"Oh? How do you say that? Nobunaga asked with interest.

"The Ryuzoji family in Kyushu, that's a monster! It's a monster made up of powerful families! Because they had to resist the invasion of the Otomo family, they devoted themselves to the command of Ryuzoji Takanobu who repelled the Otomo family, and then jointly expanded outward to seize more territory...... It is precisely because of the unification in form and the reduction of many unnecessary internal frictions that the Ryuzoji family will expand so rapidly. However, for these wealthy families, the dragon temple family does not have much restraining ability, and it is even inferior in strength. For example, the Chikuzen Akizuki clan originally only had the two prefectures of Chikuzen as its foundation, but after the expansion, the territory under its current control is spread across the three kingdoms of Chikuzen, Bunzen, and Chikugo, and the stone height has reached 300,000 koku, which is more than the eight prefectures of Hizen Province that Ryuzoji Takanobu himself was able to effectively control and serve as the basis of his power," Shimazu Iehisa talked eloquently in front of Nobunaga, and his words revealed great confidence, "so His Majesty thinks that the great families of the great families will definitely continue to expand outward for the sake of greed." Anyway, even if they provoke a strong enemy, it is only the nominal alliance leader Dragon Temple family that will be destroyed in the end, and they just take the opportunity to read the power out, and even fight back, maybe they can get additional rewards! ”

"Well, that's interesting," Nobunaga said noncommittally, and asked me instead, "Xuanjing, what do you think?" ”

His Majesty also agreed with Shimazu. According to the current situation of the Ryuzoji family, it is impossible to stop the expansion, so it is necessary to prepare early. I said simply, and at the same time I couldn't help but tilt my head slightly and glance at the person behind me. He had already raised his chin and looked at Nobunaga on the throne with blazing eyes, this look made me feel a little emotional, in front of Nobunaga today, there are people who are so domineering and leaking.

"So, how are you going to prepare?" Nobunaga continued.

I thought for a moment and replied to Nobunaga, "In the current situation, it is impossible for the Otomo family to maintain their original territory, and if they want to keep Bungo and Chikugo, they must exert all their strength. And their evacuation from Kitahigo caused the Aso family to fall to Ryuzoji Takanobu, apparently abandoning their responsibilities in Higo Province...... Therefore, the subordinates were ready to let the Toshiya as the chief general, and Yoshiyuki as the deputy general, responsible for the affairs of the entire Higo front, and if they encountered a large-scale invasion of the Ryuzoji family, they would rely on the Satsuma, Osumi, and Three Kingdoms behind them to resist. In addition, Shimazu is familiar with the local situation, and I am going to make him a military commissioner and lead the headquarters to assist Toshiya and Yoshiyuki. ”

"Why don't you go out in person? Are you so small about the dragon temple family? Nobunaga looked at me suspiciously, and the afterglow fell on Shimazu Iehisa, "When you first marched into southern Kyushu, you promised me that it would be easy to pacify, but what was the result?" ”

"This ...... The situation in Kitakyushu and Minamikyushu is different. Because of this, His Majesty has spent nearly half a year in Southern Kyushu," I replied a little embarrassed, "Considering that the wealthy clans of the Four Kingdoms have only been fighting for so long, Your Majesty really can't use their strength this year, and they have to be allowed to recuperate; And the retainers themselves must also take over and organize the newly acquired Iyo Province territory after the autumn harvest. In view of these circumstances, His Majesty felt that he should stabilize the defense for the time being, and wait until next year, when the vitality of the territory has recovered, and then send troops to Kitakyushu in a big way. ”

"So be it. It's up to you to decide the specific command," Nobunaga nodded in approval of my approach, and then changed the conversation, "However, time must not be delayed too long, and the Ryuzoji family must not be spared!" ”

"Yes. Your Majesty will do so. I replied to Nobunaga.

On the way back to Jinya after leaving Azuchijo, the Shimazu family looked at me thoughtfully: "I'm afraid that His Highness Fangcai's answer is not true, right?" As far as I know, in the small half year of the southern Kyushu campaign, the four [***] forces have not suffered much damage. ”

"So what? After all, after fighting abroad for so long, you must rest. After all, Ashigaru is not as good as a samurai, and in addition to going out with the lord, he also has to support his family. I said casually.

"In that case, His Highness's several standing armies should be able to be dispatched, right? They are all soldiers who receive their salaries, and they don't need to worry about their families......"

I grabbed the reins of the war horse and turned my head to interrupt Shimazu Iehisa's words: "You said so much, shouldn't you be afraid of the Ryuzoji family?" Could it be that without me leading the army to suppress the battle, you wouldn't have the courage to defend Higo Country? ”

"How is that possible!" Shimazu exclaimed, as if he had been greatly insulted. He is only in his early thirties this year, and he has always been in a high position, and he has rarely been defeated so far, and it is the time when his heart is down and he is bold: "What is there to be afraid of in the dragon temple family, a group of rabble with their own hearts!" Not to mention relying on the city to defend them, it is not difficult to win the battle! In the tactics that he is good at, he is the most effective against this rabble! ”

"Are you telling the truth?" I asked him solemnly, "If there is a real war, how many men will you need to defeat the Ryuzoji family?" ”

He froze for a moment, apparently not expecting me to ask the question. However, seeing that I looked serious, he also put away his arrogant attitude and fell into serious thinking. I didn't disturb him, and let Thaksin move slowly through the streets, even slowing down his horse.

After a long while, he raised his head and looked at me seriously: "If there are 5,000 elite troops, coupled with the right terrain, even if the Ryuzoji family comes out, I will be sure to defeat any enemy in front of me and force the Ryuzoji family to withdraw from Higo Country." And if the rest of the army cooperates, it can even directly attack the main formation of the Dragon Temple! ”

I bowed slightly. His consideration is roughly in line with the facts of the Battle of Okita in history. At that time, in order to punish the Hizen Arima family for their departure, Ryuzoji Takanobu personally led all the troops under his command to fight against the Arima family and the Shimazu family on the Shimabara Peninsula in Hizen Province. Among the two sides of the war, the total number of Ryuzoji troops is recorded at a low of 18,000 and the highest is 60,000, and there are various theories about this (which shows the chaos and disorder of the Ryuzoji family); On the other side were the 3,000 troops of the Arima family and the 5,000 reinforcements led by Shimazu Iehisa, totaling only 8,000 people. The final result was a great defeat for the Ryuzoji family, with a total of thousands of people killed, and a large number of samurai including the "Four Heavenly Kings of Ryuzoji Temple" were defeated from Ryuzoji Takanobu down. Since then, the Ryuzoji family has collapsed and soon fell apart.

The key to the Shimazu family's ability to defeat several times their own military strength lies in the "fishing and ambush" tactics used. This method of warfare requires a high degree of military strength, a high degree of training, high morale, and earnest obedience to the command of the commander-in-chief. In addition, the ability of the main general is also very important, and it is necessary to have an excellent strategic and tactical vision, be able to choose the right place to fight, and find the right time to cut into the battle.

Shimazu Iehisa, who is next to me, is an excellent commander of this type, and he is the best among them. In his short life at the age of forty, he used a total of three fishing and ambush tactics, one was the defeat of Otomo Sorin, the first was the defeat of Ryuzoji Takanobu at the Battle of Okita, and the defeat of the four-nation alliance of Awaji Senishi Hidehisa, Sanki Jukawa Storage, and Tosa Nagamune Motobu at the Battle of Tojigawa.

Such a person does have a reason to be self-conscious, right? Moreover, his talent and light should not be buried.

"If it's my immediate reserve, how many people do you need?" I continued.

Shimazu Iehisa seemed to understand something, and an astonishing look suddenly appeared in his eyes, but his tone was more cautious: "If it is Tsushima Bei and Hasuike Bei, who have seen it before, then with these 3,000 people, combined with the military strength of Maeda and Sawaki, Nanhigo, I am sure that I will defeat the Ryuzoji family for His Highness...... It's just that these two reserve teams can have a chance to command in the future? And, will the orders under the order be carried out in a practical way? ”

"There is a chance, of course; As for the execution of the two reserve units, you can rest assured that there will be absolutely no delay in the military aircraft. In fact, your performance in the previous battle against Xiangkuni has already impressed many of the samurai in the reserve," I raised my head and looked in the direction of Kyushu, "If you only consider the military aspect, you are more suitable for the position of chief general than Maeda and Sawaki, who are the two of Minami Higo, after all, you once commanded a country and defeated more than 30,000 troops of the Otomo family...... However, after all, you are only my subordinates now, and Maeda and Sawaki are the two of them stationed by the lord, and at least nominally, you can't lead them. ”

"What does Your Highness mean?" Shimazu Iehisa asked keenly.

"How many people do you have on hand now?" I asked him rhetorically.

"There are probably more than 200 samurai...... If necessary, you can recruit more. Shimazu Iehisa replied.

"Then I'll give you a task first. If you are able to capture the Kenshida Castle of the Aso family in the Northern Higo Province with your current strength, I will appoint you as the lord of the castle, and in addition to serving as the military commander of the Higo [***] force, I will also serve as the front-line general of the attack on the Northern Higo. In the future, if the Ryuzoji family enters Higo Province in a big way, I will have Maeda and Sawaki cooperate with you, and use you as the main to resist the Ryuzoji family, and send Tsushima Bei and Hasuike Bei over to accept your direct command...... I don't know what you think? ”

"Then I'll conquer the Aso family's Kenshida Castle for His Highness," Shimazu Iehisa immediately accepted my arrangement and replied very confidently, "Please wait for the good news below!" ”

……，…… Kenshida Castle in Kitahigo is located at the forefront of the Aso family's resistance to Minamihigo. A few decades ago, there was a civil strife in the Aso family, and this was the last stronghold of Aso Yuzen, the son of Aso Yuenaga (Kikuchi Taketsu), and held out for a while, but in the end he was defeated by his uncle, the current governor of the Aso family, Aso Weitoyo, the father of Aso Weitoyo, and fled to the Yatsuro Castle of the Sagara family.

At present, Yatsushiro Castle is headed by Maeda Toshiie, who leads the two counties of Yashiro and Ashihoku after Minamihigo, while Yoshiyuki Sawaki serves as the lord of Hitoyoshi Castle, leading 80,000 koku of Kuma County. Considering this, when Niwa Nagahide presided over the transfer of the seal, Hidekei deployed the Kane Bei of Wasuka Keikatsu and Tsubouchi Toshidai in Yatsushiro Castle, and the Chibei of Ii Nobunao in Hitoyoshi Castle to assist them in resisting the possible invasion of Kitahigo.

In this case, letting Shimazu Iyohisa conquer Kenshida Castle can be used not only as a powerful barrier for the current South Higo, but also as a bridgehead for the future to advance into the North Higo, which can be described as an extremely critical chess move.

Shimazu Ihisa received my order and soon set off for Minamihigo Province. Soon, he gathered nearly 300 samurai under his command, went to the mountains near Kenshida Castle in batches, and disguised himself as a bandit who robbed houses, and swept several villages in a row, and even ransacked half of Kenshida Town, taking a lot of supplies and money. At this moment, the guards of Jianzhi Tiancheng couldn't stand it anymore, and immediately led more than 800 ashigaru in the city to exterminate it. In his opinion, with such an army, it should not be a problem to exterminate two or three hundred bandits. It's just that the samurai of the Shimazu family are comparable to ordinary bandits? As a result, not long after the battle, most of the thirty or forty samurai who were the backbone had been killed under the Shimazu sword, and the eight hundred ashigaru also suffered two or three percent casualties, and the rest saw that the momentum was not right, so they fled in all directions, or simply surrendered to the "bandits", so Shimazu Iehisa took advantage of the situation to play a banner and marched to the empty defense of Kenshida Castle, and successfully captured the castle.

After receiving the news from Shimazu Iehisa, I sent Hasuike Bei, who was served by Tsushima Bei and Nobuhide Satake, as promised, to Kenshi Tajo Castle to accept his command. At this point, except for the Asaki Bei on the side of Shinkei, the Awaji Bei in the hands of Xiujing, and the triple preparation of Miyata Miyata Kojima County and Kazuki Shiroto in Bizen Kunikojima, the remaining four reserve teams were assembled in Nanhigo. Among them, Tsushima Bei, because he was injured in the battle with Shimazu Iehisa, so I downsized a spear team and changed it to the samurai regiment under Shimazu Iehisa, and formed an elite cavalry team. According to my expectations, this cavalry will be responsible for the "fishing" part of the tactics, while the rest of the army will be responsible for the "wild ambush" and use it as the main force to destroy the enemy forces that have fallen into the middle of the army.

After this arrangement, according to the original plan, I began to rectify Iyo Province with Hidekei and Takenaka Shigeharu, and strengthened the control and fetters of the various wealthy clans. Iwamatsu Jingding, Tokuju Tsuenen, and Kurushima Toyasu led a naval army to leave the port and vigorously eliminate the remnants of pirates on the islands of Yunyu in order to maintain the Seto Inland Sea trade route centered on Imabari Port and Shuhonko. The Noh Island Naval Army, one of the three islands of Murakami, also had to leave the sphere of influence inherited from his family for several generations and retreat to Zhou Fangguo's Zhou Fang Island. This island is the third largest island in the Seto Inland Sea, after Awaji Island and Shodoshima Island, although the geographical location is not as superior as those two islands, and it is not as good as the original Noh Island, but it is at least relatively safe. Moreover, the surrounding area of the big island is very rich in fishing grounds, so even if there is less income from the money from the ship, they will definitely not starve to death if they transform into good fishers!

(To be continued)