I'm going to tell you a secret: if you take a prize quiz in the future and ask where the hub is to control Enoe Province, you must remember that the answer is "Nimata Castle"!

Futamata Castle is located in the center of Ene Province, northeast of Lake Hamana, and is close to the mountains in the north. However, judging from the map that seems to be a little sloppy, it feels a bit of a "ghost door".

Long ago, when Enoe was the domain of the Imagawa family, it was not the core area of their rule, so many retainers ruled the country. At that time, the other two neighboring countries were not united, and Minami Shinano and Mikawa were in the midst of a melee in which the heroes stood side by side.

Since it was impossible to be attacked by powerful forces from neighboring countries, and the owner himself was not so careful, the role of Futamata Castle did not receive much attention at the time, and it is said that it was originally built only to have a convenient tax collection station.

Futamata's real attention came about 15 years ago, when the Tokugawa family had firmly controlled Toe and Takeda Shingen had his frightening attention on Kyoto. One wants to watch his own door, and the other wants to control the world, neither of them is a simple person, so naturally it is impossible to be good.

Until this time, it seemed that everyone had discovered overnight that there was a place called Futamatashi in Yuanjiang Province, which turned out to be the forefront of the competition between the two major forces of the East and the West, and the gains and losses were enough to affect the direction of the world! If you don't take this place, the Takeda Army can't go to Luo with peace of mind, because there is always a danger of being copied on the back road. And once the Tokugawa family loses here, it is equivalent to losing Enoe, and they must face the terrifying Takeda Iron Rider on the plains of Mikawa.

Someone even once commented that the Battle of Sanbungahara actually didn't have to be fought at all, because the Tokugawa family, as a defensive position, had already lost Futamata. Oda Nobunaga's crusade against Takeda Katsuyori did not have to wait that long, because the Takeda family, who lost Futamata, lost all strategic opportunities to the west at the same time. Whether this is too arbitrary is debatable is debatable, but the importance of Futamata-jo is also evident!

The same problem that once plagued the Takeda family today was in front of me, and the steep obstacle of Futamata Castle was blocking my path. As soon as I take here, Tokugawa Ieyasu will abandon Hamamatsu and retreat to Suruga, and he must also retreat to Suruga, because his retreat to Shinano has been completely blocked, and he is in danger of being completely surrounded by me.

Now I was standing under this famous city, looking up at the castle that was halfway up the hill and blocked the way to the east and south. I also forgot to mention that going north, there is only one road from the Enoe to Shinano via Inui Castle. It was such a castle that the flag of Tokugawa still fluttered proudly at the head of the castle after three days of attack.

The front army continued to attack to no avail, and I led a large army from Ii Valley Castle. Most of the people were still busy camping, and I was watching Nimata Castle from a small hill.

"Are the losses of the former army large?" I asked as I looked closely.

"Shimazu, Shihe, and Changzong have lost more than 500 casualties and lost combat effectiveness, and the rest have more than 1,000 minor injuries!" An ordinary low-ranking samurai stepped forward to say that he was actually a ninja leader in charge of battlefield monitoring.

"How many people are there on the defenders' side, and who is the commander of the army?" I was a little surprised by the result, and asked as I glanced through my binoculars. To be able to inflict such casualties on the professional soldiers and high proportion of samurai of the three families, it seems that Tokugawa Ieyasu really put a lot of effort into it.

"Garrisoned in this city are two thousand troops led by Yasumasa Kamihara, as well as Matsudaira Yasuyasu, Sakabe Masadari and others!"

After he finished speaking, I also saw the battle flag with the word "nothing", and it was quite neat from the formation displayed at the head of the city. According to my experience, there are only two possibilities for such a situation: one is to plant a false flag and prepare to secretly withdraw the troops, and the other is to suffer no loss at all and morale is rising. "It turned out to be a 'resolute general'! I didn'......t say exactly what I said, but I kept adjusting the focus.

"Meet His Highness Da Nayan!" At this time, the three people who had stopped the attack came over, and their faces were naturally not so good-looking.

"The three highnesses have worked hard, have the injured soldiers been treated?" Without waiting for them to plead guilty, I spoke first, and dismounted and took two steps forward to stop them from bowing. "The three highnesses are not fully prepared for this attack on Nimata Castle, and they can't all be blamed on the three highnesses. After that, you can fight again with the whole army, just ask the three highnesses not to be discouraged! ”

"His Royal Highness Da Nayan said this, which makes us even more embarrassed!" The head of the sect said ashamedly, fortunately, most of the daimyo who came with me are not around at the moment. "We have disappointed the high expectations of His Highness Da Nayan and frustrated the military prestige, and we deserve death. Please also ask His Highness Da Nayan to give me another chance, I will definitely conquer this city! ”

"Even if you die......" Yoshihiro Shimazu, who came to seek the name of the Shimazu family, also has red eyes at the moment.

"Don't get excited, don't get excited, Your Highnesses!" I raised my hands forward and made a reassuring gesture. "I can understand everyone's feelings, but the court hopes that you can live and do your best, not simply die. Of course, if righteousness is righteous, even my life can be sacrificed! I saw that the "effect" of this staircase was good, so I continued: "If our army storms Futamatata Castle regardless of casualties, then even if it is taken, it will become powerless. At that time, once reinforcements from the Kwantung countries arrive, we will be in a dilemma. It took two months for Takeda Shingen to take Futama Castle, so your highnesses don't have to blame yourself too much! ”

Tokawa and Shimazu Yoshihiro were both high-minded, and only the head of the Chozong department frowned slightly. "What does His Highness mean by the Great Nayan...... Is it to imitate the method of Takeda Shingen back then? He asked, confused.

"If there is a good way, why can't we apply it, at least this can greatly reduce the casualties of the troops!" I nodded to confirm his guess.

"I dare to ask His Highness Da Nayan to pay attention: it was a coincidence that Takeda Shingen cut off the waterway of Futama Castle back then, and the current situation is very different from that time!" The head of the Chozong clan stepped forward to me, then turned around and pointed to the place under Futama Castle. "At that time, although Futamatata Castle was dangerous, after all, the facilities were simple, and the 'Ido Turre' was used to draw water from the city. The Takeda Army received the advice of the local people, and it was also a coincidence that the ship crashed into this facility. However, since then, the Tokugawa family has built Futamatata Castle several times, and the method of drawing water has been changed to an underground ditch made of stone. Tosa is close to the sea and is mountainous, so there are also people in the lower army who are well versed in this method. In the past two days, he also ordered him to investigate in many ways, and then reported: There are at least seven culverts and waterways, and it is difficult to break the drawings without construction, even if you know the approximate direction! ”

"Oh......" Both Tokawa and Shimazu Yoshihiro looked at the head of the Chozong and our department with complicated eyes, obviously the head of the head of the Changzong and my department had not communicated with them about a problem before. At this time, it was suddenly raised, and it was immediately clear whether it was successful or not.

"His Royal Highness Changzong and my ministry are really thoughtful and different from ordinary people, it is really a blessing for the court to have your help, and it is a blessing for my Xingqing clan!" I praised it from the bottom of my heart, and I didn't see the slightest reluctance. This is the gap between people, and it is not okay not to admit it!

Although Tokawa Depository is a battle-hardened general, and Shimazu Yoshihiro is certainly an all-rounder with both civil and military skills, there is still a certain gap compared to the "old wolf" who is both cunning and cautious and has a bite of teeth. The key point is that the Yuan relatives of the Changzong and our tribe have experienced many more life and death choices than them.

"His Royal Highness Changzong is very worried, and I have been thinking about this matter since I heard that the three Highnesses were slightly defeated by Futama Castle!" I had long expected such a clever suggestion from someone to come up, so I said, "In order to deal with this situation, I brought a few people with me when I came out this time." The Tokugawa family lived in the Mikawa Plain, and when it came to tunnels and civil engineering, they were not good at it. Therefore, for the construction of this line of fortifications, many people from Suruga and Kai were recruited, but I also have people of these two kinds, and even the two groups have worked together for a long time before. It is naturally twice the result with half the effort for them to find those hidden waterways, and it will not take much time, at most ten days can be solved! ”

"His Royal Highness Da Nayan is strategizing and strategizing, and it is really unfounded!" Changzong, my head of the department, bowed and retreated.

"But after all, the three highnesses lost to the two mata castles, in order to give everyone an explanation, the first mover is not suitable for the time being!" Seeing that they were a little frustrated, I said, "I have assigned another task to capture Futamata, but it will take at least ten days. During this period, I asked the three to send troops to pacify the cities that had not yet been subdued in the northwest far river, and also asked the three to make persistent efforts to establish special honors! ”

"Yes!" In this way, the three of them were a little better, and they were ordered to retreat.

"Go and deliver my orders!" As soon as they left, I said, and Umechiyo immediately came up to record. "Kusunoki Mitsunari led the ninja army to secretly destroy the waterways of Futamatata Castle, and it was necessary to cut them all off. The armies of Yoshihisa Niko, Terumasa Tsutsui, Hidekiyo Hatano, Naomitsu Bupo, Naomitsu Shike, Yoshimasa Tanaka, and Fujitaka Hosokawa are constantly feint to attack Futama Castle in shifts, so that Yasumasa Kamihara is exhausted and has no time to take care of it! ”

"Yes!" Umechiyo immediately ran down the dirt slope, and the few heralds who were waiting there immediately mounted their horses and galloped away.

"Tokugawa Ieyasu, I know what you're thinking!" I held up my binoculars again, and Futamatata Castle still stood majestically with a foolish pride. They may or may not know, but in short, they are used by Tokugawa Ieyasu as a pawn to exchange space for time.

My order was quickly carried out, and seven troops abandoned the half-built camp and headed for the front, while the three troops that had been there were moving away and heading north. Everything is so orderly, how can it be wrong if it is my plan?