During the period when Yuqiuping entered the mountains, the situation in was not very good.

In the battlefield, because the Miyoshi family, the Matsunaga family's Hosaku and ninja found out that Yu Qiuping's troops had disappeared into the mountains south of Hanoi, they were very nervous for a while, thinking that Oda Nobunaga had instructed Yu Qiuping to launch a desperate surprise attack, and the target was unknown. However, it was not long before they discovered that Yuqiuping's troops were heading straight east without looking back, and only then did they realize that Yuqiuping had made a detour to support the Tokugawa family. As a result, the Miyoshi family and the Matsunaga family made up their minds and immediately launched a fierce attack on the various fronts of the Oda family. Because the battle line of the Oda family was almost a long snake spread out, it was attacked everywhere, and it was very embarrassed for a while. Oda Nobunaga had no choice but to completely abandon his intention to attack and turn to the defensive on all battlefields. The main force of the remaining troops left in Owari, Mino, and Ise had already gone to Higashimino to guard against the Takeda Army, and the remaining fraction had also gone to Nishimino to guard against the sudden eastward advance of the Asai and Asakura armies, and the Oda family could no longer take out new reserves. This also means that if Yu Qiupei and Tokugawa Ieyasu fail to repel the attack of the Takeda family, the Oda family will not be able to make any remedies, and the entire Owari, Mino, and Ise will become fat for the arbitrary attack of the anti-Oda forces.

Yu Qiuping realized the burden on his shoulders and couldn't help but sigh. He was immediately told that the battle situation in Yuanjiang was also not optimistic.

Although relying on the resistance of the fortified fortress Futamata, the Takeda family did not make much progress in the past few days. However, according to the ninja observation of the Tokugawa family, the Takeda family discovered the weakness of Futamata-jo - they found the source of water in the Nimata Castle on the rivers and hills near the Nimata Castle, and they had cut off the water source of the Nimata Castle, and the Nimata Castle might not last for a few days.

This information was sent on December 1st, and now it is December 4th, which means that Futamatata Castle may fall in ten days. As soon as Futamatata Castle is lost, the Takeda family will be slaughtered into the Enoe Plain of the Ichima Hirakawa River, and Hamamatsu Castle, where Tokugawa Ieyasu's main force is located, will have no danger to defend. Tokugawa Ieyasu now has no more than 10,000 troops available in Hamamatsu Castle, and he is simply unable to relieve the siege of Futamata-Castle under the deterrence of the Takeda family.

"It's okay, it's still too late." Yu Qiuping estimated it and found that he was in a hurry, and finally snatched the time back. "I'm still more than 200 miles away from Shima's port, and the army can be there in five or six days after the march. Then we will depart by boat and you will be in Hamamatsu in two days at most. ”

"At that time, Nimata Castle may still be holding on, but after I arrive with 12,000 people, we will have the ability to fight the Takeda family, and we can try to relieve the siege of Futamata."

"That's good." Nobuo Kitabatake sighed with relief when he heard this, "Please also ask His Highness Momiji to rest here for one night, and then continue on the road tomorrow morning." ”

"Okay, there's the second son of Lao."

·

Early in the morning of December 5, Yu Qiuping led his army to leave from the Kiriyama Imperial Palace. The previous ten days of the long journey had greatly consumed the physical strength of the Yuqiu army, and the well-trained and well-nourished soldiers of Chang Panbei, Ming Di Bei, and Hosaroagi were fine, but the auxiliary soldiers who were temporarily recruited from the territory were already tired and sick. Yu Qiuping had to leave people who were too tired and sick to move at the Kiriyama Imperial Palace so as not to delay the army's journey, and borrowed a lot of people from the Kitabatake family to assist in the transportation. However, these seconded men were obviously not obedient to discipline, which had a certain impact on Chang Panbei's marching speed.

Finally, at noon on December 11, Yu Qiuping led his army to Shima, and according to Oda Nobunaga's instructions, the Oda family naval army led by the Nine Demons Yoshitaka would wait for Yu Qiuping here and pick up the Yu Qiu family's troops to Enoe. Oda Nobunaga also informed Tokugawa Ieyasu that Akihei would arrive by December 15 at the latest, so that he could be ready to meet him.

"Your Highness the Nine Ghosts, the affairs of the sea will be entrusted to you, and the lives of my more than 10,000 sons will be entrusted to you." This is the first time Yu Qiuping has seen Nine Ghost Jialong, he is a man with a dark complexion and a rough temperament, and at first glance he is a standard sea-begging person. He didn't have much to do with him before, but this time he had to rely on him to transport all his subordinates, so Yu Qiuping also specially prepared a gift for Ryuko to hand to Nine Ghost Jialong.

"Thank you, Your Highness Momiji, Your Highness Momiji is polite." Nine Ghost Jialong said politely, but he was not very polite, and reached out to accept the gift. Seeing this, Yu Qiuping didn't know whether to worry or be happy. Happily, since the Nine Demons Yoshitaka accepted his gift, the so-called short hand, plus this is Oda Nobunaga's order, he should try his best to transport troops. The worry is, does it seem that such a greedy person can really be trusted?

Due to the urgency of time, Yu Qiuping and Nine Ghost Jialong did not dare to delay, and immediately began to arrange boarding operations. The infantry and baggage were okay, but the key was that Yu Qiuping's cavalry and the three three-pounder guns that had been dragged all the way by thousands of miles took a long time to get on the boat. In order to faint all the 12,000 people of Yuqiuping, the Nine Ghosts Jialong not only gathered all the 200 search boats of the Oda family, but also collected a lot of merchant ships and fishing boats nearby, and sailed towards the east of the Yuanjiang River.

The currents are not very good these days, and there are quite a few winds and waves in Ise Bay, so the speed of the fleet is slow. Although Yu Qiuping was a little anxious, he also knew that there was no way. It was not until the night of December 11 that the flotilla had covered a fifth of its distance.

At night, Yu Qiuping couldn't sleep, worried about the situation on the other side of the Yuanjiang River, so he came to the deck alone, leaned on the side of the ship, and looked at the sea of the Yuanjiang River in the east. The sea breeze on a winter night is really unbearable, and Yu Qiuping sniffed a few times in a row and sneezed.

At this time, there was a sudden burst of warmth on his body. Yu Qiuping turned around and found that Longzi had followed him out of some time and draped a blanket over Yu Qiuping's body.

Yu Qiuping suddenly felt a little embarrassed and a little sad. If Ryuko hadn't pierced that layer of window paper not long ago, he could have laughed and praised Ryuko for being so kind, rubbed her hair, and urged her back to sleep.

However, now he could only barely squeeze out a guilty smile and whisper a "thank you".

Since that night, the master and servant who have been together for more than ten years have not spoken a word properly.

And this time, Ryuko obviously didn't plan to talk properly. In other words, she didn't know how to face Yu Qiuping, and she didn't know how to talk to Yu Qiuping. Just bowed slightly, and then turned to leave.

Yu Qiuping sighed, and a sense of frustration came back to his heart. For some reason, it seemed that as he grew older, this feeling of powerlessness hit him more and more often. In the past, no matter how difficult and desperate the situation was, he would find a way to cheer up and try to solve it, thinking that there was nothing in the world that could not be solved - what else was more ridiculous than a small general who fantasized about marrying the daughter of the governor? But that's what he did.

Now, however, he felt a wave of powerlessness that he couldn't resist. He didn't know what to do with his relationship with Ryuko, maybe there was a way, but he didn't want to think about it in his heart, but only thought about avoiding Ryuko, and marrying her off would be a relief for both of them. It was so uncomfortable that it was a little distracting for a while.

So much so that when he came back to his senses, there were already several panicked sailors standing beside him.

"What's going on?" Yu Qiuping recognized that this was a few sailors on the ship, "What happened?" ”

"Your Highness, look!" A sailor beckoned the others to call the Nine Ghosts Jialong, and pointed to the east in the distance: "There is also a fleet there!" ”

Yu Qiuping was taken aback when he heard this, and looked intently to the east, only to see that in the far east, a fire could be faintly seen.

·

The fleet sails at night and usually lights a light at the bow and stern. Because in the dark night when you can't see your fingers, the inside of the fleet often collides with each other because you can't see clearly, causing unnecessary losses. The bow and stern lights are similar to the marker lights of later cars, to remind friendly ships not to collide.

And a series of fires appeared on the opposite side, which means that it is also a water army.

"Friend or foe?" Yu Qiuping blurted out this question, and then frowned, realizing the ridiculousness of his question.

All of Japan, apart from the Tokugawa family, does the Oda family have allies? How could it be an ally.

"Call Kang Qing to come over." Yu Qiuping commanded one of the attendants. Soon after, Nine Ghost Jialong and Itami Yasukiyo rushed to the bow of the ship one after the other.

"It's a navy, not a caravan." The experienced Nine Ghost Jialong made a judgment after a glance, "The number of ships in the fleet is about the same as ours, so turn around and return immediately." ”

"If it's about the same, why don't you fight?" Yu Qiuping asked in a low voice in some surprise. He originally thought that a rough person like Nine Ghost Jialong would definitely fight the enemy unceremoniously, "If I return now, won't I have to go around the Yuanjiang River from the road to support?" It's going to be too late! ”

"It's not that I'm fighting timidly, it's just that all the ships under are full of Your Highness's people, and the draft is too deep, and there is no way to maneuver and fight." Nine Ghost Jialong shook his head and refused very resolutely.

"My people are not decorations, I have 1,350 iron cannons here, and they will hold you back?" Yu Qiuping was a little dissatisfied when he heard this, "There may not be so many iron cannons on the other side combined, where will this battle be lost?" ”

Nine Ghost Jialong was a little embarrassed when he heard this, so he turned his attention to Itami Kangqing for help. Itami Kangqing didn't lie in order to take care of Yu Qiuping's face, but said bluntly: "Momiji, naval battles are not as simple as Momiji thinks. These small boats have such a deep draft and strong winds and waves, they really can't fight. ”

"It's okay if it's just an ordinary water thief on the other side, you can rely on firepower to crush it, but unfortunately-" Yi Dan Kangqing smiled bitterly when he heard this, and stared at the arrangement of the sailor lights on the opposite side with mixed eyes.

"That's the Suruga Navy."