Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

As darkness fell, Takayama Shigetomo noticed that Wada Koreyoshi's expression was inexplicably sluggish and tense, and he sensed something was wrong. However, he couldn't quite pinpoint what was wrong, because Wada Koreyoshi, sitting opposite him, was still smiling and frequently raising his glass to him, as if everything was peaceful.

Driven by his intuition, Takayama Shigetomo began to pinpoint Wada Korechika's location. He believed that if anything happened, they could simply subdue Wada Korechika and everything would be fine. After all, he had now aligned himself with Oda Nobunaga, and Nobunaga could easily cover for him if anything went wrong. At worst, his family could simply leave the Wada clan and serve Nobunaga directly.

And then? Then all the candlesticks went out.

In the final moments before the candle went out, Takayama Shigetomo lunged forward and grabbed Wada Korechika's thigh. Outside, a signal was given by smashing a cup, and people rushed in, committing massacre.

Because it was a banquet, there were no long swords, only a small knife he carried. Takayama Shigetomo panicked and pulled out the knife, stabbing Wada Korechika in the thigh. The stab was successful; Wada Korechika was not a particularly courageous person, and his scream of pain directly provoked Takayama Shigetomo.

He pulled out the knife, and the second stab landed squarely on Wada Korechika's lower abdomen. Almost exactly, it felt like the abdomen. Takayama Shigetomo, being a tough guy, immediately started churning the knife around wildly, stirring it several times until he felt he had ripped apart the internal organs and intestines, before finally pulling the knife out.

It's a pity that the opportunity has passed.

A samurai from Wada, who had come to the rescue, slashed Takayama Shigetomo across the neck with his sword. Less than half of Takayama's head remained attached to his lower body, and he immediately collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

As the chaotic battle ended, Wada Korechika was killed in the fighting, and Wada Koremasa was stabbed seven or eight times, his arm missing somewhere. Takayama Tomoteru took a knife to the chest, his fate unknown. Takayama Shigetomo's head slammed to the ground, blood streaming from half his neck, clearly facing certain death.

The entire Wada family is now in chaos. The head of the family has died suddenly, the elders of the family, including Wada Koremasa, are dead, and the troop commander, Takayama Tomoteru, is half dead.

Nobunaga, please make a decision quickly. If you don't take care of Takatsuki Castle, it will immediately fall into Araki's hands.

Alright, let's ring the bell.

Nobunaga ordered the bell to be rung, and all the high-ranking retainers and generals below the castle ascended the walls. Takatsuki Castle absolutely could not be lost, for it was the last line of defense for pro-Oda forces in Settsu. If Takatsuki fell, Yamashiro Province would be left completely exposed.

If the Miyoshi rebels were to storm Yamashiro, or even approach Kyoto, the blow to Oda Nobunaga's prestige would be enormous.

There's still some snow in Gifu right now, what should we do? We still have to go. Nobunaga made a simple deployment, and he set off first with 5,000 men, aiming to reach Takatsuki Castle within five days and stabilize the situation there.

Then Niwa Nagahide led another 5,000 men as the rear guard, following slowly as a precaution. Oda Nobutada continued to serve as the garrison commander, with the castle general overseeing Hayashi Hidesada, Hayashi Michimasa, Kawamura Nagayoshi, Takigawa Kazumasu, Mizuno Nobumoto, and Oda Nobumasa.

In addition, Inaba Ittetsu and Ando Morinari had recovered by this time, and the Ujiie family was inherited by Ujiie Naomasa. The three of them reorganized an army of 5,000 as the third force and prepared to set off.

What about the family of Cheng Yuanshan in Nayan Village?

It was all for naught. Sakuma Nobumori and Oda Nobunaga had gone to attend a funeral. They hadn't taken Nobunaga with them, so they'd have to fill in for now. In any case, Nobunaga's only focus for the next month or two would be pacifying Settsu. All other activities would have to be suspended for the time being.

Shichibei breathed a huge sigh of relief; at least he didn't have to go into battle against the Takeda army. At worst, he could go to Sakuma Nobumori as the rearguard; Nobumori was known for his ability to evacuate Sakuma and was quite skilled in defensive warfare.

Before the New Year was even over, Nobunaga went off to war again. His life had truly been a "youth spent on horseback." While Date Masamune could at least lament that "the world is full of white hair," Nobunaga figured that even if he didn't make barbecue at Honnoji Temple, he would still spend his life on the battlefield.

They even said they would attack Asakura Yoshikage in the spring, but Asakura Yoshikage ended up living a few more months.

On the Settsu side, Araki Murashige, Nakagawa Kiyohide, and Ikeda Tomomasa learned of the internal strife at Takatsuki Castle even earlier than Nobunaga. Without hesitation, they began mobilizing their troops to prepare for the capture of Takatsuki Castle.

Takatsuki Castle's nominal value is only around 40,000 koku, but because it's situated on the plains of Settsu, its actual value exceeds 70,000 koku. Any faction would be interested in it.

Without this foundation, Wada Koremasa wouldn't have been able to muster two thousand men, let alone become a barrier outside the mountain castle.

On the fourth day of the chaos, the Ikeda coalition arrived at Takatsuki Castle and sent envoys into the castle to persuade the inhabitants to surrender. They stated that if the castle was opened, everyone inside could safely leave.

If it's possible to avoid actual combat, then avoid it. Combat leads to military achievements, which require rewards. It also results in casualties, which require compensation. Either way, it costs money; persuading surrender is the better option.

Coincidentally, there is no one in charge in the city.

So no one replied, and the stalemate continued for half a day. Araki Village was thinking of attacking the castle, but because they sent such a letter into the castle, everyone was at a loss and went to support Princess Fuyuhime, Oda Nobunaga's daughter, as the acting lord of the castle.

First, Princess Fuyuhime holds a high position, being the daughter of a powerful regent of the shogunate. Second, the Takayama family's retainer samurai corps is very complete; it's just that Takayama Tomoteru and Takayama Shigetomo are both seriously injured and unconscious. Two Christian missionaries have already been summoned, one of whom is even skilled in surgery and suturing, and he managed to stitch up Takayama Shigetomo's neck.

Finally, the Takayama family were originally senior retainers of the Wada family, enjoying great prestige within the household, and had helped Wada Koremasa build the Takatsuki Castle estate. Now that Wada Korenaga was dead, the disoriented lower-ranking samurai naturally followed the Takayama family.

The city gates were tightly shut, drums were beaten to summon the generals, and troops were divided to defend the four sides. When Nobunaga betrothed Princess Fuyuhime to Takayama Shigetomo, didn't he directly assist Takayama Shigetomo in establishing a new samurai order?

Nobunaga's centurion, Kato Tsubei, was inside the castle and immediately became Princess Fuyuhime's deputy. Although Kato Tsubei had only ever commanded 120 men in battle, thanks to the assistance of the Takayama clan samurai, the 500 to 600 men inside the castle were basically organized and began to defend the castle.

The Ikeda coalition forces charged forward in a flurry. Their first charge was impulsive; they had assumed Takatsuki Castle was an easy target, but they soon discovered it was quite tough.

Thus, the opportunity slipped away from Araki Murashige and his men. The next morning, Hosokawa Fujitaka finally led seven hundred men to the north of Takatsuki Castle and began to set up defenses.

Hosokawa Fujitaka is now a retainer of Oda Nobunaga, and it would be wrong for him to send troops without orders. However, he clearly understands that Takatsuki Castle is a castle that must be saved. If he sends troops now, Nobunaga will not only not blame him, but will also greatly praise him.

As expected, the two sides remained locked in a stalemate for a day. The siege also ceased, and Araki Murashige even wrote to Hosokawa Fujitaka, saying that this was an internal matter for the people of Settsu and that the shogunate retainers should not get involved.

That's outdated. Hosokawa Fujitaka left the shogunate long ago.

Even if they wanted to fight again, Nobunaga's army had marched for four and a half days and arrived at the Takatsuki camp. With the arrival of 5,000 Nobunaga's heavenly soldiers, the Ikeda coalition forces, which had been so aggressive, immediately became deflated.

How to do?

Making peace was out of the question, so a standoff ensued. Since it wasn't spring yet and there wasn't much farm work to do, they decided to maintain the stalemate. Both sides started calling on friends and mobilizing their forces.

Now that Nobunaga has arrived at Takatsuki Castle, it goes without saying that he is now the lord of Takatsuki Castle. What about Wada? What about Takayama? They all have to step aside now. Upon learning that his daughter, Fuyuhime, had served as the castle's lord for three days and had successfully defended the castle, Nobunaga was overjoyed and immediately ordered two hundred bolts of silk to be sent to his daughter to make new clothes.

He then rewarded all the generals and soldiers, including Kato Tsuhei, to encourage them to continue defending the city and not to slacken their efforts. As for the Takayama father and son, although Takayama Tomoteru had been stabbed in the chest, his condition had stabilized, and it remained to be seen how well he would recover.

Takayama Shigetomo is pretty ridiculous. Anyway, he didn't die, but he didn't wake up either. He just lay there motionless, but he was breathing.

Upon seeing the stitches on his neck, Nobunaga asked the Christian missionary, "Is this thing even okay? My daughter has only been married for a little over six months. She can't just live as a widow, can she? Although she can remarry, it's not a good thing."

The two Christian missionaries couldn't say for sure; all they could say was that everything else depended on God's blessing.

Heh, Nobunaga despised nothing more than any nonsense about divine protection. He slapped the missionary aside and strode up to Takayama Shigetomo, speaking directly to the half-dead man.

If you, my lad, are sensible enough to survive and fight for me, then Takatsuki Castle, worth over 40,000 koku, will be yours. If you, my lad, are foolish enough to die right now, then the result will be the loss of your family fortune, your wife remarrying, and a death without a proper burial.

Are you listening to God, or to me, Oda Nobunaga?

Then Takayama Shigetomo woke up.

He decided to listen to Oda Nobunaga.

Seeing that Takayama Shigetomo had woken up, things became much easier. Nobunaga immediately ordered the Wada retainers in the castle that those who wanted to join Takayama Shigetomo could stay, while those who didn't could now take their families and children and go on a wild spree.

Of the more than 600 retainers in the castle, apart from a dozen or so close confidants of Wada Korechika, all the rest decided to become retainers of Takayama Shigetomo and serve the Takayama family.

"Very well," Nobunaga instructed the dozen or so men, "they can pledge allegiance to any of them, but they are not allowed to pledge allegiance to Ikeda Tomomasa, Araki Murashige, or Nakagawa Kiyohide. If they pledge allegiance to these three, and are subsequently caught, their entire families will be executed."

More than ten men swore they would not join the Ikeda coalition and left the castle with their families. Nobunaga kept his promise and did not make things difficult for these men who were unwilling to serve Takayama Shigetomo.

At the very moment of deciding the fate of Takatsuki Castle, Miyoshi Nagayoshi, who had been brought in by Araki Mura, arrived with two thousand men. Furthermore, it was said that a thousand Saiga men from Kii Province would arrive outside Takatsuki Castle soon, carrying five hundred arquebuses.

It seems like it's going to turn into another stalemate like the Battle of Noda-Fukushima.

Chapter 252 Yoshiaki Makes a Series of Moves in Desperation

As expected, with both sides rallying their allies, the changes caused by the internal strife within the Wada family quickly escalated into another large-scale military standoff between the Oda faction and the anti-Oda faction.

Even the head priest of the Ishizan Honganji Temple, Kenryo Shonin, sent 2,500 men to the front lines at Takatsuki Castle to join the battle against Nobunaga. Nobunaga could only bring along Niwa Nagahide and the three Mino retainers, and ordered all the shogunate retainers who had previously defected to him to come and support him.

Within a short time, Nobunaga's side had amassed over 20,000 men, while the anti-Nobunaga side had also amassed 20,000. However, neither side intended to launch an attack, as Nobunaga possessed 2,000 arquebuses, and the anti-Nobunaga side also had a combined 2,000 arquebuses.

Whoever attacks the enemy's camp suffers the most. A somewhat unreliable statistic from later generations suggests that over 30% of recorded casualties in Japan's Sengoku period were caused by ranged attacks from arquebuses and bows and arrows. Melee weapons like swords and spears, on the other hand, caused only slightly over 20% of the casualties.

Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense. Given the medical standards of that era, an ordinary soldier or lower-ranking samurai would die instantly from a cannon shot. Even a general like Ii Naomasa only managed to prolong his life by less than a year before finally succumbing.

Therefore, both sides remained restrained in the face of two thousand arquebuses, after all, all beings are equal under the power of arquebuses.

Even if you were Oda Nobunaga, if you were struck by a lead, you would still have to go home and prepare for your funeral.

Shichibei was thus mobilized again for two tasks: one was to begin procuring and transporting supplies for Nobunaga; the other was to transport supplies to Kinoshita Hideyoshi, Hanawa Naomasa, and Akao Kiyotsuna, who were besieging Kamajima Castle.

The troops besieging Kamajima Castle had been at the castle for over seven months, and their supplies had long since run out. However, the besieging troops absolutely could not be withdrawn, so Nobunaga immediately ordered the takeover of logistics and began providing supplies to the besieging troops.

Naturally, the responsibility fell entirely on Shichibei. Since Sakuma Nobumori was now at Iwamura Castle, there shouldn't be any major problems with him in charge of defense, allowing the others to escape.

Nobunaga's longtime partner, Hayashi Michimasa, became a guerrilla force, patrolling the road between Settsu Takatsuki Castle and Mino Gifu Castle to ensure its smooth passage. Shichibei, on the other hand, organized the post stations and horse relay system already built by Kawamura-ya and began assisting Nobunaga in handling domestic affairs at the front lines of Takatsuki Castle.

As for provisions and supplies, those for the siege corps of Kamajima Castle will be transported from Gifu Castle, with Inase Yoshinari in charge. The provisions for Nobunaga's main force at Takatsuki Castle will be prepared from Kyoto, Otsu, Sakamoto, and Imahama.

At this moment, Shichibei was also forced to get up and come to the front line of Takatsuki Castle. He was quite surprised to hear that Takayama Shigetomo had "come back to life," and that it was the kind of resurrection that comes from believing in Oda and gaining eternal life.

At this moment, Shigetomo Takayama is still unable to get up easily and spends most of his time lying down. However, he can now eat liquid food and speak normally. The Christian missionary treating him says it's God's blessing and tries to brainwash him every day. But Shigetomo Takayama keeps repeating that it's his father's blessing, and that he is the one protected by eight million gods.

What an intense conflict of beliefs...

The stitching looks alright. This Christian missionary's skills are pretty good. I should get to know him sometime; you never know when it might come in handy. Or at least ask him to pass on his skills. Japan is at war all over the world right now, and there are dead bodies every day. There are plenty of arms and legs to sew up.

Looking at Nobunaga, it was pure helplessness. Retreating was out of the question, given the sheer number of enemy troops. Engaging in battle, however, was uncertain; after all, this enemy force was one they had fought against last year, and was no weakling.

Oh, how hateful! It gave Asakura Yoshikage time to lick his wounds.

Since Nobunaga was rather displeased, Shichibei certainly wouldn't risk offending him. After a brief handover of various matters, he prepared to return to Kyoto to take charge. Nobunaga had no interest in arguing with Shichibei; he was currently surrounded by a group of generals, racking his brains day and night for strategies to defeat the enemy, and was still sending reinforcements.

However, Tokugawa Ieyasu probably won't summon him. Mikawa's younger brother could be beaten up by Takeda Shingen at any time, so it's better to let him stay home and guard the house.

Alright, overseeing the grain and provisions in Kyoto, with the rural grain distribution market along Lake Biwa as a backing, the price of military rations obtained wasn't much higher than those transported from Gifu. Afterwards, during the spring planting season, we should try to minimize the mobilization of Nobi's people to transport grain. Nobunaga agreed with this; he needed to temporarily replenish Nobi's manpower.

If the attack goes too far now, and then Takeda Shingen returns with Saito Tatsuoki, wouldn't there be a flood of surrenders? Everyone would just flock to Tatsuoki and follow him to fight Nobunaga.

"The price of rice in Ōtsu has gone up." Shichibei looked at the daily rice prices, lost in thought.

“Of course, the government is also buying rice.” After counting the 1,000 kilos of rice to be shipped to Takatsuki Castle, Kotaro Sō sat down opposite Shichibei.

"Gongfang..."

Hearing that it was this person buying rice, there was nothing hard to understand. In truth, everyone knew perfectly well that the conflict between Ashikaga Yoshiaki and Nobunaga was gradually becoming public. They hadn't officially fallen out yet, but in reality, it was practically the same.

Last month, Nobunaga came to the aid of Takatsuki Castle, but didn't even stay in Kyoto for a single day, simply because he couldn't be bothered to interact with Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The shogunate's central legal affairs were also moved directly to Takatsuki Castle. After signing and affixing his seal, he would send it to Ashikaga Yoshiaki for his signature. The two of them didn't even want to see each other anymore.

It's just a matter of who can't hold back and betrays first; after all, there's always Ashikaga Yoshihide as a backup. Besides, Ashikaga Yoshihide also has a son, so there are even more backups.

"Send someone to investigate where the rice purchased by the government is being transported to," Shichibei instructed Kotaro after a moment's thought.

"Hiss..." Without asking any further questions, Zong Xiaotaro immediately stood up and went to find one of his trusted lackeys.

After a short while, he turned back, moved closer to Shichibei, opened his mouth, but ultimately didn't say anything.

"The truth is hard to predict, this is just a guess." Shichibei couldn't possibly say that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was about to betray them, he could only say it was a prediction.

"If the Duke is plotting a rebellion, wouldn't our lord's escape route be cut off?" So Kotaro asked hastily.

That's why I asked you to investigate.

Historically, Ashikaga Yoshiaki did not defend Nijō Palace in Kyoto, nor did he go to the Kusakayama Castle. Instead, he chose Makishima Castle to besiege it and declared war on Oda Nobunaga.

“Yes…” Kotaro rubbed his hands together, clearly also pondering the matter.

However, defection is a major event and cannot be decided so easily. Last year, didn't Nobunaga win over Ise Sadaoki, promising to restore his family's position as steward of the government office? This was essentially installing a puppet to openly challenge Ashikaga Yoshiaki in Kyoto.

Yoshiaki was no pushover; he was quite adept at political maneuvering. He clearly understood that his only real opponent was Oda Nobunaga himself. If he were dragged into a battle against Ise Sadahiro, his status would be lowered, and he would be reduced to a despicable figure.

Therefore, citing the fact that Oda Nobunaga's army had been fighting abroad for a long time and could not provide comprehensive military protection for Kyoto, which led to loopholes in Kyoto's security and fire prevention, Yamaoka Kagetomo was appointed as the guardian of the mountain castle.

If something happens, let Yamaoka Kagetomo fight Ise Sadaoki, then Ashikaga Yoshiaki can continue to stay behind the scenes and doesn't need to show his face in everything.

The reason was public: the imperial court also wanted sufficient troops stationed in Kyoto to ensure its safety. Nobunaga, unable to spare the manpower, could only acquiesce to Ashikaga Yoshiaki's appointment and recognize Yamaoka Kagetomo as the governor of Yamashiro.

Actually, Yoshiaki had other thoughts behind this, but we'll leave that aside for now.