Asai Nagamasa strode into the house, and after a few glances, he saw a heroic military commander standing on the edge of a pillar, holding a bloody katana. And inside the house, almost ten Ashigaru and samurai of the Asai family have fallen horizontally.

"Who's coming?" The samurai glanced at Asai Nagamasa, who was dressed in gorgeous clothes, realized that it was a big man, and immediately asked.

"Asai Bizen Chomasa." Asai Nagamasa glanced at the samurai of the Miyoshi family and reported his name with great respect. His words immediately caused an exclamation from the Ashigaru samurai of the Miyoshi family in the house.

"Asai Nagamasa?" "The Omi Eagle?" "The head of the Asai family?"

"What is His Highness Asai doing here, I will not accept any persuasion. If you want to negotiate, please go to the lord below to talk, and if you say it yourself, you can report it on your behalf. The military general of the Miyoshi family glanced at Asai Nagamasa, put his sword back into its sheath very cautiously, and asked in a low voice.

"Your Excellency, please have your first name." However, Asai Nagamasa didn't seem to have the intention of negotiating, and asked directly.

"In the lower Shichijo Kanaka." Shichijo Kanenaka reported his name, and immediately made the faces of several guards behind Asai Nagamasa tense. Shichijo Kanenaka was a wealthy clan of Awa, a well-known strong man in the Miyoshi Yixian Army, and his martial prowess was widely spread.

"Shichijo-sama, what are you doing with your sword?" Asai Nagamasa asked in surprise when he saw that Kanenaka Shichijo had already put his knife back into its sheath.

"What does His Highness Asai mean?" Shichijo Kanenaka asked rhetorically in a tone that was even more surprised than Asai Nagamasa.

"If you don't draw your sword, will you fight me with your bare hands?" Asai Nagamasa smiled and pulled out his sword from its sheath, aimed at Shichijo Kanenaka, and put on a heads-up pose, "Please advise." ”

"What?" Asai Nagamasa's words immediately detonated the house again, and the soldiers of the Miyoshi family and the guards of Asai Nagamasa were all shocked, but they didn't expect that Asai Nagamasa was the head of the family, and he actually personally launched a cavalry attack on the other party's low-level samurai - and he was a strong man.

However, despite the obstruction of the guards behind him, Asai Nagamasa took two steps forward in spite of it, until he reached the front of Kannaka Shichijo. Shichijo Kannaka hesitated for a moment, but slowly drew his knife and took a position against Asai Nagamasa.

Just as the two sides nodded to each other and signaled the start of the cavalry, Asai Nagamasa immediately rushed forward with two sword steps with lightning speed, aiming at the eyebrows of Shichijo Kanenaka.

"So fast!" Kannaka Shichijo exclaimed in his heart. He is a power-type general, agility and dodging have never been what he is good at, and Asai Nagamasa's speed is so amazing that he has no time to dodge, so he can only slash fiercely, trying to force Asai Nagamasa back. He knew that if Asai Nagamasa didn't stop, both sides would end up together. And if he tries to block, then with his superior strength, he is very sure to overturn Asai Nagamasa directly.

However, just before he could react, Asai Nagamasa suddenly slammed his left foot, and the whole person soared into the air, and his body spun almost parallel to the ground and flew over. The slashing sword swung the ground under him and cut off his belt. And Shichijo Kananaka, who couldn't dodge, was stabbed in the face by Asai Nagamasa and killed with one move.

After Asai Nagamasa begged for the death of Shichijo Kanenaka, he took a front flip by inertia and landed steadily. Then, standing next to the corpse of Shichijo Kanenaka who was still bleeding from Juanjuan, he looked around at the Miyoshi family Ashigaru who was present. Those ashigaru people saw that their adults, who were also among the best warriors in the Awa country, were actually picked off by Asai Nagamasa's move, and they were all stunned and stunned one by one. After a few moments, I don't know who took the lead, and I hastily exited the house.

As soon as the Miyoshi army retreated on the front foot, Isono Yuanchang rushed in on the back foot. He was already sweating profusely in a hurry, and he was followed by a dozen banner warriors.

"Lord, what are you doing here?" After hearing that Asai Nagamasa actually went into battle in person and went to the most difficult room just now, Isono was so shocked that his soul was about to come out, and he hurriedly ran over with someone.

"His Royal Highness Oda has ordered the whole army to speed up the attack, I heard that the progress is too slow, so I will come to the front line to take a look." When Asai Nagamasa heard this, he said in a deep voice nonchalantly: "As a samurai, you should naturally be on the front line. Isono-sama can't forget the duty of the samurai. ”

·

At this moment, Oda Nobunaga had set up his own main camp at Kiyomizudera Temple on Mt. Otowa and informed the armies of the location of the main formation. After that, all the liaison and communication, the messenger will go back and forth between the formation and the various reserves.

After the Miyoshi family abandoned Mt. Otowaba, the battle situation on the plains was basically controlled by the Oda family. Even if the Miyoshi family tries to fight back, as long as Mt. Otowa is in the hands of the Oda family, it won't be able to make any waves. The Oda army could launch a condescending attack from Mt. Otowa and easily crush any enemies around them that might exist.

However, Oda Nobunaga, who was in charge of Kiyomizuji Temple, was very depressed because he had no battle to fight. Asai Nagamasa of the Northern Route Army led 7,500 soldiers to besiege 3,000 soldiers of Miyoshi Yoshiken, while Asakura Yoshikei of the South Route also led 6,000 soldiers to confront the 3,000 soldiers of Ataka Fuyasu and Araki Murashige at the foot of Higashiyama Mountain. However, with the most abundant troops, he could only let 8,500 soldiers be empty on Mt. Otowaba. The remaining 10,000 or so soldiers of the Miyoshi family have not yet appeared, and it is estimated that they are hidden in Kyoto, Nijo Castle, and many temples on the west bank of the Kamogawa River. There are so many temples and buildings there that even if you stand on Mt. Otowa, you can't see the layout inside.

"My lord, do you want to attack the west immediately?" The Maeda Toshiya who was following Oda Nobunaga was already suffocating. Several of his friends, Ikeda Hengxing, Yu Qiuping, Mori Kecheng and others, had already gone to the north to fight, and he was the only one who stayed on Mt. Otowa in the middle road and had nothing to do. This is a great battle that will go down in history, and if you miss it, there will be no more, and if a samurai who participates in this battle cannot make a difference but can only watch from the sidelines, it will become a lifelong regret.

"Yes, my lord! Let's go northwest, lay down the Rokuparamiji Temple, and then cross the Kamogawa River to fight Nijo Castle or cover Kyoto! Let's go southwest, lay down Chisa Temple and Sanjusangendo, and then cross the Kamogawa River to go to Tojiji Temple! It's all there! It's better than standing here and watching! Yoshiyuki Sawaki also shouted indignantly and asked for war.

Many samurai with strong blood and strength value honor more than life, how can they tolerate inaction in such a great battle! Therefore, it was not only Maeda Toshiya and Sawaki Yoshiyuki who asked Oda Nobunaga to fight. Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori and other important ministers have already sent envoys to Kiyomizu Temple one after another, urging Oda Nobunaga to send troops as soon as possible.

"Wait, we have to see the enemy's deployment first." However, Niwa Nagahide always persuaded Oda Nobunaga not to worry, "This Otowa Mountain is too important, just like the tendons of a game of chess, as long as you control here, you can guarantee undefeated, don't worry." ”

"They are not in a hurry, they are still in a hurry!" Oda Nobunaga himself was a little impatient at the moment, and he opened the folding fan very irritably, fanned the wind, and took a few deep breaths: "I think the repair doctor can't do a good job of the empty city plan, Nijo Castle and Kyoto are both empty cities, leaving 6,000 soldiers to delay us, and the others have already withdrawn." ”

"Speed up, you can't drag him out until dark." After thinking for a moment, Oda Nobunaga closed the fan and nodded in the direction of the north, "Migoro, take your people to reinforce the Northern Route Army, and quickly take down the Okazaki Shrine." Before lunch, give me Kyoto! ”

·

At the beginning of the season, Oda Nobunaga sent 800 soldiers led by Niwa Nagahide to reinforce the Northern Route Army. Seeing that he was in danger of being outflanked, Yoshiken Miyoshi did not hesitate to abandon Okazaki Shrine and began to retreat to the west. And Asai Nagamasa immediately met with Niwa Nagahide, and led more than 8,000 soldiers of the Northern Route Army to chase after him.

The east bank of the Kamogawa River is not as dense as the west bank, with less temples and buildings. Between Okazaki Shrine and Kamogawa Ferry, there isn't much to block from the building. Apart from the many temples at the ferry port, as well as Ginkaku-ji Temple and Chionji Temple to the north, there are no major buildings. As a result, both armies moved unusually quickly.

At four o'clock, the Northern Route Army had already chased to the ferry side of the Kamogawa River. And when he got here, Miyoshi Yoshiken didn't seem to have any intention of retreating, because as long as he crossed this ferry, Kyoto was behind him. After retreating to the west bank of the Kamogawa River, he immediately sent men to take control of several bridges and shoals that were easy to cross, intending to resolutely hold back the Northern Route Army here.

At this time, the vanguard of the Northern Route Army had been replaced by 1,400 soldiers of Mori Kecheng and Takigawa Kazuki. All the samurai and ashigaru were already able to clearly see the outline of Kyoto on the other side of the Kamogawa River, and they were all excited. They didn't do much repairing, and immediately launched a fierce attack on the Miyoshi family's position.

Takigawa Kazuki's retainer Hidemasa Tsuda was originally the concubine of the Oda family, so he also received the surname Tsuda. He was arranged by Oda Nobunaga under the account of Takigawa Ichiyi as his strength. Because of this relationship, Hidemasa Tsuda is very valued by Takigawa Kazuki. At such a critical moment, he was appointed by Takigawa Kazuki as the commander of the vanguard. If he succeeds in crossing the Kamogawa River, he will be able to become the first high-ranking samurai of the coalition forces to enter Kyoto, and it will also give Oda Nobunaga a face.

In the face of such a tempting and great honor, no samurai could restrain himself, not Hidemasa Tsuda, nor did Mori Koseru, who had personally come to the front line and commanded the Mori family's troops to carry out a strong attack. However, Miyoshi's defense was unusually tenacious. Seeing that the progress was not fast, Asai Nagamasa had repeatedly sent people to urge, saying that if Takigawa Kazuyi and Mori Kesei could not make progress again, he would personally lead the eagle to prepare for battle. Seeing that the honor of his hand was about to fly, Hidemasa Tsuda couldn't help but be anxious, he was only 22 years old this year, and he was also a young man with strong blood, personally wearing armor and carrying a knife, and rushed to the front line.