Sekigahara.
Ise Street, Fujikawa Riverside.
The cloth wrapped around his shoulders was soaked with blood. Inuhachiro Yamaoka squatted by the Fujikawa River with a depressed look on his face, cleaning his wounds.
Yesterday's battle made Yamaoka Inuhachiro embarrassed in front of Kyogoku Takamasa. As the leader of the Kyogoku family ninjas, he has been accompanying Kyogoku Takamasa for a long time to protect his safety in secret.
Born in the Yamaoka clan among the twenty-one families of Koga, Inuhachiro Yamaoka trained with the best among the ninjas since he was a child. Before that, Inuhachiro Yamaoka had always regarded himself as the best ninja in the world.
Whether he followed Kyogoku Takamasa to the land of Koshin or the recent Wakasa strategy, Yamaoka Inuhachiro has a full sense of presence in it.
However, everything that happened yesterday made Yamaoka Inuhachirou lose his face.
A team of capable ninjas that he had trained so hard was secretly approached by the Rokkaku family's ninjas. Although they were discovered in time, the opponent was able to escape unscathed, but his own side suffered a lot of casualties.
Looking at his blurry reflection in Tengchuan, Yamaoka Inuhachiro secretly vowed to avenge his shame!
At this moment, a ninja camouflaged with weeds hurriedly came behind Yamaoka Inuhachiro, "Boss, the Rokkaku family has broken camp, and the front line troops have begun to march towards Sekigahara."
"Have the wooden bridges along the Fujikawa and Black Blood Rivers been destroyed?"
"The two wooden bridges on the Black Blood River have been destroyed, and one of the wooden bridges on Fujikawa has been destroyed, but the other one was stationed by the Rokkaku family in advance, so we were unable to succeed."
"I know, tell the news to the lord immediately! Although the upcoming battle has little to do with us, we must pay close attention to every move of the Rokkaku family. The lord will intervene at any time!"
"ha!"
........
The troops of the Rokkaku family began to march towards Sekigahara, while on the other side Toki Yorii and Nagai Shinkuro also led their troops from Ogaki Castle and headed straight for Sekigahara.
In the Kyogoku family's main formation, after learning the news from the detectives and ninjas, Kyogoku Takamasa immediately issued a combat order. Amemori Kiyosada and others in the front line immediately prepared their formations. At the same time, Kyogoku Takamasa also quickly informed Toki Yorijun and Asakura Ketaka who were setting up formations around Mount Sasao.
Fortunately, good news came from the Kyogoku family soon. The Asakura family's follow-up reinforcements had arrived at Shangheiji Castle and could reach the battlefield in an hour at most.
"Report! The Rokkaku family's front line has crossed Fujikawa and arrived at the Black Blood River!"
"Report! The number of people in the Rokkaku family's front line has been confirmed to be 3,000, and the commander-in-chief of the Rokkaku family, Lao Pu, has come to guard the field!"
"Report! The Liujia family's main formation is deployed at the foot of the mountain west of Nangong Mountain!"
"Report! The Toqi clan's troops have arrived at Taobei Mountain, and their subsequent movements are unknown!"
"Report! The horse seals and flag seals of Mino Kingdom including Inaba, Ando, and Ujie were found on the top of Nangong Mountain. It is suspected that there is an enemy formation on the top of the mountain. The details have not yet been ascertained!"
"Report, the Toki clan's front line Senshi Toyozenshou has engaged in battle with the Asakura family Yusei!"
Listening to the reports that kept ringing in his ears, Kyogoku Takamasa still sat in the main formation holding his sword tightly, as if everything happening around him had nothing to do with him.
There were quite a few young samurai in the formation who were accompanying Kyoto Takamasa for the first time and were very anxious when they saw this, but people like Hatayama Chonobu and others had long been used to it.
"Military law says: If the enemy does not move, I will not move. If the enemy moves, I will move first!"
"The enemy seems to be moving frequently, but in fact they are all feints, just a false shot. In a battle like this, no matter who is the general, it is always safe to be careful!"
"Go ahead and order all troops to deploy at designated locations according to the established plan. Anyone who dares to disobey orders and act without authorization will be severely punished!"
"ha!"
After conveying the order, Kyogoku Takamasa turned to Higuchi Naofusa and said: "Jirozaemon, let's move too!"
"ha!"
Looking at a hill not far away, an inexplicable smile suddenly appeared on Kyogoku Takamasa's face.
.........
At the foot of Nangong Mountain across the river from Kyogoku's house, Rokkaku Sadayori took the towel handed to him by his surname and wiped his sweat, then took a bowl of water and drank it all in one gulp.
"My lord, there is no movement in the Kyogoku family, and none of the military forces shows any signs of confusion."
"Hmph! If Kyogoku Sakyoujin is really in such a bad situation, how can our family suffer at his hands?"
"Has it been found out where the Kyogoku family's main formation is located?"
"According to the news just received from the detectives and ninjas, the Kyogoku family's main formation is no longer at Fuwa Seki, but has been moved to Matsuo Mountain not far from Fuwa Seki!"
"Oh? Abandoning such a choke point as the unbreakable barrier and deploying the main formation on one side of Matsuo Mountain? What is the purpose of this?" Rokkaku Sadayori then turned his head and looked at the map behind him carefully for a long time, and suddenly burst out laughing. .
"Hahaha! It turns out that the Kyogoku family made this plan, and they are worthy of Saburo Yasha."
"My lord, could it be that the Kyogoku family has a deeper meaning to this move?" Hirai Sadatake, the son of Takayoshi Hirai, the elder of the Rokkaku family, looked at Rokkaku Sadayori with some confusion.
"Before this, I was thinking that Mino was in chaos and the Asakura family would just send reinforcements. How come the Kyogoku family also came to join in!"
"A situation like Mino is not profitable at all for the Kyogoku family. How could Sakyo Susumu, as smart as Kyogoku, know this?"
"Now it seems that this move must have been done by Musashi Mamoru!"
"oh?"
"How did my lord know that the Kyogoku family's main formation is located at Mount Matsuo?"
"That's right!" Rokkaku Sadayori replied with an affirmative look on his face, "The original location of the Kyogoku family's main formation was Fuwa Seki. This is the hinterland of Sekigahara. There are three streets of Ise, Higashiyama and Hokukuni gathered here. The location is very important. "
"If a battle breaks out, this place will be a battleground for both the enemy and us! In this case, the Kyogoku family's casualties will be huge at this scale of the battle!"
"Now that the Kyogoku family has moved its main formation to Matsuo Mountain, it will avoid the sharp edges of our army and the Toki clan. Once the Asakura family's military strength reaches its peak and they want to spread out their entire army, they will inevitably find an open place without breaking through. Isn’t it just right?”
"The Kyogoku family is planning to let the Asakura family block the arrow!" At this point, the admiration in Rokkaku Sadarai's eyes became more intense.
"So, the Kyogoku family didn't want to participate in the war, so this war is just a formality?" Hirai Sadatake asked tentatively.
"This is just my guess. Don't play games. You still have to be careful. It's just that an idea suddenly came into my mind!"
"Could my lord be planning to mobilize Kyogoku and Sakyo to advance?" Hirai Sadatake suddenly asked with his eyes wide.
"Hahaha, the one who knows me is the Right Guardsman!"
"But now that our family is at odds with the Kyogoku family, this move may have little effect. Besides, I don't think there are any suitable candidates to handle it!" Hirai Sadatake said with a worried look.
Rokkaku Sadayori was silent for a moment, and then said: "How will you know if you don't give it a try? If we can really bring the Kyogoku family to our side, the Mino issue can be decided in one battle!"
"Now that the Shogun has made peace with the Hosokawa Palace, it is time for our family and the Kyogoku family to repair their relationship."
"As for the candidate, I really have a suitable one here. If this person comes forward, it will at least show our sincerity in harmonious relations with the Kyogoku family!"
