Chapter 32 first quarter

"Oh... Really... Lord Nobunaga is really amazing." After returning from the long military affairs meeting, his older brother Fujikichiro muttered to himself with displeasure.It was the evening of August 17th in the tenth year of Yonglu, and the location was in the field tent set up on the outer wall of Inabayama Castle that had just been occupied. "Hmm... did your lord say something?" Koichiro asked worriedly.The elder brother was praised by Nobunaga as "the number one hero who captured Mino" at the celebration banquet yesterday, and he came back triumphantly. He didn't expect that today he seemed to be a different person, looking exhausted.Koichiro felt that it was unusual to see his brother who was always bright and talkative like this.

"Well... Koichiro, Lord Nobunaga, we will send troops to attack Ise early tomorrow morning." The elder brother shrugged his shoulders, seemed a little excited, and sighed several times in succession. "What? Send troops to attack Ise tomorrow?" Koichiro was taken aback, quickly lowered his voice and asked: "Did something major happen to Ise?" "Of course not." My brother shook his head angrily. It was only yesterday that the Oda army captured Inabayama Castle.Moreover, since the beginning of the month, they have been fighting fiercely for every inch of land for half a month. After fierce attacks day and night, they finally promised not to harm Saito Ryuko and exiled him safely to Nagashima in Ise, finally allowing the enemy to open the city gate.The troops who actually participated in the siege battle suffered heavy casualties, and the troops in the rear were also exhausted from day and night vigilance, and Nobunaga himself must have been physically and mentally exhausted.

Moreover, after the occupation, there are still messes waiting to be cleaned up, which is also a very labor-intensive and time-consuming project.From burying the dead, bandaging the wounded and sending them back to the rear, and arranging the surrendered members of the Saito family... just these things have to be busy for a long time.On the part of the Saito family, it is necessary to arrange for some of the rural samurai to return home, organize the rest of the soldiers into the various units of the Oda family, and also manage and distribute the rations or money received from the enemy. Next, generals must be dispatched to lobby the few enemy cities that are still stubbornly resisting.At this time, it is also necessary to send troops from the Oda family to go with them. If they encounter those who refuse to die, they will launch an attack and occupy them.In addition, it is also important to urge the people in the occupied areas to return home.If these residents who fled their hometowns to avoid the flames of war are ignored for a long time, the fields and castle towns will gradually fall into disrepair, making it more difficult to rule in the future.Therefore, in addition to sending troops to prohibit the misconduct of the defeated samurai, a notice had to be issued calling on the residents to return home.Every village will put up tall notice boards, and send generals and warriors around, announcing that the war is over, that the new lord will rule the place with a big heart, and so on.

To win such a large land of Meinong, logically speaking, it would take at least two or three months to deal with these aftermath matters.And unless something serious happened, it was time for the soldiers to recuperate.Unexpectedly, only two days later, Nobunaga planned to send troops to attack Ise tomorrow morning.In such a situation, even Hideyoshi Kinoshita Fujiyoshiro would certainly be unhappy. "As long as it is a good opportunity, Lord Nobunaga will never let it slip away." The elder brother tried to use this sentence to express the anxiety and dissatisfaction in his heart.Nobunaga's idea is that the Oda family will attack Mino with all their strength and occupy it. When the rural samurai in Ise learn of this, their vigilance will definitely decrease, and they think that the Oda family will not take any action within two or three months. .So, this is the perfect time to attack.

"So that's it, Lord Nobunaga is indeed very powerful." While Koichiro was surprised, he could only sigh in this way.Nobunaga is a genius, and he often proposes such ideas that subvert common sense, but what is even more admirable is his courage and energy to implement. "Also, Koichiro..." The elder brother stared straight at him with bloodshot eyes, and continued: "Lord Nobunaga wants us to go together. Evacuate here early tomorrow morning and head to Ise." "What? Want us to go together?" Koichiro was shocked, and then anger surged up violently.Over the past year, the Kinoshita group guarded Sumata Castle, a bridgehead in the enemy's territory, and lived in battle and tension all day long. This time they attacked Inabayama Castle and served as the vanguard, with remarkable results.Of course, the soldiers also suffered many casualties and were exhausted.It will take at least four or five days to regroup the troops and restore the soldiers' strength.Under such circumstances, it is simply unreasonable to ask them to start fighting again tomorrow.

(There are many troops that did not participate in this battle. Why must our Kinoshita group go?) Koichiro was very dissatisfied and worried, not knowing how to tell the soldiers in the group. "Did brother just agree silently?" Koichiro finally couldn't help raising such a question. "Bastard! This is the master's order. Do you think it's the peasants who are in a meeting?" Brother Hideyoshi shouted angrily.It means that the samurai must absolutely obey the order of the lord, and disobedience is disobedience, which is tantamount to betrayal.This should not be confused with farmers meeting to discuss how to cultivate the fields or repair roads.

In theory it is true.But Hideyoshi has always been good at winning people's hearts, and he rarely speaks so untactfully.Come to think of it, for Koichiro, who had been farming until the age of twenty-two, such a statement was simply mocking him. In an instant, Koichiro felt that his blood rushed to his forehead.Anyway, the day before yesterday he was still charging in the midst of a hail of bullets. Even though he was gentle by nature, the murderous aura in combat had not completely faded away, and it took him a lot of effort to suppress the urge to yell back.He kept telling himself that he could be called a good staff member if he didn't act emotionally when the coach was restless and angry.

"Oh, the lord thinks highly of us and asks us to go out with him. This is our honor. I will make everyone prepare well." Koichiro said this loudly on purpose, hoping that the people next to him could also hear his words. "Okay, then I'll leave it to you." After saying this, the elder brother walked out of the camp, probably returning to Nobunaga's side to discuss how to attack Ise tomorrow. Koichiro immediately summoned the heads of the Kinoshita team, announced the news of tomorrow's expedition, and ordered them to prepare as soon as possible.Sure enough, as he expected, the team leaders were very dissatisfied and kept asking questions, including: how should soldiers be replenished if soldiers died in the siege battle, who would take care of the wounded, where should weapons or shoes be repaired if they were damaged, What to do when you run out of arrows and bullets, what to do if you don’t have enough supplies, etc.

Koichiro answered these questions as carefully as he could, but everyone was not so easy to appease.Besides, sometimes even Koichiro didn't know what to do, and the scene gradually began to get out of control. Some people said boldly: "Even if you don't sleep today, you won't have time to prepare. If you talk about going out tomorrow, it's just a dream." "What did you say?" In such a situation, Koichiro had no choice but to reprimand: "If Saito Longxing refuses to follow through and fights to the end, I am afraid that the city has not been captured until now. Whether it is today or tomorrow, we still have to continue to fight. If this is the case, you can say that it is too late to prepare, and we cannot go to war tomorrow. If you think like this, why can’t you go out tomorrow?”

After hearing these words, everyone had no choice but to remain silent.However, not talking is one thing, and everyone still has a dissatisfied expression on their faces. (This is not acceptable.) Koichiro felt quite worried.Almost all the soldiers of the Kinoshita group are the retainers of the Oda family, and they are only temporarily sent to assist Fujiyoshi Hideyoshi, and have no affiliation with Koichiro.If they get angry and say to him: "Master Kinoshita Hideyoshi is fine, it's not your turn to teach us a lesson here." Then things will be difficult to deal with. At this moment, someone suddenly interrupted and said:

"I see, leave these trivial matters to Mr. Koichiro. We just need to dress neatly and set off. The battlefield is where we warriors fight." The group leaders standing side by side turned their dirty faces, which were busy with the war and had no time to shave, to this bold speaker with a clear and loud voice.Standing there was the thin and fair Takenaka Hanbei Shigeharu. "Really? It turns out that Lord Koichiro will be in charge of handling chores? Then I'll do my best, and then go charge and do a big job." In the last seat, someone spoke so loudly as if they were afraid that others would not hear them.It turned out to be an ashigaru general named Mikota Hanzaemon Shoji.He was a big man with a vermilion complexion, and was sent by the Oda family to assist in the defense of Sumata Castle when the Kinoshita Group began guarding the castle.This person is not only brainless, but also not only has a sense of propriety, but he has a lot of opinions, is self-righteous, and often criticizes Fujikichiro or Koichiro.Perhaps it is due to the fact that his father Mikota Hizenmori is a veteran of the Oda family.However, he also has his advantages. With his rich combat experience and bravery, he performed very well on the battlefield.Although he is a troublesome "problem man", the army must be able to control this kind of man in order to give full play to its combat power. Hearing Takenaka Hanbei's self-assertive speech and Mikota Hanzaemon's attitude of showing off his abilities, Koichiro felt very displeased.However, seeing Hanbei Takenaka's slender eyes blinking up and down meaningfully, he immediately changed his mind. "That's right. Taking care of the wounded and supplying weapons and food are all covered by me, Koichiro. You just need to dress neatly and set off for Ise early in the morning. You don't have to worry about these trivial things." Koichiro said very firmly. "That's right. Think about it, guarding Sumata, taking the lead in attacking Inabayama Castle, the Oda family's leading elite troops, who else is there besides us? How can Ise be taken down without us?" Mikota Hanzaemon raised his voice again and said so.Although it sounds a bit specious, it finally won the approval of everyone. (Alas, it finally settled.) Koichiro breathed a sigh of relief for a while, but almost at the same time, he thought of the many difficulties he had to face next.He couldn't help worrying, if this continues, he's afraid he'll have to work like a cow and a horse for the rest of his life, exhausted physically and mentally, and won't be able to rest in peace.