Chapter 64 Fleet Attack
"It's because they were deprived of their status and power that they want revenge." After listening to Yi Yujing's analysis, Yan Xu was not surprised. Instead, he felt that it was human nature.

From being the heir of the Sagara family, he has fallen to being an envoy, and no one knows what will happen to him in the future. Dissatisfaction is certain, and resistance is also to be expected.

What was unexpected was that the other party did not choose the Fukushima family, nor the Otomo family, but the unknown and endangered Moroboshi family, which surprised Yan Xu.

"I've heard of Kazuo Sagara. He was a man of outstanding talent. What a pity." Yi Yu Jing did feel sympathy for Kazuo Sagara, and even thought that it would be better for him to die on the battlefield so that he would not have to endure unspeakable humiliation.

However, sympathy did not prevent Yiyu Jing from continuing to think. He believed that Kazuo Sagara chose the Moroboshi family as his target of refuge either because he had other intentions or he had already done something.

"Interesting." Yan Xu touched his chin and said, but the most important thing now is to deal with the war launched by the Otomo family, so he asked Yi Yujing to send the two away because he didn't need reinforcements at all.

However, for Kazuo Sagara, Yan Xu specifically asked Yi Yujing to give a Xuefeng sword to the other party, which was a hint, because only the superior would give the sword to the inferior, which undoubtedly meant that he agreed to the other party's surrender, but both parties have not made it clear yet.

Before the Otomo family's fleet arrived, the two villages had already been empty. Only the ninjas of the Mori no Ninja were hiding in the dark, preparing to collect intelligence while also being wary of the infiltration of the Otomo family's ninjas.

In fact, Yan Xu was also prepared. He brought an astronomical telescope with him and was now standing on the third floor of the castle tower, carefully observing the Otomo family's fleet.

Japan is an island country, and whenever Yan Xu has any ideas, the navy is a link he cannot avoid, so he observes extremely carefully.

Because of the powerful enemy, the Mori clan, across the sea, the Otomo clan was very attentive in its navy. This time alone, more than 20 warships were mobilized to guard against the Mori clan, but this was definitely not all.

This is no small amount. You have to know that ship maintenance is very troublesome. Even if it is not moving, it costs money just to dock at the dock. Therefore, even for island countries, there are not many daimyo who have large-scale fleets.

Thanks to the detailed information provided by Yu Jing, Yan Xu identified the largest ship among them as the Antaku ship, and judging from the flag, it was also the flagship.

The Ataka ship is just over 20 meters long and about 10 meters wide. With the wooden walls erected on all four sides, it looks like a rectangular wooden box. There are also more complicated buildings on the open deck. It is really amazing that they can build so many things in such a small space.

At the highest point is a small house with a warrior in armor sitting inside. I don’t know if he is the commander or the mascot. He just kneels there alone facing the sea breeze. He is really not afraid of the cold, considering it is November now.

Surrounding the Atakabune were seven or eight Sekibune ships, which were smaller than the Atakabune and had rams on their bows. They looked like frigates, but they also had wooden walls on all four sides and completely ignored the issue of wind resistance.

The smallest warship was the Xiaozao boat, which only had a wooden board erected on the bow, which reduced wind resistance a lot. In addition, the boat was small, the fastest, and the largest in number, so it escorted the cargo ships and fishing boats in the fleet.

It seems that the Otomo family has mobilized a lot of military force this time, otherwise they would not have brought all the civilian ships here. I just don’t know how many empty ships will be on the ships when they return.

Because the boats are small and flat-bottomed, most of them do not need a dock and can simply run directly onto the beach and return to the sea when the tide rises.

As soon as they reached the beach, the laborers and foot soldiers jumped into the icy sea at the urging of the samurai.

The laborers carried the supplies on their shoulders and in their hands to the shore, while the foot soldiers were mainly responsible for riding horses and carrying the noble samurai masters, who had their clothes rolled up to reveal their loincloths, to the shore, because the sea water would corrode the samurai masters' armor and weapons, which they could not tolerate.

Seeing the scene like ants moving, Yan Xu did not regret not sending troops to attack halfway across the river, because it was useless. Yan Xu had considered sending troops to stop them before, but the problem was that he was on an island with coastlines everywhere. Although not all of them could dock, there were not many places where the enemy's small boats could be restricted to dock, and if they were not careful, they might be surrounded. Therefore, they simply stationed all of them in Guiwan Mountain Castle and waited for the enemy to attack.

As if they knew that no one would stop them, the Otomo family moved much faster, and soon a simple camp was built. Otomo Munemori, who had been squatting on the highest point of the Ataka ship to enjoy the breeze, also entered the tent under the protection of the hatamoto.

Otomo Munemori was over 40 years old, which was considered old in ancient times, but his strong physique made him look young at all. Combined with the scars on his face and thick and short eyebrows, he looked even more fierce.

Also, don't be fooled by his fierce-looking face, which looks like a bandit. He is actually the younger brother of Otomo Daimyo and the main fighter of the Otomo family. This time, he was the one who pushed forward the plan to attack the Moroboshi family and even led his troops personally.

Sitting upright on a mat in the big tent, Otomo Munemori closed his eyes and waited for his men to come and report the situation, while lighting a stick of incense on the side. This was his rule. If anyone could not complete the investigation within one stick of incense and report in time, he would be beheaded, no matter who he was.

Once, Otomo Munemori's trusted and beloved general fell into a trap and was unable to report in time. He was beheaded by Otomo Munemori himself with tears in his eyes. He became the monkey that should not have died in the story of killing the chicken to scare the monkey. Otherwise, Otomo Munemori would have cried and was eager for this opportunity to establish his authority.

However, no one dared to disobey him since then, and Otomo Munemori's military orders were always executed as quickly as possible, and his military discipline was strict.

"General, the two surrounding villages are empty and no food has been found."

"General, we didn't find any ambush or trap set by the Moroboshi family."

"General, we have discovered traces left by the Moroboshi family ninjas, and the family ninjas are tracking them."

"We have discovered the location of the Moroboshi family's mountain castle, but it is heavily guarded and difficult to approach."

The reports that came one after another gradually formed a complete sandbox in Otomo Munemori's mind, and his control over the current situation was slowly deepening.

"I thought it would be a young and energetic opponent, but I didn't expect to encounter the worst situation." Otomo Munemori tapped his palm with the military fan made of iron rods and cowhide, looking a little disappointed.

Because Otomo Munemori knew that the Moroboshi family was building a mountain castle, and that was why he pushed for this war.

Although Otomo Munemori had never been here or to Mount Onimaru, he knew very well what price it would cost to capture a mountain castle, so he wanted to capture the Moroboshi family before it was completed.

They thought they could catch the enemy off guard, or even lure the Moroboshi family to attack them when they were halfway across the river, but the enemy chose the most troublesome tactics of scorching the walls and clearing the countryside and using the tortoise city.

"In that case, let's have a fair fight." Otomo Munemori immediately summoned the family's ninjas and asked them to find a way to sneak into Onimaruyama Castle to cause damage, and it would be best if they burned their food supplies.

Having a city but no food means winning without fighting. This is a good plan made by Otomo Munemori.

As for why they said they were fighting a fair battle but sent out ninjas to cause sabotage, it’s because this is Japan and this is the tradition.

(End of this chapter)