Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

Moreover, he believed he was going to rescue Oda Nobunaga, and his enthusiasm was overflowing. He brandished his greatsword and charged into the ranks of the Ikko-ikki, killing so many that the Ikko-ikki in front of him cried out for their fathers and mothers and retreated in disarray.

Shimoma Yorihiro set up a large encirclement and reinforcement formation, and he was not afraid of Oda's army charging in. He just did not expect Akechi Mitsuhide and Saito Toshizo to be so fierce, risking their lives to kill inside, as if their own parents were inside.

The first line of defense against reinforcements has collapsed, so be it. There are only so many people here, while Honganji Temple has 20,000 followers.

The only thing that left Shimoma Yorihiro uncertain was that yesterday, a force of several hundred Oda troops arrived from the south. After defeating the Ikko-ikki who were blocking their way, they did not continue forward but retreated to the outskirts.

Shimoma Yorihiro, a renowned general, did not overlook this small battlefield, but he did not take it too seriously. After a moment's hesitation, he ordered three thousand Saiga soldiers to move in this direction to defend the area. Meanwhile, the main force of the Honganji monks was mobilized to attack Mitsuhide, who had already raised his banner high and was charging towards Tennoji Fortress.

The Saiga party had only taken a month-long break for the New Year and hadn't recovered yet. Now they were stationed south of Hongan-ji Temple, guarding against the missing squad of several hundred men. Saiga Magoichi could accept this deployment and was happy to accept it.

Their support for Honganji was one thing, but fighting was another. Why bother going into open battle with Oda's army when they could be assigned relatively easy combat tasks?

Thus, Shimoma Yorihiro entrusted the southern part of Honganji Temple to Saiga Magoichi with peace of mind, while he himself went to surround and annihilate Akechi Mitsuhide and Saito Toshizo.

From dawn till dusk, Akechi Mitsuhide fought three battles in succession, scattering and defeating the Honganji monks in his path, and fought his way to a place only a little over a kilometer away from Tennoji Fortress.

They couldn't kill them all. Firstly, it was getting dark, and secondly, there were tens of thousands of believers and rebels surrounding the Tianwang Temple. They were truly impossible to kill them all.

With no other option, Mitsuhide Akechi had to retreat slightly and find an ancient burial mound to use as a temporary camp, retreating there to prepare for another battle the next day.

"Report!" As evening approached, the spies and guards that Nobunaga had sent out earlier began to return.

"Lord Tamonyama has arrived with two thousand cavalry!" The men of the cloak brought news that made Nobunaga and Shichibei very happy.

Then they saw Mori Yoshinari's hurried and tired figure, as well as the Tamonzan monks, who were in average condition but at least numbered nearly two thousand.

"Sanzae, well done, Sanzae." Nobunaga and Mori Yoshinari had essentially reached a mutual agreement. Mori Yoshinari ran over to pay his respects to Nobunaga, and Nobunaga went to take Mori Yoshinari's hand.

"It seems I am not late." Although Mori Yoshinari was very tired, he was still happy to see that he had made it in time.

"Not too late, not too late, you've come at the perfect time." Nobunaga even smiled at this moment, probably because he felt that victory was in his grasp.

Upon seeing Shichibei, Mori Yoshinari greeted him. Thus, Nobunaga now commanded three thousand men. Back in Okehazama, Nobunaga didn't even have three thousand cavalry, yet he dared to fight; how much more so now?

how to spell?

Nobunaga already had a contingency plan. He astutely noticed that in the afternoon, the monks who had been surrounding Tennoji Fortress and defending all sides began to gather to the north. It was highly likely that Mitsuhide, Hosokawa Fujitaka, Takayama Shigetomo, and others from the north had led their troops to attack.

The offensive was so fierce that Shimoma Yorihiro had to mobilize monks from other areas to provide support.

For Nobunaga's side, this is a fantastic opportunity. Who cares who's so brave? At worst, they'll reward them with 10,000 or 5,000 koku. Right now, we just need to keep fighting our way forward.

Three thousand men, carrying two or three times the number of torches, charged forward, covering a distance of just over four kilometers from Tennoji Fortress. According to Japanese calculations, this would take less than half an hour if they ran fast enough.

The main strategy is to be reckless!

Of course, there are many prerequisites for acting recklessly, which I will not go into detail about. It is just that Nobunaga judged that the time was right to act recklessly and that we could give it a shot.

After hearing Nobunaga's plan, did Shichibei and Mori Yoshinari disagree? Let the soldiers eat whatever they can get, have a good meal, and they'll have the strength to start the night battle.

Early spring brings darkness early, so we must seize this last bit of morning light to break through the Ikko-ikki's massive formation and shatter the siege of Tennoji Fortress.

There wasn't any particularly good formation. Mori Yoshinari, as one of the "Three Left Attackers" or "Three Left Spearmen," was already considered one of the top tiers in the Oda clan in terms of bravery. Even though he was over fifty, he still had to carry a spear and be the first to strike for Nobunaga.

Tsutsui Junkei, who came with him, formed the second force, leading a thousand soldiers to launch a frontal assault to break through the enemy. Nobunaga led a hundred elite cavalrymen of the Moi clan, seeking an opportunity to break into the Tennoji fortress. Shichibei followed as the rearguard, maintaining the path of the vanguard and maneuvering as needed.

Simple and unpretentious.

With the sound of the conch shell, the Oda army marched out in full force.

Needless to say, as dusk approached, the already undisciplined followers of the Ikki (a Japanese militia) quickly gathered together to start a fire and prepare for rest. Night battles were extremely rare in Japan, although the three major surprise attacks—the Battle of Kawagoe and the Battle of Itsukushima—were both fought at night.

However, in serious combat, night battles should be avoided as much as possible. This is because Nobunaga believed that his troops were all standing armies with decent organization, and since it was still evening, he had a chance to launch a swift attack on Tennoji Fortress.

Clad in Milanese children's plate armor, Shichibei watched the generals depart one after another, but his mood wasn't particularly excited. After all, Shichibei wasn't the main attacker, so the danger was minimal.

I don't know what's wrong with me today, but my heart keeps pounding. Could it be that I caught a cold?

These days, catching a cold can really be fatal. After all, even experienced doctors can't cure every ailment with their medicine. If they were to give Shichibei two strong doses of medicine, it wouldn't be impossible for him to die.

Never mind, it's not Shichibei's turn to go into battle yet anyway, so I might as well dismount. I found the soft armor that the young general had sewn together with brocade, cotton cloth, and tightly packed cotton flowers, and put it on for peace of mind.

It's actually similar to the cotton armor used next door; it can serve as both a cotton-padded coat and armor. Spring weather is cool, especially at night, so wearing an extra layer won't hurt. Since Shichibei is small and thin, even wearing the Milanese children's plate armor doesn't make him look bulky; it fits him perfectly.

The attendant who was helping Shichibei put on his armor said that it was indeed chilly at night, and he should also get one for himself, both to keep warm and for self-defense.

After re-equipping himself, Nobunaga led his hundred-odd elite cavalrymen out. Shichibei quickly followed behind him, keeping a distance of about three to five hundred meters.

The believers, who had already calmed down, were suddenly startled by the sound of the conch shell. At first, they were confused, but then they were thrown into chaos by the strong attack from Mori Yoshinari and Tsutsui Junkei.

Even when the monks and officials shouted for them to gather together and resist the Oda army's night raid, it was to little avail. Many of them collapsed at the first sign of trouble; they were just believers, and one cannot expect too much from them.

When Saiga Magoichi, who was stationed at the border, heard about the attack, he wasn't particularly surprised. Before he arrived, Shimoma Yorihiro had told him that several hundred elite Oda troops had already launched a strong attack on this side, warning him to be careful.

A mere few hundred Oda soldiers are like chickens and dogs before my three thousand Saiga arquebuses.

The Saiga men, having rested all day, were in relatively good condition, having not fought and not expending much energy. At the whistles of the Saiga squad leaders, they rose, lined up, lit the fuses, erected wooden shields, and prepared to meet the attack.

In the darkness, unable to discern the enemy's movements, Saiga Magoichi chose a relatively conservative tactic. Since the Oda army was charging, they would defend their lines firmly. Relying on their arquebuses, they vowed to ensure the Oda army would not return.

As for the followers who clashed with the Saiga troop? Those who could be dispersed were dispersed; those who refused to listen and still tried to charge the Saiga formation head-on were shot at directly.

In war, the most important thing is to maintain a disciplined military formation. As for believers, they deserve to die if they charge into the enemy lines.

Despite being extremely exhausted, Mori Yoshinari continued to fight. As a general who had followed Nobunaga from his early days, Mori Yoshinari had served Nobunaga for over twenty years, and the relationship between the lord and his retainer was quite harmonious.

His son, Mori Yoshitaka, died in battle, but his second son, Mori Nagayoshi, first served as Nobunaga's page. Now that he has come of age, he has been reassigned to the former territory of Kaneyama Castle in Mino Province and has become a retainer of Oda Nobutada.

The Mori family's wealth and status have been secured for two generations, and even in Nobutada's time, the Mori family will most likely remain senior retainers of the Oda clan. If the Oda clan were to conquer the lands in the future, while they might not even dream of positions like Kanrei or Naiganrei, the Mori family would certainly have a place among the four highest officials.

Just thinking about it is wonderful. With such a bright future, Mori Yoshinari, despite being an old man, still has a lot of energy.

Consider it as building up a fortune for his son. Although Sen Changke currently only has a small territory in Jinshan City, once Sen Kecheng passes away and the two territories are merged, the Sen family's assets will not be less than 150,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), and may even be more.

Wielding his spear, Mori Yoshiaki stabbed a follower who was facing away from him to death. "This battle isn't too difficult after all."

However, all they could see was a patch of flickering firelight. Judging by the distance, could they have already reached the vicinity of Tennoji Fortress? Could those flickering lights be the lights inside Tennoji Fortress?

Although he thought that way, the horse beneath him and the gun in his hand never stopped moving for a moment.

Keep charging forward, covering the distance of a whole day, and you'll reach Tennoji Fortress. You can finally get a good night's sleep tonight. Just then, the last rays of sunlight disappeared from the sky, plunging the entire earth into darkness. Only the flickering lights in the distance seemed to beckon to Mori Kasei.

"We've won! We've won! Our army has won!" Cheers erupted from the front lines, and even Shichibei, who was slightly behind, could hear them clearly. It was obvious that Mori Yoshinari and Tsutsui Junkei had broken through the Ikko-ikki.

It's unclear whether Hanawa Naomasa, inside the Tennoji fortress, is clever or not. If he seizes this opportunity to break out of the fortress and launch a pincer attack, sweeping through the entire Ikko-ikki, he could very well achieve a resounding victory by annihilating the Honganji monks.

The historical Battle of Kawagoe was a night battle fought between Hojo Ujiyasu outside the castle and Hojo Tsunashige inside. Hojo Ujiyasu launched a fierce attack from outside the castle, while Hojo Tsunashige charged out fiercely, attacking the Kanto coalition forces from both sides. He killed Uesugi Tomosada in battle, which directly led to the extermination of the Ogigayatsu Uesugi family.

Even the two sons of Nagano Narimasa, the yellow-spotted governor of Kozuki, perished in the Kawagoe campaign, causing widespread rebellion among the local populace of Kozuki and Soshu. The prestige of the Koga Kubo and the Kanto Kanrei was severely diminished, and the people were in turmoil.

Just as they were thinking this, the originally enthusiastic cheers were suddenly suppressed by a dense and terrifying roar of cannons, with at least a thousand cannons exploding at the same time.

Chapter 357 A Hero in a Time of Crisis

Oda Nobunaga and Shichibei, who were still behind Mori Yoshiki, were both shocked and exclaimed that something was wrong.

Absolutely not! Even if Honganji Temple had its own independent gun-forging workshop and could obtain guns from Saiga in Kishu, there was still a limit. It was impossible for such a small temple to have tens of thousands of guns gathered together.

Oda Nobunaga was quite wealthy and powerful, and he also controlled the arquebus production bases of Sakai and Kunitomo. However, he had only managed to gather a mere five thousand arquebuses, preparing to have a good showdown with Takeda Yoshiyori this year.

Historically, during the Battle of Nagashino, Nobunaga only managed to gather 3,000 arquebuses for battle. It wasn't that he didn't want to bring more; it was simply that there weren't that many arquebuses in existence in Japan at that time.

During the day, Nobunaga clearly saw that the main force of the Honganji monks had been mobilized north by Shimoma Yoriken to deal with the Oda army reinforcements coming from the north. The majority of those remaining south of Tennoji Fortress were followers of the Taishi clan, who had little fighting power and no good weapons or equipment.

What exactly happened that sound like thousands of cannons exploding?

Could it be that they've fallen into Shimoma Yorimitsu's trap, lured out to run into Hongan-ji's snare? Shocked, Shichibei quickly spurred his horse forward and soon found Oda Nobunaga trying to orient himself. Neither Nobunaga nor Shichibei were night-blind; they could see mostly by the light of torches.

The two men met, and before they could even speak, they heard the crackling of cannons in the distance, followed by desperate screams. Then came the Sen army, who were retreating in disarray, scrambling to their sides. One of them was stopped, and he cried out that his lord had fallen in battle.

what!

Nobunaga and Shichibei shouted almost in unison, "The mighty lord of Tamonyama Castle in Yamato, Mori Yoshinari, a fierce general who survived being surrounded by tens of thousands of men, has died so inexplicably!"

Impossible, how could that be? Could he have been killed by concentrated fire from arquebuses?

Nobunaga was the first to calm down. He raised his torch high, brandished his Yongle Tongbao horse emblem, and ordered the Mori soldiers to gather under his banner and not to run around aimlessly.

He then ordered Shichibei to immediately go out and search for Mori Yoshinari's whereabouts. Mori Yoshinari had been killed during the attack, so he must have had many soldiers with him. Given the current haphazard way arquebusiers shoot, it was impossible for them all to be dead. Any decent Mori samurai who hadn't died in battle would have done everything in his power to pull Mori Yoshinari from the pile of corpses.

Foot soldiers and the like, if they run away, so be it. Samurai are bound by feudal obligations to their lords. When the lord prospers, the samurai prospers; when the lord suffers, the samurai must live a dissolute life.

Upon hearing the order, Shichibei disregarded the danger ahead and hurriedly spurred his horse forward. Fortunately, Nobunaga's guess was correct; after riding only about a hundred meters, he saw three samurai carrying Mori Yoshinari, who was wearing a gold-leaf-covered tunic.

The headband and such were obviously left somewhere, but the armor was very conspicuous because it was covered in gold leaf. Shichibei quickly went forward to check, and Mori Yoshinari was clearly alive because he could still make noise, and quite loudly at that.

Let's go, let's hurry up and leave. Today's battle has gone badly from the start.

After taking two steps back, Nobunaga had already blocked most of the Mori army. At this moment, Mori Yoshinari shouted at the Mori army, "I'm not dead yet!" The Mori army, which had been wavering and routing, immediately fell silent. This was the advantage and disadvantage of a feudal army relying on one person. Seeing Mori Yoshinari shouting and yelling, none of the Mori samurai and foot soldiers dared to run away. They continued to follow and kill.

"Retreat immediately, my lord! The rebels have no fewer than a thousand arquebusiers among them." Mori Yoshitoshi was quite clear-headed and immediately advised Nobunaga to flee.

"How are you?" Nobunaga ignored that and immediately went to check on Mori Yoshinari's injuries.

Only then did everyone realize that Mori Yoshinari had been shot in the right calf and foot. Apparently, after being shot, his horse died, and he fell from his horse, which led to the rumor that he had died in battle, causing Mori's army to retreat.

It's alright, this injury can be treated; at worst, they'll have to amputate the thigh. Tachibana Dōsetsu from neighboring Kyushu can command battles from a palanquin, so even if Mori Yoshinari loses a leg, he can still command. It's just that from now on, "Kō no Sanzu" won't be called that anymore; he'll have to be called "Oni Sanzu."

He sawed off his lower leg and still went out to fight; how could he not be called "Ghost Three Left"?

"Immediately order Tsutsui Yoshunbo to lead the rear guard!" Nobunaga did not hesitate. If he didn't sell out a civic man like Tsutsui Junkei at this time, who else would he sell out?

Mori Kakusatsu has been shot; if he were to cover the retreat, he'd likely lose his life. As for Shichibei? Nobody mentioned him. Although Shichibei held his own at Mikatagahara last time, he had Oda Nobuhiro assisting him then. Now, with no one around, it was best to make a run for it.

While the Oda army wanted to leave, the Saiga forces on the opposite side were absolutely unwilling to let them go. Originally, after defeating Mori Yoshinari, Saiga Magoichi had planned to halt his advance, as he only needed to hold the road and prevent Oda reinforcements from entering Tennoji Fortress. After all, his soldiers had fought for so long and truly didn't want to risk their lives again just to kill a few more people.

But in that very instant, Saiga Magoichi and many Saiga soldiers on the front lines suddenly felt a surge of strength in their feet, determined to wipe out the Oda army completely.

They saw the Yongle Tongbao horse emblem that Oda Nobunaga had used to rally the Mori army and prevent them from escaping.

They recognized that big horse emblem all too well. They'd stared at it for a full six months last year at Takashi Pass in Kii Province and outside Saiga Castle. Anyone who wasn't blind had it imprinted in their mind.

Kill them!

Kill Oda Nobunaga!

Feeling full of energy, the three thousand Saiga soldiers, under the command of Saiga Magoichi, charged towards Oda's army like madmen. Halfway there, they discovered that the lights around the Yongle Tongbao horse emblem had gone out, and they lost their target.

"General Oda Nobunaga has been defeated!"

"General Oda Nobunaga has been defeated!"

"General Oda Nobunaga has been defeated!"

Without hesitation, Saiga Magoichi immediately ordered his men to shout in unison, and soon thousands of people joined in the shout, making the entire Tennoji Fort area hear the words.

The Oda army soldiers on either side, who had previously seen the tall Yongle Tongbao horse emblem, had now vanished, causing them to tremble with fear. Tsutsui Junkei, still advancing and unaware of what was happening, quickly turned around to look and found chaos all around. He shouted that the enemy army that was going to take Oda Nobunaga had already passed by his side.