The gray sky was punctuated by a few scattered snowflakes, and the air was filled with moist air from the sea not far ahead, which was not uncommon in offshore areas. The group walked in the fields of Izumi, and I silently watched the scenery around me.

The crops in the field have already been harvested, and they are now fallowing. There was a light snow here not long ago, and although most of it was melted by the warmer temperatures, there were still piles of residual snow in the ditches and ditches of the ridges.

Most of the villages here are not very large, and those with more than 50 houses are extremely rare, and the lack of natural barriers on the plains here makes it very unlikely that they will form strong local forces. Tall straws and straw are piled up in front of and behind the houses, showing the approximate standard of living for basic food and clothing.

"Your Highness Yuzhou, there are no powerful wealthy clans around here. Because he has always been attached to the nearby castle lord, he ...... in terms of combat power, "Sorokuro Mizuki, who was walking beside me, leaned over slightly, and his face was full of excitement mixed with nervousness as he spoke. In order for me to hear clearly and not to shout loudly, he had to adopt a posture that was extremely difficult to hold whenever he wanted to speak, and it was difficult enough for him.

You may remember that this Mizuki Sorokuro was the "bait" I used to beat Miyoshi Yoshitsugu back then!

After his wise choice last time, he immediately got a rich reward, from the head of a "natural village" who no one took the right eye, to the head of the land in charge of three villages, and got the 1,000 stone land security storage document stamped with Hequan to guard the pass, and officially changed from a homeless person who developed the land privately to a righteous wealthy family. Surnames are counted in the official ethnic inventory; You can comb your hair into a samurai bun; Add a piece of haori to the outside of a simple kimono; Don't make a mistake outside of the long knife...... These seemingly useless and even ridiculous privileges also made him so excited that he burst into tears and got drunk for three days, and then couldn't sleep for several days.

Just when he was holding back his strength and preparing to make a big move, I left, leaving Izumi, which was really a big basin of cold water poured on his head. After that, Niwa Nagahide came, although he was still fighting, although he was still actively engaged in various errands, but since he didn't achieve any big results, he naturally wouldn't have a reward. In this case, he was depressed, and even complained when he was drunk, and similar rumors reached Niwa Nagahide's ears, so naturally he would not be treated very well! If there is anyone in Wazumi who is looking forward to my return, he is definitely the most urgent of them.

The night before yesterday there was a "mapping meeting", there were not many people involved but it was very representative, and the handover between me and Niwa Nagahide was no secret at the moment, and the intention of this meeting was mainly to blow the wind on a small scale, so as not to generate those unnecessary speculations. Although everyone did not express excessive enthusiasm, I could tell that it was just to take care of Niwa Nagahide's emotions, so I was more confident that I would be able to control the situation in Izumi. When I finally proposed that I needed a wealthy family to serve as a guide, Mizuki Sorokuro immediately fought for it with a spirit of intransigence, and then I secretly decided that I could consider setting him up as a "model"!

Not only have I been to Izumi before, but I also have a lot of ninjas with me, so I don't even know the way clearly. The reason why I needed a guide was because I wanted to have a buffer when I was in contact with the small forces in the local area, and I could also make a gesture of relying on the locals.

"So if there is a war, the western region near the sea will not actually be able to produce much strength?" I couldn't help but feel a little worried when I heard what he said, if I really fought against the Saga people, I still expected them to protect themselves! When those ninja armies fight on a large scale and in a wide area, they will not be limited to any way.

"You can think so, too!" Sorokuro Mizuki's nerves are as thick as his body, and he can't learn to "be a sage". "These people on the plains are really not good at fighting, not only lack of exercise, but also have little courage. Speaking of which, they were all some of the lands that managed the industry for the Hatakeyama family and the big temple back then, and they made do with it before collecting the fields and returning them, and when it came to using knives and guns...... Hmph, hum, it's really unbelievable! ”

"That's right......" I was silent for a moment, which was a bit different from what I had originally planned. You're not a native of Izumi, are you? I asked again. From what he just said, I vaguely heard this meaning.

"Actually, I moved here twenty years ago from Iga Province named Zhang-gun......" Mizuki Sorokuro nodded in acknowledgement. My ancestors have lived in the mountains of Iga for generations, and although they are not ninja families, they are also old Iga! As you know, everything in Iga is decided by the ninjas, and we can only follow suit. But twenty years ago, there was a conflict of dominance between the thirteen ninja families, and I was affected and moved to the mountains east of Izumi! ”

"So you still have some confidence in your own strength?" I wasn't there the last time they feinted to contain Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, and there were a lot of Koga ninja forces involved at that time, so I didn't have a very intuitive idea of their abilities.

"It's not as powerful as His Highness's mighty army, but we're rough people who don't admit defeat so easily!" A rough man is not the same as a stupid person, and when he heard that he might be reused by me, Mizuki Sorokuro's black face turned purple with excitement, and the stilts on it were all shining.

"I'll have to show you some of your methods!" I hinted with a smile.

"Your Highness, please!" He said with a determination to go to the soup and fire.

I looked around and saw a large flock of crows in the field beside the road, jumping around and pecking at the scattered grains of rice. "There it is!" Hold on to the "gold" and point there with your hand. During this trip, Sorokuro Mizuki brought more than fifty of his men, and I noticed that they were all carrying longbows and arrows.

"Boys! Show your hand well, don't let His Royal Highness Yuzhou look down on us! His men were summoned back from the front by the heralds, and Mizuki Sorokuro cheered them on loudly.

These dozens of people are dressed in a variety of clothes, and there is a big gap between their quality, but it should be said that they are still quite fierce, and it is more appropriate to see them as mobs and robbers than soldiers. I nodded secretly, and that would be fine.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh......" Although these people stood in a fairly neat line on the side of the road, because they were not accustomed to unified command, the arrows were shot unevenly before and after, and dozens of arrows covered the acres of fields.

Because the troops were parked on the road, the crows didn't actually dare to get too close, and even the nearest one was ten feet away. At this distance, there are still nearly forty people who have hit the target, so the ability is good!

"You, and you, come here!" I nodded and called out two men from the crowd, their dark, rough faces making them look like full farmers. Because the bow and arrow were shot one after the other, the crows had already flew. The two men were the last to strike, and each arrow hit a target five or six meters in the air, and both were shot in the neck.

"Knock on His Highness Yuzhou!" Two men knelt in front of me and saluted with the sound of an urn.

"Both of these are my sons!" Sorokuro Mizuki looked smug and excited.

"What's your name?" My voice is noble and kind.

"This is the eldest son Zongji, this is the second son Zongji!" Sorokuro Mizuki pointed out his brother and younger brother to me separately, but I didn't expect this rough man with little education to give his son a rather elegant name.

"Good guy guy! Work hard, and if you make a contribution, I will promote you to my flag team! I smiled and nodded. The martial arts of these two people are okay among ordinary people, and what is even more rare is that they have a simple energy, and according to my experience, people from the countryside are easier to train into loyal and steadfast low-level samurai. "Everyone's performance is good, and everyone who enters Kishiwada City will enjoy a jar of good wine!" And I spoke aloud to the multitude.

"Your Highness Xie Yuzhou!" I was answered by a cheer, and Sorokuro Mizuki almost burst into tears. I am very satisfied with this effect, and the enthusiasm for mobilizing local forces is a key point of my strategy this time.

Although Niwa Nagahide's strategy in Izumi was not successful, I still agree with one of his opinions, that is: the Awaji pirates are just a disease of ringworm, and the Saga people are the big trouble! The only way for me to completely eliminate the Saga and take control of Kii is to use the full power of the ninja army, ninjas, and Koga to neutralize the Saga people's advantage in secret warfare, and then destroy their foundation in one fell swoop! To achieve this, I need Izumi to be stable, and I can't let the Awaji pirates always cause trouble behind me.

Although I could have used heavy troops to defend the coast, that would have three obvious drawbacks: first, it would take up a large amount of regular military force that must be concentrated; Second, in the current absence of a navy, it can only be a passive defense; Thirdly, according to my previous knowledge, it is necessary to rely on the mobilization of the whole people to deal with guerrilla warfare, and the regular army alone cannot achieve such an effect. In fact, this experience comes from the old revolutionary movie, the regular army of the Kuomintang generally has no way to deal with the guerrillas, only the landlords' armed return to the countryside, and even the feudal sects can fight the guerrillas on a-for-tat basis.

Although the team of Mizuki Sorokuro is good, there are too few people like Izumi, should I consider making a personnel adjustment between San'in and here?

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

Since it was only a half-day journey today, we arrived at Kishiwada Castle at about 2 p.m. Not only has it been notified, but it is ready to be welcomed.

"His Royal Highness Yuzhou has worked hard, please come in and rest!" Waiting for us at the gate was a retainer of Niwa Nagahide, who was temporarily guarded by him with 600 ashigaru.

"You're welcome, you're sorry!" I jumped off my horse, and immediately an attendant picked me up.

"This is what a humble duty should do, Your Highness is polite!" He led us inside, and at the same time greeted the generals behind me. "Your Highness and your lordships have been working on a saddle horse all the way! The banquet inside has been ......."

"Wronged! Xiaomin really has a big reward! "We were walking through a meazzale, and an excited shout came from a courtyard on the left.

"It'......," I said, pausing and pointing in that direction. What's going on? ”