Located on the edge of Harima Province, Kamitsuki Castle was originally the ancestral residence of the Kamitsuki family of the Akamatsu clan. In the Cargill period, the Akamatsu clan murdered the shogun Ashikaga Yoshikyo, and was jointly pursued by the shogunate and the major names, not only the Akamatsu clan clan perished, but the old leaders Harima, Beizen, and Misaku fell into the hands of the Yamana family, and most of the clans including the Kamitsuki family were also destroyed. Later, the Akamatsu family was revived, and after the Onin War, Hosokawa Masamoto of the Eastern Army took back the guardianship of the Three Kingdoms and the Harima Province territory from the Yamaga family of the Western Army, and Kamitsuki Castle became an important stronghold for the Akamatsu, Yamana, and even the Niko family, and was repeatedly attacked and repaired.

It wasn't until 20 years ago, when the Yamana clan gradually shrank to Inaba and Tajima, and the Niko family lost control of Misasakaku, that Kamitsuki Castle initially settled down and became the residence of Akamatsu Masato, the son of Akamatsu Masato, and used it as a base to rule the five prefectures of Sause, Akaho, Ito, Isai, and Anasu in Nishiharima. In the past twenty years, Shangyue City has witnessed the decline of the Akamatsu family, and now it has become the foundation for the Nizi family to try to revive.

The current governor of the Nizi family, Nizi Katsuhisa, and the old mountain of the Bitou family, are very cherished by this rare fortified city. In order to defend the city, they gathered all the old departments of the Niko family and raised an army of about 3,000 people, including Niko Katsuhisa's sister-in-law Niko Toyomaru, Katsuhisa's younger brothers Niko Shijiu and Niko Tohisa, and the only god who was still loyal to the Niko family among the ten banners of Niko, all of them were concentrated in this city. With an army of this size, there would normally be no problem in defending the city, but what the Nizi family encountered was the army of the Maori family, and their siege number was as high as 60,000, which was a full twenty times the number of defenders in the city.

The general of Sanyo Province, Yura Hideyoshi, can naturally understand the important surname of this city. However, in the face of such a disparity in strength, even he could not place much hope on the Nizi family. After finding out the strength of the Maori family, he immediately sent a letter to Niko Katsuhisa and Yamanaka Yukimori, allowing them to abandon the castle if necessary (上月城を棄て, 共に退するよう). The 17,000 troops he had gathered by himself had only reached Mt. Takakura, two kilometers from the city, and had built a large number of fortifications to resist a possible attack by the Maori family before the arrival of subsequent reinforcements.

However, the Niko family was unwilling to give up Shangyue Castle like this, so they did not respond to Hideyoshi's kindness. When I was out of battle, information came from the side of Kamitsuki Castle that the Mori family had surrounded Kamitsuki Castle and trapped the Niko family in the city with empty hori and trenches, and it seemed that they had made up their minds to completely destroy the last resistance of the Niko family here.

"The situation is very bad!" Xiujing sighed, "Even if we can force the Uki family to come back to help, the siege of the city will still be as high as 50,000 troops. If the follow-up reinforcements from the main hall cannot arrive in time, the Nizi family may be more than lucky. ”

"The garrison of the Nizi family, after all, was temporarily summoned from all over the country. In the face of such a scene, how long can the military heart be guaranteed...... It's hard to say. Masakatsu Wasuka, who is a military officer, also said.

"yes!" I nodded. Xiujing's consideration is based on the overall strategic situation; And Wasuka Masakatsu's consideration is the position of the defenders of the Moon City. In both respects, the prospects for the Nizi family are very bleak.

As far as I'm concerned, I have some sympathy for the plight of the Niko family, and I also admire Yamanaka Yukimori's loyalty and tenacity, and if I have the opportunity to help them, I will definitely not be stingy. However, as the former Taishou of the Eleven Kingdoms of Sanyin and Sanyang, the Nizi family has their own pride, and their connections are also in Sanyin and Sanyang, and if they want to revive the family business, they can only choose a stronghold in these two places, so basically they can't get on the line with me.

"In short, let's complete the mission entrusted by the Lord first...... I hope that everyone will work hard and not fall into their reputation in front of the people of the Uki family. ”

"Yes!" The crowd responded.

"Then I'll assign the task," I looked around in the tent, "Jingsheng and Liding, you two lead the crab river to prepare as the vanguard and march towards Changshan Castle of the Uki family, but don't rashly attack the city, just wait for the main force to arrive under the city." ”

"Yes." Beesuka Keikatsu and Tsubouchi Toshicho answered.

"Xuanzhi, you led the five hundred red cavalry of your department to move around the crab river bei. In addition to spying on the enemy, you might as well make it louder! ”

"Yes," Iyi Nobu commanded, and asked, "So, what should I do if I catch the envoy of the Uki family?" ”

"If you catch it, let it go after asking and let them continue to complete the mission!" I commanded.

"Understood." Iyi Xuan smiled straightly.

I knew that he really understood, so he nodded with satisfaction: "Then you go...... All of you in Sanuki, please follow my main camp and act together. ”

The head of the Higashi-Sangi guardian Dai-Ikoma family, the Nishi-Sangi guardian Dai-Kagawa Nobuya, the head of the Higashi-Sangi Kankawa family, and the military representative and father-in-law of Nakasanki Kanishi Yoshikiyo, Hatoshi Shizai, and others received the order together.

The total number of troops under their command is about 8,000, which is almost the entire military strength of the entire Sanki country. However, I mainly relied on the 7,000 people directly under my command, in addition to the crab river bei and Hanzhii Ibi who were scattered, Tsushima Bei and the five hundred personal guards Ma Dai were led by me, the triple preparation was in charge of Miyata Mitsuji and Joto Kazuki, and Awaji was under the command of Hidekei alone. The rest of the 5,000 naval forces, I asked them to return to the port of Utazu and prepare to meet the follow-up Awa, Tosa, and Iyosan [***] forces.

Since the goal was to force the Ukita family to return to the army, I did not choose Kojima Bay and Kojima Lake, which are located north of Kojima County and the closest to Okayama Castle, as the landing site, but went ashore in Shimotsui, opposite Utatsu Port, and went straight through the entire Kojima County, slowly approaching Okayama Castle, the home of the Ukita family, so as to give the Ukita family enough time to react. By the time Ukita Tada's family returned, my second group of 25,000 troops had almost been assembled, and then dispatched as the situation depended. If there were only 10,000 Ukita people, they would stay in the port of Utatsu for the time being, so as not to increase the logistical pressure before the expedition; However, if the Mori family also sent some reinforcements, they would be able to land at Kojima Bay and go directly to Okayama Castle to join the main force.

That said, they don't necessarily come in handy. However, considering the cunning of the Ukita family, I guess he will definitely not be willing to face my attack alone, and will definitely find a way to bring in some reinforcements from Mori Terumoto in Takamatsu Castle, so I can only prepare first so as not to be caught off guard.

Moreover, I have another intention to gather so many people, and that is to use this opportunity to integrate all the wealthy clans in Iyo Province, including Gamo and the Beehouse family.

So far, I have not been officially appointed as the guardian of Iyo, or the South China Sea Exploration, so it stands to reason that if I want to recruit the nobles of Naka-Iyo and Minami-Iyo, I must go through the bee house Yoryū and Gamo Kenhide as their lords, and they can completely refuse my direct recruitment. But this time it was a task arranged by Nobunaga, and even if they were not completely convinced of me, they would not dare to disobey Nobunaga. And as long as they are gathered under my command, and have the will to obey my experience and fight side by side, then until I am victorious, and give them a fair reward, they will not refuse my subsequent call-ups, and will gradually come under my direct command.

Among them, the most obvious precedent is the wealthy families of Sanki Province. Although I don't have any name in Sanuki, everyone from the guardian generation to the small and medium-sized wealthy families has become accustomed to my direct command, and has shown great respect for the Gamo Fuhide and Asano Nagamasa sent by me, as if they were retainers of the wealthy clan directly under the Kira family—although they are nominally only my acting officials stationed in Utatsu Port in Udazu County, and their status is far inferior to Kagawa Nobuyei, Kasai Yoshikiyo, and Kankawa Motokuma, who own several prefectures.

Thinking of this, I can't help but feel a little emotional. These two groups of troops, even excluding the naval army, have a total number of 40,000, which is already on a par with the relatives of Changzong and my department after the unification of Shikoku Island in history, and also exceeds the sum of the forces of Hokuriku and Sanyo, and the quality is completely incomparable.

Although the Ukita Nao family in front of the Ukita family is cunning, there are only more than 10,000 people after all. In the face of this huge disadvantage, perhaps as Satake Nobuhide said, the Ukita family can't wait to withdraw the army! In that case, the mission will be completed, and the rest will be up to me.

So, should we seek to force the Ukita family to surrender and even accept his son Ukita Hachiro? That's a person who has been extremely upright and unwitting since he was a child, and he can serve the main family without reservation, and his father Ukita Nao's family are completely two extremes, and he can't imagine that he is his own father and son...... An Ii Chibei envoy rushed to my home and stopped before my main battle. He jumped off his horse and half-knelt in front of the horse of my and the military chief Wasuka Masakatsu.

"Newspaper Master! Lord Ii's vanguard has arrived at Okayama Castle...... According to the confession of the nearby wealthy family, the Ukita Nao family had left yesterday and was not in the city at the moment! ”

"What?" I was very surprised. Okayama Castle is one of the most fortified castles in the former country, and it is also the current residence of the Uki family! Although it may not be able to stop us, there is no problem in holding on until the main force returns...... But the Ukita Naojia actually ran away?

"Who is the current defender of the city?" Seeing that I seemed to be thinking something, Wasuka Masakatsu asked the envoy on my behalf.

"Back to the museum, back to the bee-sama, is currently served by Togawa Tsuyasu as the city generation!" The envoy replied.

Togawa Tsuiyasu is the later worship of Hideyoshi's partiality of Togawa Hideyasu, and Oka Ietoshi, Nagafune Sada, and called Ukita three elders, and the most trusted one, last year before and after the pacification of the Awa, received 25,000 stones, served as the lord of Tokoyama Castle, and commanded the Ukiya Naval Army (the first battle of the Kizu River in history led the naval army with the Mori family). With him as the castle generation, it obviously shows that the Ukita Naoya family has not given up on this city.

By the way, since he is the lord of Tokoyama Castle, he is currently serving as the representative of Okayama Castle, so the ...... of Tokoyama Castle in Kojima County is the "Lord of the Newspaper Hall!" "Another envoy rushed over, this time it was prepared by Xiejiang. He also jumped off the war horse and half-knelt in front of the horse: "The gate of Changshan Castle is wide open, and the two adults of Wasuka and Tsubouchi have occupied the city, and no enemies have been found!" ”

"Congratulations to Awajiden!" Kagawa Nobuyo, who was also in the center of the main camp, said with a smile, "It seems that hearing the prestige of Awaji Temple, Ukita and Izumi knew that they were invincible, and they had fled without a fight and went to the Maori family!" ”

"His Highness Xinjing is holding me up too much," I smiled and shook my head. With the ability and persistence of the Ukita family, it will definitely not be so easy to give up, so there must be something inside it.

After thinking about it, I asked the envoy sent by Ii Xuannao, "Did you bring your family with you when the Ukita family left yesterday?" ”

"Back to the hall master, I heard that it is only him, and the other is dozens of Ma Xianzhong's personal guards." Makeban replied.

"I see," I nodded, "then you go back and tell the two of them that Wasuka and Tsubouchi will be stationed at Tsuneyama Castle at once, and let them carefully inspect the inside and outside of Tsuneyama Castle to see if there is anything unusual; On Jing Yi's side, let him shrink and mainly monitor the direction of Beizhong to the west. If there's any new news, keep reporting back right away. ”

"Yes." The two envoys responded together, mounted their horses and galloped away. My attendants went to the front and back of the queue and told Mie Bi and Awaji Bi that I was going to camp at Toneyama Castle.

By the time we arrived, Wasuka Keikatsu and Tsubouchi Rishi were already waiting at the city gate. They told me that the city was almost empty, and there was nothing unusual about it, except that the warehouses and supplies had been relocated.

This is not a problem, with the ability of the naval army, it is more than enough to supply the 15,000 army across the sea.

"The castle tower has been inspected and cleaned up, and there are no problems, so please rest assured that the lord will move in." Katsukatsu Wasuka further reported.

"Good work." I nodded.

In the afternoon, I held my first assessment at the castle tower before I set out for the expedition. Afterwards, I left all the important ministers of my family to discuss further strategies.

"There is no doubt that the Ukita Naoke did not give up," I first affirmed this judgment, "and after leaving the castle, he had two directions, one was to go to Kamizuki Castle to join his family's forces, and the other was to go to Takamatsu Castle, which was preparing for China in the east, and ask Mori Terumoto himself for help. ”

"The lord said to let Xuanzhi pay attention to the direction of the west, do you think he is going to China?" Wasuka asked.

"That's right," I asked Nobuhide Satake to take the map, "Mori Terumoto's Takamatsu Castle is located in the easternmost part of China, Heyang County, and is only separated from Okayama Castle by Tsutaka County. In comparison, the distance between Shangyue City and Okayama Castle is more than twice as farther, and there is no need for the Ukita Naojia to go far and leave the reinforcements around them. And he left Okayama Castle alone, most likely to meet Mori Terumoto in person, to show his family's sincerity and ask the Mori family to send reinforcements. ”

(To be continued)