Chapter 4 Chapter 4 Allied Forces Set Up an Ambush

As soon as Kyoemon left, the coalition forces of Tokugawa Ieyasu and Oda Nobunaga set off from Okazaki.At noon on the 18th, the team passed Ushikubo, arrived at Shitarahara, and immediately set up camp.Nobunaga was stationed at Kek Lok Si Mountain, and Jiakang was camped at Chamo Mountain.Then, the two armies decided to hold a final meeting. As the sun was setting, Ieyasu led Kodaira Kodaira and Mototada Torii out of the tent and headed for Nobunaga's camp at Gokurakuji Mountain.It is about eight miles away from Changxiao City. When the three of them rushed to Danzheng Mountain, they saw the Lianzi River at their feet and the lush forest on the opposite side, and Ieyasu seemed to hear the sounds of hunger and thirst coming from Changxiao City again from a distance.He set up an arbor with his hands and looked eastward.

"My lord, it's getting late. Nobunaga-sama can't wait any longer." Torii Mototada urged Ieyasu.But Ieyasu didn't move, he seemed to feel that there was an invisible force leading to Nagashino, so he stood there, unwilling to leave for a long time. "My lord, Lord Nobunaga, who is usually too lazy to move around, will come to this kind of place." "understood." "Now that you know it, I'm afraid it's not good to make people wait. Hurry up." "Yuanzhong, do you know why Nobunaga doesn't want to move?" Ieyasu turned his gaze from the mountains to the dense forest, "Master Oda wanted to help me this time from the bottom of his heart, so he stayed put."

Yuan Zhong frowned when he heard this, thinking, how good at smoothing things out for others.It is precisely because of the consideration that it is someone else's war that he stands still. This is Nobunaga.Even Tokugawa's pawns are very clear about this. "Nobunaga-kun is afraid in his heart—he is afraid that Katsuyori Takeda will withdraw from Nagashino when he hears of our arrival, and sneak back to Kai, so as to avoid a decisive battle with us." "He can't be that stupid!" Yuan Zhong retorted, "If that's the case, it's really accidental luck. Do you remember how he stayed in Okazaki for several nights?"

Ieyasu finally turned his head to look at Yuanzhong, this son actually thought of this step? "There must be nothing wrong. That's why he came here in a hurry, and no matter what, he must hold a military meeting to study how to decide the battle." A smile appeared on Ieyasu's face, he didn't say anything more to Yuanzhong, he urged his horse and swung his whip, and went straight to Kek Lok Si. The late Shingen had a guerrilla tactic called "hidden travel".That is to calmly calculate the difference in strength between the enemy and us, and once it is found that there is no chance of winning, withdraw the troops and let the opponent wait in vain.Nobunaga was aware of this, so he deliberately procrastinated.Although Ieyasu judged this way, is it true?

"My lord, you must be tougher with Lord Nobunaga today." Yuan Zhong emphasized again. Just as Yuan Zhong expected, in Nobunaga's big tent, all the generals had already sat down, waiting for Ieyasu's arrival.Headed by Oda's two sons Nobutada and Nobuo, Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Niwa Nagahide, Takikawa Kazuyoshi, Maeda Toshiie and others gathered together to discuss tactics over and over again. .On the grass where the tent had just been pitched, Nobunaga was the only one sitting on the bed.Seeing Ieyasu approaching but not seeing Xinyasu behind him, Nobunaga asked strangely, "Where's Sanlang?"

"I'm setting up camp at Mt. Matsuo, just tell him the decision later." "Master Tokugawa, please sit down." Nobunaga pointed to the seat beside him. "Nobunaga, I think Koshu will definitely come to the decisive battle." Ieyasu glanced at Torii Mototada and Kanbara Yasomasa who were following behind, and smiled. "Then, our army will surely win." "Indeed." Nobunaga nodded happily: "Just in case, I still have something to say to Tokugawa-sama." "Appreciate further details." "It's nothing else. It's just that Katsuyori is Tokugawa's old enemy. You must want to win a battle and then gain a foothold here. If you really want to do this, I'm afraid it's not well thought out. Whether it's you or Saburo, go deep into the enemy's army At that time, if there was a mistake, it would not be worthwhile to win. Once it becomes that kind of situation, for me, Nobunaga, sending troops from Gifu to help you may lose its meaning.”

Ieyasu nodded silently.Nobunaga's words also surprised Torii Yuanzhong.Nobunaga seems to have seen the uneasiness in Ieyasu's heart.He clearly expressed his position with the subtle words of "sending troops to help you". "No matter what happens, you just sit on the Diaoyutai in this battle, and leave everything to me, Nobunaga. If the opponent really provokes a decisive battle and wins, you can also treat it as a tour, just watch the fun. This time, Takeda's men are like a flock of sparrows at my disposal." Ieyasu had an unhappy look on his face, and Nobunaga said he was helping, but in his heart he wanted to win by his own strength, so as to show off his strength to the world.

"Didn't you say it was 'a helping hand'..." After a while, Ieyasu returned to his previous smile. "You begged me for help. If we were just traveling around, I would be sorry for you, so I wanted to move forward bravely, but I didn't expect you to misunderstand my good intentions..." After finishing speaking, Nobunaga turned his gaze to the unfolded map.This is the map of the Ministry of Forces that was agreed upon in Okazaki, and it is filled with circles and dots with red pens.Enclose a long fence along the banks of the Lianzichuan River, and then lure the enemies over, and you can dispose of them arbitrarily like catching sparrows.

Ieyasu stared at the map, and thought carefully again: "Just like this, I still feel uneasy." Oda and Tokugawa have a total of 28,000 troops, including 3,500 musketeers that Nobunaga mobilized from within the sphere of influence.When departing from Gifu, Nobunaga specially asked everyone to carry a bundle of wood. He used the tens of thousands of wood he brought to make a fence. Made three layers, which is the tripping post set up in advance for the Takeda Army who is good at horseback riding. In order to destroy the camps of Ieyasu and Nobunaga in one fell swoop, Takeda's men must try to break through the fence, and a large number of people will be blocked here. At that time, all the muskets will be aimed at the enemies crowded at the fence. Secret strategy is a winning strategy.Because of this, he confidently told Ieyasu that he was traveling in the mountains and rivers, or just enjoying the scenery, but Ieyasu still felt uneasy.

"Oh, don't you worry about that? What's the shortcoming?" Nobunaga was a little surprised, staring at Ieyasu and asked, "What's wrong, just tell me and listen." Ieyasu didn't answer, but bowed his head in thought for a while, and then said, "Are you sure Takeda will break through the fence?" "Hahaha... I can guarantee this, so stop thinking about it." "However, even if the enemy falls into our trap..." Ieyasu stopped in the middle of speaking, "Among my retainers, there is a man named Sakai Zaemon Wei Chuji..." He didn't know what came to his mind, Suddenly said something inexplicable.

"What are you talking about?" Suddenly, Nobunaga became vigilant.His eagle-like eyes tried to see through Ieyasu's thoughts, "Tadaji has been on missions many times and is well-informed. He knows what to do even without being reminded. Do you want to ask him what strategy he has? ?” "If you want to talk about Zhongci, he is really good at fighting. Now you can call him out and ask him for an idea." This time, it was Nobunaga who looked serious and thoughtful. "Okay, call him quickly." "Xiao Pingta, Denchuji come here." After Ieyasu finished speaking, he pointed the fan in his hand to the outside of Lianzi Bridge, the starting point of the fence array, "There, you can use my retainer Brother Okubo as bait. If I can help you again, Ieyasu really cares I can't bear it." Nobunaga laughed dumbly.Ieyasu's step-by-step approach is not without merit, but Nobunaga is not such a person.Ieyasu is as smart as a monkey, full of tricks.That's not bad.The two generals will fight wits and courage, give full play to their respective strengths, and the coalition will become stronger and stronger. "The Okubo brothers you are talking about are Shichiroemon Tadayo and Jiemon Tadasa?" "Exactly. I want the two of them to take the lead in our army, what do you agree with?" "Okay. I have no objection to letting Brother Okubo go." Nobunaga said again: "If Brother Okubo outside the fence is in a hard fight, I will order the three generals Shibata, Niwa and Hashiba to fight from the north." While talking, Sakai Chuji came.All the generals and attendants in the camp focused their eyes on him.Ieyasu felt uneasy because he was not satisfied with Nobunaga's strategy, so it was not unreasonable for him to call Tadashi to ask him. "Oh, it's Chuji." Before Ieyasu waved, Nobunaga greeted first, "What strategy do you have for this battle, please tell me, don't be restrained." "Yes." Chuji bowed deeply, as if a different person, solemnly walked up to Nobunaga, knelt down on one leg, and studied the map unfolded on the ground, "Here, Takeda Army Pursue our decoy troops and move towards Ukaihara, so that the enemy's rear will be empty." "Will it be free?" "Yes. At that time, our army sneaked into the enemy's back and took the opportunity to seize the enemy's fortification on Kita Nest Mountain. What do you two think?" "Seize the Kite Nest Mountain behind the enemy..." Ieyasu pondered. "Yes. If my lord arranges as I said, you can sneak behind the enemy the night before, and you will take down Kite's Nest Mountain at dawn. At that time, your lord will see the effect of doing so." Tadashi spoke triumphantly, while Ieyasu seemed to be listening but half listening.Nobunaga gave him a keen look, and suddenly laughed, "Chuji!" "exist." "I, Nobunaga, lived forty-two years before I began to understand that proverb: crabs dig holes to learn from snails-that's all. Hahahaha... bastard, how can you explain this battle clearly. This is not a battle with bandits and bandits This is a big battle, the ones you mentioned can be used in small battlefields in Sanhe, Yuanjiang and other places where only two or three hundred people participate. Okay, I have learned your ingenuity, get out!" Once he laughed at others, he would curse endlessly, which is exactly Nobunaga's character.Tadashi blushed with embarrassment, and the generals beside him did not dare to breathe, and lowered their heads one by one.Only Ieyasu remained silent. "Then, please forgive me and leave." After Tadashi stepped down, the meeting continued.However, the ensuing discussions revolved around how to lure the enemy behind the wooden fence. Of course, if the enemy did not take the bait, they had to reconsider.When night fell, the meeting basically ended, and the generals returned to their new tents. "Ieyasu, don't rush back." Nobunaga said with a smile when only Ieyasu's master and servant were left. "He has figured it out after all. Then, please come again, Zhongji." Ieyasu also had a tacit understanding.He looked at Nobunaga, nodded, and said word by word: "In this way, our army has won. Finally, I can feel at ease." When Tadashi was called again, it was already dark, piles of bonfires were lit on the ground, and the stars in the sky were twinkling.Chuji's face was pale, with a look of alertness and anger. "Chuji, come here." Ieyasu waved to Zhongji slowly, "Master Oda said to talk to you again." "Yes." Zhongji came to the two of them and knelt down on the ground with one leg.Nobunaga waved his hand and dismissed the two bodyguards: "Chuji, come a little further." "yes." "As expected of Ieyasu's right-hand man, I actually admire the strategy you mentioned just now." "..." "Although we are in the battalion, don't be careless. Since I have just discovered a spy of Amari Shingoro in a state, I will simply use my plan. Therefore, the enemy will definitely come to have a decisive battle in Unabara. However, the enemy who attacked first was hit head-on by our army. Afterwards, I found that something was wrong, and I will definitely withdraw. In this way, we will have fewer prey. Therefore, I am considering whether there is a better strategy. On the morning of the decisive battle, it is a good idea to capture the enemy's fortifications on the kite nest mountain , It really touched Nobunaga's heart. It's just that because it is a night attack, once the enemy finds out, all previous efforts will be wasted, so I deliberately laughed at you in front of the generals. I want to drive piles and fences tomorrow night, and you will quietly tomorrow night Take action, take the opportunity to take down the fortress of Yuanchao Mountain when the enemy reaches Youhaiyuan, I will give you five hundred musketeers, what do you think?" "This...is it true?" Because it was too unexpected, Tadashi looked at Ieyasu and then at Nobunaga.Ieyasu still had his eyes slightly closed, as if he was listening. "Hahaha, it would be a pity if someone listened to the clever plan that I finally came up with, so I deliberately reprimanded you, and please don't be offended. To be honest, I hate the night attack you talked about." I can't go in person. Ieyasu, it's a pity that Chuji took away the opportunity to make great contributions." Ieyasu still nodded slightly, and then said to Tadashi: "Lead the five hundred musketeers and do a good job." "Yes, don't worry, my lords." "Be careful, don't be discovered by others." "As ordered." "Then, I'll take my leave too. I still have a lot of things to arrange for the generals when I go back." Ieyasu saluted deeply and stood up, while Nobunaga patted him on the shoulder unceremoniously, "Listen to the sound of piling in the distance, Bang, bang, bang, how sweet it is, Tokugawa-sama." In this way, the military affairs of Tokugawa and Oda came to an end. Takeda Katsuyori of Yakuoji Mountain also called the generals together overnight to discuss the military situation.Many large candles were lit in the camp, and it was so hot that it was like stepping into a steam room when you walked in.Everyone's faces were shiny. "So, my lord will fight to the death no matter what?" It was Baba Mino Shoshinbo who was facing Katsuyori, who was hesitating in speaking. I don't know if he heard Shinbo's words, but Katsuyori called the Atobe Daisuke Katsuki of the main combat faction over. "I heard that Amari Shingoro, who was undercover in the enemy's interior, came to report, what is it, tell me quickly." Atobe Taiyaku nodded exaggeratedly on purpose, and then glanced at Baba, Yamagata, Naito, and Oyamada, as if he regarded the four of them as leaders who opposed the decisive battle. "That's how it happened. Nobumori Sakuma, the general of Oda, wrote me a private letter through Amari, saying that Sakuma wants to submit to the Takeda family, and he has to make a great contribution. He wants to present it as a gift to the lord." "Huh? Nobumori Sakuma wants to work for Takeda?" Naito Osamu asked eagerly. "That's true." Atobe Taiyaki nodded emphatically, "It says in the letter that Nobunaga's shortcoming is that he has a quick temper. Once he gets angry, he will never give up until everyone in the room bows their heads. His sharp mouth once made Saku Jian Sheng scolded the bloody sprinkler, and Gan Li has already heard that." "Is that true? Oda is a sloppy strategist." "Exactly what you said." Da Cook patted his chest with his military fan, and continued, "The other party wants to make a great contribution to the lord. I don't think the lord should refuse or be vigilant. I want to share the contents of the secret letter written by Sakuma himself. Read it as it is." Then, Da Cook took out a letter for everyone to read. "The secret letter is written like this: The present master Oda Nobunaga is extremely afraid of Takeda's army. The so-called active attack is absolutely impossible. Moreover, if there are no Niwa Nagahide and Takikawa Kazuyoshi and two strong generals around him, he will not dare to attack." Act rashly. Therefore, if Takeda's army goes forward to attack, Xinsheng will find an opportunity to respond from the inside and destroy the Xinchang camp in one fell swoop. Once the Nobuda camp is broken, Ieyasu will undoubtedly be defeated. Take this as a gift and present the victory to Lai Gong. I still hope to accept it." After the full house listened, there was no sound. "Sakuma wants to surrender? Show me the secret letter." Katsurai said skillfully, glanced at the letter, then rolled it up and put it under his arm. "No matter what, you must not expect Sakuma to betray you. If he really comes to surrender, it will not be too late to think about it then. Then, tomorrow, we will act as planned, and the left wing will be led by Sanlang Bingwei Changjing from Shan County." "As ordered." "Xiaoyaoxuan, Mr. Nobusada, is assisting at the side. To the right of the mountain county is Zuomasuke Nobutoyo, and to the right are Xiaoyaoxuan and Naito Xiu." Naito repaired quietly glanced at the horse farm letter room next to him, and remained silent. "The right wing is Baba Nobubo and Sanada Gentazaemon..." In the big tent, only a monk doing odd jobs was walking around, adding oil to the candlesticks.A series of orders went on, but no one answered for a long time, Katsuyori was anxious, his voice and eyes were as strict as a knife, "Are you trying to disobey the military order?" The military discussion on the Takeda side continued until the evening of the 19th. The delicate atmosphere between the main combat faction and the opposition made it difficult to make a resolution at the meeting.Some said it depends on how the opponent attacks, while others insisted that it is the best policy to wait for the enemy to come before sending troops to attack. They were still arguing endlessly, but the military reports of the Tokugawa and Oda armies continued to come in one after another, and the military deployment of the other side had begun to emerge. It is said that the main force of Tokugawa is going to Danzheng Mountain and has built a triple high fence in front of the mountain.The main combat faction spoke unanimously again, and their emotions rose. "Sakuma's words are indeed true. Nobunaga didn't have the courage to attack. If not, why did he enter Chamo Mountain where Ieyasu was stationed and build triple fences? Did he build so many!" "In this way, we can take the initiative to attack and defeat them in one fell swoop. Even if the enemy doesn't come out, we can at most find another way." Katsuyori has been the main combat faction from the very beginning, so this sentence can be said to have finally convinced the opposition.Finally, around 9:00 pm on the evening of the 19th, Takeda’s side came up with a final decision: take action on the 20th, first set up an array in front of the enemy, and launch a general offensive at dawn on the 21st.The first team was two thousand horses from the Red Army in Shan County.The second branch is Takeda Xiaoyaoxuan and Naito Xiu.The third branch is Xiaobanshang Zongjie Xinzhen.The fourth branch is Takeda Zuomasuke Xinfeng.The fifth branch is the Bachang Xinfang and the Sanada brothers. Katsuyori, who wanted to take the lead, finally stayed at Yakuoji Mountain, which more or less gave the opposition a little comfort.By the time the military meeting ended and the generals came out of Katsuyori's camp, it was already very late.Baba Mino Shouxinfang looked up at the moon in the sky and waited for Sanlangbei from Yamagata behind. "Shanxian, you and I have been friends for many years, and we will part ways unexpectedly." "Hey! The current situation is like this, where else!" "I have something to say to you..." "Let's talk about it in your tent first." "Why don't you go to Datong Temple Mountain on the way to my tent, there is a valley, there is a mountain spring there is very good, please elaborate." The two said, and took the reins from the guards. At this moment, Naito Xiuliang, Koyamada Hei and Hara Hayato saw the two of them and urged their horses to come over. "I'm really reluctant to break up like this." Naito Xiu said hello, Saburobei and Xinbo also looked at each other and smiled.In this battle, everyone seems to be ready to die on the battlefield. Thinking of this matter, Xinfang couldn't stop beating his chest and stamping his feet: "If you want to keep the family business of the Wutian family, you must avoid such recklessness. We have all persuaded the lord and tried our best, but since the decision has been made, nothing can be helped. If If you make irresponsible remarks, future generations will laugh at our lord for being stupid and unable to be a leader." Seeing everyone's indignation, Xinfang said sadly: "Oh! There's no need to complain about complaints. Show the spirit of a Koshu samurai. It's a pity that it's really sad to part like this." Koidedabei was also deeply saddened.Unknowingly, five people came together side by side on horseback.The racecourse letter room was in a heavy heart, and he didn't want to say a word.Saburobei finally suggested: "Let's go to the valley of Datongji Mountain and have a toast with water instead of wine, and then we part." The letter room was close to Saburo Bingwei, and leaned over the horse.He looked around cautiously, and said with emphasis: "Master Shanxian, you have to live." "Why bring up this disappointment again." "In case of a big defeat, please give up and send the lord back to Jiazhou safely." Shan County Saburo Bingwei shook his head lightly: "I'm stupid, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it." "If you don't take on this responsibility, you will be in trouble. Once the Lord sees that the situation is not good, he will also desperately enter the enemy's line." "Master Bachang, I think you can do this job. Now that it has been decided, I have to obey the military order and lead the way. Otherwise, how will my morale improve? At that time, victory will also turn into defeat. Don't talk about it anymore." "anyway……" "No, I can't promise you. Otherwise, the day when I lose my head will not be far away." The postman of the racecourse got off his horse, sighed, and looked at the moon that was fading and fading, and remained silent.It was indeed a bit difficult for the first team of Mashan County Saburo Bingwei to survive.If so, he, who was appointed as the leader of the fifth team, must stay for the rear.However, once I retreat to Kai, I don't know whether I still have the courage to live.Could it be that there is only one master that a military general loves all his life?If this is the case, when Lord Xinxuan passed away, should he also go with him?There must be many people who also pursue Shingen. In this way, is it unfair to the current victory? By the time we walked through the bushes, around the rock corners, and arrived at the bottom of the Datong Temple valley, it was almost four quarters of the day.The moonlight shone down, and the surface of the stream was silvery white.Everyone found a puddle and jumped off the horse. "In the beginning, it was 15,000 to 500, but now it has become 15,000 to 40,000." It was Hara Hayato who spoke. "At this point, if you don't retreat, you still have to fight a decisive battle. You can't control yourself! Come on, cheers." Naito repaired the spoon from the horse's back, scooped a spoonful of water, "then, let's start with the mountain county first." "Oh, it's really rare. You see, the shadow of the moon is reflected in the spoon." Sanlang Bingwei took a sip with a smile, and then handed the spoon to the horse farm post office next to him. The messenger held the spoon respectfully, and muttered: "Great Bodhisattva Hachiman, just watch, everyone, I'll go first." After finishing speaking, he took a sip and handed it to Naito for repair. Naito didn't say anything, and handed it to Hayato Hara. "Oh, what a sweet spring water, it's so sweet that people can't describe it." Hayato Hara took a sip and handed it to Oyamada Hei. "Hahaha..." Oyamada Heiwei laughed, "If you die like this, what everyone said sounds like a lie. Haha..." An owl's hooting came from nowhere, and if one listened carefully, the sound of the stream seemed to be accompanied by the low sigh of the river deer. On May 21st of the third year of Tianzheng, the southeast wind was blowing violently from dawn, and the whitish sky was full of wind and clouds.The Shanxian troops of the first team of the Takeda Army have advanced to the vicinity of the Lianzi Bridge on the far side of the left wing.Anticipating that the battle might start in the morning, they had already made preparations.It was just dawn, and the anti-horse fence built in front was not very clear.The task of the red cavalry in Shan County is to break through the fence and enter the enemy's camp. "It's time to blow the horn of attack." Saburo Bingwei looked ahead and said to himself.He was short and dainty, flying on his horse, looking extraordinarily mighty. "Hey, there is an enemy coming outside the fence, show me who it is!" Saburo Bingwei was a little puzzled.There was a gleam of light on the dark fence, and some black shadows were swaying there. When I looked closely, it turned out to be some infantry. Ieyasu has two strong generals under his command, one is Okubo Tadashi and the other is Okubo Tadasa. These two brothers are Ieyasu's right-hand men. When fighting, one of them always starts and the other ends.It is these two brothers who are guarding here today.Since Shanxian is a well-known general in Takeda's army, the two brothers did not dare to be sloppy at all, and started to act before dawn. The spies sent by Shan County hadn't come back yet, only to hear the Okubo troops gearing up and shouting to kill. "Don't act rashly." Saburobei ordered.He rode up a small hill alone to observe the enemy's situation.The vision is blurred, and it is hard to see how many enemies there are.But once the enemy comes out, it will be a great thing.If the enemy shrinks back, he has to level the fence no matter what, and when he finds that the enemy is about to come out, he can take the opportunity to rush up and kill him in pieces. "Report! The enemy outside the fence is Okubo's troops." At this moment, a thunderous sound suddenly came from the direction of Yuanchao Mountain behind, boom boom boom boom boom boom boom... Like an avalanche, the gunfire exploded. "Hey! Damn it!" Saburo Bingwei reined in his horse and cursed.It didn't sound like there were only fifty or sixty shots.If the enemy has already touched the back, then the back road will be cut off. There is no doubt that the gunshot was fired by the musket raid team led by Sakai Zaemon Wei Chuji.Chuji led the five hundred musketeers specially assigned to him by Nobunaga, and they touched the Kite Nest Mountain last night.The sudden thunderous gunshots made the camps of Takeda Samasuke on the left and Sousuke Kobagami who was waiting behind them be in chaos like a frying pan. Shanxian Sanlang Bingwei reined in the horse and stood there like a statue, motionless.After a long time, he shouted: "Attention everyone!" Then he urged his horse to the front of the formation like the wind. The war begins.No, it is better to say that two thousand cavalry warriors created a gust of wind in order to crush Okubo's infantry. The sky gradually dawned, the war drums thumped, and the horns blew.