Chapter 67

In the council hall of the lord's residence in Tashiro Castle.

"Your Highness, this is the detailed situation," Togo Heiji reported on the state of the domain and its neighbors, then bowed.

"So, it means that the Akasaka and Tachibana families have already joined forces," Masahiro asked.

"Yes, the two families launched attacks simultaneously along the upper and lower reaches of the Manegari River, reaching the foot of Yunosaki Castle in a single day. The Tagono family was caught off guard, and Yunosaki Castle is now besieged," Togo Heiji replied immediately.

"Has the castle not been breached yet?" Masahiro continued.

"From the farmers who fled to our domain, we learned that the combined forces of the two families besieged the castle overnight, but the garrison managed to hold them off temporarily," Togo Heiji replied. "The peasant soldiers of the two families have been looting the surrounding towns outside Yunosaki Castle. In the past two days, more than a hundred farmers have fled to our domain with their families."

"Hmm, arrange for people to take care of them properly," Masahiro said.

"Your Highness, should we also consider sending troops to the Tagono family, under the pretext of driving out the invaders from their domain? I believe the Tagono family would be grateful to us," Togo Heiji continued.

"Taking advantage of the chaos, huh?" Masahiro pondered for a moment, then said, "No, Heiji, do you think we have the capability to send troops now?" In fact, they had just obtained the Tashiro family's domain, and were still vying for the domains of the Komatsu and Fujiwara families. If they were lucky enough to occupy these places, the domain of the Rokkashi family would double in size, and they would have to deal with the reactions of their neighbors. Therefore, they could only watch helplessly as the Tagono family suffered.

"Your Highness... that..." Togo Heiji seemed to have more to say.

"Are you worried about Heizaburo?" Masahiro said slowly, "Let's do this: arrange for his family to be brought to the domain, and leave a letter at his house. I assume he is in Yunosaki Castle now, and we can only leave it to fate. Heiji, we have done what we can."

"Yes, Your Highness," although he was concerned about Heizaburo's safety, given the current situation, they could only do their best to protect his family.

"Your Highness, oh, Lord Heiji is here too," at this moment, Tadayoshi, who had just finished patrolling the domain, hurriedly came to report to Masahiro. Seeing Togo Heiji, he quickly bowed.

"Tadayoshi, you look very pleased?" Masahiro smiled slightly.

"Ha ha ha, Your Highness, I met a messenger sent back by Lord Tsuda outside the castle. Lord Tsuda has already taken the Komatsu family's castle and is now clearing out the stubborn elements and pacifying the domain. He requests that Your Highness immediately send someone to take over the domain," Tadayoshi laughed heartily.

"Good," Masahiro did not expect Tsuda Masahiro to take the Komatsu family's domain so quickly. According to his original plan, even with the secret assistance, it would take at least until the next day to see the results.

"Your Highness, this is a blessing for the Rokkashi family. It must be the protection of the Great Buddha of Hachiman," Togo Heiji was also very pleased.

"Heiji, tonight you will assist Kishiro in taking stock of the supplies here. Tomorrow morning, you will rush to Masahiro's place to handle the takeover of the domain. Additionally, assist Masahiro in securing the entrances and exits of the domain. The remaining takeover tasks will be left to Kishiro," Masahiro instructed, "Sakubei, you will accompany Lord Heiji tomorrow and must organize a patrol squad there within two days to closely monitor suspicious individuals in the domain."

"Yes, Your Highness," the two bowed to accept the orders.

"Tadayoshi, this will be left to you and Kishiro. Strengthen the blockade at the border with the Soryo family," Masahiro continued, "Kisaburo, you will stay here and organize a patrol squad to assist Kishiro in monitoring the domain."

"Yes, Your Highness," the two also bowed to accept the orders.

After assigning the tasks, the retainers began to handle the affairs overnight. Masahiro walked slowly to the door of the council hall and looked up in the direction of Fujihira Castle. Ogasawara Kuniharu, it's your turn now.

......

While the Rokkashi family was busy taking over the new domain, in a wooden house in the main keep of Hira Castle, ten miles from Fujihira Castle, two people were sitting opposite each other. A porcelain bowl between them contained light green tea, which was emitting steam.

"Is the situation true?" the middle-aged man on the left asked first.

"Yes, my lord," the gray-clothed old man bowed slightly, "According to the report from the family's scouts, the combined forces of the Komatsu and Fujiwara families set out this morning, advancing like a flood until they encountered the Tashiro family's forces near the border. The Tashiro family seems to have received support from the bandits of Yotaka Mountain. When the scouts returned, the two sides were already engaged in battle at the border."

"What do you think of this?" the middle-aged man continued.

"Is my lord asking who will win this time?" the gray-clothed old man asked in a low voice. Seeing the middle-aged man remain silent, he continued, "I originally thought the combined forces of the two families would win, but they would not be able to breach the Tashiro family's castle. However, with the bandits' support, the two sides are likely evenly matched."

"Are you saying the Fujihira family cannot besiege Tashiro Castle?" the middle-aged man asked.

"My lord, it seems so," the gray-clothed old man bowed slightly in response.

"Even so, the two sides will likely fight for several days, won't they?" the middle-aged man gazed at the porcelain bowl emitting a faint tea aroma, as if talking to himself.

"My lord, we can mobilize the peasant soldiers of our domain," the gray-clothed old man said, "and seize the opportunity to take Fujihira Castle or Tashiro Castle."

"No, Shigeta, you underestimate Fujiwara Nakahide. He has already deployed a large number of troops at the border checkpoint with our domain. It seems he does not trust our neighbor," the middle-aged man laughed.

"A few foot soldiers cannot stop our forces. Once the two families are weakened, we can take the opportunity to seize the domain, which could double our territory," the gray-clothed old man seemed very confident.

"Ha ha ha, not bad," the middle-aged man seemed to enjoy the praise of his forces, "I thought we could take Fujihira Castle, but now we have an additional Tashiro Castle."

"My lord, I suggest we directly take Fujihira Castle and temporarily leave Tashiro Castle alone," the gray-clothed old man said at the right moment.

"Hmm?" the middle-aged man looked at the old man in confusion.

"Tashiro's domain borders the bandits of Yotaka Mountain and is not an ideal territory," the gray-clothed old man said slowly, "At the same time, we can use the pretext of punishing the bandits to directly take Fujihira Castle and send a messenger to the Tashiro family's army to propose a joint attack on the Fujihira family. I believe the Tashiro family, given their current situation, would be willing."

"Good, even if the Tashiro family intends to compete with us for Fujihira Castle, with the delay caused by the Komatsu and Fujiwara families, they will be too far away to reach in time," the middle-aged man nodded, "Shigeta, mobilize the peasant soldiers of the domain tomorrow."

"Yes, my lord," the gray-clothed old man bowed to accept the order.

......

In the Oda family's Nakao Castle.

As a powerful clan during the Nanboku-cho period, the Oda family had fallen to a small clan due to the constant encroachments of surrounding powerful clans. Limited by insufficient agricultural yields, the Oda family had only ten samurai and a maximum of fifty peasant soldiers. If it were not for the Soryo family's deliberate avoidance of the border with the Myojin clan to the east of the Oda family, the Oda family would have been annexed by the Soryo family long ago.

At this moment, a loud laugh echoed from the Oda family. "Ha ha ha, heaven is helping the Oda family!" Oda Taikou laughed heartily, "Quick, invite Lord Yota to come and discuss."

"What? No, my lord," a retainer immediately advised, "The Myojin clan is like wolves in the mountains. A single misstep, and our family could be bitten back."

"Then, do you think our family has a better plan now?" Oda Taikou's expression turned serious, and he glared at the retainers, who immediately fell silent.

"My lord, we can cross the Komagawa River upstream of Fujihira Lake and take Fujihira Castle while it is vulnerable," another retainer suggested.

"No, don't forget about the Soryo family to the south. Even if our family captures Fujihira Castle, it will eventually be taken by the cunning wolf, Soryo Haruzane," Oda Taikou said harshly, "What we need to do is join forces with Yota, the wild wolf, and take a big bite out of Soryo Haruzane when he moves."

Through the thick moonlight, Oda Taikou gazed in the direction of Hira Castle, thinking fiercely, Soryo Haruzane, the hatred of losing my wife, I will never forgive you.

(PS: I have a cold and a fever, and I'm not in the best condition, but I promised not to miss any updates, so I persisted in writing this chapter. The quality may not be the best, so please bear with me! The new book has entered its fifth week, already A-signed, and has been updated with over 200,000 words, with no plans to stop until at least 1.5 million words. The first two weeks were without promotion, the third week made it to the Sanjiang Potential List, last week to the New Book Recommendation List, and this week to the Historical Strong Recommendation List. Everyone, after reading, don't leave in a hurry. Even if you don't have votes, add it to your bookshelf. I beg you, my dear readers. My goal is to write at least 1.5 million words, even if it means a spectacular failure. I enjoy writing and enjoy the solitude.)

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