At night.
On the tower of Ii City, Xinzhuang Naomasa and a samurai fell asleep back to back. After three hours of continuous fighting, Xinzhuang Naochang exhausted all his strength.
The Tianya family's attack was very swift and violent during the day. If it hadn't gotten dark so early, Ii City might not have been able to hold on for long.
"What time is it now?"
Xinzhuang Naochang struggled to stand up and asked a warrior on guard.
"Back to my lord, it's already Yin hour, and it will be dawn in another hour."
"The Tamaya family will definitely launch another attack tomorrow morning. Let the Ashigaru take the time to rest and recuperate enough to have the strength to fight!"
"ha!"
Coming down the stairs on the side of the tower, Xinzhuang Naochang returned to the castle keep of Ii Castle with ease. It is said to be a castle, but it is actually a two-story wooden house.
"How is father's injury?" Slowly walking outside Xinzhuang Naokao's house, Xinzhuang Naomasa called a man and asked in a low voice.
Xiangjian quickly replied, "My lord, he woke up for a while in the evening and fell asleep again now."
"Take good care of her, I'll come back tomorrow." After repeated instructions, Xinzhuang Zochang turned around and prepared to leave.
At this moment, the wooden door in front of him was slowly pushed open, and the figure of Xinzhuang Zhikuan appeared in front of Xinzhuang Zochang, "Zangren, come in, I have something to tell you."
"ha!"
Xinzhuang Naochang quickly took off his straw sandals and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him.
"Is Father in good health?"
"Thanks to the doctor's skill, everything is fine now." Xinzhuang Naokuan nodded gently, and then continued, "How is the war going? How long can our family hold on?"
"During the day, the Tianwu family was attacked for several hours. Two samurai and eighteen peasants and soldiers were killed in the battle, and more than 30 people were injured. The casualties were huge." Speaking of the war, Xinzhuang Naomasa's face was a little solemn, "The most important thing is The morale of the Ashigaru people is generally low, and the arrows in the city have been used up. I have ordered people to demolish the houses in the city and prepare more stones and wood to defend against the enemy."
"The Takashima family has also assembled troops in Xinzhuang Castle. If nothing unexpected happens, they will be able to arrive at Ii Castle tomorrow. Tianya Meimasa definitely wants to capture Ii Castle before the Takashima family's troops arrive, so tomorrow morning The Tianya family will launch a general attack."
"Just be afraid, we won't be able to hold on until that time."
Hearing this, Xinzhuang Naokuan fell into silence.
After a while, Xinzhuang Naokuan slowly raised his head, looked at Xinzhuang Naomasa and said, "What's going on over there when Sakyo enters the palace?"
"Before Sakyo entered the palace, he was leading the Kyogoku family's troops to repair the Hakogoku Mountain Castle. Today, a letter was delivered. The Kyogoku family's troops are ambushing outside the city. Once the time is right, they will rush out to support the family." Xinzhuang. Naochang said quickly.
"When is the time right?"
"Hmph! Sakyo Susumu Kyogoku had a good plan. He asked me to serve as bait in Ii Castle to attract the attention of the Tagaya family and Takashima family, and lure all enemies to Ii Castle."
"Once the Takashima family and the Tagaya family start fighting, the Kyogoku family will be able to reap the benefits! He is indeed the famous Omi Yashasaburo!" When he said this, there was no joy at all on Shinjo Naohiro's face. Angry, but with a little admiration in his tone.
"Sakyo's move to enter the palace is also a helpless move. After all, the gap between the enemy's and ours' military strength is too big. If we want to win, we can only do this." Xinzhuang Naomasa said slowly.
"Haha, you are still too young." Shinjo Naohuan pointed at Shinjo Naomasa, "Kyogoku Sakyo's move tied the main family, the Takashima family and the Tagaya family to Ii Castle. First, he used the main family to resist the Tagaya family. , and then let the Tianya family and the Takashima family start a war."
"After this battle, all three participating parties will inevitably suffer heavy casualties. And the Kyogoku family can easily clean up the mess. By then, won't Takashima County be at the mercy of the Kyogoku family?"
If Kyogoku Takamasa were here at this time, he would definitely applaud Shinjo Naohuan, because Shinjo Naohuan's words basically saw through Kyogoku Takamasa's plan.
In fact, Kyogoku Takamasa asked the Shinzo family to defend Ii Castle. In addition to attracting the Tagaya and Takashima families to Ii Castle, more importantly, he wanted to use the hands of the Tagaya and Takashima families to completely weaken the Shinzo family. strength.
Although the new banker's strength has been greatly reduced after experiencing this defeat, it is said that a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. There are only a hundred people under Kyogoku Gaomasa's command, and they are not much stronger than the new banker.
What Kyogoku Gaomasa wants is to unify Takashima County, and a new banker whose strength is almost the same as his own is not what Kyogoku Gaomasa wants to see. In the same way, the same is true for the Takashima family and the Tianya family.
Of course, Kyogoku Takamasa's appetite is not so big that he can swallow the entire Takashima County in one sitting. After this battle, it will be enough to occupy the territory in the northern part of Takashima County (north of Ishida River).
The most powerful family north of the Ishida River is the Takashima family, and the area south of it is the Takashima family. As long as the Tagaya family and the Takashima family can both lose in Ii Castle, Kyogoku Takamasa will be able to take advantage of the fire and do many things.
"As the saying goes, it is easier to ask gods than to send them away. What I am most worried about is that after asking for help from the Kyogoku family, our family will completely become a vassal of the Kyogoku family!" Naohiro Shinzhuang expressed his worries.
How did Xinzhuang Zhichang know that there were so many twists and turns before? After listening to Xinzhuang Zhokuan's words, Xinzhuang Zhichang became anxious, "Then what should we do now?"
"Kyogoku Sakyoshin wants to make both the Tagaya and Takashima families suffer, while also weakening the strength of the main family."
"Huh, I won't let him get his wish easily."
As he said that, Xinzhuang Naokan picked up two wax-sealed letters from the desk in the corner and handed them to Xinzhuang Naomasa. "These two letters were sent to the hands of the Takashima family and the Tianya family respectively."
"Send this letter from the Takashima family immediately, the sooner the better."
"As for this letter from the Tagaya family, I will send it out after the attack on the Tagaya family starts tomorrow." After saying that, Shinjo Naokan squeezed Shinjo Naomasa's hand tightly, "Remember!"
"What are you going to do, Father?"
"I can't control the Takashima family and the Tagaya family, and I can't control the Kyogoku family if they want to fight with mantises and cicadas. But in this battle, please forgive me, Xinzhuang, for not accompanying me!" At this point, Xinzhuang straightened his lips. He smiled, revealing an inexplicable smile
Daybreak came very quickly, at least from the perspective of Xinzhuang Zhichang.
After hastily finishing breakfast, Xinzhuang Naomasa hurried to the tower. He was relieved after seeing that the Tianya family had not launched an attack.
Touching the letter lying in his arms, Xinzhuang Naochang was secretly thinking about something.
"Young Master, the Tianwu family's troops have moved!" Suddenly, a new Zhuang family warrior stood on tiptoe and pointed in the direction of the Tianwu family's troops outside the city and shouted.
"Ding!! Dang Dang!! Dang Dang!!!"
A basic bell sounded at the corner of the castle tower, and an ashigaru responsible for vigilance sounded the alarm of enemy attack to the ashigaru in Ii Castle.
Shinjo Naomasa stared directly at the Taya family's troops for a short while, and then without looking back he shouted "Otani Iga Mamoru!"
"Ha!" A thin and thin Xinzhuang warrior quickly walked up to Xinzhuang Naochang.
"Send this letter out of the city and give it to Tianya Akimasa. Remember, this matter must not be known to anyone else, understand?"
"Ha!" Holding tightly the letter handed to him by Naomasa Shinjo, Otani Yoshiharu nodded heavily. The pattern of the butterfly family on the Jinhaori was particularly dazzling in the sun.
That's right, I am Yoshitsugi Ohtani's grandfather!
My great-granddaughter is married to Crayfish Yukimura Sanada!
I, Yoshiharu Ohtani, am so crazy!
