On the evening of September 30, Miyoshi Nagayi voluntarily abandoned Akutagawa Castle. And informed Shinohara's Nagabo, this Shinohara's Nagabo is Miyoshi Yoshiken's old minister, because Miyoshi Yoshiken died in the Battle of Kumida, he switched to Yoshiken's son-in-law Miyoshi Nagaji, and became a subordinate of Miyoshi Sango.

Shinohara-Nagabo, who received the order, led the defenders of Koshisui and Ryuzan Castle to retreat in the direction of Awa Province, and Oda Nobunaga occupied Akutagawa Castle without blood, using it as his main camp.

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On October 2, Oda's troops forced Ikeda Katsumasa's Ikeda Castle and lined up on the hill north of the castle to hold a pre-battle meeting.

"It seems that this Katsu Ikeda is not planning to withdraw from the army." Niwa Nagahide entered the castle yesterday to persuade Ikeda Katsumasa to surrender.

"Also, as a local wealthy family, it is impossible for him to flee to the Awa country with the Miyoshi family, so we can only attack and force him to surrender." Hosokawa Nobumoto also said on the side, since Miyoshi Nagaitsu and others evacuated Settsu Province, the lord of Takatsuki Castle, Irie Harukei, the lord of Ibaraki Castle, Ibaraki Shigeto, and Itami Castle Lord Itami Proko, and other wealthy clans have all surrendered to the Oda family one after another, and now only this Ikeda Katsumasa remains.

"Then take Ikeda Castle as soon as possible, and I will personally command this battle. In addition, Nobumori Sakuma! I will allocate you 10,000 troops, converge with Matsunaga Xiu, destroy the Tsutsui family, and quickly pacify the Yamato country! Oda Nobunaga then ended the military meeting and prepared to storm Ikeda Castle. The reason why he sent troops to help Matsunaga Shu seize Yamato Province was because Matsunaga Shu announced that he would break away from the Miyoshi family and submit to the Oda family, while Tsutsui Shunkei, who was extremely politically sensitive, was still on the side of the "Miyoshi Three".

Knock knock! The order to siege the city sounded.

Ikeda Tsuneko led Oda Nobunaga's banner to Ashigaru and took the lead in killing Ikeda Castle, and Kawajiri Hidetaka also led Oda Nobunaga's personal guard samurai to charge at the front line.

"Kill! Archery! Archery! Suppress the enemy army! ”

Ushiichi Ota commanded Oda Nobunaga Banner to bow and shoot arrows at the Ikeda army at the head of the castle.

Bang bang bang! The sound of iron cannons rang out again and again.

Naomasa Tsukasa led the Oda Nobunaga Banner Iron Artillery Corps to exert its power frequently, and puffs of green smoke rose into the air.

"Kill! Assault! ”

The Ikeda army was unable to resist the imposing Oda army, and soon the gates were broken, and Oda Nobunaga's personal guard samurai, such as Kajigawa Takahide and Uosumi Hayatoto, broke into the castle first, and the two sides fought to the death for the outer positions.

"Hold on! Drive the Oda Army out! "Katsumasa Ikeda led samurai to reinforcements, and Oda's army must not be allowed to enter the castle.

"Drink!"

"Die!"

"Ahh Kajigawa Takahide clutched his waist and fell to the ground in pain, having just been stabbed in the waist by a Ikeda samurai.

"Report! Lord! Our army broke through the castle gate and was engaged in a street battle with the Ikeda army, and Takahide Kajigawa was killed! ”

"What! Is Gao Xiu loyal! Oda Nobunaga raised his eyebrows angrily, but he didn't expect that a small Ikeda Castle would actually lose one of his confidants.

"Ahh Holding his shoulders, Hayato stepped back, and in the scuffle he was stabbed in the shoulder blade by Katsumasa Ikeda, seriously wounding him.

"The Uosu Hayabusa is seriously injured and unconscious!" Bad news came from the front again.

"Damn!" Oda Nobunaga gritted his teeth in anger, in the tug-of-war between the two sides, the Oda family has killed more than ten samurai, and more than 100 ashigaru casualties.

"Toast without eating and drinking! Come! Set! Oda Nobunaga ordered the castle town to be burned, and the flames soared into the sky, and the townspeople fled in all directions, and countless people died.

"Sannomaru attack!" As time passed, the standing durability came to the fore, and the stalemate was soon broken and the attack on Ikeda Castle Sannomaru was reached.

"Report! Lord! Katsumasa Ikeda begs for surrender! Katsumasa Ikeda also knew that it would be difficult to resist the Oda family, and offered to submit.

"Humph! Surrender now? It's late! Kill me! Slaughter Ikeda Castle! "Oda Nobunaga is now as bloodthirsty and ferocious as an angry lion.

"The lord is slow, and his majesty thinks that he should agree to Katsumasa Ikeda's submission." Hosokawa Nobumoto hurriedly opened his mouth to dissuade him, and Oda Nobunaga saw that it was him, and he didn't blurt out the words that he was about to reprimand, but just sat there angrily and didn't speak.

"Lord, now that my Oda family is recovering people's hearts, for the sake of the great cause in the future, I hope that the lord will bear with it for the time being." Hosokawa Nobumoto knew that it would be easy to slaughter a city, but if he started this way, it would only strengthen the resistance of the local wealthy clans. Once it turns into a long-term tug-of-war, the Oda family, which is too long, will be quickly dragged down and collapsed.

"Well, I see, so be it, let him hand over the hostages, and I agree to keep the security of his territory." Oda Nobunaga, who gradually calmed down, naturally knew the pros and cons and agreed to Ikeda's submission.

With the surrender of Katsumasa Ikeda, the five kingdoms of Kinai were basically pacified, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki also personally came to Akutagawa Castle to prepare for the redistribution of the territories of the five kingdoms of Kinai.

Ashikaga Yoshiaki also understood that if he didn't come again, he might end up in a lonely Kyoto.

"Roar, roar... Lord Danzheng is really unparalleled in the world, and everywhere the soldiers go, they all come and fall. It is also hoped that Danmasa-sama will be able to lead the five kingdoms of Kinai and help Yu revitalize the glory of the shogunate again. Ashikaga Yoshiaki's smile stiffened, and he followed the advice of Akechi Mitsuhide, and applied to the imperial court for the official position of Shosho Tadashi from the five positions, and hoped that Oda Nobunaga would lead the five kingdoms of Kinai.

"His Royal Highness Yoshiaki is polite, contributing to the shogunate is the duty of my samurai, and I really don't dare to be the guardian of these five countries." Oda Nobunaga refused to rule the five provinces of Kinai, and was only willing to accept the boundary towns of Izumi Province and Otsu and Kusatsu towns in Omi Province, all of which were commercially developed areas.

"Since Lord Danzheng is so insistent, then Yu will not force it, and when the general is officially appointed, Yu will compensate the adult." Originally, Ashikaga Yoshiaki did not agree with Oda Nobunaga to lead the five countries, so he happily agreed.

And Akechi Mitsuhide learned afterwards that he was disappointed with Ashikaga Yoshiaki's short-sightedness. Because if Oda Nobunaga is allowed to lead the Five Kingdoms now, when Ashikaga Yoshiaki becomes the shogun, he will ask Oda Nobunaga for the Imperial Material. Then Oda Nobunaga will be disloyal if he does not worship, and he will lose his righteousness, and the original coalition that crusaded against the Miyoshi family will become a crusade against the Oda family coalition in the blink of an eye.

If they agree to make offerings, they will either transfer it from their own territory or from the hands of local nobles. Transferring money from within one's own territory will only weaken the strength of the Oda family, and the shogun family only needs to unite with other forces to achieve a state of balance and constraint. Allocated from the hands of the local wealthy family, it just so happened that this wicked man made Oda Nobunaga be, it is estimated that there will definitely be people who are dissatisfied, and then secretly tempt each other, and naturally someone will jump out against the Oda family.

At that time, the shogun's family will be able to secretly accumulate power and recreate the glory of the shogunate. It's a pity that all these possibilities were cut off by Ashikaga Yoshiaki.