Chapter 1638: Divide and Rule, and Splitting the Enemy

While the highest-ranking officers of the Great Han army and the envoys were still inside Nagasaki Castle, deliberating the next steps for the expeditionary force against Japan, they did not pay much attention to one fact — at that moment, the whole of Kyushu had not yet been completely conquered by the Great Han army.

At this time, although the shogunate's forces in Nagasaki and elsewhere had already been utterly annihilated by the Great Han army, there was still a small area at the northernmost tip of Kyushu that the iron hooves of Great Han or its allies had not yet touched.

This area was the territory of the Hosokawa family of Kokura Domain.

It was not that Zhao Song and Yan Guang were unaware of their existence; rather, they knew that a large force of theirs was already advancing on Kokura Domain, and they had not the slightest doubt that this place would soon fall into their hands, so they simply never held any formal discussion about it.

Kokura Domain could be taken with ease — Bi Su and his subordinates, who were currently marching on Kokura, thought the same.

Beneath bright banners, Bi Su led the main force of his regiment in a marching column, swaggering northward. The precision of their formation and the strictness of their discipline made them look exactly like a great army of red ants sweeping out on a raid.

After fighting battle after battle against the shogunate's forces and domain troops, and winning victory after victory, this unit was brimming with confidence and no longer regarded the enemies ahead as worthy opponents. Their demonstrative advance was a product of this very mindset.

Bi Su, as the regimental commander, rode a horse requisitioned from somewhere, advancing with the column of his great army. The countryside all around was utterly tranquil. Although the shadowy outlines of villages kept appearing here and there, hardly any signs of human life could be seen.

This was quite normal. Under the prior propaganda of the shogunate and the various domains, the villagers of these hamlets were all terrified of the Great Han army, so the moment they saw the Great Han forces advancing they scattered and fled in all directions, dreading any encounter with them. Furthermore, the Great Han army had indeed been searching everywhere for grain to requisition for their own needs, and some of these requisitions had devolved into looting, further intensifying the terror of the villagers everywhere.

Marching alongside the Great Han column were the fully equipped domain soldiers of Yanagawa Domain. They had originally been subordinates of Tachibana Muneshige, but due to Bi Su's arrangements, the bulk of Yanagawa Domain's forces had become auxiliary troops attached to his unit, advancing with them.

It was precisely because of the cooperation of these domain soldiers that they were able to carry out requisitions and looting in the villages along the way so easily, satisfying the army's needs for supplies throughout the march.

Of course, the military discipline of these domain soldiers was very poor, and during requisitions they would also commit acts like murder and rape, further intensifying the residents' panic. Bi Su, however, did not care about this in the slightest — the domain soldiers were poisoning Japan's own subjects, which had nothing to do with him. He only needed these domain soldiers to complete their tasks.

After several days of marching, they soon reached the border of Kokura Domain, and what disappointed Bi Su slightly was that there was no domain army arrayed in full battle readiness waiting for him here.

Without the slightest hesitation, the Great Han army immediately advanced into the territory of Kokura Domain.

The road was still sparsely populated, but the vast stretches of farmland showed that this was not a barren place. Following the uneven main road, Bi Su and the soldiers of the Liaodong Regiment marched all the way toward Kokura Castle, forcing the Kokura domain soldiers, who had been evading them all along, into a decisive battle.

Kokura Castle lay almost at the northernmost tip of Kyushu, facing Honshu across the sea. A short strait divided them, yet it had never been an obstacle to communication between the two lands. However, once Great Han occupied it, this short strait would become a natural moat.

Just as Zhou Pu was receiving the various domain lords in Nagasaki and putting on a grand display of Great Han's might, the red-coated army also advanced to the walls of Kokura Castle.

And this time their wish was not in vain — the Kokura Domain forces below and atop the walls were already arrayed in full battle readiness.

Looking out, the banners bearing the Hosokawa family crest were as dense and fluttering as the trees in a mountain forest, carrying a certain imposing air. But in Bi Su's eyes, these were merely birds startled by the mere twang of a bow; under the military might of Great Han, their spirit had long since deflated.

Before engaging the enemy, the Great Han army began to shift formation, slowly assembling into battle order from the initial long marching column according to regulations, preparing to meet the foe. By contrast, the Yanagawa Domain troops beside them were far more sluggish, and their ranks and formations were crooked and misshapen beyond recognition.

Because the troops had been marching continuously of late, the soldiers were somewhat fatigued. Moreover, the siege equipment and artillery were still insufficient and needed to be slowly transported over from Hakata Bay. Bi Su therefore did not directly order an assault on the city. Instead, he had his subordinates set up camp beneath the walls, planning to first find a way to besiege this small castle of Kokura Domain.

The Kokura Domain army's battle formation was not large. Apart from the ashigaru in the front ranks, there was only a small number of armored samurai. The domain lord, Hosokawa Tadatoshi, had brought his house retainers and samurai to the top of the rear castle wall to steady the line. Clad in armor that had been sealed away for decades, Hosokawa Tadatoshi carefully observed the Great Han army across from him, his heart filled with deep unease.

Although Kokura Domain had an official assessed yield of over three hundred thousand koku, its land and produce were both rather poor, and it had never been very wealthy, so the number of domain soldiers it could support was not large. This time, it was only after the shogunate issued the order to guard against the Great Han army that so many men had been urgently assembled, but this merely padded the numbers.

Hosokawa Tadatoshi was, of course, perfectly aware of his own army's strength. Yet earlier he had still harbored a hope against hope, thinking that even if they attacked, the troops that could come ashore at first would surely be few. Once the shogunate's forces and the armies of the various domains assembled, their numbers would greatly exceed the enemy's. As long as everyone united with a common purpose, they could drive the Han invaders back into the sea.

But the subsequent developments greatly disappointed Hosokawa Tadatoshi — after the Han invaders came ashore, they immediately defeated the armies of Fukuoka Domain and the shogunate, then pursued them relentlessly. When he heard the news that Great Han had landed at Hakata Bay, Hosokawa Tadatoshi had summoned the soldiers within his domain and prepared to march south to provide support. But before they had traveled far, word came that Fukuoka Domain had been routed along the entire front, and he was forced to immediately withdraw his troops.

After that, Hosokawa Tadatoshi, remaining behind in Kokura, heard one piece of bad news after another. Following their victory in the initial engagement, Great Han began advancing on all fronts, thrusting deep into the heart of Kyushu with irresistible momentum — almost no one could stop them. And the various domains, which should have been united in sincere cooperation, one after another chose to surrender under the edge of Great Han's blades. First it was the Shimazu family, then the Tachibana family. In the end, Hosokawa Tadatoshi discovered that practically every domain lord who had not yet fought Great Han had chosen to surrender under their threat.

Seeing so many people abandon the dignity of a domain lord and submit to Great Han under their military might, Hosokawa Tadatoshi had also been tempted by the thought of surrender. But when, through various channels, he obtained the full text of the "Kyushu Reward and Punishment Edict" issued by the Great Han envoys, he was forced to wait and see once more.

This proclamation explicitly designated the Arima family, the So family, the Kuroda family, and the Hosokawa family of Kokura Domain — domain lords and daimyo who had already fought or were about to fight Great Han — as "false rebels and coerced accomplices," declaring that under the blade of Great Han, they would be destroyed together with the shogunate officials, and their entire clans would be executed on the charge of rebellion.

To be honest, Hosokawa Tadatoshi felt deeply wronged — he was clearly a tozama daimyo just like the Shimazu and Tachibana families, and he had not even fought Great Han, yet he had been listed as an enemy in Great Han's proclamation, to be eliminated as quickly as possible. This was sheer unprovoked calamity.

Hosokawa Tadatoshi suspected that some disgruntled domain lord had spoken ill of him in front of the Great Han envoys, seizing this opportunity to eliminate him.

Left with no choice, Hosokawa Tadatoshi had no option but to continue preparing his domain army, uneasily awaiting the inevitable arrival of the Great Han forces.

He naturally did not think he could withstand the edge of Great Han's blades, but to let himself be captured without a fight and wait for his clan to be exterminated by Great Han was, of course, equally impossible. He could only take things one step at a time and resist for as long as he could. That said, in his heart he still clung to a hope that someone might come to his rescue.

Rescue from within Kyushu was naturally out of the question now. However, Honshu had not yet suffered the blade of the Great Han army. When Great Han had first set foot on Kyushu soil, Hosokawa Tadatoshi had dispatched envoys north to Honshu, notifying the various domains along the way, hoping they would ready their armies and help resist the Han invaders. At the time, he felt that as long as he resisted the Han invaders with all his might and the other domains sent reinforcements, blocking the edge of the Han invaders' blades should not be a problem.

But beyond Hosokawa Tadatoshi's expectations, the Great Han army had swept across the entire island of Kyushu so quickly and had already begun advancing toward him. Now, it seemed, hoping for the other domains to send troops to rescue him was largely impossible — except for the closest ones, Choshu Domain and Hiroshima Domain.

Yet the lord of Choshu Domain was the illustrious Mori family, renowned from the Warring States era. Because they had offended Tokugawa Ieyasu several times, after the Tokugawa shogunate was established they were suppressed repeatedly, their territory greatly reduced, and even their army was forced to be cut back significantly. Neither psychologically nor in terms of strength were they likely to serve the shogunate effectively. So although Hosokawa Tadatoshi waited until his eyes nearly wore through with longing, the Mori family's reinforcements never came.

Only a few envoys had arrived, seemingly to observe the specific situation of the Great Han army, and one of them was now present in his own camp.

"The Han invaders have now reached the foot of our walls. If our position here falls, there will be no foothold left for the Japanese anywhere on Kyushu." After barely suppressing the tension and unease in his heart, Hosokawa Tadatoshi did not bother to wipe the sweat from his forehead and turned to address this envoy beside him, Mori Motonobu. "You must understand that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. If our position here falls, your domain will surely become the next target of Great Han's advance. When that time comes, I fear there will be no more days of peace!"

He knew the Mori family had no interest in upholding the shogunate, and not much interest in helping the Hosokawa family escape disaster either, so he framed the issue purely from the standpoint of the Mori family's own interests, hoping to move them with the logic of shared fate.

But Mori Motonobu was not as tense and agitated as Hosokawa Tadatoshi had hoped. He stood atop the castle wall, gazing out and sizing up the battle formation of the Great Han army.

"The Great Han army — their conduct and bearing are indeed governed by strict discipline. No wonder they have been able to sweep across Kyushu." After watching for a while, he sighed. "How could a domain lord possibly defeat such an army?"

"We are already at a moment of life and death — how can I still worry about all that?" Hosokawa Tadatoshi was growing angry, but since he now needed this man's help, he forcibly suppressed his rage. "If I do not resist, the lives of my entire clan are without hope... If I do resist, I can at least buy your domain some time, so that you can prepare at your leisure. Because after destroying us, your domain will be the Han invaders' next target."

"Our Mori family is already making preparations, but time is now too short, and we truly cannot come to your rescue in time. We can only rely on the natural moat of the strait to set up our defenses first." Mori Motonobu answered calmly, as if he had not detected the sarcasm in those words. "However, my lord need not be so utterly disheartened. The Hosokawa family name has been passed down for so many years, renowned throughout the world for bravery. Even the Han invaders should not be able to do much to your domain."

"You—!" Hosokawa Tadatoshi was so furious that smoke seemed to pour from all his orifices. He very nearly ordered his men to throw this Mori family envoy off the castle wall, to make him die in burial with his own people.

But in the end, he swallowed his anger. "It doesn't matter if you mock me now. But when the moment arrives, you too will find no way out. Even if I die, I will perish together with Kokura Domain."

"Why does my lord believe he has no way out?" Mori Motonobu, however, disagreed. He stretched out a hand and pointed at the formation of the Yanagawa Domain army below the walls. "Look, haven't they found a way out? The Great Han army is now making very important use of them."

"..." Hosokawa Tadatoshi's eyes widened, and he stared at Mori Motonobu in disbelief.

He had not expected that this envoy of the Mori family not only had no intention of helping him resist, but was actually urging him and his men to follow the example of Shimazu Tadahisa, Tachibana Muneshige, and the others in surrendering to Great Han.

Could it be that the Mori family, like the Shimazu family, had long been in collusion with the Han invaders? The thought involuntarily flashed through his mind. But now that disaster was upon him, he had no leisure to worry about such things — or rather, if there really was such collusion, it might even be a good thing.

"Great Han issued a proclamation demanding the lives of my entire clan. How can I go and surrender!" He no longer spoke empty words to disguise his position and directly told the truth. "The Great Han army has developed some misunderstanding about me — what can I do about it!"

"In that case, my lord actually does not wish to fight Great Han to the death, nor does he wish to die a martyr with his castle, is that correct?" Mori Motonobu asked in return. "If peace could be made with Great Han and the lives of your entire clan preserved, would my lord be willing to do it?"

"Do you have some private dealings with Great Han?" Hosokawa Tadatoshi asked, somewhat suspiciously.

"Not yet." Mori Motonobu shook his head. "But there soon will be. To be frank with my lord, one of the tasks for which my domain sent me here this time is to observe the strength of the Great Han army and, at an opportune moment, to make contact and establish relations with them."

"So you... you really did harbor such intentions..." Hosokawa Tadatoshi gave a bitter laugh, the sound exceedingly dry. "It figures, after all, it is the Mori family."

"Then what is my lord's opinion? If you let us leave the city now to make contact with the Great Han army, we can intercede on behalf of your domain and persuade them to abandon the idea of treating my lord as an enemy." Mori Motonobu once again pretended not to have understood the sarcasm. "If we truly succeed, my lord can escape his current predicament, can he not? Or does my lord insist on fighting Great Han to the bloody end, with the entire domain shattered like a broken jewel?"

"But how can I trust Great Han? Don't forget... the Great Han army openly issued a proclamation demanding our lives." Hosokawa Tadatoshi tapped the "Kyushu Reward and Punishment Edict" in his hand. "If the Great Han army refuses to relent, then even if I surrender, I would merely be bringing humiliation upon myself."

"How will you know if you don't try?" Mori Motonobu persisted. "Besides, I will go to make contact with them in my capacity as an envoy of the Mori family. Even if there is humiliation, it will be the humiliation of our Mori family. My lord need not worry."

At this, Hosokawa Tadatoshi fell silent.

This was not necessarily bad news. The Mori and Hosokawa families were both large domains of over three hundred thousand koku. If both domains chose to surrender to Great Han at the same time, it would surely win their great favor. At that point, putting forward a condition to spare the Hosokawa family's lives might not be unfeasible.

Besides, things had already reached this point, and he had no intention of dying a martyr for the shogunate. Why not give it a try?

"Very well, then go and give it a try. I wish you smooth success in all things." At last, Hosokawa Tadatoshi nodded his agreement.

"I hope so too."

After giving the order to set up camp on the spot, Bi Su, the Regiment Commander of the Great Han army, had originally been preparing to rest inside his tent. He had been constantly fighting and moving from place to place recently, never settling down, and today he planned to turn in early and at least get a full night's sleep.

Aside from the necessary guard units, he also ordered his subordinates to rest well and recover their energy and stamina, so as to prepare for the general assault on Kokura Domain's castle that would be launched before long.

However, his wish came to nothing. He had not been resting long before he was woken by one of his subordinates.

"What happened?" he asked with a trace of displeasure.

"The other side has sent an envoy, who says he requests to see the Regiment Commander," the subordinate answered carefully.

"I will not see him. We are going to destroy the Hosokawa family completely." Bi Su rejected the request at once, because in his view, since the Great Han had already issued a declaration of war to annihilate the entire Hosokawa family, they should see it through to the end and make an example of them for the Japanese in Kyushu and elsewhere.

Besides, the merit of winning this final battle was greater than accepting the Hosokawa family's surrender.

"They are not from Kokura Domain. They are... they came from Honshu Island, and say they are men of the Mori family of Choshu Domain." The staff officer hesitated, then decided to explain further. "Choshu Domain is a major domain. If they could be made to serve our purposes, that would not be bad..."

"What?" Bi Su was quite surprised by this development.

He had originally planned, after taking Kokura Domain, to make contact with the powerful clans of Honshu Island to make it easier for the court's envoys to persuade them to defect. He had not expected that a domain lord was already reaching out to him now.

If this could truly be accomplished, it would count as a merit in itself.

"Very well, let him come see me."