บท 84: Dengaku-hazama

The men spent their days in celebration, raising toasts to the various skirmishes that they had won, and the inevitable victory that was to come over Oda Nobunaga. He was trapped like a rat on that high hill of his, and in the meantime, they merely helped themselves to all the supplies that were delivered his way.

But the Special Force unit did not share that sense of victory, and felt no cause to celebrate. Not that they could have anyway, for their leader knew what was to come. He put them through training daily, keeping them on their toes, making them ever sharper.

Nakatane had his main unit join them, then, around late morning, he joined them himself, practising his duelling and raising his stamina amongst the rest. The ashigaru units struggled to keep up with the Special Forces unit from their lack of endurance, but within a couple of days, they started to make progress.