Chapter 729 12. Nobunaga Chooses the Dangerous Shitara Plain

Oda Nobunaga looked a little tired when he arrived at Okazaki. After all, he was always tired after marching for four consecutive days. It was because he was in good health and had been used to the military for half his life after years of fighting.

"Where is Shimatarou?" Facing Hirate Hanhide and Tokugawa Ieyasu who were waiting on the roadside, Oda Nobunaga did not say any nonsense or polite words.

Hirate Hanhide glanced at Tokugawa Ieyasu and let Tokugawa Ieyasu, the main landlord, come out to answer. He was in Anxiang Castle mainly as the successor of Tokugawa Ieyasu and guarded the back door of Owari for Oda Nobunaga.

"He is heading from Nagashino to Okazaki!" Tokugawa Ieyasu did not know the news that Nagashino Castle had been opened at this time.

Except for Okudaira Sadamasa who committed seppuku, the rest of the Nagashino Castle soldiers were gathered in the team by Yamae Mikatashu and Udono Nagateru and served as hard labor. Torii Kyouemon was no exception and did not let any of them escape.

"How is Nagashino?" Nobunaga got off his horse and threw his horse staff to Mori Nagayoshi.

"The situation is not good. Only Ninomaru and Honmaru are still resisting." The news from Tokugawa Ieyasu was naturally delayed.

"Yeah!" Looking at the drizzling rain, which was no longer heavy, Oda Nobunaga hummed heavily, but in fact, he probably had a premonition about Nagashino.

"Urgent news! Urgent news!" As he was walking into the city, a loud shout from the messenger suddenly came from the bottom of the city, signaling the soldiers queuing to enter the city to make way.

"Greetings, Your Highness!" The messenger certainly didn't know Oda Nobunaga, but the person who asked Tokugawa Ieyasu to serve carefully was Oda Nobunaga.

"Where is the news from!"

"Nagashino opened the city! The lord of the city, Okuhei Hachitaro, has committed seppuku to die in the city!" On the Tokugawa family's side, it was of course better to say it.

"Got it! Leave!" Oda Nobunaga didn't have any expression, but Tokugawa Ieyasu frowned a little.

"Mikawa! How are the logs and ropes I ordered you to collect?"

"It's ready!"

"Very good! Give them all to Fujikichiro! In addition, send out all the monomi and mezuzu, and I want to hear about the movements of Shimotaro every half an hour!" Oda Nobunaga ordered as he walked.

"Save it!" In front of Oda Nobunaga, Tokugawa Ieyasu naturally had to obey orders.

Mikawa was not Oda Nobunaga's territory, and here he had to rely on local snakes such as Tokugawa Ieyasu to conduct extensive battlefield reconnaissance and provide various local news. So after Oda Nobunaga gave the order, he sent another 500 kan to Tokugawa Ieyasu, as a support for Tokugawa Ieyasu's war of resistance.

The remaining issue was food. Oda Nobunaga only brought ten days of military rations with him from Gifu, so as soon as he sat down, he immediately asked Tokugawa Ieyasu about the issue of military rations and rice.

As the Yamanouchi family had estimated, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who only had half of Mikawa Province, was very poor. As soon as Oda Nobunaga opened his mouth, Ishikawa Sumo and Torii Mototada, who were sitting under him, came out to report to him the grain reserves in Okazaki Castle.

Only more than 5,000 stones!

How many people did Oda Nobunaga bring? 50,000 cavalry!

Adding Tokugawa Ieyasu's 6,000 cavalry, a total of 56,000 people!

How long can more than 4,000 stones of grain last? Assuming that each person eats one and a half pounds a day, or a little less, it can only last for half a month at most. Nobunaga could of course also transport it from Owari and Mino, but this was not cost-effective because it required large-scale conscription of civilians, cattle, horses, and vehicles. The more straightforward reason is that the local officials, such as the local officials, had been pulled to Okazaki by Oda Nobunaga. Without the organization, it was impossible for you to transport grain to the front line on a large scale in a short period of time.

However, Nobunaga was not prepared to defend Okazaki. He could not afford to delay in Mikawa. After defeating the Yamauchi army, he would turn around and attack the Nagashima Ikko Ikki.

Counting the five or six days of food left in his army and the food stored in the Okazaki treasury, half a month is more than enough, enough for a battle!

"How many are there in Shimotaro?" Oda Nobunaga did not rest for a moment, standing in the hall and asking questions.

"It is said to be 150,000, but in fact it is about 40,000 to 45,000!" Torii Kyouemon saw the Yamauchi army clearly in Nagashino Castle at that time, so the difference in the estimated numbers was indeed not big.

"40,000!"

"That's right!"

"Since Nagashino has been broken, where are the streets for 40,000 troops to pass through?" Pointing to the simple map, Oda Nobunaga continued to ask.

"Along the valley of Danto Mountain, you can go directly to Okazaki!" Okubo Tadayo was an old man and was very familiar with the place.

"How far is it?"

"About five to six miles!"

"It's difficult to march and camp in the rain. It will take Matarou three to four days at the earliest to reach Okazaki!" Oda Nobunaga had just walked the streets of Mikawa himself, and he already knew whether he could make it.

"Report! Yamanouchi and others have arrived at Kiyoida! Still setting up the fort!" According to Oda Nobunaga's request, Tokugawa's Monomi began to infiltrate towards Nagashino frantically, and reported every half an hour.

"Where is Kiyoida?" Nobunaga pointed at the map.

"Here!" Tokugawa Ieyasu stood up and pointed with his hand.

"What does it look like!"

"The remnants of the mountains, undulating and continuous, slightly slower here, generally flat, but there are still obstacles on both sides."

"What's ahead?"

"The Rengo River cuts off the terrace. The Kiyoida side is higher, but the main side is narrow. The Shitarahara side is low, but there are many terraces to rely on."

"Shitarahara?" Oda Nobunaga pondered and began to think.

"Katsuzo!" After making a rough plan, Nobunaga called Mori Nagayoshi.

"You should immediately go to Shitarahara with the guide sent by Mikawa no Kami to check the terrain and draw the details. Be quick!"

"Understood!" Mori Nagayoshi immediately stood up and walked out, and Tokugawa Ieyasu immediately ordered Ishikawa Ienari to send a careful person to follow.

"The whole army will rest today. After dawn tomorrow morning, the whole army will move towards Shitarahara and choose the right terrain!"

"Hehe!" The generals under the seat responded one after another.

When the Yamauchi army began to consolidate the camp on Kiyoidahara, Oda Nobunaga also began to choose a place that could be used as the best interception position to block the Yamauchi army after asking.

Obviously, after asking, the best place to stop the Yamauchi army and prevent the Yamauchi army from rushing into the Yahagi River Plain, which was undefended, was in Shitarahara, just five kilometers south of Nagashino!

………………

A reader reminded me before that Yabiki River was wrong and should be called Yahagi River now. It should be called Yahagi River in the Warring States Period, because the word "秧" happened to be the word "姧", so it was directly marked as Yahagi River on some maps.

I didn't check carefully and copied the wrong name directly, sorry!

According to the records of "Kojiki" and "Nihonshoki", when Takeno-no-mikoto was conquering the Eastern Barbarians, he took the bamboo from the river in Nakasu to make arrows and won the victory, so the river was called Yahagi River or Yahagi River.