Pillars of the Wu family

At the same moment when the Sakamoto War started, the Zentoku Temple in Suruga, Tokaido was as quiet and peaceful as ever. The decline of the Imagawa family and the rise of the Takeda family did not break the tranquility of the Buddhist temple. In the monastery, there is a special prisoner, his name is Nobushige Takeda.

For Nobushige Takeda, claustrophobia is a familiar yet unfamiliar word. Just a few years ago, when Sicheng met, his nephew Takeda Taro Yoshinobu, who grew up with him, was charged with treason and confined in a Buddhist temple. A samurai with a great future persisted for a short time and then died of depression. Unexpectedly, it was his turn to be claustrophobic after a few years.

A young warrior came from the other corner of the courtyard, bowed and said, "Dian Stable Hall! Excuse me."

Takeda Nobushige, who was sitting on the porch, suddenly opened his eyes, and said slowly, "Is it Saneda Kanjie Yuzaemon Weiden?"

"Yes! Next time..." Sanzhi Shouyou walked into the courtyard slowly, stopped a few steps in front of him, and said quietly: "This time, I was ordered by the lord to bring same thing."

"thing?"

"Yes." Sanzhi Shouyou took out a rib cage and pushed it gently on the floor, then bowed again.

"This is..." Takeda Nobushige grabbed the handle and slowly pulled it out, gradually revealing the sharp blade, "This is my brother's ribs, Lai Kunijun, my father gave this ribs to my elder brother back then, and it has always been loved by my elder brother I have been by my side for decades, my brother gave me this rib this time because I hope I..."

"Yes! My lord hopes that Dian Stable Hall will use this to complete the last trip." Sanzhi Shouyou bowed and said, "I'm sorry, although this request will make Dian Stable Hall very difficult, but for my Takeda family. Please Sacrifice once in the Stable Palace!"

"Hehehe... I Xinshige committed suicide by harakiri. Can it save the decline of the Takeda family's foundation?" Takeda Nobushige shook his head and smiled bitterly: "If it is possible. I would rather die in Kawanakajima and go to hell with those sons who died in vain. I wish to live in this world, but can my death really save the Takeda family?"

Sanzhi Shouyou lowered his head in embarrassment, and continued to persuade: "...In any case, please accept the Lord's order from the Stable Palace. I really don't want to use force on you."

"I understand, I understand very well. I can't blame you, you just followed orders..." Nobushige Takeda shook his head with a bitter smile, holding it with both hands, Guojun stroked the scabbard lightly, and praised: "The precision casting in Kamakura It took more than a year of hard work to get a famous sword. The Taidao is not only used for self-defense, but also can be used as a last resort for self-harm. Brother must have put a lot of thought into preparing this famous sword for me as the last hope!"

Sanzhi Shouyou hung his head and did not dare to raise his head to respond.He was really afraid of looking at Nobushige Takeda, afraid of those eyes that seemed to be able to penetrate everything in the world.The firm and quiet eyes full of wisdom are as bright as a lighthouse in the dark night. Takeda Nobushige is very popular in the Takeda family. Many samurai have received his advice and care. No exception.

"You don't have to bear burdens, and you don't have to be sad. Birth, old age, sickness and death are the way of heaven. People always have to get to this point. It's just a matter of whether it's earlier or later." Takeda Nobushige smiled freely, relieved Saneda Shouyou who was under pressure, Takeda's family There are very few samurai who are not favored by him. Those people are either old and stubborn or hard-core confidantes of Takeda Shingen. Saneda Shoutomo is also one of the hard-core, but it is still worse than Kosaka Masanobu and his ilk.

"How's the situation outside?"

"very good……"

Nobushige Takeda shook his head and said: "Don't lie to me, I know my brother's character better than anyone else, and he won't touch me unless it is absolutely necessary. How is the situation outside?"

"Very bad...very bad! My lord is in a huge crisis, so my lord specifically confessed to me. At this moment, I feel that I am seeing off the Dian Stable Hall here." Sanzhi Shouyou was silent for a while, raised his head and said firmly: " Dian Stable Hall, please leave! If you don’t dislike my vulgar friend, please allow me to intervene for Dian Stable Hall.”

Nobushige Takeda nodded understandingly: "Are you still unwilling to tell me the truth? My brother is really a selfish person! Sure enough, he is still the brother I am familiar with, the brother who has not changed for 20, 30 or even longer. !"

Sanzhi Shouyou's face suddenly changed, and he said in a cold voice: "Please leave the Dian Stable Hall! I don't want to do anything to you!"

"If you don't want to say it, the old man will tell it for you!" An old voice suddenly came from the Buddhist hall behind Nobushige Takeda, and then a tall and burly old man walked out, with a mustache, tiger beard and white hair, but he was still majestic. , a pair of tiger eyes with murderous aura that released the intimidating spirit, even though he was over seventy years old, he still carried a thrilling sense of oppression, one can imagine what a majestic warrior he would be when he was young.

Sanzhi Shouyou trembled in surprise, and panicked: "You are..."

"The old man is a wild man from Kai, just an old samurai! You must have never seen me!"

"..." Sanzhi Shouyou swallowed his saliva nervously at a loss.

And this majestic old man walked up to Takeda Nobushige, with a blank expression on his face, he glanced at Saneda Shouyou lightly, and said: "At the beginning, the old man saw that Taro was smart on the outside and selfish on the inside, and the Takeda family passed on to him. Sooner or later, you will fall into the abyss of eternal doom, but you don't listen to my old man's nonsense. What surprised me the most is that you, a fool, betrayed me, quietly defected to that bastard Taro, and finally exiled me to Suruga... "

Nobushige Takeda suddenly said: "Father! I don't think the choice was wrong! You are too impatient. I didn't dare to persuade you back then. I can only prove myself with actions. What my brother did was not good enough, but the territory of my Takeda family It has been expanding and is several times stronger than when my father was in power!"

"Even if you are tyrannical for a while, so what! Relying on betraying allies, killing blood relatives, exiling fathers, framing legitimate sons, and repeatedly betraying righteousness, can the territory gained by the people of the country be trusted? Can the people of the world be convinced? The strength of the Takeda family lies in unity and bravery. Rather than gaining land by being mean and shameless, do you know what the old man hates Taro the most? The old man hates his self-righteous temperament the most!

He thought he would be invincible in the world after reading a few military books and war strategies, but he didn't know that he couldn't do anything without the assistance of the genealogy and generation retainers created by the old man!Rely on the back of the alliance to lay down half of Shinano country.He will also be beaten by Yoshiki Murakami.If the old man leads the troops to fight in person.How could you make such a stupid mistake! "

This old man is the former governor of the family, Takeda Nobutora. Even though he lived in seclusion for many years, he had been homeless for thousands of years, but his temper was still the same as before. His strong aura made Saneda Shouyou not even have the desire to resist. Takeda Nobutora for many years The power and influence accumulated here is far stronger than imagined, even if Sanzhi Shouyou never met this veteran when he was young.

Takeda Nobutora said angrily: "I don't like cunning samurai, and I hate shameless people who betray their faith. At the beginning, this old man deliberately changed things for Kai's future. I believed in the cunning boy Hikogoro Imakawa Yoshimoto, but I didn't expect that this Imagawa family You little bastard, you actually contacted that bastard Taro and exiled the old man! It was because of his evil intentions that he died in the narrow space of the barrel without a whole body!"

"Father is not fair, Imakawa Jibuden is a very good samurai..." Takeda Nobushige shook his head.

Takeda Nobutora snorted coldly: "Excellent samurai? So he betrayed his uncle Hojo Utsuna, and his cousin Hojo Ujiyasu? The old man just watched him manipulate the Hato chaos in Shunfu, and forced the Hojo family almost to death. Destruction, I have used the old man as a hostage several times to blackmail that kid Taro to make concessions. Compared with being shameless, he can keep pace with that kid Taro! They are all a bunch of bastards."

"Okay... Father is right, tell me about the situation outside!" Takeda Nobushige picked up the ribs and came to Kunijun.He said indifferently: "I'm curious, how far does my brother manage the situation, and he has to kill me to feel at ease?"

Takeda Nobutora sneered and said: "The right general hall has raised troops, 23 cavalry roared out, the Tokaido was in chaos, Junyuan was in chaos, Kai was attacked, and the Takeda family was attacked on all sides, so your good brother thinks of you again, you can't let the right The General Palace will catch you, so that the Takeda family can retreat."

"Retreat? What retreat? Well, I probably understand..." Takeda Nobushige sighed: "If I die, the descendants of the Takeda family will not perish. On the contrary, if I don't die, the descendants of the Takeda family will change hands. I am afraid that the elder brother and You Dajiangdian have been fighting against each other again and again."

Tsuruoka Hachiman Shrine began to raise troops, kicking off the massive White Flag Rebellion. Genyoshi served as the general in charge of Kamakura prefecture, and his son Ashikaga Yoshiyasu served as the deputy general to personally participate in military affairs, and then quickly formed the North Army Corps and Higashiyama Corps The two are as flanks, and he himself leads the strategy of Tōkaidō.

General Uesugi Kenshin of the Northern Army Corps, with [-] troops under his command, with Yumitsu Numata as the general of the Rangers, went south from Hida country along the Hida River to directly attack Oda in Higashi Mino and Naka Mino In the territory, Uesugi Kenshin personally led [-] cavalry to the Kaga country, and took Sugiura Genren, who was born as a powerful samurai in the Kaga country, as the vanguard general, leading [-] troops to attack the confidant of the Kaga country.

Sanada Yutaka, general of the Higashiyama Corps, commanded [-] troops under his command and commanded Ogasawara Nagashi to lead [-] troops out of Nanshinano to attack the Mikawa Kingdom, and ordered Miyabe Jirun to lead [-] troops out of Namshinano He attacked the Enjiang country, and he himself led an army of [-] to attack Suwa County, the last stronghold of the Takeda family in the Shinano country.

The so-called Higashiyama Legion is fundamentally the Rangers attacking the flanks of the Takeda family. The courage to take out 4 elites as a ranger is not something ordinary people can do. Unfortunately, Minamoto can do it, even if the Takeda family mobilizes all of them. There are only more than [-] people together, and it still cannot change his firm determination to win the Kai country in a short time.

At the same time that the two armies were marching out, Minamoto Yoshitoki's main army of 12 came out of Ashurazaka, aggressively attacking the Suruga country, and Takeda Shingen's left and right blocked but his army was too small and needed more Scattered across large territories such as Kai, Suruga, Toe, and Mikawa, there is absolutely no way to fight against an army that is several times larger than your own.

No matter how difficult the situation was, Takeda Shingen did not give up. He chose to personally lead an army of 2 troops to block the Satsuta Pass in an attempt to make a last stand. His courage is commendable and his judgment is not bad. Unfortunately, 12 people are against [-] people. The absolute difference of six times is enough to grind out all the advantages of the right time and place, not to mention that the few generals of the Takeda family are in panic, and the Kwantung Army happens to have a lot of soldiers and high morale.

The cunning Minamoto did not launch an attack immediately, but when he learned that Mikawa, Enjiang, and Suruga West were in chaos, he sent ninjas to spread the news of the Sanshu chaos near Satsutoga Pass.Forcing the military morale of the Takeda family to plummet.Then take advantage of the dark night to attack Satuo Pass in one go.

Even if it comes from the absolute advantage in terms of military strength and general situation.Genyoshi also did not give the Takeda family any chance to turn the tables. 12 people attacked 2 people at night. Even if Takeda Shingen was prepared for the night attack, he could not resist the night attack. For the assault of the Kwantung Army.

A big defeat forced Takeda Shingen to flee back to Sumfu Castle. When he assembled his troops in the castle the next day, his troops had been reduced from 8000 troops to less than [-]. Sanada Yutaka defeated Suwa County and killed them. The defender Micangdan continued to defend again, and then invaded the Kai Kingdom to break the piecemeal counterattack of several defenders.He also captured the Kai warriors Sone Masashi and Komai Masao.

It is very dangerous to lose the old nest, forcing Takeda Shingen to make a choice between Suruga and Kai, whether to stay in Suruga and continue to hold firm, or withdraw to Kai to expel Sanada Yutaka's invading army before making plans. At this most critical moment, Takeda Shingen made a fatal mistake, and he began to hesitate.

Benefits will blind people's eyes. Under the tremendous pressure of choosing between interests, the wise and wise Takeda Shingen will also fall into confusion and confusion. It was very difficult for him to make a choice at that time. Choosing to stay in Suruga meant a huge danger approaching.Unable to stop Yuanyi means that the whole army is wiped out and perish, and choosing to withdraw to Kai means giving up the territory that has been hard won over the years.Even if it is useless to resist the attack of Yuanyi's army, the biggest possibility is that he will be abandoned again by the angry Tudai retainers.

After hesitating for a day and a night, the precious time disappeared, and soon a series of bad information dispelled his plan to stay in Suruga. Ogasawara Changji suddenly crossed the border and invaded Higashi Mikawa. In an instant, the three parties of the Shan family followed the trend and changed flags. Dong Sanhe became the territory of Yuanyishi in a blink of an eye, and the leader of the Mihe banner of the Takeda family, Meng Niu Akiyama, became a prisoner in such a muddled way.

Then Miyabe Jirun invaded the Enjiang Kingdom, and saw that Fucheng was guarding Lianlong in Banhorikoshi Rokuro, the lord of Yinma Castle Iio Fengzen, the lord of Inuju Castle Amano Palace Emon Jingguan, and the lord of Sasamine Castle Amano Anyun guarded the tiger. Jing, as well as Sena Nobuki and other nationals have left the Takeda family one after another. Asahina Yasutomo and Iiya, who fled to Edo, Kondo Yasuo, Suganuma Tadahisa, and Suzuki Shigetoki returned to their respective territories to mobilize old soldiers. In response, Masanobu Kosaka, the leader of the Yuanjiang flag, was surrounded by the army, and he had to lead the army to flee back to Junfu City for refuge in a panic.

In just a few days, Yuanjiang and Sanhe fell into the hands of the Kwantung Army successively. Takeda Shingen's painstaking efforts over the years were exhausted. He couldn't even imagine the horse he was once proud of. There are so many loopholes hidden in Yuan San's dominance system. Even though he realized the internal instability very early on, he still wishful thinking that he can control it.

The loophole was so big that it pierced the sky, and what was even worse was that the Suruga party members suddenly disappeared. Without thinking about it, they must have defected to the enemy. Jun left Suruga country, and before he left, he untied his ribs and gave them to Saneda Moritomo, so that this servant who had followed him for many years could get to know his dear brother Nobushige Takeda.

"It's really a touching story. On the night when my brother was defeated and fled, he could still think of me, an ordinary person confined in the temple. It's really touching! But..." Takeda Nobushige squinted his eyes and stared quietly. Watching Sanzhi Shouyou remain motionless, he suddenly said after a long time, "But, I choose to refuse!"

"Rejected? Did Dian Stables force me to do it? Alright! Then I will resign myself to end Dian Shoudian's life!" Sanzhi Shouyou stood up with a livid face and was about to take a step, when he suddenly found two arms stretched out behind him. Standing up by himself, dozens of black-clothed ninjas appeared around him.

The leading ninja unbuttoned his mask and revealed a plain face, then turned to Nobushige Takeda and said, "Sorry! I'm late, Shoshin!"

"No! It just so happened that Hattori-den came." Takeda Nobushige stood up, holding Rai Kunitoshi in both hands, walked up to Saneda Moritomo, and said softly, "I'll ask Zaemon Weiden to take this back and hand it back to you." Give it to my good brother, and add a sentence, saying that I will not need him in this life, but my brother needs it more, take it well and don't lose it."

Saneda Shouyou was trembling with anger, and the anger surging in his chest was like a flame that could not be contained, but when he saw the calm and firm eyes of Takeda Nobushige, he seemed to be splashed from head to toe by a bucket of ice water Feeling cold, he let out a long sigh: "It turns out that the Dian Stable Palace has already expected it, it seems that the lord still miscalculated you..."

Nobushige Takeda said firmly: "You are wrong, my brother did not miscalculate me! The wrong calculation is that my brother neglected the resourcefulness and layout of the right general's hall. He is too confident and even conceited! There are many times when he almost noticed it. The hidden dangers within Kai, but because of his self-confidence, he thought he could control the overall situation, and missed the best time to eliminate the hidden dangers, and it has been hard to get back by now."

"I understand! The message from the Dian Stable Palace will definitely be conveyed in this way."

"Also, tell my brother...farewell!" Takeda Nobushige slowly turned around, helping his father Takeda Nobutora to disappear at the end of the corridor. (to be continued..)