After the captain's affairs came to an end, Yu Qiupei asked Mizenzaki Nakahide to leave Takaya Castle with the 600 veterans and a group of officers who were rationed Hosoyanagi Bei, and went to Maple Leaf Mountain Castle to train Takenaka Shigeji. The recruits will soon be trained on the front line of Takaya Castle by Yasunari Fukushima and Charlie. According to the rules, all new recruits are trained to the standard of pikemen to cultivate their discipline and team spirit. Among the veterans, 450 people were selected to train iron artillery.

After everything was done, Yu Qiuping went to inspect the cavalry training ground in the town of Takaya Castle in the north of the castle. The cavalry of the Yuqiu family had suffered a loss in their previous combat effectiveness, and it had been replaced by newly trained cavalry. But the combat effectiveness of the cavalry made Yu Qiuping feel a little worried-the cavalry of Yamato has never been known for being good at fighting, but the cavalry of the Yuqiu family can't even beat them in the dignified hedge. So, Yu Qiuping found a cavalry officer such as Nominee Anayama, Kohata Jiesheng, and Maeda Keiji to discuss with him.

"Your Highness, I told you ten years ago that you can't train cavalry in the same way that you train infantry." As soon as Keiji Maeda heard Yu Qiuping mention this, he immediately complained.

As he spoke, he pointed to the cavalry on the school field who were training in a neat queue, they were lined up in a horizontal and vertical phalanx, and the distance between the two riders was very close, and the two adjacent riders were required to clamp a rattan plaque together with their knees. Keeping such a close distance, everyone charged and marched in unison, without disjointed, untidy cards and scattered queues, and rattan cards could not fall to the ground - this was the way the Yuqiu family had trained cavalry for ten years.

"You always say that this way you can practice discipline, and you always say that this way can practice everyone's equestrian skills, but the cavalry does not rely on discipline at all! When it really came to the battlefield, everyone was scattered in formation and fought separately, one-on-one rushing and killing, and they all competed with their own riding and slashing skills! You can't use your infantry in a coordinated, dense formation! ”

The more Keiji Maeda spoke, the more angry he became, and he exaggerated a few gestures and said, "Who would line up the cavalry in a phalanx and fight on the opposite side?" It's all when everyone spreads out and loosens the formation to charge! Maintain such a dense formation, and people rushing over from the opposite side can't dodge! Moreover, the horse can't run fast at all, and the side with the slow horse speed is sent to death in the cavalry hedge! You see that you have been practicing in the queue for so long, and when you really get to the battlefield, don't we still spread out and charge in formation? I don't need it at all! Your Highness, you formulated such a training method just to fight with me at that time, but you killed the cavalry of the Yuqiu family! ”

"Didn't you find a problem before!" Yu Qiuping was told the sore spot by Keiji Maeda, and admitted his mistake with some embarrassment, "The cavalry was basically used to cover, investigate, and pursue before, and there were not many frontal hedging experiences - and we didn't suffer a loss in frontal hedging at that time!" ”

"Anyway, it's going to be changed anyway! Do as you say, change the way you train. Yu Qiuping patted his head, admitting his mistake to Keiji Maeda, "Train everyone a lot of riding and chopping skills!" Don't even beat the cavalry of the Matsunaga family. ”

·

On April 22, the invasion of the Honganji family came. However, the Yuqiu family, who had been prepared for a long time, was not too flustered. The people took refuge in the nearby fortresses, and the Honganji army, which lacked siege equipment, had no choice but to cut off their communication with the fortresses garrisoned by the Hanoi garrison and try to surround the castle.

At this time, Hosoyanagi Bei, who had been on standby for a long time, immediately went out and relieved the besieged castles one by one under the command of Nakahide Gozensaki. Although Hosoyanagi has not been training for a long time, after all, there are 800 veterans there to support it, and the combat effectiveness is very high. Instead, Nakahide took advantage of the fact that the Honganji family did not understand the details of this new army, and forced the vanguard of Honganji back to the area around the Neya River.

By the time Honganji finally realized that this army under the banner of willow branches was an elite army of the Yuqiu system like Chang Pan Bei and Ming Di Bei, and was by no means comparable to a ragtag army like the Hanoi garrison troops, they had already missed the warplane. Important passes and ferries were occupied by Hosoyanagi, which was defended by 450 iron cannons and a dense network of water, making it difficult for Honganji to make a large-scale advance into Hanoi.

After Honganji made a move to the Oda family and sought peace with the Miyoshi family, the Miyoshi family was able to pull out their hands and march into Higashisetsu. The Oda army relied on Akutagawa Yamajo and Takatsuki Castle as the line of defense and fought a big battle with the Miyoshi family. Relying on the hard work of the Shibata Katsu family, he barely repelled the attack of the Miyoshi family.

Just when the situation was extremely stalemate, something unexpected happened to the Oda family. Originally, they were eager to try, and it seemed that they were going to destroy the Miyoshi family of the Oda family in one fell swoop, as well as the Honganji and Matsunaga families, who had just been in a hurry to break with the Oda family and start a war, all suspended their offensive and withdrew to the territory instead. Now that the autumn harvest is still some time away, there is no reason why they would be in such a hurry to leave. However, although Oda Nobunaga didn't figure it out, he also decided to withdraw his troops when he saw this, after all, a large number of his troops were stranded in, and the supply pressure on the Noo area was too great.

The dark clouds that had been condensed over suddenly dispersed without warning, taking everyone by surprise. Except for those few insiders.

·

"What's going on? How did you do this? In a small remote temple in Yamashiro Province, Ashikaga Yoshiki was scolding at Matsunaga Shu who was secretly lurking here, "I'm ready to start the next step!" What are you doing here! Why did the fence suddenly stop? ”

"My friend in the east had a little accident, and I can't act for the time being." Matsunaga Shu faced Ashikaga Yoshiteru's scolding, but he was not angry at all, and whispered unhurriedly.

"What's wrong? Didn't I promise everything, the north side is up to me, and there will be no worries! Ashikaga Yoshiteru seemed to feel that his authority was being questioned, and added angrily.

"No, don't get me wrong." Matsunaga twitched the corners of his mouth without smiling, "It's just that I'm old and my health isn't very good." ”

"So what now? The arrow is on the string and has to be sent. Ashikaga Yoshiki turned his back and didn't look at the Matsunaga Show, but looked at the endless mountains to the east, "I've been planning for so long, in case he doesn't get better, it may not be like that!" ”

"Please rest assured. In any case, this winter, it must be possible. Matsunaga raised his eyebrows, picked up the teacup in front of him, took a deep sip of tea, and sighed in a low voice: "That person, even if he gambles his life, he will come to see Kyoto." ”

·

On September 3, the weather turned cooler, and the situation in dropped to freezing again. Anzhai Dongkang, Miyoshi Changyi, and Miyoshi Yixing once again assembled at Hosen, intending to attack Nam Hanoi. However, in the past few months, Yu Thu Binh has absorbed the small wealthy families of South Hanoi into the National Assembly, and their troops have also been incorporated into the Hanoi garrison. With Gaoya Castle as the core, Yuqiuping has built several defensive systems layer by layer, and Chang Panbei is in charge of defense. Hosoyanagi and Narumi remained on the Sakai Town and Wakae Castle-Maple Mountain Castle line respectively.

At the same time, Miyoshi Chokei, Miyoshi Yoshiken, and Tokawa Ichiku also marched to Settsu again, and the Honganji family also stationed troops at the junction of Kawachi and Settsu, and Matsunaga Shu also drove his troops to the northeast of Maple Leaf Mountain Castle, intending to launch another onslaught on the territory of the Oda family. Oda Nobunaga was not ambiguous, and ordered Shibata Katsuie of Minami Omi to rush to the aid immediately, and he himself led the troops that had already been assembled by the three kingdoms of Owari, Mino, and Ise to immediately march west to Kyoto, preparing to fight the anti-Oda forces. After arriving in Kyoto, he immediately arranged for Ikeda Tsuneko, Takigawa Kazuki, Niwa Nagahide and others to lead a large army into Yuqiuping's Hanoi, preparing to cooperate with Yuqiuping to launch an offensive from the southern front and take the last foothold of the Miyoshi family in Southern - Izumi Province in one fell swoop.

However, this time, the Miyoshi family, the Honganji family, and the Matsunaga family did not rush to attack, but started a sit-down battle with the Oda family on the front line, and it seemed that they were not in a hurry at all. The Oda family was once again confused, but they still vaguely sensed a strange atmosphere in the air.

On October 24, to everyone's surprise, the Miyoshi family, the Honganji family, and the Matsunaga family, which had been quiet for more than a month, suddenly launched a fierce attack on the Oda family from all fronts. The Oda family was prepared and was not caught off guard.

"It's clear that the anti-Oda forces must have been privately connected." Shigeharu Takenaka made a judgment that night, "And with such cooperation, there must be an important figure in the alliance." ”

"Hanbei, who are you referring to?" Yu Qiuping was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly felt that the history of his previous life seemed to be reproduced in front of him.

"It's none other than him, most likely, it's His Royal Highness the General."

As it turned out, Shigeharu Takenaka's judgment was not wrong.

·

On October 25, Ashikaga Yoshiki suddenly raised an army in Yamashiro Province, gathered 3,000 of his men, and launched a fierce attack on Akechi Mitsuhide, who was left behind in Kyoto. At the same time, he issued a call to the daimyo of the world to join forces in a crusade against the traitor Oda Nobunaga, who was plotting to overthrow the shogunate. It seems that an appointment has been made a long time ago, and in the afternoon of the same day, the Hatano family and the Isshiki family announced that they would raise troops in response to Ashikaga Yoshiteru's call. The troops of the Hatano family poured into Yamashiro through the border between Yamashiki Province and Tamba Province, and the troops of the Isshiki family were also on their way to support.

Akechi Mitsuhide, who was more than enough to deal with Ashikaga Yoshiteru, had to withdraw from Kyoto due to the sudden appearance of reinforcements from the Hatano family, begging Oda Nobunaga for reinforcements. Oda Nobunaga was so angry that he scolded and hurriedly pulled out nearly 10,000 people from the front line and the remaining troops in Minami Omi to rush to Kyoto to ensure that the road back was not lost.

However, before the Oda family could recover their breath, Omi was in chaos again. The Asai family and the Asakura family, which had been silent for a long time, suddenly announced the start of their troops on the afternoon of the 25th, and after the two coalition forces met on the 27th, they killed Yokoyama Castle and Kamakablade Castle, where Kinoshita Hideyoshi was stationed. The Rokkaku family, which was lurking in the Koga Mountains, also raised troops again, harassing the supply lines of the Minami-Omi Oda family everywhere.

Oda Nobunaga was shocked when he heard this—if Yokoyama Castle and Kamakablade Castle were lost, the Oda family's army and the official routes of Owari, Mino, and Ise would be cut off. However, in order to cope with Ashikaga Yoshiteru's sudden uprising, Oda Nobunaga had sent almost all the reserves at hand to fight in Yamashiro Province. At the moment there is simply no way to withdraw them from the front, otherwise the front is in danger of collapsing.

Oda Nobunaga had no choice but to order all the divisions to shrink their lines and fully switch to the defense, trying to squeeze out troops to reinforce Kinoshita Hideyoshi. However, Kinoshita Hideyoshi was weak and could not stop the Asai-Asakura coalition army, and Yokoyama Castle and Kamakera Castle were soon lost, and Kinoshita Hideyoshi had to lead his troops to retreat to Sawa Yamashiro. Relying on his outstanding ability to command the military formation, Sawa Yamashiro was able to ensure that he would not lose it. The Asai-Asakura coalition then changed course and surrounded Sawa Yamajo from all directions, setting up a joint camp around Sawa Yamajo. Although Sawa Yamashiro was not lost, the connection between the two domains of the Oda family had been effectively severed. The reinforcements led by Shibata Katsuie arrived belatedly after the siege of Sawa Yamajo and immediately tried to relieve the siege of Sawa Yamashiro, but were repelled by Asai Nagamasa's troops. In desperation, he had to ask Oda Nobunaga for reinforcements.

Seeing that all the surrounding forces seemed to have formed an anti-Oda family's encirclement network, Oda Nobunaga himself was in chaos. His troops in Settsu and Yamashiro had all been pinned down and could not be mobilized at all, so he had to order the troops on the southern front to abandon the attack, let Yu Qiuping lead his three reserves to disengage, and prepare to transfer the Yu Qiu army to Omi to relieve the siege of Sawa Mountain Castle.

Yu Qiuping had already assembled the troops, and also incorporated another newly cast three-pounder gun into the artillery group and equipped the troops. Just as he was about to hit the road, bad news suddenly came from the east.