Chapter 646 52. Edo Castle Is in Danger
(I did a rough calculation and found that removing the ten-meter-high dam and building a twenty-meter-high earth platform with a thirty-square-meter earth platform on top requires five to sixty thousand square meters of soil.
Calculated based on the level that each person can handle 0.333 cubic meters per day, plus some construction work, it will take roughly 160,000 to 180,000 manpower to complete the construction.
Twenty-five thousand civilians would have to work for six to eight days! My estimate was too low. )
"Heiroku! Do you know why I sent you here?"
"Of course it's about building an earth platform on the Pingchuan dike!"
It's so refreshing to talk to people who are smart and know how to do things. They already understand it without having to mention anything.
"Leave it to you, can you handle it?"
"Try your best! You will never be disappointed!" Heiroku knew that this was an excellent opportunity to show off in front of the Kanto generals and Yamauchi Taro.
You must know that Kodaira won the favor of Uesugi Kenshin because of his remarks at Odawara Castle that "a thousand pieces of gold is not worth a loyal soldier", and he also spent a lot of money to fill the trenches of Odawara Castle and build a siege platform.
In the eight states of Kanto, who doesn’t know Fujiwara Danmasa’s illustrious reputation? That can be proven by Odawara Castle, known as "the most fortified city in the world"!
If Heiroku can handle the things in front of him in Edo Castle and become famous, Kawabe Uhei Ianobu will no longer have to live under the glory of Fujiwara Danmasa.
Xiaoping was too focused on cultivating these samurai who came from his own sect, and also hoped that more talents would serve the Yamauchi family. Even if Xiaopingtai is the most capable official in the world, how many nails can he drive if he is made of iron?
Sooner or later you will die from exhaustion!
"More than 20,000 civilians are not a small number. They don't understand the language, they don't have enough tools, and even the straw bag boards have big gaps. You have to be mentally prepared!"
"It's all about sharing your worries for His Highness!"
"Okay! Do it boldly! Kihei will also assist you, and he is Tsai's son-in-law."
Since there is already a perfect base, it is much easier to add the top. The most troublesome part of the entire project is getting the soil and transporting it to the dam in Pingchuan.
Heiroku knew that it would be completely meaningless to use one mouth to reason with more than 20,000 illiterate people from more than a dozen different kingdoms, speaking with seven or eight accents.
So he didn't waste any time and informed the various warriors who came with their husbands. Set levels of three, six or nine, and form a team of 200 people. The team that carries the most soil to the Pingchuan will be rewarded with fifty dan of white rice!
The second and third teams are far behind, with only twenty and ten stones, and nothing after that. It’s all work in vain!
There was a big pile of rice on the shore. Pingliu, who was standing on the embankment, pointed at it. If you want, just use your skills to get some soil to exchange for it!
Therefore, the Hongo platform where the Yamauchi team was located was surrounded by civilian workers digging dirt on all sides. The good platform was turned into a piece of briquettes, and the entire platform was surrounded by densely packed civilian workers digging mud.
They were doing it in full swing, but Xiaoping couldn't stand it and had to deal with other matters.
The first is the surveillance and defense of the Kokufudai area. It would have been safest to let Kanai Meigoro go, but now that there is a lot of construction work on the side of Hirakawa, a reliable general is needed to lead his troops to block the passage out of Edo Castle. This man cannot leave.
After thinking about it, I asked Aji to take thousands of people to Guofutai as a front-line force to monitor the pro-Hojo clan people in the Nanxia area. Anyway, the National Palace Tower is not too far away. If you are in danger, you can rely on the terrain to provide some resistance. Xiao Pingtai's army came one after another to protect them and never come back.
Aji is also a "veteran minister". After more than ten years, although he does not have any outstanding talents, he is better than loyalty and obeying orders. Those who can do these two are considered useful generals in the feudal era!
Xiaopingtai asked him to guard Guofutai, and he will definitely do his best to complete this task!
He, the flagship general, was promoted as a savior during the Battle of Kiso Fukushima when Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was still there. The Yamauchi family was very kind to him, so he could do things with confidence.
As for whether Odawara Castle will continue to strengthen the defense of Izu Sagami after hearing the news about Edo Castle, or send troops to rescue Minami Musashi, this also needs to be arranged in advance.
After discussing it with Hosokawa Saime, I still felt that we should occupy Koji Castle (Koiso Castle is the Koiso where the Class-A war criminals were convicted.), go to the border of Musashi and Sagami, and set up defenses at the border to prevent being attacked. The attack of the Hojo clan.
The Hojo clan's tiger was invincible, but the Fujita clan's Kuniman ran back his men and gathered the other troops, and he could still bring out 20,000 people. Such a large number of troops must be defended.
This journey was also very important. After everyone discussed it, Konishiharazaemon led more than 3,000 people to the small machine city. If you can fight, fight, if you can't fight, leave immediately. The coalition troops are numerous and their morale is high, so they are not afraid of them. As long as I know the news in advance and have the formation in place, can I still be afraid of you, Hojo?
………………
Teru Oishi in Edo Castle originally planned to hold on to Edo Castle and retreat when the coalition forces ran out of food, and even pursued them one after another. The Yamauchi family's appointment of a new Musashi to protect the Ogidani Uesugi family was unexpected to him. After all, this kind of "benevolence and justice" that continues to rise and fall is really rare these days.
It goes without saying what kind of person Uesugi Shihken is. He is a staunch anti-Hojo element and has always been proud of being born into the famous Uesugi family in the world. You can kill me, but you can't surrender.
This man is now the successor of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu, and he has dozens of loyal old retainers. The huge Kitamushi was originally the old territory of the Uesugi clan of Ogigayatsu, and more than a decade ago, they fought to the death with the Hojo clan. If it weren't for the death of Uesugi Asayoshi in the night battle of Kawagoe, it is possible that this area is still firmly resisting the attack of the Hojo clan.
The Yamanouchi family may not be able to establish a stable rule in Kitamushi, but old man Uesugi Shizukata still has some possibility. The local tyrants in Kitamushi will always give the old man some face, and it is better to follow him than to work for the Hojo clan.
Oishi Ujiteru, who was preparing to defend Edo first and then raise troops to encroach on Kitamushi next year, was forcibly dragged out of his residence!
The coalition forces are raising the Pingchuan embankment!
What are the coalition forces building dams for? It is absolutely impossible that they are kind-hearted and want to build water conservancy projects for the people of Edo.
After observing for a while, Oishi Ujiteru suddenly realized that the coalition had cannons! And more than one!
In his mind, cannons still cannot be fired in a curved manner, and mortars and the like had not yet been introduced to the East. Since Edo Castle is on a plateau, it is foolproof. No matter how many cannons you have, they cannot turn!
But now the coalition uses the dam as a base, builds an earthen platform, and carries the cannons onto the earthen platform, then they can shoot directly into the city without any obstacles!
Oishi Ujiteru's body shook for a while. If he hadn't been holding the wooden fence in front of him, he would have fallen over.
There is no need to talk about the power of the cannon. At this distance, as long as the coalition's cannons keep firing at the city, the morale of Edo Castle, which was not very high to begin with, will definitely collapse completely in a few days.
Once morale collapses, what is the point of defending the city?
"Edo is over! Edo is over! God does not bless me, Hojo!" After saying this, Oishi Ujiteru could no longer hold on and fainted.
Everyone rushed forward and looked at Oishi's photo again. There was actually a trace of blood flowing from the corner of his mouth!