Chapter 63

In a mountain hollow less than a li away from the Tawara family's castle, the group led by Tawara Kōgi, who were preparing to torture Kōsuke, was completely captured. Kōsuke narrowly escaped death.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, if you had come any later, I would have been beheaded. Although my death would not be a great loss, Your Highness would lose a loyal vassal," seeing that Masahiro was looking over, Kōsuke knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, feeling as if he had narrowly escaped death. Masahiro, seeing this, slightly curled his lips, but inwardly cursed, "You disturbed my peaceful sleep, and I haven't even settled accounts with you yet."

Kōsuke secretly glanced at Masahiro's expression and knew that his performance should be moderate. He then wiped away his tears and continued, "Congratulations, Your Highness, you have easily captured the young master of the Tawara family." At this moment, Tawara Kōgi had already been tied up, with a piece of rag stuffed in his mouth. The samurai he brought had been dealt with, and their possessions and swords were left behind. In terms of leaving no trace, the troops of the Rō family had learned well from Masahiro's style.

"Oh? The young master of the Tawara family? Hahaha, Kōsuke, you did well this time. If we can successfully capture Tawara Castle, you will be credited with the greatest merit, and I will increase your stipend to forty koku," Masahiro was clearly in a good mood and rewarded this guy who had unintentionally achieved a great feat.

Forty koku, the same as Ōnishi Kuni and Tsuda Kōsō, this clearly indicated that his status had risen significantly. Kōsuke was extremely excited and hurriedly bowed in gratitude.

At this moment, a member of the Cloak Corps rushed to Masahiro's side and whispered something in his ear. After hearing the report, Masahiro laughed heartily and said to everyone, "Everyone, the Kō and Fujiwara families have formally joined forces and are advancing towards the Tawara family's territory. Tadajirō has already led the troops to join Tawara Tadayoshi in repelling the combined forces of the two families. It seems our opportunity has come."

"Ah! Heaven is helping the Rō family!" everyone exclaimed in surprise.

"Your Highness, Tawara Castle is now vulnerable. I am willing to serve as the vanguard and capture Tawara Castle first," Tsuda Kōsō stepped forward and knelt before Masahiro, saying.

"Hmm, it is indeed the time to capture Tawara Castle. Everyone, listen to my orders," Masahiro shouted, "Kuni, you lead twenty members of the Cloak Corps to ambush and harass Tawara Tadayoshi along the route back to Tawara Castle. Try to delay his return to Tawara Castle, but remember not to engage them in direct combat. The rest of you will follow me to capture Tawara Castle."

"Yes, Your Highness," everyone responded loudly.

In the town below Tawara Castle, the atmosphere was tense. Upon hearing that nearby powerful families had joined forces to attack the territory, the townspeople hid in their homes, closing their doors tightly. They were both terrified and praying for the war to end quickly and for their family members to return safely.

Masahiro and his group changed into the clothes of Tawara Kōgi's original guard samurai, carrying the nearly lifeless Tawara Kōgi, and hurriedly walked through the town, heading towards the gate of Tawara Castle. The road was empty, and through the gaps in the wooden houses, one could see the eyes of the people inside watching them.

"Who are you?" the samurai on guard duty shouted from a distance, seeing a group of people quickly approaching the gate. A dozen ashigaru standing on the earthen wall immediately drew their bows to defend.

"Wait, this is the young master. The young master was injured by a wild boar. Quickly open the gate," Kōsuke, who was at the front, immediately shouted, fearing that if he delayed even half a second, the arrows on the earthen wall would hit him. He also inwardly complained, "Why do I always get involved in such things? I've really been having bad luck lately."

"What? The young master?" the guard samurai immediately looked at the injured person being carried. The group had already reached the gate. "Quick, what are you waiting for? Do you intend to harm the young master?" Kōsuke shouted again at the gate.

"Quick, open the gate, that's the young master," the guard samurai on the wall, recognizing Tawara Kōgi, immediately ordered the ashigaru below.

"Creak," the wooden gate slowly opened. Masahiro quickly drew his sword, Yoshikawa Ichimonji, and silently slipped through the gap, followed by the others who drew their weapons.

"Who are you?" the ashigaru opening the gate was startled by the sudden appearance of the group, and upon seeing that they were unfamiliar, immediately asked.

"Swish," a flash of the blade, and the ashigaru who asked the question was beheaded before he could understand what was happening.

"Ah? Enemy attack, enemy attack," the other ashigaru, realizing something was wrong, immediately shouted.

"Kill!" Masahiro shouted, charging at the enemy in front of him, followed by the others who shouted and charged after him. Kōsuke, however, hid under the gate, even smearing some of the blood of the killed ashigaru on himself, then lay on the side, pretending to be dead. Outside the gate, upon receiving the signal, Tsuda Kōsō immediately led the people hiding in the nearby forest to charge towards the open gate.

The ashigaru on guard were no match for Masahiro and his group. After several were killed, they began to retreat, all fearing being targeted by this demon of death. The samurai who had shouted to organize the resistance had just been beheaded by the demon in front of him. Without a leader, the ashigaru on guard were defeated one after another. With the arrival of Tsuda Kōsō's reinforcements, the resistance in the castle was quickly crushed.

After gaining the upper hand, Masahiro immediately ordered the gate to be closed and began a large-scale purge in the castle, eliminating the stubborn elements. In less than half an hour, all resistance in the castle was completely crushed. Some of the Tawara family's ashigaru were killed, and the rest were locked in the earthen prison in the castle.

In the Tawara family's council hall, the vassals who participated in the attack on the castle gathered.

Masahiro slowly scanned the crowd and then said, "Everyone, our family successfully captured Tawara Castle thanks to everyone's brave fighting. Pass the word, everyone will be rewarded with one koku of mixed grain. Now, let's talk about the situation in the castle."

"Your Highness, the castle has been purged. All the male members and stubborn elements of the Tawara family have been killed. The women and others have been gathered and guarded according to Your Highness's orders. The captives have been tied up and locked in the prison in the castle, and personnel have been arranged to guard them strictly. Our family's samurai and ashigaru, except for a few unfortunate ones who were injured, have no one killed in battle," Tsuda Kōsō reported.

"A large amount of money, grain, and weapons were found in the castle. Further verification is needed to confirm the exact amount," Kōsuke, responsible for the inventory, also reported.

"Hmm, Kōsuke, you stay behind and lead the injured samurai and ashigaru to guard the castle. Send someone immediately to notify Tōgō Heijirō to send people to inventory the supplies," Masahiro thought for a moment and then ordered, "Kōsō, immediately arrange for the uninjured samurai and ashigaru to rest and prepare for the next battle."

"Yes, Your Highness," the two received their orders and left.

(PS: The new book is about to enter its fifth week, already A-signed, with over 170,000 words updated, and will not be discontinued, at least 1.5 million words or more. It was on the Sanjiang Potential List in the third week, the New Book Recommendation List last week, and the Historical Category Strong Recommendation List this week. It is the top of the New Historical Book List. Dear readers, after finishing, don't leave in a hurry. Even if you don't have votes, put it on your bookshelf. I beg you, my principle is that even if I flop, I will write more than 1.5 million words, and I will flop spectacularly! Enjoy writing, enjoy loneliness.)

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