Since the Battle of Iwaki Castle,

Takeda Shingen led a large army to return from Iwaki Castle, and many wealthy clans in Ueno surrendered when they heard the news and surrendered one after another.

Bypassing Minowa Castle, which was still hostile to the Takeda family, the Takeda Army returned to Kai from the Nakasendo and then along the straight, but returned to the Washigasakikan in a few days.

Knowing that Lord Godate had repelled the Echigo army, the people of Kai liked it very much.

On the day when the soldiers returned to the city, the people stood on both sides of the road to welcome them.

Under the heat, on the avenue of the castle town, the army of the Takeda family is mighty and slowly advancing.

The ashigaru people carried the hats, the flags and fingers on their backs, the leggings on their legs, and the straw sandals kicked up the dust. The samurai of the cavalry on the side, the vests were straight, and the horses were all brushed brightly, which looked particularly energetic.

The people of Jiafei on both sides retreated to the side of the dirt road to greet them, and these mountain people looked at the army that was moving forward, and their eyes showed a kind of surprise of surrender of the subordinates, but also with a trace of envy and pride.

This is the army of our Takeda family!

Everyone looked at the marching army, showing envy, and many more children from peasant families also had the idea of becoming a Takeda samurai in the future at this moment.

And a few peasants who had followed the field and had been on the battlefield pointed to the flags that had passed by, and then introduced to the people of the same villagers which general's flag was it.

Then they would come in a round of compliments for their knowledge.

"Oh, it's the banner of Lord Baba Minbu, but he's a fierce general of my Takeda family, and it's said that he has never been injured once on the battlefield."

"Oh, it's Lord Asaari, I was a flag bearer under my command back then. It's unforgettable. ”

"Silence, silence!"

"Mikan-sama is coming soon."

"Bastard, give me peace."

A few ashigaru drank, and suddenly the people who were talking around quieted down, and then they all looked at the way they came, waiting for Takeda Shingen's flag book to arrive.

Among these people, there are a few who do not dress like peasants and are quite eye-catching.

But if anyone who knows them, looking at the five papaya patterns of the water-dried vests they are wearing, they will know that this is someone from the Owari Oda family.

"The Kai soldiers are really elite! If it weren't for the numerical superiority, it would definitely not be something that our Owari Army could contend with. ”

One of the men, wearing a hat and being of short stature, spoke out.

"Monkey, it's too much of an exaggeration for you to say that, you said that I'm not a good tail person, so what's going on with the 40,000 troops of the Imagawa family? Are they all sake bags and rice bags? ”

One of them suddenly reprimanded.

This is called a monkey, and it is the famous Kinoshita Tojiro. At the moment, he was just a low-level samurai of the Oda family.

Kinoshita Tojiro said: "Lord Sawaki, don't forget the purpose of the lord asking us to come this time, to spy on the details of the Takeda family, it is better to overestimate than to underestimate it." ”

"Takeda Shingenqi has arrived." At this time, a samurai in Oda's family reminded him.

Soon after, Takeda Shingen's main camp arrived, and in front of him were the 'Wind Forest Volcano' flag and the 'Suwa Damyojin' flag.

When the people of Kai saw the arrival of Takeda Shingen's banner, they all immediately bowed down to the side of the road.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro, Sawasaki Yoshiyuki and other Oda family samurai also had to kneel, they all lowered the hats in front of their foreheads, and then raised their heads slightly, looking at the Takeda Shingenqi team that was marching.

I saw that after the Qiben army walked for half an hour, I saw Takeda Shingen, who was wearing a lion's head and a ghost face and a white bear fur hood on his head, slowly riding a horse.

Looking at each other, Kinoshita Toyoshiro's gaze shrank slightly, although he had been waiting in the Higasaki Pavilion for more than a month, he had never seen Takeda Shingen.

Hiding his gaze under the hat, Kinoshita Tojiro looked at Takeda Shingen and said thoughtfully: "This is the Kai Tiger, and it is not anything peculiar, it is not as terrifying as it is rumored. ”

After looking at Takeda Shingen, Kinoshita Toyoshiro was taken aback when he saw someone next to Takeda Shingen.

"Oh, who is this man? Can you ride with Shingen Takeda? He is not the young head of the Takeda family, Yoshinobu Takeda. ”

Kinoshita Tojiro couldn't hide the shock in his heart, although the other party was wearing a headband, he could still see that this person was very young. And the mount under his crotch is actually Takeda Shingen's beloved horse 'Black Cloud'.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro rolled his eyes, and then guessed the identity of this person.

"It turned out to be Suwa Kokatsuyori."

Kinoshita Toyoshiro said softly word by word, these few days Takeda Katsuyori in Iwaki Castle, with a lonely city and a few troops to resist Uesugi Kenshin's 17,000 army, has been spread.

Not only in Kai and Shinano, but even in Mino, Owari, Suruga, and Aiga, the lords and samurai were in a variety of moods, and looking at the rising star of the Takeda family, Takeda Katsuyori. He was only seventeen years old and the fourth son of Takeda Shingen, but in the past year, he has defeated Kenshin Uesugi twice, and both times in situations where it is impossible to win.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro looked at Takeda Katsuyori carefully, and saw that his facial expression was as calm as water, and there was no smug look at him, and it was hard to believe that this was a young man who was only seventeen years old.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro is twenty-seven years old and has been wandering around in search of a samurai position. On the way, he exchanged Yongle money for a portable commodity, "cotton sewing needles", and then sold the sewing needles to make a profit for travel expenses.

Kinoshita Toyoshiro didn't become the Oda family's Ashigaru until eight years ago, and two years ago he was promoted to a samurai by Nobunaga and became the head of the Ashigaru group, officially joining the Oda family.

Seeing this, Kinoshita Toyoshiro secretly clenched his fists and whispered: "I, Kinoshita Toyoshiro, will have such a day in the future." ”

Just when Kinoshita Fujiyoshiro was excited at the moment, he was in the woods of a small hill on the side.

"His Highness Katsuyori is now soaring into the sky!"

Kansuke Yamamoto, who had an eye patch around his left eye and was missing an arm, muttered that he was dressed as a monk while holding a six- or seven-year-old child in his hand.

This child is not Yamamoto Kansuke's grandson, but a son, Yamamoto Kansuke belongs to the old man, so he cherishes it very much, and half of this time is because of this.

Although he is already a scholar at the moment, he is still concerned about the movements of the Takeda family, and it can be said that he is far away from the rivers and lakes, and he is worried about the temple.

At this moment, Kansuke Yamamoto couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion when he looked at Takeda Katsuyori sitting on Takeda Shingen's beloved horse Kurokumo, riding a horse. When he heard that Takeda Katsuyori became the commander of the Ueno National Front, he really didn't expect Takeda Katsuyori to have the achievements he has today.

"Father, are the two of you on the horse Shingenko and Suwa Gong?"

Kansuke Yamamoto nodded. In the face of the strong rise of Takeda Katsuyori, Kansuke Yamamoto is worried, which may be the way to take trouble from the Takeda family, or the way to revitalize.

"Then who is better between Xin Xuan Gong and Sheng Lai Gong?" Kansuke Yamamoto's son asked again.

Kansuke Yamamoto shook his head, but did not answer.

After Takeda Shingen and Takeda Katsuyori rode by, Kinoshita Toyoshiro's heart fluctuated, remembering that he was still unknown at the moment, and he didn't dare to be depressed, but instead aroused a fighting spirit to work hard.

At this moment, a person beside him said to Kinoshita Tojiro: "Brother, this burly horseback general, could it be that Lord Nobunaga named Li Xiao, the general of the Takeda family, who asked us to recruit?" ”

"Oh?" Kinoshita Toyoshiro came back to his senses and raised his head slightly to see that at this time Takeda Shingen's flag team had passed.

Half of the people dispersed on the spot, and Kinoshita Toyoshiro also stood up and lifted the hat on his forehead upward. I saw a tall military general, riding a red war horse, slowly marching.

"Li Xiao? Yes, the appearance is similar to the portrait given by the ninjas, and the figure is so burly, I have never seen anyone so tall except for the alien from the Maeda family. ”

Kinoshita Toyoshiro himself is not tall and thin, so Oda Nobunaga often calls him by nicknames such as monkey and vulture.

Kinoshita Fujiyoshiro's brother Kinoshita Koichiro looked at it for a while, and said: "Brother, I see that Nobu-sama, it is not easy for you to return to Li Xiao, he has just been in Iwaki Castle, with Takeda Katsuyori to make great achievements, when the limelight is strong, if at this time, instigate him to throw himself into my Oda family, I'm afraid he will not agree, I don't think my brother has tried." ”

Kinoshita Toyoshiro shook his head and said, "If you haven't tried it, how will you know the result." ”

After saying that, Kinoshita Tojiro showed a confident smile on his face.