"If you are really lucky enough to enter Chiri Castle, then please try to hold it for a while. It will be a great help to our Imagawa family." Before leaving, Sena Ujitoshi told Yu Qiupei.
"My lord, as far as I know, the more than 200 people stationed at Chiri Castle are all slaves without freedom." Yu Qiuping looked at Sena Ujitoshi, "I don't know if you can allow it. If we successfully defended Chiri Castle for three
God, forgive their sins and make them free.”
"I still have this bit of authority," Sena Shitoshi nodded, "I will obey the authority in emergencies, I promise you."
"The three of you go get a set of armor. You might be in danger." Sena Shitoshi gave each of Yu Qiupei three people a suit of armor. This is already a very valuable armor in Japan.
Large and small iron nails fix the armor pieces, providing considerable defensive power. Most ashigaru can only afford backward equipment such as bamboo and hemp armor, cotton armor or leather armor, or iron-tipped spears that have little attack power.
As high-quality weapons, this set of equipment ensured that at least Yu Qiuping and the others would not be killed by stray arrows.
At four o'clock in the morning, a group of ten people gathered at the west gate of Okazaki Castle and were ready to set off. Yu Qiuping checked the package one last time, and the family letters and red leaves inside were well preserved. Before departure, Yu Qiuping handed it to Amano Keide
A dozen small scrolls with different words written on them.
"What is this?" Amano Keide asked.
"These are all the situations we may encounter, including whether Zhili City is lost, whether there are people blocking the way," Yu Qiuping explained, "The situation is likely to be critical by then, and there is no time to write on the spot, so I plan to
Sit down and prepare yourself first to ensure nothing goes wrong.”
Amano Jingde stared at Yu Qiuping for a while, nodded, and after browsing through them, he put the dozen or so notes into his arms.
The group of people hurriedly arrived at Anxiang City.
"Now, put the flag on, everything will go according to plan." Yu Qiuping smirked. So Yu Qiupei, Charlie, Chibei, and Amano Keitoku put the Oda family on their backs.
The other six people continued to put up the Imagawa family's flag with Er Yinliang. Amano Keide's face was still expressionless, but the other cavalrymen who didn't need to change the flag muttered something like this was a shame to the Wu family.
of.
"From now on, you will chase us. We will pretend to be members of the Oda family who are being chased," Yu Qiuping arranged. "If you suddenly encounter someone from the Oda army, you will pretend to stop us and then let us go."
, we took the opportunity to rush over."
"But Mr. Yuqiu, your identity cannot withstand verification. You don't even have a waist card. Once you are stopped for interrogation, there will definitely be a solution." An ashigaru who followed said worriedly.
"It doesn't matter, the scene will be very chaotic by then. We are riding horses again. As long as they don't react at the first time, we can rush over and get away all the way." Yu Qiuping tried hard to hide his inner feelings with a confident smile.
Nervous, "It's dangerous to be ambushed anyway, so it's not as good as this."
The group then began to gallop on the 12-mile journey from Anxiang to Zhili. The fastest horse speed of Yu Qiuping and others can reach nearly 70 miles an hour, but this speed may not be maintained for long. However, in just a short time
The 12-mile journey can be completed in maybe a quarter of an hour.
Every time the horse leaps forward, Yu Qiuping's mood becomes more and more subtle. It is one step closer to Chili Castle and one step closer to danger. Half of the journey has passed, and no Oda family has come out to intercept it. The six companions behind him still keep their distance.
Yu Qiuping and the four of them were chasing after each other from a distance of about thirty meters.
"What is going on?" The Oda cavalrymen who were ambushing on a small hill beside the official road couldn't help but look at each other. The leader, Hidetaka Kawajiri, looked at the four cavalrymen who were fleeing on the official road with papayas and flags in surprise. "What are those cavalrymen?"
I can’t see the person clearly, but I’m not familiar with them anyway. Are they from the Red Mother Clothes? But they’re not wearing red armor either? Why did they go to the front to investigate without saying hello to us, and were they discovered?”
"Sir, then we are..." Standing aside, Hidetaka Hajiya looked at Hidetaka Kawajiri.
"No matter what. We are ordered to intercept and kill the Imagawa family's scouts. No matter what, we cannot let the six Imagawa troops behind us pass." Hidetaka Kawajiri drew his knife in his hand, "Follow me and kill the pursuers."
On the small hill on the other side of the official road, Naozheng Naomasa was equally confused. "Who are those people? Are they from the Black Mother Clothes? My lord didn't order anyone to investigate southward today? He was even chased and beaten by the Imagawa family.
?”
"Sir, don't worry about so much," Maeda Toshiie excitedly raised his spear, "Just help the friendly troops and fight the enemy troops. It's not that troublesome!"
Having said that, Maeda Toshiie pinched the horse's belly and rushed out without waiting for an order. Several other impulsive young people, Sawaki Yoshiyuki and Asai Masaki, also rushed in. Yao, who originally wanted to think about it, rushed out.
Naomasa could only urge about twenty other people to follow him.
Yu Qiuping and others who were galloping on the official road suddenly discovered that more than twenty cavalrymen rushed out of the hills on both sides unexpectedly. Yu Qiuping almost fell off his horse in panic. However, these two groups of cavalry rushed straight towards the pursuers behind them.
Go, making Yu Qiuping let out a sigh of relief. Yu Qiuping and the other four then left in a hurry, urging the horses to leave with all their strength. The six people behind immediately turned their horses and ran towards the return road. The Oda Army's
The horsemen and soldiers chased him for several times but failed to catch him, so they met again on the official road.
"Lord, are those four your people?" Kawajiri Hidetaka asked dissatisfiedly, "Why did you go south to investigate without permission against the lord's order! The lord is still guarding Narumi City in Ozazama. You alerted the snake like this. What happened?
manage!"
"Ah?" Naozheng Naozheng was stunned for a moment, "Aren't those four subordinates of Lord Kawajiri? I didn't send anyone to investigate!"
"Nani!" The nearly fifty Oda family cavalry around them all exclaimed.
"Hey, don't look at it. Those four cavalrymen met us. Instead of stopping, they ran faster and faster!" Maeda Toshiie raised his spear and pointed in the direction where Yu Qiupei and others were escaping.
"Itama!" Hidetaka Kawajiri and Naomasa Naomasa looked at each other and immediately understood the reason, "You were fooled!"
"How could there be such a samurai? He even changed his flag!" Yoshiyuki Sawaki roared angrily, "This is a shame to the samurai family!"
By the time everyone in the Oda family realized that Yu Qiuping's identity was wrong, Yu Qiuping had already escaped two miles away. He was only four miles away from Chili Castle. Yu Qiuping could already see the right side of the official road in the distance.
That little black dot. However, just as Yu Qiuping was running for his life, there was a violent sound of horse hooves behind him.
"If we find out later that Chiri Castle has fallen into the hands of the Oda family, we will quickly run to the right and hide in the mountains." Yu Qiuping pointed to the rolling hills on the right while speeding up his horse. At the same time, he unplugged himself The flag on the back. Several people next to him also followed the same example and threw the papaya pattern of the Oda family on the ground.
The distance between Yu Qiupei's group and Chili Castle is rapidly closing, but the distance between them and the Oda family's horse clan is also shortening. The horses of the horse clan are far better than Yu Qiupei's horses. Maeda Toshiie and others are superb. Yu Qiuping's riding skills are even more incomparable. Amano Keitoku seems to be very good at riding horses, but in order to wait for Yu Qiuping, he had to slow down his horse a little.
The sound of horse hooves approaching and getting louder behind them was like a ghost, making Yu Qiuping and others on tenterhooks. They kept looking back, only to see several horses chasing after them about 600 meters behind. Fortunately, Yu Qiuping You can already see the wall of Zhili City, and there must be soldiers guarding the wall who have seen you, and must have been ready to open the door.
However, as he got closer and closer to the city wall, Yu Qiuping was surprised to find that although the Er Yin Liang flag was still erected at the top of the city, there was no one on the city wall. The castle towns around the city were also empty, and no one could be seen.
"Open the door quickly! We are the troops of the Imagawa family! Open the door!" Yu Qiuping shouted with all his strength when he was still a hundred meters away from the city wall, but until he rushed to the bottom of the city, there was still no response. Yu Qiuping Qiuping knocked on the door desperately, and the sound of horse hooves behind him was gradually approaching.
"No," Yu Qiuping glanced behind him. The dust raised by the horse's hooves was already a mile away, so he had to get on his horse again, "Let's circle around the city wall!"
"Open the door!" "Open the door!" Yu Qiuping and his party, except for the very quiet Amano Keide, the other three people walked around the city wall and kept shouting. Zhili City is a small city, and the length of the city wall is only about a hundred meters. He quickly walked around from the West Gate to the North Gate. At this time, a head finally popped out from the North Gate, it was Fukushima Yasunari.
"Open the door quickly! Fukushima Yasunari!" Yu Qiuping immediately shouted excitedly, "We are sent by Okazaki Castle! Open the door quickly!"
"Sir! It's Mr. Yuqiu!" Fukushima Yasushiro reacted and immediately ran a few steps along the collapsed slope of the north gate, shouting to the two people in the gate below the city, "Open the door quickly!" Just as the two slaves were seven As he was getting ready to open the door, Fukushima Yasunari, who was standing high up, suddenly shouted to Yu Qiupei and his party, "Sir, please continue circling! The Oda family is catching up! I'm going to open the east gate!"
Yu Qiuping and others had no choice but to mount their horses immediately and continue to escape. When they ran to the northeast corner, they saw coming out of the northwest corner, a warrior holding a large vermilion gun jumped on his horse and chased him. Yu Qiuping and his group hurried towards the east gate. The east gate was opened after a burst of noise and shouting in the city. Just as Yu Qiuping was about to rush into the city gate, five or six cavalry from the Oda family suddenly turned around at the southeast corner and rushed straight to the city gate.
"Oops!" Yu Qiuping hurriedly accelerated, but it was probably too late to close the city gate.
At the critical moment, the sound of a sharp arrow leaving the string was heard from behind. The horse of the leading Oda family cavalry was shot in the neck by Charlie. The man stood up in pain, jumped violently a few times and then fell to the ground. On the road, he lifted the rider to the ground and blocked the way of the cavalry behind him. Within a few seconds when the Oda family cavalry hesitated whether to go around or jump over, Yu Qiuping and others had already rushed into the city gate, and the gate was slowly opening behind them. Close slowly.
"Okay, don't talk anymore, take me to the castle tower!" Yu Qiuping saw Fukushima Yasunari coming up in a hurry, and asked him to take him to the highest point of the city, regardless of the fact that he was still breathing heavily. , look at the surrounding situation to decide what information to send back.
The group of people quickly climbed up to the castle guard of Chiri Castle, and saw nearly 50 horseback knights circling around the city, while there were also about 50 cavalry cruising further on the official road to the northwest.
"Okay, Lord Amano," Yu Qiuping said to Amano Keitoku, "I'll report to you, Sir, Chitate Castle is still under the control of the Imagawa family, but there are nearly a hundred Oda family cavalry nearby who control the official road, and the messenger may not be able to communicate."
A moment later, a black crow soared into the sky from the window of the castle tower and flew towards the southern sky.