As mentioned in the previous article, when the Shimazu family attacked Chikuzen, Shimazu Yoshihisa personally led the main force of the family to assemble at Higo Yatsuyo Castle, and sent Ijiin Tadao, Shimazu Tadanaga, and Kamii Kyō as the first to board the army, taking the lead in attacking Chikuzen and opening the way for the army. The First Army captured the Chikushi family's Katsuo Castle and the Ōtomo family's Iwaya Castle, and the Chikushi family was imprisoned in the battle, and the Ōtomo family's general Takahashi Shoyun was killed. However, the First Army suffered heavy losses during the attack on Iwaya Castle, and its morale was demoralized, and it was blocked in its next attack on TachibanaYama Castle. Ijiin Tadao, Shimazu Tadao, and Kamii Kyaw Kyu were planning to ask Shimazu Yoshihisa for help, but they received an urgent order from Shimazu Yoshihisa to immediately withdraw their troops back to Yatsuyo Castle, and there was a "fiery military" that needed to be negotiated.
The Shimazu Army withdrew urgently
It seems that tanning is really the top priority of the Shimazu family. In order to inform the three elders to return to participate in the negotiations, Shimazu Yoshihisa did not hesitate to abandon the Chikuzen Kingdom, which had already laid half of it. In fact, the three elders were not confident that they could take Tachibana Mountain Castle, they just took advantage of the slope to get off the donkey, taking this opportunity to escape, so the three elders left Autumn Moon Seed to monitor the movements of Tachibana Mountain Castle defender Tachibana Muneshige, and sneaked back to Yatsuyo Castle without turning their heads. However, Akizuki was not an opponent of Tachibana Muneshige at all, and was soon beaten back to the old nest of the mountain castle by Tachibana Muneshige, and Iwaya Castle, which had already been captured, was also retaken by Tachibana Muneshige.
So, what exactly is the "fiery military" that requires the Shimazu family to hold such an urgent negotiation?
Yoshihisa Shimazu's worries and confusion
In early August of the fourteenth year of Tenshō (1586), Ijiin Tadao, Shimazu Tadatoshi, and Kamii Kyōka withdrew their troops back to Yatsuyo Castle, only to learn that what Shimazu Yoshihisa called "fire-rushed military" meant that Toyotomi Hideyoshi had officially decided to conquer Kyushu, and that various armies were gathering one after another, and would soon cross the sea to Kyushu.
In fact, this incident did not surprise the three elders. As early as July 24, when the three elders besieged Iwaya Castle, they had captured spies from the Maori family and learned that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was about to attack Kyushu. However, this time, the information was sent back by a secret agent sent by the Shimazu family to Osaka Castle, and the information was more accurate.
It is said that since June 1586, when the Shimazu family attacked Chikuzen in june of the fourteenth year of Tenshō (1586), Ōtomo Muneyoshi continued to send people to Osaka Castle to ask for help from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. However, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had always been inclined to adopt a peaceful surrender strategy toward the Shimazu family, and when he proposed the "Kyushu Division", the deadline left for the Shimazu family was July, so before the expiration of the period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi insisted on staying still. By the end of July, Shimazu Yoshihisa not only failed to go to Osaka Castle as required to perform the "seeing and seeing" ceremony, but also attacked the Chikuzen Kingdom, which had been assigned to the Toyotomi family as a direct domain in the Kyushu Division, and the Shimazu family's refusal to surrender could not be clearer.
At this point, Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not wait any longer, and on July 25, 1586, he officially issued an order to send troops to conquer Kyushu, divided into three routes:
On the first road, with Mori Keigen as the general general, Yoshikawa Motoharu and Kohayakawa Takaaki as deputy generals, and Kuroda officers and men as military superintendents, he led the nagato, Zhoufang, Anyi, Izumo, Iwami and other armies to land from Toyomae Kunimonji Castle and help Tachibana Muneshige defend Chikuzen;
On the second route, with Nagamasa I Motohito as the general in chief, Togawa Cunho as the deputy general, and Sengoku Hidehisa as the military superintendent, he led the armies of Akiki, Awa, Iyo, Tosa, and Awaji from the inner castle of The Bungo Domain, and assisted Ōtomo Muneyoshi and Ōtomo Yoshitomo in defending Bungo;
The third road, with Ukita Hideya as the general and commander-in-chief of the whole army, and Miyabe Jirun as the deputy general, led the troops of Bungo, Bichu, Bizen, Misaku, Harima, Boqi, Inaba, Danma, and Danhou as the successor and the main force, and the task was to choose the opportunity to fight a decisive battle with the Shimazu army and take satsuma, the old nest of the Shimazu family.
Toyotomi's army crossed the sea to conquer Kyushu
The Toyotomi army was so powerful that it claimed to be 100,000 (in fact, there were certainly not so many), which was an extremely rare large army in the history of Kyushu (the last time Kyushu was so lively was the "Mongol attack" three hundred years ago). Shimazu Yoshihisa had to be cautious and urgently summoned a negotiation to discuss countermeasures.
On the night before the talks, Shimazu Yoshihisa secretly approached Shimazu Yoshihiro, Shimazu Tadao and other important ministers, and secretly found the two old Nakai Jiin Tadato and Kamii Kyūkan who he trusted the most, and held secret talks with them, privately asking the two of them about the possibility of accepting the "Kyushu Division". Shimazu Yoshihisa's idea was to send someone to negotiate with the Toyotomi family, and if the Toyotomi family could make concessions a little more, such as the transfer of the Chikugo Ichi nation and the northern half of Higo to the Shimazu family, could they also consider accepting the "Kyushu Division".
However, Ijiin Tadato and Kamii Kyogen both firmly opposed the acceptance of the "Kyushu Division". Kamii Kyogen pointed out that the current dominance of the Shimazu family over the territorial states depends on the support of the people of various countries, large and small, who admire the prestige of the Shimazu family, so they are willing to submit to the Shimazu family, if the Shimazu family surrenders to the Toyotomi family, then sooner or later these countries will also deviate from Germany and no longer serve the Shimazu family, so that sooner or later, the Shimazu family will collapse. At that time, even if the Toyotomi family was willing to hand over Chikugo and Higo to the Shimazu family, the Shimazu family would not be able to govern.
From another point of view, before the Battle of Otogawa, the Ōtomo family was also considered to be the strongest enemy of the Shimazu family, but after the decisive victory in the First World War, the Shimazu family dominated Kyushu. Now the Toyotomi army seems to be numerous, in fact, it may not be stronger than the great friendly army of that year, they are all a ragtag group of temporary patchwork, the Maori family and the Uki family, the Otomo family have been old enemies for many years, Yoshikawa Motoharu, although surrendered, but dissatisfied with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nagamasa Ibu family and ten river family are also more than ten years of wrongdoers, they look like they are separated, strong in the outside, and can be broken each other.
Late night secret talk
Shimazu Yoshihisa was not a man of words, and he saw that even his two of his confidants did not agree to accept the "Kyushu Division", let alone the others, so he did not say much more, but only said that "the Toyotomi clan has leveled more than thirty countries, and the world is half-existent, it is by no means comparable to the Otomo family, and it must not be careless", and he ended the secret conversation. Through this night's secret conversation, Shimazu Yoshihisa understood that it was impossible for the courtiers in the family to accept the "Kyushu Division", and that there would be a war between the Shimazu family and the Toyotomi family, which was inevitable.
The next day, the talks were formally held, and sure enough, as Shimazu Yoshihisa expected, Shimazu Yoshihiro and other generals of the main battle faction were full of emotion and generous statements, and they strongly advocated that after sending troops to attack Fenghou, it was best to prevent the Toyotomi army from landing, and even if not, they would also take advantage of the fact that the Toyotomi army had landed on an unstable footing.
Hyuga Shonai-gun's capital, Kitago Tokura, added that under the tutelage of hyuga, in addition to Imita Munekazu and Shiga who had already promised Uchiha, they had also successfully plotted against Toji-jin Ryō (Lord of Kogaku Castle), Kita-jintoshi (Lord of Matsumuri Castle), Ten Thousand Tada Muneyoshi (Lord of Toriya Castle), Shibata Shoan (Lord of Asahita Castle), and other Ōtomo courtiers, and once the Shimazu army invaded Toyo, these people would respond en masse, and the Ōtomo family would surely defeat themselves without a fight.
Hokugo has been ordained for a long time, and the legal name is "One Cloud"
The number of generals in the main battle faction is large, and Shimazu Yoshihisa is not good at directly refuting them, but only raised a few questions: First, after the adjustment, defeating the Otomo family is no longer a problem, but what tactics and tactics should be used when the troops are sent this time to face the toyotomi family's army? Second, recently, the source of soldiers in the Shimazu Army has become increasingly complex, and there has been a phenomenon of lax military discipline, and after the previous battles in Higo and Chikuzen, there have been many incidents in which soldiers have set fires and plundered the people, which has seriously affected the image of the Shimazu family. Third, after defeating the Otomo family, how should we govern The vast territory of Bungo? Is it to implement the "land-head system" like Satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga, or is it to implement the "in-ban system" like Higo (that is, to dispatch lords from other places and take turns on duty)?
The question that Shimazu Yoshihisa questioned suddenly made it difficult for the generals of the main war faction. The generals were divided and disagreed, but they could not give an answer that Shimazu Yoshihisa was satisfied with.
Especially with regard to the issue of military discipline, in fact, Shimazu Yoshihisa's concerns about his own laws and discipline have a long history, as early as the Tenshō Decade (1582) when he used the army to get fat, shin Natamoto, Yamada Yukinobu, Sagito nobumitsu and other generals showed a tendency to be rigid and self-absorbed and did not listen to commands, but this problem only existed in senior generals, and the problem was not too big. Today, this tendency has spread to the ranks of ordinary soldiers, and since the thirteenth year of Tenshō (1585), the Shimazu family has successively sent troops to Higo, Chikugo, and Chikuzen, and there have been repeated incidents of soldiers violating military orders and setting fires and plundering people's homes in castle towns and villages without authorization, seriously ruining the reputation and prestige of the Shimazu family.
Speaking of which, the Shimazu family's army was originally on the elite route, deliberately controlling the number of troops and maintaining it at a low level. The advantages of this are, first, the low cost, which can save a large amount of armor, weapons, equipment, and the cost of eating and drinking Lhasa; second, they can train regularly and enhance their combat effectiveness; and third, they are convenient for management and strict discipline. Therefore, in the early days, the Shimazu family's army was known for its harsh military law and no offense, and the Shimazu family often prided themselves on calling themselves "the master of benevolence" and "the division of compassion", and after the great war, they often invited high monks and masters to hold the "great famine ghost" ceremony, surpassing the enemy and our dead soldiers and civilians, and taking this as a "good example" for their own family. It is precisely because of this that the early Shimazu family was deeply popular in satsuma, Osumi, and Hyuga (of course, this has something to do with the fact that the Shimazu family has been serving as the guardian of the three kingdoms since ancient times), which has won many people's hearts, and it is natural to fight wars without disadvantage, and even can win more with less, and the back of the people's hearts has played a huge role in this.
However, as the territory of the Shimazu family's territory continued to expand, the use of troops became more and more frequent, and sometimes even multi-front combat was required, and thousands of elite soldiers were far from being able to meet the military needs of the Shimazu family. To this end, the Shimazu family had to abandon the elite route and greatly expand the source of conscription. During the Warring States period, each daimyo more or less implemented the policy of "separating soldiers from peasants", recruiting some "professional footlight" into the army, or allowing some powerful peasants to hire "professional foot light" to perform their obligations to recruit soldiers instead of themselves. These "professional foot light" do not engage in production, specialize in combat, have rich experience in the front, and their combat effectiveness is much stronger than that of the traditional peasant soldiers who are half peasant and half soldiers, but the source of "professional foot light" is complicated, and many of them are from the rogue background of the township goons, and their discipline is relatively poor. The orthodox samurai of the Shimazu family looked down on these goons and called them the "Noro Party" ("Noro" is a curse word, and the "Yaro" in "Yaro" in "Yagya road" is the Japanese pronunciation of "Noro"). Setting fires to looting people's homes and competing for booty is often the work of these "wild lang parties."
The "Bastard Party" of the Kozu family
Many of the eldest and most rude generals in the Shimazu family ignored the evil deeds of the "Noro Party" and held a laissez-faire and indulgent attitude, and they felt that these soldiers were fighting with their lives on the battlefield, and after nine deaths, they would take the sheep and catch some booty, which was reasonable, blameless, and not harsh.
Yoshihisa Shimazu and the elders were very troubled by these "Noros", and repeatedly issued orders asking the major generals to restrain their soldiers and strictly prohibit arsonist plunder. However, there were policies at the top and countermeasures at the bottom, and most of the generals turned a blind eye to this, and Shimazu Yoshihisa's orders had little effect.
In this talk, Shimazu Yoshihisa took out the issue of military discipline to rebuke the generals, more or less on the topic, and it was a kind of venting of his long-term dissatisfaction. For this problem, the generals naturally can't come up with any good solution, but just pat their chests to ensure that they are not an example. Shimazu was dissatisfied, saying that if he could not solve the three problems he had raised, he would not agree to send troops to Toyota.
In this way, the Shimazu family's talks continued intermittently, and from early August to late August, the talks went on for at least ten days, and they still had no clue. It was not until August 27 that an incident occurred that shocked Shimazu Yoshihisa: Chikushi Hiromon, who had previously been imprisoned, escaped from Chikugo Daizenji Temple, returned to Katsuo Castle, and with the support of a group of courtiers, recaptured Katsuo Castle, Takatori Castle, and Hidan Castle, completely restoring its original territory. This incident greatly shocked Shimazu Yoshihisa, and further aggravated his concern about the laxity of military discipline in his family.
According to the "Diary of Kamii Kyaw", after the escape of Chikushi Hiromon, Shimazu Yoshihisa spoke about this matter at a group meeting, and he actually wept bitterly in public, which made the group of ministers present overwhelmed and the scene very embarrassing. It is rare for the daimyo of the Sengoku, who should be a mighty and dignified person, to be so out of shape in front of his courtiers, and Shimazu Yoshihisa is one of them. According to Kami's analysis, this is probably because Shimazu Yoshihisa's "insect qi" disease has recurred, and the physical pain has had a negative impact on his mental state, and his emotions can easily become unstable due to external stimuli.
In order to appease Shimazu Yoshihisa's emotions, Shimazu Yoshihiro, Ijiin Tadao, Kamii Kyogen, and others did not bother. They invited Satsuma's best noh and berserker to set the stage in Yatsuyo Castle, let Shimazu Yoshihisa watch a few days of auspicious and pleasing noh dramas and light and funny wild talk, and invited tea ceremony masters from Hirado Port in Hizen to accompany Shimazu Yoshihisa to order tea and meditate, so that Shimazu Yoshihisa gradually stabilized his mood.
Everyone in the Shimazu family watched noh drama
2. Shimazu Yoshihisa ordered the dispatch of troops to Bungo
While the Shimazu family was struggling with household chores, the Toyotomi family was not idle. On September 18, 1586, the 14th year of Tenshō (1586), troops from Shikoku, including Nagamasa Ibu Genjin, Togakawa Cunho, and Sengoku Hidehisa, landed at Bungo Kunibefu Bay and entered the inner castle of Ōtomo's home. Sendishi Hidehisa was the adopted son of Toyotomi Hideyoshi and had long served as Toyotomi Hideyoshi's "side neighbor", and after the toyotomi regime was gradually established, Sendishi Hidehisa, along with Ukita Hideya, Kato Kiyomasa, and Fukushima Masanori, became a new generation of young generals vigorously cultivated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. During the conquest of Shikoku, Sengoku Hidehisa led an army alone, made military achievements, and after the war, he was named the lord of Takamatsu Castle, and became the daimyō with 100,000 stone territories. Although the Shikoku Army this time nominally had The Genki of Nagamasa as the general in chief, the Genkin of the Nagamasa Clan, as a defeated general of the Toyotomi family, lacked confidence in front of Sengoku Hidehisa, and the Genkin of nagaso's clan and the deputy general Tenkawa Cunbao were old enemies for many years, and the two often disagreed, and finally had to ask Sengoku Hidehisa to coordinate. Coupled with the special status of Sendishi Hidehisa, the actual commander of the Shikoku Army was not the General Commander-in-Chief Nagasaki Ibu, nor the Deputy General TenKawa Cunbao, but the military superintendent Sengoku Hidehisa.
Hidehisa Sengoku
After Sengoku Hidehisa entered the castle, he met with Ōtomo Muneyoshi and Ōtomo Yoshitoshi. Sendishi Hidehisa was able to be appreciated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and his vision was very fierce, and soon after entering the castle, he found that the Ōtomo family's "kajutsu" Tahara family (actually the second son of Ōtomo Muneyoshi) and the Shimazu family's "intermediary" were secretly in frequent contact. Sengoku Hidehisa concluded that the Tahara family had accepted the Shimazu family's strategy, and in order to kill the chickens and scare the monkeys, he joined forces with Otomo Yoshitomo (Otomo Yoshitoshi had long seen that this ambitious brother was not pleasing to the eye), killed the killer, arrested the Tahara family, and ordered him to cut himself. However, after all, The Tahara family was the biological son of Ōtomo Munelin, and Ōtomo Muneharu learned of this and hurriedly pleaded with Sengoku Hidehisa. Sengoku Hidehisa pushes the boat along the water and hands over Tahara's family to Ōtomo Muneyoshi for disposal. Ōtomo Muneharu's ruling was to dismiss the Tahara family from all service duties, confiscate the Tahara family's territory, and change the name of the Tahara family to "Munji Kanju Yuyun" and send him to Moji Castle for detention.
Tahara's family (Otomo's family) was arrested
After this punishment of Tahara's family, Sengoku Hidehisa believes that the Ōtomo family has basically settled down. He did not stop, and then led an army into Toyomae with Nagamasa Ibu's gen clan, Ōtomo Yoshitomo, and others to attack the Toyozen clans, such as Tomoyuki Seiai, Nagano Tsutomu, and Tokie hira daifu, who had openly rebelled against the Ōtomo family.
When news of the Ōtomo family's dispatch of troops to Toyozen reached Higo Yatsuyo Castle, Shimazu Yoshihiro, Ijiin Tadatoshi, Kamii Kyomaru, and others of the main battle faction urgently asked to see Shimazu Yoshihisa and stated the reasons why they must immediately send troops to attack Toyotomi: First, after the Toyotomi army landed in Toyotomi, the Shimazu family had lost the opportunity to block the Toyotomi army from the sea, and now before the main force of the Ukita Hideya family arrived, there was still a good chance of defeating the first army of Nagamasa's genki as soon as possible; second, The Toyotomi army is in the process of eliminating the Ōtomo family's vassals who are explicitly or covertly linked to the Shimazu family, and if the troops are not sent out as soon as possible, I am afraid that more of the internal forces will be exposed and killed; third, the generals of the Toyotomi army and the Ōtomo Yoshitomo have all gone to Toyomae, and the abundance of troops is empty, and it is the best time to send troops.
This time, Shimazu Yoshihisa finally agreed with the main war faction. The main war faction was the mainstream of the Shimazu family, so there was no need to hold any more negotiations, and Shimazu Yoshihisa directly issued orders to the lords of Sa, Sui, Nichi, Hi, and Chiku, the land, and the nation. On September 29, 1586, in accordance with the planned plan for many years, the Shimazu family divided their troops into two routes: Shimazu Yoshihiro led Satsuma, Osumi, Higo, and Chikugo, about 33,000 men, from Yashiro Castle, across the northwestern foothills of Mt. Aso, and attacked Bungo's Naojin-gun; Shimazu Ieku led a japanese march of about 15,000 men from Satsuhara Castle, across the Azusa Pass on the border between Japan and Toyo, and into Bungo's Ōno-gun. In addition, Hyuga Kurino served as a ship general in Yoshiki Hijima, leading the Shimazu family's fleet from the sea. However, historical records do not record the size, number, or number of ships led by Yoshiki Shijima, and considering that the Shimazu family has never been good at water combat, it is generally speculated that the size of this fleet will not be too large, and it is mainly engaged in logistics transportation and supplies, rather than combat.
The Shimazu clan attacked Bungo in two ways
Shimazu Yoshihisa was unable to personally lead his troops to the front line to command the battle due to a recurrence of the "insect gas" disease, but he also came to Shiomi Castle in the north of Japan on October 8 to supervise the battle, boosting the morale of Shimazu Ieku.
On October 15, the leading Shimazu Ieku crossed the Azusa Pass and entered Ume Township, Bungo-Ōno-gun, and came to Asahigatake Castle. The lord of the city, Shibata Shoan, had already secretly surrendered to the Shimazu family, and when he learned that Shimazu Iku had arrived, he specially left the city ten miles ahead of schedule to greet him. Shibata was very well-behaved, and he offered to dedicate Asahitake Castle to the Shimazu family as a direct domain, and he was willing to take his family to Satsuma Kagoshima to live for a long time, and to make the Shimazu family a direct subordinate. At a time when the two families were at war, how could the Shimazu family be indebted to the generals? Shibata Knew this, but just said something nice and sold a good one. Shimazu Iehisa was very satisfied with Shibata Shoan's performance, and he announced that Shibata Shoan had "the ability to block", and that he would accompany the army north as a guide, and if he had any military achievements, he could also seal the territory.
3. The Battle of Tsuruga Castle
After Shibata Shoan surrendered, Shimazu Iehisa led his troops northward, and along the way, Irita Munakata and Ten Thousand Munakata, who had been mobilized to rebel, surrendered kaesong in accordance with the agreement, and ate pot paste to meet the Shimazu army.
Shimazu Ieyaku drove straight in, and with almost no bow or arrow, he hit Tsuruga Castle, which was only 12 kilometers south of Funai Castle. Here, Shimazu Iehisa hit the first nail since entering Bungo. Tsuruga City Lord Li Guang Zongyu held out behind closed doors and refused to surrender. Li Guangzong usually practiced good governance, which won the hearts of the people, and many of the leaders volunteered to enter the city to help defend the city. Originally, there were only more than 800 soldiers in Tsuruga Castle, and with more than 3,000 men and women who helped defend the city, there were 4,000 people in the city.
Schematic map of Bungo Castles
Tsuruga Castle is a small hilly castle built on the east bank of the Ono River (which flows downstream through the Toji Township of Oita County, also known as the Toji River), and is small in scale and has no natural danger to defend. However, the military and civilians in the city were united and morale was very high, and it was by relying on this fighting spirit that they actually repelled the first wave of the Shimazu army's offensive.
From the next day onwards, the Shimazu Army knew that the defenders of the city should not be underestimated, and greatly increased the number of troops who threw themselves into the siege. On the afternoon of November 20 (15:00 to 17:00), the Shimazu army finally broke through the Otomon gate of Tsuruga Castle Sannomaru. Curiously, however, the Shimazu army did not take advantage of the victory to attack Ninomaru, but withdrew from the castle. This wave of operations was very incomprehensible, and Li Guang Zongyu was also very surprised, so he personally boarded the arrow of honmaru to see what medicine was bought in the gourd of the Shimazu Army.
Unexpectedly, this went up, and it was hit by the Shimazu Army's plan. It turned out that Shimazu Ieku learned from shibata Shoan and other generals who accompanied the army that the morale of the defenders in the city was high only because of the presence of the spiritual leader of the Liguang Zongyu, as long as they tried to kill the Liguang Zongyu, the morale in the city would inevitably collapse, and it would be natural to attack the city. Therefore, Shimazu Iehisa came up with such a trick to lure the snake out of the hole and invite jun into the urn, he commanded the army not to advance and retreat after victory, as the main general of the enemy army, Li Guang Munakata would most likely climb the arrow to see what was going on. Just as the so-called "curiosity kills the cat", at this time, Shimazu Iehisa had already selected several snipers with extremely accurate marksmanship from the iron artillery team, ambushed in the shadows, and after being identified by Shibata Shoan and others, after confirming that it was a Tomitsu Soyu, he shot accurately, several snipers fired iron cannons in unison, and the Liguang Munakata fell to the ground in response.
Curious to kill the cat, it is said that it is the Liguang Zongyu
Although Li Guang Munakata was shot and fell, whether he was dead or not, the Shimazu Army was not sure. After all, with the range of the iron cannon at that time, it was quite difficult to hit a target hundreds of meters away, and as for the power and effect, no one could say for sure. Originally, the military commander died unexpectedly, and it should have been kept secret and strictly confidential, but Li Guang Zongyu was too loved by the military and the people, and everyone was very concerned about his life and death. Soon, the news of The Death of the Liguang Sect Fish spread throughout the city, and the people were heartbroken and wept. The cries reached outside the city, and when Shimazu saw the situation, he knew that it must be The Light Sect Fish who was dead. At this time, it was night, and the night raid was exactly the tactic that the Shimazu family was good at, Shimazu Iehisa ordered the whole army to attack the city, and the city was really demoralized due to the death of Li Guang Munakata, and it was impossible to resist the attack of the Shimazu army, and it was not long before the Honmaru was breached. When the Shimazu army invaded Honmaru, the corpse of Rimitsu Munakata was still in the imperial palace, and it was not yet time to deal with the burial.
4. The Battle of Tansang Island
After the fall of Tsuruga Castle, the castle was in danger. However, at this time, Ōtomo Muneyoshi and Ōtomo Yoshitomo were not in the inner city. As mentioned earlier, Ōtomo Yoshitomo had already gone to Toyo with Sengoku Hidehisa to fight the rebels, while Ōtomo Muneyoshi's residence after his renunciation was at Usuki Castle on Tansei Island, and after Sendhime Hidehisa landed in Funai Castle, Ōtomo Muneyoshi went to Funei Castle to meet with Sengoku Hidehisa, disposed of Tahara's family, and then returned to Usuki Castle. When Shimazu Iehisa attacked Tsuruga Castle, Ōtomo Muneyoshi was at Usuki Castle.
Shimazu Iehisa also noticed Ōtomo Muneyoshi of Usuki Castle, and during his attack on Tsuruga Castle, he sent two generals, Shirahama Shigemasa and Nomura Fumitsu, with three thousand men and horses, to attack Usuki Castle. In fact, Ōtomo Muneyoshi had already ceded the position of governor to Ōtomo Yoshitomo, and at this time he was a retreat, he was all relying on political influence to control the family political situation behind the scenes, and there were not many troops directly deployed under his command. Therefore, there were not many soldiers in Usuki Castle, and Shimazu Iehisa also knew this situation, and the main reason why he wanted to divide his troops to attack Usuki Castle was not to attack the castle, but to contain Ōtomo Muneyoshi and prevent the scheming Ōtomo Muneyoshi from making small moves behind him when the Shimazu army was alone and deep, disrupting the rear of the Shimazu army.
As the name suggests, The island is a small island in the sea east of The Sea District of Bungo Kunibu. This island is very close to the big island of Kyushu, and there is only a sea surface less than 200 meters wide in the middle, but it is an island after all, and you have to take a boat to enter and exit. For the dry ducks of the Shimazu family, who are not good at water warfare, it is very difficult to attack such a city.
Even more damning, Ōtomo Washi was equipped with the "Great Killing Weapon" in usuki Castle, that is, the "National Collapse" (i.e., the Flang Machine Cannon) purchased from the Portuguese East India Company. According to the Records of the Abolition of Ōtomo, there were at least six "national collapses" in the castle at this time. When Shirahama Shigemasa and others marched to usuki castle, because there were no ships, they could not directly attack the castle, and could only build a "confrontation" on the opposite bank to besiege usuki castle.
Battle of Tansang Island (CG simulation)
The Shimazu Army worked hard for several days, and the front house was only beginning to see its size. At this time, the cannon suddenly roared in the castle, and the "national collapse" of the big friendly army had already aimed at the confrontation of the Shimazu army on the other side, and after a burst of shelling, the Shimazu army's front house was blown to pieces, and it was reduced to ashes in a raging fire. Shirahama Shigemasa and the others were horrified and had to break the siege and retreat beyond the firing range of the "national collapse". In retaliation, Shirahama sent soldiers to set fire to the Catholic Church and Monastery built by Ōtomo Muneharu in the nearby town of Joshita, and burned it to the ground. When Otomo Munakata heard about this in the city, he was furious and beat his chest, but there was nothing he could do, and there was nothing he could do.
Although Shirahama Shigemasa failed to capture Ususki Castle, the strategic objective of the Shimazu army to contain Ōtomo Muneharu had also been achieved, at least making it impossible for Ōtomo Muneyoshi to support Tsuruga Castle and ensure that Shimazu Ieyaku captured Tsuruga Castle.
However, the Shimazu Army will soon face new and huge challenges. When Hidehisa Sengoku, Nagamasa Ibu, and Ōtomo Yoshitoshi learned of the Shimazu family's large-scale invasion of Toyo, they immediately returned from Toyozen and returned to Funai Castle on December 10.
According to research, at that time, there were about 3,000 Tosa soldiers of Nagamasa's genbu, about 3,000 of Shikawa Cunho's Aki and Awa soldiers, and about 10,000 of Ōtomo Yoshitomo's Bungo soldiers, with a total strength of about 16,000 troops, which was equivalent to Shimazu Ieya's 15,000 men. The two armies were only 12 kilometers apart at this time, and a great war was about to break out. In this decisive battle, once the short soldiers are connected, whose hands will the deer die? Was it the destruction of the Otomo family, or the death of the Shimazu clan? Can Shimazu Iehisa, who has made great achievements in the Battle of Ogawa and the Battle of Okita, once again create a miracle?
Stay tuned to the next article in The Hundred Years of the Shimazu Family.