Where there was once miles of rolling plains, there was now a scar upon the earth. The funeral pyre for such a battle had been massive. The ashes of thousands of men – both enemy any ally – coated the earth. A strong easterly win would carry clouds of them up at a time, blowing them back towards the sea.
The men said the last of their prayers and they marched deeper into Takeda territory, towards the capital.
"I must say, it takes a weight off my shoulders knowing my people are no longer under threat," Yamagata said. He had only just barely managed to make it into the saddle and his face had gone back to being a sickly pale blue.
"That weight hasn't disappeared yet for me," Gengyo admitted. "But it is indeed one less thing to worry about… And now I must execute the son of a man that I respect."
"It might not come to that. If he has the sense, he will lay down his weapons and we can end this all without bloodshed," Jikouji said, providing a slight amount of hope.
But both Gengyo and Yamagata shook their heads. "That will not come to pass. Even if he does surrender, he will never lay down his sword truly, he will always hold it in his heart that one day he will be able to take his father's lands back. I can not have such a loose cannon hiding in my territory," Gengyo said.
It was grim looks that met his words, some looked dissatisfied, but none objected, for they knew that even if he put it harshly, he was very much right. It was a tower of cards they were building up. It wasn't enough to come up with a single extraordinary solution – they had to push for the impossible every single day.
"Ahem… Will you have a thought to cavalry now, Miura? After that battle, it seems we would be misplayed to refuse their use. Their strategic utility is something else – and the home of the finest warhorses in all of Japan will very soon be ours. It makes sense, does it not?" Jikouji offered.
It was a consideration Gengyo had not made. He had been too focused on leaving with immediate haste. He c.o.c.ked his head to one side as he briefly thought about it.
"I want a cavalry unit!" Rin said excitedly. "I'd be way more effective with riders at my back rather than foot soldiers. We'd take a general's head every battle!"
"Well," Gengyo said slowly. "It would seem you've already convinced my sister. I can not think of a valid reason to refuse that suggestion. It diversifies our options on the battlefield and broadens the actions we can take in dealing with the enemy. Had we had more mounted men in the last battle, then Yamagata would have no been so hard pressed to keep us in the fight."
"That's right," Yamagata agreed. "It would have allowed us a chance at counter attacking. We could have dealt with their ranged men without the need for a full breakthrough. Arm our cavalrymen with rifles too, and you'd have a deadly attacking force. If it's something you truly mean to consider, Yamamoto had ties with the Royal Breeders. He'd be able to work something out."
Gengyo looked towards the quiet Yamamoto to confirm the truth in Yamagata's words. "It would be my honour," the young man said with a bow of his head.
"Then it is settled. The Red Feather men will finally have cavalry amongst our ranks," Gengyo announced, much to Rin's delight. She gave a squeak of excitement. Akiko was smiling too.
Along the palace road, they spied many a traveller and many a merchant. They knew that word of their arrival had long since reached the ears of the Shingen's son. The only question they had for him was whether the man would flee, whether he would choose to abandon his palace and risk an attack on them, or whether he would keep his arse firmly cemented in place and refuse to stubbornly budge.
It was the second option that the Takeda man chose, much to his credit. He armoured his garrison of two thousand loyal retainers and he gave them each a fine warhorse from the stables and they galloped to meet Gengyo on the road to the palace.
They heard the Takeda arrival long before they saw them. It was no easy task to sneak up on a man with heavy cavalry. Their hooves were louder than the bellow of thunder.
Gengyo nodded his head to himself in approval when he saw them emerge from over the horizon. The Takeda boy had done little to earn his father's respect during his lifetime, but this choice he made to end his life in battle rather than on the run, that was something Gengyo respected.
The Miura army had arrived in Takeda lands with eight thousand men, and now they numbered ten thousand, but they were still weaker for it. The Uesugi soldiers had not been trained with them and so were still not engrained properly into the army and they could not make use of them fully.
"Form up!" Jikouji barked. When that order was given, it was his own men that Gengyo placed his faith in. The two thousand riflemen formed a wall on the palace road, their rifles pointed towards the horizon. The Uesugi remnants stood behind them with their bows in their hands and they knocked their arrows, awaiting for the order to begin their execution.
When Takeda Yoshinobu finally caught the light, it sent a chill down Gengyo's spine. He was armoured just as his father had been that day, with his helmet covered in a mane of white horse hair, red from head to toe. He had his sword held out, bellowing. His men roared with him.
The ghost of a brilliant man, that was who he seemed to be. "No matter," Gengyo whispered. "I will kill you again.