With such a large-scale military situation, it is naturally impossible to hide its tracks. What's more, I didn't intend to hide it at all. In my opinion, as long as I block the reinforcements from the sea from the Mori family, with the current strength of the Kono family, even if they are given enough time to gather troops, they will not be able to stop my attack at all, let alone the Ishikawa family, which is the Kono family's match for the wealthy family.

The Ishikawa family must know about this situation too! When I led my army across Yogizaki on the border of Iyo and Sanki, less than four kilometers from Kawanoe Castle, their envoys arrived.

The flying crane of the Ishikawa family, about thirty years old, rode a chestnut horse and walked slowly forward. Behind him, there were a dozen or so ashigaru, but they did not carry weapons, but each carried a pair of shoulders.

He was arrogant in front of the military momentum, and shouted loudly to the vanguard of our army: "But the military situation of Awaji Temple? Below is the Ishikawa family's envoy Kaneko Moto's house, and there is something important to see Awaji Hall! ”

In the lead, there is a triple reserve, with Maeda Toshiie as the main general. When he heard that the other party called himself a messenger, he hurriedly sent someone to report to the main formation, and also roughly described the spirit of their party.

"What's his name? Gold Dollar House? I asked.

"Yes. That's how he got his name. He replied.

Is it a gold house? I know this person.,It's the son of the old Kaneko Motosei of the Ishikawa family.,It's also the sister-in-law of the head of the Ishikawa family.,Ishikawa Katsushige.,After the death of Ishikawa Katsushige.,The son-in-law Huzhu was young.,He served as the rear officer.,Holding the real power of Uma and Xinju counties.。 Later, he took refuge in Chosamune's relatives and resisted Toyotomi Hidenaga's Shikoku expedition, all of which were led by him, and finally led 2,000 troops to defeat Kobayakawa Takakei's 30,000 army, and was praised by Takakei as "a brave and resolute man with great samurai spirit".

If I really came here in person, it would be interesting.

"I'll see for myself!" I quickly made a decision and led a group of guards directly to the front of the army.

The Golden Mansion is still standing in the middle of the road. But when he saw a well-dressed cavalry galloping over, waving the famous Goben Bone Fan-Gosantong Military Banner, and the person who was embraced in the middle was riding a white horse, he must have understood who it was, and quickly jumped off his horse, bowed and saluted: "At the house of Kanekomoto, the envoy of the Shimoishikawa family, meet the Awaji Palace!" ”

"The messenger has worked hard," I am quite satisfied with his eyesight and attitude, at least he knows the importance of it, and is not a person who is blindly self-conscious, "I don't know why the messenger has come?" ”

"Here's the thing...... His Royal Highness Ishikawa, the lord of the Lordship, heard that Awaji Hall was interested in hunting the territory of the main family, so he specially ordered to come down to greet him. Kaneko said calmly, as if I had really come to hunt.

"Ishikawa is really polite," I smiled, "but I wonder how you are going to greet you?" ”

"This, His Royal Highness Ishikawa Beichumori said, and he wanted to ask Awaji Hall to rest for a while...... I've heard the name of Awaji Hall for a long time, so I should understand my family's position, right? "Jin Ziyuan Mansion Road.

"Is that so?" I thought about it for a moment and continued to ask him, "Since you said that you want me to rest for a while, Ishikawa should be entertained, right?" ”

"Of course," Kaneko Mototaku made a gesture and called over the ten ashigaru in the rear, "I specially brought ten tani confectionery, which is a local specialty and has a sweet taste, so I will talk about it for Awaji Hall and the rest of your highnesses to enjoy......"

This answer made me stunned and almost laughed. Yes, I have always been benevolent, but now that an army of 20,000 has arrived in Iyo, I am ready to fly, and with just a few words and tongues, plus these ten so-called specialties, you want me to stand still?

- Really, although I am not worried about their strength, there is no need to fall for this lame delay. If you really want to do this, it will definitely not be called benevolence, but pedantic, or simply called brain-dead.

"Very interesting proposal!" Xiujing smiled and said what was in his heart for me, "Ishikawa has always been so funny?" ”

"This highness has won the award, but he just doesn't want to pay a senseless sacrifice," Jin Ziyuan Mansion was still very calm, "If the family is not mistaken, the naval army of the Awaji Hall is probably coming at this moment, right?" ”

"Oh?" I became a little interested, and frankly admitted, "That's true...... So what? ”

"Then, the Mori family will definitely try to support Iyo, thus clashing with Awajiden at sea. Both sides are extremely powerful existences, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to predict the outcome of the battle......" Speaking of this, Kaneko Motota's expression became extremely solemn, "So, this family has a proposal: if Awaji Hall wins at sea, this family will immediately join Awaji Temple; But if Awajiden loses, how about quitting Higashi Iyo? Otherwise, even if this place is forcibly occupied, it will be difficult to resist the reinforcements of the Maori family, and it will only be in vain that this place will suffer two military revolutions. With the kindness and wisdom of Awajiden, I don't think I would do such a thing. ”

“…… It's really impressive! His Royal Highness Jinzi," I looked at him seriously a few times, and solemnly promised, "I promise you this matter!" ”

"Your Highness......" The main general of the front battle, Maeda Toshiie, wanted to speak and stopped.

"It's okay, left!" I explained, "If you can't defeat even half of the Maori navy, how can you control this area?" When the time comes, let the Maori family reinforcements come up, and what His Highness Kaneko said happens, it will completely go against the original intention of going out into battle. ”

"Awajiden is indeed a benevolent person!" Jin Ziyuan Zhai bowed deeply, "Then you can reply to the master of the family in the next place!" ”

"Please wait," I called to him, "I have a question, and I would like to ask His Highness Kaneko to answer my questions." ”

"I'll try to reply in the next place." Kaneko Motozhai said cautiously, as if he was worried that I would ask some confidential questions.

The way he looked made me laugh and said, "His Highness Jinzi doesn't have to worry. If it is inconvenient, you can choose not to answer, and it will not affect the previous agreement. ”

"Oh? …… Then please contact us at Awaji Temple. "Jin Ziyuan is still very cautious.

"As far as I know, the Ishikawa family belongs to the Kono family, right? Why did you make such a decision without considering the Kono family's thoughts? I asked curiously. How can you say that the Kono family is also the guardian of Iyo, and they are their nominal lords, why do they ignore it so much? For a moment, I almost thought that my tiger body was shocked, and my whole body exuded the aura of a king, and I immediately convinced the Ishikawa family that I forgot who my boss was.

"That's the case," Kaneko Mototaku breathed a sigh of relief, "Awaji Hall may not know something......"

He went on and on, and then I understood what was going on.

It turns out that although the Kono family controls the entire Higashi-Iyo, the status of the two counties of Uma and Shini is very special. In the decades before the Onin Rebellion, the Kono family was divided into two branches, and the clan had the four counties of Zhoubu, Sangmura, Yuezhi, and Noma of Zhousang Plainye, with Yuzuki Castle as their base; The family divided the two counties of Uma and Shini in Saijo Plain, and lived in Takatogashi Castle. Later, the split family gradually became stronger, and began to sit on an equal footing with the clan family, and competed for the position of guardian; In particular, Kono Kyotsuri and Kono Tsuharu, who participated in the Onin Rebellion and belonged to the Eastern Army and the Western Army respectively, have been fighting since they inherited the family business, and the guardian position has been changed between the two seven times. After that, the Kono family finally declined, but the Hosokawa family called again, and moved the Ishikawa Toranosuke who was assigned to the Hosokawa family and the Ishikawa family, who guarded the Ishikawa family, as the acting officials of the two counties of Uma and Shini, so the two counties continued to maintain the posture of reading the Kono clan.

In other words, since more than a hundred years, there has been nothing to do with the Kono clan in these two counties, and there are frequent wars; By the time the Ishikawa family became the owner, for about 50 years, whether it was following Hosokawa or Miyoshi, in short, these two counties stood on the same side as Sanuki; It was not until the tenth year of Eiroku that the Mori clan entered Iyo Province in a big way, and the Miyoshi clan was defeated by the Oda clan the following year, and the two prefectures were forced to submit and temporarily subordinate to the Mori clan.

So, given the long-standing hostile stance with the Kono clan and the historical and geographical ties with the Sanki family, as long as I am able to defeat the Maori navy, the two prefectures will gladly stand with the Sanuki clan again, just as they would rather fight to the death with the 30,000 Kobayakawa army than resolutely follow the Nagamune Ibu family, who led the Sanuki.

This kind of fate is really impressive, and it also makes me particularly gratified.

"Thank you very much for your explanation from Her Royal Highness Kaneko, and thank you to Her Royal Highness Ishikawa Sho Nakamori's new residence!" I smiled and opened the lid of the basket and picked up a confectionery wrapped in a paper bag and put it in my mouth. The sweet and sour taste of the plum made of starch sugar is extremely delicious, and it is rare to remember the taste - it is indeed worthy of the famous specialty "Besko" that has been passed down to future generations!

……，…… Although an agreement was reached, thanks to my insistence, the 20,000 troops continued to march forward until they stopped at the foot of Kawanoe Castle, and surrounded the small mountain castle. Jin Ziyuan inevitably muttered a little about this, thinking that I was too eager, but seeing that I was full of confidence, he didn't think much about it.

In the evening, the sea breeze along the coast suddenly stopped. This is a phenomenon unique to the Seto Inland Sea, called "Nagi", which generally appears in the morning or evening and represents the preparation of the sea breeze and the land breeze for the transition. As a result, the whole sea calmed down all at once, like a blue mirror, and it was so beautiful that it made people's hearts break.

And at this moment, two dull shelling was heard from the direction of the sea.

I understood that after four hours of sailing, my navy finally encountered the navy of Innoshima and Noshima, and began a decisive battle at sea.

As the one who launched the attack, I was naturally more prepared. On the opposite side, the Innoshima and Nojima naval forces were no more than 3,000 people at most, but our side was the main force of nearly 6,000 people, and there were also Isemaru and Kumanomaru to help. The speed of these two ironclad ships was very slow, which delayed the decisive battle a lot, but according to the results of the exercise in Awaji, the ironclad covered hull was indeed very effective against the roasting fire arrows.

As for the bow gun, I don't expect it to play much of a role in naval warfare, after all, the naval confrontation in this era is mainly based on bows and arrows, iron cannons and other close-range fire, and then hand-to-hand combat as the main mode, from the encounter to the engagement, the distance available for artillery to play is not long. Therefore, the main consideration of equipping artillery is to attack castles by the sea, as it was done last time in Kii.

Next, it's time for melee, right? I sat on a hill by the sea and thought to myself.

However, to my surprise, the shelling, although sparse, lasted for a while. Xiujing and Masakatsu Wasuka and I glanced at each other, and we were both a little surprised. According to common sense, once close combat begins, it is not suitable to continue the shelling due to the distance between the two sides.

"Perhaps, it's our ironclad ships that are firing while retreating, right?" Wasuka Masakatsu thought for a moment and said.

If so, it makes sense. However, the speed of the ironclad ship is already slow, and if you fire a cannon in the opposite direction, it will be even slower, so I am afraid that you will not be able to win much distance......" Xiujing said.

As if to test his idea, the shelling stopped. I breathed a sigh of relief, as if the big stone that was pressing on my heart had finally disappeared. However, I immediately held my breath again, because it meant that the brutal two sides began a brutal melee battle.

Perhaps, I should have attended in person! Although I am obviously very sure, I know that our side has the initiative, and we have a great advantage in terms of troops and equipment, and the victory is at least seventy percent, but waiting like this, I don't know anything, I can't do anything, and I can only guess the battle situation based on limited movements, which is really more nervous than being on the front line...... I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

As night fell, a full moon rose from the sea, shedding a clear glow. The change of sea and land wind direction has also been completed, and the sea breeze with a slightly salty smell blows, bringing a hint of coolness. The moonlight and the sea breeze calmed my mood a lot, and then the dull sound of cannon came again, so I was completely relieved.

At this time, it was more than an hour before the start of the war.

"We have won the naval battle and are chasing the enemy." I said with a smile.

"How did Awajiden know?" Nishisanki Guardian Daiyo Kagawa Nobuyo asked strangely. He was temporarily summoned to the main tent by me, originally considering that he had dealt with Higashi Iyo many times when he was at Miyoshi's house, so I wanted to learn something about the relationship between Nishisanki and Higashi Iyo through him, but I didn't expect to forget it for a while.

And since he asked, I explained it to him.

"Because we're firing again!" I smiled and said, "This means that the distance between the two sides has widened again, so the two sides must have decided the winner, and now is the time to pursue and escape." ”

"Then why are we sure we're winning?" He asked again.

"Of course we won!" I was in a very good mood, "If our side fails and is in a situation of being pursued, the ironclad ship can only escape with all its might!" In that case, with the bow gun facing away from the enemy, how could there be a chance to exert force again? ”

(To be continued)