Regardless of my attitude towards Tokugawa Ieyasu, his advice was taken seriously, and the speed of the soldiers was indeed in line with the basic elements of the art of war, especially when it had been determined that the enemy was disorganized and unprepared.

It took less than a day to clear the obstacles in the vicinity of Yamanaka Castle, and preparations for an attack on the castle were completed in the early morning of August 9, 1582, 1582.

Yamanaka Castle is indeed a treacherous castle, located on the last mountain pass leading from the Hakone Mountain Road to the Kanto Plain, and it is the only one I have ever seen in terms of the difficulty of the terrain.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the sun sprinkled its light all over the nearby mountains, and even the lush forests were covered with a layer of gold. To describe the effect of scenery on people's mentality, I looked at the peaks like soldiers in armor.

"Your Royal Highness Tokugawa, I wish you another great honor!" Standing in front of the shogunate on a small flat ground, I waved at Tokugawa Ieyasu and the large group of generals behind him.

"Serve the country!" Tokugawa Ieyasu, dressed in military uniform, put on his helmet and turned around to lead the group in the direction of Yamanaka Castle. Amid the sound of a conch, a group of soldiers was also heading in that direction.

"My lord, is Tokugawa Ieyasu okay?" The Gamo clan approached my side, and he whispered as he looked at the army in front of him.

"Your Highnesses!" I turned back to the daimyo who were still gathered behind. "His Royal Highness Tokugawa is confident in conquering Yamanaka Castle, and I hope that you will return and prepare for it immediately. As soon as it is completed, our army will advance in a hurry, and maybe we will be able to eat under Odawara Castle tonight! ”

"Yes!" The crowd replied loudly.

"You mean Tokugawa Ieyasu can't take Yamanaka Castle? With the strength of Eizo, Otomo, and Ikeda, they are ten times more powerful than the defenders! When the people were gone, I said to the Gamo clan, "I may doubt many things, but I will never doubt the ability of Tokugawa Ieyasu and his generals. They may be weaker than the samurai regiments of Takeda and Uesugi, but they can be said to be first-class in this era. Although the city in the mountains is dangerous, the defenders are some frightened birds, and they should be ninety percent sure of taking it down! ”

"That's not what I mean by being a minister," ...... Gamo clan still had some concerns about wanting to speak.

"You mean...... Tokugawa Ieyasu may defect before the battle? I suddenly understood what he meant, and immediately shook my head. We have discussed this issue more than once before, and it is highly unlikely that Tokugawa Ieyasu will take such a risk. Although he had just turned his back on the Hojo family before, in front of the world, it was the Hojo clan who abandoned him first. At this point, I don't think he'll be able to make any more moves right away! ”

"Wei Chen naturally understands this truth, but ...... Alas! He sighed and said, "The foundation of the lord is really hard-won, and the minister really doesn't want to see any more mistakes!" ”

"Hey, hey, yes!" On the surface, I laughed at his worries, but in fact, I didn't have a faint concern for Tokugawa Ieyasu in my heart. I just said that it was impossible "right away", but in the long run, the Tokugawa samurai group is always a concern.

"Repay the Lord!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, the companion letter came to me. "It has just been confirmed: the lord of Jade Rope Castle, Hojo Clan, led Mamiya Yasutoshi, Asakura Keisumi and others to come to the rescue of Yamanaka Castle, and 3,000 soldiers and horses can arrive at about noon!"

"It's so fast......" I really didn't expect the Hojo clan's reaction to be so fast, counting his less than 30,000 horses, it seems that he has just entered Odawara Castle. Send someone to the front to inform His Highness Tokugawa of this situation, and ask him to speed up again! I turned my head to the attendants beside me.

"Boom...... Boom ......" There were a few cannon sounds in front of him, and then the shouts of killing all over the mountains came, and the sound of iron cannons and conches was also mixed in, chaotic but exciting.

My location here was neither a ready-made city nor a solid barracks, and it was not easy to build those on this undulating mountain road, so I got up in the early morning and drove ten miles to find such a base for attacking. It is worthy of being the first fortified city on the Hakone Road, and there is not even a place to launch an army around, but fortunately, it is to fight this time, and it is really aggrieved after a long time!

At this time, the cannon was not unique to me in Japan, and several daimyo also bought a few of them, but they were all one-pound guns with a very small caliber, and then some clever blacksmiths also appeared to imitate them, but because the technology was too strong, the effect was not very good. The ninja reported that Odawara Castle had also set up more than a dozen cannons, most of which were made by melting the large bells in the temple and casting them themselves.

Cannons are a bit useful for castles mixed with wood and stone, especially those cities on the plains, but for those mountain castles and stone castles with huge walls, they are a little weak, in fact, even at this time, the role of European castle fortifications is still very large.

However, it should be noted that for this newly introduced sharp firearm, the old city gate has not yet thought of any good way to deal with it, but fortunately, the artillery fire may not be accurate if it is far away.

The previous burst of artillery fire was also ineffective, and after a rain of rubble fell on the wall, more than a dozen feet deep potholes appeared, but this achievement had no effect on the attacking and defending sides. It was in this atmosphere that the spears of about 5,000 men began to approach the castle.

"Okubo Tadayo, Honta Nobu, Watanabe Moritsuna...... Tokugawa Ieyasu has made a fortune! I glanced at the troops for a cursory moment, then turned back to the Gamo clan and said, "This is Tokugawa Ieyasu, who is calculating and willing to put down his roots. Now that he's just joined us, the first is to show his worth, and the second is to not give me any reason to 'deal with' him! ”

"Hmm......" Gamo looked at it much more carefully than I did, and the muscles on his face gradually relaxed after ten minutes. It seems that the lord still has the wisdom to know people, and he has seen through the person of Tokugawa Ieyasu! ”

"But I don't dare to say that, I just dare to conclude that Tokugawa will not rebel in the near future!" I don't know why my heart didn't collapse when he said it, and I took the telescope from the hand of the attendant and looked ahead, where the fierce battle had crossed the transition and went straight to the white heat.

At this time, the Japanese army was still dominated by ashigaru with five-meter spears in their hands, which definitely accounted for more than eighty percent, and the remaining two percent also included bows and arrows, iron cannons and cavalry, which was even more unsuitable for siege. Therefore, when there is no internal response, there is no other way to use water attack, tunnels and other strategies, but to take human life pads!

A large number of soldiers were already climbing the city ahead, and arrows from the walls rained down and landed in the dense crowd. However, due to the angle, the damage of the feather arrow landing on the spear-light bamboo hat is almost negligible.

Finally approaching the upright part of the wall, many of the defenders leaned out and poked the people below with their spears, which made it difficult to erect the ladder that had been carried up with great difficulty. Also, some logs like stones and beams were thrown down, because the troops below were so dense that it was almost impossible for these lethal guys to be empty, and they could always open a "blood alley".

As I watched, a football-sized rock was thrown down and hit the head of a spear, knocking the body that was lying on the city wall into the air, and a rain of blood burst out on the head and sprinkled into the ant-like crowd below. Because of the distance, I can't see if there are still brains splashing out.

The battle in front of the castle gate was even fiercer, and it was crowded with a large number of low-ranking samurai and ashigaru slamming into the gate regardless of life and death. Here, however, the defenders have an even more ferocious weapon, which is boiling oil.

When the golden barrel of the telescope was withdrawn, there was a "pop" sound. I let out a long sigh and said, "This is the average ashigaru and samurai, and it probably doesn't matter who their enemy is!" ”

"Your lord, you're right, it really doesn't matter who the enemy is!" Although I said it softly, the Gamo clan still heard it, and said with a smile: "The bounty of the low-ranking samurai and ashigaru comes from their lord, and the land on which they and their families depend for their livelihood also comes from their lord, and the safety of their homeland is still the castle of the lord and the lord's family, so what does it matter who their enemy is?" All you have to know is who to pledge allegiance! ”

"That's exactly what it means, but I really hope that the daimyos will know this in the future!" I really felt that I was thinking about climbing up for my own safety when I was down there in the past. Today, the peak is within reach, but I still feel insecure.

"There's nothing difficult about this, the lord just needs to 'teach' them!" The actions of the Tokugawa army in front of him had already dispelled a lot of scruples in the Gamo clan, so he said to me with a smile.

"I hope so!" I'm asking about the system, and he's talking about the methodology, but it's not clear at the moment.

"That's it!" The Gamo clan's face suddenly changed drastically, and he stared nervously ahead.

"What's wrong!" I also subconsciously stood up and looked forward.

There was originally a small gap between the Tokugawa, Kerr, Otomo, and Ikeda divisions and other troops involved in the attack, but now a cavalry force of about 2,000 men appeared there. This cavalry was neatly equipped, and the military posture was majestic, and the red armor looked very majestic.

"Is this the reorganized 'Akabi'?" I was intrigued by this sudden situation and took a closer look.

The Gamo clan approached me and asked in a low voice, "Do you want to transfer the armor rider from behind?" ”

"Hmm......" I snorted, not actually making out what he was saying.

"Herald ......" he began to prepare to issue an order

"Slow!" I suddenly pressed his shoulder. "Don't worry, give Tokugawa Ieyasu more trust!"

At this time, there were some changes in the cavalry and the mountain city......