It is said that the son-in-law of Hisho Hidesei Sasa Hide, because of his special status has been noticed for a long time, has been holding his breath to prove himself, heard that the Oda family army won the position of vanguard officer, the spirit is very high, eager to grow wings, hurry to catch up with the Takeda army.

However, he ordered his men to pack up his saddle horse and equip his sword, and when he visited Ikeda Hengxing, he was told that he had gone to the warehouse to the west.

I followed the trail and wondered why I didn't hit the road immediately. However, Ikeda Hengxing said: "Last time, I rested in Owari before the fifth day, and I only ordered the soldiers to take five liters each, and the service horses to take three buckets each, and it should be almost used up." After Cheongju was burned down, it was very inconvenient to get food nearby, and it was impossible to ask the Tokugawa family, who were too busy to take care of themselves, so I just asked the Lord of the Criminal Department to give us a ration of 300 koku, and we would first see the real thing, and then transport it back for distribution. ”

Sasa Hidesei was speechless.

The soldiers and horses have not moved, and the grain and grass go first, which naturally goes without saying.

In this defense against Takeda, Oda and Tokugawa were local food, while Hirate Honhide transported tens of thousands of stone grain and straw through continuous waterway logistics, and distributed them to military stations in coastal ports to provide supplies for the expeditionary force.

Originally, it should be the host who was the host and invited the guests to dinner, but I didn't expect the situation to turn around.

Cheongju was accidentally lost, and then it was burned by Takeda Katsuyori, and all the mobile materials were gone, and although Gifu Castle still had food in stock, it was inconvenient to get it for a while. As for Mikawa and Enoe, which were almost beaten to pieces, and a large number of Chinese people defected to the enemy, it was even more miserable, and even Tokugawa Ieyasu became a poor beggar......

All in all, Ikeda was forced to ask for food and grass from the nearest leveler, Tsunohide, before he could enter the army.

Takeda Shingen, on the other hand, retreated to Suruga anyway, and when he returned to the territory, he could get supplies from various castle fortresses.

"The situation of other troops is probably similar to ours! How far will the enemy run during this time? Sasa Hidenari said he was very worried.

Ikeda replied solemnly: "It is estimated that the team with a tie will not make any action until at least noon the day after tomorrow." But let's be quicker, figure it out today, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow morning. Just now, I cheekily asked the ninjas of the Tokugawa family, and they will provide some information when the time comes. ”

Hearing this, Sasa Hidesei was embarrassed, and shook his head again and again: "Asking for military rations from the people, and sharing the information with the Yuanjiang people, is really not a glorious thing for us Owari Takeshi......"

"Don't think so, young man!" Ikeda interrupted with a nonchalant smile: "Do you think that by changing someone, you can easily get help from friendly forces?" It's not just that I have earned a little face over the years, plus your identity as the son-in-law of the Tieshou's Criminal Department! And the latter one, isn't it the result of Ling Zun's hard work? ”

“…… This ......" Sasa Hidesei was sweating profusely when he heard this: "Relying on background and nepotism to obtain resources, it seems to ...... I don't think I'm proud of it......"

"As samurai, it is impossible not to pay attention to this, otherwise what is the difference between us and the poor peasants and fishermen? Aren't they all destined? Ikeda patted him on the shoulder, "Don't think too much, the most important thing is the result, not the process." If you are really idle, come and help me calculate and verify this batch of food......"

……

On the afternoon of 13 July, Ikeda Tsuneko and Sasa Hidenari hurriedly gathered their troops, separated the wounded, streamlined the ranks, and ordered the leaders of each department and group to receive rations and inspect equipment. The next day, the fire was raised on the fourth watch, the fifth watch was eaten, and after eating a rare meal of hot rice and hot soup, he set out and pursued eastward.

The Tokugawa family sent a locally-born Ashigaru Shogun and a small team of ninjas to help lead the way.

The rest of the army of the Tie House will gradually follow within a day or two.

With a vigilant heart, and enter and explore, eastward for half a day, until the beginning of the afternoon, encountered a river from north to south into the sea, the widest part is more than 300 steps, the wind and waves rise and fall frequently, obviously not easy to cross.

Looking along the river, the houses and acres are endless, and there are many signs of human and animal movements and cooking on fires, but there is no living person in sight, and as far as the eye can see, it is extremely barren and desolate, full of traces of burning and damage. The autumn harvest is approaching, and there is hardly any thriving rice in the field, only the occasional wild birds and animals.

When you approach a room that is relatively intact, you can smell the stench of damp and moldy. When I pushed the door in, I saw two corpses, one large and one small, hugging each other and lying down, all of them were swollen and deformed, rotting and maggots, and I could barely distinguish the shape of my limbs, but I couldn't know my face before I was born.

Then search for other buildings that have not collapsed on the left, and the situation is more or less similar.

Looking around left and right, Rao is Ikeda Hengxing is well-informed, and he can't help but sigh: "It seems that there are hundreds of families and thousands of people on the banks of this river alone, and I am afraid that the country of Yuanjiang will wither for many years in the future." ”

Sasa Xiucheng remembered the scene of the day before when the generals were full of ambition and touted the tie show, and couldn't help but recite a Chinese poem, saying, "One will make ten thousand bones dry."

Ikeda Hengxing was coarse in writing and ink, and he didn't know much about Sinology, so he was puzzled at the moment and hurriedly asked.

Sasa Hidesei told the truth and said with emotion: "We warriors only know that we stand with bows and horses on the battlefield, but it has brought great disasters to the people......"

Hearing this, Ikeda Hengxing was sad, and laughed: "I have heard that my Fusang Minister and the literati are mothers-in-law and mother-in-law like women, and it seems that the literati of this Tang Dynasty are no exception. For these peasants, they are 'ten thousand bones' and we are 'one general', but for Oda Danmasa, Heite and others, we are 'ten thousand bones' again, and people are 'one general'. Even if there is victory and undefeat all the way, and the world is won, the descendants of the second or third generations will still be reduced to the "ten thousand bones" of others' who will succeed! ”

Hearing this, Zuo Zuo Xiucheng's heart was very blocked, but he didn't know how to refute it, so he only smiled and said, "What you said is really unlucky......"

At this time, the Tokugawa ninja "Little Tiger" came to the two of them and introduced: "In front of me is the largest river in the country, the Tenryu River. At the moment, it seems that the Takeda family retreated first and damaged the boat, killing or abducting the boatman, so we had to find another place to cross the river. The two of you might as well let the soldiers eat first, and then go around the south for an hour or so in the afternoon, where there may be a way. ”

"Thank you, sir." Sasa Xiucheng took over the conversation and couldn't help asking, "May I ask how many residents are there in this riverside?" Could it be that he was poisoned by the Takeda Army? ”

"This ......" the ninja replied after a moment's thought, "In this area of the middle reaches of the Tenryu River, there were originally dozens of villages and two towns, at least 10,000 people lived. As far as I know, a few months ago, when the Takeda Army came, many of those who did not have time to flee were robbed of their wives and daughters, and their crops were taken away. Then some young villagers robbed the Takeda family's transport team in retaliation, which eventually led to a strong repression......"

“…… That's ......" Sasa Hidesei had a complicated mood for a while, not knowing whether to praise the bloody nature of the villagers, but regretting the villagers' impulsiveness.

Ikeda Hengxing didn't care, and was already ordering his own soldiers to go down and give orders.

……

The average peasant may have only two meals a day, but a soldier who wants to march into battle must add a meal at noon.

After hurriedly eating their rations, Ikeda Tsuneko and Sasa Hidenari let the Tokugawa family's "little tiger" lead the way, and walked south for a while, gradually seeing a complex island in the middle of the river, cutting off the water flow into several branches, which was relatively shallow and narrow.

It is obviously not possible to sail here, but the difficulty of swimming and building bridges is much lower.

Under the instructions of the locals, the crowd found several pontoon bridges that the Takeda army had not had time to destroy. These pontoon bridges looked half-destroyed, but they were sent to test and found that they were probably still usable, so they repaired them a little and crossed them in groups.

The ninja "Little Tiger" then explained that one hundred and fifty towns (15 kilometers) ahead will lead to Takatenjin Castle, which has always stood as an outpost of Hamamatsu Castle. In the past two months, many castles in Yuanjiang's fields, Futamata, and Kakegawa have fallen one by one, but Takatenjin Castle has only lost contact, and it has not been conquered by Takeda, and it is very likely that it is still holding on.

Continuing onwards, half an hour later, the latest information was received that the Takeda army had split into two routes, one continuing to the east and the other to the north.

It is estimated that the one heading east is via Suruga and returning to Kai. Those who went north would not return to Kai, but would only rest in Minami Shinano and stay to guard the newly acquired land in the northern part of Mikawa and Enjiang.

It seems that the enemy is reluctant to spit out the full fruits of victory - of course, this is also human nature.

Takeda Shingen himself was clearly in the team heading west.

Moreover, the news that the High Heavenly God City has not yet fallen has been confirmed.

It is impossible for the army to take a small path to move, so Shingen's main team must pass through the main road next to the High Heavenly God City to go east.

It is bound to be hindered by the defenders.

In terms of distance, the Takeda army will not move too fast, and it should be that at least some of them will not be able to bypass the High Heavenly God City before sunset today, and can only choose to camp and stay nearby.

Ikeda Tsuneko took the opportunity to make a quick decision and ordered the whole army to speed up the pursuit, and under the leadership of the ninjas and the locals, they quickly marched towards the High Heavenly God Castle.

Hidesei Sasa was also quite excited.

Under the supervision of the generals, the soldiers, whether they wanted to or not, could only speed up their pace and began to march rapidly.

In order to lead by example, Ikeda stepped on his horse and led dozens of his own soldiers to the front, but at the same time he asked Hidenari Sasa to stay in a relatively safe position behind him and not to take any risks.

After another two quarters of an hour, there was a small stream less than twenty paces wide at its widest point, which the locals said was the "Weta River".

When the scouts discovered that there were suspected enemy soldiers on the other side of the river with 1,200 men and horses, Ikeda Hengxing could not wait to order the attack on the river, so he drew his sword and whipped his horse and walked first.

Although the soldiers were a little tired and their morale was not too high, when they heard that there were soft persimmons to pick up, they still cheered up one after another, screaming and shouting to kill.