"My lord, the bridge can't be crossed!" As soon as Hidemasa Tsuda arrived at the front line, several of his generals rushed to report: "There are many temples behind those bridges, and the archers and iron gunners of the Miyoshi family stand on the top of the temples and shoot at us, and the infantry of the Miyoshi family behind the bridges are also very tenacious, and we can't rush through!" ”

Hidemasa Tsuda hid behind a haystack on the Kamogawa River and poked his head out to take a look at the bridges. These stone bridges are not very wide, behind each bridge there are more than 200 soldiers of the Sanhao family are stationed, and there are a large number of archers and iron gunners on the top of the towers of several temples not far away, and they cannot be approached in a hurry.

"Can you find a way to suppress those shooters?" Hidemasa Tsuda pondered for a moment and asked his subordinates questions.

"It's difficult, my lord, we don't have many archers! If you really want to suppress those archers and iron gunners, you must ask the Asai family for reinforcements. His general replied honestly.

"That's absolutely not going to work!" On this point, Hidemasa Tsuda's attitude is unusually resolute. The coalition has won this battle, and all that remains is the battle for honor. The Oda family must not give the Asai family the honor of being the first to enter Kyoto!

"Isn't there a shoal over there?" Hidemasa Tsuda pointed to an area not far from the guide's edge where the current was gentle and the water was not deep, "Let's cross the river from there!" ”

"My lord," said a little surprised when he heard this order, "there is no bridge there!" ”

"The water is not deep there, you can wade through it!" Hidemasa Tsuda swallowed his saliva, and said in a deep voice as if to cheer himself up again: "And you know that there is no bridge there, and the Miyoshi family also knows." So you see, they didn't have much left to defend there at all! As long as we attack suddenly, we have a chance to go down! ”

"Let's go!" As soon as Hidemasa Tsuda raised the katana in his hand, he led more than 100 soldiers under his command straight to the shoal.

The defenders of the Miyoshi family were indeed deceived by their movements, and at first they thought that they were going to the nearest bridge, and they also transferred a dozen people from the shallows to assist in the defense. Therefore, when the Takigawa army did not move to the bridge, but directly began to cross the river with flowing water, the defenders of the Miyoshi family were taken aback. The archers and gunners on the temple hurriedly opened fire on this side, but because of the distance, they could not cause much damage. Although the speed inevitably slowed down when wading into the water, under the infection of Hidemasa Tsuda's leading soldiers, the ashigaru of the Takigawa family desperately rushed forward and ground with their hands and feet. On the other side of the shoal, there were only about 20 people from the Miyoshi family, and after seeing the wolf-like Takigawa army pounce directly on them, even if they tried to resist, they could not prevent the Takigawa army from coming ashore. By the time Miyoshi's reinforcements arrived, the more than 100 people of the Takigawa army had already occupied a small probe position.

"Well done!" Takigawa Kazuki, who was standing behind the formation and commanding, saw Hidemasa Tsuda landing on the shore, and waved his fist very excitedly, "The credit for being the first to land on the west bank of the Kamogawa River is us..."

However, before he finished speaking, he saw the flag of the Mori family flying high in the northwest direction. He looked up and found that the brave Sen Kecheng actually snatched a bridge from the hands of the Miyoshi family!

"I didn't expect it, Sanzaemon is still one step ahead of me!" Takigawa Kazuyi smiled a little self-deprecatingly, "It's okay, it's all the credit of the Oda family!" Order, attack at once, expand the beachhead! ”

·

After the Takigawa Kazuyi and Mori Kosei Divisions made significant advances, Asai Nagamasa also ordered the soldiers of the Asai family, the Niwa family, and the Ikeda family to attack. More and more beachheads were opened, and coalition forces captured more and more bridges. At seven o'clock, the coalition forces had already made a preliminary breakthrough to the Kamogawa defensive line.

However, just when Asai Nagamasa planned to continue the offensive and expand the results. In the direction of their back road, that is, the location of Okazaki Shrine, wolf smoke suddenly rose for alarm.

"What? Behind? Asai Nagamasa was taken aback, and hurriedly climbed to the top to lookout, only to see that in the Ginkakuji Temple in the north of their march route, thousands of soldiers suddenly rushed out and went straight to Okazaki Shrine. Okazaki Shrine now has only a defender of more than a hundred people, and it will definitely fall immediately.

"Oops." Asai Nagamasa secretly shouted in his heart that it was not good, and if the back road was cut off, the Northern Route Army would be in danger. But now that a few beachheads and bridges have been laid, if the troops are to be withdrawn and reinforced, the previous efforts will be in vain.

"Changzheng, leave it to me." Yu Qiuping, who was standing beside Asai Nagamasa, saw his difficulty, "It just so happens that my Tsunebanbei has not been put into the attack, so I can turn to reinforcements at any time." ”

"But there are quite a few people on the other side, maybe it will be close to 2,000." Asai Nagamasa looked at the steady stream of soldiers pouring out of Ginkakuji Temple, and whispered with some concern, "Let's ask His Highness Oda of Mt. Otowa for reinforcements!" Mt. Otowa is located in the middle of the plains, so it's easy to get reinforcements wherever you are! ”

"Okay, then I'll take the troops with me." After gesturing to Asai Nagamasa, Yu Qiuhei immediately led Tokiwabei 850 soldiers to turn around and leave, heading straight for Okazaki Shrine on the way to the east. Sure enough, the defenders of Okazaki Shrine were barely able to form an effective resistance and were expelled by the Miyoshi Army. After a while, the Oda Army on Mt. Otowa also sent reinforcements of nearly 2,000 soldiers to counterattack Okazaki Shrine, under the banner of the Nishimino Trio.

"Your Highness Yuqiu, what's going on with your Northern Route Army!" As soon as the grumpy Inaba Yitetsu saw Yu Qiuping riding his horse towards them, he immediately pointed his finger at Yu Qiuping, and accused him dissatisfiedly: "There are so many soldiers of the Miyoshi family hidden in the Silver Pavilion Temple, and you didn't find out? The lord was furious just now, and said that he would reprimand you well. ”

"In the direction of Ginkakuji Temple, Ikeda-sama is in charge of the investigation." Yu Qiuping thought back to the deployment not long ago, spread out his hand and said that he was very innocent, and complained angrily, "Hengxing, he is probably thinking about entering Kyoto, and he has no heart to investigate, so he caused such a big negligence." ”

"What about the information of the Miyoshi Army who have occupied the Okazaki Shrine now, is there any information here for His Highness Yuqiu?" The clan Bu Quan followed closely behind Inaba Yitie and also asked.

"My ninja has gone to scout and will be back soon." Yu Qiuping said as he looked in the direction of Okazaki Shrine. As soon as he finished speaking, the lightning-fast Uchiha Aooka suddenly appeared in front of everyone's horses, startling the Mino trio. Yu Qiuping had long been accustomed to the elusive style of Uchiha Aooka, so he didn't act too surprised.

"Back to Your Highness." Uchiha Aooka bowed respectfully to Yu Qiuping, "The banner in Okazaki Shrine is Miyoshi Yoshixing. I dare not make a conclusion about the specific number of soldiers, but it is estimated to be about 1,500 soldiers. ”

"Understood." Yu Qiuping nodded, and Uchiha Aooka immediately left in a flash. Then, Yu Qiuping turned his horse and said to the three of Mino: "Our two families combined, the number of soldiers is almost twice that of him, so it is better to attack directly." ”

"That's right, the lord also ordered us to attack directly." Ando Mamoru recalled Oda Nobunaga's appearance, frowned slightly, and said: "The lord seems to be very irritable, and feels that the progress is too slow, and repeatedly urges us to reinforce the Northern Route Army immediately after taking the Okazaki Shrine, and we must take down Kyoto before lunch." ”

·

At the same time, in Kiyomizu Temple on Mt. Otowa, Oda Nobunaga had already led more than 5,800 people stationed on Mt. Otowa and watched the slow progress of the battle and did nothing.

Oda Nobunaga raised his head and looked at the sun that was gradually moving towards the middle of the sky, and he was already a little breathless.

"What is Yoshikage Asakura doing?" After receiving information that Asakura Yoshikage had not yet captured Tofukuji Temple, Oda Nobunaga angrily grabbed the map on the table and threw it to the ground. Several small surnames around saw Oda Nobunaga furious, and they all stood in the four corners with a cower, not daring to step forward. Only Toshiie Maeda and Yoshiyuki Sawaki ran in from outside the door, picked up the map and laid it out on the table.

"You say!" Oda Nobunaga, who was angry, grabbed Maeda Toshiie's collar and shouted, "What the hell is Asakura Yoshikei doing? Is he really fighting? After fighting all morning, he was still standing still, and Yu didn't even hear the shouting and killing there! I won't be grinding! ”

Maeda Toshiya was overwhelmed by Oda Nobunaga, but he didn't dare to say anything, so he could only let Oda Nobunaga vent. The latter seemed to see that Maeda Toshiya was not interesting, so he shook him off, grabbed Sawaki Yoshiyuki and said in a loud voice: "6,000 soldiers fight 3,000, and there is no progress in the morning?" If it were you, would you believe it? ”

Yoshiyuki Sawaki didn't dare to say anything like Toshiya Maeda, so he was also thrown away by Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga angrily circled the house, and finally shouted in exasperation, "Send someone to Yu to urge Asakura Yoshikei's pig!" Let him quickly knock down Tofukuji Temple! Also, let Asai Nagamasa give Yu a little faster! Before lunch, take Kyoto down for Yu! The main force of the Miyoshi family has been withdrawn long ago, how can we just move forward here? ”

·

At the beginning of the day, under the onslaught of the Northern Route Army, Miyoshi Yoshiken's Kamogawa defense line was finally lost. Since this morning, his Awa people have been facing an attack by a coalition force twice or even three times his number, and they are already exhausted and have suffered nearly two percent casualties. They reluctantly retreated into Kyoto, as if intending to make a last stand.

As soon as the coalition forces saw that Miyoshi Yoshiken seemed to be at the end of their rope, they excitedly rushed across the Kamogawa River and rushed towards Kyoto, which was close at hand. The troops of the Ikeda, Takigawa, and Mori families had all broken away from command and were racing towards Kyoto. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and whoever is the first to enter Kyoto will go down in history and is the highest honor of the samurai.

Stimulated by this honor, Asai Nagamasa himself was also enthusiastic. He almost gave up command, and instead ordered the various divisions of the Asai family, like the Oda family, to rush to Kyoto at a brisk pace. And even Niwa Nagahide, who has always been calm and old-fashioned, couldn't help but be infected by this atmosphere, urging his subordinates to march quickly.

"His Majesty the Emperor is waiting for us in Kyoto, the people of Kyoto are waiting for us there, and all the samurai in the world are watching us!" Excited Ikeda Hengxing himself rode his horse to the front of the line, excitedly shouting, "This is the honor of the samurai!" Rush with me! ”

For a while, the entire coalition Northern Route Army fell into madness, as if the Kyoto in front of him was no longer the position held by the Miyoshi family, but a huge piece of fat, waiting for everyone to take a bite.