"Repay the Lord!" Just as I yawned and the Takenaka half-guard finally sorted out the papers on the case, Sakurai Sakichi hurriedly ran in. "I just reported the news that the camp of the Otomo family was attacked by the Shimazu army!"

"Huh?" I glanced at the half-guard of Takenaka, and we both saw a certain amount of astonishment in each other's eyes. I turned my head and listened to it with my ears sideways, and I could faintly make out the rustle of the wind through the treetops.

We have been closely monitoring several castles where the Shimazu army is stationed, so how could we not have noticed such a situation in advance? In fact, Otomo's camp is not far from us, and there are 15,000 people, so since it was attacked, we couldn't even hear a sound.

"Is it someone from the Otomo family who is asking for help?" I really didn't feel anything, so I raised my head and asked Sakurai directly.

"No, it was our ninja who found it!" Sakurai Sakichi reported, "The ninja noticed that about three hundred people had come out of Chausu Castle, and after quietly approaching the Otomo family's camp, they began to shoot arrows inside. The Otomo family also fought back with bows and arrows, but they didn't make a lot of noise because they didn't use iron cannons. At present, there are not many substantial losses of the Otomo family, but the person who wants to come to report the situation is almost here! ”

"If you come, tell them: I already know everything, and I want them to stay in the camp and not go out to fight without permission!" I asked Sakurai to go out and said to the Takenaka half-guard, "Are you saying this is ordinary harassment?" I don't look like it! ”

"Lord Mingjian! It's not quite like it, and it doesn't make sense! The Takenaka half-guard nodded yes. If it is harassment, especially the harassment of such a small number of people, it must be a patrol outside the camp, or it is also operating in the area of the grain and grass camp, so there is no reason to beat the camp so painlessly. Besides, there are 15,000 people in Otomo's camp, and there are famous generals like Tachibana and Takahashi, so it is said that Shimazu will have to gnaw the whole army for a while, what can these hundreds of people do? ”

"Then they just have other intentions, especially when we are almost overwhelmed by this!" I went outside and listened carefully, but I still couldn't hear anything. Although it is just August, the wind in this mountain is really cold. "There are only a few hundred people, and they are not equipped with iron cannons, so there are only two possibilities for this matter: either to lure the enemy, or to attack the east and west!" I walked back and stood in front of the bookcase.

"That's what the minister thinks too!" Takenaka Hanbei nodded affirmatively, but then hesitated and said, "According to the normal progress of the current situation, it is impossible for the Shimazu family to have any chance of winning. In that case, then it is only possible to win by surprise, to create a temporary and partial advantage with a surprise action, and then to negotiate with us on these terms, as it did last time! ”

"Oh...... Ahem, ahem! I turned around and coughed unnaturally, slightly embarrassed. The fiasco of the last amphibious landing operation was a great shame in the history of my war, and although I didn't care about it, I was always not so comfortable in my heart. But I'm not a hairy kid now, and I'm back to normal before he notices it. "Although we have only found these 300 people so far, no one dares to guarantee 100% of the votes in this place with high mountains, deep grass and dense forests. It must be unwise to attack with a large army, so let Guangcheng take the ninja army to fight! ”

"This still doesn't seem to be appropriate, at the moment we have the most hands on these two thousand people!" Takenaka Hanbei shook his head solemnly. "The Shimazu family must have some kind of plan, although we don't know whether it's smart or stupid at the moment, but there is a certainty! In this case, we rush to play the card, and if something unexpected happens, we can't deal with it. Now that the Shimazu family is in danger of defending it, and the troops on both sides are intertwined, and there are many points that may be attacked in so many contact points, the safe way is to respond to everything without changing, at least until the Shimazu army reveals its true intentions! ”

"Hmm......" I nodded, walked a few steps back and forth in the tent, looked up and looked out, but there was still no movement. It's so hard to wait, I have to do something. "Order the Fujido and Nabeshima divisions on both sides of Otomo to closely understand the situation of Otomo's army!" I shouted outside, and Sakurai Sakichi agreed to send someone to carry it out.

"Ding!" With a sound, the half-guard Takenaka opened the lid of his pocket watch and looked up. "It's already two o'clock, I believe we will see soon!" He said softly.

I turned back to the bookcase and sat back in my chair, quietly calming myself down.

Hanbei Takenaka is right, usually night battles, especially surprise attacks, and the early morning after midnight is the best time, which is also basic common sense. Today's events are a little weird, and I don't know what the Shimazu family wants to do.

The war in Kyushu is coming to an end, and I'm going to go back to to consolidate the results, but at this time, the Shimazu family came to do this, which is really difficult for me! Once the fight starts, there will be casualties, but at this time, I can't afford to lose face, and it is naturally not possible to flee back to in disgrace, maybe I will lose some men and horses and abandon the Shimazu family here!

"Bang!" A sound came from the south, and Takenaka Hanbei and I quickly looked at each other again. The sound of this iron cannon sounded so clear, and the distance would never exceed 500 meters. "What's going on!" I asked outside.

After a moment of panic, Sakurai Sakichi ran in again and hurriedly reported, "Our patrol found a Shimazu Hosaku in the woods between the south of the camp and Iwaken Castle, and wanted to catch him, but he didn't expect him to be carrying a short-barreled iron cannon. Then five or six more accomplices emerged from the woods, and now they are facing off! ”

"Let Changxin send someone to deal with it immediately, and report back at any time if there is any situation!" I didn't expect it to be just a misfire, and I was slightly annoyed in my heart.

Sakurai Sakichi ran out, but before he reached the door of the camp, the gunfire rang out more violently, and the interval between them was extremely short, which was definitely not caused by a dozen or twenty iron cannons. Although it was obviously not a normal platoon of guns in a match, traces of coordination could be heard from the frequency of firing, and it should have been a premeditated attack, and the details could only be said after Sakurai Sakichi returned.

"Attacking Otomo is to divert attention, could it be that their target is me?" I muttered to myself, I really don't know what the Shimazu family is trying to do! Although I have long heard of the "fierceness" of Kyushu people, it is the first time I have seen such a thing as a family.

"Repay the Lord!" Sakurai Sakichi hadn't returned yet, and another attendant ran in to report it. "Lord Shimakatsu sent someone to ask if anything happened here!"

"I don't have anything here, so he doesn't have to worry!" I was still thinking about Shimazu's strategy, so I sent him away with a casual wave of my hand. Although Shima Katsumo's armor is at the foot of the mountain, it is not far from me, so it is not surprising that he was the first to come to interrogate, and it would be a strange thing if the Lord's subordinates who killed the heavens here did not even ask.

"Huh?" The half-guard in Takenaka, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly snorted with his nose, and I suddenly stopped when I heard this voice.

In order to trap the Shimazu army, this time I drove the army into the mountains, arrived at various castles, set up camps, and blocked the gates to attack. However, after my army entered such a difficult terrain, it was difficult to move, and although I had set up an extremely solid camp, it became extremely cumbersome to support and transfer the large army. Originally, this was not a big deal, but once the Shimazu army used psychological tactics to cause chaos in our army, then the consequences would be unimaginable.

"Quickly notify all battalions, hold the camp and not fight without authorization, and those who violate the order will be killed!" I called in another attendant and gave a quick order to all this, and then let out a long breath.

It was inconvenient for my regiment to support each other, and it was also difficult for the Shimazu army, which was blocked in various castles in sections, to do so, and I thought it would be better to be sure not to be taken advantage of by the enemy when the enemy had an absolute advantage in individual strength. Presumably, at this time, Shimazu is looking forward to the temptation, I can't take this risk!

"The lord's arrangement is indeed foolproof, but the minister thinks that the Shimazu army still has a main goal in this move!" Takenaka Hanbei nodded, but immediately said with a straight face: "The Shimazu army must be trying to calculate a certain part of our army, and talk about something else after winning a blow." Although the lord's approach is safe, it may also cause certain losses! ”

"Let's wait until Sakichi comes back!" I looked outside again, and the wind seemed to be getting stronger, and the gunfire was still dense and compact. "If the Shimazu army had a large force mobilization, we would have found out a long time ago, and now only this rock sword city is relatively strong, but it is facing more than 40,000 main forces from me. The other strongholds that may be attacking are not strong, so there shouldn't be any major problems, and it will be dawn in a few hours! ”

I was speechless for a while here, I didn't have anything to say with the half-guards in Takenaka, the current situation is indeed more wrong, it's better to wait for everything to have a clue. Fortunately, it didn't make us wait long, and after a while, Sakurai Sakichi came back with his companion Naganobu.

"It may be a tentative raid by the Shimazu family, please don't worry!" As soon as the letter came in, the companion gave a concise report, followed by a detailed introduction. "At first, just five ninjas were found, and the patrol wanted to take them down, but then they quickly climbed down the rope from the head of Iwaken Castle, and the number of iron cannons was as high as a hundred. When the patrol noticed that the situation had changed, they retreated to the main camp, but the enemy tried to attack our camp instead. Wei Chen found that the gate of Rock Sword City seemed to be ready to be opened at any time, and at this time, the lord's order to strictly abide by no battle had also arrived, so Wei Chen only arranged ninjas around the camp to prevent the enemy's infiltration! ”

"Three hundred men attacking my camp? Is there any sign of the Shimazu army attacking at night? "It's a little hard for me to understand such a bold strategy, or it's crazy!