"Lord, there must be a fraud in this," Hinano Hiroshi immediately noticed something was wrong after hearing this. "I have seen this kid Takenaka Shigeharu. He has been smart since he was a child and is good at making surprising plans. The previous Ambush from Flying Daggers destroyed Oda Nobu.
Commander, this is the plan he set up. This time he only brought seventeen people into Inabayama Castle, so he must have some ulterior motive! The lord will either refuse him entry or capture him on the spot!"
"No." However, Saito Ryuuki resolutely refused: "Give him the arrow and seal and let him enter the city!"
"Lord? What are you doing?" Zhuyao Zhiguang protested dissatisfiedly, "You are inviting a wolf into the house!"
"Don't you realize it yet?" Saito Ryuuki turned around and looked at his two elders: "Why did Ando Mamoru send Takenaka Shigeharu into the city?"
"Because they want to take action now! They want to take back control of Inabayama Castle," Saito Ryuuki sneered and slammed the table angrily, "But they don't dare! They are afraid that we will have an ambush in the city. They are afraid
They were ambushed by us when we entered the city, so we sent Takenaka Shigeharu in first to see what was going on!"
"If we refuse Takenaka Shigeharu's reasonable request to enter the city at this moment, wouldn't it be clear that there is something wrong in our hearts and that there is an ambush in the city?" Saito Ryuuki frowned and asked dissatisfiedly: "If you were Ando Mamoru, then
, will you still seize the city? Definitely not! Our plan will fail."
"So my lord..." Hinanohiro seemed to understand what Saito Ryuuki meant, "Do you want to remove the ambush in the city, and then let Takenaka Shigeharu come in and see that there is no one in the city, so as to lure the Ando family to attack?"
"That's right," Saito Ryuuki nodded, "I will remove all ambushes in the city right now. The troops will be stationed in the military camp outside the north gate. No one is allowed to enter the city without my order."
"But my lord!" Takeyao Naoguang interrupted Saito Ryuuki's words and reminded: "Although this can prevent Takenaka Shigeharu from seeing the truth, our ambush is indeed gone! When the time comes, Takenaka Shigeharu and Ando Mamoru will cooperate inside and outside.
, how can we resist? Inabayama Castle might really change hands!"
"Listen to what I have to say. Of course I won't be so stupid!" Saito Ryuuki waved his hand to Shukeyao Naoguang to shut up. "Takenaka Shigeharu must have an ulterior motive when he brings people into the city. But he only has seventeen people.
He couldn't make any waves in the city. He needed a large army to control the whole city. However, the Ando family's army outside Xicheng City did not build siege equipment at all, and there was no way to attack the walls of Inabayama Castle. In the final analysis, Takenaka Shigeharu had to find a way to attack the city.
We need to open the city gate inside the city and let in the Ando army outside the West City."
"So, although I will leave the army outside the city," a faint smile appeared on Saito Ryuuki's lips, "but I will let all the senior commanders and warriors who have learned of my plan before lead
Their cronies left the army and garrisoned the city!"
"The key points of defense are the castle tower, the prison where Yu Qiuping is imprisoned, and the west city gate." Saito Ryuuki looked at the overhead view of Inabayama Castle hanging on the wall and clicked on the three key positions. "These
There are only a small number of senior generals and their trusted samurai, and they will not be discovered as long as they are properly ambushed. And Takenaka Shigeharu will not be suspicious when he sees all the troops stationed outside the city."
"Although they are not large in number, they are more than enough to deal with Takenaka Shigeharu's seventeen people," Saito Ryuuki said of his plan: "At that time, Takenaka Shigeharu will definitely try to open the city gate and let Ando's army enter the city, so we will
Use those senior generals and their elite warriors to ambush Takenaka Shigeharu directly at the west gate and catch him! Then use this as a reason to attack the Ando army outside the city!"
"That's it." Hinano Hiroshi suddenly realized after hearing this, "My lord, this plan is very clever!"
"Then why are you still standing there?" Saito Ryuuki laughed with satisfaction, "Hurry up and act according to my instructions!"
·
In the evening, Takenaka Shigeharu, who had been waiting for a long time, finally got permission to enter the city. He and the sixteen followers around him each carried a small bag, with medicine in the upper layer and weapons and sulfur for ignition in the lower layer.
"Please search." Takenaka Shigeharu walked to a guard naturally and opened the package for him to inspect.
"No need, Lord Takenaka, I dare not offend you," the guard waved his hands repeatedly, and at the same time handed the command arrow and seal to Takenaka Shigeharu, "When you need to leave the city, you only need to show the command arrow and seal."
"Thank you." After Takenaka Shigeharu nodded his thanks, he led sixteen followers into the city and walked towards his younger brother's house. As soon as Takenaka Shigeharu left, Komakimoto Empress Dowager brought his Hatamoto samurai to the west city.
There was an ambush nearby. Along the way, there were countless ninjas and secret sentries watching Takenaka Shigeharu's every move.
"Go and get some water," Takenaka Shigeharu ordered a few attendants to walk toward the creek in Beicheng. "Go and get some food," and ordered a few attendants to go to the markets in Dongcheng and Nancheng. Attendants
They understood what Takenaka Shigeharu meant, nodded understandingly, and then dispersed one after another.
After a while, the attendants secretly sent by Takenaka Shigeharu to investigate the city returned to Takenaka Hisaku's house.
"How is it? How is the situation in the city?" Takenaka Shigeharu asked softly.
"There are no troops stationed in any dangerous places or commanding heights." The attendants replied in a low voice, "You can see from a bell tower on the north side of the city that there are nearly 2,000 people active in the barracks outside the gate of the north city.
The ashigaru left behind by the Saito family in Inabayama Castle are probably all there."
"Are there no troops in the city at all?" Takenaka Shigeharu confirmed again.
"Yes, a little bit," the guard scratched his head and tried to remember, "In total, there may only be a few dozen Saito Ryuuki's Hatamoto samurai maintaining order, but there is absolutely no large army!"
"That's right..." Takenaka Shigeharu nodded silently. After pondering for a moment, he asked again: "You are not suspected, are you? Is anyone coming to question you?"
"No, absolutely not!" the attendant hurriedly waved his hands, fearing that the master would doubt their abilities: "We behave in a well-behaved manner and have done nothing extraordinary. We will definitely not arouse suspicion, and no one from the Saito family came to interrogate us.
"
"Well, there is no need to send someone to inform His Highness Ando, ​​the plan remains as usual."
"We'll start taking action after sunset."
·
At the same time, inside the castle tower, a large number of senior generals in the army such as generals and generals and their trusted samurai had gathered around Saito Ryuuki.
"Takenaka Shigeharu's people have already scouted the whole city, and there is another person who quietly ran up to the bell tower and looked outside the North City. Our army outside the north gate must have been seen by them." Takeyao Naoguang reported to Saito Ryuuxinghui.
, "It seems that nothing unusual was found, and they did not send anyone out of the city to contact Ando Mamoru."
"Okay, you did a good job." Saito Ryuuki nodded in approval, "Then Teacher, Master Takeyao, I will leave the castle tower to you."
"What about you, my lord?" Hinano Hiroshi asked worriedly.
"I will lead people to garrison the prison," Saito Ryuuki sneered, "I have a hunch that Takenaka Shigeharu will personally come to the prison to save people."
"Wait until nightfall," Saito Ryuuki clapped his hands and looked at the faltering sun in the west, "When the sun sets, the show is about to begin."
·
At this time, in the Saito family barracks outside the north gate, the remaining Saito family ashigaru were all gone, and people were in panic.
In the past few days, the orders issued by the superiors have been very strange. First, they were transferred to various strategic locations in Inabayama Castle to ambush them, and this afternoon they were suddenly transferred back to the barracks outside the north gate. I don’t know why. And
Their superiors, such as the generals and generals, seemed to have been ordered to keep silent, and hesitantly refused to tell them anything. There were only vague hints, and it seemed that everything was related to the Ando family's army stationed outside the West City.
The Ashigaru people are not fools, and they all understand the conflict between the Simino wealthy family and the Saito family. Previously, the Simino wealthy family had teamed up to oust Saito Ryuuki, and even sent people to monitor his every move in Inabayama Castle. They
The Lord staged a coup a few days ago, detained Ando Mamoru, and took back control of Inabayama Castle. Although Ando Mamoru was released soon after, these Ashigaru people also understood that Ando Mamoru would never give up.
, will definitely find a way to take revenge.
They secretly speculated that they were asked to ambush in the city before because they were worried that Mamoru Ando would suddenly rush into Inabayama Castle and seize the city.
But this evening, all the senior generals in the army, including the generals and their cronies, were transferred away, leaving only the confused Ashigaru. The one with the highest official position here is a small
The ashgar head were not in charge of each other and could not make up their minds at all. The messy environment and the senior generals who suddenly left without issuing any orders made the atmosphere in the military camp a bit tense. Everyone was worried and speculating about what was going to happen.
whats the matter.
·
At the beginning of Haishi on February 17, the sun completely submerged into the horizon. The entire Inabayama Castle also became dim, leaving only the castle tower and the three gates with dots of torches for lighting.
The three gates of Inabayama Castle are tightly closed, and only twenty guards are left on guard at each gate. The walls of Ninomaru and Honmaru are unguarded, and there are no gates on the two barbicans.
Closed, allowing people within the city to move freely.
In Takenaka Hisaku's samurai house, sixteen Takenaka Shigeharu's attendants have been armed. Takenaka Shigeharu is sitting on the futon beside him with his eyes closed. The attendants who are familiar with the master know that this is the posture in which the master is thinking, so there is no
Make more interruptions and wait silently for the opportunity to take action.
Chapter completed!