Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

At this time, the other two thousand men of the Mikawa Okazaki clan also arrived in Omi. Nobunaga convened a military council, gathering the generals and asking them about the strategy for attacking the Rokkaku clan.

Upon hearing of Nobunaga's impending attack, Rokkaku and his son had already assembled an army of 11,000 men and were holding Kannonji Castle in a desperate defense. Their main vanguard, Yoshida Izumo-no-kami with 3,000 cavalry, was inside Minosaku Castle.

Even at this point, Nobunaga was still unsure if he could quickly break through the defensive system of Kannonji Castle's outpost. He sent envoys to the Rokkaku family, urging the Rokkaku father and son to surrender with courtesy.

The Miyoshi Triumvirate also learned of Nobunaga's march to Kyoto. Shinohara Nagafusa, a senior member of the Miyoshi clan of Hazu Province, personally went to Kannonji Castle to persuade Rokkaku and his son to defend Kannonji to the death. He also stated that the Miyoshi clan of Hazu Province had 20,000 strong troops in the Kinai region, and that as long as Rokkaku and Oda were locked in a stalemate and Oda's army could not break through, and their troops were exhausted, the Miyoshi army would immediately launch an attack.

Not 10,000 or 20,000, but 50,000 troops.

If Rokkaku and his son can hold off the Oda clan at Kannonji for two or three months, the Miyoshi clan will surely send 50,000 men to support Rokkaku. At that time, not only will they be able to defeat Oda Nobunaga, but Rokkaku will also be able to take advantage of the situation to advance into northern Omi and eliminate, or at least subdue, Azai Nagamasa.

In this way, not only will the disunity caused by the Kannonji Incident be reversed, but the prestige of the Sasaki Rokkaku clan will also spread throughout the country. At that time, Rokkaku Yoshiharu can officially serve as the Kanrei-dai (regent), actually participate in the shogunate, and restore the glory of the Rokkaku family during the Rokkaku Sadayori era.

To be fair, Shinohara Nagafusa's words did persuade the Rokkaku father and son.

131. Unconvinced, he challenged a night battle.

Wada Koremasa, a native of Koga Province, went to the city again to persuade Rokkaku and his son. Wada Koremasa had some connections with Rokkaku and his son. Among those who supported Yoshiaki Shiri was Rokkaku Yoshikata, so they were old acquaintances. Wada Koremasa had the right to persuade Rokkaku and his son to surrender.

Oda's army, numbering 100,000 (according to some accounts), was resisted by the Rokkaku clan, which mobilized 11,000 men. Even including the forces in other branch castles, such as Gamo Kensuke of Hino Castle who led 1,000 men to defend the main castle, the total number did not exceed 20,000.

How could 20,000 soldiers possibly withstand 100,000 troops marching to Luoyang?

Unfortunately, the Rokkaku father and son had a deep-seated grudge against Azai Nagamasa of northern Omi, and at the same time, they believed that the Miyoshi family was indeed a powerful force that had dominated the Kinai region for decades and had the strength to come to their rescue. In the end, they politely escorted Wada Koremasa out of the castle, expressing their determination to fight to the end.

Since that's the case, there's nothing more to say. Nobunaga then ordered his troops to cross the Aichi River and begin attacking the many branch castles of Kannonji Castle.

"How did this task end up in our hands?" Kotaro asked, somewhat puzzled.

We're here to lead the grain transport, so why are we being called upon to build three pontoon bridges across the Aichi River? Unlike in history, where Nobunaga crossed the Aichi River at the end of September, when the river was already dry, this is June now. The rainy season has just ended, and the Aichi River is flowing freely. If the army wants to cross, they need to build pontoon bridges.

It's not that there's no bridge, it's that there's only a wooden bridge, and it's impossible for more than 60,000 people to cross it.

Huang Baitao's 70,000-strong army in the Huaihai Campaign was stuck on the Grand Canal railway bridge, unable to cross at all. It was only at the last minute that they realized something was wrong. Furthermore, during the two days he waited for the 44th Army to join them, he hadn't even considered building a pontoon bridge across the canal. And Li Mi, who had fled first, didn't mention this at all either.

"Why don't you go and attack the city?" Shichibei was more than willing to take on this task.

Just now, I saw Hideyoshi leading 2,300 of his Sunomata followers to attack the castle. Building a pontoon bridge here is only so-so, but for them to charge into Kannonji Castle with their guns, that's a real life-or-death struggle.

However, the Hachisuka and Tsubouchi factions under Hideyoshi were not proper samurai, so they were placed in the third rank. The first rank consisted of Inaba Yoshimichi's two thousand-odd men, who surrounded Wadayama Castle. The Rokkaku clan had amassed a large force there and determined that Oda's army would attack from the main direction, with six thousand cavalry under Tanaka Harubu Daisuke.

The Inaba Corps was clearly responsible for launching feint attacks, a tactic that seems simple on paper. However, in reality, only a properly organized and capable army could execute it effectively. Countless feint attacks and retreats throughout history have resulted in disastrous routs. Entrusting such a task to Inaba Yoshimichi was, in a sense, Nobunaga's recognition of the Inaba Corps.

The second force consisted of Shibata Katsuie and Mori Yoshinari, tasked with blocking the castle troops coming out of Kannonji Castle to reinforce the other castles. Kannonji Castle had a thousand Rokkaku clan cavalrymen. This was a true thousand cavalrymen; the Rokkaku clan commanded several hundred skilled horsemen and archers.

The Otsubo-ryu horsemanship, which would later flourish in the Edo period, was taught in southern Omi. Furthermore, both Rokkaku and his son were inheritors of the Otsubo-ryu style and even created its own branch, the Sasaki-ryu style.

In Japan, the presence of several hundred mounted archers was certainly a cause for concern, prompting the development of countermeasures.

The third force, composed of Takigawa Kazumasu, Niwa Nagahide, Kinoshita Hideyoshi, and others, launched a strong attack on Minosaku Castle. Nominally, Nobunaga's main force was also in this force, but Nobunaga was actually behind the Aichi River, only sending a few of his own men to reinforce the offensive.

"Then I won't go." Kotaro immediately shrank back; he originally had a chance to be selected as one of Nobunaga's female warriors.

However, believing himself utterly incapable of killing, he voluntarily gave up, preferring to remain a minor official rather than attempt any further great deeds. So, without a doubt, who else but him would undertake the task of building the pontoon bridge?

"Hmph, can the two of us even make it? Let's build a pontoon bridge instead." We'll be lucky if we can manage those 30,000 shi of grain.

However, this battle can be considered the pinnacle of Shichibei's "commanding troops." His forces now number as many as ten thousand. Apart from Nobunaga's main force, no other Oda army has more men than Shichibei.

Apart from the five hundred soldiers from Kawamura, the rest were all conscripted laborers and pack animals. In addition, the generals of other units had assigned laborers from the Seven Guards to facilitate the collection of military rations.

Apart from the two or three thousand personnel dispatched to various teams who didn't need to be managed, the remaining seven thousand people all had to be transferred within Shichibei's team.

Nobunaga's direct intervention in supporting Shichibei to build a large-scale retainer group was incredibly prescient. Without Shichibei as a top-tier follower of the Kawamura Five Hundred, he would have had to send back a capable general as a minor vassal.

Now that Shichibei is in charge, Nobunaga can simply wash his hands of the matter, only paying for things and not asking about anything else.

He was having a good time and just kept killing people in front of us. We not only had to transport food to the front lines, but we also had to build bridges and roads for them.

Sigh, putting aside these chaotic thoughts, Shichibei selected a dozen or so laborers and ordered them to begin laying planks on the new pontoon bridge. Large armies continued to advance towards the Kannonji battlefield, and the front lines were constantly demanding guns and cannons, bamboo and timber—all their needs were being directed to Shichibei.

Fortunately, Shichibei was a veteran soldier and knew what he needed to prepare for war. He not only carried supplies with him in the army, but was also ordered to stockpile a batch of military supplies in Gifu Castle.

If history had changed, and Nobunaga truly couldn't break through at Kannonji Castle, Shichibei could have supplied the army with all its needs for over a month. As for two months later? Even someone as wealthy as Nobunaga would likely have had no choice but to retreat.

After all, Nobunaga had been fighting for years and had some savings, but that was all. Being able to mobilize 60,000 men to march on Kyoto was already the limit of what his resources could support.

If one were to exhaust all the manpower to recruit people, like Mimura Motochika, he would only be a wavering daimyo with a 100,000 koku of land in Bichu Province. During the Battle of Myōzen-ji, it was revealed that 20,000 men actually fought against Ukita Naoie.

If Nobunaga had mobilized his troops at that rate, he could have raised an army of 150,000.

Is that reasonable?

"Shichibei, Shichibei." Just as the order was given, someone called out his name from behind.

Turning around, he saw it was Oda Nobuhiro. This guy almost became Shichibei's father-in-law, but things are unpredictable, and now Shichibei is going to be Oda Nobuhiro's son-in-law. Oda Nobuhiro didn't seem to have any objections; it was all Nobunaga's arrangement, and who could change it? So he maintained his original attitude towards Shichibei, handling it as a formality.

"What are your orders, lord?" Nobui was Nobunaga's retainer, so his arrival must mean that Nobunaga had something to say to him.

"Prepare at least six hundred long torches, each over three feet long, a thousand would be best!" Oda Nobuhisa's order was not unusual.

"clear."

"Make sure to deliver it to the vanguard before nightfall and hand it over to Prince Kinoshita."

"Fujikichiro wants it..." Shichibei thought it was Nobunaga who wanted it.

Oda Nobuhiro nodded, had Shichibei repeat the order, and then rode across the river. Preparing torches was a trivial matter; torches were commonplace in warfare.

Actually, the vanguard could make them themselves, but now they need torches that are three feet long, which is a little over a meter, making it a bit more troublesome. Normally, a pine torch would be fine at 60 centimeters long, but with the 20-centimeter part for the oil-wrapped rope, it would be 80 centimeters.

Now we have to insert pine poles into bamboo holes to prepare temporary torches that are a meter long. It's too much trouble to carve a pine pole more than a meter long on the spot. This isn't the 21st century, where a planer can cut one pole in a few dozen seconds.

Hundreds of torches were brought over, and Shichibei inspected the oiled rope wrapped around their tips. This was straw or hemp rope soaked in tung oil, left to dry in the shade, and then wrapped around the tips of pine branches. It was usually wrapped to a length of 20 centimeters, but 30 centimeters could be used if you wanted it to last longer.

Want to make it even longer? Then it won't be used for lighting. It'll be a fire poker, wrapped around a bundle of bamboo, to be thrown and set ablaze for the purpose of attacking the city.

However, Hideyoshi's army only numbered 2,300 men, so what would he need 1,000 torches for?

As we mentioned before, only half of Hideyoshi's army consisted of combat personnel; the rest were grooms, junior officers, flag bearers, and other lowly servants. This essentially meant that every soldier in his army was to be equipped with a weapon—what kind of battle would require sending all the combat personnel?

Oh dear, historically, Minamoto Castle seems to have fallen in a single day. Could it be that a fierce battle is brewing ahead? No way.

Shichibei's jinx was absolutely right. The castle lord of Minosaku Castle, Yoshida Izumo-no-kami, fought valiantly to defend the castle, and the morning's attack by Niwa Nagahide and Takikawa Kazumasu both crumbled. Niwa Nagahide had three thousand men, and Takikawa Kazumasu five thousand—both large forces. Yet, they couldn't break through Minosaku Castle.

The defensive system of the eighteen castles of Kannonji, which was designed and built during the time of Rokkaku Jōyō, has its reasons.

This city defense system, going back to the Minowa Castle branch defense system of the twelve sons-in-law of Nishi-Kōzuke, took Takeda Shingen years to conquer. He only finished it last year or the year before, crippling the entire Nishi-Kōzuke. Despite Shingen seemingly gaining a third of the territory, his actual strength didn't increase significantly.

Looking ahead, we have to look to the Hojo clan. The Odawara Castle defensive system, which began to be built during the time of Hojo Ujiyasu, was further developed by Hojo Ujimasa and Hojo Ujinao. It held off Hideyoshi for several months.

In the end, Odawara Castle didn't fall due to lack of food; ultimately, it was the morale of the defenders that wavered. Look at Oshi Castle, whose morale remained high; even when besieged by 23,000 men, with Sanada Masayuki in the midst of the attack, they couldn't break its spirit.

Yoshida Izumo no Kami fought desperately and, within a single day, used his formidable defensive system to inflict over a thousand casualties on the Oda army.

That's right, they died in battle, not just the total number of casualties.

Although the deaths of a thousand men were nothing to an army of 60,000, the number still gave Nobunaga a jolt when it reached his ears.

Eighteen branch cities, each losing a thousand combat soldiers—forget about going to Kyoto, hurry back to Owari and settle things. If eighteen thousand combat soldiers die, the Oda clan will perish; they won't be able to survive.

Caught in a fierce battle, neither Niwa Nagahide nor Takigawa Kazumasu could find a solution. However, Hideyoshi, who replaced the two at dusk when the drums were sounded to attack the castle, did not share their view.

"Why are you here?" Kinoshita Hideaki suddenly appeared while he was putting bamboo tubes on torches.

"Hehe, my brother sent me to find you." Kinoshita Hideyoshi chuckled. Actually, it was Hideyoshi in front who was worried that Shichibei wouldn't be able to supply a thousand long torches.

"We already have five hundred. Why don't you take them back first?"

"No, no, no, it's not dark yet, no rush." ​​Both sides have brothers, one is his half-brother and the other is his brother-in-law, so Xiuchang really can't afford to offend either side.

"We can't take Jizuo City?" It's almost dark, that shouldn't be the case.

Could the historical records be wrong? But the Rokkaku family did indeed collapse in one battle in history, without putting up a resistance for very long.

"The commander is very determined in his defense, and he has arquebuses." Xiu Chang looked at the torches piled on the carriage and subconsciously counted them.

"So Fujikichiro is preparing for a night battle?"

It's not that I look down on Hideyoshi; it's that I equally despise all armies of that era. Leaving aside the soldiers' night blindness, how many people could organize an army at night, ensure their safe departure from camp, and maintain ranks before being deployed to the battlefield? And then, how many could successfully launch an attack and achieve victory?

"I'm not quite sure either. My brother has his own ideas." Of course, Hideyoshi knew that night battles were not easy, but Hideyoshi was the commander-in-chief of the army, and he wasn't even a deputy commander.

The vice-general is Hachisuka Koroku.

"It can't be..." Shichibei suddenly thought.

During the pre-war meeting, Hideyoshi stated that he couldn't allow a newcomer to surpass him. Currently, Akechi Mitsuhide's stipend is 4,000 kan, while Hideyoshi's is 2,500 kan, and he feels overshadowed by the newcomer. Therefore, he's resentful and wants to compete, to surpass Mitsuhide.

It's not impossible. If Hideyoshi didn't have ambition, why would he fight so desperately? But night battle? What would he use to fight at night?

132. Bet on the enemy being completely exhausted.

After a moment's thought, Shichibei decided to go with Kinoshita Hidenaga to the front lines to take a look. If Hideyoshi really gets carried away, we should try to persuade him to stay; after all, we're friends.

It wasn't easy for him to have this much strength. He started carrying straw sandals for Nobunaga in his teens and twenties, and it wasn't until he was thirty-two that he had this many men. There are still many tough battles to come.

After dark, Shichibei finally arrived at the siege camp beneath Minasaki Castle. Calling it a "camp" was a stretch; it was really just a simple arrangement of a high slope, a fence erected, and a trench dug. Because it wasn't exactly a field fortification, it appeared rather haphazard.

Takigawa Kazumasu, Niwa Nagahide, and Kinoshita Hideyoshi led the three armies in front, followed by Oda Nobuhisa and others sent by Nobunaga. Though called to assist in the battle, they seemed more like military supervisors. No wonder Hideyoshi needed six hundred or a thousand torches, and Oda Nobuhisa personally came to inform him.

He probably even went to report to Nobunaga, since he didn't want to bother two people, so he did it all himself.

Before even reaching the camp, the air was filled with screams and groans. A thousand had died, and another three thousand were likely wounded. Takikawa had five thousand, Niwa three thousand, Kinoshita two thousand three hundred, and Nobunaga had assisted with a thousand. Over eleven thousand men, and after a day of siege, 35% had perished. It was a testament to their discipline that they hadn't collapsed.

No, they should be considered elite soldiers and fierce generals of the feudal era.

Based on this level of casualties alone, Nobunaga had to send people to replace these three units and have them withdraw and reorganize, and not participate in any more major battles afterward.

"What? Weren't you building a pontoon bridge in the back?" Hideyoshi saw Shichibei and Hidenaga driving a carriage together.

"I was worried you'd be fighting at night, so I came to try and persuade you." Shichibei glanced around; there weren't many wounded soldiers in Hideyoshi's camp.

The siege was mainly carried out during the day by Takigawa Kazumasu and Niwa Nagahide, with Hideyoshi joining the attack in the evening, resulting in fewer casualties. But even fewer casualties couldn't be taken lightly; war is a dangerous affair, and recklessness is not an option.

"How did you know? Oh, haha..." Hideyoshi asked instinctively, but upon seeing the thousands of torches, he immediately understood.

Yes, Shichibei isn't stupid. Seeing so many torches, he naturally knows it's going to be a night battle. Normally, when camping, you don't need so many torches; they even need to be delivered before dark.

“Night battles are indeed too difficult.” Hideyoshi also offered some advice. The Kinoshita brothers only stopped being night-blind because they had been eating well in the last two years. Before that, they would definitely have been blind at night.

Expecting a night-blind soldier to go to war carrying a torch is pure fantasy.

“Difficulty doesn’t mean it’s impossible! When you came here, you should have seen that both the Takikawa and Niwa teams were vying to be the first to scale the walls and were attacking the castle with all their might.” Hideyoshi pointed to the other two camps.