The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

September 17th, the fifth day of the siege.

Inside the castle tower of Iwamura Castle, Ando Mamoru stayed up all night.

The castle town had long been controlled by Oda's army, and wooden sheds were erected everywhere.

Oda's army moved back and forth, throwing stones and rubble, as if they were determined to take the castle.

Within Yan Village, water and food were plentiful, but the hearts of the people were lacking.

"My lord, seven more men escaped by lowering themselves down the city walls last night; they were all veterans," Takenaka Shigeharu reported in a low voice, not daring to look up at Ando Morishige's ashen face.

Mamoru Ando silently gazed out the window. Thick fog enveloped the mountain castle, hence Iwamura Castle's name, "The Castle of Fog."

The fog that used to be a natural barrier now acts like a prison curtain.

"What about Naoki Ando (Morihisa Ando's eldest son)?" he asked hoarsely.

"They are currently inspecting the Ninomaru and reinforcing the defensive fortifications."

"He's still reinforcing the defenses?" Ando smiled bitterly. "The city hasn't fallen yet, but morale has already collapsed. What's the point of reinforcing the stone walls?"

He was surrounded and didn't know whether the news was true or false.

It is said that the other two members of the Nishimino Trio, Inaba Ittetsu and Ujiie Bokuzen, have secretly submitted to Oda.

He recalled that at last year's evaluation meeting, he had a big argument with Inaba Ittetsu over dividing up the Nagai family's territory.

Once doubt arises, it is difficult to suppress.

If Saito Tatsuoki were willing to send troops, even if he were to suffer a defeat, it would prove that he trusts me. But why is it that even today, the Oda army is still digging and laughing at the foot of the mountain?

"My lord," Takenaka Shigeharu said, standing solemnly at the doorway, "the Oda army began building an earthen platform outside the Sannomaru this morning, seemingly to construct a well tower."

"Well tower? They're already trying to use arrows to suppress the city walls? Are the walls of Erdao City about to be breached?" Ando Mamoru walked to the window, but the fog was too thick for him to see anything.

It is precisely what cannot be seen that is most terrifying.

"I don't know..." Shigeharu Takenaka, the head of the Ando family, shook his head.

"What do we do next?"

Takenaka Shigeharu frankly stated, "Mori Nagayoshi's military tactics are difficult to predict. But there is no doubt that his psychological warfare strategy is hard to defend against. Our Mori troops have had a poor siege and are also suspected by our lord, so morale is unstable..."

"Shigeji, how long do you think we... can hold out?"

Takenaka Shigeharu sensed the wavering in his father-in-law's words and sighed inwardly, but still firmly said, "If the soldiers are of one mind and have sufficient provisions, Oda will surely run out of food and retreat after a month. But now the morale of the army is wavering, and Lord Saito..."

How long Iwamura Castle could hold out did not depend on how high the walls were or how much food it had, but on when Saito Tatsuoki would come to its rescue.

But this mediocre lord had clearly given up on them.

At the same time, in Inabayama Castle.

Saito Tatsuoki paced restlessly inside the castle tower. None of his trusted confidants—the powerful clans of Higashi-Mino—had volunteered to rescue Iwamura.

He was inherently suspicious. Since his grandfather Saito Dosan was killed by his father Yoshitatsu, he had become accustomed to betrayal and never trusted anyone.

Ando Mamoru was a veteran retainer from his grandfather's time. Was he truly loyal to his lord?

At this time, his favorite retainer, Saito Hida no Kami, advised, "Iwamura Castle is known as difficult to attack and cannot be captured. Ando no Kami has two thousand soldiers under his command and ample supplies. If he truly has no intention of rebelling, he should be able to hold out for a month without any problem. By then, the Oda army will have been unable to capture the castle after a long siege and their morale will be low. We can then send troops out and win in one battle."

That makes a lot of sense.

Saito Tatsuoki returned to his seat, hesitant. To rescue him risked an ambush. Not to rescue him, however, would disappoint the Mino gentry if Ando Mori was truly a loyal retainer.

"Let's... let's observe for a few more days." He finally made a decision, "urging the various powerful clans to send troops to Inabayama Castle, and then we'll make further plans."

The retainers exchanged glances and unanimously agreed. Only with tens of thousands of soldiers would they dare to launch an attack.

September 19th, the seventh day of the siege.

The situation in Iwamura Castle took a sharp turn for the worse.

The night before, Changqing suddenly launched a feint attack in the west of the city, with flames shooting into the sky and deafening shouts of battle.

Ando Mamoru urgently dispatched reinforcements from the castle garrison, only to find that it was just a hundred or so men bluffing.

However, this relocation exposed the tension and exhaustion of the garrison inside the city.

Even more fatally, an inside agent actually took action that night.

Four foot soldiers attempted to open the side gate of the second castle, but were discovered in time by Takenaka Shigeharu, who was on night patrol.

Under severe torture, they confessed to having secretly read the arrow book and also revealed that someone had hidden it.

When Takenaka Shigeharu reported this matter to Ando Morinari, the old general's face appeared to have aged ten years overnight in the candlelight.

"Hanbei, tell me, how many people in this city are truly untrustworthy?"

Takenaka Shigeharu could not answer.

The power of the arrow letter in the siege battle lies in this: it doesn't need to actually buy off everyone, but only to make everyone suspect that the people around them have been bought off.

This is ineffective against an army with high morale, but it is particularly terrifying for an army that has suffered a major defeat.

On the morning of September 20th.

In front of both armies, Changqing wrapped a piece of paper around an arrow and shot it a full hundred jian (a unit of distance).

The letter read: "Lord Ando, ​​my lord respects you as a veteran general of Mino. If you open the castle gates by tomorrow, I will guarantee the lives of your entire family. By ceding Iwamura Castle, we can preserve our territory in western Mino."

"I need time to think about it."

Ando Mamoru wanted to stall for time, so he ordered Takenaka Shigeharu to send the reply back.

However, this one move was enough to shake the army.

His eldest son, Naoki Ando, ​​even began to suspect that his father was about to surrender the city.

"Everyone has heard it, so let's talk about it," Ando Mamoru said wearily.

After a long silence, a young general suddenly stood up: "My lord! We are willing to live and die with Iwamura Castle! The Oda army is merely bluffing; they haven't dared to truly attack the castle in seven days, which shows their weakness!"

"What do you know!" another veteran general shouted. "The Oda army isn't attacking the castle; they're waiting for us to fall into internal strife! You all know what happened last night; the traitor is among us! Perhaps... perhaps right here in this council hall!"

"What did you say?"

"Did I say something wrong? Who knows if someone has already secretly defected to Oda, just waiting to take lord's head and claim the reward!"

"Enough!" Mamoru Ando shouted.

The hall fell silent, but suspicious glances lingered among the crowd.

As Ando Mamoru looked at these familiar faces, he suddenly felt a pang of sorrow. Among these people were those who had followed him for twenty years, those who had married his daughter, and those who had shielded him from arrows.

But in this world, at this critical juncture, he sees everyone as a traitor.

"Chongzhi, what do you say?" He placed his last hope on his son-in-law.

Takenaka Shigeharu slowly stood up, touched his neck and said with a wry smile, "Father-in-law, Iwamura Castle is no longer defensible. If we keep dragging this out, our heads will feel like they're not even on our own bodies anymore."

The retainers were in an uproar.

"Lord Takenaka, how dare you..."

"Let him finish speaking!" Mamoru Ando shouted.

Takenaka Shigeharu continued, "Lord Saito has abandoned us. The army's morale is low, and internal traitors are hard to guard against. The Saito family and its ministers are suspicious of each other, and the powerful clans are disaffected. It's only a matter of time before Mino changes hands. If we surrender now, we can still save our lives and ensure the honor of the Saito family. If we delay too long, I'm afraid large swathes of western Mino will fall into the hands of others."

These words were piercing, yet they were also perfectly reasonable.

"If I surrender... will Oda Nobunaga truly keep his word?"

"If you had surrendered earlier, Lord Nobunaga would not have treated you too harshly in order to maintain stability in Mino."

Mamoru Ando let out a long sigh.

He walked to the window and opened it.

There was no fog today, but there was still no sign of reinforcements in the direction of Inabayama Castle.

Saito Tatsuoki, you mediocre fellow... well, never mind.

Ando Moriu turned around, his eyes showing no hesitation: "Send an envoy, prepare to surrender..."