Driven by the power of several nations, the war machine cannot be stopped once it is in motion. Since then, the Koga ninja in the direction of Suruga have been sending the latest information every day.

On 28 February, as the enemy situation gradually became clear, Jingzhen gathered all the people under his command and held the first military meeting in the barracks.

"In the past half a month, the price of rice and iron in Suruga and Enjiang has been rising, but since yesterday it has continued to fall, indicating that the Imagawa clan's war preparation materials have been basically raised."

"Hmm, what are the changes in the enemy's important towns such as Junfu City, Gaotianshen City, Kakegawa City, and Draga City, and there are signs of a large army mobilization?"

"High Heavenly God City and Sunfu City are absorbing the forces of the people who have accumulated Yuanjiang and Suruga respectively, and there is no obvious change in the rest of the cities."

"It seems that the Fukushima clan will be the first to enter the north of Imagawa again, and Imagawa Uesuke-sama is going to use the hatred of this clan as a blade this time, and compare it with the owner of the hall (Takeda Shintora)!"

Between the Q&A between Jingzhen and Mibuchi Fuji, everyone gradually understood the current situation.

For a long time, the Fukushima clan, with Takatenjin Castle as its home and base camp, was the most important military force of the Imagawa clan, and served as the banner leader in the direction of the Enoe direction for a long time, and was also one of the main forces of the Imagawa side in the previous Kai invasions.

However, more than ten years ago, in the Iida Kawara-Kamijo Kawara Battle (see the notes at the end of Chapter 30), the Fukushima clan was ordered to lead 15,000 people to Kai, but at Iida Kawara and Kamijo Kawara, they were defeated by Takeda Shintora's 2,000 troops in succession.

With this enmity between the heavens, the Fukushima clan naturally hates Takeda Shintora and the Takeda clan to the core, and always lies down to taste courage and seek revenge. As the leading general of the Imagawa clan, the head of the Fukushima clan and the lord of Takatenjin Castle, Fukushima Saemon Captain Sukeharu, who missed the Iida Kawara-Kamijo Kawara battle many times due to illness, and sat back and watched the decline of the family and regretted it.

This time, the Imagawa clan used this force again, most likely to use his revenge and mourning to win, as the first hand to open up the situation, and the scale and tragedy of the battle will inevitably exceed imagination.

Seeing the solemn atmosphere of the military discussion, Jing Zhen clapped her hands and eased the atmosphere and said:

"Well, you don't have to worry too much. This battle is certainly not trivial, but the Anayama clan, as the banner head of the western side of the family, has rich experience in resisting the invasion of the Imagawa clan, so he must have been prepared for it. His Royal Highness Mamoru Izu (Nobuyo Anayama) is the owner's favorite son-in-law and young talent, so there is no need for us to worry about it here. ”

"Even if the enemy is strong, we have the main force of the Pavilion Master to come to our aid at any time. As long as we continue to collect information, cooperate with His Highness Izu Mori, and work hard, we will definitely be able to achieve the final victory! ”

"Fuji member, please also pass on this information to the Anayama clan at the same time, and remind His Highness Mamoru Izu to prepare early!"

"Hay!"

"Changfeng, please continue to contact Sakataya and buy more military rations from him in case of emergency. If he shirks the lack of goods, he will add money and smash it until he agrees! ”

"Under the command!"

"Gorou (Nagasaka Nobumasa), you continue to lead the crowd to maintain training, strengthen the joint training of the gun formation, and at the same time cancel the night drill, and increase the supply of rice per person every day by three buckets to avoid excessive injuries in the drill!"

"Got it, got it!"

"Gao Song, please also urge all knights to check the farrier again, increase the ration of bean feed every day, maintain the horsepower, and be ready to fight at any time!"

"The last general obeys!"

"So, that's the end of today's military discussion, let's go our separate ways!"

However, the development of the situation was completely unexpected by Jingzhen and others. On March 1, the latest information came to Jingzhen and everyone who were puzzled.

"I would like to inform Your Highness, according to the observation of our ninja army a few days ago, the number of troops entering the city on the side of High Heavenly God City has reached about 7,000, and the number of troops entering the city on the side of Junfu City is even more than 7,000. This morning, the army of the High Heaven Divine City had left Yuanjiang with great fanfare. His Royal Highness Izu Mamoru has also received the news that he has issued a conscription order in the Hanoi area to gather troops and prepare for war! ”

"Probe again, try to find out the size of the enemy army and the destination of the march!"

"Yes!"

……

"I would like to inform Your Highness that at noon, the Fukushima Army has entered Sunpu Castle and joined the main force of the Imagawa clan, the scale of which is unknown. His Royal Highness Mamoru Izu has gathered 5,000 troops and entered the southern town to stand by. ”

"I would like to inform Your Highness that in the afternoon, the main force of the Imagawa clan left Sunpu Castle and did not go directly north, but crossed the Fuji River and headed east in the direction of Mishima and Nagaizumi. The Anayama Army is still on standby in Nanbu Town, and at the same time, they have detached their rangers to search for lurking enemies along the Fuji River! ”

"Tell Your Highness that around sunset, the main force of the Imagawa clan has arrived at Gotemba Castle. Prior to this, His Royal Highness Dewa Mamoru (Nobuyari Oyamada) on the side of Iwadenyama Castle had led 3,000 troops into Gotemba Castle Kagojo. According to the number of cooking stoves on the way of the Imagawa army, it is roughly estimated that its army strength is around 10,000. ”

Listening to the changes in intelligence from morning to night, everyone was at a loss. Areas such as the Fuji River, Nanbu Town, and Kawachi are like Kai's west gates, while Gotemba Castle, Fujiyoshida Castle, and Iwadenyama Castle are the east gates of Kai, which are guarded by the Oyamada clan, another powerful countryman.

However, this direction is closer to Sagami and is usually the northern incursion of the Hojo clan, the old enemy of the Takeda clan to the east. Imagawa chose to attack here this time, didn't he plan to join forces with the Hojo clan and win with military strength? In addition, the 7,000 troops of Yuanjiang and the 7,000 troops of Suruga are only about 10,000 people left, so where are the remaining 4,000 or 5,000 people?

On March 3, 15,000 members of the Hojo clan sent troops from Odawara Castle, and on March 4, they also arrived at Gotemba Castle to make peace with the Imagawa clan. As soon as the Hojo clan moved, Takeda Shintora also began to march on the same day, and before the arrival of the Hojo clan, he led 12,000 people to Gotemba Castle, and met with the defenders of the castle to set up a formation with their backs to the castle.

On March 5, Takeda Shintora continued to send people from the west to replenish his troops, and the army had swelled to 17,000 men, including the 1,000 reinforcements sent by the Anayama clan.

On 6 and 7 March, time continued to be spent in the cautious but always restrained hunting and temptation of both sides.

On the one hand, the Imagawa and Hojo coalition forces have an absolute superiority in strength, but after all, the labor division expedition and the guest battle, the slightest mistake may evolve into a brittle defeat on the whole front, facing the dangerous situation of being chased and killed by the tail. On the other hand, Takeda Shintor, which is backed by the benefits of the city and has the support of the local people, has more convenient supplies and backups, and still has the resilience to pull and maneuver even if it is defeated. Therefore, the two sides are actually evenly matched, although there are small groups of horses and horses killing each other every day, but the army is always watching or waiting for the opportunity.

On the other hand, the clouds of war in the direction of Hanoi seem to have lifted, and all sides have focused their eyes on victory or defeat under Gotemba Castle, but only Jingzhen always has a faint sense of foreboding.

"Where did the four thousand, or five thousand, go?"