The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

Chapter 96 Surprise Attack on Naguye

December 11th, 3:45 AM, three miles north of Naguye City.

Changqing lay prone in the withered grass, staring at the campfire of the Takeda army on the opposite bank.

The night patrolmen carried lanterns and walked back and forth.

"Judging from the flag, it's Oyamada Nobushige. We still don't know where Shingen's main camp is." Ōnojo lay beside him, lowering his voice. Nagayoshi didn't reply.

It's too dark tonight, so raiding the camp is very risky, and even if we win, it will be difficult to achieve the effect of a surprise attack on the enemy's main camp.

The winter wind howled, blowing from the Takeda camp toward them.

Sprinting against the cold wind is a waste of energy.

However, once the daytime arrived, the Maori army was completely exposed.

"My lord—" Maeda Keiji whispered, "If we attack now, we won't lose, given our army's strength."

"Quiet! What's the point of killing Yamada Nobushige? Kill Shingen instead!"

The foot soldiers on night patrol were so sleepy their eyelids were drooping, the cook was boiling a pot of hot soup, and the person changing shifts was still lingering in bed.

Maeda Keiji couldn't help but doze off.

Whenever he was about to snore, Changqing would have Dazhicheng pinch his nose.

At 4:45 AM, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

The wind suddenly stopped, the withered grass on the river stopped swaying, and the flag on the watchtower drooped softly.

Smoke was already rising from the camp of Nobushige Oyamada.

"Order the entire army to eat all the rice balls!"

A moment later, he propped himself up and waved behind him.

"Follow me! Remember to steal some horses!"

Nagayoshi touched the great sword on his back, the "Chiyo Tsurutaro" by Masakari Naotaka. Nobunaga didn't like this rough great sword, so he specially asked Akechi Mitsuhide to bring it to him.

Changqing slowly drew his katana, and the 200 elite soldiers behind him also drew their weapons.

These 200 men were only responsible for disrupting the enemy; the remaining 1800 would arrive only after they heard the sounds of battle.

The extremely soft sounds of swords being drawn together instantly alerted Oyamada's army.

"superior."

The Mori army sprang up from the dry grass and charged toward the Takeda army's camp.

One hundred steps. Fifty steps. Thirty steps. The deer fortress was right in front of them, its sharpened wooden stakes resembling a row of fangs in the darkness.

Changqing stepped onto the crossbeam of the fortress, used the momentum to leap up, and crossed the first line of defense. When he landed, he rolled and swept his katana horizontally.

As soon as a patrolling foot soldier turned around, both of his legs were broken.

"Ah!" Before he could utter the second word, an arrow pierced his jaw and went straight into his skull.

Ōnojo took down all the sentries on the watchtower with a single arrow.

Many soldiers of the Oyamada army had just opened their sleepy eyes and stepped out of their tents when they were cut down.

The battle lasted less than ten breaths before the Mori army's battle cries finally erupted.

"Enemy attack!"

"Oda's army!"

While Xinmao was washing up, he heard about the enemy attack and immediately picked up his spear and went out of his tent to investigate.

He lifted the tent flap, and a cold wind rushed in, carrying a heavy stench of blood.

In the dawn light, his troops were fighting a group of black-armored warriors.

Sakuma Morimasa? That little brat doesn't have the guts.

"Mori Nagayoshi?" someone shouted in a panic.

Looking into the distance, Nobushige indeed saw a fully armed, red-faced samurai wielding a katana and wreaking havoc.

When did this person appear here? Shouldn't he be in Kiso Valley?

He felt a little apprehensive, as he had heard about the Mori's ability to kill enemies in battle and raid camps many times.

As for that great armor, it had become famous throughout Takeda after Akiyama Nobutomo and Sanada Yukitaka were defeated one after another.

Some even called the Mori "the Red Demon of Mino".

"Notify the lord to send reinforcements!" Nobushige roared. "The rest of you, follow me to meet the enemy!"

Maeda Keiji's spear knocked a tent away, and three foot soldiers who had just woken up were pinned under the tent.

He laughed loudly, flicked the tip of his gun, and all three men coughed up blood.

"The Mori retainers have all arrived—" Nobushige gritted his teeth.

The army in front of them was small in number, but incredibly fierce, like wild beasts that had been deliberately kept in a cage and were being released for the first time.

Sanada Yukitaka's defeat was not unjust. The forces of those powerful clans were no match for such a ferocious army.

"Charge!" Nobushige commanded the Hatamoto to charge forward.

As Mori got into the swing of things, the heavy katana he swung was truly terrifying.

Combined with his swordsmanship skills, he could even cut down two unarmored foot soldiers with a single strike.

At 1:15 AM, inside the ancient city of Naguye.

Sakuma Morimasa was welcomed to the castle tower by his retainers.

"Young Master! Fighting has broken out in the north!"

At this time, "Gui Xuanfan" was only fifteen years old, and had only been married for a year.

Not long ago, Tokugawa Kazumasu went to support the army, but he was so badly beaten that he no longer dared to contact the Takeda army.

When he donned his protective gear and charged up the city wall, chaos had already broken out at the Oyamada garrison in the north.

The shouts of battle came from a mile away, and they were getting closer and closer, as if Oda's army was still advancing.

The shouts of battle still sent chills down one's spine.

"Who is it, sir?" He grabbed his retainer's sleeve. "Shibata? Takikawa? Or is it Lord Nobunaga?"

"Neither!" The retainer's face turned pale. "They didn't even bring their banners or seals!"

He saw the fleeing soldiers of the Takeda army pouring in from the north, their clothes disheveled, their weapons lying indistinguishable. Nobushige's flag was still there, but it was retreating northward, not pressing southward.

Nobushige's vanguard of two thousand men was defeated just like that?

The black-armored warriors pursued the enemy at a leisurely pace, like herding sheep.

Sheng Zheng held onto the battlements, trying to stand on tiptoe, as if that would allow him to see further.

When Yamagata Masakage charged into the main camp, Shingen was drinking miso soup.

Masakage's voice was tinged with panic, "Lord Oyamada has been defeated! It was the Mori army, about two thousand strong. Oyamada is currently rallying the remaining troops."

Shingen put down his bowl.

"Set up the Crane Wing Formation, use our main formation to draw his attack, and surround him!"

Before the words were finished, a rider galloped in from the north; it was Nobushige's messenger. The man tumbled off his horse in front of the main camp and crawled to Shingen's feet, crying, "Lord Oyada begs Your Highness to retreat immediately! That...that general is too fierce! Lord Oyada has lost over thirty of his hatamoto nosei; we can't hold them off!"

Yamagata Masakage grabbed the man: "What did you say? Nobushige can't stop him?"

"That general—that general charged into the enemy lines alone, and Lord Oyamada personally met him in battle, only to have his spear shaft cleaved in two by his sword!" The messenger's face was still filled with shock. "After cleaving it, he didn't pursue, but instead smiled at Lord Oyamada and said—"

"What did you say?"

"They told Lord Shingen to wash his neck clean—"

"How dare you!" Yamagata Masakage kicked the messenger aside and immediately grabbed his weapon.

"Genjiro!" Shingen snapped. "Anger only makes people foolish. Proceed according to my plan."

The Takeda army immediately assembled 12,000 men, with the main camp in the center, cavalry on the left and right flanks, and arquebusiers and archers guarding the central main camp.

There are only two thousand people on the other side.

Those two thousand men had just finished a tough battle, and their armor was still stained with blood.

Shingen rode out into battle on horseback, accompanied only by two bannermen.

-

On the opposite side, Changqing slowly rode out, and the two thousand men behind him quickly assembled into a square formation.

The two were a hundred feet apart when Changqing suddenly spurred his horse, but Xinxuan's warhorse retreated a great distance away.

"Such a fierce general exists in the world—" Shingen reined in his frightened horse.