It was another day and night march, and I returned to Ruojiang with 4,500 men and horses without moving, and at the same time vented all the energy I had accumulated from the rest a few days ago. When I heard that the Miyoshi family might attack Ruojiang, I couldn't sit still, and kept urging the people to hurry. It wasn't until I saw the usual tranquility around Ruojiang City from a distance that I gradually settled down.

"Boom, boom, boom......" The soldiers marched into the city in a neat pace, and as soon as a few generals and I walked out of the queue, we met Nagano Yoshimasa. Welcome back to the Lord! "He's still as safe as Tarzan.

"Teacher...... "I am more relieved to see his determined look."

"Didn't the people from the Miyoshi family come?" Ke'er asked before me.

"Nope!" Nagano shook his head.

"And your letter?"

"The Miyoshi family has indeed behaved a little unusually these days...... "Nagano Yemasa's expression was serious, but there was no sign of anxiety." I think the lord has to come back and make some arrangements, and it's not good or bad at the moment. According to the subordinates, we may have some time to prepare now, but not a lot, and I am afraid that there will be a big war after that! ”

"It's okay right now...... "After the panic fell, the tiredness rose irrepressibly, and the upper and lower eyelids that were deeply resentful began to gather together to fight." It's not too early! Let's all go and rest first, and then meet tomorrow morning to discuss! ”

"Yes!" All the generals answered in unison.

****************************************************************

"What happened to the Miyoshi family?" Sitting in the main seat of the assessment room, I asked downward, and the main generals sat down and their eyes were all fixed on Nagano Yoshimasa. After a night's rest, my spirits were restored, especially with Xianzhi and them by my side, my mood was completely relaxed. Now that Nam Hanoi's worries have been solved, it is on my own turf again, and there is nothing more powerful than Sanhao, and there is no enemy to fear me!

"That's right...... "Nagano is starting to give a briefing." Five days ago, several of our ninjas on Izumi's side suddenly reported back at the same time, and the Miyoshi family began to mobilize troops on a large scale. At first, I thought they were preparing to attack us, so they tightened up surveillance while reorganizing the city defenses! At this time, the situation in Yamato had calmed down, and Ishikawa-sama escaped and rushed back, so I asked him to go to Izumi in person, and also to investigate the conspiracy between Miyoshi and Matsunaga by the way. I don't want to get some unexpected information, so I would like to ask him to report to you in person! ”

"Yes!" Ishikawa Tadatsuna saw my gaze on him and began to speak. “…… When the subordinate arrived in Izumi, he did find that the Miyoshi family was mobilizing troops on a large scale, especially the several cities bordering us had stationed heavy troops! There were 2,000 soldiers in Noda Mountain Castle; Kubo Castle had 1500 soldiers; The number of people in the Xingzang Temple Castle, which is located at the throat hub, has increased to 3,500 all at once! But what puzzled his subordinates was that the forces of these cities seemed to be more than defended and not enough to attack, and the generals who commanded the troops were not handsome people who could take charge of themselves. ”

"Could it be that the Miyoshi family is preparing to fight a big battle, so they will send heavy troops to occupy the favorable terrain at the front first?" The half-guard of Takenaka listened very carefully, and asked questions very carefully.

"Hmm......" I nodded at the conjecture, which was also my judgment after hearing Ishikawa's report.

"Yes, Takenaka-sama! At first, I judged it the same way......" Ishikawa Tadsuna nodded to Takenaka's half-guard, but listening to his voice, it seemed that there was something else. "In view of this situation and the information obtained, I thought that it was impossible to know the exact direction of the Miyoshi family's attack, so I further infiltrated the hinterland of Izumi. After some careful investigation, I unexpectedly found that the main force of the Miyoshi family was secretly moving towards Kishiwada Castle......"

"Kishiwada Castle?!" When I heard the news, I lost my cool all of a sudden. “…… How many troops were mobilized? Who will be their Lord? Where did it all go from? One question after another hit Tadasuna Ishikawa.

"Lord Kaiyu......" Ishikawa Tadsuna picked up the interrupted words and continued: "Miyoshi's soldiers are mainly from Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's residence Iimori Castle and several large cities such as Tsuii, Matsuzaki, and Nefukuji Temple, and from a comprehensive analysis of the situation of grain and grass and ships prepared by Kishiwada, the total number of troops mobilized this time has reached more than 12,000!" ”

"What about the Lord? Who will the Lord be? Keiji Maeda asked impatiently.

"It should be...... Miyoshi Masaysu and Iwanari Tomoto! Ishikawa Tadatsuna thought carefully and said: "According to the detailed reports of various places: Miyoshi Masaysu has not appeared anywhere in Izumi in the past month, and he must have left; As for Iwanari Tomo, I've seen it four or five times from afar in Kishiwada Castle, probably preparing for a pick-up! ”

"Have you already set off?" Yamanaka Kanosuke asked again.

"Gone!" Ishikawa Tadatsuna said it with great certainty this time. "I saw the departure of the fleet with my own eyes in Kishiwada, and the direction is Shikoku!"

"What do you think?" Although the situation is fairly clear, I decided to listen to the opinions of the crowd first.

"The Miyoshi family has something to do in Shikoku!" Ke'er Caizang said excitedly: "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, don't hesitate!" ”

"But at such a time now, why did the Miyoshi family make a big expedition to the four countries?" Yamanaka Kanosuke cautiously put forward his opinion. "At the moment, the main force of His Royal Highness Nobunaga is entangled with Asakura and Asai, and he is unable to take care of western at all, which was the case in the turmoil of the Hatakeyama family. Kyoto's Ashikaga Yoshiaki and the family are already inseparable, isn't this a great opportunity for the Miyoshi clan to regain dominance over? What reason do they have to give up? His words fell silent in the room, and everyone pondered the question.

"For this question, the old man has a little shallow opinion......" Nagano Yemasa, who has always been the last to speak, is unusually this time, he looked at everyone and said: "I don't know if you have thought about it, if the Miyoshi family enters Kyoto at this time, is the strength enough?" ”

"But there's also Yamato's Matsunaga show!" Shima Katsu Takeshi also joined the opinion at this time.

"Well said, it's Matsunaga Show!" Nagano was clearly satisfied, and as soon as someone mentioned the name. "Matsunaga Shu is a two-faced guy, and he won't make an easy move without a certain certainty! You must also remember that when the lord sent troops to recruit You Zuo's religion, he also received a report that Matsunaga Xiu and the 'Miyoshi Three' secretly connected joints. But why is there no news these days? I think there are a few possibilities......" he counted on his fingers. "First, Matsunaga and Miyoshi didn't know that the lord was going south to the high house, so they missed the opportunity; Second, although Matsunaga Xiu noticed it, he was waiting, waiting for a better time, waiting for the lord to be stuck in the mud feet in Nam Hanoi before he came to send troops, and it was possible that Matsunaga Xiu's personality was quite large! But whatever the reason, they have already lost this opportunity. In this case, I think Matsunaga Shu must be more careful, and he will definitely offer a new price to Miyoshi! ”

"And what do you say it will be?" I asked curiously.

"According to the old man's foolish opinion, that is to let the three good families increase their strength!" Nagano said word by word. "According to normal calculations, only when the Sanhao Army invests 30,000 to 40,000 troops, and then unites with the men and horses of Matsunaga Xiu, Shangluo can be regarded as absolutely sure! Otherwise, just capturing our impregnable Ruojiang Castle will greatly damage their vitality, please pay attention! They don't have the courage to abandon Ruojiang! But ......," Nagano smiled. "How can we raise an army of thirty or forty thousand? The power of alone is absolutely not enough! In this way, the Miyoshi family must transfer the garrisons of Shikoku, and there is still Tosa's Nagamune and my head relatives there! ”

"They don't dare to give up the nest of the four countries, so they can only fight Changzong's army first!" Shimakatsu Takeshi said it all at once.

"Not bad!" Nagano nodded violently. "Let's think about it again, at this moment, the Shincho Hall is being dragged by Asai and Asakura, I'm afraid it won't be solved for a while! And when we are surrounded by enemies on all sides, we generally do not take the initiative to attack. Isn't this a godsend for the Miyoshi family to solve the problem of the four countries in one fell swoop? Once the four countries are completely pacified, it will become the stable rear of the Miyoshi family, but I am afraid that at that time, the steps of the Miyoshi clan to regain the hegemony of the world will start again! ”

"Ahh Everyone exclaimed.

"Can the dynamics of the Miyoshi Expeditionary Force be grasped at any time?" After thinking about it for a long time, I asked Ishikawa Tadatsuna.

"We don't have any ......eyeliner in Shikoku at the moment," Ishikawa Tadsuna said with a hunch, "Before leaving, I sent two people to hire fishing boats to follow, and if there is a change, I will report immediately!" ”

"How's Izumi's internal defense?"

"Except for Iimori City, where there are still 2,000 people and horses, the rest of the main cities have basically become empty cities!"

"Good! I decided to ......"

"Slow down!" Takenaka Hanbei said suddenly. "As Ishikawa-sama reported just now, Noda Yama Castle, Kubo Castle, and Kozoji Castle, which are dangerous points between us and Miyoshi, have all been heavily garrisoned. Our forces do not have an absolute advantage, and once we can't attack for a long time, Matsunaga Xiu will definitely not let go of this opportunity! ”

"Bring me the map!" I turned to my attendant.