Late at night on May 19, 1563, Inabayama Castle.

Shigeharu Takenaka took a contract he had just signed in his hand, took four or five guards, and hurriedly walked on the small mountain road leading to the outside world in Inabayama Castle. Not long ago, the contract signed by the desperate Saito Ryuko was drawn up a few days ago by many wealthy families in Nishiminon, led by the three of Mino. The Nishimino clan stated that as long as Saito Ryukoken signed this contract, the Semino clan would immediately send troops to aid Inabayama Castle.

The contract requires Saito Ryuxing to discipline the cronies and villains in the family - both Hioneno Hiroshi and Takewaist Naomitsu are two direct ministers, and the elders and many Saito family ministers are required to fully withdraw from the central affairs. At the same time, the practice of collegial system of important ministers was restored. The Saito family's decisions on all major matters such as territories, taxes, and expeditions had to be approved by a joint council of ministers headed by the three members of Nishimino - the expulsion of the Saito family's direct ministers from the center and the establishment of the Council of Ministers to complete the central decision-making can be said to have completely hollowed out Saito Ryuxing.

And most importantly, there is also a stipulation in the contract - every year, the three members of Nishimino will send one person to lead the troops in Inabayama Castle to protect the safety of Saito Ryuko and the ministers. In other words, it was to be controlled by the people of the Hao clan to control the military power of Inabayama Castle, and to monitor Saito Ryuko and the retainers to prevent them from regaining power.

With such a harsh and harsh treaty, Saito Ryuko would never have signed it unless he was cornered. But now he can't help but hesitate, and under the siege of the Oda family, Inabayama Castle is already in danger. If enough concessions are not made to allow the Hao clan to send troops to help, Inabayama Castle will not be able to be saved, so what power can be talked about?

After the treaty was signed, Naomitsu Takewaist and Genta Komaki who stayed in the city were ashamed and angry, but they were helpless. However, the arrival of the wealthy army of Nishimino and the main force of the Saito family, which is about to return from Higashimino, can indeed relieve the siege of Inabayama Castle. Takewaist Naomitsu and Komaki Genta instructed Takenaka Shigeji to pay attention not to leak the news, so that the wealthy clans of Nishimino who were familiar with the terrain quietly touched the vicinity of Inabayama Castle, and Oda Nobunaga was caught off guard and annihilated him near Inabayama Castle!

·

However, the first thing Shigeharu Takenaka did when he left Inabayama Castle was to send someone to the town of Inoguchi to spread the news that the Nishimino Hao clan was about to jointly send troops to rescue Inabayama Castle.

"Takenaka-sama, why is that?" One of the attendants asked puzzled, "We can sneak attack!" Isn't this how the Oda family is prepared? ”

"Oh?" Shigeharu Takenaka chuckled lightly and glanced at the attendant behind him. "How might I ask you a few questions?"

"Your Excellency, please speak." The squire replied respectfully.

"If you were His Royal Highness Oda, how would you react when you heard that the Nishimino clan had joined forces to reinforce Inabayama Castle?" Shigeharu Takenaka raised his head, looked at the night sky, and asked softly.

"Hmm...," the attendant frowned and thought for a moment, then replied, "The total number of our Nishimino Hao clan alliance is close to 7,000, and with the reinforcements returning from the east, the strength must exceed that of Oda Nobunaga's army." If I were Oda Nobunaga, I would definitely retreat. ”

"Then how would the Nishimino Clan react if it appeared near Inabayama Castle without you expecting it?" Shigeharu Takenaka still tilted his head and continued to ask nonchalantly.

"Uh..." This question seemed to be a little too difficult, and the attendant thought for a long time before replying: "Maybe you can only rely on the walls of Sannomaru to fight to the death with the castle town." ”

"And then?" Shigeharu Takenaka didn't seem to hear a satisfactory answer and continued to ask.

"And—" The squire frowned, and replied tentatively, "will you find a way to retreat?" ”

As soon as the squire's own words came out, he seemed to understand something.

"The greatest casualties in the war occur in pursuit," Shigeharu Takenaka still looked up at the sky, "The so-called battle is, in a sense, just trying to force the other side to retreat and provide an opportunity for their own pursuit." ”

"If there is a way to make the Oda family retreat directly, why fight hard." Shigeharu Takenaka chuckled, "A soldier who surrenders without a fight, and a good person who is good." ”

"What if Oda Nobunaga is determined to take Inabayama Castle tomorrow and ignores the rumors we spread and still attacks?" The attendant still asked uneasily.

"It's okay, he can't beat it." Shigeharu Takenaka said confidently and softly. The cool evening breeze swept across his handsome face and blew a few strands of hair on his forehead. He looked at the sky and smiled confidently.

The mountain rain is coming, and the wind is full of buildings.

·

In the early morning of May 20, 1563, a heated discussion broke out in the main tent of the Oda family in Minomaru Inabayama Castle. The main point of contention between the two sides is what the Oda family should do today.

Inabayama Castle is a well-known fortified city, even if the defenders are only 2,000, and even the city walls are not satisfied, it still resists the onslaught of Oda Nobunaga's nearly 10,000 troops for a day. Everyone had to admit that the Oda family's best time to attack the city had passed. Today, reinforcements from Higashimino will rush back.

For this reason, the more conservative Yu Qiuping, Takigawa Kazuyi, Sakuma Nobumori and others strongly advocated an immediate retreat to avoid being surrounded and attacked under Inabayama Castle. But Katsuie Shibata, Katsunari Mori, Tsuneko Ikeda and others advocated adding more to the efforts – after yesterday's day of fighting, the Saito family had already paid a huge number of casualties. Now that they have been surrounded in Ninomaru, as long as they storm for half a day, they will have a hope of taking the entire Inabayama Castle! If you retreat this time, you don't know when you will get such a good opportunity to attack next time.

After weighing the opinions of the two factions, Oda Nobunaga finally made a decision - to continue the attack! Even if Higashimino's reinforcements returned, they would only be 6,000 men, and Oda Nobunaga could divide half of his forces to contain their movements, and then continue the siege. In order to understand the movements of the 6,000 people in real time, Oda Nobunaga sent almost all the scouts and horses to the east to spread a huge intelligence network.

After breakfast with the Oda family's army, they launched another onslaught against Ninomaru. The Oda family knew that time was limited, opportunities were rare, and the offensive became extremely ferocious. The Oda family mobilized the archers of almost every house, standing on top of the Sannomaru or the taller buildings in the castle, and spraying arrows on the walls of the Ninomaru. Yuakihei's Tokiwabi archers were also assigned to the southern wall and fired fiercely at Ninomaru.

In the structure of Inabayama Castle, the height of the Honmaru castle wall is higher than that of Ninomaru and Sannomaru. But the walls of Ninomaru and Sannomaru are almost flush, and Ninomaru is only slightly higher. As a result, the Saito archers no longer had the condescending shooting advantage they had yesterday, and were quickly suppressed by the Oda archers. The Oda family, who climbed the ladder, slammed the castle again and again, with rolling stones, trees, and feathered arrows.

Finally, at the second hour of the day, the troops of the Shibata family took the lead in attacking the castle of Ninomaru. After resisting for a while, Genta Komaki and Naomitsu Takeshiro realized that Ninomaru could no longer defend, so they had to retreat to Honmaru in a fight and make a final desperate resistance.

·

However, Tanma also reported back at this time - the 6,000 reinforcements of the Saito family in the east had arrived more than ten miles away from Inabayama Castle, and they were about to arrive in more than an hour! Oda Nobunaga had to plan ahead and sent 2,000 men from Sakuma Nobumori, Sasa Narumasa and Takigawa Kazuyi to hold on to Ghana Castle to protect the rear route of the Oda army and at the same time block reinforcements to support Inabayama Castle.

Oda Nobunaga understood that time was running out, and immediately gathered the remaining 6,000 people, intending to fight to the death to see if he could defeat the Honmaru before the reinforcements arrived! The archers took their positions and began to suppress the enemy forces of Honmaru.

However, at this critical moment! Tiangong, who has always favored Oda Nobunaga, failed to be beautiful! The day, which had been gloomy, finally began to rain, and at first it was just a drizzling rain, but gradually it turned into a downpour! This is a huge obstacle for the besieging side. In heavy rain, the range and accuracy of the bow and arrow were greatly reduced, and they hardly played a role. In other words, bow and arrow cover on the besieging side is almost non-existent. On the other hand, the defenders still have tools such as simmerwood and rolling stones that can be used.

On rainy days, the slippery ladders made the climb particularly difficult, and the heavy clothing after being soaked in the rain made it more difficult for the besiegers. The besieging side often needs to attack from the back, and the raindrops will fall directly on the face, blurring the vision and greatly affecting the battle.

Oda Nobunaga saw that the Honmaru at his fingertips was disturbed by a heavy rain like this, and he couldn't help but stomp his feet in anger. However, more unfortunate news followed.

Just this morning, a rumor suddenly arose in the town of Inoguchi under Inabayama Castle. It is said that the Nao-retainal faction of the Saito family reached an understanding with the Nishimino clan on the condition that they would withdraw from the center and cede the central power and the military power of Inabayama Castle. The Nishimino clan will gather their entire army today and rush to Inabayama Castle together to support.

When Oda Nobunaga first heard the news, he didn't believe it so much, but just regarded it as a delaying tactic for Saito Ryuko to jump over the wall in a hurry. However, the eyeliner he had deployed in Ximino had managed to rush back at noon today, bringing the news that the army of the Ximino Hao clan had left the territory en masse yesterday and began to assemble to the east. Not long after, Uchiha Aooka, the ninja leader of Yu Qiuping, also came back with great difficulty. He was attacked by the Nishimino Ninja at several important road intersections along the way, apparently intending to completely block the news. However, he still broke through the blockade and rushed to Inabayama Castle to report the news to Yu Qiuping. He originally wanted to pass on the information that the Nishimino Hao clan was moving, but he ran into Ando's army on the road!

According to the latest news he brought, the 1,500 people of Mamoru Ando, the leader of the Nishimino wealthy clan, are already very close to Inabayama Castle! It's only 10 miles from the Nagara River!

"My lord, please make a decision quickly." Sakuma Nobumori was already jumping to his feet in a hurry at this moment, "If we are surrounded by tens of thousands of troops of the Saito family in Inoguchi Town, we will be finished!" ”

Oda Nobunaga turned his back to his anxious retainers and looked through a cloud of rain and mist at the towering castle tower of Inabayama Castle. His two hands were clenched tightly into fists, and the folding fan in his hand was pinched by him to "creak", which was extremely unwilling in his heart. For a long time, the helplessness and resentment turned into a long roar to the sky.

"Retreat in batches!" Oda Nobunaga turned around and gave orders to his retainers.