Unlike the simple violence of the war after the show of strength of Edo Castle, the battle outside Kyoto Castle was in a state of anxiety from the beginning.

Both the defenders inside the castle and the large army outside the castle tried to break through Edo Castle, and both sides were separated by a wall, and in the end, the large army outside the castle failed to break through Kyoto, and the defenders inside the castle were unable to force the large army outside the castle to retreat.

The anxiety of the war made the people inside and outside the city look a little anxious, especially the army attacking outside the city, because Kinoshita Hideyoshi had already lost his voice, so that the army that originally belonged to Kinoshita Hideyoshi was already a little weak.

At this moment, the long-term inability to attack Kyoto made the morale of the army even more unstable, and many soldiers began to question the war, feeling that attacking Kyoto was tantamount to starting a war against the emperor, which betrayed the traditional beliefs of Fuso Shinto.

Under the breeding of this kind of thinking, the efficiency of the siege of the army outside the city has decreased significantly, and many soldiers have begun to become war-weary, whether it is calling for battle or besieging the city, they all seem to be weak, morale is getting lower and lower, and even at night there will be soldiers quietly fleeing.

Faced with this situation, several of Kinoshita Hideyoshi's retainers had to gather together and start discussing what to do next.

Zhongchen Kazuzu looked at the demoralized crowd, his expression became solemn and stern, and he asked in a deep voice: "What's wrong with you? Have you forgotten the general's instructions before leaving? What are we working so hard in the south for?"

Dissatisfied with the low morale and the restless atmosphere in the army, Nakatomi Kamazu summoned all his retainers and reprimanded them directly in person.

In the face of the rebuke of the middle minister, although those retainers felt very aggrieved, they still lowered their heads one by one and did not refute anything.

Seeing that no one contradicted him, Nakatomi Kamazu continued, "Now, we have arrived here. The city of Kyoto is right in front of our eyes, do you remember our ideals when we were in the south? We must sweep away the traitors around His Majesty the Emperor, and let His Majesty return to the throne. ”

"And Kinoshita Hideyoshi will become the new general of the expedition, this is the goal of our joint efforts, but now? Look at you one by one, just in the face of a little setback, are you going to choose to retreat? Are you still a retainer of the Kinoshita family?"

After Nakatomi Kazuku's unceremonious reprimand, he thought that the retainer finally couldn't help but stand up and say: "Lord Nakatomi, it's not that we want to give up the attack, but you have seen the current situation. Even if we want to take Kyoto, we don't have enough troops. ”

"That is, what's more, now that the general's life and death are uncertain, the army lacks the general as the backbone, Kyoto has not been able to be attacked for a long time, and the soldiers are war-weary, and it is normal for morale to be low. ”

Hearing the words of the two generals, Zhongchen Kamazu's expression suddenly became gloomy. He coldly glanced at everyone and said, "What do you say, do you think I am not commanding properly?"

"Don't dare, in fact, my lord, there is no problem with your command, and there are heavy troops stationed in Kyoto now. I'm afraid it's going to be very difficult for us to break through, so I think instead of wasting time here, we might as well change our strategy?

"No, I can't. Nakazu Kamazu unceremoniously reprimanded, "I encountered a little difficulty." You're just thinking about backing down, are you still the head of the Kinoshita family?"

Immediately afterwards, the minister Kamazu asked everyone rhetorically: "Do you think that with the current situation. Do we have a chance to move on to other places?"

In the eyes of everyone, attacking other places at such a time, or dividing their troops to annex the surrounding towns, was definitely an excellent opportunity to contain the forces of Kyoto.

Zhongchen Kamazu naturally knew everyone's thoughts, and couldn't help but sneer and said: "Hmph, do you think that if we attack the surrounding towns, we will be able to win this war?

Zhongchen's words suddenly sobered everyone up, and everyone quickly understood the meaning of Zhongchen's words, and also knew that they really had no way out.

Kinoshita Hideyoshi's army attacked Kyoto under the slogan of the Tokugawa shogun, who was going to control the emperor, and now that Tokugawa Iehiko was holding Kyoto, if they turned to attack other places, then they would no longer have any advantage, and Tokugawa Iehiko might even find an excuse to attack them.

When the time comes, Tokugawa Ihiko only needs to tell the world that they are a group of rebellious ministers and thieves who are vainly trying to conquer the land that divides Fuso, then they will lose a qiē advantage.

Thinking of this, everyone suddenly felt a little afraid, and their admiration for Zhongchen's sickle foot was even stronger, and the original disdain for Zhongchen's sickle foot suddenly disappeared without a trace.

Kato Kiyomasa, as the first retainer under Kinoshita Hideyoshi, stood up and asked Nakatomi Kamazuku: "Lord Nakatomi, what should we do now?" It seems that we are really a little difficult to ride a tiger, if we can't conquer Kyoto, I'm afraid the morale of the army will only be even lower. ”

Zhongchen Kazuzu lowered his head and muttered for a moment, and said: "The current situation is indeed very unfavorable for us, but we are by no means completely without opportunities. ”

Speaking of this, Zhongchen Kamazu paused, lowered his voice and said to everyone: "Presumably you all know those envoys of the Tang Empire in Middle-earth that General Kinoshita dismissed before, right?"

Hearing this, all the retainers immediately nodded, indicating that they all knew about Kinoshita Hideyoshi's squeezing out of the envoy of the Tang Empire, in fact, Kato Kiyomasa and other close ministers of Kinoshita Hideyoshi knew that Kinoshita Hideyoshi was able to gain a firm foothold in the south, relying on the help of the envoy of the Tang Empire.

Seeing that everyone nodded in understanding, Zhongchen Kazu continued: "The current situation is already very unfavorable to us, I think we can ask for help from the envoy of the Tang Empire." ”

"What?" Kato Kiyomasa exclaimed when he heard this, "Your Excellency, do you mean that we are going to ask for help from outsiders?

As soon as Kato Kiyomasa's words fell, another close minister of Kinoshita Hideyoshi also spoke: "Yes, Lord Zhongchen, I heard that the Tang Empire is very powerful and has ambitions to annex neighboring countries, if we rashly ask the envoy of the Tang Empire for help, I am afraid that they will find a chance to enter Fuso, right?"

"Hahaha, it's ridiculous, it's ridiculous. I can't imagine that little Fusang, do you actually think that I, Datang, will care about you here?

Just when several Kinoshita Hideyoshi retainers stood up to oppose it, a voice suddenly interrupted their discussion, and then everyone followed the sound and saw Zhuge Mo slowly walking into the camp, swaggering and arrogant, without paying any attention to anyone present.

Faced with no one in Zhuge Mo's eyes, everyone present was very angry, and Kato Kiyomasa couldn't help but shout angrily: "Who are you? You're looking for death. ”

Seeing Kato Kiyomasa angrily scolding the other party, Zhongchen Kazuzu hurriedly wanted to stop it, but before Zhongchen Kamazu could speak, Zhuge Mo had already spoken first: "Hahaha, I'm looking for death? I think you don't even know how to write death, right? What do you think I'm here for?"

Zhongchen Kamazu hurriedly stepped forward and took Zhuge Mo's words and said, "Hehe, Mr. Zhuge Zhu, are you here to help us conquer Kyoto City?"

Zhuge Mo looked at Zhongchen and sickle, although the other party's face was full of flattery. But Zhuge Mo was able to clear the burning ambition that he saw from the bottom of his eyes.

It can be seen at a glance that Nakatomi Kamazu actually wants to use himself to leave Kinoshita Hideyoshi with the control of the army in his own hands, and then he can inherit Kinoshita Hideyoshi's position and power.

Zhuge Mo who saw this. Suddenly felt a little interested in Nakatomi Kamazu, and secretly thought in his heart, I'm afraid that Kinoshita Hideyoshi was arranged by Pei Yan to sneak attack the shrine, and the Nakatomi Kamazu in front of him should know. And may have instigated Kinoshita Hideyoshi, who was originally a little hesitant, behind his back.

As a result, Kinoshita Hideyoshi finally went, and now he is gone, and the army under his command naturally falls into the hands of Nakatomi Kamazu.

For such ambitious people. Zhuge Mo has always been very appreciative, and in Zhuge Mo's view, the more ambitious a person is, the easier it is to be accused.

At this moment, Zhuge Mo couldn't help but admire in his heart: Pei Yan is really a treacherous and cunning guy, he actually counted everything into account, deliberately got rid of Kinoshita Hideyoshi, who was not easy to control, by the hand of Lucius, and then let the Zhongchen Kamazu, who was easy to control, take charge of the army.

Zhuge Mo was not in a hurry, his eyes swept over the faces of everyone present, and he soon found that except for Kato Kiyomasa and a few Kinoshita Hideyoshi close ministers, the others present were not hostile to his appearance.

It can be seen that Nakatomi Kamazu has begun to gradually control the army left by Kinoshita Hideyoshi, although there are still a few retainers who finally Kinoshita Hideyoshi are there, but I believe that if Nakatomi Kamazu is given some more time, he will definitely get rid of these few guys who are in the way and take charge of the army left by Kinoshita Hideyoshi alone.

Zhongchen Kazuzu was looked at by Zhuge Mo, and gradually felt a little unnatural, feeling like he had been seen through by Zhuge Mo.

Hurriedly stepped forward with a smile and said, "Hehe, Mr. Zhuge , with your joining, I believe we will be able to conquer Kyoto City easily." ”

Hearing that Zhongchen was wearing a high hat for himself, Zhuge Mo smiled and bowed in response: "Zhongchen Jun is not welcome, in fact, I am indeed here to help you attack the city, but it seems that your morale is low, and you no longer plan to attack, and you want to withdraw your troops, right?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this, and Zhongchen Kazuzu quickly came to his senses and said with a smile: "Hahaha, Mr. Zhuge is really joking, how can we withdraw innocently?"

When Zhuge Mo heard this, he said: "Oh, since you have no intention of retreating, then why is the morale of your army so low? Is it just because you have not conquered Kyoto? I am afraid this cannot be used as an excuse? It seems that you have a problem commanding the troops one by one. ”

"Old man, are you here just to defeat us? Hmph, you said that we have a problem with commanding the army, and you will know how to command the army to attack the city? Don't talk nonsense here. ”

Zhuge Mo's words angered Kato Kiyomasa and others, they were originally resistant to Zhuge Mo's appearance, but now they were despised by Zhuge Mo in public, naturally they all felt extremely angry, and suddenly they all stared at Zhuge Mo fiercely, and the atmosphere in the camp instantly became tense. (To be continued......)