Since it was the middle of winter, it was already completely dark just after 6 o'clock. Snowflakes the size of copper coins fluttered down from the inky sky, and stayed on the ground, roof tiles, railings, and dry treetops...... turning the sky into a uniform color. Not only are the trees lifeless, but even the ice surface of Ruojiang has long been frozen, and the bright and dark lights on the watchtowers near and far only reflect the reckless snow. This is December 30 of the ninth year of Eiroku (1566), and it will be a new year after the time of the Child!

"Maybe the snow will stop tomorrow......" I sat in front of the window on the top floor of the castle tower of the lord of Wakae Castle, holding on to the window railing and looking out, thinking about the implementation of the plan in the past six months.

In order to create a "harmonious" atmosphere suitable for my family to live in, I ruthlessly destroyed five small and medium-sized wealthy families in the vicinity in three months, under the pretext that they colluded with the Miyoshi conspiracy to overthrow the shogun's regime. Only one of them was an old Miyoshi minister, and the rest were two national people, a declining minister, and a shrine, some of whom had some subtle ties to Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Honganji, but none of them objected to my actions, and Oda Nobunaga even gave verbal praise.

The key to the question is not whether your behavior is just, but whether the strength you show is enough to deter other strong people! The combined forces of the Nationwide Asanoka and Kamoto Shrine had reached 1,300 and were well-equipped and backed by a strong fortress, but they were destroyed in less than half a day in the face of the 2,500 troops I sent, and their forces were uprooted. To behave properly, I did not use cavalry or iron artillery in these battles.

My goal was clearly achieved! Ashikaga Yoshiaki has recently issued a series of imperial letters, appointing Wada Yumasa, Ikeda Katsumasa, and Itami Shinko as guardians of Settsu; Matsunaga hides for Yamato to guard; Hosokawa Fujitaka is the guardian of the mountain castle, but he has not dared to make a clear order for the appointment of the Hatakeyama Takamasa Kawachi guardian, and I am afraid that he has a lot of concerns. In view of this situation, the wealthy clans who were not close enough to make a direct pilgrimage to Oda Nobunaga came to Wakae to offer gifts for protection, and those who offered to hand over hostages, even from southern Kawachi, began to come one after another, and I had already faintly suppressed Hatakeyama Takamasa in terms of the ownership of the dominant power. But I didn't appear arrogant or greedily blackmailed, and I treated everyone who came to pay my respects with warmth and courtesy. The environment of coexistence of pressure and security has made Hanoi quickly settle down, and I think that if there are any external forces that want them to make trouble, they will have to think about it over and over again! In fact, this was also the purpose of Oda Nobunaga, and in order to continue to stabilize the situation in Hanoi, he did not let me go back to Qibu Castle to attend the New Year's party.

What really made me up my mind was the cavalry and iron artillery reserves! According to Mayinhull, the cavalry has largely reached the level he expected. Although I lack a professional comparison in this area, Nagano and Yamanaka Kanosuke were deeply shocked by the combat effectiveness presented, and besides, I also believe in the persistence of this Prussian. I know a little bit about the iron cannons, the speed of their formation change and the time it takes to aim are unprecedented, at least the Oda Honke iron artillery team commanded by Takigawa Kazuki is definitely incomparable!

After repeated confirmations, I sent a letter to my family, and at the same time sent Katsutoshi Shima to escort 300 spear ashigaru. I had planned for him to bring more men and lead the cavalry, but the Takenaka Hanbei warned me not to overprovoke Oda Nobunaga, as it would give an opportunity to those with ulterior motives in Gibu Castle. Originally, everything was going well, but Xianzhi had to go with the retainers and dependents who planned to go to Wakae together, which really greatly increased my prestige among the retainers, but this also delayed the time, and by the time the people scattered in Mino and Owari gathered in Gibu Castle, it was already approaching the end of the year! The speed at which this brigade of women, children, and children traveled was already predictable, but after entering Minami-Omi, heavy snow began to fall, and within two days the snow on the road near Kyoto had reached the calves. As a last resort! Their team of seven or eight hundred people had to arrive at the city of Guichuankou first, and although the distance was less than two hundred miles, they could only be divided into two places for the New Year.

"Your Excellency!" While I was thinking nonsense, Chiyo Tsuru walked in. "Your Excellency is here, and you are all waiting for you in the hall!"

"So early?" I took out my pocket watch and looked at it, and it was just fifteen minutes after six o'clock.

"How did you forget!" Chiyo Tsuru reminded me of my hesitation. "Everyone's family members aren't here, and they don't have anywhere to go anyway! And Mr. Mainhull is leaving early tomorrow morning, so it should not be too late! ”

"Oh, if you don't say I'll forget!" Hearing him say that, I stood up from the window. Ernst had received a letter two days earlier, and he had finally sailed out of the Bering Strait before the North Sea froze over, and was currently anchored in the harbor of Sakai Town. He was going to set sail south on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, hoping that Mayinhull would come there earlier, so that he could have more time. "Is there something ready for Mr. Mayinhull?" I asked him.

"Ready!" Chiyo Tsuru came to the wall and opened a secret door to a cabinet with a round leather bag inside. "A total of 1,000 gold judgments, exactly as you ordered!"

"That's good, don't forget to remind me to hand it over to him tomorrow morning!" I said as I walked out the door. Although Mainhull originally came to me as an after-sales service person, I still prepared a thank you gift for him! Not only for his outstanding talents, but also for his meticulous style. Anyway, his military philosophy has stayed here, and even if he leaves, my 1,000 cavalry will still snowball.

"Congratulations to my lord on a prosperous new year! I wish the stars a prosperous martial arts! "When I entered the hall and sat down on the throne, more than 120 retainers of all ranks, led by Nagano Yoshimasa, sang in unison.

"Sit down, everybody! Everyone has worked hard for the past year...... "I started my New Year's speech amiably. With the gradual expansion of the family business, I have become more and more familiar with this set of activities, and have formed my own unique style. Unlike Oda Nobunaga, I came across as approachable, and some even said that I had a feeling of spring breeze, but that doesn't mean I wasn't intimidating, especially among low-ranking retainers. This is actually the reason why Akechi Mitsuhide said more than a year ago - mystery! Many people were in awe of me, and this perception reached a new level after I eliminated the five wealthy families (in fact, this was done under the repeated advice of Nagano Yoshimasa, Hanbei, and Keiji!). ）。 “…… I hope you will continue to support me in the future! Let's toast to our shared prosperity! With that, I drank all the wine in my hand.

"Thank you, lord!" Everyone drank the wine in their glasses.

"Is everyone back?" After everyone began to feast and drink, I asked Nagano Yemasa who was sitting next to me in a low voice.

"It's basically back," he said...... turning his body in my direction. It's just that half of the ninjas are still watching their respective targets, and the middle ninjas are also in their own posts! But Ishikawa has returned, and Nagashin will arrive tonight. ”

"Hmm......" I nodded with deep feeling. Their work is really hard, and they often have to go out on duty, and they can't reunite with their families during the Chinese New Year! When formulating the reward, it is necessary to have a bowl of water evenly, and do not artificially create a difference between samurai and ninja. ”

"Yes, please rest assured, my lord!" Nagano nodded in agreement.

"My lord! I'm here to salute you......" At this time, the retainers began to come to toast me, and the leader was naturally Keiji Maeda.

"Mr. Mayinhull, I'm here to toast you!" By the time I got rid of them, I was already drunk, and I staggered to Mayinhull. "Thank you for your hard work in the past six months, so my Star Iron Rider has the power it has today!"

"Your Highness has won the prize!" He reached over and touched me. "This experience in your army will be the proudest memory of my life, and may you achieve a meritorious service that can boast of the world!"

"Thank you!" I drank the wine in my glass and thanked it from the bottom of my heart.

"But there are still some regrets...... "Maybe it's the relationship between the separation, and his always cold face showed a little sentimentality." Not being able to see the heroic posture of this unit on the battlefield is a fly in the ointment after all! ”

"It doesn't matter!" With that, I filled him with a glass myself. "There will be a chance in the future! By the time you come back to Japan, this army will already be in the archipelago! ”

"That's a definite ......," he said, relieved.

"Lord!" At this time, the door opened, and the companion Changxin ran in from outside.

"Long letter! This time it's time to ......be punished," I suddenly noticed that his face was not normal. "What the hell is going on?!"

"Lord!" There was also a hint of panic on the face of the companion Changxin, who had always been calm. "Miyoshi and the three of them led an army of 5,000 to disperse around Hanoi and kill in Kyoto, and at this moment they should have passed the city of Shenglong Temple!"

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Bear in Winter: There are quite a few readers who have very different opinions about the use of javelins by the Stars Armor, and I will explain it here. There is a key point here, that is, this cavalry is a heavy cavalry, and its biggest advantage is its strong melee combat ability and impact power! If it is a "guerrilla light cavalry" that focuses on long-range attacks, of course, I will also choose a crossbow or a combination of short bows, but the main enemy of the heavy cavalry at this time is not the bow and arrow, but the iron cannon behind the obstacle and the spear in a tight formation. At this time, the iron cannon did not have the ability to equip cavalry, and the huge recoil would cause most people to fall off their horses, especially if it was a short race like the Japanese! Date 's "riding iron" is actually a modified small iron cannon with an effective range of no more than 30 meters, and because of the high cost, it has only formed less than 200 people, so it is just a kind of scaring "paper tiger"!

According to Xiong's Nth Law: There may be a near-perfect army in the world, but there can never be a near-perfect army! And the more powerful the class, the more deadly its shortcomings tend to be! With the gradual acceleration of the development of the times, the combination of multiple arms has become an inevitable trend. There will be some other classes in the protagonist's army in the future, some of which will emerge on their own; Some are borrowed from the experiences of others; Some are even blood-bought lessons! But our protagonist has not yet realized this simple truth at the moment, considering his age, experience, experience and his middle status, primary stage of development, I also ask the majority of readers to forgive him greatly and continue to pay attention to his development! Thank you!