This grief-stricken army chose to be loyal.
Therefore, this army assembled and even armed the miners, expanding the army to more than ten thousand men and more than two thousand iron cannons. They decided to fight to the death and take revenge on Tokugawa Ieyasu. They also sent a letter of challenge to Tokugawa Ieyasu early on, giving Tokugawa Ieyasu quite a headache. He knew that this kind of army was the most difficult to deal with, because they had no intention of leaving alive. No matter what, they would defend the Ishikami Silver Mountain to prevent Tokugawa Ieyasu from obtaining it.
Tokugawa Ieyasu urgently needed the silver from the Ishikami Silver Mountain for military expenses and daily expenses. At this moment, there were still a lot of silver mines in the Ishikami Silver Mountain that had not been transported away. That was Tokugawa Ieyasu's goal. However, the existence of this army became the biggest stumbling block for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to let Honda Tadakatsu lead the strongest Honda team to attack the Ishikami Silver Mountain. However, he did not expect that Honda Tadakatsu, who had never been defeated since the beginning of the battle, would actually lose.
The Toyotomi army took advantage of the fact that they were familiar with the terrain and the mountains to lure Honda Tadakatsu's cavalry to the rugged terrain, causing Honda Tadakatsu's cavalry to fall one after another. They did not know whether to advance or retreat. They were used as live targets by the ambushed iron cannons and suffered heavy losses. Honda Tadakatsu returned in defeat. When he returned, he knelt in front of Tokugawa Ieyasu and begged for punishment. Although Tokugawa Ieyasu was angry, he could not punish his generals too much.
Honda Tadakatsu begged for another battle. This time, he was accompanied by a daimyo. However, both of them were defeated by the Ishikami Silver Mountain. They lost more than two hundred men and fled in a sorry state. Tokugawa Ieyasu never expected that a small Ishikami Silver Mountain would be able to stop him from moving forward.
Faced with Honda Tadakatsu and that daimyo's apology, Tokugawa Ieyasu did not punish them. Instead, he magnanimously forgave them, which earned him the support and gratitude of his faction. However, the problem was still unsolved. This made Tokugawa Ieyasu very frustrated. He did not have much time left. At the very least, he could not delay Kuroda Rusui's overall plan.
"There's no need for punishment. However, we have to get the silver mountain. Do you have any way to get it as soon as possible?"
Tokugawa Ieyasu asked his retainers and daimyo for a plan. However, none of them were familiar with the terrain, so they were at their wits' end. He even asked the locals, but they all said that they had no idea what to do. When they attacked the Mōri clan's residence, they found that it was completely empty.
The tenacity of the Ishikami Silver Mountain made Tokugawa Ieyasu feel troubled. At the same time, he also realized that his reputation as a traitor was very bad. It had already brought about a very strong negative effect. Everyone regarded it as a disgrace to associate with a traitor. If he did not control the situation well, it would be extremely easy for him to walk down the same path as Akira Mitsuhide. And Maeda Toshiie would become the final victor. In order to suppress this negative effect, he had to attack Ishikami Silver Mountain as quickly as possible.
Tokugawa Ieyasu decided to use a deceptive method. He pretended to withdraw his troops and attack other places, no longer paying attention to the Ishikami Silver Mountain. However, he secretly left an elite troop under the command of Honda Tadakatsu. He decided to take advantage of the time when the elite troop was chasing after Tokugawa Ieyasu to launch a sneak attack and take down the entire Ishikami Silver Mountain.
This strategy was a little crude, but the general defending the Ishikami Silver Mountain was not a smart man. He was only brave and good at fighting. Obviously, he was no match for Tokugawa Ieyasu when it came to playing mind games. Therefore, Tokugawa Ieyasu's strategy was slightly effective. About six thousand of the defenders chased after Tokugawa Ieyasu. However, they were ambushed by the troops that Tokugawa Ieyasu had arranged beforehand. Out of the six thousand defenders, only about three thousand were left, and they retreated in a sorry state.
When they retreated in a sorry state, they discovered that their base had also been ambushed by the Tokugawa army. Honda Tadakatsu, who had been defeated twice, was the one who charged forward the most ferociously and fought the most ferociously. The humiliation of his two defeats had driven him to the brink of insanity. He would not let go of the third opportunity no matter what. The Ishikami Silver Mountain's defenders, who were lacking in manpower, were forced to retreat in defeat. Many mountains and important positions were taken away from them. Fortunately, the defenders who had retreated in defeat happened to bump into the Ishikami Silver Mountain's defenders. The two armies merged together and exploded with the will to survive.
Coincidentally, it was raining heavily at this moment. The downpour hindered the Tokugawa army's offensive, especially the cavalry and the cannons. A large number of infantry soldiers slipped and fell on the muddy ground. Seeing that there was no way the battle could continue, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered a retreat in anger, giving up on this perfect opportunity.
As soon as the Tokugawa army gave up, the remaining five thousand soldiers of the Ishikami Silver Mountain learned their lesson and obediently stayed in their positions, not even taking a step out. No matter how the Tokugawa army provoked them, they refused to go into battle. They were like turtles, using long-range weapons to defend their positions. This made Tokugawa Ieyasu so angry that his teeth itched, but there was nothing he could do about it. They had come in such a hurry that they did not bring the heavy cannons with them. Instead, they advanced with light troops.
On the fifth day of the battle for Ishikami, the situation changed. On Tokugawa Ieyasu's side, Kuroda Rusui, who had split up with Tokugawa Ieyasu, had completed his mission and led his army to meet up with Tokugawa Ieyasu. He conveniently brought the five cannons to Tokugawa Ieyasu, which he had been longing for day and night. Tokugawa Ieyasu was overjoyed when he received the cannons and quickly arranged an attack.
However, there was also good news on Toyotomi's side. Toyotomi Hidetsugu's retainer, General Maeno Nagayasu, led more than ten thousand elite soldiers and rushed to Bego. It would only take at most one day for the vanguard to enter the Ishikami area to support the Ishikami Silver Mountain Range.
This made Tokugawa Ieyasu anxious, so he used the cannons at all costs to bombard the Ishikami Silver Mountain Range. The Ishikami Silver Mountain Range's defenders were unable to resist the power of the cannons and could only retreat.
However, the power of the five cannons was limited. The accuracy and mobility of the cannons were also very worrying. It would take almost half a day to attack a line of defense, which was very time-consuming. This put Tokugawa Ieyasu in a very passive position.
Kuroda Rusui thought about it again and again. In the face of such a situation, he could only request to bring a unit to contain Maeno Nagayasu in order to buy time for Tokugawa Ieyasu. Tokugawa Ieyasu felt that he had lost face, so he issued a death order. No matter what, they had to annihilate these hateful defenders within one day.
The Tokugawa army gathered their remaining courage and charged at the defenders. The defenders also realized that this was the last moment, so they used all their remaining strength to fight back against the Tokugawa army. They repeatedly engaged in close combat with the Tokugawa army, killing at close range. Corpses piled up like a mountain, and blood flowed like a river. After fighting for two hours, they finally broke through the defenders' line of defense. The Tokugawa army relied on their advantage in numbers to basically annihilate the Ishikami Silver Mountain Range's defenders. The Ishikami Silver Mountain Range's forces were gathered together for the last resistance.
At this critical moment, a very special army appeared on the battlefield between the two armies.
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