On the 18th day of April in the first year of Tensho (1560 AD), dawn. www.biquge.info According to the season, April can already be considered summer, but due to the influence of the Seto Inland Sea, the temperature difference between the southern part of Shikoku and Sanyo Province on the island of Honshu is not large, so it is a pleasant season.

Awaji Island is too close to Awa, in fact, Shimizu Soharu originally thought that such a close distance was like a distance that could be crossed with a single step, and he never thought of the landscape whirlpool created by the great power of nature outside Naruto.

After breaking through the city, Shimizu Soji rested all night before he woke up from the nightmare, his body was still limp, but there was no time for him to recover completely, and after a little soberness, he set off with an army that had lost nearly one-fifth of his army and headed for Katsurui City.

Yes, the great power of nature has caused nearly one-fifth of the loss, and it is the duty of Shimizu Soji, he knows that if even he falls, this detachment that feints to win Rui City will completely collapse, so he rode slowly on his horse with palpitations.

Riding a horse after seasickness is really unpleasant. The weather was pleasant, the cool breeze was slow, and beads of sweat oozed from Shimizu Soji's forehead, and he knew that the sequelae of seasickness were attacking. He knew in his heart that he was still too anxious, and he was impetuous and did not prepare for a water battle and set out for Shikoku Island.

If you wait until Miyoshi Yixian returns to Shengrui City, it seems that the tiger will return to the cage, but in fact, let the tiger of Miyoshi Yixian see the truth and reality, and he will pounce on it overnight, Shimizu Soji knows that his partial division with less than 5,000 people will not be able to resist in other places, and he can only take advantage of Miyoshi Yixian's future to fight the defenders of Shengrui City. Of course, Shimizu Soji also hoped to be able to show his prestige, let his prestige spread, gain victory in this battle, and pave the way for the city lord.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers led by Shimizu Soji lived on the coast of the Seto Inland Sea, and except for some of the losses in combat effectiveness caused by seasickness, the troops quickly formed combat effectiveness after disembarking, broke the castle, and had a shelter from the wind and rain with almost no casualties.

After a night's rest, Shimizu Soji left nearly a fifth of the dazed soldiers to guard the outside of the castle, and led 4,000 men towards Katsurui Castle. In addition to the common bamboo finch pattern in his ranks, there is also a military force with a three-legged Wujia emblem that is no less neat than that of friendly troops, and the number is about 1,000 people.

Shimizu Soji forced his spirit, and said to Yoshikane Suzuki, who was walking across the horse at his side, "Sun Shi, do you think Shengrui City will go out of the city to fight?" Since Yoshikane Suzuki was entertained by Noyama Masato, he became the savior of the Saga clan, and his father, Shigei Suzuki, kept his promise to abdicate to him, and received the common name of the Suzuki clan of the Saga clan.

Yoshikan Suzuki shook his head slightly and replied, "Then Yoshiken Miyoshi hasn't come back yet?" In his eyes, only Sanhao Yixian is left in the Sanhao family, and the rest of the people are just a group of local chickens and dogs, where do they have the courage to go out of the city to fight.

Qing Shui Zongji wiped a handful of sweat stains, his eyes were blazing, and he looked in the direction of Shengrui City and said, "Be careful." The three good righteous sages have not returned, the people in Shengrui City are complicated, and the guard general Shinohara Minoru is just the brother of Shinohara Nagafang, how can he hold tens of thousands of horses? ”

Yoshikane Suzuki was stunned, and immediately fell into deep thought, and the suspicion in his eyes became more and more intense. Indeed, as Shimizu Soji said, Miyoshi Yoshiken is the only one left among the four brothers of Miyoshi, and most of the generals of the Miyoshi family who belong to the generation of Miyoshi Yoshiken have died, and their next generation has not yet grown up. The current Miyoshi family can be said to be supported by Miyoshi Yoshiken alone, once Miyoshi Yoshiken falls, the Miyoshi family will immediately be in chaos, which is also the reason why the Shikoku Legion finally made the decision to return the tiger to the cage.

Miyoshi Yoshiken does not return to sit in Shengrui City, who can make an idea, just rely on Shinohara, you must know that although Shinohara's Nagafang is Miyoshi Yoshiken's Youbi family elder, but in the eyes of many military veterans, he is just a favored minister, and he is despised from the bottom of his heart.

These veterans who once followed Miyoshi Yoshiken from birth to death can't even look down on Shinohara Nagafang, let alone listen to his younger brother Shinohara Minoru and obey Shinohara Minoru's orders. If it were normal, Minoru Shinohara, with the orders of Miyoshi Yoshiken, plus the mutual enmity between these veterans, would be able to get along without incident.

The war was tight, especially for such a major event as the landing of the Shikoku Army of the Date family on Shikoku Island. Against? Hold? Such a major event, even Miyoshi Yoshiken had to deliberate before making a decision, and then with his strong prestige, he suppressed the opponents and resolutely carried it out. Now that Miyoshi Yoshiken is not there, Minoru Shinohara has difficulty making decisions, and his opinions cannot be unified, and he has been unable to make a decision for a long time. It is difficult to guarantee that no one will take advantage of the chaos to realize their personal ambitions and go out of the city to meet the battle without permission. If they are negligent, they will be caught off guard and will be defeated.

Shimizu Soji pursed his lips and took a deep breath, although he was still a little uncomfortable, but it was much better than yesterday, and he felt really good on the ground, he said: "If you go out of the city to face the battle, only when you cross the Yoshino River and the Ayuki River, the Miyoshi Army will be able to attack it halfway, and you will suffer a loss if you are careless." ”

Suzuki Yoshikane bowed slightly, and what Shimizu Soji said was true, Katsurui Castle was built against the water, most of which were built on the side of the Yoshino River, forming a castle, and if you want to attack Katsurui Castle, you have to cross the Yoshino River and attack from the other side. Miyoshi Yoshiken knew that the navy was inferior to the Date army, so he blocked the Yoshino River with stakes, chains, etc., making it difficult to pass without knowing the waterway.

Muneji Shimizu took out a rudimentary map from his bosom, slowed his pace, moved closer to Yoshikane Suzuki, let the latter see the map, pointed to the ground and said, "We will set up the main formation here." ”

Yoshikan Suzuki's eyes froze, and he looked up and said, "Is this place a little far away?" ”

Shimizu Soji smiled: "Is it far? This is a place of victory, as long as the main formation is set up here, we can counterattack the army, the north can directly attack the city of Shengrui, the south can take the island of Pingdao, and turn the country of Awa upside down, and at the same time be able to protect ourselves. ”

Yoshikane Suzuki seems to have suddenly realized that he is a clever general, and he really deserves to be the only general of the younger generation of the Date family, Yoshino River was originally an obstacle, an obstacle to the attack of the Shikoku Army on Katsurui Castle, but why rush to storm Katsurui Castle?

yes, why storm the city? With just four or five thousand of them, he was confident that he could conquer Shengrui City, which had a numerical advantage, and even if he could capture Shengrui City, he would pay a heavy price and lose his vitality.

What's more, their task is to feint to win Ruicheng, and to feint to win Ruicheng to lure Miyoshi Yoshiken back, this is his purpose, if you want to get a rash attack with military merits and suffer heavy losses, not only will you lose a lot, but also disrupt the strategic deployment, which is really worth the loss.

Yoshikane Suzuki wondered why he landed at Naruto if he wanted to gain a foothold there, and if it was not more convenient to go to Komatsuyama, it was really a little suspicious to go around in a circle, and asked, "My lord, why do you want to land on the shore at Naruto and go around the big circle." ”

Shimizu Soji said in a deep voice: "I want to fight a battle outside Shengrui City, defeat the luck psychology of Shengrui City, and give Miyoshi Yixian a subjective conclusion, the destination of our wait is Shengrui City, and the strategic purpose is to conquer Shengrui City as the center." ”

In addition to this high-sounding reason, Soharu Shimizu also wanted to win the first battle of the Shikoku Army, and the capture of Naruto Maratari Castle relied on the naval army of Awaji Island, which did not count. Yoshikane Suzuki, who is also not very old, also saw Liwei's thoughts in the eyes of Muneji Shimizu, and he also wanted to correct his name and correct the name of the Saga people.

Sure enough, as Shimizu Soji expected, there was a lot of noise in Shengrui City, and no one could convince anyone. Some people said that they went out of the city to fight, and the reason was very grand, they had a numerical advantage. The number of land divisions of the landed Four Nations Legion has been detected, five or six thousand people, Shengrui City has gathered the people nearby, and the new and old soldiers have a total of more than 13,000. Some people say that they go out of the city to fight, so naturally some people say that the cage city is the same as the crown, and the number of Shengrui City is superior, but the Four Nations Legion is the elite, and most of the Shengrui City are recruits, and the training and weapons are insufficient, and it is okay to defend the city, and it is probably not an opponent to go out of the city to face the battle.

The people who fought in the cage city said that they were cowardly and incompetent. In the face of the battle, the cage city said that it was ignorant of general selfishness. The two sides quarreled with each other, but whether it was facing or Cage City, they didn't say that they would divide their forces to resist the enemy, whether it was facing or Cage City, they thought that they were not the opponents of Date Army if they were one-on-one, and only by piling them all up could they win by virtue of their numerical advantage. This is the reason why they can't convince each other, if they are all piled up, there is still a possibility of winning, but whoever rushes in the first wave, everyone knows that the elite of the Date army, and the first wave will inevitably suffer heavy losses, and no one will be the first bird, and it is not unreasonable for the faction in Cage City to say that they are selfish.

The nominal garrison Minoru Shinoha and the old thief Awa Kiyomune Okamoto have been silent.

The meeting was still in the quarrel endlessly, Okamoto Kiyomune was old, and he retired early, and sent a small servant to pass a small note to Shinohara Minoru Shinohara, Shinohara's eyes were fixed after seeing it, and there was doubt in his eyes, and he also retired.

Kiyoshi Okamoto's qualifications are too old. Hosokawa Chitaka married his daughter, the little major general bureau, known as the first beauty of Shikoku, and gave birth to Hosokawa Shinyuki; Miyoshi Yoshiken killed the old master, and before the first seven years passed, he married his widow Little Major General, and gave birth to Chizurumu and Shihe Depositor, who succeeded to the Shihe family. Historically, after Miyoshi Yoshinori hung up, his Youbi family's old Shinohara Nagafang married her again. When the first relatives of Changzong and my department invaded Awa, he also married this widow who was seventeen or eighteen years older than himself as a side room, became an elderly mother, and gave birth to his fifth son.

With his daughter's marriage, Okamoto Kiyomune is very prosperous in both the Hosokawa family and the Miyoshi family, no matter who secretly laughs at him with the help of his daughter's "Jiri light", everyone on the surface must call him an old man.

Minoru Shinohara pinched the small note in his hand and muttered in a low voice, "Okamoto Kiyomune?" He smiled, his smile was deep, so that people couldn't see what he was thinking, and soon he thought of the beauty of the little major general, and he couldn't help but **** his tongue.

In the middle of the night, Minoru Shinohara, under the leadership of the small house, came to a small courtyard, he didn't expect that there was such a quiet courtyard in the noisy Katsurui Castle, but he was really not in the mood to enjoy the beautiful scenery, seeing that Okamoto Kiyomune was already waiting, he stepped forward and asked, "Boss, what's the matter?" ”

Okamoto Kiyomune looked back at Minoru Shinohara, and asked, "Hizen Mamoru heard that Ukyo is not the son of Yamato Mamoru in the near future, yes or no?" "Minoru Shinohara, known as Hizen Mamoru, Shinohara, Nagabo known as Ukyo, and their father, Shinohara Nagamasa, known as Yamato Mamoru.

Minoru Shinohara stood up suddenly, glared at Okamoto Kiyomune, and shouted: "Boss, why did you say this, to divide our brotherly feelings, if you say it again, we will no longer have contact in the future." ”

Okamoto Kiyozong's smile did not decrease, and he said indifferently: "The old man learned today that Youjing is already on the way, and he was ordered by Wu Waixuan to sit in Shengrui City, and if he doesn't do something, his power will expire." "Wu Wai Xuan is another name for Miyoshi Yixian.

Shinohara Minoru stared at him and said in a deep voice, "Boss, I'm going to say goodbye." "Saying this, I didn't wait for Okamoto Kiyomune to finish speaking, and left directly.

Kiyomune Okamoto looked at Minoru Shinohara's back and smiled coldly.

The courtyard was calm again.

In the bedroom, Minoru Shinohara's eyes widened and he looked at the ceiling, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth, and today's words from Kiyomune Okamoto uncovered the scars he had buried for many years. Shinohara Nagafang is a concubine, and he is the son-in-law, but Shinohara's Nagafang was born early in Miyoshi Yoshiken, and he got ahead under Miyoshi Yoshiken, and then returned to Kizu Castle, and crossed him as the head of the Shinohara clan. Now that he was guarding Katsurui Castle, he would have to step aside when Shinohara's Nagabo returned.

Minoru Shinohara, stood up, picked up his sword, and said to himself, "Indeed, I don't need it now, I won't wait for it to expire." As long as I make a meritorious service, even after he returns, I will be able to fight with this merit. Even if it fails, it won't be worse than it is now. ”

Shinohara's talent is no worse than Shinohara's longhouse, and he has the advantage in terms of the division of concubines, but he can only be subordinate, which is really an aggrieved thing, but he can't figure out why Okamoto Kiyomune said this to him, and he can't help but speculate.

After thinking about it for a long time, Minoru Shinoha finally made a decision to go out of the city to face the battle. Obviously, his prestige was not enough for his words to be the yardstick for action, and for some reason, several generals who had originally decided to cage the city turned against him one after another. In this way, the fighting faction has a narrow advantage. The battle faction won by a narrow margin, and they led 6,000 men out of the city from Katsurui Castle to meet the battle, and the remaining 6,700 men defended the city.

Shinohara's strategy of attacking halfway was immediately approved by the battle faction, who praised him for his unparalleled resourcefulness.

When Shinohara Minoru led the army out of the city, at the head of the city, Okamoto Kiyomune looked at the queue out of the city, his gloomy face was a little hideous, and he said in a low voice: "When Shinohara's Minoru is defeated, this Katsurui City will have to be replaced with a new garrison." (To be continued.) )