Add Bookmark | Recommend this book | Back to the book page | My bookshelf | Mobile Reading

Free Web Novel,Novel online - All in oicq.net -> Historic -> Pillars of the Wu family

Three Rivers Butterfly Chapter 339: Cage City Trapped

Previous page        Return to Catalog        Next page

    If the swollen Tone River did not erupt in the middle and upper reaches, it would inevitably flood in the lower reaches. Several tributaries of the Tone River system were operating at full capacity to supply water at the same time. The carrying capacity of the lower reaches was overloaded and soon broke through the weakest dikes and poured into Musashi Country, which is located in the south.  The area near Edo Castle in Kanto was the hardest hit area.  On the first day of the flood, hundreds of people were missing and thousands of people were displaced. Unfortunately, Hojo Ujiyasu was supervising the battle on the front line, and his legitimate son Hojo Ushimasa was also on the front line. Only his wife Zuikeiin was left to work in the rear, and the war  Just like a gamble with no way out, the gambler who has invested all his chips has no chance to back down.  Hojo Ujiyasu also has a headache. He is known as the number one civil servant in Kanto. He has a group of capable ministers and officials who have done a lot of good things. At present, there are epidemics spreading in front of the camp and behind him. The treatment of patients requires a large number of doctors and medicinal materials.  The total amount of material resources is limited. How to allocate limited resources to where they are needed is a matter of science. Whether to rescue the victims first or the sergeants in the camp first becomes a question. Hojo Ujiyasu's choice is to solve the problem in the camp first.  The disease is spreading there.  There is a reason for him to do this. Those who do big things cannot be kind to women. Although loving and caring for the people is very important, war is more important. If he can only choose one of the two, Hojo Ujiyasu will definitely choose the latter. As for the disaster on the rear  When the disease spreads, it is left to the Hojo family elders and assessors to deal with it.  This wanton storm lasted until the end of summer and gradually ended. By the time the weather cleared up and the soil became dry, it was almost early autumn. Several days of sunny days evaporated the moist water, and the Hojo family was delayed for a long time by this heavy rain.  , now that I have a glimpse of the opportunity, how can I let go.  It wasn¡¯t long before it was light up.  The fresh air is mixed with the smell of earth and grass.  The sunshine from the horizon shines on a neat row of arrows and oars in Ontake Castle.  I heard the low and melodious sound of the conch, and the soft mud pond turned into hard earth on the fifth day of the clear sky. The howl of war was inevitably sounded again.  The archery team was holding their bows and throwing arrows desperately. More than a dozen ashigaru were struggling to advance forward while staring at the rain of arrows in the city. As the distance gradually approached, soldiers began to die. The heroic Hojo samurai raised his sword and rushed to the front.  The archery team on the head arrow scull focused their fire and shot into a hedgehog.  Thousands of Ashigaru slowly gathered at the foot of the city like worker ants. They needed to fill up the earth bank against the rain of arrows from the top of the city.  Whether it is a mountain city or a flat city, various types of earthen banks must be built, which are equivalent to pits similar to moats. By introducing running water, they can be transformed into water banks, which are equivalent to moats in a practical sense.  If you want to attack the city, you must fill up the earth. The process of digging, transporting and filling the earth is long, not to mention that under the eyes of the defenders in the city, the flying rocks and arrows thrown down from time to time are extremely harmful to them.  To avoid danger, the Hojo family's solution was to have Ashigaru build a bamboo wall that was tens of meters long. Under the shelter of the bamboo wall, the civilians could at least take some shelter.  Each square of earth was filled and escorted forward by several ashigaru holding rifles. This earth-filling siege tactic was the only way to siege the city.  The weakness of lack of siege equipment and inability to attack the city was clearly revealed at this time.  Tens of thousands of troops were besieging the city, so they had to resort to clumsy methods such as ant attack, blockade of the soil, and then pile up mountains of earth to climb the city wall. It was not that the Hojo family had not thought of other methods. In order to capture this strong city, Hojo Ujiyasu had to make sure it was done properly.  Two hundred iron cannon ashigaru, which were easy to build, were sent to the front line.  Ise Susuke is the leader of this iron running team. It is not easy to get this lucrative position. If his father is not Ise Sadun's younger brother, he would not be able to take the position. Under the cover of friendly forces, Ise Shusuke leads  Two hundred iron cannon ashigaru came to the castle. Dozens of them lined up in a row to load gunpowder, ignite the rope, test the gunpowder, clean the gun chamber, load lead shot, reload the gunpowder, and aim and shoot.  The sound of ping-ping-pong-pong-ping iron cannons did not cause panic among the defenders on the city. Iron cannons would also fire back sporadically from the top of the city. Since the iron cannons were spread eastward more than ten years ago, there have been several iron cannon battles in Kinei.  The reputation of cannons spread all over the world, and now, iron cannons are nothing new in Kanto.  Many daimyo and people in Kanto purchased several iron cannons from their own channels. Because Kanto did not have the technology to make iron cannons, the price of an iron cannon was often as high as 300 to 400 guanwen, one-third of which was purchased by the Japanese.  Customs fees, local miscellaneous taxes, and seaport supplies are occupied. The other half is the merchant's profit, and only the last one-third is the cost of purchase and transportation.  Because iron cannons are too expensive, the arming speed of iron cannons in Kanto is much slower. Only powerful lords like the Hojo family have the capital to arm two hundred iron cannon teams at once. The status of the iron cannon head of Ise Shukosuke is unusual.  The reserve general is just a hair's breadth away. In terms of closeness, he can still compare with the horseback crowd.  Speaking of which, this is not the first time for this iron artillery team. In previous years, there were only twenty or thirty people in the iron artillery team. During the Kanto Tenbun Rebellion, Hojo Ujiyasu was not willing to let them go into battle and die. In recent years, the life of the Hojo family has gone beyond  The better, the iron artillery team expanded several times to its current size, and fought several battles in southern Kanto one after another. Last year we foughtThe Ojo family and the Tonegawa battle also made appearances.  Ise Shubosuke thought that the iron artillery team had practiced well, so he wanted to imitate the Kira family's iron artillery tactics to kill with arrows and oars. He first commanded the two hundred teams to shoot arrows on both sides of the Otemon gate of Mitake Castle.  The oars were bombarded fiercely, but they were met with random counterattacks from the defenders on the oars. Five or six Tiepao Ashigaru were shot to death in three or two hits, which frightened him and quickly retreated.  The old-style iron cannons of the Hojo family have a maximum range of only thirty meters. Not to mention the accuracy of the cannon after flying more than ten meters, the power will be greatly reduced. In several attempts, more than a dozen iron cannons were killed by counterattacks from the arrows.  Ashigaru, I lost a lot every time I came back.  Such an inefficient siege tactic obviously had no effect. The siege battle continued until the end of autumn and still could not break the city. There was no hope at all in the cage battle of Ontake Castle with one thousand against forty thousand, and there was no hope of waiting for reinforcements.  The long wait made Nagano Kentada a little helpless. Fortunately, the Nagao Legion quickly got out of trouble and trekked for nearly a month to Ueno Country.  As soon as they arrived in Ueno Country, the Nagao family faced a siege. This time his enemy was the Naha clan of Isesaki Castle. Nagano Yasumasa took the initiative to express his disapproval of siege and invited Nagao Kagetora to assist in the battle. Echigo  Zhilong agreed without even thinking, and soon he led an army of fifteen thousand to coordinate the siege of Isesaki Castle, relying on the excellent iron cannons trained and equipped (eliminated) by the Kira family.  Easily suppressed Somoto Naha's momentum in Isesaki Castle.  This Nabo family is a branch of the Hirogen lineage of Oe.  Speaking of which, I'm talking about Echigo Mori's Hojo Takahiro and Yasuda Keimoto.  As well as the newly rising little overlord of An Yun Kingdom, Gen Mori, they are from the same clan. Their family crest is the famous Ichimonji Three Stars. Their family pattern is even comparable to that of Hojo Takahiro. Their first ancestor is Masahiro (also known as Somoto), the son of Hirohito Oe.  It is really strange that the name passed down to his generation is the same as that of his ancestor.  Naha Somoto has maintained a close relationship with the Hojo family since the end of the Kawagoe Night War more than ten years ago.  Maybe he has become Odawara's retainer long ago, and this time he will be the first to jump out, which is his wish for many years.  Nagao Kagetora's siege skills are obviously much better than those of the Hojo family. The powerful iron cannon firepower ensures that there is no problem in executing the Kira family's iron cannon tactics. Once he gets started, he can knock down all buildings over five meters in Isesaki Castle, regardless of  It doesn't matter if it's an arrow scull or a small castle guard, don't even think about it.  Isesaki Castle is also a mountain city. It¡¯s not pleasant to climb up the mountain. Fortunately, the mountain is only more than 100 meters high, and the mountain is not steep and difficult to climb. The densely packed Nagao family ashigaru are slowly moving to the sound of military drums.  As they advanced, the defenders in the city immediately greeted them with bows and arrows.  The dense rain of arrows fell in a long trajectory on the mountain road.  Whenever arrows rained out, experienced veterans would raise their rifles and lie on the ground.  Katsusaburo and his companions didn't quite understand what they were doing. They moved a little slower and were kicked to the ground by Shusuke Sugihara behind them. Then the samurai pounced on Katsusaburo very quickly.  "Ouch! It hurts!" Before he could finish his words, he heard the sound of a crackling rain of arrows.  Book assistant Sugihara also ignored his dignity and yelled: "You bastards, do you want to die? Are the arrows about to fall if you can't see the top of the city?" "Yes! Yes!" Several recruits trembled in fright and even responded with their voices.  At this time, the ashigaru got up one after another and continued to move forward with their rifles on their shoulders. Shusuke Sugihara glared at them: "Get up quickly and catch up with the formation. Didn't you see that the friendly troops behind you are waiting for you? I haven't seen them before.  How did you, such stupid ashigaru, sneak in?" Sugihara Shusuke cursed all the way and left, making several ashigaru want to find a crack in the ground. A middle-aged man next to them walked away with a smile.  He came over to comfort him and said, "Don't feel sad. We old guys all suffered from this crime and walked over slowly. We might have to put our lives on the battlefield at some point. These samurai gentlemen all bear the burden."  With military orders, we soldiers have no time to talk quietly, and we have to listen to orders we don¡¯t understand. This little setback is nothing, just get used to it. "At this time, I heard the order from the warrior in front.  : "Keep rushing, my lord has an order, and I will reward you with thousands of gold coins for breaking the castle. Everyone, follow me and rush, we must capture Isesaki Castle!" "Ha!" The Ashigaru took a deep breath, held up the starting blocks and continued to move forward.  Different from the unprepared Hojo Army, the Long Tail Army was equipped with simple siege vehicles. In fact, siege vehicles had been formed thousands of years ago. They were first called battering rams, and were later improved and turned into siege vehicles.  There were corresponding applications in ancient Rome and the Han Empire.  The manufacture of a siege vehicle is not complicated either. It has a triangular or olive-shaped metal support frame with an outer skin, and inside is a thick log suspended from a beam with an iron chain. There is a booster crank at the end of the log.  The front end is an iron cone head. Some cone heads are made into the shape of a sheep's head, which has been used since ancient times.??called a battering ram.  A six-wheeled siege vehicle approached the city under the cover of several ashigaru troops carrying shields. The samurai hiding behind the siege vehicle worked together to grab the crank of the siege ram, swung it backwards with force, and then slammed into the city gate.  The Otemon of Isesaki Castle was shaken by the impact. The Nabo Toshu who was responsible for directing the defense was startled and hurriedly shouted: "Don't let that weird thing get close to the Otemon, fight back immediately, fight back!"  The defenders immediately fired back with bows and arrows. The waiting Ashigaru team raised their rifles to cover the siege vehicles. The dense rain of arrows embedded in the rifles made a crisp crackling sound. From the beginning to the end, the siege vehicles did not stop attacking, again and again.  After hitting the city gate, the defenders in the city were at a loss. They had never seen such weird things, and they didn't know how to deal with them. In a burst of chaos, the balance of victory tilted towards the Long Tail Legion.  Saito Asanobu looked at the tattered Ichimonji three-star flag at the top of the city and said with a smile: "Isesaki Castle is not big in scale. It is surrounded by our army and is cut off from all sides. There is no way out. There is no water source on the mountain. Let's see if they can still defend it.  How long will it take? It will be a matter of time before this city is defeated!" "The sooner the better," Nagao Kagetora looked at the mountains in the south and said with a frown, "We don't have much time left." Hojo Ujiyasu's eyes were bloodshot.  It seemed that he had not slept for several days, because he received a very bad news. Isesaki Castle was captured by Nagao Kagetora, while Ontake Castle here has not yet been captured. Several mounds of earth outside the city stand outside the city wall.  Broken limbs were hung on several damaged walls, and dark red blood dyed the loess piles reddish brown.  Isesaki Castle is a mountain castle.  It is normal for Kaicheng to surrender before it is about to be captured. Not all mountain towns have enough water sources, and not every mountain town can hold on for several months. Under the crisis of water and food shortage, Isesaki Castle was forced to Kaicheng, and his son  The two brothers Nabo Rongzong and Nabo Zongan went out of the city to surrender. Nabo Zongyuan committed seppuku in order to give the whole city a chance to survive and surrender.  Ontake Castle has still not been breached. Under the fierce attack day and night by the 40,000-strong army, Ontake Castle seems like a small boat in the wind and rain that may capsize at any time. Every time, we are just a little bit close to breaking through Otemon, but are defeated again and again by the tenacious defenders.  Forced counterattack to drive them out.  In front of the Otote Gate of Ontake Castle, the pitch-black doorway looks like a giant beast that chooses people and devours them.  Devouring hundreds of lives of the Hojo Army.  The continuous siege for many days reduced the number of defenders in the city by more than half. If the ashiqing defenders were not enough, the townspeople in the city came to help. Nagano Kentada's rule was quite virtuous, and many townspeople were willing to help defend the city.  The bravery can last for a while, but as time goes by, the soldiers become tired and quickly lose their morale. The morale drops and the battle losses are constantly refreshed.  The number of townspeople in the city was quietly decreasing and no one noticed it. The corpses of the war dead were casually discarded on the top of the city and no one paid attention to them on the streets. It wasn't that they didn't want to burn the remains of their comrades, it was because the soldiers were too  When they were tired, the Hojo family's crazy attacks day and night did not give them any time to rest. Even sleeping became a luxury. If they had time, they would just take a nap and there would be no time to take care of the corpse of the deceased.  Another reason is that there is not enough wood in the city, so the townspeople can only demolish their houses to make fires for cooking. In the battle of Cage City, less than a thousand men died, and the women were busy burying pots to make rice.  Healing the wounded, he also had to do the work of men, repairing the damaged city defenses and gates, and even patrolling and temporarily guarding at night.  They were also very tired, so tired that they couldn't even pick up the dishes and chopsticks to eat. Everyone alive in the city was gritting their teeth and holding on. They didn't realize that the dead bodies were quietly spreading the terrible plague. The remaining mosquitoes breeding in the hot summer were exactly the plague.  A good medium for transmission, and soon a plague turned into a terrible disaster.  Nagano Kentada was under great pressure. While guarding the city, he also had to deal with the general affairs in the city. It was common for him to stay awake for two days and two nights. He was nearly sixty years old and was only skin and bones. He had been in a high-intensity cage for more than a month.  The battle in the city cost them a great deal, and every one of his relatives was killed. If he hadn't already expected to send his wife and children to Minawa City, I'm afraid Nagano Kentada's lineage would have been extinct.  He knew that what he did was wrong. It was a mistake to force all men, women, and children in the city to bear heavy military and husbandry duties, but he did not think that he was a cruel warrior. He forced all men over the age of thirteen to take up arms and defend the city.  It was a miracle that he managed to hold on to the city for more than a month under difficult circumstances. If he hadn't been worried about the domestic situation in Ueno and worried that Nagao Kagetora wouldn't be able to rush over, he wouldn't have fought so hard.  A samurai with tattered armor and messy hair came over and said softly: "My lord, there are still 1,531 soldiers who can bear arms." Nagano Kenchu ??sighed: "Thank you for your hard work! But Ma Mamoru  " "My lord, please go and rest for a while, there will be no problem with me, Takayama Shigei!" Takayama Taimamomo said.  ¡°The medicine in the city has long been used up, how can I feel at ease?sleep!  "Nagano Kentada frowned deeply. Soon it was dawn. Neither of them had slept well. A new day began again with a new attack. "A long-term siege is very harmful to morale. Even if the Cage City side is well prepared, it cannot be avoided.  The most important things in a caged city battle are soldiers, morale, food, water sources, and medicine. Without soldiers, there is no need to talk about defending the city. Without morale, the city cannot be defended. The importance of food, grass, and water sources need not be repeated. The negative impact of lack of medical treatment has been very serious in the past.  It is rarely mentioned, but in fact, this is the most important part. In the difficult battle of the city, it is crucial to treat the injured in time. Patients who do not receive effective treatment will become the source of infection. In this era, it can be a serious problem.  Without advanced disinfection measures such as ultraviolet sterilization, especially the lack of doctors and medicinal materials in this small town, many wounded soldiers could only watch his body fester and die. One can only imagine how much morale their comrades could retain.  They also didn't notice that the epidemic was spreading quietly, and townspeople died of the disease for several days in a row. Because the Hojo Army's successive attacks were ignored, until the epidemic turned into a plague, and nearly a hundred defenders fell ill and died, the samurai realized that something was wrong. Some samurai  They spontaneously burned the highly decomposed corpses, but they themselves were quickly infected. Nagano Kenchu ??also realized the seriousness of the situation. At this time, it was too late, and he had to order the seriously ill samurai to collect the corpses and pile them up.  Together they burned the corpses with the few remaining firewood, and the billowing smoke obscured half of the city. The survivors standing in the distance had only pain and sorrow on their faces. Five days later, the Nagano army could not pull the bow and exhausted the last bit of strength.  After giving up resistance and allowing the Hojo army to break through the Otemon of Ontake Castle, Nagano Kentada and more than 60 samurai were all killed in the battle. At this time, there were only more than 500 people alive in the city, all of whom were women and  Children and men either died in battle or died of the plague. From a distance, you can see thousands of corpses piled together in several buildings. (To be continued, please search Piao Tian Literature for better and faster updates!
Didn't finish reading? Add this book to your favoritesI'm a member and bookmarked this chapterCopy the address of this book and recommend it to your friends for pointsChapter error? Click here to report