Akechi Mitsuhide's attitude impressed Nobutada and the Oda family—or to be honest, they couldn't find a more suitable candidate, so he was sent as an emissary.

According to the expected plan, in his capacity as the shogunate, he will ask Asai Nagamasa to immediately give a reasonable explanation for everything that happened during this period and make his current position and attitude.

Finally, we set off on the afternoon of May 13th.

Ise Sadako's thigh was cut by a blade and he couldn't move, but after hearing about this time, he didn't say a word, and let the miscellaneous soldiers carry it with Akechi Mitsuhide. Obviously, both of them have a deep understanding of the cruelty of the troubled times of the Warring States.

Then everyone could only wait quietly.

At this moment, the Oda army was stationed in the eastern part of Settsu, near the junction of Yamashiro and Kawachi, resting, treating the wounded, gathering the rout, and regrouping the ranks.

The Asai Army, on the other hand, stayed about 20 towns (22 km) west after a long journey. The distance between the two sides is not far away, but it is not close, which can be called delicate.

It was tiresome to wait for the time limit, but at this time there was no other way for everyone to think about, the whole army was too tired and confused, whether it was war or peace, east and west, it would always take a few days to rectify before they could continue the next move.

This evening, the latest news came from Gifu Castle.

Due to the sudden hunting and killing of the underground intelligence officers, the Oda family has sent dozens of heavily armed cavalry to escort the letters in the past few days, which ensures safety, but also significantly reduces the speed.

It is said that 30,000 people of the Asakura army entered Mino, killed people everywhere, set fires, raped and plundered. The local lords, led by An Teng Shou, saw that their land was damaged, and strongly demanded to go out of the castle to fight, and Kawajiri Hidetaka and Hayashi Xiuzhen, who were appointed to stay in the castle, could not resist the pressure and had to agree.

The two sides formed a formation outside Fifty Town (about 54 km) southwest of Gifu Castle across the Nagara River. Kawajiri Hidetaka had a full plan in his hands, including only 16,000 miscellaneous soldiers, so he planned to use static braking to lure the enemy to take the initiative to attack, and then launch the main force to attack its weak links while halfway through, and Lin Xiuzhen also agreed.

The strategy was good, but unfortunately the two of them did not have enough prestige to subdue their generals. Minono's clan Bu Quanxiang came from the Asakura family, who looked down on the weak Wen Yong, and not long after the war began, he could not stand the provocation and took the initiative to cross the river to attack, although it was smooth at first, but gradually fell into a bitter battle.

Then Inaba Yitetsu, An Teng Shou, and Bu Po Guangji attacked on their own without waiting for orders in order to rescue their old friends. The 6,000 troops of the Mino people all broke away from the original front. They were quite strong, holding down the larger number of enemy troops, but also exposing the flanks of friendly forces.

Niwa Clan Katsu was immediately attacked from both the front and the side, and was defeated, and Mizuno Nobumoto, who was a reserve, was also shocked and disorganized, and the result was that the battle only started for half an hour, and almost only 4,000 people were left in the main formation of Kawajiri Hidetaka and Hayashi Xiuzhen, fighting against about three times the enemy army alone! In addition, only Oda Nagayoshi, the brother-in-law of Honhide, led a group of 1,500 troops to kill the two ashigaru generals of the Asakura family, and achieved a little success, but it was also a drop in the bucket.

At this critical moment, the enemy army suddenly became dusty behind the enemy, the ground shook, and there were signs of a large group of men and horses, and the Asakura family mistakenly thought that the army was coming back, and hurriedly Mingjin withdrew his troops, which allowed the soldiers of the Oda family to escape back to Gifu Castle.

After returning home, I learned that it was the Takenaka Hanbei, who was living in seclusion, and gathered a group of people who had been favored by him in advance, caught hundreds of wild deer, mountain monkeys, and young chickens, tied flags and branches to the animals, and released them at a critical moment as a suspicious plan.

Kawajiri Hidetaka then accused the Mino trio of not obeying orders and leaving the line without permission, but the latter in turn mocked the Owari people for being too weak and easily collapsing, and they were tense for a while. It was the Takenaka Hanbei who applied to enter the city and did the coordination work, so that the two sides temporarily put aside their contradictions and agreed to the outside world.

Around the same time, Oda Nobutada received two letters, one from Hidetaka Kawajiri and one from Mori Yasu.

Kawajiri blamed Anteng, and Anteng was also very dissatisfied with Kawajiri, but the two of them were full of praise for Takenaka's half-guards in unison, and suggested that Takenaka should be appointed as the acting officer left behind!

Although that guy is theoretically a ronin now, not even a retainer of the Oda family......

When they saw this news, everyone was not too surprised, mainly because they had been stunned too many times recently, and they already had strong resistance.

But Hira, who had a little friendship with Takenaka's Hanbei, couldn't help but think about some more things: in other words, Takenaka refused to go out of office back then, because Nobunaga was too tough and dictatorial, and there were too many capable people under his command, so it was difficult to get ahead in the short term, and Hanbei's temperament was that he would rather be the head of the chicken than the queen of the ox.

Now Nobunaga lives in seclusion in the shogunate, Niwa Nagahide, Mori Kasei, Murai Sadakatsu and others are dead, and Oda Nobutada is too young to be independent - maybe Takenaka Hanbei will take the opportunity to come to the fore and re-release the edge that has been gathering for several years!

"Minong Kirin" has been living in dormancy for five years, and maybe it is such an opportunity that he is waiting for.

If you don't make a sound, it's just a blockbuster; If you don't fly, it's just a skyrocket.

It's a pity that the tie team can't give him such a good space and opportunity to play.

Oda Nobutada hesitated when he saw the letter, and asked his retainers how Takenaka was doing.

Shibata Katsuie said: "He is loyal and trustworthy, proficient in military law, and is indeed a rare talent." ”

Takigawa Yiyi added: "This person is Wang Zuo's great talent, once he wants to be used, he must be given a heavy responsibility, otherwise he will be secretly invested in the pearl." ”

Ikeda Tsuneko, who had recovered a little, echoed: "Danmasa-sama (Nobunaga) used to say that Takenaka was good enough to be Oda's patriarch, but he didn't get the time. ”

Oda Nobutei and Oda Nobutoki, two members of the public who have never dared to speak on military topics, Takei Yuan, who pursued the highest status in the public after the death of Murai Sadakatsu, and Sugaya Nagayori and others who were close to the pen head of the previous generation, also made positive comments on Takenaka Hanbei.

His connections are visible.

Of course, there is no need to do it against the draw, and further analyzed: "Now that the Mino people have signs of instability, and the Takenaka Hanbei has a high status in the hearts of the Mino people, he can be used to mend this rift." ”

Hearing this, Oda Nobutada finally made up his mind, ordered someone to reply to the letter, and agreed to immediately hire Takenaka Hanbei with a "high salary", and asked Kawajiri Hidetaka and Hayashi Hidesada to follow his advice.

After dealing with this matter, two more rumors were received, which were not so important.

First of all, I learned that Echigo Uesugi Kenshin's movements were finally clarified, and that guy was invited by the Asai family to send Chisaka Keikin, a quasi-sectarian member of the sect, to Omi for a diplomatic visit with a huge delegation of 500 people, and he had no intention of participating in the dispute. When the mission arrived, it saw that the situation was unstable and withdrew.

Another is that after Ashikaga Yoshiaki issued the imperial letter, the troops of the "King of Qin" who came from all over the country arrived in Kyoto one after another, and it is now close to 20,000. These grass-like people obviously don't have much sincere loyalty, and they gather just to take advantage of the good wind, beat the water dogs, and pick up a little cheap.

As a result, the reason for Kanesaki's retreat gradually surfaced, and although the mastermind behind the scenes was not clear, some signs could probably be guessed.

All in all, the truth of the matter is extremely regretful, Nobunaga was forced to live in seclusion, and Niwa Nagahide, Mori Kasei, Murai Sadakatsu, Oda Nobubo and others were killed, all due to errors in judgment and falling for the enemy's tricks.

But at this point, everyone can only look forward.

In the early morning of 14 May, Wise Mitsuhide went and returned, saying the words "fortunate not to disgrace his life".

Then Asai Nagamasa really sent two representatives, went to the Ashikaga family and the Oda family respectively, and made a promise in a matter-taking manner: "Bizen-sama (Nagamasa's self-proclaimed) has absolutely nothing to do with the assassination of Oda Danmasa!" Collusion with Asakura is the own initiative of those left behind, Bizen-sama will draw a line with Asai Hisasa, sever the friendship between father and son, and make a vow to personally lead troops to crusade against the thieves and clean up the portal! If there is a disobedience, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed, and the children and grandchildren will be harmed! ”

Listeners know that this oath is insignificant, and is no different from expelling some kind of odorous gas from the buttock organs. But finally solved the urgent need, no longer need to worry about life and death, and breathed a sigh of relief.

Oda Nobutada sighed with some emotion: "In such a time of crisis, fortunately, there is wisdom in the front, and there is Takenaka in the back, and people with lofty ideals to help; Of course, thanks to the hard work of Tie and Takikawa, he will be rewarded in the future! In addition, the victims who shed blood for my Oda family will never be forgotten. The calamities suffered today will be remembered in our hearts and turned into future efforts! ”