Chapter 10 Chapter Ten

Ieyasu no longer remembers how the city gate was opened.When he came back to his senses, he found that he was already in the city like a bereaved dog. "My lord, I've already entered the city. Please dismount." Ieyasu looked intently, and saw Okubo Tadayo staring at him.He got off the horse obediently.The city is quiet, and the treetops are covered with snowflakes. "Why don't you leave?" Zhong Shi sternly reprimanded again.But Ieyasu has completely collapsed, he doesn't even know whether he is alive or dead.He had risked everything in this decisive battle and lost it all.

"My lord!" Zhong Shi patted Ieyasu on the shoulder with his hands, and suddenly laughed wildly, "My lord, you are such a fool." "what?" "Look, there's your shit on the saddle. Oh, it stinks!" Ieyasu finally opened his eyes suddenly.He staggered and touched the saddle, and shouted: "Bastard! That's miso soup." As he spoke, he slapped Zhongshi, and seemed to have regained his vigor and vitality, "Masakura Uemura Go guard the gate with Yasuke Amano, Motochu!" "exist." "You go to the entrance." Ieyasu ordered Torii Mototada, who was running over, "Open the city gate. Pile up all the firewood and ignite it, carefully check every person who withdraws, and don't let the enemy sneak into the city."

After categorically giving the order, Ieyasu suddenly slumped down on the steps.Zhong Shi hurried over and took off his shoes for him. "Bastard, you actually said it was poop." Ieyasu got up cursing, and walked straight to the hall, "Bring hot water." He yelled at the dawdling servant.The meals are served.The first bowl of rice was quickly eaten up, and the second bowl came soon. "Has the bonfire started?" Ieyasu asked Zhongshi who was still a little dazed. "This defeat is really miserable." Zhong Shi suddenly burst into tears.Ieyasu finally regained his anger, he is not a fatuous lord.Zhong Shi is glad that the joke about the excrement played a role in stirring up the generals.

"Bring me another bowl." Ieyasu ate three bowls of rice in succession. "Listen, I want to rest. You don't need to light a fire." After speaking, he immediately lay down. The Takeda army, pursuing the victory, seems to have pushed the Okazaki people to the wall.The shouts and arrows were mixed with the wind and snow, getting tighter and tighter.Among these noisy sounds, there was Ieyasu's snoring.He was extremely tired and snoring loudly. Okubo Shichiroemon Tadayo listened silently to Ieyasu's thunderous snoring, and there was no movement for a while.Although the lord returned after a big defeat, he was able to sleep so soundly!Zhong Shi was a little moved, which came from the shock brought about by the cruel war.The lord has exhausted all his strength, and now he has fallen asleep peacefully.What will he say when he wakes up?Does it mean to retreat to Yoshida Castle immediately and wait for Oda's reinforcements there; or to defend the city at the risk of life?Zhong Shi suddenly felt a shock in his heart.In the face of the enemy's attack, Ieyasu, who was sleeping peacefully after eating three bowls of rice, could not think about others.Putting life and death aside, he would put his heart and soul into the fight, he would say.

At this time, Saburo Amano and Hoki Ishikawa rushed over with their bodies full of arrows. "The lord is asleep?" Saburo Bingwei asked.Ishikawa Hoki tilted his head blankly. "Snoring?" "Snoring. Is there a bonfire, then?" "The fire is shining like daylight, and the city gates are wide open. Enemies are pouring into the city. You must wake up the lord immediately, and let him direct the battle." "He will command us." Zhongshi moved forward, "We have already failed. If we retreat from here, we will be chased by the enemy. Shingen is not a ghost. Let the adults sleep and wake up before commanding the battle. ..."

"Are you still confident, sir?" "Yes. We want to swallow the enemy here to prove the ability and tolerance of Sanhe people." Zhongshi suddenly turned around and faced Saburo Bingwei, "So, I'm going to Xiya!" "Are you still going to Rhinoceros Cliff?" "I'm going to attack the enemies who break into the city from behind. Saburobei, you immediately summon the musketeers." Saburobei looked at Zhongshi and nodded: "Understood. I don't know how many people are left, I will call them immediately." After Sanlangbei left, Okubo Tadaise tightened the straw shoelaces: "Everyone, act!"

A few more candles were added to the hall, and Ieyasu's snoring continued. "Let us also die in front of the city gate." Ishikawa Hoki said, pulling out an arrow from his sleeve.At this time, the sound of the drum from the arrow warehouse pierced through the wind and snow and reached their ears.People looked at each other in surprise.Obviously someone rushed into the city and quickly climbed up the turret. When the drums sounded, Ieyasu's snoring stopped abruptly.He stretched slowly, listened to the sound of the drum with a serious expression, and looked around again: "Ah, well, let's fight again..."

The open city gates were covered with snow, which was extraordinarily white under the light of the bonfire.Every few moments, samurai with spears on their shoulders walked back and forth.They were not there to keep out the cold, but Yasuke Amano, who was in charge of guarding here, wanted to confuse the enemy, making people think that there were hundreds of people waiting here. The bonfire lights up the night sky, revealing the whole city.Sakai Chuji's subordinates rushed back all the way, climbed up the turret, beat the drums, and the whole city seemed to be revived in an instant.Kai Changjing, the dwarf of Kai, Yamagata Saburo and Wei Changjing, who was chasing after the victory, tried to capture the city in one fell swoop, but when he reached the gate of the city, he suddenly gestured for his subordinates to stop.At this time, the sound of war drums became louder and louder, and the bonfire burned more and more vigorously.The wounded Hamamatsu soldiers walked to the city gate in twos and threes, but the soldiers guarding the city didn't seem to see them at all, and their faces were solemn.

"Don't move rashly." Changjing tilted his neck, turned his horse's head, and ran towards the Shenglai formation on the right rear.Katsuyori also stopped his horse, shook off the snowflakes on his head, and looked up at the city: "Is it Sanlangbei? How is the situation in the city?" "I believe that there are not many remnants." "What happened to the war drum?" "You find it strange too?" "certainly." At this time, Koyamada Nobushio's horse kicked Xue Fei over.His eyelashes have also been covered with snow: "It seems that there are still people guarding the city."

Katsurai nodded: "Send someone to Meixue's place to have a look. The men and horses are already tired, so don't fight recklessly." "Yes." A cavalry samurai responded, and ran towards the rightmost Xueshan Meixue formation. At this time, Okubo Tadayo, who was out of the city in the chaos, led twenty-six musketeers, and sneaked under the rhinoceros cliff from the side of the mountain.The soldiers were already shivering with cold, and generally felt discomfort in the lower abdomen.With a little movement, you can feel the watery excrement filling the crotch. Zhong Shi had a stern expression, "My lord, please forgive me." He murmured.He thought of the strong-willed Ieyasu who laughed and called the poop on the horse's back a miso soup.

There was knee-high snow on the edge of the cliff.Zhongshi stopped advancing, and ordered twenty-six guns to aim at Anayama's back: "No need to aim, just light the fire and fire the cannon, and then shout in unison." The fuse was lit.The smell of gunpowder became stronger and stronger, and soon twenty-six muskets made loud noises. Coupled with the fuel fire in Hamamatsu Castle, the sound of gunfire resounded throughout the world. The shouts of the Xueshan army dispelled the chill on the warriors.Due to the unexpected attack, Anayama's army suddenly exploded and fell into chaos. "A little more time..." Zhong Shi suppressed his excitement and shouted loudly. Due to the two rounds of gunfire and the sound of war drums in the city, it was judged that the Takeda Army was under attack from inside and outside.Unbelievably, the confusion seemed to be contagious, and soon spread from Anayama's team to Yamagata's team, and then to Oyamada's army, and Takeda's army finally decided to retreat.Okubo, Ishikawa, and Amano did not give chase; but there is no doubt that their actions frightened the Takeda people. Ieyasu felt extremely tired all over his body when he heard the news that the Takeda Army had finally retreated in the hall.It was by no means a clever fight, but a fiasco beyond words.But after experiencing a fiasco, he survived and successfully stopped the enemy's pursuit.Of course, this is by no means the credit of Ieyasu alone.There seemed to be an invisible force dominating all of this, and he thanked that force in his heart. Armed servants brought chestnuts and rice balls from the kitchen.But Ieyasu didn't ask his servants to distribute the meals, but let the samurai who kept coming back stare at the rice balls with hungry eyes. Torii Mototada, who has always been strong, lost his younger brother, and his eyes seemed to be burning with flames; Honda Heihachiro Tadakatsu, who lost many subordinates, felt sore all over his body.Suzuki Hisaburo brought Ieyasu's spear: "I picked it up on the way." "I gave it to you." Ieyasu replied casually, then turned to Yasuke Amano and said, "Where's Chuji?" "Sakai is still receiving treatment under the kitchen." "Is it badly hurt?" "Four arrows drawn. Washing with wine." In fact, everyone was injured in this battle. "The people gathered here seem to be haunted by ghosts at night. They are really ugly." Hearing Jiakang's words, everyone finally smiled. After Okubo Tadyo returned, the food was finally distributed, and everyone had a bowl of hot wine.Everyone drank silently, and couldn't help but shed tears.In the eyes of them, who are between life and death, only Ieyasu is still so tall, like a huge mountain.Does he not know fear? Torii Mototada unconsciously raised his wine glass: "Thinking about it carefully, we have won this battle. We should congratulate." His voice was like a dog barking. "How could we lose? Didn't we repel an army of 30,000 with 8,000 troops?" Zhong Shi responded. Ieyasu said, "Don't deceive yourself. We did lose. Although we were defeated, we did not lose our integrity." "Yes. Although we lost, we didn't lose our integrity... Yes! We failed! Congratulations, sir." Heihachiro Honda staggered to his feet and danced as he said.Honda compared himself to Zhong Kui, but others thought of the injured bulldog. The bonfire burned until dawn, and the soldiers gradually fell asleep around the fire. After dawn, the snow stopped and turned into light rain.On December 23rd, both warring parties relaxed their nerves a little.Takeda discusses the military situation in Mikatahara.The generals Katsuyori, Yamagata, and Oyamada all advocated the capture of Hamamatsu Castle, but Shingen disagreed.Considering that they may encounter reinforcements from Oda on the way to Beijing, food and grass cannot be wasted in Mikatahara.With a huge army, slow action is the most taboo - so Shingen decided to stop the attack.On the morning of the 24th, Ieyasu learned that the Takeda Army had decided to cease fighting. After Hamamatsu City got the exact movement of the Takeda Army, Fang began to pack up the bodies of his own people.Immediately, a large number of tombs were added inside and outside Hamamatsu Castle, covered with pillars of frost. The Takeda army lost about 400 people, while the Tokugawa side, including the loss of Oda reinforcements, suffered 1,180 casualties. Three years of troubled Yuangui finally passed, and soon the first month of the first year of Tianzheng (1573) was ushered in. This first month, no one in Hamamatsu Castle visited relatives and friends to greet the New Year.Shingen arrived at the Jubu area at the end of the year, where the first month of the month was celebrated.He is going to attack Noda Castle. Ieyasu returned to his bedroom after worshiping God on the morning of the first day of the first lunar month. He returned his pen and stared blankly out the window alone.While crossing out the names of the war dead with a red pen, he murmured: "Forgive me..." No matter what the name is, it can bring back endless memories in him, and he can't help but weep his shirt sleeves.Natsume Masaki, Torii Shiro left...their deaths did not bring peace.Powerful enemies are now stalking tigers, trying to crush Sanhe. Ieyasu lit the incense candle on the table, put down his pen, and went to the porch.The sun has risen, and the sky and the earth are blood red.The cold wind was blowing against the skin, which was very painful.More and more people disappeared from this world, and Ieyasu's face was extremely cold. "My lord, get ready." A clear voice suddenly came from behind, it was A'ai.Ieyasu nodded slightly, returned to the room, and immediately changed into military uniform.After all, you can't welcome the New Year in casual attire. He tied up his sleeves swiftly, forced a smile and said, "Aai, we lost." A'ai opened her eyes wide: "What... what lost?" "The decisive battle last year. It was a rare experience." "A'ai doesn't think it's a failure." "Oh." Ieyasu smiled and came to the hall.All the generals were fully armed and stood awe-inspiring. They had regained their vitality, and their expressions were more fierce and serious than before.Ieyasu looked around at the crowd and said heavily, "This year will be the year that will determine Sanhe's fate." Everyone nodded in unison.Honda Zuzaemon moved forward and said, "Congratulations, my lord." "Congratulations." Everyone also greeted loudly, and the voice was so loud that they almost lifted Ieyasu's sleeves. After the New Year's greeting ceremony, everyone resumed their usual busy schedule. Some sharpened weapons, some piled rice and grain into warehouses, and some brought New Year's Fu into the city.Ieyasu made his way through the crowd and came to the east of the city.The early spring sun hangs high in the sky.Ieyasu faced the sun, opened his chest, and remained still. "My lord," Iwanchiyo said behind him with a sword hanging from his waist, "Mrs. Awan is here." Ieyasu didn't seem to listen, and still stood there silently.Ah Wan's complexion has become very bad since the miscarriage at the end of last year, but he still came to congratulate Jiakang on the New Year.Ieyasu didn't look back, so Awan could only stand there, looking at the sun. "Manchiyo, Saburo of Okazaki is already fifteen years old..." After a long time, Ieyasu said to Manchiyo, still ignoring Awan. "yes." "I was wondering if Saburo sent an envoy to deliver a New Year's message." "The young master will definitely send an envoy." "Facing such a powerful enemy, it would be great if Sanhe could spend the first month without incident. Ah Wan, do you think he will come?" Awan was terrified and trembling slightly.She could imagine that Mrs. Tsukiyama of Okazaki must be secretly delighted at Ieyasu's defeat. "Ah Wan, why didn't you answer?" "Yes... Now, when the time comes, the young master will come naturally." "Did Mrs. Tsukiyama write you a letter?" "yes." Awan's body couldn't help twitching in pain.When the news of her miscarriage reached Okazaki Castle, Mrs. Tsukiyama sent a letter with harsh words, saying that God would never allow her to give birth to a child as she wished.But today is the New Year after all, so such topics should be avoided. "It's good news, the young master may soon have a child." "Huh? I'm going to have a grandson?" "Yes. Congratulations, my lord." "Oh." "And the young master seems to have married another concubine." "Sanlang married a concubine? Whose idea was it?" "It was arranged by Yashiro Ohgami, a beautiful woman named Iris. This is a message from someone close to Tokuhime." "Oh. Is it from a dutiful family? Saburo is going to have a baby..." Ieyasu was nagging.De Ji was pregnant, and San Lang married a concubine... He smiled slightly. At this time, Ah Ai came over.Ieyasu stood beside two concubines, and the warm sunlight shone on him. "Ai, will Okazaki send someone to celebrate the New Year?" Ah Ai raised her head and looked at Awan.She also knew very well that Mrs. Zhushan hated and was jealous of Awan, so she said cautiously: "I'm busy... maybe I forgot." Ieyasu snorted coldly, "Then, only Wan Qiandai believes that they will come." As soon as the words fell, he heard a shout: "My lord, Okazaki's envoy has arrived." I saw Ben with a kerchief on his head, who seemed to be patrolling the granary Tasakuzaemon came out from the shade of the tree bent over. "Yes, the messenger is Ogami Shiro. Should I tell him to wait, or come here?" Wan Qiandai asked. "Yashiro? Regardless of the New Year's greetings, let him come here." Soon, Yashiro came to the front. He was wearing new clothes and looked very energetic. "Yashiro, did you come by land?" "No, it's by boat." "Oh. How's Okazaki's age?" Ieyasu asked suddenly.Yashiro seemed to have anticipated all this, took out the account book from his pocket, and held it in front of Ieyasu respectfully.Jiakang flipped through it roughly, and said in his mouth: "Not bad, you did a good job. I heard that Deji is pregnant?" "Ah... the villain has never heard of it." "That's strange. Ah Wan, who informed you of this?" "It's the young lady's personal servant." "Oh, so Tokuhime hasn't made the matter public yet. Saburo married a concubine?... Yashiro." "exist." "I heard that Sanlang married a concubine named Chang Pu, whose family is that girl from?" "She is the daughter of a doctor outside the city." "The doctor's daughter?" "Yes. She is the daughter of a doctor whom Mrs. Tsukiyama is very fond of. We have carefully investigated her background." "Whose idea?" "It's Mrs. Tsukiyama. No, to be more precise, it was the young master himself who fell in love with Calamus, and then made a request to his wife." "When did this happen?" "Early December last year." "At the beginning of December... Sanlang went to find a concubine while I was fighting on the battlefield?" Ieyasu's eyes suddenly radiated a terrifying look, and Yashiro couldn't help shrinking his neck.In Ieyasu's eyes, Ogami Yashiro is a rare retainer.He is proficient in calculations, his accounts are clear, and he can even quickly understand every look in Ieyasu's eyes, and skillfully deal with the citizens.Because of this, he was promoted to be an elder.Yashiro didn't stop Saburo from marrying a concubine at the most difficult and dangerous time for Ieyasu, which made Ieyasu feel dissatisfied and even more incredible. "Yashiro, come to my bedroom." Ieyasu turned and left with a serious face. Is there really a lurking uneasiness deep in the human heart?Ieyasu, who was calm and composed under the pressure of Takeda Shingen's army, became nervous at this moment.Could it be that the seeds of division have been planted in Sanhe?He felt that he could no longer stand here. When I came to the bedroom, the fragrance in the room was wafting, and the sunlight was lightly shining on the windows.Ieyasu dismissed his servants, leaving him and Yashiro alone. "Yashiro, tell me everything." "Yes. Is it about the young master and Calamus?" "No, it's Saburo's nature. Could it be that my hard work can't be understood by him?" "My lord, please forgive me, the young master is extremely clever, as for the concubine matter..." "Everyone in Okazaki came to dissuade them?" "Yes..." Yashiro deliberately pretended to be embarrassed, and said vaguely, "Master Hiraiwa and Hisamatsu..." "Oh? Hisamatsu and Pingyan didn't come forward to stop it in time, so Saburo did whatever he wanted?" "Yes. The villain once persuaded, saying that if this matter is passed on to Mr. Nobunaga through the mouth of the young lady...but the two adults seem to dismiss it." "Where is Mrs. Tsukiyama?" "Everyone around here thinks so." Ieyasu responded, sighed deeply, stared at the roof tightly, and did not move for a long time.There are countless examples of this.The father worked hard in the front, but the son planted the seeds of decline behind the scenes.The most typical example is Imagawa and his son. "Yashiro!" "exist." "After returning to Okazaki, I told Saburo clearly that I was very angry about this matter." "My lord, please forgive me, this is all due to our ineffective teaching." "Also, you must be frugal. For a child, frugality is the best medicine. If he is not frugal, he will bow to Katsuyori Takeda sooner or later. Tell him these words clearly." Ieyasu felt his voice choked up. "The admonition of the adults, the villain will keep in mind." "Whether it's for Saburo or me, this year is a year of fate. You must not take it lightly. Do you understand?" "Yes, the villain understands." "Don't slack off, make all kinds of preparations, and make sure you can fight at any time. Thank you for your hard work!" After Ieyasu finished speaking, he took his pocket sword and handed it to Yashiro.