Not long after Okurakiyebi led the Lang Faction Ashigaru from Takeshige Manor out, Harano also packed up his things, brought his whole family, Maeshima Shichiro, and thirty Ashigaru, raised the Cyan Jade Gourd Banner, and set out in an ox cart. But the ox cart moved very slowly, even slower than going on foot, so they could only crawl toward Nagano Castle at a snail's pace.
On the way, he saw many small groups also heading to Nagano Castle to gather—generally twenty or thirty or forty or fifty people at a time. Judging by the banners, almost all bore the Five Melon Patterns, so they were basically all Oda Nobunaga's direct subordinates. It looked like the Matsudaira family's raids this time had really pissed him off, and he was dipping into his reserves, ready to rush out and have a proper brawl with the Matsudaira family.
