$ Chapter 626 32. Meeting Ninja City by Chance
Looking at the Ueno people running all over the mountains and plains in front of him, Oishi Ujiteru felt relieved.
They fought for two whole days!
The Hojo clan's Gokae-no-no and Goyuo-no-no took turns to fight, firing Portuguese guns one after another. With the advantage of twice the force, they finally destroyed the defenses of Nagano Yoshimori and the Uesugi army.
Such a brilliant victory should have been a good thing to be thankful for, but Oishi Ujiteru was in no hurry!
According to the normal procedure, he should have divided his troops into several routes to take all of Ueno Province and fight to Echigo. He should have echoed Honjo Shigenaga and Odagiri Sonshichiro in Zhongyue and Xiayue, and joined forces to attack Kasugayama.
But reality did not give him a chance!
Hosokawa Saijo was wreaking havoc in Shimotsuma. It can be imagined that with the banner of Koga Kubo Kogawa Yorizumi, the people of Shimotsuma would definitely be shaken. If he could not quickly go to extinguish the siege, there would be endless troubles.
Ueno was like a peeled, tender, smooth boiled egg, waiting for someone to come and swallow it. Oishi Ujiteru and Hojo Ujinao hated it, such a good opportunity!
At the same time, surrounded by the old minister Kamiizumi Hidatsuna and ten brothers-in-law, Nagano Yoshimori, who was retreating all the way, hated it!
"Once our army retreats, Hosokawa Saijo will lose all his retreat. How can I be worthy of His Highness and His Father (calling Uesugi Kenshin dad is not wrong)!"
The generals were indifferent. Hosokawa Saijo jumped into Koga Castle for a hundred miles. The premise was that the Ueno people held on in Hirai, so that there was still a way out for Ueno. But once Hirai was defeated, Hosokawa Saijo would become a rootless duckweed, and it would definitely not last long.
"We should immediately recruit miscellaneous soldiers in Kunimine Castle and defend the city. In this way, Saijo can still have a way out." Kamiizumi Hidatsuna made a suggestion.
Everyone, don't run away. It is a fact that Hirai has been lost, but we can hold on in Kuragano. As long as Minowa Castle is covered, Hosokawa Saijo can still retreat, and our hometown can barely be saved.
"Let's do this! Seishu quickly sent a letter to inform Saijo." Nagano Yoshimori had no choice but to do so.
Hirai was defeated, and Hojo Takahiro and Kanzasa Kagemochi were even worse off. They wanted to flee to Hirai Castle. But Fukazawa Toshishige was worried about Hojo Takahiro, so he closed the gates and refused to let them in, and defended the castle to the death.
The two had no choice but to turn their horses around and run to Shinano Tsuchihiro. The men and horses were scattered, and the baggage and food were abandoned on the road. They were in a state of panic, and they really only managed to escape with their lives.
They ran all the way to Nagakubo Castle in Kobayakawa, and sent an urgent report to Echigo, saying that Ueno was lost and everything was over.
The situation in Ueno completely turned to the Hojo clan, but Oishi Ujiteru still threw the white and tender boiled eggs there with tears in his eyes, and led more than 30,000 troops to Oshi Castle after a night of rest, heading straight to Shimosuke Koga.
Only three or four thousand wounded soldiers who could not march and the servants were left in Hirai to continue collecting the spoils on the ground. Ueno did not get any, so he comforted himself with some interest.
…………
Musashi Province, Kawagoe, one of the three major surprise attacks in the Warring States Period.
More than ten years ago, Hojo Ujiyasu defeated the 85,000-strong army of Kanto here, attacked and killed Uesugi Asada, and destroyed the Ogidani family. And thus established the ruling position of the Hojo family in Musashi and built the largest force in Kanto.
"It is indeed a strong city!" Konishihara Saemon couldn't help but sigh.
The Yamanouchi army left Isshiki Miyauchi and 2,000 people to guard Kofu Castle, and the rest came out in full force. After leaving 4,000 people in Koanji Hall to surround the remaining Hojo army, they entered Musashi with 16,000 troops.
Kawagoe Castle seemed to have received an early warning from Fujita Ujikuni that the Yamanouchi army might rush out of Koshuguchi in three or four days, so it was not completely unprepared.
But this defense was also weak, and the main force of Musashi was all in the Ueno-Hirai camp. Even if Fujita Ujikuni reminded Kawagoe Castle to be on the alert, what was the use? He could only recruit some old, weak, sick and disabled people nearby to defend the city, which was better than nothing.
"Send someone into the city to persuade them to surrender, and tell the people in the city that my Yamanouchi royal army has 30,000 people. I can't bear to see the people of Kawagoe fall apart, so I surrender with courtesy and I will protect you." Xiao Pingtai also felt that Kawagoe Castle was disgusting, mainly because the trenches were very wide and it was too troublesome to fill the trenches.
"To defeat the enemy without fighting is the best of all!" Yamanouchi Taro looked like a little adult, and he learned and applied what Kaikawa Shoki taught him.
Soon a Yamanouchi hatamoto entered the city with a flag, and it turned out that the castle commander at this time was still an old acquaintance of everyone.
Ogigayatsu Uesugi Kenkatsu!
It was the spineless son of old man Shizukata Uesugi, the current guardian of Musashi, the butler of Kamakura, who was supported by the Hojo family to enter Kawagoe Castle, but the actual lord of the castle was Daidoji Masaharu.
It was because Daidoji Masaharu went to Ueno that he was left in Kawagoe, with a total of 200 miscellaneous soldiers, who could not stir up any waves.
This Ogidani Kenkatsu married the adopted daughter of the Hojo clan, and he still had a little affection for the Hojo clan's support for him to serve as the guardian of Musashi, but after so many years of having no real power, he was also depressed.
He wanted to open the city, but his wife and the Hojo samurai who stayed behind would definitely not agree. In the end, it was old man Shizukata Uesugi who showed his power. Others thought he was over 60, old and toothless, and useless.
The old man was beyond everyone's expectations. He wielded a large sword and chopped from the east to the west of Kawagoe Castle, from the first floor to the third floor, with a dozen loyal brothers, killing many people and clearing out the Hojo people in the city.
Kawagoe opens the city!
Everyone respectfully welcomes this old man who has fought with the Hojo for his whole life and still refuses to give up. Yamauchi Taro sits in the main seat and the old man sits in the second seat. No one disobeys.
The Uesugi family! The once famous and prestigious family now only has one and a half men left!
One is Uesugi Kenshin, and the other is Uesugi Shizukata, who has half a foot in the coffin.
After learning about the battle situation, the old man knew that the Yamanouchi army was going to Matsuyama, linking up with Oshi Castle, uniting with several groups of troops in Ueno, and jointly annihilating the 30,000 main forces of the Hojo clan, including Hojo Ujinao and Oishi Ujiteru.
The old man was so excited that he immediately expressed his willingness to be the vanguard. His son, Ogidani Kensho, opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing and let his father do it.
Although the old man's hair was all white and his teeth had fallen out, he was still as majestic when armed. The years of imprisonment by the Hojo clan did not wear away his determination to resist.
With a call, the name of the Ogidani Uesugi family was still useful. He called in seven or eight hundred crooked people, old and weak, and the disabled, and took them with him to become the guides of the Yamanouchi family's Musashi.
The whole army rushed to Matsuyama without stopping. Matsuyama Castle was different from Kawagoe. It was the grain station of the Ueno Hojo army. There were thousands of escort teams and guards left before.
Originally they were going to support Koga Castle, but Koga fell too quickly and they never set out. So they stayed in Matsuyama Castle, which made Matsuyama Castle have sufficient soldiers and abundant food.
The goal of the Yamanouchi Army was to join Oshi Castle and attack the Hirai Hojo Army from both sides, so they naturally did not want to be trapped in Matsuyama for too long.
The entire Kanto military, all eyes were on Oshi Castle!