According to the plan, Maeno Nagayasu led the remaining 500 people of the Kawanami people to ambush at the entrance of Naga Village. It was the shortest route from Akabe Castle to Suhara Castle, and it was at the northwest tip of our territory. Since they are in a hurry, they must go this way. I, I, Koroku Wasuka, and Hideki dressed as wild samurai headed west to Tokuda Village. Tokuda Village is the outermost part of Kato's family, and we set the meeting point near Egetsu Temple in the village.

At about 10 a.m., we met up near Jiangyue Temple and Pingnai Liding. It was not far from Matsukura Castle, and within half an hour, all the rest of the people had arrived, except for a dozen or so who had been added later. We decided not to wait any longer, and after gathering our team, we quickly rushed to the predetermined battlefield.

At around eleven o'clock, we arrived at Taro Island Village, and near the Yaken Shrine, we met several forty-somethings Ashigaru armed with bamboo guns. After discovering the strength of our brigade, these people were stunned for a moment, and then shouted, some threw away their bamboo guns and fled to both sides, and some ran forward quickly.

"It's Kato's people! It may be Ashigaru who has fallen behind! Kira Shujing exclaimed.

"Or maybe they were going to run away!" Kiyasu Osawa chimed in. Looking at his appearance, he seems to be very proud of his martial name for scaring off the enemy.

Regardless of whether he fell behind or fled, the brigade of the Kato Army must not be far ahead. Now that someone is going to report the news, it will not be possible to hit him in the back. Hurry up now, maybe you can catch him off guard...... I glanced at Wasuka Koroku and I at each other, and invariably pulled out the sword and raised it high: "Speed up!" ”

More than 300 people immediately picked up their speed and chased after them by running and marching. We ran quickly, and in the middle of the way, we also killed a few Kato soldiers who couldn't run, and ran more than 400 meters, and the Kato army's strength finally appeared not far in front. Presumably, the news of the appearance of the enemy in the back has reached the army, and now the entire Kato army is in a mess, and it seems that they are trying their best to adjust the queue. After seeing us, the whole army was even more chaotic.

"Good chance!" I exclaimed with joy. In a sense, Gunagashi Kato, who reported the news, helped us. Because of his report, Kato's army was thrown into chaos, which was in the right direction for our assault.

"Adjust the formation, parallel gun formations are ready!" Koroku Wasuka immediately gave the order. Two or three minutes later, the five basically intact detachments steadily and resolutely pressed towards Kato's army.

"Xiujing, did you bring flint?" I asked.

"I brought it, what?" Koroku Wasuka thought it was strange.

"It's not far from Naga Village, let's light a wildfire, Leader Nagayasu must be able to see it, and then when our two armies fought, he led the Kawanami people up from behind the Kato army......"

"His Royal Highness Xuanjing is clever!" Koroku Beesuka praised. And then he ran to a nearby grove and set a fire.

"Hey!" I was taken aback. Now he's in command of the gunline! With his force, he naturally doesn't have to worry about facing the enemy, but my force value is not very good, and it is still very dangerous to engage in battle!

"Brother, let's fight together!" Xiujing is full of fighting spirit.

I had no choice but to stiffen my head, hold a sword, and march towards the Kato army with a gun array.

Seeing that the gun array was getting closer and closer, the rear team of the Kato family was even more chaotic, desperately crowding forward in order to enter the safety of the formation. The samurai on horseback and footage in the middle of the formation shouted and cursed, ordering those behind to get out of the way quickly, so that the direct ashigaru team that was walking in front would turn back to meet the enemy, and even ordered the direct ashigaru team to kill those who stood in the way. However, in the eyes of Kato Kotai, these people may just be a rabble to increase the momentum, but they are his direct ashigaru neighbors, relatives, and even brothers and sons, so his orders are basically not carried out.

Seeing that the chaos could not be controlled, this samurai cut down a few ashigaru who blocked the way, and rushed to us on horseback: "Who leads the army! Dare to fight with me Kato Mitsuyasu! ”

This person is still quite smart! Knowing that his army was in disarray, he used solo to gain time so that his army could adjust...... By the way, Kato Kotai, it should be the young master of the Kato family that Beesuka Koroku once said, I seem to have a little impression of this name, that is, this is a well-known military general in the Warring States Period......

Hey, why are so many people looking at me?

“…… Brother, isn't it time to go into battle? Kira Hidekyo reminded in a low voice. His expression was a little worried, obviously not worried about my martial arts. However, as a samurai, it would be very unseemly to avoid such a situation.

Out of battle? Joke! I still know how many pounds and taels I have, not to mention the well-known generals, even the unknown Osawa Keiyasu next to me in history I can't beat it! Moreover, in order not to attract attention, we did not come on horseback, but they rode tall horses.

Looking at the bloodied knife in his hand, I felt sweat in my palms. And at this time, the whole team had stopped moving forward and began to stand still. Obviously, at least five squad leaders thought it was time for me to go into battle.

"For the sake of fairness, I will also compete with His Highness in foot combat! If you can defeat the sword in your hand, the army under will immediately surrender to Your Highness! Kato Mitsuyasu calmly dismounted his horse and slowly walked between the two armies. Perhaps seeing my hesitation, or perhaps seeing the weakness of his own army, he put forward a condition that could not be refused.

"Brother, let's go into battle!" This time, Xiujing directly urged.

I looked left and right, and Wasuka Koroku hadn't come back yet. If he's gone, I'll just keep going. Exhaled a breath of turbidity, I slowly walked out of the team, and a sudden sadness surged in my heart, maybe, my performance in the Warring States is about to come to an end, these so-called martial arts laws are sometimes really hateful! I know that I am invincible, but it is not easy to escape!

Really, when the Mongol army invaded, were there fewer samurai who went out into battle and then recruited random arrows to turn into hedgehogs? Why don't you remember to learn a lesson and still stick to this set?

I remember that when I was still in Tosa, Iwamatsu Nobutari once said to me in a serious manner, "As a samurai, you should have the consciousness of giving up life and death." "How did I answer then? Oh, I replied, "As it should be." However, death is heavier than Mount Tai and lighter than a feather. If you die with a bad reputation, it is not only worthless, but also disgraces the family, and you are naturally unwilling. ”

Well, even if I die now, it is naturally not more important than Tarzan, but at least it is a very honorable death, a glorious ...... as a samurai

Just as I was trying my best to comfort myself in my heart, I suddenly heard Kira Hidejing muttering softly:

"The sea moon is a sword......

All of a sudden, I felt the light of the Buddha shine, I felt the spring return to the earth, I felt the angelscallingme, giving me a pair of invisible wings...... In short, my heart is at peace, my mind is calm, and my mind is relaxed. His meow Kato Kotai defeated the sword in your hand, right? It's still easy! I walked slowly in front of him with steady steps.

"Xuanjing in Shimojira, come to receive the teaching." I pulled out Haiyue, held it straight to the sky with both hands, and then slowly moved the tip of the knife down, and the moment I pointed at Kato Mitsutai, my arm and right foot immediately quickly retracted, and made a sword gesture. At this moment, I didn't have any distractions in my mind, and my attention seemed to move with the tip of the knife, and finally focused on Kato Kotai.

Seeing me so composed, Kato Mitsuyasu's expression became even more serious. He nodded slightly, then stood with both hands on the sword, leaned sideways and leaned back against his right shoulder. Suddenly, he stepped forward, "Hey! With a loud shout, he raised his knife and slashed at me.

I quickly flicked my backhand upward, and the two knives slashed at each other a foot and a half in front of me. Haiyue really deserved to be a treasure sword, and Kato Mitsutai's sword was broken in two at once. He quickly took two steps back, looking at the broken blade in his hand, his face cloudy.

Suddenly, a shout of killing sounded behind Kato's army. I'm so happy that I'm finally here!

After picking out nearly four hundred elites, the remaining people in the Chuan Merge were naturally not high in combat power, and they were basically untrained. If you talk about personal combat strength, these people may not be able to catch up with the Kato army in front of them, but their voices are indeed loud enough!

Kato's military strength, right? The situation of your own army is still in chaos, there is a neat and tight gun array in front, and there are ambushes waiting for work in the back, and your own master seems to be falling behind in the lone horse, so you should surrender now, right?

Although my heart was happy, my face was indifferent: "It's that His Highness's weapons are not good, please change the weapons, how about comparing them again?" ”

"Who created this array? Who devised this scheme? Kato Mitsuyasu asked in a dry voice.

"Exactly down there." I put my knife in its sheath.

Kato Mitsutai sighed and put down the sword that had been broken in his hand: "His Royal Highness Kira is a great talent, and he is convinced to lose." ”

……，……

After dealing with Kato's military situation, we took advantage of the situation and marched and captured Taro Island, Hirashima, Wakanomiya, Heisei and Tokuda Gomura. The Kato family is the largest wealthy family in this area, and they all mobilized their troops, but we broke up all the generals in half a day, and captured the main general, the young master Kato Kotai and several ashigaru heads as the backbone. With this momentum, the Yiliu family will never dare to make any more moves. So, Maeno Nagayasu and Tsubouchi Toshida went to Inabayama Castle with gifts, letters, and hastily sorted out land documents, and asked Mino to protect Saito Yoshiryu's arbitration, accompanied by Kato Keiyasu, the head of the Kato family.

When we returned to the army, all the peasants of the new annex who had seen the military strength all the way knelt down by the roadside to show their submission to us. And when they returned to Matsukura Castle, the people of the Maeno family who got the news were even more out of the city to welcome them. Xiao Xia, who was resting in my room, was naturally woken up and quickly greeted her. However, when she heard Shinchi Aoyama boasting about her bravery and demeanor in front of the battle, she immediately fell into deep self-blame.

"Lord, it's Xiao Xia who didn't take good care of you and put you in such danger......" She almost burst into tears.

"It's nothing, after all, it's a samurai, it's hard to escape that kind of thing!" I tried my best to comfort her, "Besides, don't underestimate your lord, that's a brave warrior who even the young master of the Mino Kato family has defeated!" ”

Xiao Xia couldn't help but pout.

"Well, I know how powerful your lord is!" I continued to braw.

"You're skilled...... It's enough to see. This time she couldn't help but laugh.

"That's right, it's okay, let's go and rest! I'll call you at dinner. ”

"Yes!" Xiao Xia nodded, "Your room has been tidied up...... Natsu went back to her room! Then he ran away.

At this time, Aoyama Shinchi, not far away, was still foaming at the mouth, telling my great achievements to my colleagues who had been ambushed with Maeno Nagayasu: "...... His Royal Highness Xuanjing slowly stepped forward, pressing towards the kid of the Kato family with an unstoppable momentum. The kid hurriedly turned sideways to give way to His Highness's momentum, and then raised his knife with both hands to slash at His Highness first. His Royal Highness just swiped it lightly, and broke the move of the Kato boy with skill, and broke the opponent's sword......"

I smiled and shook my head, and left the triumphant and welcoming procession of Huicheng Renliu.

"After this battle, my brother's martial arts are notorious, which is really gratifying!" Kira Hidekage's voice sounded behind him.

"Is it notorious?" I smiled self-deprecatingly, "If it weren't for your sentence 'Haiyue is a treasure sword'...... I probably wouldn't have been able to face the solo horse calmly!" ”

Xiujing couldn't help but laugh a little. He sat down, unsheathed his saber, and placed it at his side: "I can still tell the difference between one enemy and ten thousand." Compared with the military, martial arts are just small roads. Today, before the battle, my brother really doesn't have to care too much. ”

"I just feel a little powerless. What needs to be done, still has to be done. I also sat down, "But no matter what, I won't easily go to the courage of a husband for the sake of any martial arts." I was never a true samurai, and it was always the most important thing for me to keep my life. ”

"That's why my brother can escape the pursuit of the Benshan family and the Changzong family! If the elder brother is gone, of course, the so-called Xingfu Kira family will not be able to talk about it...... I can understand that. Xiujing said understandingly.

"Don't talk about that. This continuous battle of leading the army must be very hard! "There were a few battles a while ago, and he and Maeno Nagayasu commanded them, while Koroku Wasuka and I were in charge of logistics and aftermath.

"It's a little hard, but it's a lot of learning. Especially from the elder brother. Xiujing nodded, "Brother, how does it feel to be a famous general?" ”

"What kind of celebrity is this? It's not even close! It's just a little clever. I replied casually.

"Brother, don't be presumptuous. Today's army, today's strategy, is indeed worthy of the title of famous general. ”

"Our brothers, what's the matter?" I smiled, "Do you know what a famous player is?" ”

"Please also ask my brother for advice." Kira Hidekei's attitude is very serious.

"The so-called famous generals, or tenacious and resolute, reversed the general trend of the world (Oda Nobunaga barrel narrow), or governed the army rigorously, invaded like a fire and defended like a mountain (Takeda Shingen Sankahara), or judged the situation and knew the way to advance and retreat (Yushiba Hideyoshi no Mt. Takeshi). So, a country brawl like today's is really nothing. "As far as I'm concerned, since I know the demeanor of several famous generals of the Warring States, I naturally don't care about today's small war. That's the difference in vision.

"My brother has high ambitions, and I already understand Xiujing." He bowed his head and replied convincingly.

"If you want to say anything, what kind of ambition or something, probably out of helplessness! In this era, you either get ahead and use others as ladders, or you are trampled under the feet of others...... For the sake of the three of us, I can only work hard. ”

"Yes, I Xiujing will definitely do my best to help my brother achieve great things in the future." He replied solemnly.

"So what do you say...... When the leader of Changkang comes back and the matter is over, let's take our leave. ”

"Yes!" Xiu nodded yes, and then asked me, "What do you think, brother, what will be the result?" ”

"There will be no problem with the 5,700 stone that was occupied before, and the more than 2,000 stone in the mountain will also be the same, so that in addition to the Qiandu Village, the territory of the Bee Suga family can reach 7,000. As for the five newly occupied villages, it is estimated that some of them will be returned to the Kato family and returned to Kwangtai...... In addition, the Wasuka family will be responsible for military service, and Kitaro may become a hostage...... That's about it. ”

"I think the same thing as my brother." Xiujing nodded.

"By the way, Xiujing, will you regret leaving like this? If you are willing to stay, two thousand stone Zhixing, I think the little six leaders will be happy to give it to you. Maybe you can add it in the future. I said it deliberately.

"What did my brother say? Since the elder brother has such ambitions, how can he not be trapped by the two thousand stone land as a younger brother! ”

We both looked at each other and smiled.

……，……

Three days later, the arbitration results came down. The general situation is similar to what we suspected, and the Wasuka family retains a total of 7,000 koku of land reclaimed in the mountains and previously occupied; Maeno Nagayasu took Taro Island and Hirashima Island, plus Matsukura and Maedo Village, and the amount he received reached 4,000.

However, Kitaro Tsubouchi did not become a hostage, and it was Kotai Kato who became a hostage. Saito Yoshiryu hired Kato Mitsuyasu as a general and asked the Wasuka family to send them to Inabayama Castle within three days. And return Wakanomiya, Heisei and Tokuda Mimura to the Kato family, so that the Kato family will become a small daimyo of 11,000 stones.

Yoshiryu Saito had long thoughts about the Kato family and Kato Kotai himself. Last year, Kato Mitsuyasu resisted Nobunaga with Saito Yoshiryu and won three heads in the first battle, and Saito Yoshiryu immediately rewarded him and expressed his desire to hire him as a direct retainer. However, Minono's large and medium-sized wealthy families generally prefer to continue to maintain a certain reading power surname, and Kato Mitsuyasu is no exception, and he declines Yoshiryu's invitation on the pretext that his father is too sick to leave. But this time, the Kato family had to become a subordinate of the Saito family, completely subservient to the Saito family.

"I didn't expect it, we all guessed wrong," I sighed to Xiujing, "It's really His Highness Saito Yoshiryu!" ”

"His Highness Saito's step is indeed clever." The first road of the show.

"By the way, His Royal Highness Xuankei, I heard that after His Highness Saito returned to the army, some members of the Oda family in Owari pursued them, and they had already crossed the Kiso River and occupied a nearby village...... His Highness Saito ordered us to drive them back, when does His Highness Xuanjing think we should go into battle? "Wasuka Koroku, or Wasuka Masakatsu asked me. Because the Saito family accepted the allegiance of the Wasuka family, he is now an official samurai.

"It's just driftwood without roots, so I guess it's a daredevil......" I remembered Shogun Owari, but I couldn't guess who it was for a while, so I continued...... It's not a big deal, just go out and complete the mission as soon as possible. ”

"In that case, then I'll go out early tomorrow morning." Wasuka Masakatsu replied.

"Now that the matter has been consummated, there is something down there." I decided to say goodbye to them.

"Your Highness, please say, I will do it." Wasuka is victorious.

"Tomorrow, the next three of them may have to leave the country of Mino and continue their travels. Please arrange a boat to take us across the river to Owari. ”

"What, are the three Highnesses leaving?" Maeno Nagayasu couldn't help but scream.

"The war is over, the weather is starting to warm up, and the next three are naturally leaving. In this paragraph, thank you for your hospitality. I laughed.

"You say that, our brother can't afford it...... Alas! Maeno Nagayasu sighed.

“…… Both of them are amazing talents, and my brothers are too small after all, so they don't dare to keep them...... I wish Brother Xian and Sister Ling a smooth journey! Wasuka Masakatsu was silent for a while, and then said melancholy.

"Everyone is a samurai, so I won't say anything about my mother-in-law. In short, if there is anything that needs to be served in the future, bring a word, and our brothers will all obey it! Maeno Nagayasu gave a promise happily.

I smiled and bowed my head slightly, thanking him for his promise. Perhaps, there will really be a time to ask them in the future, hehe!

That night, we returned to the main village in the mountains. Xiao Xia had already returned here the day before. In the past two months, she and Masaki Kusuka's wife, Amatsu, have also had a deep relationship. When I said my thoughts about leaving, the first thing she thought of was to say goodbye to Ah Song. And Xiujing and I got drunk that night - we were doused by Wasuka Masakatsu, Maeno Nagayasu and a group of people.

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