On September 10th, the Shangluo army was like a behemoth, pulling out the village under the city of Guanyin Temple, and slowly marched to the west. The ranks of the 75,000-strong army stretched long and long on the land of Minami Omi, and the vanguard troops had already arrived at the stone department, and the baggage team behind had not yet left the castle of Kannonji. Along the way, thousands of people hid far away in the mountains or on the edge of the fields, looking at this dragon-like team from afar with complex eyes containing countless emotions such as anticipation, admiration, and horror.

On 11 September, the Allied vanguard set up camp at Kusatsu 13 miles east of Seta (where Miyoshi's 55,000-strong army was stationed). On September 13, the allied forces arrived in Kusatsu and expanded a camp in Kusatsu that was as large as the camp under the castle of Kannonji Temple. And not far to the west of them, the camp of the Miyoshi family was also overwhelmingly located there. A large number of small towns, rock barricades, and fortifications have long been built. If you want to enter Kyoto from Minami-Omi, you must pass through Seda.

Because the Yamashiro Province, where Kyoto and Nijo Castle are located, got its name because it is surrounded by mountains. The dividing line between Yamashiro Province and Omi Province is the two huge mountain areas to the east, the Hira Mountains and the Kasaki Mountains. The official roads between Yamashiro Province and Omi Province are made up of valleys between these mountains. Several valleys connecting Omi Province and Yamashiro Province pass through Seda. If you want to get around Seta and enter Kyoto, you have to climb the mountains and rivers to get a chance - and this may allow two or three caravans to pass, but it is not a road that a large army can pass through.

If Kasaki Mountain and Hira Mountain are the eastern gates of Yamashiro Province, then Seta is the lock on the gate. If you can't unlock it, you can't talk about anything. The 55,000-strong army of the Miyoshi family is enough to keep Seta airtight, making Shangluo's army sigh.

The confrontation lasted for more than half a month, and even though the Oda family repeatedly challenged, the Miyoshi family made up their minds and couldn't hold on, just refusing to face the battle. The granary of the Miyoshi family is in the main castle of the Miyoshi family, Iimoriyama Castle, only about 80 miles from the Seta front. The supply lines of the coalition forces are almost 200 miles. What's more, the number of coalition troops is more than 30% more than that of the Miyoshi family, and their consumption of grain and grass far exceeds that of the Miyoshi family.

Moreover, it has been stationed abroad for a long time, but it is difficult to find a war, and the morale of the coalition forces is gradually declining. In addition to the samurai, who are always excited to go down in history, many low-level Ashigaru already have a war-weary mood. In order to reverse the decline, the coalition decided to take the initiative after a day of discussion.

On 1 October, the coalition forces left the auxiliaries in the camp and pulled all 75,000 soldiers and auxiliaries out of the camp and lined up on the plains. 50,000 auxiliary soldiers have built countless siege equipment, from siege turrets and watchtowers to ladders and rams, waiting to greet Miyoshi's iron wall.

And the Miyoshi family was not to be outdone, and the 55,000 army guarded the camp, no matter how the coalition forces attacked, they still stood still. The coalition forces fought hard for a day, but failed to form a major breakthrough, and had no choice but to collect troops and return to the camp.

That night, a violent quarrel broke out at the assessment meeting of the coalition forces.

"It's already clear, if the Miyoshi family sticks to Seda, we won't be able to do anything at all." Asakura Yoshikei has always regarded himself very highly, believing that the Asakura family is a famous family and should become the commander of the Kamiluo coalition army, but he was robbed of the limelight by Oda Nobunaga's dirt bun, so he was very dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga's command. And since Oda Nobunaga commanded, he first rubbed in Kusatsu for half a month, and it was rare to fight once and get nothing, which made his distrust of Oda Nobunaga completely explode. Originally, the Asakura family was the farthest away from their home country, Echizen, and the grain and grass supply line was the longest, and the most grain and grass were consumed. The contradictions are superimposed, making him very irritable now, and he has been shouting: "Withdraw the army!" Retire! ”

"Your Highness Asakura, please be calm for a while." After a day of fighting, Ashikaga Yoshiki was also very dissatisfied. The reason why he had endured the rudeness of Oda Nobunaga and his subordinates was that he believed that they would help him return to Kyoto. But now it seems that the coalition forces are helpless to defend the iron bucket of the Miyoshi family, which makes Ashikaga Yoshiki angry. If you retire now, won't all the grievances you suffered before be in vain? So, he could only endure his anger and forcibly appease Asakura Yoshikage.

"This is a battle that the whole world is concerned about, but the Miyoshi family is only closed like cowards, which is really a shame for the samurai." Asai Nagamasa seems to be very dissatisfied with the Miyoshi family's strategy, "Why don't you come to fight in a dignified manner?" Can defense change something? Disadvantage can only be reversed by joint battle! ”

In the face of such a great interest, how many samurai will be like you, Nagamasa? Yu Qiuping, who was sitting in the lower position, looked at Asai Nagamasa, and said in his heart: The Miyoshi family knows very well in their hearts, the supply line of the coalition army is too long, and the people are not aligned, as long as it drags on, the coalition army will collapse without a fight. Back then, Dong Zhuo faced the fierce pursuit of the princes of the Eighteenth Route of the Kwantung Province, and just burned Luoyang to retreat, didn't the alliance collapse on its own?

"In any case, retreat is impossible." Oda Nobunaga glanced around everyone present with an unusually resolute gaze, "This time Kamilo is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The Matsunaga family had already been defeated by our Oda family in the previous joint battle, and they couldn't help the Miyoshi family. If the Matsunaga family were to breathe, they would have more than 70,000 people. Do you think there's a chance of winning? Isn't it just that you haven't beaten for a day, are you like this? ”

"And those who dare to retreat—" Oda Nobunaga said in a threatening tone, dragging out his voice.

"Cut." Seeing this, Asakura Yoshikyo snorted coldly, "Today, the coalition army has suffered almost 2,000 casualties in one day, and a strong attack is not a way at all." His Royal Highness Oda didn't let him retreat, but he tried to find a way to get out? ”

Asakura Yoshikei's rhetorical question made Oda Nobunaga a little unable to get off the stage for a while, after all, he couldn't come up with a good solution. He coughed, and turned his gaze to his subordinates, the elders and retainers of the Oda family, and motioned for them to find a way to get out. Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori, Niwa Nagahide, Yuaki and others all looked at each other and were at a loss.

The assessment room suddenly fell silent, and the atmosphere in the air was a little awkward. At this delicate moment, a faint "Lord Grace" came from the distant door. Everyone looked at each other and found that it was Kinoshita Hideyoshi, who was sitting at the door, who had spoken. He was one of the lowest-ranking samurai who could attend the meeting, so he was arranged to sit at the door.

"Who is Your Excellency? Is it your turn to speak here? Are the samurai of the Oda family so ignorant of etiquette? Asakura Yoshikei glanced at where Kinoshita Hideyoshi was sitting, and realized that this was at most a general, and asked with disdain.

"This monkey is really not big or small." Seeing this, Sakuma Nobumori snorted coldly, "Don't spill on this occasion and throw the Oda family's face outside." ”

However, Oda Nobunaga did not blame Kinoshita Hideyoshi, but nodded at him and motioned for him to express his opinion. Kinoshita Hideyoshi took a deep breath, looked at the big people in the hall, and mustered up the courage to speak: "I suggest a surprise attack!" ”

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"Surprise attack?" Oda Nobunaga was stunned when he heard this, and asked in confusion: "Seta is choked, so the road has to pass through Seda, where did you surprise from?" ”

"From Lake Biwa!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi was taken aback by the tone of this rhetorical question, and said in a loud voice with some trembling.

"Lake Biwa?" Oda Nobunaga's eyes flashed, and he strode to the place where the map was hanging in the tent with his hands behind his back, "Tell me about it." ”

"Lord's grace!" Seeing this, Kinoshita Hideyoshi also rolled around with a monkey and straightened up, quickly moved to the edge of the map with small steps, and gestured with his finger on the map: "We can send a special force and go back to Moriyama, and from there we will look for boats, cross Lake Biwa, and reach the west shore of Lake Biwa, that is, Anata and Kata!" Then, go around the mountains to the north, pass by Enryakuji Temple, and go around the mountains north of Kyoto and drive straight to Kyoto! ”

"Cut!" "What nonsense?" "Where did this lowly samurai come from?" "This monkey is really a disgrace to the Oda family." "Whimsical, where does that work?"

As soon as Kinoshita Hideyoshi's words fell, a huge sound of ridicule and ridicule sounded in the big tent. His face flushed all at once, and the veins on his forehead bulged, and he glared angrily at those who looked down on him.

"You're too risky." Oda Nobunaga was still pinching the mustache on his chin and was pondering, and Akechi Mitsuhide spoke first: "The path you said I walked on is just a trail for the monks of Enryakuji Temple to practice, and no army has ever passed through it, and it can't be passed by a large army at all. ”

"There is no need for an army down there." Kinoshita Hideyoshi bowed to Akechi Mitsuhideichi, and then explained: "I don't need to bring auxiliaries, just 500 soldiers, with five days' rations on my body, and go to the surprise attack." ”

"Five days? That's just enough food for the time you go! And if you can't carry so much food, you'll definitely have to go hungry and be full. Yu Qiuping couldn't help but remind when he heard this: "That's basically no return!" In the unlikely event of a surprise attack, your entire army will starve to death there! And this road is rarely walked, and it's hard to say whether it can pass 500 people! Calm down, it's too dangerous! ”

"Wealth and danger are begging!" Kinoshita Hideyoshi looked at Yu Qiuping gratefully, and rubbed his hands a little uneasily, "If it succeeds, Kyoto will be taken!" It's a risk worth taking! ”

"If you succeed, Kyoto won't be able to take it." Shibata Katsuie's urn said angrily: "There must be someone left behind in Kyoto by the Miyoshi family, and your 500 people who have no siege equipment are exhausted, how can you fight Kyoto?" ”

"Besides, Miyoshi Yoshiken is densely populated with ninjas in the area, and the whereabouts of your 500 people are likely to be exposed." Takigawa Kazuki, who was born as a ninja, also poured cold water and said: "It is very likely that you will be discovered, and then we will send troops to destroy you, and we will not be able to save you if we want to." ”

"Your Highnesses' kindness is in your heart, but it doesn't matter if you can't beat it or be discovered." Kinoshita Hideyoshi took another deep breath and explained, "As long as I can attract the attention of the Miyoshi family and force him to send troops to fight me, won't the main force of the coalition army have a chance?" It's better than freezing here and wasting food and grass! ”

Since Kinoshita Hideyoshi has talked about this, Yuqiu and others are not easy to persuade again. The samurai of the foreign kingdom scoffed at this crazy suggestion, waiting to see the grumpy Oda Nobunaga reprimand him. However, to everyone's surprise, Oda Nobunaga actually nodded thoughtfully, and said in a deep voice, "Okay, monkey, Yu has approved your plan." ”

"What?" There was an uproar in the big tent for a moment, and everyone felt that Kinoshita Hideyoshi was crazy, and even Oda Nobunaga was crazy. However, the madman master and servant seemed to be like-minded and looked at each other tacitly.

"It's just that the lord has only more than a hundred soldiers in his hands, and the number is not enough? Can you borrow more than 300 people from other people's homes? Kinoshita Hideyoshi cautiously made another request.

"Okay, you can borrow it, as long as the person wants, you can borrow as much as you want." Oda Nobutaga agreed casually.

"Who would borrow someone to accompany you to death?" Sasa Narumasa, who was standing behind Oda Nobunaga, snorted disdainfully, and he also spoke the hearts of everyone present. Kinoshita Hideyoshi's surprise attack is almost a life of nine deaths. More than 300 soldiers said that less is not less, and no one is willing to give up casually.

"No one?" Oda Nobunaga swept around, spread his hands helplessly, and said, "Then I'll lend you some troops from the Southern Omi Hao clan, that Kamo family seems to be good." ”