After seven days of rapid marching, the castle tower of Ina Castle in front of us was already in sight. Although I have been very proud in front of everyone these days, in fact, as I get closer to my goal, my heart is becoming more and more empty.

I have made full mental and material preparations for the possibility of a continuous bitter battle. In order to prevent a possible siege by Tajima and Tango in the event of an unfavorable situation, I left nearly 10,000 troops at home, and asked Nagano Yoshimasa and Maeda Keiji to tighten their guard, and I rushed to the assembly area with less than 6,000 men.

But if someone says I'm dealing with an errand, then I'm going to cry out! All 2000 armor riders were brought out by me; Of the 700 iron artillery reserves, 500 were also on the march, and were personally led by Philippe Luc Besson; Yamanaka Kanosuke, Nagano Yoshimori, and Otani Yoshitsugu each commanded a thousand-man spear reserve; With such strength, I dare to boast that it is not a problem to easily defeat the 10,000 troops of Asai and Asakura, and there is also the genius military master of Takenaka Hanbei waiting!

I rushed to Mekada in Minami-Omi in a hurry, but Oda Nobunaga's first words when he saw me threw me into the "ice cave"! "As the second team, go to the aid of His Highness Tokugawa!" Oh, my God! Isn't that killing me?! I instantly felt a chill in my chest. According to the information collected over a long period of time, the comprehensive strength of my troops may be higher than that of the Takeda Army, but it is only about 5000 against 6000~8000, and I dare not say more. Even if you deduct 10,000, what about Tokugawa Ieyasu?

Among the Warring States, the bravery of the Samurai of Mikawa was also famous, but this refers only to the spirit and not the all-round quality. The Tokugawa family had about 50 people in Mikawa and Yuanjiang (part of Yuanjiang was in the hands of Takeda), and there were about 15,000 men and horses not counting the peasants, of which the most directly under the central government was more than 10,000. Through several contacts, I learned that 3,000 of them were still well-equipped, and the rest were a little stronger than the peasant soldiers.

According to the latest intelligence: since the Takeda Army entered the hinterland of the Enjiang River and threatened Mikawa from two directions, many of the wealthy clans of the Enoe threw themselves on the side of the Takeda! Even with the chaos caused by various places, it is no longer realistic to recruit peasant soldiers. In this case, the Tokugawa family can use 12,000~13,000, excluding the attack of Shinano and the rebel clans, the number of people who can be used on the Yuanjiang front is up to 10,000, and the actual combat power can reach 7,000 of the Takeda Army. In this way, it is very clear that the strength of Tokugawa Ieyasu plus our two support armies is at most half of the strength of the others.

I didn't expect to get involved in this "quagmire", but now I have to rearrange the plan! Anyway, now we have to work together, no matter what our "personal" views are, we can only move forward. After some urgent consultation with Takenaka Hanbei, I sent five letters to Tokugawa Ieyasu in a row, all of which actually meant the same thing: to avoid a hard confrontation with the Takeda army, it is best to wait for me to arrive, and then each of the three families of Sakuma Nobumori's team will have a city to form a horn! Stick the Takeda army firmly to Enoe, and wait for Oda Nobunaga to pull over before the decisive battle.

As far as I know, Oda Nobunaga has already given similar advice, and I have not hesitated to write to Sakuma Nobumori and others, asking them to dissuade Tokugawa Ieyasu from possible stupidity. But what worries me is that, according to history, Tokugawa Ieyasu didn't listen to anyone on this matter! Now that things have come to this point, I can only take one step at a time, I really didn't expect that I would have to worry about the "old turtle" one day!

Although I was reluctant to do so, I had to speed up the journey for fear that things would get out of hand. It was with this ambivalence that I arrived in Inax, a small town on the border of the Three Rivers and the Enoe, and I will enter the official war zone early tomorrow morning!

"Everyone's hard work...... "At the city gate, we met a thin samurai in his thirties with a turmeric face." In Shimoamano Saburo Soldier Yasukei! On the orders of His Royal Highness Tokugawa Mikawa, the contemptuous lord, here to welcome the army of His Highness Zhuxing! ”

"There's Lord Lao!" I dismounted and walked inside and asked, "How is the battle going?" Where has the Takeda Army advanced? "Although there are detailed works to report to me every day, they are not as comprehensive as their masters in other people's territory. In addition, the Takeda Army marched in several directions, and the situation could change anytime and anywhere.

"Oh...... Your Highness is really anxious for justice and righteousness! The situation is still under control at the moment, and Your Highness the Stars can rest assured! "I don't know if it's because I feel that my words mean to look down on the Tokugawa family, or because he is not satisfied with my condescending tone, his tone suddenly became cold." Your Highness and your Excellency have worked hard all the way, so let's rest and eat first! ”

"Actually, you don't have to be polite! I waited for the order of the right general to come to help, so naturally I should be ......single-minded about life and death," I said, squinting at him, with all these years of experience, this kind of small scene is naturally familiar to me. "At the moment when the enemy is present, is there still a little bit of accounting?"

"His Royal Highness is magnanimous, and he can't reach it below!" Probably remembering that I was here to save their lives, Yasukei Amano bowed again and again with a red face in a little panic. “…… A few days ago, Okubo-sama and Honda-sama led their troops to clash with the advance guard of the Takeda Army near the Mikano River, and then our army took the initiative to withdraw from the battle! Three days ago, the Takeda army conquered Futama Castle with a plan to cut off the water, but His Royal Highness the contemptuous lord Mikawa Mori led troops to defend Hamamatsu Castle, and the Takeda army was blocked on the line of the Tenryu River and the Futama River......"

I walked all the way to the castle tower hall, and before the food was served, I was listening to Yasukei Amano give a briefing. Generally speaking, the situation is still in a stalemate phase, but I have a vague feeling that Tokugawa Ieyasu will make a big move.

"There's nothing wrong with the guards in Ina City, right?" I pondered the possible next steps for both sides. To enter Mikawa from Enoe, there are two roads that are more suitable for the movement of the army and have a basis for advancing and retreating, here and Noda Castle to the north. Although Noda Castle seems to be better, I don't want to be touched by a "night snail" because of a moment of negligence!

"Your Highness the Stars, just rest assured!" Yasukei Amano doesn't dare to bluff at all about his duties. “…… Although Ina Castle is only a small city, the walls are strong and the terrain is dangerous, and there is plenty of grain and grass reserves! With 500 ashigaru under my command, although I dare not say that it is impregnable, it is not a problem to drag the Takeda army for more than 10 days! ”

"Hmm......" I nodded and picked up the bowl, he just said that 10 days is not a forgetful person. In this case, please arrange it as soon as possible and arrange food and lodging for my troops! I'll have dinner tomorrow morning, and I'll leave for Hamamatsu and Mikawa Mamoru in the early morning! ”

"Yes!" Yasukei Amano also knew that time was pressing, so he bowed down and quit to prepare.

"Hmm......" I picked up the bowl and pulled the rice into my mouth, these days I have been in a hurry to catch up with the morning, the meal is naturally not solid, it is rare that they have prepared fresh grilled fish today. Changsheng ......: "While eating, I suddenly remembered something. "When you were in Ueno, you fought the Takeda Army many times, what do you think is their most powerful killer?"

"Returning to the lord...... Nagano Yemori stretched his neck and swallowed a mouthful of food in his mouth. The Koshu army is the best in the world, and it is not a waste of fame to be successful in a hundred battles! In my opinion, they have three advantages: first, the 'Chibei' cavalry, second, many generals who can take charge of themselves, and third, Takeda Shingen himself! ”

"Akabi? Is it better than our armor riders? Shinhachiro asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"It can be said that each has its own strengths, and the victory or defeat is all up to the Lord, how will he use it?" Nagano Yemori said seriously: "The Takeda family was not very powerful originally, in the Shinhu era, it only controlled the territory of 220,000 stone of Kai, and the soldiers and horses were only five or six thousand at most, although there were also cavalry at that time, but both the quantity and quality were very average. After Takeda Shingen succeeded to the throne, he devoted himself to the development of the north, and it took nearly 20 years to finally completely control the north and south Shinano, and there were also large areas of Ueno, Shimono, Musashi and other countries, but at this time, although the strength of the Takeda army increased greatly, it still did not pay special attention to the development of cavalry! It wasn't until the Takeda army was defeated by the Echigo army at the Battle of Uedawara, and Sakagaki Nobukata and Ganli Hutai were also killed in that battle, that the Echigo cavalry, which came and went like the wind, stimulated Takeda Shingen a lot, and then he decided to build a strong cavalry! Later, the Red Reserve Cavalry was established, and he spent almost half of Kurokawa Jinshan's income on it. The total number is about 5,000, which is a quarter of the troops directly under the Takeda family! ”

"That's a lot of money!" Hearing this scale, my heart is also a little apprehensive.

"But 5000 Chibei is not monolithic, and there are some differences in this!" He went on to explain, "The Takeda family's system is that the acting officials are in charge of the affairs of each region, but the territories of the acting officials are generally not in the area under their own management, and this is true of Sakagaki Nobukata, who used to manage Suwa, and Takasaka Masanobu, who now manages Kita-Shinano. Therefore, they generally have a red reserve ranging from three to five hundred men in their hands, and although these troops are much stronger than the cavalry of ordinary daimyo, they are still slightly inferior to the armored cavalry of their own family. What is really terrifying is the 1,000 flags around Takeda Shingen, and their combat power can be said to be on par with the armor cavalry! ”

In this way, the combat power of 5,000 Chibei is more than my 2,000 armor horses, and I feel like I have lost the trump card in my hand. "What about the enemy generals?" I asked the second point.

"There are many famous generals in the Takeda family, and each has its own characteristics!" Speaking of this, Nagano Yemori frowned. "Such as Akiyama Nobuyo, Kohata Prosperity, and Hoshina Masatoshi; Yutaka Sanada, Nobubo Nobubo of Baba; The ability to command the troops of Yama County Changjing and Takasaka Masanobu is all a temporary choice! What's more, Takeda Shingen will mix them differently and use them freely, which often makes it difficult for opponents to figure out what strategy Takeda will use at some point! ”

"Uh-huh, uh-huh......" I nodded repeatedly. I'm far behind Shingen Takeda at this point, and now my use of retainers is almost a pattern, which is very easy for others to grasp the context. "And you said that Takeda Shingen himself is also a factor, what is the reason?"

"How do you say that......" Nagano thought about the wording. Since Takeda Shingen expelled his father at the age of 18 and received Kai, he has developed the Takeda family through a hundred battles, and it can be said that the rise and fall are all tied to one! So to a large extent, the meaning of the name Takeda Shingen has gone beyond the role of his own ability. As long as the dark 'wind, forest, fire, and mountain' horse prints flutter on the battlefield, as long as the ashigaru people see the tall figure wearing a red foot and a white yak-tailed helmet, then maybe you can kill them, but don't want them to fear and admit defeat, it can be said that he has become the embodiment of 'god'! ”

His description made me ponder. This time, it seems that there is no way to avoid it no matter what, so let's see the true face of this "tiger"!