Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Having to juggle both sides isn't an easy task.

When they learned that Shichibei was going to meet with the members of the Sakamoto-cho association, the members of the Otsu association secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Sure enough, the iron fist was used to strike the disobedient first; the saying goes, "Don't punish the diligent, don't punish the lazy, only punish the blind."

Otsu Town is known for its diligence, so they definitely won't fight there.

Alright, everyone, get back to what you're doing. After settling his men in Otsu, Shichibei headed back to Sakamoto. The two places are very close, practically contiguous areas.

Mitsuhide Akechi had also returned from the Takatsuki camp, but he wasn't in Sakamoto; he was in Katada-cho. To prevent a rebellion by the local old guard, Shigeo Mizoo was left to guard Sakamoto Castle, which was still under construction.

As the town beneath Sakamoto Castle, the profits of Sakamoto Town have undoubtedly been bestowed upon Mitsuhide. Shichibei's arrival, which signifies a clear agreement with them regarding obligations such as conscripting artisans and ships, is something Mizoo Shigeaki understands and can make decisions on behalf of Mitsuhide. Therefore, he sends someone to summon the assembled forces.

Chapter 254 Appearing and Disappearing Unpredictably at Asakura

The attack on Kamajima Castle was as easy as Shichibei's deployment in Sakamoto Town. Just now, Shichibei saw more than ten envoys escorting two samurai carrying wooden boxes, changing horses in Otsu.

There's no need to ask, because there are labels on the wooden box. One label reads "Horieshimori Hidemura," and the other reads "Higuchi Saburozaemon Naofabu"—they're genuine.

Eager to report their success, these men changed horses and fled, not even lingering in Otsu for a few more drinks. Upon seeing Shichibei, they merely offered him a perfunctory salute.

Great, I wonder who will get those two kills.

It must be worth at least 20,000 shi (a unit of dry measure).

Hideyoshi and his forces found the siege relatively easy. By the time Nobunaga's 2,000 reinforcements arrived at Kamajima Castle, the three generals besieging the castle were ready to attack. Nobunaga's orders forbade surrender, so naturally, no one was sent into the castle to persuade him. Hori Hidemura was given seven or eight months to consider, but he still refused to surrender, which was simply courting death.

When Oda's army launched their attack, the more than 5,000 defenders inside the castle had already suffered heavy losses due to the plague, with six or seven out of ten dying, and the rest barely alive. They were practically ineffective in combat, with very few soldiers firing arquebuses or archers from the castle walls.

After a sparse and disorganized battle, the city gates were breached. Following a simple slaughter, the Oda army searched for Hori Hidemura and Higuchi Naofabu, then set fire to Kamajima Castle, burning everything, living or dead, as if they were already dead.

To be honest, Shichibei actually wanted to say something: don't show Hori Hidemura's head to Nobunaga, there's no guarantee it won't be contaminated with plague bacteria or something. But then he thought, the head has been cut off for two days, and it would take another day to deliver it to Nobunaga. Three days have passed, and the head has been pickled in lime, so the bacteria should have been dead by now. So he kept quiet.

Anyway, Kamajima Castle was destroyed, and the Sakata District in northern Jiangsu fell to the Oda clan. Which legion commander was subsequently granted the title is unknown.

Meanwhile, on Shichibei's side, the followers of Sakamoto Town were extremely cooperative with Shichibei's arrangements. They had ships and men as needed; whatever Nobunaga needed, whatever they could provide, they had it all.

How great! They learned their lesson from the iron fist.

However, Shichibei was on the pro-Non-Non side and did not want to make things too difficult for these merchants and townspeople. He simply made a brief agreement with them to provide some public services to Nobunaga free of charge in the future, and then let them go back.

Why only a portion?

So that if Nobunaga ever thinks of Shichibei, why isn't he in Kyoto? I'm just giving those disobedient townspeople in Sakamoto a warning.

Anyway, judging by Ashikaga Yoshiaki's restless spirit, a rebellion is imminent. Nobunaga might not even have a chance to question him before Yoshiaki rebels. Then everything will be over. Shichibei isn't a proper samurai, just a small merchant; why wouldn't he run away? Kyoto isn't even Shichibei's territory; running away is perfectly justified.

Otsu, next to Sakamoto, was also a hub where land and water routes converged, and a distribution point for the rural markets around Lake Biwa, making it ideal for procuring military rations to supply Oda Nobunaga. Even Ashikaga Yoshiaki was procuring military rations nearby, so it was perfectly reasonable for Shichibei to stay there.

Soon, news came from Nobunaga's main force at Takatsuki Castle that he had noted the victory in the capture of Kamajima Castle. He now ordered Oda Nobui to cooperate with Hanawa Naomasa and Kinoshita Hideyoshi to pacify Sakata District and bring complete peace to the north of the river.

It's similar to the cleanup work after a war, but it's not a difficult task. After all, the core of the local resistance force, more than five thousand able-bodied men, had all died in Sickle City. The remaining people in the surrounding villages were just ordinary villagers, the elderly, the weak, and the disabled, who were not a threat.

And then? Then we heard the news that Asakura Yoshikage had sent troops to Shizugatake.

Hori Hidemura died too quickly. Asakura Yoshikage didn't even learn that Kamaji Castle had fallen until he arrived at Shizugatake. Hori Hidemura and Higuchi Naofabu's entire family had perished. The Asakura army entered Kobe without a single person to meet them. In addition, most of the Wakasa clan had defected to Oda Nobuhiro under his attack, leaving them with insufficient strength to even besiege Odani Castle.

After all, Yoshikage brought 15,000 men, 2,000 of whom were wakasa (young, unaffiliated men), while Echizen's main force numbered 13,000. He had hoped to bring along Hori Hidemura's 5,000 men, but now, the man blocking his way was Azai Nagamasa, who had caught his breath.

Nagamasa's rear was now very safe, and there was no need to prepare for being stabbed in the back, so he quickly mobilized eight thousand men. Upon hearing of unusual movements by the Asakura army, they bravely pushed to the Shizugatake front line, and on the way, reported to Nobunaga.

Brother, Yijing is here again. Don't worry, I'll take care of things here in Jiangbei.

That's what they say, but things can't be done that way. Nobunaga couldn't just watch Azai Nagamasa deal with Asakura Yoshikage on his own. Besides, Yoshikage's arrival was perfect timing; Nobunaga was just about to kill him. Yoshikage's emergence from the tortoise shell of Ichijodani Castle saved Nobunaga the trouble of deliberately breaking the shell.

But on the Takatsuki front lines...

Nobunaga decided to take a gamble and ordered Akechi Mitsuhide to return from Katada-cho in Shiga as soon as possible. Akechi Mitsuhide, who was equally skilled in both literature and martial arts and had a very handsome appearance, would act as his lieutenant and confront him at the Takatsuki front.

It's highly likely that the anti-Nobunaga coalition won't dare to launch a preemptive attack. Therefore, all Akechi Mitsuhide needs to do is impersonate Nobunaga and appear occasionally. Nobunaga himself can quickly return, and in ten days at most, he can defeat Asakura Yoshikage.

By the time Shichibei heard about the plan, Nobunaga had already appeared before him. To avoid alerting the enemy, Nobunaga only took two hundred cavalrymen and servants with him from the front lines at Takatsuki Castle. The movement of one or two hundred men was easy to conceal, and the allied forces did not discover that Nobunaga had left Takatsuki.

The reason for coming to Shichibei is to demand that he immediately mobilize his samurai corps to form 3,000 men as Nobunaga's "main force" and follow Nobunaga to Shizugatake to beat up Asakura Yoshikage.

So many elite soldiers and generals are wasting their time doing logistics for Shichibei. Nobunaga had thought about this for a moment, but considering that without Shichibei, one of his main army commanders would have to do logistics all year round, he didn't take action to change the organization of the Kawamura samurai group.

"Then my lord, you may go to Otani first, and I will follow within three days." Nobunaga wanted to mobilize troops, and Shichibei certainly had no room to object.

It's a feudal military obligation, which Nobunaga gave to Shichibei Tomoyuki, so it's perfectly reasonable for him to mobilize troops now.

"The sooner the better!" Nobunaga didn't waste any more words. He risked getting to the front line at Shizugatake and had to be quick.

"Understood," Shichibei replied loudly.

The matter of supplying the Takatsuki front can only be addressed by sending a messenger to Kotaro So. Shichibei must ride quickly back to Gifu and gather all the regular troops stationed at Gifu Castle. He should also inform Ogawa Yutada, Aochi Shigetsuna, and others in Eishu.

"I'll remember your merit if we win." Nobunaga leaped onto his horse and casually made a promise to Shichibei.

Shichibei, who had eaten flatbread many times before, didn't think much of it. He gave a few more instructions to the shop assistants left behind in Otsu, and then headed back to Gifu Castle.

Three days later, Kawamura Sansen arrived at Odani Castle on time. Actually, it could have been faster, but since they had to change into Nobunaga's Yongle Tongbao banner, it took a little extra time.

After observing the Kawamura army's military bearing, Nobunaga clicked his tongue twice. He was probably muttering to himself, "Why did such a good army end up doing such menial tasks?"

Without hesitation, he simply identified the leaders of the various units of the Kawamura army and led his men to join the Oda army units still in Jiangbei, charging straight towards Shizugatake.

Since the unit was actually Shichibei's, Shichibei naturally had to follow. It wasn't that he didn't trust Nobunaga's command abilities, but rather that he wanted to see Asakura Yoshikage one last time; perhaps next time Yoshikage would become a sake cup.

Shizugatake, at an elevation of 422 meters, isn't particularly high. To its north lies Lake Yogo, and Asakura Yoshikage's main force was stationed at Tenmangu Shrine on the shore of Lake Yogo. As for Shizugatake, this high vantage point, it was entrusted to Asakura Kagekage.

The Asai army was stationed at Mount Matsuo, south of Shizugatake. Don't be surprised that this place is also called Mount Matsuo; there are just too many places with the same name in Japan. Just Kasugayama Castle alone, there are four in Shinano and Echigo.

Nagamasa's main camp was halfway up the mountain, while the main army was stationed at Akao Manor at the foot of the mountain. This was the Akao Manor where Akao Kiyotsuna, the head of the Asai clan, came from. The two armies were separated by Ika Manor, the original location of the Ika District's governor.

Several villages around Mount Shizugatake have now been occupied by the Asakura army. Nagamasa Asai has been locked in a stalemate with Yoshikage Asakura at Shizugatake for five days. Nagamasa lacks the strength to launch an offensive, while Yoshikage naturally has high hopes.

I hope that Ashikaga Yoshiaki will betray us at this time and issue a decree in Kyoto to punish Oda Nobunaga.

Therefore, Asakura Yoshikage did not launch an attack, but instead built fortifications, positioned himself high on the north bank of the river, and prepared to support Ashikaga Yoshiaki in his fight against Nobunaga. If Takeda Shingen had also defected at this time and attacked Oda Tokugawa, that would have been even better.

Asakura Yoshikage, who was filled with anticipation, was met with a brutal beating from Nobunaga's main force of 5,000 men (including the 2,000 who had attacked Kamajima Castle earlier), as well as Kinoshita Hideyoshi's 2,000 men and Hanawa Naomasa's 2,000 men.

Caught off guard, the Asakura troops stationed around Shizugatake collapsed one after another, with many even believing that Azai Nagamasa had launched a strong attack.

The disastrous defeat of the Asakura army, losing 6,000 men in the Second Battle of Anegawa last year, was now fully exposed in the Asakura army itself. The main problem was the overall decline in the quality of its junior officers, rendering them utterly incapable of launching a counterattack against the sudden attack, and even struggling to mount an effective defense.

"The army of Echizen Ichijōdani was once a renowned and powerful force, but now it has fallen to such a state." Shichibei rested his hand on his eyebrow, standing on a cleared slope on Mt. Matsuo, observing the battle from afar.

"..." It was Kaze who answered Shichibei.

It's so windy!

The wind that kills and soaks people in blood.

The soldiers of Oda's army all knew that the Asakura army had suffered heavy losses last year and was now like fish on a chopping board. Naturally, they all rushed forward, ready to seize the heads and earn some money from Nobunaga.

At this moment, Azai Nagamasa also came down the mountain, but Nobunaga did not allow him to do so immediately. This was because if the Azai army moved, the Asakura army would definitely notice. Therefore, Nobunaga ordered Azai Nagamasa to remain stationary, while he himself divided his forces into three groups: one to attack from the front, one to attack from the flank, and the other to circle around Lake Yogo, preparing to attack the Asakura army from the rear.

Upon seeing Nobunaga's Yongle Tongbao horse emblem appear on the battlefield, the Asakura army immediately began to collapse. When the news reached Asakura Yoshikage at Tenmangu Shrine, he immediately fled back without saying a word.

He was truly terrified by Nobunaga's defeat, and upon hearing of Nobunaga's sudden arrival, the shadow of the Battle of Anegawa instantly overwhelmed him.

By the time Shichibei descended the mountain and rushed forward, the Oda and Asai armies had already begun driving the Asakura army northward. Before the drama began, it was somewhat thrilling, but once it started, it immediately became boring.

"Don't take the heads of the lowly soldiers, just take the head of Asakura Kingo!"

Suddenly, a series of shouts from Nobunaga's messenger rang out from within the ranks. "How familiar! He shouted the same thing back in Okehazama. We don't want the heads of the common soldiers, we only want the head of Imagawa Harubu Daisuke!"

The shouts gradually converged, coming from all directions. No one knew which lucky person would be able to obtain Asakura Yoshikage's head; Hori Hidemura's head was worth 20,000 koku, while Asakura Yoshikage's head was estimated to be worth 50,000 koku.

Back then, Imagawa Yoshimoto's head was only worth 2,000 kan, but Nobunaga's family wasn't very wealthy then. Now that Nobunaga's family is large and powerful, he's been very generous with the gifts he's given to Tomoyuki.

But then they saw Hideyoshi leading his troops back. What happened? Asakura Yoshikage's head would be a great achievement, why not try to get it?

"how?"

"I wasn't part of the force attacking the rear of the Asakura army, so how could I possibly take Asakura Kingo's head?" Hideyoshi attacked from the flank and defeated Uozumi Kageko's forces.

“Ah…” Shichibei immediately understood.

Nobunaga sent men to cut off Asakura Yoshikage's escape route, and many of them were his retainers and pageboys. Nobunaga intended to promote any one of them. Since Nobunaga had this idea, Hideyoshi, who had served Nobunaga for many years and was quite adept at understanding his thoughts, certainly understood it.

He had already achieved the great feat of capturing Kamajima Castle and Horihide Village. As for the great feat of defeating Asakura Yoshikage, he could leave it to Nobunaga's retainers.

"Right?" Seeing that Shichibei understood immediately, Hideyoshi smiled and rode over to Shichibei's side for a casual chat.

"Sakata, 60,000 koku, is that... um? You?" Since there was no one else around, Shichibei asked directly.

"If you were to grant me the title, that would be wonderful, but perhaps my lord has other ideas," Hideyoshi said cautiously, glancing around before speaking to Shichibei.

"I think it's either you or Hanakurozaemon." Shichibei spoke the truth. Kamajima Castle was captured by the two of them, so under normal circumstances, it would definitely be one of the two who would be rewarded.

"First published on 705u.com - Book Club"

"I hope so." Although Hideyoshi said he hoped, his eyes betrayed him; he was clearly very certain.

"Who else but you?" Anyone can say nice things, and Shichibei is no exception.

"Haha, oh right, I have an idea." Hideyoshi waved his hand.

"what?"

"The surname 'Kinoshita' isn't actually part of my original lineage. I'd like to change it to 'Hajiba,' what do you think?"

"Hideyoshi Hashiba!"

Chapter 255 Hideyoshi Hashiba is famous

Oh my, what a name you have.

To be honest, everyone knows why he's called that. "Yu" is "Danyu," and Danyu Nagahide was not only a key figure in the Owari military and political group, but also Nobunaga's son-in-law. The key point is that his wife was the daughter of Oda Nobuhiro, which means he was the son-in-law of both Nobunaga and Nobuhiro at the same time.

In addition, Niwa Nagahide himself was known as "Yonegoro Sa" (a nickname implying that he was very capable in governing the country and managing the people), and was an indispensable right-hand man to Nobunaga, truly Nobunaga's right-hand man.

The word "羽" (yǔ) not only signifies goodwill towards Niwa Nagahide, but also towards the Owari samurai group.

"Shiba"? That must originate from "Shibata". But Shibata Katsuie is already dead, so why use that? Wouldn't it be better to use the "Mori" from Mori Yoshinari?

According to Hideyoshi, Nobunaga was now somewhat caught up in the sentiment of "the nation is in peril, and good generals are needed everywhere," fighting fires everywhere. Shibata Katsuie, who died in the decisive battle at Chōkō-ji, single-handedly held off the Asakura and other allied forces of 30,000 men for over ten days. This was precisely the kind of loyal and capable general that Oda Nobunaga desperately needed.

Using the character "Shiba" from Shibata Katsuie's name is not only a way of paying respect to Shibata Katsuie, but also a way of expressing loyalty to Nobunaga. It signifies that one will dedicate all one's efforts to Nobunaga, just as Shibata did.

Tut tut...

Good lad, you're really something. From now on, I'll call you Hashiba Hideyoshi.

Hideyoshi smiled and nodded. Of course, this suggestion still needed Nobunaga's approval; it couldn't be called that yet. Shichibei had originally come to observe the sake cups, but since Hideyoshi brought it up, Shichibei wanted to ask him about it.

Why did you name yourself instead of choosing a respectable "family" to be adopted into? I don't mean you have to marry someone's daughter as your heir, but as a adopted son, you could still have a relatively good background.