On the night of the seventh day of the third month of the second year of Yonglu.

At this time, Masarashi was standing in front of the gate of the main military tent of the ruler of Mt. Shakuma in the Ukaibe Prefecture of Bungo Province, staring at the lights of the Saeki family's Umemurai Castle in the distance, and fell into deep thought.

The moon had not yet come out, and the sky was full of stars. From time to time came the neighing of war horses from the darkness. Masarashi stood next to Kansuke Yamamoto and Yoshioka Nagamasa, and for some reason, they were silent.

Yoshida Shigemasa, who had been waiting in the courtyard, said at this time: "My lord, let's come to the tent." Masato didn't answer, only hummed. Shigemasa Yoshida sat at the head of Akuta and Tomohisa Oishi, and they were also silent.

"Unreasonable. It's obvious that they can't hold on anymore, and they are still stubbornly resisting? Shigemasa Yoshida muttered to himself. But no one answered. After making the decision to siege the city, Masahiro still sent an envoy to persuade Xinna Zhongyuan and others in Meimuli City to surrender, but the result was naturally that he refused to surrender.

At this moment, in the city of Meimuli, it was a different scene.

"I want to come here and not stay here;

Like dew to a blade of grass, the shadow of the moon hangs upside down in the water and is fleeting;

Tell those who dance the flowers and make the moon, and there will be impermanence at the front end of the glory, and there will be the temptation of impermanence;

Before the bright moon in the south building, there were promising clouds hidden;

Fifty years of life;

Compared with the dwellers of the heavens, it is like a dream;

Enjoy it for a lifetime;

Is there such a thing as immortality? ”

In the courtyard, a middle-aged monk is singing "Dunsheng" with a beat. This famous poem, "Konya Dance", which became known to later generations because of Oda Nobunaga, was actually widely circulated throughout the Warring States period and was loved by many artists and literati. But. At this time, this monk was performing for the two people in front of him, Xinna Zhongyuan and Saeki Zhenzhong. It's not a matter of personal preference.

This middle-aged monk is the presiding officer of the temple on the mountain opposite the city of Mumu. When the army of the Luo family came, he fled with the monks into the Meimu City ceremony. In fact, secretly, this monk also has an unknown identity. That is the uncle of the late Otomo family governor Otomo Yoshijin (legal name Sorin).

He was originally the abbot of a temple near the Otomo family's Bungo Imperial Mansion (now Gibu Castle), but when the Otomo family was destroyed by the Luo family and most of the Bungo Kingdom was about to fall into the hands of the Luo family, he immediately fled to the Saeki family's territory with several members of the tribe who were also practicing in the temple, and eventually settled in the temple outside the castle of Umemurai.

Originally, because of this, he escaped in the temple and shrine power purge operation carried out shortly after the destruction of the Luo family and the Otomo family. He's been lucky. It's just that as a member of the Otomo family, he has not given up his belief in avenging the Otomo family. After settling in the temple outside the city, he incited his followers and monks more than once to help the Saeki family resist the invasion of the Luo family, until the villagers near the temple were either relocated by the Saeki family or plundered by the Luo family. As for why his temple has not been burned down by the forces of the Luo family who came to harass him, in the eyes of the middle-aged monk, it is estimated that it is because the Luo family does not want to collide with the local temple and shrine forces for the time being before the Saeki family is settled, so as to add more enemies to the Luo family.

It's just that the more the Luo family doesn't want this, the more the middle-aged monk wants this, and only in this way can he hit the Luo family as much as possible (but he doesn't know. The one he did has always been under the surveillance of the Luo family's hidden under the surveillance of the local intelligence cabinet detectives, and one qiē about him. Masahiro is also clear, but Masahiro completely treats this as a petty fight. Because according to the intelligence cabinet's investigation, Masarashi knew that the power of the temples and shrines in the Saeki family's territory was really limited, so even if these forces combined, they would not have any impact on the Luo family). During this time, the middle-aged monk has been in constant contact with all the nearby temples and shrines, hoping to draw them together into an alliance against the Luo family. And before his plan was successfully implemented, the army of more than 20,000 people of the Luo family rushed in.

This time in the face of the full-scale invasion of the Luo family, the middle-aged monk knew that the Luo family was really for the Saeki family, and he really couldn't believe that the Luo family would turn a blind eye to his temple as before, so in the case of a ghost in his heart, in the face of the menacing army of the Luo family, he naturally quickly abandoned the temple and fled into Meimuli City.

"It looks like the other side is going to attack tomorrow, two adults." After finishing the chanting, the middle-aged monk suddenly spoke. Previously, he had learned from some warriors in the city that the Luo family's envoy had come to persuade him to surrender today, and he knew the final surrender deadline given by the Luo family, so he would ask this question now.

"Master, if you say that life is only fifty years, it is enough in the future." A smile appeared on Saeki Zhenzhong's face after hearing this, "I have no regrets in my next life, I always act according to my own will, and I have never lost my temper. ”

"The Poor Monk Understands ......"

"Since you understand, you should also understand your current feelings. There will be no surrender under the order. ”

"So...... Don't you have to fight anymore? After a long period of contact, the middle-aged monk who knew Saeki Zhenzhong's character seemed to be deliberately trying to arouse Saeki Zhenzhong's courage to resist, so he asked deliberately.

"Hahaha...... Saeki Zhenzhong laughed in the sky, "fight again?" Master, in the next is always fighting. It's just that this time you need to pick up the spear and wield the sword yourself. With that, he laughed out loud again. Seeing this, the fierce general of the Shimazu family, Shinna Tadamoto, also admired the veteran of the Saeki family.

In this way, in the face of the refusal to surrender in the city of Meimuli, on March 8, the second year of Yonglu, Zhengliang personally led the army to the middle of the city of Meimuli.

On the side of Ume Rite Castle, on the arrow turf of the pill outside the city, the Shimazu family Shinna Tadamoto and the Saeki family Saeki Zhenzhong and others all looked down on the Luo army that was being deployed under the city.

Above the city, the wind was fierce, and the clothes of the people were bulging. Looking down from the top of the city, the mountain road below the city is steep and steep, and it is not an exaggeration to describe the hardships and dangers of Meimuli City with the pool of golden soup.

At this moment, Zhengliang was holding a one-eyed thousand lili tube, looking at Mei Muli City from afar, and couldn't help but praise in his heart: "What a strong city!" "With such a strong city, it's no wonder that the other party is afraid to hide inside and is unwilling to surrender, but today I am afraid that you will be disappointed.

"Report to the lord, the supplies have arrived." At this moment, the logistics team Ashigaru General Honda Toshi came to report.

"Good!" Hearing this, Zhengliang put down the Nanban clairvoyance in his hand, nodded and praised, and then he turned his head again and said to Andr, the general of the Nanban Iron Artillery Department on the other side, "Andr, it's up to you next." ”

"Yes, my lord!" Receiving the order, Ander immediately bowed down to Masaliang, and then immediately trotted to the side of the iron cannon team and the large barrel team led by him. At the same time, after Honda Toshimasa saluted Masayo again, he also followed Ander.

Soon, under the command of Toshimasa Honda, a team of pack carts operated by the logistics team appeared in front of everyone.

After stopping at the place designated by Ander, under the command of Toshimasa Honda, the logistics team lifted the thatch on the pack cart and began to carry the five bronze objects on it one by one. These bronze things are the main battle weapons of the Luo family's big cylinder team, the big tube!

After waiting for the five large cylinders to completely land, Ander waved the horsewhip in his hand and commanded his subordinates to begin to arrange the large cylinder position. Under the various fingers of Andel, the peasants and soldiers piled up bags of freshly filled earthen bags in less than a hundred places near the city of Memuli. In the rear, dozens of peasants and soldiers are trying to carry the large cylinders one by one here, placing the large cylinders in the accurate firing position.

In front of the earthen bag, on the side of the road, under the order of Masayo, the troops of Yoshida Shigemasa, Akuta, Oishi Tomohisa and others were in full array, guarding against the military momentum in the city of Mei Muli Castle rushing out of the city to destroy the large cylinder position built by the Luo family.

In the face of a series of strange actions of the Luo family outside the city, there were dense warriors and warriors guarding the city of Meimuli City standing at the head of Meimuli City, and they didn't seem to know why, so they actually rushed to watch. And when the main general of the Shimazu family's army, Shinna Tadayuan, carefully saw the big tube that the Luo family was manipulating, his face immediately changed greatly.

The Saeki family and most of the Shimazu family's samurai ashigaru didn't know what this barrel was, but he knew about it when he had followed Shimazu Takahisa to visit the Ming pirate ships off the coast of Satsuma Province. He had even seen with his own eyes the Ming pirate ship firing a large cylinder on board. He really didn't expect that the Luo family would bring such a powerful weapon as the big tube, and they still brought so many statues. It's no wonder that the Luo family has been practicing their military posture at the foot of the mountain without fear before, it turns out that the other party has long had a great grasp of the capture of the city.

For a while, Xinna Zhongyuan's heart was full of bitterness. It's just that at this time, you must not retreat, and you can't even order your subordinates to retreat and dodge, otherwise when the morale of the other party is like a rainbow, and your own defenders have long been frightened by the power of the Luo family's daily training army outside the city during this time, it is very likely that the defenders in the city will collapse.

Just when Xinna Zhongyuan was struggling with whether to order his subordinates to hide, a smile immediately appeared on the face of Ander under the city after determining that the big tube position had been constructed. So he immediately compared his thumb, opened and closed his two eyes, looked left and right for a while, and finally made a qiē gesture to the five big barrels of money standing under the hand, and then waved his hand and said domineeringly: "Put the cannon on me!" ”

Soon, the five large cylinders were finally placed according to Ander's request. Under the illumination of the sun, the muzzle of the cannon of the big barrel was cold and flowing, and the five large cylinders opened their bloody mouths one by one, facing the head of Meimuli City.

"Fill the shell!"

"Done!" (To be continued......)