On September 29, the twelfth year of astronomy, the wind and the sun were beautiful, and the time of year was the most comfortable time of the year in Senbei County after autumn. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Soji Tsugawa took Saigo Kizo, Ogasawara Shintoki, Kiuchi Nagaru, and Ogasawara Yasunaga to the area of Xiongwa and Toga under the protection of Takahashi Koya and Banner Honzhong.

Along the way, the lords were busy harvesting rice in the rice fields, and the Ashigaru of the Tsugawa family was patrolling nearby, and three or five samurai were counting the amount of grain they had harvested. The entire Xionghe Township and Toga Township are in a relatively busy environment.

Toga Township and Xionghe Township are located in the eastern part of Kawabe County, the northern part of Yuri County, and the western part of Senhoku-gun. It is the intersection of the three counties, and it is the center of the four castles of Yodogawa Castle, Kameda Castle, Uemaeda Castle, and Shimomurakan, and it is also a convenient place for transportation. Passing through the middle of the Omonogawa rush, Mt. Ueno stands next to the Omono River.

It was already afternoon when Soji Tsugawa and the others arrived at Mt. Ueno, and everyone had lunch at Uemaeda Castle at noon, so they came to the area of Mt. Ueno to check the terrain non-stop.

"My lord, please see, this is the place where His Majesty thinks it is suitable to build a city." Pointing to Mt. Ueno not far away, Ogasawara said, "This place is backed by Mt. Ueno, not far from the Omono River, and there is a large uncultivated plain around it, which is very suitable for building a new castle." ”

"It's not far from the nearby castles of Kami-Maeda Castle and Yodogawa Castle, and you can directly reach the two districts of Hirako and Okatsu through the Omongawa River, Nagano Castle and Komatsuyama Castle to the east, and Yuri-gun to the south. It can be said that it is a place that extends in all directions, and it is located in Kawabe County, which is also convenient for the family to use troops in Minato Castle in the future. Ogasawara said slowly.

After hearing this, Soji Tsugawa nodded and said, "This place is really good. ”

"Let's go, let's go to Ueno Mountain and have a look."

"Hah!"

Not long after, Soharu Tsugawa and others came to the foot of Mt. Ueno. Because they had to climb the mountain, Tsugawa Soji and others could only leave their horses and walk up the mountain.

Mt. Ueno is not very high, probably only about 100 meters above sea level, but the mountain is quite steep and most of it is covered with rocks.

Halfway up the mountain, Soji Tsugawa suddenly stopped and said to the retainers beside him, "I just thought of an idea, let's see how it goes." ”

"My lord, please speak." Ogasawara Shintoki and the others hurriedly replied.

Tsugawa Soji said slowly, "You see, the place we are standing on now can overlook the entire area of Owa Township and Toga Township, and this place is relatively flat, can we build a castle tower?" ”

"After seeing the terrain here, I decided to build the castle tower alone on the mountain, and at the bottom of the mountain we built an Ijo castle, where Ninomaru and Sannomaru are also located. What do you think of separating the castle tower from the castle tower in this way, ensuring the safety of the castle tower and expanding the size of the castle? After speaking, Soji Tsugawa set his eyes on Ogasawara Nobutoki and the others.

Saigo Kizo on the side was the first to speak, "But my lord, if the castle tower is built outside the castle, if the enemy forces besiege the castle, the connection between the castle tower and the castle will be severed, and this will be dangerous." ”

After hearing this, Soharu Tsugawa shook his head and said, "I didn't want to build the castle outside, but the whole thing is connected to the castle tower, but the main part is located in the plain area under Mt. Ueno. ”

"You see, the castle tower is located on Mt. Ueno, and from what I just observed, Mt. Ueno is surrounded by water on three sides, and there is only one way up the mountain. The castle tower is located on Mt. Ueno, so if the enemy besieges the castle, it will be necessary to take this path in front of the mountain. Soji Tsugawa pointed ahead and said loudly, "Then we will build the castle at the foot of the mountain and expand it outward, so that the road to Mt. Ueno can be blocked, and the enemy will have to take the castle first if they want to reach the castle tower." ”

"In addition, the terrain of Mt. Ueno is high, so it can be widely distributed with the mountains and shoot condescendingly, which will definitely cause large casualties to the enemy." Soji Tsugawa said in high spirits.

"Awesome!" Kiuchi Nagru said admiringly, "The master's plan is really incomprehensible. In this way, the castle tower was both under the protection of the castle and separate from the castle. If we build some platforms and stone walls on Mt. Ueno, we will be able to defend Mt. Ueno even if the castle outside is lost. It's the perfect plan to build a city. ”

"Haha, it's not perfect, it's just a little idea." Soji Tsugawa said with a smile. In fact, this idea of Soji Tsugawa also burst out suddenly. Before crossing the former Tsugawa Soharu once played a game called Horse Riding and Hacking, one of the game mods called Fifty Years in the World, and there is a city in it that is very easy to defend and difficult to attack. Roughly speaking, the place where Tsugawa Soji is located now is just the right place to build such a castle.

So Soji Tsugawa brought it up.

After more than half an hour of deliberation between Soji Tsugawa, Saigo Kizo and others, the plan to build the castle was finally decided.

First of all, the new castle adopts a renguo-style rope tension, that is, the main maru (tenshu) and the Ninomaru are convex. However, the Honmaru of Shinjoike is located on Mt. Ueno, which is an exception.

The castle tower is built in a continuous manner, with the main body located on the northwest side, and the other three corners are the towers (arrow towers), which are connected by a crossing. The turret is a passage that connects various parts of the castle tower, but it can also be used as a platform, so it is called a ferry.

The main castle tower has a total of 3 floors, and it is a watchtower-type castle tower, that is, a small platform is built on top of the main building. In the opinion of Tsugawa Soji, there are about 10 castle towers, one overlooking the castle; but to be able to look out of the city; the third is to be able to look into the distance; Fourth, it can freely allocate the garrison troops in the city; Fifth, you can clearly observe the movements in the city; Sixth, when attacked, they can freely convey military orders; Seventh, it can be used as the last defensive base to defend against the enemy; Eighth, it can defend against long-range attacks such as arrows; ninth, it can deploy troops under special circumstances; Ten is the symbol of a city.

Fortunately, the new castle should be able to meet the above conditions, so Tsugawa Soji is looking forward to such a new castle.

At this time, Saigo Muzo suddenly said, "My lord, your majesty thinks that since you need stones to build a castle, you might as well take local materials and collect stones from Ueno Mountain." In this way, a flat land can be reopened for the construction of a house, which can be used as a residence for the lord's servants or as a samurai house. ”

"In addition, the outer castle can also build a moat to strengthen the defense of the outer perimeter of the castle. Although the Honmaru is easy to defend and difficult to attack, the defense of the castle is equally important. Saigo Muzao said with a solemn face.

"Hmm." Soji Tsugawa nodded and said, "What Kizo said is extremely true. ”

"Then the construction of the castle was decided, and Saigo Kizuku was the general director of the construction of the castle, Kiuchi Nagaru was in charge of the wood, Ogasawara Yasunaga was in charge of the stone, and Ogasawara Nobutoki was in charge of mobilizing the people." Soji Tsugawa continued, "Be sure to repair the castle within this year!" ”

"Hah!"