A tour of Japan's Warring States Period

There is another matter that needs to be dealt with in Kawagoe Castle. The more than a thousand Hojo Army soldiers who were previously surrounded in the Gaoan Temple. Although they are members of the Fujita clan's palace, or even abandoned sons, it is undeniable that they are an elite force of a thousand people.

Otherwise, the Fujita clan would not have left them at Takaan Temple as a palace force to delay the Yamauchi army's departure from Koshu. It would always be a thorn in the side for such an army to remain behind.

Yong Tushi Yao took the initiative to persuade this group of troops to surrender. As long as their lives are saved, everything will be easy.

In this way, the Yamauchi Army liberated another 3,000 men. Now that the Yamauchi Army had sufficient manpower, Koheita set up a general military station in Kawagoe and began to prepare for the siege of Edo Castle and the possible siege of Odawara Castle.

No one expected the changes in the war situation this time. There was no preparation before Xiaopingtai arrived. Not to mention ordnance and ammunition, even food and grass were only prepared for more than 10,000 people for a month.

Otherwise, in order to preserve the food and grass in Matsuyama Castle, he would not have compromised with Yotoji Yao and sent those miscellaneous soldiers and civilians back to Sagami Country.

The fighter planes were changing rapidly, and there was no time to transfer them all the way from Shinano Fuchu Castle.

The more than 6,000 Hojo people who had just been driven away would naturally not be allowed to enter Edo Castle. As the fulcrum city of Minami Musashi, Edo Castle had strong defenses and rich reserves. It would be foolish to send people in to defend, it is annoying enough if there is a photo of Oishi in there.

Naturally, the other coalition forces spread out in a hurry to suppress (rob) the Hojo elements in Minamimusashi, and gradually advanced towards Edo Castle. Along the way, the branch cities belonging to the Hojo clan and the branch cities belonging to the Ota clan all turned over and surrendered, or abandoned the city and left.

Today Akatsuka Castle is destroyed, tomorrow Itabashi Castle is opened, and Inasuke Castle and Setagaya Castle (which at first glance are all districts in present-day Tokyo) are uprooted one by one. The joint camp was more than a mile outside Edo City, and the army covered the sky and the sun.

As a fortified castle built by the unparalleled general Ota Michikan, it has gone through decades of ups and downs and has been repaired and reinforced for generations. Historically, when Tokugawa Ieyasu came to the city upon his return to Japan, it was already Minamimusashi's leading prosperous town.

(Yes, there should be a map of the Warring States Period Edo Castle here. But it’s not here, hahahahaha...)

The castle town had a population of tens of thousands, and relied on the water transport of the Tama River, Tone River and other rivers to connect most of Kanto, and built a strong moat with a huge and complicated water system. However, the water in this river is salt water that can only be drunk by livestock. To drink water, you need to carry water from two miles away.

This battle was also unusual. No wonder Uesugi Chao Xing and Uesugi Chaosada failed to attack Edo Castle many times. It was also the first time that Xiaoping Tai encountered the need to carry water to supply the besieging troops. The problem of drinking water for 45,000 people can drive people crazy!

In fact, live and learn until you are old. When fighting a war, it is not about siege but about water supply. Let alone Xiaoping Tai, no general in the Yamauchi army has ever encountered him.

In the past, the outside of the city tried to cut off the drinking water in the city, but now it is better. If nothing is done in the city, the water outside the city cannot be drunk, and the besieging army actually has to go out to find water.

The city is not big, but it has many problems!

The Yamauchi Army's main force was on the Hongo Plateau in the northwest of Edo, and allied forces were stationed along the Kamishitahira River (the future Sumida River) to encircle Edo on three sides.

In response to the call of the Yamauchi Army, Satomi Yoshiyao, Satomi Yoshihiro and his son also came to mobilize the land and sea armies. They had been beaten up by the Hojo family before, and now their power has declined a lot. But even so, they still brought four thousand soldiers and sailors.

The water outside Edo Castle was covered by Boso's sailors, while Satomi's army went to camp at Atago Mountain southwest of Edo Castle. At this point, the entire siege of Edo was completely completed.

Let’s discuss how to attack the city!

First of all, Edo Castle was built on a platform. It was not actually Taira Castle, but the so-called Hirayama Castle. It was not small in scale, but not too big either.

It’s okay not to mention the cliffs tens of meters high on one side of the city. The other two sides are wrapped by the Hirakawa, a tributary of the Tama River, and cannot deploy the army. There is only one relatively gentle slope left, which can be used to deploy the army frontally.

It’s annoying that the cannon can’t be used anymore!

The second is the same problem as Ninja City. There are a large number of paddy fields and swamps under the city that need to be filled in.

On the contrary, the more than 4,000 Hojo troops in the city have the least problem! No matter how famous General Oishi Shiteru was, there was no way he could restore the morale of the soldiers who had just experienced a huge defeat to a high level in a short period of time.

The panic among the people in the city is absolute, especially now that it is surrounded by overwhelming coalition forces on land and water. There are no soldiers on the outside who are bound to save the country, and there is no will to persevere on the inside. It was a small boat in the middle of the angry sea.

What is strange is that the Fujita clan, which withdrew its troops from Shimono, did not enter the city. It may be that the two sides happened to be separated. Oishi Uteru first retreated to Iwatsuke Castle, but found that Iwatsuke could not hold it. By the time they retreated to Edo, his younger brother had already fled to Tamawa Castle.

"Is there any news about Hojo Sagami Temple?" Kodaira asked Murakami Yoshimitsu after inspecting the Edo castle defenses from a distance.

"I just arrived. They said they finally escaped into Odawara and have joined Fujita's headquarters. I don't know yet whether they will stick to Odawara or send troops to rescue Edo."

"Did you still escape?" He couldn't help but sigh a pity.

In the first half of the battle of Ninja Castle, the coalition forces and the Hojo army were basically half and half, each suffering more than a thousand casualties. In the second half of the period, reinforcements from the mountain arrived, and the Hojo army was defeated. But even if they were defeated, the losses would not be too great.

About a thousand people were caught on the spot by the people of Ninja City, and two to three hundred were beaten to death. The various coalition forces captured only more than 3,000 people. The Yamauchi army who fell behind along the way naturally achieved the greatest victory with Tu Shiyao, and the remaining ones also captured more than 2,000 people.

Of the 35,000 Hojo troops who were actually killed, including those captured, more than 7,000 fell into the hands of the coalition forces.

The rest all escaped!

Those who were beaten to death were pulled down, and those who were alive were all packed up and taken to the Mangqiao job market. They must have not redeemed themselves and returned home, so there is no need to discuss anything.

It seems that Hojo didn't have any injuries in this battle, but he lost suddenly. If there is still a chance for the Oishi family to be photographed in Edo Castle, I will write a memoir or something when I get old in the future. I will definitely write something down. I lost the battle of Ninja Castle unjustly!

If he lets Hojo off this year, he will be a good man again next year!

Against all odds, I will kill Hojo this year no matter what, without giving him a chance to breathe!

"There is another piece of news sent by His Highness Toe E. The Hojo Army withdrew from Xinguoji Temple, but left a lot of troops in Fukasawa Castle. His Highness Toe Eo is attacking Xinguo Temple City and will capture it soon, but I’m afraid it won’t be easy to join forces with Odawara.”

"The Edo Castle in front of us has not been captured yet. Please reply to His Highness Enjie. There is no need to be greedy for credit. The main thing is to capture all of Suruga and stabilize the border!"

"In addition, there is news from Satomi Xingbuden that Soshu Chiba, Hara, Takagi and others seem to have the intention to rescue Edo. Your Highness, please divide your troops to guard the Kokufudai area to prevent Soshu troops from entering."

"Guofu Tower? It's a dangerous location!" Xiao Pingtai nodded, preparing to pick someone bold and careful to guard it.

"Sure! Envoys from Edo Castle are here!"