Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Although Tsuneoki and Nobunaga only look about 40-50% alike, it's evening now, so it might be difficult to tell them apart clearly. Besides, even in the small town of Iwakura, there's no one more similar than Ikeda Tsuneoki. Shichibei? Even a fool could see that Nobunaga couldn't possibly be 1.42 meters tall.

Both sides agreed that they would not stop to behead enemies, seize enemy weapons and supplies, or involve the neighboring Ōki Kaneyoshi. The priority was to disrupt and scatter Saito's army, causing its collapse; nothing else was permitted.

The wounded soldiers remained in the Iwakura garrison, joining Lin Xiuzhen and her hundred or so old, weak, and disabled soldiers to defend the city. The remaining four or five hundred men and garrison workers, who were not currently needed by the main force of the Seven Soldiers, also stayed in the city, temporarily serving as able-bodied men for defense. All those who could still wield a sword were immediately mobilized to fight.

The Saito soldiers, who were resting in their camp, cooking and boiling water, had now completely relaxed their ranks and discipline, some gathering firewood, others fetching water. After all, night was approaching; was it really night fighting in Japan?

You little bastard, you think you're worthy?

Yes, Kawamura Shichibei in the city is indeed unworthy.

Shichibei hadn't planned a night battle; he intended to use the hour or so before dusk to rout Saito's army. He was confident that if Saito's army fled to Kiyosu Castle, Shichibei could easily transport them to Tsushima.

My job is to be a horse handler. I could walk the road from Kiyosu to Tsushima with my eyes closed and not get lost. If you blindfold the horses in the procession and make them run forward, they'd all make it back to Tsushima. An old horse knows the way, you know?

After resting overnight on Tsushima Island, we'll quickly head to Nagashima Island, where the vast world offers endless possibilities.

With the demon masks closed, Shichibei nodded to Ikeda Tsuneoki, gave a shout, and opened the two gates, heading straight for Saito's army. On the other side of Iwakura, Oki Kaneyoshi had long known that something bad would happen tonight. Hearing the noise from Iwakura Castle at dusk, he secretly laughed at Kawamura Shichibei, thinking he was indeed just a small-time merchant, so afraid of death.

There's no way to open the city gates and run away at dusk; you should wait until midnight or dawn. Running away at dusk makes it easy to run into Saitō's soldiers who come out to fetch water, and if you're discovered, a chaotic battle is inevitable.

However, Oki Kaneyoshi didn't say anything. Instead, he openly ordered the soldiers to wash rice and cook, starting to prepare their bento boxes. From washing the rice to eating the bento, it would take at least three hours.

If Shichibei fails to escape within three hours, he'll be utterly useless. At worst, I'll just pretend to chase after him; if I fail, it won't matter.

I just hope Kawamura Shichibei doesn't die. If Shichibei dies, we won't have any money left for the remaining 750 ryo.

Very good, very good. Captain Oki is starting to eat his bento.

Meanwhile, the two Oda armies, shouting as they charged out of Iwakura, fueled by their will to escape and their courage ignited by the gold coins, surged into Saito's camp from the north and south.

Such a direct and forceful attack could not possibly go unnoticed by the Saito clan, but the arrival of Nobunaga's main force from the north left the entire Saito army bewildered and uncertain. Nobunaga had gone to Settsu to fight, but he had been gone for over a month; perhaps he had already won.

Just like the previous Battle of Anegawa, which took only three days including marching time, they defeated the Asakura and Hori armies. They didn't even bring any supplies, and only used three days' worth of dry rations.

Nobunaga's speed was practically common knowledge. Whether it was the surprise attack on the Miyoshi Triumvirate on a snowy New Year's night or his recent arrival at Nakajima in Settsu, both were prime examples of rapid advances.

Was the large expenditure on street renovations, along with the encouragement of Shichibei to establish post stations and stables and acquire more horses, all for show? Of course not. A force of a few thousand men could move swiftly and easily within Oda's territory.

"Nobunaga! Impossible!"

His first reaction was that it was impossible for Ryūshō to rise up. As he put on his helmet, he looked at the army that Nobunaga was supposedly charging towards. Logically speaking, if Nobunaga had really defeated the Miyoshi Triumvirate of Settsunoda and Fukushima Castle, the Hongan-ji Temple should have sent a message.

Ganshoji Temple echoed Honganji Temple's call to arms; the two were closely allied. If something happened to one, how could they not inform the other? Even if Nobunaga won in Settsu, it would take him five days to return. In that time, news from Honganji Temple would have already reached Kiyosu.

If Longxing could analyze things so calmly, how could Saito's ordinary soldiers have such a brain?

Thinking sounds like a simple thing, but in reality, it is a very valuable quality. Most people neither have the ability to think nor are they too lazy to think.

If Nobunaga says he has arrived, then some people will believe that Nobunaga has really arrived!

The large horse emblem with the papaya pattern was prominently displayed, and since it was evening, it was visible to almost everyone. The Oda army, charging in, shouted that Lord Nobunaga of Gifu had arrived, and nine out of ten, whether they believed him or not, were equally convinced.

The remaining Saito soldiers, who were still clear-headed and believed that Nobunaga could not possibly come, were no longer courageous enough to stand up and fight to the death after being coerced by the other nine.

"It's not Nobunaga! It's not Nobunaga! It's not Nobunaga!" Ryūō, now fully armored and mounted on his warhorse, shouted to those around him.

Few people listened.

Just then, Shichibei, who had circled around from the south, arrived with his troops. Shichibei himself was completely unskilled in martial arts, and his sword was a sword of kindness, but the samurai under his command and his men were respectable warriors. Although not all of them had killed anyone, they still had a basic understanding of martial arts.

Please let Aochi Shigetsuna lead 150 men to charge into the enemy formation first, Takenaka Hanbei and Mori Jiro flank from the left and right, and Ota Gyuichi guard Shichibei with a longbow, shooting continuously, and firing at anyone who is on horseback or wearing fine armor.

Charge wherever you see a group of people; you must break through Saito's organization and rout them back to Kiyosu.

"That's Ryūshō on horseback!" While running, Shichibei suddenly realized that the samurai on horseback a little further away looked familiar.

Ryūō could recognize Shichibei, and Shichibei could certainly recognize Ryūō. They were both important retainers of the Oda clan and were kneeling in the front and back rows when they presented Oda no Naka de to Nobunaga at the New Year. How could they not recognize each other?

Long Xing, who had been ordering the soldiers to turn back and fight, suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He did indeed have a sixth sense; as soon as Shichibei finished shouting, Ota Gyuichi, who was guarding Shichibei, fired an arrow.

A long arrow whistled past Long Xing, but luckily he turned his head to look back and narrowly dodged it. The sight terrified him, and he spurred his horse to flee.

"The one standing in front of the shovel shape is Longxing!"

Seeing that Ryūshō had actually dodged the arrow and was even galloping forward on his horse, Shichibei shouted at the top of his lungs, which shocked the ears of the left and right foot soldiers and Ieyasu.

Not only did Ota Gyuichi hastily draw his bow and nock an arrow, but Tsuchida Chikakiyo and Kuwayama Shigekatsu, who were fighting on foot, also drew their bows and fired a barrage of arrows in the direction of Ryūshō.

Having clearly heard this, Ryuki cut the drawstring of his hood with a single stroke, even slashing his chin in the process. However, he also flung the shovel-shaped hood to the ground, making it impossible for the Oda army, who were targeting it, to find it.

As darkness fell, it became increasingly difficult for Shichibei to find any trace of Ryūō. However, this interruption completely destroyed any chance Ryūō, who had previously had a brief opportunity to regroup his hundreds of men and fight back against Oda's army.

Ikeda Tsuneoki and Hayashi Michimasa, who were on the other side, also broke through the Saito family's camp. No wonder so many people like to launch surprise attacks. Taking advantage of the enemy's laxity and launching a surprise attack is indeed a low-cost and high-return military operation.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that Shichibei's 1,080-strong force is a legitimate army. Replacing them with ragtag soldiers would definitely not work; sending willing samurai, with the right pay, would be much more likely.

Seeing the two armies wreaking havoc on Saito's army, the routed soldiers retreated towards Kiyosu Castle. Ikeda Tsuneoki and Hayashi Michimasa even asked Shichibei if they should take this opportunity to also attack Ōki Kaneyoshi.

You don't have to.

Once Ōki Kenjiro saw the Ryūshō's defeat, he would leave on his own. After all, they were guest troops, and the moment they accepted Shichibei's money, they had already withdrawn from the war.

Once he learns of Ryūō's defeat, he will undoubtedly choose to flee back to his former territory in northern Ise. For these ronin samurai who have pledged allegiance to Ganshōji, restoring their former territories is their greatest ambition.

Now that Yuanzheng Temple is powerful, if we don't seize this opportunity to fight our way back home, it will be difficult to fight back in the future.

Since Shichibei said so, the others said no more. After a quick cleanup of the battlefield, the wounded were left in Iwakura, and the rest of the group hurried to Tsushima Town.

He could walk with his eyes closed. Even though it was already dark, Shichibei had walked this road countless times and it had become muscle memory for him. He was so sure that he wouldn't go the wrong way without a torch.

After running for about two hours, the army arrived at Tsushima Town.

If it weren't for the fact that the banners and horse badges in the army clearly belonged to the Oda family, Tsushima Town would probably have immediately organized its soldiers and townspeople to fire arrows at Shichibei.

Unfortunately, Shichibei was trapped inside the Iwakura Jinya and couldn't inform Tsushima in advance. Only when the town's assembled men and Ito Sojuro saw Shichibei's face did they feel relieved and welcome Shichibei and the others into the town.

As they walked, they inquired about the situation on all sides, what had happened, and why Shichibei himself had led troops into battle. It was understandable; Tsushima Town must be in a state of panic. The sudden outbreak of the Nagashima Ikko-ikki uprising had caused widespread chaos throughout northern Ise and Shimoo-Owari. The Oda garrisons in various regions were caught off guard, and it was already quite remarkable that Tsushima hadn't descended into chaos yet.

Just as he was answering, Shichibei saw a familiar face walking towards him. "Kuki Yoshitaka, what are you doing in Tsushima-cho?"

Chapter 206 Rescuing Xin Shengke and Joining Forces

What brings you here?

What brings you here?

Kuki Yoshitaka and Shichibei stared at each other, completely bewildered as to why the other was on Tsushima.

According to Kuki Yoshitaka's plan, Shichibei should be stationed at Gifu Castle, both to assist Oda Kyokumaru in defending Nobunaga's stronghold and to handle overall logistics. Alternatively, if logistics were not needed for the time being, a large enough purse would be required, which could be readily provided to Nobunaga in Gifu.

Shichibei remembered clearly that before Nobunaga set off, he anticipated that something might happen to the Ganshoji Temple on Nagashima. Therefore, he secretly ordered Kuki Yoshitaka to immediately use his naval advantage to raid the Nagashima side and attack the Ganshoji Temple's troops and fortresses as soon as the Ganshoji Temple made its move.

So why did you come to Tsushima?

Shichibei, being of higher status, first restrained Kuki and briefly recounted his own story. He also mentioned that since Kuki Yoshitaka was in Tsushima, he might as well go with him to Ganshoji Temple to pull off a heist.

Damn it, Long Xing pinned me down in Yancang and fucked me for three days straight, until I was completely drained.

If we don't pull off a heist at Yuanzheng Temple, we'll lose all our capital in this battle.

However, Kuki Yoshitaka insisted on not doing so, because he had originally planned to rob the Ganshoji Temple on Nagashima as instructed by Nobunaga. But he discovered that both the north and south sides of Nagashima were fortified with military strongholds, and that the Ikko-ikki and monks were stationed there.

Of course, Kuki Yoshitaka's initial force of about a thousand men was definitely not enough to defeat them. However, if he were to bring along Shichibei, Ikeda Tsuneoki, Hayashi Michimasa, and their two thousand men, then perhaps they would have a chance.

Huh? Why are the Kokushiki (co-revolutionary forces) not attacking Kuwana, but instead defending their stronghold? Shichibei asked again and learned that Kuwana Castle had already fallen, and Takigawa Kazumasu had barely escaped with his life.

The Ikko-ikki are currently sweeping across northern Ise, and another 10,000-plus are besieging Sakuma Nobumori and Oda Nobuoki. Ogie Castle has not yet fallen, but if it does, the Ikko-ikki will definitely march south to attack and plunder Tsushima Town.

"The best course of action now..."

The entire plan was disrupted. Shichibei, having witnessed the devastation of Ryūshō's three-day siege, was unwilling to let his men become part of Saitō's army. He then attacked the fortress set up by the Nagashima Ganshōji Temple.

But now that we're already in Tsushima, are we just going to do nothing and retreat back to Iwakura or Gifu? That would be a complete waste of time.

"Since the Ikko-ikki are currently scattered throughout the north, could we go and defeat them one by one?" Ikeda Tsuneoki sat down at this moment. He did have some brains, though not many.

“It is possible, but they are all trying to restore their old territories. If we attack them…” Kuki Yoshitaka, being from Shima Province, was quite familiar with Ise.

The Ikko-ikki, currently fighting in northern Ise, are called Ikko-ikki, but in reality, a large portion of them are organized and led by former northern Ise noble families who had fled. They have finally regained their old territories, and now they are attacking them; there are two possibilities.

One type of local gentry were those who were all brawn and no brains, indulging in drinking, gambling, and prostitution after reclaiming their former territories, living a life of ease and comfort. Another type were those local gentry who, upon hearing of the Oda army's impending attack, immediately banded together for self-defense, supporting each other and plundering and killing Oda's soldiers indiscriminately.

Which one do you believe?

"Then let's join forces and attack the enemy that is besieging Xiaomujiang first?" Shichibei immediately changed his mind. After all, he was still young and his mind was still quite sharp.

“The rebels number at least ten thousand, while our army has only three thousand. We need ten times, a hundred times, more courage to have any chance of victory.” Kuki Yoshitaka pointed to himself, then to Shichibei and the others.

In the defense of Iwakura Castle a few days ago, it was impossible for Oda's army not to suffer casualties. Including the soldiers and junior officers who were settled down, Shichibei, Ikeda Tsuneoki, and others had a total of no more than two thousand men.

Including Kuki Yoshitaka, it certainly takes courage for 3,000 men to launch a surprise attack on a Long Island army of over 10,000. Without knowing the numerical disparity, they might have just recklessly charged in. But even knowing the numerical disparity, would they still dare to recklessly charge in?

Our troops are not necessarily much more elite than the troops besieging Ogie Castle. They consist of the main force of the Ko-ikki, monks, and ronin from northern Ise, as well as a large number of recruited foot soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers.

Unless we can make contact with the city, we will be attacked from both inside and outside.

"Hmm..." Shichibei was quite unfamiliar with making decisions in war, and had only recently made a few decisions.

In the past, they mainly followed Nobunaga around, shouting "666" and helping him brew tea and cook tea-soaked rice.

“It is really inappropriate to only consider the number of men and horses.” Takenaka Hanbei, who also left the castle, disagreed with Kuki Yoshitaka’s statement. After all, the Takenaka family was also a major country with a population of eight thousand or ten thousand koku, and in fact, their status was no lower than that of Kuki Yoshitaka. He could refute this.

The reason is simple: Takenaka Hanbei believed that the Ikko-ikki had been besieging Okie Castle for quite some time. Even an army belonging entirely to a daimyo would become exhausted and worn out if it failed to capture the castle after a prolonged siege.

Moreover, the Ikko-ikki was not a normal, ordinary army; it was a collection of followers of the Ganshōji Temple who harbored the idea of ​​establishing a Buddhist kingdom on earth, as well as ronin who sought to restore the former territory of northern Ise.

The two families have fundamentally different interests. This was something that Takenaka Hanbei only realized after he saw Shichibei bribe Ōki Kaneyoshi.

Thus, with three thousand united troops attacking a ten-thousand-strong army with divided hearts, the outcome should be at least fifty-fifty.

Once the battle begins, the siege of Ogie Castle by the Ikko-ikki will surely be relaxed. At that time, we can send a trusted confidant, or someone Sakuma Nobumori knows, into the castle to urge him to come out immediately and launch a pincer attack. Then, the great plan will be accomplished.

Not only did they break the siege of Ogiga Castle, but they also freed Sakuma Nobumori's three thousand men and Oda Nobuoki's five hundred men.

With these two included, we'll have six or seven thousand men. Even in the midst of the Sengoku period of Japan, that would be a decisive force.

With so many people, whether we launch a counterattack on Kiyosu Castle or take advantage of the fact that the Ikko-ikki are scattered in northern Ise, and launch a direct attack on the stronghold of Ganshoji while we are out in hiding, we have a good chance of success.

To put it more boldly, one could go directly to Anotsu, take a boat, and speed towards Sakai, then jump up and stab the buttocks of the Miyoshi Triumvirate and Kennyo Shonin who are confronting Nobunaga.

The results were almost unbelievably large.

Going to Sakai is too risky; there are still the naval forces from the Hōshū Province along the way. But rescuing Sakuma Nobumori and counterattacking Kiyosu Castle sounds plausible. In Shichibei's view, it has a good chance of being realized.

Seeing that Shichibei did not adopt his superior strategy, Takenaka Hanbei was not annoyed. After all, since ancient times, when there are three strategies, no lord has ever chosen the superior one; they have always chosen the inferior one.

Since it's agreed, let's rest tonight and get up early tomorrow to head to Xiaomujiang.