"Are there any new actions of the Echigo Army?" I asked thoughtfully, looking at a screen made of a map of Hokuriku Province in front of me. In the small squares representing the dozens of cities in Vietnam, almost all of them have been planted with small "Bi" flags.

"No more!" Gamo sat down beside me and shook his head, pointing to a spot on the western edge. "Since Usami Joyuki captured Tsumo Castle ten days ago, there has been no further action by the Echigo Army. According to the latest information, Uesugi Kenshin's team is stationed in Toyama Castle and has not moved for about half a month! ”

"Alas......" I sighed uncontrollably, feeling very uncomfortable. I'm a person who never lets others wait for me, because I know it's really uncomfortable to wait for someone, but there is nothing I can do but wait in front of me.

It had been half a month since I returned to Kami-Kumano Castle, and in the days since, Uesugi Kenshin's troops have swept through the whole of Echichu. With the fall of Tsuge Castle, with the exception of Kamikumano Castle where I am located and Tetorigawa Castle where the Shibata Katsu family was trapped, the forces of the Oda family who were looking for it had to go to the border side, and we were truly trapped here.

The terrain to the west was more complicated, and the overall mobility of the Echigo army was much higher than that of my troops, so it was not so easy for me to retreat in one piece. Looking at the large amount of information on the frequent and strange movements of the Echigo army in front of me, I couldn't help but feel powerless!

Sakurai Sakira opened the door and walked in, replaced the tea that had been cold for us, and then withdrew silently.

"Ah......h A fresh fragrance gently stimulates the taste buds and nasal passages, and it feels really good. "My lord, is there any news?" I asked as I watched the white smoke curling up from the cracks in the lid.

"The messenger is no longer available, but there have been a few ninjas here!" His mood was not very high, but he didn't see the slightest hint of complaining about anyone. “…… He greatly encouraged His Highness's exploits, and also mentioned that reinforcements would be sent, but did not specify the specific time......"

"This is a promise worth believing, as long as the lord is still within his strength......" I held the teacup and the corners of my mouth twitched, as if smiling and thinking of a wry smile. Now I can still drink such high-quality tea, but it is difficult to say whether the troops will be able to eat in two months. It wasn't that I was unprepared, it was because it was impossible for any unit to go on an expedition with more than three months' rations.

Several of Oda Nobunaga's main forces are involved here, and how many men and horses can be used is really a serious problem. According to my intelligence, Miyoshi of Shikoku began to harass in Settsu and Harima again; The Maori family is also on the move again; Araki Murashige's attitude becomes very ambiguous; Oda Nobunaga had no choice but to throw all the troops of Niwa Nagahide and Sakuma Nobumori in that direction. Originally, there were about 20,000 people in the newly formed Oda Nobutada Corps that could be used, but the Takeda family began to move on a large scale on the Higashiyama Road, and the Takeda Nobutada Corps alone could not be very safe, so Oda Nobutada was also stuck in the Mino area.

In recent days, Oda Nobunaga has traveled back and forth between Azuchi and Kyoto several times, holding high-level tea ceremonies and meeting with the emperor. Those who don't know the inside story may be in awe of his flamboyance, but those with a slightly more sensitive political sense will notice that the foundation of the Oda family has been shaken!

"Although it is only a few letters, I still feel that the situation is not so pessimistic!" The Gamo clan put the teacup back on the table, gently bent his right elbow and scraped his lower lip with his thumb. "Although the lord's personality is extremely flamboyant and joyful, there is no lack of city government in his heart. Although the letters exchanged in recent days are mainly aimed at stabilizing the morale of the military, I still have a vague sense that the lord is planning something. Maybe there will be some changes in the peaks and loops, so we still have to be a little more actively prepared! ”

"Maybe you're right, and we won't leave behind the necessary work, but I'm afraid the current things are not something we can control here!" Although I am not sure about the line of thought of Oda Nobunaga, I still have a relatively good grasp of the Gamo clan, so I basically agree with his opinion. But there has been no direct information on this, so I don't dare to say how, so I can't completely settle down in my heart.

"There is always a way to think about it, and the luck of the Oda family and you has never been bad over the years!" He didn't know exactly what it was, so he could only comfort me with such words, and seeing that I had nothing else to say, he had to flip through the mountains of official documents again.

"Well......" I sighed softly, there were some things he didn't really know.

As the top secret in my department, there are not many people who can know about the infiltration and the identity of the "mole". With the exception of Kato Danzo, only the Takenaka Hanbei were able to partially control it, and the Gamo clan was not among them.

As an important large-scale surveillance object, Uesugi Kenshin and the Kyushu Shimazu family are the most difficult, and even the Takeda, Date, Mogami, and even the Tokugawa family are not so difficult. It seems that these two families have a high sense of rejection of outsiders, and it is really not easy to make some breakthroughs. I'm not saying that the people I send out will be in high positions somewhere else, not at all! That's not something that can be done in a short period of time. But even as a close confidant of the important ministers, he can't do it in these two families, which is a bit strange!

Because of the non-stop war for many years, it can be said that wild samurai with some skills are extremely common, and many important ministers of the daimyo like to recruit these people. First, you can improve your prestige, and secondly, you can also select some outstanding ones to recommend to your lord, so as to strengthen your strength and influence at home. However, this did not work with the Uesugi and Shimazu families, and their retainers generally recruited only those who could be trusted.

At such an "extraordinary" moment, I did not think about taking some extraordinary measures. But for Uesugi Kenshin's head, which is under the protection of the master ninja in Xuan Ape, it is really not so easy to take, and if he is not careful, he may be angry and retaliate. Moreover, Uesugi Kenshin is haunted, and there are countless shadow samurai around him, and it is impossible to succeed without intelligence close to the core personnel.

"I don't dare to try, so does Oda Nobunaga dare to gamble?" I suddenly asked myself this in my mind, and the answer was undoubtedly quite credible.

I only learned about this situation not long ago: Oda Nobunaga has an extremely secret ninja army in his hands, so secret that even Oda Nobutada does not know! Although there are not many people in this unit, there are only about a dozen, but they are definitely ruthless outlaws, and it is said that they are basically the fugitives among the major ninjas. It is self-evident what these people do, and I have no doubt that Oda Nobunaga will use him for what purpose, the key is that if this operation fails, then how we will be treated under the nose of Uesugi Kenshin. Now I can't grasp these things at all, a dozen ninjas who act weirdly and don't have a base, it's unrealistic to even want to monitor!

"Is there anything new about 'Monkey'?" I couldn't think of anything but not to, so I casually asked something else.

"Yes, it's just not much has changed!" Gamo picked up a large yellow envelope and flipped through the sheets of paper. "The lord still didn't see His Royal Highness Yuchai, but just transferred the place of house arrest from Guangtokuji Temple to Shinomaru in Azuchi Castle. His troops had returned to Harima as instructed, and were still temporarily under the command of Hidecho Hashiba and Takataka Kuroda, but nominally under the control of His Highness Ikeda Tsuneko. As far as I guess, the lord will not really deal with His Royal Highness Yuchai harshly, and there are many people who are interceding for him......"

"My letter of plea must have arrived at this moment, let's see how the lord decides!" I shrugged my shoulders helplessly, seemingly casually. Oda Nobunaga will definitely not execute him, and I have to do this favor. In fact, if my opinion could have played a decisive role, I would have been happy to "depose" him and officially hand over the position to Ikeda Hengxing.

"Huh~!" The Gamo clan suddenly snorted in surprise, and was stunned with a piece of information in his hand.

"What's the matter?" I squinted my eyes and looked at it, and from where I was, it was a report that had been sent in the early hours of this morning, and I hadn't had time to read it yet.

"There is an Uesugi cavalry that crossed the border and entered Noto last night, and from the direction it looks like it wants to return to Echigo!"

"Oh...... How many people are there? I asked, but I wasn't nervous. Recently, Uesugi Kenshin has basically mastered the situation in Vietnam, and may launch a siege on me at any time, but if he wants to attack me, he hopes that he can do it quickly, while I still have enough food and grass.

"In the past five or six days, the Echigo army has generally moved to the east, and I always feel that this is not very normal!" He said thoughtfully. "Although the number of people is only 800, it stands to reason that there is no reason to withdraw from the army at this time!"

"It's only 800, it's not a retreat!" My attention was drawn away by something else, and I picked up a thick book of facts. "Who is the general of this cavalry?" I asked absentmindedly, flipping through the things in my hand.

"It's Uesugi Keitor!"

"Uesugi Keitor?" I closed the file in my hand and was stunned.

Uesugi Keitora is not a famous general, so it stands to reason that whether he leaves or not is not a big deal. But his identity is too special, from the Hojo family to the Uesugi family, in the case of Uesugi Kenshin without a son-in-law, he has both the qualifications of the heir, and the strength to participate in the competition. If you relate to the recent actions of the Echigo Army...... I still can't believe I'm going to have such luck!

"My lord, Kato-sama is here!" Goto Matabei's announcement appeared at the door at the same time as Kato Duanzo's figure, and there was an unpleasant creak from the door because it was too open.

"My lord, Uesugi Kenshin is dead!" Although his face was still calm, the words he said were earth-shattering.

I looked at Gamo and then at him, then pointed to an empty seat next to me with a folding fan. "Sit down and talk slowly......"