Ueno Province, Kurakano Castle.

Kuragano Castle is located at the junction of Nishi-Ueno and Kita-Musashi, and the Tone River and the Nakasendo are all passed through it, making it an important transportation area. The city is built on the hill of the riverbank section on the left bank of the Wuchuan River, and the city area is 800 meters from east to west and 400 meters from north to south.

In the fifth year of Eiroku, Iitomi Husho, Takeda Yoshinobu's 5,000 Takeda Army attacked the castle by Uesugi Kenshin's 10,000 Echigo Army, and suffered a crushing defeat under the castle.

Later, the forces of the Hojo family entered Ueno, and the lord of Kurakano Castle, Kurakano was still in charge, fearing the offensive of the Takeda Hojo family, and had to subdue the Hojo family, and when Uesugi Kenshin went out to Kanto again, the Kurakano family was once again subordinate to the Nagano family under the Uesugi family.

In the eighth year of Eiroku, Takeda Katsuyori and Naito Masatyo's Ueno Army besieged Kuragano Castle for the second time, but because Uesugi Kenshin sent troops to Kawanakajima for the fifth time, Takeda Shingen mobilized the east and west roads to carry out the Hida expedition of the strategy, and the Ueno Army returned to defend Kawanakajima.

Therefore, the siege of Kuragano Castle was only halfway through, and the Takeda family withdrew again.

Today, the Takeda family is making a comeback, and the 6,000 troops of the Nishiueno Army, Takeda Katsuyori, and Naito Masatoyo have surrounded Kuragano Castle for the third time.

Seeing the repeated history of the Kuraga family in Hojo and the Uesugi family, the Takeda family did not allow the Kurakano family to surrender this time, and the Kurakano family also resisted more fiercely.

In the past two and a half years, the Ueno army led by Takeda Katsuyori has swept through the western Ueno cities, and the Nagano family has heard the prestige of Takeda Katsuyori, and everyone is afraid.

Takeda Katsuyori, Naito Masatoyo in Ueno Province Lianke more than a dozen cities, a moment of great achievements.

And the Nishi-Kamino defense network, which the former head of the Nagano family, Nagano Yemasa, painstakingly managed during his lifetime, is collapsing one by one.

Now for the Takeda family, as long as they attack Kurakano Castle in front of them again, Minowa Castle will be completely isolated.

That would mean that the time was ripe for the Takeda Army to attack Minowa Castle in a big way, and Nishiueno could take the lead.

In Kurakano Castle, the high platform of Waimaru, the big banner of the crimson Takeda Ling, was blown by the wind.

The flag of General Takeda Katsuyori, the banner of the 'Suwa Daimyojin' is also erected here.

It would be very risky for Takeda Katsuyori to set up his main camp so close to the castle, which was just enough for the range of the castle's iron cannons.

However, Takeda Katsuyori is not afraid of this.

Now Takeda Katsuyori wears a deer antler helmet, wears red silk armor, and wears a five-colored bird feather as an array of feathers to weave under the castle to supervise the battle.

Now he left Maza and stood on the edge of the high platform, leaning forward slightly, staring at the castle head of Kuragano with a serious expression.

At this moment, the roar of iron cannons above and below the castle rang out, and the iron artillery team of the Takeda Army hid behind the arrow shield and shot at the Kuraga Noya archery team that was shooting downward on the stone wall at the castle head.

On Takeda Katsuyori's side, a total of more than 300 iron cannons were gathered, and a salvo was an earth-shattering sound.

In an instant, the stone wall on the stone wall was smashed into powder by iron cannon projectiles.

The bow on Kuragano Castle was shot by this majestic shot, and he could only lie on the ground.

While the iron cannon was firing, a large group of Takeda Gunashigaru on the other side, carrying burning wooden stakes, waded through the trench of Ninomaru, and then launched an attack on the tiger's mouth of the warp.

However, at this time, the castle soldiers took advantage of the gap in the iron cannon shooting, came out, and fired at the Takeda army with iron cannon bows and arrows.

The trench was splashed up by bows and arrows and projectiles from far to near, and in the blink of an eye, several Takeda soldiers were hit and immediately pounced into the trench.

Seeing the failure of another round of offensive, Takeda Katsuyori shook his fist heavily, picked up the military equipment in his hand and waved it heavily.

After receiving the order of Takeda Katsuyori, the envoy with a small flag galloped down the high platform, and under the high platform, a large area of Takeda soldiers with four cutting flags behind their backs sat cross-legged on their knees, and their spears were uniformly carried on their shoulders.

He stopped his horse, turned around and picked up his spear and pointed at the head of the city, and shouted: "The spear foot light second team is out of battle!" ”

"Oh!"

The Takeda Army, a phalanx seated neatly, stood up together, and then ran away in small steps towards Kuragano Castle.

Seeing another wave of attacks, Takeda Katsuyori returned to the edge of the high platform and once again stared at the battle situation with full attention.

"Your Highness, it's only been three days since the siege of the city, and our military has broken through the castle outside the pill, if you are too impatient, it may not help the battle situation."

Takeda Katsuyori turned his head, and it turned out that the person who advised him was the deputy general of the legion, Naito Masatyo, one of the four ministers of Takeda in history.

Takeda Katsuyori smiled slightly, and said, "Lord Repair, that's what he said, but the resistance of the Kuragano family is very fast, and I am very worried about it. ”

At this moment, two strong horses galloped onto the terrace of the main formation.

After Naito Masatoyo saw the person who was coming, he smiled at Takeda Katsuyori and said, "Lord Yitokusai, I don't want to supervise the battle at the Hands Gate, but come to this camp, I think there must be good news." ”

Takeda Katsuyori looked carefully, and the person who followed Sanada Yutaka turned out to be Kanai Hidekei, the general of Kuragano Castle.

Kanai Hidekyo turned out to be the head of the pen family of Kuragano Castle Lord Kuragano Weiguang, and after Guang died of illness, the current castle lord Kuragano Naoyuki ascended the throne, and Kanai Hidejing was at odds with the new head of the family, and was under the rebellion of Takeda Shingence.

In the second year of Yongroku, Kanai Hidejing transferred to the Takeda family.

Kanai Hidekei is now under the command of Takeda Nobutoyo, the lord of Komoro Castle, and is in charge of the force, and this time he once again attacked Kuragano Castle.

Takeda Nobutoyo, as a reserve for Takeda Katsuyori, is now stationed in the rear, beware of the forces of the Nagano family in the direction of Minowa Castle.

Sanada Yutaka and Kanai Hidekyo dismounted on the high platform, and Takeda Katsuyori's flag warrior took the war horse away.

Sanada Yutaka and Kanai Hidekyo came straight to Takeda Katsuyori to meet him.

Sanada Yutaka said directly to Takeda Katsuyori: "My lord, Lord Kanei, has already contacted the old department in the city, and tonight we can join forces with the outside and attack Ninomaru." ”

"Oh, really?" A smile appeared on Takeda Katsuyori's face, but his eyes turned to Kanai Hidekyo to verify the facts.

Kanai Hidekyo lowered his head and said: "I have contacted the old department in the castle, they say that this city is gradually unable to support under the offensive of my Takeda army, and Kuragano is still a lord who is untrustworthy and does not want to serve him anymore, so they think that it is the wisest choice to take refuge in my Takeda family at this time." ”

Hearing Kanai Hidejing say this, Takeda Katsuyori and Naito Masatyoshi glanced at each other, and they both showed joy.

That night, the battle, which had been silent, resumed at night.

Kurakano Castle Ninomaru, the raging fire that lit up in half of the night sky, flickering and darkening.

The sporadic sound of iron cannon fire under the city, as well as the boiling voices and shouts, resounded, and occasionally there were one or two screams of terror, and the sharp wails of the tragic dead before they died.

Under the high platform, the horses of the Takeda Army returned to the team, and the prepared ashigaru stood in row after row, firmly protecting the formation in the center.

On the high platform, Naito Masatyo, Sanada Yutaka, Okuma Ashide, Kohata Kenshige, Takeda Nobutoyo, Hoshina Masatoshi and other Takeda generals all sat on top of the maza, watching the movement in the city with concern.

And Takeda Katsuyori, as the commander-in-chief, is still standing on the edge of the high platform at the moment, his vest is straight, and he stands there like a javelin.

He held the katana at his waist in one hand and the military equipment in the other, staring at the castle with a solemn expression.

Suddenly, a red light erupted from the Honmaru castle tower in Kurakano Castle, and then the shouts in the castle became more intense, and then a fire broke out in the castle tower of Kurakano Castle.

Seeing this kind of change, Naito Masatyo, Sanada Yutaka and other generals of the Takeda family all stood up, walked quickly to the edge of the table together, and closely watched the movement on the castle tower of Kuraga Castle with Takeda Katsuyori.

At this moment, however, the shouts of killing in the castle suddenly became quieter, but on the contrary, the fire in the castle tower in Kuragano Castle became more and more intense, and the flames were blazing and soaring into the sky.

Except for the occasional sound of iron cannons, the surroundings gradually became calm, and just when the generals were surprised why the shouting and killing in the city suddenly stopped, the direction of the main pill in the city suddenly burst into loud cheers.

"The city is broken!"

Sanada Yutaka made a judgment.

The generals of the Takeda family present all showed a look of relief, and then a look of ecstasy surged in front of them.

First, a person walked behind Takeda Katsuyori and said, "Congratulations to the lord, break another city for my family." ”

Takeda Katsuyori was still staring at the city, motionless, but waved his hand and reprimanded: "Masayuki who attacked the city did not send an envoy to return to the city, and the situation of the situation has not yet been discovered, so don't make a judgment so early." ”

And Takeda Katsuyori said so, Naito Masatyo, Sanada Yutaka looked at Takeda Katsuyori's back and nodded together.

At this time, Monomi hurriedly rushed to the high platform and reported to Takeda Katsuyori that Kuragano Castle, the lord of Kuragano Castle, burned down the castle tower in the castle and broke through from the side of the hand gate with a small number of followers.

Now the family has captured Kurakano Castle.

Takeda Katsuyori nodded at this time, and breathed a long sigh of relief.

"My lord, as soon as Kuragano Castle is broken, Minowa Castle is already a lonely city, do you want to return to your home immediately, dispatch a large army, and take advantage of the situation to capture Minowa Castle." Hoshina Masachi said on the side, after the death of Hoshina Masatoshi, he has inherited the head of the Hoshina family, and in recent years, he has followed Takeda Katsuyori to conquer the city in Nishiueno, so he has been rewarded by Wanxing in the 3,000-stone territory near Takato Castle.

At present, Hoshina is young and vigorous, and naturally hopes that Takeda Katsuyori will take advantage of this victory, and then capture Minowa Castle, and then add even greater martial arts.

Hearing what Hoshina said, the young generals under Takeda Katsuyori echoed one after another, expressing the hope that Takeda Katsuyori would be able to believe in Lord Xuan, and then lead his own army from the Tsugasakikan to attack Minowa Castle.

Seeing the high-spirited state of these young generals, the old and serious Sanada Yutaka and Naito Masatoyo all shook their heads secretly, they knew that their family's current situation did not allow them to dispatch the army again.

Takeda Shingen had just set out of Kawanakashima with 20,000 troops, and confronted Uesugi Kenshin for two months.

The current situation is a time to recuperate, not a good opportunity to use troops.

And Takeda Katsuyori obviously knows this, why don't he want to take Minowa Castle immediately, he and Li Xiao were on the rock rejection city, and vowed to the sky to capture Minowa Castle within three years, to lead the Takeda family to dominate the world, this scene, he still remembers vividly.

According to Li Xiao's words, he captured Minowa Castle and captured the half of the country of Nishiueno for the Takeda family with his own efforts. At that time, whether it was prestige or power, Takeda Katsuyori's might could reach its peak in the Takeda family.

That is also the result of Takeda's victory thanks to the general trend, and the achievement is high!

Katsuyori Takeda can finally have a showdown with Yoshinobu Takeda, and the two sides will fight to the death.

Looking at his subordinates, Takeda Katsuyori smiled slightly and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, the attack on Minowa Castle is not up to me, but to the judgment of Lord Gokan. ”

After a pause, General Takeda Katsuyori pointed in the direction of Minowa Castle, and then said: "But you don't have to be disappointed, Minowa Castle is there, it won't move, and it won't run, but it's just a few days later to establish martial arts, as long as you can work together, Minowa Castle can be fought under the army of my Takeda family." ”

"Oh!"

Hearing Takeda Katsuyori say this, all the generals replied in unison.

(To be continued)