A couple of days passed, and their forces remained stationary. The men of the Special Forces unit stayed in good spirits, especially after having received 2 gold each from their leader.
And then two mornings hence, as they sat around the fire, sharing breakfast, and attempting to break free from the morning drowsiness, a messenger rode into camp.
He rode one stallion – that was breathing mightily – at a borderline gallop, whilst he lead the other by the reigns. Clearly, he had been riding rather hard, which warranted the two horses, so that he could give one a chance to rest whilst he rode the other.
He jumped down and headed straight for Imagawa's tent, before kneeling by the entrance, and announcing himself loudly.
"Marune has fallen! Victory goes to Matsudaira-sama, and to the Imagawa forces!"
This shout attracted the attention of the majority of the camp, as whispers broke out.
The flap of cloth - that shielded the entrance to Imagawa's tent – trembled, and the man emerged himself, his teeth sunk firmly into peach as he allowed the sticky juices to run down his many chins, before his tongue chased after them greedily.
"Mmm, he has? Good. He took longer than he ought to though – we've been waiting for days."
The messenger dared to glance up with a look of curiosity.
'Longer than he ought to? We completed the siege in a measly 3 days!'
He thought to himself, but of course, he dared not to voice such opinions to the man himself, lest he wish to have his head rolling.
"Has he already begun moving toward the Tokaido road?"
He asked of the messenger, finishing most of the flesh of the peach, before putting the large seed within his mouth so that he might clean off any debris that was still stuck to it.
"He has, my lord."
"Mmm, good. You may go now."
Gengyo watched the exchange with a degree of disapproval. The messenger had clearly ridden throughout the night so that he might deliver the news promptly, but he was immediately dismissed without even the slightest courtesy.
"Get ready to move. We'll meet up with Matsudaira along Tokaido road, as planned."
His words were spread further throughout the camp by his men, who echoed them off precisely as they had initially been spoken. It did not take long for the men to pack away their things, as they had all been expecting this for a while.
Matsudaira Motoyasu was a member of the Matsudaira clan, who were at the time forced retainers of the Imagawa. He and Imagawa did not get on that well – as the Daimyo looked down upon him and upon his clan – but he still followed the orders as they were put to him, for he had no other choice.
The Niwa army began their march toward the Tokaido road in high spirits, feeling well-rested. They were likely the most confident unit in the entire army at that point – which, in itself, was fine, Gengyo decided. He merely had to work to make sure that there was never such a scare that the confidence would start to fade.
Tokaido road – which was their target destination – was one of five important trade routes in Japan at that time, and thus it was well known and well worn.
They passed numerous villages on their way. All of which were left empty. But it was not as though they passed the villages without a second thought. By the orders of the Daiymo, each and every settlement was looted, so that they could stock up on supplies for the march ahead.
Even Washizu was looted as they passed it. The men went inside to inspect the damage, and it was found that Niwa's words were true. There was a field of dead men, and a flock of carrion birds, but no other men wearing the Niwa uniform – the two fallen had already been taken days before.
It was odd walking as part of such a large group. When the frontmost man stopped, it took a few minutes longer for the back to begin to stop. As it was the same when the frontmost man began walking again. It was more like how a fluid might behave, than a group of people. Of course, there was no one Gengyo could share this appreciation with, so he did so in silence.
They walked from dawn till just before sundown, not stopping once. They ate on the move, and drank too. But it was not especially taxing – and certainly not for the Special Forces unit – as they were moving at all but a crawl. But that was the case for large armies – they had their supply carriages to take care of.
They made their stop before sundown, and the men stood in place, wondering whether this would be their stopping place for the night.
A man - bearing the yellow Imagawa comb-like crest upon his sleeve – galloped down the line, appearing to be looking for someone.
He sped past them, before violently reigning his horse to a halt, and trotting back.
"Niwa?"
"Correct."
Nakatane responded to the question.
"Follow me; the Daimyo wants to see you."
He stepped off as to move along the line of people, before he was corrected by the servant.
"Have your men follow as well."
He raised an eyebrow at that, wondering quite what he would find at the front of their pack, but still followed the orders anyway, and called out for his men to follow.
They marched swiftly toward the front where the reason for their summoning became clear. Blocking the road forward, were a group of around 500 men, spears poised.
Imagawa turned to look at them out of the corner of his eye as they approached.
"As you can see Niwa, we have something of a problem. You're one of the few landholder-lords who's name I know, so it falls to you to deal with it. Treat it as an honour."
"These men insist on being sent to the grave, which is all very well, but how dare they hinder our progress!"
"Now, I want you to deal with them. We will set up camp here, and rest the men."
It was an exceptionally petty way of reacting to the threat. Of course, the purpose of their blockage was obvious: to slow down their advance. That was all they could hope to achieve, however, as in a frontal assault in which Imagawa utilised the entirety of his forces they would be crushed.
But the Daimyo wished not to give them the satisfaction of having slowed him. He chose to stop here, as though they had intended to set up camp all along, whilst having some of the lesser-lords deal with the measly numbers, and tidy it all up by morning.
"It would be my honour, Daimyo-sama… but I fear I do not have enough men."
Niwa bowed low, searching for more favourable conditions.
"Bah! More men? There are a mere 500 hundred – a rabble! You should pierce through them as a warm knife pierces butter… and yet you ask for more men?!"
The fat of his chin wobbled furiously as he spoke, genuinely seeming irritated.
"…I will put one more of the landholder lords under your command. That ought to be enough!"
In response Niwa simply bowed lower, unspeaking. Their battling would be more favourable than before, but it seemed they were still destined to be outnumbered.
"You!" He pointed to one of his guardsmen that sat attentively upon his horse. "Choose one of the landholder lords, and bring him to fight with Niwa."
He left without a second word, heading over to wait beside his tent that was already under construction.
Nakatane breathed a sigh at his behaviour, turning to Gengyo for his opinion.
"What do you reckon?"
"It depends on who they send to help us… but it'll probably be fine."
He mused, making mental notes of the composition of the enemy forces. There seemed to be a cavalry force of around 50 strong. The rest was made up of yari ashigaru and bow ashigaru. He could not see the yellow and black Oda flower hanging on a banner anywhere, but he could only assume that those men were his.
Truthfully, he was unsure of what Oda's motives were in sending such an amount of men to basically die. But he imagined he would find out soon enough.
The men around them started to fall back, setting up camp along the road, whilst they stared off against the army of men who were around a kilometre away.
They heard the drumming of marched feet coming from towards their rear, as a middle-aged man – dressed in full battle attire, in a dark blue suit of armour – lead his men towards them, bowing toward Nakatane as he came close.
"I saw your victory at Washizu, it is my honour to fight beside you today!"
"What is your name, friend?"
Nakatane asked.
"Gosankyo Shigekiyo, Niwa-san. Fear not, we are yours to command – we shall not get in your way.
"Well met, Gosankyo-san! I have no doubt that your support will prove invaluable. However, I hope that you will listen to my er… strategist, as well."
He said, pointing toward Gengyo.
Gosankyo turned to look toward the young man, who returned his gaze unwaveringly. He was a little surprised by his age – evidently still a teen. There was not a single wrinkle in sight. But the glint of the boy's intelligence gaze made him pause before underestimating him. If he was Niwa's strategist after all, he must have some degree of skill.
Gengyo in turn, was evaluating the man as well. He looked to be in his forties, with all the wrinkles to go with it. He wore his bushy sideburns long, and his hair was firmly secured under his kabuto. He decided that he liked the man's straightforwardness, but was unsure whether that would translate to competence on the battlefield.
"Good to meet you, I am Miura."
He introduced himself casually with a nod.
"Ah! Yes, good to meet you."
Gosankyo responded hastily, a little put off by how relaxed the man appeared.
The boy's eyes began to wander, and soon they fell upon a stick. He picked it up, and began to draw upon the dusty earth as though he was the only person for miles around. Gosankyo shot Nakatane a questioning look, who merely shrugged in response.
He began to set some stones upon the earth, in rows, before motioning with his head for the three other men to come over.
"What's this?"
Jikouji voiced the question that was foremost on their minds.
"A battle plan."
He had judged it necessary, since they were working with a new force – one that they did not have direct control over – to show them his plans beforehand.
There were 6 stones on their side of the battlefield. Yet three of them were all bundled in one place – the left-wing. Whilst the enemy stones were laid evenly in a flat line, with a stone behind them – that being the mobile horse unit.
They stared at it for a while, struggling to make sense of what he seemingly wished to imply, and he waited patiently for them to do so. It was a rather simple plan, but he still wished for them to be able to visualize it properly before they dared to put it into execution.
"…Is this my men?"
Gosankyo asked, pointing to the clump of three stones on the left-wing.
With a firm nod, Gengyo replied.
//Author's Note
Sometimes glory upon the battlefield translates to the kind of fame you wish you didn't have have. But I imagine Gengyo does not fret as much as someone else might.
Thanks for reading! I'll release three chapters tomorrow as promised, where the Oda's motivations will become clear!