Soon after Yamaguchi Chokyo left, Shinshihiro Shinda, the garrison of Ueno Castle, came to the castle tower.

Seeing that Shinda Nobushiro had arrived, Tsugawa Soji hurriedly beckoned him to sit down, and then said, "Shinshi, how is the recent expansion of the Ueno Castle garrison Ashigaru?" ”

"According to the lord's wishes, the garrison of Ueno Castle has increased from 400 to 900 people, and 8 squadrons of ashigaru and 2 squadrons of horseback have been added." Xin Tian Nobu replied slowly, "The recruited candidates are all recruited from Kawabe County, Yuri County and other places, after months of training, although they have not yet formed any combat effectiveness, but after the end of this winter, they should be able to fight." ”

Since the last battle of Takekawa and the main camp was almost defeated by the southern family, Tsugawa Soji is ready to expand his banner and the garrison of Ueno Castle.

The Banner is naturally the most personal "bodyguard", but the selection of personnel is naturally very strict, and the members of the Banner are more cultivated as future retainers of the Tsugawa family, so the quality of the members is also very important. Most of them were made up of the sons of the retainers and some low-ranking samurai.

As for the garrison of Ueno Castle, it usually acts as the "castle management brigade" of Ueno Castle, but in wartime, if Tsugawa Soji personally leads the troops into battle, it will naturally become the guard of the main camp. Therefore, in order to avoid the recurrence of the Battle of Takekawa, Tsugawa Soji added eight more squadrons to the garrison of Ueno Castle, and even set up two new squadrons of cavalry teams.

Since the defeat of the Nanbu family and the Spo family, the high-quality horse farms in Iwate County, Kita County and other places have been occupied by Tsugawa Soji, and the Tsugawa family is now very abundant, not to mention that there is no shortage of war horse resources.

In the Ou region, war horses can be called a luxury resource!

Although there are many horse-producing areas in the Ou area, not all horses can be used as war horses! RB horses are already very ordinary, and even fewer can be used as war horses, and it is already very good to have one-third of the 1,000 horses.

The current war horses of the Tsugawa family have three or four hundred horses left in addition to those that have been allocated to the horse riding team. A war horse in the Ou region is about 200-300 guan, and these war horses alone are worth about 100,000 kan! However, Tsugawa Soji will definitely not take out these war horses and sell them, this thing is not enough for his own use, how can he sell it.

"Ashigaru's training can be carried out as usual, but this time I called you because I have a mission for you!" Soji Tsugawa suddenly said at this time.

Xin Tian Xinfan was suddenly shocked, and then said eagerly, "Please also publicize it!" ”

"On the third day of the next month, that is, ten days later, the family will meet with the head of the Osaki family, Yoshinao Osaki, in the area of the Onishou Gang in Xiongsheng County, to discuss some things. Therefore, the vigilance and guarding of the area around the Ghost Shouyuan will be handed over to you! Soji Tsugawa continued, "You immediately take 2 reserves (one reserve = 4 squadrons of 200 people) to the area of the Ghost Shouyuan to set up defenses, and go to Autumn Palace Castle with the warrant of your own family, inform the garrison of Autumn Palace Castle about this matter, and ask them to assist you in handling this matter!" ”

"The lord can hand over such a heavy responsibility to the subordinates, and he must protect the lord's safety in the future!" Xin Tian Xinfan hurriedly said with a firm face: "Let's arrange it next!" ”

"Well, go ahead!" Soji Tsugawa nodded.

Not long after Shinshihiro Akita left the castle tower, Jiro Iwaki, a member of the ninja clan of the Tsugawa family, also entered the castle tower.

Jiro Iwaki's ninja crowd has also increased a lot, and more than 40 new ninjas have recently been recruited from the domain, increasing the number of ninjas to 100. Jiro Iwaki's ninjas are in the open, while Nozawa and Kuro's Blue Clothes Society are in the dark, and now the ninjas of the Tsugawa family can be said to be the most powerful ninjas in the Ou region.

"Lord!" Jiro Iwaki always looks humble in front of Soji Tsugawa, not arrogant or impatient, which makes Soji Tsugawa very satisfied.

"Jiro!" Soji Tsugawa said very kindly, "How is it, how is the situation of the newly recruited group of ninjas?" ”

"Most of the ninjas recruited this time are ninjas from various ninjas in the Ou region before, and when they heard that the family was going to recruit ninjas, they all found the next and asked to join the family. However, according to the requirements of the lord rather than indiscriminate and strength first, only 40 ninjas were selected from more than 200 ninjas. Jiro Iwaki continued.

"Well, that's fine!" Soji Tsugawa nodded, for ninjas, Soji Tsugawa has always attached great importance to them. Although the real ninja is not as hung as in a certain anime in later generations, it does play a very important role in some aspects.

Let's not talk about anything else, if Nozawa and Kuro hadn't discovered the intentions of the Mogami family in advance last time, the loss of the Tsugawa family might have been even greater! Because a cancer like Kasai Kiyoyasu is a time bomb, there is no telling when something else will pop up, and then maybe the loss will not be as simple as dozens of muskets.

"I called you here today because I have a task for you!" Soji Tsugawa said to Iwaki Jiro at this time, "The family will meet with the head of the Osaki family, Osaki Yoshinao, in ten days, and the family has asked Shinda Nobushigeru to lead the two prepared ashigaru to go there first to arrange defenses." ”

"However, it is natural that the strength of the troops on the surface alone will not work, so your task is to take some ninjas to the area of the Onishou Ridge and spy on the movements of the Osaki family." Tsugawa Soji said slowly, "Although the Osaki family should not dare to have any unfavorable thoughts about the family, but the heart of guarding against people is indispensable, and it is better to be prepared!" ”

"Hah!" Jiro Iwaki replied loudly.

........

Time always flies, and ten days pass in the blink of an eye. The third day of the lunar month (I don't know the Western calendar, it's too long..... On this day, Soji Tsugawa was already sitting in the area of Kishouyuan and waiting for Osaki Yoshinao to arrive.

Shinshi Shinda and Akinomiya Castle garrison Matsuoka Tsuneyoshi had already built a temporary small castle with a wooden fence here, and nearby were stationed the troops of the three squads brought by Shinshihiro Shinda to prepare the garrison of Akinomiya Castle. In addition, there are more than twenty ninjas secretly monitoring the area.

The old god Tsugawa Soji is sitting in this temporary castle, and he is still very much looking forward to the arrival of Osaki Yoshinao.

It was past noon, looking at the snowflakes that kept falling outside, Xin Tian Nobu tightened the leather jacket on his body, and then said to Tsugawa Soji with an impatient face, "Lord! This Osaki family won't not come, right? Such a cold weather makes the lord wait here for a long time, and it seems that the Osaki family has no sincerity at all! ”

"Don't worry!" Tsugawa Soji said expressionlessly, "The Osaki family doesn't dare to let the family wait here in vain, the Osaki family is not the previous Oshu exploration topic, and Osaki Yoshinao has not had the courage to put his family's pigeons!" ”

Although I didn't know what Tsugawa Soji meant by "releasing pigeons", seeing that Tsugawa Soji was not in a hurry, Shinda Nobuyhiro could only sit honestly and wait.

And at this time, the figure of the Osaki family finally appeared.......