The earthwork castle of Izumi is a very small castle, so small that I have never heard of it after so many visits. However, this small town not only welcomed me today, but also the little "capital" I brought.

My troops were not able to get on board in the end, and immediately after making the decision to return to the north, a series of warrants were issued, but in the end it was a sudden and hasty incident. When I arrived in this small town on the western border, Maeda Keiji alone had arrived from Sakai Town, and with the dozen or so small nobles I had collected along the way, there would be more than 12,000 people.

Oda Nobunaga is dead, the details are not clear, but the news is confirmed. What can now be confirmed is that he was attacked by unknown persons in the process of leading his troops to Shangluo, and in a very peculiar way, that is, the exact news of his death was determined after repeated pursuits.

Oda Nobutada also died, and it stands to reason that although the death of Oda Nobunaga caused great chaos in the morale of the army, even if he lost, he would not die in battle. But this happened anyway, and during the retreat that was counterattacked by Araki Village, Oda Nobutada also died in the army. I wonder how you would feel if an army dies under layers of protection before it is completely defeated?

The series of events came so suddenly that most people didn't understand what was happening, let alone a complete contingency strategy. It is said that the situation in Kyoto is very chaotic, and Matsunaga Shu, who entered Kyoto early, has already achieved a major advantage, and my first reaction is that I should go to Rakuro immediately, and this is exactly what I am doing right now!

I walked quickly to the hall below the castle tower in my military uniform, saying that the hall was not much bigger than my study in Izumi, and that it was such a small fighting room, and that it was now my temporary headquarters for the march into Kyoto. "Since they are all here, we will start immediately, are all the ministries ready to enter Beijing immediately?" I don't have time for more nonsense, and if it weren't for the combat power, I might even order the troops to give up rest.

The people in the room were Gamo Clan, Maeda Keiji, Otani Yoshitsugu, Fujido Takatora, Kusunoki Mitsunari, Shinhachiro, Tsuda Kazuma, Huo Sikin, and a few other wealthy families of Izumi, Ying, and Ayuki sitting behind me.

"Enter Beijing immediately, and we will follow the lord to the death!" Keiji Maeda said loudly, although there was sadness in his voice, but more excitement. In the current situation, there is actually no consensus on whether or not to enter Beijing, so he has the meaning of preemptively saying this.

"Good! We ......, "I think the same as him, and the morale is overwhelming."

"Your Highness, please allow me to say a word!" The Gamo clan stopped the order I was about to give, and there seemed to be something urgent in his anxious expression to alert me. "Lord Kato Duanzo has just rushed back, and there are some things I want to report immediately!"

"Duanzang? Where is he! "I didn't see him in the house.

"He's rushing back with an injury, I'll let him deal with it!"

"Hiss~~!" I tried to maintain my composure, and the sound of inhaling cool air was not heard. I know Kato Duanzo's skills very well, and it must be a big deal to get him injured and rush back in a hurry.

Probably taking into account the anxiety of those of us, Kato Duanzo made us wait less than five minutes at most, and there were still a few dark brown blood stains on his clothes, but a triangular bandage had been tied on his right shoulder. "Lord, the matter has been clarified!" As soon as he sat down, he cut to the point, without any dragging his feet.

"Who the hell did that?!" I, Keiji Maeda, and Shinhachiro asked in unison that the troubles of the past few days had caused us to forget proper etiquette.

"It's Matsunaga Hide, it's he who plotted to attack Oda Hall!" He replied simply.

"How could it be ......," I muttered to myself, unable to tell what kind of mood I was feeling.

I've been thinking about this for the past few days, and the most suspicious thing in my heart is this Matsunaga Shu, and according to all the information at hand, it seems that I can't contact him. First of all, Oda Nobunaga was attacked on the road, but at that time, it was clear that Matsunaga Hide was still in Kyoto; secondly, Oda Nobunaga is also always on guard against him, and it is impossible to give him a chance to get close; The third point is that he only brought 2,000 troops with him when he entered Beijing, which was not enough to attack Oda Nobunaga.

"Are you sure?" I asked worriedly. Although I have long wanted to get rid of him, but now is not the time, if I find the wrong target and move the wrong hand, then the end may not be as good as Oda Nobunaga!

"Although the actual action is Mototsuna Kuchigi, it is the Matsunaga Show that is planned behind the scenes!" Kato Duanzo replied in the affirmative, and then recounted the murder of Oda Nobunaga.

It turned out that Oda Nobunaga chose the waterway when he marched separately and went to Kyoto on a huge warship, accompanied not only by more than 100 large and small ships, but also by ordering the daimyo on the west and north shores of Lake Biwa to rendezvous. Among the ships incorporated was a medium-sized supply ship that was not so conspicuous, covered with thick reed mats as usual, and the Oda army did not pay attention to it, believing that it was just the food and grass brought by the daimyo. And this ship also stayed at the edge of the queue, never near Oda Nobunaga's ship.

But this "grain and grass boat", which no one looked down on, quietly removed the camouflaged reed mats in the second half of the night, revealing five hideous cannons. Before anyone could react, Oda Nobunaga's ship had already been hit and caught fire, and its broken hull sank into the water with billowing smoke.

However, Oda Nobunaga did not die at this point, and was rescued after falling into the water with serious injuries, and naturally the ship was no longer safe, and the attendants carried him ashore. Because only one or two boats were injured in the attack, and in order to avoid being overcrowded and assassinated, not too many people went ashore with them, and the others were busy looking for the culprit who fired the guns.

The water in Lake Biwa has dropped a lot this year, so the land that was not originally land has become land, and the reeds that grow in the spring quickly turn yellow after the lake recedes, showing a scene that should have been in winter in the fall.

Oda Nobunaga was carried into the reeds, and the people who had just entered the reeds to contact the land camp could even see their backs, and a fire burned from all sides, and the billowing flames quickly enveloped everyone. Only a dozen of the more than 1,000 people who accompanied Oda Nobunaga ashore escaped, and the most confidant Moran Maru and others were all burned in the fire.

Oda Nobunaga acted with him, and there were no commander-level officers, and none of the dozens of general-level figures who only commanded more than 1,000 troops had the ability to control the situation, and before the news could be blocked, panic spread rapidly. The generals of the Owari nationality, the Mino nationality, and the Omi nationality lost their backbone, and immediately divided into more than a dozen groups according to their interests, and put forward seven or eight plans of action. At this time, a person with prestige and qualifications is needed to preside, and such a person must come out to preside.

There is really such a person who came out, but it was Matsunaga Show. Oda Nobunaga died in the early hours of the morning, and Matsunaga Shu arrived at the scene that afternoon, and the guys who had not succeeded enough to defeat had not even been confirmed who belonged to the attacking gunboat. He showed the people Oda Nobunaga's warrant for him to come to Kyoto to assist in the work, as well as the imperial court's will to temporarily stabilize the situation, and then calmly let everyone accept his "leadership".

Oda Nobunaga's 30,000 people in Mali and many people from Owari and Mino, if they accepted his instructions, they would be a bunch of idiots who were stupider than pigs, but they couldn't find any reason to attack Matsunaga Shu, and after some discussion, they waited in place, and sent someone to quickly deliver a letter to Oda Nobutada on the Settsu front. Some of the generals of Omi and other parts of were temporarily under the management of Matsunaga Shu, but until Oda Nobutada's clear reply, they did not accept orders to fight and did not stay from the area. Matsunaga didn't embarrass them, just waited here quietly, as if he knew something was about to happen.

"And how was the young master killed?" I asked in a deep voice, but my heart felt cold. It was as if something had caught me in the dark, everything was too weird.

Oda Nobutada's death seemed much simpler, but after receiving the news of Oda Nobunaga's death, he was naturally anxious and hurriedly withdrew his troops to prepare to take over the major affairs. But at this moment, Araki Murashige recklessly launched a frantic counterattack and bit his foot and neck. Along the way, there were many surprise attacks against Oda Nobutada's main team, and finally in an encounter through a forest road, a stray bullet died in the chaos.

"This is also the design of Matsunaga Shu?" My breathing was getting thicker and thicker, and I and the people around me realized it.

"It seems to be a stray bullet that pierced the heart and died, but it was shot from behind!" Kato raised his hand and gestured at the position of his heart. "Actually, the person who started it was Sugitani Zenjubo, and in advance, His Royal Highness Oda Nayan who bought it was hidden in the flag team, and cooperated with Araki Murashige's ambush troops, and secretly killed His Royal Highness Oda Nayan with an iron cannon!"

"Shameless villain!" Keiji Maeda scolded angrily, and the crowd in the room was angry for a while.

"And after that? What did Matsunaga Shu do again! The Gamo clan asked anxiously, uneasy in his words.

"He asks that in accordance with the final order of the main hall and the will of the imperial court, he will temporarily deal with the aftermath!" Kato Duanzo showed a slightly tired look at this time, probably affected by the injury. "Because no one in the army can raise a strong objection, and the edict of the main hall and the will of the court are clear. Although most of the generals of Owari and Mino were suspicious, there was no clear evidence, and the army was discouraged because of the successive deaths of the main hall and His Royal Highness Nakayan. As a result, many people hurriedly returned to their territory with their troops, and Matsunaga Hide's troops mastered nearly forty percent of the troops without blood, and now they have returned to Kyoto and completely controlled the situation there! ”

"This shameless villain must be exposed, please Your Highness hurry up and issue a crusade against you!" The always calm person of the Gamo clan was also so excited that his face turned red at this time, and the moment of life and death had arrived.

I didn't say anything, but looked at Kato Duanzo again.

"I'm afraid I won't ......," he shook his head slowly.