Just one day after the court received the letter from Namba Tian Kenji, the letter from the old man of the pen was sent to Suka River Castle. Chaoding immediately closed the door and carefully studied the contents of Ota's letter.

Compared with Namba Kenji's book, Ota Shimasa is not at the same level at all. In terms of content alone, it is a lot more than Namba Tian Kenji: the minister thought that Yamazaki was the strategy of Yanagisai, and greatly increased the morale of his family, and praised it in fact. However, after careful consideration, the minister thought that there were still debatable points, first, the major names of the eastern country were still in decline, and the Takeda family had greatly increased in strength in recent years, and had replaced the Imagawa family as the first in Tokaido. And the Satake family, the Oda family, the Edo family, the Kasai family and other forces are still there. The Date family, the Mogami family, and others are trying to recover after the big weakness, and they may not be terminally ill. Second, the strength of the Uesugi family can only be said to be stronger than any one, and it cannot be said that there are one enemy. If the troops are sent in a hurry, the enemy countries will come to the aid of each other, and it is okay to use one enemy and two, but one enemy and three will have a very small chance of victory. Third, there are still many difficulties within the family, the population is not enough to expand the standing reserves, the fertile land is not enough to feed the army for a long time, and many policies have not yet been implemented in the newly seized land. The war is indefinite, and the strength of the country can be sustained? The minister did not dare to jump to conclusions. With these three points, the great cause should be slowly planned, and it must not be expected overnight. As for the current offensive and defensive strategy of the family, the minister has not yet decided on a plan, please allow the minister to think carefully and report it.

"Hey······" Chaoding couldn't help but sigh after reading Ota's book.

Ota's book is one-sided. It's just that Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy is "to be discussed". However, in fact, in the content, Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy is denied in three aspects. These three articles are very clear and to the point. These three points alone immediately reveal the flaws of Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy. With Asada's thorough understanding of the Uesugi family, he naturally weighed the heavy weight. It should be said that Ota's vision is still enough to be competent for the important task of governing the country.

However, Ota Shimasa did not directly put forward in the letter what action the Uesugi family should take at this moment, which made Asada's heart feel a little empty after reading it. If you don't adopt Yamazaki Hidesen's strategy, but you can't come up with your own strategy, if you continue to move forward, isn't it a blind man? What the court needs now is a strategy to boost the morale of the ministers and guide the way. For example, soon after the succession of the imperial governor, he inspired the retainers from Musashi for a long time with the words "retake the homeland and take revenge". Now that the homeland has been recaptured, the shame has been snowed, and the strength of the Uesugi family is also thriving, it is natural that a new goal is needed to motivate the retainers and motivate themselves.

Chao Ding fell into deep thought again. At this moment, he has begun to not expect too much from Tao Qingxian's book. As a retainer of the Uesugi family and the elder of the pen family, Ota Shimasa was still unable to plan a feasible plan for the dynasty. After all, Tao Qingxian is a retainer from an outsider, and his connivance is a general who is unparalleled in the West after a famous family, and it is impossible to think about it and have the talent to plan the overall situation. Asada thinks that this matter still has to be discussed with Yamazaki Hidesen in the long run.

"Reporting to the lord, Tao Wei Zhang Shoudian sent his brother Tao Anfang Shoulong Fang Starry Night to deliver the letter." Later in the evening, while Asada was still pacing back and forth in the courtyard, Ikeda Morishu hurriedly walked in with a letter in his hand.

"Huh?! Is it Taoo Mamoru Zhang? Chao Ding was a little surprised and surprised.

"Lord Mingjian: Yamazaki's strategy of specializing in Yanagisai, relying on military struggle, seems to be a long-term plan, but it is actually a near-term plan. Those who conspire will be based on the current national strength. The standing Shangzhou soldiers of this family have not yet been expanded, and it is difficult to swallow the world with the momentum of the temporarily conscripted army! Although the vitality of the family is successful, it is not enough to fight against all the daimyo and people of the Eastern Kingdom. In the opinion of the ministers, if they want to swallow up all the non-subordinate daimyo and people in the eastern country, they cannot be defeated unless they have 50,000 standing reserves. However, the expansion of troops and the standing of training cannot be completed in two or three years. In addition, the only land that can be cultivated and fertile land in the family is related to the eight eastern countries, and the rest are mountainous hills and swampy lands, which cannot provide military rations for tens of thousands of troops to fight all year round. Therefore, Yamazaki's strategy is not feasible. This family strategy can be used as two phases. The first three years are expected, and the last ten years are moving. Within three years, Taoguang will cultivate obscurity, secretly expand the country's territory, enrich the national strength, and reorganize the armed forces for war, which is the expected strategy. Three years later, he marched westward, with a long-term plan. If you don't accumulate steps, you can't make thousands of miles. If you don't think about it, you can't achieve great things. May the Lord think calmly. ”

Chao Ding couldn't calm down for a long time after reading Tao Qingxian's book. Although the book was folded and put away, it was unconsciously opened. For two whole hours, Chao Ding thought about it motionlessly. Finally, he got up and said, "Where did Taowei Zhang Shou lead the army?" ”

"Back to the lord, according to Lord Tao Anfang, Taowei Zhang Shoudian has led the army to Fanfeng Mountain, and it is expected that he will be able to enter Aizu tomorrow." Ikeda replied.

"Yes. Anazawa Kaga Mamoru and the others pacified the people of the three prefectures of Taga, Iwazen, and Kikuta, and asked them to stop for a while. Go and find out where is the third son of the Constitutional Prince? "Asadako is counting on Uesugi Kenshige to go to Iwaki's house and stabilize the southern part of Kaido.

"Yes." Ikeda then retreated.

On the 17th day of the first lunar month, good news came from the northeast of the Uesugi family's domain, and the strategy of the court to win over the important ministers of the Kasai family had worked, and the retainers of the Kasai family tree, such as Minoru Sasaki, Ryoji Ryoji Ryujo, and Kishimaru Okushi, suggested that Kasai Harunobu express his obedience to the Uesugi family. Only three days later, the head of the Kasai family, Kasai Harunobu, sent an invitation to the Asada, offering his second son, Nobuhide Kasai, as a hostage to the Uesugi family.

The court did not let the Kasai family obey in vain. He immediately wrote back to Kasai Harunobu, and in addition to his ability to block it, he allowed the Kasai family to freely cut Ariga Castle (formerly Kasai Castle, which was stolen by the Osaki family), Sonuma Castle, and Miyano Castle. At the same time, Soma Yoshiyin will send troops across the Abu Kuma River to attack Tsurudate, Okazu Castle and other places to divert the attention of Date and Osaki.

Then turn your perspective to Yokura Castle in Kaido. In desperation, in order to save the lives of his retainers and castle soldiers, Nikaido Moriyoshi reached an agreement with Kawada Nagakin, Kawada Shigekin, Anazawa Toshihiro and others who were besieging the castle, and then Kaejo surrendered. After all the Nikaido troops defending the castle left Yokura Castle, the Uesugi army fired at the unsuspecting Nikaido army with iron cannons and bows and arrows.

Nikaido Shengyi and the others were caught off guard, and when they reacted and were about to flee back to Shikura Castle, they found that the Uesugi family's bamboo finch flag had been erected on the top of the castle, and the city gate was closed. In a few moments, the 500-2-order temple army was completely wiped out, and the important ministers of the Nikaido family, Hamao Yitai, Yabe Lord Shui Yu, Yabe Echizen Mamoru, Suda Hideyuki, and Hodo Hara Yuyuri were all killed, and Nikaido Moriyoshi and Date Anan were shot and killed in the chaos.

On the 20th day of the first lunar month, the Uesugi army, together with the Soma army and the Tamura army, sent troops to Shimofunaojo Castle, Kuroda Castle, Heijo (Iino Heijo), Izumi Castle, and Kawabe Castle, which were stubbornly resisting. On the 25th day of the first lunar month, after paying the price of more than 500 casualties, the three allied forces captured Shimofuno, Heicheng, Yakuda Castle, Izumi Castle, Kawabe Castle, Belaiguan and other places. The main forces of the two prefectures of Kikuta and Iwazen were completely wiped out, and the lords of the countrymen, Takanao Funao, Igada Iemori, Uzada Munehisa, Osato Shinyu, Shirato Takatsu, and Iga Nobusi, were all killed. The two counties of Kikuta and Banzen were officially incorporated into the territory of the Uesugi family. However, the people of Hitachi-taga who were still resisting did not know that the two counties of Kikuta and Iwazen had been pacified, and they still actively contacted the daimyo families such as Satake and Edo in an attempt to find a backing to resist the invasion of the Uesugi family.

However, the wise Mitsutada of Checheng will not give a chance to the people who are still defending the castle in the south, such as Masanari Otsuka, Usami Owari Mamoru and Mamoru Funaga. At the same time that Toshihiro Anazawa, Kawada Nagaqin and others had swept through the two counties of Kikuta and Panzen, Akechi Mitsutada immediately led an army of 2,000 to the south and captured Oyamakan, Yasaragawa Castle, and Matsuoka Castle. Usami Owari Mamoru and Funasa Gate Mamoru and other Otsuka retainers and Iwaki clan lords were taken over, and Akechi Mitsutada completed the siege of Ryuko Mountain Castle.

On the 27th, Toshihiro Anazawa and Hiromune Ishiguchi began land inspection work in Kikuta and Banzen counties, while Kawada Nagakin, Kawada Shigekin, Mori Hidehiro and others led an army of 3,000 to the south to support Akechi Mitsutada.

On the 29th, Otsuka Masanari surrendered after he could no longer hold on, and then Otsuka Masanari, Funagu Akiyoshi and others were ordered by Akechi Mitsutada to be taken to the northeast of Ota Castle and beheaded. The people of Taga-gun were also pacified.