"So, what about the Naito's battle damage?"

"The people of Tanba were killed in 1,292 battles, and the Naito army was 569 killed, including 416 samurai on horseback and 2,446 captured, including the general Naito Munekatsu. ”

"In other words, all the people of Tanba have run away?" Kira Yoshitoki snorted coldly: "These Chinese people are really unreliable, I'm afraid Naito Sokatsu is regretting it, right?" ”

"The Hatano family took the lead in retreating shortly after the battle, followed by the Akai family and the Shioi family retreating successively, and the wealthy clans fled in a swarm, and each did not dare to pursue too deep and returned, otherwise the number of deaths would be higher." Tokiyuki Yamamoto said with a smile.

"This Hatano family is really unreliable." Kira Yoshishi pursed his lips and said, "Don't mention those things about the grass on the wall, it's okay to transport and reserve military rations, right?" ”

"No problem! Nakao Castle and Jishoji Temple each have 5,000 stone rations in reserve, and the roads in this area have been controlled by us, and there is no sign of the Awaji Navy entering the Kamogawa River at present, so it is very safe. When the Kira Army entered Kyoto, he took the initiative to give up his comfortable position in Kyoto and came over to serve as the military ration officer.

When a letter of paper was respectfully handed to Kirayoshi, every 100 ashigaru consumed 20 koku of grain for a month, and the 10,000 koku of grain and grass could theoretically be enough for five months, but considering the intensity of the war, the daily food consumption could be doubled or even more.

"Hmm, what about the seizure?"

Okochi Kunitsuna continued to report: "There are 774 complete sets of carcass, 1,106 long handles, and 385 sets of armor. 223 horses were not injured. Minor injuries did not affect the 218 military horses. 30,000 stone of military rations, and 400 sets of armor were found in the warehouse, which should have been captured by the shogunate army. ”

After a little thought, Kira Yoshitoki said: "The equipment of the shogunate was returned to the shogunate, the military rations were given to the shogunate 10,000 koku, and the other damaged armor and all the supplies that could be replenished by the war horses killed in the battle were given to Shiga Bei, who was hit too hard. Evacuate to Nijo Castle in Kyoto first to rest, and ask Omi to urgently transfer a thousand ronins to come over to supplement and rebuild, and the large camp established by Naito Munekatsu halfway up the mountain is in a good location, and the equipment is complete, so let's live there! ”

"Yes!" Okochi Kunitsuna hurriedly drafted a pleading, and when he handed it to Kirayoshi, he used it to seal the judgment, which could be issued as a decree.

Dealing with a large number of dizzying military affairs, a group of staff members retreated one after another, Kira Yoshitoki rubbed his temples, and asked the security chief of the Hattori Department of Monomi, "The security chief." Tell me about the situation on the Miyoshi Army's side? ”

"The Miyoshi Army is still attacking Katsuryuji Castle, and it is said that the lord of the castle, Hosokawa Harutsune, has sealed himself in the castle tower and stayed at home. Katsuryuji Castle is now resisted by several generals of the Hosokawa family. Hattori hesitated and added, "Katsuryuji Castle can resist for five days at most. ”

"Five days? Without the support of the navy, the family would not be able to force the Katsura River, which is really a troublesome thing! Kira Yoshishi threw away the horsewhip in annoyance, hesitated for a moment and continued: "Order the Nine Demons to be re-established, and do everything possible to defeat the Awaji Naval Army within five days!" ”

"Yes!" Hattori retreated, glancing meaningfully around the corner before leaving.

All the retainers retreated, Kira Yoshishi just lay on the tatami mat on all fours, he couldn't breathe under the pressure of heavy government affairs, he had to think every moment, and always maintain the prestige of the lord, his age was already young, and if he didn't want to be underestimated by the retainers, he could only pretend to be unfathomable and majestic.

“…… That uncle's eyes are so scary! ”

"Huh? How did you end up here? Kira shook his head and saw Chiyo Mochizuki sitting next to him, this time wearing a black night coat-like style, carrying a small short knife on his back, and two pigtails dangling around him dizzy.

"I've always been there! Chiyonu seems to have said that she has been following Her Highness! Chiyonu Mochizuki pointed to her chin and thought about it carefully, and repeated in a sure tone: "Chiyonu still remembers it very well, and it is not wrong to say so!" ”

"Alright! Don't dwell on this problem" Kira Yoshishi felt a mess, rubbed his forehead and said, "By the way, which uncle did you just say?" ”

"It's the uncle who just left! His eyes are so fierce, he is the only one in a room staring at Chiyonu! ”

"Oh, you're the head of the Reception Department! He's the leader of the Iga ninja army, of course...... Wait a minute! You just said that he was the only one staring at you in a room? Kira Yoshitoki stared at the stupid Lori suspiciously, and when he saw her nodding as a matter of course, he felt as if something was wrong, and asked, "Then why don't the others look at you?" ”

"Because they can't see it!"

"Then why can Hattori be able to see it?"

"Chiyonu doesn't know, that's why she said that uncle's eyes are so fierce!"

……

The news of the end of the battle of Funaokama soon spread throughout, after all, how many pairs of eyes stared at the movement there, and the Miyoshi family relied on the advantage of water transportation to get a complete battle report for the first time, sitting in the Miyoshi military tent of the siege of Shenglong Temple Castle on Tenwang Mountain, Miyoshi Changqing glanced at every retainer with a cold face, and no one dared to collide with his gaze, including Miyoshi Yoshixian.

"Do you know what the family is going to say? Yes? Miyoshi Changqing said in his soft tone: "What a group of fools! Idiot! Fifteen thousand people were attacked by one storm, and the Chinese army was about to collapse at the first touch, forcing the general to go into battle in person and finally be defeated and captured, which is a shame! My Miyoshi family has never experienced this kind of shame! Damn the people of Tanba! ”

There was silence in the tent, no one dared to talk at this time, the angry Miyoshi Changqing is rare, only a few times such as the battle of the relics temple and the battle of the river mouth will make him thunderous, this is the fourth time that the three good Changqing has been angry, and the last time it was because of the death of Shihe Yicun.

"It seems that the only way to take Shenglong Temple City is to take it as soon as possible." Miyoshi Yixian immediately made a decision, and encouraged the Miyoshi retainers in the tent: "Gentlemen! This is the time when the hegemony of my three good families is about to be completed, and it is also the time when the monarchs make meritorious achievements and seek rewards! The kings are seeking the lord of a city or half of the country, and it is all up to the hands of the kings to win! ”

"Hah! I'll do my best! "The morale of the retainers and the people of the country was mobilized, and what they wanted was to increase the seal of knowledge and action. Otherwise, who will go all the way to Kyoto to fight a joint battle. Therefore, the encouragement of the three good righteous sages is more powerful than anything else.

On the evening of July 13. Somewhere in the Yodo River, since the Kizu River Navy attacked the Awaji Navy, the life of the Awaji Navy has been very unsmooth, and the weakness of the lone army going deep and losing support is completely exposed, the line on the waterway is different from the land route, you can't expect to break through a certain river port and wipe out the enemy, the various sailors are familiar with the waterways on the Kizu River, and they can hide in a reed bush that they can't find at any time.

Soon there was a disagreement within the Awaji Water Army. The grassroots samurai of the Awaji Navy Army felt that it was a huge mistake to enter the inland river dispute, and that the outer sea army should not violate the rules and regulations to enter the inland river, and this trend of thought quickly affected the decision-making of the top level, and a group of Awaji people agreed with this statement.

The people of Awaji who hold this argument believe that the requirements of Mitsuki are too harsh, and that the sea route and the inland river are not the same, and the inland river is characterized by small winds and waves, and the shallow river channel, and they have become a burden in the inland river, and they do not respond well and turn slowly, and often become the target ship of the inland river, and the inland river also has a river network that makes people collapse. It's like the most complex jungle maze, and it's easy for unfamiliar people to get lost if they stumble into it.

"Therefore. Whether it is to deal with the Kira water army, or the Kizu River water army, it is not a good choice. "Tatsusada Suga, the lord of Pig and Bear Castle in Awaji Province, is one of them, and his attitude is supported by many Awaji samurai.

"What do you mean by that? Don't you know that the will of the main hall cannot be changed? Don't make a mess of the military council! General Oda was dissatisfied: "Maintaining the advantage of the inland river is beneficial to my Miyoshi family, isn't the edict of the main hall still unclear?" ”

"It's not right for Odaden to say that! How can it be said that this is adding to the chaos! We are also for the future of the Awaji Water Army! He Ji'an seemed to hate Oda Shogun, and immediately retorted: "Trapping us men who work hard at sea in a small river, we can't enter or leave left or right, and we can only passively guard this Yodo River, which is the widest part of the town, is not more than three towns, this is to kill our Awaji water army!" ”

"Shut up! You old fellow! Xiao Tian picked up the teacup and smashed it, but He Ji'an deftly dodged it, which made the old man very unhappy.

The old man pulled out his sword and scolded: "Bastard! You're looking for death! ”

Then Oda also pulled out the sword, seeing that the two were about to stage a full martial arts, the samurai next to him was startled, and quickly hugged the impulsive old and young, and called the samurai outside the door to take the two away.

The city lord of Awaji Noguchi Castle, who is the adoptive father of the late Noguchi Fudanaga, Noguchi Nomomo, really couldn't say anything when he saw his old brother being insulted by the lucky ones, so he could only keep shaking his head and sighing: "Why is it like this, why is it like this!" ”

"My lord! We have to make a decision! What to do? Funakoshi Keiron worriedly persuaded: "Now the morale of the sons of Awaji is low, they are complaining that they are not suitable for the rivers here, and they are not suitable for the combat methods of the Kira Navy and the Kizu River Army. ”

"Yes! Please make a decision! "Regardless of the attitude of the Awaji samurai, they are not willing to continue to be conservative, for the supporters, only blocking the Yodo River is not able to complete the ultimate task of exterminating the Kira Navy, for the opposition, the blockade of the Yodo River is a very stupid act, it is to attack the enemy with their own shortcomings, Ujigawa and Kizugawa have lost more than 30% of the main force of the Awaji Navy, plus the fleet that was burned a few days ago, the Awaji Navy's army has lost half of the main force.

Anzhai Dongyasu pondered for a long time before he said cautiously: "I will contact my brother and inform me of the situation of the Awaji Water Army, we really shouldn't stay here, but the premise is that we must beat the Kira Water Army, so that they have no spare strength to enter the Yodo River and continue to be active, otherwise we will let the Yodo River out this time, and the Kira Water Army will make a comeback, and at that time, the interference with my brother's great cause will not be mentioned for the time being, and the previous efforts and losses will all be in vain!" ”

Several retainers asked hesitantly, "Does the lord mean to take the initiative to attack?" But this Kira naval army is too cunning, will it be too dangerous for us to attack? You know, it's a very dangerous thing for us to go deep into the river! ”

An Zhai Dongkang smiled mysteriously: "Don't be afraid! Running away from the Kira Naval Army, isn't there still Otsu Port? Do you think the Kira family will allow their family to threaten Otsu Port? ”

"Oops! How I didn't expect that! What a clever plan, my lord! Tamura slapped his thigh and said in surprise: "As long as we send the main force over, both sides will have iron cannons and baked jade." The disadvantage of the small number of ships and men in the Kira Navy was fully revealed. It would be great if they escaped into Lake Biwa. Burn down the port of Otsu, and even the two port towns of Sakamoto and Katata, and by then even if you can't catch the Kira navy, you can still leave, anyway, we have already made up our minds not to enter the Yodo River again, and no matter how deep the grudge is, the Kira family can't retaliate! ”

"What a plan, my lord! I'm waiting to admire! The Awaji samurai were all impressed.

……

The news of the main attack of the Awaji Navy Army soon reached the ears of the Kira Water Army, and with the monitoring point at Yodogawa Pass, every move of the Awaji Water Army was within the monitoring range.

This means of communication is also very simple, which is to transmit the message by the smoke of burning dry cow dung. This is a beacon tower originating from the Central Plains Dynasty, which was used as early as the Kamakura period, and was originally relied on to convey news to the Mongol invasion army.

The beacon fire of the Kira family is the same as the original beacon tower, and this communication can only express one agreed meaning, and the surveillance of the Kira naval army ignites the beacon fire in only one meaning, that is, the Awaji naval army invaded the Uji River in a big way.

When they received this news, the Kira Navy was relieved, they were not afraid that the Awaji Navy would come over and fight hard, but they were afraid that the people on the other side would never come, and it was the most troublesome thing to always stay in Yodogawa calmly. Time is money, money is life, and the task of the Kira Suijun is very heavy. The sooner the Awaji Navy is cleared, the more it will help the overall situation.

Prior to this, the sneak attack methods used were not on the table at all, even if the sneak attack was successful, it would have to pay some price, and even lose some when encountering luck, this simple consumption is obviously a loss for the Kira Navy, their net worth must not be able to consume the huge Awaji Navy, the Awaji Navy's lair in Awaji Oshima still has two thousand main forces and more than double the ship reserves, and the Kira Navy's army does not have any backup support.

The expressions of the sailors of the Kira family in the military council were excited, and the young man Takeuchi Kurou Uemon who was sitting in the back row shouted loudly: "The Awaji navy is actually attacking!" They must be crazy, right? ”

A strong man sitting in front of him slapped him on the back of the head and exclaimed, "You kid didn't have any hair on the top, do you know what is crazy or not?" With that, he squinted at him.

"Hahaha......" a group of samurai laughed.

"You! You...... Hachiro Tsuji, why do you say I'm young? Hachiro Hachiemon is younger than me! Kuemon Takeuchi pointed to the young man gloating diagonally across from him, and the samurai laughed even more happily.

"All right, everyone! Hear me first! The Nine Ghosts smiled and clapped their hands to signal everyone to be quiet, and then said: "The Awaji Navy has not yet figured out our strength, and it is estimated that they are still thinking about taking the opportunity to attack Lake Biwa and attack their henchmen, so we want to teach them a lesson!" ”

"Yes! Give them a lesson! The samurai, young and old, clenched their fists and said in unison.

"Are you ready for the roasting and cannons?"

Yodogawa Mitsucho nodded and said, "It's ready!" The three hundred iron cannons allocated by the lord to our naval army before the battle have all been in place, and the sons have long been greedy for these iron bumps, and they have also touched the real guys a few times in the past two years, and they have practiced archery for a few days, and they have selected ten iron artillery teams that do not miss the target for shooting, and they can also make do with the ......"

"Alright, strike now!"

The two naval armies met in Tenseura, Uji River, the Awaji naval army is actively seeking a decisive battle, and it can be called prepared, and the Kira naval army has also been calculated for a long time, and the Awaji naval army has hundreds of large and small ships, of which two are sent by the Ataku ship, and the ship is brought by forty, and the small morning eighty, except for the Ataku ship, the number of other two ships is more than that of the Kira family, and this is still the Awaji naval army that has been weakened many times, so you can imagine how powerful they will be when they attack with all their might.

Ujigawa Tenseura is just in the sharp turn of the river, this sharp turn makes the whole river into a V-shape, the Kira water army blocked the right side of the exit side of the ambush, Awaji water army rushed to the front of the ship to see the ambush Kira water army, the first time immediately blow the conch.

......The low conch was blown into a terrible roar, and a moment later it was interrupted by a muffled "bang", and a Kira samurai killed the Awaji samurai who was blowing the conch.

"The Awaji Navy is here! Get ready for battle! Several samurai scattered in all directions to shout for the fleet to row, and the ashigaru standing at the bow of the ship raised the iron cannon to aim and shoot, and for a while the iron cannon rumbled, and the sekibune that was fired in a salvo made a strange "squeak" sound, which was the first appearance of the powerful iron cannon, and it could easily penetrate the armor of the seki ship with the new gunpowder.

The shattered pieces of wood flew to the body and cheeks of the Awaji Navy under the impact of buckshot. For a time, the Awaji naval forces in the ship were devastated. Bursts of blood splattered everywhere. Several unlucky samurai were directly beaten into blood gourds.

"The Iron Artillery Team is loaded! Archers release arrows! The iron artillery team immediately withdrew the bow of the ship, and the bow and arrow took the arrow wrapped around the tarpaulin and pulled the bow, and then several sailors took out the fire and ignited the rockets, and one rocket burst out in an instant, nailing the damaged ship, but in a moment the unfortunate ship turned into a burning ship.

"That's right! That's it! Keep up the good work! The Nine Demons shouted and encouraged, and for a while, the morale of the Kira Navy was greatly boosted, and dozens of Kozao boldly ran to the front of the fleet and shot the chaotic Awaji fleet with simple bows. Once the opponent counterattacked, he immediately withdrew the fleet, and then was destroyed by the Kira naval army, this rogue tactic really made the Awaji naval army very painful.

At this time, seven or eight burning fireboats on Tense Ura blocked the river, and when Antaku Fuyasu saw that it was not good, he immediately ordered: "Rush over immediately!" Let the Ataka ship crash over, suppress it with iron cannons and archers, and be sure to break up their formation! ”

"Yes!" The crowded ships immediately made way for the waterway, allowing an Ataka ship full of iron guns and archers to stand out from the fleet, the huge hull and thick deck could effectively ensure that he would not be burned by rockets, and the commander of the ship was Shogun Oda, a close confidant of Ataka Fuyasu.

A Awaji samurai on the Ataka ship asked, "There's a fireship ahead!" What are we going to do? ”

Oda slammed the table. shouted: "Rush over! Crash them away! The teams listened to the order, and as soon as they saw the Kira naval army, they immediately opened fire, closed the ship, and let it go for a short time. Do you understand? ”

"Yes!"

"Tell the fleet behind you to follow me as soon as I hit the fireboat!"

"Yes!" The samurai on the Ataka ship quickly got busy.

It didn't take long for the huge Ataka ship to slowly accelerate towards the fire ship under the impetus of the oars, and after a huge vibration, the Ataka ship smoothly crashed into the fire ship that was in the way, the black smoke smoke of the Awaji samurai covered his mouth and nose and coughed, the outer deck of the Ataka ship was hot with the flames, and the sailors were busy pushing away the obstructing fire ship with their paddles, making efforts to continue rowing.

At this time, there was a sudden thunderous noise in the distance covered by the billowing waves of fire and black smoke, and then the Awaji samurai on the upper deck of the Ataka ship fell into the river with blood sprayed all over his body, and this sudden change caught the sailors a little off guard, and Oda Shogun pulled out his sword and shouted, "Don't stop!" Keep paddling! Hurry up and paddle me! ”

Perhaps it was his order that worked, the sailors rowed desperately, and the Ataka ship, which had been stagnant for a long time, finally began to move slowly, when hundreds of burning arrows suddenly fell from the black smoke, and the corpses on the deck were ablaze with fire, and Oda Shogun hurriedly ordered the samurai to scoop water to put out the fire, and the Ataka ship was in chaos.

General Oda almost shouted hoarsely: "Don't stop! Keep paddling! Don't stop for any reason! ”

"Bang bang bang!" Another series of thunder and thunder of iron cannons killed half of the Awaji samurai on the deck, and many bullets hit the deck and pierced a deep bullet hole, if it weren't for the thick bow deck, they might have gotten into the cabin, and the rest of the samurai didn't dare to stand in the front row for anything, they couldn't figure out what kind of weapon they were holding on the other side, and they could hit the people on the Ataka ship from so far away.

As the Ataka ship walked out of the area of the fire ship little by little, and finally saw the opposite fleet, only to see two Ataku ships in the front, and more than a dozen ships guarding the left and right, the dense iron cannons on the Ataka ship were facing them, and the Seki ships were flying over with hundreds of burning fireballs.

When a samurai saw this formation, he exclaimed, "Be careful! ”

"Snatch and snatch!" The sound of the crackling bow and arrow falling to the ground, mixed with a terrible scream, and a dozen unlucky ghosts jumped into the water with flames all over their bodies, and Oda General shouted and scolded loudly to organize the iron artillery team to counterattack, because the iron artillery team hid in the cabin and fired through the firing port, and if the Ataka ship wanted to fight back, it had to return fire with a horizontal ship, and in the process it was only fought back with bows and arrows on the upper deck.

"Bastard! Actually with rockets! Why didn't we bring rockets! General Oda didn't have the time to complain more, because the iron cannon on the opposite side roared again, and the huge gunfire accompanied by the white smoke rising into the sky covered the two Ataku ships in front of him into a Yunlai fairyland, and hundreds of bullets crossed a distance of sixty meters and shot at the bows and arrows on the deck trying to dodge, and for a time blood burst out, killing and wounding countless people.

"Odaden! Can't fight like this anymore! If you continue to fight like this, the sons will die! "After several rounds of fire, there were more than fifty dead bodies on the deck, and the number of people who fell into the river was close to half a boatload in the blink of an eye, how could such a painful blow not make the samurai of Awaji feel heartache.

"How?" General Oda had bloodshot eyes, stared at several samurai with hideous faces, and reprimanded angrily: "Are you still afraid of death as a samurai? ”

"We don't mean that! As a samurai, it is our fate to die in battle, just because the sons and daughters are too worthless to die! A samurai also had red eyes, and shouted angrily: "If we continue to fight like this, we will not be able to touch a single hair of the Kira Navy when we die, and our death is lighter than a feather, how can we see Hirazaka's father and brother after death?" ”

"Yes! If we die in this Ujigawa River, we can't die like this! Even if you die in battle, you can't accept such a shame! General Oda immediately shouted: "Paddle! The target is opposite the Kira Army's house ship and crashes into it! ”

"Yes!" As soon as the samurai rushed into the cabin to deliver the order, Oda Shogun stood on the deck, looked back at the ship slowly passing through the fireship, and shouted, "The main hall! I'm here to do my best for the Miyoshi family! ”

A teenager was lowering his head to reload, and suddenly skimmed the Ataka ship in the distance and slowly accelerated, and hurriedly pointed at it and said, "Look! The Ataka ship on the other side has started to move! They can't be beaten stupid, right? ”

A middle-aged man kicked him in the ass and scolded: "Sun Sanlang! Shut your mouth! Don't talk when loading, have you forgotten the rules of the Iron Artillery Corps? ”

"Cut! Obviously you have to talk too! The young man named Sun Saburo pouted and muttered quietly, when a samurai happened to pass by, suddenly stopped and said, "What did you just say?" ”

"Ahh Sun Saburo was startled and stammered, "I'...... I...... Didn't say anything! ”

Seeing this, the middle-aged man who kicked Sun Saburo just now hurriedly walked over and nodded and said, "Yes, sir!" Sun Saburo didn't say anything, we can all testify! ”

"I'm not holding accountable!" The warrior interrupted their nonsense impatiently, and said in a stern tone, "I didn't hear what you just said, now repeat what you said immediately?" ”

"I ...... I said that the boat over there seemed to be moving, and that it was being beaten stupid. Sun Saburo was frightened and hurriedly repeated what he had just said.

"The Ataka ship has moved!" The samurai pushed aside a few iron artillery soldiers and looked into the distance, and sure enough, the Ataka ship gradually moved, his face changed and he hurriedly ran to the deck, pushed away the samurai who was blocking the way, and reported to the naval army general who was discussing tactics: "Oh no! The Ataka ship is heading towards us at full speed! ”

"What!" Nine Ghost Chonglong dropped the map in his hand, hurriedly walked to the high platform to look, and then ordered with a muffled snort: "Let the baking team on the ship attack and blow up that ship!" Don't stop! Do a good job of fire suppression, and you must not let them probe to fight back! ”

"Yes!" As soon as the order was issued, but in a moment, several Sekibunes guarding the fleet suddenly broke away from the large force and rushed at full speed towards the Ataka ships of the Awaji Navy Army, and their movements immediately attracted the attention of the Ataka ships, and the iron cannons at the firing ports began to sound sporadically, causing the Sekifumi of the Kira family to suffer a lot of losses. (To be continued......)

PS: 7000 words in a single chapter! Please subscribe from the bottom of my heart!