Chapter 201 5. Spring Rain on the Sea Road

It took Yoshimoto's army six days to reach Yoshida from Suruga Fuchu Castle, and the troops of various divisions surrounded Yoshida Castle. The sound of people and horses was very lively. From the inside to the outside of the city, there were military camps with distances, and small carts carrying military rations were constantly coming and going, and countless military supplies also gathered in this famous city in the east of Mikawa.

This was the first time in Yoshimoto's life that he commanded such a large army. After all, in his life of more than 40 years, the number of troops he commanded had never exceeded 20,000, and his teacher, Zen Master Taiyuan Xuezhai, often served as his formation magistrate and helped him arrange. So Yoshimoto was a little flustered at the beginning, but a good teacher produces a good student, and there is no false scholar under a great reputation.

He relied on the samurai accumulated by his Imagawa family for ten generations, which was much more than the nouveau riche daimyo, and placed them one by one in the grassroots. He only needed to manage his hundreds of samurai commanders, and his samurai would help him lead the miscellaneous soldiers under him.

In this way, the benefits of having a sufficient number of grassroots officers were revealed. They are all samurai from generations. They can't lead tens of thousands of people, but it's like playing for each of them to lead one or two hundred miscellaneous soldiers. If you don't have this ability, what kind of samurai are you?

It's even more convenient for Yoshimune himself. His family is a famous family from generations, and he has been in the sea for more than ten years, so his prestige is so high. He has the final say to the samurai below, and the samurai are also very convinced of him, and each of them is willing to die for him. This team is very easy to lead, which makes Yoshimune's evaluation of his ability rise to another level and become more inflated.

The whole army stopped and rested for a day in Yoshida. After all, continuous marching always requires soldiers to stop and rest. And this time, there is no enemy in front of Kyoto. The military situation is not very urgent, as long as it is gradual. Yoshimune also strolled leisurely, and he was in the mood to approach the general of the East Mikawa, Udono Nagatoro, and comfort him with kind words. As for other countrymen, Suganuma, Okudaira, Amano and others, they must use both kindness and force, coerce them and promise benefits at the same time.

After a busy day, Yoshimoto's army continued to move toward Okazaki after they beat and won over the Higashi-Mikawa Samurai Corps and ensured that these traitors would not have any ambitions or troubles.

Because they had joined the Mikawa Samurai Corps, Imagawa Yoshimoto had more living (cannon fodder) forces, which could speed up the invasion. So he kept dispatching soldiers and began to remove all obstacles between him and Kiyosu Castle.

Okabe Motonobu originally brought only a few hundred people to Mikawa, and could only make small moves to test. Now the hospital has supplemented him with 2,000 ronin cannon fodder, giving him the opportunity to show his skills. This made him very happy. With the support, Okabe Motonobu removed the castle outside Anxiang Castle with great fanfare and surrounded Oda Nobuhiro in the city. Okabe Masaga also received the support of a thousand people, and quickly besieged the Kakugake Castle, opening the door for Yoshimoto to enter Owari.

Asahina Taicho and Iio Renryu led some of the Totomi clan and the Ronin troops to penetrate into Chita County, Owari, contacted the most powerful clan on the Chita Peninsula, the Saji clan, and forced Narumi and its branch castles from a distance.

The Imagawa army made very smooth progress, and the local clans in Owari began to waver and feel uneasy. Imagawa Yoshimoto believed that Owari would be captured easily, so he finally followed the army to move the main camp to Okazaki Castle and assigned the troops around him one by one. He asked the generals to speed up and remove the castles in the three rivers of Owari as soon as possible, so that he could march to Kiyosu Castle as soon as possible.

Because the march was too smooth, and he didn't take small forces like Oda Nobunaga seriously. After all, he killed thousands of daimyo with a wave, so he didn't want this easy fame. He felt that it was better to let his son and son-in-law establish their fame. After all, it would be convenient for the younger generation to accumulate prestige in the future. So Imagawa Yoshimoto asked several young men to lead their headquarters to the front line to attack various castles, so that they could compete with each other.

Yamauchi Yoshichika was ordered to attack the important town of Narumi Castle in Minami-Owari, Imagawa Ujizane was asked to cooperate with Asahina Yasutomo to attack Otaka Castle, and Takeda Yoshinobu was to attack Furuto Castle and threaten Nagano Castle at any time.

Imagawa Yoshimoto loved his son after all. Otaka had been conquered by Oda Nobunaga last year, and it has not been re-prepared yet. With the assistance of Asahina Yasutomo, a major general of the Kaido, it seems that he was just trying to give his son a chance to gain face.

Of course, Takeda Yoshinobu's lineup was even more luxurious. His deputy general was Iitomi Toramasa, and Iitomi Saburobei (Yamagata Masakage), one of the four famous ministers of Takeda, also came with him. In addition, Ichijo Nobunaga, Sone Suho, Imafuku Geki, and the young Yamada Echinaka Nobuari of the Gunnai clan, all of them would be dazzling and famous generals of the Kaishin clan in the future.

It is a bit difficult for Yamanouchi Yoshichika, as he has the least number of troops but the most important task. Narumi Castle is strong and well-equipped, and is guarded by famous generals. However, Uncle Tsunayoshi is an old soldier, Konishihara Saemon dares to charge, and Matsushima Ichima is familiar with the geography, so the cooperation is not bad. In addition, Yamanouchi Yoshiharu has given several hundred elite hatamotos, and the combat effectiveness is guaranteed, so the problem is not too big.

Three reports on the battle situation of Imagawa are sent from the Mikawa front to Suruga every day. Kobayata also understands the deployment of all armies. Seeing that Imagawa Ujizane has left Imagawa Yoshimoto's main team with the assistance of Asahina Taitomo, he feels that the wheel of history is rolling and the general trend is difficult to change. Now, except for the 4,000 Suruga people, all the generals who can be used in Imagawa Yoshimoto's main team have been assigned, and there is not even a samurai who can be his shadow warrior.

Every day, I watched the jubilant Imagawa warriors riding their war horses and rushing back to Suruga, conveying the joy of Imagawa Yoshimoto's continuous victories. Xiao Pingtai always felt the illusion of time, and he was finally going to experience the last of the three major surprise battles of the Warring States Period - the Battle of Okehazama.

And this year's spring rain also began to fall at the right time, drizzling from time to time, and the time was not very long, at most two or three hours. In addition to moistening the soil, this hair-like drizzle did not seem to play a greater role.

Xiao Pingtai became bored for no reason, so he had to find Kanai Aigoro who was on guard in the city.

"Aigoro, the progress of the governor is so smooth, Owari seems to be able to be conquered soon, and the head of the Uesugi is about to be handed over." Xiao Pingtai asked like this.

"The Jun army is well-commanded, with high morale and a large number of troops. Owari Uesusuke may have a chance to fight back." Ming Goro sat there quietly, saying a result that Xiao Pingtai had expected a long time ago.

"Do you think so too?" Xiao Pingtai sighed. It was really not a good feeling to be a prophet.