I arrived on the 10th day after the conquest of Kohama Castle, and due to signs of Ashikaga Yoshiaki's gathering of troops, I temporarily postponed my trip and entrusted the strategy of Wakasa to Takenaka Hanbei. As it turned out later, my worries were a little unnecessary, and because of the successive victories of the Oda family (of which I was the greatest), not many people responded to him, and he only managed to piece together more than 800 ashigari with all his efforts, which was not enough for me to stuff my teeth!

But be careful, Ashikaga Yoshiaki's boil is going to come out sooner or later! In order to deal with the accidents that may occur in the future, I asked Otani Yoshitsugu to lead a thousand troops to stay at Katsura Kawaguchi Castle, and with his wisdom and courage in the history of breaking strong enemies in Sekigahara, it is enough to do this! Although Senzhi and the others will soon move to Wakasa, after all, this is my painstaking management for several years, not to mention the storage of my "savings" for many years!

"Not bad! Already all set? "Since I entered the city, I have seen that everything is in order, and I have not seen the battle that happened not long ago. The blood had been scrubbed everywhere, and the mortar had not yet completely dried in some of the broken places. Thousands of captives have been properly settled, and even Asakura Keigi has been sent to Oda Nobunaga through secret channels.

"How's the rest of the city doing?" I asked the half-guard in Takenaka. Except for Nagano Yoshimasa, Shinhachiro, and Kusunoki Mitsunari who came with me, he and Gamo Fuhide sat here, and none of the other generals were seen.

"The whole of Wakasa has basically been controlled, and the defenders and the people of the country have not caused us any trouble...... "Takenaka Hanbei, who has always been calm, is also a little excited about the results achieved." The nearly 80,000 koku that we have already mastered in the land of 85,000 koku in Wakasasa have been captured, and the castles of Ishiyama, Kuniyoshi, Yamanuchi, Takahama, Okurami, Zenbeyama, and Tsurumai have all been captured, and Kore-sama is attacking Goseyama Castle, and only Taniya and Kumagawa Castle are close to the main force of Echizen Asakura, and we have not touched them. In addition, because the main forces of the Asai family were concentrated in the area of Kotani and Yokoyama, we attacked Joheiji Castle in Omi Province on the other side of the border! At present, Nagano Yemori-sama is there to monitor the movements of the Asai family, and the border location is in my hands! ”

"You've done a great job, even exceeding my expectations!" I didn't expect to be able to basically occupy the entire territory of Wakasa so quickly, and by the time I arrived, it would be fine. "What about the losses of our army?"

"Although there are some losses, there are also replenishments, and in general, the number is still steadily increasing!" The half-guard of Takenaka handed me a few notebooks with a list of the dead, meritorious service, and new personnel. "At present, the troops in Wakasa have expanded to more than 5,000 people, but the quality of the new personnel cannot be compared with the original troops!"

"Hmm......" I looked at my notebook and nodded. Some of my old subordinates who followed me during the Ngoc Dan Valley period died in battle, but this is also unavoidable in the war, and I was still surprised by the speed of expansion of the army, and the number of men and horses I brought and stayed at the mouth of Gyechuan this time has exceeded 8,000, which means that the strength of the vassal countries lost due to leaving Hanoi and Hozumi has been completely restored! It's just that it is wishful thinking to feed so many people with this mere 80,000 stone in Wakasa, at least there is still a two-thirds gap in it, that is to say, about 100,000 yuan will be added to the personnel funds every year, and one-third of the annual income of Sanyue House will be so loud and gone!

"Judging from the current form, it is unlikely that the Asai family will use troops against us, after all, they are in a position of confrontation with Shincho Palace...... "Seeing that I didn't have anything to say for a while, Nagano Yoshimasa chatted with Takenaka Hanbei." But Hatano and the Asakura family are different, and our position is equivalent to a dagger hanging from their backs! Is there anything new about their movements? ”

"The situation of the Hatano family is basically normal, except for adding some garrisons on the border, there is no other move, Yamanaka-sama led 1,000 troops to keep a close watch on them in Kuniyoshi Castle! It's the Asakura family......" Takenaka Hanbei showed a slight worry. "According to the intelligence, we have been increasing our troops to Fujieda City on the other side of the border in the past few days, and we have recently caught a lot of spies sent by them, and there may be a big operation against us!"

"Did our people send it?" I'm still flipping through the notebook in my hand, accumulating my previous views on the Asakura family's abilities, so I'm not very worried.

"They are also very well guarded there, and Ishikawa-sama's several attempts have not been successful...... "Takenaka Hanbei took out some more records of the situation." After a period of exploration, it was learned that their number was around 5,000, and Asakura Keiken also secretly came to Fujieda Castle! However, the enemy's plan has not been discovered, and it seems that it has not been communicated to the mid-level samurai until now, and the whereabouts of the high-ranking figures have not yet been fully grasped by us! ”

"Have you made any arrangements?" I put down my notebook and pondered for a moment. I can't think clearly for a while, could it be that the guy from the Asakura family is really going to spit out an elephant tusk this time?

"Maeda-sama led the main force of 2,500 men to garrison the Sanbu Yamajo Castle, and Shimakatsu Takeshi-sama led 500 men to garrison the Tsurumai Castle, and it has now become a horn trend...... "Takenaka Hanbei approached me and pointed on a map of several surrounding countries." In addition, there are those newly recruited under Kusunoki-sama, and I have them divided into several groups to hide in the mountains on the border, ready to attack at any time! ”

"That's ...... It should be fine! I nodded. Since Nagano and the others did not object, then it can only be done first.

"Lord, do you have any other orders?" Hanbei Takenaka continued.

"I can't think of anything for a while......" I stood up and walked over to the window, followed by Nagano and Takenaka.

The scenery here is really different from that of Hanoi and Ho Quan, and as far as the eye can see, there are mountains and mountains. Roads wind along with the terrain, and the fields are cut into pieces and scattered along the valleys or roadsides. The castle town is also very small, and although there are many merchants who come and go, it is difficult to retain the limited purchasing power of the poor residents. This is my future land, and it's really a place that lacks life!

"Chongzhi, do you have any thoughts on the development here?" I asked without looking back. "Is there any room for development on the land?"

"I'm afraid it's going to be difficult...... "Takenaka Hanbei replied gloomily. Although the land was small, the land was actually well developed, and because of the geographical conditions here, it was difficult for the lords at all levels to manage, but on the contrary, it gave the peasants a certain amount of freedom! The small fields in the mountains and valleys are basically developed, and the population that has fled to the mountains due to the wars of neighboring countries is quite large. If the land is inspected, some stone height may be added, and large-scale development is practically impossible! ”

"What is the way out for business?" I'm really a little unwilling about this result.

"I'm afraid it's enough!" It seems that these days he is not blindly busy with war, and he has also put a lot of thought into internal affairs. "The roads here are open, but not very easy to follow, and there are our enemies on both sides! There are small traders and there are only a limited number of them. ”

"What a problem!" I let out a long sigh. I don't know what Oda Nobunaga sent me to this ghost place for, but if it weren't for the cash cow of Mitsugatakeya in the back, I would definitely be squeezed to death by the "neighbors" on both sides.

"My lord! Actually, you don't have to worry too much......" Nagano Yemasa smiled and comforted me. "The lord sits back and looks at the world, and this is a good time for self-adjustment and refinement of the troops! In the past two years, the military and financial strength of the lord have swelled dramatically, but there are many irrationalities in the composition and sequence. Not to mention the newly recruited troops and the dependent people, even the quality of the original 6,000 people is uneven! Now Zhixing Ruosa is such a good opportunity, the distance is too far and the road is not smooth, even if the chief of the letter wants to, he can't often mobilize us; The low quality of the Asakura and Hataye armies is just convenient for our army to train and run in each team in turn; Although the road is bumpy, it is close to Lake Biwa, and the supply of our army is actually not a problem at all; A few years later, when the lord took thousands of elite soldiers to kill Wakasa, that is, the day of the dragon swimming in the sea! As for the economy of the territory...... The lord could build a town on the seaside and a town on the lakeside, and transport large quantities of goods from Hokuriku and San'in to the shores of Lake Biwa from the open sea, which could not solve the fundamental problem, but it was not without a small help! In doing so, it will continue to deepen the ties between the lord and the wealthy merchants of, and lay the foundation for the future participation in balancing the political and economic system of the Oda family. I think the key problem now is not the lack of money, but the hard work of 'internal strength' to improve the family's system. ”

Nagano's words made my heart feel a little better. "Yes, teacher, you have a point......

"My lord......" One of his attendants came in and reported, "Maeda-sama's messenger has arrived, and there is important information to report to the lord!" ”

"Let him in!"

"See the lord!" It was one of Ishikawa's ninjas who entered. "Last night, the Asakura army attacked our Crane Dance City......"

"What?!" I was taken aback, I didn't expect these guys to actually come. "How's the battle going?"

"The Asakura army was attacked from behind by Maeda-sama before they could attack......" The ninja's tone was slightly excited. Kusunoki-sama's elbow reserve also burned a large amount of grain and grass in the rear of the enemy army! At present, the 3,500 army led by the enemy general Asakura Keijian is retreating, and our army is still constantly harassing. ”

"Meritorious service in front of the elbow phalanx, promoted to ashigaru head and heralded commendation; Tell Keiji not to rush in, just stick to the enemy! After I gave the order, I turned to the Takenaka Hanbei and the others, and said, "We need to take this opportunity to teach the Asakura family a good lesson, so that they know that Wakasa is no longer theirs!" Command the 3,000 team of Xiaohama City to attack! ”