"My lord, Umezawa Castle has been taken, and Miki Naogo-sama has occupied the castle tower. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 info" Takahashi said to Soji Tsugawa.

Soji Tsugawa nodded and said, "What about Masayan Tozawa and Hanagu Shengqin?" ”

"The injured Ashigaru reported that Masayan Tozawa had been taken by the Kuroda family, and the body was not far away." Takahashi Koke replied, "Hanagu Mori wanted to escape, but he was captured by Lord Tozawa Moritsuna. ”

Soji Tsugawa gritted his teeth and said, "Chop off the head of Tozawa Masayasu and put it in front of the tomb of Kuroda Iekane." The Flower Drum Sheng was directly executed and his head was hung in the Umezawa Castle Tower. ”

"The ashigaru captives in the castle have been dealt with by Tozawa Masayasu's family?" Takahashi continued.

Tsugawa Soji's eyes flashed fiercely, and he said hideously, "Ashigaru will be detained first, and as for Tozawa Masayasu's family, all of them will be executed, and none of them will leave a message!" ”

"Hi"

At this time, Nagano Masabo also came here quickly.

"Father!" "Father!" Nagano Masabo hobbled to Nagano Masahei's corpse and cried out in grief, "Father! "Tadajiro is late, father! Open your eyes and see, Father! ”

However, Masahei Nagano was no longer able to respond..........

"Lord, lord!" A detective from the Tsugawa family came to Tsugawa Soji's side, turned over and dismounted, and said, "My lord, the Lu Os family has suddenly sent troops, and they have captured Tazawa Castle in the east, and they are heading towards Umezawa Castle!" ”

"What?" Soji Tsugawa said with an ugly face, "The Spo family? Have you ever seen it? Is it really the Spoo family? ”

Detective nodded and said affirmatively, "It won't be wrong, the flag of this army is the second or second lead of the Sibo family." ”

"Why did the Spoo family suddenly send troops?" Tsugawa Soji was puzzled and said, "Has the number of enemy troops ever been proven?" ”

"Back to the lord, the enemy army should be about 1,000 people," the detective replied.

"Okay, you go down first," Soji Tsugawa said absentmindedly.

"Hi"

After the detective left, Tsugawa Soji said to the Takahashi family behind him, "Takahashi family, quickly gather the retainers to the castle tower to discuss matters." ”

"Hey!" Takahashi replied.

........

Half an hour later, Umezawa Castle was inside the castle tower.

Soji Tsugawa sat on the main seat, looked at the retainers in the palace, and said sadly, "Everyone, although Umezawa Castle has been captured by the main family, but in this battle, the Kuroda family and Nagano Masahi were killed in battle, and the main family was also seriously damaged. All this is because I underestimate the enemy, and His Highness is very unhappy in his heart. ”

"My lord, it is the glory of a samurai to die on the battlefield, and my lord does not have to worry about it." Yoshikawa Hiroya said.

The Nagano Masabo on the side also said loudly, "My lord, although my father is dead, he is still alive, and my Nagano family will still die for the Tsugawa family!" ”

"Good!" Soji Tsugawa perked up and said, "Nagano Masabo will succeed to the position of governor of the Nagano family on the same day, and give Nagano Castle 300 stone to Zhiyuki, and be promoted to the rank of general!" ”

"Hey! Thank you, Lord. ”

Soji Tsugawa nodded, and then said, "The Kuroda family has no children, and there is a daughter who is only 1 year old, and the Chiyuki of the Kuroda family will be temporarily taken over by His Royal Highness, and after the daughter of the Kuroda family gets married in the future, the son-in-law will be the son-in-law and the son will inherit the family name of the Kuroda family." ”

"The lord is wise!" The retainers in the palace said one after another, and even the ministers such as Tozawa Masashige also admired and agreed.

Generally speaking, after a retainer like Kuroda Iekane died in battle, if he did not have an heir or a family name to inherit, the family governor could take back the Kuroda family's Zhixing. However, Tsugawa Soji actually retained the knowledge and action of the Kuroda family, and also promised that in the future, the son-in-law of the Kuroda family would inherit the Kuroda family as an adopted son. This is the embodiment of Tsugawa Soji's nostalgia, and the retainers suddenly felt that following Tsugawa Soji was indeed a wise choice.

You must know that things on the battlefield are unpredictable, if you die in battle one day, and the lord will not confiscate his knowledge and deeds, so you will be more motivated to serve the Tsugawa family!

Then, Soji Tsugawa continued, "But now I have bad news to tell everyone. ”

After looking at the retainers in the palace, Tsugawa Soji spoke, "The Spo family has sent troops to Senhoku-gun, and they have captured Tazawa Castle of Lord Tozawa Moritsuna. ”

"What?" Tozawa Moritsuna, who was sitting below, exclaimed, "Tsugawa-sama, when did this happen?" ”

Soharu Tsugawa replied, "Just now, His Highness received a report from the Honke detective that the Spo family sent 1,000 troops to march here, and Tazawa Castle has also fallen. ”

However, the discussion that Tsugawa Soji had expected did not come, and the situation in the hall was unexpectedly quiet.

At this time, Tozawa Moritsuna spoke, "Lord Tsukawa, the Spo family must have come to the rescue of Umezawa Castle, but unexpectedly, Umezawa Castle has been captured by us first. Maybe the Spoo family will retire when they learn of the battle in Umezawa? ”

Tozawa Masashige on the side also spoke, "The fact that the Spo family will send troops is indeed something we didn't expect in advance, and now it seems that it must be the strategy of Tozawa Shengan and others." Fortunately, we have already captured Umezawa Castle first, otherwise, when we are still fighting in Umezawa Castle, the Spo family's troops will suddenly flash behind us, and our army will face a rout on all fronts. ”

Tsugawa Soji said with palpitations, "We also have to lose the ability of our family's detectives, otherwise we will still be kept in the dark now." ”

"Now that the 1,000 troops of the Spo family are heading towards Umezawa Castle, how should we deal with it?" Soji Tsugawa said.

Yoshikawa Hiroya thought for a moment and replied, "My lord, Umezawa Castle is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and I found out when I attacked before, we can cage the castle, even if the Spo family has 1,000 ashigami guns, they can't capture Umezawa Castle." ”

Before Tsugawa Soji could speak, Miki Naogo on the side denied it, "The lord can't do it, the current exit of Umezawa Castle to the south of the city has been destroyed by the main family, and it can't be repaired again in a hurry." If the enemy army comes to the city, the south of the city will inevitably be the first to be breached, and even if the family's Ashigaru resists no matter how much it resists, it will be useless. ”

"Take 10,000 steps back, even if the Sibo family does not dare to attack the city due to the danger of Ume Ze City, the family will still not be able to block the Sibo family's troops in the Tazawa Lake area. Because although Umezawa Castle is dangerous, it can only defend the southern area of Lake Tazawa. If the Spo family marches from the north side of Lake Tazawa. At that time, we will be able to attack my family's Komatsuyama Castle by taking a detour directly from Yanuchi Castle, and even if we hold on to Umezawa Castle, we won't be able to do anything. ”

The Spo family's territory is in Iwate and Spo counties in central Michinoku, and the only way to attack Senhoku is to pass through a valley in the middle of the Okuwa Mountains, between Komayama and Mt. Ebonus, and then you can reach Lake Tazawa.

In order to resist the invasion of the Spo family and the invasion of other wealthy clans in Iwate Prefecture and Staghorn County, the Tozawa family specially expanded Umezawa Castle and built Yanouchi Castle and Tazawa Castle around Lake Tazawa, and the triangle choked the road leading from the Mutsu area to Senhoku-gun.

However, although Umezawa Castle is now under the control of the Tsugawa family, Tazawa Castle in the east has been captured by the Spo family, and the valley castle in the north is still in the Hanagu family's sphere of influence. Therefore, the Spo family can completely ignore Umezawa Castle, detour to the valley inner castle, and then directly attack Komatsuyama Castle.

In this way, the defense of Tsugawa Soji and others in Umezawa Castle had no effect.

"In this case, we will either abandon Umezawa Castle and retreat to Komatsuyama Castle to hold on, or we will take the initiative to join forces with the Spo family in the area around Ikuho Village," said Miki Naogo.