Due to the inconvenience of carrying the river crossing on a rainy night, there were no horses in the whole army, and Oda Nobunaga walked around the ranks with his sick body, still in good spirits.

Along the way, he constantly greeted his loyal old subordinates, and quietly passed on the belief of victory.

According to Nobunaga's taciturn, hypocritical and pragmatic personality, it is natural that he can't say anything flowery and touching.

But he just calmly soothed his face and praised lightly: "Changzaburo, good job." "It can make the retainers feel extremely honored, radiant, and excited.

Or: "To be a left guard, you have to work harder!" Such words of encouragement immediately made the samurai, who had performed a little less, blush, gritted his teeth and swore to make a comeback.

It also includes special instructions left and right: "The deaths and injuries of the Lang Party should be recorded and must not be forgotten." The tone was flat but unmistakable, enough to convince everyone that the offspring of the victims would be properly cared for.

Of course, it was not because of Oda Nobunaga's demagogic tricks, but because of the bravery, clear distinction between rewards and punishments, meritocracy, and humanitarian care for soldiers that he had shown in his past two or three decades as a military leader.

How to win the sincere support of the military -- this question is actually not a puzzle that is difficult to solve. Everyone can say the answer in an orderly manner, but the mind is insufficient, and it is easier said than done.

There are so many heirs of the daimyo in the world, some people will be afraid that the sword and sword shadow will be too dangerous and avoid it, some people will not be able to stand the long march and toil, some will dislike mixing with the ashigaru peasant soldiers and lose their identity, some will worry that the promotion of low-level talents will cause dissatisfaction among the important ministers of the lineage, and some will be stingy to share the fruits of victory with those who have made meritorious contributions. When everyone ascended the throne, they felt that they could be of the same heart as the soldiers and the people together, but the reality was always unexpected.

There is no beginning, and there is an end.

Oda Nobunaga, who is almost forty years old, looks as unstoppable as the high-spirited teenager he was twenty years ago, except for his beard and wrinkles. It can't help but be impressive.

Especially after comparing with the successors, whether it is his son Oda Nobutada, or his confidant generals Shibata and Takikawa, they are not satisfactory in all aspects. The rest of Niwa Nagahide, who had the qualifications of a lieutenant general, Murai Sadakatsu, who had the same status as the head of the family, and Oda Nobubo, who had the highest prestige among the people, were killed in battle, and the only one who could unite the hearts of the people, Hirate Tsunohide, became close to the townspeople of Izumi and gradually distanced himself from his birth environment. As a result, in Kyoto, Omi, Ise, Mino, and Owari, many old subordinates who did not have enough speech to attract attention have long been nostalgic for Nobunaga's leadership.

This sentiment supported the soldiers to exert their strong willpower, build bridges and cross the river on rainy nights, and took advantage of the fact that firearms were difficult to use, defeated the front-line positions of the Western Army, and mastered the obvious first move.

If it weren't for the draw, Fan Xiu calmed down and resolutely shrank under the high-rise city and closed his door, the battle would probably have been over.

That's all there is to it. The superiority of the Western army's firearms had the advantage of defending the city, and at the tactical level it exceeded the standards of the sixteenth century, and it was by no means able to overcome it by a strong attack. It is also unrealistic to bypass the fortified city and attack the enemy's hinterland.

But Nobunaga was not discouraged.

I even somewhat agree with the talent of the main general on the opposite side - after all, in the case of the collapse of the front, it is not particularly easy to ensure that the formation still has enough morale to hold on.

Now Oda Nobunaga's plan is to retreat to the next best thing, vigorously publicize the fact that "the western army is trapped under the eastern army" and use a political offensive to make up for the military shortcomings.

In this era, the foundation of power is violence or potential violence, and the ability to dare to fight in the field and win in the field is the most important.

The tie gave up the field war, that is, gave up part of the power base.

Not to mention, his rise as the "guardian of the Three Kingdoms, exploring the South China Sea" is just a look in the last less than ten years, even if the clouds and rain are long sleeves and good at dancing, the accumulation is still limited.

As long as he is besieged for more than ten days, Shikoku and the subordinate forces of Dahe and Hanoi may be shaken.

During the siege of January, the meeting people of Kai Town, Ishiyama Ichijo Sect, must have reconsidered their policy.

After two or three months of siege, I am afraid that the people, temples, and townspeople of Izumi, Awaji, and Kii will not be able to sit still.

Of course, the Eastern Army also had to face great logistical difficulties and time pressures with the autumn harvest imminent. However, the best of both worlds is to find a way to weaken the tie to the greatest extent first.

Oda Nobunaga walked through the tent, seemingly making rounds, but in fact he was already thinking about the future.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki must be "properly arranged" to get rid of it, but can Tie Hatsuhide stay to balance Asai, Takenaka, and even Tokugawa and others?

Shibata, Kinoshita, and Akechi are certainly heroes of the world, but they are also heroes of extraordinary strength, and it is unknown that they may even be more terrible than those above in time, and I am afraid that it is not something that the kid of Wonder Pill can control.

At all, there is still a need to arrange more suitable people in Omi and Minami Omi, and the relationship between them must also be clarified. In the future, the Oda family will gradually change from conquest to control, and I am afraid that they will have to establish a law.

……

Pacing and wandering for a long time, while concentrating on his thoughts, he suddenly heard a frightened scream, and followed the sound, and three or five foot soldiers with flags on their backs rushed to the scene, shouting: "The left wing is in a hurry!" The words.

Hearing this, Nobunaga was mentally prepared, but he was not surprised, but frowned slightly, and asked, "Did the Pingshou army suddenly go out of the city to plunder the battle?" That kid from Shizaemon is now only known for being a regular soldier, but in the past, he learned from me to be good at using surprise attacks. ”

The soldier who gave the order said in panic: "The flat army in the city did not move, but the side Mikawa Tokugawa killed, and the wise lord could not stop it, and the battle retreated......"

Nobunaga was stunned for a moment, and only recovered after a while, frowning and shaking his head: "I didn't expect that the kid of the Tokugawa family would have such a castle!" I can actually endure the humiliation and unite with the Tie Clan, could it be that I underestimated ......"

Before the words fell, another person who looked like a high-ranking samurai came galloping over, and he made a nervous urgent report: "In the Lower Wise Army, Saito Toshizo, I am here to report to Danmasa!" In the Tokugawa army, there was no banner of Okazaki Hall (Tokugawa Nobuyasu) and Ishikawa Hall (Shumasa), but Mikawa Mamoru (Tokugawa Ieyasu) came in person, and Honda, Okubo and others were the vanguard, which was much more than our army expected! ”

At this time, Nobunaga finally became solemn and shocked, stroked his beard and couldn't speak for a long time, only to exhale deeply, and said calmly: "Little brother Takechiyo, I was bullied in Owari for several years, and it is not surprising that I have a heart for revenge. ”

Then his face changed, and he asked again: "Do you know how Shigeji Takenaka is?" ”

Saito Toshizo knelt down and said: "On the Takenaka side, it seems that some men and horses were also sent to aid our army and contain Tokugawa, but it did not play the slightest role, and it is suspected that it was just waving the flag and shouting on the spot, and did not really contribute to the battle." ”

"Hmph." Nobunaga sneered disdainfully: "Looking ahead and picking and choosing, it is the true nature of the so-called 'Kirin'." If you don't dare to bet, how can you win? It doesn't matter, Shibata has been resting for a long time, so he is wise to support. ”

"Yes! If we can get the support of Shibata-sama, we won't let the people of Mikawa go any further! Saito Toshizo expressed his determination, and Nobunaga nodded his head, agreeing with this state of mind that was both scrappy and not blindly optimistic.

As the order was issued, Shibata Katsuya and the others hurriedly assembled their ranks, picked up their blades, assembled and set off, and it only took a quarter of an hour or two to disappear from view to support Akechi Mitsuhide.

If the tie under the castle knew about this, he would have a chance to fight back. However, Nobunaga was not worried, but rather looked forward to it, and hoped that the enemy general would have the courage to give up the terrain advantage and go out of the castle to fight.

He didn't pay too much attention to the changes on the Tokugawa family's side.

It's just that the enemy army, which had agreed to defect, suddenly changed its attitude, and didn't regard them as the only hope.

It's just that in this way, it is necessary for Asai Nagamasa and Kuroda Takataka to make more concessions to urge them to join the war as soon as possible, so that they can achieve their goals.

It should not be a big problem, and various reasons such as geography and personality, as well as historical prospects, determined that it was difficult for the Asai clan to reconcile with the Hirate clan.

According to the prior analysis, the size, combat effectiveness, and fighting will of the Asai army were obviously stronger than those of the Nagamune and my ancestors, not to mention the incommendable people such as Miyoshi Yasunaga and Shihe Storage.

It can even be said that Takenaka's style of seeking too much stability and fighting passively is also expected. This attitude will not affect the battle situation, but can use his mentality to balance the princes in the future.

Oda Nobunaga, who has experienced a hundred battles, has long gone beyond the perspective of "loyalty" and "rebellion" to see the problem, and in the face of a sudden turn for the worse, he can still look at it calmly and rationally.

。 m.