By the time Yoshida Shigemasa's army arrived at Takara Castle, it was already the second half of the night.

In the darkness, the towering Takara Castle was like an all-devouring monster, guarding the main road from the east to the southern Chikugo country, and at the same time it looked up at the east, as if it wanted to swallow the world into its belly. Yoshida Shigemasa said that in the land of the East, a large number of troops from the Otomo family and the Ouchi family were gathered. As the sun rises tomorrow morning, this newly built fortified city will be washed by a bloody rain.

In fact, Shigemasa Yoshida was a little anxious in his heart at this time. This anxiety is not because the enemy is very strong at the moment of the big war, but because he is worried that his team will not arrive at Takara Castle in time and delay the strategy of the lord and the government will delay tonight. You must know that the best time for tonight's night attack has already passed at this time. If he really wanted to attack the other party, the lord would have ordered the army to set off a long time ago.

It's just that this worry suddenly disappeared as Yoshida Shigemasa entered the courtyard where the lord was located. For in the courtyard he saw several people. It's just that the form of these people at this time is really a bit flattering.

The first thing that catches your eye is the deputy general of the family's fourth ashigaru standing team, Ueda Shinji. This guy is showing his breasts open at this time, looking like a Chinese Maitreya Buddha. And Ueda Shinji's side, who is also the deputy general of the first ashigaru standing team, Akaike Nagahito, is also dressed in the same way. It is estimated that these two people can't stand the sudden hot and humid weather after a heavy rain.

Comparatively speaking, the form of the first standing ashigaru deputy general Asakura Munetsu near the two of Akaike Nagashi and the deputy general of the sixth standing ashigaru team, Kobun Shigetada, is much more normal. At least they were still in armor at this time, and they looked ready to go into battle at any time. It's just that the only thing that surprised Shigemasa Yoshida was that it seemed that everyone's mood was more relaxed at this time. There is no current feeling of the enemy at all. There was no sign of imminent departure. See such a scene. The original anxiety in Shigemasa Yoshida's heart finally disappeared.

"Yoshida-sama, you're finally here! The Lord's justice is in it. After seeing Yoshida Shigemasa hurriedly walking into the courtyard, Tao Nakamoto, the deputy general of the 1st Standing Cavalry Brigade, who was resting near the gate of the courtyard, immediately walked over and whispered.

"Smack!"

Before Shigemasa Yoshida could reply, Nakamoto Tao suddenly slapped himself on the left side of his face. Just when Yoshida Shigemasa felt abrupt, he saw that Tanao Nakamoto complained:

"Damn mosquitoes! It's been biting all night!"

Tian O Nakamoto's words immediately aroused Yoshida Shigemasa's deep feelings. Mosquitoes are quite rampant in the summer. After a midnight journey tonight, they were actually infested with mosquitoes along the way. When Yoshida Shigemasa's team finally arrived at Takara Castle, almost everyone had already left a few red envelopes that had been bitten by mosquitoes. The only thing I feel fortunate about is. Since the roads were all well-built marching roads mixed with inferior cement, at least they had less trouble being infested by vampire locusts.

"The lord has already ordered people to prepare wormwood for each team's station, and I have seen several maids preparing to light the fire outside the door below, as long as a few handfuls of wormwood are lit, there will naturally be fewer mosquitoes in the yard." Just as Tanao Nakamoto was still complaining, a familiar voice sounded at the gate of the courtyard. Shigemasa Yoshida immediately turned around and saw that it was Takeyoshi Murakami, the chief general of the third standing team of the naval army responsible for guarding Orange Bay, Amakusa Beach and Yatsushiro Sea. Looking at the tiredness on his face, he knew that he had just arrived at Gaoliang City overnight like himself. Takeshi Murakami, who was so far away, also rushed back, much to Yoshida's surprise. I couldn't help but think in my heart, it seems that the lord must have made a big move next. The thought that there would soon be a hearty battle made his mood immediately surge. It was as if it had seeped out of the battlefield at this time. It's just that what he didn't notice was that he was so excited. Sweat flowed out of his body like water.

After a short exchange of greetings with everyone in the courtyard, Yoshida Shigemasa and Murakami Takeyoshi hurriedly entered Masayoshi's meeting hall. At this time, a pre-war evaluation meeting was being held in the council hall.

"Shigemasa and Bukit are also here. Find a place to sit. After seeing Shigemasa Yoshida and Takeyoshi Murakami, Masarashi nodded and said to the two.

The two immediately saluted Zhengliang, and then sat down on the last seat of the retainers in the council hall. Since the lowest status of all of you here is also the main general of a team in the family, except for a few family elders and military advisors, the rest of the people don't need to pay too much attention to the position of the seats. Moreover, according to the habit of the lord and the good government, the seats for such a pre-war evaluation meeting are generally on a first-come, first-served basis.

After taking his seat, Yoshida Shigemasa looked around the meeting hall for a while, and found that almost all the main ministers of the family were present, except for those who had important garrison tasks. Sitting near the lord Masara were military advisors Kakukuma Ishimune, Yamamoto Kansuke, Shinnosuke Akabane, and Heiji Togo, the old family. Slightly second, there is the fourth standing ashigaru team leader, as the family's general Kinoshita Masanao. And the side of the family is close to the main generals, and at the same time, Kato Duanzo, who is the commander of the territorial herald team, is sitting on the side of Kinoshita Masanao. There is also the chief general of the first standing cavalry team, and the general Isono Yuanchang, who is also a member of the family, sits on the left side of Kinoshita Masanao.

The most surprising thing for Yoshida Shigemasa was that even Kai Jinnao, Takasaka Masanobu, and Zenkane, who were supposed to be far away in Higo Province, were also present. As the commander of the newly established 7th Ashigaru Brigade in the territory, along with Takasaka Masanobu as his lieutenant, Kai Jinnao has the important task of guarding the movements of the Shimazu family in the south and the Sagara family in the east. And the first standing ashigaru team under the command of Tankan has the important task of ensuring the stability of the territory of Higo Province that has just been obtained.

Such an important general has come here at this time, and it can be seen that this time the lord of his family is in the spirit of fighting to the death with the Otomo family and the Ouchi family in the next alliance. As for the reason why these people came to Gaoliang City before him from such a long distance, he quickly figured it out. It's nothing more than by water. Although the family has made great efforts to build the marching road, in general, it is much faster to travel by water than by land with two feet, if the wind is downwind and the same distance. Most importantly, it can save the soldier's physical strength.

"My lord, why don't you launch a sneak attack right away? Your Majesty thinks that this is the right time to launch a sneak attack on the enemy! "Obviously, the evaluation has been held for a while, and the evaluation meeting has already entered the main topic at this time, so Yoshida Shigemasa quickly heard Kinoshita's question. This is also where Yoshida Shigemasa was puzzled, so he immediately listened attentively.

After hearing Kinoshita's question, Kansuke Yamamoto and Shinnosuke Akabane, who were sitting on the left side of Masara's head, looked at each other thoughtfully, and then suddenly smiled at each other, but at the end of the day, they continued to sit upright, looking ready to listen to the explanation of the lord Masayo.

In fact, after hearing Kinoshita Masanao's doubts, combined with a series of arrangements for the lord Masahiro tonight, Yamamoto Kansuke and the two have their initial thoughts about Kinoshita Masanao's doubts. Of course, out of the way of being a minister, at this time, they all chose to remain silent. Retainers who are too smart and don't know how to restrain themselves will not live long, and at such a moment, it is the time when the wisdom and strategy of the lord can be demonstrated again, which is conducive to increasing the majesty and weight of their lord in the hearts of all the retainers, and they naturally know how to make trade-offs.

And Masaro also instantly captured the small movements of Kansuke Yamamoto and the two below, and at the same time, he also observed the Kakuma Ishizong on the right side a little. I saw that Kakuma Shizong also had his eyes slightly closed, and he looked like an old monk sitting still. Seeing the performance of these important ministers in the family, Zhengliang also instantly understood the intention in their hearts. Masato is not a pedantic person either, so he immediately nodded to a few people secretly to show their intentions (this is not only to express gratitude to these retainers to show their courtship, but also to show the extraordinary wisdom of Masato himself, to warn these wise ministers, in case they despise the master of the family because of their outstanding strategy, and thus generate unnecessary ideas), and then officially began to explain the final intention of all arrangements tonight. (To be continued......)