Hosokawa's 30,000-strong army assembled at Amagasaki Castle as scheduled, and marched along the coastline of Osaka Bay along land and water to the west. After passing through Nishinomiya, Hit, Mukuzu, and Toga, you will reach the Fukuhara Territory Boundary, and as long as you pass the Kobe Port in front of you, you will enter Harima Province, where Akashi Castle is the Akashi family's Eyoshi Castle.

The Akashi family is the mother of Kuroda Takaka, whose mother is the daughter of Akashi Masakaze, and the current head of the family, Akashi is really the brother of Takada, so Eyoshi Castle is also called Akashi Castle, which is the established bridgehead.

"Lord, the guards have been gone for several days, but there is no news, is it a mutiny?" Honda Masanobu said very worriedly, after all, the Edadō Castle that he planned to go to was recommended by Takataka Kuroda.

"No, something must have happened, and the guards won't betray me." Hosokawa Nobumoto, who was riding on a horse, said with great certainty that he began to worry about this great military division in his heart.

"That's... Our army is still marching as planned? Honda Masanobu looked at the soldiers on the march and always felt that something bad was going to happen.

"Of course, the close proximity of Erayyoshi Castle to the Akashi Strait, which is convenient for the suspension of both land and water armies, is the most ideal offensive route." Hosokawa Nobumoto nodded, from a military point of view, this is a place where soldiers must fight.

"Since the lord has decided, the subordinate suggests that the search move forward. After all, the guards have not returned for a long time, and this matter is a little strange. "The lord can trust his subordinates, but Honda Masanobu, as a military advisor, must not put his hopes in the hands of others.

"That's... All right. Hosokawa Nobugen thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement, out of trust in Kuroda Takataka, he would continue to go to Eyoshi Castle, and in trust in Honda Masanobu, he also agreed to search forward.

In this way, the Hosokawa army slowed down again, it was originally in a state of slow walking, but now it is simply walking for a while and resting for a while.

Rustle... A small group of Hosokawa troops broke into the port of Kobe, and these people were the pioneers Sakamoto Bei and Sanada Masayuki's men. At this time, Sanada Masayuki led most of the men and horses, waiting for news outside the port of Kobe, and on his left and right stood the lieutenant generals Miyoshi Masayasu and Miyoshi Masakatsu.

Duang！ The door was kicked open with a hard kick, and then the two Hosokawa Ashigaru rushed in, glanced at it, and retreated without finding any living things.

The same scene was played out in the port of Kobe, which was supposed to be a scene of chickens flying and dogs jumping, but no one was found in the entire port.

"Report to your Excellency! The second team did not find any suspicious persons in the harbor! ”

"Report to your Excellency! The five teams found nothing suspicious in the harbor! ”

"Report to your Excellency! A small team..."One by one, the team leaders, after completing the inspection, reported to Sanada Masayuki one after another.

Sasuke, the leader of the fourth team, was still searching for something when the other teams went back to report after searching.

"Sasuke, there's no one looking for this, what are you looking for? The other squads have gone back, we're lagging behind, aren't you yelling all day long to become the most elite squad in Sakamoto Bei? "The leader of the third group, Xiao Ji, is a little anxious, their team of twenty people has already circled the port of Kobe, and they haven't found anything.

"But Xiaoji, don't you think it's strange? Why is there no one in this port? Sasuke was still not at ease, and he always felt abnormal.

"What's so strange about this, I must know that I want to fight, and I'm running clean, it's normal!" Xiao Ji said impatiently.

"Is this normal?" Sasuke looked at Koyoshi suspiciously.

"Normal, normal, alright, alright, let's go, go and report to the garrison!" Koyoshi pushed Sasuke and walked out of the house.

Suddenly, a greasy liquid dripping from the eaves landed right at Sasuke's feet.

"Huh?" Sasuke bent down strangely, dipped his fingers in it, and put it under his nose and sniffed.

"It's!" Sasuke looked up in surprise, and everyone looked up curiously.

"Sasuke, what are you doing? What's the fuss? "Xiao Ji is a little unhappy, this first gong is gone, but it can't be the penultimate one, how ugly is this.

"It's weird!" As he spoke, Sasuke climbed up the house directly along the pillars, dexterously like a monkey.

"Wow... Sasuke's hand is really amazing, how did he practice it? The leader of the group, Yu Jiro, couldn't help but praise that this was their captain's unique skill, and it was said that he was best at soaring in the dense forest.

"Hmph, what's this, I've heard Sasuke say that he used to practice in Togakushi Mountain, and if you go there, you'll have the same skills as him in three or five years." Xiao Ji said with some disdain, as if he went there and could learn a good skill, he was really the master who couldn't eat grapes and said that grapes were sour.

"I see... Feed! Sasuke! What are you doing up there! Let's go! Awkward nodded noncommittally, both of them joined the army earlier than this Sasuke, and they both experienced the decisive battle of Kyoto. And this Sasuke only came to join the army this year, and it turned out that with such a trick, he won the position of squad leader and rode on the heads of the two of them.

With a whoosh, Sasuke jumped down from the house and said with a gloomy face, "Let's go." ”

The four teams were the last to come out of the port of Kobe, and looking at the sneering faces of the other four teams, they drooped their heads in shame and didn't dare to look at them directly.

"Humph! How did you come back! Follow me and report to Sanada-sama! "The head of the Ashigaru group, Oto Yoritada, is the commander of their five teams, and he is the younger brother of the German garrison general Oto Tomonobu. In the Battle of Itsukushima that year, the eldest brother and his father were killed in battle, and he was still unborn in his mother's womb.

Sasuke followed Oto Yorita to the head of the reserve, Sanada Masayuki, and the two knelt down on one knee.

"Kaiyu Sanada-sama! The port of Kobe has been probed and nothing unusual has been found! Please instruct! Oto Yorita didn't even ask Sasuke, and reported directly to his superiors.

"Well, okay, order the whole army to march, tell the lord that everything is safe, and our army will spend the night in Kobe Port tonight." As soon as Sanada Masayuki clamped the horse's belly, he prepared to lead his army into the port of Kobe.

"My lord! Don't enter the Port of Kobe! There's a trap there! Suddenly, a clear voice came, and Sanada Masayuki looked for prestige, it was the belated squad leader.

"What nonsense are you talking about! Don't hesitate to admit your mistake to Sanada-sama! Oto Yoritau angrily reprimanded, this Sasuke is really not big or small.

"Let him speak!" Sanada glared at Yorita Oto, who shrank in fright.

"Back to Sanada-sama! After the exploration of Kobe Port, the building was already empty, and there was no trace of biological activity. And... A subordinate found this on the house. With that, Sasuke took something out of his bosom, which was stained with a yellow liquid.

Miyoshi Masakatsu dismounted and walked over, picked it up and smelled it, and said in shock: "This is!" Kerosene! Sanada-sama! It's fire oil! ”