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Human affection, righteousness, bushido, perseverance, how funny and ridiculous is life bound by these shackles! However, it is under these constraints that the value of life is revealed.

No one is optimistic about Uesugi Keiho's "Imperial Expedition", after all, since Uesugi Kenshin's death, the situation in the west of the Uesugi family has become more and more unoptimistic, not only the hard-fought Kaga and Noto have been lost, but now even most of Echichu has fallen, you say that in this situation, who will be optimistic about Uesugi Keiho?

Uesugi Keitora originally planned to send troops on October 17 of the 8th year of Tensho, but the important minister Chisaka Keiqin advised him that it was expected to raise troops in the wind and snow in the northern country, so it was better to take advantage of this autumn to advance westward. ”

So the plan was advanced, and the troops were sent on September 28.

Although the border between Echigo and Vietnam and China is full of green meadows, a faint touch of withered color can be seen in the fields. The birds have decreased, and there is no summer jubilation.

Because the Shibata Shigeya of Shinbata Castle also participated in the war with the army this time, the task of guarding the eastern part of Echigo Province was entrusted to Kamijo Masashigeru and Hojo Keihiro, hoping to use their strength to resist the Mogami family and Date family, who could come back at any time to attack the rear of the Great Rear.

The vanguard was the Echigo Hao clan coalition army, led by the chief of Hirabayashi Castle and his younger brother Se Mino, and went straight to Hokurikudo, while Uesugi Keitora led a large group of men and horses through the mountains and forests.

On October 1st, Uesugi Keikatsu set off with a second team, and two days later, Honjo's long third team left his castle.

The army from Kasuga Yamashiro was ready, and on the fifth night of the first month of October, Uesugi Keitora held a farewell dinner on the national border. The banquet was attended mainly by his family.

Uesugi Keitora and his wife, Ayamae's daughter and Uesugi Keitora's sister Hua Hime, are surrounded in the middle, as well as Uesugi Keikatsu and his wife Kikuhime, Ayazen and Ueyama Kenmasa, who have been in seclusion for many years, and hostages handed over by the Echigo wealthy clan.

Uesugi Keitora lifted the glass glass that Kenshin Uesugi had used most during his lifetime, and the fire shone on his face.

"This battle is related to the life and death of our Uesugi family, so no matter what, I will win, Danzheng-sama (Uesugi Keikatsu's official position is from the fifth position), all this is still with the help of your strength, and I ask you to help me a lot."

I don't know if it's because he was born with facial paralysis, Uesugi Jinghu's words have been said to this point, but Uesugi Jingsheng still has no expression.

"Don't dare to be, the lord has something to ask, and I will do my best to help."

The two drank it all at once.

Ju Ji was afraid that her husband's appearance would cause the lord's displeasure, so she made a happy appearance and said, "My lord, this is a banquet to wish the lord a victory, so pour him a glass." ”

For Ayagozen, who has always been worried about the discord between the two brothers, the tacit understanding that the family has never had before made her feel pleasantly surprised.

In this way, even if the battle is really defeated, the Oda army fights, and he will not regret it. As a woman of the Uesugi family, she was ready to die with the city, and once the city was in danger, she let Hua Ji and Kikuhime escape quietly, and all preparations were already arranged.

Uesugi Jinghu and Uesugi Keikatsu also held their wine glasses leisurely tonight, completely confident--the victory or defeat of the war, a woman can never understand......

On the contrary, it was Uesugi Kenmasa, his expression was more complicated, the position of the governor of the Uesugi family, and finally handed over to a boy from the Hojo family to sit, which made it difficult for him to accept, but Echigo is someone else's territory, can he still speak......

"Ah Ju is right, lord, I toast you!"

"Well, you can drink it too!" ……

Staggered, everyone drank to their heart's content. When he was drunk, Uesugi Keihu and Uesugi Keikatsu exchanged glances and smiled. Now, the two are almost heart-to-heart. They have transcended the grief of war and want to be as incarnate as possible to live for glory.

This is probably the romance of the samurai.

At the same time as Uesugi Keitora set off, Shibata Katsuie also bid farewell to Oda Nobunaga and returned to Echizen for the final military mobilization.

Around Shibata Katsuie, in addition to his own Northern Army Regiment, Niwa Nagahide's Nankai Legion, and Akechi Mitsuhide's San'in Legion, there are also eight groups of nearly 1,000 people from the Iron Artillery Team specially transferred to him by Oda Nobunaga, with pro-soldiers on the right hand and Qimoto on the left, which is enough to be compared with Oda Nobunaga before the Battle of Nagashino.

The procession marched towards the northern continent.

Of course, such a large force not only overwhelmed the Shibata Katsuya in the north, but also the Shibata Katsuie and his lord Oda Nobunaga's favorite feature - the separation of soldiers and peasants and the mobilization of the common people, and the commissioners of Azuchi Castle had been sent to do a good job before the war.

Because Oda Nobusumi and Gamo clans, one was blowing the sea breeze in Osaka, and the other was recuperating at home, I was the only one left in the "Three Commanders", so I was temporarily appointed as the head of Azuchi Castle, and the task of mobilizing the people was also spread out by me.

Luckily, I was used to paperwork, so the job was quite easy, and I wrote a leaflet, made countless copies, and distributed various parts of, which roughly meant: "The Higashi (Uesugi) army will be defeated, so when the time comes, not to mention the farmers in Echizen and Omi, even the monks of the temples and the sturdy women will be able to fight the enemy and make great achievements." Those who take the head of a samurai with a name and surname will not only be rewarded by the general, but also exempted from forced labor for life. ”

After finishing this job, I also left Azuchi Castle with the main army.

Actually, I really want to accompany Xiangji, after all, I also want to see the future child, but it's a pity that it's unrealistic......

In the blink of an eye, another month passed.

Uesugi Keiho is not a serious person, at least compared to Uesugi Keikatsu, he seems quite lively.

When he left Echigo alone, he immediately became serious, and all his actions would take a big turn compared to usual. He hurriedly summoned Uesugi Keikatsu, as well as Chisaka Keikin, Kasumi Keikatsu, and Saito Asanobu, who had been fighting with Uesugi Kenshin in Vietnam since he was a young man and was familiar with the local terrain, to the big tent.

"Don't regard this dispatch as an ordinary war, otherwise, we will have ** trouble." Uesugi Keitora slowly unfolded the battle map between the two sides in the center of the table, thinking carefully.

"The lord is right, there are as many as 70,000 people in the hands of the Shibata Katsu family, and we only have 45,000 people, if we are not careful, we will ......"

"Chisaka-sama! Now is not the time to say gloomy words," Saito Asanobu glanced at Chisaka Keijin very dissatisfied, "Since the time when the onion was Jinggong, most of the battles fought by the family were based on fewer enemies and more enemies, and when Kenshin Gong was alive, he was even ashamed to have more troops than the enemy, hum!" The soldiers of this family are strong and strong, why should they be afraid of these foreign miscellaneous pieces?! ”

"Saito-sama, you ......" Chisaka Kei-jin instinctively wanted to refute Saito Asanobu, at this time, Uesugi Keikatsu spoke: "Okay, let's say a few words about the two adults, and listen to what the lord has to say." ”

Uesugi Jinghu smiled bitterly: "What other high opinion can I have? If I had to ask my opinion, I would just say that although Shibata Katsuie's strength was overwhelming, the numerical superiority alone could not completely overwhelm us, and besides, we were backed by the mountains and Echigo Province, and if we relied on natural hazards and hid in the mountains and never came out, and dragged it out until winter, then Shibata Katsuya would be helpless...... Hey?! Wait a minute! ”

He screamed as if he had discovered something.

"Wait, isn't this the Kuligara Valley?!!!"

After he said this, the eyes of several people were immediately attracted, and the place marked by Chinese characters was indeed the location of the 100,000-strong army of the Taira clan defeated by Kiso Yoshinaka hundreds of years ago - Kulikara Valley!

Several people looked at each other.

As the saying goes, "Kanto Genji Kansai Taira", but in the past few hundred years, there have been more Taira clans in Hokuriku, and among all the people present, except for the Uesugi clan and the Saito clan, which belong to the Fujiwara clan (aside from the original Nagao clan), the rest of the Echigo samurai are almost all related to the Taira clan, and on the other hand, Shibata Katsuya is the Spo Genji clan, and his two lieutenants, Niwa Nagahide and Akechi Mitsuhide, are also descendants of the Spo Genji clan and the Toki Genji clan respectively, which indicates that the "Taira army" in his hands will be the enemy's" Genji's army "Defeated?"

Wrong wrong...... Wait, isn't Oda Nobunaga also Taira? It seems that he still has a chance to win.

(What kind of logic is this??!!! ）

Saito Asanobu took a sip of tea and said, "Originally, Shibata Katsuya was aggressive along the way, but after hearing that we left Echigo, he immediately stopped his attack, and instead of taking a step forward, he set up a position with us on the west side of the Kurigara Valley, what does this mean?" ”

Chisaka Keijin thought for a while and said: "The army in the hands of the Shibata Katsu family has always been the most fierce and fierce of the Oda family, in order to suppress the people who disobey them, the nephew of the Shibata Katsu family, Sakuma Genfan Morimasa, but from Kaga to Echichu, he burned and looted all the way, doing all kinds of evil, completely ignoring the resistance of the people, it is simply conceited to the extreme, I think with his character, he will definitely not hide, and will definitely come to challenge." ”

"Hehe, I can't imagine that Lord Chisaka sits on the tatami mat every day to read and write, and he even understands the art of war, which is really admirable to the old man!"

"You!! Saito-sama, don't go too far! There is a limit to joking, too! ”

"Enough!" Uesugi Keihu coldly interrupted the words of the two of them, "Lord Saito, you better say a few words, Lord Chisaka is not as battle-hardened as you...... Chisaka-sama, Saito-sama is highly respected, so you should listen to his words as teachings......"