Owari Yumeki Golden Day

Page 117

Since the Hori family, a wealthy local tyrant in Sakata County, Jiangbei, has rebelled, it means that the road back to Gifu through Jiangbei has been cut off. Now if you want to escape from Echizen, you can only go through Wakasa, pass Kuchikidani, and turn to Kyoto.

However, Shichibei was separate from Nobunaga, so he was a much smaller target and it should not be difficult for him to escape.

At daybreak, Shichibei had already escaped and returned to Tsuruga Kanezaki, but he never expected that Takenaka Shigeharu and Aochi Shigetsuna hadn't escaped. Upon inquiry, he learned that Nobunaga had already escaped, and all the over 100 horses the two had gathered had been handed over to Nobunaga.

What should we do?

Takenaka Hanbei arrived with two men, who refused to reveal their names or identities, saying only that they had met Shichibei once before. They were willing to take Shichibei and a few other followers with them, traveling upstream through the Shogi River valley at Kanazaki and then overland to reach Lake Biwa.

It takes at most one day to reach Otsu by boat on the lake.

Is there such a good thing? Shichibei looked at the two people who came to show him the way, and even offered to lead the way, and thought that since he might not be able to catch up with Oda Nobunaga anyway, it would be better to go to Lake Biwa.

Let's go, go, go. I don't know what will happen next. I don't know if Hideyoshi and Hidenaga escaped. I hope my sister doesn't become a widow at such a young age.

Seeing Shichibei's agreement, the others immediately abandoned their horses. The horses had been running all night and had long lost their power. There was no way they could take them with them in their escape, so forget it.

Two locals immediately found two small boats, loaded Shichibei and more than ten people onto them, and rowed their boat upstream along the Sheng River.

Many Oda soldiers also fled to Kanegasaki, and when they found a boat on the river, they shouted to take one of them on board. Unfortunately, there was no room on the boat. I'm sorry, I'd rather die than let my friend die.

By noon, without a stutter, we jumped overboard and prepared to cross the mountain. The passage from Wakasa to Lake Biwa is called "Shichiribango," and the name suggests it's a 30-kilometer mountain road that leads to Kaizu Village on Lake Biwa.

This Kaijin is not that Kaijin. People living near Lake Biwa also call Lake Biwa "Tamil Sea" or "Omi Sea". The small harbor on the seashore is called "Tsu", so it is called Kaijin Village.

As long as we get to Haijin, everything will be fine.

No one was thinking of finding a village and asking the villagers for food. They had all grown up in the quagmire of the Warring States period, and word of the Oda army's collapse spread quickly. Who knew if the nearby villagers would arm themselves and try some warrior hunting?

Starving for two or three days won't kill you, the most important thing is to escape. Thirty miles of mountain road, right? Someone can carry a 120-pound load and walk thirty miles of mountain road at full speed.

Fortunately, Shichibei wasn't a pampered boss these days. He followed Nobunaga everywhere he went, and while he didn't have to personally carry a spear and charge through the city gates, he did have to ride a horse. His thighs weren't overgrown with fat, and his feet were strong enough to handle it.

By dark, we were still thirty miles down the mountain road, the path winding and twisting, with no way to get straight. It wasn't until two locals lit torches and whispered that we had arrived that we could vaguely see a vast, boundless expanse of clear water.

The locals quickly contacted some people in the village and prepared dozens of rice balls and two small boats for Shichibei and his companions. However, without a boatman, they had to row to Hunan on their own.

I understand. I understand very much.

Without skilled boatmen or fishermen, Shichibei and his companions dared not sail overnight. They hid in the cabin, covered with thatch, and even dared not light a fire, enduring the night. Only after dawn did they row and set sail.

Look at them all, renowned samurai with rank of several thousand or even ten thousand koku, now wearing tattered turbans, their haori armor completely undone. Takenaka Shigeharu, with 8,000 koku, rowed, Aochi Shigetsuna, with 4,000 koku, held the boat, and Kawamura Nagayoshi, with 6,000 kan, looked out for the wind. It was a bit of a dry humor, like "I don't know who's in the car, but it's Gorbachev driving it."

Since the dozen or so people on the two boats were not skilled sailors, they naturally did not dare to stray too far from the shore. According to local people, Otsu could be reached in a day, but by nightfall, they had not even seen the harbor of Katada.

When I got ashore and asked, I found out that we had just crossed the Hira River.

What bad luck! What a bad luck this name is.

Even after dark, they set out, walking along the shore. Arriving at Katada, they met a Kawamura-ya employee and entered the Oda clan's territory. It was hard to say what the situation was like north of the Yangtze River, but Nobunaga still had some ties with the southern part of the Yangtze River. After all, Nobunaga had violently invaded the southern part of the Yangtze River, and the local nobles and various forces had witnessed Nobunaga's military prowess firsthand.

In Katada Town, there was no news of the Oda army's disastrous defeat in the Echizen expedition; the town remained calm, as usual. Only the dusty arrival of Shichibei and his companions at Kawamura's pony house signaled the complete failure of the military operation.

Others could fall asleep in the inn, but Shichibei couldn't. He immediately wrote a letter to Otsu and Kyoto to find out Oda Nobunaga's movements. He also sent a secret letter to Oda Nobuhiro, asking him to lead his troops to garrison Nijo Palace immediately and send people to meet Oda Nobunaga at various gates of Kyoto.

He was also requested to write a letter to Gifu Castle as the head of the Oda clan, informing Hayashi Hidetada and Oda Kyoumimaru who remained in Gifu. Saito Tatsuoki of Kiyosu Castle had also rebelled, and he was requested to be on guard against Nagai Michitoshi's army, which might cross from Echizen and attack Gifu.

I don’t know if Honganji is planning to start an uprising now. If it does, Nobunaga will be in big trouble.

If Honganji also gained strength, then disciples such as Anyoji Jojo in Kamigashi County, Mino County and Saishoji Sensho in Ono County, Echizen County would also join in the harassment and attacks on Gifu.

The followers of Ikko Ikki, who were supported by fanatical religious ideas, had the organizational strength of having their own opinions and the martial virtues of the Warring States peasants. They were no pushovers when fighting.

Nobunaga fought the Nagashima Rebellion in Ise, which lasted three battles and resulted in countless casualties among the Ichimonshu and generals. The battle against Ishiyama Honganji lasted for a full ten years before finally agreeing to peace and opening the city.

Not only did they lose Hanawa Naomasa, but they also lost Sakuma Nobumori. The two Oda army commanders were defeated by Honganji, which was actually a powerful enemy of Nobunaga.

It’s difficult.

After barely sleeping for four or five hours, the sun rose as daybreak. Shichibei could no longer sleep, so he took his horse and rode off to Kyoto. It didn't matter when Takenaka Shigeharu and the others would catch up; the most important thing was to determine whether Nobunaga was alive or dead.

Rushing to Myokaku-ji Temple, Oda Nobuhiro had already received Shichibei's secret report, and his face was filled with shock, yet he still couldn't completely suppress it. He was mobilizing troops and actively deploying defenses within Kyoto.

After all, he was a veteran, and he didn't panic and go looking for lords and daimyo like Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, Wada Koremasa, and Hatakeyama Akitaka to come to the capital. Bringing in these random people at this time would only increase the uncertainty of the situation.

In addition, Oda Nobuhiro also informed Shichibei of a piece of news that Rokkaku Yoshitaka was in Ishibe Castle in Koga County, Jiangnan, and Rokkaku Yoshiharu was in Nagie Castle in Aichi County. They had risen up in rebellion and received many responses, causing turmoil in Jiangnan.

When Nobunaga was not in Kyoto, Ashikaga Yoshiaki submitted a petition to change the era name, and this year was officially changed from the 13th year of Eiroku to the 1st year of Genki.

It is not a good era name, destined to be turbulent and uneasy.

........................

Asai Nagamasa and Ikeda Katsumasa, who remained behind to hold off the enemy, were under immense pressure. Ikeda Katsumasa had initially thought he was just there to slack off, as Nobunaga had omitted him during his campaign against Kitabatake Munekage in the second half of the previous year, instead assigning him to coordinate with Hanawa Naomasa in the attack on Bizen. The fighting lasted several months, and while there were certainly gains, the soldiers were also clearly exhausted.

This time, seeing the generals desperately trying to show their loyalty, he was not anxious. Because when they showed their loyalty last year, Hanami Naomasa had only 2,000 men, while the Oda coalition army had more than 20,000 men, and they had beaten Urakami Munekage so badly that he had just sent someone to kowtow to Nobunaga.

Such a large number of people were gathered together by Ikeda Katsumasa, Bessho Yasuharu, Akamatsu Masahide and others.

As expected, while clearing the way for Nobunaga, they were directly attacked by Asakura Yoshikage. In the darkness, they could not distinguish friend from foe, and were caught off guard. Unintentionally manipulated, the entire Ikeda army was thrown into chaos. Even when Ikeda Katsumasa personally returned to his headquarters and summoned his civil and military officials to organize a defense, he was unsuccessful.

Hundreds of Ikeda samurai were caught by the Asakura army without knowing what was happening. Some even stumbled and fell into the ravines, where they were hit by trees or rocks and died instantly.

The core backbone of the entire Ikeda family suffered a devastating blow here, which was far greater than the losses in a normal attack on Urakami Munekage.

On the other side, Asai Nagamasa had similar intentions. The rebellious Hori Hidemura had previously agreed with Saito Tatsuoki and Asakura Yoshikage that after dark, they would gather troops to attack Oda Nobunaga's main camp and kill him.

When Shinichi started fighting, Hori Hidemura was immediately overwhelmed by hatred, thinking that the Asai Nagamasa's main force was in chaos, which was a good opportunity to avenge Nagamasa's suppression and humiliation. He directly attacked the Asai army and did not attack Nobunaga's main camp fiercely.

The results were naturally good. Hori Hidemura led his troops into the Asai team, killing them indiscriminately. Nagamasa, the commander, was not among the team, and there were also many powerful local families who were dissatisfied with Nagamasa's unified rule.

Upon hearing of the sudden change, these Jiangbei nobles fled without even offering a chance to resist. It was only through the desperate fight of dozens of warriors led by Isono Uemura, a fierce general promoted by Asai Nagamasa, that they were able to fend off Hori Hidemura's surprise attack.

Even so, the main force of the Asai army suffered a heavy blow, and the troops were scattered and fled in all directions. By the time Asai Nagamasa found Isono Uemachi, only a few hundred people remained, still somewhat organized, and the rest of his subordinates had disappeared.

This small number of troops is definitely not enough to stop the Asakura army.

At that moment, a loud shout was heard from the valley, and Oda Nobunaga fled to the southwest. It must be that Akechi Mitsuhide, the shadow warrior, had taken Nobunaga's place and attracted the enemy's main attention.

In this case, the best strategy is to flee. Although Asai Nagamasa had just shouted slogans to Nobunaga, at this moment, the most important thing is to protect himself.

Isono Uemaki, who had already repelled Hori Hidemura, also told them not to stay where they were and to run away quickly. Otherwise, they would be wiped out by Asakura Yoshikage at dawn.

As for Hideyoshi?

Hideyoshi was determined to buy time for Nobunaga, so he set up obstacles in the valley and fired cannons. Not only would he not allow the enemy, but even friendly forces would not pass through him.

Nobunaga had been the one who ran away, so he didn't care about the rest of the people. He didn't care who was killed by the cannon, he just kept firing.

After crackling for most of the night and repelling all the troops that tried to attack his valley, Hosuga Xiaoliu suggested that he run away quickly. It would be too late to run away after daybreak.

The shouts and cries of killing gradually faded, indicating that the enemy was heading in other directions to capture Oda Nobunaga. Hideyoshi's troops were no longer of much use if they stayed where they were.

After thinking it over, Hideyoshi thought it made sense and continued to fire randomly at the guns behind him. After all, the cannons belonged to Nobunaga and Ieyasu, and he didn't buy the ammunition and lead bullets. Why should he feel bad about spending other people's money?

After a night of killing, a brief count showed that the allied forces of Asakura, Saito and Hori had captured more than 3,300 heads from various Oda army teams. Ikeda and Asai suffered heavy losses, and the Oda army itself also suffered many casualties.

Not to mention those vassal or allied forces, just talking about the losses of the Oda army itself, almost every one of them was a samurai or a standing ashigaru, and each one was a valuable fighting force for Nobunaga.

Now he was left in Echizen without knowing what was going on. It was such a meaningless death.

More importantly, what about Nobunaga? He didn't receive support or assistance from the "locals," so he chose to travel overland. Kuchiki Mototsuna of Takashima County in Kohoku had previously visited Nobunaga in Kyoto, but it's unclear whether he participated in the rebellion.

Unfortunately, there was no other way to go by land except this one. The Hori family in Sakata County in Jiangbei was in rebellion. Most of the entire Sakata County was owned by the Hori and Higuchi families. Higuchi Naofasa was ready to raise an army and besiege the city. How could Jiangbei get through?

Therefore, Nobunaga chose to go through Kuchikidani in Takashima County, Jiangbei. Matsunaga Hisahide, who had fled with Nobunaga, volunteered to meet Kuchiki Mototsuna.

Apparently, Kuchiki Mototsuna had not participated in the rebellion, and his family was now listed as a member of the shogunate's court. After meeting with Matsunaga Hisahide, Kuchiki Mototsuna came to meet Nobunaga with rice wine and rice balls, and personally guided Nobunaga to Kyoto, even short of holding Nobunaga's horse.

It was not just a promise of an official title. Nobunaga immediately stated that the Kuchiki family would definitely increase the salary by 20,000 stones.

Kuchiki Motonaga's arsenal was over 9,000 koku, which would have been 10,000 koku. Adding 20,000 koku would have made him a 30,000 koku lord, essentially the lord of a county. However, the Kuchiki family's wish to become the lord of a county wasn't realized until the reign of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu, when Kuchiki Tanesuna served as Iemitsu's vassal.

Nobunaga finally escaped with the help of Kuchiki Mototsuna, and received supplies, shelter, guidance, and repairs. After a short rest at Kuchikisho, Nobunaga rode south, heading straight for Kyoto.

The news of the Oda army's defeat in Echizen could no longer be concealed.

195. Chaos breaks out from all directions

Ikeda Katsumasa, who had also fled to Tsuruga Kanezaki, found his troops suffering heavy losses, exhausted, and on the verge of collapse. As a veteran, he knew that if this continued, the army would inevitably collapse.

Ikeda Katsumasa stopped running and immediately raised his banner and, as the rear general appointed by Oda Nobunaga, gathered the scattered troops. No matter who the troops were, as long as they were part of the Oda coalition, they all gathered under his banner.

Fighting?

of course not.

More people might slow us down and make us the enemy's main target, but more people means more courage. Last night, the enemy went after Akechi Mitsuhide. More people might help prevent us from being hunted by warriors.

With this thought in mind, Ikeda Katsumasa immediately took action, dispatching troops everywhere to call for the Oda army to join him. The slower-moving troops in the front had been running like headless flies, but now that daybreak had arrived, someone finally stepped forward to rally the troops, and the samurai foot soldiers naturally followed.

These days, even if you were going out to rob, you had to elect a leader. Experienced foot soldiers understood this principle even better. Ikeda Katsumasa was one of the three guardians of Settsu, a figure of high rank and nobility to the average samurai, fully qualified to lead and organize them.

Before long, Ikeda Katsumasa gathered more than 5,000 people, and finally ran into Kinoshita Hideyoshi who was guarding the valley and was only now willing to retreat.

Although Hideyoshi was born in a humble family, his status as an old Owari was ironclad. His father carried a spear for Oda Nobuhide, and Hideyoshi carried straw sandals for Nobunaga. At this time, the status of a fellow villager was particularly useful.

The Oda army, which had been escaping from the mountain roads in an endless stream, saw Hideyoshi's flags and horse emblems and gathered to follow him. This was not because of anything else, but because Hideyoshi was from Owari.

In this way, the two generals gathered more than 8,000 people and also pursued Kuchikidani in Takashima County, Jiangbei.

You ask why the pursuers disappeared? One reason is that after a night of fighting, the Asakura army was also human and needed to rest. The Hori army and the Saito clan had even defeated the Oda main force and had already stopped fighting to clean up the battlefield.

Secondly, it must be said that Akemitsu Hidetoshi was extremely loyal. He kept walking and stopping, keeping the pursuers in suspense and making all the pursuers follow him.

Nobunaga's head must be worth 2,000 kan of hereditary wealth. Anyone who still has a little strength is chasing Mitsuhide, hoping to chop off Nobunaga's head and become the master.

This did buy time for Ikeda Katsumasa and Kinoshita Hideyoshi to reorganize their teams. In a sense, Mitsuhide was very kind to Hideyoshi.

Those who were left behind, unable to keep up with the main Oda army, were likely in great danger. After all, the warrior hunts had already begun in every village and town, and the warrior-loving farmers of the Warring States period, interrupted by their farming season, would have to make up for their losses at the hands of the Oda army. A knife or a gun could easily be exchanged for two dou of rice.

………………

Nobunaga's entourage consisted of ten people, including Kuchiki Mototsuna led by Matsunaga Hisahidekazu. When they returned to Kyoto, they escaped alone and barely escaped with their lives.

But Nobunaga being Nobunaga, even after being beaten to a pulp, he remained in high spirits. After arriving in Kyoto, he first ordered Oda Nobuhiro to send people to meet up with the Oda generals who might retreat later, and then ordered Shichibei to immediately send people to investigate the situation in various countries and report every detail.

As soon as he sat down, he sent a letter to Hatakeyama Akitaka, ordering him to take 2,000 people to the Uji River and deploy defenses along the river to prevent the miscellaneous troops of Rokkaku Yoshitaka and his son from harassing Kyoto.

After all, Akitaka Hatakeyama is Nobunaga's son-in-law, and he and Nobunaga have a mutually dependent relationship. In the current chaotic situation, it would be better to use Akitaka Hatakeyama than anyone else.

"Lend me another 50,000." Shichibei turned around and was about to go out to do his errand when Nobunaga said this.

"understand!"

This time, Shichibei did not refuse or hesitate at all. If Nobunaga's ship capsized, it would not benefit anyone in the Oda family, especially Shichibei, who relied on Nobunaga's power to maintain a large-scale monopoly.

"Is the money in Kyoto or in Gifu?" It was Nobunaga who asked in more detail.

"You can go to Sakai to withdraw it, whether it's 50,000 or 100,000." Shichibei and the people in Sakai have reached a gentleman's agreement and have a verbal agreement on inter-bank lending.

As long as Nobunaga is not dead, the Oda family is not collapsed, and Shichibei is still the governor of Sakai, this verbal agreement will be valid and long-lasting.

"Tell the Sakai people that whether you are going to Akama Pass, Onomichi, or Odawara, I want as many domaru, gibberish, jinkasa, bows and arrows, and spears as you can get." Nobunaga nodded slightly and gave the order immediately.

The Oda army fled, leaving their armor and weapons behind. A large amount of military equipment was lost. Nobunaga didn't care about the equipment of other lords or daimyo families, but he was responsible for the armor and equipment of his own direct subordinates, the mother soldiers and the standing ashigaru soldiers. Specifically speaking, Shichibei immediately made nationwide arrangements.

Since these items were consumables and wouldn't spoil if stored for a short period of time, Nobunaga naturally said he would take as many as he could get. The actual number of Shichibei was only based on the number of armed men, 10,000. Nobunaga still had some troops left in Gifu, and they were fully equipped.

If there were any deficiencies in the end, they could just continue to make adjustments. After all, they had money, so why worry about not being able to buy goods? The two largest handicraft production bases in the country - Kyoto and Sakai - were all under Nobunaga's control.

"It's just a cannon. We can't deploy it in a short time." Now, let's tell the truth and don't beat around the bush.

"No... forget it, I'll take as many as you can!" Nobunaga first raised his hand, then just waved it. After all, he had swept away all the cannons of Sakai and Kunitomo not long ago.

"I understand."

With Nobunaga safely back, the generals also arrived in Kyoto one after another. Even though Shichibei's report was a bit late, at least he arrived before the Asakura army launched its attack. If nothing else, it bought them an extra half hour to escape, absolutely.

Thus, the entire Oda army lost not a single general on the mountain pass of Kometoge. Although their armor was disheveled and they were covered in dust, as long as they returned, they would not be a hero after eighteen years, but a hero in eighteen hours. After a shower, a meal, and a nap, as soon as Nobunaga's flag was raised, they would immediately be ready to wield a knife and join Nobunaga in killing people.

When Nobunaga saw Ikeda Katsumasa and Kinoshita Hideyoshi returning to Kyoto with 7,000 people (a few hundred people did not keep up or escaped), he was so impressed that he almost kowtowed to Ikeda Katsumasa on the spot.

Nobunaga, who had just borrowed money from Shichibei, was not stingy at all. He immediately rewarded Ikeda Katsumasa with 5,000 kan and Hideyoshi with 100 gold coins of 10 ryo.

Compared with the 7,000 Oda troops they brought back in a complete and organized manner, this amount of money was just a drop in the bucket.

Besides Asai Nagamasa, Tokugawa Ieyasu and Akechi Mitsuhide would also receive generous rewards upon their return. Akechi Mitsuhide served as Nobunaga's shadow warrior, drawing away the pursuing enemy troops. As the saying goes, there is no greater merit than saving an emperor, and Mitsuhide did just that.

Ikeda Katsumasa, who originally had a somewhat sad face, now looked better. Fortunately, he decided to take the Oda army with him halfway through his escape. This not only earned him the attention and appreciation of Nobunaga, but also provided him with the start-up funds to reorganize his army.

The Ikeda clan suffered heavy losses at Kometoge Pass. Without money and food, this would have been a devastating defeat, wiping out the clan and empire. Now, with Nobunaga's support, while rebuilding the family business would still be difficult, it wouldn't be irreversible.

He thought so, but Araki Murashige who was following him didn't think so.

Not only did the Ikeda family suffer heavy casualties, but the retainers, powerful clans, and locals who followed Ikeda Katsumasa also suffered the majority of casualties. Not only was Araki Murashige displeased, but another important retainer of the family, Nakagawa Kiyohide, was also deeply dissatisfied.