"Quack!" The teacup was shattered in my hand, a few pieces of crumbs pierced into the flesh, and a thin stream of blood came out, but I didn't feel it for a moment. "You carried out such a bastard's order!" I yelled at Akigami Hisashi.

"We think so too, Yamanaka-sama's repeated admonitions must not be like this!" Akigami Hisashi was full of pain. But in the end, the letter from Himeji said: You must go out of the city to chase the enemy, otherwise you will be punished as delaying the military plane! He also said that as long as this task is completed, he will write to the right general to restore the identity of the name of the Nizi family, and apply to the imperial court to officially award an official position to His Royal Highness Katsuhisa! As a last resort, His Highness Katsuhisa ordered us to lead 2,000 troops to pursue the Maori army......"

Listening to his words, my mind raced violently. I'm not sensitive to tactics, and in the past, I always pointed to the old Nagano, Hanbei, and even Gamo Fuxiu to support the battle. Although it cannot be said to be a layman, it is not too much to define it as "two knives"! Even if I can see the problem, then I'm afraid there is no one who has fought a war who doesn't understand. Yoshikawa Motoharu can be called a famous general, not to mention whether he has the intention of tempting the enemy, even if he really wants to retreat, it is impossible to be completely unprepared. There are many mountainous areas in the west, and it is too easy to set up a few ambushes on the road! Yamanaka Kanosuke and they are tired and weak, and they are prepared for a strong enemy, and there is absolutely no return. It's not that the strategy of splitting up forces to attack the Maori army will not work, but there is a question of priority! Victory was only possible if the retreating Maori army was held back by a fresh force under Hideyoshi Hashiba, and then engaged in the pursuing force of Kanosuke as it prepared to deploy. However, Yoshikawa Motoharu had stopped the assault in the last month or so, and the physical strength of the troops had recovered, and the number was more than that of "Monkey" and Yamanaka Kanosuke combined, so it would still be a hard battle to fight. Now that Yamanaka Kanosuke is allowed to attack in advance, it can only be described as "evil with intentions"!

"You've been ...... Ambush? Although I already knew the answer, I couldn't help but ask.

"Yes! We were surrounded less than 20 miles away......" Akigami Hisa nodded through gritted teeth. "As hard as we fought to the death, the Maori army was five times larger than ours and was encircled in a valley. In the end, only a few of us rushed out, but ...... But the Red Cave Lord was killed! By the time we ran back to Upper Moon City, a fire had already raged in the city. I asked a man who ran out of the city to find out: Soon after we left the city, the Maori army came to attack, and His Highness Katsuhisa has been captured......"

"If only you could come back, go and rest too!" I exhaled the turbid breath that had been holding in my chest for a long time. Akigami Hisashi was also injured, and although he had dealt with it, he was still tired on his face.

"Yes!" He bowed back, but stopped as if he had thought of something. "At that time, the Lord of the Mountain was about to rush into the city to rescue His Highness Katsuhisa, and we didn't listen to him no matter how much we persuaded him! As a result, we were caught up by the pursuers before we reached the city gate, and if it weren't for Nanmu-sama and their answer, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to come back alone. In fact, everyone knows: just a few of us are going to die, and Yamanaka-sama feels that he has no face to see you again......"

I waved his hand and he stepped back, looked at Kanosuke's injuries and left.

"My lord, from beginning to end, His Royal Highness Yuchai has not sent reinforcements to Shangyue City!" Walking on the road, Kato Duzo reported to me.

"Hmm......" I replied without saying anything, just motioning for him to continue. Since they haven't sent reinforcements for so long, it stands to reason that they won't send any more, so what's so strange, the key is what exactly they are planning.

"When Yoshikawa Motoharu went all out to encircle and annihilate Yamanaka and capture Kamitsuki Castle, His Royal Highness Hashiba led a total of 5,000 troops from the headquarters and the Harima Hao clan to capture Takayasu Castle in one fell swoop......" Kato Duanzo saw that I didn't say anything and continued to report: "In this way, the grain route of Yoshikawa Motoharu's 20,000 army is cut off, and the last moon castle has basically run out of grain and grass after five months of perseverance!" Yoshikawa Motoharu had no choice but to abandon Kamitsuki Castle and retreat, but was ambushed in the Akasakagawa Gorge and suffered heavy losses, and the attacking force was the main force of 8,000 Hashiba led by Kuroda Kanbei and Asano Nagamasa. His Royal Highness Goyushiba joined forces with Kuroda and continued to attack, winning three battles and three victories, taking 7 castles including Tobi Maetingse. Sanyo's westward expansion has been opened......"

I kept walking, my mouth creaking with my teeth full. Hideyoshi Hashiba! Kuroda Kanbei! You two guys are so vicious! Yoshikawa Motoharu is also a famous general in the western country, and it is impossible not to be careful about his own grain route. I think that after several months of besieging Kamitsuki Castle, he still hasn't seen Himeji reinforcements, so he must have been suspicious, otherwise it would have been impossible to stop the siege. However, at that time, he thought that it was very likely that he would be attacked from behind when he was exhausted, so he slowly retreated, and even when he saw Yamanaka Kanosuke's pursuers, Yoshikawa Motoharu might still think it was a trap. When Yamanaka Kanosuke suffered heavy losses, and Kamitsuki Castle became an empty city, he finally made up his mind to quickly take Kamitsuki Castle, and was ready to immediately approach Himeji with superior forces, but just when he punched hard, the "monkey" also shot!

"Any other news?" I asked.

"This matter has not spread, His Royal Highness Yuchai has publicized it: His Royal Highness Katsuhisa fought hard in Shangyue City, and although he himself could not be rescued after suffering serious losses, he achieved a major victory against the Maori family!" Although I couldn't say it clearly, I didn't know what I meant, but Kanzo Kato understood what I meant, maybe this is also a compulsory course to become a ninja. “…… Since it has just happened, there is not much time for it to be too formal. Now the general opinion is that His Royal Highness Yuchai has done a good job, as for Shangyue City...... How can there be no immortal in war! ”

"What does the lord think?"

"The main hall has praised His Highness Yuchai in public, and it is estimated that the commendation will be issued soon!"

"He doesn't know the truth of the matter?" I stopped and looked at him in surprise.

"No, someone has already secretly reported to the main hall!"

"That didn't happen?" I stared at the question and asked.

"No one in public has ever mentioned this, and the hall seems to have no idea! Privately......" Speaking of which, Kato Duzo groaned for a moment. "A day ago, His Highness Nobutaka talked about this in a private conversation with the main hall, and the main hall just smiled and said, 'What a monkey with only meaning!' Then we moved on to other things! ”

I stopped saying a word and continued walking towards the castle tower. While passing by the Honmaru gate, I ran into Takenaka Hanbei. "You come with me, I have something to say!" I said.

Kato Duanzo and Kusunoki Mitsunari stopped in their tracks.

"Do you know what happened?" After coming to the study and sitting down, I asked Takenaka Hanbei.

"My subordinate just heard about ......," he nodded.

"I want to have a showdown with that 'monkey', what do you think?"

"What do you mean......" Takenaka Hanbei looked up at me in surprise, and I nodded slightly to him. Tini Zi's family? In just a few words, he struggled to speak.

"In a sense, this is a temptation for me, and I don't think I can do without a statement!" I looked down at my hand, the crack had scabbed over, and blood was pouring out again.

"......He saw that I was serious, so he was unusually cautious." It happened suddenly, please think about it? He asked tentatively.

I nodded wordlessly, and he really looked down and remembered. "Have you figured it out?" He thought about it for a long time, and I couldn't help but rush it.

"Yes, my lord!" He nodded solemnly. "The minister thinks about it, but there are still some things that I still can't understand, and I ask the lord to solve the minister's doubts!"

I listened wordlessly.

"First, who will support the lord in doing this?" The half-guard of Takenaka raised his fingers. "The lord's move will undoubtedly be a benevolent act spread all over the world, and the wealthy families of the Western Kingdom will have admiration for the lord, but they will not take any practical action, because they are too weak to participate in such a big gamble! Mori and Takeda, who were far away, would not sit idly by, but that was just to add some civil strife to the Oda family. ”

"I see, let's talk about the next question!"

"Second, what will happen to the Oda family?" He curled another finger. "Although the Oda family is divided into several major forces, it is divided into two groups with clear barriers! Lin Tongsheng is already out of breath, His Royal Highness Niwa intends to balance, and their influence on the overall situation is only to adjust, but once the lord falls out with His Royal Highness Yuchai, then who will benefit? What will the main hall do? ”

"Anything else?" I started to calm down.

"Yes!" Hanbei Takenaka's words began to become clearer and sharper. "Now the Zhuxing family has made no one in the world dare to underestimate it, but it is also in a disadvantageous position! The major forces around us will not really cooperate with us, so if we 'make a move', we will attract the pretext of besieging, and even the past enemies will temporarily join forces. The best outcome is that we fight to the death with one of them, while the others are waiting for the substitutes to come on! ”

"It's true that I didn't think about it!" I nodded. "What do you think we should do?"

"My lord is right, this is indeed a temptation for us!" Seeing that my mood was stable, Takenaka Hanbei also breathed a sigh of relief. "Recently, we have developed too quickly, and Sanyo's beautiful works have swallowed most of them. In addition, the lord has a high reputation among the small wealthy families in the western country, which makes some people have doubts. As far as I know, His Highness Hashiba and his military advisor, Kuroda-sama, are extremely cautious and thoughtful people, including the one behind him, of course! So I think this incident is not just a military issue, it is indeed a test to see if the lord covets the whole ......"

"I see!" I gently patted my hand on the low table in front of me, and a wisp of blood was left on it. "Ordered the still water Yuhu to bring 2,000 kan to Himeji, and said to His Royal Highness Yushiba that I congratulate him on establishing a special honor. You can do it! Call Guangcheng in again, I have something to tell him personally! ”

"Yes!" The half-guard of Takenaka retreated as ordered.

"The most important thing is to uncover those treasures first, and to become strong yourself!" Monkey'...... Our days are still long! "Looking at the wound on my hand, I thought silently.