Chapter 257 32. Intend to Follow the Seven Capture and Seven Release Strategy

A chaotic battle, which lasted from night to dawn, finally ended.

The foot soldiers and tacticians were full of spoils of war under Kiso Fukushima Castle. There were really few prisoners. Seeing that the situation was not good, the Kiso soldiers showed their magical powers and hid in the ravines.

Including those "loyal" surprise attack teams who took the money from Kiso Yoshiyasu to buy their lives and vowed to sacrifice for their Kiso family and shed their last drop of blood, now all ran away.

Except for the more than 200 remnants who ran slowly and did not follow Fukushima Castle, and were just surrounded by the pursuing Yamauchi Army, basically all escaped. Now there are more than 300 soldiers in Fukushima Castle, and this is still a generous amount.

Kobayata and his men fought all night and morning, and this time they were really exhausted. The strength generated by the desire to survive just before death has been completely exhausted.

Now they were all crooked in the shogunate tent, some were snoring loudly, and the ones in good condition were just dozing off with their spears.

Tatsuzo boiled a large pot of strong tea, let it cool down a little, and then came in with the pot. After looking around, he saw Kobayata resting next to a tree stump, and ran over immediately.

Kobayata saw the teapot in his hand, and didn't ask for a bowl. He took it without fear of the heat, tilted his neck and drank a big mouthful. Finally, he came to his senses and woke up.

Kanai Aigoro, who was polishing his sword next to him, was in good spirits. Those who practiced martial arts, traveled all year round, and sometimes they didn't sleep for a day, so their willpower was quite good.

"Tanzheng, lend me a sip too." Kanai Aigoro put the sword into the sheath.

Kobayata handed it over, and he didn't complain, and he also drank a big mouthful from the pot.

"Tatsuzo, is there anything to eat? And what do you want to talk to me about?" Xiao Pingtai finished his tea and wanted to eat something to fill his stomach. He was really hungry.

"Oh, Aji came from the rear team and asked me to come over to see if you are here." Tatsuzo took out a rice ball wrapped in bamboo leaves from a straw bag on his shoulder and handed it to Xiao Pingtai.

"Let him in, I was just about to ask him." Xiao Pingtai tore open the bamboo leaves, not caring that there was still some dirt on his hands, broke off half of the rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth, and gave the remaining half to Kanai Minggoro next to him.

Aji lifted the curtain of the shogunate and looked inside. After seeing Xiao Pingtai, he felt relieved and walked quickly to Xiao Pingtai.

"You wore my armor and held my horse badge, didn't you?" Kobayata had figured it out by now. The only people in the Koha pack who could directly get his horse badge worth hundreds of taels of gold were Aji and Nanaki, but Nanaki was a poor infantryman with only a domaru and no horse.

But Aji kept Kobayata's armor, the Kiso horse for transportation, and the famous horse Hyakudan worth 150 taels of gold. At the same time, he was also the temporary captain of Kobayata's rear team, temporarily guarding the camp for Kobayata.

"It's me." Aji touched his shaved head with only the hair on the side, feeling a little embarrassed.

"I knew it was you, well done!" Kobayata stood up suddenly and praised Aji loudly. The other warriors who were still resting were scared to jump up and draw their swords.

"Danzheng, what are you doing!" Hosokawa Saijo was also shocked and glared at Kobayata.

"This is Kawabe Iekichi, who organized the troops in the rear team and resisted the surprise attack of the Kiso army by himself!" Xiao Pingtai picked up Aji, who was still stunned, and introduced him to others loudly.

"Isn't this your flag-bearing infantryman?" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu looked over.

"That's right! He was promoted to a samurai last time." Xiao Pingtai was also proud of Aji.

"Kawabe Iekichi, right? Very good, you have made such a contribution, I will definitely reward you!" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu deeply understood the despair when the small caravan collapsed. Aji handled the situation in danger and fought the enemy alone, which can be regarded as a savior.

Everyone whispered to each other and discussed Aji. Those who knew about it exchanged ideas, and those who didn't know about it also asked quietly. After all, Aji saved the battle situation of the entire army this time, and he must be rewarded greatly.

"By the way, Tanzheng, I also captured a samurai and gave it to you." Aji suddenly remembered something.

When the captured samurai stumbled and knelt in front of Yamauchi Yoshikatsu under the shoving of two foot soldiers, everyone realized that Aji had really made a great contribution this time.

Who else could this be but Kiso Yoshimasa?

There were people who knew Kiso Yoshimasa. They could tell at a glance that the samurai who was stripped to his inner clothes, with dishevelled hair and covered in dirt was Kiso Yoshu-no-kami Yoshimasa, the young master of the Kiso family!

"How are you, Yoshu-no-kami?" Yamauchi Yoshikatsu hated him to death, but on the surface he greeted him calmly.

"Shinshu-no-kami, please give me some convenience!" Kiso Yoshimasa raised his head and looked at Yamauchi Yoshikatsu. He didn't say anything to beg for mercy, but asked Yamauchi Yoshikatsu to act quickly.

"Come on, untie Yoshu-no-kami and get a cloak. The weather is still cold." Yamauchi Yoshikatsu was leisurely and not in a hurry.

Soon someone untied Kiso Yoshimasa and found a straw mat for Kiso Yoshimasa to kneel down on. There was also an attendant who brought him a half-worn coat and even handed him a kettle.

"Please ask Shinshu to send someone to fetch a basin of water." After sitting down, Kiso Yoshimasa seemed to want to wash his face.

Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu had no objection, and the attendants fetched a bucket of water. It was easy to find a rice bowl on the battlefield, but it was a bit difficult to find a wash basin.

"Hiss" Kiso Yoshimasa's hand subconsciously shrank when it touched the cold water, and then realized that he had no right to complain, so he could only wash his face with cold water and wipe it with a piece of linen.

Then Kiso Yoshimasa and Yamauchi Yoshikatsu began to look at each other, and the shogunate was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

The Yamauchi warriors looked at each other, what was going on? If Kiso Yoshimasa was caught, he would either be extorted for money or land, or be chopped off with a knife and his head would be placed on a bamboo pole under the city. Why are they looking at each other now? Are they interested?

The two looked at each other for a while, and Kiso Yoshimasa was defeated, picked up the kettle and drank a sip of water.

"Come on, take the rice balls to the governor, and also take the governor's armor and sword, and then lead a horse to send the governor back to the city." Yamauchi Yoshikatsu laughed.

Everyone was shocked!

Is this going to play seven captures and seven releases?

But it is difficult to pull a person out of a tortoise shell after putting him in it.

Why did Yamauchi Yoshikatsu make such a decision? It is totally puzzling.

Kiso Yoshimasa hesitated for a moment, but Yamauchi Yoshikatsu actually stood up himself, lifted the curtain of the shogunate, and made a gesture to see him off.