As the summer rainy season officially reaches its climax, war clouds from all over Japan converge on Tokaido and condense over the eastern part of Suruga. With the Hakone Mountains as the dividing line, the daimyo of the nations were roughly divided into two camps, the east and the west, and a total of nearly 200,000 people were invested in this decisive battle that would determine the fate of Japan in the future.

On the 9th day of June in the 10th year of Tensho (1582), I came to Mimehashi Castle on the side of our army on the Fujigawa front, and there were two reasons for this trip: first, the envoy of the Tokugawa family, Honda Masanobu, did not return; Second, the Kwantung Coalition led by the Hojo clan arrived.

Actually, it may be a little unclear just now, but I didn't come to my own formation. Because an army of this size was concentrated in such a small place, the necessary layers and intervals still had to be placed, so my main formation, which was the hub of the whole army, was set up behind the second front, at Shiratoriyama Castle at the exit of the Central Plain of Suruga. It's still a little cramped, but it's a great place to stay in terms of location and risk.

The logistics base of Sunfu Castle is very important, and both supplies and troops from the west will be assembled here. Although my main force has moved forward quite a bit, I still left Hidemasa Hori in charge of garrisoning, and with Fujido Takatora defending Kai in the direction of Omiya Castle, there should be no more problems with logistical security.

The established strategy this time is to defend steadily and advance cautiously, so the strength of the first line is very important, and the second line is only to support the first line when necessary, so the feeling of vertical three-dimensional defense is hardly taken into account.

The troops who came with me to support the front line were Yoshikiyo, Niko, Nabeshima, Shimazu, and Nakamurabu, as well as the Hidezo, Ikeda, Mori, Hidekiyo, and Ukita divisions that were originally here, with a total strength of more than 30,000 troops.

If Hojo Clan and Tokugawa Ieyasu wanted to forcibly break through here, then they could only give an account of the more than 80,000 people of the Eastern Coalition Army. But I'm absolutely sure they won't be able to convince the other combatants over there to do so.

The "East Corridor" of Suruga is a very narrow stretch formed by the foothills of Mt. Fuji and the coast, and although it is flat, the soil is densely covered with a large amount of gravel that has been rolled from the mountain all year round, and the few barren fields that are scattered are not expected to be harvested at all.

At that time, Imagawa and Hojo had been fighting for this place for many years, and I guess that if the location connecting the east and west was important, even if it was given away for free, not many people would be interested.

I was looking east from the top floor of the castle tower, the telescope in my hand constantly adjusting the focus. "No...... Why can't you do it...... "I haven't seen what I want to see for a long time, and I can't help but feel a little anxious.

I arrived at Mimebashi Castle at about one o'clock this morning, and it was pitch black, and I couldn't see anything clearly. At that time, I was not in a hurry, thinking that I was not in a hurry at this moment, but today it is not like that.

There is something special about this short stretch of the Fuji River, there are five shallow rivers at the moment, and I have been told that this number is constantly changing depending on the amount of water in different seasons. Due to the hard geology and the shallowness of the waterways, it is not known when several "ditches" will form on both sides of the main river, which is the origin of the Fuji River's "river system". Such a desolate river beach under the mountain and the camp of the army always give me a sense of déjà vu, so try to imagine the final scene of Akira Kurosawa's film "Shadow Warrior".

Because of the tremendous strength invested, the formation of the former army appeared to be unusually thick, and the walls raised high were completely indistinguishable from the regular walls except for the fact that they were made of wooden piles.

The tents, the flagpoles, the fights, the separate areas divided by smaller wooden bars make people like me, who come from another time and space, can't help but think of the anxiety that once had outside Stalingrad.

Seeing this, I have a certain confidence in myself, but what about the enemy on the other side? Until now, I didn't have a concept that was too intuitive.

To the east and behind are the mountains and mountains, and the resulting semi-open valleys are often foggy, and are said to be the result of the interaction between the sea breeze and the mountains. I am afraid that this situation will have to be completely dispelled by the fog until it is almost noon, when the sun comes out of the mountains in the east and circles to the south.

"So you're already up, I thought I'd get the afternoon!" Coral opened the door and walked in, and good words came out of her mouth that were often not so good. It was Misty Butterfly who slept me that night, and when I woke up, she was gone.

"I wanted to lie down a little longer, but the early morning call was too close!" I pointed down to the company camp below and said.

"Now that you're up, pack up and get ready to go out! Those people have been waiting for you for almost an hour......" A copper basin and a towel appeared in her hand as she said the trick, and I sometimes wondered if her ninja skills were really just about fur.

"Who?" I asked casually, wiping my face.

"Except for those poor creatures who want to beg for a few leftovers by slapping their ass, who else will there be?" She sneered in a tone of utter sarcasm.

"Don't be so mean, there is your second brother among them!" I rubbed it vigorously a few times, then put the towel back on the edge of the copper basin. "Besides, no matter what their purpose is in approaching me, this 'proximity' objectively serves to stabilize my position. If the lion only relies on his own teeth and claws, then he is just a fierce beast, and he can't call the jackal, tiger and leopard to be the king of beasts! ”

"Here......" Coral picked up the towel and wiped it on my face twice, wondering if I had really found anything unclean.

"Lightly ......" I remembered that her swordsmanship was also quite good.

"I'm just saying that, if I had been the governor of the Shimazu family, I'm afraid it would have been the same!" After the revenge "abuse" against me, she began to clean up her bed again. "By the way, what does 'objective' mean?"

"Whether it was then, now, or in the future, you can't become the governor of the Shimazu family!" I began to change my clothes, and it was really refreshing to see such a strong woman having to succumb to the arrangement of fate.

"Those guys rushed over without breakfast, and if you don't go out, I'm afraid you'll faint from hunger!" Coral took off the thin armor from the shelf and helped me put it on, not looking at the question of objectivity.

After dressing up, I chose another famous knife, "Dai" is too long to sit in the way. "Hmm......" I subconsciously glanced back as I opened the door and was about to walk out, only to find that the fog that had been hovering over the Fuji River had actually dissipated.

It was already eleven o'clock, and the sun in the south was entering its most powerful phase of the day, and everything was clearly visible.

Unlike our side, the Eastern Coalition did not have a camp close to the riverbank, and even under the Kambara-bara Castle as far as the eye could see, it was only scattered, far from overwhelming. Instead, at the foot of the mountain to the north and further at the entrance to the Hakone Trail, you can see the flags, horse prints, and tents in the shade of trees.

"Whew......" The door slowly closed in front of my eyes.

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"Meet His Highness the Great Stars!" Some of the generals who had been here and the ones I had brought with me were lined up in two rows on each side, and as soon as they heard the news that I had come in, they bowed down in unison.

"Let your Highnesses wait for a long time, I know more about your hard work today!" As soon as I sat down, I motioned for the attendants to serve breakfast, without asking them if they had eaten before.

"His Royal Highness Xie Danayan is compassionate!" After everyone thanked me, they straightened up and saw me take the first bite before reaching for the chopsticks in front of me.

"Just now, I carefully observed the formation of the Eastern Coalition Army, and I did find some interesting problems!" As I ate, I said that throwing bricks and leading jade can be regarded as a test of everyone's opinions. "In my opinion, the position of the coalition forces does not want to wait for a quick battle with me, but a posture of long-term confrontation. Although the location is advantageous and we are a guest army, can the barren Kanto really be consumed with us? ”

I asked what I said, but no one responded for a long time, and taking the initiative to ask Ying to fight may be a manifestation of loyalty and martial bravery, but it may not be a good thing to rashly express your opinions in front of so many people. If you say something wrong, it will be a joke, if you say it right, you will not necessarily get benefits if you are too smart, and it is easy to be hated if you are public.

"His Royal Highness Da Nayan will bow down to everything in a thousand miles, and the old man is really admired!" It's not a thing to be cold, Hosokawa Fujitaka opened his mouth. He is not a famous man who is good at martial arts, and at this age, there will be no taboos to talk about it, and besides, his father and son have the attitude of this battle is already very frank. "The four generations of the Hojo family have run the Kanto region, and it is certainly unreasonable to say that they don't have some reserves. This time, the eastern country raised troops to compete with His Royal Highness Dainayan, and Hojo and Tokugawa must be the first ones. According to the speculation below, Hojo and Tokugawa may have been against other daimyos, and it was tempted by the fact that His Royal Highness would not be able to threaten each other for a long time, and he was tempted by gold and grain. In this case, the eastern garrison may have been forced to defend the danger, because Hojo and Tokugawa could not drive the rest of the families down the mountain to take the initiative to fight! ”

"Makes sense, it makes sense!" I agree with this view, and in the light of various intelligence and the current situation, such an analysis is undoubtedly the most reasonable.

Now that someone has taken the lead and I have agreed, the following things are much simpler, and everyone has spoken to express their opinions. Most of the famous generals here have been in battle for a long time, and the opinions expressed are naturally insightful. Of course, there are also those who do not give in to each other, but this does not affect the overall situation.