Chapter 3616
Chapter 3616
Chapter 3616
Tokugawa Ietsugu was worried that someone would use the influence of the imperial family to cause trouble for the shogunate. After much deliberation, he decided to go to Kyoto in person to ensure that the situation would not get out of control.
He firmly believed that as long as he showed up in Kyoto, he could dispel many rumors that were unfavorable to the shogunate and thwart all conspiracies against him.
After all, in this country, he is the real ruler. No matter it is the Kyushu rebels who rose up in rebellion, or other conspirators hiding in the dark, they are just insects that are about to be crushed.
Tokugawa Ietsugu's idea was correct, but he did overestimate his own strength, especially after half a year of fighting, the shogunate army's mentality and momentum were far inferior to when the war just started. With his departure, he could no longer respond to the situation on the Kyushu front in a timely manner, and the uncontrollable factors increased greatly.
As soon as Tokugawa Ietsugu set out on his journey to Kyoto, the news reached Kyushu through some secret channels. The Kyushu feudal lords immediately launched their prepared propaganda offensive, using spies to spread the news in the war zones on both sides of the Kanmon Strait, saying that Tokugawa Ietsugu was seriously ill and unable to command the battle, and had quietly evacuated the front line and returned to Edo.
There are several other versions of similar rumors, such as a coup d'état occurred within the shogunate, and Tokugawa Iematsu was placed under house arrest by his retainers and is now a prisoner.
There are also reports that Tokugawa Iematsu has secretly gone to a place in Shikoku to prepare for armistice negotiations with the Kyushu coalition. At that time, the shogunate will cede the administrative rights of the Shikoku region to the Kyushu domains in exchange for peace.
The most outrageous rumor even claimed that Tokugawa Iematsu died suddenly of illness, and the shogunate decided not to announce the death until its successor was determined, but would soon take the initiative to withdraw its troops and cease fire, giving up the goal of conquering Kyushu.
But no matter which rumor it is, the two factors that are almost certain to appear are that the shogunate is about to withdraw its troops and that it is ready to abandon the western Honshu and Shikoku regions.
These rumors without a beginning or an end may not be very credible, but the problem is that the person involved, Tokugawa Ietsugu, has already left the front line. In order not to affect the morale of the army, he deliberately arranged a secret trip, and not many people knew his whereabouts.
This invisibly created a situation that was extremely unfavorable to the shogunate - Tokugawa Iematsu himself was unable to appear in front of the front-line troops at this time to dispel these deliberately fabricated rumors.
Even if the shogunate announced the true whereabouts of Tokugawa Ietsugu at this time, since he could not come forward to prove it, it would only confirm those sensational rumors. All the explanations and clarifications made by the shogunate would most likely be regarded by the audience as an excuse to deliberately cover up the truth, which would increase the credibility of the rumors.
At this time, many people in the shogunate army thought of the same question. After the commander-in-chief disappeared, should the war to conquer Kyushu continue? Is there any meaning in fighting the enemy on the front line?
Once someone starts thinking about this kind of problem, the morale of the army will inevitably be affected. Especially those small feudal lords who are intimidated by the authority of the shogunate and have to send troops to help in the war will definitely consider their own retreat at this time.
If sufficient military strength is not preserved at the end of the war, then one's own territory will most likely be eaten up by other powerful vassals after the war, leaving nothing behind.
Before and after the war, no matter which side wins or loses, it is the most intensive period for strong clans to annex weak clans. This is an objective law that has long been proven by hundreds of years of civil war in Japan. Before the shogunate and Kyushu started fighting this time, Kyushu also completed a large-scale annexation. After the original more than 30 clans staged a big fish eating small fish drama, in the end only the five major families that currently make up the Kyushu coalition were left in power. Whether refusing to become a meal for the strong or planning to treat others as your own meal, it is particularly important to preserve your strength at this time.
At this critical juncture, the Kyushu coalition forces, which had been maintaining a defensive posture in the Kanmon Strait recently, launched a rare active attack on the shogunate army's positions.
This approach was indeed beyond the expectations of the shogunate army, because the Kyushu coalition forces mainly took a defensive stance on the front battlefield, and their proactive attacks were almost all raids on the shogunate's supply lines in the rear from the sea, and they rarely targeted the shogunate's front-line positions and military camps.
This unusual move was also interpreted by some shogunate officials and generals as the Kyushu coalition forces really knowing the situation of Tokugawa Iematsu and knowing that the shogunate army had no commander, which was why they took such a bold action.
The Kyushu coalition forces took the initiative to attack on the front battlefield, which was an excellent opportunity for the shogunate army to consume the opponent's manpower. However, since Tokugawa Ietsugu was not in the battle line at that time and various rumors came into play, many people in the shogunate army had already developed a mindset of self-preservation and had no intention of engaging in a decisive battle with the Kyushu coalition forces.
Therefore, in response to the offensive launched by the Kyushu coalition forces, the shogunate army rarely took action to fight back, but just focused on defending its own positions and minimizing its own casualties as much as possible.
Although the battle did not bring much success to the Kyushu coalition forces, it greatly boosted their morale and swept away the frustration of defending without attacking for several months. On the other hand, the shogunate forces that did not attack were just the opposite, and seemed to be waiting for the shogunate to issue an order to evacuate Kyushu.
After receiving the battle report from the front line, several daimyos gathered in Fukuoka Castle were greatly excited, and they were also amazed at the strategic planning of the father and son of the Shi family.
Shi Diwen did not inform the Kyushu feudal lords of the details of Hai Han sending people to Kyoto to have secret contact with the royal family. He only told them that there would be trouble in Kyoto in the near future, which might force Tokugawa Ietsugu to temporarily leave the front line, and the Kyushu coalition forces should seize this opportunity to launch a counterattack.
As for spreading rumors among the shogunate army, it was of course also part of the Kyushu coalition's counterattack. If these means had not been used to shake the morale of the shogunate army in advance, the Kyushu coalition's frontal attack would not have gained any advantage, but might have turned into a war of attrition that the daimyo least wanted to see.
The next instruction given by Shi Diwen was to let the Kyushu coalition forces pursue the victory. However, the target of the attack was not the shogunate army in the northern Kyushu area, but the shogunate warships operating in the Kanmon Strait.
"The purpose of this operation is to make the shogunate army think that we are going to cut off their retreat route from Kitakyushu to Honshu, further intensifying their panic!"
With the successful example in front of them, several daimyo naturally followed Shi Diwen's instructions. They immediately began to mobilize their naval fleets and launched a new round of offensive against the shogunate army in the Kanmon Strait a day later.
During this period, the Kyushu coalition forces did not launch a joint offensive on land, as if they were deliberately leaving a loophole so that the shogunate army stationed on the Kyushu side of the Kanmon Strait would have time to watch the battle at sea.