The name of the great swordsman begins in Okehazama.

The snowfall gradually subsided, and the bright moon hung high in the sky.

The walls of Honganji Temple had already been smashed to pieces.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki finally stood up.

He had nowhere to retreat.

"Hosokawa... Fujitaka..."

His voice was dry and trembling, like a cry being choked. But Fujitaka did not turn around.

Hideyoshi Hashiba ran from the other end of the corridor, followed by seven or eight foot soldiers covered in blood.

"Lord Mori! The western wall has completely collapsed, and the enemy is pouring in!"

Changqing nodded: "Have everyone assemble at the main gate and follow me to fight our way out."

Hideyoshi paused for a moment, then asked, "What about the enemies in other places?"

"We're going to let them in, throw their cannons, gold, silver, and valuables on the ground, and let them loot!"

Hideyoshi immediately understood. He turned and ran, shouting as he ran, "Assemble! Bring only weapons!"

The soldiers broke away from the battle and staggered in from all parts of the temple.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki stumbled out, supported by two servants. His face was ashen, his lips trembled incessantly, and his once proud eyes were now as empty as two dry wells.

Fujitaka turned around, but no longer looked at Yoshiaki.

"Lord Hosokawa!" one of his retainers ran up. "The enemy is pouring in from the west gate, less than fifty rooms from the main hall!"

Fujitaka gripped his sword tightly and beckoned the others to follow Nagayoshi.

The main gate burst open, and the stench of blood wafted out from the inner gate.

The enemies who were clearing the passage outside hadn't even realized what was happening before Changqing had skewered them like candied hawthorns.

"kill!"

The two hundred remaining soldiers had to conserve their energy for shouting, and silently charged into the enemy lines with him.

In that instant, Fujitaka suddenly remembered many years ago when he followed Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who had been down on his luck for many years, into battle.

The generals of that time were like that too, always leading the charge, their spears gleaming like snow.

But back then, the general had elite troops and the support of the Rokkaku family.

Now, Changqing only has two hundred remaining soldiers behind him.

Changqing's gun was like a barrier; ordinary people simply couldn't get close to him.

His whole body seemed to be wrapped in silver rings.

Hideyoshi followed beside him. Having learned some spear techniques from Nagayoshi, he wielded his spear like a viper spitting its tongue, piercing through one enemy after another who rushed at him.

He frequently rallied morale by calling out the names of every foot soldier in his unit.

"Shen Liu! Keep up!"

"Hurry up, Ping Si!"

"Good job stopping him, Saburo!"

"My lord, my name is Jiro!" the honest foot soldier would sometimes correct him.

"It's just darkness, I must have misjudged! Erlang, finish him off, and hurry after him!"

Nishikawa Fujitaka led his retainers and troops to cover the rear.

He wasn't under much pressure; he just needed to retreat while continuing to fight.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki had already started running, stumbling along, worried about being left behind, and even ran into Hideyoshi's ranks.

Even so, people would occasionally fall behind, be surrounded and swallowed up by the enemy.

Just then, the sound of approaching hooves could finally be heard.

"Reinforcements!" Hideyoshi shouted hoarsely, "Reinforcements have arrived!"

Nagamasa Asai took the lead.

He brandished his spear and charged directly into the enemy ranks.

"Yuanchang! Scatter! Disrupt the enemy!"

"yes!"

With a roar, Isono Kazumasa sent two hundred cavalrymen behind him sweeping out to both sides like a raging torrent.

These cavalrymen were as if they were plowing through six empty avenues.

Cavalry is inherently superior to infantry, especially since these infantrymen had already been sieged for a day and a night. As soon as the two armies made contact, the Sanhao Army fell into chaos.

"Is that Lord Mori?"

Changqing was surrounded by dozens of people, with corpses piled up like mountains at his feet.

He thrust down from atop a mountain of corpses, while the enemy foot soldiers surrounded him on the mountain of corpses but dared not approach.

Yuan Chang raised his gun and shouted, and the foot soldiers dared not linger and fled.

"Lord Mori?"

"Who are you?"

"Lord of Sawayama Castle, Masaru Isono!"

"Thank you! Where are the general and the others?"

Nagayoshi looked around and realized that he had rushed too fast, and Hideyoshi hadn't even caught up yet.

"Come with me and fight our way back!"

Yuan Chang was stunned. He couldn't believe that after such an intense battle, this person still had the strength to fight back.

……

As everyone assembled, Iwanari Tomomichi's troops began to fall into disarray, and the charge of 200 cavalrymen led the enemy to mistakenly believe that Oda's army was about to arrive.

"Lord Mori!"

Asai Nagamasa dismounted, grabbed his horse's reins, and shoved them into Nagayoshi's hand.

"Lord Nagamasa, I will thank you for this later!"

"Aren't we supposed to retreat together?" Nagamasa couldn't understand what Nagayoshi was up to.

"You lead them to retreat first!" Changqing spurred his horse away, then turned and charged back into the enemy ranks.

Nagamasa gave Isono Kazumasa a wink, and the latter immediately took his hatamoto and followed.

"Lord Nagamasa's willingness to send troops to your aid truly shows that heroes appreciate each other!"

……

When Mitsuhide Akechi and Nagayoshi Marume arrived, the battlefield was already in complete chaos.

He saw cavalry charging back and forth through the enemy lines, and saw the two hundred remaining soldiers, led by Asai Nagamasa, converging on this side.

Why is Lord Changzheng walking? Where is Changqing?

Looking at the cavalrymen who were guerrillas everywhere, one figure on horseback stood out, his body already swaying slightly.

"Quick! Cover the general!"

Mitsuhide screamed.

The two hundred ragtag soldiers he brought were not very capable in combat, but at this moment they were no longer needed to kill the enemy. They only needed to form a human wall to deter the chaotic army.

Mitsuhide, however, rode his horse toward Nagayoshi.

Marume Nagayoshi was faster than him.

"My lord!" He only called out that once.

Changqing looked at him, and in surprise, he wiped the blood from his face and then laughed.

"Why are you here?"

"I am unworthy of the lord's eight thousand bushels of grain; how could I not come!"

I didn't expect Changhui to be such a proud and arrogant person, quite good at making excuses.

"Let me see if your skills have deteriorated without me!"

……

Hosokawa Fujitaka, protecting Ashikaga Yoshiaki, was making his way through the human wall.

Mitsuhide took a deep breath and stood protectively beside the general.

"Mitsuhide, is this all the reinforcements you've called...?"

Yoshiaki asked breathlessly.

"I am utterly incompetent!"

Seeing Mitsuhide's disheveled state, Yoshiaki immediately realized his mistake and comforted him, "Never mind, you've had a tough time too. Let's escape to Omi; it should be safe there!"

……

As Iwanari Tomomichi watched the routed troops, his face grew increasingly grim.

The Oda army arrived so quickly? Absolutely not. It would take at least three days for Ise to get here, not even counting the time wasted requesting reinforcements.

This is Asai's reinforcements... Asai has suffered so many losses, yet he's still helping Oda.

Want to take a gamble?

But if we pursue Asai Nagamasa... wouldn't that make Asai and Oda work together again?

"Notify Saito Tatsuoki to withdraw!"

The samurai beside him was stunned: "My lord?"

"Retreat!" Yomitsu roared hoarsely. "Nobunaga's main force has arrived! If we don't retreat now, we'll all die here!"

He knew there weren't many enemies, but he also knew that Asai Nagamasa wasn't a reckless man, and that there might be reinforcements on the way. Even if there were only one or two thousand, he wouldn't be able to defeat him.

……

When Saito Tatsuoki received the order, his troops had already been scattered.

"Damn Mori!" he cursed through gritted teeth.

Thinking about how hard it was to find a new backer and how hard it was to wait for this opportunity, he felt a pang of sadness.

If they can take down the general, Sanhao can help him make a comeback.

But now, it's all over.

He urged his horse on desperately, not even having time to gather his old troops from Minong.

Suddenly, the sound of horses' hooves came from behind.

He didn't turn around.

"Let's go to Sakai City and go back to Awaji first!"

But the sound of hooves grew closer, and the other side did not respond to him like a retainer.

He finally couldn't help but look back. That one glance almost made him fall off his horse in fright.