Chapter 1144 Battle of Bangtao!

East Island, Hakata

In the study room of the Hojo family's mansion, the always methodical and wise old fox Hojo Kawa, now paced back and forth in the study room with an anxious look on his face...
After waiting for about a cup of tea, a burst of hurried footsteps came from outside the door. Beijo Chuan's eyes suddenly lit up and he looked towards the door. The next second, an old servant walked into the study, knelt down and reported to Beijo Chuan:

"Your Excellency, Mr. Wang has arrived!"

After hearing this news, Hojo Chuan's expression calmed down a little, and then he instructed the old servant:
"Please invite Mr. Wang in!"

"Yes!"

After the old servant took the order and left, Hojo Kawa, who was waiting for Mr. Wang's arrival, first took a deep breath, and then began to adjust his emotions so that he would look less anxious.

After Kitajikawa finished doing all this, the old servant invited Mr. Wang in. This Mr. Wang was none other than Wang He, the senior commissioner sent to Dongdao by the Coordination Office!
After the two of them exchanged a few pleasantries, Beijo Chuan invited Wang He to take a seat and asked the maid in the mansion to serve him fragrant tea. After these polite procedures were completed, Wang He directly asked Beijo Chuan:

"May I ask Lord Hojo, how is the battle of Bangtao going?"

After hearing this, Beijo Chuan couldn't help but narrow his eyes. He knew that the Coordination Office of the Yijing court had been planning for Dongdao for many years. There were many spies in Dongdao and they were always well-informed. And Wang He, as the senior commissioner in charge of Dongdao's intelligence work, must be paying attention to the Battle of Bangtao all the time...
Therefore, Wang He knew no less about the situation in the Battle of Bang Tao than himself, so this man named Wang was asking himself about the situation in the Battle of Bang Tao, which was really asking a question knowing the answer!

Thinking of this, Beijo Chuan couldn't help but show a trace of shame in his eyes, but on the surface he still pretended to be confident and smiled slightly and said to Wang He:

"Wang Sang, Bangtao City is impregnable, and my good friend Watanabe is now personally stationed in Bangtao City. To use the words of your Great Zhou, the troops of the shogunate cannot cross the line!"

Seeing that this old fox, Beijo Chuan, was so shameless and lied with his eyes open, Wang He was a little helpless, but on the surface he still had to accompany Beijo Chuan to continue acting and could only say:

"I feel relieved with your words, Lord Hojo! I wonder if Lord Hojo has anything to ask me to come here for?"

Beijo Chuan said without hesitation:
"Although Bangtao City is as solid as a rock, if we want to counterattack, we will need a new batch of military aid!"

Hearing the words "new military aid", Wang He couldn't help but fall into deep thought. A few months ago, Muto Mazaaki changed his previous ambiguous attitude and chose to support Ishihara Nobuyuki. After getting the support of Muto Mazaaki, Ishihara Nobuyuki's voice in the shogunate also increased sharply, and he also began to implement his plan!
Ishihara Nobuhiro, in the name of the shogunate, asked Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake to come to Heian-kyo to meet His Majesty. Of course, Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake would not go to Heian-kyo. After all, everyone knew that going there would be like walking into a tiger's mouth, and they would never come back...

So these two old guys made the same choice, that is, they claimed to be sick and could not go out. Hojo Kawa was better, and expressed his willingness to let one of his sons go to Heian-kyo to meet His Majesty on his behalf, while Watanabe Taketake was even more straightforward, and he was unwilling to even give up one of his sons!

The reactions of Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake were completely within Ishihara Nobu's expectations. In fact, although Ishihara Nobu asked Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake to come to Heian-kyo, Ishihara Nobu never thought that these two would listen to him and come to Heian-kyo and let him slaughter them!

What Ishihara Nobuyuki wanted was that Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake would not come, so that he would have an excuse to deal with Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake!
Therefore, after Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake expressed their unwillingness to come, Ishihara Nobuyuki directly overturned the table, produced evidence that the Hojo family, the Watanabe family and the Great Zhou Tongmediation Office were colluding to plot rebellion, and called on all the daimyos in East Island to kill the Hojo family and the Watanabe family!
Although it was true that they had colluded with the United Mediation Office to plot a rebellion, Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Taketake naturally denied it and said that it was a persecution by the shogunate. They invited other daimyos in Higashijima to follow them in honoring the emperor and overthrowing the shogunate!

This time, Ishihara Nobuyuki overturned the table, which completely broke the balance between the shogunate and the daimyo, and made the conflict between the shogunate and the daimyo known to the public!

Therefore, although other daimyo shouted slogans loudly, expressing their support for the shogunate's campaign against the Hojo and Watanabe families, they were actually just watching the fire from the other side of the river. Even if they were pressed by the shogunate, they would at most send more than a hundred people and some food and fodder to fool the shogunate...
After the war of words between the two sides continued for a while, Watanabe Taketake and Hojo Kawa were full of confidence because of the support of Da Zhou, and vowed to overthrow the Toyotomi shogunate and establish a new regime in Higashima!
Therefore, the Watanabe family sent out 50,000 troops and the Hojo family sent out 30,000 troops, totaling 80,000, claiming to be 150,000, to embark on the journey of overthrowing the shogunate. Because they had the support of the Fengwu Army with thousands of muskets, relying on these powerful firearms, the coalition forces of the two families also won victory after victory and progressed very smoothly. They even reached Nagawa Castle, which was only 200 miles away from Heian-kyo!
However, because the muskets supported by the Fengwu Army were all second-hand, although they were powerful, their service life was relatively short, and the allied soldiers did not know how to maintain them.

Therefore, these muskets were soon scrapped one after another, which also caused the coalition forces to be unable to maintain their initial momentum. Although they were only 200 miles away from Heian-kyo, they were still unable to reach the city of Heian-kyo!

This also gave the shogunate army a chance to catch its breath. Ishihara Nobuyuki used this time to quickly adjust his military strategy, and tried his best to persuade another daimyo, Mori Katsuhiro, to join the battle and launch a surprise attack on the Watanabe family's Bangtao Castle!
Although Watanabe Taketake led his troops to defeat Mori Katsuhiro and defended his old nest, Bangtao Castle, the surprise attack on the old nest still made the Watanabe family's troops a little panicked, and Ishihara Nobuyuki also seized this opportunity to severely damage the coalition forces in Nagawa!
The coalition forces lost tens of thousands of soldiers after the defeat of Nagawa, and the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Although Hojo Kawa and Watanabe Takemu thought of many ways, they were still unable to change the situation. The shogunate army led by Ishihara Nobuyuki killed them all the way to Bangtao Castle...

Although the Watanabe family's stronghold in Bangtao Castle is not his own stronghold, Hojo Kawa was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan when he saw the shogunate army attacking Bangtao, and he was anxious to find a way to lift the siege of Bangtao Castle!
Hojo Kawakawa knew very well that he and Watanabe Yutake were now tied to the same rope. Once Bangtao Castle was destroyed and the Watanabe family was wiped out, he would be the next one to go!

However, he would be isolated and helpless and would definitely not be able to resist the shogunate's army. Therefore, even for his own sake, Hojo Kawa must do his best to rescue Watanabe Taketake and prevent the shogunate's army from entering Bangtao Castle!

Hojo Kawakawa thought of many ways to rescue Watanabe Taketake. His first choice was to encourage other daimyo to launch a surprise attack on Heian-kyo, just like Ishihara Nobubu instigated Mori Katsuhiro to launch a surprise attack on Bangtao Castle, in order to attack Wei to save Zhao!
However, it is easy to add icing on the cake, but it is very difficult to help in times of trouble. The reason why Ishihara Nobu was able to encourage Maori Katsuhiro to send troops was that in addition to promising that Bangtao Castle would belong to the Maori family, he also promised other daimyo that the shogunate would never reduce the feudal system in the future. In this way, Maori Katsuhiro was invited to change the situation! Now Hojo River can't hold such a bargaining chip, and other daimyo are unwilling to lend a helping hand at this time as they are about to lose the battle!
As a result, Beijo Chuan had no choice but to place all his hopes on Wang He and the Yijing court behind him...

Under the earnest gaze of Beijo Chuan, Wang He, who had been silent for a long time, slowly spoke:
"Lord Hojo, that's not what you told me last time. You told me last time that as long as I gave you silver, food, and firearms, you would be able to conquer Heian-kyō and kill the entire Muto family, and then I would go back and report to our commander-in-chief!"

As soon as these words came out, the boasts he had made before were recalled, and Beijo Kawa couldn't help but blush, but he also quickly explained:

"Wang Sang, this plan can't keep up with the changes. If it weren't for the sneak attack by that bastard Mao Li Sheng Guang, I would have fulfilled my promise and let you, Wang Sang, take Muto Masaaki's head to your Marshal Ye to ask for credit!"

After finishing his defense, Hojo Kawa continued to preach:
"The battle is now at a critical moment. As long as Wang Sang can persuade Marshal Ye to give us some more firearms, we can change the situation!"

Wang He sneered in his heart when he heard this, but on the surface he still pretended to be embarrassed and preached:
"It's not that I don't want to help you, it's just that I'm having difficulties right now! You may not understand the procedures of my Great Zhou. Because of your promise, I also boasted to our commander-in-chief and asked for those things from you!"

“If I were to go back and ask Marshal Ye for money now, wouldn’t that be tantamount to slapping myself in the face? Besides, the court’s budget is limited. If I were to send you anything again, I would have to approve the budget again, which is quite troublesome…”

Looking at Wang He's embarrassed expression, Hojo Chuan took a deep breath. He didn't know how much of Wang He's words were true and how much were false!

However, in order to obtain military aid, Beijo Chuan felt it necessary to make Wang He aware of the danger of the situation. He said to Wang He in a deep voice:

"Wang Sang, now the shogunate and the Mori family have a total of 110,000 troops besieging Bangtao City, and Bangtao City has only 30,000 defenders. The food and grass in the city can only last for three months at most. These three months are the last time!"

Feeling the decisiveness in Hojo Kawa's words, Wang He understood that the old guy had finally told him the truth. Although he wanted to play dumb and ask, didn't you say before that Bangtao City was impregnable and you wanted to counterattack? How come there are only three months left now? Just to disgust the old thief Hojo!

But seeing the serious look on Beijo Chuan's face, Wang He gave up the idea. After hesitating for a while, he said to Beijo Chuan:
“I still have a thousand Weiyuan guns, five hundred Po Lu guns, and ten Tiger Dun cannons. If you need them, Lord Hojo, I can deliver them to you within ten days…”

As soon as these words came out, Beijo Chuan's expression suddenly brightened. Just as he was about to say something, Wang He continued:

"Lord Hojo, I hope you understand that these are the last firearms in my hands. If you want them again, you need to submit a new petition. I don't know if it will be approved, but even if it is approved, it will take at least several months to go back and forth!"

"And you know, the shogunate has begun trying to block the sea route. It will become more difficult for our fleet to deliver the goods!"

Upon hearing this, Hojo Kawa hesitated for a moment and then clapped his hands. The next second, several servants came to Wang He and Hojo Kawa carrying two boxes.

Just when Wang He was a little confused, Hojo Kawa asked the servant to open the box, and the next second countless gold, silver and jewelry appeared in front of Wang He!
"Hojo-sama, what do you mean by this?"

In response to Wang He's question, Beijo Chuan forced a smile and said:
“Wang Sang, I know the rules of your Great Zhou. These are treasures collected from generations of my Hojo family. I beg you to use these things to smooth the relationship for us in the court and get the military aid as soon as possible. If your department can send troops, that would be the best thing…”

Looking at the two boxes of golden jewels, Wang He knew that the conservative estimate was at least hundreds of thousands of taels of silver. Hojo Kawa gave these things to him. It seemed that the battle of Bangtao was really very dangerous, and this old man was in a hurry!

In addition, in order to avoid being criticized in public opinion, the Hojo family and the Watanabe family had always deliberately kept a distance from the Coordination Office. But now they are actually inviting the Great Zhou army to directly intervene. This is enough to show that Hojo Kawa is really anxious now, and he will do anything to reverse the situation!

However, Beijo Chuan might have said this to test him, to see if the imperial court really wanted to interfere directly. Thinking of this, Wang He said in a deep voice:
"Lord Hojo, you don't have to do this. I will do my best to help you, but don't even think about sending troops directly. The Marshal only wants Muto Masaaki's head and has no interest in your East Island!"

Hearing this, Hojo Chuan's expression was somewhat complicated, but he still pretended to be very sincere and said:

“Please accept these things, Wang Sang. They are a token of my love. The war between us and the shogunate has reached the most critical moment. As long as Marshal Ye can give us some more assistance, we will be able to change the situation and hand Muto Jia over to him for disposal…”

(End of this chapter)