Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 73 Kanto Avengers

Satake Yoshishige is single-mindedly focused on unifying Hitachi Province, and now only the Oda clan remains to put up a stubborn resistance.

The Oda clan, relying on the Hojo clan, prevented Satake Yoshishige from unifying Hitachi for a long time.

As early as last year, Yoshishige Satake wanted to launch an attack on the Oda clan, but he dared not advance easily due to the threat from the Hojo clan.

With the Hojo clan's army now tied down in Kozuke Province by the Sanada clan and Hojo Takahiro, Satake Yoshishige made a decision in an instant.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

“Supporting Ueno is impossible, but we can launch an attack on the Oda clan.”

"In this way, we can also consider it as providing support to Sanada."

Ota Sukemasa immediately replied, "I am willing to go first."

“No rush,” Yoshishige Satake said slowly. “The Utsunomiya and Yuki factions also need to join in, otherwise it will be difficult for our main clan to win on its own.”

"Zente, you must immediately set off for Yuki and Utsunomiya, express our clan's willingness to send troops, and request that the two clans join the alliance."

"what!"

Satake Yoshishige reached out and touched his chin. He didn't care about the life or death of the Sanada family; he only knew that now was indeed a good opportunity to send troops.

Ueno is so far from Hitachi that it's simply out of reach.

Since the Hojo clan's attention was focused on Ueno, Yoshishige Satake saw this as a good opportunity to continue expanding his territory.

He stood up, glanced at the Kanto map behind him, and then drew his wakizashi and planted it directly at the location of Oda Castle.

This nail has been stuck here for a long time, causing Yoshishige Satake a lot of trouble. Now it's time to remove it.

Soon, the anti-Hōjō coalition, led by Yoshishige Satake and joined by the three Kanto daimyo families of Utsunomiya, Yuki, and Sano, was successfully established.

The four daimyo immediately mobilized their troops within their territories and prepared for war, creating a massive spectacle that instantly attracted the attention of the entire Kanto region.

Meanwhile, Sanada Nobuyuki, in Iwatoki Castle, also received a letter from the Satake family.

Announcement from Sanada Azuma Moriuchika:
Having heard that the Sanada family is facing an attack from the Hojo family in Ueno, I, Hitachi Satake, strongly condemn such an unjust act by the Hojo family.

However, because Hitachi is far from Ueno, it is impossible to directly send reinforcements to Ueno to fight.

But don't panic, our Satake clan will definitely not sit idly by, so we have already begun to attack the Oda clan, which is subordinate to the Hojo clan.

We hope the Sanada clan will hold out a little longer, and after we defeat the Oda clan, we will continue our advance to invade the Hojo clan's territory.

Please, Sanada family, hold your castle and await my good news.

November 13th, the tenth year of Tianzheng.

Hitachi Yoshishige.

In short: Hold firm, and there will be a way. I, the Satake clan, am willing to provide all support except for assistance.

"Screw you," Nobuyuki Sanada was completely stunned.

I knew these people from Kanto were a pain in the neck, but I never imagined they'd be this bad.

Sanada Nobuyuki also planned to lead his troops to support Hojo Ujinao from the rear after the Kanto Allied Forces entered Ueno.

Unexpectedly, Yoshishige Satake's plan was to have the Sanada family fight to the death with Hojo Ujinao on this side, while he took the opportunity to seize territory from behind.

Taking a few deep breaths, Nobuyuki Sanada managed to control his emotions.

This request for help wasn't entirely fruitless. Although no reinforcements were directly obtained, the Hojo clan would definitely send troops back to support the Satake clan once they launched their operation.

This would greatly reduce the pressure on Ueno.

At the same time, Hojo Ujimasa of Hachigata Castle also learned of the Satake family's actions.

Holding his bowl of ochazuke (rice with tea), Hojo Ujimasa shoveled at it as he said in a deep voice, "Sato certainly knows how to pick his time. Sending troops at this critical juncture is really putting our main clan in a difficult position."

"How is the battle situation in Ueno?"

Hojo Ujikuni quickly spoke up, "Hiraemon (Kasahara Yasukatsu) has been besieging the castle for ten days, but Numata Castle remains impregnable." "And what about Masahashi Castle?"

"Still under siege, Mori Tango-no-kami is unwilling to open the gates and has moved the people of the town below the castle into the castle as well. It seems that he is preparing to put up a last-ditch resistance."

After Hojo Takahiro joined the Hojo clan, he changed his surname from Hojo to Mori to distinguish himself from the Hojo family. Hojo Takahiro was a collateral descendant of the Mori clan of the Ōe clan.

After hearing Hojo Ujikuni's report, Hojo Ujimasa suddenly felt that even the ochazuke in his bowl didn't taste good anymore.

Putting down his chopsticks, Hojo Ujimasa suddenly asked, "What is Tokugawa doing?"

"So much time has passed, why hasn't the Tokugawa clan made a move at all?"

Tokugawa Ieyasu was busy taking over Kai Province, so he had no time to deal with Hojo Ujimasa.

There were many gold mines in Kai Province, and Tokugawa Ieyasu was practically beaming with joy during this period; these were all money! Although these gold mines had begun to dry up during the time of Takeda Shingen, they weren't completely depleted.

As for the news that the Hojo clan was urging them to send troops, Tokugawa Ieyasu simply chose to ignore it.

He was waiting for the Hojo clan to intensify their offensive, ideally drawing the main force of the Sanada clan to Ueno, so that he could take advantage of Shinano's vulnerability and launch a surprise attack.

However, according to the reports from the ninjas sent out by Hattori Hanzo, Sanada Masayuki was clearly also on guard against the Tokugawa clan, and stubbornly stayed in Komoro Castle with his large army without moving.

Even Tokugawa Ieyasu couldn't help but remark, "Sanada is truly a formidable opponent."

"But how are you going to defend Ueno against Hojo's attack?"

Numata Castle, Ueno Tone County.

Kasahara Yasukatsu was getting anxious. He had thought that with his superior forces, he could quickly capture Numata Castle and wipe away the shame of the previous day's crushing defeat at Komoro Castle.

He had already inquired and found out that there were only a little over a thousand people in Numata Castle, and the one guarding the castle was an old man who was half-buried in the ground.

According to Kasahara Yasunari, he had 8,000 troops and more than 3,000 Ueno soldiers to help him. With more than 10,000 people fighting against more than 1,000, wasn't the advantage in his hands?

After fighting for more than ten days, Kasahara Yasukatsu hadn't even touched the gates of Numata Castle, which was completely unacceptable to him.

Numata Castle is situated on a cliff, at the confluence of the Tone River and the Usune River, a narrow location that is extremely unfavorable for the deployment of large armies.

The Hojo clan's forces could only be deployed two miles from Numata Castle, and they would cross the Usane River before launching an attack.

It was winter, and the Usane River had begun to freeze, but it wasn't completely frozen.

The foot soldiers of the Hojo clan had to cross the icy river seven or eight times a day, and many of them had frostbitten feet. The foot soldiers suffered terribly.

Today, Kasahara Yasukatsu finally ordered a day of rest, and the foot soldiers all sat haphazardly around the campfire to keep warm.

Hats, dōmaru (traditional Japanese military hats), and straw sandals were hanging everywhere, ready to dry, creating a very chaotic scene.

Kuninori Inomata stood on the hillside, helplessly watching the chaotic army formation.

Fortunately, the Sanada family inside the city did not dare to launch an attack outside the city. Otherwise, in this situation, a single charge would have driven these thousands of people into a panic.

Kuninori Inomata led four or five hundred men to patrol around the camp, keeping an eye on the movements around the battlefield.

"Sir, look what that is?"

Just then, a foot soldier next to him pointed to the distant riverbank and shouted loudly.

Kuninori Inomata quickly looked over and saw a neatly lined army slowly marching along the Tone River toward Numata Castle.

Kuninori Inomata crept over quietly, and when he saw the situation of this army, he couldn't help but shudder.

On one side, the Uesugi family's banner was carried on the shoulders of the flag bearers, and on the banner fluttering in the wind, two bamboo sparrows seemed to be looking at Kuninori Inomata.

Even though many years have passed since Uesugi Kenshin's great name was established, the deterrent power of this military banner remains undiminished.

"It's Uesugi. Uesugi has set out from Echigo."

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(End of this chapter)