The remnants of the townsfolk were insensitive to the attitude of the occupying army, their eyes were as cold as ice, and there seemed to be a trace of hatred and despair, and they did not make any resistance to the Hojo army's investigation and expulsion, and silently gathered at the gate of the castle to wait for the final verdict of the victor.

"Waste your great strength to harvest a ruined city!" Hojo Shiyasu was very angry, he had worked hard to capture a ruined city for a long time, he had lost 2,000 lives for this ruined city, he regretted that it was too reckless to attack the city so desperately, if he pressed the rhythm, maybe it would be better.

It was useless to regret the incident at this point, and he held back the anger in his chest to stop the samurai's strong attempt to arrest indiscriminately, and he sternly warned all the samurai: "There has just been a terrible plague here, if you don't want to die, don't touch anything!" Not only must you not touch their belongings, but you must also eliminate the plague here, tear down all the houses to strengthen the walls and castle towers, and burn all the dead people and animals, including all the things they have used! ”

How much was left of the more than 500 survivors, most of the houses in the city were demolished, there was not much food left, the whole city was poor, the warehouses in the city were clean enough to run mice, there was neither gold, silver, jewelry, nor swords, guns and armor, if there was anything to plunder from these poor townspeople, it was only human hunting.

The indiscriminate arrest is nothing more than the rape and plundering of these unarmed civilians, who were once also the lords of the Hojo family, and now they are standing on the opposite side of the Hojo family because of the war, and the killing of these innocent people for the sake of the war waged by the samurai, which hurts the benevolence of the Hojo family and is not conducive to the Hojo family's strategy for Musashi and Ueno.

Needless to say, the Hojo family as an outsider. If you want to gain a foothold in the Kanto region, you have to win over the local people. For example, a powerful local tyrant. There are also peasants living in this territory, and the four public and six people are his method of wooing, and now it is too late to do good governance, how dare to engage in any hunting.

The siege war is destined to be more than worth the loss, and it is to blame that Hojo and Nagano Kentada do not play cards according to common sense, Hojo Shiyasu's non-stop onslaught day and night is very different from the normal siege war, Nagano Kentada would rather die until the last samurai died than the samurai also greatly surprised the samurai, in short, this war is a lose-lose result, no one is a big winner.

Nagao Keitora took Isesaki Castle with great effort. The Ueno Kuniren coalition army complained that the siege was too uncomfortable, and the 34,000 troops surrounded a small city for so long and didn't get anything, and the Ueno Kuniren coalition shouted that they couldn't fight anymore and needed to rest, and the samurai discussed dividing the first, second, and third gongs to get a reward.

The Ueno coalition is not ready to fight another tough battle, or Nagano Yemasa is waiting for the minds of the people to block the Hojo army, and the high-end strategy of taking the initiative to resist the enemy outside the country is obviously not suitable for the alliance of the people of the country that only has appeal and lacks coercion.

Of course, they can't afford to go out to Musashi, and they don't plan to practice this strategy, and the Hojo family with an army of 40,000 is opposite. It's not their rabble coalition army, and there is still a little bit of good place and people at the doorstep. Rushing to Musashi, there was nothing, and the allies of Ueno Province shouted that they wanted to rest for a few days after they had just taken Isezaki Castle, after all, people are not tired of iron fighting, and they have to rest.

The allies of the fifteen-thousand-strong army did not move, and the long-tail army naturally couldn't move, and the voice of internal feedback expressed that they were not willing to go to the Hojo Army now, and Mu Yu traveled a long way to Ueno Province without much rest and ran to fight a siege battle, and finally won the battle and rushed over to the Hojo Army, which would be inappropriate for anyone to change.

Many reasons overlapped with each other, forcing Nagao Keitora to take the lead in attacking Isesaki Castle and did not go to the rescue of Miyoshi Castle, and could only watch it fall under his eyes.

It's not a big deal to die a brother, a samurai is a knife licking blood, and you can't cry and cry for a long time, and more than 15,000 sons and daughters of the Ueno coalition still count on him to bless you, pity a dead one, it's better to care about the living, Nagano Kentada's children are all staying in Minowa Castle, and giving them a decent identity in the future is worthy of this incense.

Nagao Jinghu was very worried, and the delay of the war was extremely unfavorable to Echigo, and the cruel facts in front of him did not allow him to choose, and he could not get out of the general affairs of entangled in the treatment of the wounded for a few days, and finally finished the work in hand and relaxed, so he walked out of the camp with a few personal guards.

The camp was stationed on the high mountain near the border line in the southern part of Ueno Province, and the Hirai Castle to the north was the ancestral residence of the Uesugi family in the mountains, and the name of this earthen mountain of more than 100 meters was Takayama, and there was also a Takayama Castle at the northern foot of the high mountain, which belonged to the satellite branch of the Ei Hirai Castle, and the 33,000 allied troops from Echigo Ueno were stationed at the southern foot of the high mountain.

The military camp is divided into two large parts, the west is the Ueno Kuniren coalition army, the east is the Echigo Nagao Army, there is a row of fences between the two camps, only a few guards guarded the pass is allowed special passage, to not Nagao Jinghu stingy discrimination against the Ueno Kuni, this is the method proposed by Nagano Yemasa.

In the two states, the camp of 33,000 people gathered together will always have all kinds of troubles, and when there are more people, there will be more things, and there is a difference between the eldest son and the youngest son in the family, and it is always an unavoidable question of which family eats well and which family lives comfortably, and which family receives more rewards.

On the other hand, the land of Echigo Country is fertile and the people are rich, which is reflected in the Echigo Army, which is rich in food and food, pickled salted fish, fragrant cornmeal soup cakes, snow-white and fluffy steamed buns, and udon noodles made with fragrant chicken soup as the base, and then look at the cold and hard rice balls you eat, a brown rice bento decorated with a dried plum, and you can't avoid picking quarrels and provoking trouble.

It is even more obvious in the bounty, although Isesaki Castle was breached by the Nagao Army, but the Nagano Kuniren coalition thought that they had also made a lot of effort, and the result of the Nagao family's meritorious deeds was a thousand Kan Yongle money, the samurai head was consistent with the text, and the ashigaru head ranged from twenty to two hundred wen according to the rank. Two hundred strokes. One hundred and fifty times for the second time. Sanban Gong and Ibanxian, Yiban Gun are also rewarded with 100 times.

The Ueno coalition army didn't have a penny of reward, the city was not captured by them, and when the city was broken, the Ueno coalition army was still waving their flag and shouting at the foot of the mountain, and the Nagao family would not reward them and could not reward them, accepting the reward of Nagao Jinghu was equivalent to admitting that he was a retainer of the Nagao family, and the Ueno people with super self-esteem were not allowed to do this, since it was not allowed. Then you can only watch the samurai of the Nagao family glaring at the reward.

Camping in the wilderness is stricter than the military discipline of the garrison in the city, you can't go to the town of Hirai castle to walk the streets and alleys to drink and buy spring, a group of energetic samurai nest in the barracks have to find something to do, there are three or five fights every day, and sometimes some guys with unclear heads use knives and big guns to settle each other's grievances.

In order to avoid unhealthy trends in the barracks, and because the Ueno people were worried that the two sides would pull the hearts of the people of Ueno to the side of Echigo, Nagano Ye was leading a group of Ueno people to find Nagao Jinghu to discuss countermeasures, and the two sides were allies and could not be completely isolated, which seemed too raw.

This fence came in handy, and the Ueno samurai were allowed to enter the Echigo camp through the pass, whether it was for simple communication or to enjoy food. The ashigaru class is also effectively prevented from being co-opted by Echigo's sugar-coated shells.

Nagao Keihu paced to the barracks, and the young samurai who greeted him were all smiling. These young people are the fresh blood who have just joined the Longtail Legion, and they don't know the long-tailed Jinghu in the hood, and listening to their conversations still revolve around the siege battle that has just ended.

A small siege battle is almost to smash out thousands of Yongle money, although the money is finally issued in the form of rice grain and food, but such a big stroke shocked these young warriors, the young people are very active in thinking, just now they are still admiring the big stroke, the next moment there is a smile to walk into the far clearing, someone took out a leather ball, and after a while, a ball game began.

Sports have always been valued in the Middle Ages, in addition to playing board and card games in the era of lack of entertainment, it is outdoor activities such as horseback riding and archery, climbing and walking, so many young people choose to practice swordsmanship, spearmanship is also a means to vent their energy, Echigo has developed too fast in recent years, and the food is better than before, and the young samurai are also a lot taller.

There are two crucial growth periods in this life, one is a few years after birth, from a small toddler to a three-foot Mengtong is an important growth period, and the second growth period is the adolescent period between the age of twelve or thirteen to sixteen or seventeen.

In the Middle Ages, agriculture was extremely underdeveloped, and the food level was still stuck in a thousand years ago, and you couldn't eat meat or condiments, and there was no taste other than miso soup called miso soup, so the Muromachi period was a fat shortage, and every time you went to the Ming Dynasty, the main fortress of the envoy ship was full.

So many people go to the Ming Dynasty to make money, and the second is to enjoy the exquisite food of the Ming Dynasty, and live a good life for a few days, even the monks are happy to go to the Ming Dynasty, come to the Jiangnan Buddhist holy land for a few years of study, and can also taste the exquisite vegetarian food.

Now Echigo can basically meet this need, Cangqiao full of Echigo people are also pursuing more enjoyment, the better the life, the higher the physical fitness of the younger generation, these young samurai are only fifteen or sixteen years old, the height is generally about one meter six, and occasionally you can see a big man close to one meter seven, in the early years, this body was cultivated as a fierce seedling.

The old injury on the leg of the long-tailed Jinghu is basically recovered, Nagata Deben deserves to be a generation of medical saints, this stubborn disease only took three years to be cured, walking has long been without bamboo canes, small steps and light jumps are no problem, but every winter still have to go to the hot spring to recuperate to consolidate the cure, for the long-tail Jinghu this is not a problem.

All the way to a small gap between the two rows of fences, a wooden door blocked the road on both sides, this is the pass There are more than a dozen samurai guarding here, the samurai guarding do not know Nagao Jinghu, but it does not prevent them from recognizing the identity of a group of young samurai who are clustered in the center, and they are only allowed to pass after a little interrogation.

After not walking far through the pass, I saw some wounded samurai walking with crutches, usually accompanied by some relatives, who seemed to be some wounded people doing rehabilitation, and Nagao Keitora hesitated for a moment and walked towards the group of wounded people.

As soon as he took a few steps, he saw that at the nearest distance, a middle-aged samurai with an injury to his right leg suddenly dropped his crutches and forced himself to stand up and walk. The two young men who served beside him were frightened by the middle-aged samurai. Hurriedly walked over to help. But he was recklessly pushed away by the middle-aged samurai, and as a result, he stumbled and fell after not taking a few steps.

Nagao Jinghu stopped to watch, and the accompanying samurai whispered: "That's the lord of Takayama Castle, the leader of Takayama Dingzhong, these two young people are his nephew Takayama Yukishige, and Takayama Jiro Saburo Anzhong." ”

The slightly older Gao Shan Xingzhong was more steady, and hurriedly picked up the injured Gao Shan Dingzhong, and persuaded in a low voice: "Uncle." Please don't! The doctor told you to cultivate more, and you will definitely be cured within three months, so it is still too reluctant to throw away the crutches now! Please trust your doctor's advice and don't do such a dangerous act again! ”

"Shut up! If I had listened to the quack doctor and cultivated for three months, would it be our Takayama family's turn to participate in this year's war? I don't believe in the quack's words, don't say three months, it's just that the more I can't wait, I have to recover as soon as possible! Gao Shan Dingzhong pushed away the two juniors as if he was obsessed, insisting on standing up and continuing, but this time the two young people did not dare to go far. Seeing him staggering, he hurriedly held on.

"Uncle! You're really in danger just now, so let's take a break and try again! The younger Takayama Yashige said anxiously: "If you fall and break the wound, the wound will be in trouble!" ”

Gao Shan Dingzhong pushed the two away again. One stumbled and almost fell, this time he gave up the useless struggle, his mouth still did not admit defeat: "Scars are the highest glory of a samurai, the mission of our samurai is to win meritorious service with their lives, if you are injured, you will be called dead and alive, why be a samurai, if you are afraid, go home and farm!" ”

Gao Shan Dingzhong's voice was very loud, attracting the surrounding injured family members to look sideways, and the two teenagers were blushing with shame, and hurriedly said: "We are really not afraid!" I will never disgrace the Takayama family! ”

"Young people still lack experience." Nagao Jinghu shook his head, seeing that it was getting late, he turned around and turned back, and halfway through, he saw a group of old and young people in black mourning clothes coming out of the camp tent in the distance, and after listening carefully, he learned that they were actually the widows of Nagano Kentada, his family, and the genealogy family.

Seeing the sad faces and mourning voices, the samurai who maintained order bowed their heads in silence, Nagano Kentada's wife died early, the eldest son Nagano Michiyasu is twenty-six years old this year, and the second son Nagano Hikokuro is twenty-three years old, the two of them stood aside with sad faces, and two small children followed the team, that was the five-year-old eldest grandson, and the two-year-old little granddaughter, and the youngest granddaughter still didn't know that her grandfather had died.

Changwei Jinghu said lightly: "Life and death parting is inevitable, this may be absolute calmness and sanity, but the family hates the calmness of accepting the helpless facts, and hates the sanity of sitting back and watching his companions die. ”

In early autumn, the flood gradually subsided, and the warm climate was still very suitable for waging war, and on the third day after the fall of Mitsuki Castle, the Hojo army launched a tentative attack, and in the next three days, 3,000, 5,000, and 10,000 troops were respectively invested in the vicinity of Takayama Castle and were repeatedly pursued by the Nagao Army, and the cunning Hojo Army turned around and retreated after two quarters of an hour at most.

After a few days, the ruins of the castle were cleaned up, and thousands of warriors gathered outside the city to clean up the earth that had been blocked with mud in the siege war, and the castle was hastily repaired and barely used as a garrison, and Hojo Yasu had just returned from his inspection of the castle camp and saw Matsuda Morihide leading several samurai waiting in the Ohiroma for a long time.

These people are of different ages, the eldest beard is gray and wrinkled, and he is afraid of sixty miles away, and the fluff on the beard of the youngest has not faded, seeing the Hojo clan Kang surrounded by a large group of people and horses, he looked a little helpless, Matsuda Morihide pointed to a few people and said: "Lord, these are the relatives of Kurakano and Shirakura, and they are willing to serve as the internal response of my Hojo family and open the way for my Hojo family." ”

Hojo Shiyasu's eyes lit up, and he said with a smile: "Very good, my family has a plan, you guys come here." ”

A few days later, the Hojo family announced that they would go to Ueno, and the 40,000-strong army set off in three directions, aiming directly at the 33,000 coalition troops on the edge of the Ueno border.

Nagao Jinghu's reaction was very fast, with the intelligence support of the Kira Shinobi Army, he obtained accurate information as soon as possible, and immediately summoned the retainers to issue an order to meet the attack, and the reaction of the Ueno coalition army was very slow, and Nagano was not strong enough to lack coercion and supervision, so it was necessary to hold a military discussion before the war to do a unified voice of persuasion.

Nagano Yemasa is also very anxious, the headquarters of the Nagano family has only 1,800 people, and if they don't convince the people of the country in case they are unwilling to send troops, or if they don't agree in their hearts, how can they delay and grind foreign workers, this military discussion was held for an hour before it was decided, and at this time the Hojo army had already entered the territory of Ueno, only a few kilometers away from Takayama Castle.

When the Ueno coalition army slowly walked out of the camp, the Hojo army narrowed the distance between the two sides to less than a kilometer, and as soon as they saw the 40,000 troops rushing over the mountains, the military spirit of the Ueno coalition army was shaken, and some people showed a weak look before the battle, and it was obvious that they were very reluctant to fight to the death with the Hojo army.

Knowing the current situation of the Ueno coalition army, Nagao Jinghu was angry and had nothing to say, last year's fight against the Hojo family was to drive ducks to the shelves, and this time the mentality of some people who beat Hojo has changed, always thinking that they are the masters of Ueno Country, and putting the Nagao family and the Hojo family on the same level, especially their expressions and actions made him sneer.

"They wavered, because they were unwilling to fight against the Hojo family, they felt that this war had nothing to do with the people of Ueno, this was not the dilemma of last year's lack of food, and the people of Ueno were no longer the powerful army that hated the enemy, and the Hojo army was not a villain who tried to take advantage of the fire to rob, maybe some people still wanted to drive away the family, and they could negotiate peace with the Hojo family!"

Nagao Keitora looks down on the people of Ueno Province, these self-interested people are always only concerned about their own interests, today they can use this reason to unite under the Nagao family to fight against the Hojo Army, and tomorrow they may change their appearance and join the banner of the Hojo family, serving as the vanguard of the counterattack on Echigo.

For example, the 3,000 party members of the people of the eastern Ueno country are simply too much to fight soy sauce, and they haven't moved much since the start of the war, and they set up their own camp at the southern foot of the high mountain, that is, near the high mountain city, and they are not together with the two armies at all.

Nagano Yemasa is not a righteous and bright samurai, he also has his own selfishness, so far he, the leader of the Minowa, has been trying to maintain his power, twelve sons-in-law as wings is not enough, he wants to win over the hearts of the entire Nishiueno, so his reaction will be so slow, and he has to persuade every soldier hard, which is completely different from the previous temperament. (To be continued......)