Tokugawa Ieyasu was quite satisfied with the fact that dissatisfaction towards the enemy was loyalty towards himself.
"Very soon. Zhongsheng, get ready immediately. Once we start, lead the army to the side gate of the inner city. Our spies are there to help us break the gate. Surround the inner city and search for Toyotomi Hideyoshi as soon as possible. Capture him alive once he is found. Do not kill him."
"Understood!"
Honda Tadakatsu was fearless. He took his fearsome spear and went to organize his troops. Tokugawa Ieyasu and Kuroda Rusui entered the main camp. There was a Nation Crushing Cannon that belonged to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. It was specifically used to deal with the Ming Army's naval warships. However, the cannons of the Ming Army were fast and powerful. Furthermore, there were many of them. Toyotomi Hideyoshi's cannons would only be able to fire one shot before they would be bombarded by the cannons of the Ming Army. Therefore, it was impossible to rely on these cannons to counterattack.
Even so, as a powerful long-range firearm, cannons were an important asset to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Honda Tadakatsu's 20,000 elite soldiers were only equipped with one cannon, but there were more than 10 cannons on the walls of the inner city. It was said that there were still many cannons in the inner city's arsenal that had not yet been assembled. It was not hard to imagine that Toyotomi Hideyoshi was planning to fight a protracted war with the Ming Army at Nagoya Castle.
This cannon was the signal for the uprising. Tokugawa Ieyasu would use this cannon to shoot at the inner city walls. When the cannon was fired, it would be the time for the Eastern Army to launch a crusade against Toyotomi Hideyoshi. All the Daimyo would lead their troops to attack the Western Army that was closest to them. There were only 30,000 Western Army soldiers inside the city, while the Eastern Army had 100,000. The Eastern Army had an overwhelming advantage in terms of military strength.
Although the Western Army mostly guarded the important checkpoints and city towers, the most important inner city had Tokugawa spies. As long as the inner city was breached and Toyotomi Hideyoshi surrendered, Tokugawa Ieyasu would quickly kill him and bring his head to surrender. However, the Admiral of the Ming Army, Xiao Ruxun, seemed to say that he also needed Toyotomi Hideyoshi's head. He was probably asking for a reward from their emperor. Therefore, this head had many uses and needed to be kept safe.
Tokugawa Ieyasu stroked the body of this terrifying cannon. The scenes from the moment he stepped onto the world stage at the age of seventeen replayed in front of his eyes.
When he was 17, he followed Imagawa Yoshimoto to Shangluo and killed Sakuma Morishige.
When he was nineteen, he allied himself with Oda Nobunaga.
When he was 25 years old, he helped Nobunaga Asahi.
When he was 27 years old, he followed Nobunaga to crusade against Asakura Yoshikage. Kanazaki retreated. In June of the same year, he fought in the Battle of Geigawa, which established the Oda regime's position in Kinki.
When he was 29 years old, he fought against Takeda Shingen. He was outnumbered. After a crushing defeat, in March of the first year of Tenshō, he regained control of the five cities of Amaterasu, Kekugurun, Fenglai, Xiangli, and Ichinomiya.
When he was 32 years old, he fought against Nobunaga.
When he was 39 years old, he followed Nobunaga to destroy Takeda. In the same year, he conquered Honnoji. He controlled five countries. After that, he fought against the strong and defeated Hideyoshi. Hideyoshi had no choice but to use diplomatic means to subdue him. After that, he controlled a large piece of land in Kanto and became the most powerful daimyo under Hideyoshi.
Until now, as the leader of the five elders of the Toyotomi clan, he did not think it was a big deal to join forces with foreign enemies to destroy Toyotomi Hideyoshi. At the very least, he and Toyotomi Hideyoshi were enemies. The most important thing was that after this cannon was fired, he would officially take the steps of the shogunate. He was a descendant of the Minamoto nobility. He had the right to become the commander-in-chief of the barbarian army.
This was something that Toyotomi Hideyoshi could not do even if he wanted to go crazy. But to him, it was so close and within reach.
"Officer, once this cannon is fired, we really have no way out."
"We have no way out. From the beginning, we have no way out."
Kuroda Rusui's determination was firmer than Tokugawa Ieyasu's. He and Toyotomi Hideyoshi had gone on two completely different paths. They had long gone their separate ways.
"I know. I have dreamed of this moment countless times, but I never thought it would come so soon. Officer, I will need your help in the future."
"Your subject will do his best."
Tokugawa Ieyasu swallowed his last reassurance. He ordered the cannoneers to load the cannons onto the carriages. Together with the well-prepared troops, they snuck out of the inner city and into the firing range of the cannons. It was a dark and windy night, so the troops were completely hidden. The muzzles of the cannons were aimed at the inner city walls. The cannoneers had finished loading and handed a match to Tokugawa Ieyasu, asking him to personally light the match.
He asked him to take the first step. The rest would be carried by his loyal soldiers.
Tokugawa Ieyasu took the match and took a deep breath. He opened the lid and blew on it. The faint blue flame was somewhat conspicuous in the night. Tokugawa Ieyasu aimed the flame at the fuse. With a sizzling sound, the fuse was ignited. Tokugawa Ieyasu quickly retreated and waited for the arrival of fate.
There was a night guard on the city wall who happened to see the sudden appearance of the faint blue flame in the dark environment. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. He was also a little surprised. He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. He saw something that seemed to be the fuse being ignited. The sparks were continuously flowing downwards. He felt that he had seen this scene somewhere before.
What place was it?
It seemed like … when the fuse of the cannon was about to be fired?
Yes! It was really similar!
"Hey, look at that …"
"Boom!"
A loud noise covered the voice of the soldier. The huge cannoneers that followed also reaped his life. He was the first martyr of this great revolution. He was destined to be remembered by no one.
The sound of the cannon was a symbol that woke up countless people from their dreams. It also made even more people who were not asleep instantly excited.
Since ancient times, the change of dynasties and regimes was accompanied by a large amount of redistribution of power and interests. The generals and civil officials who followed Toyotomi Hideyoshi had all made a lot of money because of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's status in the world. Each of them was a feudal lord worth hundreds of thousands of stones. The rest of the daimyo were excluded from the list of redistribution of interests due to various reasons. They did not get to eat the fattest meat.
This was a heaven-sent opportunity. The daimyo of the western army had probably all died in Korea. They were killed by the Ming Army. The remaining daimyo could not compete with them at all. As long as they killed Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Toyotomi's regime would completely collapse. Once Toyotomi's regime collapsed, the entire Western Country would become the spoils of war for these eastern daimyo. There were only about 20 of them. They served Tokugawa Ieyasu as their ruler and submitted to him. Once Tokugawa Ieyasu succeeded in establishing the government, the world would be theirs.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
