"Great hall, why did you come so quickly this time?" Shuna and Yoshimoto Imagawa asked curiously after finishing their dinner.

"After receiving the alarm, I rushed over with 100 cavalry, and it will be there in a few days." Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, "There are two main purposes for coming so quickly. ”

"The first one, I wanted to come over and see it because I heard that the battle situation was very weird." Imagawa Yoshimoto raised his eyebrows, "The Oda family actually crossed the mountain road from Furuto to the barrel narrow to attack, obviously knowing the itinerary of our baggage team well, so they dared not carry the baggage and rely on robbing our grain and grass to maintain the troops." ”

"So the main hall is curious why the Oda family got the news of our baggage team?" Sena Shijun took over the conversation, "I've been thinking about this for the next few days. ”

"Sena, what do you think?" Yoshimoto Imagawa took a sip of tea.

"There are moles, and they are still at the top." Sena Shijun lowered his voice and said quickly.

"Judgment is correct." The corners of Imagawa Yoshimoto's mouth curled, "I don't know how he leaked the information of our baggage team to the Oda family, and our ninjas and intelligence officers didn't know about it. The biggest possibility is the high-level personnel, which is why I rushed to the battlefield this time. ”

"The main hall wants to observe the movements of the senior generals?" Sena asked.

"That's right," Imagawa Yoshimoto took another sip of tea, "I thought the people in the Matsudaira family were the most suspicious. They had just heard that I was coming, and they knelt at the door. ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto took a sip of warm tea and continued, "The second reason is that I want to see if the bait I left behind has caught any fish. ”

"Bait?" Shuna was a little confused for a while.

"It's Zhili City." Imagawa Yoshimoto stroked his palms and laughed, "Sure enough, the Oda family took the bait." ”

"Our total strength on the Owari Mikawa border, even if it is equal to the Oda family, once the war starts, it is very likely that the Oda family will invade the hinterland." Imagawa Yoshimoto explained, "Because the Oda family has the advantage of attacking first. ”

"Whether it is a forcible infiltration after besieging Narumi Castle or hanging castle, or a surprise attack across the path like now, no matter how we defend, it is very likely that the Oda family will hit Mikawa and cut off the lines of communication and communication. At this time, the troops of Narumi Castle and Okaka Castle will not be able to communicate with each other, and they will also lose contact with Okazaki Castle. If the Oda family attacked any of these castles at this time, they would be at risk of losing it. ”

"So, in order to prevent the fish from biting the precious coral, I left the bait," Imagawa Yoshimoto pointed to the location of Chitachi Castle on the map. "Chiritsu Castle is a strategic location on the border of Owari and Mikawa, and if you control it, you will control the situation. The three border cities, which have been completely cut off, cannot echo each other. And the defense of Zhili Castle is so weak that Oda Nobunaga will definitely not be able to bear this piece of fat and will swallow it in one bite. ”

"But here's the problem, the Oda family can mobilize only about 2,000 troops to attack the hinterland. They had to ensure that the rear road was narrow, and at the same time they had to stay behind Zhili, so the remaining mobile forces would be greatly depleted, and they would not be able to attack further forcefully. The time for the attack on Zhili Castle was also enough for the troops of Yuanjiang Sanhe to gather for reinforcements. ”

Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled slightly, "Just like now, the Oda family, who are in a dilemma, can only have no choice but to withdraw their troops in the end, because Zhili Castle is lonely and cannot be defended, and it is far less realistic than taking down Yukake Castle and Narumi Castle." ”

"This is the reason why the main hall was unwilling to strengthen the defense of Zhili City at that time?" Sena suddenly realized, "If the Oda family is well-defended and feels that there is no chance to take advantage of it, maybe they will attack Narumi Castle and Yukake Castle." ”

"Then why didn't you explain it at the time? There was also a lot of opposition from below. ”

"Isn't there a mole now, fortunately I didn't say it at the time." Imagawa Yoshimoto stroked his palms and laughed, "At that time, I just wanted to test you, but I didn't expect it to be so useful." ”

"Originally, now we just need to stay here quietly, watch the Oda family fall into a dilemma after defeating Zhili, and withdraw our troops ourselves." Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned, "It's a pity, Sena, you sent my favorite descendant to Zhili Castle to defend it." ”

"This..."Sena Toshi was a little embarrassed for a moment, "At that time, he took the initiative to ask Ying, wanting to send the letters of the more than two hundred slaves over, and also wanted to save their lives." ”

"That kid is a bad guy." Imagawa Yoshimoto remembered Yu Qiuping, "But that's one of the reasons why I like him." He put down the teacup and looked at Sena Shijun solemnly, "Although our Imagawa family is extremely strong now, the next generation of descendants is not satisfactory. Although the boy is very talented, the music order he proposed to me last time was beyond my expectations. However, he is arrogant and arrogant, self-serving, and overly indulged in literature and art, and I am afraid that he will not be happy to deal with political affairs in the future. ”

"The boss of the Asahina family is not bad, although he is not as heroic as his father, but he is steady and down-to-earth, and he is also a general. The second child of the Asahina family has some of his father's talent, but he is too idle and has poor concentration. The Okabe kid of the Okabe family relies on that little cleverness to see no one, and he is far inferior to the two Asahina boys, and it will be difficult to become a big man in the future. Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at Sena Shijun again, "Your son Shiyi..."

"There is no way to teach the son, so that the adults can laugh." Sena sighed.

"Not really. The clan is decent, diligent and motivated, and will be a talent in one country and one city in the future, but he does not have the same strength as you. Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, "Look at the genealogy of our generation, there are many people, who would have thought that the next generation would not be able to." ”

"So we need to select new blood, so that some talented offspring can enter the Imagawa family and become a new generation. This rain and autumn peace, I am very optimistic. I did a brief investigation before.,He didn't have a record of activities in other homes.,It's true that he wasn't in Japan before.,It's from Mingguo.,The identity is very clean.。 Imagawa Yoshimoto rotated the teacup slightly, "He has a unique charm in the world, and the way he looks at many problems is very insightful and insightful, he is only seventeen years old!" What I am most optimistic about is his two personalities, one is compassion and the other is doing what he says. Imagawa Yoshimoto rubbed his chin, "If he has compassion, he will not act perversely, but will worry about the world." When he says he does, he will be trustworthy and self-motivated. ”

"The only downside is that his personality is also a little too cautious, lacking in decisiveness and risk-taking, too benevolent to be decisive, a bit like you. I'll help him change it in the future. Imagawa Yoshimoto straightened up and stretched, "It's good now, you send the offspring I focused on cultivating to the outcast of Zhili City, but I believe that according to his cautious character, it will be okay to defend for a while." ”

"Tomorrow morning, set off to the rescue." Imagawa Yoshimoto said.

"The main hall, do you need to set off with the troops gathered below?" Sena asked.

"If you want, come on, but I'll still say that," Imagawa Yoshimoto said with a smile, "and only 100 of me, I'll fight off Oda." ”

"Then do you want to contact Narumi City, Hanging Castle and the troops of Dataka Castle to attack together?" Sena reminded again, uneasy.

"No, stop contact tonight, no more messengers." Imagawa Yoshimoto waved his hand, "Tomorrow we will set off, go straight to Kariya Castle, and then go to Chitachi." ”

"Don't you go from Anxiang City? It's closer there. ”

"No need, there must be more Oda troops there, and it is closer to the south, which is not conducive to me carrying out my plan."

The next day, in the early morning of August 1, at four o'clock, Zhili City.

Yu Qiuping fell asleep this night, but he still woke up early. He had just gotten up and was blown by the cool breeze of the early morning, and he was suddenly refreshed. The night guards at the head of the castle were handing over, and Yu Qiuping himself was looking to the east, the rising sun from the horizon.

It's not the last time I've seen the sunrise. Yuqiu's heart sank.

"No, you can't be so decadent!" He rubbed his face vigorously, "The courage of the general, if I am afraid and worried, how can I boost morale." ”

He strode out of the castle tower, where the ashigaru people were gathered in the middle of the barracks to prepare for breakfast. After yesterday's fierce fighting, the original team of 236 people has already lost 19 people, and 22 people are seriously injured and cannot participate in the battle. There are less than two hundred troops at their disposal. The casualties were close to 20 percent. Nakahide Gozensaki's squad is no longer able to take on important tasks, and can only be used as a reserve. After another linear planning and hard work yesterday afternoon, the task of defending and transforming Zhili City was finally completed. Except for the western city, the city walls were all pit and pitted, and they were piled with all kinds of improvised barricades and laid with a lot of straw. Before eating in the morning, the guards instructed their men to pour a layer of oil on the city wall to facilitate the ignition of the fire.

The four gates were blocked by stones, and they would never be opened for a while. Many fortifications were also set up in the castle according to the sketch of Akihei.

Originally, everyone meant layers of obstacles and trenches. But Yu Qiuping felt that this was inappropriate, and the complete defense line would only give the Oda family the intention of attacking. To this end, he made special use of the terrain and houses in the city, and made a complex labyrinth with fences, wooden fences, moats, horse rejection and other equipment. As long as the road is not blocked, Yu Qiuping thinks that the Oda family's ashigaru will still prefer to take a detour through the maze to pass through the defense line, rather than directly destroying the wooden fence and other defenses. At this time, with a little interference, the Oda family's attack could be greatly slowed down, blocking them on the castle tower like the previous time, and exposing them to the fire of the archers.

This time, in addition to the archers as long-range firepower, Yu Qiuping also gathered the surplus bamboo spears and planned to use them as javelins. In addition, many stones are also collected, and when the bamboo spears run out, they are thrown to supplement them.

At eight o'clock, the huge Oda family troops slowly left the main camp, and from the exit of the main camp they split into two torrents. One way surrounded the northern castle, the other road divided into two roads, all the way to the southern castle gate, and finally Oda Nobunaga's horse seal stopped outside the western castle gate. The gates of the eastern city were emptied.

"Circumference three is missing one." Amano Keitoku explained to Yu Qiuping, "The traditional siege tactics allow the defenders to have a way to escape without desperate resistance. Wait for the defenders to escape from the city before pursuing, and if the defenders unfortunately collapse, the number of annihilation will be similar to the total siege and annihilation, and the cost of casualties will be reduced. ”

The overwhelming strength of the Oda army made the defenders in the city all feel the pressure of despair, and for a while, everyone was silent, cold sweat ran down their cheeks, and their bodies trembled slightly.

"They certainly don't know that we've blocked the gates, and that's a flattering thing for the blind to see." Mizenzaki Nakahide's words caused the people around him to laugh, and the extremely tense atmosphere before the war was slightly eased. "My lord, why don't you come up and talk to Oda Nobunaga alone! Oda Nobunaga, out of the dignity of the samurai, will definitely accept it! If you beat him, we'll win! Mimasaki Nakahide's yin and yang tone made everyone laugh again.

"you, don't you know that your adult martial arts don't know anything?" Yu Qiuping scolded with a smile, he was actually not so nervous.

"Ladies and gentlemen, although the number of enemies is unprecedented, we are only one step away from victory." Yu Qiuping shouted loudly, "We have held out for two days, and the troops assembled by Lord Sena will come to our rescue soon!" We don't need to win to hold on to this last moment! Let's go home triumphantly! ”

"Before the battle before, everyone also felt that they were going to die!" Yu Qiuping raised his arms and exclaimed, "Didn't we all survive it?" It's the same this time, it looks like there's no chance of winning, but as long as we hold out until reinforcements arrive, we're victorious! ”

"Huh! Huh! Oh! The ashigaru men held their weapons aloof and shouted the traditional Japanese ashigaru trumpet.

At three o'clock, the Oda family's huge team finally completed the formation. Outside the city of Xicheng, there are a total of eight watchtowers with powerful firepower, as well as nearly twenty ladders. In the south and north cities, there are three watchtowers and ten ladders each. Outside the gate of the West Castle, there are Oda Nobunaga's horse seals, 600 Oda family soldiers, and nearly 1,000 auxiliary soldiers. Outside the Beicheng Gate, because the Oda Army knew that the Beicheng Gate had been blocked, only Mori Kecheng's 100 soldiers and 200 auxiliaries were used as a pinch. Outside the gate of Nanjo City, there were 200 Oda family soldiers and 400 auxiliary soldiers, the commander of the army, Takigawa Kazuki, Oda Nobunaga's direct general Ikeda Tsuneko, and a number of members of the Ma Dai group. The rest of the Ma Dian group were scattered around Zhili Castle, half of them were in charge of scouting the direction of Anxiang Castle, and the rest were keeping an eye on the direction of Tsukasama, Kakekejo Castle, and Kariya Castle. There were also 200 soldiers and the remaining auxiliaries who remained in the large camp.

At four o'clock, with the sound of heavy and powerful drums in the camp of the Oda family, the siege battle officially began.