A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

While the Yamauchi clan's retainers were in awe, the cold wind from the Sea of ​​Japan blew across the coast of Hokuriku, but this cold wind could not blow away the blooming spring spirit.

Groups of hurried people and horses on the not-wide dirt road trampled the green grass that was just emerging, and the slight green seemed to be submerged under the feet of countless people.

These people look like soldiers but not like soldiers. Some are wearing cheap gear, some are wearing simple trousers, and everyone has the cheapest plain gun in their hands. The rust on the tip of the gun is not enough. To cover up the fact that this plain gun is a murder weapon.

Some of these queues were composed of twenty or thirty people, and some were composed of four or five hundred people. Most of them looked like fellow villagers from the same village. Looking at their flags again, the words Namo Amitabha and Buddha Dharma are written on the pure white cotton cloth.

People walking around often recite the name of Namo Amitabha, which converges into a Sanskrit sound that shakes the world.

Finally, more than 20,000 troops from Etchu, Noto, Hida, and Kaga, who were inspired by Buddhism, arrived at Fudoyama Castle, the important town in Echigo's defense of Etchu. Their ten- and twenty-story generals could not defeat the enemy. The castle was surrounded by a mere 800 people. The castle commander Yamamotoji Temple anxiously asked his envoy to quickly report to Uesugi Terutora at Kasugayama.

The peasants, who were originally oppressed by the endless taxes and labor of the feudal lords and could not survive, obtained the religious organization of the Xiangzong, which strengthened their determination to resist fate and established their confidence in Amitabha's original wish. The Yixiang Sect's organization greatly influenced and strengthened the religious life of poor farmers. The believers gathered together to vent their dissatisfaction with the feudal lords. In the end, the believers took up arms to fight for happiness in this world and resist the heavy feudal oppression.

The peasant believers who considered themselves to be the sons of Amitabha, firmly believed in the power of Buddha and gained the power of religious organizations, greatly liberated their minds and began to take unscrupulous positive actions. They denied various teachings of other sects and despised authoritative leaders. The feudal military families of the shogunate, such as the guardians of the country and the local leaders, refused to pay annual tribute or perform corvee service.

Finally, at the beginning of the year, Hokuriku Kaga State sent countless monks to the Somotoyama Kanazawa Gobo to hold the banner of Namu Amitabha, inspiring countless devout believers to establish a " "Buddha's Kingdom on Earth" and "a kingdom owned by the common people" and launch a thorough campaign.

Especially in the Kaga area, the 10,000 battle-hardened "groups" (referring to the local lords of the country, most of whom are the earth servants, with considerable combat effectiveness and organization) and "speaking" " (The grassroots religious organization of the Ichigo sect, sometimes with three or five households, sometimes with one or two hundred households, is rooted in the grassroots villages and directly mobilizes farmers and soldiers.) The soldiers entered Vietnam under the leadership of the district officials and the lords in the countryside. In Hasunuma, China, believers from Etchu, Hida, Noto and other countries spontaneously armed themselves, wore simple equipment, and gathered into a large army with their faith in the Buddha. The monk soldiers of Hida Jorenji Temple (the followers of Hida Jorenji Temple are also quite powerful in combat, and they have fought hard battles with several local tycoons in Hida, reaching the era of Toyotomi Hideyoshi) and believers even armed themselves. Hundreds of warriors on horseback gathered together to gather devout believers along the way holding the flag of Namo Amitabha.

The entire Xiangyi Kui Army team does not look like a mob armed force. They have both organizations and officers. The morale of the entire army is extremely high, and their desire to fight is also strong. It is simply a powerful soldier that is rare in the world. No wonder it became a powerful force that stirred up the Warring States Period.

At the same time, the master of Echigo's Ichikai Sect, Yoshizaki Gobobo, finally made up his mind to issue a message to the people and the lords of the country who believed in the Ichichi Sect throughout Echigo.

The amazing appeal of religion is vividly displayed. The samurai who originally swore a heavy oath to Uesugi Teruhu and prayed for a lifetime of loyalty abandoned their oaths and sacrificed everything for the Buddha they believed in.

The large-scale Echigo war broke out in an instant. A few months ago, the samurai and ashigaru who had gathered under the command of Terutora Uesugi were trying to overthrow the rule of feudal guardians and overthrow the great nobles and daimyo who oppressed them. The feudal system raised its flag of rebellion without hesitation.

Even the Hatamoto samurai group belonging to Terutora Uesugi saw samurai fleeing at night and going to Yoshizaki Obo to join their Buddha. Uesugi Teruhu's direct military force was severely hit and weakened, and he even lost the support of a large number of people and wealthy families.

On the other hand, the Ichigo army gathered from all over Hokuriku launched a general attack on Fudoyama Castle. However, after persisting for only one day, under the fierce attack of the troops shouting "Namo Amitabha", Fudoyama Castle fell without any accident. Yamamotoji Sadenaga led dozens of remnant soldiers and the defeated generals retreated in panic. Kasuga Mountain.

With Yamamotoji Sadaga's tragic escape to Kasugayama Castle, the Hokuriku region's long-held secret against the Echigo-Uesugi clan, that is, Uesugi Terutora, spread like wildfire, causing panic and turmoil throughout Kasugayama.

Fortunately, Terutora Uesugi had strong control over Jingcheng County, which allowed him time to gather a large amount of necessary resources such as food and weapons into the city, and also avoided the critical situation of immediate riots below the city. But even so, Hokuriku's usual army still quickly attacked Kasugayama Castle, without giving Uesugi Terutora the opportunity to recruit peasant soldiers into the city to assist in the defense.

In the Central Vietnam area, Yoshizaki Obo's Yuitajo was the first to bear the brunt. Naoe Keizuna, who was preparing to go out to Kanto and returned to his original position of mobilizing soldiers, was caught off guard. Only four to five hundred people held on to the city. There are also many samurai under his command who have taken refuge with the ashigaru army, and Bancheng seems to be shaky as never before.

Moreover, because the old warriors of the Uesugi family followed Naoe Keetsuna and were surrounded by Itancheng, it was difficult to select generals who could take charge of the defense between China and Vietnam. The castle warriors loyal to Uesugi Terutora in various parts of China and Vietnam could only fight on their own, and soon the whole of China and Vietnam was in flames of war. Except for Tochio Castle where Honjo Mino was stationed and Ueda Sakato Castle where Nagao Masakai was stationed, most of the small towns It fell in an instant. The other castles of powerful lords in Chuetsu and Shimotsu were just trying to protect themselves. In a short period of time, the Ichigo army that had swept through half of Echigo and the reinforcements that had broken through Fudoyama Castle successfully joined forces.

Although it is not the first time that Kasugayama has been surrounded, this is the first time since Uesugi Teruhu took over. This greatly undermined his authority as the leader of Kanto (although the leader of Kanto had long been disgraced), and even the Yangbei people in Shangyue began to become restless.

In this way, Kasugayama Castle was surrounded by nearly 40,000 people with ten and twenty layers of troops. Foreign aid was almost cut off, and there were only a few thousand garrison guards in the city. Kasugayama Castle was in danger.