The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 436 The opportunity for a melee with Japanese pirates has arrived
In mid-October, the temperature in Osaka dropped sharply.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar and was shivering.

Tokugawa Ieyasu really started a rebellion!
It turns out that this guy had already discussed this with Mori Terumoto.

He was still thinking of letting Mori Terumoto continue to attack Iki Island.

Mori Terumoto actually assembled an army of 100,000 and stationed them at the border of Inaba Province, preparing to attack him!
Tokugawa Ieyasu joined forces with Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to besiege Echigo Province, and Uesugi Kagekatsu was unable to withstand it at all.

It was still a cloudy day. It was almost noon and there was still no sign of light. The sky was covered with dark clouds and was terribly gloomy.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi sat cross-legged on the top floor of the castle tower with a gloomy face, reading the urgent report sent by Kuroda Rusui, which really made him feel cold.

He frowned and thought for a long time before asking, "Guan Bingwei, what do you think we should do now?"

You can't think of a solution, right?

Kuroda Josui said calmly, "Your Highness, you should be very clear about Mori Terumoto's temperament.

This guy gathered an army of 100,000 and stationed them at the border of Inaba Province without moving. It was obvious that he didn't want to fight.

I think the Ukita clan only needs to gather 10,000 to 20,000 troops to defend the city west of Inaba Province. This guy will most likely not attack us."

Yes, Mori Terumoto has always regarded preserving strength as his top priority.

It's unlikely that this guy would really fight him.

Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi slowly nodded and said, "Well, that makes sense. Let's leave the west alone for now and let Ukita handle it. What about the east?"

Kuroda Rusui said calmly, "The situation in the east seems critical, but it is not.

Tokugawa Ieyasu, Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato all had their own calculations. They did not use their full strength, not even half of their troops. Otherwise, Uesugi Kagekatsu would have been destroyed by them long ago.

I think we don't need to worry about Uesugi Kagekatsu for now. We can let him figure out how to hold on. If he can't hold on, we can fight and retreat towards the Maeda clan's Echigoku region. At the same time, let Maeda Toshiie gather his troops and prepare for support."

Even Uesugi Kagekatsu didn’t go to rescue him!

Does this mean we won't send any soldiers?
Are you kidding me?

Will this work?

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was stunned and asked, "Then what should we do?"

Kuroda Josui explained in detail, “We ordered the Sanada clan who retreated to Shinano Province to retake their Ueno Province, ordered the Satomi clan in Anbo Province to attack Kamitsusa Province, and ordered the Satake clan in Hitachi Province to attack Shimotsusa Province.

In this way, Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory was attacked from the north, east and south. No matter whether the Sanada, Satomi and Satake clans were fighting for real or fake, Tokugawa Ieyasu always had to divide his troops to deal with them.

We finally took action and attacked Tokugawa Ieyasu's stronghold, Musashi Province, from Kai Province.

In this way, Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory was surrounded by enemies. If he dared not to return troops for support, we would launch a fierce attack all the way to Edo Castle and destroy his lair.

If Tokugawa Ieyasu retreated, the troops of Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato would be no match for Uesugi Kagekatsu and Maeda Toshiie. If these two guys didn't want to mobilize all their troops to fight for Tokugawa Ieyasu, they would have to withdraw.

In this way, the siege of Echigo Province initiated by Tokugawa Ieyasu was completely lifted.

As the saying goes, the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted. If Tokugawa Ieyasu had not defeated Uesugi Kagekatsu, it is hard to say whether Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato would have listened to him and joined the army in the future.

In other words, as long as Tokugawa Ieyasu chooses to withdraw his troops to rescue, our crisis this time will basically be resolved.

Then His Highness Taiko could issue an order to punish Tokugawa Ieyasu and reduce his territory, and use these territories to win over Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato.

Tokugawa Ieyasu has already raised an army and will definitely not listen to us and give up the territory. We can use this as an excuse to let Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato unite to attack Tokugawa Ieyasu and seize the territory we have granted to them.

If Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato feel that they are not strong enough and dare not send troops, we can continue to reduce Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory to reward Maeda Toshiie and Uesugi Kagekatsu, and let them also send troops to seize the territories we have granted them.

If all else fails, there are still the Sanada, Satomi, and Satake clans. Since Tokugawa Ieyasu has rebelled anyway, we don't need to worry about how unhappy this guy might be. We can just use his territory to lure the other daimyo to join forces and attack him."

What a brilliant idea!
He is indeed worthy of being the world's number one military strategist.

Upon hearing this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi nodded repeatedly and said, "This is a brilliant plan. Let's do it."

Kuroda Josui was indeed good at making plans. He could always come up with a good idea when Toyotomi Hideyoshi was out of ideas.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, on the other hand, was ruthless and decisive, good at using underhanded tactics, and could also adopt Kuroda Rusui's strategies.

The two of them work together seamlessly.

But that was in the past.

There was a big problem with their plan this time, which was that they underestimated the defensive capabilities of Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory.

Regardless of whether the Sanada, Satomi and Satake clans were fighting for real or not, they all sent troops to Ueno, Kazusa and Shimousa provinces according to Toyotomi Hideyoshi's orders.

Unexpectedly, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not send any troops to support.

This guy directly let Gamo Ujisato take the opportunity to attack Hitachi Province!

When Toyotomi Hideyoshi assembled an army of 100,000 to attack Musashi Province, he did not transfer troops from Echigo Province to support him. He just attacked Uesugi Kagekatsu!
Hideyoshi was now in a difficult position and could only order his army to attack Tama County in Musashi Province, hoping to break through Tama County and directly attack Edo Castle. The result was predictable. Tokugawa Ieyasu had already built many small cities and fortresses along the key passes of Tama County. Moreover, the cities and fortresses in Tama County were filled with kerosene, which made it impossible for Hideyoshi, with his 100,000-man army, to push forward.

If they wanted to capture the city fortress, they had to attack the city walls. If they wanted to attack the city walls, they had to use siege equipment. But the siege equipment at that time was all made of wood. It would catch fire if kerosene was poured into it, and it could not be extinguished.

The Toyotomi army was blocked in Tama County and could not move forward at all. Instead, Tokugawa Ieyasu sent troops to attack Anpo Province and Shinano Province. Gamo Ujisato also attacked Hitachi Province, and Date Masamune also went to attack Dewa Province.

This is not a big deal.

When Mori Terumoto saw that these guys were starting to fight for territory, he immediately ordered Kobayakawa Takakage to lead his army to attack Higo Province and Bungo Province in southern Kyushu.

Now Japan has returned to the chaotic Warring States period, and all the princes are fighting each other.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty was quiet and peaceful, without any turmoil at all. Moreover, with the prosperity of commerce, more and more workshops were built in various places. Ordinary people had ways to make money, and their lives became more and more prosperous.

The capital of the Ming Dynasty was extremely prosperous, with streets and alleys filled with traffic and crowds of people.

It's already November now, and the temperature in the capital has begun to drop sharply. There are even signs of freezing at night.

However, due to the popularity of coal, almost every household in the capital has a coal stove and a heated kang, so ordinary people don’t feel cold at all in such weather.

It was even warmer than spring inside the palace and very comfortable.

Early in the morning at about noon, Wanli was walking leisurely towards the imperial study with his hands behind his back, and Luo Sigong was already standing at the door waiting for him.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, he couldn't help but ask, "How is the situation in Japan? Are they fighting?"

Luo Sigong nodded repeatedly and said, "They started fighting. Maori Terumoto ordered Kobayakawa Takakage to attack Southern Kyushu. I'm not sure about the specific situation of the battle. This is a secret letter he wrote to you."

After saying that, he took out an envelope from his pocket and handed it over respectfully.

Wanli took the envelope, tore it open, and couldn't help but smile.

The war in Japan really broke out.

Tokugawa Ieyasu initially wrote a letter asking Mori Terumoto to send troops to threaten Toyotomi Hideyoshi's west.

This guy probably wanted to test whether Mori Terumoto dared to send troops to fight Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

Without hesitation, Mori Terumoto assembled an army of 100,000 and headed to the west of Inaba Province, preparing to attack Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

This was like blowing the horn of attack. Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately joined forces with Date Masamune and Gamo Ujisato to besiege Echigo Province.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately ordered the Sanada clan of Shinano Province, the Satomi clan of Anho Province, and the Satake clan of Hitachi Province to send troops to besiege Tokugawa Ieyasu's territory.

Moreover, Toyotomi Hideyoshi himself assembled an army of 100,000 to attack Musashi Province, the stronghold of Tokugawa Ieyasu.

With kerosene in his hands, Tokugawa Ieyasu was not afraid of the siege at all. He even counterattacked Anpo and Shinano.

Gamo Ujisato and Date Masamune did not hesitate and directly sent troops to attack Hitachi and Dewa provinces.

Now the various princes of Japan finally started a big fight, and the Ming Dynasty’s chance has come!
Wanli read the letter carefully and then asked, "What is the situation in Nanjiuzhou? Have you investigated it clearly?"

Luo Sigong nodded repeatedly and said, "This humble official has already sent secret guards to investigate. Most of the Shimazu clan's men, including the young and strong ones, are still being held by us. They simply cannot recruit many men.

The five countries in Southern Kyushu currently have a total of less than 30,000 troops. It should not be a big problem for Kobayakawa Takakage to take over Southern Kyushu with his 50,000 troops.

However, it might take a long time because the Shimazu clan had been frantically strengthening the defenses of cities and fortresses after receiving orders from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Even if Kobayakawa Takakage had a large number of troops, it would not be easy to attack the city.

Your Majesty, if you want Kobayakawa Takakage to fight faster, I have a way.

We can send secret guards into the city and hide there before Kobayakawa Takakage starts besieging the city. Once Kobayakawa Takakage starts attacking the city, our secret guards will open the city gates for him at night.

In this way, the defensive facilities built by the Shimazu clan will be useless, and Kobayakawa Takakage should be able to quickly conquer the five states of Southern Kyushu."

You are really smart, guy.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then shook his head slightly and said, "Don't order the secret guards to help, just let Kobayakawa Takakage fight slowly.

Let's save this trick of secret guards for later use. If we use it now, the Japanese pirates will be on guard against it when we attack the Japanese mainland.

Moreover, there is no need for us to be anxious. They have just started fighting. If we rush over now, they will most likely stop fighting immediately and unite against the outside world.

It just so happens that we need time to prepare, so let them fight for a while. The more they fight, the better it will be for us."

Oh, no rush.

Luo Sigong nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand."

In fact, Wanli didn’t say one more thing.

The Mori clan are also Japanese pirates, and their troops must be worn down as well.

Why would we help at this time? Just let them waste time. The more they waste time, the better!
Wanli thought about it carefully, and then said to Li Xuancheng beside him: "Uncle, send someone to summon Yuan Jing back to the capital to meet the emperor."

(End of this chapter)