Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

So when Nobunaga left Kyoto and rushed to the battlefield of Nagashima, the allied forces of Hatakeyama Akitaka, Sogawa Masayasu, and Miyoshi Yasunaga, along with 1,500 reinforcements from Niwa Nagahide and Mori Yoshinari, totaling 12,000 cavalry, officially set out north to attack Wakae Castle.

If Jiangcheng Miyoshi Yoshitsugu were to gather troops and defend the city to the death, he should also immediately seek help from the monk Kennyo of Setsutsu Ishizan Honganji Temple, hoping that Kennyo would send troops to assist him. Or at least make a gesture of offering support if he couldn't provide assistance.

If Jiangcheng is at most ten kilometers away from Ishiyama-Osaka Honganji Temple, that distance is already far from a day's journey. It should be said that if Master Kennyo were willing to help, and decided to do so at dawn, reinforcements could arrive by noon.

Meanwhile, Yuza Nobutaka of Iimori Castle also received a letter from Miyoshi Yoshitsugu requesting reinforcements. They hadn't seized the opportunity when Takeda Shingen emerged from seclusion, but now that Nobunaga had gained the upper hand, they were starting to panic. Kennyo Shonin and Yuza Nobutaka organized four thousand men to prepare to rescue Wakae Castle.

With his own force of about three thousand men, plus four thousand reinforcements, Yoshitsugu Miyoshi was more than capable of holding his own against the coalition army of twelve thousand men.

Therefore, adhering to the principle of not merely holding the city, Miyoshi Yoshitsugu immediately left the city to prepare for a joint battle with the allied forces. The Oda army also immediately engaged in battle. During the engagement, Hatakeyama Akitaka deliberately waited to be killed, watching Sogawa Masayasu and Miyoshi Yasunaga engage in the first two battles and then fall into a fierce struggle.

In fact, Hatakeyama Akitaka's original intention was not to harm Sogawa Masayasu and the other two. He just wanted to vent his anger and had no intention of betraying Nobunaga or anything else.

As a result, Hatakeyama Akitaka, who commanded 4,000 troops, remained inactive. With no commander-in-chief arriving, the Niwa and Mori armies, each sending only a few hundred men, also remained silent. By the time Hatakeyama Akitaka realized the front lines were truly untenable and prepared to move, it was already too late.

At the front, Sogawa Tsutomu and Miyoshi Yasunaga could not withstand the volley of arquebus fire from the Honganji monks and retreated.

Chapter 305 Long Island Devastated and Wiped Out

After spending several days in Kyoto with court nobles and officials, Nobunaga, intending to use his victory in suppressing the Nagashima Ikko-ikki to earn himself the rank of Junior Third Rank Right General of the Imperial Guard, had already rushed to Tsushima.

The army had been gathering earlier, with Nobunaga's eldest son, Oda Nobutada, assisting Nobunaga's elder brother, in deploying 70,000 troops. Oda Nobuhiro, wearing a macho pink papaya-patterned eye patch, truly looked like the one-eyed dragon of Owari. At this moment, he was commanding with great confidence, as this was the first time he had led 70,000 men.

There's really no particular place to fight; cannibalism has long been rampant on Changdao Island. Back then, there were at least 30,000 people on Changdao and its surrounding sandbars. Now, 30,000? Maybe 3,000 to 5,000 at most.

Nobunaga's arrival was really no different from a spring outing. The generals were eager to fight, given this easy victory. However, they were also quite clever; they decided to let their young lord lead the charge first.

With the assistance of his generals, Oda Nobutada conquered the islands of Nagashima, Nakae, Shinohashi, and Ōtorii, as well as their fortifications, in a single day, beheading over a thousand enemies. This feat can be considered the greatest achievement in the Nagashima campaign.

Sigh, it's a guaranteed admission, these things are always unavoidable.

However, since so many heads have already been claimed, the credit for beheading the Ikko-ikki commander-in-chief of Nagashima, Genshoji Shogi, doesn't need to be given to Oda Nobutada. Everyone is vying to go to Nagashima to take the head.

Nobunaga's main camp was once again set up at Shichibei's villa. He seemed quite familiar with the place, making no attempt to be polite, and immediately lay down in Shichibei's main room. While lying down, he even asked Shichibei about the saltpeter matter from last time, and whether Otomo Sōrin and Shimazu Yoshihisa would give him, the Regent, any face.

Yes! Definitely!

Ōtomo Sōrin stated that if a merchant ship received a transit permit from Nobunaga, even if it was carrying 100,000 catties of saltpeter, he would absolutely not interfere and would not ask for a single penny in transit fees. He added that if Nobunaga needed anything in the future, he could simply send someone to inform him directly, without needing such a formal written inquiry.

As for Shimazu Yoshihisa, he was even more proactive, immediately ordering the Tanegashima navy to send 25,000 catties of saltpeter to Sakai-cho. This saltpeter had been stockpiled by Tanegashima Tokiyoshi, who planned to buy low and sell high. But now, to curry favor with Nobunaga, he was willing to go to great lengths. Even if he didn't make a profit, he had to maintain a good relationship with Nobunaga, who held the reins of power.

The news that Asakura Yoshikage, the lord of Ichijōdani Castle with a fief of 750,000 koku in Echizen Province, had been killed by Nobunaga spread throughout the Japanese archipelago. Everyone was now intimidated by Nobunaga's power, and no one would dare to offend him in such a matter.

Hearing that the matter of the saltpeter had been perfectly resolved, Nobunaga asked no further questions, simply leaning back on the armrest table and closing his eyes to rest. For him, this expedition to Nagashima was indeed just a spring outing.

Unlike the fierce fighting during the Third Long Island Expedition in history, the Ikko-ikki members, who couldn't even lift swords and spears, could only be slaughtered no matter how much they chanted Amitabha.

There was no killing of surrendered soldiers or massacre; there were only a few people, not even enough for Oda's army to share.

The 70,000-strong army was deployed from Ise to Owari, forming a ring around the city. There was no need for small pack animals; supplies were directly managed in Tsushima and Anotsu. Therefore, the samurai under Shichibei who were interested in taking the heads of enemy generals and gaining merit also followed Oda Nobuhiro into battle.

Nagashima was, of course, a living hell at this time. This was due to both the prolonged "starvation" campaign and the massacres perpetrated by Oda's various armies, leaving no men or women alive.

At this point, the lord of the Nagashima Ganshoji Temple, Ganshoji Shoichi, who was already at his wit's end, understood that he was doomed. Moreover, in addition to mobilizing the Shima and Chita naval forces, the Oda army also ordered ships from Anotsu, Tsushima, Kuwana, and Ominato to carry soldiers and patrol Ise Bay to prevent any Nagashima soldiers from escaping.

Nobunaga, if he says he'll kill your whole family, he'll make sure your whole family is safe and sound.

Clearly, Genshoji Shoji did not want his head to be made into a sake cup by Nobunaga, or hung in the streets of Kyoto's Nijo Street to be exposed to the wind and rain. Therefore, he prepared to commit suicide.

Unfortunately, everything on Long Island that could be burned had been used for chopping wood and starting fires, so there was no firewood left for him to burn himself.

That leaves only jumping into the sea...

They couldn't just jump into the sea themselves; they had to take their sons and daughters, their wives and concubines, and so on, and jump into the sea with them.

Beneath the vast ocean, there also lies the Pure Land True Sect!

Before he could even say goodbye to his wife, or even finish his farewell, a monk soldier ran in from outside, saying that the head monk soldier guarding the gate, Monk Jingxian, had opened the gate for Oda's army.

Oh dear, Genshoji Shōi could only immediately tuck his eleven-year-old son, Ōtani Sōyō, under his arm, and have his wives, concubines, and children huddle together, preparing to jump from the temple tower into the sea.

He hadn't had a proper meal in the past two days, and with his son in his arms, Genshoji Shōi was forty years old. He climbed two steps up the tower, panting heavily, and couldn't go any further.

In the blink of an eye, the few remaining monks at the entrance were cut down, and two Oda army samurai, with severed heads tied to their left waists and corpses in their right hands, charged into the tower like demons.

Upon seeing the purple robes of Jōyōji, the greed and excitement in his eyes were completely uncontrollable. Within the vast Jōyōji Temple on Nagashima Island, the only one qualified to wear purple robes was probably the abbot, Jōyōji Shōnin.

Now they've stopped shouting; they must have wrapped up the severed head and run to Oda Nobunaga. Nobunaga also deeply resented Honganji, who rebelled in Noo's hometown and was a major threat. Honganji Shoichi's head alone was worth easily 500 or 1000 kan.

Merit and reward are just around the corner.

"Good, good. Good, good, good!" Nobunaga was chatting with Shichibei in the main house when news came from outside that two samurai under Takigawa Kazumasu had beheaded the father and son of Ganshoji and presented them to him.

Takigawa Kazumasu then led two disheveled but extremely spirited samurai to kneel in the courtyard. Nobunaga's attendants then brought out two heads, one large and one small, from behind them. Originally, they should have been covered in blood, but now, after being wiped clean by the attendants, they were recognizable.

One of them even produced a complete purple robe as proof that he had taken the head. Since everyone in the country could afford to wear a purple robe, it could indeed serve as evidence.

Nobunaga, leaping to his feet, immediately went to the severed head and carefully examined it. Niwa Nagahide, serving as the military commissioner for this operation, observed it closely and summoned Ōki Kaneyoshi, who had previously defected to the Oda clan, to help with the identification. After careful comparison, it was confirmed that the head belonged to Ganshōji Sōi and his eldest son, Ōtani Sōyō.

Needless to say, Nobunaga would only offer generous rewards: 1,000 kan to kill Genshoji Shōi, and 500 kan to kill Ōtani Sōyō. As for the captured wives and daughters, they were left to their own devices, and Nobunaga would not interfere.

The two men kowtowed repeatedly to Nobunaga, overjoyed beyond measure. Takigawa Kazumasu, on the other hand, remained relatively calm, as Nobunaga had previously made an agreement with him that Nagashima Ganshoji Temple, also known as Nagashima Castle, would be granted to him as his territory.

After that, a steady stream of Oda samurai came to present the heads of various temple leaders. Nobunaga's direct retainers could present their heads individually, while those who were distributed as part of his efforts, or those who were retainers of other generals, needed to be escorted inside. Presenting merit was one thing, but propriety was another; it could not be disorderly.

After waiting a moment, they saw Todo Takatora, leaning on a long spear and limping slightly, enter and present his head to Nobunaga. After cleaning it, they asked around and learned that he was the 11th abbot of Katori Hōsen-ji Temple, Kōmyō Shōjin. He was quite an important leader; no wonder Todo Takatora had come specifically to present his head.

Upon seeing the heads of the Ganshoji father and son placed in a box with their names and identities written on it, Todo Takatora let out a long sigh. He was unlucky not to have encountered such a target, and there was nothing he could do about it.

But Hosenji Kōmyō was quite good, probably worth fifty kan. Not just a simple reward, but fifty kan of chigyō (a monetary gift). Confirming that he had earned chigyō this time, Tōdō Takatora, ignoring his leg pain, immediately kowtowed to Nobunaga.

Nobunaga even boasted that Shichibei had acquired a brave samurai.

Of course! Todo Takatora had just returned from fleeing from Hokusho-kan in Echizen. Upon hearing that Nagashima was going to war, he rushed here to join the battle, eager to make a name for himself. Fifty kan this year, one hundred kan next year—sooner or later he'll accumulate ten thousand koku of koku. Then he'll be a dignified daimyo, and that will be considered making a name for himself.

While Nobunaga was bestowing honors upon him, Shichibei helped Todo Takatora up and took him to see a doctor. Upon questioning, it wasn't surprising; he had been struck on the leg by a monk soldier's naginata. It was probably quite hard, but the bones weren't broken, and there were no open wounds. At most, he'd be unable to walk properly for ten days to two weeks—nothing serious.

Upon learning that it was a minor injury, Shichibei was relieved and told him to rest well, as there would be plenty of people to handle the search and capture work later, and he didn't need to push himself so hard.

Tōdō Takatora agreed, but judging from his appearance, he's a workaholic and ambitious guy. I'm afraid that once he can move his legs, he'll still go and hunt down the remaining soldiers.

As the two were talking, they saw Watanabe Kanbei and his father, Watanabe Tomoya, enter carrying a severed head on a spear. It wasn't anyone important, just an ordinary leader of a group of monk soldiers. But according to Watanabe Kanbei, he was the one who had beheaded it.

Wow, you're so young and you can already kill people, you're amazing!

Shichibei spoke the truth; he wanted someone who could kill. "Since you're so good at killing, I'll take you to see Nobunaga." He introduced Watanabe and his son to Nobunaga, who smiled and instructed his servants to reward Watanabe Kanbei with two gold coins.

That's about it. A word of praise, a smile, and two gold coins—that's basically the reward for taking the head of a named martial artist. Only important figures receive additional titles; ordinary people will get money, a horse, or a sword.

Watanabe Kanbei was much more excited than Todo Takatora upon receiving the two gold coins. It was probably the first time he had earned money by killing people with his own hands. He held one coin in each hand and fiddled with it towards his father. Watanabe Ren was getting old, and seeing that he finally had an heir, and a rather capable one at that, he was also very gratified.

It's such a heartwarming scene. If you remove the severed heads hanging from the spearheads of the spears the father and son are carrying, it could be made into a heartwarming Japanese father-son drama.

The entire Kawamura Villa was filled with the sounds of laughing samurai and the pungent stench of blood. Shichibei found himself strangely accustomed to the smell, and didn't even find anything amiss.

Needless to say, the others were left out. Niwa Nagahide, however, instructed Shichibei to begin collecting firewood in preparation for landing on the island and cremating all the bodies of the fallen. If the battlefield were elsewhere, Niwa Nagahide wouldn't have cared; the nearby villagers would have come and thoroughly cleaned each body before burying it in the ditch.

But now the battlefield is in the heart of Noo, and no one wants a plague to break out because of thousands upon thousands of corpses. Shichibei, whose hometown is Tsushima, is even more unhappy about it.

Therefore, Niwa Nagahide entrusted the matter to Shichibei, who then dealt with it together with Takigawa Kazumasu. Takigawa Kazumasu was the next lord of Nagashima Castle, so he would also take it seriously.

Listening to the constant announcements from inside the courtyard, it was clear that the Long Island campaign had indeed resulted in the deaths of only two or three thousand people. If the number of women and others who were not counted, the number of survivors on Long Island was probably only around four thousand.

Turning to look at Ota Ushiichi's diary, it was indeed about Gifu-dono's campaign at Nagashima, where he beheaded two thousand, including eight hundred named.

Very well, history has taken a turn, and that joke about the demon king can no longer be repeated. It's about that samurai who went to Hell, and King Yama asked him what evil deeds he had committed. The samurai said, "I slaughtered 30,000 men and women at Ganshoji Temple on Nagashima Island, and several thousand men and women at Enryakuji Temple on Mount Eizan." King Yama immediately descended from his throne and invited the samurai to sit on it.

He even asked the samurai his name, saying, "From now on, you'll be my elder brother." The samurai replied, "My name is Oda Nobunaga."

Just as he was instructing Itō Sojūrō to purchase a large quantity of firewood and transport it to Nagashima, a messenger on horseback rushed to the scene, shouting that something had happened at Takaya Castle.

High House City?

Isn't that Hatakeyama Akitaka's castle? I remember Hatakeyama Akitaka was attacking Wakae Castle right now, what happened? Oh right, he won, and came to report the good news to his good father-in-law.

In the blink of an eye, explosive news broke from within: the campaign led by Hatakeyama Akitaka, against Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, the lord of Wakae Castle in Kawachi, had suffered a crushing defeat.

Hatakeyama Akaka begs for death!

Sogawa Masayasu believed that the Oda clan was trying to trick and kill him, so he led his remaining troops and fled back to his homeland in Sanuki Province, severing all ties with the Oda clan. Miyoshi Yasunaga, on the other hand, went directly to Takaya Castle and seized Hatakeyama's castle, where a powerful retainer had suffered heavy casualties.

The messenger who came was not Hatakeyama Akitaka's envoy, but Miyoshi Yasunaga's. During the Battle of Wakae, Togawa Moriyasu fought fiercely for two hours without reinforcements, believing he had been deceived, and immediately led his troops in retreat. The monks of Honganji Temple charged directly into Hatakeyama Akitaka's main camp, causing chaos within his forces. Akitaka and over thirty of his senior retainers were all killed, and the army disintegrated and scattered.

On the contrary, Miyoshi Yasunaga, who had been fighting the whole time, huddled together and slowly retreated, managing to avoid the Miyoshi-Honganji allied forces that were after Hatakeyama Akitaka. Then, taking advantage of this opportunity, they directly rushed into Takaya Castle.

When Miyoshi Yoshitsugu rushed in, Miyoshi Yasunaga had already closed the castle gates and was under tight defense. At the same time, he requested reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga, determined to preserve this last stronghold in Kawachi Province.

Chapter 306 Bestowing the Surname and Assigning a Son-in-Law

It wasn't exactly a wake-up call; Nobunaga simply wiped the smile off his face and ordered his generals to immediately return to their posts. Shichibei, who was outside arranging for the collection and transport of firewood to facilitate burning people, was also summoned inside.

The first order was given to Mori Yoshinari, lord of Tamonyama Castle in Nagashima, and Takayama Shigetomo, lord of Takatsuki Castle in Settsu, to lead their troops back to their respective castles and, depending on the circumstances, rescue Miyoshi Yasunaga, who had already entered Takaya Castle.

If Hatakeyama Akihiro had died because of the news sent by the envoy, then his death would have been insignificant. However, Takaya Castle was indeed Nobunaga's last stronghold in Kawachi, and it could not be lost.

Furthermore, Hosokawa Fujitaka, lord of Katsuryuji Castle in Yamashiro, and Akechi Mitsuhide, lord of Sakamoto Castle in Omi Province, are positioned as backup, ready to be deployed at any time. They must defend Takaya Castle at all costs and drive back Miyoshi Yoshitsugu's claws.

The second order was for Niwa Nagahide to immediately go to Izumi and maintain contact with Sogawa Moriyasu. The Miyoshi clan of Hazuki Province must not allow this incident to cause them to band together again to resist Nobunaga. The Miyoshi clan of Hazuki Province, with more than 20,000 veterans, could directly challenge Nobunaga in the past, and now they can also have a significant impact on Nobunaga in certain areas.

After Nobunaga finished dealing with Nagashima, he still had to clean up the mess in Echizen.

After pacifying Echizen and stockpiling sufficient supplies and equipment, Nobunaga prepared to lead 800,000 to 100,000 men to utterly destroy the Takeda clan. If Takeda Shingen could break the marriage alliance as the first act, then Oda Nobunaga could refuse to recognize the truce agreement as the fifteenth.

Everything was planned step by step. In the Kinai region, everything was arranged perfectly. Takayama Shigetomo attacked Settsu, Mori Yoshinari attacked Yamato, Hatakeyama Akitaka attacked Kawachi, and Niwa Nagahide controlled Izumi and pacified Shikoku.

Who could have imagined that Hatakeyama Akitaka would collapse so easily? He ruined Nobunaga's plans; he was truly incompetent.

The third order was to instruct Naomasa, the governor of Yamashiro Castle, to find out the cause and effect of the entire battle and what exactly happened. Although this was not the most important thing at the moment, it was related to how Nobunaga would deal with Takaya Castle later.

The generals who had been called upon and were kneeling below immediately went out to lead their troops. Oda Nobuhiro, sitting next to Nobunaga, muttered to himself, "The Hatakeyama Kingo family is indeed a prestigious clan from the past, with considerable influence in Kawachi and Kii. Even a decade or so ago, they could muster 20,000 to 30,000 men to fight a major battle against Miyoshi Nagayoshi."

We cannot let him decline like this. We must use the name of the Hatakeyama Kingo family to pave the way for future rule over Kawachi and Kii.

The key point is that Hatakeyama Akitaka's wife was Nobunaga's adopted daughter, had already given birth, and had a son in the family, making her Nobunaga's grandson. In a sense, it was truly a perfect model.

First, use this child's name to control both countries, then gradually eliminate the troublemakers and suppress the powerful figures. Anyone who dares to oppose us is considered to be defying Lord Hatakeyama Kingo, and killing their entire family would be in accordance with feudal law.

Once Hanoi and Kii are completely pacified, whether or not this child will still be in charge will not be up to him.

After hearing his brother's supplementary remarks, Nobunaga agreed and immediately ordered Oda Nobuhiro to send men to bring the remnants of Hatakeyama Akitaka's faction and their families to Gifu Castle for safekeeping. He felt most at ease keeping such people under his watchful eye, and this would be a good opportunity for Oda Nobuhiro to train and educate them.

This was likely a minor hiccup in the time travel story. Hatakeyama Akitaka had no children in history, so the direct line of the Hatakeyama Kingo family passed to Hatakeyama Sadamatsu, the son of Hatakeyama Masahiro. Hatakeyama Sadamatsu also opposed Nobunaga for several years, hiding in Tada District, Kii Province, relying on Kii's mercenaries and religious forces for resistance.

Hatakeyama Sadamatsu did not become a monk and lived until the time of the third shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu. He was originally going to fall into complete decline, but his son, Hatakeyama Masanobu, became Iemitsu's guide for the ceremony of going to Kyoto because he was well-versed in samurai etiquette.

In an instant, the family, once humbled by a mere trousers, rose to prominence, a prime example of a family's resurgence. In Japan, a skill can indeed provide a livelihood, which explains why they cherish it so much and are extremely strict about its transmission.

Hatakeyama Akio now has a son and a daughter, both born to Nobunaga's adopted daughter, Michizane's youngest daughter. The Hatakeyama Kingo family has a legitimate heir, so it's not up to Hatakeyama Masahiro's son to fill the vacancy.