However, from the perspective of an outsider, Yu Qiuping, it is very likely that the conflict between Nishimino and Omi was a discordant ploy by Rokkaku Yoshiken. It is true that the Ximino Hao clan is very close to the Rokkaku family, but it should not be enough to agree with the Rokkaku family to send troops without passing through the main house. That reply letter was most likely deliberately forged by Rokkaku Yoshiken, and then sacrificed a ninja to the Asai family, who had sacrificed ninjas before.

And the Asai family is likely to be making a fuss. They knew it was a discordant plan, but they invaded the fertile land of Simeno in the name of intercepted letters. However, Yu Qiuping believes that this may be the calculation of those retainers of the Asai family. And his righteous brother Changzheng, who is full of righteousness, may just want to punish the treacherous Ximei Nong wealthy family, and he doesn't see that this is a counter-plot at all.

Then, the follow-up progress in the region also surprised Yuakihei.

Rokkaku Yoshiken contacted Kitabatake's Gukyo in Ise and Hatakeyama Takamasa, who had previously been defeated by the Miyoshi family, and together they attacked the Miyoshi family, and the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru also raised the flag in response. Miyoshi Chokei, Miyoshi Yoshiken, and Asutaka Fuyasu led their troops across the sea from Shikoku to help, and the original garrison of Tokawa Ichiku, which was in Settsu, also stopped suppressing opponents and turned to aid Izumi.

However, something different from history happened. Miyoshi Yoshiken, who was supposed to be killed by the Nerai people under Hatakeyama Takamasa in the Battle of Kumeda, was still defeated, but he managed to retreat to Kishiwada Castle under the rescue of Tokawa Ichiku, who should have died a year earlier. After that, the Miyoshi family, who had joined the main force, with the help of Yamato's Matsunaga Shu, defeated the Rokkaku and Hatakeyama coalition forces in the Battle of Kyokoji. However, it seems that the Miyoshi family suddenly lost interest in and withdrew their main forces from again. Not only did they let go of Ashikaga Yoshiteru, who was opposed, but they even relaxed their guard on Kyoto, as if they had lost the battle and evacuated in a hurry.

"The prophecy I told that gambler at the time won't all be conveyed to the top of the Miyoshi family!" Yu Qiuping held his forehead deeply, "The Miyoshi family seems to be bent on a solid foundation, and they don't want to fall into the quagmire of anymore!" ”

However, Yu Qiuping soon had no time to pay attention to Ximinon's irrelevant information.

·

In the early morning of May 23, 1562, an urgent report came from Kiyoshu Castle that Oda Nobuyyoshi of Inuyama Castle had declared a rebellion the previous night and had fallen to the Saito family. And Oguchi Castle of Nakajima Bungo near Inuyama Castle, and Okusa Castle of Wada Shinsuke also rebelled with Inuyama Castle. With the defection of these three major castles, many of the small wealthy families in Niwa Prefecture who followed the Inuyama Oda clan also followed Oda Nobukiyo and carried the banner of the Saito family's wave pattern.

Yu Qiuping was woken up in the middle of the night by the Ikoma relatives who came to report the news, and he was still asleep, but when he heard the news, he immediately broke out in a cold sweat, and he was completely sleepy. He hurriedly changed his clothes and ran to the assessment room on the third floor of the castle tower, where he temporarily summoned Naoe Tadahei, Amano Keitoku, Sanada Masayuki, Anayama Norumi, and Mimasaki Nakahide, Yoshioka Katsumasa, and Aoki Kazuki, who were not sent to the north shore for duty.

Regarding Oda Nobukiyo's rebellion, Oda Nobunaga was not without premonitions. Last year, due to the death of Oda Nobunaki's younger brother, Oda Nobunaki already had a deep grudge against Oda Nobunaga. After that, there was constant friction between the two sides, and Oda Nobukiyo also made frequent contact with the Saito family.

However, the people of the Oda family still didn't expect Oda Nobukiyo to rebel so simply, and he also took many small wealthy clans in Niwa Prefecture with important branch cities such as Koguchi Castle and Okusa Castle. The territory controlled by the rebellious Oda Nobukiyo's men may have approached 70,000 koku. If he was given time to digest his territory and get rid of the wealthy clans who still supported Oda Nobunaga, his territory could even be further expanded.

When everyone arrived, Yu Qiuping had been staring at the simulated sand table map on the table for a long time, and his face was also very solemn. The Oguri Prefecture, where the Yuakihei fiefdom is located, is located in the northwest of Owari. Niwa Prefecture, where the rebellious Oda Nobukiyo was located, was located in the northeast of Owari, and the two counties bordered by a large area. And with Oda Nobukiyo's rebellion, Oda Nobunaga's residence city of Kiyoshu Castle was also exposed to Oda Nobunaki's troops, and he was too busy to take care of himself.

In other words, the defense within Yu Qiuping's collar will depend on him in a short period of time. After listening to the information, everyone immediately understood the severity of the situation and began to discuss it anxiously.

At the dawn of the day, Cheongju sent another herald of the mother's clothes - it seems that Cheongju is also busy at the moment. The messenger who came was Maeda Toshiie, who passed on the latest appointment given to him by Oda Nobunaga - Gundai of Oguri-gun. In addition to his own 10,000 stone territory, the remaining lords of the 4,000 stone territory in Leafuri County also obeyed his unified command to guard against a possible attack by Oda Nobukiyo.

·

"Your Highness, the top priority at the moment is to guard against the direction of Inuyama," Sanada Masayuki said, pointing to the location of Inuyama Castle on the map, "In the direction of Inuyama, a total of nearly 2,000 people could have been mobilized, but after heavy losses in the previous nineteen bars, it is now estimated that only more than 1,500 people can be mobilized, including more than 500 soldiers." ”

"So what are we panicking about?" Mimasaki Nakahide said with a smile: "We also have 400 soldiers and 20 horsemen on our hands, but there are fewer auxiliaries, maybe 400 people." However, we have more than 200 elite veterans, which is enough to defeat one against ten. We don't have to wait for them to call, we might as well go over and grab this great achievement! ”

"Naka-su, now is not the time to joke," Yu Qiuping shook his head and said, "It's not just the Inuyama Oda family's problem, our position, we must also consider the threat of the Saito family!" ”

Indeed, it turned out that when the Oda family faced the Mino Saito family, it was probably shared by Yu Qiuhei and Oda Nobukiyo but half of the defensive pressure. However, with the defection of Oda Nobukiyo, the Saito family's troops could not only transfer the forces originally used to defend against Oda Nobukiyo to attack Akihei, but could even calmly cross the Kiso River through Oda Nobuyaki's territory, and attack the flank of Akihira's territory from the east, and the defense line of Akihei on the north bank of the Kiso River would also become the bypassed "Maginot Line". And if you want to hold the defense line on the north bank, you have to invest a lot of troops, which will lead to the emptiness of Yu Qiuping's ability - Yu Qiuping has not built any fortifications in the territory. If Oda Nobukiyo wants to attack, he will soon be able to fight to Kuroda Castle in one fell swoop.

"Withdraw our forces on the north shore at once, and abandon those three rocks." After thinking for a while, Yu Qiuping decisively ordered, "Send all the ferries to the south bank." If the Saito family wants to attack, they will burn the rocks and pontoons so that they don't cross the Kiso River easily! ”

"Your Highness!" When Yoshioka Shengzheng heard Yu Qiuping say this, he suddenly became anxious: "Those rocks were just repaired by us!" How can you say give up, just give up! ”

"The purpose of building the rock is to defend, and if they can't help our defense, we have to abandon them. We now have insufficient troops to hold the north shore. Only by retreating to the south bank and relying on the defense of the Kiso River can there be any hope of victory. We have few people, and we are divided into two places, isn't this self-defeating and being broken by each other? Yu Qiuping said resolutely: "People who can't give up anything can't save anything." There is nothing to hesitate about this choice. The rock is dead, and it's a big deal to repair it again. The brothers' lives are gone, but they can't come back. ”

"Understood." Everyone understood Yu Qiuping's defense concept, but they were still a little reluctant when it came to the end. If the Saito family takes advantage of the situation to attack, those rocks will be burned.

·

By noon on May 23, all of the Yuaki's troops on the north bank of the Kiso River had withdrawn. The four wealthy families who had a no-war contract with him were very puzzled, and they sent messengers to ask if anything had happened to Yu Qiuping, and Yu Qiuping also readily told him bluntly - anyway, they would soon know from the Saito family. Yu Qiuping also coerced these four wealthy families, in case the Saito family attacked Yu Qiuping's territory, they had to inform Yu Qiuping immediately.

On the afternoon of May 23, Yu Qiuping asked Naoe Tadahei to start urgently summoning auxiliaries in the territory. Akihei himself, on the other hand, led two infantry platoons and cavalry of Yoshioka Katsumasa and Aoki Kazuki to take the lead, and advanced to the border between Oguri and Niwa that night, and began to guard the official road. The rest of the troops remained in Kuroda Castle as reserves.

Early the next morning, Tanma spotted the banner of the Inuyama Oda family, heading west.

Oda Nobukiyo, the lord of Inuyama Castle, is leading his subordinates all the way to the west at this moment, intending to quickly kill Yu Qiuhei and break one of Owari's arms before Oda Nobunaga reacts. The Saito family had already made an appointment before, and they would attack together on this day and attack Hamuri County, where Yuakihei was located.

Oda Nobukiyo had heard that Yu Qiupei seemed to have advanced to the north bank of the Kiso River, leaving nearly half of his troops on the north bank of the Kiso River—which made him secretly happy. He had long heard that Tokiwa was good at fighting, and he didn't have much confidence in defeating them. But naturally, Yu Qiuping only had half of his troops left on the south bank of the Kiso River, so he still thought that he could win against Yu Qiuping. Even if he can't win, as long as he drags Yu Qiuping and sweeps through his territory, he can also hurt his vitality. And the troops of the Saito family who came from the north must be able to defeat Yu Qiuping's troops on the north bank of the Kiso River with more strikes and fewer blows, and flank them with Oda Nobukiyo.

No matter what, he still has the advantage of a surprise attack, and Yu Qiuping must not have time to prepare.

However, something unexpected happened to him. When he arrived at the border between Niwa and Hyuri, he saw nearly 100 Joban soldiers and more than a dozen cavalry.

"Is it coming so fast?" Oda Nobukiyo frowned, this is not a good sign.