Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

The result was a group filled with ronin and miscellaneous soldiers. These men, hired temporarily with money or rice, had absolutely no military discipline and couldn't even carry out an orderly robbery. They were nothing like the seasoned samurai who were skilled at binding and robbing; they just grabbed indiscriminately.

Plunder, destroy in one fell swoop.

Nobunaga originally intended to use overwhelming military superiority to directly pressure Kennyo no Shonin and force him to surrender. Now, with so many people in the army, disbanding them would not be an easy task.

With neither spoils of war nor rewards, these ronin soldiers, upon receiving the order to disband, might very well mutini.

Or you could say that Shichibei could just take out tens of thousands of kan to reward these ronin soldiers. First of all, whether they'd be satisfied or not is another matter; the point is, this isn't a small sum of money. Without Nobunaga's reimbursement, is such a large sum a joke?

When Nobunaga invaded Ishiyama-cho, he could only demand 20,000 kan of arrow money. After paying off his military expenses, he would probably have about half left. In other words, fighting a battle would cost him tens of thousands of kan, which even the wealthy Nobunaga had to calculate carefully.

Another point we must be wary of is that Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple is short of food, not money. If these ronin soldiers are disbanded, will they be absorbed into the Hongan-ji army within the castle?

The soldiers had no idea that there wasn't much military rations in the city; they only knew that Master Xianru was giving them gold coins.

Since it was disbanded by Oda Nobunaga anyway, I might as well continue to serve Kennyo.

The superior man carries a gun. Even as a lowly soldier, he's always switching allegiances, working for one family today and another tomorrow, constantly changing allegiances.

"Let's lead these ronin to attack the castle," Sakuma Nobumori said.

His idea was much more direct: he sent Kennyo Shonin and his trusted followers away, while Oda's army drove the ronin and miscellaneous soldiers to attack Kennyo. He wanted to send these cannon fodder to the front lines to be shot by the Honganji monks, thus ending their suffering.

That's one way to do it.

"However, the streets inside the city are narrow, and once the fighting starts, chaos will ensue, and some people may desert and loot." These words were spoken by Murai Sadakatsu.

Having governed Kyoto's town districts for a long time, Sadakatsu Murai has an intimate understanding of Japanese towns. The streets are narrow, and houses are often built by the townspeople who purchased the land. There's a lack of management, and dead ends are everywhere.

Once the army enters Ishiyama Town and then attacks the Ishiyama Palace, which is protected by Ishiyama Town, there is a high probability that some ronin soldiers will desert and go off to plunder.

At worst, I'll just rob and run. I'm just a ronin anyway, I have no hope of being recruited by the Oda clan. I might as well rob a lot of money in Ishiyama-cho, find a place to hide, and live a comfortable life for a couple of years.

“I’m more afraid of a fire.” It was Murai Sadakatsu who said this, and Shichibei could chime in.

Nobunaga agreed to the peace treaty precisely because he feared it would damage Ishiyama Town. He also sent his eldest son, Nobutaka, into the castle in order to gradually gain control of Ishiyama Town.

According to Nakataka, Miyoshi Nobutaka was being guarded by men sent by both Kenryo and Kyoryu. Both sides knew that this was one of their best life-saving measures.

As long as one holds fast to the Three Good Deeds and Nobutaka, one can obtain a promise of forgiveness from Nobunaga when necessary.

Nobutaka is currently trapped inside the castle, and the Oda army is hesitant to attack Ishiyama Town due to fear of harming the enemy. This situation is truly difficult.

"If this is really not appropriate, we might as well order the release of Shengrui's attendants from the city first." Seeing that everyone was deep in thought, Shichibei continued to offer suggestions.

The castle was on the verge of internal strife, but it didn't erupt because of the Oda army's advance. So let's take Nobutaka away for two months and give them time to settle their differences.

Such a large army would take the Oda clan quite a while to assemble. Furthermore, each mobilization required a significant amount of funds and provisions; if it were disbanded, the Honganji sect would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn't engage in internal strife.

Martial virtue.

At that time, Nobunaga could sit in Kyoto and watch the two fight it out. If Kennyo Shonin won, he could easily open the castle. If Kennyo Shonin lost, Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple would have little military strength to defend the castle and would become a lamb to the slaughter.

"Hmm..." Nobunaga neither responded nor refused.

Since that's the case, Shichibei stood up and went out of the tent to speak with Shimomura Nakataka. "Release Miyoshi Nobutaka first, and we'll discuss the others later. How can you both refuse peace talks and detain the envoy?"

Even the Venerable King Kenryo was part of Japan's ruling class, operating within the constraints of the old order. Detaining Nobutaka was already an unethical act. Releasing him now allows everyone to continue negotiations amicably, mediated by the Imperial Court.

Shimomura Nakataka, his face darkening, let out a soft sigh, indicating that he would return to the city immediately.

Things did not turn out the way the Oda clan had hoped. Nobutaka was not released, and instead, the messenger from the Kyoto clan arrived at the Oda army's camp.

The messenger explicitly told Oda Nobunaga that if the Oda army attacked Ishiyama Hongan-ji Temple, they would immediately behead Miyoshi Nobutaka. Not only that, but his head would be displayed on the castle tower and then burned.

They were reduced to ashes.

One sentence was enough to make Nobunaga furious.

It should be noted that Nobunaga, holding a high position, although occasionally experiencing emotional fluctuations—whether joy or surprise—rarely showed them on his face. This was the first time in recent times that Shichibei had seen Nobunaga angry, very angry.

This Honganji Kyo-yori is truly ungrateful and has already crossed Oda Nobunaga's line.

Nobunaga immediately ordered Honganji Kennyo to rescue Nobutaka, who was inside the castle. After rescuing Nobutaka, they immediately withdrew from Ishiyama Palace and surrendered to the Oda army.

Then Oda's army will storm Ishiyama Gobo, kill Kyoryu, and let Kyoryu know what it means for "the emperor's wrath to cause corpses to lie for miles."

The order was quickly relayed to the Ishiyama Palace. Intense fighting erupted immediately within the palace, with both sides clearly vying desperately for Miyoshi Nobutaka.

A dead Shin-hyo is useless, but a living Shin-hyo can save your life.

Kyoya, who boasted to Nobunaga, knew he needed to keep Nobutaka under his control. His boasting was merely a ploy to hinder Nobunaga's attack on the castle. He was wicked, but not stupid. Last year...

By then, most of the people inside Honganji Temple knew that the defenses of the city beneath their feet had been greatly weakened.

At that moment, a troop of soldiers under Sakuma Nobumori's command stormed the outer temple of Ishiyama Hongan-ji. With chaos erupting within the castle and the outer temple undefended, it fell immediately. Sakuma's army then swiftly advanced into Ishiyama town.

460. Xinxiao escapes as a great fire breaks out.

Shinko has not yet safely left the city, and the contest between Kyou and his son Kyou is clearly still undecided. At this point, it is not a good thing that they have already entered the Shishan Palace.

However, Oda's army numbered over 60,000, and there were also hundreds of naval vessels blocking their way at sea. The overall commander was Oda Nobunaga, but in reality, there were deputy command centers on both sides of the main army.

When the number of troops is around 10,000 to 20,000, a single general might be able to command them. However, once the number exceeds this, it is often necessary to entrust the task to a senior general in the army to conduct operations relatively independently, according to a predetermined strategic objective.

The communication methods were relatively weak throughout the year. People either looked at flags or listened to drums and gongs. Even with messengers, it was impossible to give detailed commands.

After Sakuma's army stormed Ishiyama Gobo, unrest broke out on the other side between the Akechi-Niwa army and the Nobunaga-Kawamura army.

Akechi Mitsuhide was a determined man, eager to seize the credit for conquering Ishiyama. However, he hadn't seen Nobunaga's main camp fire any rockets, which meant that Nobutaka was still not safely away.

Nobunaga cursed loudly, "Baka!" Was Sakuma Nobumori trying to kill his eldest son, Nobutaka? Why did he intervene at this time? What was he trying to do?

Once the battle begins, we must go all out. Oda's army must support Kennyo and defeat him in order to capture the entire Ishiyama-Osaka Castle and completely quell the recurring Ikko-ikki activities.

"My lord, I will first enter the city to search for Katsumi's retainers!" Shichibei said, seeing that Nobunaga had not yet decided to send troops, and took it upon himself to make the decision.

Nobunaga neither objected nor agreed. He perhaps believed the opportune moment hadn't fully arrived; after all, Kennyo and his son Kyoya hadn't yet engaged in a full-blown battle, and there were still over ten thousand Honganji soldiers inside the castle. Engaging in street fighting would undoubtedly result in significant losses for the Oda army. These die-hards, brainwashed by religion, were fighting like cornered beasts; who knew how much fighting power they might unleash?

From a purely strategic standpoint, this is not the best time to intervene. However, considering the need to rescue their eldest son, Xinxiao, Xinxiao is certainly in danger at this moment.

"I order Sanada Hyōbujō and Tōdō Torayō to follow me into battle." Shichibei pressed Hara Nagayori to the spot. Hara Nagayori was Shichibei's brother-in-law and the lord of Sanmanshō-shū Castle, enough to command the Kawamura army.

Soon, Sanada Masakiri's three hundred samurai and Todo Takatora's six hundred regular troops were assembled. Nobunaga ordered his attendant, Nambu Tadamichi, to lead two hundred...

He was small, and together with Shichibei, they stormed in.

Nanbu Tadaki was the one who, through Shichibei's introduction in Kita Ise, separated from his father and joined Nobunaga's faction. His family's estate, originally worth 3,000 koku, had been increased to 8,000 koku. However, he had not yet received an opportunity for a posting to a distant region, unlike Hachiya Yoritaka, who only recently received such an appointment.

Maeda Toshiie was a bit earlier; he was appointed as a military supervisor and sent to Fuchu in Echizen Province with a salary of 33,300 koku. Basically, it all takes time and opportunity. Being able to serve as a member of Nobunaga's inner circle was essentially a sign of having gained Oda Nobunaga's approval.

Let's go, there's no time to hesitate. According to Shimoma Nakataka, Nobutaka was placed in the academy of Ishiyama Gobo. This so-called academy is not the place next door where Obiaki lectured, made friends, and discussed things.

In Japan, this would be called "Shoin-zukuri" architecture. It's a style of architecture, and later, a Goshoin (a type of study) was built in Edo Castle. There's also a Shoin (a study) in Ginkaku-ji Temple in Kyoto, which was Ashikaga Yoshimasa's Togudo Dojinsai.

I won't go into the specifics; just head straight for the shoin-style buildings. The Ishiyama Gobo is now in chaos, its defenses are crumbling, and the outer lower temples and pagodas are being abandoned one by one. The main force of the Honganji army has gathered inside the main Ishiyama Gobo.

Whether for defense or internal strife, it was once renowned throughout the land, and Nobunaga moved...

After nearly ten years of siege, Ishiyama-Osaka Castle was finally about to be breached by external force.

Through Shimoma Nakataka, Shichibei had already examined the simplified plans of Terauchi Town and Ishiyama Gobo inside the "general structure". To be fair, the monks' planning was quite square, with each of the six towns clearly defined and protected by a wide moat. Ishiyama Gobo itself had all the defensive measures typical of Japanese castles.

The towering earthen platform was surrounded by layers of stone walls, and the moat was covered with arrow spurs like small castle towers. The city gate was also covered with iron sheets and was a sturdy gate with a building on top.

If it weren't for the internal strife that broke out in the city, Oda's army might have had to pay the price of thousands of lives to approach Ishiyama Gobo by force.

Searching his memory repeatedly, Shichibei charged straight towards Ishiyama Gobo without stopping. His men were among the best in Japan at the time, and once the order was given, not a single one dared to desert and plunder the town. They simply followed closely behind their generals, leading the way.

After running for a while, they finally arrived at the east gate of the Ishiyama Palace. This side was controlled by the Honganji army supporting Kennyo Shonin, but the general guarding the gate was not present. The taiko-drummers and the Kawahara Ten-Ninja were also at a loss, neither launching an attack nor finding a way in.

Open the city gates.

Shichibei sent someone directly to knock on the gate, as if the master had issued a decree ordering you to open the city gates.

"Open the gates now, and you may still save your life. Resist to the bitter end, and you will only face death." Having said this, Shichibei ordered the two hundred arquebusiers accompanying Todo Takatora to step forward and point their guns at the city walls. If necessary, Shichibei could fire the first shot.

A heated argument immediately erupted on the city wall. Some wanted to flee, others felt that the gates couldn't be opened without seeing the imperial edict, and still others said they needed to consult with the authorities. After much arguing, Shichibei, seeing that they couldn't reach a decision, immediately ordered his men to fire.

A burst of cannon fire swept through the city, blasting away more than half of the Honganji army on the city walls. With no officials, guards, or commanders present, what kind of organization could the army possibly have? Without the discipline of officers, there was simply no way to have any expectations of a feudal army.

The Honganji army did indeed collapse, but unfortunately, no one opened the gate.

"They have no sense of propriety at all! There's not a single one of them with any sense of propriety among them." Shichibei immediately ordered his soldiers to demolish the townhouses behind them, randomly demolishing one and using the roof beams as batters.

While the demolition was underway, a small door on the underside of the main gate, intended for temporary access, was opened.

"Yes!" shouted a soldier from Honganji Temple and ran out.

There's a chance!

Shichibei tied the man up first; they were in an enemy city, so he had no choice. Then he sent five or six men to control the small gate and scout out the situation inside the city.

A moment later, the gate slowly opened. One person couldn't lift the gate bolt at all; it took five or six people working together to quickly remove the bolt and open the iron-clad gate.

The guards had all fled. Shichibei ordered 100 of the 200 arquebusiers to stay in place and guard the city gate, while the rest continued to attack the academy inside the palace.

So what about the middle and upper-level figures within Honganji Temple?

A portion of those following Kennyo and Kyoryu were mostly members of the Ichiban and Godo groups. The other portion consisted of the officials and wardens who actually commanded the army, and they were now constantly adding fuel to the fire, vying for control of the academy within the Gobo, specifically to seize the temporary residence of Miyoshi Nobutaka.

Due to the defeat at Settsu Arioka and Toyoshima, the Honganji army suffered heavy losses of its core members. Moreover, the current battle is taking place in the heart of the Ishiyama Gobo area, which is basically a battle between the wardens and their elite monks.

Miyoshi Nobutaka knew that rushing wouldn't help, and he also didn't understand the terrain outside.

He was too familiar with the place to escape, so he simply closed his eyes and sat quietly inside the academy, listening to the sounds of fierce fighting outside.

Apart from the dozen or so attendants surrounding him, there were no other soldiers. His small hall within the academy was like a small boat adrift on a raging sea, constantly in danger, yet never truly perishing.

There was no way around it; the two groups outside were evenly matched, and neither side could gain the upper hand. Both wanted to force their way in and wouldn't let the other through.

Since you've entered Shishan Yufang, you should be mentally prepared for this.

Suddenly, a fierce roar of cannon fire erupted outside the academy. Due to the closure of roads and repeated defeats, the number of cannons in Hongan-ji Temple had dwindled from no less than three thousand to less than a thousand. Although there were still reserves of saltpeter, the import of lead ingots was insufficient.

Therefore, neither side in the attack used arquebuses. After all, the interior of the building was narrow, and there were few suitable places for arquebuses to fire simultaneously. But now that a arquebus salvo has been heard, it must mean that the battle situation has changed.

Shin-taka's ears twitched, and he opened his eyes, ordering his attendant to climb onto the roof to see what was happening. The attendant quickly scaled the roof and immediately shouted excitedly, "An army with two flags on their backs and two banners on their shoulders!"

It is rapidly approaching.

Vertical two leading two? It's Kawamura Nagayoshi.

It was truly unexpected that he would be the first to storm the castle and rescue people. Nobutaka's expression changed slightly; he really hadn't expected it. He had thought it would be Sakuma Nobumori or Akechi Mitsuhide, but it turned out to be Kawamura Shichibei Nagayoshi.

The sound of cannons rang out again, finally repelling the attack of the Kyouju army. However, the Kyouju army and the Kawamura army were unable to establish any real mutual trust, and the situation remained tense.

Patting his thigh, Miyoshi Nobutaka stood up and beckoned to the servants around him to open the gate that had been blocked by bolts, furniture, and felled trees.