Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Nagae Sadaharu's skill lies in horsemanship and archery, Ota Gyuichi's skill lies in archery, and Takenaka Hanbei is a samurai who has learned the secrets of the first sword, but he is still a little bit lacking in directly attacking the enemy's front.

Mori Jirozo was willing to clear a path for Shichibei, but unfortunately, his skills were lacking; his martial arts were passable, only good enough to cut people down. So, let's watch Sassa Narimasa lead the charge. He'll lead a hundred men to clear the way, and Shichibei can just call on someone and bring two hundred men as backup.

Besides that, I was observing Kuchiki Motonatsuna and Abe Sadayuki. Abe Sadayuki was historically arrested and beheaded because he followed Akechi Mitsuhide, so there's no point in discussing him further. Anyway, he was a local from Omi Province, initially assigned to Hideyoshi as a retainer, but later, after Hideyoshi went to Harima, he was assigned to Sakuma Nobumori of the Kinai Army.

Nobumori quickly fell from grace, and most of his men and resources were handed over to Akechi Mitsuhide, with a small portion going to Oda Nobutada.

Kuchiki Motonatsuna's historical record is not very clear. He first surrendered to Nobunaga, and then served as Nobunaga's retainer and awaited assignment. Tsuda Nobusumi, the son of Oda Nobukatsu, was adopted by Isono Kazumasa and was to inherit the 60,000 koku of Sawayama.

Later, Isono Kazumasa fled and disappeared (some say his descendants served Todo Takatora), and Tsuda Nobusumi directly bypassed his adoptive father to become the castle lord. Kuchiki Motonatsuna gave Nobusumi the position of assistant. Tsuda Nobusumi did not participate in Akechi Mitsuhide's rebellion, so Kuchiki Motonatsuna escaped a disaster and soon began to live a life of ease under Hideyoshi, eventually earning only 20,000 koku of rice before his death.

When will you distribute them to Shichibei along with Ogawa Yutada?

I'm craving it.

Seeing that Shichibei had brought hundreds of cavalrymen, Kuchiki Motonatsuna and Abe no Sadayuki each had their own thoughts. At first, they thought it was Oda Nobumasa, Nobunaga's favored son, who had brought them. But after finding out that they were all Shichibei's soldiers, their attitude towards Shichibei changed drastically. While it wasn't exactly flattery, there was a deliberate attempt to curry favor.

In the Warring States period, a time of great strife, might made right indeed. With enough power, even though Shichibei was just a small merchant, everyone treated him with politeness on the surface.

Just as Nobunaga had predicted, Shichibei's 800 men were a formidable and well-trained force. The two men showed no sign of hesitation; they followed Sasa Narimasa's orders without question, offering no objections whatsoever.

After chatting with the two men, Shichibei didn't sense anything particularly remarkable about them from their words and actions. Although both were from wealthy vassal states with vast fortunes, they were, well, a bit lacking.

Perhaps it was because Shichibei was so worldly-wise, having chatted so easily with various nobles and dignitaries, that he found conversation with these two somewhat dull. However, on the surface, Shichibei was certainly meticulous in his manners, expressing his gratitude for their hard work and promising to report it truthfully to Lord Nobunaga. The two, on the other hand, found Shichibei to be reasonable, polite, and easy to talk to.

When the atmosphere is harmonious, the battle goes smoothly.

The next morning, the army marched forward in a dense formation. The Hino River and the Nosu River were not far apart, and the two armies were positioned a little over three kilometers apart. Before they arrived, Shichibei had said it would be a village battle, with a very small area of ​​engagement. If it were a battle between hundreds of thousands of troops, the battlefield would be tens of kilometers wide, and might even be divided into multiple battlefields operating simultaneously.

Right now, they were marching slowly, and before noon they encountered the Rokkaku army's nobushi (wild abominations), who were mostly hired mountain people as scouts. The vanguard, led by Sasa, killed one of them, and before they had gone 500 meters, they came across Rokkaku Yoshikata, who was slowly setting up his formation.

It's a very ordinary formation, but if you had to give it a name, it would be the Crane Wing Formation. Essentially, it's Rokkaku Yoshikata's main force in the center, with troops deployed on the left and right flanks, and the vanguard consisting of ronin or nobushi-shu. The goal is to lure the enemy in, then encircle them from both flanks.

With only a little over a thousand people deployed, this formation was relatively easy to command and coordinate between units. Shichibei didn't dismount but remained on horseback, observing the entire "village battle."

Chapter 245 The Fierce General is Still a Ten-Year-Old Child

"That man is incredibly brave!"

Although Shichibei isn't tall, once he found a horse with a shoulder height of 1.35 meters, his total height far surpassed that of all the Japanese present. Not only could he clearly see the battlefield up close, but the hexagonal formation in the distance was also readily apparent.

"Huh?" Following the direction Shichibei pointed, Takenaka Hanbei looked in the direction that Abe Sadayoshi was attacking.

Previously, under Yoshitatsu's rule, Mino had a honeymoon period with Kohoku. Yoshitatsu's principal wife was said to be the illegitimate daughter of Asai Ryōsei, who was then adopted by Asai Hisamasa and married into the Isshiki family as the legitimate daughter of the Asai family.

In one version of Japanese Sengoku history, Takenaka Shigeharu launched a surprise attack on Inabayama Castle to persuade Tatsuobu to surrender. He then returned the castle to Tatsuobu and fled, becoming a guest general with 5,000 kan (a unit of currency) in the relatively friendly Asai family.

Whether it's true or not is unclear, but it's true that the Mino and Kohoku groups had dealings, and the Mino people were at least more familiar with each other than Shichibei.

"That one, the one who has already broken into the enemy ranks!" Shichibei pointed again to an Asai samurai wielding a long spear and charging forward.

"Hmm..." Unfortunately, Takenaka Hanbei didn't seem to recognize him.

"It is Watanabe Shuu who is defending the first position!" A loud shout came from the ranks.

And so they met. They'd both introduced themselves; if they still didn't recognize each other, Takenaka Hanbei would have wasted his time. The reason he didn't recognize Watanabe was because Watanabe Ukyo Ryōtaka, under Azai Nagamasa, hadn't come out to battle.

What does this mean? A family might spread out in a region, but only the main branch of the family could become samurai, receiving a salary and titles. The second and third sons who followed would then have to find their own way to succeed.

Watanabe Ukyosuke was a direct descendant of the Asai Watanabe clan, making him a retainer of Asai Nagamasa, and a man of integrity and competence. The Watanabe Shu, who was just shouting "I've done my part!" in the camp, was a collateral descendant, forced to seek fame and merit. Currently, he's a small vassal supported by about two hundred men.

When a battle is about to begin, Azai Nagamasa will definitely send someone who isn't one of his core retainers first. According to Takenaka Hanbei, this Watanabe Shuge was called Watanabe Ren, and was Watanabe Takashi's uncle.

But in Japan, that's how it is. There's only one family business, and unless it's very large, it's rarely divided for inheritance. The second and third sons either become monks or try to make a name for themselves. Or, if they have no other options, they become retainers or even servants of the eldest son.

With Watanabe's initial breakthrough in breaking through the enemy lines, the Rokkaku army's outlying Nobushi-shu and ronin began to retreat. It's unclear whether this was a genuine retreat or a ploy to lure Oda's army into an attack, allowing them to flank him from both sides.

Sasa Narimasa, who had previously commanded the battle against Shichibei, sent someone back with the instruction to allow Shichibei's yūbura horse to run freely, without actually engaging in combat. The instruction was simply to block the roads and prevent the Rokkaku army from encircling them.

Ow...

That's right. Once the cavalry gets going, an infantry force of the Rokkaku clan's caliber would have absolutely no chance of closing in on the battlefield and encircling the advancing Oda army.

He gave a signal to Namie Sadaharu, and two hundred cavalrymen galloped off. They simply circled behind the Oda army, neither attacking nor retreating, simply occupying the territory behind the Oda army. This was to prevent the Rokkaku army from encircling them and to protect the main army's rear.

Ota Gyuichi, Takenaka Hanbei, and the others on either side saw that Sasa Narimasa's arrangements were very sound. Regardless of whether the Hexagonal Army could encircle them or not, maintaining a retreat route was always the right thing to do. Anyway, we have the means, so why not?

Two hundred riders split off and immediately stirred up clouds of dust in the formation. The dust kicked up by their hooves made it impossible for Shichibei to see Sasa Narimasa, who had already charged forward, for a moment.

However, just as Sassa Narimasa had predicted, the vanguard of the Rokkaku army, consisting of ronin, was allowed to retreat. Afterwards, about a hundred men each were sent from the flanks to attempt to outflank the advancing Oda army from the rear.

The hexagonal army set out around the same time as Kawamura Ryūbōma. Two legs can't outrun four, and before they even arrived, they were blocked by Ryūbōma. Now they were in a predicament: they couldn't advance, and they couldn't retreat.

If you retreat, you'll be chased by a swift horse, and your exposed back will be the perfect target.

Japanese mounted archery, also using longbows and heavy arrows, was fired at close range, and a hit meant instant death. While the chest had some protection, the back was only covered by a piece of cloth.

Influenced by Kawamura's cavalry, the Rokkaku army's encirclement operation failed before it could even be carried out. The mounted samurai roared back and forth, driving away the Rokkaku army that attempted to advance.

Some were too blind to notice and were directly pierced by a single arrow from the swift-fire horse, immediately collapsing to the ground, their fate unknown.

"With so many Yongle Tongbao coins, it's still worth the money." Shichibei smiled as he saw the swift arrows covering the battlefield.

“That’s natural…” Takenaka Hanbei nodded slightly to the side. In this vast Kinai region, only you can support these hundreds of cavalrymen.

If this doesn't work, it's not worth it. Those tens of thousands of coins would have been wasted. A foot soldier worth five or eight coins could easily bring out three to five thousand.

Looking at the formation again, Rokkaku Yoshikata's meticulously designed Crane Wing Formation was met with a head-on attack from Oda's army before it was even halfway through its execution. Sasa Narimasa was single-mindedly eager to claim credit; he had personally witnessed Nakagawa Shigemasa, a member of the Moi-shu, being transferred to Nagako-ji, and Hanawa Naomasa even becoming the commander of the Mobile Corps.

If you don't want to improve, why become a member of the Mother Clothes Clan?

Back then, when Nobunaga's retainers were selecting their own followers, Mune Kotaro, as a direct retainer of Nobunaga, was also eligible to run. However, when he saw how fiercely Maeda Toshiie and Sasa Narimasa were beating people, he was so frightened that he ran away and went home.

I'd rather give up the chance to join the Mother Clothes Clan than fight these people to the death.

If we could capture Rokkaku Yoshikata alive right now, even if we didn't immediately promote him to castle lord, at least sending him out to lead 500 soldiers as a local guard wouldn't be a problem. He's always been by Nobunaga's side, so although he's close to his leader, Japan is very pragmatic these days; without military achievements, there's no real power.

The scope of knowledge and action is limited; no matter how much favor it receives, those who are capable of fighting should be rewarded first.

Hideyoshi was quite fond of Ishida Mitsunari, or rather, he took sides between the Owari and Omi factions. However, despite his efforts, he didn't ultimately bestow a large sum of money upon his favored retainer. By the time of his death, including the Hideyoshi Estate he was in charge of, Mitsunari had accumulated a total of 194,000 koku.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this stone height is probably Shichibei's limit. Nobunaga was an even more KPI-obsessed boss than Hideyoshi; without military achievements, it would be difficult for him to become the ruler of a country.

"It's done!"

Takenaka Hanbei let out a soft cry, interrupting Shichibei's reverie. Although the central route was filled with dust due to the galloping of the swift horses, the left and right flanks were still relatively clear. Kuchiki Motonatsuna and Abe Sadayoshi and Abe Sadahiro, who were advancing in battle, had already gained the upper hand and had basically crushed the Rokkaku army.

Ah, Nobunaga is right after all, his prediction was spot on.

We dragged Shichibei from Gifu Castle to the Nosu River, and before he even drew his sword, we won the battle. Our "Blade of Kindness" truly lives up to its name; it rarely sees blood in its entire life.

Pursuing the fleeing enemy, gathering the defeated troops, and capturing the righteous hero along the way are all matters of course.

As the main force slowly retreated to the rear of Anyoji Temple, samurai and foot soldiers came one after another to offer their heads. The military clerk recorded them all, and later, rewards were given according to merit, which were recorded in Nobunaga's account.

Watanabe no Nishiki, whom I just mentioned, also came to report his achievements, carrying two severed heads. Judging from their names, Shichibei had never heard of them before. It seems that they were minor characters who, even when created as characters in later Japanese games with more than three thousand characters, never managed to become even a generic one.

Under normal circumstances, two heads might not even cost twenty kan, depending on the rank. If it were a foot soldier general or something similar, then twenty kan would be added.

"Kanbei, bow to Lord Kawamura." Watanabe instructed a child of about ten years old beside him to bow to Shichibei.

After watching the great battle, Oda Nobumasa happily led fifty horsemen to Kyoto to report the good news to his father. Of course, he should do this. Surely we retainers wouldn't compete with our young lord for the prize?

Therefore, the final inspection will definitely be carried out by Shichibei and Sasa Narimasa. Anyway, Shichibei will still have to issue the reward, so combining the two things into one will save trouble.

"Kanbei?" Shichibei looked at the ten-year-old boy in front of him and suddenly felt that the name sounded familiar.

Watanabe Kanbei sounds familiar, and he's from Jiangbei.

Watanabe is here!

During the Edo period, he was recorded as the fourth of the thirty-sixth rank in the Taihei Heiyongden. His ukiyo-e prints were specially drawn by Ochiai Yoshiki. He was a brave general known as one of the "Three Kanbei of Kohoku" along with Sugi Kanbei, a retainer of Ishida Mitsunari, and Tsuji Kanbei, a retainer of Tanaka Yoshimasa.

In the Battle of Settsu-Suita Castle, he distinguished himself by winning the first battle with a spear, earning him the praise of "Kanbei of the Spear" from Oda Nobunaga, who was observing the battle. During the Odawara Campaign, he again distinguished himself by winning the first battle with a spear in the Battle of Izu-Yanaka Castle, being the first to breach the castle walls. Hideyoshi, upon hearing this, was greatly impressed and immediately declared that such a valiant general could not be bought even with a stipend of 10,000 koku.

(Well, Nakamura Kazuji thought, "I can't get it in exchange, so I won't." He only gave Watanabe 6,000 koku. Watanabe was furious and immediately fled.)

“Exactly.” Watanabe Kanbei responded loudly; though not tall, his voice was loud and clear.

"Record Zhou's defense merits." Shichibei squatted down to observe Watanabe Kanbei.

"Thank you." The father and son bowed to Shichibei together.

"I heard that your father and son were supported by two hundred men at the Kotani Palace?" It was just something Takenaka Hanbei said, and Shichibei was just putting his newfound knowledge to use.

"Yes."

"Serve me, and I will bestow upon you and your son two hundred strings of cash!" Shichibei made his offer without the slightest hesitation.

Before setting out this morning, we were saying that our group didn't even have a single brave general who could lead the charge, fiercely attack the enemy, and break through their defenses. Isn't this a ready-made warrior right here?

The so-called support for two hundred people meant providing two hundred people with a year's worth of rice. There are two versions: one is that they were given one and a half shi (石) of rice per year, and the other is that they were given five fen (俵) of rice per year.

In any case, the total came to around 300 koku of rice. Based on the five-public and five-private division ratio, that's 600 koku of credit. And Shichibei's offer of 200 kan of credit is roughly equivalent to 800 koku of credit.

In short, the offer is definitely higher than the support for 200 people. The key point is that the support for 200 people is a salary. If they want you this year, they will give it to you. If they don't want you next year, you can only get rid of them. You are just a wage earner.

Receiving 200 kan of credit is equivalent to owning shares and becoming a shareholder. It's extremely rare for a samurai with credit to be dismissed. These are the core members of this faction, belonging to a shared destiny.

As for Shichibei poaching people on the spot like that?

It has already been stated that the Watanabe father and son were merely guest generals, or rather, mercenaries, serving as vassals for Azai Nagamasa. Their master, Watanabe Taka, was the true retainer of the Azai clan.

With two hundred men supporting him, there were plenty of seasoned veterans willing to take up arms and risk their lives. Asai Nagamasa didn't care about the fate of these hired thugs; in fact, he was happy that the Watanabe father and son were leaving.

After all, due to the Hori-hide-mura Rebellion, a large number of local lords and clans deserted and rebelled, causing the Asai clan's income, which was originally 300,000 koku, to plummet to between 120,000 and 150,000 koku. With their income greatly reduced, they asked Nobunaga for 10,000 kan in aid, and were subsequently forced by Nobunaga to become a vassal daimyo.

With too many monks and too little porridge at home, perhaps sending the Watanabe father and son to Nosugawa was partly a way to send one of them to their death and reduce their salary.

"Lord Kawamura! From now on, my son and I will obey your orders!" Watanabe had been a mercenary for twenty or thirty years, but he still hadn't earned a single penny.

Suddenly, an offer of knowledge and action came knocking on my door, and under the powerful umbrella of the Oda clan no less. There was simply no reason to refuse. If I refused, I might never get a second chance in my life.

"Hahaha, please get up quickly." Shichibei didn't expect it to be so easy, and he didn't even need to persuade him at all.

"And these two head-slaying merits, go and fetch forty strings of cash." While helping Watanabe and his son up, Shichibei ordered the shopkeeper to fetch the money.

They had previously said twenty, but since it's Nobunaga's money anyway, we'll just put forty on their tab and spend it first.

"We will never forget the Emperor's kindness." Just as they stood up, the Watanabe father and son knelt down on one knee again.

"Very well, I love sensible and obedient retainers like you." The group didn't have enough loose copper coins, so they paid with gold coins. When the gold coins appeared in their hands, the Watanabe father and son almost cried. It was unclear whether they were happy or excited.

Having watched a brief but lively scene unfold from the sidelines, Takenaka Hanbei was quite curious. After the Watanabe father and son left the tent and sent someone to Odani Castle to bid farewell to Asai Nagamasa, he quietly asked Shichibei.

This father and son, Watanabe Tomoya, seemed only so-so in terms of bravery. His son, Watanabe Kanbei, was just over ten years old and not yet capable of carrying a gun in battle.

Is such a combination worth 200 kan to recruit? It should be noted that placing a single horseman only cost 50 kan. Of course, this is related to the lower horse prices in Shichibei's area; elsewhere, it would cost 100 kan.