Chapter 629 35. The Three-Sided Encirclement Strategy Is Determined

The Lord of Yamane Castle, Yamane Shinnoki, got the news and took advantage of the darkening sky in the evening to quietly run to the coalition army by the river. The river bank, which looked calm and peaceful, was full of soldiers.

After meeting Kobumi Yoshizumi and a group of generals, Yamane Shinnoki realized that the surrounding soldiers were strong and powerful. He thought that there would be only 10,000 people. Unexpectedly, a large number of warriors from Shimotsuke, Shimosa, and Hitachi came. According to Hosokawa Saijo, there were 45,000 soldiers of the royal army, and 25,000 soldiers of Satake Hitachisuke were behind.

This made Yamane Shinnoki very happy. He had learned that the coalition army would ambush the Hojo army in Shimotsuke Koga Castle before supporting the battle plan of the Hojo army in Shimotsuke Koga Castle.

Yamane Shinnoki was completely convinced that the Hojo army could send 10,000 or even 15,000 soldiers to Shimotsuke. Before, the Hojo army came from Minami Musashi without a limit and passed directly through Shimotsuke Castle. It looked like there were 40,000 soldiers.

But so what! Outside Yamane Castle, this is the Northern Kanto coalition army brought by His Highness Koga Kubo. We are not afraid of you.

"Did the Hojo army arrest people indiscriminately near Oshi Castle?" Hosokawa Cainu sat below Kogami Yoshizumi and asked on behalf of the military commissioner.

"It happened for two days at first, but after the army arrived, they just camped and defended themselves and turned to surveillance. There are only 2,000 Hojo troops outside the city, which is about the same as my Narita army."

"Have the people around Oshi Castle fled?"

"No, some have entered the city to defend, and some have fled to the river." Yamane Shinnosuke told the truth. No matter what army passed through, the people would definitely hide.

"I guess these people have boats?" Oshi Castle is surrounded by rivers and lakes, and it is impossible to go out without a boat.

"Most of them have fled to the river." Yamane Shinnosuke nodded.

"Can you contact the locals hiding in various places? Give one stone of rice for each boat, and rush out in the war to cut off the Hojo army in various places!"

"One stone of rice for each boat!"

"That's right! As long as the boat comes, charge everywhere, and give one stone of rice. Grinded!"

"Okay, okay, I promise to show your Highness the courage of my Bando men!"

Sanada Masayuki stood behind Hosokawa Cainu and nodded frequently. Although he was a countryman from a small county in Shinano, he was well-informed and knew that the water network of Oshi Castle was dense, but he didn't expect it to be so dense.

There is no dry land here!

It's all swamps and paddy fields, endless rivers, and the Tone River and the Arakawa River meet here. They have been flooding for years, bringing a lot of fertile silt, and turning the entire Oshi Castle into a floating castle.

If there was no well-prepared and solid Kamakura Street running through it, this large area of ​​more than ten kilometers from north to south might not be accessible.

The hardworking people naturally made full use of the geographical advantages of this area, developed paddy fields on a large scale, and built spider-web-like rivers as the water source for paddy fields. Diversion dikes and cofferdams were set up everywhere, making the entire terrain like a honeycomb, with dense clusters.

The plan may need to be modified accordingly, because although the 25,000 coalition forces drove to the foot of the mountain, they had to be dispersed into four groups. This is due to the need for a three-sided encirclement and the inability to deploy troops on a single route.

At the same time, the time when the various coalition forces arrived at the battlefield of Shinobi City must be different. If the effect of the joint attack is not good, it is not impossible for them to be eaten up in one bite.

Therefore, it is not enough for the Shinobi City people to attack from the city to block the advance of the Hojo army. More harassment forces are needed to attack the Hojo army from all directions. Ensure that he cannot deploy and cannot move.

This can delay enough time for the coalition forces to give full play to their strength and launch a general attack from various dikes and ridges.

As for the four groups of troops, the 3,500 people in Hitachi are naturally led by "Demon Makabe" Makabe Ujikan, as the frontal assault force of the entire army, that is, the first move, to interrupt the Hojo army's first move.

The 9,500 people of the Hosokawa team, as an active combat force that can guarantee combat effectiveness, cover the side of Minami Musashi, serve as the main force of the left wing of the army, and press the Hojo army to the north.

As for the 9,000 people in the Shimotsuke group, they serve as the right wing of the army. They don't ask for much performance along the way, just to delay the Hojo army. Let the Hojo army not take care of both ends.

The last 3,000 people in the lower group serve as the main team of Kogawa Yoshizumi. These people have always been subordinates of the Koga Kubo in name, but after all, they have worked with the Hojo for many years. If the attack is not successful, they will definitely not work hard. But if there is hope of defeating the Hojo, they will exert 200% of their combat effectiveness.

If they can kill the Hojo, I believe their level of hard work will be the highest in the army!

"Sai-nü, our army cannot hesitate in this battle. The troops are ready to fight against the Hojo clan. If the battle lasts a while or the attack fails, they will probably scatter like birds and beasts."

"Don't worry, I will go out in person! I will definitely fight with all my strength and win the battle!"

"Another point is that the former lord of the Oshiro clan, Narita Daifu, is in the Hojo clan. He may contact the castle. If the Oshiro clan does not leave the castle due to internal strife, Sai-nü will have to make a decision!"

Hosokawa Sai-nü looked at Sanada Masayuki, who seemed to be talking about something insignificant, and then looked at Koyomi Yoshizumi, who was walking and stopping not far away and looking around.

How could he not understand what Sanada Masayuki meant? If the coalition's attack was not successful, the Yamauchi army would have to make a decision at any time. These temporary allies and auxiliary armies were all disposable.

The Hojo army must have been willing to chop down the two large flags dangling high in the formation. The head of the Kanto general was always more attractive than the heads of other generals.

"I understand. I know what's going on."

"Then I won't say more. Everything depends on God's will!"

………………

Oishi Ujiteru, who led 30,000 troops to Fukaya Castle, breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that Koheita was running south with Yamauchi Taro in his arms. After all, Fujiwara Danjo didn't dare to take risks and was frightened by the might of the Hojo army.

He probably ran all the way back to Kai, and then left a general to guard Kawagoe, waiting for Uesugi Kenshin to march to Kanto again to support Uesugi Kenshin's flank.

However, the Yamanouchi family, whose 10,000 troops were wiped out by Hosokawa Saigome, must have been discouraged and would not have the courage to fight the Hojo army for the time being!

Perhaps Kawagoe Castle only needs a letter of surrender to open the city.

The threat from Matsuyama disappeared, and Oishi Ujiteru completely turned his attention to Shimosuke. He immediately sent someone to Shimosuke to try to contact Fujita Ujikuni, asking Fujita Ujikuni to ignore the small fish and shrimp along the way and meet him at the foot of Koga Castle.

The Yamauchi army has cannons, plus a strong city and 10,000 troops, the more than 40,000 Hojo army will probably have to go through another hard battle.

But if they can destroy 10,000 Yamauchi family, it will be a great and glorious victory!

The Yamauchi family will not be able to stand up for at least three to five years!

"Tomorrow, I will ask Suruga no Kami (Daioji Masaharu) to take the lead!" Oishi Ujiteru began to arrange the marching order for tomorrow in the shogunate.

After passing the deep valley and heading to Oshi Castle, the road will gradually narrow. The 30,000 Hojo army may have to meander for four or five kilometers. It is more appropriate to arrange an experienced general who can open the way and build bridges when encountering mountains and rivers for the first move. Anyway, the small fish in Oshi Castle can't do anything to the Hojo army, so there is no need for any brave generals to open the way.

After the first move, it was Ishinomaki Yasukage, Nakayama Ienori, Matsuda Kenhide, Utobe Doro, Hojo Ujinobu and other generals who marched in turn.

These people were divided into more than 10 or 20 teams, with a force of just over 10,000. However, they were all samurai foot soldiers serving as public soldiers, and there were only 1,000 or 2,000 auxiliary personnel.

The last Hojo main team to set out had as many as 15,000 people, of which 13,000 were auxiliary logistics, and only 2,000 of Hojo Ujinao's horse carriages were combat-capable, and the rest were all carrying military supplies and fodder and slowly following.

The 3,000 people at the rear of the army were naturally Oishi Ujiteru's main team, and it was not that he was passively avoiding the battle. He wanted to be a military commissioner in his team to teach his nephew Hojo Ujinao how to fight, and his own team would be easier to manage nearby.

Rarely, Oishi Ujiteru slept well tonight.