Pillars of the Wu family

Just after the summer, the continuous torrential rain stopped, and the two armies of Deba and Mutsu also took advantage of the situation to invade Echigo. I haven’t heard which castles in Shimoetsu and Chuetsu have been captured yet. Various gossip spread like wings. In the mountain town of Xiacheng, there are rumors about everything, some say that the Yangbei people in Xiayue are rebellious, and some say that the village was actually ambushed and seriously injured.

At the beginning, the townspeople didn’t believe it either. After the lie was repeated a thousand times, some people would hesitate. As a result, the castle town was somewhat shaken. The recent situation is particularly bad. For some reason, rumors of the Kira’s Shinano War broke out. Unfavorable, there are rumors that Nagao's Ueno country was beaten by the Hojo army without any power to fight back.

Nagao Jingxin couldn't eat because of these rumors, and he lost a lot of weight in just half a month. At the last evaluation meeting, he cursed the city's police and officers for their incompetence, and ordered that the villains who spread rumors to confuse people should be arrested immediately. The garrison in Kungfu City arrested hundreds of rogues from all walks of life in a wolf-like arrest operation. More than [-] of them were interrogated and verified as the first culprit of spreading rumors. The first offender was executed and all the accomplices were exiled to mine on Sado Island as the case was closed.

Afterwards, Kasugayama Castle posted a poster to tell the townspeople that the current war is progressing smoothly. The cities of Chugotsu and Shimoetsu have not been destroyed, and there is no rebellion. Misaku Misaku is guarding Tochio Castle in good health. At the bottom is Nagao Jingxin's autograph. The townspeople all recognize Nagao Bungzen Mori Keishin, and they feel relieved when they see the announcement.

The left-behind Pudai all knew that the invading army in Dewa Mutsu and Otsu chose the time of the autumn harvest as their entry point, and they thought nothing more than carrying out war and robbery under the banner. strong resistance from the nation.As far as the current feedback information is concerned, there is no problem for the time being.

Withdrawing and merging new villages brings the population of each village together.Each village ranges from three to four thousand to seven to eight thousand.Larger cities and towns have gathered tens of thousands of people. Since experiencing the impact of the usual riots last year, each village is now like a small fortress, with wooden fences, earthen walls and even arrow oars. Invasions can easily gather thousands of civilians to guard a village.

These villages are like hedgehogs covered with thorns, making it difficult for Deba and Mutsu's invading army to attack, and it is not impossible to attack them by force.But after two or three days of defeating Echigo, the Nationalist Army from all walks of life will immediately surround them and block their retreat. After trying a few times and encountering the experience of being almost made dumplings by the Echigo National Army, they all learned very well. Obediently beat to death and don't touch the village.

At this time, there is still some time before the autumn harvest. The two armies came here for profit but were forced to act as bandits and robbers, looting the temporary settlements near the villages. A lot of oil and water can be obtained in one place, and the generals guarding the two places are busy dispatching troops, making the life of these two groups of armed bandits quite comfortable.

In Kasuga Mountain City, Nagao Hu Ji is still wearing a military uniform and Nagao Jingxin argues with each other.When the niece wants to play, the uncle is determined not to let her go.The old-fashioned debate lasted for more than a month with no results, and the daily routine debate even the maids were used to it.

When the fruitless normal was about to end, Nagao Tengjing, who was always pretending to be stupid, suddenly opened his mouth: "Actually, Hu Yu's concerns are also reasonable. The town hall and the lord took away the main force, which made Misaku defend and Echizen Mamoru’s defense is stretched in Zhongyue Xiayue, so Tiger Yumae went to rescue him if he wanted to, can’t Toyozen Mamoru not trust Misaku Mamoru? There must be no problem for Misaku to watch Gu Tiger Yuzen!”

Hu Ji only felt her eyes light up, and said while the iron was hot: "Yes! Uncle, don't you believe in Misaku? Hu Ji grew up in Tochio Castle! Misaku is also very familiar with Hu Ji! The two thousand elite guarding the extremely safe Kasuga Mountain City will not help solve any problems, and the sharp knife can only be effective if it stabs the enemy's chest!"

Nagao Jingxin looked at Nagao Tengjing suspiciously, wondering why the old man was so abnormal today, and after thinking for a long time, he reluctantly responded: "If it's a beauty... there is no problem at all, the two thousand elites are going to fight together , you can't stay by Hu Ji's side to guard all the time, so I'm still a little worried about Hu Yuqian's safety!"

Nagao Tengjing continued to divide and said: "Hey! Buzenshou is worrying too much. There is no doubt about the strength of Watanabe Zuobeiden. These 2000 people play well enough to be worth the combat power of an army of [-]. Zhongyue Tochio Castle Mountain Gao Chengjian and With Honjo Misaku sitting in charge, Hu Yu will definitely not be in any danger going there."

"If it's just to send reinforcements, let Watanabe Zuobeiden personally lead the troops to Tochio Castle to support, why put Torao Makoto in danger? This move is very wrong!" Nagao Jingxin still shook his head in disapproval.

"That's true, but Torano Mae is the princess of the Nagao family, and the heir to the lord that the lord has cultivated for many years. If you sit in Tochio Castle in person, it will definitely boost morale!"

Nagao Jingxin retorted disapprovingly: "It's a big mistake! The son of a daughter can't sit down, so morale is worthless!"

From the battle between Hu Ji and Nagao Jingxin and Nagao Fujijing, Hu Ji didn't like hearing it. He knew that her uncle was selfless to her, but she had a reason to go. Becoming a strong Ji warrior like Ba Yuqian, she has become a big girl compared to the weak and stupid little girl who fought against Shi Haichuan a few years ago.

He was a bit taller than his elder brother Nagao Jinghu, and his strength was no less than that of an elite samurai who was skilled in bowing and horses. Apart from the fact that he had acquired Kira with one pistol, and a few spearmen from the Nagao family passed it on to everyone else, the horse bowing skills In recent years, it has regressed a bit, but it is still impressive. Kira Yoshishi didn’t like women riding horses and archery all day long. He said that riding too many legs would make the legs look unattractive. The scared Hu Ji only dared to practice equestrian for a while every day.

"Uncle! Hu Ji knows that you have good intentions, but as a woman of Kira's family, it is justice for His Royal Highness to share the worries and problems. In ancient times, there were heroes of the generation of Ba Yuqian and Baner Yuqian. Hu Ji has been determined to do that since she was a child." Warrior Ji, please let Hu Ji do something for His Highness! Otherwise, Hu Ji will be unhappy!"

He was shocked by the girl's sincere feelings for Kirayoshi. Thinking about the ups and downs experienced by this young couple, the girl has undergone transformations over and over again over the years.She is no longer the straightforward and willful little girl she used to be.Nagao Jingxin firmly began to waver.

"I seem to understand what Hu Ji means. She wants to do something for the Zhenfu Palace, and she doesn't want to be a girl who bears a psychological burden. It is probably because the incident in Chuanaka Island last time left her with a great psychological burden! If you don't let If she does it, maybe she will really be unhappy...unhappy for the rest of her life."

Nagao Jingxin hesitated again and again but was persuaded, but he proposed to personally lead the army to rescue and accompany Hu Ji to Vietnam as a protection. This was strongly opposed by Hu Ji. She put forward an irresistible reason, that Kasuga Mountain City must stay with the old Pu Dai family When dealing with government affairs, who will handle the government affairs when all the elders are gone.Nagao Tengjing obviously cannot be promoted to this task. When he said this, neither of them noticed a glint of haze in Nagao Tengjing's eyes.

"Furthermore, Chunri Mountain City needs a loyal, reliable and battle-tested general to sit in command. It is very important for uncle to control the remaining [-] garrison troops in the city. They must not leave their posts without authorization! Besides, Hu Ji is not an ordinary Ji warrior!"

Hu Ji received training from the successor of the family governor since she was a child. She has good military strategy and martial arts. There are 150 Ji warriors inside to protect her, and [-] elite followers outside.Moreover, the advantage of sitting in the home field is that the location and people are on their side, so there is nothing to worry about.

Hu Ji said so.Nagao Jingxin considered for a long time before reluctantly agreeing, but he was still worried that this little girl would go crazy, so he dispatched Nagao Jingxin's own [-] elite cavalry warriors to guard her safety, and the dispute for more than a month was finally resolved satisfactorily. solve.

As soon as Nagao Fujike returned to Shikiya and hadn't sat down, he saw Nagao Keiji leaning over with a playful smile and said, "Father, did Feng Mamoru agree to let Torago go to Tochio Castle? According to uncle's plan, there should be no problem. Can we proceed to the next step? Speaking of when can we become..."

"You rebellious son can't keep talking! Do you feel at ease if you want to piss me off?" Nagao Tengjing suddenly became angry, and let out a loud roar that scared Nagao Jingzhi to the ground. The old man's anger still persisted He glared at him resentfully: "The old man really lost his head, and was implicated by you, a rebellious son, and that thief. I, Shimoda Nagao's house, is over this time, it's over!"

Nagao Xingli didn't take the title "thief" seriously, and said with a chuckle: "Brother, why are you sad? Didn't we do nothing? Only when Princess Tiger leaves Kasuga Castle with two thousand elites, we will consider the next step." Action, I think brother being so angry must have contributed to this matter?"

Nagao Tengjing turned his head in disgust, and waved his long sleeves impatiently: "Let's go! I will leave tomorrow, and I will also take away the three hundred elite cavalry warriors guarded by Nagao Toyomae. Now you can be proud? I, Shimoda Nagao Sooner or later, the O family will die at the hands of you two rebels!"

……

Nagao Huhime was very satisfied with today's harvest, and immediately announced the news that she was about to go to Tochio Castle after returning to the palace, which attracted a burst of exclamation and envy from the maids in the palace. She swallowed it back to her mouth, she doesn't know how to ride a horse and archery, she doesn't know anything about knives, guns and sticks, the only sport that can be called good is probably the first honor in throwing pots.

"Zhihu is also going to fight."

Seeing her serious expression, Hu Ji panicked: "Ah? Sister Zhihu is going too? No! This is absolutely not possible!"

"Zhihu can do it! Sister Tiger Ji knows Zhihu, so she can do it!" Zhihu stared at her stubbornly, the level of the spear and sword skills seemed to be different, compared with Hu Ji, who was slightly better than Gong Ji. Tiger Ji's level of horse archery is above the standard line, which is far behind Naotora, a natural archer.

The two sisters have the same interests and the same age, one is extroverted and cheerful, the other is introverted and gentle, and they fit well with each other. What's more interesting, both of them have the word "tiger" in their names. Some people will believe that the sisters are really a coincidence.

So Zhihu proposed that she would also participate in the battle. If Hu Ji disagreed, she would have no confidence. In terms of bow, horse, saber and gun skills, the two of them were almost the same, and both of them were above the standard in military strategy. They had led Ji warrior many times. Practicing cavalry tactics, he is also good at commanding the cavalry, and Hu Ji prefers the hurricane rush of the wind and fire, similar to the character of Nagao Jinghu, Zhihu's cavalry is more flexible and unpredictable.

So facing Zhihu's stubborn eyes, Hu Ji was a little speechless. She was embarrassed to say that Zhihu would hold her back, and she had no reason to forcibly refuse her request.Why can't Zhihu not be able to play by himself?If she chooses to do so.In the future, the relationship between the sisters will definitely be over.

After thinking about it for a long time, I couldn't find a better reason.Hu Ji had no choice but to agree to her request, but she still repeatedly told her to stay by her side and not to run around. If she made a mistake, she would be angry with Ji Liangyi, talking as if she herself was the guardian. Zhihu grinned.

"Chiyonu is going too! Chiyonu is amazing! She can protect my sister!" The idiot Loli jumped high, her two long ponytails dangling back and forth, thinking that she would definitely be able to fight together, but in the end she was defeated by the tiger. Ji refused mercilessly, no matter how cute she is, it's useless.

Mochizuki Chiyo pitifully turned to Naotora for help.As a result, the tiger sister didn't seem to buy her account, she just kept shaking her head. Seeing that the idiot Lolita still didn't understand, Hu Ji tapped her forehead lightly: "There is still sandalwood left behind!" How can there be no one to take care of you in the imperial palace, if something goes wrong, it will be troublesome! So Chiyonu stays here with Sandalwood to take good care of everyone, remember?"

"Woo! Chiyo remembers that!" Mochizuki and Chiyo nodded obediently with tears in their eyes, like a pitiful kitten, turned to look at the equally pitiful Sister Tanxiang, and then at the other two energetic Sister Tigers , had no choice but to stay with a small mouth.

"But Tanxiang also wants to contribute to His Highness's foundation! So Tanxiang must become a Ji warrior with both civil and military skills...Then should Tanxiang learn to ride horses first? Or archery?" Another smart girl was entangled middle.

Two thousand three hundred troops marched out in great momentum.Hu Ji and Zhihu are wearing white armor, holding large guns, and carrying square bamboo bows on their backs. They are heroic and heroic.Two thousand new troops, 150 Hime Samurai, [-] horse-riding warriors, and fifty Kira ninjas went out with the army. The Chinese army set up two banners of Ashikaga Nihiryo and Nagao Kuyoba and left Kasugayama Castle in a grand manner.

Two days later, the army came to Tochio Castle and joined the [-] defenders of Honjo Shino. The mature and prudent Honjo Shino was shocked when he saw the two warriors of Hime. The princess, and the other concubine is the princess of the Imagawa family. The two of them have such noble identities but they came to such a dangerous place on the front line, and he almost fainted from anger.

Especially when he learned that Changwei Jingxin agreed with them to join the battle and sent [-] cavalry guards, Ben Zhuang almost couldn't help yelling, he wanted to scold Changwei Jingxin for messing around with the two princesses, in case something went wrong Who can bear this responsibility, who can bear the anger of those two.

But people have already arrived here, and they can't lower their face and scold at will like a junior, so they can only persuade the two eldest ladies to go back quickly. They came to the front to fight, but the two of them were determined and insisted on fighting a beautiful victory for their husband, and then repeated the rhetoric used to persuade Nagao Jingxin.

It's a pity that Benzhuang Shino is not Nagao Jingxin, and he doesn't believe the two little girls' tricks at all. He tried to persuade them to go back quickly, but Hu Ji was so angry that Zhihu curled his mouth and didn't speak. In a fit of rage, he finally put up the airs of the Echigo king, and must fight and must fight. If Honjo is really worried, let the two of them command 150 Ji samurai and the best horse-riding samurai under Honjo's army for a fair competition of cavalry tactics.

Honjo Shino knows how powerful this little princess is, but for the safety of the Nagao family, the two of them must be sent back to Kasuga Mountain City the same way. The little girl went crazy together.

Two days later, in an empty pasture outside Tochio Castle, an unprecedented cavalry match began. The two participating parties were 150 warriors led by Nagao Tiger Hime, and 150 elite warriors led by Honjo Seishachiro Hidetsuna. The warriors on horseback, the morale of both sides was high, and the thousands of onlookers almost stared at the valiant and heroic posture of the 150 Ji warriors.

Nagao Tora and Ii Naotora are wearing large armors, their flowery faces are covered by the mask and the throat chakra. The two girls are taller than ordinary samurai, making the audience outside the arena I mistakenly thought that two men led 150 Ji warriors to participate in the competition. I don't know how many envied the two men for a while.

No weapons are banned in this competition, regardless of the swords, guns, bows and arrows, all the blades are removed, and the front end is replaced by a lime bag.At the beginning of the competition, 150 Ji warriors showed their powerful combat effectiveness.Just like the superb archery skills of the Maguis of the Kira family.Whether it is static shooting or moving Yabusame archery, it is far beyond the expectations of the cavalry in Honjo.

No one would have imagined that the Ji warriors in front of Torano are not simple vases, but a group of murderous weapons proficient in Yabusame archery, especially the change in the command style of the two made Keijiro Honjo's charge at a loss. Facing the charge of Honjo's army, they They turned into a group of dexterous deer and fled around. When you thought they were killed and scattered, a dozen or so formed a small group and wandered around shooting, pulling the pursuit direction of the cavalry in the village. It didn't take long for 150 people to regroup. stand up.

Between gathering and separation, 150 cavalrymen circled around the village, and the headless arrows covered with lime fell on the horsemen's bodies with white spots all over them.After a while, they were sentenced to death one after another and had to rest. In the end, the 150 knights on horseback were wiped out without touching a single hair of a Ji warrior. The average record of ten arrows per person made them unable to act shamelessly. thoughts.

Afterwards, two female generals with helmets and armor held big guns to pick several generals of the dealer, and won the trust of all the samurai with their outstanding performance. Only two young generals emerged, and maybe Echigo could also emerge a few top generals like Kakizaki Keiya and Saito Asanobu.

The samurai knew more. Some knew that the two were the two imperial courtiers of the Kira family, and some, although not sure, knew that there were two princesses in the Kira army who came to support them.But it is undeniable that soldiers are elite soldiers and generals are strong generals, especially when Echigo's powerful samurai are all in Ueno.These two girls really became the most powerful warriors.

Shino Honjo was also shocked by the performance of the two of them. After much deliberation, he decided to compromise. He put forward a lot of prerequisites, including various requirements for basic necessities of life, food, housing and transportation. The two of them were assigned to live with the Ji warriors. The most important one of the conditions he put forward was that they must sit in the army honestly and not go anywhere, let alone the possibility of personally going into battle to kill the enemy, but the two of them are already very satisfied. Shino Honjo sent off with a smile.

It took more than 20 days to wait. During this period, Tochio City dispatched troops several times to encircle the Date Ashina coalition forces, and drove the unscrupulous Mutsu bandits back to the mountain. Sweeping the temporary settlements, the temporary settlements were targeted by the autumn wind a few times, and then nothing was fished for more than half a month. Another time, they were almost held back by the local Chinese and forced to leave 200 people behind. Only then narrowly escaped the pursuit of the Zhuang army.

The Date Ashina Alliance is nesting on the Hakama waist mountain every day, not to mention how uncomfortable it is. Seeing the autumn harvest is approaching, the Date Ashina Alliance Army still can't help but go down the mountain, because the grain on both sides of the Igarashi River has just been harvested, and it is drying. It must be soon. It will be stored in the barn. They only have more than 6000 troops plus two thousand wives. The cost of eating horse chews is not small.

They traveled so far through mountains and rivers, and they walked all the way through rugged mountain roads. It was not for any covenant or ambition to come to Echigo. When they found that they could not capture any of the fortresses, they knew that this invasion was probably going to stop. In any case, you can’t return without success, especially before the other three roads have not decided the winner. If the front foot just returns and the back foot rushes into Echigo, then their intestines will have to regret it, so they learned The bandits went to fight the autumn wind, earned some soldiers and food and lost a lot of lives, and they still lost money every time they came and went.

Summarizing the experience and lessons of the last battle, Date Teruzong reviewed his quick success and quick profit and chose to attack. The most important thing is that the timing of the battle was wrong. The rice was not ripe and he was caught by surprise. He retreated to the Hakama waist mountain to set up camp. , now is the right time.

The autumn harvest is just around the corner, and there is still no news that Echigo has been breached all the way. Date Mimoto and the general Matsumoto Ujisuke appointed by Ashina's family suddenly feel cold, knowing that this year's war will not gain anything anyway. , so before leaving, I can get some back as compensation to barely keep my capital.

Date Mimoto discussed with Matsumoto Shisuke and there was no better way, so he made a decision: "Immediately go down the mountain and rush into the Igarashi River to grab food and grass, then immediately return to the mountain and continue to hold on, and then wait for the opportunity to move. If half a person Months later, there is still no news that Echigo has been breached, so we will retreat immediately! If any route is breached, we will consider whether to continue to hold on."

The influence of agriculture on Dongguo is far greater than that of Xiguo and Kinki, because Dongguo lacks developed commerce to support the lord's conquest. In Dongguo, there is no need to fight, but grain must be harvested.If you don't harvest food, you will die before the next summer.The mountain road from Mutsu to Echigo is rough and difficult.Moreover, Shangaoluyuan's logistical pressure is very heavy, and if he can't get food and grass supplies in Echigo, he has already lost half of the loss.

If they don't give up and stay in Echigo until the first heavy snow falls in Echigo, the continuous heavy snow will block all the mountain roads, and the half-meter-thick snow in the deep mountain is enough to kill them. Just relying on bringing your own and not giving it won't last long.

The Nagao family didn't need to take care of them at all, and within two months they would be too hungry to take the initiative to jump out and surrender. If they didn't surrender, they would freeze to death collectively.Either starve to death in the mountains collectively, even if Echigo is really attacked by three parties, it will be a complete defeat for Date and Ashina.

Their actions were quickly discovered by the Kira ninjas. In fact, their decision is not difficult to guess. The vicinity of Hakamashio Mountain is the closest to the Igarashi River, and when they are surrounded by heavy troops from the Nagao Army in several directions, Date, The Ashina Allied Forces could only choose a few points near the Hakamao Mountain to attack. Combined with their bandit style of fighting the autumn wind, going down the mountain to grab food is the most likely one.

Knowing the target's actions, the girls decided to formulate an ambush plan and inform Honjo Shino.He didn't expect the two little girls to come up with a plan, and after careful deliberation, he found it quite feasible.He immediately ordered the entire army to move [-] troops to Shimoda Castle near the Igarashi River to wait.

In the early morning of the next day, the Allied Forces of Date and Ashina really led an attack. More than 5000 bandits were divided into three groups to loot several villages on the north bank. However, the Date and Ashina allied forces didn't care about their reaction. They were like real bandits who snatched the pack horses and flatbed wagons in the village, and then frantically moved the grain to the wagons. for another carriage.

Just when the bandits were robbing happily, [-] troops suddenly rushed out from the sideways to attack the bandits head-on. For a while, the Allied Forces of Date and Ashina were caught off guard, and Mimoto Date panicked. The elite were called to withstand the attack, but they were defeated by two white-armored warriors who came suddenly. One of the two warriors killed people like hemp with a big gun, and the other wielded a bow and swept away the enemy army that threatened the big-gun warriors.

Their main army was originally divided into three unconnected parts to speed up the time difference, but they didn't want to be hit by the ambush, which would become the most fatal flaw. One has to face the siege of more than 4000 people from Echigo, not to mention that both the samurai and the ashigaru are collecting food and there is no formation at all.

The sudden attack disturbed the morale of the army. At this time, Date and Ashina's allied forces suddenly came out from nowhere: "Takikawa Tokimashi and Shima Tokatsu are coming! Kira Yoshitoki's army set up a trap to kill us! Everyone! Run away quickly!"

The chaotic formation and low morale dealt a heavy blow to the soldiers of the coalition forces. The formation that was barely holding on was nearly collapsed as more and more deserters came. He couldn't stop the retreat, and was scattered by the madly surging defeated army in the next moment.

"It's hard! What's the trouble here!" Date Mimoto closed his eyes in pain, he couldn't bear to see the suffering of the whole army collapsed, and the guards who surrounded him hurriedly pulled him back and fled, seeing that nothing happened Because the leaders of the two armies unanimously issued an order to withdraw the troops, the whole army fled to the Hakamai Mountain camp quickly, discarding food, grass and luggage.

But the two white-armored generals rushed over without hesitation, brutally killing the caught-off Itama Huizong, and went straight to the still dazed Date Huizong with a sudden stab, and the horses of the Date family The samurai blocked the fatal blow with his body, and at the same time made Date Huizong wake up, turn around and run away. The next moment a strong wind blew by, Date Huizong felt his head sinking and almost hit the neck of the mount. A large part of the three-day moon pocket on the belt was shot off, and the bun was scattered by a powerful bow.

He only had time to turn his head and glance at the standing figure of the white-armored bow and arrow general, his face and throat chakra blocked his face but he couldn't see his face, but the tall figure was imprinted in his mind: "This is the island of the Kira family. Is it near? You really deserve to be a powerful general who shocked Gyeonggi!" (To be continued...)