And when he was in charge of Musashi, Hojo Tsusunari did not hesitate to continue the army north with Kasahara Yasukatsu, and ordered Narita, Oishi and other Hojo retainers to lead the army straight to Shimono and go to the two countries.

As soon as the army left Odawara, he immediately issued an order to expand the army, and appointed the Hojo clan to oversee the two armies.

And in Ueno Country, Sanada Masayuki couldn't help frowning after receiving the information of the Hojo family, he really didn't expect that the Hojo clan would suddenly become so bold, when the lord ordered him to come to the town, although he had already expected that the Hojo family would send troops to take it, but at most, it was a reserve and some retainers under the command of the army, but the lord and himself ignored a problem, that is, if the Hojo clan first concentrated forces to eliminate the wealthy clans in the territory, and then went north, then he could send more troops, which required not intelligence, but courage, and it is precisely because the Takayama family knows that the Hojo clan's political courage is insufficient, so they don't think about it at all. But who knew that the other party had changed, which really caught the Gao Shan family off guard.

Although Ueno has now fallen into the hands of the Takayama family, due to the lack of troops of the Takayama family, only the eight thousand spear ashigaru team of Katsusuke Tanaka was sent, although the equipment of this army is comparable to the elite of Hojo, but it is still slightly inferior in combat power, especially compared with Huang Bei under the command of Hojo Tsunari, there is a big gap. Huang Bei is definitely the elite of a hundred battles, crisscrossing the Kanto region for decades, and has never had an opponent, even if he faced Takeda Chibei back then, he did not lose any advantage to the cavalry with foot soldiers, such combat power and the Takayama Army before the expansion of the army had a fight, and then look at the Takayama Army in Ueno, the eight thousand spears under the command of Katsusuke Tanaka are light. Although the training is very strict, the will to fight is not very strong, after all, this army has participated in two joint battles before, and the record is not very glorious, the first time was defeated, although the second time was victorious. But it has always been just a siege, and there is no decent battle at all, so that such a military situation faces the most elite military strength of the Hojo family, Sanada Masayuki really has no bottom in his heart. As for Nobusada Kohata's Ueno Army? Not to mention, this army currently has an empty shelf, and even Ashigaru has not started recruiting, so it can't be counted on at all.

Although the Hojo elite is only constantly sweeping the wealthy clan in Musashi, Sanada Masayuki can see that this is just a convenient move by the other party. Their real purpose is Ueno. So the most important thing I should do now is to immediately arrange defenses, and I can't delay for a moment.

Thinking of this, Sanada Masayuki immediately summoned his retainers to discuss with Katsusuke Tanaka and others.

Although the Sanada family has split up after returning to Takayama, and his brother Nobuyi won Toishi Castle, as the most promising Sanada Masayuki in the family, he still won the support of the Sanada retainers, so there are not a few retainers who follow Sanada Masayuki. Among them are Kamaharara Shigeharu and Suzuki Shigenori. Ikeda Shigeyasu, Okuma Asatomo and others, and in addition to these important ministers, there are also some rising stars. These people became the most solid foundation of the Ueno Sanada family.

At this moment, they sat on both sides of the assessment room with Katsusuke Tanaka and others, while Sanada Masayuki sat on the main seat after everyone saluted. I only heard him speak: "Ladies and gentlemen, now I have received news that the Hojo family Huang and Shiro are sweeping up the wealthy clan of Musashi, and I don't think this is their real purpose. Judging from the number of troops sent by the other side, the opponent's target must be Ueno, so I have summoned you here today in order to make a decision before the other side attacks. I don't know what you think, but I might as well say it. ”

When Sanada Masayuki finished speaking, everyone present did not feel any panic, the other party was only 16,000 people, although now Ueno himself has less than 10,000, but if he immediately asked for help from the main hall, then as long as the reinforcements arrived, what could the Hojo family achieve.

When he thought of this, he only heard the old Suzuki Shigenori of the Sanada family speak: "My lord, this matter is simple, the family only needs to hold on to the castle and send someone to Kai to ask for reinforcements from the main hall, as long as the reinforcements arrive, the Hojo army will inevitably retreat, so that the family business and Ueno can be protected." ”

"My subordinates agree with Suzuki-sama's words, and my subordinates are not talented and are willing to go to Kai." The former retainer of the Takeda family, the big bear Asayatomo who later took refuge in Sanada Masayuki, spoke.

When they finished speaking, the other retainers and the samurai of the Takayama family also agreed.

However, their thoughts are completely opposite to Sanada Masayuki, from the beginning after getting the information, Sanada Masayuki has no intention of asking the lord for help, this is entirely because, the last time the coalition fought with the Uesugi family, he was defeated, which has made his prestige in the family a little shaken, especially after the great success of Honda Masanobu, he must now prove that he does not have to be inferior to the other party, only in this way can his position in the Takayama family be stabilized, and if he asks for reinforcements, then although he can guarantee to repel the incoming enemy, But if you do this, you can prove that you are not capable.

So when everyone finished speaking, Sanada Masayuki directly poured a basin of cold water on them. I only heard him speak: "This time, I will not apply to the lord for reinforcements, and I hope that you and others will immediately abandon this idea, this battle is the best opportunity for my Sanada family to prove to the world, so you don't need to mention the reinforcements again." ”

"This ......" The retainers of the Sanada family also followed the lord out of Echigo last time, so when Sanada Masayuki finished speaking, they immediately understood the lord's thoughts, although they felt a little inappropriate about the lord's idea of abandoning the idea of asking for reinforcements, but they still silently accepted it. After all, they also know that if they can't wash away the shame of the last time, then they won't be able to hold their heads up in front of others.

If you don't ask for reinforcements, then there are only two ways left, except for the field battle, there is only Cage City, as a retainer, they know the character of the lord very well, the field battle is definitely impossible, the cautious character of the lord is put aside first, just the gap in military strength, it is impossible to fight with the enemy in the field.

Thinking of this, I only heard Kamaharaharu say: "Since the lord is not ready to apply for reinforcements from the main hall, then his subordinates think that only Cage City can keep the family business and Ueno in this battle, and now it is September, and only need to hold on for three months, once winter comes." The supplies of the Hojo family will not be as smooth as they are now, and the Hojo army will inevitably retreat at that time. This is the opinion of the subordinates, and I ask the Lord to decide. ”

His idea was unanimously agreed by the other retainers, especially the home castle of Stables and Bridges Castle is definitely a fortified castle, even if it is compared to Minowa Castle. It's not much worse, especially since the place where this city is located is not far from the border, if the other party can't capture this place, then it is impossible to go around to attack other places in Ueno, after all, once they do this, it is equivalent to giving up their backs, and not only that, their own army has nearly 10,000 people, if these troops destroy the other party's grain route. So once decided to cage the city. As long as the castle is not breached, there is no possibility for the enemy to invade Ueno.

Seeing that the opinions of the retainers had been unified, Sanada Masayuki couldn't help but smile slightly, Cage City? Yes, if you want to defend Ueno in a weak situation, there is really no good way to do it other than Cage Castle, but if it's just Cage Castle, how can you show your ability? So this time. You must show your ability while cage the city. As for the method, he had already thought of it.

Thinking of this, I only heard Sanada Masayuki say: "Since I came out, the world knows that I am cautious and never take risks, which is also clear to the Hojo family, so I believe that Hojo Tsunashi has long expected that the family will cage the castle this time." In this way, once the family takes the initiative, the other party will not be guarded, so this time I decided to take a risk. ”

"Strategist, I feel that our army is at a disadvantage now. It is really not easy to engage in field battles with the enemy, so please think twice. Katsusuke Tanaka, who had never spoken, couldn't help but hurriedly persuade after listening. Just kidding, the opponent's army is more than twice as strong as his own, and it is much more elite than the army under his command, if he really wants to fight the enemy in the field, he may be able to catch the Hojo army by surprise at the beginning, but he believes that the other party may not take long to calm down, and how should he face it. At that time, even if you use a strategy, I am afraid it will be useless, after all, the gap between the two sides is too obvious.

Ten years ago, Katsusuke Tanaka could only be regarded as a fierce general, Dan was definitely not a civil and military master, but after ten years of experience, and became a commander for many years, he had already learned to think, if it was before, he would definitely agree without thinking about it, but now he thinks that the military division is because after the last defeat, eager to save his reputation, so he will have this decision, and he has not considered the feasibility at all, once he supports it, then this time I am afraid it will still end in a big defeat, in this case, I'm afraid that it will be difficult for the military advisor to come out of this shadow in the future, so this time, whether it is for the sake of the Gao Shan family or for the sake of the military advisor, he must refuse.

Of course, he also has the right to refuse, although the lord let the military division be fully responsible for the military affairs of the Ueno country, but the 8,000 troops under his command are the army directly under the jurisdiction of the Takayama family, not the Ueno sequence, so to put it mildly, even if he refuses, it is not considered disobedience.

"Field? No, no, Tanaka-sama misunderstood, and the initiative I said was based on Cage Castle. Speaking of this, Sanada Masayuki immediately became serious, and after glancing around, he felt that there was no possibility of anyone present leaking secrets, so he only listened to him and continued: "Ladies and gentlemen, my idea is to confuse the enemy with the cage city first, and when the enemy sees our cage city, he will inevitably set up camp and besiege the city, and we will suddenly rush out of the city at this time......"

Five days later, Hojo Tsusunari and Kasahara Yasukatsu had swept away the Musashi clan, and then parted ways with the coalition of the Hojo family's retainers and went straight to Ueno, before the army arrived, Hojo Tsusunari received a report from the front, and sure enough, as he thought, Sanada Masayuki really set up a defense in the stable bridge castle, and moved a large number of stones and rolling logs into the city, which is enough to prove that the other party wants to cage the city. This is definitely good news for him.

Although the city is strong, it is a flat city, there is no danger to follow, and although the defending army is a mountain army, but the combat power is much lower than before, such an army does not need to attack at all, just rely on the army to besiege, within two months, the morale in the city will collapse, and then attack the city, you can take the bridge city in one go, as long as the enemy in this city can be defeated, then Ueno a country, there is no longer able to stop their own military momentum, so that it will take ten days to sweep the whole territory, Ueno Kazukuni can return to the arms of the Hojo family.

In this regard, Hojo Tsusunari is still very confident, especially this time the Takayama clan only sent 8,000 spears and ashigaru, and there is no bow ashigaru and iron cannon ashigaru that are the best at defense, then he is even more sure of victory, it can be said that this time he can recapture Ueno for the Hojo family, and the credit of the Takayama clan is the greatest. It is said that the Gaoshan clan is extremely wise, but if you look at it from the deployment of troops this time, it will be the same thing.

However, how did Hojo Tsusunari know that the purpose of the Takayama clan sect not to send iron cannons and archery light teams this time was to train troops, how was an elite army formed? It was experienced through countless vicious battles, and this time the clan clan could indeed send more troops, and even in terms of the number of troops, it could completely surpass the Hojo army, but in this way, it would not be able to achieve the purpose of training at all, and every time it was a good battle, although it could make the hearts of the ashigaru people full of confidence, but once they fell into adversity, they would be at a loss.

And the Hojo family is like this, the biggest problem of the Hojo army is that if they stand absolutely superior in military strength, then they will inevitably burst out with amazing combat power, after all, they are used to crushing the enemy with superior forces, but once they are at a disadvantage, then often the combat power can only reach half the level.

And the strength of the Gaoshan army is different, since the formation of the army, basically every battle is to win more with less, to defeat the strong with the weak, although at the beginning, the pressure brought to the heart of the commander is huge, but only in this way, can they enhance their will to fight, which is also one of the reasons why the Gaoshan army is strong, once there is a tenacious will, then whether it is a headwind battle or a downwind battle, it will play a normal combat power, which is also the reason why the Gaoshan army can maintain its state at any time, but with the expansion of the Gaoshan family, Clan Zong keenly found that the will to fight of the army under his command has become weaker and weaker, if it continues like this, I am afraid that it will not be long before the will to fight of the Gao Mountain Army will no longer exist, at that time, in addition to the advantages of the Gao Mountain Army, compared with the military strength of other forces, there is no advantage, and the equipment has to be seen through whom, once it is worn on the body of the wreck, it will only be taken away, so for the clan Zong, the momentum of the army, the will is undoubtedly more important than the equipment. (To be continued.) )