Chapter 728 11. Two Heroes Meet at the Yabi River

According to Sanada Masayuki's proposal, Kobayata and Hosokawa Saime endorsed, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki agreed to the Kiyoida formation.

The main force, which was actually the general reserve, was composed of Yamanouchi Goniwa's 13th Division and Ashikaga Yoshiaki's 7,000 people, including the 10,000 people of the main force of Hosokawa Saime, and the two forces of Sanada Nobutsuna and Murakami Yoshikuni, about 6,000 cavalry, occupied Yanagida, Takehiro and other villages, and went forward to build a defense line, and sent Monomi and Metsuke to investigate the Rengo River.

That's right! When Kobayata saw this Rengo River, he suddenly realized where this place was!

The left wing was mainly composed of Yamanouchi Shukei and Yamanouchi Yoshio, father and son, occupying the Kiyoida plateau. Cooperating with the Uchida people, the Ina people, and the Kai people led by Konishihara Saemon, such as Anayama Nobukuni and Kawago Nobumi, there were about 8,000 cavalry.

The right wing was led by Imagawa Yoshichika, with the main force being the Suruga tribe, occupying Maruyama. He also commanded the Nimata tribe of Tsunayoshi's uncle, the Matsushita tribe of Matsushita Ichiao, and the Matsushita tribe of Iwase Motomasa, totaling about 10,000 cavalry.

The central first-hand follow-up team was mainly composed of the Nagakura tribe of Koyata, and the 4,000 people who came to support Echigo Uesugi Kenshin and Kaizu Takanari Masahiro as the successors of the first-hand. Once the first-hand breakthrough is made, it is necessary to rush forward to expand the results of the battle.

Finally, there were the Houzhe tribe led by Isshiki Yoshiari. Kitabatake University was in charge of the military station in Aobengyue, and Isshiki Yoshiari followed the army to handle the transportation of the army.

On the second day, the various armies finally arrived at the preset battlefield location. With the army backed by the military station, the food and fodder were safe, and the local forces were also suppressed accordingly, which was considered to be stable in the rear.

Hosokawa Saijo's scouts went back and forth, and the scouts of both sides conducted small-scale probing and confrontations along the Yabiki River and Dandoyama. There are quite a few scouts affiliated with Okazaki Castle, and Tokugawa Ieyasu is now very bold, only because Oda Nobunaga's first mover Shibata Katsuie has arrived in Okazaki!

According to the marching sequence of the army of this era, if the first mover arrives, it basically means that the entire army will reach the destination within half a day. That is, after nightfall, the entire Oda army will be able to gather and arrive at Okazaki Castle, but the total number cannot be clearly detected at present.

Still a step slower! The entire army did not completely break into the Yabiki River Plain!

The Yamanouchi generals sat together, what is their behavior now? Kiyoidahara is only a day's journey from Okazaki Castle, and they are setting off to attack Okazaki directly. Or just wait here for the coalition forces of Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu to come to the battle.

"Since Gifu Dansho has a strong city to rely on, I'm afraid he won't come to fight with us!" Hosokawa Fujitaka, who had not spoken much, had to make his position clear at this time and stand with Yamauchi.

"Okazaki Castle is strong, but it can't accommodate 50,000 or 60,000 troops. If our army enters the plains, we can use up all the food and fodder outside the city, and the army inside the city will not be able to hold out for long." Kobayata believed that Oda Nobunaga would definitely come out to fight in the field.

In addition to the fact that the army needs a huge supply of food and fodder, Oda Nobunaga also has the fire of Nagashima Ikko Ikki and the thorn of Miyoshi Three Men in his backyard. These two need to be quickly removed so that Oda Nobunaga can feel at ease.

If he enters Okazaki and sticks to it to avoid fighting with Yamauchi's elite soldiers in the field, he will be in a passive position strategically. The 40,000 Yamauchi troops swept in, and the entire Yabiki River Plain would be razed by the Yamauchi army in less than two days.

How long can he store food and grass for tens of thousands of troops with just Okazaki Castle?

One month?

Or three months?

Before setting out, Kobayata was prepared to fight for half a year or even longer. The summer grain was stored in the warehouse but not sold, and the autumn grain was stored. The rice stored in the trading ships bought by Hamamatsu was piled up like a mountain. Yamauchi has time to spend with you under Okazaki Castle. The first one who can't wait must be you, Oda Nobunaga!

"The autumn grain output in the Yabiki River Plain is no less than 100,000 stones. For six dukes and four civilians, Tokugawa Mikawa-no-kami should have at most 60,000 to 70,000 stones of military grain. However, after deducting expenses, it would be good to have several thousand stones in the warehouse."

Yamauchi Shukei also agreed with Kobayata's opinion. Most of the administrative and military actions of ordinary Warring States daimyo were carried out around the rice harvested in autumn.

After the autumn harvest, the people handed the rice to the lord daimyo, and the daimyo would begin a final settlement expected for a year. The samurai foot soldiers who were supported by the daimyo had to be paid salaries and rice, the castles needed to be repaired and supplemented, and the swords, guns, iron cannons, gunpowder and armor needed to be purchased.

Even the daimyo's own family, his wife and children also needed to eat and wear clothes. Everyone's living expenses for the next year should be prepared in advance. You can't say that you became a daimyo, but your wife and children are not well dressed and warm. That's not a joke.

After this circle, under normal circumstances, 70% to 80% of the rice must be sold or distributed. The rice left in the hands of the daimyo is the maximum limit of the number of battles and the length of battles that the daimyo can fight in the next year.

In addition to the occupation of many trade centers in the world like Oda Nobunaga, or the large-scale industrial development like the Yamanouchi family, Takeda Shingen relied on the rich gold mine, Mori Motonari benefited from the Iwami Silver Mine, and Otomo Sorin benefited from the Nanman trade, and so on.

Without more sources of cash, there is no way to effectively support the war!

War means money, not to mention that the Yamanouchi family has even had short-term low-interest war loans!

Tokugawa Ieyasu obviously did not have any abundant extra fiscal revenue. His income was mainly concentrated on the output of the land, and he wanted to split every penny into two.

"Where is uncle Sai-nü?" Ashikaga Yoshiaki tilted his head to look at Hosokawa Sai-nü, and he wanted to listen to everyone's opinions.

"Whether it's a field battle or a siege, what is there for me, Yamanouchi, to fear?" Hosokawa Saijo bowed her head to Ashikaga Yoshiaki and said this confidently.

Didn't you see what a "miserable" situation Nagashino Castle was in just now? No matter how strong your city is, as long as it can be hit by cannons, it is a piece of tofu dregs!

Oda Nobunaga must have cannons, but we have more cannons! At most, we can exchange one for one, and the rest will continue to name Okazaki Castle. How many days can a flat city in Okazaki resist?

If Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu go out of the city for a field battle, it will be even better! We are the elite soldiers of the Kabushima and the strongest in the world. I am afraid of you? We have never been afraid of anyone in a field battle!

"Hahahahaha..." At this moment, all the generals of Yamanouchi laughed.

Yes! What are we still discussing! Who cares what Oda Nobunaga does? Now it is us Yamanouchi who attack and he Oda Nobunaga defends. We Yamanouchi have more initiative!

"Wait a day, rest the army here and observe the movements of Gifu Danzheng!" Ashikaga Yoshiaki announced immediately.