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After quickly sending envoys to the positions of Kawada Nagakin, Honjo Shiranaga, Uesugi Keitora, and Chisaka Keikin, who was the palace army, Echigo Zhong Kui led the war horse alone, stared at the sky fixedly, and waited impatiently for the moon to appear.

At this time, in his heart, a sense of foreboding became stronger and stronger.

When the moon finally rose from the eastern side of the Kitakuni Mountains, Shibata Katsuie hurried down from the mountain and climbed up Mt. Kogata to inspect the hostility between the Kurigara Valley and the Mt. Kasama. In fact, how to contain Saito Asanobu, who sent troops to the bottom of the mountain and set up a large camp at the bottom of the mountain, he had already planned it. Moreover, Shibata Katsuie had long seen that "Echigo Zhong Kui" would retreat sooner or later, so once he began to retreat, Shibata Katsuie would immediately launch a pursuit.

If you eliminate the main force of Saito Asanobu and Uesugi Keiko's most trusted Chisaka Keikin, it will be like cutting off Uesugi Keito's right-hand man.

Moreover, Uesugi Jinghu was not absolutely recognized by the old ministers in the family because of his young relationship, if he could be able to eat a solid meal this time, then it would not be a short time for this gentleman to "power up and go to the wild".

However, at this time, the main force of the Uesugi army was killed, and Shibata Katsuie would have to face a two-sided battle. Therefore, he intended for his nephew Sakuma Morimasa and his adopted son Shibata Katsutoyo, who was stationed on Mt. Tsuhata, to attack the Kurigaro Valley in the east with about 10,000 soldiers in order to prevent Saito Asanobu from further exploits, and by the way, to rescue Sasa Narumasa and Fupo Mitsuji (at the time of issuing the order, he did not yet know that the latter had been loyal to the party-state...... He himself, accompanied by Akechi Mitsuhide, climbed the small square mountain and personally commanded the annihilation of the enemy.

"The moon is out, have the people of Saito Asanobu moved?" As soon as Shibata Katsuie climbed Mt. Kogata, he hurried his horse to the northwest end of the mountain and looked out into the depression at the bottom of the mountain filled with silver-white mist.

"Repair Ryo Lord, look, they're moving." I responded.

With the help of the power of Yamalu Zhengguo, I was finally able to recapture Xiaofang Mountain, of course, this is not to say how outstanding the martial arts strategy of Yamalu Zhengguo is, how imbecile my martial arts strategy is, how much his soldiers are like the Imperial Army, how much my soldiers are like the Imperial Army, when it comes to combat effectiveness, his men and horses are not as good as mine, purely because Xiaofang Mountain is originally a mountain range that is easy to attack and difficult to defend.

Military strategists who fight positional warfare, one of the most hated scenes is that the position is extremely extreme and difficult to defend, but for strategic considerations, it is necessary to defend, Xiaofang Mountain is this kind of position that can be guarded to death, there is no water source, no position, except for a little higher, it can be said that it is simply useless, so when I lost this position, I was not distressed at all, but when I recovered it, it was extremely entangled.

Of course, Honjo is not a master to be messed with, and if I really want to pull away the people and horses to fight him, I don't dare to win easily, but after receiving the rescue of Saito Asanobu in the Kurigara Valley, he lost his fighting spirit and quickly withdrew his troops down the mountain.

This is not only because Saito Asanobu is an old-timer he admires (this is a bit false, in fact, in history, every time the dealer rebelled, Uesugi Kenshin's crusade army, it was Saito Asanobu who took the lead, and there was a nursery rhyme of "Zhong Kui killed Yangbei wolf" at that time), but also because if Saito Asanobu failed and the Kurigara Valley was occupied by the enemy, then he would fall into the middle attack of the enemy from both the east and the west

"Well, yes, it moved. They died down, and it seemed that they wanted to quietly retreat to Nanbo Mountain. Surrounded by the young flags, Shibata Katsuie stood there quietly, intently calculating the speed of the retreat of "Echigo Zhong Kui".

"Usa-sama, what do you think of Saito Asanobu?"

The father replied: "Saito Asanbu, as a military general relied on by Uesugi Kenshin, his own military strategy must be good, but I heard that after defeating Lord Fupo and Lord Sasa, Uesugi Keitora had already sent an envoy to order Saito Asanobu not to attack all at once, so as not to lose contact with the large army in the depths of the lone army. ”

"Miss, don't you think he can't go?"

"Well, the remnants of Sasa-sama and Bupo-sama, plus the reinforcements of Sakuma-sama and Genbo-sama, add up to more than 20,000 people, and the aberrant Saito Asanobu has received the help of Honjo Shiranaga...... However, the Yohoku people led by Honjo Shiganaga could not serve the Uesugi family to the death, and if they were outnumbered, they would definitely be more than happy to go up and help Saito Asanobu beat the water dogs, but ...... If they see that the enemy's strength is stronger than their own, and they are not willing to sacrifice their own people for the sake of others, they will certainly resist a little and not leave. ”

"Humph! In the end, the people of the country are a group of people who can't get on the stage and don't have any small roles to play, and the general trend of the world is not their turn to intervene! Even Honjo, who fought with me, seems to be so! ”

Shibata Katsu's old family snorted coldly, his face full of disdain for Honjo's longevity.

I looked at my father, but no one spoke.

It seems that before you came out of the Oda family, it seems that you were only a local tyrant in the four counties of Shimoowari......

"Anyway, Saito Asato is also a sad person." He seemed to be talking to himself, but he actually deliberately said it to his subordinates, "It's a pity, Echigo Zhong Kui is no worse than me in terms of martial arts, but he still obediently fell into my trap." ”

(This sounds like a boast.)

"Even so, his retreat formation is still in order, and there is not the slightest hole in it."

"Who? Who's talking here? Someone was interrupting, and Shibata Katsuya frowned.

"Report repair, Lord Liang, it's me." I'm a little depressed, is my existence root so weak and obviously by your side, you still don't know my voice?

"Oh, it's His Royal Highness the Wise General, you're still too young, I'll teach you a trick today. If you don't see it, you must not wait until the moon comes out to start withdrawing. ”

"Nani? Why? With the guidance of moonlight, wouldn't it be smoother? ”

"Your Highness, this is different from attacking when the moon comes out. If you move forward, you may feel that the more you are in the moonlight, the higher the morale. But if it is a retreat, it will be completely different, no matter how orderly it looks, the soldiers' hearts will be panicked, and they will definitely show flaws. What time is it? ”

"It's an honor to have your advice, but I guess it's ugly now."

"Who's interjecting?"

"Back to my father, it's me, Gonrokuro." This will be Katsutoshi Shibata

"So, Gonrokuro, in your opinion, where can the enemy retreat before dawn at the current rate?"

"Looking down, before dawn, they will at most retreat to the vicinity of the trench on the left side of the east side of the canyon."

"That would be great. Who is near the trench? ”

"It should be Saito Asanobu's lieutenant Chisaka Keikin."

"Who is the person in charge of breaking off the case for Saito Asanobu...... Oh, Envoy-sama, don't let me point out the little guy here, and tell me what you think. ”

"I guess it's Saito Asanobu's younger brother Saito Dingxin, Saito Dingxin always appears as his brother's shadow warrior, and everyone was still talking about it just now."

"It's pretty much the same as I thought. So, Lord Hineno (Hiroshi), judging from the enemy's retreat, when is it better to start the pursuit? Shibata Katsuie's interest seems to be high, and he constantly asks young people for advice.

Hineno Hiroshi, a former Mino samurai who is now part of the Hokuriku Legion, was very cautious and buried himself in deep thought. "I think that since the enemy has moved, we might as well secretly move in the direction of the east side of the canyon, quietly lay in ambush, and when the day comes, attack the enemy. I think that's the perfect solution. ”

"You mean, let's not attack them first, but go around to the north of the enemy's retreat and lay in ambush, right? What do you think? ”

Father leaned forward to look at his not-so-tall body and said, "I don't think Hineno-sama's idea is bad. ”

Father's words are a bit ambiguous, and the idea of reversing is not something he proposed, except that it has nothing to do with him, besides, there is a difference between the Mino samurai, and the battle between the pit vipers and the two has been more than twenty years, but the father of the "Dao San faction" and other traditional local tyrants and the new samurai of the "Yilong" faction (mainly led by the Mino three) have always been a little mustard.

Even Oda Nobunaga couldn't reconcile this.

"Hahaha, Lady Aza, your answer seems to be a bit tactful. Guys, what about you? ”

The generals replied, "We have no opinion." ”

"I think that the troops should be divided into two routes, one of the men and horses should go around to the foot of the mountain to the north and lay in ambush as Sukesaku said, and the other group of men and horses should now pursue at once, so that the enemy will be terrified from this moment on. If we hold back, we will never win. ”

"Good!" When Shibata Katsuya heard this, he slapped his thigh with joy, and looked back at the people around him, "Then I will adopt Hineno-sama's idea and immediately pursue from behind, while the other team of men and horses will rush to the east side of the canyon and give them another blow when the enemy is defeated!" Did everyone hear that, and each led his men to set off first. ”

Shibata Katsuie seemed to be indefatigable, and the hundred-mile journey from Echizen to the Kurigara Valley took him only a few hours, and without a moment's rest, he immediately rushed from his base camp to Mt. Ogata and challenged the enemy.

"Everyone's cheering! The enemy had been fighting hard for a day yesterday, and before he had time to catch his breath, he was now retreating like walking on thin ice. Normally I am strict with you and do not act on your own, but today I am very gracious and allow you to give full play to your wisdom. Whoever I have just called by name, no matter what method they use, as long as they can make meritorious contributions, they can destroy the enemy as soon as possible. The sooner you destroy the enemy, the sooner everyone rests. ”

"Understood!"

(Huh?) What does the title mean by 'middle and lower'? How did it get to this chapter that Saito Asanobu wasn't dead yet? ）