate peace with Uesugi Kenshin.
After conquering Oshi Castle and supporting the loyal henchman Narita Nagatsuda, the Uesugi clan once again gained a bridgehead in northern Musashi, and the Ueno Province, which was always under threat, was temporarily safe.
One of Kenshin Uesugi's major strategic goals has been achieved, and another strategic goal is naturally to rescue the generals who have retired from office from the control of the Hojo clan.
Kenshin Uesugi hesitated about the Hojo clan's request for peace. The current situation is suddenly favorable to the Uesugi side. A giant Yamauchi family has appeared next to the Hojo clan, directly threatening the Hojo clan's rule over Sagami Province.
Of course, the Hojo family sent envoys, and the Yamauchi family also sent envoys, asking Kenshin Uesugi to delay the Hojo army so that Yamauchi has enough time to flatten Hachioji and kill Takeda Yoshinobu.
Kenshin Uesugi made a decision after thinking for a moment about his nephew's request. He would not retire for the time being, but marched to Matsuyama to confront the Hojo clan, fighting while talking, and helping the Yamauchi clan buy time.
When the panicked Takeda defeated army fled to Hachioji, there were only 700 to 800 people left, and only 1,300 civilians were forced to enter the city. Facing the Yamauchi army, which had already tens of thousands of people under the city, Takeda Yoshinobu could only sigh to the sky.
"My strength is as great as that of a mountain and my courage is as great as that of the world. But the time is not right and my horse will not move. What can I do if my horse will not move? Yu Xi, Yu Xi, what can I do?"