"This first battle was successfully won...... Let's see who Mitsuji is asking for! I said with a smile, looking at the envoy from far and near. He had come to report on the results of the cavalry, carrying two white flags on his back, one with the name of Miyata Miyata and the other with the name of the enemy general. The two flags were waving in the wind, allowing all the samurai and ashigaru along the way to see it very clearly.

"The enemy will be Nakajima Motoyuki." Satake Nowakamaru's eyes were sharp, and he was the first to see the words on the flag.

"A nice young samurai." I sighed. Nakajima Motoyuki is the son-in-law of Shimizu Soji, and he is also the successor of Shimizu family's son-in-law Kiyomizu Saburo after Soji seppuku in history.

"With the elite reserve of this formation, it is a matter of course to deal with the enemy's new Hao clan! …… As for the kid from Mitsuji, it's not surprising to ask for anyone. Wasuka Masakatsu said, as if he felt that the knife was used to kill chickens.

"In that case, the Maori family should understand that we are not easy to deal with, right? …… Hopefully, they will be cautious and not launch a large-scale or even full-scale offensive in an attempt to take advantage of us. I explained.

"It turns out that the lord still has such intentions!" Wasuka Masakatsu suddenly realized.

"Yes, after all, this war is not what I want," I smiled slightly, "The current Maori family is at its peak, and it is not our strategic target, and it has nothing to do with the task assigned by the main hall this time...... It can be said that we are fighting the wrong battle at the wrong time, in the wrong place, and with the wrong enemy because of the Uki family's strategy to drive the tiger and devour the wolf. ”

When I said this to Wasuka Masakatsu, I was surrounded by Kagawa Shinkage, Kannonji Keizu and other Saki nobles. They agreed with me and spread it as an evaluation of the war. Unexpectedly, after the Maori family found out, they took it out of context and hyped it up to prove that I was afraid of Maori Huiyuan...... This was something I didn't expect, and I felt very helpless about it. There is no way, the language is originally a very ambiguous language, far less clear than Chinese and English, if you want to take the words out of context, or deliberately misinterpret them, it is too easy.

However, in the actual war, the Maori family did not have the courage that later came to say. They have tens of thousands of troops, and they are the family governors who are personally recruited, and they originally came with great vigor, as if they were vowing to defeat us. However, after learning about our combat strength, they wisely abandoned the decisive battle and began to build large-scale fortifications on the riverbank; I also did not want a decisive battle, so I did not try to take advantage of the victory, and did not try to strengthen my own defenses by the river as hard as they did.

In this way, the two sides invariably formed a confrontation, but they sent various wealthy clans to take turns to fight, and with a small number of troops, they were circling each other on the battlefield. This made many small and medium-sized wealthy families extremely excited, showing a very high level of passion and competition. After all, this is a battle of nearly 100,000 people, and the central battlefield they are in is the focus of this battle, and on both sides of the battlefield, there are tens of thousands of bored samurai and ashigaru as spectators at all times! It is no exaggeration to say that performing on this battlefield is more eye-catching than on the stage of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games...... Even the always steady Maeda Toshiya couldn't help but take the initiative to ask me, and led the troops of the two prefectures of Nishiawa to fight with Yoshiyuki Sawaki.

They were so elated, but my heart slowly became depressed. With an army of 40,000 people, and it is also a cross-sea expedition, the daily consumption of grain and grass is not a small number. If it continues for a while, as soon as my spare military rations for this year are finished, it will be much more troublesome to go out again. It is conceivable that the same is true of Maori Huiyuan! The consumption of the army when fighting outside is much greater than when he stayed in the city according to the original plan, although his family has a big business, he will definitely not be able to withstand this unplanned huge expenditure, compared to the ordinary Xiaozi, he is not as comfortable as me.

However, now that Nobunaga's second batch of reinforcements is rushing to Shangyue Castle, and the third batch of Nobutada's troops are ready to go, my first withdrawal here will definitely affect the morale and morale of the troops there; Even if I only consider my side, since the 10,000 troops of the Uki family have not yet turned around, and the task assigned by Nobunaga has not been completed, if I withdraw my troops without permission, it will already be considered disobeying the order, and when the time comes, the castle will fall (which is almost certain), and I will definitely have to bear a certain punishment. Moreover, it is likely that both crimes will be punished, because I still have the fault of allowing Kii to cross the sea last year.

It's not unfounded, Nobunaga is a very good person who remembers his surname, and he loves to turn things over from the past. When Lin Xiuzhen and Sakuma Nobumori were exiled in history, he brought up Lin Xiuzhen's old account of supporting Shinyuki's rebellion more than 20 years ago; Sakuma, on the other hand, retreated privately during the Battle of Mikatahara, and Nobunaga was not punished at the time, but he was charged with it when he was exiled six years later...... In other words, this is really a very bad habit, after serving under him for so long, even the most trusted generation Shibata Katsuya, is it not the same as carrying several mistakes?

Mori Terumoto could not withdraw his troops either, even if he understood that I had no intention of supporting Kamitsuki Castle and was willing to give up his old grudges for the time being—otherwise, as the dignified governor of the Mori family, he would lead the main force of his headquarters into battle, but he would be forced back by one of the Oda family's retainers alone, and his prestige and the Mori family would be greatly damaged.

"What is this?" I couldn't help but complain to Xiujing. Only in front of him can I speak out without any scruples, without worrying about damaging my reputation and shaking the morale of the army. At this time, the two sides have been facing each other for nearly ten days.

"It's a nuisance!" Xiujing nodded approvingly, "Several people have already mentioned this issue to me over Zhengsheng, and suggested that I persuade my brother to withdraw his troops. However, I knew that my brother had his own considerations, so I kept pressing it. ”

"They only see the cost of all kinds of materials, and they only see that there is no progress in the war, how do they know the secret!" I sighed, "I really can't do it, so I have to stalemate for another half a month...... At that time, whether it is the Mori family, the Uki family, or the wealthy families of various countries gathered by us, they will need to return to the territory to start the autumn harvest, and the whole battle will be over! ”

"Maybe this is the plan of the Nizi family," Xiujing thought thoughtfully, "As long as the Maori family survives this crusade of 100,000 troops, then the Nizi family will have a foundation in Shanyang Road...... But I'm skeptical, will Moon City be able to hold out until then? ”

"Naturally, I can't," I shook my head and said with some anger, "Rather than that, I'd rather Moon City fall soon!" ”

"It's just that saying such things doesn't fit our identity as an ally!" Xiujing said with a wry smile.

……，…… On July 3, after 10 days of confrontation, things finally took a turn for the better. On this day, Akechi Mitsuhide captured the Akai family's Kuroi Castle (how to match the color), and the Akai family, which was under the command of the Hatano family and one of the three stronghouses of the former Tanba, perished, and the head of the family, Akai Naomasa, himself was killed in battle.

Kuroi Castle is one of the best fortified cities in Tanba, and Akai Naomasa is the first samurai in Tanba, when Tanba's guardian generation Naito Munekatsu (Matsunaga Xiu's own brother) led Tanba, suppressed Tango and Wakasa two countries, and the power was like Zhongtian, but the result was that he suffered defeat in the attack on this city, and he was also taken by Akai Naomasa. The loss of this castle not only severely damaged the morale of the Hatano family, but also exposed the Oda family's troops to the Oda family's troops in the north, Hatano Hideharu's Kiriyama Castle to the west, and Hatano Hideka's Oji Castle to the east.

So the three Hatano brothers were in a hurry. After they discussed, they contacted Hideharu Hatano's son-in-law, Besshoji Nagaji, who ruled Higashi-Harima, and asked him to send troops to support, promising to hand over the inheritance of the Hatano family to Bessashi Nagaharu after defeating Akechi Mitsuhide (Hideharu Hatano had only one daughter). When Bessho Nagaji heard this tempting condition, he may have remembered Matsunaga Hide's rhetoric last year, so he broke away from Hideyoshi's army, led his headquarters back to Miki Castle, and brazenly raised the anti-flag against Nobunaga.

Beschoji's rebellion not only greatly weakened Hideyoshi's power, but also cut off the main passage from Kinai to Kamitsuki Castle, making it impossible for Nobutada's main force to go to Kamitsuki Castle to support, and even Sakuma Nobumori was blocked in the middle of the way. In this way, it is obviously impossible to complete the task of rescuing Kamitsuki Castle with only the remnants of Hideyoshi Yura, as well as the first batch of reinforcements from Araki Murashige, and the fate of the Niko family has come to an end.

On the 7th of July, Hideyoshi Hara withdrew to Himeji Castle on the orders of Nobunaga and began to attack Nagaji. When Niko Katsuhisa saw the Yura family leave at the head of the castle, he understood that the Oda family had given up on the rescue, and saw that the Mori family had cut off the water source in the city, and the morale of his own defenders was low, and more and more people were fleeing, so he had to give up his hold and exchange the surname of the retained vassals in the city on the condition of committing suicide. Kobayakawa Takakei agreed to this condition, so Niko Katsuhisa, Niko Shihisa, Niko Tomihisa, and sister-in-law Niko Toyowakamaru seppuku, and the Niko family has since officially perished. Afterwards, Kamishi Mototsu was martyred, and Yamanaka Yukimori was transferred as a prisoner to the prison of Beigo Province under Kobayakawa Takakei, and was killed by Yoshikawa Motoharu on the way.

Although this matter was a big trouble for the Oda family, it allowed me to end Nobunaga's mission and evacuate Bizen on my own; Mori Terumoto did not pursue, and he was unable to continue to attack Harima Country, and the nearly 100,000 troops in his hands were mainly composed of ashigaru summoned by the Hao clan, and it was almost time to return to the territory to disband, so as to prepare for the autumn harvest. As a result, the two sides finally got rid of this half-month confrontation war.

Back on the flagship of the navy, I looked at the coastline of Kojima, which was gradually moving away, and the more I thought about it, the more unpleasant it became. This war consumed a lot of energy and materials for me and Mori Terumoto, and also paid a lot of casualties, and it was really hateful and unfair that the Ukita Naoya, as the main owner, was easily watching from the wall of Shangyue City...... If Mori Terumoto came out of the battle, successfully dragged us down, rescued the Uki family, and finally captured Kamitsuki Castle and destroyed the sworn enemy Niko's family, which has gained a lot in terms of both prestige and benefits, I can almost say that I have not gained any benefit. Although a territory has been captured, it is extremely inconvenient to occupy it across the sea, and once it is attacked by the Uki family, it is very problematic to contact or support, and it is estimated that it will be difficult to keep it. Not only that, but when I go back, I will reward those wealthy families who have performed well, compensate their retainers who have been killed or wounded, and replenish the damaged reserves, which is even worse than holding an Olympic Games.

"You can't just forget it!" I slammed the folding fan on the board, "I have to teach Ukita Naoya a lesson!" ”

"Brother, isn't that right?" Xiujing advised, "At this moment, we have withdrawn our troops, and all [***] forces are also in a hurry to return to the territory to organize the autumn harvest, so how about waiting for the next opportunity?" ”

"They need the autumn harvest, the Ukita family needs the autumn harvest, and my direct reserve team doesn't have to!" I sneered.

"However, after a big battle, the direct reserve team also needs to rest!" Xiujing Road.

"Can this be called a big war?" I shook my head disapplaudively, and pointed to Miyata Mitsuji's name, "Kihachi, tell me about it, do you need to rest?" ”

"My lord, you don't need to rest, it's just too aggrieved! Watching the clumsy performances of those wealthy people all day long, there is something powerful that can't be used! Miyata Koji paused his spear on the deck a few times, "In the past few years of following the lord's battle, I have never been so aggrieved!" ”

I couldn't help but laugh. This is indeed Miyata Mitsuji's surname, and he has been like this since he was a child, and the word "heroic" is extremely descriptive. However, he is not blindly brave, and at the same time he is still a person who is thick and thin, after all, he has been a close attendant by my side for several years, and he has grown a lot.

"Teitaro, what do you think?" I continued to ask Kazuki Joto.

"Your Majesty thinks that you can occupy some of the places in the paste," he pondered for a moment, and continued, "for example, Kojima-gun...... If there is a water army to help, it can be defended. ”

"Kojima-gun? Not...... That's a good suggestion! I nodded in agreement. Kojima-gun, as the name suggests, is an area located on the Kojima Peninsula, which is only connected to the main area of Bizen in the west, separated by Lake Kojima in the middle, and Kojima Bay in the east, which juts out from the Seto Inland Sea into Lake Kojima. Now that the Mori family has evacuated Toyama Castle in Kojima County, the county is empty, and it is easy to take it. Then it is not difficult to hold on to the western passage and control Koshima Lake and Koshima Bay with part of the naval army.

"Since you mentioned it, are you sure that you will defend Kojima? How many troops are needed? "I decided to put him to the test.

"If the lord puts me and Kihachi in charge, and the Uki family's combat strength is similar to that of the Mori family, then with the triple preparation of the current leader, I can completely block the 10,000 troops of the Uki family," Joto Kazuki replied with confidence, "Moreover, when the Mori family fought against us, they built a lot of defenses in the Kojima area, and these can also be used by us." ”

"To have such a specific idea proves that you have thought deeply and thoroughly!" I nodded with satisfaction and turned to Xiujingdao, "Xiujing, I've decided." You immediately issue a banner order now, and let our direct reserve return to Beiqian and reoccupy Changshan City. Then, while attacking the Ukita Nao's house, we also grabbed the grain in his territory...... At least half a month's worth of this confrontation should be recovered! ”

(To be continued)