In the third year of Yonglu, on the first day of May. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Sunpu Castle.

Imagawa Yoshimoto held a mobilization meeting.

All the immediate retainers and castle lords of the Imagawa family gathered here to wait for his dispatch.

Imagawa Yoshimoto first made a pre-war mobilization.

First of all, it tells about the current chaos of the Warring States and the miserable current situation of the shogun's family, and then explains the life experience of the Imagawa family, as a member of the Ashikaga family, shouldering an unshirkable responsibility, and then explains the good situation of the Imagawa family now, not only the economy is prosperous, the military is strong, but also with Takeda, Hojo two strong daimyo formed a family of sons and daughters, and has a stable alliance. In the end, he announced the final conclusion, and he was going to Luo.

Before that, he had sent someone to get in touch with the Oda family in Owari Province, hoping that the Oda family would surrender to him and support the Imagawa family's Yoshiraku, but he received a negative answer.

Since Owari's little ghost head dared not let the Imagawa family go to Luo, then Imagawa Yoshimoto launched a large army to flatten Owari!

All of you here are important ministers of the Imagawa family, and they have all received the news that Imagawa Yoshimoto is going to Luo. Whatever Imagawa Yoshimoto's ultimate goal was, they were ready. Each mobilized his retainers, formed an army, and gathered from his own fiefdoms. After receiving a clear order from Imagawa Yoshimoto, they each took their orders and set off for their destination.

The vanguard force was led by Naomori, the general of the Mikawa Ii family, and was mainly composed of the troops of the Mikawa family. Matsudaira Motoyasu, as the head of the Matsudaira family, also led the warriors of the Matsudaira family to join this army.

Within the jurisdiction of the Imagawa family, these people in the Mikawa region were the last to be subordinated, and they were full of talents and relatively strong combat ability. So letting them be pioneers is also a good drain on their strength.

At the junction of Mikawa Province and Owari Province, there are two small castles: Ōtaka Castle and Narumi Castle. These two castles were taken by Imagawa Yoshimoto from Oda Nobunaga's father, Oda Nobuhide, who had been at war with the Owari Oda family for many years, and were a springboard for the Imagawa family to invade Owari, which was equivalent to two nails that were driven into Owari, and were of great strategic significance.

And the more this happens, the more important the geographical location of these two cities becomes. It is equivalent to opening two gates in Owari Province, and the army of the Imagawa family can drive straight into and besiege Kiyoshu Castle.

Naturally, Oda Nobunaga was not going to sit still. In order to resist the attack of the Imagawa family, five forts were built near these two castles, forming a joint siege of the two castles, and sending troops to besiege the two castles.

The so-called fortifications are made of wood. It's not a castle made of stone, but it has some defensive capabilities. Each chamber can accommodate 500 people, and if it is properly operated, even an army of 2,000 people may not be able to capture it. It's like rebuilding an anti-theft door inside.

And because Narumi Cheng and Da Gao Castle are small towns, they can accommodate a limited number of people, so before Shangluo, there were not many defenders in Da Gao Cheng and Narumi City, and there were only 1,800 people.

Therefore, Oda Nobunaga sent men to intensify the offensive against the two cities, hoping to take them before the arrival of the Imagawa army. Relying on these two castles for defense, plus five forts, it was not so easy for the Imagawa family's army to come.

Therefore, Imagawa Yoshimoto sent the brave general Okabe Motonobu to lead a thousand men to quickly enter Narumi Castle to assist in the defense.

Okabe Motonobu is indeed a famous general, and he often hopes to get ahead with the spear in his hand. As soon as he arrived at Narumi Castle, he organized his men to counterattack the soldiers of the Oda clan who were besieging him. Although he did not have the advantage of troops, he repelled the attacks of the Oda family many times, and held a Narumi castle like an iron barrel.

The Imagawa family, known as the No. 1 strategist of Tokaido, also led the army to Odaka Castle at this time to defend it.

At the same time, the lord of Kakegawa Castle, Asahina Tai Dynasty, as the pillar of the Imagawa family, also led a team of men and horses from Kakegawa Castle to the foot of Dataka Castle and merged with the vanguard troops.

At the same time, Imagawa Yoshimoto had already raised 10,000 soldiers and horses in Sunfu Castle, together with soldiers and horses recruited from other cities in Suruga and Enoe, and raised a total of 25,000 men from the wealthy clans and wild samurai who had submitted to the Imagawa family, as well as the vanguard troops who had already set out.

This is a very strong force in Japan's Warring States, which is not rich in population.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, known as an army of 100,000, marched all the way west and set off towards Owari.

Gao Xianda was naturally also arranged in this army. However, his status is relatively high, and he belongs to Imagawa Yoshimoto under one person and above ten thousand people.

In order for him to be able to establish a certain prestige in the army and to be able to understand the hardships of samurai life. Imagawa Yoshimoto just let him out.

And in order to ensure his safety, he deliberately handed over the 500 cavalry that the Imagawa family had trained with great difficulty to Gao Xianda to manage. Let them be the vanguard of their own team, wear gorgeous armor, show off their might along the way, inform the residents of the territory, and show the strength of the Imagawa family.

At this time, there was no separation of peasants and soldiers, so most of the ashigaru infantry were served by peasants, who held a bamboo with one end sharpened at one end, which was considered to be armed.

When the inhabitants of the area saw the disciplined samurai on horseback, in armor and armed with iron weapons, they could sense the difference in the nature of the force.

When they felt the force of the Imagawa family, they were able to strengthen their surrender. One after another, they took out the delicious food they had treasured at home and came out to work for the army.

But in fact, although these 500 cavalry are called cavalry, most of them are recruited as farms' horses, which are not comparable to Gao Xianda's meat horse, not to mention the separation of horses, pack horses, and war horses.

Gao Xianda deeply felt the huge gap in the war between Japan and the Celestial Empire. But even if the Imagawa family is so weak, it is a strong daimyo who dares to go to Luo, indicating that the enemy is weaker.

Coxenda felt he had nothing to worry about. But why did Shimada Hanzo say that Imagawa Yoshimoto would have died in this war?

On 16 May, Imagawa Yoshimoto's main unit arrived at Okazaki Castle, and the vanguard troops reached Ikekoi.

On 17 May, Imagawa Yoshimoto's main unit reached Ikekoi, and the vanguard entered the territory of Owari.

On 18 May, Imagawa Yoshimoto's main unit entered the castle and mobilized before the war.

On 19 May, the vanguard began its offensive.

Ii Naomori's forces launched an attack on Marune, while Asahina Tai began an attack on Washizu.

If these two places can be pulled out, the passage into Owari Province can be said to be completely defenseless.

Imagawa Yoshimoto's main team slowly marched westward to a hilly area called Barrel Sagama.