Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

They are the type who can only win battles, not lose them. No, they can't even withstand a disadvantage. They lack the determination and ability to remain calm under pressure and find a way to turn the tide.

What can monks accomplish? It's not that I look down on them.

If we have to say who accomplished something, it was Zhu Chongba, who had worked as a novice monk for two years with a broken bowl.

Tens of thousands of people were running around the castle of Komakie. This was all money. Shichibei instructed Ota Ushiichi and Tsuchida Chikakiyo to take Shimoma Raidan's main camp. He also ordered people to send a message to the Tsushima troops, telling them not to kill people but to tie them up as much as possible. Even if each person was sold for fifty or one hundred sen, that would still be income.

The main camp was long deserted. Ota Ushi pulled down a large flag and weighed it in his hand. It was worth five or maybe ten kan; he'd have to see how Nobunaga rewarded him.

The other groups also charged towards the main camp, capturing enemy generals and flags—a feat of great merit in Japan. The result was a victorious rendezvous, but they didn't even see Shimoma Raidan's hair.

"Shichibei, Shichibei, I never expected this..." Sakuma Nobumori was very happy to see Shimoma Raita but Shichibei.

"Things have changed so fast, I didn't expect it either." Shichibei was on horseback, and he even put on a little act, pretending to be calm and composed.

"Really?" Sakuma Nobumori, who was also on horseback, greeted Kuki Yoshitaka, who was fighting alongside him.

"More real than real gold, haha." Shichibei relaxed after winning the battle.

At this moment, Ikeda Tsuneoki and Hayashi Michimasa also rushed in. Seeing that someone had already gotten there first, they greeted them and asked who had killed Shimomura Raita.

They ran away, so there's no way to find Lai Dan next time.

In the afternoon, after cleaning up the battlefield, the various armies gathered at Xiaomujiang City to discuss their next steps. Saito Tatsuoki of Kiyosu had been defeated and was probably just retreating into Kiyosu City to lick his wounds. He wouldn't be able to fight for a while.

According to Kuki Yoshitaka's reconnaissance, Nagashima Ganshoji Temple has established fortifications in both the north and south, with approximately three to five thousand men defending the main mountain. Previously, Shichibei and Kuki Yoshitaka together only had three thousand men, which was certainly not enough to launch an attack, but now, with the addition of Sakuma Nobumori's three thousand men, they can give it a try.

In addition, Takigawa Kazumasu of Kuwana in northern Ise is still missing. Most of northern Ise has been captured by the Ikko-ikki, and there is no news of Kitabatake Nobuo, Nagano Nobukatsu, Kizuki Tomomasa, and others in the south.

Although we've come together as one, there's still a huge mess to clean up around us, and we don't know where to turn.

Should we kill Ryūō first, or Ganshōji first? Or should we restore Kita-Ise? Each has its own advantages and its own necessities. But Shichibei's major demand has already been met: Tsushima-chō has been preserved.

Tsushima was one of the foundations of Shichibei's organization. Protecting Tsushima was equivalent to protecting its branch stores, a large number of servants, storehouses, and ships.

When asked about his next move, Sakuma Nobumori hesitated. He had been left in Noo by Nobunaga with the original mission of moving around to put out fires and ensure that Noo's rear was safe.

Now that Nagashima Ganshoji has defected, it has directly caused the turmoil in Shimo-Owari and the collapse of Kita-Ise. With only his three thousand men, it will be very difficult for him to salvage the situation.

Why don't we send someone to ask Nobunaga?

If we travel at full speed, we can make a round trip in six days.

Six days? In six days, Kiyosu's Ryūken would have been rebuilt, Shimoma Raidan would have run back to Nagashima, and even the Ikko-ikki in Kita-Ise would have established a large fortress. You must be joking.

"Shichibei, what are your thoughts?" Sakuma Nobumori was a senior retainer of the Oda clan and also a magistrate, holding a high position. With him present, he was in charge.

"Me?" Shichibei was pointed at.

Chapter 209 Arson at the Front of the Temple

I know you're in a hurry, but take it easy.

The key to solving a problem lies in identifying the critical problem.

"What is the root cause of the great upheaval in the three kingdoms of Nobi?" Shichibei stood up and asked the generals. The generals were not fools; they immediately thought of the Ganshoji Temple on Nagashima.

Even though Saito Tatsuoki had previously defected, he had no support in Shimo-Owari and it hadn't caused much of a stir. It was only because Nobunaga was busy putting out fires and was unable to deal with him that Ikeda Tsuneoki and Hayashi Michimasa were left to fight him in a drawn-out battle. Once Nobunaga was free to deal with him, Tatsuoki would be nothing more than a skeleton in a tomb, easily destroyed.

The current chaos stems from the Nagashima Ikko-ikki uprising, with the Nagashima Ganshoji Temple being the root of all the unrest. Only by eliminating Ganshoji can the entire turmoil be brought under control.

Otherwise, as long as Ganshoji is alive, he can summon tens of thousands of Ikko-ikki followers to attack the Oda clan at the cost of their lives, making their lives miserable.

Qingxu City is fortified and cannot be captured quickly, while the northern bandits are scattered and difficult to annihilate. Only Changdao can gather the defeated troops from both routes. They are a motley crew without a leader, demoralized and fearful, making them a potential target.

"rational!"

Sakuma Nobumori nodded solemnly, immediately agreeing with Shichibei's assessment of the current situation. After Ryūō's defeat at Iwakura Jinya, it would take several days for him to regroup. In that time, the Oda army could easily seize the opportunity to capture Ganshōji and wipe out the Nagashima Ikkō-ikki in one fell swoop.

It's done!

As a senior retainer of the Oda clan, Sakuma Nobumori is currently the most powerful figure present. In a sense, Nobunaga left Sakuma Nobumori at Ōgaki Castle to guard the stronghold. Oda Kyōkyūmaru, on the other hand, lacks prestige and his first battle has not yet taken place; he remains in Gifu to maintain order and stabilize morale.

They started cooking, prepared three days' worth of rations, and mobilized the Kuki Yoshitaka Shima navy and ships from Tsushima Town to launch a swift attack on Nagashima Ganshoji Temple.

By the way, what about Takigawa Kazumasu? This is a question that everyone is quite curious about. As Nobunaga's former mercenary leader and current head of the northern Ise region, Takigawa Kazumasu should have a standing army of over a thousand men under his command.

Even if they were defeated in Sangming City, they wouldn't be completely wiped out and die, would they?

If Takigawa Kazumasu were truly killed in battle, the Ikko-ikki would probably make a big fuss about it, and even parade his head around.

No one around knew the exact news. Even Shichibei, one of the big bosses of the Tsushima clan, had inquired and had not seen Takikawa Kazumasu come to Tsushima to seek refuge.

So where did that old bastard go? If he were here, he could gather a thousand or so men, and the military operation to attack the Long Island Temple would definitely be much more successful.

He even sent people to his stronghold, Xiejiang City, to inquire, but the old bastard didn't run back. He hasn't gone back for so many days, could he really have died out there?

No way...

Yes, Takigawa Kazumasu certainly didn't die; he fled to Iga. Right now, Takigawa Kazumasu is still on his Iga adventure. Iga is a poor and impoverished region, not usually a strategically important location during the Sengoku period. Even when Nobunaga invaded the Kinai region, he didn't impose any penalties on Iga.

Even Tsutsui Junkei and his son Rokkaku Yoshikata and Rokkaku Yoshiharu fled inside for a period of time. Now, of course, the Rokkaku father and son have come out to fight again, and Tsutsui Junkei has also led his troops to attack Yamato Tochi Castle.

Kazumasu Takigawa's family had some connections in Iga, so they could try to escape. The reason he didn't flee back to his stronghold in Kanie Castle in Shimo-Owari was that he knew the Ikko-ikki was powerful and had joined forces with Kiyosu and Saito Tatsuoki, so the entire Shimo-Owari was probably already in ruins. Going back would be suicide.

Therefore, Takigawa Kazumasu ultimately chose to head to Omi first. Once in Omi, Mori Yoshinari was at Usayama Castle, Shibata Katsuie was at Nagakōji Castle, and Kinoshita Hideyoshi was at Yokoyama Castle. Although the Rokkaku father and son were still causing trouble, the road from Kyoto to Gifu was clear, with Oda clan generals guarding the route.

However, he had escaped one danger only to fall into another. Nobunaga himself was trapped in the Siege of Noda and Fukushima. Asakura Yoshikage, who had suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Anegawa, once again set out to completely open up the road from Omi to Kyoto.

The Asai Nagamasa, who had not yet recovered his strength, continued to besiege Odani Castle. Meanwhile, the Asakura army, having seized rice from the Asai army in Kohoku and Ika District, was well-fed and had a great victory in military supplies. They joined forces with the Rokkaku clan and invited several thousand Ikko-ikki from Kanemori in Koshu to besiege Yokoyama Castle and attack Kinoshita Hideyoshi.

Asakura Kagekage, Yamazaki Yoshiie, Hori Hidemura, and others launched a fierce attack on Mori Yoshinari at Usayama Castle, while Asakura Yoshikage's main force launched a fierce attack on Shibata Katsuie at Nagakoji Castle. At the same time, two thousand monks from Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei also descended the mountain to join the siege of Usayama Castle.

In addition, Sakai Masanao and Kuwabara Heibei, along with a thousand others who were conducting mobile defense near Katada and Otsu, received a flood of requests for help from all directions, and were unsure where to go to provide support.

Beacon fires raged, and roads were cut off.

Unable to wait for Takikawa Kazumasu, the rest of the group had no choice but to take matters into their own hands. With Sakuma Nobumori as their commander-in-chief, they launched a fierce attack on Nagashima Ganshoji Temple.

Since Oda Nobuoki had to stay behind to defend Ogiga Castle, the actual number of men who participated in the attack on Nagashima was only 3,000 under Sakuma Nobumori, 1,600 under Kawamura Shichibei, 1,200 under Kuki Yoshitaka, 600 under Ikeda Tsuneoki, and 200 under Hayashi Michimasa, totaling more than 6,600 men.

With over 6,000 men, they could not be divided. With the support of Kuki Yoshitaka, the generals decided not to attack the fortified positions on the north and south sides of Nagashima, but instead to directly attack the Otaguchi beachhead on the west coast of Nagashima.

Otaguchi also had Ishibashi Yoshitada, the garrison commander of Ganshoji Temple, but how could an unofficial koko-ikki (co-rebel) contend with a legitimate Oda army? Furthermore, news of Kogie's defeat seemed to have reached Nagashima as well, and Ishibashi Yoshitada's resolve to resist was clearly not so firm.

They broke through with a single blow, and the army swept ashore.

Nagashima, encompassing northern Ise and even the Owari and Mino regions, is home to Ganshoji Temple and boasts over forty temples. As a large sandbar, Nagashima also contains at least ten well-established villages. Based on this, Ganshoji Temple not only possessed sufficient architectural strength to withstand any attack, but also had 20,000 men and women ready to fight with sickles and bamboo spears at any time.

In addition, several small islands near Nagashima also had fortified settlements built there, serving as a complement to the Ganshoji Temple on the main island. Some of these fortified settlements were even named "Great Torii," which reveals their original religious significance.

Should we take down the fortress first, or head straight for the main mountain of Changdao Yuanzheng Temple?

In the past, Nobunaga could attack both his main castle and branch castles simultaneously because he often commanded armies of 30,000 to 80,000 men. Now, Oda's army numbers only about 6,000, and he doesn't have the strength to divide his forces, so he has to concentrate all his efforts on one goal.

Sakuma Nobumori then asked Shichibei, "What do you think?"

What am I looking at? When they landed at Otaguchi on the west coast, it was clear that the Ikko-ikki, defending Nagashima, was shaken by the defeat at Kogie's camp. It's estimated that even Genshoji Shoyoshi didn't know exactly how many Oda troops were attacking, and the retreating forces from Kiyosu might have relayed false news of Nobunaga's return to Genshoji.

Furthermore, the Ikko-ikki followers active in northern Ise were unable to assemble in such a short time to support Ganshoji Temple. Therefore, we have now gained a very valuable opportunity. The people of Ganshoji Temple are in a state of panic, and reinforcements have not yet arrived. The temple headquarters, along with the northern and southern forts, only has three to five thousand men stationed there, although the number of male and female devotees in the vicinity is also genuine.

What Oda's army would actually face was most likely just a thousand or so monks from the main temple of Ganjoji, along with the support of 20,000 male and female believers.

As for the garrison troops on the other islands, if they abandon their fortifications and come here, three or five hundred at a time, they'd be easy prey. If they ran into the Oda army, who were all huddled together, they'd be even worse off.

Since that's the case, what else is there to say? Let's head straight for the main temple of Ganjoji.

Actually, there's another meaning Shichibei didn't mention, which is that Motoyama Monzencho probably hasn't been evacuated yet, which makes sense, right?

As expected, the army arrived and immediately began burning and destroying the temple. Sakuma Nobumori directed his men to occupy nearby key transportation routes and find high ground to suppress the Ganshoji Temple, while simultaneously ordering indiscriminate looting and plundering. Everything that could be stolen was taken, and what could not be stolen was set on fire.

Previously, the big bosses of the Tsushima-kai, who seemed very afraid of dying, are now all following behind the army, risking being caught up in the war, and flocking to the island to buy all kinds of looted supplies.

Ten coins or eight coins, sell if you have money.

The Oda army soldiers had been thoroughly beaten by Ganshoji Temple, and they were venting their anger on the town in front of Ganshoji Temple.

As a town with a population of several thousand, serving the thousands of monks and soldiers of Ganshoji Temple, it could not be compared with the large samurai town with tens of thousands of people under Gifu Castle or trading hubs like Sakai Town. So, the spoils from this raid would definitely not be small.

There are just too many people to divide it up...

It doesn't matter. It's precisely because there are so many people that they dare to rush into the town in front of the Ganshoji Temple to rob us. How could they dare to break into the heart of Nagashima if there were so few people?

Needless to say, the bells of Ganshoji Temple rang loudly, as the temple's master called upon believers on Nagashima and nearby islands to immediately arm themselves and rescue the Honzan sect. Apart from the thousands of Oda soldiers who had been looting, the remaining two thousand-plus Oda soldiers stood in formation, specifically to intercept the reinforcements.

Long Island has 20,000 men and women. The women, needless to say, are a force to be reckoned with. It's not that I'm looking down on them, but in the age of firearms, a woman with an AK-47 can kill enemies. In the age of cold weapons, they're practically no fighting force.

If the male believers, assuming the population is half male and half female, and excluding the old and weak, there are 5,000 able-bodied men, all of whom could easily defeat the 2,000-plus Oda troops prepared by Sakuma Nobumori, were to attack.

Believers kept coming to support Ganshoji Temple, but when they saw the Oda army lined up in the road, even groups of three to five hundred believers dared not charge the rows of guns and the prominent muzzles of arquebuses.

It wasn't until Shimoma Yoriichi, who was stationed at Eguchi on the east coast of Nagashima, arrived with 500 monks, ronin, and ikki that the Nagashima army had a core.

Various groups of men gathered under Shimoma Yorinaga's command, numbering around three or four thousand. However, by the time he had gathered so many men, most of the town in front of Ganshoji Temple had already been burned down, and the Oda army's soldiers had already plundered their wealth and were in high spirits.

At this point, the difference between the regular army and the Ikko-ikki became apparent. Previously, Shichibei and the others had planned to send men into Ogie Castle to summon Sakuma Nobumori, so they could launch a pincer attack on the Ikko-ikki. However, when Sakuma Nobumori saw the Oda army attacking to relieve Ogie, he opened the castle gates without hesitation and led his troops into battle.

Previously, when Oda Nobunaga was rescuing Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was besieged at Shogun's Castle, he saw Oda Nobunaga personally fighting down below the castle. Akechi Mitsuhide also opened the castle gates and led his followers to fight their way out and launch a fierce attack on the Miyoshi Triumvirate.

The Ikko-ikki members inside Ganshoji Temple were merely holding their ground, not daring to open the castle gates and join forces with Shimoma Yoriichi outside to attack the Oda army. They didn't even dare to show their faces and take in the civilians of Monzen-cho who had nowhere else to escape.

Since the thousand monks and soldiers in the Gansho-ji Temple dared not leave the city, Sakuma Nobumori dispatched seven hundred soldiers to block the temple gate and led two thousand men to directly confront Shimoma Yorishige.

The Jodo Shinshu followers were fervent and sincere in their desire to rescue Ganshoji Temple, but their weak fighting strength and lack of armor were undeniable. A barrage of cannon fire sent the hundreds of brave followers packing back.

Seeing the believers being thrown into the army in batches, Shimoma Yoriichi, who was essentially giving them away for free, made up his mind and shouted the slogan, "Those who advance will be reborn in the Pure Land, those who retreat will be condemned to the Avici Hell!" He then spurred three or four thousand believers to charge fiercely towards Oda's army.

They couldn't even launch a fierce attack, because there was neither a hail of bullets nor a barrage of gunfire, only the cries of "Amitabha Buddha" and a jumble of weapons. They couldn't even break through the Oda army's formation, let alone breach the gun emplacements of the front few hundred men.

Riding on horseback, Shichibei saw several of Sakuma Nobumori's nephews and retainers directing their army to relentlessly slaughter people. Arrows and cannons from both sides were relentlessly slicing away layers of flesh and blood.

Morale collapsed, visibly collapsed.

Shimoma Yoriichiro still seemed to be shouting at the front lines to charge up and kill the enemies of Buddhism. The believers, stimulated by the bloodshed, had lost their fanaticism for religion and collapsed.

tsk...

"Our army has won a great victory." Shichibei said casually to Yoriki and his retainers who were not fighting.

“This Nagashima Castle is not easy to attack.” Takenaka Hanbei, also on horseback, glanced back at Ganshoji Temple.

Ganshoji Temple is Nagashima Castle, and Honganji Temple is Ishiyama Castle. They are called temples but are actually fortified cities. Jodo Shinshu has suffered from this kind of thing before, so they built the core temples in the area to be as solid as a rock.

"Even if it's difficult to attack, there are only one or two thousand people defending it." Shichibei also looked back at Ganshoji Temple.

Even a fortified city needs manpower. If the defeated believers and monks were inside the Ganjō-ji Temple, it would be extremely difficult to kill them. But they didn't even go inside.

“That’s true…” Takenaka Hanbei smiled.