Warring States Eagle

"Since Yagata-sama (referring to Zhengliang) has no intention of attacking with our family, I can understand it." After getting Tao Chichang's detailed report, Tao Longfang immediately found him and accompanied Tao Chichang back to Zhou Fangguo Mountain Pass Shigeta Kizo, the envoy of the Luo family at the Ouchikan, said, "As for the Tsushima Island incident, please go back and inform Lord Yagata, our family will never intervene in it."

At this time, Tao Longfang was hoping that the Luo family would immediately fall into a battle with Tsushima Island.Moreover, since the Toyoura County of Nagato State and the Kanmon Strait were occupied by the Luo family, the Ouchi family has long lost contact with Tsushima Island due to the cut off of the waterway. In the past, the Ouchi family's support agreement for Tsushima Island It will also become invalid, and Tao Longfang will not turn against the Luo family because of Tsushima Island, which has lost its function.

So after sending Mu Zuo Shigechu back to Luo's home, Tao Longfang began to prepare for the decisive battle with Mori Motozuru with peace of mind.The news that the Luo family was about to attack Tsushima Island and the Saeki family of Bungo Kingdom quickly reached the ears of Motozuru Motozu of the Aki Kingdom.

"Okay!" The Luo family, which he was most afraid of, was about to fall into another battlefield at this time, which was definitely a good thing for him, so he seemed very happy.

"What is the reward for the envoys sent to various places in Kyushu?" Mao Liyuan asked immediately.

"Both the Saeki family and the Ito family agreed to the request to unite with the main family, but the Shimadzu family did not reply immediately." Michiyoshi Kuchiha immediately replied.

"Is the Shimadzu family still the same as last time? Too cautious will only make you miss the opportunity." Mori Moto said with emotion.

"My lord, the envoy of our family discovered an interesting thing in the territory of the Shimadzu family." Tsuyoshi Kuchiha continued.

"Things that can surprise you, too, seem to be very interesting."

"Hehe. My lord. To be honest, I am really surprised by this."

"Oh?" Mao Liyuan was really surprised now.

"My lord doesn't know, but this time when the envoys of our family went to the Shimadzu family, they found a large number of Ming people in the area."

"Ming people?"

"No, to be precise, those are pirates from the Ming country. And these pirates have a lot of iron cannons and other materials from the Ming country in their hands. If necessary, they can even be hired to fight. At this time, Shimadzu The family is doing this kind of trade with them. The envoys of the family also secretly heard that the Shimadzu family even sent people to follow the pirates from the Ming Dynasty to go out to rob. They got a lot of material wealth."

"What do you mean?" Hearing this, Mori Moto already understood the meaning of Kouha Tsuryo.

"That's right, my lord, our family can also trade with them. Especially the iron cannon trade, because the local manufacturing time is too long, even if the family personally sends people to Kyoto, Sakaimachi and other places, they can't buy it. There are enough iron cannons, but those pirates have a lot of iron cannons in their hands, and our family just happens to trade with them." Toshiyoshi Kouha said immediately.

"Not bad!" After listening to Kouwa Tongliang's suggestion, Mao Liyuan also said. "Even my family is encouraging these pirates to fight against the Luo's family, using the sea area occupied by these pirates. Sooner or later, there will be conflicts with the Luo's family's navy, and this family is just trying to provoke their relationship."

"My lord is wise!" Seeing that Mao Liyuan thought of this so quickly, Kouha Tongliang flattered him at the right time.

"It's just that if you want to trade with these pirates, you must have a safe waterway, and if you want a safe waterway, you must first control the Seto Inland Sea, and then the decisive battle with the Tao family is very important. It's over." Mao Liyuan changed his voice immediately, and returned to the matter of the upcoming decisive battle with the Tao family.

"If that's the case, let's make the Luo family even more busy and send an order to let the secret agents of the family lurking in the Luo family's territory spread rumors and incite the people in the Luo family's territory."

"Ah? My lord, if this happens, it is very likely that our family's internal work in the Luo family will suffer heavy losses!" After hearing Motozuru's decision, Kuchiha Toriyoshi was immediately taken aback.It's not that they haven't done this kind of thing before, but last time it was because of this that most of the Maori family's spies who had mixed into the Luo family's territory as refugees were discovered, and most of them were eventually arrested.It is said that these people's final fate was very miserable, and what made Kouwa Tsuryo feel helpless was that even though so many people were sacrificed, the final impact on the Luo family was still limited.

"Are you worried that this time will be the same as the last time, and won't cause trouble to the Luo family?" Mao Liyuan also saw Kou Yu's doubts at this moment, so he simply raised it himself, "The situation this time is the same as that of the last time." It was different last time. The Luo family captured parts of Bungzen and Bungo countries last year, and this time these areas will definitely bring a lot of trouble to the Luo family."

"My lord is wise!" As soon as Mao Liyuan mentioned it, Kouyu Tongliang immediately understood.

Under normal circumstances, Mao Liyuan's strategy would really be successful against ordinary wealthy families.It's just that Mori Moto didn't understand the laws of the Luo family, let alone that Masaragi had arranged for the military adviser Akabane Shinnosuke to prevent this from happening.So this time Mao Liyuan was destined to suffer a big loss, and even lost the intelligence network of the Luo family because of this, and became blind in monitoring the situation of the Luo family.

"What's the situation at the Nizi's house in the Izumo country?" After learning about the situation of the Luo family, Mori Moto immediately asked about the situation at the Nizi's house.

"Please rest assured, my lord. Under the rumors of the secret work arranged by my family in the Izumo and Harima countries, Nizi Haruhisa seems to be really dissatisfied with the Akamatsu family and the Urakami family who 'blatantly despise' him, and has even begun to mobilize the army and prepare to fight hard. I went to the Harima country to teach the Akamatsu family and the Urakami family a lesson." Michiyoshi Kuchiha immediately responded with a little joy.

"Okay!" Mao Liyuan nodded to express his satisfaction after hearing the words, "What's the situation with the Murakami navy and the Kono family?"

"The three islands (Kaishima, Noshima, Innoshima, and Takeshi Murakami are the heirs of the original Noshima navy) navy has agreed to the request of the family, and the Kono family may not be able to come forward. Because they are at this time They are currently fighting against the Xitusi family."

"The in-laws couldn't come (after Ouchi Yoshitaka was killed. In order to form an alliance with the Kono family, Mao Liyuan married his daughter to the Kono family. The Kono family has always been at odds with the Ouchi family, and now Mao Liyuan is dealing with the representative of the Ouchi family. Even if the Tao family and the Kono family could not send troops to help, they still let the Laishima navy attached to the Kono family support the Maori family. And the Kunatsu of the Luo family came from this army that can be called the Kono family navy Fleet)? That's really a pity. However, it's good to have the support of the Mishima Navy." After listening to Kouwa Tsuryo's report, Mori Moto thought for a while, and then said.

"Since everything is developing according to our original expectations! Tao Longfang, then let our two families have a decisive battle." Looking at the beautiful mountain scenery outside the window.Mao Liyuan couldn't help shouting in his heart.

In the first year of Hongzhi ([-]), perhaps because of the previous two years, due to natural disasters, each family had to focus on their homes. Now it is hard to meet a normal year, so all the powerful and famous Finally couldn't hold back anymore, they all started to get restless.Fierce battles broke out in various parts of the Western Kingdom.

In May, when the spring plowing was coming to an end, the war broke out first, but it was the Tosa country of Shikoku.In the past few years, the power of the Changzongabu family, which has gradually skyrocketed, began to attack its enemy, the Motoyama family, under the leadership of the governor of his family, the Zonggabu Guoqin.The two sides fought fiercely at the border of the two territories.

The same is the Shikoku area.In order to avenge the sudden surprise attack at the beginning of the year, the wisest and bravest governor in the history of the Xituji family, Shishou Xituji, also led an army into the territory of the Kono family and the Ono family.After the Kono family and the Ohno family learned about it, they immediately dispatched troops to meet them.

In June, on Itsuku Island in the coastal area of ​​the Seto Inland Sea in the Aki Kingdom, which was shrouded in the cloud of war, Mori Motosuke’s Miyao Castle was completed, and Mori Moton immediately ordered the powerful clan Naoyuki Kogai and Niisato Miyauchi Shaosuke to lead [-] soldiers to stand firm , and the rest of the troops remained on hold.

Also in June, the Sixth Standing Ashgaru Team of the Luo Family of Bungo Country in Kyushu, with the assistance of some of the Fourth Standing Navy of the Luo Family, began to march to half of Haibu County in the southern part of Bungo Country.The Saeki family entrenched here immediately confronted the Ito family for help.For a while, the two sides fought fiercely.

In August, the Luo family's navy, which had assembled many naval warships off the coast of Iki Island, finally began to march towards Tsushima Island.The Tsushima clan, which had been prepared for a long time, immediately dispatched its own navy to meet it.The two sides met in the Tsushima Strait and launched the first battle.But in the end it ended with a small victory for the Luo family.After the defeat, the Zongjia navy quickly fled back to Tsushima Island.

The Luo family's navy did not take advantage of the victory to pursue them, but instead returned to their base on Iki Island.Afterwards, the news came from the Luo family, and everyone learned that the Luo family's navy was planning to wait for the rest of the navy to arrive before launching a general attack on Tsushima Island.

On September 21th, the autumn harvest had been over for more than ten days, and the Luo family's army, which had finally been concentrated, also began to set off from Iki Island to attack Tsushima Island.And on September [-]st, the second day after the Luo family's naval forces marched to Tsushima Island, Tao Longfang raised the flag at Yongxing Temple in Iwakuni. Tao Longfang personally led the first wave of more than [-] navy ships, while Hongzhong Longbao led the follow-up troops to stand by in Iwakuni, and marched towards Itsukushima in a mighty manner, preparing to take down the Mori family in one fell swoop.

The Tao family warship moved forward meanderingly, passing through the long and narrow Ono Seto waters between Itsukushima and the coastal land of Anyun Country, and finally landed at a place called Dayuanpu. Not far from the landing point is Mori Motono The amazing Miyao Castle.

Tao Longfang was full of ambition. He saw the large torii gate of Itsukushima Shrine standing in the tide in front of him, and looked back at the military appearance of the thousands of miles of boats. He couldn't help silently making a wish to the gods to win the first battle.

After landing, he immediately gathered the generals who followed him and held a pre-battle assessment meeting.During the meeting, a retainer first suggested: "Master Hongzhong Longbao's troops are still in Iwakuni, should we bring their troops here first?"

"En!" Tao Longfang immediately nodded in agreement after hearing the words.In fact, he still thought at this time that even with the troops that landed this time, he could take down the fortress built by the Maori family in front of him.Now that a retainer mentioned the Hongzhong Longbao troops, he immediately ordered all the navy ships that came this time to turn back immediately, and then transport the Hongzhong Longbao troops over. The landing place is still Dayuanpu.

After deciding on Hongzhong Longbao's troops.Tao Longfang immediately asked again: "Everyone, do you want to wait for the successor echelon of Hongzhong Sanhe Shou to come up. Shall I attack Gongwei City together?" At this time, Tao Longfang was no longer known as the "General of the Western Kingdom" in the past. It was glorious, because he had to take into account the emotions of the wealthy families who had been recovered by him with great difficulty, before he made a decision, he had to consider the opinions of the wealthy families for a while, so this situation happened.

Following Tao Longfang's question, Miura Fangqing, the general of the Tao family's army, immediately said: "My lord, the Maori family's army is very weak, and I led the navy to attack Renbao Island some time ago. The Maori side's general Xiangchuan is not doing well Since the battle is over, our army does not need to wait for the arrival of Mikawa Mamoru, we can directly cross the shrine, set up camp at the highest point "Tono-oka", and then attack Miyao Castle."

Miura Fangqing's suggestion was exactly in the hands of Tao Longfang. Because of the tortoise defensive strategy shown by the Maori army before, he despised the Maori a little bit.In fact, what Hongzhong Longbao said at the beginning was quite right, that is, the disastrous defeat of Zheshibata was entirely caused by the poor strength of the Tao family's army along the way.Now there is him personally sitting in the town, and there are so many elite soldiers under his command.Naturally, there is no need to worry about Maori's tricks.Moreover, Hongzhong Longbao opposed his strategy many times before, and Tao Longfang also wanted to take the opportunity before Hongzhong Longbao arrived at this time.Take down Miyao Castle easily, so as to humiliate Hongzhong Longbao.

In view of this situation, Tao Ryubo immediately agreed to Miura Fangqing's suggestion, so the army began to cross Itsukushima Shrine and began to build the main formation at Tonoka.

Tonogang is a highland covered with pine forests and shrubs. It is located behind the Itsukushima Shrine. It is named for its five-storied Buddhist pagoda. The first wave of Tao Longfang's landing team set up camp here, not waiting for Hongzhong Longbao's successor team. The attack on Miyao Castle was launched immediately.

Because the area from Toanoka to Miyao Castle is narrow with dense forests and white sand, Tao Longfang carefully divided the entire army into three fronts: the first line of attacking troops was deployed in front of the Daimido in Toanoka, and the troops on this line would All the dwellings around Toanoka were demolished, winding fences were erected at the front, densely packed wooden piles were laid, and the attack on Miyao Castle was started; the second line was deployed along Zhongchuangdo, Tahogang, Daishoin Temple, and Juwangdo. Tao Longfang arranged a third-line force to protect the rear and flanks at Yushan (Mishan) and Julin behind Tonogang; finally, Tao Longfang also ordered hundreds of warships from Dayuanpu to Suyapu, Across the line, the boats are connected with iron cables in an attempt to isolate the Maori army from landing support on Yandao.

Looking at the hill of the tower, the flags of the Tao family army complement each other with the red maple leaves all over the hill, and the shouts of the soldiers lined up correspond to the roar of the tide, which makes Tao Longfang a little crazy, as if he is in a dream in the feeling.After the arrangements were made, Tao Longfang, standing on the hill of the tower, the unparalleled general in the Western Kingdom, waved his military fan, and sent a signal to the entire army to attack Miyao Castle!

"As long as Miyao Castle is conquered and the Mori family is eliminated, I, Tao Longfang, will still be the hero of Zaixing Ouchi—His Highness Lord Yoshitaka, Goro, I don't ask for your forgiveness for what I have done, but I hope you can understand."

It was just beyond Tao Longfang's expectation that Miyao Castle's resistance was not as vulnerable as Miura Fangqing said, but was extremely resolute.Originally, according to the estimates of the Tao family's army, the guards of Miyao Castle were 600 people from the newly descended Maori family, including Jifei and Xinli, who were weak in fighting spirit and wavering in their positions.But what the Tao family army did not expect was that before the war, the scheming Mao Liyuan had already ordered the important minister Fukuhara Sadatoshi to lead dozens of elite soldiers into the city. The defenders of Miyao Castle were actually one against ten, fighting with all their strength, especially Shinsato Miyauchi Shaosuke, who possessed a strange strength, and had previously stored a lot of boulders and rolling logs in the city, and when defending the city, they used these objects like "birds" Feathers" easily threw it at the besieging Tao's army, and as a result, "Tao's wooden shields were smashed, and they were all invincible."

In addition, Mao Liyuan built the city at the end of the palace, and the choice of the location itself was extremely sophisticated. The place was surrounded by the sea on three sides, and it was full of tidal flats and dense forests.In the end, they fought for two days in a daze, the Tao family army suffered heavy casualties, but Miyao City remained standing.

At this time, Hongzhong Longbao's successor troops finally arrived. Of course, Tao Longfang couldn't hold back his face, but he also took the initiative to ask: "Sanhe Shou, what do you think about this?" Tao Longfang's military talent It is indeed good, but the strategy is very general (this can be seen from the fact that it has been counted by Mao Liyuan several times. To put it bluntly, it is that eq and iq are not good), and Hongzhong Longbao has always been His family played the role of a military adviser, so now he has no choice but to ask Hongzhong Longbao what to do next.

Hongzhong Takashi sat on the Maruyama of Toanoka, looked at Miyao Castle, and then looked at the terrain around Toanoka, and finally said, "His Royal Highness Zen Gate (Tao Longfang Dharma name), my minister's suggestion is, Don't stop the attack on Miyao Castle, the sooner you take it down, the better. In addition, the Yiwei behind Toanogang is a mountain that can attack our army from a high position. Please allow me to move to defend there to strengthen the security of the right wing."

Tao Longfang saw that Hongzhong Longbao did not dismantle his platform this time, but offered advice and suggestions, most of the resentment in his heart disappeared, and he immediately approved his plan.In the next few days, the Tao family's army changed their attack strategy, used a surprise attack team to vent the water source of Miyao City, and used the tactics of digging tunnels to destroy the arrows and sculls on the wall of Miyao City.All of a sudden, Miyao City was in crisis! (To be continued..)