A month after the departure of the "Otomo Raiding Army" composed of various forces of Shikoku, Hirate Honhide received three letters from Kyushu.

The words of the head relatives of Changzong and my department are high-spirited: "We have won the victory, broken the Ito clan of the alliance of the Otomo family in Oyodo River and Shenyuyuan, and taken two strongholds of Futian and Suibei, and have now entered the city to rest." This is all due to the strategic planning of the criminal department, and the soldiers are united in fighting bravely, and the Satsuma Shimazu clan has also made contributions......"

The joint letter from Tokawa Storage Insurance and Miyoshi Yasunaga was a little more honest: "The Hinata Ito clan is worthy of being a wing of the Otomo family, quite tenacious and good at fighting, which made our army quite tricky, and it was not until after receiving the help of the Satsuma Shimazu family that they fought hard and retreated from the enemy and finally gained a foothold. Due to the fatigue of the soldiers, the water and soil are not adapted, and the places are a little too hasty, I am afraid that I will not be able to plan more results for the time being, and I ask for the forgiveness of the Lord of the Criminal Department. ”

In the end, it was Governor Konishi, who was secretly watching, who told the truth: "The people of Shikoku originally thought that the Otomo family was powerful and the Ito family was easy to take, but it was really negligent. When we met, we knew that Ito's retainers Ochiai, Yonea, Nagakura, etc., were all brave warriors, and God Yuhara fought a battle, and the people of the four countries fought against the thousand and five partial divisions with 3,000 people, and they still did not have the upper hand. Fortunately, the Shimazu army was very powerful, and it broke the main force of the Ito family at the Oyodo River on the southern front, so that our army could turn the corner. Then the Shikoku people grabbed two small castles with less than 30 defenders before the arrival of the Shimazu army, which was considered to save face......"

Seeing this, Hiteshu couldn't help but smile dumbly, and said to Chiyomaru beside him: "Look at it, it's still good to let this Tosa's Himeruko go to Kyushu!" At least you can see the truth that there are people outside the world, so as not to think too highly of yourself, always not satisfied with the status quo, and when you suddenly impulsively do irreparable things. ”

Yan Chiyomaru took a few letters with different words, read them carefully, and took a breath of surprise: "Ah! The three thousand pioneers carefully selected can't beat the 1,500 partial divisions of others, and they are still a force like the Hyuga Ito family, which is not too famous...... Father, didn't you say that the collar of my clan of the Changzong clan is sufficient, and it is not inferior to my family's flagbook? Is this a ...... Shouldn't you be worried......"

"Uh-huh...... You don't have to worry. The battlefield should consider the specific time and place, and it is not so simple to compare the forces of the two sides. Hite-suhide-to-be patiently explained: "First of all, Satsuma Shimazu can be called the world's first-class strongest army, which will be confirmed in the next few years, and Hinata Ito, who has been fighting with it for several years, although there are fewer victories and more defeats, but after all, there are mutual offenses and defenses, and they can barely maintain the balance of power." Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the Ito family is obviously quite good. The Four-Nation Alliance has landed in a foreign country, and its psychological preparation is not sufficient, so it is too normal for a strong opponent to suffer a little loss! This does not mean that the people of Kyushu are terrible...... Moreover, even if the people of Kyushu can fight well, there are still ways to deal with them other than swords. ”

"That's what you said." Yan Chiyomaru nodded, "There are too many factors on the battlefield, and it can't be attributed to the difference in bravery just after a victory or defeat." If you think about it, you have to worry...... Could it be that because of such a defeat, Tosa's Himerako will be discouraged and discouraged by everyone......"

"The fact that he can still write such a false war report shows that there will be no problem in this regard." Tieshou said with a smile.

"Speaking of this......" Yan Chiyomaru was puzzled: "With his intelligence, he should be able to think that we sent someone to supervise the side, and the real battle situation will be transmitted sooner or later, and he still writes about this kind of ...... What's the use of such boastful stuff? ”

"Of course, it's to show that he's still full of fighting spirit!" "This time, he will definitely be able to meet the Shimazu brothers and Ito, and maybe he will be lucky enough to meet Otomo, Ryuzoji, plus Akizuki and Sagara...... How ambitious you are worth, let's slowly experience. ”

"Do you mean that these people on Kyushu are far better than the people of Shikoku?" Yan Chiyomaru blinked and said, "Could it be that there was a Miyoshi repair (Changqing) before, and it has exhausted the aura of Shikoku?" ”

"It doesn't seem wrong to say that." Hijo Tsunohide nodded jokingly: "In the past one or two decades, Shikoku has indeed not had many figures, so in front of the chickens and dogs, the wolverine is no different from the lion tiger, what kind of species it is, it still needs to be distinguished on a wider stage." ”

……

Originally, Pingshou Fanxiu was about to arrange the ceremony of the Yuan costume for his son, but he struggled for a long time on various details such as the arrangement of the black hat pro and what words to take in front of the name, thinking that there was no need to be in a hurry anyway, so he delayed it.

But he has already regarded Yan Chiyomaru as an adult, and began to explain the strategic arrangements in all aspects.

The general policy of the Kyushu side is to unite Shimazu and confront Otomo, and make a fuss from the south to the north.

Soyi Toriya and Masanobu Honda have done a lot of diplomatic work.

At this time, the momentum of the rise of the Shimazu family is not obvious enough, and in the face of many enemies such as Ito, Sagara, and Hefu, there is always a sense of being overstretched, and the confidence is not full, and they dare not rashly attack the Otomo family that seems to be a behemoth.

For example, in the just-concluded two-field battle, although the four-nation coalition army only had a hard time dealing with 1,500 partial divisions, for the Ito family, whose total mobilization force was only 5,000 or 6,000 people, it was also a very useful help to contain his 1,500 people. Not to mention the prestige advantage that the dignified "Daisuke of the Criminal Department of the South China Sea" can bring.

With the help of external forces, the Shimazu family may sweep Kyushu faster than the original history, but whether the four Shimazu brothers (to be exact, the three brothers in addition to the family family) can still have the spirit of independent survival and self-reliance, it is not necessarily.

It doesn't matter if they are still unruly, the existence of the Yuan Qin of the Changzong and our department will become an iron collar around the neck of the beast at that time.

What about looking east from Kyushu?

Heite told his son that the Maori family had gradually lost its enterprising strength after the death of the late right horse head (Maori Moto), but it was not as strong as the Otomo family, and that "the king of Shoucheng" was the most appropriate evaluation of the contemporary governor Mori Terumoto.

At present, it seems that in the open and secret battles of the western country, Mori will most likely lose to Asai with Kuroda's assistance, but it will not form a rapid rout, but only a slow process of advance and contraction.

The most notable thing in this process is the Bizen Hero Ukita Naojia, who is difficult to intervene in the world, but can have a earth-shaking impact on the western region at a specific point in time, and then change the ownership of the world.

"I've been sending people to try to get in touch with the Uki family, but I haven't been able to get anything out of it yet, after all, I don't have a say in the West Country right now. However, in the future, when he is in charge of and looks out over the western country, this line can be used. ”

That's how Hirate Honshu explained to Chiyomaru.

Although it may be difficult for the child to accept it all at once, it is necessary to put it in first.

"As for the understanding of Kanto and Tohoku, we can talk about it later, but we will focus on first. The situation around Kyoto has always been the most special, and it seems that anyone can ride the wind when the time is right, but when it is against the wind, it will quickly fall to the ground. This is often not determined by the battle, but by the subtle hearts of the people. Whether it is to keep the existing family business, or to go further and see further, we must wholeheartedly win over the hearts and minds of these delicate people. ”

Hirate Hatsuhide stopped talking about this, as if he didn't know how to explain the current chaotic situation in Kyoto.

Yan Chiyomaru suddenly asked: "You sent Lord Kawada to Kyoto at this time to ask for merit, could it be ...... With special intentions? ”

"Not exactly." Hirata shook his head and said, "Including the merchants sent to Kyoto before, as well as the group of Kinoshita Hidenaga, all the people who appeared in public did not explain anything special. This is because I can't understand the position of some people for the time being, so I can only hide my own position first. ”

"Actually......" Yan Chiyomaru hesitated for a moment and said, "I vaguely heard everything, as if it ...... It seems that the situation in Kyoto is not only because of some of the recent controversial behaviors of Lord Kokata, but also because of the existence of Lord Oda......"

"I was about to tell you about this...... "Hirata Honshu rubbed his nose, frowned and thought carefully about the wording, and said slowly: "First of all, Oda Guan Ling is your uncle after all, so if something happens, I want you to go home as soon as possible and stabilize your mother first." Because...... At that time, it is very likely that it will be inconvenient for me to meet her and it will not be convenient for me to arrange it. ”

"......" Yan Chiyomaru was silent for a while, and suddenly whispered, "I want to ask you for something to verify." Actually, I've heard people say a long time ago that one of the reasons for Oda Kanei's accident back then was my aunt, Aichi-sama, who married into the Asai family, and she didn't hesitate to let her brother die in order to give her son a chance to become a member of the world......"

"Since I am not a party to the case, I don't know this kind of detail, and there is no way to thoroughly investigate it in the future." Pingshou shook his head without hesitation, and said very seriously: "Whether it is true or not, this kind of thing will not be the most important reason for determining the ownership of the world. On the contrary, it is the ultimate ownership of the world that determines the way in which these things will be recorded by future generations. ”

"Oh...... The child understands. Yan Chiyomaru subconsciously shrunk his shoulders: "You mean, once this kind of thing happens, it's pointless to care about it." ”

"To be exact, the investigation is still very meaningful, but it is about drawing lessons for future actions, rather than focusing on the details of what has already happened." Hirate Honohide looked up in the direction of Kyoto and said quietly, "Also, don't think about whether your mother will do the same thing in the same situation, this question is even more meaningless. ”