May 29, evening.

The troops of the Asahina clan were delayed for a lot of time because of their quarrel with the Matsudaira family. It was not until the afternoon that only Yu Qiuping's vanguard reached the outskirts of Okazaki Castle at an unusual speed. In the evening, Sena's troops will also rush to the outskirts of Okazaki Castle. However, the main force of the Asahina family has just crossed the Yasaki River. Akihei estimated that during this time, it was likely that the Okabe family had reached Kamagata, or even further east.

From Okazaki Castle to Yoshida Castle in the south, it's nearly 50 miles away, and it's about a day trip. And Yu Qiuping estimated that from the current location of the Okabe family, there was only half a day's way to Yoshida Castle from the south. In other words, in any case, the troops of the Asahina family did not have time to rush to Yoshida Castle.

However, it is obviously not realistic for the troops who have been on the road for a day to stay up all night and set off again, not to mention that there are still a large number of auxiliaries in the team. As a result, Asahina Taehyung had no choice but to ignore the pleading of Okupei's father and son, and it was reported that the whole army had camped on the eastern outskirts of Okazaki Castle for the night.

In the early morning of May 30th, when the sky was bright, Asahina Taiheng led almost all the cavalry of several families out of the nest and rushed south, hoping to interfere with the movement of the Okabe family while exploring the way. And Yu Qiuping also immediately led Chang Panbei to follow closely as a response. After that, Asahina Taichao and Sena Toshinori led a large army and slowly followed behind them.

However, the sad news soon came. At five o'clock, the cavalry of Asahina Taiheng, who was heading south, had just arrived in the northern part of Mori (place name) when they were stopped by the Ashigaru and cavalry, who were under the direct jurisdiction of the Okabe family. From a distance, you can see that the Okabe family's army is advancing eastward through the official road from Kamaga to Mori, and then turning south, crossing the Toyogawa River, and attacking Yoshida Castle. The vanguard seems to be the banner of the Iyi family. At this moment, it has appeared under Yoshida Castle、

Asahina Taihyung was outnumbered, and even an impatient man like him did not dare to go straight to the defense line of the Okabe family's infantry and cavalry, so he could only keep wandering in the distance. After a while, on a bridge in the upper reaches of the Toyogawa River, several heralds with the flag of the Okuhei family rushed over. The Okabe cavalry tried to stop them, but they couldn't catch them, and several heralds rushed to Asahina Taehyung's side in one go. When Asahina Taehyung received the news, he immediately sent the news away.

When Yu Qiuping received the news, he had already arrived at Iwryōji Temple. Several heralds of the Okuhei family said that after the remaining troops of the Okuhei family saw the menacing Okabe family, they felt powerless to resist, and had already withdrawn from Yoshida Castle with the families of the Okuhei family's samurai early this morning, intending to run directly back to Kakegawa Castle, the main residence of the Asahina family. And the one who remained to be responsible for defending the city was nothing more than a general of the Oping family.

As soon as Yu Qiuping asked a few heralds to go north to find his team and report safety, another news came from the front - according to Asahina Taehyung's reconnaissance, Yoshida Castle, which was outnumbered, could not hold out for long and had fallen at noon. Relying on the cover of the Okabe family's direct administration in the forest, the troops of the Okabe family were crossing the Toyokawa River from the southwest of the forest and entering Yoshida Castle. However, Yuchohei and Asahina Taehyung, who were inferior in troops, still had nothing to do but wait silently in the north. Once you rashly launch an attack and get stuck by the enemy, the army of the Okabe family may outflank you at any time.

By the early hours of the afternoon, the troops of the Okabe family had all crossed the Toyokawa River and set up a dense camp around Yoshida Castle. The Okabe family's broken troops did not stay long, and slowly gave way to several important terrains in the forest, crossed the Toyokawa River and retreated to Yoshida Castle. Rain Akihei and Asahina Taehyung are randomly stationed in the forest, and the troops of the Okabe family are facing each other across the Toyokawa River.

That night, the Asahina family's troops were unable to reach Mori and instead set up camp near Iworkuji Temple. Asahina Taichao, Sena Shitoshi and several others rode horses to Sen's outpost camp and discussed countermeasures with Yu Qiuhei and Asahina Taiheng.

The current situation is even worse than the confrontation in Kariya Castle. Yoshida Castle was the most important stronghold of Higashi-Mikawa, and the official road from Mikawa to Enoe was choked. With Toyokawa as a cover, it is even easier to defend and difficult to attack. As long as the Okabe family sticks to Yoshida Castle, the Asahina family will not move forward.

Along the way, I have been led by the nose by the Okabe family! It's really unpleasant. The atmosphere of the meeting was also overshadowed by this agitation, and it was unanimously agreed that after the whole army had been assembled, a tentative attack on Yoshida Castle would be launched, and a good fight would be fought if the mediation envoy of the Imagawa family did not come. Okuhei and his son offered to provide detailed geographic information on the inside and outside of Yoshida Castle to assist the army in recovering their city.

However, early the next morning, before Asahina Taichao and Sena Shitoshi and others returned to Iwairyoji Temple to reorganize their troops to the south, Tanma, who was watching from the riverbank, hurried to report that the troops of the Okabe family had withdrawn again!

The group hurried to a hill on the north bank of the Toyogawa River to take a look, and saw that the troops of the Okabe family were splitting into two roads and were evacuating Yoshida in the direction of the Enoe. One went to the east for three days, and the other went south to Shirasuka. The total number of troops at the disposal of the Okabe family is now more than 3,000 soldiers. It seems that 1,000 soldiers and more than 2,000 auxiliaries retreated along the eastern front, and the leader seems to be the banner of the Okabe family, as well as the banner of many small wealthy clans. On the other side of the South Road, it is not friendly because of the obstacles of Yoshida Castle, but there are about 3,000 people. The banner that remained in Yoshida Castle was the banner of the Okabe family's direct forces, and it seems that they were not willing to abandon Yoshida Castle completely, but intended to use Yoshida Castle to stop the pursuit of the Asahina family.

However, the Asahina clan did not have much time to spend under Yoshida Castle. Because the country of Toe is the foundation of the Asahina lineage! Part of the territory of the Sena family and the Sekiguchi family was near Enoe Hikima Castle, and almost all of the territory of the Asahina family was near Enoe Kakegawa Castle in Honju Castle, and Kakegawa Castle also stored a large amount of grain, grass, and ordnance. And if the stays of the Sena family and the Sekiguchi family make the same choice as the Okuhei family - they all flee to the fortified city of Kakegawa Castle with their families, then Kakegawa Castle is an existence that absolutely cannot be lost for the Asahina family.

However, now the Asahina family is isolated in Mikawa. In order to go to the aid of Kakegawa Castle, it is necessary to first capture Yoshida Castle, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack—which may take a day or two—and by this time, the Okabe family may have already arrived at Suima Castle. And by the time Asahina and his family pursued to Inuma Castle, Kakegawa Castle had already been lost.

"It's too late." Asahina Taichao whispered this sentence with a grim face, then turned on his horse, preparing to immediately gather troops to go south to meet the peace, "Momiji, please." Although the main force is not coming, please cross the river and attack first! We're running out of time! "The loss of Kakegawa Castle is unacceptable to the Asahina family no matter what!

"There are at least 3,000 people in Yoshida Castle, and the 1,000 soldiers are the elite of the Okabe family. There is also Toyokawa as a geographical advantage. Sena Shijun said in a low voice, "Momiji will be dangerous if he attacks rashly." Even if we have the advantage of troops and know the terrain well. This Yoshida Castle, without a day or two, will definitely not be able to be defeated. ”

"It's too late!" The always calm and peaceful Asaha is a rare gaffe than the Natai Dynasty, "The Okabe family is obviously going to Kakegawa Castle!" If you lose Kakegawa Castle, there will be nothing left! ”

"Your Highness, rest your anger." Sena Shijun whispered, "But there is no other way for us to continue the pursuit than to capture Yoshida Castle at the moment. It's better to calm down. Kakegawa Castle... It is very likely that it will not be able to be saved, please calm down, and rash pursuit will only cause greater losses. ”

Sena Shijun is an elder, and his advice is still very useful. "Momiji, I lost my words just now, so you don't have to rush to attack." Asahina Taichao took a few deep breaths to adjust his emotions, and after hurriedly apologizing to Yuakihei and Sena Shitoshi, he was ready to ride his horse away. He also knew in his heart that it was very likely that he would not be able to hold on to Hangchuan City, and the grief and melancholy on his face were undoubtedly revealed.

Yu Qiuping also took a deep breath. From the very beginning, he had a strange and bold idea lingering in his head. His gaze has also been cast on the mountainous region to the east, the Ina Mountains, where Enoe and Shinano meet, and where the world-famous Nagashino Castle is located, where the world-famous Nagashino Castle is located.

The reason why Yu Qiuping kept looking there was because he knew that if he wanted to enter the Yuanjiang River from the three rivers, there was more than just the official road of the plain that leaned on the coast. There is also a mountain range from the north into the Ina Mountains, all the way to the mountains of the northeast, passing through the famous Shirakuhara, Nagashino Castle, Toei, Sakuma, and all the way to the southern part of Shinano. Then turn south and head to Inui Castle. It then crossed the Tenryu and marched westward to Futamataki Castle, then turned south to leave the mountains and enter the eastern plains of the Enjiang River, passing through the Sheshan Mountains, and finally arriving at Kakegawa.

It's just that no one will regard this road as a march road at all.

Because of this route, the total length is almost 200 miles, and most of it is a rugged mountain road, narrow and undulating, with a lot of vegetation on the way. Ordinary troops, not to mention using this as a marching route, are already very good if they can walk in and keep the organization intact. Without more than ten days, I definitely can't get out.

"Your Highnesses." Yu Qiuping suddenly spoke, "There is a proposal below. ”

"Momiji?" Sena Shitoshi mistakenly thought that Yu Qiuping was going to force an attack on Yoshida, "There is nothing wrong with being short on time, but there is no need to take such risks. ”

"His Royal Highness Sena said with a smile, how can he be such a person who doesn't know the importance of it?" Yu Qiuping laughed self-deprecatingly, "I want to ask His Royal Highness Asahina, is there any equipment for 600 people in Kakegawa City?" ”

"More than enough." Asahina Taichao replied with a frown, not understanding what Yu Qiuping was planning to do.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Yu Qiuping's expression was awe-inspiring, and he said in a deep voice, "I am willing to lead the Changpan preparation soldiers, carry three days' rations, abandon all the baggage armor, forcibly detour to the northern mountains, and go straight to Kakechuan City!" ”