They searched through the mounds of the dead, looking for entrapped comrades that still yet drew breath. It was a grim task, but it did nothing to dull the mood of the victorious. Of the original eight thousand, only a little over two thousand remained.
Another man would have counted his blessings. To be able to defeat an army of thirty-four thousand with merely eight thousand – it was certainly a feat. But the losses were heavier than Gengyo had wished for. Kenshin had pushed them to their absolute limits with his careful strategic head.
The only mercy was that he had lost none of his generals. Though Yamagata had come close to breathing his final breath. He lay once more on a sick bed, barely hanging on to life.
Gengyo had his own mission to tend to, before the evening's celebrations. He mounted his horse as his men worked, taking two hundred guards with him, and he went in search of defeated Uesugi soldiers.
Akiko came with him – she would not allow him out of his sight again. "I thought you were dead," she had told him with a tear in her eye. "I saw you get knocked off your horse and then you disappeared for nearly a quarter of an hour." Rin had not wished to be left behind either and the two girls flanked him, still clad in their bloody armour.
The Uesugi men had not managed to run far. Their cavalry had been exterminated – there was not a single horse left available to them. They were too exhausted from battle to cover any respectable distance, and nor did they have the heart to. They had lost their Lord and they had lost their generals. They operated on instinct. The only reason they had stayed together was because – like cattle – they merely followed the man in front of them.
They were a pathetic sight when Gengyo found them. A few thousand of them lay across a hill beside the sad graveyard of what was once a forest – only stumps remained of it now, where the woodsmen had made their axes felt.
Those that were still conscious enough to pay attention to their surroundings stood up and ran as soon as they saw him. "We come with weapons sheathed, but if you run so rudely, we will cut you down," Gengyo said measuredly, just loud enough for them to hear him.
The remnants of the men far outnumbered Gengyo's little party. They were eight thousand to his two hundred. But they were hardly fighting men anymore. The threat they posed was minimal. Their numbers were largely composed of bow samurai, for they had managed to run before anyone else.
Those that had begun to run now cautiously began to slow and they kneeled in the grass as if the ankle-length shoots could shield them. They unbuckled their swords and threw them to the side, doing whatever they could to defuse Gengyo's aura of aggression. Fighting was the last thing they wished to do.
"You came here to conquer Takeda lands. I can offer you the opportunity to do that. Or would you rather flee with your tail between your legs?" Gengyo asked them mildly.
The men did not know. They did not particularly care either. All they wanted was a bed to curl up in beside a warm fire, so that they could forget the horrible memory of that day. Never had they felt so weak.
"I did not bare Kenshin any particular ill will. He merely blocked the road I wished to travel, as I blocked his road in turn. It was only natural that he and I battled. I do not think he will curse me for my victory when both sides put forth their best effort," Gengyo continued. "By extension, I do not hold any resentment towards you. You are soldiers with the highest level of training, you are worth much. I have the coin enough to pay for your upkeep. I can offer you even more than Kenshin did. Beyond that, I can offer you something far more weighty. I can offer you glory."
"What glory is there to be had anymore?" An old soldier called out resentfully. "We don't have a choice here. If we refuse, you'll kill us. We're a problem for you, that's what we are."
The others began to mutter in fear at the words of the old soldier and Gengyo quickly held his hand up to set their fears at ease. "He's absolutely right. If you refuse, I will have you killed. I can not let your number fall into the hands of my enemy. However, in regards to what glory, there is much. There will plenty of plunder to be had. Victory will be yours in every battle. You will be trained to be more than soldiers – you will trained to be gods of the battlefield."
"These Takeda lands will all be ours in a few short days," Akiko told them, taking off her helmet, allowing her long hair to fall down to her waist. She shocked plenty when they discovered that she was a woman, but only the fools thought less of her – she had fought harder than any of them. "Shinano, Kai, Musashi and Mikawa – they all belong to Miura Tadakata, or will soon enough. He has slain both the Lords of Owari and Echigo as well. Six provinces will be held in his name. He defeated your Dragon with merely eight thousand men. Can you imagine what he could do with thirty thousand? Behold, you look upon the future unifier of Japan. What further glory is there?"
Her words startled them as Akiko put his achievements into perspective. Even Gengyo had to scratch his head in embarrassment at such high praise, though none of it was untrue.
"It is as you hear," he told them. "Kneel and become part of it."
And so they kneeled. Eight thousand defeated men threw down their swords and bent the knee to Miura Tadakata, Lord of Mikawa and future unifier of Japan.