And in order to be able to pass on this will, then it is necessary to deliberately put the army under his command at a disadvantage and let them experience adversity, so the clan only sent an army to deploy in Ueno.

No matter what Hojo Tsunaru and the clan thought was, anyway, the Hojo army entered Ueno and came to the castle of Stables.

Hojo Tsunade saw that the gate of the castle was closed, and the rolling wood and stones on the castle head were piled up, and if he fought hard, even if he could take the castle, his side would lose a lot of troops, which he did not want to see, so on the one hand, he sent a large number of detectives to the west to listen to the movements of the other troops of the Takayama family, and on the other hand, according to the previous opportunity, he began to encircle the stable bridge castle with Kasahara Yasukatsu.

Since Hojo Tsusunari expected that Sanada Masayuki would never fight, when the army advanced to the point that there were only more than 200 meters left from the city, he ordered the camp, and he did this in order to prevent anyone from stealing out of the city to ask for help, and the closer to the city, the tighter the siege was arranged, and the more difficult it was for the enemy to get out of the city. Of course, the closer you get to the city, the more dangerous it becomes, and once the enemy suddenly launches a counterattack from the city, then the Hojo Army, as the encircling party, will not have any time to react at all. Of course, whether it is Hojo Tsusunari or Kasahara Yasukatsu, they don't think Sanada Masayuki can have such courage, his character restricts his actions, they are all veterans of the battlefield, they have studied each other very thoroughly before the battle, the other party has good intelligence, but the courage is seriously insufficient, there is no fear at all, if it is not for Hojo Tsunari to stop, Kasahara Yasukatsu really dares to advance a hundred meters in front of the statue.

However, the more they thought so, the more they fell for Sanada Masayuki's strategy.

While the army outside the castle was cutting down timber and erecting fences to form a siege, the people in the castle were paying close attention to every move outside the castle, and as soon as the enemy arrived, Suzuki Shigenori, who was closely watching the enemy's movements at the head of the castle, immediately came to the castle tower to report the incident.

"Lord, the enemy has arrived outside the city, and I ask the lord to immediately gather troops and launch an attack on the enemy outside the city."

But when he finished speaking, Sanada Masayuki, who was sitting on the main seat, did not move, but said calmly: "I know, this is not the best time to get out of the city, continue to wait." ”

If it is another army, others lead the army, maybe Sanada Masayuki will really lead the army to attack immediately, but the other party is the famous Hojo Tsunari, this person is not only brave, but also not low, especially with decades of leading troops, extremely experienced, and not in a hurry, so Sanada Masayuki believes that the other party will never lead a tired army to appear outside the city. And this is the time when the other party is the most nervous, how can he not be guarded, and as he thought, after sweeping away the Musashi Hao clan, Hojo Tsusunari let his subordinates rest for two days before they marched like Ueno, and the speed of the march all the way was not fast, and the physical strength could still be fully guaranteed. In addition, Hojo Tsunari, who had been fighting on the battlefield for many years, knew that if he wanted to surround the enemy, then the moment he first arrived outside the city was the most dangerous, after all, the morale of the enemy troops in the city was the strongest at this time, and it was also the easiest to attack out of the city, so he had already made preparations. Fortunately, Sanada Masayuki was cautious and did not choose to go out of the city at this time, otherwise it would be difficult to go back again.

"But my lord, if you don't lead the army to attack at this moment, once the enemy builds a wooden fence and other defensive objects, and then launches an attack, it will be much more difficult than now, so please think twice." I only heard Suzuki Shigeno say a little unwillingly.

"Okay, no need to say it again, the key to this victory and defeat is not those dead things used for defense, but people's hearts, if I can't wait for this moment, then I'd rather hold on to the cage city."

Seeing that the lord was resolute, Suzuki Shigenori no longer persuaded him, but retreated with a confession, after all, his duty was to pay attention to the movements of the enemy army.

About an hour later, I saw Suzuki Shigenori rushing in again, and after saluting, I only heard him say loudly: "Report to the lord, the enemy has begun to bury the pot and cook, if you go out at this time, you will definitely be able to catch the enemy by surprise, and please make a decision." ”

After listening, Sanada Masayuki stood up this time, came to the lookout and looked out of the city, the enemy was eating, but he found that only half of the people were eating, and the remaining half of the people were putting up a defensive posture in the direction of the city gate. ”

"Lord ......"

"No more."

The third time, when the enemy had already divided his army of 2,000 to cut down trees in the vicinity, Suzuki Shigenori ran in again. However, what he got was still refused, although the enemy divided two thousand people, but after observation, Sanada Masayuki found that the enemy lineup outside the city was not the slightest confusion, it was obvious that the enemy was defending himself from attacking out of the city, if he went out of the city at this moment, although he could achieve some results, but he would not let the enemy outside the city break his muscles and bones, and his side would also be damaged, at this time it was completely meaningless to go out of the army, so he still refused.

This time, Suzuki Shigege learned to be obedient, and when the lord said the four words to continue waiting, he didn't persuade him, and after saying goodbye, he immediately walked out.

The fourth time, it was late at night, and seeing that the enemy was already asleep, Suzuki Shigenori thought about it and walked into the castle tower.

At this moment, Sanada Masayuki did not rest, still sitting neatly dressed in the assessment room, and in addition to him, other retainers, and Takayama family ministers also behaved like this, they saw that Sanada Masayuki refused the request to send troops again and again, not to mention how anxious they were. For defending the city, although everyone is not very good at it, they also know that once the other party is ready, then it is basically impossible to attack out of the city, and then in addition to asking for help, there will be only trapped in the dead city.

So when Suzuki Shigenori reappeared, everyone came to their senses, because they thought that this time, even if Sanada-sama didn't want to agree, he couldn't disagree, and if he refused this time, then I am afraid it would be difficult to have another chance.

However, to their disappointment, when Suzuki Nakanori finished speaking, Sanada Masayuki still shook his head and refused.

But as soon as he finished speaking, even Katsusuke Tanaka couldn't help it, and only heard him speak: "Master Commander, there are different opinions in the next place, Hojo Tsusunari has led the army to fight for many years, with his intelligence, it is impossible to relax before the siege of the city is completely completed, if the lord waits like this, then the final result is to be completely surrounded by the enemy in the city." If you don't fight at this time, you won't have a chance to fight, so please think twice. ”

"What Tanaka-sama said is reasonable, my lord, I think the same thing, and my subordinates feel that although the other party has rested before coming, this is only physical, and now they must be tired at this moment after a day of mental tension, and if they lead the army to kill at this time, they will definitely win a big victory." ……

"Alright, shut up." Sanada Masayuki saw that the samurai sitting below unanimously agreed to go out immediately, and couldn't help but say loudly, and when the people below quieted down, he said: "The best thing this army is at night raids, this is known to the world, if I am Hojo Tsunari, I can be negligent at other times, but I will never be negligent at night, if I go out of the city at this time, then I will never want to return to this stable bridge castle." ”

"Although the military advisor has analyzed it very thoroughly, I think that this is just a consideration from our side, but will Hojo Tsunari think so? I don't think it should be like what the military master thinks, first of all, since we choose Cage City, then with Kitajo Tsunari's understanding of the military division, I definitely don't think that you will risk going out of the city, so even if you are prepared, you can't stop our impact. ”

The deputy commander of the spear ashigaru team, Maeda Toshicho spoke. Because in the Gao Shan family, he is only a small character, so in front of these elders, he generally rarely speaks, but he absolutely, the military master seems to be a little too cautious, and even he feels that the caution is a little too much, in his opinion, the first three opportunities, although it is difficult to say, but this time, it is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, if you miss it, I am afraid that such an opportunity will never be found again.

"Okay, since you don't believe it, why don't you give it a try." Saying that, Sanada Masayuki didn't bother to explain to them, and immediately ordered people to prepare ten iron cannons, and then walked quickly towards the city wall. And everyone present did not know what they wanted, and they all followed.

When everyone came to the city, ten iron cannons had already been prepared, although this time the clan did not send the iron cannon ashigaru team to come, but after searching the entire Ueno, it was still possible to make up a dozen iron cannons.

The junior samurai in charge of the command, after seeing Sanada Masayuki nod, immediately ordered to fire.

As soon as the sound of iron cannons sounded, there was a roar of "enemy attack, enemy attack" from outside the city, if it was just like this, there was nothing strange about it, the key is that at the same time as the shout came, with the help of the firelight, everyone could vaguely see that the Hojo army outside the city did not have any chaos, but rushed out of the camp in a very orderly manner, and the armor on the body, the weapons in the hands, and even the array hat on the head were a lot, which is enough to prove that these ashigaru did not take off the armor on their bodies when they rested. And it took less than a cup of tea to complete the assembly of the Hojo Army outside the city.

Seeing this, everyone knows that Sanada Masayuki's choice is correct, if he really goes out of the city to attack the enemy just now, then there is no possibility of success at all, and there will be a lot of losses.

"Did you see that?" Sanada Masayuki couldn't help but ask.

"Subordinates (below) are ashamed."

Sanada Masashi saw everyone bowing their heads, and did not mean to blame, but said earnestly: "It's not that I'm cautious, but the Hojo Army is by no means a rabble, and when fighting with such an enemy, there must not be any carelessness, one wrong step, then you will lose everything." ”

"Master Strategist, Hojo Tsusunari can be vigilant at this time, so there is no chance to go out of the city to fight at the lower level, I don't know, what is the Lord Strategist waiting for?" Katsusuke Tanaka couldn't help asking.

"Of course, Hojo Tsusunari will not relax, I didn't think about this from the beginning, I was waiting for the Hojo family to relax, so today I have no plans to go to the army from the beginning. As for the timing of leaving the city, it will be either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, and at that time, those Hojo family Ashigaru will definitely think that our army will not go out of the city, and will definitely relax, and this is the best time to attack. Okay, you guys, go back and rest early. ”

Speaking of this, Sanada Masayuki couldn't help but look outside the city, and suddenly had an idea, and said to the junior samurai who commanded the iron cannon Ashigaru just now: "Saburo Guard, I order you to put a round of iron cannons every hour, don't the enemy don't want to rest well, then I will fulfill them." ”

With Sanada Masayuki's explanation, everyone has put their minds at ease, they are afraid that they don't want to take risks, so they keep hoping that the other party can go out immediately, but after his explanation, everyone is not in a hurry, as long as they can repel the enemy forces outside the city, it is nothing to wait for a day or two.

On the second day, although Suzuki Shigenori was still shuttling between the castle and the castle tower, the content of his report was mainly focused on the speed of the other party's construction of the fortifications, and as for the army, he did not mention it at all, and he had no doubts about the wisdom of the lord at all.

And the Hojo family Ashigaru outside the city is indeed as Sanada Masayuki thought, after two days in a row, there is no intention of leaving the city, then they are completely sure that the enemy will not go out of the city, after having this idea, not only the heart is a lot lax, but even in the usual defense have relaxed their vigilance, not only them, but even the samurai in the army, except for Hojo Tsunari, the same, Kasahara Yasukatsu even drank spirits in the tent.

Although there was no contact with the enemy at all in this battle, the Hojo family believed that there was no suspense in this battle.

On the third day, although Sanada Masayuki did not give the order to summon, before the sky was completely bright, the samurai in the castle gathered at the castle tower except for those who could not leave the defense. They didn't have to wait long, Sanada Masayuki walked out of the inner room, and this time, he was no longer wearing everyday clothes, but armor, and everyone knew that the decisive battle was today.

Sure enough, after Sanada Masayuki sat down, there was no superfluous rhetoric, and he said directly: "After my observation for two days, the enemy has begun to relax, and this is the best time to attack, so I decided to immediately assemble the army and launch an attack on the Hojo Army Shirabi in the west outside the city, this battle does not seek to kill the enemy's army, but only to break into the enemy's main formation, as long as Kasahara Yasukatsu can be obtained, then the enemy will inevitably retreat immediately without the possibility of besieging the city, so the key to this victory and defeat is to kill the enemy's main general, Did you hear me clearly? ”

"Please rest assured that your subordinates (below) will live up to your trust."

"Okay, everyone listen to the order, immediately gather the troops, and go!" (To be continued.) )