"Hachimoto samurai Mizushima Yabei see the lord." Seeing the arrival of the lord, the warriors hurriedly saluted and said.

"Tell me, what's going on ahead?"

“……”

After listening to what this flag warrior said, his eyes lit up, he was really talented, he could think of guerrilla warfare, I don't know who had such a mind.

I only heard the clan ask, "Who came up with the strategy?" ”

"Back to the lord, Lord Mad suggested that you set your sights on Minami Shinano, not just one city, and then Lord Maeda's interests proposed to break it into pieces and divide his forces to attack it."

After hearing this, the clan couldn't help but say that the family is afraid that only a freak like Keiji Maeda can come up with such a solution. However, this method is just right for Minami Shinano.

The topography of Minami Shinano and Hida is similar, with many mountains and few plains, inconvenient transportation, and even more inconvenient to convey the news, once the army of the family disperses and attacks the territories of the wealthy clans, then the enemy in Kiso-Fukushima Castle will be difficult to handle, and it is not impossible not to chase it.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this strategy, but the clan knows these subordinate retainers too well, especially the middle and lower-level retainers, once they fight with the enemy, they can't take care of anything, especially Maeda Keiji, Wind Demon Kotaro is really not reassuring. So whether it's for them or for yourself, it's necessary to mention them.

Thinking of this, I only heard the clan said: "I know the truth, tell the people to decide everything by themselves, I only see the result." However, there are a few words you bring to them. ”

"Please instruct the lord, and my subordinates will report it to you word for word."

I saw the clan stand up and said leisurely: "The enemy advances and I retreat." The enemy is stationed in us. The enemy is tired and I fight. When the enemy retreats, I will chase. ”

Although the samurai did not understand the meaning, he still memorized the sixteen words.

"There you go."

In front of the observation deck of the Kiso-Fukushima Castle Castle Tower, Kiso Yoshimasa, Suwa Yoritoyo, and Yoritada brothers are looking out here. Although there are a lot of wealthy families who come to help this time, but only the three of them can stand here at the moment, originally Hoshina Masatoshi, Ogasawara was also qualified to stand here for a long time, but one of them defected to Tokugawa with their families. It is impossible for a dog who has lost his home after a defeat to appear here.

In the past three days, the three of Kiso Yoshimasa have basically spent the day here, except for the first day, there is no smile on their faces, in the next two days, it can be seen that the expressions of the three of them are very relaxed, and there is laughter from time to time between conversations, the offensive of the Takayama Army can be said to be worse than one day, especially today, there is still a trace of elite shadows. I'm afraid they don't even have the same flag under their own command.

"Lord Kiso, I think that when the Takayama army retreats in the afternoon. You can lead the army to kill, so that you can retreat from the enemy in one battle, I don't know what do you think? "Although the strength of the two families is comparable, and their identities are also comparable, this place is the territory of the Kiso clan, so Suwa Yoiho is still very polite to speak.

When he finished speaking, he saw Kiso Yoshimasa shaking his head with a smile and said: "Two adults, the Takayama Army is used to tricks, maybe they are in such a state just to lure me out of the city, now that there is enough food and grass in the city, I want to see how long the Takayama Army can hold out." ”

Although Suwa Yoriho wants to return to the territory as soon as possible, since Kiso Yoshimasa has no plans to leave the city, he can only spend some time.

On the second day, Kiso Yoshimasa got up early to prepare for a new day of battle, but before they could walk up to the observation deck, they saw his samurai Shigetomo Shigekawa hurriedly approaching.

I saw Kiso Yoshimasa ask with displeasure on his face: "Now that the enemy is present, is it appropriate for you to feel so happy?" ”

Shigemomo Shigekawa hurriedly saluted and said: "Back to the lord, my subordinates have received a report that the Gaoshan army has retreated, and I am here to report this matter to the lord." ”

Kiso Yoshimasa was overjoyed when he heard this, although he was confident that he could defend the city, but the enemy outside the city did not retreat, and he really couldn't feel at ease, after all, it was a world-famous mountain army.

"Oh? Is that really the case? ”

"Back to the lord, my subordinates were not at ease at first, so I have personally gone out of the city to check, and it is true that the mountain army camp is empty."

"Ha Luha, I know the way, quickly gather all the heads of the family to come." After Kiso Yoshimasa finished speaking, he strode towards the assessment room.

But before anyone could gather the family masters, he saw Jintian Shengshu, the lord of Jintian City, walking in with a sad face. I only heard him say, "Kiso-sama, I can't fight side by side with my lord anymore." After saying this, he hurried out.

Kiso Yoshimasa felt a little puzzled, now that the mountain army has retreated, and now is the time for the wealthy clans to ask for benefits from themselves, how can this Jintian Shengshu leave at this time?

"Kaneda-sama, I don't know why you're in such a hurry?"

"Lord Kiso, I just received a report from the retainers under my rule that Kaneda Castle was attacked by the Takayama Army last night, and I must lead the army back to protect the territory from being lost."

"What!"

"Kiso-sama, the Takayama Army attacked the family's territory, and I will take my leave." Before Kiso Yoshimasa could react, he saw Shimojo Mori also walking in quickly.

Then less than a pillar of incense, the lords of the Hao clan came one after another, and without exception, the territory was attacked by the Gao Shan family, and they could no longer stay here to fight.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please stay, this is a trick of the Alpine Army, if you return, may I ask if you and other troops can be the opponent of the Alpine Army, so this matter needs to be considered in the long run." However, Kiso Yoshimasa's words did not work very well, after all, for them, nothing is more important than the family business, once the territory is lost, then they really have nothing.

But there are still a few heads of the family who stopped, what Kiso Yoshimasa said is not unreasonable, rather than going back to die himself, it is better to ask Kiso Yoshimasa and Suwa Lai Feng to send troops, and they will come to help him this time, they can't see death without help.

At this time, all the lords of the Hao clan who came to help had already arrived, although most of them had not yet received reports from the retainers left behind, but they were also in a heavy mood, their territory was only a little farther away from here, but they were still under the blow of the Gao Shan Army.

"Lord Kiso, I came to help protect the territory of Lord Bao, and now my family's territory has been attacked, so I also ask your lord to send troops quickly to rescue Kaneda Castle."

"My lord, let's go to the rescue of Kushu City first."

"My lord, Lin Gangcheng also needs to be rescued by adults, please send troops quickly."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am the first to mention this matter next, so I should go to Jintian City first."

"Lord Jintian's words, I can't agree with them, this matter is related to the survival of each family, and what is the order."

“……”

Seeing that the lords below the steps were already arguing, not only Kiso Yoshimasa felt annoyed, but even the Suwa Yoriho brothers, who were sitting in the first place, were also annoyed.

"That's it! The alpine army is divided into many routes, if our army also divides the troops, then it is tantamount to hitting a stone with an egg, if it does not divide the troops, then even if it can defeat several of its troops, what is the use? So this matter must be considered in the long term. ”

Everyone has calmed down at this time, Kiso Yoshimasa is right, the Takayama army is at least divided into ten routes, if it fights with himself, it is okay to say, in case he sees the arrival of his own reinforcements and retreats without a fight, what if he returns when the reinforcements destroy the enemies of other roads? No one doubted that the Gao Shan Army could do such a thing.

Just when everyone was silent, they only heard Suwa Yoriho say: "Ladies and gentlemen, I think this is a strategy of the Takayama Army, and we must not fall for it. ”

"But Suwa-sama ......"

Before the head of the family could finish speaking, he heard Suwa Yoriho interrupt: "I have an idea, the purpose of the Takayama Army acting like this is to mobilize our army, and then divide and annihilate it. Rather than pursuing in vain, we should hold on to the fortified cities in Minami Shinano, and as long as these cities are not lost, then Minami Shinano will still be in our control. At the same time, he sent someone to Jiafei to ask the lord for help, presumably the lord would never sit idly by. As long as the Alpine Army retreats, then the territory is still yours. ”

The reason why Suwa Yoriho made such a suggestion, of course, also has his own considerations, the Suwa family controls a fortified city, and this time Suwa Yoriho brought more than eighty percent of the army, there are not many defenders at home, once it is attacked by the Takayama army, then the city is in danger of falling. Once this castle is lost, even if Takeda Katsuyori sends troops to come and push back the Takayama army, it will never be possible to return it to himself, especially after the Shinano rebellion, it will become even more impossible, so instead of saving everyone, it is better to save yourself first.

Of course, those who have a strong city at home agree again and again, but those who don't have such a city at home can't agree to anything, after all, their family is still in the territory, even if the lord can help regain the territory at that time, then what's the point.

Although there were many family heads present who were opposed, Suwa Yoriho was not very concerned, after all, these people really couldn't get into his eyes, and they didn't even have a decent city, so how much military strength could they produce. Even if they all leave, it won't affect the big picture.

Sure enough, these heads of the family left one after another after knowing that the major events of the Dao had been decided. In this era of the jungle, they are destined to be slaughtered by others.

In the blink of an eye, the assessment room was half empty. Kiso Yoshimasa hurriedly sent someone to count the military situation in the city, and the result was that he was very satisfied, although he was taken away by those family masters, but there were still 12,000 troops left in the city. Of these remaining troops, 8,000 were from the Kiso family and the Suwa family.

Kiso Yoshimasa and Suwa Yoriho immediately made arrangements, but they didn't do too much, after all, they still pointed to these wealthy lords, if they were forced to hurry, Minami Shinano would not be guaranteed, and he would be finished.

Therefore, all the fortified cities have military strength to go, more than two or three thousand, and as little as seven or eight hundred, that is, there are not many strong cities in South Shinano, otherwise the more than 10,000 people are really not enough. In addition, he also sent several people to Kai by different routes to ask for help from Takeda Katsuyori. (To be continued......)