Owari Yumeki Golden Day

The rice balls were smeared with salt, and the matcha soup was bitter; it couldn't have tasted any better. But they were hungry, so they could eat anything. They devoured the entire pot of rice and soup in no time.

Nobunaga ate better than them. He sat on a haystack and at least had a pair of chopsticks to eat with.

"Nashibei, if this battle is successful, you will be the main contributor!" Nobunaga said very directly while holding the bowl.

"It's just my job." Shichibei would definitely not say that he started dispatching horses two months ago. Everything seemed very natural.

"You did a great job." After finishing the last bite, Nobunaga placed his bowl and chopsticks on the haystack beside him.

As soon as he stood up, the others did not stop eating or resting, but got up one after another, changed into Kawamura's horses, and galloped towards Otsu. When they reached Otsu, they were almost at the edge of Kyoto.

It’s getting dark now and we’ve arrived at Dajin. What should we do?

When the people of Otsu saw Nobunaga and Shichibei, they sent people to offer them wine and food. It was not to welcome the Oda army, but because they were afraid that the Oda army, which had arrived overnight, would enter the town directly and plunder the area.

Stopping someone, Shichibei asked directly, "Has the Miyoshi Trio invaded Kyoto?" The man looked familiar, likely a major figure within the Otsu clan. Stopped by Shichibei, he admitted that he had heard about the Miyoshi Trio's invasion yesterday, but it seemed no fighting had taken place in Kyoto, and no further news had been received.

No news is actually good news.

If Ashikaga Yoshiaki had truly fled or been killed, the Miyoshi Three would have certainly publicized it. Judging from the current situation, it's highly likely that Akechi Mitsuhide or Hosokawa Fujitaka advised Yoshiaki that the Honkuji Temple within the castle was not an armed stronghold and had no defenses. Then, the group fled to Shogunyama Castle.

In other words, the battle for Jiangjun Mountain City should have just begun and the outcome has not yet been decided.

Shichibei turned his head and glanced at Nobunaga. When they made eye contact, it seemed that they were thinking alike. Nobunaga then asked the man if he had any information on the number of troops of the Miyoshi Three.

Some, based on rumors, say there were over 10,000 people. This number, however, is less accurate, having been reported by townspeople who fled Kyoto to Otsu. This number is not far off from the numbers reported by Ikeda Katsumasa and Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, so it's likely correct.

What should we do now?

It was already dark, and while Otsu certainly had horses, a fall from a horse in the dark could kill a man. It would be better to wait overnight and attack Shogunyama the next morning. Maeda Toshiie suggested this, but Sasa Narimasa said Shogunyama Castle was surrounded by an enemy force ten times its size and could fall at any moment, so there was no time to wait.

Even if we had to light a fire and run at night, killing all our horses, we would still rush to Jiangjun Mountain to rescue them.

"Nanabe, what do you think?" Nobunaga looked at Nanabe subconsciously.

"Once the lord's flag arrives, the Sanhao bandit gang will surely collapse!" Shichibei answered immediately without a moment's hesitation.

If Nobunaga's large horse emblem appeared behind the Miyoshi Three besieging the city, the Miyoshi Three, who were already afraid of Nobunaga's military might, would surely lose their morale. A fierce attack would then be a seven or eight chance of success.

Even though they were defeated, more than a thousand people entered Shogunyama Castle to assist in the defense. Three days later, the armies of Oda Nobuhiro and Sakuma Nobumori arrived.

160. A fierce fight in the middle of the night

"go!"

Nobunaga waved his hand, gathering the troops on his left and right and marching off. In that short time, the Otsu people had already collected hundreds of torches for the crowd. There was no way they could have done anything about it, having arrived at Otsu at the last minute and without prior notice. The fact that they had refrained from rebellion and remained obedient to Nobunaga's rule was already a great honor for Nobunaga.

Mori Hideyori led the way, followed closely by Sassa Narimasa. The two moyi's men were all descendants of samurai from Owari and Mino, and belonged to the core group of Nobunaga's power. Even if they had been away for a day, they still forced themselves to fight for Nobunaga.

The small people who were guarding Nobunaga also cheered up at this time, changing the saddle for Nobunaga's horse and feeding the horse with soybeans and black beans.

The wind and snow continued to blow, and the surroundings were as dark as ink. Nobunaga ordered more than twenty of his followers, each leading dozens of cavalry, to form a group and advance in coordination.

Whistles were sounded at regular intervals to prevent the troops from becoming separated. Several guides were captured at Otsu and placed in the vanguard under Mori Hideyori. Although the road to Kyoto was clearly established, having been built by Shichibei and then Hosokawa Fujitaka, it was still a well-preserved route. But in the darkness of the snow and wind, who knew if they had accidentally strayed onto a side road?

The journey that would normally take a horseback ride of at most an hour and a half took the Oda army more than five hours in the wind and snow, and time passed by unknowingly.

On the second day of the first month of the twelfth year of Yonglu, in Beijing, General Shancheng.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki was so frightened that he could not sit still. Although he was leaning on his sword, he could not calm down. He sent people to ask if there were any reinforcements. As for Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, the first one to come to his support, Ashikaga Yoshiaki almost thought of him as his adopted son. He held Miyoshi Yoshitsugu in his arms and cried with emotion.

Later, Wada Koremasa and Ikeda Katsumasa both led hundreds of troops to Kyoto. Wada Koremasa stayed in Honkuji Temple to draw fire for Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The other generals escorted Yoshiaki all the way to Shogunyama Castle and defended it, while they reported the news to Oda Nobunaga in Gifu.

According to Akechi Mitsuhide's estimation, with the heavy snow in Gifu, even Nobunaga would need at least four days to lead his army to Kyoto.

After only one day of defense, the Ashikaga army, numbering less than 2,000, has suffered hundreds of casualties. Due to their inadequate preparations, they even have very few arrows and cannons. Today's battle was just one, evening. Once the Miyoshi Three launch a full-scale assault tomorrow, defending the city will be difficult.

Are there any reinforcements nearby? Even just a few dozen would be fine.

Reinforcements are definitely coming, but with the snow, it will take time for everyone to arrive. Even if we summon the monks from the eastern mountain gate of Kitayama to come to our aid, it will take until tomorrow night at the latest. The Ashikaga army will still have to hold its own during the daytime battle tomorrow.

Settsu Harumon, Odate Harutada, and others even suggested to Ashikaga Yoshiaki that he should just forget about it and run to Takashima County in the north of the Yangtze River while it was still dark. Only by surviving could he survive.

Upon hearing this, Ashikaga Yoshiaki stood up. He refused to leave even at the cost of his life. He had finally succeeded as the Shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, but before the shogunate could be reorganized and rebuilt, he was defeated by the rebels and forced to flee.

Even Shichibei knew that only the shogun who lived in Kyoto, sat in the palace, and issued edicts was a true shogun. Fleeing to a foreign land would not only bring shame to the shogunate and the shogun, but it would also be difficult to return in the future.

Yoshiaki and his brother Yoshiteru were similar in some ways. He still held onto a glimmer of hope, believing that with so many reinforcements from the shogunate, Nobunaga would only need four days to arrive. Once the heavenly troops arrived, the mere traitor Miyoshi would surely be thwarted.

Clinging to this little hope, Yoshiaki rejected the suggestion of fleeing, but instead summoned up some courage and began to actively arrange the city defense. He also comforted the generals and soldiers of the Ashikaga army with kind words, encouraging them to defend the Shogun Mountain Castle to the death.

The Miyoshi trio at the gates of the city had it even easier. After all, the Miyoshi clan still held some respect in Kinai. After their sudden landing, many Kinai nobles who had served the Miyoshi clan for years, still remembering how Miyoshi Nagayoshi had the power to execute anyone he wanted, and even the entire family, at his command, practically stood by and watched the surprise attack on the Miyoshi army.

Sending someone to report to the higher authorities was considered giving face to the new shogunate and the new kanrei. There were many cases where people simply didn't report anything and simply pretended they knew nothing.

It can be said that as long as the Miyoshi Three defeated the new shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, or defeated Ashikaga Yoshiaki and forced him to flee back to Mino Gifu Castle, the Miyoshi Three's influence in Kinai would immediately rise again, and those national heroes who had sided with Nobunaga would immediately turn to them.

In a short time, tens of thousands of people would gather under their command. They would follow them to seize southern Omi, restore Rokkaku, and even attack Mino and destroy the Oda clan.

In the evening, they discovered that the defenses at Honkuji Temple were weak, and after detecting that the shogunate's troops were deploying to Shogunyama Castle, they immediately guessed that Ashikaga Yoshiaki had fled. When they attacked, they found that the defenders were very determined, but their defenses were very weak.

Good, good, Yoshiaki is here, we will definitely be able to defeat and kill Ashikaga Yoshiaki tomorrow!

A large camp surrounded the mountain city, and due to the cold winter weather, numerous bonfires were lit. The incident had occurred suddenly, and the various forces in Kinai were either waiting and watching or unable to mobilize sufficient forces to support them. Therefore, the Sanyoshi Trio had no need to hide their campfires to avoid an attack.

There is a huge fire blazing around the mountain, what can you do to me?

There was really nothing he could do, as the fire was everywhere. Nobunaga stood on the shoulders of the three young men and observed for a moment, confirming that the Miyoshi Trio indeed numbered over ten thousand. With only the thousand-odd cavalry of the Oda army that had arrived at the scene, there was really no way they could confront them head-on.

Some might ask, didn't Nobunaga also attack during the Battle of Okehazama? Yes, he first sent about 300 men to attack, confirming that Imagawa Yoshimoto's main camp really only had 5,000 men, and letting Imagawa Yoshimoto relax. He himself had 2,000 men, so he decided to give it a try.

"The enemy is extremely lax!" Maeda Toshiie was also watching from the side.

"The camps are distributed quite scattered." Sasa Narimasa could see the distribution of the local camps through the arrangement of the campfires.

Nobunaga didn't answer, but instead jumped down from his human observation post among the young men and paced back and forth, thinking. Then he saw Shichibei using ropes and branches as a broom, first sweeping up the snow. Whether to then use a horse to drag pine branches around, creating a large fog, depended on Nobunaga.

"Are you so sure?" Nobunaga looked at Shichibei.

"No, I'm just making preparations." Shichibei was sitting on a pile of pine branches, tying up brooms. He would tie them up first, whether they were needed or not.

"That's right, let's fight first." Nobunaga didn't know anything else, but he knew Shichibei's skills very well.

Aside from horsemanship, Shichibei's combat skills were practically nonexistent. His sword was a ruthless sword, he'd never used a spear, and he knew nothing about archery, though I heard he'd recently started learning. As for wrestling and hand-to-hand combat, they were even worse. Unarmed, Nobunaga could have easily fought off seven of the ten Shichibei, even taking out several along the way.

"I'm quite good at using the arquebus." Shichibei replied, because he really knew how to use the arquebus.

"Tsk..." The more times like this, the more you need to relax. Nobunaga felt less depressed.

"Nanabe is a horseman. It would be difficult for the lord to let him go first." When Sasa Narimasa saw the broom, he obviously understood what was going on and came over to interject.

"Then you go first!" Nobunaga pointed with his backhand.

"Understood!" Sasa Narimasa responded without hesitation.

He was quite willing to shoulder Nobunaga's responsibility, and Nobunaga treated him well. Before the Honnoji Incident, Sassa Narimasa already controlled half of Echizen. While it's highly likely that if Nobunaga had survived, he would have been granted a fiefdom in Aizu or Akita, his minimum rank would have been 300,000 koku.

"Go left again. Take two hundred men and go from the flank." Nobunaga gave another order to Maeda Toshiie.

Then he called Mori Hideyori, who was sitting on the ground to rest, and asked Mori Hideyori to take 150 people and follow behind the two of them, and continue to engage in the battle, causing the Miyoshi Three to misjudge.

Kanamori Nagachika, with a hundred men, ran around shouting behind the three, showing off their large force. Once they were all engaged in the battle, Nobunaga personally led three hundred men and stormed the Ōte Gate of Shogunyama Castle to support Yoshiaki.

Shichibei was in the rear team, guarding Nobunaga's Yongle Tongbao horse emblem, while at the same time driving the horses to create the illusion that there were thousands of troops coming from the rear.

"Who is it!" Sasa Narimasa, who was standing beside Nobunaga, grabbed the knife at Shichibei's feet and threw it forward.

The small-time soldiers on both sides rushed forward like wolves and tigers. About twenty meters away, a figure jumped out. He shouted that he was a retainer of Asai Bizen-no-kami and was not an enemy. He asked, "What part of the Oda army is Nobunaga's main force in front of us?"

Oh? Asai Nagamasa is here too?

The man was brought before Nobunaga with his hands tied. The man immediately kowtowed to Nobunaga. He thought it was one of Nobunaga's generals who had been stationed in Jiangnan, but he never expected it to be Nobunaga himself.

Previously, Nobunaga was parading through the streets of Kyoto, and almost every samurai of the Asai army had seen Nobunaga.

Only then did he release his grip. Nobunaga ordered him to bring Asai Nagamasa to him immediately, and then join the attack. If Asai Nagamasa also had hundreds of men, then the wave attack would be even more realistic. With over two thousand well-prepared troops attacking over ten thousand relaxed enemies, the odds of victory or defeat were 50-50.

In no more than twenty minutes, Asai Nagamasa arrived with five or six hundred men. Nagamasa was completely amazed. Nobunaga, who was farther away than him, had arrived before him. But now was not the time to discuss things. The last time they had a disagreement, Nagamasa had shown respect to Nobunaga's new regime by actually coming to his rescue. Nobunaga had his own reasons.

Without further ado, Nobunaga immediately ordered Nagamasa to engage in battle between Mori Hideyori and Kanemori Nagachika, and to drive out the Miyoshi Trio. He had to disrupt the enemy forces so that he could follow up and break into the Ote Gate of Shogunyama Castle.

Nagamasa just nodded, agreeing with Nobunaga's strategy, then put on his armor, called on the troops, followed Mori Hideyori, and marched towards Miyoshi's army.

"Watch my horse mark!" Nobunaga instructed, jumped on his horse, led the troops, and attacked forward.

At four o'clock in the morning, when it was still dark, the first shouts of killing suddenly rang out. Sasa Narimasa and Maeda Toshiie split into two wings and attacked the Miyoshi trio fiercely, showing their great power.

The three Miyoshis were caught off guard and even cried out in surprise, wondering where the camp had been blown up. As the troops were in chaos, the second wave of Oda's army rushed in fiercely, searching everywhere for the whereabouts of the general of the three Miyoshis.

At daybreak, Asai Nagamasa and Oda Nobunaga joined the battle. At the foot of Mount Uebu, a large horse emblem bearing the inscription "Yongle Tongbao" was erected. The forests were filled with the sounds of men and horses neighing, smoke billowing, and startled birds taking flight, as if tens of thousands of men were engaged in a continuous battle.

There was a cry of surprise from both inside and outside the city. Gifu Danseiden had arrived!

The men on the city walls were overjoyed, while those below were horrified. The Miyoshi trio, their formation already disrupted, reacted immediately to flee. Just as they hesitated, Akechi Mitsuhide, who was inside the city, unhesitatingly led 200 men, opened the city gates, and charged out fiercely, echoing Oda Nobunaga.

Attacked from both inside and outside, with reinforcements pouring in, the Oda army suddenly broke free and suffered a crushing defeat.

The Oda armies continued their pursuit, capturing and beheading the enemy wherever they could, while the Miyoshi army trampled on each other, even attacking each other, and fled.

It was freezing cold, and these soldiers were awoken from their sleep in the middle of the night, without even a chance to put on clothes; some were left with only a single layer of clothing. At first, they were brandishing swords, their bodies churning with adrenaline and cortisol, and they didn't even feel the cold. But as the rout began, their hands and faces were frozen.

There were probably hundreds or even thousands of Sanhao Army soldiers who froze to death on the roads and in the valleys.

After the Miyoshi army at the gates had been dispersed, Ashikaga Yoshiaki opened the gates again to welcome the Oda army. He assumed that the Oda army had even brought Asai Nagamasa with them, so there must be 30,000 of them. He even ordered Settsu Harukon to rush to the capital to prepare food and miso. Since Nobunaga had come to rescue him personally, he should at least have a hot meal.

When he learned that Nobunaga had only brought about a thousand people and that Asai Nagamasa had just happened to meet him on the way, not only Yoshiaki was surprised, but even Hosokawa Fujitaka and Akechi Mitsuhide were also surprised and exclaimed repeatedly.

More than a thousand people dared to come to support Yoshiaki and took the initiative to attack the Miyoshi army. Oda Nobunaga is really an amazing person.

Upon hearing this, Ashikaga Yoshiaki stared at Nobunaga for several seconds, then did something incredible. He ran over and hugged Nobunaga like a child. Nobunaga didn't refuse, letting Yoshiaki hold him tightly. He even reached out a hand and gently patted Yoshiaki's back.

"Father."

Everyone around heard clearly that Ashikaga Yoshiaki called Nobunaga "Dad". Nobunaga obviously didn't expect it, and his hand that was patting Ashikaga Yoshiaki paused, but he quickly reacted and continued patting.

"Please let me call you father from now on!" Ashikaga Yoshiaki finally let go of Nobunaga and asked Nobunaga in a very serious tone.

161. Overwhelming Sakai Town with 20,000 Kan

Shichibei swallowed his saliva and muttered to himself, "You old boy, you can still call me that." Nobunaga is really knowledgeable and experienced. He even got a general's son.

Needless to say, even Shichibei, a retainer of the Oda family, felt that Ashikaga Yoshiaki had gone too far. What about the legion of retainers behind him? Hosokawa Fujitaka turned his head away, while Odate Harutada and Settsu Harumon closed their eyes. When had the Muromachi shogunate become so destitute that even the dignified Shogun had to acknowledge a father to survive?

What to do? Ashikaga Yoshiaki has already spoken. Once a word is spoken, it cannot be taken back. A dignified general must keep his word. From today on, Nobunaga is the general's father.

We will discuss how to deal with this matter later. The current priority is to completely expel the remnants of the Miyoshi Three, clear out the area around Kyoto, and restore order to the entire Yamashiro Province.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki continued to stay in Shogunyama Castle, but there was no need to summon any gate officials to guard it. He only needed to add iron cannons, bows and arrows, and set up a few lookouts.

Nobunaga ordered Sasaki Narimasa to enter Kyoto first and control the various intersections. Only then did the Oda and Asai armies enter Kyoto to support Wada Koremasa at Honkuji Temple. Upon hearing of the defeat at Shogunyama, the Miyoshi forces surrounding Honkuji Temple largely dispersed and did not commit any atrocities such as setting fire to Kyoto.

Riding into the capital, the Sanhao trio's incident actually had one benefit.

This directly proves that Ashikaga Yoshiaki lacks the ability to protect Kyoto's security, and can be further explained as only Lord Nobunaga has the ability to guarantee Kyoto's security. Should the imperial court lean towards the Muromachi shogunate, with which it had cooperated for hundreds of years, or towards the emerging power of Oda Nobunaga?

Many changes don't happen overnight. Instead, they happen step by step, bit by bit, until the whole thing changes.

By the way, he had just been running, and immediately threw himself into the battle after running. At this time, Shichibei suddenly discovered that a man named Matsunaga Hisahide had suddenly appeared in Nobunaga's team.

So, Matsunaga Hisahide went to Gifu to wish Nobunaga New Year's greetings. However, he failed to do so and was woken up on New Year's Eve and ridden like a whirlwind from Gifu to Kyoto.

It has to be said that this old man has great physical strength. Even Shichibei, a young man with a big stick, felt exhausted, but Matsunaga Hisahide took the initiative to ask for orders to help Nobunaga contact the court nobles and inform them that Nobunaga had defeated the Miyoshi rebels.

There seems to be a historical account of the Kanegasaki retreat, in which Matsunaga Hisahide was part of Nobunaga's army. If that's true, then he was quite the formidable figure. He managed to escape from Kanegasaki to Kyoto in a day and a night, which is about the same as getting from Gifu to Kyoto in a day and a night today.

Thanks to Matsunaga Hisahide's contact and Akechi Mitsuhide's efforts, the court nobles, including the imperial court, learned in a short period of time that their savior Nobunaga had actually arrived.

It’s incredible, really incredible!

Normally, it would take three days to march from Gifu to Kyoto. The incident happened suddenly, and the Miyoshi Three only arrived in Kyoto yesterday at noon. How did Oda Nobunaga defeat the Miyoshi army this morning?

It was completely impossible, which was one of the reasons why the Miyoshi Trio were so unprepared. No matter how fast they ran, Nobunaga would have taken three days to reach Kyoto. They never expected that they would reach Kyoto in a single day, and then launch an attack without stopping.

The imperial envoys also arrived at Honkuji Temple, Nobunaga's temporary main camp. After seeing Nobunaga in person, they praised him profusely. Nobunaga had such a strong military force that he could guarantee the safety of the entire Kyoto in such a chaotic world.

The stronger Nobunaga's military might grew, the more excited and pleased the imperial court became. The imperial court no longer held any real military or political power, relying entirely on the authority of its samurai collaborators to safeguard Kyoto. The bigger Nobunaga's fists grew, the happier they were.

Nobunaga also pretended to be "normal", nothing impressive, and just received the imperial envoy with a relaxed look. This calm and relaxed attitude can only show that Nobunaga is truly a god.

The townspeople of Kyoto were amazed at Nobunaga's speed and were buzzing with discussion. Nobunaga was truly formidable; the Miyoshi Trio were repeatedly defeated by him. The hearts of the people of Kyoto were gradually turning to Nobunaga.

Only after all these messy affairs were dealt with did reinforcements from various regions "bravely" rush to Kyoto. No one knows how Nobunaga managed it, but Shichibei, exhausted and half-dead, found a pile of firewood in Honkoji Temple and slept for several hours. Meanwhile, Nobunaga was constantly receiving vassal states and envoys from all over the world, and everyone was in awe of Nobunaga's prestige.

When Shichibei got up again after noon, many public officials from Yamashiro and Settsu had gathered in Kyoto. Nobunaga even toasted with Miyoshi Yoshitsugu, Ikeda Katsumasa, Wada Koremasa, Matsunaga Hisahide, Asai Nagamasa and others, acting as if he had the whole world under his control.