"My lord, there must be deception in this," Hineno Hiroshi immediately sensed that something was wrong after hearing this. "I've seen this kid Shigeji Takenaka, who has been smart since he was a child, and he is so good at tricks. The previous ambush on ten sides to destroy Oda Nobunaga was a plan he set. This time, he only brought seventeen people into Inabayama Castle, so he must have something else to do! The lord will either refuse him entry or take him down on the spot! ”

"Nope." However, Saito Ryuxing resolutely refused: "Give him the arrow and the seal letter, and let him enter the city!" ”

"My lord? What are you doing here? Bamboo Waist Naomitsu also protested dissatisfiedly, "You are luring a wolf into the house!" ”

"Don't you realize it yet?" Saito Ryuxing turned his head and looked at his two family elders: "Why did Ando Mamoru send Shigeharu Takenaka into the city?" ”

"Because they want to do it now! It's time to take back control of Inabayama Castle," Saito Ryuxing sneered and slapped the table angrily, "But they don't dare!" They were afraid that we had ambushes in the city, and they were afraid that they would attack the city and fall into our ambush, so they first sent Shigeharu Takenaka in to see the reality! ”

"If we refuse to enter the city with such a reasonable request from Shigeharu Takenaka at this moment, won't it be clear that there is a ghost in our hearts and an ambush in the city?" Saito Ryuxing frowned, and asked dissatisfiedly, "If you were Ando Mori, would you still take the city?" Definitely not! Our plans will not fall through. ”

"So my lord..."Hineno Hiroshi seemed to understand what Saito Ryuko meant, "Do you want to remove the ambush in the city, and then let Shigeharu Takenaka come in and see that there is no one in the city, and lure the Ando family to attack?" ”

"That's right," Saito Ryuxing nodded, "I'll remove all the ambushes in the city, and the troops will be stationed in the barracks outside the north gate, and they won't be allowed to enter the city without my orders." ”

"But my lord!" Naomitsu Takewaist interrupted Saito Ryuxing's words and reminded: "Although this can prevent Shigeharu Takenaka from seeing through the truth, our ambush soldiers are indeed gone!" When the time comes, Shigeharu Takenaka and Mamoru Ando will be together inside and outside, how can we resist? Inabayama Castle may really change hands! ”

"Listen to me, of course I can't be so stupid!" Saito Ryuxing waved his hand and motioned to Takeshi's waist Naomitsu to shut up, "Takenaka Shigeji must have another plan to bring people into the city." But he himself had seventeen men, and he couldn't make any waves in the city, and he needed a large army to control the whole city. However, the army of the Ando family outside the West Castle did not build siege equipment at all, and there was no way to take the walls of Inabayama Castle. In the final analysis, Shigeharu Takenaka had to find a way to open the gates from inside the castle and let in the Ando army outside the western castle. ”

"So, although I will leave the army outside the city," a slight smile appeared on Saito Ryuxing's lips, "but I will let all the high-ranking commanders and samurai who have been informed of my plan leave the army and garrison the city with their cronies!" ”

"The key defense is the castle tower, the prison where Yu Qiuping is held, and the Xicheng City Gate." Saito Ryuhei looked down at Inabayama Castle hanging on the wall and nodded at the three key locations, "These high-ranking generals and their cronies are not many in number, and as long as they are properly ambushed, they will not be discovered. And when Shigeharu Takenaka saw that the army was all stationed outside the city, he would not be suspicious. ”

"Although there are not many of them, it is still more than enough to deal with the seventeen people of Shigeharu Takenaka," Ryuko Saito recounted his plan: "When the time comes, Shigeharu Takenaka will definitely try to open the city gate and let the Ando army enter the city, so we will directly ambush Shigeharu Takenaka with those high-ranking generals and their elite samurai at the West Gate and arrest him!" And then use this as a reason to attack the Ando army outside the city! ”

"I see." Hineno Hiroshi suddenly realized when he heard this, "My lord, this plan is very good!" ”

"Then what are you doing in a daze?" Saito Ryuxing laughed with satisfaction, "Hurry up and follow my instructions!" ”

·

In the evening, Shigeharu Takenaka, who had been waiting for a long time, finally got permission to enter the city. He and his sixteen retinue each carried a small bag, the upper one containing the medicine, the lower one containing weapons and sulfur for ignition, and so on.

"Please search." Shigeharu Takenaka naturally walked over to a doorman and opened the package for him to inspect.

"No need, Lord Takenaka, don't dare to offend," the doorman waved his hand again and again, and at the same time handed over the arrow and the letter to Shigeharu Takenaka, "When the lord needs to go out of the city, he only needs to show the arrow and the letter." ”

"Thank you." After nodding his head in thanks, Shigeharu Takenaka led his sixteen followers into the castle and walked towards his brother's yashiki. And as soon as Shigeharu Takenaka left, the Empress Dowager Komakigen took his flag warrior to the vicinity of Xicheng to ambush. And along the way, there are also countless ninjas and dark sentinels who keep an eye on Shigeharu Takenaka's every move.

"Go and fetch some water," Shigeharu Takenaka instructed a few of his attendants to walk towards the stream in the northern city, "and get some food," and ordered a few of the attendants to walk towards the bazaars of the eastern and southern cities. The attendants understood what Shigeharu Takenaka meant, nodded knowingly, and then scattered away.

Half an hour later, the attendants who were secretly sent by Shigeharu Takenaka to reconnoiter the castle returned to Takenaka's Kusakusaku House.

"How's it going, what's going on in the city?" Shigeharu Takenaka asked softly.

"There are no troops stationed in all the dangerous places, important places, and commanding heights." The attendants replied in a low voice, "From a bell tower on the North Castle side, you can see that there are nearly 2,000 people active in the barracks outside the North Castle Gate, and the Ashigaru of the Saito family left in Inabayama Castle is estimated to be there. ”

"Don't you have any troops in the city?" Shigeharu Takenaka confirmed again.

"Yes, there is a little," the guard scratched his head, trying to recall, "and there may only be a few dozen Saito Ryuko's Hachimoto samurai maintaining order, but there is absolutely no army!" ”

"That's right..."Shigeharu Takenaka nodded silently, pondered for a moment, and then asked again, "You weren't suspected, were you?" Has anyone come to interrogate you? ”

"No, absolutely not!" The attendants hurriedly waved their hands, for fear that the master would doubt their abilities: "We are well-behaved, we have not done anything out of the ordinary, and we will definitely not arouse suspicion, and there is no one from the Saito family to check us." ”

"Well, there's no need to send someone to inform His Highness Ando, the plan is still as usual."

"Wait for sunset and we'll get moving."

·

At the same time, inside the castle tower. Saito Ryuko has gathered a large number of high-ranking generals in the army, such as generals and generals, as well as their trusted samurai.

"Shigeharu Takenaka's people have already reconnoitred the whole city, and there is another person who quietly ran up to the bell tower and looked outside the north city, our army outside the north gate must have been seen by them." Naomitsu Takewaist reported to Saito Ryuxing, "It seems that they didn't find anything abnormal, and they didn't send anyone out of the city to contact Ando Mamoru again." ”

"Okay, you're doing a good job." Saito Ryuxing nodded in approval, "Then teacher, Takewaist-sama, the castle tower will be handed over to you." ”

"What about you, my lord?" Hineno asked with some concern.

"I'll take someone to garrison the prison," Saito Ryuxing sneered, "I have a hunch that Shigeharu Takenaka will personally come to the prison to save people." ”

"Let's wait for night," Saito Ryuko clapped his hands and looked at the crumbling sun in the west, "the sun is set, and the show is about to begin." ”

·

At this time, inside the Saito family barracks outside the north gate. The Saito family ashigaru who was left behind was leaderless, and the people were panicked.

The orders from above have been very strange for the past few days. First, they were transferred to various dangerous positions in Inabayama Castle to ambush, and this afternoon they were suddenly transferred back to the barracks outside the north gate, and I don't know why. And their superiors, such as their subordinates and generals, seem to have been given orders to keep their mouths shut and refuse to tell them anything. It's just a vague hint that everything seems to be related to the Ando family's army stationed outside Nishijo.

The ashigaru people are not stupid, and they also understand the contradictions between the Nishimino wealthy clan and the Saito family. Previously, the Nishimino Hao clan had teamed up to set up Saito Ryuxing, and even sent people to monitor his every move in Inabayama Castle. Their lord staged a coup d'état a few days ago, seized Mamoru Ando, and regained control of Inabayama Castle. Although Mamoru Ando was released soon after, these ashigaru people also understood that Mamoru Ando would never give up and would definitely find a way to retaliate.

They privately speculated that they had been ambushed in the city because they were worried that Mamoru Ando would suddenly rush into Inabayama Castle to take the city.

However, this evening, all the senior generals and their cronies in the army were transferred, leaving only the confused Ashigaru. The biggest official position here is a small one, and they don't belong to each other, so they can't make up their minds at all. The chaotic environment and the sudden departure of the senior generals who did not give any orders made the atmosphere in the barracks a little tense, and everyone was worried and speculating about what was about to happen.

·

At the beginning of the morning on February 17, the sun completely submerged in the horizon. The entire Inabayama Castle was also darkened, and only the castle tower and the three gates were lit by torches.

The three gates of Inabayama Castle were tightly closed, and only twenty guards remained at each gate. The walls of Ninomaru and Honmaru were even more undefended, and the gates of the two urn castles were not closed, allowing the people in the castle to move freely.

Inside the samurai house of Takenaka Kusaku, the sixteen attendants of Shigeharu Takenaka have been armed. And Shigeharu Takenaka sat on the futon next to him with his eyes closed, and the attendants who were familiar with the master knew that this was the posture that the master was thinking, so they didn't bother much, silently waiting for the time to do it.

At this moment, the Saito samurai who were ambushed in the castle tower and the west gate were also fully armed in the darkness and ready to attack. Saito Ryuko himself lay in ambush in the prison, waiting for Shigeharu Takenaka's actions.