I

A Japanese ronin who took refuge in the Datong Army said: "Master General, the Supreme Emperor is not dead, and he holds the authority in Kyoto."

"Bring the Supreme King of Japan!" Han Shouxin ordered immediately.

Not long after, the soldiers under his command brought a monk, who was Emperor Gomizuo of Japan.

The emperor was not a puppet, he was forced to marry the daughter of the shogun.Although he also has a son, he was born to a female official in the palace, and he has no legal right of inheritance.

The shogun at the time, Tokugawa Iemitsu, coveted the throne of the emperor.Certainly not being the emperor himself, but letting the Tokugawa family and the emperor's descendants succeed on the grounds that the emperor has no children, and suppressing the empress Mizuo through the Ziyi incident.

Emperor Gomizuo took the initiative to abdicate and gave up the throne to his wife (Tokugawa Iemitsu's sister).This move was so brilliant that Tokugawa Iemitsu did not dare to agree, so he passed the throne to the emperor's five-year-old daughter.But after the passing of the throne, Emperor Gomizuo appeared to be a monk, but still controlled the power of the palace.

"Zhengren pays homage to the Chinese general!" Emperor Gomizuo could speak Chinese.

Han Shouxin said cheerfully: "Japan is so weird. The king is a woman, and the Supreme King is a monk. I think you are quite pitiful. You have been forced out of your home by the shogunate. How about this, the Datong Army will help you get rid of the Tokugawa clan, How about returning the power of Japan to you?"

Emperor Gomizuo had joy in his eyes, but he quickly lowered his head and said, "I dare not, I have already abdicated."

Han Shouxin said with a smile: "In this country of Japan, the king is not the king, and the ministers are not ministers. It is too outrageous. In my opinion, it is best for you to be the king. I will send someone to send a message to Edo immediately!"

Han Shouxin is definitely not stupid if he can become a teacher.

He said these words purely to put pressure on the Tokugawa shogunate and panic the defenders of Edo Castle. .

Chapter 1038 [Deputy Shogun]

Daimyo from all over the world live in Edo. Even if it happens to be their turn to return to the fief this year, their wives, children and accompanying officials will stay in Edo.

Therefore, when Edo was besieged, reinforcements must be sent to the local area.

But the speed of the reinforcements was very slow, mainly because the road was difficult to walk.Japan does not have official roads spread all over the country. Even the land tax collected by the daimyo every year must first be transported by sea to Osaka and Edo, and then transported by sea from these two cities to the whole country.

The first to act was the Mito Domain, one of the three royal families.

The Mito clan is very close to Edo, and even when the feudal lord was in his fiefdom, he often came to Edo Castle for a walk.And because the feudal lord is also the Tokugawa clan, he is called the "Deputy Shogun of the Shogunate".

Many of the Edo samurai who failed to enter the city fled to the Mito Domain after being defeated by the Datong Army.

Tokugawa Mitsuki ordered these samurai to be collected, and then issued an order to the Kanto feudal clans, so that the troops of the Kanto daimyos should first come to the Mito clan to gather.

When Han Shouxin took Kyoto, Tokugawa Mitsukaki had gathered more than 20 troops, and he was still recruiting Ashgaru in the territory.They also recruited many civilians, claiming to be an army of [-] to the outside world, hoping to scare off the Chinese army.

Mitsuki Tokugawa himself has never fought a war, but he is the most cultured daimyo in Japan.

"History of Japan", "Etiquette Code", and "Hitaland Country Chronicles" are all edited by Tokugawa Mikaki himself. He does not usually live in the castle, but lives in the mountains west of the city. He calls himself "Nishan Hermit" .With his encouragement, the style of writing in the Mito clan prospered, and Mito studies gradually formed.

Zhu Shunshui, who was Zhao Han's cabinet minister, was Mitsuki Tokugawa's teacher in another time and space.

A war was about to start at this time, and besides Tokugawa Mitsuki, besides his retainers and warriors, there were also a large group of literati and advisers.

Ji Hongyuan, who is proficient in Cheng Zhu Neo Confucianism and Chinese history, often said: "According to the Edo samurai who came here, the Tang soldiers had sharp iron cannons, and they were well-organized even in street battles. Our army, in addition to suppressing peasant unrest, has two There has been no war in 30 years. The rescue of Edo should not be rushed. We must continue to gather troops in Mito, and only when we have more than [-] soldiers can we really go to the battlefield.”

Okabe Yizhi, who is also proficient in Confucian classics, retorted: "Edo has been besieged for more than a month, and soldiers are precious and fast. We must rush to the rescue. "Sun Tzu's Art of War" says that this war is nothing more than the right time, place and people. The shogunate guarded The city of Edo occupies a favorable location. The Tang army came out of nowhere and invaded our Japanese land. Our army must be united as one. This is harmony. My brother said that the Tang soldiers had sharp firearms. After the reinforcements arrived in Edo, they could choose to attack in rainy days. This is the right time. Human harmony is all within me, how can there be invincible reason?"

"That's a wonderful statement." All the literati praised in succession.

Tokugawa Mitsuki asked his retainers again: "Do you think we should send troops immediately, or continue to wait for the remaining Kwantung Army?"

The vassal Ukai thought about it and said, "The governor of the family, Rong Bing, the armies in various places in the Kanto region acted on their own. Although the governor of the family was temporarily appointed as the general of the Kanto, he could not effectively command the entire army. Now there are rumors in the army. From the beginning, the samurai who fled from Edo described Tang soldiers as invincible heavenly soldiers. If you continue to gather troops and wait, the longer the delay, the lower the morale of the Kanto ministries, and the deeper their fear of Tang soldiers.”

"Let's go then!" Tokugawa Mitsuki listened to the opinions of his retainers further away.

The Japanese Kwantung Allied Forces rushed to aid Edo.

There are tens of thousands of samurai from various banners, more than 8000 ronin temporarily recruited, and more than 3 ashigaru.As for civilian husbands, there are countless.

The reinforcements were not far from my grandson's residence when they were discovered by scouts from the Datong Army.

My grandson Su, that is, later my grandson city.It is more than 40 miles east of Edo and is a waterborne commercial market town.

"My lord, it's getting late, so let's camp here." Ukai Jianchuan suggested.

Tokugawa Mitsuki nodded in agreement, and said, "Just now I discovered the cavalry of the Tang army. When I was reading the classics of the Tang people, I found that the Tang people used to use night raids since ancient times. You must be more prepared tonight!"

"That's for sure," Ukai Jian said, "but please rest assured, Lord Governor, this place is still more than [-] miles away from Edo. It will take a long time for the cavalry of the Tang people to rush back to report the news. If you want to send troops over, It’s a distance of sixty miles, so there’s no time for a night attack tonight. Tomorrow’s march, we need to be more prepared to avoid being ambushed by the Tang army.”

Mitsuki Tokugawa nodded

: "This statement makes sense."

……

"Boom boom boom!"

Dozens of artillery bombarded Edo Castle.

The daimyos in the city thought that the Datong army was about to launch a general attack, and hurriedly dispatched troops to defend.

Amidst the sound of rumbling guns, 2000 cavalry and 2000 infantry boarded sea ships and landed in Ichikawa not far to the east.Then, the infantry sat on the captured small early boats, and the cavalry rode all the way along the river, and ran at full speed to surprise the Kwantung reinforcements.

The Japanese Leading Party is responsible for identifying the way and turning south of Liushan.

As it was getting dark, the cavalry also led their horses on foot.With a man in the title and a horse bound in hooves, trying not to make any noise, the four thousand Datong troops all moved forward in silence.

When we arrived at the camp of the Kwantung Allied Forces, it was already past four o'clock in the morning, and even the enemy sentries were asleep.

The camp of the Kwantung Allied Forces was backed by a small hill. There were some wooden fences around the camp, and a lot of barbed wire was sprinkled to prevent sneak attacks.

Several infantrymen of the Datong Army who approached first were accidentally pierced through their feet.Fortunately, there was a branch in his mouth, but he groaned in pain.The wounded soldiers retreated, and the rest of the soldiers came over to clear the obstacles. The caltrops were all strung together with wires.

The next step was to destroy the wooden fence, and as soon as they pushed it to a section of the wall, they woke up the secret sentry of the Kwantung Allied Forces.

"Tang Bing is coming, Tang Bing is coming!"

As the secret sentry sent out a warning, the Four Thousand Datong Army began to light torches and swarmed in from the knocked down wooden fence.

Tokugawa Mitsuki and his own banner set up a tent on the mountainside to rest.After Ukai Miden's explanation, he also felt that there would be no night attack.Because it takes time for the Chinese cavalry to go back to report, and it also takes time to mobilize the night attack troops. It would be dawn long after they came all the way.

Therefore, Tokugawa Mikaki slept soundly, and was awakened in a dream at dawn.

"What's the matter?" Tokugawa Mitsuki hurriedly dressed and asked.

Seeing that Chuan ran into the tent, Yukai said with a look of horror: "My lord, Tang soldiers attacked at night!"

Tokugawa Mitsuki asked: "Didn't you say that the enemy has no time to attack at night?"

Seeing Chuan, Ukai complained bitterly: "Tang Jun is too fast."

Tokugawa Mikaki asked again: "What's the situation outside?"

Ukai Jianchuan replied: "The camps in the west are all in chaos, and the troops in the east are gathering."

Tokugawa Mitsuki didn't care about getting dressed, he got out of the tent and looked down the mountain.I saw the military camp on the east was on fire everywhere, and there were many torches moving east.

Some of the torches moved very fast, and they were two thousand Datong cavalry.

There is a small hill out of this place, and there is a flat river in all directions, which is very suitable for cavalry to gallop.Those cavalry were dedicated to killing and driving away the rout, and the task of setting fire to the camp was handed over to the infantry. The camp of tens of thousands of Kwantung coalition forces was half disrupted in a blink of an eye.

Japanese samurai seldom eat meat, and Ashgaru has no condition to eat meat, and a lot of them suffer from night blindness.

It was impossible to see clearly in the dark, and it was too late to put on the armor. Most Japanese soldiers grabbed their weapons and fled, and many even threw away their weapons.

They couldn't tell the direction, and subconsciously fled to places where there was no fire.

The Datong cavalry deliberately slowed down their horses, and divided into several teams to drive away the enemy, just like driving a flock of sheep, so that all the Kwantung troops rushed eastward.Wherever the broken soldiers went, it was like a virus infection. A few daimyos were gathering troops, and they were also fled eastward by the broken soldiers.

Seeing the terrified shouts getting closer and closer, the Kwantung generals did not dare to attack the easternmost camps, and fled with the gathered banner warriors.

"My lord, let's go!" Ukai saw Chuan leading the horse.

"Yes, withdraw the troops, withdraw first." Tokugawa Mikaki was already in a daze, and climbed onto the horseback with the support of Ukai Miden.

This knowledgeable feudal lord was familiar with a subset of classics and history, and thought that fighting was nothing more than that.

Only then did I understand why night raids always work.The black light was attacked by surprise, and the attacked party completely lost its organization.Tokugawa Mitsuki couldn't contact the various ministries at all, he could only command his own banner warriors, and the tens of thousands of troops were useless!

The hill was not steep, Tokugawa Mikaki was in a hurry to escape, and even accelerated when going downhill.

The war horse couldn't see the mountain road clearly, so it didn't run very far before the horse stumbled and knocked Tokugawa Mitsuki into the air.

"Big

people! ”

"Governor House!"

The vassals and warriors rushed to help, and found that the guy had fallen unconscious.

Ukai saw that he had no choice but to run away with Tokugawa Mitsuki on horseback. After a jolt, Tokugawa Mitsuki was jolted awake and asked confusedly, "Have you escaped?"

"Not yet." Ukai saw that Chuan reined in his horse and stopped, and ordered a samurai to hand over his horse and let Mitsuki Tokugawa ride alone, otherwise the two would run too slowly on one horse.

Taking advantage of the time of changing horses, Tokugawa Mitsuki looked behind him and saw that the torches of the Chinese army were already chasing very close.There seemed to be shouts from all directions, and his tens of thousands of troops had completely collapsed.

As for the literati and advisers who accompanied the army, they didn't even have horses, so who knows where they died.

The short legs of the Japanese pony continued to gallop with Tokugawa Mitsuki.A river suddenly appeared in front of me. It was the Tone River next to my grandson's residence. It was this river that prospered in business, and the town of my grandson's residence was born.

"Where's the boat?"

Ukai Michuan looked at the empty river and was furious.

When they came to cross the river, they gathered a lot of ships at my grandson's place, and tens of thousands of troops crossed the river in batches.

The daimyo camped at the easternmost point tonight, since they were farthest from the night attack, they all ran away with almost no losses.The defeated soldiers fled to the Tone River, drove all the boats to the opposite bank, and did not leave a single sampan to Tokugawa Mitsuki.

"North!" Tokugawa Mitsuki said.

Unable to cross the river, these hapless creatures could only flee north along the banks.

Most of the banners under Tokugawa Mitsuki's command did not have war horses.They escaped too slowly, and were killed and captured countless people halfway. It was inevitable that some people would betray their masters for glory and take the initiative to tell Mitsuki Tokugawa the direction of escape.

When the Datong cavalry heard the news, they immediately accelerated to catch up.

A horse with long legs is much faster than a horse with short legs.

As the pursuers got closer, Tokugawa Mitsuki complained endlessly.He is a man of culture, he is not as good at riding as other daimyos, and riding a horse at night is beyond the scope of his ability.

His vassals and warriors suffered even more. In order to protect their master, they had to slow down their escape speed.

It didn't take long to escape to the north, and the pursuers were close at hand.

Tokugawa Mikaki doesn't want to run away anymore, he is a decent person.After reining in the horse, he dismounted pretending to be calm, and then began to tidy up his appearance, only to find that he was not wearing his coat and his hat was gone.

When Datong's cavalry pursued them more than ten paces away, Tokugawa Mitsuki cupped his hands loudly: "Tokugawa Mitsuki, the lord of the Mito domain, is here. If you are bloodthirsty, take my life."

Nonsense, captives are rarer than heads, let alone "deputy generals of the shogunate".

Tokugawa Mikaki knew that he would not die, and would be used as a bargaining chip, so he was able to behave so calmly.

Chapter 1039 [Siege and Infighting]

Tokugawa Mitsuki and Tokugawa Tsunashige reunited in the camp of the Datong Army.

One commanded the land battle and was captured, and the other commanded the sea battle.When we met at this time, we were speechless, only the sadness and loneliness left on our faces.

Huang Fei took the letter from Kyoto, pretended to read it for a long time, and handed it out with a smile: "You two, read it too."

Tokugawa Mikaki was of a higher seniority and took the letter with both hands.His Chinese character culture level is so high that he can read ten lines at a glance, and his face changes drastically after he glances at it twice.

Han Shouxin's autographed letters were written in vulgar language, and he could tell that he hadn't read the book for a few days, but this made Tokugawa Mitsuki even more frightened.

He was afraid that the Chinese generals would be old men who didn't understand politics at all, because Han Shouxin said in his letter: "I have captured Kyoto and captured two Japanese kings. One is the monk Taishang Wang, and the other is the queen king. The monk king Quite sensible and obedient, he simply killed the Tokugawa family and let the monk king rule Japan."

"What was written in the letter?" Tokugawa Tsunashige asked in a low voice.

Tokugawa Mitsuki said with a serious expression, "You can see for yourself."

Tokugawa Tsunashige took the letter with a solemn expression.If the Chinese army really supports the emperor, Japan will inevitably start a civil war again, and will not accept the name of the Tokugawa family's rule, and will take refuge in the emperor's side by relying on the might of the Chinese army.

This is not the end of the Tokugawa period. Even the Changzhou Fan was loyal to the shogunate. At this time, the Changzhou Fan still remembers hatred.

Huang Fei laughed grimly: "You two, take the letter and enter the city. Tell the shogun that if you don't open the city and surrender, I will destroy Edo, kill all the descendants of the Tokugawa family, and support the monk king to rule Japan!"

The two were surprised and delighted. The surprise was that the emperor was in the hands of the Chinese army, and the joy was that they were released.

Regardless of their appearance, the two Tokugawa vassals walked quickly towards the city wall. After reporting their names, they were immediately welcomed into the city.

Tadaki Sakai rushed over after hearing the news, but before he had time to speak, Mitsuki Tokugawa handed over the letter.

"This... how could this happen? Damn it!" Sakai Tadakiyo was a little bit bewildered after reading the letter.

Although Mitsuki Tokugawa was not good at fighting, he also knew politics. He said: "This matter should not be publicized, and the daimyo and samurai in the city should not know."

The three immediately went to see the shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, and Sakai Tadaki also called his confidant by name.