Chapter 203 7. This Mountain Is Called Tongxijian

On the other side, Imagawa Yoshimoto achieved what he wanted. His good son, "Captain Tsubasa" Imagawa Ujizane, really "lived up to expectations". With the assistance of the famous Kaido general Asahina Taitomo, he conquered the Otaka Castle that blocked them with just three drums. He was the first one among the three to achieve success, which was very eye-catching.

Everyone naturally understood that Imagawa Yoshimoto asked the three of them to attack a castle respectively, but Imagawa Ujizane had the most troops, and Otaka was the easiest one to attack. This was clearly for his son to gain merit.

How could his two good sons-in-law not understand? One of them was Ito Toramachi and the other was his uncle, Lao Yinbi Tsunayoshi. They both had capable people and had long seen what Imagawa Yoshimoto meant. Moreover, it was okay to do favors that went with the flow. After all, they were a family, and it was not worth fighting to the death.

So Takeda Yoshinobu and Yamauchi Yoshichika, under the advice of their respective generals, accompanied Imagawa Ujizane with their men to perform a play. One of them attacked the city in Narumi with difficulty, and the other tried to surround it in Furuto. After the news of the capture of Otaka came, the two began to really exert their strength.

This made Imagawa Yoshimoto quite satisfied, thinking that the two sons-in-law were sensible and generous. And they were willing to bow their heads. He could promote his two sons-in-law well when he came to power in Kyoto in the future. He couldn't let them follow him for nothing, because the sons-in-law were half-worth.

The news of the capture of Otaka Castle was passed to Yoshimoto's main team. The several nobles who accompanied Yoshimoto naturally offered flattering words, and they were happy. In addition to Kyoto, there were many places where nobles could be guests at that time, such as Tosa Nakamura Palace, Ise Kiriyama Palace, Echizen Ichijodani, Suruga Fuchu, etc.

These nobles had a good eye for choosing Suruga Imagawa. At the end of the year, Yoshimoto became Kanrei and the butler of the shogunate. As Yoshimoto's old acquaintances, they would definitely be appointed as the interlocutors between the court and the samurai. In addition to making more money, they would definitely rise in the court.

Now the only powerful retainers left around Yoshimoto are one civil and one military, namely Sekiguchi Ujihiro and Abe Motomasa. Of course, they were very happy to hear that the young master had made achievements.

These two did not rise to power by flattery. One was from a family and the other was a brave general. They sincerely hoped that the Imagawa family would be good. When they heard that the young master Ujimasa won the first battle with three drums, they also cooperated to praise him in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto. Now that Imagawa Yoshimoto was in high spirits, it was of course appropriate to say a few polite words.

So Imagawa Yoshimoto stayed in Okazaki for one night and ordered the troops to advance quickly, gather under Kiyosu Castle, and completely defeat Oda Nobunaga. He also ordered Okabe Masanaga to persuade Oda Nobuhiro to surrender, as he needed a puppet to temporarily rule Owari. In addition, Okabe Motonobu took 4,000 people to Imagawa Ujizane's command to continue to strengthen the strength of his beloved son. So Imagawa Ujizane stopped his troops in Otaka and waited for reinforcements to join, and took a rest.

Yamauchi Yoshichika, under the advice of his uncle Tsunayoshi and Konishihara Saemon, led the people of Totomi to the front and fought hard. Narumi Castle was broken, and Sakuma Daiichi was killed in the battle. So he cooperated with Imagawa Ujizane and swept through the castles of Minami Owari.

Imagawa Yoshimoto also received the news, and the main camp broke camp and began to enter Owari from Mikawa Province. After all, all parts of Chita County in Minami Owari had been conquered, and the hostile forces had been completely cleared, so Imagawa Yoshimoto could enter and leave with complete confidence.

What's more, Sakon and the rear team were all Imagawa's troops, so there was nothing to worry about.

However, the drizzling spring rain was really annoying. The roads of Shunyuansan were extensively repaired at the beginning of the year, but Oda Nobunaga would not be kind enough to repair the roads in southern Owari for Imagawa Yoshimoto. So the army stopped and started, and by noon, they really couldn't walk anymore. They set out at four in the morning and were tired.

The farmers in southern Owari also gave full play to their subjective initiative. The rich farmers in the villages where Yoshimoto's army passed came to entertain the army with rice wine and rice balls. The appearance of carrying pots and water to welcome the king's army was warmly received by Yoshimoto, which well demonstrated the close relationship between the army and the people.

Then the 4,000 people of Yoshimoto's main team did not continue to enter Zhuminghai or Otaka, but cut down trees on the spot and prepared to set up camp.

Abe Motoshin felt that something was wrong. After all, Owari was an enemy territory, so it was better to enter the city. Sekiguchi Ujihiro also thought that they could walk for another two hours to join the young master's troops in Otaka. However, Yoshimoto saw that his soldiers were indeed very tired, it was raining again, and the Oda branch castles on all sides had been conquered, so he felt that he should show his generosity.

In addition, he had accumulated power for a long time, and he had the final say in the Imagawa family. Although the retainers had the right to make suggestions, it was still Imagawa Yoshimoto who made the final decision. As long as he decided something, no matter whether it was right or wrong, his subordinates would do it first. If it failed, it would be his subordinates' incompetence. So Yoshimoto thought about it and rejected the suggestions of the two generals.

So under the cheers of the soldiers, Imagawa Yoshimoto announced that he would stay on the spot. But the rain was getting heavier, which slowed down the progress of camping.

However, Yoshimoto didn't care too much, "Shofu (Sekiguchi Shosuke Ujihiro), what is this place called?" Yoshimoto sat on a stool, and he made do with what he had. Although he admired Kyoto culture, his samurai nature did not decrease much, and he did not dislike the poor battlefield environment at all, and he was safe and stable.

"According to the farmer just now, this place is called Denagasa." Sekiguchi Ujihiro replied.

"Choose a high ground to set up the shogunate." Yoshimoto was no rookie, he knew to take advantage of the high ground, set up the shogunate on a high ground so that the whole army could see him, and it would also be convenient for him to command and observe the battlefield.

Abe Motoshin, who was standing next to him, stood up and pointed. There was a small hill about 50 to 60 meters high not far away.

Yoshimoto looked around through the rain. It was indeed the only high ground nearby. So he took more than 300 hatamotos, and moved to the hill with all the attendants, small surnames, servants, and guests.

"Owari is really a huge plain. It is hard to find even a high ground. The paddy fields are gathered together. It should be occupied by the virtuous." Yoshimoto sighed. The vast plain of Owari should be occupied by him, the "virtuous man".

There was another round of compliments. Suddenly, someone suggested that Imagawa Yoshimoto write a Japanese poem or a Chinese poem to commemorate it.

Everyone also knew that Imagawa Yoshimoto was a samurai with high cultural accomplishment after learning from Taiyuan Xuezhai Zen Master. Asking him to leave a poem to commemorate just hit the spot. Yoshimoto was of course very happy to agree. In the future, when he went to Luojing, he could also collect the poems he made along the way and sing with the nobles.

"What is the name of this mountain?" Yoshimoto waved his folding fan, stood up, and asked everyone with some interest.

A sidekick seemed to have done his homework and found out the geographical environment of Chita County and Aichi County.

"Your Highness, the name of this mountain is Okehazama!"