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Because of the reason that Shimizu Soji led the people to come to support, Hashiba Hideyoshi gave up his plan to continue the siege and retreated all the way to Kitasone Castle, and called everyone to hold an evaluation. And here, both Yoshisuke Akamatsu and Munekei Urakami were placed in the first two on the left by Hideyoshi Hashiba, which was Hideyoshi Hashiba to show that he valued them. In this way, this pair of old enemies finally met after more than ten years, in a very peaceful, but very embarrassing situation.

Urakami...... Adult ......"

"Akamatsu ...... Adult ......"

The two rivals, who had almost been mortal enemies for many years, looked embarrassed and nodded to each other in greeting. After being stunned for a moment, he lowered his head again, obviously not knowing what to say to the other party.

It's interesting to say, the reason why the Akamatsu family declined, although it has something to do with the incompetence of the family governor, but the Urakami family's lower Keshang is the most important reason. In 1521, Akamatsu Yoshisuke's grandfather Akamatsu Yoshimasa was assassinated by Urakami Munekei's father, Urakami Muramune, causing the entire power of the Akamatsu family to fall into the hands of the Urakami family.

Subsequently, the Akamatsu family was attacked by the Niko family, and in the face of the powerful Niko family, Akamatsu Harumasa had almost no power to fight back, and it was not until the Niko family was defeated by the Maori family that Akamatsu Harumasa returned to Harima, but at that time, Harima was finally the wealthy family of the Akamatsu family, and there was almost no more.

This eventually led to the fact that when Hashiba Hideyoshi arrived in Harima as an envoy of the Oda family, forces such as Bessho and Kodera chose to submit without much hesitation.

And what about the Urakami family? After the capture of Bizen Province, the Urakami family also faced the powerful Niko family, but unlike the Akamatsu family, Urakami Masamune, who succeeded to the family governor because of his father's death in battle, and his younger brother Urakami Munekei, so Urakami Masamune fell to Niko, and Urakami Munekei fell to Mori after the rise of the Mori family. Eventually, Urakami Munekei, with the support of the Mori family, unified Bizen.

It's just a pity that the Urakami family, which rose from the next Katsugami family, finally ushered in the reincarnation of fate, and the Ukita Naoke family contacted the Mori family, and finally replaced the Urakami family's position in Bizen. This made Urakami Munekei have to choose to surrender to the Oda family in a desperate situation. Speaking of which, it may not be clear to Urakami Munekyo until now, why did the Maori family abandon themselves and choose the Ukita Naoya, right?

But obviously, that doesn't matter anymore, and the only thing Urakami Munekei who turned to the Oda family can do now is to honestly obey the orders of Hashiba Hideyoshi, and at the same time hope that the Oda family can win this war. Because from the moment the Mori family chose the Uki family, the Urakami family lost the possibility of falling to the Mori family. Well...... Unless he is willing to be a retainer of the Ukita Nao family.

But that is obviously impossible, after all, the Ukita Nao family used to be his retainers, but the Oda family is already the overlord of the world. Although they are all surrenders, the meaning is obviously completely different for Urakami Sokei. Well, in fact, it is nothing more than a psychological comfort.

However, this embarrassment did not last long, Urakami Sokei is 58 years old this year, and Akamatsu Yoshisuke is also 34 years old. So they quickly showed a warm attitude, and looked like they were old friends they hadn't seen in years.

After all, after becoming the retainer of Hashiba Hideyoshi, they are colleagues whether they want to or not. Obviously, if they continue to be hostile, it is very likely that it will provoke the displeasure of Hashiba Hideyoshi, and eventually lead to the complete decline of the Akamatsu and Urakami families.

Yes, they officially declared themselves vassals to Hideyoshi Hashiba, although they preferred to become Oda Nobunaga's direct retainers, but when they heard that Harima Province was Oda Nobunaga's feudal kingdom to Hashiba Hideyoshi, they had no other ideas. If you want to blame it, you can only blame them for not being able to submit as soon as possible, right?

Not far away, Kodera Takataka was greeting Kuroda and Kodera Masato. Speaking of which, although Kodera Takataka is now only the status of a general, he is a staff officer of Yushiba Hideyoshi, this kind of position, no matter how low his status is, will definitely not be ignored, after all, they can be said to be the closest person to the monarch.

"Xiaogao, do a good job! When the time comes, I'll be a father, but it's up to you~" Kuroda laughed.

"Hehe, what Kuroda-sama said is true, and at that time, the Koji family will have to rely on your filial piety to help you a lot." Koji Zhimasa also smiled.

In this regard, Koji Takataka is naturally modest. But speaking of which, Kuroda is Kotera Takataka's father, so naturally there is nothing to say, but why does Kotera look so differently at Kotera Takataka? Who knows~

Soon, the assessment began after the arrival of Hideyoshi Hashiba, and in fact there was not much to say about this assessment, because the defensive strategy had already been decided before arriving at Kitasone Castle.

"Tenjin Mountain Castle is defended by 5,000 troops led by Sokei, Kitasone Castle is defended by 5,000 troops led by Keijin and Anji, Tomita Matsuyama Castle is handed over to you Yoshiyo, and I personally sit in Sanshi Castle and am ready to support you at any time." Hideyoshi Hashiba glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice.

"Please rest assured!" Everyone responded in unison.

Looking at everyone's respectful appearance, especially Urakami Munekei and Akamatsu Yoshisuke, Yushiba Hideyoshi's heart was filled with an inexplicable pleasure for some reason. This feeling cannot be compared to the praise of Oda Nobunaga or Oda Yoshinobu. Because at this moment, he really has a feeling that he has reached the pinnacle of life.

"Nope! This is not the pinnacle of my Hashiba Hideyoshi! Just beat the Maori family! Bizen, Mimasaka, and even the entire Sanyo Road could be mine! "Hideyoshi's eyes lit up, it was the desire for power." Yoshinobu-sama, I'm Hideyoshi Hashiba, and I won't even be able to see your back all the time! Hashiba Hideyoshi thought firmly in his heart.

Tsk, becoming the target of the Sekihaku Lord in history, I wonder how this kid Oda Yoshinobu will feel when he knows it? Belch...... Well, in the case of today's Oda Yoshinobu, even if he knows, he will just laugh at most, right? After all, he didn't care about these boring things anymore.

Speaking of which, although Yushiba Hideyoshi has lost many exploits that should have belonged to him in history because of the existence of Oda Yoshinobu, it is precisely because of the existence of Oda Yoshinobu that he has many fewer obstacles on the road to rise. Because of Oda Yoshinobu, the path to becoming a samurai became feasible and smoother, and at least Hideyoshi Hashiba has not suffered any disdain or provocation because of his civilian background since he joined the Oda family.

Belch...... Well, there are still disdains and provocations, but that's more because of his looks. In this regard, Yushiba Hideyoshi also said helplessly. Even Oda Yoshinobu adapted a classic song from his previous life and named it "I'm ugly, but I'm amazing" to Yushiba Hideyoshi because he made fun of his appearance, and at the Oda family's New Year's Eve party, he and Oda Nobunaga coaxed Yushiba Hideyoshi to sing once.

It is said that that time, Hideyoshi Hashiba was out of the limelight because of this song, and even many wandering girls in the inn and liquor house went to Hideyoshi Hashiba to learn this song. Well, who makes this song so different? And most importantly, the song was made by Yoshinobu Oda. If it were an ordinary person, it might be said that it was a deviant, but Oda Yoshinobu did it...... Where do those old antiques dare to half fart?

On the other hand, after the retreat of Hideyoshi Hashiba, Muneji Shimizu, who had rushed to support, soon arrived at Toishi Castle.

"Ukita-sama, it's too late for support, so please don't be surprised." Soji Shimizu walked in front of the Ukita Naoya and said respectfully. Although the Ukita family is only a subordinate, even strictly speaking, the status is not much different from that of Shimizu Soji, who has replaced the Mimura family. However, Shimizu Soji would not really treat the Ukita Naoya as an ordinary vassal, at least, Shimizu Soharu did not think that ordinary samurai would be able to persuade Mori Moto to abandon the Mimura family after a personal trip to the mountain castle of Yoshida-gun.

Yes, in the opinion of Muneharu Shimizu, the reason why the Mimura family was wiped out by the Maori family was the ghost of the Ukita Naoka. And if there is nothing about the Ukita family that can convince Mori Mototo, how can Mori Mototo's give up on the Mimura family? Mimura Yuan is arrogant? In Shimizu Soji's opinion, this is not a problem at all, if he wants to get rid of the Mimura family and keep the Mimura family, Shimizu Soji doesn't believe that Maori Yuan really has no way.

"What did Shimizu-sama say? If it weren't for your support, I'm afraid Toishi Castle would have been breached by the Oda Army. Ukita laughed. Inside please! With that, the Ukita Naoya welcomed Muneji Shimizu into the castle tower.

After a pleasant greeting, after the Ukita Naoya let his subordinates leave, Muneji Shimizu couldn't wait to ask, "Ukita-sama, is the combat effectiveness of the Oda Army very strong?" ”

When he first received the news of the defeat of the Ukita family, Muneji Shimizu was shocked and said that in his opinion, even if the Ukita Naoya family could not defeat the Oda army led by Hashiba Hideyoshi, with the advantage they occupied in the early stage of the war, it should not be too much of a problem to hold out until he arrived with reinforcements.

Therefore, after learning that the Ukita Naoya family not only failed to maintain their advantage, but was also beaten all the way back to Toishi Castle by Hashiba Hideyoshi with his army from Tenjin Mountain Castle, how could this situation not make him curious and shocked? And from any point of view, he also had to figure out the combat effectiveness of the Oda army, so that he could judge what they should do and what they could do before Kobayakawa led his army to Bizen.

Hearing this, the Ukita Naoya did not hide it, but directly said all the feelings he felt when he faced the Oda family. After everything was finished, the Ukita Naoya sighed helplessly, "Actually, after the war was fought, Hashiba Hideyoshi's command was not too clever, but their ashigaru were all equipped with uniform spears and armor, and there were at least more than 500 iron cannons, and any few ashigaru could get together and cooperate with each other...... No matter how much they changed their formation and command, they couldn't resist their attack. ”

"How does it sound like a samurai of Hachimoto?" Shimizu Soji groaned with a serious expression when he heard this, although he also knew that the Oda family had carried out a military reform of the standing army, and he had heard more or less about the content of the military reform, but he never imagined that this kind of military reform could make the Oda family's ashigaru strong to such an extent. Moreover, this is only the army under the command of Hideyoshi Hashiba, although its reputation in the Oda family is not small, but it is more famous for internal affairs.

And it is such a civilian official who leads the team, and the Oda army has such strong combat effectiveness, so what about Oda Nobunaga's own team? What about the Oda Yoshinobu team, which is known as the unparalleled in the world? Soharu Shimizu couldn't imagine it. It will be the soul of a soldier, and the combat effectiveness of a unit commanded by a powerful samurai will never be the same as that of a unit commanded by a samurai of average ability.

It took a long time for Shimizu Soji to come back to his senses, looked at Ukita Naoya and asked, "Then what do you think we should do about it?" ”

"Lord Shimizu, I think we can still attack!" Ukita Naoya glanced up at Soji Shimizu, and suddenly showed a confident smile, and as he spoke, he took out a map from the side and spread it between the two.

"According to intelligence, after Hideyoshi Hashiba led his army to retreat, he retreated all the way directly to Kitasone Castle. If it is not bad as expected, it must be ready to defend against the attack of its own family with the three castles of Tenjinzan, Kitasone, and Tomita Matsuyama, and it is ready to support the three stone castles a little farther away. Ukita Naoya said in a deep voice.

In this way, he can drag out the war in advance rather than on his own territory. If he can block his family's attack, then he can mobilize a steady stream of reinforcements from Harima. And even if he couldn't hold it, he bought more time to repair Harima's fortifications. Ukita Naoya said as he kept pointing on the map.

"This is the result that Yushiba Hideyoshi wants to see the most, according to the information below, he was able to take Harima so quickly, it should be in the form of threats and temptations, and he only fought Akamatsu Yoshisuke once. In other words, Bessho and Koji still have a strong influence in Harima Province. Once the flames of war are burning in Harima, the position of Bessho and Kodera will definitely not be so firm......" Ukita Naoke chuckled in a low voice, as if thinking of something interesting.

It's just that for Soji Shimizu, who was sitting in front of him, he didn't think it was so funny. In other words, at this time, in the eyes of Muneji Shimizu, the Ukita Naoke family is becoming more and more similar to the Kobayakawa Takakei who inherited the wisdom of Maori in his heart.

But soon, Soji Shimizu threw this thought out of his mind and thought about the words of the Ukita Naoya.