Chapter 56

"Listen carefully, as if it were my father's last will."

In the stronghold of Takeda, adjacent to the Tatsuzakizaki mansion, Sanada Masahiro called his eldest son, Sanada Nobushige, and his third son, Takebe Kibei, to begin his speech.

"The Takeda clan will fall."

It was now the summer of the third year of Genki. In the spring, the Takeda army had been defeated in the battle for Hamamatsu Castle and lost the territories of eastern Enshu and Suruga.

Few of the generals and soldiers who had gone to Kai had returned alive, facing the unprecedented firepower of the Shinchi army.

The defense was unreliable, and Shingen decided to fortify himself in the Takeda stronghold.

However, an unexpected event occurred.

The Shinchi army and the Hojo army fought over the territories of Suruga, which the Takeda clan had abandoned, and the Hojo army suffered a great defeat.

Shingen's younger brother, Ujimasa, was killed in battle, and the losses among the generals and soldiers were significant.

According to reports, nearly ten thousand were killed, and the Hojo were occupied in Izu as a form of retaliation.

The troubled Ujimasa had entered a truce with the Oda clan to deal with the invasion of Uesugi Kagekatsu in eastern Kozuke and the scattered anti-Hojo daimyo in the Kanto region.

The troubled Shingen and Ujimasa hastily formed a non-aggression pact, but the Shinchi army's invasion of Kai could not be prevented.

The pact was only a non-aggression pact, and the Hojo army would not come to Kai's aid.

"Northern Shinano will also be invaded by the Hashiba and Takigawa armies. Even the demon of Mino cannot defend it."

Mabuchi Nobuharu, who had been in charge of the southern Shinano invasion force, now had a small army due to the farming season.

Most of the Kai troops had returned to defend Kai, and their numbers were less than half of what they once were.

Masahiro thought that defending northern Shinano would be difficult.

"Defending Kai will also be difficult."

Too many of the main generals had been killed.

The heads of powerful families like the Komayada and the Hoshina had been killed in battle.

Many soldiers had been lost, and the Shinchi army had moved troops during the farming season.

Shingen was troubled by the poor turnout of soldiers.

"Men are the walls, men are the castle," Shingen, who had never engaged in siege warfare, decided to fortify himself in the Takeda stronghold.

Shingen's strategy of always advancing and expanding his territory had finally collapsed.

Therefore, Masahiro said that the Takeda clan, which had deviated from the path of victory, would fall.

"The Sanada family's territory is in Shinano. Nobushige, return and surrender at the appropriate time. Kibei, stay in Kai and surrender with your family if the Takeda stronghold is about to fall."

"You are separating us, brother?"

"Of course. If one of you survives, the Sanada bloodline will continue. Kibei has the advantage."

"Is that so?"

Kibei questioned Masahiro's thinking.

"Shinchi Mitsuaki is a rare benevolent general in these times."

"Father, I don't think so."

"That's right, Kibei. Is that benevolent general the one who massacred so many?"

Kibei and Nobushige knew of Shinchi Mitsuaki's reputation.

How many had he killed with his arquebuses in Ise, Kii, the Takeda army, and the Hojo army?

The two argued against Masahiro, saying that no one had killed so many in battle.

"Indeed. But what about his governance afterward?"

He actively developed the territories he conquered, and the people spoke well of him.

When dissatisfied daimyo or temple forces rebelled, few gathered because the people turned their backs on them, and they were reported and suppressed early.

They had sold their former rulers because their lives had improved under the Shinchi family and they did not want to return to the old ways.

"Do you know the faces of the vassals?"

They were all men who had lost their territories or positions in past battles, or who had participated in the Mikawa Ikko Ikki and defied their lords, leaving their countries.

"Even such men, if they show loyalty and ability, are heavily employed. That is the way of the Shinchi family."

The leading families of the Shinchi family, such as the Horio, Yamauchi, Hineno, Fuji, Shima, Honjo, Hachiyagumi, and Kishida, were famous for supporting the Shinchi family in military, internal affairs, diplomacy, and intelligence.

"I will follow your orders, but why separate us? The Shinchi family is a key vassal of the Oda family..."

"What nonsense. Don't worry me, Nobushige."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Who could have predicted that the Takeda clan would fall?"

Masahiro thought the Shinchi family had grown too large.

Nobunaga, who had married his sister to the Shinchi family, recognized them as loyal vassals and quasi-family members and wished for it to continue.

However, a part of Kii and a part of Owari, especially a part of Owari, were the Shinchi family's base.

To increase their territories, Nobunaga had abandoned those areas.

The Shinchi family had worked hard to pacify and develop their base.

"Refusing and becoming enemies was expected, but Shinchi Mitsuaki accepted it."

"Then, the Shinchi family is a loyal quasi-family member of the Oda family?"

"For now. The Oda family intends to let the Shinchi family take Kanto and Ise."

The territories would increase, but there would be the labor of development.

The Oda family would gain all the rich territories the Shinchi family had developed without doing anything.

They would monopolize the sea trade of Ise Bay, and the profits would be enormous.

"By doing this, the Oda family, which controls the Kinai, will become the ruler of the land."

"Nobunaga is a man of great fortune. But such men often fall for trivial reasons."

If something happened to Nobunaga, a fierce succession struggle would naturally occur.

"One of the Oda family's sons, Shinchi Mitsuaki, Akechi Mitsuhide, Hashiba, Takigawa, Chigusa, Akechi, Mitsuhide, Dan, ... and others."

Masahiro, who was close to Shingen, was well-informed about the Oda family.

"Of course, there is also the possibility that Nobunaga will become the ruler of the land and the Shinchi family will survive as a meritorious vassal. But..."

Masahiro continued.

"If something happens to Nobunaga before the country is united..."

The world would again be in turmoil, and a struggle would occur among Nobunaga's successors.

This is what Masahiro predicted.

"Based on the situation, the most likely candidate is Shinchi Mitsuaki. That man is unusual."

"Because he is a benevolent general?"

"Such a man is needed to rule the land. But it is not certain."

That is why Masahiro explained that Nobushige and Kibei should separate to ensure the survival of the Sanada family.

"Father, I have inherited the Takebe family..."

"Fool! Show the breadth of mind to establish a branch family in the Shinchi family!"

Kibei laughed, thinking his father was like himself.

"I have been unwell recently, and I will not live long. I will share the fate of the Takeda family. I was once a wanderer, saved and heavily employed by the Takeda family. This is my final service to the Takeda family. Therefore, do not harbor unnecessary resentment towards the Shinchi family."

Masahiro warned his two sons.

"I have one more request, Kibei."

"What is it, Father?"

"Try to save as many young people as possible."

It was impossible to save the Takeda family's generals and their families, but the young soldiers and their families were innocent.

Perhaps it was their misfortune to be born into a samurai family in the Takeda territory of Kai, which was about to fall.

"We, too, must discern the strong and try to survive. If the Takeda family falls, serving the Shinchi family, who destroyed it, to earn a living is fine. There is no need to die with them out of a sense of duty."

"I understand."

After this conversation, Nobushige returned to the northern Shinano territory, and the Hashiba and Takigawa armies soon invaded northern Shinano.

Mabuchi Nobuharu, who was in charge of the defense, fought hard and repelled the two armies in several local battles.

However, the overall situation was hopeless.

Rebels in Saku and the former Murakami territories cut off the supply lines of the Mabuchi army.

The Suwa clan, who had severed ties with Shingen's fourth son, Katsuyori, and had split into the Oda and Takeda factions, joined forces, a strategy by Hashiba Hideyoshi and Takigawa Masatsugu.

With insufficient troops and food, Nobuharu resorted to the worst possible measure.

He forcibly requisitioned supplies, which enraged the people of northern Shinano, and the Oda army invaded without a fight. Nobuharu retreated with only the Kai troops, and on the way back, they were attacked by ronin hunters, increasing the number of casualties in the Mabuchi army.

Few of the soldiers who returned to Kai survived.

The Hashiba and Takigawa armies easily conquered northern Shinano and western Kozuke.

Uesugi Kagekatsu, who was concerned about the situation, could not intervene because he was on his annual campaign in Kanto.

The Hashiba and Takigawa armies did not touch the Uesugi territories and did not engage in battle.

In Kai, the Shinchi army was ravaging the area from the south.

Naito Masahiro planned a final resistance, but the Takeda army was no longer the elite force it once was.

Many of the experienced generals and soldiers who had supported the strongest Takeda army at Hamamatsu Castle were killed, and the inexperienced young men were forcibly gathered, and many fled when they saw the Shinchi army.

There were almost no lower-ranking commanders to stop them, and Masahiro fought to the death with a few of his vassals.

His head was taken by Masahiro's younger brother, Masahiro.

With Masahiro's defeat, the Takeda stronghold was the only place in Kai not controlled by the Shinchi army within a week.

The Shinchi army lined up their cannons and began firing day and night, and the Takeda army, which was fortifying itself, realized their defeat without much resistance.

Shingen, who often coughed up blood and was feverish, understood his situation better than anyone.

"It's no good."

"Don't say such things!"

Takeda Nobukado, an elder of the surviving family, argued, but Shingen inwardly mocked his younger brother's naivety.

"The Takeda family will fall once, but we cannot let the bloodline die out. I plan to negotiate with the Oda family. Fortunately, my daughter, Mats, is betrothed to Nobunaga's heir, Nobutada."

Shingen, who had foreseen this situation, had already sent envoys to Nobunaga.

The fortification strategy was only to buy time.

Shingen, a true realist, would not have taken such a strategy without a plan.

"You will have to commit seppuku."

Nobunaga, who feared Shingen,