Pillars of the Wu family

On the fifth day of May, the seventh day of the stalemate, in the afternoon of the seventh day of the stalemate, Daguan Qingzhong looked at the dark clouds in the sky and said softly: "The finishing work for the evacuation of the money house and the pipa house has been completed, and the remaining few commercial houses only need a It is enough to burn the fire, but whether this heavy rain will bring more variables is still unknown!"

Adhering to the silence of everyone, Masaoyuki Matsui said worriedly: "The Oda family has been waiting for the opportunity to come! Waiting for the day when it rains, as long as it rains, the gunpowder will return to moisture, and if you use it reluctantly, the power of the iron cannon will plummet. The rain iron with the gunpowder pot cover can't be avoided, and the iron cannon can't be used in heavy rain..."

"Exactly the same, this is the method used by Miyoshi Changqing to deal with Takayaden in the Battle of Jiaoxing Temple..." Ningagawa's father said indignantly: "It must be the plan of Miyoshi's family. Miyoshi's family relied on this despicable method back then. Wait till the rainy season comes, and a storm will ruin everything!"

"That's right! So there should be a storm this evening!" Nakajo Tokihide sighed, "We don't have much time left, and I have already asked the Emperor Shochin to take refuge at Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei. I hope that the shogunate army can look at the face of the ancient temple on the holy mountain and let the emperor escape this disaster, Sakamoto Castle is over..."

Ninagawa's parents questioned: "Is Enryakuji Temple on Mt.

"Tiantai Zuo feels that Prince Shufa is the emperor's concubine." Yanagizawa Motomasa hesitated: "There should be no problem!"

Matsui Masayuki frowned and said: "With the madness of Ashikaga Yoshiaki who killed his brother and mother, abolished the Emperor, and his villainous Oda Nobunaga and other minions. Do you think the army will let the Hieizan Enryaku Temple go? If it is true What if you set fire to the mountain?"

"Then there is only a fight to the death!"

Nakajo Tokihide shook his head and denied, "We can't fight to the death. We must protect the emperor's safety. Try to give the lord the opportunity to go to Luo, and retreat! Pushing to Tango Maizuru Port, Isshiki Yoshimichi took so many benefits from us, what happened? At the end of the day, he turned his back on the shogunate, and I don't have to show him much favor!"

"Tango and Sakamoto are separated by high mountains, so how can we get there?"

"There is only a breakout! And there is only one chance tonight, take advantage of tonight's rainy night to go north! We are going to have a big breakthrough!" Nakajo Tokihide drew a semi-circular arc on the map of Kinki, with the corner of his mouth showing Confident smile: "Let the miracle of that year happen again!"

……

In the evening, dark clouds came and heavy rain poured in.The unexpected heavy rain made the shogunate army extremely excited. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was in Kyoto, hurriedly sent an envoy to order the army to launch an attack at dawn. The implication was to imitate Miyoshi Changqing's strategy, but the time was changed from midnight to midnight. Relaxed until dawn, purposely avoiding climate effects is to let them attack in the rain.

The generals of the various armies who received the news gathered in the big tent to discuss the detailed marching strategy for the next day. The atmosphere in the tent was not very friendly, and the old problem of unity was still there. If they could not trust each other, how could they talk about helping each other.In addition, the big names from all walks of life are very resistant to fighting in the rain, and it is not surprising that they are full of complaints and complaints.In the final analysis, he is still not happy to be commanded by the puppet Ashikaga Yoshiaki, even the deputy general Oda Nobunaga is no exception.

"His Royal Highness is getting smarter? No! That's just a trick!" Oda Nobunaga stood in the handsome tent, staring at the silent Sakamoto Castle, and murmured, "What a great city! A magical city, three Created a miracle in 20 years and maintained a legend in [-] years, how did you do it?"

Miyoshi Masayasu said excitedly: "Soon this miracle will come to an end, how about burning Sakamoto?"

Yoshikawa Motoharu pretended to be surprised and said: "Fire? So it's not raining outside!"

Miyoshi Masayasu said angrily, "What do you mean by that?"

"What the truth is." Yoshikawa Motoharu sneered and said with his arms folded: "If Sakamoto is set on fire, how will the coalition army's military salary be raised? What will the army eat and drink when they go out? Of course... If the Miyoshi family is willing to bear the military salary, I, Yuanchun, will not either. Against the burning of Sakamoto."

"You...are so unreasonable! I have never said such a thing!"

Yoshikawa Motoharu smiled contemptuously: "Did you say that everyone knows, right? Gentlemen!"

The daimyos from all over the world laughed unscrupulously. They don’t care about the dignity of the Miyoshi family. They are just a lost dog. At least the Mori family doesn’t care about the dignity of the Miyoshi family. He explained: "It is indeed inappropriate to burn Sakamoto, and divide up Sakamoto's property..."

"Let's talk about this later! It's getting late, and we will march into Sakamoto at dawn tomorrow, so you should go back and prepare for an early rest!" Oda Nobunaga ignored Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's speech and issued an order to evict the samurai present, all samurai He tactfully got up and left, as for the members of Miyoshi's family, they also walked away in desperation.

Just after the first watch, the sky was as dark as ink, the torrential rain became more and more urgent, the thick rain curtain covered the hazy night, and the sound of dense raindrops falling on the ground was like the roar of a waterfall, so that the loud shouts from the opposite side could not be heard even a few meters away. Forming a perfect natural barrier, a perfect environment for night raids and escapes.

At this moment, Nakajo Tokihide led three thousand elites into the woods near the coalition camps of Asakura, Asai, Isshiki, and Wakasa Takeda, silently monitoring the movements of the coalition forces. He had to be cautious. To deal with it, behind him is the fleeing army quietly marching in the rain. It is an army of 5000 people and thousands of skilled craftsmen.

Thousands of carriages, countless gold and silver artifacts and the most valuable technical resources are one of the essence of countless hard work that Sakamoto has accumulated in the past 20 years. These things cannot fall into the hands of Oda Nobunaga. Originally they planned to use a To burn these painstaking efforts and this city, it's a pity that this heavy rain interrupted all illusions, and at the same time created a chance for them to survive. Maybe it's God's will and fate tricking people!

Just like what the Nanban missionaries often said when they were preaching in Kinei: "When God closes this door, he will definitely open another door for you."

Qianya and Biwaya retreated hastily. As soon as the Lake Biwa water battle was over, Sakamoto's followers had already foreseen that Oda Nobunaga would not let it go.Dressed up as an ordinary business traveler, he emptied Sakamoto's wealth day and night.This process is very complicated and dangerous.Fortunately, Oda Nobunaga's attention was quickly diverted by the rebellion in Kinai, and he did not notice the quiet transfer under his nose. Of course, the careful cover and intelligence support of the ninjas also played a vital role.

Most of the materials are transferred to other safer areas within a few months, but there are always many materials that are not suitable for carrying away. These materials have become an important part of Nakajo Shihide’s escape operation, and cannot be woven cheaply. Tian Nobunaga and his minions took what they could take away as much as possible, and if they couldn't take them away, they were buried under the garland of Buddhist temples or destroyed on the spot.It seems to be done very well, and it is true.

Under the cover of the heavy rain, the patrolling soldiers of the Asakura Army obviously didn't notice. Just outside the camp, on the street dozens of steps away, a long team passed by them. Several leading warriors bowed their heads. He complained loudly: "Who came up with this trick, put a coir raincoat on the tomb coat, he must not know how uncomfortable it is to wear armor and put on a coir raincoat in such a hot and humid weather! I would rather be in the rain than put on this thing !"

"This is already the number 20 times you have repeated. If you want me to say, it's better to stop! No matter how hot you are, don't you still wear it?" The samurai walking beside him was dripping with muddy water.He smacked his lips and said: "It's a pity that I have these calfskin boots! Usually I don't want to wear them once, but I finally took them out to show off and then encountered this terrible weather. The gods and Buddhas must be playing a joke on me!"

"You're just burning a bag. How can you wear cowhide boots in the summer? Besides, even if it doesn't rain, this black light can't see you wearing them! Why don't you wear cool straw sandals like me!"

"Clogs are fine, anyway, as long as it's not a leather belt!" The warrior stopped suddenly, walked a few steps into the rain curtain, looked around for a while, and said with a puzzled face, "Did you hear any strange sounds just now? "

"What sound?" Several warriors shook their heads and said, "There is no sound at all!"

The warrior hesitated for a moment, then frowned and said, "Could it be my hallucination? No! I clearly heard the sound of the wheels falling into the puddle, and the sound of my carriage falling into the puddle is also the same..."

"Hey! You must have misunderstood! There will be no business travelers passing by in this terrible weather. Except for us unlucky patrolling warriors, who else would come out in this terrible weather and sleep in bed. of!"

"That's right..." The warrior smiled involuntarily, shook his head and said, "I must be overthinking, let's continue patrolling!"

"After this tour, I can take a nap for a while. I'm almost exhausted from calling and calling these days!"

Nakajo Tokihide wiped off the rain on his face, and said to himself that it was dangerous, because he was not far from those patrolling warriors, and that warrior might be able to see him if he walked a few more steps, but fortunately They didn't have many minds to come over and investigate carefully, otherwise this matter would definitely be exposed, and there were plenty of patrolling soldiers. If there was a sudden loss of a patrolling group of warriors, it would take less than an hour to be discovered.

"Hurry up! Tell them to hurry up, every moment wasted will be more dangerous!" Nakajo Tokihide took a deep breath, and ordered the envoys behind him: "Immediately send an order for the brigade to move with all its strength, and it must be done within an hour. All of them left Takashima County.”

This fleeing operation was a temporary operation. Before evening, they ordered to leave Sakamoto and retreat northward. To keep it secret, they also restricted the black apples in the army from passing on news. The [-] troops that were taken away were all withdrawn, and the newly recruited military servicemen were disbanded on the spot and returned to the town as town residents.

Just when Nakajo Tohide delivered the order, all the chariots and horses happened to leave the vicinity of the camp of the northern coalition forces. This is thanks to the negligence of the generals of the coalition forces. This created a relaxed environment for Nakajo Tokihide's escape strategy. Knowing that all the horses had left, Nakajo Tokihide also retreated without hesitation, sending the [-] troops of the four-nation coalition far away. far away.

This road is very dangerous. You have to pass by the camp of the coalition forces overnight, and then go all the way north to enter the enemy-controlled areas of Asai County and Ika County. Fortunately, they are all local samurai from Omi There is no need to ask a guide for guidance. At the second watch, the striker has already left the border of Omi, and is heading towards Tsuruga Port on the Hokuriku Street. They will draw a circular arc to the west here, rubbing the southwest corner of Tsuruga County towards Wakasa. The country is very close.

I have to say that the timing of the night was ingenious.The coalition forces of Echizen Asakura, Omi Asai, Wakasa Takeda, and Tango Isshiki were all concentrated in Takashima County.In the dark night of the storm, he received the general attack order from Oda Nobunaga the next day.He went to bed early without much thought, and recharged his energy to prepare for the next morning's war.

No one expected that Nakajo Tokihide would sneak into Chen Cang, and at such a clever timing, he would choose a bold way to escape in front of the defenders. The guards on the front line, even in the emptiness of the rear, didn't expect anyone to escape under their noses, so they let them escape successfully.

When Oda Nobunaga led an army of 15 troops into Sakamoto early the next morning, he thought that Sakamoto's defenders had collapsed in confidence and completely gave up resistance.Laughing loudly, he broke into Sakamoto Castle and boarded the famous castle tower, and found that there was still no one in the city, so he suddenly couldn't laugh.

"What's going on! People? Nakajo Tokihide? Matsui Masaoyuki? Where are Odate Harutada, Ninagawa Sensei, and Yanagisawa Motomasa? Where is the promised surrender? Ah! Answer me! "Oda Nobunaga turned into a furious dinosaur, roaring angrily and destroying everything in sight. Even Oda Nobunaga's new favorite, Horikutaro Hidemasa, the chief of the small family, did not dare to approach him to persuade him.

Ikeda Hengxing rushed over and saw Oda Nobunaga and shouted loudly: "The money bank is empty! The grain bank is empty! There is nothing in it except rats! We have been cheated!"

"There are no guards, not even a surname or a maid. This is an empty city." Akechi Mitsuhide turned his head and suddenly found a letter under the kicked case, bent down to pick it up and handed it to Oda Nobunaga.Said: "This may be a letter left by Nakajo Ideha Mamoru..."

When Oda Nobunaga read the new letter, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot, and he tore the letter into pieces.He threw it on the tatami, stomped on it, and cursed: "Nakajo Tokihide, that bastard, deserves to be killed! He actually mocked my Oda family, and the family must arrest him and kill him with our own hands! Immediately ordered the arrest of Sakamoto and his family. The hidden remnants!"

The officials bowed and retreated, and Akechi Mitsuhide also withdrew with them, but his expression became very strange. Ikeda Hengxing happened to walk up to him, and asked curiously: "What's wrong with Hinata Shouden? Not feeling well?"

"Oh! It's nothing... just now I was thinking about capturing the remnants."

Ikeda Hengxing seemed to understand his feelings very well, and sighed: "Speaking of it, I still don't quite understand how Nakajo Tokihide escaped. He was still there yesterday afternoon, so how could there be no one there overnight?"

"I don't know! There may be some special method!" Akechi Mitsuhide smiled, of course he would not say that he saw a few words on the fragments, and he probably understood how Oda Nobunaga was being ridiculed. However, the lack of popular support seems to be a vain attempt to attack Sakamoto, relying on the banner of the shogunate to bring in a group of thugs to rob the city.

He could probably guess Nakajo Tokihide's way of escaping. He took advantage of the heavy rain and dark night to flee to the north when the coalition forces were paralyzed. He didn't go south because the road to escape to the south was blocked by the coalition forces, and it was very difficult to station a large number of navy troops. By contrast, the four-nation coalition forces in the north are much more relaxed, and going north is obviously less risky.

Facts have proved that he was right. When Oda Nobunaga came out of his anger, he immediately realized the possible escape route of Nakajo Tohide, and ordered Asakura, Asai, Wakasa Takeda, and Isshiki to immediately change direction in the name of the general. As long as the search for the escaped Sakamoto remnants is not flying into the sky, there must be clues to follow.

These four families are very dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga's bossy orders. Asakura Yoshikage is a self-proclaimed Echizen famous family. He is very familiar with Oda Nobunaga, a samurai from the Echizen priest family. Back then, the Oda family served as Siba Yoshitoshi's remnants fled back to Owari together, and it was very difficult to expect him to see Oda Nobunaga, his displeasure was written on his face.

Asai Nagamasa was also very upset. It was not kind for a brother-in-law to treat Yuyuu like this. Fortunately, he still knew that he couldn't tear things down in person. Bedridden with a cold, he didn't show up from the beginning to the end, and Oda Messenger didn't know his attitude.

Wakasa's guardian of Takeda Yoshitomo is different. He is the brother-in-law of Ashikaga Yoshiki and Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and he is a powerful Oyuki who is close to the shogunate. His displeasure fell on his mouth, and he said unwillingly: "It's raining heavily outside. I waited for dawn and rushed all the way to Sakamoto. Now the soldiers are tired and need to rest. Your envoy will report to the general. He said that we should rest for a day and wait for the rain to subside before we set off."

Oda Messenger was born in the same family as Oda Nobunaga, and he has always been arrogant and condescending to others. Seeing that this middle-aged uncle in his 40s dared to obey others, he immediately became unhappy and said, "Is the Zhibudian disobeying orders?"

Seeing this, Nagamasa Asai hurriedly interrupted with a smile: "It shouldn't be called disobedience! It's raining heavily outside, and most of the soldiers don't even have coir raincoats. They rushed on the road at dawn this morning. They were drenched and needed to be dried. Put your clothes on and rest well, and going out to hunt at this time will make the soldiers sick. So, for the sake of our family, how about a day of grace?"

The Oda envoy avoided the approach of Asai Nagamasa, and said proudly with a cold face: "Asai Bizen guards the shrine, please respect yourself! Don't think that the lord's Yuyuu is not ignorant of the importance. Let me ask again. Your Highnesses want to be respected. Are you determined to disobey the lord's military order?"

Asai Nagamasa's face was flushed red and purple, and his cheeks were in hot pain as if he had been slapped. He glared at the envoy angrily and said, "Hmph! Your envoy's words are really rude! My family will enter the city and meet with the general. Speaking of..."

The Oda envoy only realized that the expressions of several people were wrong at this moment. He was worried that Nagamasa Asai would go to Sakamoto Castle to speak ill of himself, so he quickly blocked Nagamasa Asai's way.He sneered and said, "Don't waste your efforts! Just ask whether you are obeying orders or disobeying orders!"

Asakura Yoshikage asked with a livid face, "How about obedience? What about disobedience?"

"It's easy to say anything if you follow orders, but if you disobey..."

"I won't disobey orders! Please rest assured, Your Highnesses!" Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly walked in.Pushing away the Oda envoy who was in the way, he said with a smile: "My lord, I'm here to send an order. I just found out that the Emperor Masaki-machi is hiding in Enryaku Temple in Hiei Mountain, and decided to hold a military meeting in Sakamoto Castle to discuss the siege of Hiei Mountain Enriku by the army." Temple matters, and the mission to hunt down the Sakamoto Army will be cancelled, and please rest assured that there will be no disobedience."

"That's good! I thought the chief general was going to attack me?" Asai Nagamasa saw the little surname retreating to the corner in panic, and said with a sullen face: "The tone of the messenger's message just now is arrogant and rude. We are very disrespectful to respectable warriors, and I, Nagamasa, will report the experience just now to the general, and we must not let such a pretentious person ruin the reputation of the general!"

Akechi Mitsuhide ignored the envoy's begging expression, and said with a smile: "It's easy to say! It's worth it as long as it can make a few halls vent their anger..."

A crisis was saved by Akechi Mitsuhide's timely arrival. In fact, the abandonment of the pursuit was also persuaded by the family members of the Oda family. It was too much for the four northern allied forces to pursue Tohide Nakajo's troops under the heavy rain. Nobuoda Oda When the chief gave the order, he also had the meaning of punishing them, and it was nothing more than annoyed at the negligence of the four families for allowing Zhongtiao Shixiu to escape.

But he didn't think about how inappropriate it was for him to do so at the time. On the surface, it seemed reasonable for a general who commanded an army of 15 to enact military laws, arrest stabbing heads, and impose strict punishments, but he was only the nominal general of the coalition after all. It is equivalent to the status of the leader rather than the relationship between the master and the subordinate. There is no need for the daimyos to listen to his orders. If you want them to act, you have to invite people to discuss it. You cannot go west if you go east.

Fortunately, Oda Nobunaga woke up quickly, and what's even better is that there happened to be a step to let him step down at this time. The search team learned the whereabouts of Emperor Masakimachi from the captured remnants, and Tokihide Nakajo distracted Oda Nobunaga's attention This is simply an excellent reason given to him by God, so the previous edict was abolished in such a high-sounding manner.

The purpose of attacking Sakamoto was twofold. One was to pull out the nail that Genyoshi had buried in Kinai, and the other was to snatch back the Emperor Masakimachi who escaped from Kyoto. Okochi Kunizun in the mountain city is fighting trapped beasts, the nail has been completely pulled out, and at the same time, he has successfully obtained information on the whereabouts of the Emperor Masakimachi, both of which have basically been achieved.

At this point, it is actually possible to declare the complete success of the Sakamoto Crusade. As for continuing to struggle with where Nakajo Tohide escapes, it doesn't make much sense. Specifically, it doesn't matter whether he fled to Etsu to Kaga, or went to other places to occupy the mountains and become king. Important, the important thing is that it is enough to know that they escaped from Kinai.

"Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei beat the negotiating envoy sent by the general out of the mountain gate, and dared to slander us and the coalition forces as thugs, it is unreasonable! There is no cure!" Oda Nobunaga pulled out his ribs and slammed into Yanli on the map On the logo of the temple, it said viciously: "So I, Nobunaga, want to formulate the next battle plan! The target is Hieizan Enryaku Temple!" (To be continued...)