Chapter 65 24. Each with His Own Thoughts, Standing at the Fortress

Each division set up camp and surrounded Odawara. At the same time, various burnings and takings were undoubtedly carried out. Nagao Kagetora's righteousness did not seem to involve ordinary people.

Looking at the solid defense, the Kanto coalition army was at a loss. It's hard to chew a tortoise shell, and the key point is that there is no way to start. Nagao Kagetora now held a military meeting with no less than a hundred people, and the heads of various families sat in a row. Nagao Kagetora asked who would go first to test the battle, and those people immediately shook their heads and talked about other things.

The first one to take action was the Koga Kubo Ashikaga Yoshiuji, the top family of the Ashikaga Reneda clan of the Muromachi shogunate. The child was a few years old, and the family elder Ryoda Harusuke was holding him in his arms behind him. It was fine to expect this person to go into battle personally. This person's father Ashikaga Haruji was also the uncle of Hojo Ujiyasu. Later, his father was defeated in the night battle of Kawagoe and was completely sidelined by the Hojo clan. He himself was forced to get engaged to the daughter of Hojo Ujiyasu. This relationship is also messy enough. Now his father is finished. If he can't take this opportunity to overthrow the Hojo clan, then he will become the son-in-law of the Hojo clan and be a puppet for life. Fortunately, the Ryoda Harusuke who holds him is a little ambitious and loyal. Now he comes to join the battle, which is equivalent to another big flag, which is more useful than the soldiers.

The next one is Nagano Yoshimasa, who is now the chief minister of the Kanrei clan. He represents the Uesugi clan of the Fujiwara clan, the in-laws of the Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi shogunate, and the top position of the Muromachi shogunate. This person is willing, after all, he was considered to be a traitor to the Hojo clan for a few days before, and he has to pay a letter of surrender. But he is the only soldier who can fight for the Kanrei clan, and he is the capital of the Kanrei clan, and he can't throw it away lightly. The Kanrei's current status and face come half from the title of Kanto Kanrei above his head, and half from the strong support of 15,000 people in Joshu. Otherwise, he would have been retired in advance, or even comforted.

The third one is also a ten-year-old child who stands out. Koyomi Yoshizumi is a top-ranking person in the second-rank Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi shogunate. He has a very capable father. Koyomi Yoshiaki relied on a blank check from his dead father and finally pulled tens of thousands of people to compete for the title of Kanto Kubo. Unfortunately, he failed and died on the battlefield. But this did not hinder his status as the nominally legitimate successor to the Kanto Shogun. Behind him sat Satomi Yoshiyasu and Mariya Daizen, who nominally came to support this child.

The fourth one is Yamauchi Samasuke Yoshikatsu, who is also the top-ranking person in the second-rank Ashikaga clan of the Muromachi shogunate. It’s just that Koyomi Yoshizumi’s father really served as Kanto Kubo in name, and Yamauchi Yoshiharu was only a shogun’s companion, so he was a little lower than him. Koyata and Yamauchi Shuketou sat behind Yamauchi Yoshikatsu. Yamauchi Shuketou pulled Yamauchi Yoshikatsu’s sleeve to tell him not to stand out, and Koyata also felt that the lives of soldiers should not be wasted on testing.

I won't introduce the other people who came after him. Anyway, Nagao Kagetora was very embarrassed. No one answered his question, which made him very embarrassed.

So Nagao Kagetora asked loudly again, and the atmosphere was very cold. Finally, seeing the cold atmosphere, Satomi Yoshiyasu stood up and said that the Soshu Funabashi Castle along the way still belonged to the Hojo clan. He was afraid that the retreat would be blocked, so he didn't dare to consume too much. This hint was very obvious. If the Soshu Funabashi area was transferred to the Satomi clan, he would be willing to send troops.

Nagao Kagetora turned around and quietly asked Uesugi Kensho (after Kamakura, it was renamed) behind him, which family and territory the Funabashi area belonged to. Upon asking, it turned out to be the Chiba clan, which was subordinate to the Hojo clan. The Chiba clan was also a famous family of the Kanmu Hei clan. During the Hogen and Heiji Rebellion, they supported the Minamoto clan and gradually gained power. Later, they once became the general guardian of the upper and lower clans. However, there was a civil war later, and now their strength has weakened, and even the retainer Hara clan has ridden on their heads. They are called "Chiba Hundred Riders, Hara Thousand Riders". He became a subordinate of Hojo Ujiyasu, the "Sakukura people".

"Oh~~ they are not our own people." Nagao Kagetora suddenly realized. Chiba clan is still a soft persimmon that anyone can squeeze. If not you, who will they sell? It's not painful to be generous to others. So he immediately agreed to let the Ministry of Justice (Satoshi Yoshiyasu's official position) take it freely.

This time, Satomi Yoshiyasu was very satisfied and said that he was willing to be the first to fight and the pioneer of the army.

When the generals saw that a handsome guy took the initiative, they immediately came alive. The scene immediately became hot. So the next day, Satomi clan's 5,500 troops took the lead.

The Kanto generals did a good job of cheering, and all the men and horses were pulled out, and the cheering was very enthusiastic. The army was all over the mountains, the strong in front, the old and weak in the back, from Hakone Mountain to Sagami Bay, a line went out for two miles. The sea of ​​people is not enough to describe it, anyway, there is only one word, a lot.

Then the famous lords all took their followers to watch the battle, and Nagao Kagetora also stood on a high place and watched. The five-li wide Odawara was not the five-li wide castle, but the earthen ramparts of the castle town were five li wide (to explain, one li in Japan is not 500 meters, but more than 3,900 meters, so one li mounds are set up on the streets because it is indeed a long distance). The Satomi army faced a high and wide earthen rampart that was ten meters high from the bottom of the moat to the top of the rampart and had a 50-degree inclination. This level of city defense was at the level of famous cities and towns even in the Ming Dynasty of China at the same time. Many southern prefectures and counties were still at the level of planting willows as walls and digging canals as moats.

The wide water moat was at least five meters long, and it was connected to running water, which was difficult to attack. They could only attack through the city gate, and Satomi Yoshiyasu had no choice. There must be brave men under a heavy reward, so the elite and brave soldiers were asked to carry logs and hold wooden shields to prepare to attack the city gate.

Shouting slogans, the Satomi army was also very courageous and rushed towards the city gate fiercely. The Hojo army on the city wall fired indiscriminately with their cannons and bows and arrows. The leading samurai was hit by several arrows but he still shouted and fought fiercely. He held a red spear and shouted at the soldiers loudly, showing his bravery and fearlessness.

Kou Ping Tai could see clearly with his hands on the awning. It turned out that the general was the courage of the soldiers. The warrior's fighting spirit greatly inspired the soldiers. Some of them were shot with arrows but still used their bodies to hit the city gate. It seemed that there was a lot of hope for breaking the city.

Moreover, the soldiers worked together to hit the city gate with the big logs on their shoulders. One after another dull impact sound was accompanied by the shouts of the soldiers of the Satomi Army. The hardwood city gate and the city gate tower shook off a lot of wood chips and mud every time they were hit. The creaking sound made people feel cold, as if this city gate only had three to five minutes to live.

But unfortunately, the warrior who was holding a long spear and was extremely brave suddenly stopped with a burst of iron cannon fire. His short and sturdy body slowly fell down. Seeing this scene, the soldiers shouted that Hejin Bingbu was killed in the battle, and dragged his body and retreated.

The Satomi Army lost a brave general and could not fight again. Today's test was over.