Chapter 38: Three Rivers Offer Sacrifices to the Multitude

  Affected by the news of Yoshida Matsuomaru's going up to Kyoto, many people in Mikawa Province had different attitudes towards it. For example, the Nakajo family sent their heir to follow him to Kyoto, which made the Miyake and Suzuki families, who were once officials, also decide to send one of their vassals to Kyoto. At that time, the news of Yoshida's going up to Kyoto became a hot topic, but strangely, the Imagawa side in Okazaki Castle and the Oda side in Anjo Castle were very quiet, as if they were not affected by this news at all.

  Every ten days, a small assessment will be opened again. The effect of the support of the Kira family's tripod is quickly revealed. Most of the vassals in Mikawa sent out one gate to follow Uesugi, and a few samurai families also sent relatives and substitutes to accompany them due to family problems. Within a few days, more than 30 vassal families in Mikawa expressed their willingness to join the army in Uesugi.

  Kira Yoshichika formally announced that ōkōchi Nobusada would be the deputy of Saijō Castle, and major domestic policies would be jointly decided by Ichikawa Yasunao, Yamagata Yasumoto, Koganei Yasutsura, Takahashi Masanobu, Ogasawara Anetsuna, Ogasawara Hirosuke, and Eguchi Masahide. The final day of deliberation was set as the day when Kira Yoshichika would return. This clause was strongly requested by ōkōchi Nobusada, but it did not have much significance for him.

  The Kiryū family's vassals expressed their support, and the attendants within the household were quickly determined. A group of over 300 people gathered quietly, consisting of personnel from powerful families scattered throughout Mikawa Province. About half of the samurai in this group had their own horses, each with a set of armor, and their weapons were mainly katana, spears, and yumi bows. Although they appeared somewhat disorganized, their combat strength was quite impressive. They were not just one family or one clan, but also had their own loyal retainers, known as "rōtō" in the Kamakura period.

  The momentum of the East Sanhe was slightly weaker, with only about 200 people rushing over. Whether it was the number of self-equipped horses or the quality of their weapons and equipment, they were all inferior to the Western Sanhe warriors. The comparison between the two sides made the Eastern Sanhe warriors feel extremely ashamed, and their momentum also weakened a lot.

  Kirishima Manabemaru selected some loyal and skilled samurai for promotion, among whom Ise Gorōzaemon Naotaka was appointed as the commander of the ashigaru corps as one of the Kirishima Ise clan's vassals. Also appointed as the commander of the ashigaru corps was ōkawachi Kunitada, nephew of ōkawachi Nobusada. The Mikawa samurai were divided into six squads, each with a fixed number of 50 men, and two people were in charge of three squads, totaling 150 men.

  The samurai of Tōsandō also established two ashigaru taishō, namely Seto Shōshirō Sadamichi and Suganuma Yazaemon Sadanaga. These two were in charge of the troops of 200 people each. Seto Sadamichi was a member of the Tomioka-Seto clan, which branched from the main house of Tomioka-Chikahide. If Kira Yoshinaka hadn't intervened, he would have become an important minister of the Tokugawa family in the future.

  Suganuma Sadanao was a retainer of the Suganuma clan, which was a branch family of the Takaoka-Suganuma clan. He was the third son of Suganuma Daizen no suke Norihiro, the lord of Otakayama Castle. The Noda-Suganuma clan, which was a branch family of the Suganuma clan, represented the eastern Mikawa group of the Taira and Minamoto clans. When the two groups chose their respective forces, it was also reflected in the fact that Hotta Katsunaga, who almost destroyed the Tawara-Hotta clan, served as the head of the foot soldiers and belonged to the camp of Shitajima Sadatomo.

  In comparison, the Western Mikawa region was much better off. Except for the Matsudaira family, which remained loyal to me without wavering, the main forces of the Nishio and Nakajo families in Western Mikawa had reached an agreement. The three brothers of the Miyake clan, namely Miyake Masasada, Miyake Shigekata, and Yamada Kaneyoshi, as well as Terabe Sukemasa of the Terabe Suzuki clan, Koiso Sukemori of the Koiso Suzuki clan, and Tokugawa Shigetoki of the Tokugawa clan.

  Apart from the Miyake family, which was severely weakened by Matsudaira Kiyokazu's successive attacks and only had three brothers left, the relatively powerful Suzuki family did not exclude its own legitimate line. Neither the Suzuki family of Yotsu nor the Suzuki family of Ashikaga sent anyone to participate directly, but instead let the less important branch families, the Terabe family led by Shigetsugu and the Ohara family led by Shigeyoshi, follow Uesugi with dozens of Suzuki family retainers.

  Kirishima Manabumaru ordered Ichimonji Naotaka, Okawa Kuniyasu, Settsu Sadamichi and Suganuma Sadanao to lead each group of ashigaru in basic training. The method of training was the same as that used by the Kirishima family's own 800 ashigaru. The regular ashigaru were officially named Saigō-bi. Watanabe Takatsuna, Naitō Masanari, Ina Tadaiye and Katō Noriaki were appointed as generals of the ashigaru, each commanding 200 men.

  Yamamoto Kan no Suke has been very busy lately and hasn't had time to train this new army, so Kira Yoshinaka had to temporarily transfer Nishiya to train with the 500-strong Sanada troops. His intention was for both sides to stimulate each other and form a good fermentation, allowing these 500 people to gradually integrate into the Kira family system. However, the result was not as expected, and it far exceeded his expectations.

  Both sides had several small-scale clashes as soon as they came into contact, fortunately, the management was timely to extinguish the sparks, but the confrontational mentality between the two sides was very strong. The people of Xisanhe were relatively better off because Mitamura and Suzuki's families actively approached each other, with no major issues. However, the people of Dong Sanhe were more troublesome, as the eight counties of Bao Fan, She Le, and Wu Mei did not belong to a single entity, and many people from Dong Sanhe were dissatisfied with the appointment of the two light generals, who were all from She Le County.

  To calm the internal strife and resentment, Kira Yoshinaka had a friendly group match with the Akō rōnin using bokken (wooden swords) as weapons, with a small cloth bag filled with limestone powder attached to the tip, demonstrating their bravery in a mock battle. The three rōnin from Mikawa shouted one after another: "We will surely win! We will win!"

  There were also some people who shouted loudly, "Let Mikawa's samurai show you the power of Yoshida Kōriki!" This ridiculous slogan quickly enraged the warriors of Saigō Tsugiyori. Watanabe Hikogorō jumped out and declared that he would be the first to challenge them. ōtaka no suke Okada Tadamune from Settsu Province stepped forward to accept the challenge, but was knocked down with a single blow. Watanabe's bravery was unexpectedly strong, shocking the Mikawa samurai who were still daydreaming. Those who had been confident until then also began to wonder about their chances of winning.

  "The essence of Ikki Tousen lies in the blow to morale, and it seems that the 'dregs' abandoned during the Kamakura period are not entirely useless." Kiryuu Manmaru sat on the top floor of the Ni-no-maru small keep of Honmaru, gazing out at the battle below. His mood was particularly good today, wearing a breathable silk hitatare, holding a cup of pale green clear tea and sipping it lightly. Next to him, Akane knelt and occasionally refilled his teacup. He wasn't drinking traditional matcha, but rather the boiled tea that was popular during the Ming dynasty. Matcha was too bitter and had too many rules for the tea ceremony, which didn't suit a relaxed atmosphere.

  As for Yamagata Zenjirou, that idiot, he can't stay here and get in the way, so he was sent down to work as a part-time umpire early on. Just looking at him excitedly holding up his drumstick downstairs makes it clear what kind of situation this is.

  As expected, compared to the elite troops of Saigō's five-year training, the weakness of the Imperial Army's disunity and lack of discipline was exposed. Facing Saigō's gunfire, they directly turned into a chaotic charge like a swarm of bees. This kind of reckless charge without any technical value was simply suicidal. They couldn't even hold on for three minutes before being defeated by Saigō's troops and fleeing in disarray.

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