On May 7th, at 2:00 a.m., inside the Miyagi Castle Tower. After the two sides confirmed their temporary cooperation, Uakiuhei, Sanada Nobutsuna, and Sanada Masayuki each took ten people to the castle tower to negotiate.
"Is this what you discovered?" Sanada Masayuki fiddled with the sachet in his hand and handed it to an elderly Ashigaru next to him. After the latter looked at it, he said: "Sir, that rain
Lord Qiu is right, this is the sachet of Kanto Sagami."
"Hojo?" Sanada Nobutsuna snorted, "Is your information reliable?"
"It's not reliable and it's hard to say. Anyway, I've told you how I got it. I can only guarantee that my description is true." Yu Qiuping promised. "What about you? Have you discovered anything?"
"Before we set off, the ninjas in Kasugayama Castle sent word back," Sanada Masayuki said in a low voice, "There is no sign of the Uesugi family's Xuanyuan ninjas being mobilized."
"You mean...this incident was not caused by the Uesugi family? Is the news reliable?" Yu Qiuping was a little surprised for a while.
"It's unreliable and hard to tell. I can only promise that I told you everything I heard." Sanada Masayuki imitated Yu Qiuping's tone and said, making Yu Qiuping smile.
"What are you going to do today?" Yu Qiuping asked. "Don't worry about food and grass. Mr. Imamiya promised us that he will provide us with food and grass for free."
"How to act depends on Master Yuqiu's face?" Sanada Masayuki said sarcastically, "Our people are all blocked in the camp, what do you think we should do?"
"I'll release it later." Yu Qiuping nodded, "I plan to investigate the southern foot of Aiying Mountain. After all, that is the only way for our Imagawa family's troops to go to Hojo Odawara."
"Then let's go to the northeast of Aiying Mountain. That's where our messengers go to Odawara." Sanada Masayuki looked at his brother.
After the meeting with Masayuki Sanada, Yu Qiupei found Imamiya Rakusei again.
"Sir Imamiya, with all due respect, I think Imamiya Castle's defense needs to be strengthened," Yu Qiuping said.
"Oh? Since it is Uaki Momiji who used 200 people to block the Oda family's 6,000 troops at Chirit Castle, I am all ears to listen." Imamiya Rakusei agreed while not forgetting to praise him.
"I think we should build a checkpoint there." Yu Qiuping pointed to the narrowest part of the road up the mountain from the ground. "Although the present palace city is built on the mountain, it is very dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack. But if
If the enemy comes to attack, the castle town may not be able to be defended. If there are too many enemies and they are besieged from all sides, our troops may not be enough to defend all the city walls." Yu Qiuping explained, "It is very likely to be breached."
"But if a checkpoint is set up at the narrowest place," Yu Qiuping continued after seeing Imamiya Leding nodding, "the road up the mountain will be completely blocked. As long as we hold that checkpoint, we can defeat the enemy.
With everything blocked at the foot of the mountain, Imamiya Castle will not have to face the flames of war. And the narrow passage at the checkpoint is not conducive to the enemy's deployment of troops. We only need a small number of troops to achieve the effect of one man blocking the pass and ten thousand others unable to open it."
"That makes sense! I haven't thought about this because Imamiya Castle has not been attacked much before. Now it really needs to be improved!" Imamiya Leding accepted with a smile, "I will send people to build it today!"
"By the way, Master Yuqiu is going to investigate this time. Do you need me to send some guides?"
"Then thank you sir."
The gates of Imamiya Castle will not be closed during the day. Yu Qiuping can come and go freely and return to the camp to start arranging today's tasks.
Naoe Tadayei and Ogawa Yufuyu were arranged to lead a squad of 10 people to stay at the camp to protect Imamiya Rakujo. Amano Keitoku and Omaezaki Nakahide led a squad to patrol the mountainside, and by the way helped Imamiya Rakujo build the checkpoint.
And Yu Qiuping took Fukushima Yasunari, Yoshioka Katsumasa, Charlie's three squads, and the four guides sent by Imamiya Leting, took weapons, and went to the southern foot of Aiying Mountain to investigate in person.
At three quarters of noon, Yu Qiupei's team first turned back west, passing Yoshida they had passed on the way here, and then turned east, taking a zigzag route, and arrived at Xingguoji Temple. This is also the place where the Hojo family rose to prominence.
This place is now nominally owned by the Imagawa family, but in fact some of the tax revenue will be transferred to the Hojo family.
However, unlike the situation where the villages along the way were deserted, in several villages in Xingguo Temple, although there were only a few people farming in the fields, no one seemed to have evacuated. By noon, every household was filled with smoke.
"Is there no one who has escaped from the village that is inextricably linked to the Hojo family?" Yu Qiuping frowned, "Go in and have a look, ask a few people to ask."
Yu Qiuping led people into the village. Everyone was still dressed as a caravan, pushing a car covered with tarpaulin. Therefore, the people around him did not seem to be too repulsive, but probably because of the recent unrest in the world, they all hid far away.
They went into their own houses and closed the door. There were only two or three old men, still walking leisurely on the road.
"Uncle!" Yu Qiuping stepped forward and asked, "I am a traveling merchant. All the villages along the way have fled, and there is nowhere to rest. Do you know why?"
"Oops," the leading grandfather sighed, poked the ground with his cane, and walked away without paying attention to Yu Qiuping. The other grandfather who was following behind said apologetically to Yu Qiuping: "This place has been here lately.
It’s not peaceful. I heard that there is a group of bandits who are killing innocent people everywhere. I heard that even several messengers from the family governor’s hall were killed. People in every village have fled. Who dares to live here? "
"Then uncle, why don't your village run away?" Yu Qiuping asked tentatively.
"If you don't want to run, we want to run too!" The old man said and sighed like the old man before, "I don't know why the mayor of our village is crazy. He is obviously a member of the Imagawa family.
But he just said that under the order of Lord Sagami, no one in the village was allowed to escape. Who ran away..." The old man said while making a wiping gesture on his neck, "The whole family was caught.
It’s all death.”
Yu Qiupei was confused and excited for a while. The confused thing was that he didn't know why there was such a strange order. The excited thing was that the Sagami-sama the grandfather mentioned was probably the Hojo family. The village chief was obviously a member of the Imagawa family, but he
After taking orders from the Hojo family and contacting the sachet from Kanto, the truth of the matter has gradually emerged.
"Then can you take me to see your village chief?" Yu Qiuping asked, "I just took the caravan from Suruga to Sagami, and I want to ask about the situation."
"No problem." The old man enthusiastically led the way, "But when the time comes, don't tell the village chief that I brought you here, or you will cause trouble for me." Yu Qiuping nodded in agreement and called for his subordinates to follow.
The residents on both sides probably developed the habit of closing their homes in fear and panic. When they saw a strange caravan coming, no one in the houses on both sides of Yu Qiuping went out.
"The boss is from Suruga?" the old man said casually, "We haven't had a caravan from Suruga here for several days. There are rumors in the village that bandits have robbed all the merchants."
"Maybe my caravan is protected by gods, so I can always worship Buddha devoutly." Yu Qiuping responded casually.
"Hahaha..." the old man said with a smile, showing his neat teeth, "The adults are joking."
Yu Qiuping was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that something was wrong.
I am an atheist, and I do think that gods and Buddhas are ridiculous. But in this era in Japan, Buddhism is very widely spread. How can an elderly person dare to be so disrespectful to gods and Buddhas?
And his neat teeth - is he really an old man?
Yu Qiuping's heart trembled. Could it be a ninja or assassin dressed as an old man?
He continued to joke with the old man, but his heart was already in turmoil, and cold sweat was pouring down his back. He quietly looked at the subordinates behind him with his peripheral vision, but no one was on guard. He quickly looked at the closed doors on both sides.
Residents, there was smoke from the chimneys of every house, but no conversation was heard.
Could it be that the residents on both sides of the street are ambushed?
Yu Qiuping was already frightened at this moment and didn't know what to do. If he suddenly asked his subordinates to be alert at this moment, the ambush would be launched immediately, but his subordinates would not be able to react and would be caught off guard. But if
As he continued to move forward, he could only fall deeper and deeper into the enemy's trap.
what to do?
Yes! Yu Qiuping had an idea. I can communicate with my subordinates in Mandarin Chinese. Even if these Japanese people can understand Mandarin Chinese, they are far from my Mandarin.
However, once I communicate in this language, will it soon be revealed that I am transmitting information?
what to do.
A ridiculous idea suddenly appeared in Yu Qiuping's mind, but at this moment, there was no other way.
"Uncle, this place is so similar to my hometown in the Ming Dynasty." Yu Qiuping looked around and said with emotion, "I feel a little homesick."
"Oh?" the uncle asked, "is the boss from the Ming Dynasty?"
"Yes," Yu Qiuping said with a smile, "I feel a little homesick. How about I sing you a song in the dialect of our hometown?"
"Okay! Boss!" "Sing, sing, sing!" the subordinates and guides who didn't know what was going on cheered, and the old man was also smiling from ear to ear.
Yu Qiuping cleared his throat, hummed a tune casually, and sang in pure Mandarin: "My subordinates, please don't show surprise when you hear me singing like this! It's dangerous~~~
Well~~keep walking, keep walking~~"
After a moment of astonishment, the subordinates immediately reacted and cheered Yu Qiuping's song.
"There are ambushes in the houses on both sides of the street around us!" Yu Qiuping continued to sing, "I'm afraid that if I remind you in Japanese, they will find out. That's why I sang in Chinese.
~”
Yu Qiuping's song made the subordinates behind him feel like a storm in their hearts, but they couldn't keep the smile on their faces and shouted "Hello" to the beat. The guides didn't notice it at all, they just felt that Yu Qiuping
I couldn't understand the lyrics and the tune was so unpleasant. I don't know why everyone shouted "yes" so hard.
"Next~~ we will~~ rush into the rooms on the left and right~~ immediately~~listen to my counting~three two one~~"
"Three~~~~" Yu Qiuping pretended to sing an octave higher in the chorus.
"Two~~~~" he protracted his tone, but his hand was already quietly pressed on the handle of the knife. The subordinates behind him also continued to shout for the opportunity, and touched their hands to the knife and bow and arrow under the tarpaulin.
"One!" Yu Qiuping shouted sternly, drew his knife and stabbed the old man beside him. The old man was indeed in disguise. After noticing the sound of drawing the knife, he suddenly dodged and hid a few steps away.
At this moment, Yu Qiuping's thirty subordinates suddenly rose up and rushed towards the houses on both sides. Ji Gang Shengzheng took the lead and kicked open the door of the house. The two enemy soldiers hiding behind were unable to escape.
His wife was smashed to the ground. Before the other person in the room could react, Charlie had already hit him in the throat with an arrow, and he fell down without saying a word.
On the other side, Fukushima Yasunari and two of his subordinates also broke open the door and hacked and killed the unprepared enemy troops. The attackers died before they could even pull out their swords.
In just a few breaths, Yu Qiuping's men immediately took control of four nearby houses, and the guides who didn't know where they were going were also dragged into the room. Yu Qiuping quickly ran into one of them, crawling on the ground.
When the old man found out that the plan was exposed, he shouted angrily. Dozens of people rushed out from the houses on both sides of the street and attacked the house. Yu Qiupei, Charlie, Fukushima Yasunari, and Yoshioka Katsumasa.
Each command the defense of a hut.
In Yu Qiuping's hut, there were a total of seven people including Yu Qiuping. Yu Qiuping hurriedly asked them to hold up the door panel and block it, and then dragged the two corpses in the room to the center, and then the seven people were in Yu Qiuping's house.
After tidying up, it was quickly hidden behind the table, inside the cabinet and other places.
Just after hiding for a moment, the door was kicked open again. Three or four people dressed as ninjas rushed in and were stunned for a moment when they saw the body in the center of the room. At this time, the two archers hiding at the back
He suddenly stood up and shot arrows. The ninjas could not dodge at such a close distance, and they were shot down immediately. A ninja behind threw two kunai. One archer squatted down to avoid it, and the other one could not avoid it and was stabbed.
Mid-shoulder.
At these moments, three more ninjas rushed in. Yu Qiuping shouted, and several people around him swarmed up and immediately killed the ninja who had just thrown the kunai without having time to adjust his posture. The three people behind him could not see it.
Miao, quickly escaped from the house.
Before Yu Qiuping and others could react, they heard a sharp bamboo whistle blowing outside the house. Immediately afterwards, they saw dozens of ninjas who were attacking Yu Qiuping's subordinates quickly retreating.
Yu Qiuping didn't realize why the other party withdrew so quickly. He was still shouting in the room to tell the other three troops not to come out in a hurry to avoid being ambushed. Until they waited for about a cup of tea, no one came back.
, instead, many residents at the beginning and end of the village made a commotion, and everyone cautiously found their way out and gathered in the middle of the road.
Yu Qiuping suddenly realized something and almost forgot the purpose of their trip: "Ancheng! Take your people to capture the village chief! Hurry!" Yu Qiuping roared, and Fukushima Ancheng suddenly understood and rushed over immediately.
Yu Qiuping slowly dispersed with the remaining people, checking whether there were any enemies left behind, and cleaning up the battlefield. In the sudden encounter just now, three people on Yu Qiuping's side were injured, but he killed a total of thirteen attackers.
It can be said to be a successful backhand blow.
At this time, people from both ends of the village gathered around the scene of Yu Qiuping's fight, pointing in the middle and talking about something. Yu Qiuping stepped forward and asked if they were not allowed to leave, but the people said they had never heard of it.
However, when asked about the rumors of bandits and murders, they all expressed disbelief. Hasn’t panic spread here?
Not long after, Fukushima Yasunari came back empty-handed and sighed: "The village chief is missing."
"Is that so?" Yu Qiuping shook his head, "Sure enough, he was calculated."
"But there were signs of fighting in the village chief's house. I don't know why. Maybe he was taken away." Fukushima Yasunari frowned and asked in a low voice.
"Huh?" Yu Qiuping was also stunned for a moment, "Isn't the village chief in the same group as the attacker just now?"
"And I find it very strange..." Fukushima Yasunari hesitated, "This group of people beat us and then withdrew, as if they just wanted to let us know that someone would attack, and they didn't want to kill us."
While the two were talking, Yoshioka Katsumasa led the guides over.
"Sir, those guides said that the corpses of these ninjas were dressed very much like people from Fuma Ninja." Yoshioka Katsumasa pointed at a few guides who were still frightened by the incident just now, and then
The participants nodded hastily.
"In Fuma Ninja? Fuma Kotaro!" Yu Qiuping's first reaction was that famous ninja in the Warring States Period, "A ninja from the Hojo family!"