The setting sun shines obliquely above Iwaki Castle Ninomaru.

The original clamor of the city gradually stopped, and calm was restored.

Outside the city, Saito Asanobu stared at Ninomaru for a long time, his body stiffened, and finally he still relaxed, and shook his head helplessly.

Takemata Kiyozuna also looked bad, and said in a deep voice: "The lord has already sent a message, if it is clear that we can't attack Iwazu City again, he will personally go out into battle, and when the time comes, what will I look like." ”

Saito Asanobu snorted and said, "If the lord personally goes out into battle, although Iwaji Castle can be lowered in a blink of an eye, this is really a shame for our warriors. ”

Takemata Kiyotsuna shook his head and said: "That being said, the last time the Shirane Mountain was battled, our army was exhausted from a long-distance attack in order to intercept the Takeda army, and the main force did not arrive, and the defeat was understandable, after all, except for the Kakizaki Lord who had been killed, most of the people who were defeated by the Takeda army were the Ueno wealthy clan, the Nagano army, not my Echigo army. But Iwaki Castle, if even in case, I mean there is this possibility, if the lord himself goes out and can't take it, my Echigo army will really lose face. ”

Saito Chaoxin snorted and said, "My lord, I am the incarnation of the god of war, how can I not capture this Iwaji Castle. Takeda Shenglai, the reason why Li Xiao is here is naturally because of the luck of the Lord and his banner army that have not yet come out of battle. ”

Takemata Kiyotsuna sighed and said, "What you said is good, but if it is the turn of the lord to go out in person, you and I will be completely shameless in Echigo." ”

Yes!

Takemata Kiyotsuna couldn't help but be startled when he heard Saito Asanobu shouting, only to see him draw his knife and slash hard at the wooden railing.

The katana sank deep into the railing.

Takemata Kiyotsuna saw Saito Asanobu's face pale, and he said hatefully: "Since the battle of the lord, I have been invincible since the war of the lord, but why did I meet this Takeda Katsurai, Li Xiao has suffered many losses. Could it be that these two people are really my nemesis? ”

At the moment, Ninomaru is in it.

Li Xiao was walking in the middle of the road, which was full of corpses, and there was almost no place for him to stop when he walked.

The corpses on both sides of the Takeda Army's Uesugi Army were criss-crossed, while the remaining living people were leaning against the stone wall with their backs to gasp.

The two armies fought hard, and the Takeda army paid the price of dozens of men to annihilate all the Echigo troops that broke through to Ninomaru.

Now that the war is over, Takeda Ling's banner is still erected high in Ninomaru.

However, the Great Treasury Chang'an told Li Xiao that the ammunition and arrows in the inventory were only enough to support the last day of tomorrow.

Li Xiao was silent when he heard this.

More terrible than iron cannon ammunition, bows and arrows are the lack of water.

The wounded soldiers who were wounded in the defense of the city wailed because there was no water to wash their wounds, and the environment was harsh, their mouths were dry, but they could not quench their thirst with water.

Today alone, more than a dozen wounded soldiers have died from wounds, illness and lack of water.

It's late at night.

There are already signs of unstable morale in the city. The ashigaru began to look around for anything they could drink, including muddy water in the ditch, dead people, and urine.

There were several fights in the city, all because of uneven contention, but because of the water source.

In order to enforce strict military law, Takeda Katsuyori ordered Okuma Ashide's 12 Ashigaru soldiers and two samurai who participated in the weapon fight to behead all of them.

Watching the head hanging, the foot light up and down stabilized a little.

But this is only a palliative rather than a cure, and under the strong suppression, if the lack of water continues, the soldiers may rise up and rebel first.

In the stables of Ninomaru.

The thirsty war horse stared wide-eyed, and could only chew on the forage.

A row of samurai stepped forward, wrapped their horses' eyes in cloth, and then picked up a brush to clean their horses one last time.

War horses are the most reliable and trusted companions of cavalry, especially in areas where horse resources are scarce, and individual warriors value the important surnames of war horses, even more than their wives and children.

But with the order, the samurai gritted their teeth and pulled out their katanas, slashed down, and stabbed their own horses to death.

Immediately, the ashigaru men took the barrels and filled them with blood, barrel after bucket.

More than 30 horses in the Takeda army were killed, including Takeda Katsuyori, Sanada Masayuki, and the love horse of Okuma Asahide, especially Takeda Katsuyori's war horse, which he bought with a hundred times.

Among them are Li Xiao's chestnut horses, which were given by Takeda Shingen, who have followed him for a year since he crossed over to Yumoto.

The maroon horse is not only taller than the ordinary war horse, but also has a long horsepower, and in the battle of Baigen Mountain, it was it that carried Li Xiao and made Li Xiao famous.

At present, Li Xiao must not give up his beloved horse.

Fresh horse blood was packed in bamboo tubes and distributed to every Takeda Army soldier, who drank the pungent horse blood in their hands and gulped it greedily.

That night, Li Xiao went to the castle tower to find Takeda Katsuyori.

I saw that after the past few days, Takeda Katsuyori's whole person seems to have changed a lot, with scum on his lips, and the experience of war has faded a lot of his young and impatient color, which has also made him hone a bit of a general's determined temperament.

Right now, Takeda Katsuyori stared out the window at the flickering lights of the Echigo Army.

Seeing Li Xiao coming, Takeda Katsuyori opened his mouth and asked, "Li Xiao, tell me, we can support it for a few more days?" ”

Li Xiao listened to it for a while, thought about it, and replied truthfully: "Two days at most, well, if Uesugi Huihu himself doesn't go out in person, if you're lucky, maybe there's a chance to support one more day." Of course, this must be the premise that the officers and men of our army do not mutiniate because of lack of water. ”

"Mutiny? Has our army reached such a point? ”

Hearing Li Xiao's answer, Takeda Katsuyori's face darkened, although he had been prepared, he still nodded, and said, "Two days is enough." ”

Takeda Katsuyori suddenly said: "Li Xiao, if there is really a time when the city is broken, I don't think you have to stick to righteousness, do you understand what I mean?" ”

Li Xiao was stunned for a moment, and the meaning of Takeda Katsuyori's words was clearly when the city was broken, and let Li Xiao surrender to Uesugi Huihu.

Takeda Katsura paused, looked into the distance and said, "Uesugi Terutora cherishes your talents, and under him, he will definitely be more likely to get ahead and show your talents than following me." ”

Li Xiao listened to Takeda Shenglai's words, smiled slightly, and thought to himself what Takeda Shenglai was, could he follow Liu Bei's White Emperor to Gu Zhuge Liang and deliberately lie about it?

Whether it is true or not, of course, Li Xiao showed a loyal appearance, and said with a very sincere attitude: "Lord, don't say that, Your Majesty has decided that this city will live and die together, besides...... And it's not like we're without a hint of opportunity. ”

Hearing Li Xiao say this, Takeda Katsuyori's body shook, as if he was in a desperate situation, and the man who fell into the water grabbed a straw.

Takeda Katsuyori asked urgently, "Li Xiao, are you saying that we still have a chance?" ”

Li Xiao nodded and said: "Since the day of the broken water, His Majesty has begun to plan for this final blow, although this final blow is not fully certain, but at this moment, it must be taken out anyway." Therefore, Your Highness, I have come to discuss with you, and at the same time, I invite Lord Urkuma and Lord Sanada, they to come and discuss with you. ”

As soon as Li Xiao's voice fell, Takeda Shenglai's eyes changed suddenly, and he said loudly: "As long as there is a glimmer of opportunity, I will do it, even if it is to die in battle, I will not hesitate to win it!" ”

Takeda Katsuyori is in high spirits at the moment, and his spirits are lifted, where is there a way to lose hope in the battle situation.

Li Xiao smiled bitterly, his plan was not very sure. But the entire Takeda army, including Takeda Katsuyori, put this hope of turning the situation around on themselves.

Li Xiao stood up and walked to the windowsill to look at the tengu pill under the castle.

After a long time, Li Xiaocai said in a deep voice: "Your Highness is right, now it has reached the last moment, even if we know that we are going to lose, we have to try, and tomorrow night is the time for us to make a desperate bet and fight to the death with Uesugi Huihu!" ”