Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

To reiterate, as long as Hanawa Naomasa lives and Tennoji Fortress holds, it's just a defeat with a thousand or so casualties. What does that amount to compared to the current size of the Oda clan?

Even if two or three thousand people die, if Hanawa Naomasa takes a year off, he can recover.

Theoretically, the closest enemy to Hanawa Naomasa is probably Shichibei, and Sakuma Nobumori of Wakae Castle should have been the closest. However, Sakuma Nobumori is still building Sano Fortress at Takako Pass in Kii Province, which is farther away than Mori Yoshinari of Tamonyama Castle in Yamato Province. Furthermore, Sakuma's army is exhausted and has hardly rested, so they are not of much use.

We still have to save them. Shichibei patted the still-hangover Mizoguchi Sadakatsu, saying, "Stop hugging me, stop hugging me, get up and fight! Take Niwa Nagahide's two or three hundred support troops with me, let's go and snatch up Hanawa Naomasa!"

After being woken up by Shichibei, Mizoguchi Sadakatsu said he wouldn't drink anymore, he couldn't drink anymore...

Tsk, working in logistics for this kid is such a waste of his time. If he does it for another two years, he'll practically kill his kidneys. He has absolutely no sense of self-control. At least Shichibei has a stable home life, while he's out chasing after other women.

However, since the man was a retainer of the Niwa family, Shichibei couldn't just go up and slap him twice. He could only lift him up and then, in the name of Mizoguchi Sadakatsu, summon two or three hundred logistics personnel.

As for the Yoshinbo guns from Sakai, at Shichibei's command, the assembled men hesitated for a moment before offering to lend him three hundred Yoshinbo guns equipped with arquebuses. Since it wasn't open field battle, but merely a defensive operation within Tennoji Fortress, three hundred arquebuses were already a very strong support.

If it were anyone else, the Sakai-chō Association definitely wouldn't lend it.

Thanks to everyone's kindness, Shichibei gathered his men and, with over seven hundred men and two days' worth of rice balls for each man, set off to leave Sakaimachi.

Shichibei proceeded cautiously along the way. Tennoji Fortress is the Tennoji area of ​​Osaka in later Japan, and Sakai is the city of Sakai in later Japan. The two places are about nine kilometers apart.

Logically speaking, this distance shouldn't be a big deal, but war is not about reason. Someone who is only three kilometers away from Zhang Lingfu simply cannot get past him.

In any case, Shichibei of Tennoji Fortress saw it clearly: the fortress was built with care, and there were one or two thousand of Nobunaga's regular foot soldiers inside. The Ikko-ikki probably didn't launch a night attack last night, so the attack on Tennoji Fortress only began this morning.

As a result, Naomasa Hanawa was able to send a messenger to Shichibei in Sakai-cho very smoothly, calling on Shichibei to join the Tennoji Fortress.

Not urgent!

Rushing things can easily lead to mistakes. We have about seven hundred people in total, all skinny and thin. If we run into a large, well-organized force, we'll die without even knowing how.

Some might say, shouldn't we advance quickly, covering only nine kilometers, and take advantage of the fact that the Ikko-ikki haven't surrounded Tennoji Fortress to hurry into the city and join up with Hanawa Naomasa?

That's right, this is a tactic, and it has been used by many military strategists throughout history. But Shichibei doesn't follow this style. Since he's certain that Tennoji Fortress can hold out for two days, why rush? It's better to proceed slowly, and ideally, encounter a large force led by Takayama Shigetomo, Mori Yoshinari, or anyone else.

They could then form ranks near the Tennoji Fortress, or hastily construct a camp, so that the Ikko-ikki forces would be unable to launch a full-scale attack on the fortress, nor could they afford to ignore reinforcements. It's even possible that neither side would have to fight, and both sides would disengage and slowly retreat.

To be fair, this is the kind of tactic that Shichibei would choose.

We didn't stand idly by and watch them die. We received the distress call at dawn and led our troops out before lunch. That was fast enough. We didn't eat Owari rice for nothing.

On the other side, Oda Nobunaga in Kyoto also received news that Hanawa Naomasa was besieged at Tennoji Fortress, and the news he knew was even more explosive.

Hana Naomasa's five thousand cavalrymen were all wiped out, and Hana Yasuhiro's five thousand cavalrymen were also all wiped out!

It has been said that Honganji Temple has 20,000 troops stationed there, plus 3,000 Saiga arquebusiers, making a total of 8,000 men to counterattack Hanawa Naomasa. The remaining troops took advantage of Hanawa Yasuhiro being tied down by the troops of the Rogashi Fortress and directly cut off Hanawa Yasuhiro's rear.

When Hana Yasuhiro was caught in a pincer attack, he initially tried to break through to Tennoji Fortress, but after a fierce charge, he could not break through to either side. He was surrounded by tens of thousands of people and bombarded by at least one or two thousand arquebuses.

After half a day of chaotic fighting, Hanawa Yasuhiro was defeated, and his army collapsed. In the midst of the rout, he was struck by a cannon shot from a Honganji monk and died on the spot. His head was captured by the Honganji, and the remaining troops, unable to enter the Tennoji fortress due to impassable roads, simply scattered.

How could Nobunaga not be shocked upon hearing this news?

With the deaths of Hanawa Naomasa and Hanawa Yasuhiro, the Oda army no longer had a capable general to command at the Honganji front. If only the Hanawa army had perished, that would be one thing, but Nobunaga still had several thousand of his own men and regular foot soldiers at the Honganji front.

Because he had distributed a large number of troops to his several favored sons, Nobunaga's forces were quite limited. If he were to lose a few thousand more veteran soldiers, Nobunaga would be in great pain.

So Nobunaga informed Takayama Shigetomo and Akechi Mitsuhide, and led only a hundred or so horsemen and servants, one man and three horses, galloping towards Tennoji Fortress.

Nobunaga himself was skilled at and fond of this kind of swift and decisive warfare tactic. Historically, the surprise attack at Okehazama and the pursuit at Asakura both involved leading his lightly armed troops in a rapid advance.

The main reason was that Nobunaga believed he had to personally intervene to control the situation at Tennoji Fortress. Besides his troops, the fortress also contained a large stockpile of military supplies stored at the front lines. Losing these supplies would mean a loss of tens of thousands of kan (a unit of currency). Nobunaga was wealthy, not someone who was just throwing money around.

When Shichibei had only marched two or three kilometers, Nobunaga had already caught up halfway, and might even have arrived at Tennoji Fortress faster than Shichibei's troops.

The Ikko-ikki, having achieved a great victory yesterday, began a four-pronged attack under the command of Shimoma Yorihiro. Their plan was very simple, consisting of only four words.

Encircle the enemy stronghold and strike to capture reinforcements!

Chapter 354 Encountering Nobunaga Before the Siege is Broken

As expected, Shichibei walked about two kilometers more before encountering a group of routed soldiers from Hanawa Naomasa's army, as well as Ikko-ikki members who came out to hunt down the routed soldiers and join the siege of Tennoji Fortress.

The routed soldiers directed them to flee towards Sakaimachi. Judging from the situation, Tennoji Fortress was already under siege. These cowardly stragglers certainly didn't have the ability to break through the siege and enter the city. It would be better to preserve their strength and regroup later to continue fighting the bald monks with Hanawa Naomasa.

Only one group of men remained intact. Upon closer inquiry, it turned out to be Ose Shiroemon, the son-in-law of Hanawa Naomasa. This Ose, with over two hundred men, had become separated from Hanawa Naomasa in the darkness, but being a proper samurai and Hanawa Naomasa's son-in-law, he managed to break through the encirclement of arquebusiers, surrounded by his personal guards.

Seeing Shichibei was like seeing a family member; after all, Shichibei was the most charitable man in Owari, the kind everyone praised. Shichibei immediately ordered his men to bring down rice balls and sake for the more than two hundred people to eat.

Brother, are you coming with me to rescue your father-in-law, or are you going to settle him in Sakaimachi?

Save my godfather!

Ose answered very readily, stuffing rice balls into his mouth while stating that he would obey Kawamura-dono's orders. His honor and disgrace rested on Hanawa Naomasa's shoulders, and now that Hanawa Naomasa was surrounded, he definitely had to go to his rescue.

Good, good, good. We've got someone willing to be the vanguard and lead the way for free. It was also Ose who discovered that there were two or three thousand Ikko-ikki ahead, and they were intercepting the Oda army heading to the rescue of Tennoji Fortress.

Including Ose's troops, Shichibei only has a thousand men. It will be very difficult for such a small force to charge against an enemy force two or three times their size.

"These mere bandits are nothing but chickens and dogs in my eyes." Tōdō Takatora directly raised his spear, indicating that if he had two hundred men, he would tear open the enemy formation, and the rest of the men would follow to charge in and scatter the enemy troops.

"There is no joking in the army!" If it were tens of thousands of people, Shichibei would have retreated by now. But with only two or three thousand people, Shichibei was not particularly afraid.

"I am willing to accept the punishment." Tōdō Takatora knelt on one knee, willing to sign a pledge.

"I am also willing to go!" Watanabe Kanbei saw that Todo Takatora was about to make a name for himself again. Although he was young, he stepped forward without hesitation to express his willingness to be the vanguard.

"Alright! In that case, you two will each lead 150 cavalrymen and charge into the enemy formation from the left and right, while I will lead the rearguard to follow." Shichibei thought to himself that he only had two strong men at his disposal, and he was using them both. The Ikko-ikki on the other side were really lucky.

"Yes, sir." The two men answered solemnly and immediately called out the names.

Now that Goukou Sadakatsu has sobered up, drinking heavily and sleeping with prostitutes is one thing. Now that war is coming, he's not being careless, after all, he's capable of being Niwa Nagahide's steward. If he only knew how to grope and sing, he certainly wouldn't have been given such an important position.

Mizoguchi Sadakatsu quickly stated that Shichibei was the commander-in-chief of his unit and should advance at the rear. He would lead the troops left behind by Niwa and Miyoshi as the second wave of attack, so there was no need for Shichibei to move again.

It wasn't for nothing that I drank Shichibei's strong liquor. After we win, I'll let you continue to patronize prostitutes day and night until you're completely satisfied.

At the sound of the bamboo whistle, the Niwa army also organized itself. Although it numbered only two hundred or so and was not the most elite unit, the veterans, having fought alongside Niwa Nagahide for many years, were all able to form ranks as soon as the whistle blew.

Advance! Advance!

The opposing Ikko-ikki were well prepared. The front captains carried bows and cannons, while the rear captains carried spears and swords. They waved banners that read, "Those who advance will be reborn in paradise, and those who retreat will be condemned to hell." They stood ready for battle.

It must be said that the warrior monks of Ishiyama Honganji Temple were quite formidable; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to hold out against Nobunaga for ten years in history. Faced with the attack of Kawamura's army, they not only did not waver in the slightest, but instead showed a fierce determination to fight.

Sakai, wielding a wooden shield, kept advancing. Both sides initially used arquebuses and longbows to fight each other, exchanging blows for a while. Because both sides were on guard, there was almost no damage.

At this point, if the soldiers were forcibly recruited peasants, they might be "repelled." If even one or two soldiers in the ranks were hit, those hit in vital areas would die instantly, while those hit in the arms or legs would surely fall to the ground, howling in pain. That alone would be enough to rout an already demoralized army.

Neither side retreated, and their gun barrels were now hot from firing, so they had to pause and let the arquebus barrels cool down. Tōdō Takatora and Watanabe Kanbei gave a shout and each led a hundred or so men out to attack.

The 1.92-meter-tall Takatora Todo was quite imposing on the battlefield. While others used infantry spears that were around 2.2 to 2.5 meters long, his spear was a large-bodied spear. It was usually used by other samurai on horseback. Although it was called a spear, the blade was about 0.9 meters long, and when he swung it, it was as if he were cutting grass.

Only a strong and fierce warrior like him is suitable for using it; anyone else might not even be able to wield it properly. Anyway, Shichibei once lifted Todo Takatora's spear, so lifting it would definitely be no problem, but wielding it would be too difficult.

The naginata wielded by the monk soldiers were like toys in front of Toudou Takatora's massive spear. A sweeping attack wiped out large groups of enemies.

"It's torn open!" Kuwayama Shigeharu, who was too old to serve as a "Miyushu" for Shichibei, pointed in the direction of Todo Takatora and exclaimed with joy.

"Kanbei has also broken through." Shichibei, riding on horseback, could see it just as clearly; he had truly struck gold.

Watanabe Kanbei didn't have the same innate advantages as Todo Takatora, but he had the advantage of being a soldier since childhood, with rich war experience and considerable talent. In addition, he was well-educated by his father and uncle. If you think about it carefully, with his height of nearly 1.7 meters, he could be called a "giant" at that time.

"Good, good, good! Our lord has a fine steed under his command." Sangshan Chongqing had indeed studied for a few more years and seen more of the world than other samurai.

"Sound the conch shell, and we'll follow suit." Shichibei waved his horse staff, and the conch shell holder beside the horse immediately picked up the conch shell.

"Your subject speaks to Your Majesty." Although he called himself an old man, Kuwayama Shigeharu was actually fifty-three years old, a time when he was ready to fight and struggle.

Historically, Mitsuhide was 55 years old when he rebelled, and Sima Yi was 70 years old when he raised an army. What is 53 years old? It is just the young people who are about to become old.

With the arrival of Todo Takatora and Watanabe Kanbei, Mizoguchi Sadakatsu rapidly widened the breach that had been created in the Ikko-ikki. Now, he was just one breath away from being able to throw the Ikko-ikki into chaos.

The goal is not to inflict massive casualties on the enemy, but simply to defeat the enemy in front and advance to the vicinity of Tennoji Fortress. At that point, either establishing a separate fortress to form a pincer movement, or waiting for other reinforcements to advance together, are both viable tactics.

Compared to Shichibei's cautious advance, Oda Nobunaga was much more reckless. He still felt he had to immediately take command of Tennoji Fortress and lead the entire army. After all, he had received news that both Hanawa Naomasa and Hanawa Yasuhiro had been killed in battle, and if he didn't take command, the Hanawa army would completely collapse.

A hundred or so riders charged forward, only to be met with resistance from the Ikko-ikki. Nobunaga did not hesitate at all, charging forward on horseback, not seeking to kill the enemy, but only to break into Tennoji Fortress.

When Akechi Mitsuhide received the news later, he learned that Nobunaga had led only a hundred or so cavalrymen out of Kyoto. He immediately mustered his troops, took his two thousand most elite men, and rushed to Settsu.

I must say that Mitsuhide was truly the Oda clan's number one ruthless fighter. If we're talking about "great reversal," Hideyoshi hasn't even used it yet, but Mitsuhide has already done it. The distance from Sakamoto Castle to Tennoji Fortress is about sixty kilometers, which normally takes three to four days to march. However, Mitsuhide ordered a forced march, abandoning all unnecessary baggage and carrying only his personal weapons, ammunition, and three days' worth of rations.

They started running after receiving the military orders in the morning, and by noon they had already passed the Kawano-no-sou (Kawachi-no-no-sou), the residence of Yasami Ukon, the son-in-law of Sakuma Nobumori. Then Mitsuhide received news that Nobunaga had already passed through and was probably already inside the encirclement and had entered Tennoji Fortress.

One hundred men charging into an encirclement of twenty thousand—even Mitsuhide was worried for Nobunaga.

There was no other way but to keep running. Mitsuhide ordered Saito Toshimitsu to take several hundred of his most elite men and run ahead, while he himself led the rest of his troops to follow. He instructed Saito Toshimitsu to find Oda Nobunaga at all costs and not let Oda Nobunaga fall into danger.

So, was Nobunaga in danger? Hey, believe it or not, no one was.

The mobility of one man and three riders alone was ridiculously strong. Before most of the Ikko-ikki could be deployed to major transportation routes, Nobunaga had already crossed them. Even when encountering Ikko-ikki, Nobunaga mainly focused on running around them.

He was advancing with light troops, not sending them to their deaths.

He needed to storm Tennoji Fortress and take control of the entire army, so Nobunaga maneuvered left and right, and while Shichibei was fighting the Ikko-ikki, he had already reached a point less than two kilometers from Tennoji Fortress. But at this point, the Ikko-ikki were numerous, a vast horde of them besieging Tennoji Fortress.

Honganji Temple not only has 10,000 to 20,000 monks, but also a large number of followers and followers. Gelugae Temple alone boasts over 20,000 monks; how could Honganji Temple be inferior to Gelugae Temple?

The rebels were relatively weak in combat, but that didn't stop them from having a large number of people; tens of thousands could come in a flash. Their morale was also quite high; in a game, they would be like a FF who would fight to the death.

Driven away a massive number of rebels and surrounded Tennoji Fortress, which was defended by only a small number of elite soldiers, the monk soldiers attacked reinforcements everywhere. This was Shimoma Yorihiro's battle strategy.

In order to eliminate Naomasa Hanawa and the various reinforcements, Shimoma Yorihiro also used the influence of Kennyo Shonin to instruct Araki Murashige to launch an attack on Takayama Shigetomo and Hosokawa Fujitaka, thus preventing these two forces from quickly joining the battle.

Through Saiga Magoichi, Shimoma Yoriichi learned that Sakuma Nobumori was in Kii Province. The two largest armies surrounding Honganji Temple were Hanawa Naomasa and Sakuma Nobumori, while the others were few in number and insignificant.

Weaken the small reinforcements from all sides, accumulate small victories into a major triumph, and exchange tactical victories for a decisive strategic advantage.

If we could eliminate 10,000 to 20,000 of Oda's troops, even a powerful force like Oda would have to retreat and lick its wounds for a year. Human life was indeed cheap in the chaotic Sengoku period, and ronin were plentiful. Manpower was plentiful, but officers were not. Organizing an army, establishing a system, and conducting joint training would take at least one or two years to develop combat effectiveness.

So what appeared before Nobunaga was a vast, swarming army of rebels. These rebels didn't attack Tennoji Fortress; their main goal was to intimidate it, firing a couple of shots and arrows into the fortress and that was it.

The remnants of the Hanawa army, who had just been defeated and retreated into their fortress, and the regular foot soldiers who had heard the news of their crushing defeat, were naturally terrified. If Hanawa Naomasa were truly dead, the army would surely collapse immediately.

Fortunately, Naomasa Hanawa was still alive. With a leader, they could barely hold their ground against the wooden walls and fences. The fortress was well-supplied with enough supplies to feed 20,000 men surrounding Honganji Temple. It was more than enough to feed the remaining troops for a year.

The main problem was the lack of morale within the army, which is why Naomasa Hanawa urgently needed reinforcements.

As reinforcements arrive one after another, the wavering Tennoji Fortress will stabilize. After all, humans are social animals; seeing their reinforcements increasing, they will gradually return to calm. At that time, the resistance will be even more vigorous, and they will be able to hold Tennoji Fortress.

What should Nobunaga do now that he has spotted the fortress? Naturally, he'll start circling around, searching for a weak point, and trying to breach the fortress. He's in a real hurry, extremely anxious, terrified of being too late.

He circled around for a long time, while Shichibei defeated the enemy in front of him, only to find that he was surrounded by a large number of Ikko-ikki and Honganji monks, numbering in the tens of thousands. With his thin arms and legs, he had no ability to fight and could only retreat slowly, trying to find a small temple with walls to defend himself.

Coincidentally, Nobunaga spotted Shichibei's large horse emblem with two vertical lines.

The two met unexpectedly. Nobunaga was surprised that Shichibei had also come to the rescue. Shichibei was surprised, however, that Nobunaga's two thousand vassal lords, whom he used for show and pomp, were nowhere to be seen.