At this time, Nara Motomasa still did not move. I was already disappointed in him, so I ordered Futami Mitsunari to leave the main force with 2,000 sailors and go to Utatsu Port by sea to rob. This port town had a guard post and a government office, and stored a large amount of supplies, but most of the troops were now transferred to Katsugayama Castle, which was a time when the garrison was weak.

Originally, I wanted to keep this piece of fat to induce the Nara family to fight against the Jukawa depository, but I didn't expect him to be so indecisive, although he left more than half of his troops under the pretext, and even though Utatsu Port was next to his main city, Seitsuji Mountain Castle, he still couldn't make up his mind.

Perhaps, it is precisely because of this surname of Nara Motomasa that Tokawa Storage Insurance is so assured of the safety of Utatsu Port...... Who knows?

But he certainly didn't know me. Within the reach of my navy, isn't it clear that I am looking for robbery by neglecting the defense of the port in this way? When I first arrived in Ise Bay, I did this kind of port robbery. It's just that now it's been many years, and I've come to the Seto Inland Sea from Ise Bay, so I guess not many people know about these things!

Then, according to the plan, I left the brothers Hankawa Motokumi and Hankawa Mitsunaga to garrison the back road, and led the rest of the 6,000 troops to march towards the Yutakiyama Castle of the Yasutomi family. Among them, Tsushima Bei was led by Yoshiyuki Sawaki, and Mie Bei was led by Ikoma's parents, both of whom had fought side by side with me and were familiar with my military system; The 3,000 ashigaru was in charge of Maeda Toshiie, who just relied on his bravery and unifying talents; Xiujing served as my deputy general as my acting officer, and Fuxiu Fuxiu, who served as the military commissioner of Kamyu.

Since most of the people of the Anfu family joined the army of the Ten Rivers Depository, the garrison of the Anfu family was very weak, and we quickly broke through the defense and arrived at Yutaki Mountain Castle. As the residence of the Toyamaki guardian Daiyasu Fuji for hundreds of years, the city's city defense is still good, but after all, there are less than 200 defenders in the city, and under the attack of the iron artillery group under the jurisdiction of the two reserves and the Maeda Toshiya Ashigaru team, it is almost impossible to gain a foothold in the city, and the city defense will soon be in danger.

If you follow this trend, maybe if you hold on for a while, you can take this city! Everyone should have thought like this, and the momentum was great for a while.

Unfortunately, the weather was not beautiful, and in the afternoon, it suddenly rained heavily, causing great trouble to the siege. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, I ordered a suspension of the attack, and the whole army retreated to Mt. Yutaki and built a camp at the foot of the mountain.

The rain fell intermittently for more than a day, and the entire Yutaki Mountain was shrouded in hazy smoke and rain, and it was a very moving autumn scene when viewed. However, because the mountain became slippery, it was impossible to organize a large army to attack Yutaki Mountain Castle, and even if the rain stopped, it would probably be enough in a short time, and the progress of our strategy was delayed.

And taking advantage of this opportunity, Yutaki Mountain Castle sent envoys one after another, bypassing our camp and heading west. There was a 12,000-strong army of the Ten Rivers Depository, and the 1,500 troops of the An Fu family were there. Hattori Masanari complied with my orders and did not send anyone to intercept them, and they went to Katsuga Mountain Castle to report the news. However, the monomi team sent by Yoshiyuki Sawaki caught one by the way, and he personally escorted people to my main tent.

"Cut it! Hang in front of the camp gate to raise the morale of the army. "I have to say.

"Don't you torture the news in the city?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki said in surprise.

"What if you asked?" I shrugged my shoulders and watched as the envoy was escorted down, "Anyway, you can't attack the city for a while." ”

“…… It's infuriating! Yoshiyuki Sawaki listened to me, sat down in the tent, and then started scratching, "If it doesn't rain......"

I smiled: "Even if you say that, there is no way!" …… So, just wait for the reaction of the three people and the Ten Rivers Depository! ”

"So, are you going to have a tough fight with Ten Rivers Depository?" The voice of Maeda Toshiya came from the door of the tent. As he spoke, he and Ikoma's parents had already walked in and sat down next to Yoshiyuki Sawaki.

"Tadazaburo, how about you tell me?" I turned to Fuhide Gamo. He was roughly aware of my plans.

Although Gamo Fuhide had the experience of following me to capture Koga Prefecture as a lieutenant general, he did not have much weight in the hearts of war-hardened generals such as Maeda Toshiie. This attitude can be seen in getting along in peacetime and in military discussions. Everyone probably thought that he was just a young man, and if he wasn't the son-in-law of the Shiwanshi Dahao family, and not the son-in-law of me and Nobunaga, he wouldn't be qualified to serve as a military commander at all.

This is the right time for him to show himself and strengthen his position in the army.

"Yes," Kamo Fuxiu agreed, casting me a knowing glance. He nodded politely to the three of them: "Actually, there is no need to fight with the Miyoshi family at all. As long as they come to seek a decisive battle, we will help the Xiangxi family relieve the siege of Katsuga Mountain Castle, and achieve the purpose of sending troops to Sanki this time, and then completely avoid the decisive battle and rely on the naval army to withdraw directly. ”

"But what if as soon as we leave, they go back to besiege Katsuga Mountain Castle again?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki asked.

"Probably not," Gamo Fuhide thought for a moment, then continued, "His Royal Highness Hosokawa of Awa is attacking the three counties of Awa, Miyoshi, and Mima in central Awa. This is the generational leader of the Miyoshi family, even if the Ten Rivers Deposit Insurance doesn't care, the three of Miyoshi will pull the military momentum to help......"

At this time, Xiujing walked quickly into the camp. Gamo Fuxiu knew that he was in charge of the spy report at home, and now that he came in a hurry, he must have very important news, so he nodded to the three of them again and stopped analyzing it for the time being.

"Brother, there is three good news." Xiujing said with a smile.

"There are so many of them? Hurry up and talk about it! Yoshiyuki Sawaki hurriedly asked.

"The first is that Futami Mitsunari robbed the port of Utatsu and seized a lot of supplies, and also captured the head of the Nara family, Nara Motomasa!"

"What! He captured Nara Motomasa? "I felt very strange. Robbing the port of Utatsu, this is the old skill of my family's navy, and it is not uncommon to succeed, but it is too strange to capture Nara Motomasa.

Could it be that he captured the mountain castle of Shengtong Temple? That's too powerful, isn't it? This castle was one of several fortified castles in Sanuki Province, and later Ikoma himself entered the Sanki Province and made it his main castle for a time, but later found the mountain castle inconvenient, so he built another Takamatsu Castle in Tamakaura, Kagawa-gun, east of Takamatsu Port.

"How did he catch Nara Motomasa?" I asked with interest.

"According to the envoy sent by Mitsunari Futami, when our side went ashore to attack, Nara Motomasa also led his army down from the mountain castle of Seitsuji Temple. Mitsunari took the lead in the attack, and as a result, he not only routed a thousand men of the Nara family, but also captured the leader of the army, Nara Motomasa. ”

"Is Nara Motomasa here to attack our army?" I felt very strange. Now that the Miyoshi family is getting worse, and the Shikawa family has robbed his Utatsu Port, he has no reason to work so hard for the two families.

"According to Nara's Motomasa, he wanted to come to deal with us, and he made his intention clear when he first came into contact...... However, Mitsunari explained that he entered the enemy territory alone, surrounded by enemies, and although the Nara family had contact, they were hostile after all, and their intentions were unknown, so they could only strike first. Xiujing relayed.

I nodded, knowing in my heart that the kid was pretending to be confused and taking the opportunity to take credit. Poor Nara Motomasa finally made up his mind, and hoped to share a piece of the Utatsu port, but he was blackened by Futami. He probably couldn't have imagined that in the Kira family, which is known for its benevolence, there is such a black-hearted guy in the family!

Still, this may be a good thing. The head of the Nara family was arrested, the acting official Kanekura Hidetada led the army, and the remaining troops were scattered, and the Kagawa family, who were eyeing the west, would definitely not let go of this opportunity! When the time comes, the Nara family will be annexed and the land of the five counties will be owned, and the Kagawa family will have the confidence to break away from the control of the Miyoshi family, which will be of great benefit to my Miyoshi family's strategy...... "Catching the enemy general, this is indeed good news!" What about the other two? Yoshiyuki Sawaki didn't think about it so much, and he continued to ask Xiujingdao.

"The second piece of good news is that the Hankawa family, who are stationed at the back road, yesterday announced that they would break the alliance with us, and not only expelled those who remained behind by us, but also sent messengers to the Miyoshi Sanren and the Tokawa Depository......"

"What's the good news?!" Ikoma's parents couldn't help but scream.

“…… So, Sanhao Sanzhong and Shihe Depository should make up their minds? Maeda Toshiya said thoughtfully.

"This is the third piece of good news," Xiujing said with a smile, "The Miyoshi family's army is rushing to this side, starting with the 1,500 troops of the Tosanki guardian Daiyasu Fu family, and the 2,500 elites guarding the Daijukawa family. However, the 2,000 men who guarded the Kagawa family did not follow him, and according to the inside report, Kannonji Keiquan, the brother of Kagawa no Kei, who led the army, claimed that this was to prevent our Utatsu Port from attacking the Kagawa family's territory. ”

"Really?" I also smiled, the people of the Kagawa family said that it was to guard against Futami Mitsusei, which is completely a pretext, from Utatsu Port to the Kagawa family's territory, and there is still a Naka County across it, and it is impossible for Futami Mitsunari to cross the border alone. In fact, according to the previous order, after the robbery of the port of Utatsu, he should come to Shido Bay and prepare to receive our evacuation. As for us, it's better to capture Yutakiyama Castle, and it's nothing if we don't capture it, as long as we put pressure on the Anfu family and the Shihe family in the neighboring county.

"In that case, let's prepare to withdraw our troops!"

……，…… The Kinai faction led by the Miyoshi Sanren is a very special existence in the Miyoshi family. They represent the center of the Miyoshi clan, but they are in a state of hostility with the governor of the family, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, during the Battle of Noda Fukushima, the first attack of the trio was Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's Furubashi Castle, and then as a support point for the front line; Moreover, they lost all the territories of the clan family, and their own territories were also completely lost, so they could only rely on the support of the three good Changzhi and the Shihe Deposit of the clan. However, they had a great reputation and prestige in the Miyoshi family, and even if Miyoshi Nagaji and Tokawa Shobo's father Miyoshi Yoshiken were reincarnated, they could not overpower the three of them, and the group of wealthy samurai and retinues who were driven out of Kinai by Nobunaga and still follow the Miyoshi family only obeyed the command of the three of them.

If Miyoshi Nagaji is most interested in retaking the four eastern prefectures of Awa and Katsurui Castle, and Tokawa is bent on strengthening his control over Sanki Province, the three of Miyoshi are much more focused on thinking about things holistically.

In its heyday, the Miyoshi family had three main territories, one was Awa and Awaji, which were controlled by the Awa guardian for generations, the second was the agency of the Ashikaga family in Yamashiro Province, which was inherited from the Hosokawa clan, the guardianship of the four provinces of Sanuki, Tosa, Settsu, and Tanba, and the ruling power of Izumi Province, where Sakai Town was located, and the third was Kawachi and Yamato, which were taken from the Hatakeyama family, and Yamato which was taken from the Tsutsui family, respectively. In addition, it also has a great influence on Harima country.

Now that all the territories in Kinai have been lost, only the three kingdoms of Awa, Sanuki and Tosa can be spread, so the three of them sometimes support the guardian of Awa Province Yoyoshi Nagaji, and sometimes support Sanki Province Guardian Daishikawa Depository. In addition, although the Hosokawa family has lost control of Tosa Province since the Kokuji Ichijo family went down, now that the territory is too small, they also remembered the country next to it, and tried to establish contact with the Tosa Province Guardian Daicho Sobe Yuanqin.

For them, I am the biggest enemy, because I not only cut off the Awaji Province and helped Hosokawa Shinyuki take nearly half of the Awa Province, but also intervened in Tosa Province, and now I have invaded the Sanki Province...... It's an all-round confrontation!

When the Hankawa family took the initiative to surrender and cut off our back road, the three of Miyoshi and the Ten Rivers Depository immediately unanimously decided to return to the army. The Ten Rivers Deposit Insurance is to protect his own territory and avenge the robbery of Utatsu Port, and the Miyoshi Sanren simply want to take advantage of the geographical advantage and numerical advantage to eliminate me.

As soon as I left the sea, the two sides immediately disagreed. Tokawa advocated continuing to besiege Katsuga Mountain Castle of the Kosai family, but the Miyoshi trio wanted to support Miyoshi Nagaji and Shinohara, and help deal with Hosokawa Shinyuki's invasion, after all, the siege was a long-term matter, and Hosokawa Shinyuki's invasion was an imminent and urgent danger. Moreover, after being invaded by Hosokawa Shinyuki, due to the inconvenience of the two prefectures of Kaibe and Naga, which are in the vast mountainous area in the southern part of the territory, they had to mobilize in the three prefectures of Awa, Miyoshi, and Mima first. These three counties were once the leaders of the clan for nearly a hundred years, and after Miyoshi Changqing moved to Hanoi Rice Thanh City, it was only under the rule of the Awa family. As a result, the once famous Awa guardian Daiyoshi family can only take out 5,000 ashigaru, and the quality is probably a little better than the 3,000 people mobilized by the Xiangxi family, and it is obviously impossible to stop the Wasuka Masakatsu who led the crab river and Awaji Bei.

In addition to the urgency, they also owe Shinohara Nagabo a favor. When the Kankawa family surrendered, they offered to keep Ouchi County, which I helped them capture, and the Antomi family originally had a lot of opinions about this, and it was Shinohara Nagabo who appeased the Antomi family with the position of in-laws. In the face of Shinohara Nagabo's general behavior, they must reciprocate.

Despite the objections to the preservation of the Ten Rivers, the Miyoshi Trio still divided their 3,000 elite troops, entered Miyoshi Prefecture of Awa Province by the way, and joined forces with Miyoshi Nagaji and Shinohara, bringing the total number to 8,000 people.

(To be continued)