Volume 2: Soaring! The Overlord of the Region Chapter 410: The Final Battle Location is Confirmed
On the morning of April 2, the coalition forces from the nine important border towns landed safely under the guidance of daimyo such as Shimazu and Mori, and then deployed quickly.
Of course, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, 50,000 civilians, and related logistical supplies are a huge amount of stuff. It will take at least ten days or half a month to sort these out. Therefore, although there was no resistance during the landing, the coalition forces tomorrow could not advance on a large scale at this moment.
Therefore, before this huge army could take effective action, the news naturally reached Edo Castle first.
"You mean, the Ming people, led by that group of rebels, landed in two groups, one of which went to Kyushu?"
"Hi."
"How many troops does the other side have?"
"Your Highness, please forgive me. There are too many enemy soldiers, and they are heavily guarded, so we cannot investigate carefully. But judging from their presence, there are at least 50,000 soldiers on Kyushu and at least 100,000 soldiers on Nagato. But what is certain is that after the Nagato army reached the eastern border of Nagato, they stopped at a strategic point and began to build various fortifications."
"Hmm..." After thinking for a while, Tokugawa Yoshinao turned to look at Honda Masazumi: "Uenosuke, what do you think about this matter?"
"Hi." After bowing his head slightly, Honda Masazumi said, "Kumakata-dono, judging from the current situation, there are two possibilities. First, the Ming people seem to lack confidence in taking over the entire Japan in one go, so they want to completely take over Kyushu Island first, so that they have a way out in case of failure. Second, after excluding the rebellion of the Mori family, the Ming army invading this time is only 70,000 or 80,000? This is really too few. In my opinion, there should be another batch of troops to land."
"Well... where do you think the landing site is?"
"…It's really hard to tell, but it's most likely in Nagato Province. After all, this is the old territory of the Mori family, and landing here will give us a lot of guidance and help."
"Okay." Tokugawa Yoshinao stood up: "Sakakibara Tadatsugu!"
"Hi Yi!"
"Gather our new troops, enter Harima, and deploy with Himeji Castle as the core... What else do you want to say, Uenosuke?"
"Kōbō-dono, putting all the new troops in Harima seems a bit too far to the west. If something happens, it will be inconvenient for us to move around. In your opinion, can we concentrate all the new troops in Settsu Province and deploy them with Osaka Castle as the core? After all, as you said, the places where the Ming Kingdom landed are only Nagato, Osaka, and Edo. This Edo Castle is guarded by the coastal fortress area, and there are 60,000 troops of our Tokugawa family and the daimyo of the relatives stationed there. Even if all our new troops leave, and the Ming Kingdom gets such information and puts all the second troops in Edo to land, the existing garrison force is enough to hold out until our new troops return. But what if we go to Harima and the Ming people land in Osaka? You must know that they hold the only son of the Toyotomi family in their hands."
"Hmm, ah~! Uenosuke is right! Let's do this! Sakakibara Chuji, did you hear that?"
"Hi Yi!"
The coalition forces will land tomorrow, April 2. Edo Castle will receive the news on the 7th and start to make adjustments. Meanwhile, on April 8, thousands of large sailing ships suddenly appeared along the Sea of Japan on the north side of Honshu Island, Japan.
The core of the four islands of Japan is Honshu Island, which is a large island with an area of more than 220,000 square kilometers, ranking seventh among the world's islands. Therefore, in addition to having the basic terrain of high in the middle and low around like many other islands, it also has its own characteristics.
One of them is that the two ends are high and the middle is low. That is to say, there are high mountains at the west and east ends of Honshu Island, and these two mountain ranges are not completely connected. Between these two mountain ranges, there is a rare plain: it is not a coastal plain like the Kanto Plain, but a plain inside the island that is more like a basin.
The civilization of the Japanese archipelago generally started from the west close to the mainland, and then gradually developed eastward. In the era when the Kanto region was not effectively developed, the flat land between these two mountain ranges is the essence of Japan: Nara and Kyoto are both located in this location.
Nearly 200 kilometers northwest of Kyoto is the Tottori Domain.
The landing site for the Ming army's new troops was chosen here.
"Your servant Ikeda Mitsunaka pays homage to Taiko's orphan. Your ancestors fought alongside Taiko in the past, and later the Ikeda family was also a loyal minister of the Toyotomi family. Unfortunately, the Tokugawa thieves were too powerful, and we had no choice but to give up our loyalty to the Toyotomi family in order to continue our family name. Now that I see that Master Dongxiu has returned safely, your servant is filled with gratitude!"
"But Ma Shou, please stand up. I don't blame you for what happened in the past. After all, everyone has their own difficulties. Come, let me introduce you to General Cao Wenzhao of the Ming Dynasty."
"Hi! My name is Mitsunaka Ikeda, nice to meet you, General Cao."
"Well, that, Ikeda...ah, we are coming with a total of more than 95,000 soldiers and 50,000 civilian laborers. What are your preparations?"
"General, Tottori is a poor place with a sparse population and poor production. In addition, we cannot make large-scale preparations in advance to avoid being discovered by the Tokugawa traitor's ninja , so we don't have any barracks or anything like that."
Seeing Cao Wenzhao's expression turn cold, Ikeda Mitsunaka said quickly, "However, I have deliberately abandoned a large piece of land in the name of restoring the farmland. I have also cleared away the weeds. If the general goes there, as long as there are enough materials, he can quickly build barracks to accommodate 100,000 troops. General, this is one of the few flat lands in Tottori Domain. The annual output is no less than 3,000 koku of grain."
"I will give you 5,000 koku first. Take me to see that place quickly."
"Ah? Thank you, General! You are such a good man! Please follow me."
Tottori is a very poor place. Even in the 21st century, it is the least populated prefecture in Japan. At the same time, in addition to the sea invasion, this place is also affected by the cold wave, and it is a rare place in the western part of Honshu Island to see heavy snow.
In short, Ikeda Mitsunaka didn't want to stay in this place for even a single day. What he was obsessed with was crossing the huge mountain that stretched across the western part of Honshu Island and going to Harima Province on the south side of the mountain to take over the land of the Ikeda main family - that's why he took the risk and took the initiative to act as an insider.
Of course, the Japanese were meticulous in their work. When Cao Wenzhao saw a completely flat field without even a few weeds, he felt relieved - an army of 100,000 people must have a forward base before they can start the war, right?
After he nodded his approval of the location, the engineer troops that had landed earlier led a large number of civilians to remove the corresponding supplies from the ship and began to build barracks. The combat troops, led by the few soldiers of the Tottori Domain, advanced to occupy various passes.
"Um, Ikeda."
"Hey, what do you need, General?"
Putting down the telescope, Cao Wenzhao pointed to a not-too-high mountain range in the southeast direction: What's behind that mountain?
"General, that's Mt. Meifang. Beyond this mountain is Tajima Province. The coastline of Tajima Province is very short. At most, if you go southeast for twenty miles, you will enter the territory of Kyoto. That is the plain of the Kinki region."
"Oh~" Cao Wenzhao nodded and turned around: "Messenger!"
"Please give the order, Marshal!"
"Order Huang Degong of the Seventh Town to take that hilltop for me immediately."
"Yes, sir!"
…
"Hiss~ How dare that fellow Ikeda Mitsunaka take sides before the fight even starts?"
Such a large-scale landing certainly did not satisfy anyone. Although Tottori was a poor place, and the Tokugawa family had almost no spies there, the Ikeda family in Harima Province was keeping a close eye on the place. After receiving such news, the Ikeda family cursed the branch family for being too shameless and clinging to the thighs too quickly. On the other hand, they had no choice but to report to the shogunate quickly - the branch family had already clung to the thighs of the Ming Dynasty. If the Ming Dynasty won, the life of the main family would definitely be extremely difficult. It was impossible to say, so they could only hope that the shogunate could drive these Ming people into the sea.
On the 13th, news reached Osaka that a Ming army of no less than 100,000 had landed in Tottori: Yes, at this time Tokugawa Yoshinao had already advanced westward from Edo to Osaka.
While being angry, Tokugawa Yoshinao couldn't help but feel fortunate: Fortunately, Honda Masazumi stopped him at the beginning, otherwise his new army would have gone to Harima: Although Harima and Tottori are very close geographically, there is a very long and high mountain range between the two, and it is not easy for a large army to march in it!
It is much better to place our main force on the Osaka front line now: this is all plains, which is very conducive to military deployment.
"Huh, it seems that the situation is clear. The new army of our country and the new army of the Ming Dynasty, both of which are about 100,000 people, will fight a decisive battle in the Kinki area. The winner will gain the right to rule Japan ." On April 15, 1619, Tokugawa Yoshinao held a combat meeting in Kyoto. With the help of the increasingly detailed intelligence that had been received recently, the Japanese side finally determined that the troops that landed in Nagato, Hirado and other places were not the main force of the Ming army. The real main force of the Ming army, that is, the new army, are all in Tottori Domain at this moment - and because of the strong support of the local lord, these guys have already established a firm foothold in Tottori. They are heading towards the north of Kyoto!
"Gentlemen!"
"Hi Yi!"
"Organize our new army and march north. If my prediction is correct, the decisive battle will take place in the Fushimi area near Kyoto!"
