168

From the evening onwards, a drizzle of fog drifted in, and the vision was blurred. In order to cover up Katsuto's whereabouts of the south, the Shibata Katsuya army, which had been pretending to come to challenge during the day, and picking quarrels and provoking trouble, also stopped harassing. When night fell, everything seemed hazy in the fog, and even the bonfires lit on both sides were so erratic.

The departure was completely secret. The villagers on the mountain have long been dismissed from the mountain, and even the soldiers do not know where the army is and where it is marching, except for the generals.

However, this force is the largest number of men that Uesugi Keitora can mobilize here. The remaining troops in and around Tonba were only 16,500 men, and the remaining 23,000 were all transferred to participate in the ambush. Once the Shibata Katsuya succeeds in this battle, most of the fruits of the Uesugi family's decades of painstaking management will be lost.

The enemy continues to move south.

The first to set off is Kawada Nagakin, and the Honjo Plain is long, pointing directly at the Wolf Plain. If you encounter people on the way, they will not be allowed to walk away at will, but let them walk with the army in the name of leading the way, so as not to leak the news.

Compared to Honjo Fanchang, Kawada Naga's temper is not very good, and he was scolded by Uesugi Keitor, so that he has nowhere to vent his evil fire, he ordered very toughly: These untouchables, but whenever they meet, whether they are friends or enemies, they will all be extinguished to prevent the news that the action has been leaked, if it weren't for Honjo Fancho not wanting to make too much trouble and desperately stopping him, maybe he would have done it.

In addition to the above two, Uesugi Keikatsu, the Shinbata brothers, the Sebe brothers, the Gansu Keitori, and the Mizuhara Jinken and other generals also came out one after another.

To tell the truth, Uesugi Jinghu is still quite capable, and the enemy didn't even notice such a large-scale mobilization of troops, and Maeda Toshiya was even more kept in the dark.

Maeda Toshiya, who was urging the horse forward in the fog and rain, sneezed several times one after another.

"Father, are you suffering from the cold?" And the son Maeda Toshicho who was advancing hurriedly asked.

Maeda Toshiya smiled: "What nonsense are you talking about, I'm about to fight, how can I get sick at this juncture?" ”

"I've long heard that people are most susceptible to colds in autumn and winter, and my father should take care of his health."

"Oh, I see, I'm going to fight soon, I'm going to work hard, by the way, Richaga, you're going to have to do it too, that cousin of yours...... It's the Keijiro I saw in Azuchi Castle, he is now fighting with the Akechi family, and his territory has exceeded 10,000 stones, and your territory is only more than 1,000 stones, so you have to work hard. ”

"I see."

"It's really unbelievable to say, when he was in Owari, Keijiro was just a crazy and obedient fool all day long, how did he become so powerful now, does Wise really have a recipe for him to change his ways?"

"Hee-hee," Maeda Toshicho looked at his father with ill will: "We Owari people are not the only one who behaves strangely, but I've heard that His Royal Highness the Inner Mansion was much weirder than Keijiro's eldest brother, and now there are still rumors of his 'stupid things' when he was a teenager in Tokaido...... Father, I've heard of it, His Royal Highness the Uchifu and Brother Keijiro combined, and I don't blame you......"

(If you have watched "The Tale of Kaga Million Stones", you should know that Maeda Toshiya was not a serious person when he was young)

"You kid, you dare to orchestrate me!" Maeda Toshiya was teaching his son a lesson, when suddenly, a war horse galloped towards their father and son in the distance.

"General, the general has already reconnoitred, and there is no enemy near the Shooting Wolf Plain."

"Wouldn't it?!really going so well?!" There were no obstacles along the way, and Maeda Toshiya couldn't believe his good luck.

The spy excitedly returned: "That's right, General, we heard from the nearby farmers that yesterday, Lord Shibata had defeated the Uesugi army in Kurigaro Valley, and now Kurigara Valley has fallen into the hands of our army!"

"Really?!" Maeda Toshiya was pleasantly surprised: "I see, Uesugi Keitora is now facing a direct threat from Shibata-sama, and he has a headache, how can he care about us...... Do the brethren hear me? The enemy was defeated by Shibata-sama! We're going to do it too! ”

The soldiers were strongly encouraged by the generals and cheered.

"Hi Yi~~Hi Yi~~Huh~~"

The sound of strong whale waves shook the entire plain.

However, the noise was too loud, and it was soon discovered by the ninja who was ambushing in the distance.

"Oh? Good! When Uesugi Keikatsu heard the ninja report the news, he was excited and smiled like a chrysanthemum with a "dead face" that had not changed for thousands of years.

"Attack! Sortie! ”

"The share that was lost in the Kuligaro Valley, we must get it all back here as soon as possible!"

He was relaxed now, as long as he figured out the location of the oncoming Maeda Toshi's house, he could act.

As the muffled conch was blown, the various factions of the Uesugi Army moved.

"Amitabha", "Rehmannia Hachiman Bodhisattva", "Bishamon Heavenly King" and various family crests shine brightly under the light of the torches.

The Uesugi family's team is dominated by cavalry, and you can imagine how daunting and heartbreaking the scene of more than 10,000 cavalry galloping on the plains was terrifying!

Shoot the wolf plain.

After setting up camp, Maeda Toshiya didn't really want to sleep, he just wanted the soldiers to rest and prepare for the next day, so that tomorrow's battle would go more smoothly. Just as he was drifting asleep in a daze, a cry suddenly reached his ears.

"This voice is ......" Maeda Toshiya jumped to his feet, grabbed the iron gun (the Maeda family seems to be very good at playing with guns) and rushed out of the tent. It was already the middle of the night, and it was supposed to be quiet, but I could already see the campfires burning everywhere and the panicked figures.

"What's going on, what are you arguing about? Whoever dares to violate military discipline will be severely punished! ”

At this time, a figure crawled to the ground in front of Maeda Toshi's house, and it was a flag book.

"My lord, the enemy is coming!"

"What...... Miscellaneous...... What the? ”

"Uesugi's men attacked us half an hour ago, and it's not a good thing for us. Please calm down so that you can give us orders. ”

"What a panic! Give me calm! How many times have I told you that! The soldiers are coming, the enemy is coming, we just need to repel them! ”

It's easy to boast, but it's hard to practice. As soon as Maeda Toshiya grabbed his spear, he was about to rush out desperately. He was wearing white armor and a white battle robe, and he was about to rush out on foot. How can that work?

Qimoto hurriedly ran over and hugged him. "You can't go out, sir. Don't forget, you can be a general. ”

"It is precisely because I am the general that I should take the lead."

"No, your outfit is too conspicuous in the night, and as soon as you go out, you will attract enemy bullets! ……”

As soon as he said this, twenty or thirty iron cannons rang out on the left.

"Ahh The young flag, who had never known what terror and war was, fell to the ground in fright when he heard the gunshots. He felt chills all over his body, and instinctively sensed danger.

"Humph! Useless stuff! Maeda Toshiya strode forward.

At this time, Maeda Toshinaga's side was also in chaos.

I only heard a burst of shouts ringing in my ears, but I didn't know where it came from or where it was going—young Maeda Toshinaga was completely stunned. He was paralyzed on the ground, how could he give orders as domineering as the young master of the Maeda family on weekdays?

The voice of my father and His Royal Highness the Inner Palace's former teachings suddenly echoed in my ears: In war, at the beginning, you can neither see the face of the enemy nor know the number of enemies, and at this time you don't care about anything, just fight the enemy desperately. But now he doesn't even know where the enemy he wants to fight is.

"My lord, I'll take a look." Before the words fell, a person jumped out of the human wall protecting Maeda Toshinaga and ran forward like a rabbit.

The enemy must be near! Maeda Toshinaga instinctively sensed it and pulled out his knife with a pout.

"Please...... The adult put away the knife. Please get on the horse......" A person patted Maeda Toshinaga's wrist guard with his hand and stopped him, it was the veteran of the family, Okumura Changfuku.

"The young master is not the same as the pawn, please put away the knife quickly and get on the horse quickly!"

It was only at this point that Maeda Toshinaga finally saw his surroundings clearly. The sky is clearly bright, but his eyes are as if they are blind, which is really strange. He heard a figure floating in the bushes twelve or thirteen miles ahead.

So, Okumura Changfu announced his name loudly: "I am Okumura Zhu Youwei, the head of the Okumura family under the command of Maeda Sun Shiro Li's family, who is here?" ”

An enemy on horseback suddenly catches Maeda's eyes. I saw that the enemy rushed towards the general Okumura Changfu.

In the blink of an eye, the enemy raised his spear high above his head. "I'm Uesugi Kihei Keikatsu's Tada Shinbei." Before he could finish speaking, he was already fighting with Bihou like a roaring beast.

A scream was heard, and a figure fell from his horse, and the horse rushed to the right like an arrow from a string. The other party seems to have been killed by Okumura Chofuku. It seems that a vicious battle is inevitable.

Ao Village Changfu, who killed people, did not have any ease, on the contrary, he felt that something was wrong. "Someone, go and investigate!"

As soon as he found out that the situation was not good, he immediately decided to send someone to ask for help like Shibata Katsuie, and at the same time decisively issued an order to the whole army: "It must be Uesugi's troops who are chasing after us, and now they have launched an attack on our department in the direction of the wolf." Signal, the whole army immediately calmed down and fought the enemy! The officers and men of the whole army are only allowed to advance, not retreat! For every enemy soldier you shoot down, you will be rewarded with 100! ”

This time, Okumura Nagafuku's task is to assist Maeda Toshinaga, who is not familiar with the war, at any time, and make up for the shortcomings of the young master who likes to act on his own. Therefore he will be thoughtful.