<>"Sir! Why do you say such unlucky words!" Hearing Tokugawa Iemitsu say such words, Kasuga Bureau was frightened. "Although the current situation is difficult, my lord, there are still so many people.

I will assist you loyally, and with so many troops protecting you, and with the blessing of God in the sky, I will definitely be able to turn danger into good luck and repel the Han invaders!"

Although she spoke very sincerely, Tokugawa Iemitsu didn't sound too touched and just sighed slightly. A person in a high position like him certainly knows that there are countless blessings from gods and Buddhas.

The only thing that can speak volumes is swords and guns, and now the shogunate is helpless with swords and guns and has nothing to do against the Han invaders.

What is even more frightening is that the authority of the shogunate is actually based on the coercion of the vassals by force. Once this kind of military pressure is lost and the support of the court's righteousness is lost, the status of the shogunate will be lost.

will be greatly shaken—and this wavering has already occurred.

After the Han invaders launched a war against the shogunate, the shogunate was never able to get any advantages on the battlefield, and it repeatedly lost troops and territory. Its reputation and prestige had been exhausted. People everywhere raised rebel flags, and the shogunate was about to become alone.

Now even Kanto is facing the terrible situation of being invaded by Han invaders. It can be said that it has reached the most dangerous moment. We are afraid that the Han invaders will directly advance towards Edo and turn this prosperous city into ruins.

His wet nurse just said it lightly and wanted to run away, but now there are powerful enemies everywhere, and even if he wants to retreat, there is no place to retreat. In Edo, he was still a general, and if he is in the hands of others, he may want to do it.

There are no prisoners left.

He didn't want to explain these things to Kasuga Bureau. He just felt weak all over and his head still ached, and he didn't want to think about anything.

"I'm much better now. Please step back first." He waved his hand gently, indicating that Kasuga Bureau could leave now. "You can pack your bags and leave Edo in the next two days to rest somewhere else.

."

"No, sir, I absolutely cannot leave you." As soon as he heard that the general was going to drive him away, Kasuga Bureau immediately stopped and looked at Tokugawa Iemitsu anxiously, "Please let me stay and continue to take care of you.

Lord General!"

"Now that the river is under martial law to guard against Han invaders, the female relatives have to be evacuated. It is natural for you to follow them and leave. You can't do anything by staying here anyway." Tokugawa Iemitsu shook his head, and then said in a weak tone, "

I am facing an enemy now and I don’t need anyone else to take care of me."

"Sir, I am also the daughter of the samurai family, and I serve you as the master. You can't leave. How can I still leave?" Kasuga Bureau couldn't help but cry, "As the retainer of the shogun and the general manager of Daou, I must

I will live and die together with you, and fight against the Han invaders together. Please give me your permission, General!"

After saying that, she knelt down directly on the ground and touched her head to the ground.

Tokugawa Iemitsu originally wanted to say something more, but after seeing Kasuga Bureau's resolute attitude, he swallowed his words again.

That's fine, let's fight against the Han invaders together.

That night, the shogunate, who received the news of the Han invaders' landing, finally calmed down, and then began to do its best to deal with the sudden situation. The shogunate's envoys began to dispatch from Edo to various places, preparing to mobilize shogunate troops from various places to return to Edo.

Unlike Edo, which had been awake all night, Yokosuka Castle was surprisingly calm that day. After occupying Yokosuka, Zhao Song, the commander of the Japanese army, began to assign different tasks to his subordinates. Some were responsible for on-the-spot vigilance, while others

Some people were sent to expand the occupied area and guard against the mobilization of the shogunate's troops.

After all these mobilizations began to be implemented step by step, Zhao Song and his counselors became more relaxed, and Zhao Song fell asleep early that night.

His current residence is Sogenji Temple, which is a temple of the Soto Sect of Buddhism and an ancient temple in the Yokosuka area. After the Han army landed in Yokosuka, the monks in this temple fled directly with the common people.

The remaining few were also driven away by the Han army, and then this time they were requisitioned and became Zhao Song's temporary residence.

During Tokugawa Iemitsu's night of panic and shock, Zhao Song spent it easily, and he didn't wake up until the next morning.

At this time, Yan Guang and several other council officers were already asking to see him. After washing briefly, Zhao Song immediately met with these council officers.

"Is there anything unusual in the shogunate last night?" Zhao Song asked directly as soon as they met.

"There was no abnormal movement among the troops and horses mobilized everywhere. On the contrary, everything was calm." Yan Guang immediately replied, "At least so far, there is no sign that the shogunate is gathering troops and horses in front of our army to prepare for an attack."

"So, the shogunate was scared out of their wits and decided to let us land like this and pretend we couldn't see it?" Zhao Song's eyes flashed with a trace of disappointment and disdain, "I thought we were bullying this.

For your sake, Tokugawa Iemitsu, a kid like me, probably can’t bear it anymore.”

"It seems that they want to stick to Edo and fight a war of attrition with us." Yan Guang was very serious, "Sir, our landing was very smooth. We can transport all the troops to the land in the next two days. Artillery and

The war horse will be a little delayed, but it won't be too long."

"Very good, it seems that Cai De has really put his heart into it." Zhao Song nodded approvingly, "In this case, we don't have to stay here waiting for others to come and beat us. Tokugawa Iemitsu doesn't dare to come.

If he beats us, we will come to find him!"

"Sir, we think so too." Yan Guang also agreed with him.

Then, Yan Guang and others spread the Japanese topographic map in their hands on the table and began to re-plan the next use of the troops. Fortunately, before the landing, these counselors had already made plans for various situations.

So now that the situation has changed, they don't feel at a loss.

"Where we are now, the southern tip of the peninsula..." Yan Guang said, pointing at the map with his finger, and then gently sliding it over, "So if you want to march, there is no other way to go at the beginning.

Yes, we can only attack northward, but when we break out of the peninsula, there will be more places to consider..."

He placed his hand on the northernmost tip of the peninsula, and then stopped on one of the cities.

"This is Kamakura. Kamakura is a well-known ancient city in Japan. It was also the location of the shogunate when Minamoto Yoritomo first established the shogunate. It can be said to be the spiritual holy place of the Kanto samurai and even the entire Japanese samurai. It has extraordinary significance. If

If we can capture Kamakura quickly, it will definitely deal a big blow to the reputation of the shogunate, and it will also make our momentum stronger... In addition, Kamakura is located to the west of the shogunate, which is a choke point. The shogunate must now have a sudden attack on us.

The landing was very anxious, and troops were mobilized everywhere to rush to Edo, and we could wait for work near Kamakura, destroy or defeat the troops who came to rescue the shogunate, and then directly attack Edo, leaving Tokugawa Iemitsu with no way out.

escape!"

While he was explaining, Zhao Song remained silent, thinking about the credibility of Yan Guang's plan. From a logical point of view, Yan Guang's plan was also the most appropriate - Edo was the throat of the shogunate, and the shogunate did not dare

If you don't save, you will naturally have to mobilize a large number of troops, and the Han Dynasty can intercept these troops in the middle, weakening the shogunate's military strength, and also making the shogunate more isolated.

"It will take a long time to attack it, and we can surround it and mobilize reinforcements. Not bad... not bad..." Finally, he nodded and agreed to Yan Guang's plan, "Then we will capture Kamakura first and let Tokugawa Iemitsu rest for a few days.

, and then let the whole army directly attack Edo."

Yan Guang was the chief counselor and received Zhao Song's personal approval, so the strategy he proposed became the new battle plan for the Han army. The other counselors began to plan the march route in accordance with Yan Guang's request.

and the deployment of officers and soldiers, while Zhao Song and Yan Guang went to the troops to express condolences to the landing officers and soldiers, and at the same time prepared to lead the army to leave as soon as possible.

Early the next morning, the Han army, which had finished resting, set out on time. The mighty army, like tigers coming out of the gate, began to press deep into the hinterland of the shogunate. Although they were faced with many crises,

But they have no fear and only want to make achievements and defeat the enemy.

Just as the Han army was setting off, the shogunate's envoy finally came to the Iga area and found the army personally led by the shogunate's elder Ii Naotaka, and then explained the difficulties the shogunate was facing and Tokugawa Iemitsu's orders.

To Naotaka Ii.

When he heard that the Han army had actually landed in the hinterland of Kanto and was within easy reach of Edo, Ii Naotaka was almost stunned and was speechless for a long time.

"I...I have failed the general and I have failed the divine king!" In the end, he could only sigh, annoyed and painful, and his face was ashen as death.

Because of his previous advice, Tokugawa Iemitsu handed over a large number of elite troops to him and asked him to go to Kinki to fight the Han invaders. As a result, he now led a large army to fight the Han invaders and failed to regain much land. Instead, he allowed Kanto to

There was a void, and as a result, the Han invaders now directly landed in Kanto, and he felt that he was indeed guilty.

"My lord... now is not the time to talk about this!" As if feeling his current pain and guilt, the messenger comforted him and at the same time urged, "Now that Edo is in emergency, please send troops to Jiangsu as soon as possible.

Please rescue Edo. Right now, the most important thing is to save Edo. Everything else can be slowed down..."

However, Naotaka Ii still looked ashen.

Now it is no longer a question of slowing down. The problem now is that with the two armies facing each other, even if he wants to retreat back to Kanto to rescue Edo, there is no way he can do it immediately - if he really doesn't care

If you retreat immediately, your entire army will surely be destroyed by the enemy's pursuit.

Moreover, even if he can return to rescue, he doesn't know if Edo can be saved. At least Kinki and Saigoku will definitely not be able to return to the rule of the shogunate now... The shogunate is now declining.

As an important minister of the shogunate, he assisted the Tokugawa family in ruling Japan from the beginning of the establishment of the shogunate. He served three generations of generals and helped them strengthen their control over the daimyo and the court in various ways. He also watched the shogunate change little by little.

Became a behemoth that dominated Japan.

However, just when the shogunate was at its peak, it suddenly suffered a blow. Seeing that the shogunate was in danger, this kind of pain was really unbearable.

He was really at a loss. He didn't know how to face the divine king and the previous generals, let alone what to do to save the shogunate in such a critical situation.

"Sir!" Seeing that the elder was so uneasy, the envoy couldn't help but urge, "Please make a decision quickly!"

"Yes... we need to make a decision as soon as possible." He nodded.

Under the current situation, it is impossible for the entire army to escape. We can only leave a part of the army as a rear guard to delay the enemy's pursuit and bring the main force back to Kanto to defend Edo.

But the morale of the remaining army will definitely be greatly reduced. How long can they resist the enemy? Naotaka Ii is really not sure, but he can only try now.

That very morning, he immediately summoned all his generals, and then informed these generals of the situation currently facing Kanto.

When they heard that the Han invaders had landed directly in Kanto and threatened Edo, these generals, like Naotaka Ii, fell into panic and panic. They were all the bannermen of the shogunate for generations, and many of their families lived near Edo.

, Edo's encounter with war is tantamount to saying that their families have been put in danger.

Immediately, almost everyone said in unison that they would return to support Edo.

Originally, they fought high-spiritedly all the way from Kanto, intent on fighting the Han invaders to the death and regaining Kyoto for the shogunate. However, after fighting for so many days, the shogunate's army still made little progress, and their patience and morale had been worn away.

, the original excitement has never been restored again. Now that we have heard the news that Edo is threatened, naturally everyone just wants to retreat.

This was what Ii Naotaka was most worried about. He thought about it, and finally selected a few generals who were most loyal to the shogunate, and ordered them to lead their respective troops to cut off the rear and cover the retreat of the army. And these few generals were most loyal to the shogunate.

All the generals finally agreed with tears in their eyes.

Although the top brass of the military finally reached a unified opinion, the tens of thousands of troops were scattered widely, and the advance, retreat, and redeployment could not be solved at once. In the next few days, Naotaka Ii was personally directing the mobilization and preparation of the troops.

, and at the same time, they also attach great importance to confidentiality, hoping to deceive the enemy on the opposite side and try to make it easier for them to retreat.

However, even though he was so cautious, the unusual movement on the other side still did not escape Zhou Pu's eyes.

Because he knew the plan of the Han army before and knew that he would definitely ask Ii Naotaka to return for support when Edo was threatened, he paid great attention to the movements of Ii Naotaka's army. When the other side began to redeploy their deployment, he also
To be continued...