At noon on December 24, inside the main tent of the Takeda Army.

"The Lord is awake! The Lord is awake! While everyone was still arguing about the next strategy, a medical officer suddenly rushed over and told everyone the good news. The people who were still fighting for each other stopped arguing at once and ran towards the camp where Takeda Shingen cultivated.

However, as soon as they ran into the camp and had not yet greeted Takeda Shingen, who was lying on the marching bed, they heard such a conversation between Takeda Shingen and the medical officer.

"Doctor, please tell me directly, how long do I have to live?"

When the medical officer heard this, a layer of cold sweat suddenly broke out on his forehead, and the whole person fell to his knees at once, and kowtowed to Takeda Shingen a few times.

"It's okay, I know my body, I don't blame you, you just say it." Seeing this, Takeda Shingen straightened up, wanting to laugh heartily, but he didn't want to trigger a violent cough. Seeing this, Takeda Katsuyori hurriedly stepped forward to support Takeda Shingen, and Takeda Shingen waved his hand, signaling that he didn't have to do this.

"At most... It's been three months. Originally, the lord's illness, if he recuperated, he might have a year's life. But this fall from the horse hurt his lungs, and it happened to be the lord..."The medical officer said, his voice getting quieter and quieter, "The grass people are incompetent..."

"It's okay, three months... That's enough. Takeda Shingen sighed in dismay, but smiled again and kept repeating, "Enough, enough..."

"Does the lord still insist on going to Luo?" When Takasaka Masanobu saw Takeda Shingen's body like this, he couldn't help but have a sour nose, and his tone was slightly strange, "At the moment, our army has suffered a lot of casualties, and it will be in vain to continue fighting... Moreover, the Hojo Army did not contribute to the work, and until now it has not taken Hamamatsu Castle. Lord, let's withdraw our troops, go back to Jiafei, your body needs to be well recuperated..."

"No, it's not going to Luo." Takeda Shingen shook his head with some effort, "I want to use these last three months to get rid of beetles for the world's martial artists." ”

"Your Highness? What does it mean? Takasaka Masanobu seemed to vaguely understand what Takeda Shingen meant, but he still subconsciously asked.

Hearing this, a bitter smile appeared at the corner of Takeda Shingen's mouth, and he whispered in an eerie tone that no one had ever heard from his mouth:

"Oda Nobunaga, if you can get it, you can get rid of it. Rain and autumn red leaves, must be killed. ”

·

"The lord wants to pursue?" Naito Masatoyo was also stunned when he heard this, "The Yuqiu Army has already withdrawn this morning. ”

"Chase, chase immediately. Xinmao, Xinjun, you immediately lead your army to catch up, don't let them evacuate safely, and slow down their march. Takeda Shingen nodded at Koyamada Nobushige and Anayama Nobukun, motioning for them to leave immediately, while whispering, "I heard that Kibei kid came last night?" Definitely came to find out how I'm doing. Seeing that I am bedridden, maybe the Yuqiu army will be careless, and it is a good opportunity for us to pursue. ”

"My lord, why is this?" Takasaka Masanobu was completely confused by Takeda Shingen, "Since the lord no longer plans to go to Luo, why do you still want to chase after the rain and autumn red leaves?" ”

"Because he has become a great evil to the world's martial artists. And now that his main force has suffered nearly half of the casualties, the auxiliaries have been scattered, the food and grass have been lost, and he is alone outside the country, this is his weakest time. If you don't eliminate him at this time, when he recovers, there will be no such opportunity. Takeda Shingen said such a long sentence with some difficulty, and then coughed a few times in a row, and said slowly, "Don't you understand?" The strongest in the world, it is no longer our Koshu army. ”

"The Samurai of Mikawa were known for their fierceness, and they collapsed as soon as they were killed or wounded in Mikatahara. Our Koshu army is famous all over the world for its bravery. In Hachimangahara on Kawanaka Island, we faced more than half of our own enemies, and we still struggled forward with three percent of the dead and wounded, which amazed the eastern country. Takeda Shingen recalled the past, but his face was not a little colorful, "And now, the Red Leaf Army is facing an enemy that is more than twice as large as itself, and nearly half of the casualties are not lost. What's even more exaggerated is that do you remember the Changpanbei squad that held back our 8,000 soldiers for an hour on the mountain range, they were seventy percent killed, everyone was wounded, and they still fought to the death. This will is far beyond us, let alone the people of the world. ”

"And that's not the scariest thing... If the Red Leaf Army is like our Koshu Army or the Echigo Army, the ability to experience a hundred battles is still acceptable. However, according to our intelligence, half of this unit in Yuqiu Hongye has just been recruited in recent years. Before enlisting in the army, he was still a farmer in the countryside, as long as he was trained by the rain and autumn and red leaves, and experienced a few actual battles, his combat effectiveness could be above that of our Koshu army, which had fought a vicious battle for more than ten years. This method of governing the army is unparalleled in the world, and even if Judge Jiulang is alive, he can only bow down. Takeda Shingen said as he spoke, shaking his head again and again, "And the Red Leaf Cavalry, that weird horse formation, everyone needs to resolutely obey the order, and have the consciousness of exchanging life for life." You look simple, really charge, how much pressure does each cavalry have to carry? Genshiro was confused, he should have escaped at that time. Against such a cavalry, Chibei did not lose unjustly. The rain and autumn red leaves can actually train the soldiers to such an extent... It seems that what the Ministry of Governance valued him most back then was far from his defensive talent, but his method of governing the army. ”

After Takeda Shingen said such a long sentence, he immediately leaned on Takeda Katsuyori with some loss of strength, and coughed heavily several times. After he finally recovered, he gave his highest evaluation in decades in a tone of great appreciation, and even Uesugi Kenshin failed to enjoy it:

"The strongest red leaf army in the world, the strongest red leaves."

·

"For more than 1,000 years, the samurai have been honing their martial arts day and night, and it took more than ten years for them to stand on the world with their loyalty and bravery.

However, this son governs the army, and half a year can make the village husband no less than the samurai for more than ten years of tempering. On top of the battle array, hundreds of villagers are arrayed, and thousands of samurai are also unshakable. The spears and iron cannons hide the brilliance of the saber. A pariah, not afraid of the might of the samurai.

Once this army is completed, there is no unparalleled fierce general in the world. The day this method of governing the army spreads all over the world, so does the day when the samurai will die. It is only because the rulers of the army in the world follow the method of rain and autumn and red leaves to train the untouchables, and there is no need for samurai to line up.

After Kiyoshi and Genji, Takeda is a model of the world's samurai. Now we should give up the floating life, remove the beetle for the samurai of the world, destroy the army of this son, and destroy the law of governing the army of this son, so as to prolong the years of the samurai. ”

This remark of Takeda Shingen was later recorded by the retired Takasaka Masanobu in the "Koyo Gunkan" and passed on to future generations. And Takeda Shingen's far-sightedness has really amazed future readers.

·

On the evening of December 25, after nearly two days of pursuit, the Takeda Army finally surrounded the Yuqiu Army in Noda Castle in Mikawa Province. Due to the pursuit of the Takeda army, Yu Qiuping's march speed was not fast, and he had no chance to escape back to Oshiro, so he had to retreat to Noda Castle near Shirakuhara and upstream of Toyogawa. Noda Castle is not a big city, but there are only more than 5,000 people around Yu Qiuping, so it is not difficult to enter them all. Because the mountain road was really difficult to walk, the Takeda army pursued it relentlessly, and Yu Qiuping had to destroy all the artillery pieces and abandon them.

Tokugawa Nobuyasu wanted to lead his subordinates to enter Noda Castle to defend with Yu Qiuping, but Yu Qiuping politely refused. Because Yuqiuping's baggage was burned, and there was not much food in Noda Castle, and Tokugawa Nobuyasu did not have much food in his hands, the two armies soon ran out of food when they joined forces. Yu Qiuhei asked Tokugawa Nobuyasu to transport the grain to Noda Castle in advance, and then asked him to immediately lead his army back to Mikawa and contact all parties to find a way to relieve the siege of Noda Castle.

At this moment, in Noda Castle, there are about 2,500 soldiers and lightly wounded soldiers of the Yuqiu Army who are still fighting hard, and there are more than 700 wounded and more than 2,000 auxiliaries who cannot go into battle. Due to the loss of all the baggage, the gunpowder and projectiles of the iron gunners were not much depleted after a day of fierce fighting. The Takeda Army probably didn't know this, because they were afraid of the iron cannons of the Yuqiu Army, and instead of attacking the city, they just surrounded Noda Castle and began to try to cut off the water source of Noda Castle.

Yu Qiuping saw it in his eyes and was anxious in his heart, but there was nothing he could do. At present, the casualties of the Yuqiu army are no longer enough for him to go out of the city to counterattack. And there was not much food left in the city, and even if they were frugal, they would last for five days at most. The water cut off of the Takeda family is actually a redundant move, there is no need to cut off the water source at all, and the Yuqiu army can't hold on.

Yu Qiuhei could only hope that Oda Nobunaga would send follow-up reinforcements, or that Tokugawa Ieyasu would be able to defeat the Hojo army bravely and then come to relieve himself. But he also knew in his heart that this was almost a dream.

The days passed, and in the blink of an eye, it was December 28th. The Takeda Army succeeded in cutting off the water source to Noda Castle. And Yu Qiuping looked at the reinforcements that he wanted to wear, but there was still no shadow. If there is no signal of reinforcements today, Yu Qiuping will have to desperately break through tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. These five days of recuperation allowed the Yuqiu army to recover more than 100 wounded - although this may not be of much help.

He didn't know how many people would die in this breakout. Pursued by the Takeda Army, the Yuqiu Army, which did not have much cavalry cover, had to walk dozens of miles of mountain roads to return to Yoshida Castle. Can there be 1,000 people who can escape in the end? As a last resort, Yu Qiuping was unwilling to do so. But now, they are in a desperate situation.

Yu Qiuping even moved the mind of negotiating with the Takeda Army, and exchanged his own seppuku for the safe departure of his subordinates. However, after learning the news, Yuqiu's army was excited, and no one agreed with Yuqiuping to do so, and the officers who came to protest blocked Yuqiuping's castle tower. Yu Qiuping had no choice but to compromise and promise not to do so. However, he still secretly instructed Sanada Masayuki to go out of the city to communicate and see what the Takeda Army wanted. However, to the surprise of Yu Qiuhei and Sanada Masayuki, Takeda Jun's attitude this time was unprecedentedly firm, and he didn't even see Sanada Masayuki before he saw him, so he drove him back.

This can make Yu Qiuping worried, could it be that the Takeda army has made up their minds to avenge Changjing in Shanxian County? If the Takeda army was so resolute, then Yu Qiuping would have given up the plan to break through and escape, because the captured Yu Qiu army would definitely not end well. In this case, there is only one battle to the death until tomorrow, and as much as you can fight. If the Takeda army can be repulsed, then everyone will still have a way to live.

·

On the evening of December 29, the Yuqiu army in the city was ready to fight to the death. Their plan was to go out of the city in the early morning of the 30th and fight at night - it would definitely not be possible to fight during the day anyway, it was better to use the fire and moonlight of the city to fight to the death and attack at night, maybe they could turn defeat into victory.

And the Takeda army outside the city also seemed to be aware of the dangerous atmosphere, and they were all like facing a great enemy, waiting for the trapped beasts that the Yuqiu army would definitely arrive in the next few days.

However, in the midst of this strange tense atmosphere, in this night so quiet that even a needle dropped on the ground could be heard clearly, suddenly from the mountain forest next to the Takeda military camp, a serene and melodious flute sounded from the forest.

Inside and outside the city, Yu Qiuping and Takeda Shingen, who heard the sound of the flute, were all shocked.