February 6 of the first year of Hongzhi (1555), should be the first month of the small first month, which is commonly known as the Lantern Festival, which is a very important festival in the Wa Kingdom, the custom is to welcome the New Year, the ancestral spirit, pray for a good harvest, boil a pot of porridge, with red beans, and the family sits together to eat red bean porridge.

The sun had risen to the sky, and the winter sun was so strong that it only illuminated the earth white, but in the middle of a forest there was a team of about 300 people in full swing. In addition to being dressed in bronze armor, the most important feature of the soldiers of the Date Army is that they are well-equipped in civil engineering, and they like to dig trenches to build earthen castles when they are about to fight.

The main general of this group of 300 people is Katayama Hengchang, and most of the soldiers under his command are from Bei China, and they are considered to be Bizhong people who are well-rooted, and today they followed Katayama Hengchang to attack Miki Castle, but it was just to lure the anti-Date coalition forces in the castle out of the city.

A scout stumbled into Katayama's field of vision, although Katayama didn't value the battle, but he was quite concerned about whether he could complete the task, and all the fast scouts in the general were sent out to observe the movements of the castle throughout the battlefield area.

Running fast means that you have a better chance of survival, and in this country where cavalry is missing, the Scud will always be the favorite of the generals, they are the eyes of an army, and these people are the lowest-level Ranbo ninjas with a little training, but they are more reassuring in terms of loyalty than Ranbo ninjas.

The scout came to him with the support of the soldiers, and said breathlessly as he saluted, "My lord, the city is out of battle." ”

"When? How many people?! Katayama Heng asked happily, secretly arguing in his heart: "Finally willing to come out." Hey. Don't think that there are only 300 people. I want to swallow it, I want you to take a good look at how many eyes Prince Ma has, so that you don't know how to cry when you cry? When he thought of this, his mood suddenly improved a lot.

"They're moving towards here, and we're colliding with their vanguard, and Kansansuke and Jiro Bei are dead." The scout's expression was a little frustrated, because of this incident his two companions were lying on the way back forever, and there was an undrawn bow and arrow hanging from his back on the plate armor.

"Damn?! They're heading here, at speed. The vanguard is about to arrive here, you have already collided, and it seems that not all the people in the castle are cowards, well, the situation seems to be a little bad! Katayama nodded and guessed the general situation, but why Yujojo was so persistently out of battle made him wonder a little, of course, he just wondered, he didn't believe that he couldn't defeat this anti-Date coalition army at both ends of the first rat.

"You go and rest first, and then please fight hard. As soon as we are in a stalemate, reinforcements will arrive immediately. Now we are undefeated. Katayama comforted the scout for a while, and then fell into deep thought.

"Yes, my lord, we must let them taste whether our swords are sharp, and avenge Kan Sansuke and Jiro Guard." Hearing that Katayama Hengchang actually comforted him with a small soldier, he was moved in his heart and immediately expressed his loyalty.

"It seems that this battle has to be fought, but to fight this battle well, you have to think about it." Looking at their excited eyes, Katayama Hengcho glanced at the sun in the sky with his hands, knowing that this battle had to be fought, and the first battle had to be won.

"My lord, is the castle coming, haha, I've been waiting for a long time!" Kuroda Yoshitaka's personal guard captain Musato Kobei looked at Katayama Hengcho with a bloodthirsty face, "My lord, let's become pioneers, I want to correct the name of the Kuroda family and avenge the lord." "Musato Kobei is the captain of Kuroda's personal guard, but he didn't go with Kuroda when he went to the castle to go to danger, and when he learned that Kuroda was in a different place, his mood can be imagined, this is a great shame for the Kuroda family, and it is also a great shame for him.

"Well, this person can use it to reduce the losses of his own troops." Katayama Hengcho aimed at the body of a hot-blooded mother-in-law Kobei.

"Mother, the strength of the Imperial City this time should be about 1,500, his strength should not be underestimated, we must think long-term."

"Humph!" Although Musato Kobei is not angry, he is not stupid, but he also understands that he has to fight this battle, if he has no more skills to make up for his dereliction of duty in the matter of Kuroda Zhitaka being killed, I am afraid that he will no longer be able to face the people of Himeji Castle and the young lord Kuroda Kanbei, so he has to snort and sit aside and stop talking, but that hideous face makes people startled when they see it.

"My lord, the guns have been distributed, what should I do next, whether to continue to ambush here or to attack!" The lieutenant hurriedly walked in with two samurai, and reported that the throwing spear was the kind of short spear that played an important role in the previous joint battles of the Date family, which could be used in hand-to-hand combat at close range or projected to shoot the enemy, with a short range but great lethality and accuracy.

"Perhaps!" A plan popped into Katayama's mind, and his face was filled with the joy of victory, but before he could carry out the plan, he sent scouts to Himeji Castle to inform his father, Katayama Moricho, of the news of the attack on the castle.

The alliance leader of the alliance was promoted by Koji and was held by Akamatsu Yoshisuke, who wanted to show his prestige as soon as he became the leader of the alliance and wanted to go out of the city to attack the troops of Date House.

Unexpectedly, as soon as Akamatsu Yoshisuke spoke, the originally hotly discussed venue instantly quieted down, and no one agreed, which made Akamatsu Yoshisuke a little frustrated.

Once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of the well rope, the tribute incident in November last year, Akamatsu Harumasa suffered a big loss and lost the capital, not to mention, but also let his son be killed, Miki Tsuaki did not get any benefits, even the final victory of the small temple government also caused a commotion.

Akamatsu Yoshiyu's eyes were deep, with a wry smile, his expression was a little lonely, and there was a trace of unwillingness, he also understood that the reason why this gang of people Haoqiang mentioned him as the leader of the alliance was to value his background in the Akamatsu clan, and secondly, to let him come out to take on this biggest black cauldron, once the war was unfavorable, a lot of people pushed him out to calm Date Masato's anger. Akamatsu Yoshisuke knew this, but he was unwilling, so he naturally wanted to go out of the city to fight a battle to show his authority, and he was able to completely tie all the guys at both ends of the head rat present to his chariot, as long as his hands were stained with the blood of the Date family, they would not be able to get the Date family's forgiveness, even if he wanted to calm the anger, he could not exchange it with a head.

In this way, as soon as Akamatsu Yoshisuke came to power, he put forward the idea of attacking the reinforcements of the Date family, he only gave opinions, not orders, this is the difference between the head of the family and the leader of the alliance, although the family will be constrained by the elders of the family, but most of the opinions put forward by the head of the family can be passed, but although the leader of the alliance is nominally a little better, but in matters related to the alliance, he will be greatly constrained by everyone, no one is willing to sacrifice himself for others, that is a fool.

"How many reinforcements are there in the battle, and who is the general?" Seeing that no one answered, Yoshisuke Akamatsu was annoyed in his heart, and asked about the scouts he had sent, and Yoshinoke Katayama remembered to send scouts, and Yoshisuke Akamatsu also knew this.

"Judging from the number of flags, it should be around three or four hundred, and the general is Katayama Hengcho, who is the sister-in-law of Takino Castle guard Katayama Moricho, and is also the former captain of Date Masahiro's personal guard." Due to the asymmetry of intelligence, most of the people of Harima Country think that Katayama Moricho is the new lord of Takino Castle, not Katayama Hengcho, who is only seventeen or eighteen years old, after all, it is unimaginable for a six-country guardian who is only twenty years old, and if you add a seventeen or eighteen-year-old castle lord, then it is really unreasonable.

"Three or four hundred people, who are still the former captain of Date Masahiro's guard, Katayama's son-in-law, and the trusted retainers of the Date family, if they can capture him alive, they will have a bargaining chip to talk to the Date family!" Akamatsu Yoshisuke thought in his heart that if he was killed, the heroes at both ends of the first rat would have to get on his chariot and fight with him, verbally, of course, capturing Katayama Hirocho alive, and then blackmailing Date Masaki and Katayama Moricho to give them the profits.

There are still smart people in the conference room, the advocate of the anti-Date Alliance, the lord of the castle, Koji Masato, understands the meaning of Akamatsu Yoshiyu's words, he is not a stupid person, since he learned that Kuroda Kanbei is sheltered, he knows that only by fighting to the end can there be a chance of survival, so he naturally agrees with Akamatsu Yoshisuke's idea, and immediately agrees.

The approval of Akamatsu Yoshisuke and Kotera Masaki, Miki Tsuaki, the only surviving enemy in the alliance, naturally has no objections, and the latest enemies of the court are Akamatsu Harumasa and Miki Tsuaki, and Kotera Masaki somehow escaped.

As soon as the three of them agreed, the rest of the small forces had no objections, none of them were fools, and once they objected, they were afraid that the first one would take them out to sacrifice the flag. Agreeing with Akamatsu Yoshiyu's suggestion, the following is the most critical issue of the number of troops.

Ever since the Taishicho incident in November last year, everyone thought that since they wanted to send troops, they would naturally have to send out the whole army, and that attacking a team of 300 people would have to dispatch 4,000 or 5,000 people. Just kidding, once the castle becomes empty, I'm afraid that it won't go too far, and it will have to be swept away by Himeji Castle, which is close at hand.

There was another heated discussion, and the final conclusion was 1,500 people. Among them, 700 people were dispatched by Yoshisuke Akamatsu, 300 people from Kodera Shoji, 200 people from Mitsuaki Miki, and 300 people from the rest, making a total of 1,500 people, of which there were more than 170 samurai put together. (To be continued......)