Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

When the city walls are erected and the moats are laid out, let's see how capable Takeda's army is at attacking the city.

Shichibei rose and instructed the retainers and servants who had been guarding the stables and post stations in Okazaki and Yoshida to now serve Gifu-dono with utmost loyalty. He ordered them to be dispatched, except for the western Owari region, to scout and investigate in the southeast, north, and south. He instructed them to immediately return to Okazaki and report any suspicious activity they discovered.

While we're at it, we'll also take two or three thousand kan from the Tsushima branch to bribe the farmers of Nishi-Mikawa and have them destroy all the streets and bridges.

Chapter 279 Are the Two Nations' Guardians Tempted?

When Takeda Shingen realized that Oda Nobunaga was prepared to drag things out at Okazaki and start testing their national strength, he began to panic. He now understood that Kai was not only inferior to Owari in terms of national power, but even his physical condition might not be a match for Oda Nobunaga's.

He must win quickly; only by winning once again and conquering Owari Province can he possibly shake Oda Nobunaga's foundation.

As long as Noo doesn't cause any major incidents, Oda Nobunaga will never be killed!

Therefore, Takeda Shingen once again wrote to all parties surrounding Nobunaga, urging them to overcome all difficulties and use every means to send troops. He insisted on taking away the 20,000 men Nobunaga had amassed at Okazaki Castle, not all of them, but just 15,000. Shingen was then confident he could force a surrender through force and bring the crumbling Tokugawa clan under his control.

Please, get moving! The encirclement must be coordinated from all sides for there to be any chance of success. Even if Takeda Shingen puts all his strength into it, he can't bridge the huge gap in national power alone.

Even Takeda Shingen managed to write a letter to Kitabatake Tomonori in southern Ise, hoping that he would rally the former retainers of the Kitabatake clan to raise an army and besiege Ōkawachi Castle, which was defended by Nobunaga's son, Kitabatake Nobukatsu, so that Nobunaga would have to send troops to rescue his son.

The reason why Ōkōchi Castle was so difficult to attack was because of the existence of a series of branch castles. The main castle alone had an army of 8,000, many of whom were local lords from northern Ise. They harbored a deep hatred for Nobunaga for the destruction of their family and fought desperately to defend the castle. Moreover, the generals of the branch castles were also extremely loyal. In fact, at the foot of Asaka Castle, Hideyoshi almost had his testicles shot out.

But how many people are there in Okawachi Castle now? Can there even be five hundred? Normally, they don't recruit large numbers of peasant soldiers and local lords into the castle. Only the stationed foot soldiers and ordinary servants are in the castle.

After conquering Okawachi, not only was the Kitabatake clan's foundation restored, but Shingen also promised to transfer all of Kobe Nobutaka's territory in Nakano-Nagano to the Kitabatake clan, greatly expanding the Kitabatake clan's power.

As for the other four counties in northern Ise, they need to be dealt with by the Nagashima Ganshoji Temple. Otherwise, the monk Kennyo would be busy with all the work, and even hire Saiga members to do something for the Takeda family.

Master Hyunju, stop with your ridiculous grand Dharma assembly (which can raise funds). At a time like this, you're still thinking about squeezing those two bastards out of your followers. If you don't take advantage of Nobunaga's illness now to kill him, you won't get him.

What about the thousands of warrior monks and tens of thousands of followers beneath Ishiyama-Osaka Castle? Quickly get them to rise up in rebellion! Let them rise up and attack whomever they want, whether it's Hatakeyama Akitaka of Kawachi-Takaya Castle or Takayama Shigetomo of Settsu-Takatsu Castle.

The key is to start fighting. Once fighting begins, Nobunaga's forces will inevitably be divided. Once they are divided to a certain extent, they will be able to influence the military forces on the Mikawa side.

Even if you bunch of incompetent teammates went and learned from Ashikaga Yoshiaki, openly raised the banner of rebellion, and began to oppose Oda Nobunaga, Nobunaga would have been forced to place his two army commanders, Niwa Nagahide and Hanawa Naomasa, near Kyoto as the main force of the overall offensive to take over Makishima Castle.

This also affected the two army commanders, Akechi Mitsuhide and Hashiba Hideyoshi, who dared not leave, fearing that if anyone outside rallied Ashikaga Yoshiaki, the overall momentum of the siege of Makishima Castle would be broken.

As for Mori Yoshinari, he joined forces with Hatakeyama Akitaka at Tamonyama Castle and Kawachi Takaya Castle to suppress Yusa Shinkyo, who had returned to northern Kawachi, and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, who was raising an army at Wakae Castle in southern Kawachi.

Look, look, look! Can you open your eyes wide? Nobunaga has mobilized a huge amount of troops, almost exhausting the people's resources to mobilize the army for the war.

Really, really all we need is for someone to send another 20,000 men. Just 20,000 men to raise an army will be enough to force Nobunaga to turn back and defend a certain place.

It's a pity that Kiyosu Saito Tatsuoki and Nagashima Ganshoji, one has already been defeated and the other is barely clinging to life, otherwise they could have cooperated with Takeda Shingen. Now it's truly a case of Takeda Shingen leading half of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, while the rest of the incompetent allies in the encirclement are just watching the show.

To be honest, every single one of Oda Nobunaga's allies had been defeated by him. Although some battles ended in a draw, with the armies only ceasing hostilities after receiving an imperial edict for peace, they all knew very well that they were no match for Oda Nobunaga.

This mentality is easy to understand: it's so rare to see a powerful and influential figure emerge, and it seems highly likely they'll become the next Shogun or even the Shogun. The biggest piece of the pie is the Takeda clan.

These people will certainly be an integral part of the new regime, but they will absolutely not get to eat big chunks of meat; they'll be lucky to even get a share of the soup.

So many poor samurai in Kai and Shinano, barely clinging to life, were relying entirely on Takeda Shingen's invasion of Kyoto so they could live a life of luxury and wealth.

To put it bluntly, these guys are green with envy, their eyes bulging, ready to storm Kyoto and have their fill. Since I can't even get a big slice of the pie, and I can't beat Oda Nobunaga, I definitely hope that Takeda Shingen and Oda Nobunaga will fight for a few more days and have more battles.

You, Takeda Shingen, are so powerful, managing to defeat Oda Nobunaga, then keep up the good work. Letting a few more of Takeda's elite Kai-no-Shin soldiers die would actually benefit those incompetent allies in the Kinai region.

If in the end it wasn't a strong and well-equipped army, but rather a heavily wounded Takeda clan that fought its last breath into Kyoto, and that became the new ruler of the land...

If you were one of those incompetent teammates, would you be happy?

In the end, Takeda Shingen had to relinquish power, and everyone sat down to share the spoils. Only then would they have a greater chance of eating a large piece of meat and receiving great fortune.

Look at the situation now, haha. If Takeda Shingen and Nobunaga keep arguing for another six months, and another five thousand of their elite Kai-Shingen troops die, Nobunaga won't be routed back to Owari. Then that useless ally will probably start moving around a bit. Because even the dumbest person knows it's time to divide the spoils, and what's in their mouth right now is most likely theirs.

"My lord, Kuki Shima-no-kami of Tsushima has come to report!" Shichibei is now the chief steward of the entire castle. Nobunaga and Ieyasu are both frighteningly calm at this moment, spending 24 hours a day calculating how to defend the castle and fight, completely ignoring ordinary mundane affairs.

"..." Nobunaga didn't speak, he was looking at the map and making some plans.

"The Grand Steward has sent a secret letter to the Kumano clan of Kishu." I'll just have to open it and read it to Nobunaga.

"Hmm?" Nobunaga didn't even turn his head, just grunted in response, meaning that he would just read it to him and that was it.

The message was simple: Takeda Shingen sent a secret letter to the Arima clan in the Kumano region, hoping they would organize the Kumano rebellion to attack Kuki Yoshitaka, who was on Nobunaga's side. This would force Kuki Yoshitaka to lift the siege of Nagashima, as Saji Kazunari alone couldn't hold it. Then, the 20,000 to 30,000 Ikko-ikki on Nagashima would be able to break free and launch a fierce attack on Owari.

A brief introduction to the Kumano Arima clan: He was born into the Kishu Daikoku family, the head of the Kumano Betsuke clan. He was considered one of the generals of the Southern Court, as his territory had a mobilization capacity of 50,000 to 60,000 koku. Later, he defected to the Northern Court, and thus his name has been passed down to the present day.

As two major local powers in Kumano, the Arima clan not only possessed strength of 50,000 to 60,000 koku of rice, but also had income from fishing, timber processing, and the spending of travelers from all over the country visiting the three shrines in Kumano. Their total mobilization capacity should be over 4,000 men, which was more than enough to launch an attack on the Shima Kuki clan.

However, Takeda Shingen's information channels might have been a bit outdated, as the Arima clan was already embroiled in internal strife. The reason for this strife was simply that the former head of the clan, having no son by the age of forty, thought himself useless and thus wanted his nephew to inherit the family business. But then, after going into seclusion, he unexpectedly had a son, and this son wanted to inherit the family business, leading to further infighting.

The Arima family must have just finished their massacre, and their strength has been greatly reduced. It's estimated that they don't have the strength to launch an attack on the Shima Kuki Party.

"Do you have anyone in Kofu?" Nobunaga seemed unmoved after hearing this, but instead turned around and stared at Shichibei.

"Yes!" Shichibei answered very directly.

Normally, when Shichibei married his sister to Yamagata Masamitsu, he would only have needed to provide two maids or servants as part of the dowry. However, in reality, he did provide two households of "servants" as part of the dowry. According to his sister Midori, these two servants should be serving in the Takeda army right now, fighting alongside Yamagata Masamitsu.

As I've already said, now that a war is breaking out, almost all the men in samurai households will be mobilized and sent to the front lines. Apart from the elderly, the infirm, the disabled, and a few who will stay behind, there will be no idle adult men with organization and combat experience left at home to waste.

In addition, Shichibei also stationed two people at Kofu Castle. This was mainly out of concern for the upcoming Takeda raid, so he arranged for them to infiltrate Kofu. If necessary, they could remind Midori to hang red lanterns and raise the Oda clan's flag at her door, making it clear to the Oda army soldiers that they were on their side.

"Could you please recruit Yamagata Saburobei? Your sister is my adopted daughter, and her son is the son-in-law of the regent. I promised him the protection of Suruga and Kai provinces!" Nobunaga turned around, his face half black and half white, the lamplight only illuminating half of him.

"Hiss..." It's a bit risky. The price is indeed very high, but whether Yamagata Masakage will accept it is another matter.

"Add another 20,000 kan!" Although Nobunaga wasn't certain of winning, he was willing to raise the price.

"I will definitely try to make contact." Shichibei swallowed hard. Two countries' guardians plus 20,000, that's quite a high price.

Moreover, by becoming the son-in-law of the world, one immediately becomes an original shareholder, and the future world may very well include a large piece of the pie for the Shanxian family.

"Go." Nobunaga said nothing more, but strode out the door and disappeared somewhere.

It's true what they say, "The leader just opens his mouth, and the soldiers run themselves ragged." Shichibei has to feed 20,000 people and do this kind of work too. The main thing is, we don't even know where Yamagata Masakage is right now. This man, who in later generations was known as the Yamagata Red Guard General, was part of the so-called Four Great Army whose invasion was as fierce as fire.

Looking at it now, he was indeed quite fast. He first went to Okumikawa to kill Suzuki Shigetoki, the lord of Kakimoto Castle, and then cut into Totomi, flanking Hamamatsu from behind. His mobility was no worse than Nobunaga's.

Oh, right, Kakimoto Castle is located between Nagashino Castle and Iidani Castle. Yamagata Masakage might have already planned to move into Tōtōmi Province when he attacked Kakimoto Castle.

However, despite the current chaotic and fragmented landscape of Mikawa, Shichibei still commands a skilled ninja squad known for their rapid advances. While not exactly a secret weapon, their expertise in the Mikawa mountain paths is so remarkable that, if boasted about in later generations, they could easily be considered a so-called ninja army.

So, where is Yamagata Masakage now?

Takeda Shingen, refusing to believe in such superstitions, sent Yamagata Masakage to see if they could bypass Okazaki, a heavily fortified branch castle, via the coast. It was the old guard under Tokugawa Ieyasu who discovered this route; since the coastline was impassable, Yamagata Masakage was currently heading back.

That made things much easier. Kawamura-ya's flying kicks thus brazenly found two servants in Yamagata Masamitsu's unit. In fact, at this time, quite a few Higashi-Mikawa soldiers in Takeda Shingen's army had already begun to test the waters and pledge allegiance. Just a few years ago, they had been fighting fiercely against Tokugawa Ieyasu under the leadership of Udono Nagateru, and they didn't have much loyalty.

However, Oda Nobunaga was not someone to be trifled with, so they needed to be certain that Shingen was capable before they were willing to pledge their allegiance to the Takeda clan on a large scale. That's why they kept sending rice and sake, pretending to be local village chiefs coming to reward the army, but actually they were still observing the situation of the Takeda army and Takeda Shingen.

People coming and going makes things easier. Yamagata Masamitsu was quite puzzled by the flying kick that came from Owari. But his father had actually said that Takeda Shingen had a plan. Upper Owari was to be handed over to Inuyama Tessai, also known as Oda Nobukiyo. Lower Owari could be handed over to Shichibei, because Shichibei would manage the Ōmachi town of Tsushima, which could bring Shingen more money.

Moreover, Shichibei is a veteran of Shimoo-Owari and carries considerable weight in the region. If Shichibei leads the way, Shimoo-Owari will surely surrender without a second thought.

After a moment's thought, Yamagata Masamitsu met with Hikari, and then heard from Hikari the bribery terms that almost made him grin from ear to ear.

With his mind in complete disarray, Yamagata Masamitsu immediately brought the man to his biological father, Yamagata Masakage. The fact that the Yamagata family had servants with an Owari accent was not particularly noticeable, since their eldest son was the son-in-law of an Owari woman.

Like his own son, upon hearing that the governorship of Kai and Suruga provinces would be rewarded with 20,000 kan, even Yamagata Masakage secretly praised him, saying, "Oda Nobunaga is truly a man of the land!"

The Yamagata family's current territory, centered on the Kai-Koma district, totals 23,000 kanmon, or approximately 100,000 koku. If they were to acquire the provinces of Kai and Suruga, their fiefdom would immediately increase to over 450,000 koku.

This is more than just a Great Leap Forward; it's an unparalleled reward. Moreover, the timing is quite precise. It's roughly equivalent to doubling the moral conduct of all the current Yamagata retainers, increasing Yamagata Masakage's direct rank, and only needing to fill a few hundred middle and lower-ranking retainers and expand the military. This territory can be completely controlled.

Within Kai province, Takeda Shingen's reputation was so high. If Yamagata Masakage ultimately rose to power by killing Takeda Shingen, Kai would inevitably be thrown into turmoil, leading to an uprising. Those 450,000 koku of rice were not something easily held onto.

The three-way original war in this dimension

11.18

Shingen decided to attack Ieyasu, whom Nobunaga was determined to save. After capturing Futamata Castle, he gained the allegiance of the people of Tōtōmi Province. Upon learning that Nobunaga had advanced to Yoshida Castle to observe the situation, Shingen ordered Yamagata Masakage to move closer to Futamata in preparation for the final battle.

At this time, Yamagata Masakage had already defeated Suzuki Shigetoki, the lord of Kakimoto Castle, and was spying for opportunities in the Nagashino area. According to the pre-battle plan, he should join Shingen's main force to attack Yoshida when Shingen entered Mikawa.

11.19

Takeda Shingen arrived near Horie Castle on the Hamanako Peninsula and conducted a terrain survey and attempted to persuade the castle to surrender. He discovered the Sanfangyuan Plateau, a suitable battlefield for the decisive battle. He immediately began planning the battlefield and constructing fortifications.

Meanwhile, a messenger from the Takeda army hurriedly traveled for a day and found the Yamagata Masakage Detachment near Nagashino, conveying to them the order to immediately proceed to the vicinity of Futamata to participate in the final battle.

Yamagata Masakage immediately changed course to Kakimoto Castle and headed straight for the relatively well-developed Ii-dani and Inohira regions, with a force of 5,000 men.

11.20

When Oda Nobunaga, who was stationed at Yoshida Castle in Mikawa, learned that Takeda Shingen had arrived and besieged Horie Castle, he decided to send troops to relieve Horie Castle.

Tadatsugu Sakai and Hirotaka Honda led 3,000 troops to Utsuyama Castle on the opposite shore of Lake Hamana, where they contacted Tokugawa Ieyasu and the father and son Osawa, the lords of Horie Castle, and agreed to jointly attack Takeda Shingen.

11.21

At 10:00 AM, Yamagata Masakage, after two days of marching, crossed the Mikawa Province border and arrived at Okuyama in Tōtōmi Province to spy on Iidani. With the assistance of the three factions of the Oku-Mikawa Yama clan, he confirmed the terrain and learned that Ihira Naonari, the local leader, had raised an army of 500. At this time, Yamagata Masakage was unaware that the Oda army was building a pontoon bridge over the Mitsuda River.

Ii-dani is 5 kilometers in a straight line from the Todagawa Floating Bridge, but the mountain road is more than 15 kilometers long!

To secure his retreat, Yamagata Masakage immediately defeated Ihira's army. He later learned from prisoners that Kondo Yasuyoshi had assisted the Oda army in constructing a pontoon bridge, but the total strength of the Oda army was uncertain. Therefore, he advanced and captured Iidani Castle for defense.

At 11 a.m., the Oda army successfully built a pontoon bridge over the Toda River, leaving 3,000 men under the command of Hiromasa Tada and Hideyori Mori to guard the area.

At 1 p.m., Yamagata Masakage learned that Oda's army had crossed the river and left behind a portion of the bridge guards. At this time, more than three days had passed since Shingen ordered them to join the decisive battle. In order not to miss the opportunity, he rushed to Futamata Castle, the battlefield that Shingen had planned.

At 4 p.m., the Oda army arrived near Mikatagahara and discovered the Takeda army, which had been stationed at Mikatagahara for two days.

At 5 p.m., Yamagata crossed the Toda River at the Housei Kannon Shinda Shoal in the middle reaches and arrived at Futamata Castle. He confirmed that the battlefield of the decisive battle was approximately in the Mikatahara area and camped at Futamata that night.

11.22

At 7 a.m., the two sides confronted each other, with the Oda army entering Ōyamasaka and the Tokugawa army entering Ishidasaka.

At 11:00 AM, Yamagata Masakage advanced from near Futamata Castle to the rear of Mikatahara. After resting for two hours, he was ordered to serve as a special operations force to attack the deserted castle of Hamamatsu.

At 1 PM, the Battle of Mikatagahara began. Oda deployed 27,000 troops, and Tokugawa 8,000 (including 4,000 from Kawamura's small pack animal unit). Takeda, relying on the extensive earthworks they had been constructing for two days, deployed 17,000 troops, Baba 5,000, Iio 2,000, and Kiwa 2,000.

At 4 p.m., the Tokugawa army was defeated, the Oda army was defeated, and Yamagata Masakage's special forces arrived at Hamamatsu and captured the empty castle.

At 5 p.m., Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu withdrew from the battlefield one after the other.

The three-way battle ended at 6 p.m.

Chapter 280 Money is the courage of heroes.

To be honest, this price is tempting enough. But Masakage Yamagata understands a principle: only what you taste is real. What you see in your eyes may not be so.

Yamagata Masakage, who rose to the position of chief retainer in the Takeda clan and was entrusted with an army of five thousand men, was certainly no fool. Moreover, Nobunaga had now promised him the governorship of Kai and Suruga provinces. Given his current status in the Takeda clan, once the Takeda clan conquered the country, he would most likely also be granted the title of governor of both provinces.

Since following Takeda Shingen would bring ready rewards, why would they defect?

Furthermore, with Takeda Shingen killed and Hojo Ujimasa seizing power, Kai province will be extremely difficult to pacify in the short term. Moreover, with Imagawa Ujizane still alive, if internal strife breaks out within the Takeda clan, Hojo Ujimasa will undoubtedly support Imagawa Ujizane and march back to Suruga province.