Chapter 336 26. Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountain but Fail

Yamauchi Yoshikatsu returned without any merit or fault. However, he still publicized that Takanari, Uesugi, and Yamauchi had returned with a great victory and successfully thwarted the attack of the ambitious Takeda Harunobu.

A grand celebration reception was held in this name, on the one hand to celebrate the "victory" of the battle, and on the other hand to celebrate this year's harvest.

Anyway, the man has his own reasons and the woman has her own reasons. Takeda Harunobu also said that he had won a great victory. He suppressed Takanari Masayasu at the beginning and killed hundreds of Kaizu people, and their heads were chopped off.

But no one took the territory in this battle, and the Yamanouchi and Uesugi families could not accompany the Takanouchi family. The Yamanouchi family needed to recuperate and train samurai. The Uesugi family needed to march into Kanto and swear to exist.

In a vicious circle, Takeda Harunobu could send troops to Kaizu or Yamanouchi again and again, but Takanari Masayasu was not strong enough to invade the Takeda clan and could only passively defend.

Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu would never sit back and watch Takeda Harunobu defeat Takanari Masayasu. This was something that could never be allowed to happen. If Takanari Masayasu was defeated, the two and a half counties of Kitanobu would fall into the hands of Takeda Harunobu, and at that time Takeda Harunobu would reach his peak in history. It was still a peak without Yoshinobu's rebellion, and the retainers were more united and powerful.

Before leaving, Uesugi Terutora also made it clear that he would definitely go to Kanto in the spring of next year, and there would not be many people supporting the Takanari clan. He hoped that Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu would do more.

The meaning was very clear. He would take his men to rob in the first half of the year, and he would be free in the second half of the year. Anyway, your Yamanouchi family will not be able to expand for the time being, so it is better to help the Takanari family. When he is free from Kanto, he will help the Yamanouchi family to beat up the Takeda family.

Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu must have agreed to this matter, and Takanari Masayasu also symbolically took out 1,000 kan as a thank-you gift, which was better than nothing. He also promised that when the Yamanouchi family reinforcements came in the future, he would try his best to supply food and no longer let the Yamanouchi family transport from the rear.

He knew the current situation very well and was willing to spend money. Takanari Masahiro had a fair share of the 40,000 kan territory and was a capable general.

…

Including the upper-class samurai such as Hosokawa Harumiya and Isshiki Miyauchi who were hurriedly summoned into the city, as well as the confidants Hosokawa Saijo and Kobayata, they are now sitting next to Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu.

This very boring battle was too uncomfortable to fight, and it is estimated that there may be several more battles. In addition to wasting food and wages, neither side will achieve any results. This does not conform to the life principle of the samurai that fighting = making money, nor does it conform to the interests of the daimyo lords.

So Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu must brainstorm and see if he can find a way to break the deadlock. Avoid the weakness of the soldiers and civilians caused by years of passive defense and the lack of military funds.

Sitting on the right side of Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu is his younger brother Imagawa Yoshichika. Although the two are not very close, they have grown up together for more than ten years. Now that Imagawa Yoshichika has his own family business, and he lost his status after being adopted by another family, he only has the heart to loyally assist his elder brother in achieving his career.

Hosokawa Harumiya is old but still strong, like an old pine, sitting quietly in the corner, letting the breeze blow over the hills.

The chief family elder, Miyauchi, spoke first, but this closed-door meeting was not a serious military meeting. It was just a question from Yamauchi Yoshikatsu, so it was much more relaxed. Koyata did not sit in the front row, but sat next to his eldest brother-in-law and old father-in-law.

Yamauchi Yoshikatsu first asked how much military rations were consumed this time, how much rewards were consumed, and as for the spoils of war, there were none.

Koyata truthfully reported the major expenditures such as rice, wheat, salt, beans, and the number of consumables such as iron cannon ammunition, bows and arrows. Just like what I said before, firing a shot from the iron cannon can be converted into spending fifty Yongle coins.

No one wants to fight this kind of confrontational war, it just burns money.

It's true that you don't know how expensive firewood and rice are until you run the household! In the past, Yamauchi Yoshikatsu and Imagawa Yoshichika only had to ask their father for money. Although they knew that wars cost money, they still spent money lavishly because their father would cover the cost.

Just like Yamauchi Yoshikatsu's two-gun and two-horse iron cannon guards Makaishu and Imagawa Yoshichika's iron cannon guards, any one of them could feed a thousand-man foot soldiers. Now they have to be careful to feed themselves, without their father to cover the cost.

The other samurai present were all veterans, and they couldn't go to the battle to rob, which would be a loss. They couldn't not go to the Kawanakajima territory, but they felt bad if they saved it. It was really a dilemma.

Everyone thought that they might as well unite with the Takanari family and take the initiative to attack Takeda's territory in the spring of next year. Even if they couldn't rob, if they destroyed his spring farming, they could reduce the number of troops that Takeda Harunobu would send in the autumn, reducing the pressure on the Yamauchi family.

But this thing is not a cure for the symptoms, so will Takeda Harunobu just passively take the beating? He will definitely think about sending troops to make a fortune in the spring next year. The Yamanouchi family has a lot of soldiers and food, so he can't afford to bully the Takanari family.

Once the spring plowing is over, everyone will think of the same thing, and in the end, they may still face off in another place. You send troops, I send troops, and we can't do anything to each other.

It's meaningless!

It would be best if Takeda Harunobu could take the initiative to fight in the wild. If he could kill two or three thousand of his Kai people, then at least Takeda Harunobu would have to lie dormant for two or three years to lick his wounds, and the entire Kai and Kaido would stop because of this.

Koheita first asked if there was anyone who could lure Takeda Harunobu out for a decisive battle in the wild. He also thought about it for a long time, but there was no way.

In the fourth Battle of Kawanakajima in history, the two sides confronted each other for more than ten days in a row. Even when Uesugi Terutora was about to run out of food, he did not move at all and sat firmly on the mountain of wives and daughters, watching out for whoever struck first would reveal a flaw.

Takeda Harunobu is usually a patient man who can fight a protracted war. But for some reason, he took the initiative to split his troops and launched an attack when his food was not exhausted, trying to win the game in one battle.

They are all fox spirits who have lived for thousands of years, but they actually talked about Liao Zhai!

Everyone lowered their heads and thought hard, what is qualified to be a bait to lure out the big tiger Takeda from Kai. After luring him out, can he still keep digging into the ditch and finally jump out?

Takeda Harunobu is so smart and has a good plan. In addition to killing Yamanouchi Yoshiharu, Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, and Takanari Masayasu, he is probably only interested in killing Uesugi Terutora.

But Uesugi Terutora is in Kasugayama, Echigo, and he is in Kai Mansion. He will definitely not be able to kill Uesugi Terutora. Unless he can fly!

Let Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu use himself as bait? Don't even think about it. Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu has such a bright future, use him as bait?

While Kobayata was still waiting for everyone to brainstorm, Hosokawa Harumiya slowly glanced at Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu.

"Your Highness, how many people are in control of Shinano Province now?"