In late June of the thirteenth year of Astronomy, after nearly half a year of covert armament, Otomo Yoshikan finally led a large army from the Funachikan and came to Chikugo.

The vanguard army consisted of 500 men from Shiga and 500 men from Okami Zhenmasa, for a total of 1,000 men. The Shiga family has always been a vassal of the Otomo family, and they are loyal to the Otomo family, and Shiga is also a battle-hardened general as the general of the unified army, so Otomo Yoshikan is quite at ease with the forward army.

As for the Great God Family, it's a bit of a tragedy. In the early days when Otomo Yoshikan became the governor of the Otomo family, the Ojin family was still quite bullish, but under a series of suppressions by Otomo Yoshikan, now the family has declined into a small wealthy family after Fenghou, and this time as the vanguard army was also forcibly assigned to them by Otomo Yoshikan. It is estimated that he is also here to make cannon fodder.

the second team is a thousand people with Saeki Yukan as the general; The third team was 2,000 people with Irita as the general; The fourth team was 4,000 men with Yoshioka Changzeng as a general; The fifth team is Otomo Yoshikan's main team, 6,000 people. There were about 3,000 grain troops. The total number is 17,000. Combined with the presence of some wealthy armies along the Chikugo Road, the final number is expected to be about 18,000. In order to declare the prestige of the army, Otomo Yoshikan also deliberately let people publicize it everywhere, insisting that the number of the army was 50,000.

This number is already very large. Even in the future, when the Imagawa family was in Kamiraku, they only assembled a team of about 25,000 people. At this time, Oda Nobuhide had only 5,000 men at most, Uesugi Kenshin had about 8,000, Takeda Shingen had about 12,000, and Hojo Shiyasu was about 10,000.

At this time, Kyushu was called the "land of bitter cold", and in the final analysis, it was a poor country. But it is precisely because of this environment. It has created a fierce folk style of ordinary people. In many parts of the state. The lord has to calculate the financial capacity of his family to fight a war. And in Kyushu, often the lord can pull a large group of men, women, and children into battle.

Of course, although the general public is strong, due to the lack of cultural edification and competitive environment like this state, there are also many fewer senior talents than this state.

Due to the large number of troops and the fact that the journey from the Bungo Mansion to Chikugo was not short, the army stopped and stopped all the way, and finally stepped into Chikugo in early July.

At this time. It's already full summer. The weather became hotter, and most of the time there was no wind, and the heavy, warm air seemed to evaporate from underground.

After entering Chikugo, even in the area controlled by the Otomo family, Otomo Yoshikan's march was extremely cautious, and when he passed through a village, he always sent someone to find out the reaction of the local people, and only continued when there was no abnormality. The reason is that he knows that this time his opponent is a Hizen Eagle who is known for his bravery and resourcefulness.

July 10 of the 13th year of astronomy (1544). Otomo Yoshikan's main camp finally came to Myoken Castle, the residence of the Hoshino family in Chikugo. And the striker of the Otomo family passed through the bamboo castle of the Kusano family the day before. They are about to arrive at the Chikugo border area that is currently under the control of the Otomo family.

At this time, Otomo Yoshijian was wearing the armor of Shujiang brocade and a white battle uniform. The sword is two feet six inches long, and it is a katana he has always loved. This sword seemed to bring him luck, so he always wore it every time he went on an expedition.

Sitting in the military tent on the bank of the Chikugo River, Otomo Yoshikan kept wiping the sweat dripping while looking at the map and the troop equipment on the map. On either side of him in front of him were the retainers led by the military advisor Usuki Jiansu.

"My lord, Lord Shiga, the head of the family, has escorted back the two injured detectives of the family, and the two detectives are waiting outside the big tent to be summoned." At this time, the samurai came in to report.

"Let them in." Otomo Yoshikan immediately said.

"The villain meets the adult." Soon the two injured Honzan were helped in and saluted Otomo Yoshikan. These two people are the detectives who broke through from the border of the Luo family and reported the news.

"You've worked hard, are you two left? What about the others? At this time, Otomo Yoshikan also recognized that these two people were the detectives he personally sent to infiltrate the Luo family's territory to investigate the intelligence, so he immediately asked.

"Your Excellency, he ...... They have done their duty to their adults. The detective who led him replied a little choked.

"Sure enough, you are worthy of being a warrior of your own family, and you will be rewarded with a stone of miscellaneous grain for each of the families who went to the Luo family this time, and as for the two of you, you will be promoted to the head of the group after recovering from your injuries." Otomo Yoshikan immediately ordered. Such a morale-boosting opportunity, he naturally will not let it go.

"Thank you, sir!" When the two detectives heard this, they immediately said gratefully.

"Okay, tell me about the situation of the Luo family at this time." Otomo Yoshikan asked the question he was most concerned about.

"I would like to inform your lordship that the Luo family is preparing to set up a main formation between Mt. Kora and Chikugo River, relying on the narrow terrain of this place to block the advance of the family." The detective immediately reported it.

"Oh?" Otomo immediately picked up the map under his feet and looked at it in detail. The military advisor on the side also approached and checked.

"My lord, if your subordinates expect it to be true, the Luo family will inevitably choose this place to set up a formation. This place is indeed the narrowest place between Mt. Kora and Chikugo River, and besides, the opposite bank of this place also happens to be the Asahiyama Castle of the Luo family, and the main camp of the Luo family happens to support each other with the opposite bank to resist the attack of the main family. After a moment's silence, Usuki Kansu pointed to a place called Kurume and said.

"If the Luo family intercepts here, the family will have to attack one way. Can the Tojikenren (i.e., Tachibana Michiyuki) on the north bank of the Chikugo River send troops to break through from the north bank? After listening to Usuki's analysis, Otomo Yoshikan also said immediately. Now he regretted not building a ship on the upper reaches of the Chikugo River, and if he did, he would attack the Luo family by land and water at the same time.

"My lord, I'm afraid this plan is not appropriate, the defenders of the other party's Asahiyama City will definitely do their best to block it." Utari Jiansu said euphemistically.

"In this case, this family can only forcibly assault from Mount Gaoliang this time." Otomo Yoshikan had no choice but to say.

"When you came back, had the other party already set up the formation?" At this time, Usuki Jiansu also asked about the detective who returned from the Luo family's territory.

"Report to my lord, when the villain broke through from the border, he had already heard that the Luo family had set up a large array at the foot of Gaoliang Mountain. When I came back, I heard that the army of my family was coming, and the other party also sent a team of forward troops into the territory of my family......"

"Bastard, is that guy from the Grass Field Townsman eating dry rice? Actually let the other party's army break through the border and enter their own territory? Before the investigation was completed, Otomo Yoshikan was furious.

Seeing that Otomo Yoshikan was furious, all the retainers in the big tent were silent.

"What about the townspeople of Kusano? Why haven't you come to the audience yet? Otomo Yoshikan continued to ask.

"Ahem. Lord, you told him to go back to the City of Bamboo to prepare for the camp of the army today. Utari reminded in a low voice.

"Humph!" Seeing that he couldn't find the Kusano townsman for a while, Otomo Yoshikan had no choice but to snort coldly and give up.

Just when Otomo Yoshikan was angry in this camp, Shiga Jinmori and Okami Town, who had already crossed the Bamboo Castle of the Kusono family and were about to reach the border, had just received information that the forward army of the Luo family had appeared in front of them.

"Slowly." Shiga was not a reckless person, so he decided immediately. As a striker, he had to find out what was going on in the border area, so he was going to see what was going on.

However, after passing through two villages in a row, he did not find anything unusual. The Kusano clan leaders in the villages on both sides of the road were only hiding in their houses, but it was only because of the presence of their troops that caused them to panic. Apparently there is no sign of the enemy!

"Report! Enemy troops appeared outside the woods ahead. Just when Shiga was in doubt, Ashigaru came to report. Shiga immediately rode to the front of the group. Sure enough, I saw that in the clearing next to a bend in the woods at the front of the main road, a group of Luo family troops were lined up there. The leader is Kinoshita Masanao, who is known as the "gun ghost" of the Luo family. The other party had apparently been waiting for them there for a long time.

"Array! Array! "Don't scold the detective until he discovered the enemy, Shiga personally called out to his soldiers to immediately set up a battle against the enemy.

"Bang, bang, bang......"

At this moment, from the woods on the side of Mt. Kora, the main road, suddenly there was a loud noise.

"Huh? What happened? (To be continued......)