Chapter 611 17. Tsuchiya Mountain God Bodhisattva
As expected, the Hojo clan raised three armies of 36,000 people to surround Oshi Castle in the north, and began to attack Umabashi Castle, an important town in the southern Ueno area.
As for the Yamanouchi side, Fujita Ujikuni led 10,000 people to threaten Hachioji in the direction of Koshuguchi. In the direction of Kokokuji Temple in Suruga, Imagawa Ujiki led 6,000 people to station in Kokokuji Temple.
The biggest variable was the commotion of the Takanari clan in Kaizu Castle. God really helped the Hojo clan!
Uesugi Kenshin sent a letter, and he could only let the lord of Nakagoshi and Shimogoshi defend the city. Honjo Shigenaga was a Echigo man after all, and whoever won or lost would end up in the pot. But the Ikko Ikki in Kaga, Hida, and Echizen was not sure, they were here to shave your head!
If the Ikko Ikki didn't fight and kill, everything would be fine!
One day they might ride on your head, not only pointing fingers, but also acting arrogantly!
Therefore, in the case of a serious shortage of mobile forces, Kenshin Uesugi ordered Saito Asanobu, the most trusted of his entourage, to defend the castle at Kasugayama. He also ordered Naoe Kagetsuna to enter the Ichigo Castle to ensure that the situation in Central Vietnam would not collapse.
Finally, he took the eight hundred flags of the entourage to Echigo and instructed Kawada Nagachika, the general of the Echigo region who stayed in Uozu Castle, to suppress the Ikko clan forces that were ready to move.
As for his beloved son-in-law Nagano Yoshimori, Kenshin Uesugi ordered Amakasu Kagemochi and Hojo Takahiro, who stayed in Ueno, to serve as deputy generals to assist Nagano Yoshimori and defend Ueno. As long as Kenshin Uesugi recovered, he would definitely come to rescue them.
Naturally, Kenshin Uesugi and Nagano Yoshimori also wrote a letter together, requesting the Yamanouchi family to send troops to rescue Ueno Province.
Hosokawa Nainome had already prepared the 10,000 troops on this road and was about to set off!
Kai suddenly began to spread a rumor!
Tsuchiya Masatsugi, who was praised as "Tsuchiya Sozo's best soldier among the twelve Takeda envoys!" and "Killed a thousand people with one hand at Arigayama!", died in battle, but he did not leave no descendants.
Because of his heroic and desperate resistance to the Yamanouchi clan's attack on Kai, Tsuchiya Sozo's bravery between Shinano and Kai was greatly boosted. Whether it was relatives, friends or enemies, they all praised this strong samurai.
After all, there were too many betrayals in the Warring States Period, and people's hearts were too bad. At this time, there was a loyal minister who was loyal to the country and died to serve his lord. Even the generals of the Yamanouchi clan who were on the enemy side sympathized and regretted him.
Such a samurai should be what every daimyo and lord wanted!
In Kai, Tsuchiya Sozo was naturally worshipped and respected by every household. There is no doubt that his reputation in Kai was even raised to the level of the first person after Takeda Shingen.
So, starting from the winter, the story spread in all the villages of Kai that Tsuchiya Sozo had transformed into the mountain god Bodhisattva and became the guardian of Kai. He will come again to lead the people of Kai to fight for independence and get rid of the brutal rule of the outsider Yamanouchi.
Coincidentally, news came from Yamanashi County. Tsuchiya Sozo's son was calling on all the loyal men in Kai to rise up against the tyranny of the Yamanouchi family, and raised the banner of going to Yamanouchi and bringing back Hikogoro.
In order to echo Tsuchiya Sozo, this Tsuchiya Sozo's son also called himself Tsuchiya Sozo!
When the people of all the counties and villages in Kai heard that Tsuchiya Sozo called on everyone to rise up, the people were excited and the public sentiment was surging. Everyone admired Tsuchiya Sozo's heroism and appreciated his ambition to sacrifice his life for the country.
Konishihara Saemon reported very directly that there were gatherings of people and local leaders in each of Kai's villages. Anayama Meixue also had an ambiguous attitude, although he was still in Kofu.
A national uprising that would sweep across Kai seemed to be about to break out!
How could such a thing be neglected? The Shinano people who were originally prepared to be transferred did not dare to leave without permission for a while.
What measures to take for Kai became an urgent matter that the ministers of the Yamauchi family had to discuss and decide.
According to Konishihara Saemon's suggestion, dozens of local leaders were captured and chopped off with a knife, and their heads were hung on the streets of Kai. Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, so that the rest of the people would think clearly about the cost of launching an uprising.
This method is of course very effective, very symptomatic, a circle of heads cut off. The anger can be temporarily replaced by fear, and everything will be temporarily suppressed, waiting for the next outbreak.
"Symptomatic treatment, not fundamental treatment..." As an old politician, although Yamauchi Shukei knew that this method would be very effective at the moment, it would definitely be more violent if it broke out in the future.
"The people of Kai hate Yamauchi deeply, and this will only deepen their hatred." Isshiki Miyano also nodded.
Everyone sat together, thinking hard. On the one hand, Hachioji has already been in urgent need, and Yamauchi needs to mobilize the people of Shinano to rescue. On the other hand, Kai is like a powder keg, perhaps waiting for Yamauchi's army to arrive at Hachioji, and then raise troops behind the army, attacking from both sides, and winning in one battle.
The only thing to be thankful for is that due to the relative cooperation of the old Imagawa family, Suruga only needs to mobilize itself to deal with the Hojo detachment of Kokokuji. Totomi is responsible for transporting a certain amount of money and food to support the finances of Suruga, which has suffered from war.
Uncle Tsunayoshi's 2,000 men had already set off for Luoyang, and Suruga could not move, so Totomi needed to support the Suruga front. Fortunately, Totomi's 10,000 mobile forces are complete, and Shinano has less than 20,000 mobile forces (some of which have been stationed in Kai). As long as they don't go to rescue the Nagano clan, the Yamanouchi clan will still have sufficient military forces on hand.
After much thought, Ueno cannot be lost. If it is lost, the Yamanouchi family will be in a desperate situation again. The passage for the Uesugi family to enter Kanto will also disappear, and the Yamanouchi family will obviously be in a difficult situation to deal with the Hojo clan.
Fortunately, Kai has not had any problems for the time being, and the Yamanouchi family can still handle it.
Hosokawa Saijo will still go to Ueno, so that 10,000 people will be taken away to help Ueno deal with the attack of the Hojo clan's 36,000 troops. Ensure that Ueno will not make any mistakes and resolve the Hojo clan's offensive.
As for Kai...
"Send Imagawa Hikogoro to the Kai residence!" Kobayata said this in an unpredictable way.
"If you don't cut the grass at the root, it will grow again in the spring breeze." Yamanouchi Shuke also said this faintly, and his expression suddenly became a little sinister.
"Kobayata, what do you mean?" Hosokawa Saijo probably turned around.
"Draw out the snake and catch it all in one fell swoop!"
"Then Kai will probably be another disaster..." Kitabatake Daigaku's words seemed to sympathize with the people of Kai, but he nodded repeatedly.
The people of Kai are not the people of Shinano. A few more or a few less deaths are just numbers for the Yamanouchi family.
"Who will go?" The chief accountant of Yamanouchi asked the most important question.
"I'll go!"
The Bodhisattva also has a side of a Vajra with angry eyes, not to mention Koheita who has seven emotions and six desires.
The problem of Kai must be solved thoroughly!