"Lord Wise is the little surname of Tsugawa Hall, and he should know Tsukawaden best! I wonder if a wise adult has ever guessed the joints? Takeda Motoei said suddenly.

Hearing Takeda Motoei's words, Akechi Mitsuhide nodded slightly, and then frowned and fell into deep thought.

At this moment, a man suddenly appeared in the grass beside the road ahead.

"Stop! What people! ”

As soon as I saw someone suddenly rushing out of the side of the road, I went straight to Akechi Mitsuhide and the others, and several Qiben and Fang Bian on the side immediately stepped forward to stop them. If it weren't for the fact that the person didn't look like a ninja or something, they would have drawn their swords by now.

"Ahead is Sensible Hinata Mamoru Shogun?" Although surrounded by more than a dozen people, the person who came did not panic, but asked unhurriedly.

Wise Mitsuhide urged the war horse to take two steps forward, and then spoke, "It's here, Your Excellency blocked our way, I don't know what the intention is?" ”

"In the next is the Itami retainer Kitagahara Nagakatsu, on the order of the lord of the family, I have come to inform the wise Hinata to guard the temple that Itami Castle is now under the Tsugawa family!" Kitagahara replied with a firm face.

Akechi Mitsuhide was puzzled, "What is the proof of what Your Excellency said?" ”

"This is a letter written by your Tsugawa Hall to the lord of this family, please take a look!" As he spoke, Kitagahara Nagakatsu took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it to Akechi Mitsuhide's hand.

Akechi Mitsuhide took the letter and looked at it briefly, then nodded, "It is indeed the master's handwriting, and the monogram is also accurate!" But why didn't you know anything about the Itami family and the family's internal communication beforehand? ”

"This is the meaning of the Tsugawa Temple, and because I am afraid that the Honke family will repeat the mistakes of the Ikeda family, all the dealings between the Honka family and the Tsugawa family are very secret." Kitagahara explained.

Akechi Mitsuhide nodded suddenly, since the Itami family has communicated with the Tsugawa family, then the next battle plan can be carried out according to the deployment of Tsugawa Soji. Akechi Mitsuhide now finally understands why Tsugawa Soji wants to let himself directly attack the hinterland of Settsu, and there are so many people in the country who are emotionally Settsu who have secretly surrendered to the Tsugawa family?

"Where is Itami Yamato now?" Akechi Mitsuhide continued to ask.

"The lord is still in Takiyama Castle!"

"How's it going over there?"

"The unstable factors in Itami City have been eliminated, just wait for the arrival of the Hyuga Guardian Army, and great things can be accomplished!" Kitagahara replied.

Akechi Mitsuhide immediately expressed his understanding, and then explained the situation to Takeda Motoei and Isshiki Yoshimichi.

Hearing Akechi Mitsuhide's words, Isshiki Yoshido and Takeda Motoei also said they had no objections.

"In that case, let's march at full speed toward Itami City!"

"Hah!"

......

Takiyama Castle was already shrouded in the clouds of war at this time.

The Miyoshi family, which was deployed near Takiyama Castle, was very busy, carrying all kinds of supplies and equipment everywhere to prepare for the imminent outbreak of the big war.

"The sky is beautiful, although the weather is hot these days, but it has also had a great impact on the Tsugawa family! Although the enemy army surrounded Hanakuma Castle, they did not attack the castle! "Inside the castle tower of Takiyama Castle, the representative of Hanakuma Castle Shigekiyo Nakagawa reported the situation to Araki Murashige and Yasumi Naomasa with a smile on his face.

"The renovation work of Takiyama Castle is almost complete, and even in the face of the tens of thousands of troops of the Tsugawa family, such a castle should have no problem holding on for a few months!" Araki Murashige also said with some confidence.

As soon as he arrived at Takiyama Castle, Arakimura Shige began to renovate Takiyama Castle and stockpiled a large amount of food and water in the castle, with the aim of fighting a protracted battle with the Tsugawa family here.

Thinking that he was about to fight the world-famous Tsugawa Soji, if I could get lucky enough to block the attack of the Tsugawa family, then my Araki Murashige's martial name would also be resounding all over the world, right? Arakimura couldn't help but feel a little happy in his heart.

"However, the weather is much cooler today than the previous days, and it rained in the early morning! Why is there still no movement on the Tsugawa family's side? Yasumi asked with a frown at this time.

Nakagawa Shigekiyo also shook his head, "I don't know about this, but there is really no change in the strength of the Tsugawa family outside Hanakuma City!" ”

"The Tsugawa family can't fight it for the time being, but the second batch of reinforcements that Miyoshiden said a few days ago don't know when it will arrive?" Arakimura Shige set his sights on Naomasa Yasumi.

The troops sent by Miyoshi Nagakei to support Araki Murashige had another team in addition to Yasumi Naomasa, and it was Miyoshi Nagakei's brother Tokawa Ichiku who led the team. In fact, Miyoshi Changqing originally planned to send Matsunaga Shu over, but Shihe Ichicun insisted on coming over in person to avenge the "hatred of taking his wife".

"The first line of Settsu Bay was blocked by the Tsugawa family, and the forces of the Ten Rivers Sanki Guard could not land directly from Settsu Bay, so they could only go ashore from the vicinity of Yodogawa! Calculate the time, it should be tomorrow at the latest! Naomasa Yasumi explained.

Arakimura breathed a sigh of relief, although most of the Sanki people of Tokawa Ichiku participated in the war in Yamashiro Province, but this time Tokawa Ichiku still brought more than 3,000 ashigaru. With the addition of the Ten Rivers and One Survival, the certainty of holding Takiyama Castle is even greater.

As he was talking, he suddenly ran in from outside the castle tower, and a sweaty envoy with a feather on his back was on his back.

"Araki-sama, it's not good!" As soon as he saw Araki Murashige, he seemed to see his own father, and immediately said excitedly, "The Tsugawa family's troops have crossed Mt. Rokko and have captured Itami Castle, and they are marching towards Ikeda Castle at this time!" ”

"What!"

"What!"

"What!"

Three voices sounded in the hall in a row, and Araki Murashige and the others were instantly blinded.

"Arima City is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there are three thousand ashigaru defenses in the city, it has only been two days, how can it be captured by the Tsugawa family!" Arakimura Shigege looked incredulous. The Tsugawa family's forces just began to march towards Arima Castle the day before yesterday, and today they will take Itami Castle, so doesn't it mean that Arima Castle was captured last night.

This is the famous fortified city of Arima Castle in Settsu, and there are 3,000 foot guards in the city, could it be that I am still living in a dream?

"It's a horse family!"

"When the Tsugawa family attacked the city, the Arima family opened the city and surrendered without firing an arrow, and Lord Shiokawa was also taken by Arima!" The next sentence was undoubtedly like a bolt from the blue, and it was not good for Araki Murashige's whole person.

"Damn, I didn't expect the Arima family to turn their backs on the Three Good Palace!"

"What about Itami City, Itami City is also a fortified city, could it be that Itami City is also the Tsugawa family who surrendered?" Araki Murashige was already a little panicked, and he thought that Itami was still in Takiyama Castle at this time, so he hurriedly asked.

Shoban shook his head, "Itami Castle was captured by the Tsugawa family, and it is said that in the face of the onslaught of more than 10,000 troops of the Tsugawa family, Itami Castle also lasted for several hours before it was captured!" ”

"Itami Yamato Mamoru has already gone out of Takiyama Castle, and there are only dozens of kinship samurai in Itami Castle, and there is not much combat power! In the face of the attack of more than 10,000 troops of the Tsugawa family, even if the city is strong, it is categorically unable to hold it! The head snake Nakagawa Shigekiyo also spoke.

Itami Castle is actually what became Arioka Castle, and it was used as a base in history when Araki Village rebelled against Oda Nobunaga.