Chapter 628 34. The Mystery Is Finally Revealed
Fortunately, the soldiers all knew that if they failed to conquer Kai within three to five days, they would return to Kai. This was a battle strategy that was set at the beginning and a consensus of the whole army. So when the army was suddenly ordered to pack up and prepare to go home, no one felt anything was wrong.
In fact, only the generals in the shogunate knew that the Hojo army had defeated the Ueno army yesterday and had no rivals in Ueno. And the news that the Yamauchi army entered Musashi must not be concealed, and Matsuyama Castle will definitely send a report.
If they don't return to beat the Yamauchi army, it will be strange!
This is also the reason why Kobayata asked Murakami Yoshimitsu to quickly send someone to sneak into Shimotsuna, telling Hosokawa Nainou not to attack Koga Castle and run back quickly. While Ueno has not been lost, they can still run back in one piece.
This battle has already been lost, and it cannot be saved for a while.
The countrymen and generals of the Totomi clan are all right. They were originally transferred to suppress the Kai uprising, made a small fortune, and suffered almost no losses. Whether the Nagano family dies or not, whether Ueno is lost or not, it has nothing to do with them, Totomi is far away.
Except for the first Monomi who ran back to deliver the news of the battle in Ueno, soon four or five Monomi also ran back and brought back more news about Ueno.
What about Hirai Castle closing the city to defend, what about Hojo Takahiro fleeing to Shinano Saku County, what about Nagano Yoshimori fleeing to Kuragano, basically the general situation of the Hirai Battle was understood clearly.
Ueno was completely finished, and it was said that 2,000 of the 20,000 people were killed, and the rest of the people were in a state of collapse, and they couldn't gather them together.
There was no news from Oshi Castle yet, but Kobayata didn't dare to gamble. If Yamanouchi Taro was lost here, how could he be worthy of Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu.
The army immediately lifted the siege on Matsuyama Castle and retreated to the Igusa area in the southwest. As long as they passed Igusa, Kawagoe would be in sight, and the army would be safe.
"Tanzheng, I asked Ubei Heiroku about something. I'm a little confused." In the marching formation, Kanai Aigoroku rode forward.
"What is it?"
"Ubei told me that the 36,000 troops of the Hojo clan need 500 stones of rice and beans, 5,000 bundles of grass, and a certain amount of salt, miso, and pickled plums for a day."
Kobayata nodded. The number estimated by Heiroku was not bad. The army in the fierce battle had the lowest consumption of food and grass at this level. So he waited for Kanai Aigoroku to continue. What questions did he have?
"And Matsuyama Castle, as the grain station of the Hojo clan, is about a day and a half away from Hirai. The small pack team may be slower."
"Wait, you mean..." Kobayata suddenly felt something.
"Our army has arrived at Matsuyama for two days. If we withdraw today, it means that Yamakado Shirozaemon, who was originally sent to transport food and fodder, has left Hirai Main Camp for more than five or even six days.
And he did not know that our army was going to Matsuyama beforehand, so the thousand men of Yamakado's army should be the normal strength of the Hojo Kodakuri Team. Moreover, Matsuyama Castle is small and cannot accommodate many cattle and horses, and there are no abandoned carriages and horses of the Yamakado Team outside the city.
Dan Zheng is a well-known magistrate in the world. How much food and fodder can a 1,000-man Kodakuri Team carry by hand and on shoulders at a time?"
"A 1,000-man Kodakuri can only carry 2,000 to 3,000 stones of food and fodder at most." Kobayata started out as a logistics worker. The difference between 2,000 stones and 3,000 stones is whether there are vehicles for transportation.
"When the main camp of Ueno learned that Matsuyama Castle was under siege and the granary was in danger, it still attacked the Ueno people fiercely instead of going back and forth to rescue the granary.
I have also heard about the fierce resistance of the Ueno people. No matter how powerful the Hojo family is, it is impossible to be sure that the Ueno people can be defeated in one or two days! So there must be something more important than the Matsuyama granary that needs to be rescued by the Hojo! So that he can't split his troops!"
In this day and age, the army usually only brings ten or twenty days of food and grass when going out. They all plan to go to the territory of foreign enemies and hunt randomly. It is always better to eat other people than to eat their own.
Uesugi Kenshin sent troops to Kanto as soon as the spring plowing was over. He stayed in Kanto for four or five months and then returned to Echigo to harvest the rice of the season.
The other daimyo were similar, all with the same idea. Although the Hojo army set up a granary in Matsuyama, they certainly would not carry a huge amount of food and grass for several months with the army. After all, he neither had nor could he bring so much.
According to the previous estimate, the Hojo were going to enter Ueno to make a fortune, and then enter Echigo to kill Kenshin Uesugi. They calculated very well, and the food and grass carried by the main team might only last for five or eight days.
However, when he learned that the Yamanouchi army surrounded the Matsuyama grain station, Oishi Ujiteru did not send troops to rescue or transport the grain and grass. Instead, he attacked the Ueno people more fiercely and frantically, as if he would not stop until he killed the Ueno people.
If it is said that the continued fighting is to seize the grain and grass of the Ueno people, it can be understood, but the letter from Hosokawa Cainv in advance stated that the Ueno people were short of food. And the subsequent grain and grass are all in the Umabashi Castle, which means that the grain station in Ueno is still two days away from Hirai.
Oishi Ujiteru, who has fought for more than ten years, will not understand such a simple truth. If you win the Ueno people, you can get weapons and armor, livestock captives, and even capture samurai lords. These are very valuable, but there will never be too much food.
When everyone is in a period of shortage, how can there be countless grain and grass stored in the army!
"Even so, Hojo still only cares about Ueno and temporarily puts aside Matsuyama!" Kanai Meigoro is from Kanai clan of Ueno Kuragano and is familiar with the nearby areas.
"So Meigoro, you think it is other places that make Hojo clan unable to take care of everything."
"Combined with the fact that Fujita team rushed to Shimosae before, and Hojo main team rushed to attack Ueno, Shimosae must have had trouble!"
"Koga has been conquered!" Kobayata himself did not believe that Hosokawa Saeki could capture that strong city.
"I can't be 100% sure, but there are 50% to 60%!"
"Hiss..." Kobayata took a long breath.
If Hosokawa Saeki conquered Koga Castle, then Shimosuke's cards would be alive, and the anti-Hojo faction would have a Koga kofone who could be supported. If a new Koga kofone was supported, at least a few thousand people could be pulled together to join Hosokawa Saeki's 10,000 troops, and it would be very likely to disrupt the situation in the entire northern Kanto.
The Yamauchi army could not attack the Hojo army from the front and back of Hirai with the Ueno army, but if Koga was in hand, the Hojo army that came to rescue could be attacked from the front and back at the border between Shimosuke and Musashi.
However, if the Hojo main force joined with the Fujita force, the strength would exceed 40,000, and the Yamauchi army would only have 30,000 at most. Unless the strategy of attacking from the front and back succeeds, it will still be a hard battle.
…………
"Your Highness, there is Yamane Castle ahead, surrounded by dense water networks, the spring flood is rising again, and the weeds in the grassy marshes are taller than people. It is not a problem to hide a hundred thousand troops!" Hosokawa Saimie and Kobumi Yorizumi finally led the army to the outskirts of Oshi Castle.
Before they left Koga Palace, Hosokawa Saimie left Ogasawara Nagamasa to lead about 500 people to cooperate with Kobumi Yorizumi's thousand miscellaneous soldiers to defend Koga Castle.
In the final analysis, Kobumi Yorizumi now trusts Hosokawa Saimie the most. After all, it was Hosokawa Saimie who supported him, and most of his trusted retainers stayed in Koga to guard the old nest. Anyway, it is impossible to defeat Koga with 10,000 or 20,000 people at will, after all, this time the troops and money and food are extremely sufficient.
"What does Narita clan of Oshi Castle say?" Kobumi Yorizumi was a little excited.
"Once the Hojo clan really sends reinforcements to Shimotsuma, they will definitely go out of the city to intercept them! At that time, please rush into Oshi Castle and surround it on three sides!"
"Everything is up to Saimie!"