Owari Yumeki Golden Day

If they don't surrender, wouldn't Nobunaga's trip this year be in vain?

Not only did he fail to provide for his son, but he also had the potential to affect his already thriving prestige. After all, it would be embarrassing to tell anyone that 75,000 people couldn't defeat 16,000.

"No need!" Nobunaga finally opened his mouth and refused.

Mitsuhide and Shichibei exchanged a glance, realizing that Nobunaga had wavered, though he was still hesitant. However, both of them had some sense and knew there was no need to persuade him now; any further persuasion would only make Nobunaga rebellious.

Well, Mitsuhide sat to one side very naturally. He was now also a retainer of Oda, and was under the jurisdiction of both parties. He was qualified to sit in the shogunate and participate in military deliberations.

Nobunaga, who rejected Mitsuhide's proposal, looked at Shichibei and ordered a meeting of many important Oda clan officials who were deployed nearby to discuss the next step of the attack on Okouchi Castle.

Even Hideyoshi, who could only lie with his legs spread apart, was carried to the meeting site on a stretcher. Hideyoshi was the general of a reserve force of 3,500 men, and as long as he was alive, he had to serve the country.

Even though Yoshitsugu Otani was blinded by leprosy and pus was oozing from his body, he still obeyed Tokugawa Ieyasu's orders, led his troops to attack the Uesugi clan, and finally participated in the Battle of Sekigahara.

The "Thunder God" of Kyushu, Tachibana Dosetsu, was struck by lightning and almost died on the spot. His legs were broken and he had to go to the battlefield to fight with the help of his retainers carrying his sedan chair.

Having received the knowledge and the imperial grace, as long as he is still alive and breathing, he must fight for the public good.

What were they discussing? Of course, the next step was to launch a general assault on Ōkōnei Castle. While the main castle, Ōkōnei Castle, hadn't been captured, most of the branch castles had been conquered or surrendered.

The Oda army still had a lot of troops. Those small branch cities had some 500 or 800 people. Under the fierce attack of tens of thousands of people, it was indeed disgusting, but it was all disgusting.

In addition, the undefended Kiriyama Palace was also captured, and most of the samurai families and local people living under the city were driven into Okawachi Castle.

In this way, the conditions for launching a general attack on Okawachi Castle have matured.

Whether it will succeed or not depends on this one shudder.

If that doesn't work, then they can just pretend to send Akechi Mitsuhide into the city, saying that the general has a kind heart and can't bear to see people suffer, and promise to negotiate. As long as the Kitabatake family withdraws from Shima, they can negotiate peace.

Can it be done? What the hell? Just go into the city and kill as many people as you can. Kill until there's no heir left in the Kitabatake family, and then send Oda Chasumaru in. Perfect.

Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Naturally, no one wanted to lead the assault on Ōkouchi Castle. Akechi Mitsuhide did want to go, and Hideyoshi was actually somewhat willing to go (since he hadn't achieved any merit this time), but one of them hadn't brought any troops, and the other was currently paralyzed. The two most enthusiastic workers couldn't go: Shibata Katsuie and Niwa Nagahide.

The two men swallowed their saliva, and Niwa Nagahide took the lead and said that he was willing to bring a large cannon to give it a try.

The big iron cannon he was talking about wasn't a simple large cannon or a shotoku, which would be powerless against Ohkouchi Castle. What he was talking about here was a "stick fire arrow."

This weapon originated from Sakaimachi and is not usually used in land battles. It uses a large iron cannon to fire a heavy iron arrow with a gunpowder paper tube attached to it, which can increase the damage of the explosion.

The iron arrowheads were used to pierce enemy ships. Whether it was breaking the shields or the planking, it was very effective. It was even possible to penetrate the bottom of the ship. The main attack was a powerful and heavy blow, with the iron arrows hitting hard.

Of course, Niwa Nagahide did not mean to use iron arrowheads to smash the walls of Ohkouchi Castle, but to replace them with relatively lighter arrows, tie larger gunpowder paper tubes to them, and throw them into Ohkouchi Castle to launch a fire attack.

In a sense, it is a substitute for indirect fire artillery such as mortars.

Japan was full of mountain fortresses, and the Japanese had considered killing the soldiers inside, but they never turned to mortars. This was probably because firing a cannon was expensive, or rather, very expensive.

Since someone was willing to take the lead and die first, the atmosphere at the meeting immediately became lively. Shibata Katsuie promised on the spot that as long as a fire broke out in the city, he would immediately lead his team to attack the city gate.

In this way, the military deliberation had a fairly satisfactory result.

Shichibei didn't speak at the meeting; no one usually asked him questions anyway. It was pointless to ask Shichibei about the battle, especially the one against a strong city like Ohkouchi.

After everyone opened the curtain and left the shogunate, Maeda Toshiie called on Shichibei to carry Hideyoshi out. Hideyoshi, with one leg dangling from the stretcher and the other hanging, kept expressing his gratitude.

Everyone laughed, but since Hideyoshi was injured in battle, they all let him go first. Even Shibata Katsuie didn't try to get ahead. He even glanced at Hideyoshi's crotch and swallowed his saliva. It wasn't because he was greedy, but mainly because the thought of the scene made him hurt.

"I wonder how Niwa-dono's siege is going." Hideyoshi wanted to get up and take a look at the situation in Ohkouchi Castle.

"Just lie down and be still." Maeda Toshiie couldn't bear to watch it anymore.

Normally, you'd be a hard-working person, after all, you were full of energy back then. But now that your testicles have been shot, what's the point of still trying? And now you're still so stubborn, everyone really despises you.

"That's right, just lie down. It's not your turn to siege the city." Shichibei couldn't bear to watch.

Sometimes I think that working with a bunch of hardworking people is not a good thing. But there are quite a few hardworking people in the Oda family. Once they open the book, everyone else has to follow suit.

"Alas...you guys..." Hideyoshi was still feeling lost.

"You should have one less egg." Shichibei glanced at Hideyoshi's crotch and threatened.

So Hideyoshi immediately covered his crotch with his hands and stopped talking nonsense. The King of Scrolls also has weaknesses, and it is obvious that Hideyoshi's weakness is his crotch. He really pursues the continuation of his family line.

As soon as Hideyoshi was released, the samurai of Niwa Nagahide's family came to Shichibei, hoping for a large supply of gunpowder. The gunpowder they had originally purchased was enough for the sticks and fire arrows, but now they needed to tie a large number of gunpowder paper tubes to the sticks and fire arrows, which would require additional expenses.

Didn't Shichibei serve as the deputy governor of Sakai, and was ordered to supervise the sales of all weapons and cannons in Sakaimachi? Therefore, the weapons purchased by the samurai of the Oda family actually all came under the order of Shichibei, who then made the centralized purchases from Sakaimachi.

Gradually, everyone, including Nobunaga, turned to Shichibei whenever they needed help. This was the easiest way to save time and effort. No more socializing, negotiating, bargaining. Just a tap on Shichibei's shoulder and the necessary military equipment and supplies would arrive.

Every autumn, you just need to sell the tribute rice to Shichibei.

No problem. Shichibei had already started preparing for the Battle of Minami-Ise two months in advance. It was just gunpowder, readily available, so they could just use an oxcart to pull it.

I wrote a note to the Niwa family samurai, asking him to go to the small pack caravan to collect it. But he needed a receipt signed by Niwa Nagahide, so that I could settle the Niwa family account with the receipt.

"Your business is getting bigger and bigger." Hideyoshi was not envious, he just felt that Shichibei had become rich.

"It's a small business, just making some hard-earned money." This was of course what Shichibei said, and he would have said the same thing even if Nobunaga had asked.

"By the way, can you help me buy a few of those big iron cannons?" Hideyoshi couldn't watch the siege, but since Niwa Nagahide said it would be useful, he couldn't fall behind.

"Okay, it's a small matter." The sales of Sakai tubes now have to go through Shichibei's hands, so it is indeed a small matter.

This thing is somewhat useful, but not that big of a deal. After all, the stick fire arrow has a height limit. How can it be used against a castle built on a 200-meter hill? A castle on a 100-meter hillside would be a problem. Ohkawachi Castle isn't that high, but I'll try it.

After nightfall, everyone rested for the first half of the night, but in the second half, some noises began to rise in the camp. Almost all the generals of the Oda army were quietly observing from their respective camps.

After receiving a large amount of gunpowder, Niwa Nagahide brought more than ten large iron cannons, ready to fire a huge explosion at Ohkouchi Castle.

In the dark night, the roar of the large iron cannon was piercing, but this device's second flaw was exposed. It looked fine for the first ten or twenty meters, heading towards the city. A little further away, it started to scatter wildly. With a dozen or so fire arrows, only half of them would penetrate the city.

The rest either crashed into the river next door or flew away without a trace. Rockets are really just a random arrow technique, and their main attack relies on coverage.

However, even if only four or five flaming arrows hit the city, they still exploded and set the buildings on fire. Even the cries of many women and children could be heard in the city.

There's a fire!

Good, good! If we can start a big fire, then Ohkouchi Castle will definitely open its gates and surrender. Just as everyone applauded, Niwa Nagahide prepared to continue attacking the castle, while Shibata Katsuie also urged his troops to the foot of Ohkouchi Castle and prepared to attack the city.

A single cloud rolled into the murky sky. Because it was dark, no one noticed. Furthermore, Ise was close to the sea, so it was hard to tell if it was cloudy or not.

Before everyone's eagerness could even make a splash, the cloud in the sky could no longer hold back. With a loud clatter, it began to rain, heavily.

179. No horses neighing, no food is needed

As the heavy rain fell, the Oda generals, including Nobunaga, who had been looking forward to seeing Niwa Nagahide and Shibata Katsuie break the city, immediately lost their spirits.

The siege has been going on for more than a month. There has been some progress, but not much. We finally have a decent way to break the city, but just when we were getting more intense, it started to rain heavily.

It's raining heavily today, not only can't we use sticks and flaming arrows, but we can't even use human flesh to attack the city. The mountain paths are definitely slippery in the rain, and people could fall to their deaths. Shibata Katsuie may be fierce, but he's not stupid, and he won't fight a battle that will cost him his life.

Everything returned to square one, and everyone sat back down within the shogunate's curtains. The heavy rain from the early morning continued, now reduced to a gentle drizzle. The autumn rain was incessant, and Ise was still close to the sea, so this one started to fall intermittently, like a never-ending stream of urine.

How about we talk about it...

Akechi Mitsuhide was originally planning to return to Kyoto to report to Ashikaga Yoshiaki. What Nobunaga lacked now was not people, but methods to break the city, or the courage and bravery to risk his life to attack the city.

Now seeing that Nobunaga had failed in his siege, Mitsuhide, who was deeply in love with Nobunaga and had placed all his hopes for the rest of his life on him, finally advised Nobunaga to send someone into the city to persuade him again.

"Jubei is right. Although the fire arrows did not break the city, they still frightened the people inside." Shichibei was sitting at the end. Seeing that no one was talking, he took the initiative to speak.

That fire arrow was actually quite usable. Although five of the ten escaped, five of them were still able to deflect and smash into the city. The autumn rains were incessant, but there was always a break. Nobunaga's family was large and powerful, so he could afford to siege Ōkouchi Castle for three months. After the ten-day to half-month rainy period, he could just hurl fire arrows into the city.

As long as Okochi Castle is conquered, the vast territory of the five counties of southern Ise will be under Nobunaga's umbrella. No matter how you look at it, this business is profitable.

As for the negotiation, we just need to go into the city and scare Kitabatake Gukyo and Kitabatake Gufusa.

Even though it's raining today, will it rain tomorrow? And the day after tomorrow? It can't rain every day. If it doesn't rain one day, I'll set fire to Ohkawachi. You decide what to do.

"That's right. The food and supplies in the city are running low, and our army has weapons to burn and plunder the city. It's okay to talk." Seeing that Shichibei supported him, Akechi Mitsuhide took a deep breath and spoke again.

Nobunaga raised his hand to signal Mitsuhide to stop talking, and turned to look at Niwa Nagahide. Niwa Nagahide nodded slightly, which meant that the big iron cannon could definitely continue to fire, and Mitsuhide was right.

It was just that it was raining heavily today, so we couldn't start a fire inside the city. Once the sea breeze blows and the weather dries up, we can immediately repeat what we did this morning and set fire to the city.

"Okay, then Jubei and Nanbei, you two go into the city." After confirmation, Nobunaga finally agreed to send more people into the city for peace talks.

Firstly, today's momentum was indeed extinguished by the heavy rain, and there was really no other good strategy for attacking the city. Secondly, Mitsuhide was a member of the shogunate's court, and he came to Nobunaga on behalf of Ashikaga Yoshiaki to offer his condolences.

"I want to go too?" Shichibei pointed at himself.

No, Shichibei was just a royal merchant. He could neither be Nobunaga's boss nor Yoshiaki's boss. Why would he go in? Even if he persuaded Kitabatake to surrender, the Kitabatake clan would belong to Oda Chasumaru and would have nothing to do with Shichibei.

"Hehe, you go into the city as a hostage." Nobunaga said this in such a harmless tone, it was simply amazing.

"Oh..." I understand.

Ōkōchi Castle, defended by Kitabatake Tomonori, still stood firm. Even though Nobunaga had many times more troops than the castle and could use flaming arrows to burn it, he couldn't take it. This negotiation certainly wasn't going to happen overnight; it would likely take several days of back-and-forth talks between the two sides.

If a general of sufficient weight is sent from the city, then it would be reasonable to send hostages into the city in order to gain the trust of Kitabatake Tomomichi.

There's a saying that after Mitsuhide sent his mother to Yakami Castle, Hatano Hideji felt safe enough to leave the castle and go to Azuchi to apologize to Nobunaga and express his surrender. However, Nobunaga was not prepared to forgive Hatano Hideji and executed him in Azuchi.

So Mitsuhide's mother was taken hostage and was beheaded by the soldiers of Yakami Castle. This led to Mitsuhide's hatred towards Nobunaga, and he turned around and barbecued Nobunaga in Honnoji Temple.

This story is more reasonable and logical in all aspects, which shows that sending important hostages into the city before surrendering was a tacit understanding between the attackers and defenders in the Warring States Period.

"Do you understand? If you understand, let's go." Nobunaga stood up and looked at Ohkouchi Castle on the hill.

The gloomy atmosphere of Ohkouchi Castle in the rain muffled all sounds. It was unknown what Kitabatake and his son were thinking within the castle.

After leaving the shogunate, Shichibei immediately summoned Takenaka Hanbei and Ito Sojuro, requesting they take custody of the small caravan. If peace could be reached, Shichibei would withdraw within three to five days. If peace could not be reached and the two sides continued fighting, Shichibei would be released as long as the Kitabatake envoy returned safely to the city.

As for not coming back...

Probably not. Oda and Kitabatake don't have any deep-seated feud. But my wife's brother, Inase Yoshinari, is well-versed in business, and he already has a son. Do you understand?

Takenaka Hanbei and Ito Sojuro both expressed their understanding. Inase Yoshinari was already a mature and skilled merchant. With someone capable of carrying on the Kawamura family business, the family name could be preserved. With the family name preserved, the samurai group and the Yoriki corps would not be disbanded and could continue to serve Nobunaga.

They immediately split up. Akechi Mitsuhide and Shichibei walked "alone" to the front of Okouchi Castle, shouting that they were ordered by the Shogun Yoshiaki of the Muromachi shogunate to mediate the peace talks and asked Kitabatake Middle Councilor to open the city for a meeting.

It's worth mentioning that Ashikaga Yoshiaki's cards were still in good shape at this time. When the warriors guarding the city heard Akechi Mitsuhide's shout, they immediately lowered the ladder and let the two men into the city. Not long after, the two were led before Kitabatake Munikori and Kitabatake Tomofusa, father and son.

Although Kitabatake Munefusa was sitting in the center, they both knew that Kitabatake Munefusa was the one who really called the shots in the castle. Only with his nod to open the gates would Ōkouchi Castle have a chance of falling into the hands of Oda Nobunaga.

Let's talk.

Akechi Mitsuhide was in charge of the negotiations, while Shichibei was only in charge of being the "head man." On the way into the city, Shichibei saw clearly that the situation inside the city was indeed not good.

The main problem was the sheer number of people: over 8,000 soldiers and nearly 30,000 civilians. The small city of Ohkawachi was packed to the brim, with civilians huddled together for warmth under the eaves of the city walls. Many looked starving and cold, their faces pale. Furthermore, the rain, a bitterly cold autumn rain, had fallen, and the elderly, the weak, women, and children were shivering with cold.

The city didn't seem to have enough fuel, as most of the firewood was used to keep the soldiers defending the city warm. Ordinary people had no such resources and either had to resist or die.

It's unclear how much food is left in the city. Nobunaga said it could barely sustain 75,000 troops for a month and a half, but it wouldn't be enough for anything more. The food in the city is likely to be scarce, unless they slaughter and eat the civilians everywhere, from the gates to the eaves, from the horse paths to the wells.

Shichibei also wanted to see the burning castle walls and buildings from the flaming arrows Niwa Nagahide had unleashed earlier, but since he didn't take that route, he wasn't sure how much damage had been done. When he'd first seen it, the castle was indeed on fire, but it hadn't burned long before heavy rain began to pour down.

Just as he was pondering this, Shichibei suddenly heard Akechi Mitsuhide's "big talk".

What nonsense? Before coming, Nobunaga meant that the Kitabatake clan would surrender to the Oda clan, become a vassal daimyo under the Oda clan's umbrella, and submit hostages to Nobunaga. For example, Kitabatake Tomofusa's children and brothers, and the sons of several family elders.

For the time being, I will keep him under control and train him slowly. One day, I will train the Kitabatake family to be like the Oda family. Then I will see if there is a way to send Oda Chasumaru to the Kitabatake family.

But what did Mitsuhide say?

Oda Chasamaru married the daughter of Konoe, becoming Kitabatake Tomofusa's heir and inheriting the Kitabatake clan's family title. The Kitabatake clan evacuated Ōkouchi Castle, handing it over to Oda Chasamaru to live in. They also demolished Kiriyama Palace, and the Kitabatake father and son moved to Tamaru Castle.

The Oda clan recognized Kuki Yoshitaka's restoration of Shima Province and parts of Kishu's Kumano territory. The Kitabatake clan's family elders and relatives submitted hostages to the Oda clan and signed an oath pledging never to betray the clan.

Isn’t it just eating it all?

Although negotiations are all about asking for a high price and paying it back, Mitsuhide's price was too bold. With this deal, what would be left of the Kitabatake clan? Nothing left, all plundered by the Oda clan.

While the Kitabatake family name was preserved, the Kitabatake father and son were not even allowed to be puppets and were directly relocated to a separate residence. To put it nicely, it was called seclusion, but to put it bluntly, it was imprisonment.

Not only Shichibei couldn't believe it, Kitabatake and his son also couldn't believe it. They even doubted whether Mitsuhide was the so-called shogunate servant and whether he had the permission of Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Did Ashikaga Yoshiaki send Mitsuhide to mediate? Did he send Mitsuhide to take his life?

Fortunately, Kitabatake Munekuni was well-mannered. After all, as a senior middle councilor, he had seen it all before, so he didn't react immediately and execute Akechi Mitsuhide and Shichibei. He simply stated that since the shogun was willing to mediate, they requested that someone be sent to Kyoto immediately to inquire about Ashikaga Yoshiaki's intentions to bring about the Ōkouchi Castle.

Yes.

I'm not afraid of you asking.

Mitsuhide was full of confidence, as he was indeed sent by Yoshiaki. Yoshiaki was even willing to help Nobunaga to get another 20,000 reinforcements. The only thing that Yoshiaki did not ask for was this outrageous peace condition.

Seeing Mitsuhide like this, Kitabatake Tomonori's heart was filled with turmoil. Nobunaga's army was indeed powerful, and he had basically destroyed the branch castles of Ōkouchi Castle, such as Asaka Castle, which was known to be an impenetrable fortress.

Because Asaka Castle is also known as the "White Rice Castle", there was an anecdote in history that the castle commander poured white rice on his horses to make it look like there was plenty of water in the city, which made the enemy abandon the siege and flee.

The point is that Ohkone City is about to run out of food, and one day they might have to start cannibalism.

and many more!