On June 2, the Oda family, with Niwa Nagahide as the commander-in-chief, left Inuyama Castle and began to march towards Higashimino. This force is certainly not the main force, and the total strength is only a little more than 4,000 people. Among them were 1,000 from Niwa Nagahide, 1,000 from Yuakihei (with only a pitiful 400 of the auxiliaries), 800 from Mori Kosei, 800 from Takikawa Kazuyi, 400 from Ikeda Tsuneko, and nearly 100 from Maeda Toshiie and Kinoshita Toshiro – all of whom supported steady progress at the evaluation meeting.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro is the most unlucky of all, originally as a new general, he is not qualified to participate in this meeting, so he can only wait outside the door honestly. However, when Oda Nobunaga went out, he asked him if he should be steady, and the unlucky monkey thought it was Oda Nobunaga's idea, and hurriedly clapped his ass and shouted yes, so he was also sent over.

At this moment, he was leading a few of his subordinates recruited after becoming a general, and followed Yu Qiuping's side in a hurry.

"Momiji, your subordinates are really good!" It hasn't been long since Kinoshita Tojiro learned to ride a horse, and he was a little unsteady sitting on the horse, but his eyes never left the "steel torrent" of Yuqiu's house for a moment. "And that spirit! That team! It's really neat! It's no wonder that in the repeated wars, Tokiwa can shine! ”

"Fujiyoshiro has won the prize," Yu Qiuping said humbly, as always.

"Can you teach me how to train them?" After Kinoshita Tojiro finished patting the horse's ass, he immediately clamped the horse's belly, came to Yu Qiuping's side, and said with wide eyes: "I also want to train an elite soldier like Chang Panbei!" ”

"Of course you can!" Yu Qiuping smiled reasonably, "It's just a bit expensive." ”

"You say what you say!" Kinoshita Toyoshiro immediately nodded earnestly, and almost took out a small notebook and wrote it down, "I have to study hard!" A little more expensive doesn't get in the way. ”

"It's really not a big deal," Yu Qiuping's face showed a harmless smile on his face, "As long as each soldier spends about 10 yuan a year, he can train to the level of Chang Panbei." ”

"Nani!" Yu Qiuping reported the numbers as if nothing happened, but they were like thunder, and they suddenly made Kinoshita Tojiro stupid. He didn't pay any attention, and the saliva brewing in his mouth just now when he was hungry for Yu Qiuping was full suddenly flowed onto the horse's back, making the horse shake very uncomfortably, and almost threw him off the horse.

While he was scrambling to touch his saliva, he approached Yu Qiuping's side and asked cautiously, "Momiji! Could this be cheaper? I don't have that much money! ”

"It's... I can't help it. Yu Qiuping smiled bitterly and spread out his hands, "I used to be at Imagawa's house, so I didn't worry about food or money. I will only use expensive methods to train soldiers, and you will have to consult other highnesses on how to train poorly. ”

Yu Qiuping said that, and didn't pay attention to Kinoshita Toyoshiro anymore. The latter froze in place, counting his fingers at how many soldiers he could raise.

"There are too many soldiers and not enough auxiliaries, which is really a big problem." Yu Qiuping glanced at Chang Panbei, who had to be dressed for a full march, "It's too physically exhausting." ”

"The population problem is not something that can be solved overnight, Your Highness, please be relieved." Sanada Masayuki, who was following Yu Qiuping's side, said with relief. "Chang Panbei is well-trained, and they can still overcome this difficulty."

"They can overcome it, but I can't." Yu Qiuping laughed and said, "I have to command a total of 13 platoons of soldiers now, and I can't command them at all in a hurry." The last time I fought with Oda Nobukiyo, I missed a lot of fighters because I couldn't command so many platoons. I plan to set up a new formation with the general as the commander when I have the opportunity—let's call it a 'company'. 400 people, that is, 8 platoons, is considered a 'company', and he is in charge of the 8 ashigaru generals under his command. ”

"That's a good idea," Sanada said with a smile, "but has Your Highness thought of a candidate for the general?" ”

Before Yu Qiuping could answer, a guard from Niwa Nagahide rode over.

"His Royal Highness Momiji!" The guard saluted respectfully and said, "His Royal Highness Niwa has ordered that all the armies set up camp separately, and by the way, please go to the Chinese army for a while." ”

·

Before you know it, the army has left Inuyama Castle far away and arrived at the banks of the Kiso River. After a night's rest tonight, tomorrow we will start trying to cross the Kiso River. The Saito family on the other side must have noticed this Oda army through careful work, horse exploration, and lookout.

"Your Highness Takigawa, has there been any change in the Saito army on the other side?" In the tent of the Chinese army, Niwa Nagahide asked Takigawa Kazuki, who was in charge of intelligence.

"There is no sign of a large-scale build-up," Takigawa Kazuyi replied confidently and indifferently, "Except for the garrison troops in those small towns, there should be no troops of the big tycoon clan operating on the front line." ”

"That's fine." Niwa Nagahide let out a sigh of relief, "The lord is such a child's play this time. Such an important strategic action, but only sent all the way to the division, if we meet the main force of the Saito family, we can only return in vain. ”

"His Royal Highness Niwa, I have some different opinions on this matter." Since the person he spoke to was the generous Niwa Nagahide, not the grumpy Oda Nobunaga, Yu Qiuping did not have so many concerns when he raised his objections.

"Oh? Please talk about colored leaves. Niwa Nagahide nodded very modestly and motioned for Yu Qiuping to continue.

"I think that the lord only sent us all the way to the expedition, but it is just the right way to complete the goal that His Royal Highness Niwa proposed before to slowly encroach on the land of Mino and slowly figure it out." Yu Qiuping glanced at everyone, pointed in the direction of Inabayama Castle, and analyzed in a low voice: "If we come out with the whole army like the previous two times, presumably the whole Saito family has already heard the rumors, and they will definitely be ready to prepare, and the troops directly under the Saito family and the Nishimino Hao clan may also appear on the battlefield." When the time comes, what awaits us will surely be a big war. ”

"But if we only send more than 4,000 partial teachers, it won't cause too much alarm in the Saito family." Yu Qiuping said with a smile: "The wealthy clan of Ximino is definitely not willing to travel to come here for the sake of only 4,000 people, and Saito Ryuxing may also feel that the city on the front line can defend itself against our attack, and he does not need to spend a lot of military rations to mobilize the army to come." And in this way, it creates an opportunity for us to encroach on the land on the premise of avoiding a decisive battle. ”

"I probably understand what Momiji means." Niwa Nagahide nodded knowingly, "It's like two neighbors who don't get along, if the adults in the family fight, it will definitely be a fight for the whole family." But if there is only a small child on the other side to make trouble, this side may let the old man who guards the door deal with the child, instead of mobilizing the whole family to come. ”

"The problem is that the Saito family didn't send people to support because they felt that we didn't have enough troops and couldn't take anything." Niwa Nagahide added uneasily, "Unuma Castle on the other side of the river is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the defender is Jiro Osawa who is known as the 'Tiger of Unuma'. The Saruki Castle in the southwest of Unuma Castle is built on a high mountain on the banks of the Kiso River, and the terrain is dangerous, so it is not easy. With these forces close to us, I am afraid that it will be difficult to gain a foothold on the other side. ”

"yes." Yu Qiuping scratched his head in embarrassment, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "That's right! Didn't Senpai live around here before! Do you have any good suggestions? ”

After hearing Yu Qiuping's inquiry, Sen Kecheng did not hesitate and pointed his finger to a place on the map. It is a mountainous area on the north bank of the Kiso River, downstream of Saruki Castle.

"Mt. Imu." Sen Kecheng said in a low voice.

·

On June 3, the Oda army began to cross the river in the unattended waters of the Kiso River. The auxiliaries began to build pontoon bridges, and some of the soldiers crossed the river by ferry. The reason why this area of water is left unattended is because it faces neither Unuma Castle nor Saruko, but Mt. Imu, a deserted place of humanity downstream of both.

Mori Kesei's department, which crossed the river in advance, immediately occupied the unguarded Mt. Imu, and the defender of Saruki Castle, Tajimi, sent troops to the vicinity of Mt. Imu to spy on Mori Kecheng, but after noon, he also retreated to Sarucho Castle.

On the afternoon of June 3, the Oda family's army of more than 4,000 troops crossed the Kiso River and arrived at Mt. Imu. However, the hills and shrubs of the Imu Mountains are all over the place, and there are several small hills at high altitudes, which makes it difficult to provide a site for large-scale camping. The Oda army had to camp and rest in various parts of the forest.

And Jiro Osawa, the lord of Unuma Castle, who got the news, also led his troops to the vicinity of Mount Imu to reconnoitre. After discovering that the Oda army was not numerous, he also chose to retreat to Unuma Castle to defend the city, and at the same time sent an early warning messenger in the direction of Inabayama Castle.

However, to the surprise of Tajimi and Jiro Osawa, the attack they had expected to be imminent was delayed—and instead of attacking immediately, the Oda family started construction on Mt. Iki. They cut down all the trees on a hill, built a simple castle on the mountain, and transported the baggage over the Kiso River by bridge and ferry, as if intending to take root. Due to the high terrain of Mt. Iki, the movements of the nearby area were under the eyes of the Oda family, and Unuma Castle and Saruki Castle felt a strong oppression.

Saito Ryuko did not pay much attention to the fact that only one of the Oda clan's divisions had crossed the river, but simply asked Nagai Michitoshi to gather a total of 3,000 troops from many wealthy clans of Higashimino and stationed them in Sekijo, about 22 miles north of Mt. Imu, to monitor the movements of the Oda family. Nagai Michitoshi was not interested in fighting this Oda family's troops, but planned to retire until they ran out of food. Anyway, Ape City and Umara City are both fortified cities, and they can't easily take them down.