I waited under Gangfeng City for two days, during which I packed up two small groups of troops that came to help, one from Bushitian City and one from Chaojiang City. However, the main force of the Moto-kin still did not return, and according to the information obtained by the Hattori ninja, the Moto-kin forcibly collected food near Anyu Castle, and sent people to harvest the rice that was not yet fully ripe, apparently with the intention of continuing the siege. In addition, he also sent messengers to the cities, most likely to order the people not to support Gangfeng without permission, because a group of more than a hundred people had already set out, and immediately turned back halfway after receiving the order.

Is it seen through the intention? Sure enough, it's worthy of being a parent...... However, I really can't stay here for too long.

Under the current situation, I can't take the initiative to go to Anyun to seek a decisive battle, so that the momentum of work and rest, offense and defense will be reversed, which will be very disadvantageous to our side. Moreover, I have sent someone to investigate the area of Gangfeng City and draw a detailed topographic map, but the area of Anyu County is still very unfamiliar.

Then we had to withdraw our troops.

On the morning of the 19th of July, I led my whole army across the Kunibun River and the Kuwan River, and then ordered the Saga people and the naval army carrying the booty to return to Ikejo, and conveyed the order to Iwamatsu Norantori to gather the necessary fresh water and other supplies, and to be ready to set sail at any time, while I myself took my family's 3,000 elite troops and headed west directly to Kira Castle.

In the vicinity of Chaojiang City, a samurai in his thirties with two retinues stood in front of my army.

"In Shimokatsu Kano Motoshin, I have come to ask to see His Royal Highness Kira Xuanjing!" He said loudly.

People from the Katsugano family, so it's likely to be a relative of Naobu Katsugano? Xiao Xia and I glanced at each other and walked forward, with Xiujing and a few guards following behind.

Coming to him, I lifted my mask and nodded to him: "I am Kira Xuanjing...... Dare to ask what is the relationship between you and Naobu Katsugano? ”

"It's my father," he bowed respectfully, and raised his head, but there was a look of disapproval on his face, "Your Highness is here to attack Kira Castle?" ”

"So what? Are you here to dissuade me? I asked.

"I do have this intention, but I don't want to do it for the sake of my family, but I am suggesting it to His Highness in my personal capacity," Katsugano Motonobu bowed again, "It's not a secret, now Kira Castle has almost no military strength, and it will definitely not be able to resist His Highness's army." But I heard that His Royal Highness came across the sea from the country of Hequan, so the expedition was unstoppable, and even if he occupied Kira Castle, he would definitely have to retreat, but it was just to let the territory suffer one more fire...... Therefore, I implore His Highness to abandon this plan. ”

I looked at him seriously, and he looked back calmly, his eyes clear, and his face was very calm.

"You can rest assured about this matter," I smiled, "Actually, I am ready to withdraw the army, and this is just to pick up my mother and take a look at the old collar by the way." ”

"Your Highness is wise!" He replied respectfully.

"So, by the way, what would you do if he said I was determined to get my old collar back?" I asked, looking at him with interest.

"Just to get your old collar back?" He asked me rhetorically.

"Okay, take back Tosa and pacify Shikoku."

"Since Your Highness has such a weapon, Your Majesty should sacrifice his life to follow." Katsugano Motonobu suddenly knelt down in front of my horse.

His action surprised the people around him, especially the two entourages who followed.

"Lord!" One of them called out in surprise.

"Shinzo, go back and tell Madame that she will take the children to Arakawa Shrine, where I will wait. The rest of the matters will be left to the city lord to deal with, and if you ask, just say that I have followed the old lord. Katsugano Motoshin said slowly, but his voice was very firm, "This is my father's unfulfilled wish!" ”

Then he got up and took the reins from my squire, and took my horse.

I know that this is for my purpose, but for him, who is an old man in the Kira family, he is really a little wronged.

"Katsugano-sama......" I began.

"Please take a good look at this old collar!" He turned and nodded to me, leading the horse forward.

Soon, some people recognized his identity.

"Isn't this Katsugano-sama?"

"yes...... It's really strange, how can you do such a handymanship? ”

"The highness right away is not the city lord, right?"

"Even the lord of the castle has no reason to let Katsugano-sama lead the horse!"

"I heard that it was the young master who had been a monk in Xiyang Temple since he was a child...... I didn't expect to grow into such a majestic general! ”

"But this kind of flag is different from that used by the deceased Suruga-sama? But this army is quite powerful! ”

"Speaking of which, it seems that this army besieged Gangfeng City a few days ago...... As a result, His Royal Highness Okatoho has not shown up! ”

"His Royal Highness Gangfeng's military strength is indeed incomparable."

"If it's such a lord, it's very reassuring......"

So the leaders along the way lowered their hands and bowed their heads, standing on the side of the road to salute our group.

After walking for a short time, I arrived at the foot of the hill where Arakawa Shrine is located. Motonobu Katsugano stopped and turned sideways to explain to me, "My lord, Lord Hoshin-in has always lived here. ”

"That's the case, then come up the mountain with me," I jumped off my horse and turned back to beckon, "Xiujing, Xiao Xia, you guys come too!" ”

The four of them walked up the stone steps together. Katsugano Motonobu was one position behind me, and kept explaining to me that this torii gate was built by the head of the Kira family, and that the stone lanterns on the side of the road were sent by which family, and so on, but I had a general understanding of some of the genealogical families in this realm, and gradually felt that I should be the lord of this place.

When I walked to the shrine, I saw a woman in a kimono with two children, a man and a woman, standing next to the fox guardian beast by the main entrance. The girl has the appearance of ** years old, and her appearance is very similar to the woman; The boy was about four or five years old and looked like a tiger. The two previous retinues were also present, each carrying a wooden box.

When he saw Motonobu Katsugano, the boy immediately shouted happily, "Father-sama! ”

"I've all come to see Your Highness!" Motonobu Katsugano commanded.

Yuanxin's child? I know, this boy is the Katsugano Minobu who later presided over the old inspection of the Ichijo family. Later, because of the issue of the heir of the original family, he was ordered to cut his stomach along with the head of the family, Kira Qinmi and other seven people, and became the famous seven-person ghost group of Shikoku. It is said that anyone who sees them in the wild will be killed, and then join their ranks, freeing one of the original seven, and the cycle continues.

In modern times, this terrorist organization has been included in an article written by the "All Akamoto Yokai Promotion Committee", and its work "Back Alley Tales of a Hundred Things" has won the Naoki Award, the highest award in the book. And the way to deal with them is to provide for the statue of the original parent...... "What a good boy!" I smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "When you come to the costume, I'll be the host!" ”

"The subordinate has thanked the lord on behalf of the dog!" Katsugano Motonobu bowed.

I smiled and nodded, washed my hands by the clean spring outside the main gate, and entered the mountain gate first.

My titular mother should have gotten the news and understood what I was here for. She was dressed in a blue half-length and blue coat, and sat upright in the side hall.

"Meet Mother!" I took Xiujing and Xiaoxia to greet him.

"Keijiro, come closer," she greeted kindly, "let Mother take a good look at you." ”

I got up and sat down in front of her.

She cupped my face and looked at it earnestly. After a while, he sighed with red eyes: "Over the years, I have really made you suffer, mother is very sorry!" ”

"Please don't say that," I hurriedly comforted her, "I haven't served properly, and Xiujing and I need to be ashamed." ”

"It's good to come, it's good to come." She looked up at Xiujing and Konatsu, and then she found Katsugano Motonobu by the door, "It turns out that Katsugano-sama is also ...... sighed for a while, it really made you laugh. ”

"Don't dare. The filial piety of the two mothers and sons is gratifying! "Katsugano Motoshin owes his body.

"It's really reassuring to have Katsugano-sama's entourage!" Baoxinin nodded and greeted Xiujing and Xiao Xia, "Jiro, Xiao Xia, you are also coming close...... Natsu should have Keijiro's child, right? The prosperity of the Kira family also needs your efforts. ”

Xiao Xia blushed suddenly, so I replied on her behalf, "Back to my mother, I have two children." One is the eldest son, Keitaro, who is seven years old this year; There is also a daughter, Haijin, who is four years old this year. ”

"Why is it called Keitaro?" Baoxinyuan asked in surprise.

"Because, Keijiro's name was given to the son-in-law from the main room." I had no choice but to reply.

"This is a marriage gift from the main hall, and His Highness can't refuse...... And Mrs. Ishitani is a very nice person! Xiao Xia hurriedly explained. In order to excuse me, she also said rare good things about Caicai.

“…… It's up to you," Hoshinin sighed, "But, Keijiro, you must treat Natsu well!" ”

"Yes. His Royal Highness has been treating Xiao Xia very well. Xiao Xia hurriedly replied.

"Mother," Xiujing knew that Baoxin Temple had made Xiao Xia my main room, and the current situation was obviously not in line with her wishes. Seeing that the atmosphere was a little embarrassing, he hurriedly mentioned another matter: "Do you want to take your sister with you?" ”

"No need," referring to Kira Cele in Kira Castle, Hoshinin really diverted his attention. And about this matter, she is very open: "Ah Wei is the daughter of the martial family, and now she has her own position, and she can't help it." ”

"Then, let my mother go." I said quickly.

……，…… After nearly two hours of armed parade in the territory, we returned to Urado Bay. Iwamatsu is ready to go, and all ships are ready to go. When they saw us coming, they commanded the fleet in the bay to meet us on the west shore.

According to the agreement, I happily let Chi Laihe and his father and son go. Although Chi Yoriwa's expression was touched when they saw Baoxinyuan and greeted each other, as Baoxinyuan said before, they each have their own positions, and they can't come together for the time being.

Looking at the beach that was gradually moving away, I couldn't help but sigh, I finally failed to hit the main force of the Yuan Qin, this sneak attack was a failure to some extent.

Then according to history, he will soon capture Anyun City, and then start to attack a family. As long as he unifies Tosa Province, he will be eligible to form an alliance with Nobunaga, and he may be able to form an alliance as he has done in history, and he will be granted permission to be freely cut by the four countries. At that point, I will no longer be able to make enemies of him.

Such a thing must not be allowed to happen.

Fortunately, I didn't get nothing this time. First of all, because I destroyed the castle town of Okatoyo, the income and armaments of the Motokins will definitely be affected a lot; Secondly, because of my persecution, he had to forcibly requisition grain in Anyun County, and then he wanted to appease, it took more time and energy, in history, the pro-Thai once wanted to inherit the Anyun family, but the people of Anyun County objected, and finally had to give up, and now it will definitely be more difficult to govern this county; Thirdly, through this action, I have dealt a blow to the prestige of the Motokin, greatly shaken the foundation of the ruling foundation of the Chosho family, and also declared my existence in Tosa, at least the Choshu family will never dare to go on a large-scale expedition again.

If I was a broken bucket and half of the water was sprinkled, the Yuan Qin would be knocked out of teeth and swallowed blood...... In comparison, I still have a better hand.

The next competition is to compete for time, to see whether the Moto-kin will unify Tosa first, or whether I will first achieve the status of the general general.

The general of the Oda family, who was extremely powerful, was like Hideyoshi Hashiba when he besieged Tottori Castle and Takamatsu Castle, he directly issued reinforcement orders to Akechi Mitsuhide, Hosokawa Fujitaka, Ikeda Tsuneko, etc. In addition, the general has a high degree of freedom, and can decide the initiation and end of a campaign on his own, and in addition to the strategic objectives, he has the power to "take the secondary" for the secondary targets, which means that he can decide their relationship with the Oda family. For example, when attacking the Mori family, Yamayo Yushiba Hideyoshi was in the Uki family's "Toji", and San'in Akechi Mitsuhide was in the Hatano family's "Toji". If it is friendly, it is responsible for diplomacy, and when it is antagonistic, it is responsible for strategy.

If I can take charge of the Shikoku side first, then the main target will definitely be the Miyoshi family, and for the Chosho family, it basically depends on what I mean...... In addition, there is another gain, which is to win over the Zaga people. This time I hired them, and their harvest was extremely rich, which is equivalent to I paid them to rob them, and after only half a day's work, they were paid for half a month, and the rest of the time was spent at sea.

In the process of fighting together, Suzuki Shigehide keenly noticed the difference in the iron cannons equipped by the two sides, although the appearance is basically the same, our flintlock iron cannon shoots faster, and does not need a fire rope, which is much better than the iron cannon used by their Zaga people. For this reason, he tentatively asked me for advice, but I pushed all the blame on the Nanban merchants.

Joke! If I really let the Zaga people learn, then won't I lose a big reliance?

(To be continued)