No sooner had the sun climbed over the eastern horizon than my army of 5,500 marched out of Ina City toward it. I sat straight on my horse surrounded by my own soldiers, but my mind was thinking about what Nagano Yoshimori said yesterday. "Shigeji...... "I called out to the half-guards of Takenaka, who were following me." You said...... If we have a decisive battle with Tokugawa Ieyasu and Sakuma Nobumori and Takeda Shingen, what are the odds of victory? ”

"Not in Chengdu!" Takenaka's half-guard replied categorically. "The Takeda Army has 33,000 troops and strong generals, just with our 20,000 troops who lack cooperation and have uneven quality, it is impossible to win in the field under any circumstances!"

"You have a point! But if you use a strategy like a surprise attack...... "I still have a faint urge in my heart to defeat the strong." "It doesn't seem to be completely hopeless, many times in history victory and defeat are only instantaneous!"

"Please listen to the words of your subordinates, don't have this idea of luck!" Takenaka Hanbei's face changed drastically and said: "The Takeda Army at this time is different from Imagawa Yoshimoto Kamiraku back then, the difference between them can be described as heaven and earth, not to mention whether there will be such negligence with Takeda Shingen's strategy, even if he is lucky enough to kill him, there will be no victory in one fell swoop!" The strength of the Imagawa family is all maintained by Imagawa Yoshimoto alone, and the generals under him are all cowering and cowardly, and the Suruga soldiers are also cowardly by nature. And there are quite a few generals in the Takeda army, even if they get the news that Takeda Shingen himself was killed, it is impossible to break up and flee, coupled with the fierce national style of the Koshu Mountains, it may arouse their belief in a decisive battle to the death! The lord might as well think about it, if the Imagawa army did not go after the barrel saga, what would be the situation of the Oda family? I dare to say that if Takeda Shingen is killed, then the territory of Yuanjiang will definitely become a 'sea of blood'! At that point, it will be a gamble with no winners, but in the long run, the Great Hall may have the most to gain! ”

"Oh......" I felt a chill run down my back, and I still remember the scene in the barrel room. If Imagawa Yoshimoto's head hadn't appeared in time in the end, the consequences would have been really unimaginable. "It's better than this! Heavy governance, you command the brigade to slow down, and I will lead the cavalry to Hamamatsu City first! "I suddenly proposed.

"Lord!" He was clearly frightened by my words. "How can you have such a ridiculous idea?"

"There's a reason why I think so......" I smiled helplessly. The main reason I went this time was to dissuade Tokugawa Ieyasu from giving up the idea of a decisive battle, but the chances of success were not very high! If I have to go into battle with him, then our army will be in a state of no return. On the other hand, if he agrees with me, I can ask for Ina or Noda Castle under the pretext that the infantry is behind, so that I have a relatively safe position; If I go out of the city to fight, I can easily break through with my cavalry without any worries; And even if some people questioned it, it was very easy to justify, and I was worried about the safety of this place, so I led the cavalry to rush over first. No one can fault such a statement! ”

"It's not appropriate to let the lord easily take risks, it should be me and Sheng Meng who rush over first!" Takenaka Hanbei still can't rest assured.

"I'm afraid it won't work!" My frowning face almost became a bitter melon. "Now Tokugawa Ieyasu must also be in the fierce ideological struggle, whether it is fighting, defending, or even surrendering, I am afraid that they are repeatedly weighing and comparing! If I don't go there myself, he'll be suspicious of all my advice, and we can't afford to take such a risk at the moment! So I must go to Hamamatsu in person, only then there may be a glimmer of hope. ”

"So...... The lord must be cautious! "After careful consideration, Takenaka Hanbei also has to admit the truth of my words." …… It's just that at this moment, Tokugawa Ieyasu may not be willing to be resigned to Cage Castle, because once he does this, the Takeda Army will inevitably drive into Mikawa, so that the foundation of his development - the trust and support of the Mikawa people will be greatly shaken! On the contrary, the first battle may be more beneficial to him, and the victory will certainly be the sudden rise of the Tokugawa family; Defeat can also leave the destruction of the Great War in Yuanjiang! After the great victory, the Takeda army will inevitably lose the trouble of peace and security, so that it will not overly suppress the power of the Tokugawa family to stay in Mikawa, and besides, this battle can borrow the strength of the Oda family's reinforcements, and the loss is acceptable if it fails! How will the Oda family defeat Takeda Shingen in the future, he can be said to have fought desperately for the Oda family; If the Takeda family took over the world, he would say that he had to do it under the surveillance of the Oda army! ”

"You're right......" I nodded, recalling my impression of Tokugawa Ieyasu. If you think about it, he's really that kind of person! But fortunately, he didn't dare to surrender without a fight, which not only offended the Oda family, but also dropped the 'price' in front of Takeda Shingen! Once I really go to the battlefield, I will also pay attention to myself, with these 2000 armored horses, it will not reach the point of being captured in one fell swoop. And I still have Katsu Meng and Shinhachiro by my side......" I glanced at it and then added: "Ah Xue, they are such fierce generals, how can they never 'shelve' us in it!" You have to be careful too, I'll keep in touch with you at all times! ”

"Lord Takenaka, don't worry! With me with me, nothing will happen to the lord! Shinhachiro said and waved the "Shura's Fury" in his hand, and almost smashed a flag book next to him, it seems that he wants to fight the Takeda army more than Tokugawa Ieyasu.

"The lord cherishes it!" Shinhachiro's enthusiasm didn't infect Takenaka Hanbei, and he clenched my fist with a heavy expression.

"Hmm!" After nodding my head vigorously, Katsutoshi Katsuyo, Shinhachiro, and Ayuki led 2,000 armored horsemen to leave first.

**************************************************

The Akiba Road we walked on was a section of the Tokai National Road, and it was straight and wide, which was very convenient for the passage of large armies. The dense villages and towns on both sides and the dense houses are just a few people, probably because they are afraid that the army will fight, so they have hid in the mountains!

Enjiang is a medium-sized country with 260,000 koku of land, and the land is relatively fertile with mountains to the north and the sea to the south, and it is an important trade route connecting Kanto and. Unfortunately, in the 10 years after the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto, there were frequent wars here, and after the collapse of the Imagawa family, it was a battle between Tokugawa and Takeda. Since the "foreign" daimyo ruled almost all the time, they rarely received a particularly relaxed environment for recuperation.

Since I was anxious to meet Tokugawa Ieyasu, I kept urging my troops to speed up. So by about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, we arrived at the east exit of Akiba Road, which is still 25 li from Hamamatsu Castle and 18 li from the Mikata principle, and after the Koishi River in front of us, we will enter the hilly area of the middle of the Toe River.

"Look, my lord!" Just as I was riding on the horse and in a trance, Shinhachiro suddenly pointed forward with the "Shura's Fury" in his hand and shouted.

I squinted and tried to look in that direction, only to see six horses running in that direction, and the knights above were urging them. Slowly, they ran closer and closer, and even saw the scattered armor and mottled blood stains on their bodies, and the "three-leaf sunflower" flag behind them was also in tatters. Seeing this, my heart shrank suddenly. The cavalry general of the front team briefly interrogated them, and then brought them to me.

At the head was a samurai with his helmet and cape, and he bowed his hand to me on his horse. "Under is the Tokugawa retainer Kumagai Kojiro Naotaka, who has seen the stars ......"

"That's it! Adults don't have to be polite, let's talk about what's going on? "I'm not interested in these things now, and my heart is already cold when I see this situation, but I secretly hope for a little luck.

"Back to Your Highness! In the early hours of this morning, Lord Contempt and Lord Sakuma went out to fight in Mikatahara, but the battle was unfavorable and they had returned to Hamamatsu ......"

"What?!" I roared and felt a rush of heat rush to my temple, and it was like a bee buzzing in my head. "Why is this happening?! Didn't my Highness Shintokugawa receive it?! How did you go into battle?! ...... "I was so excited that I questioned again and again, not noticing my gaffe for a moment.

"There are some situations that are not clear about the last general's humble position, please forgive Your Highness for this!" Kumagai Naokaka was not overwhelmed by my momentum, and his expression and tone were neither humble nor arrogant. “…… Last night, we suddenly received an urgent report: the Takeda army smuggled across the Tenryu River at night, intending to advance along the Himedo Road towards Zhudazaka. The lord and Sakuma-sama agreed that this was a good opportunity, and that if they attacked while they crossed the river, they would be able to win a great victory, so they sent their troops north! I don't want to think that at this time, the Takeda army has all crossed the Tenryu River, and the sneak attack of our army has turned into a head-to-head confrontation in Mikatahara! ”

"And what was the result?" I suppressed my excitement for a moment, and nothing had anything to do with the loyal person in front of me.

"Our army was caught in a bitter battle at the beginning, and later after the Takeda Nobutoyo, Anayama Umeyuki, and Naito Masatoyo teams detoured to the flank of our army, they were attacked by the main force of the Red Reserve Cavalry led by Yama Prefecture Masakai and Baba Nobubo! The first and second fronts all collapsed, and after suffering heavy losses, they retreated to Hamamatsu Castle! ”

"And what happened to the reinforcements we sent?" I asked eagerly again.

"The two adults, Nobumori Sakuma and Kazuki Takigawa, led the army to retreat in the direction of Noda Castle, and drew with Lord Panhide...... He died in battle! ”

"Oh......" I nodded wordlessly. The tie pan show failed to escape the fate of history, although it is a pity, but there is nothing to be done; Sakuma and Takigawa walked north, so I didn't meet them, and I wanted to run for my life, so I should have entered the territory of Mikawa at this moment. It seems that they escaped the disaster, but I don't know what my luck is! "Where are you going, sir?" I asked, looking at a few people in front of me.

"His Royal Highness Xie cares, and the last general has been ordered to go and inform our cities!" Kumagai Naokaka seemed very calm, and a battle between life and death did not affect his nerves. “…… After the victory of the Takeda army, there was no force to contain it for the time being, so it could attack the cities of Yuanjiang or even enter Mikawa at any time! The duty of the last general is to leave! ”

"This is the reason why the Matsudaira-Tokugawa family has been defeated repeatedly!" Looking at the backs of several of them in the distance, I sighed in my heart. Matsudaira Ichidaira struggled to survive among the powerful forces, and trained a large number of outstanding retainers, including not only famous generals such as the "Four Heavenly Kings" and Honda Masanobu father and son, but also a large number of middle- and lower-ranking samurai as the cornerstone, and it was their unwavering followers that made the Tokugawa family have the possibility of rapid rise. "Someone! Go pass my orders to the rear team......"

"I can finally meet the famous generals of the Takeda Army with a 'real chapter'!" Shinhachiro rubbed his hands on the side.

I glared at him and continued, "Order Takenaka-sama and them to return to Ina Castle immediately, and the team will turn around and go back immediately!" "I'm not ready to face Shingen Takeda directly right now, but will everything be safe?