When Murakami Yoshikiyo led the Northern Shinano coalition forces in a hurry towards the direction of the grain road, he could only see the disgraced Xiaohe Tuo team fleeing south in embarrassment. Behind them, thick smoke rose from the ground - it was the burning of the few food reserves of the Northern Shinano coalition forces who had come from afar.
The Takeda Army did not cross the river to attack the camp of the Northern Shinano Allied Forces. Instead, they crossed the river at the ferry 10 miles north and attacked the food road of the Northern Shinano Allied Forces. Murakami Yoshikiyo moved the main troops to the riverside to ambush. As a result, when the grain road was attacked, the camp did not have enough reinforcements to send out, which delayed the reinforcement time.
"A strategy to hide from the enemy." Murakami Yoshikiyo looked at the burned baggage and the Takeda Hisofumi flying high on the grain road. He grinned and shook his head and said, "In the letter, he said, 'The target of the attack is the camp.' It was hidden in the text as a prerequisite, and our attention was completely drawn to "Will the Imagawa family send troops?" and "the target of the attack is the camp" was taken as a matter of course. Unexpectedly, the real target of the attack It is our food source. What a good plan, I am ashamed of myself."
"Lord, now..." Qingye Qingxiu's face turned pale at this moment, "Our food reserves can't last more than two days..."
"Attack." Murakami Yoshikiyo gave the order briefly.
"Huh?" One kind of retainer, including Kiyono Qingxiu, Rakuganji Masakata, etc., were all dumbfounded.
"Send a signal to the Ogasawara Army on the other side of the Tenryu River and ask them to attack with us. In order to attack our grain road, the Takeda Army is currently divided on both sides of the Tenryu River. It is not easy to support each other. This is our perfect opportunity." Murakami Yoshikiyo said. The sword was unsheathed and raised straight towards the sky, "It doesn't take two days, two hours is enough."
At this moment, a messenger carrying the Takeda family's flag hurriedly arrived. After taking a closer look, Murakami Yoshikiyo recognized that this was the one-eyed messenger they captured last night.
"His Royal Highness Zhou Fang, I have come to seek peace on my Lord's orders." Yamamoto Kansuke dismounted from his horse and walked straight to Murakami Yoshikiyo. His neither humble nor arrogant attitude was completely different from the timid mouse he was last night. " My lord does not want the soldiers of the two families to die in vain, and wants to turn the conflict into friendship. My lord is willing to let your army's return route and retreat, not to interfere with your army's actions, and also hopes that your army will not attack Minami-Shinano, which has been suppressed by the Takeda family. Territory.”
"You are very good at choosing your time. When our food and grass have just been burned and we are panicking, do you think we can negotiate peace with some generous terms through charity?" Murakami Yoshiki sneered, shook his head lightly and said, "Don't even think about it. , tell Takeda Harunobu to prepare for the battle. With the deployment at this time, do you think the Takeda family has any chance of winning?"
"His Royal Highness Shufang may be interested in a life-or-death showdown with us, but are the other His Highnesses in Northern Shinano willing?" Kansuke Yamamoto was unhurried and looked meaningfully at Murakami Yoshikiyo with his one eye, "At this time, it's the same as mine. The envoys have already gone to the various tribes in Northern Shinano to convey our Lord's intention to seek peace. Could it be that His Highness Shufang feels that the prestige you have gained after your mistake just now is enough to order His Highnesses from Northern Shinano to abandon the peaceful return path with you? A bloody battle?"
As soon as Yamamoto Kansuke said this, the expressions of the Murakami family retainers such as Kiyono Qinghide, Rakuganji Masakata and others all tightened. Yamamoto Kansuke was right. If Murakami Yoshikiyo wanted to force the wealthy families of Northern Shinano to fight again at this time, it might cause a mutiny.
"So what? The Murakami family and the Ogasawara family alone are enough to severely damage the Takeda army on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Where do we need other reinforcements?" But Murakami Yoshikiyo seemed not to be frightened, but continued to sneer. He said, "Take a message to your master and prepare to fight."
"His Royal Highness Shu Fang has no reinforcements, but my lord is different." Yamamoto Kansuke's expression remained unchanged, as if everything was still under control, "To be honest, the agreement between His Highness Imagawa and my lord is that if the Takeda family launched a surprise attack last night , the Imagawa family will not assist out of credibility considerations. But as of this morning, does His Highness Zhou Fang still think that the Imagawa family will stand still?"
"It's just a bluff. If the Imagawa family really wanted to send troops, how could you tell us? Don't you wish we didn't know?" Leyanji Masakata retorted disdainfully after hearing this.
"Whether you believe it or not is up to His Highness Zhou Fang. My lord has already informed you." Yamamoto Kansuke didn't waste much time. After a few simple explanations, he walked away, leaving behind the Murakami family ministers who looked at each other. .
"Lord?" The retainers of the Murakami family turned their attention to Murakami Yoshikiyo, waiting for him to make up his mind.
"It's true this time." Murakami Yoshikiyo sighed and made his own judgment, "If His Highness Imagawa wanted to sit back and watch the success or failure, he would have agreed yesterday when we sent someone to negotiate peace in private, but he didn't He was worried about his allies and refused to promise. He cherished his credit and informed us after learning that the Takeda family was about to launch an army. It was not that he did not want to be our enemy, but he just did not want to betray his trust. Now we have no armistice agreement with him, and the Takeda family's The surprise attack has come to an end. We are facing each other in an upright battle formation. How can such a person who values love and justice leave his allies to die without saving them?"
"It's no longer possible, withdraw the troops." Murakami Yoshikiyo shook his head helplessly, looked at Takato Castle with a very sorry look, and then looked at the brown and white third-order horse seal of the Ogasawara family, "Send a signal to His Highness Ogasawara Daisen. Well, we can only retreat."
·
The Northern Shinano coalition forces slowly withdrew, and the Takeda army did not try to block or pursue them. Although Takeda Harunobu was ruthless, he also knew that you should not pursue the enemy when you are poor, and he had no interest in forcing Northern Shinano's army to fight to the death with him. After the Northern Shinano Allied Forces withdrew through Mount Arakami, the Takeda Army and the Imagawa Army both withdrew their troops and returned to Takato Castle.
"I didn't expect you to really get it done." Yoshimoto Imagawa sincerely praised Takeda Harunobu. "The allies stood aside and watched, and they also revealed the information that you would attack at night. Even so, you can win?"
"This is my military strategy." Takeda Harunobu was obviously very impressed by Imagawa Yoshimoto's praise, and laughed loudly, "Goro, just wait and see, sooner or later I will stand on the top of this troubled world!"
"What are you going to do next? Prepare to withdraw your troops and go back for the autumn harvest." Imagawa Yoshimoto took advantage of Takeda Haruoshi's good mood and gave him a step. "Otherwise Itagaki Suruga and Amari Bizen will come to you again for advice."
"Them?" Takeda Harunobu just shook his head upon hearing this, "They died in the battle in Takato Castle yesterday."
"What?" Imagawa Yoshimoto, who did not know the specific battle situation in Gaoyuan City, was stunned for a moment, and then whispered to him, "Please forgive me, two important ministers in the family..."
"It's okay, he died just in time." In the end, Takeda Harunobu sneered, "Those two old guys relied on their seniority to make me stand up and have the final say in Kai. Without them, I can flourish. Fists and kicks.”
"After all, it is for the veterans of the Takeda family who have served their entire lives. Some power conflicts are inevitable. How can you say that to them?" Imagawa Yoshimoto frowned and expressed dissatisfaction.
"Of course, so I'm going to avenge them." Takeda Harunobu's smile turned colder in an instant, and he squinted in the direction of Takato City, "Takato Yoriji's thief's heart will not change, and he will return after surrendering. Rebellion, harming my important minister. This crime, hum..."
"You're not going to massacre the city again, are you?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked rather alertly.
"That's not the case. I'm not a cruel murderer. I have a purpose in massacres. How could I massacre indiscriminately?" Takeda Harunobu shook his finger at Imagawa Yoshimoto, "But the name of the Takato family, But don’t want it anymore.”
·
Not long after, inside the Takato Castle Castle Tower.
"Didn't we agree to let bygones be bygones?" Takato Yoritsugi was tied into a rice dumpling and was kneeling on the floor of the top floor of the castle tower. He kept begging Takeda Harunobu and Yamamoto Kansuke to surrender and said, "Your Highness Takeda, this gentleman conveyed to you before As long as I surrender, I will let bygones be bygones!"
"Haha, can you believe what I, Takeda Harunobu, say? How many words can you believe?" Takeda Harunobu was amused by Takato Yoritsugi's attitude and couldn't help laughing. "The head of a dignified family does not control his destiny in his own hands, but instead relies on it. How ridiculous is it to put someone else’s credit on others?”
Takato Yoritsu was trembling, hesitating and not knowing what to say.
"The Takato clan changed its name, and all the powerful families including Hoshina under his command became independent. As for Takato Shinano..." Takeda Harunobu touched the mustache on his chin and threatened with a smile, "Exiling Suwa can be regarded as letting you" Return home with honor. Just be honest and don't cause any trouble for me, and you can still keep your life safe. If you want to unite with others to cause chaos, don't blame me for being ruthless."
"Can you believe this promise?" Takato Yoritsugi took a deep breath and asked in a trembling voice.
"Who knows?" Takeda Harunobu smiled noncommittally, "But if you don't believe it, you have to find a way to escape dozens of heavily armed soldiers during the escort, risking being cut into pieces by random knives. Dangerously sneak back to the old territory of Gaoyuan City, and write another letter to the former tribesmen - maybe most of them will be rejected, and some people will even report you. When you finally gather a thousand people, you can rely on them and Takeda If the family goes to war, if they lose, the whole family will be destroyed. What, do you have the determination and perseverance to support your 'unbelief'?"
Under Takeda Harunobu's words, Takato Yoritsugi lowered his head ashen as death, and followed the Takeda family's samurai obediently out of Takato Castle.
"Weak people are like this. Sometimes they deceive themselves and paralyze themselves, believing in promises that are simply impossible, just to escape difficulties. They would rather waste time in false hope than risk failure to fight hard. If it were me, if I knew that the enemy's promises were not trustworthy, even if I could only worry about a few dozen people, I would still fight." Takeda Harunobu looked at Takato Yoritsugi's back, sneered contemptuously, and then hit Yamamoto Kansuke. He made a gesture and said, "Go ahead and kill him on the way to escort him and eradicate him."
