On June 22, 1570, I led an army of 5,000 troops to Oda Honjin, located between Yokoyama and Otani Castle. Unlike during the last Kanesaki War, Oda Nobunaga did not recruit a large number of vassals (the Mino trio with the status of the Oda family cannot be regarded as vassals), and only Tokugawa Ieyasu's people came.

My treatment has also changed somewhat, and due to the increase in numbers, I was no longer assigned to the Oda Army, but built a camp independently. I didn't think about whether this arrangement was good or bad, and after arranging for Takenaka Hanbei to be in charge of everything, I brought Shinhachiro and Gamo Fuhide over to see Oda Nobunaga!

Gamo Fuhide is fifteen years old this year, and because of his outstanding performance during the conquest of Wakasa, I was assigned to work as a guard commander and staff member. Last year, he officially married Oda Nobunaga's eldest daughter, Fuyuhime, and became a veritable member of the Oda family. However, Oda Nobunaga never mentioned the matter of taking him back again, and there was no clear indication about whether he would return to Hino Castle to inherit the family business in the near future. Even Ikeda Tsuneko whispered to me that Oda Nobunaga might have explicitly arranged for him to be my strength!

I'm going to be so happy, anyway, I've picked up a "big baby"! Ikeda rejoices for me because it is a very face-saving affair, since there is no precedent for a close branch to go out to help. My original arrangement was for this day, no matter what Oda Nobunaga intended, I didn't care! In addition, I have always arranged for Nagano to be in charge of his education, so I don't think teachers will waste time in the past few years. I would like to hand over Senkoi Maru to Nagano in another two years, not only to learn the art of war and strategy, but also to start building a system of interpersonal relationships for him.

"Lord Stars, please stay!" Outside Oda Nobunaga's tent, a general on duty stopped me, and the title of "His Highness" as a direct retainer of the Oda family does not apply here. But after all, I'm still a powerful "heavyweight" in my family, and his tone is full of respect. "The Lord is just here, so please wait!"

"How?" I can't help but wonder. "Didn't you just inform that a meeting was about to begin?"

"That's what it was, but a messenger just came from Kyoto!" He smiled apologetically, "...... The lord may have to talk a little longer, so the meeting can only be postponed! ”

"Oh......" I nodded in understanding. It is self-evident that the intention of the Qin Cha at this time is self-evident, and it must have come to mediate the dispute. It's just that Oda Nobunaga may not be as good as he was three years ago this time, and he will not easily let go of this opportunity to solve this problem after temporarily eliminating his worries.

"You can go over there and take a rest first, there are already quite a few adults here!" Seeing that I was a little overwhelmed, the general pointed to the side.

Looking in the direction of his finger, I saw five large tents, probably as makeshift waiting rooms, and a number of attendants already standing at the door.

"Okay, I'll go first!" I snapped up on him, and I walked over that direction. The number of tents was limited, so it was impossible to have one person per person, so I naturally walked towards the tent where Ikeda and the "monkey" guards stood at the door, and there should be no one in this tent that I hated. Shinhachiro stayed outside like the other guards, and Gamo Fuhide followed me in because of his special status.

"In the end, it is the guardian of a country, it is really extraordinary!" The sharp-eyed Ikeda Hengxing saw me at once, and used exaggerated and strange tones to inform everyone. "I saw your team at the gate just now, there are 5,000 troops, right? All of them are the best weapons and equipment, which is amazing! ”

"Then what's the solution...... I sighed helplessly with a bitter face and said: "Who let us give birth to such a life that my grandmother doesn't love my uncle and doesn't love, and I was thrown into the tiger wolf's den all of a sudden, and if I don't feel sorry for myself, I'm afraid that then I will really die without a place to be buried!" We are so unwelcome, who knows if anyone will cry twice at that time! ”

"You really make me sad when you say that!" Saying that, Ikeda Hengxing really made a "grief" look. "With the friendship between our brothers, if there is really such a day, don't say it's crying, even if it's for you to wear linen and filial piety, there is no problem! Well......" he smiled evilly again. "I'll take care of the aftermath! Thy realms belong to the people, and to the treasures of silver and gold, and to thy wives and concubines...... I'll leave it all to me! ”

"You kid is so unauthentic!" I grabbed him by the collar. "I still hold back this thief's heart, so I won't say anything else! Hurry up and pay it back! In a burst of giggling laughter, the atmosphere suddenly relaxed.

At this time, I scanned my eyes and found that in addition to Ikeda Tsuneko and "Monkey", there were several people who were not very close, such as Akechi Mitsuhide, Ikoma Jinmasa, and Beeya Yoritaka.

"Why isn't Niwa-sama here?" After a few pleasantries, I asked casually.

"Accompany the lord to receive the Qincha!" Hideyoshi Hashiba replied. "This time it's the sunny season of the Great Nayan Kikutei, and Niwa-sama is an old acquaintance with him, so he didn't shy away from it! They had been talking for a while, but they were afraid that it was almost over. ”

"Really!" Ikoma opened his mouth to answer. "If you don't look at the current situation, how can it still be possible to mediate? I really don't know what these people think! "Although he is handsome, he is slightly weak, and he bears a lot of resemblance to his sister Yoshino (Oda Nobunaga's side room).

"I can't say that with such certainty...... "Akechi Mitsuhide said thoughtfully." Generally speaking, as long as it doesn't hit the edge of Kyoto, the imperial court will not come forward, but why did it send an important minister like Kikutei Da Nayan to mediate this time? No matter how you think about it, you feel that there is something wrong here, or someone else is also interfering! ”

"It will be ......," I pressed the handle of the "Dai" knife on my waist and twisted it gently. "Ashikaga Yoshiaki?"

"It doesn't seem like it's impossible!" Akechi Mitsuhide nodded slightly. "Judging from the speed of the imperial court's reaction this time, this person should have a lot of influence on the imperial court, and it is very close to Kyoto, I can't think of anyone else besides him!"

"But that's not right!" Hideyoshi Hashiba suddenly slapped his thigh hard with his hand. "Ashikaga Yoshiaki must be the 'black hand' behind Asai and Asakura, without him, Asakura Yoshikei, these people may not dare to be presumptuous, and of course they won't make so many things! It stands to reason that he would like to drive his family out of as soon as possible, so how could he jump out and stop it? ”

"That's ......," Akechi Mitsuhide nodded slightly, obviously not thinking about some of the issues here.

"Could it be ......" Ikeda Hengxing suddenly said with an excited face: "Ashikaga Yoshiaki has something not ready yet, so he wants to postpone the date of the 'showdown'?" His words lit up everyone's minds.

"I'm afraid that's what it looks like!" Hideyoshi Hashiba put the helmet in his hand. "According to my opinion, 'His Royal Highness the General' may want to make an overall situation for the lord, and the current characters should not be well connected, in order to prevent Asakura and Asai from collapsing, he may want to ease the current situation first!"

"In this way, I really should seize this opportunity now...... "The rough-looking Beehouse Rylong is a typical traditional military general. Although he did not have much education, he was still very sensitive to military and war matters. "Deal with Asakura and Asai first, and even if you can't destroy them, you have to cripple them! In this way, the family will have a lot less trouble in the future, and at least they can avoid worrying about the appearance of new enemies. ”

Akechi Mitsuhide said approvingly: "Lord Bee House is right, the lord should also consider it......"

"Gentlemen...... "The general who stopped me just now walked in." The messenger has already left, and the lord has asked all the lords to enter the account for a meeting! ”

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"Ladies and ......gentlemen," Oda Nobunaga, who was standing in the middle of the tent, was full of interest, and he didn't see any impact on the Chincha at all. He walked back and forth while mobilizing everyone before the war, and his loyal ally Tokugawa Ieyasu was beside him. "I can tell you clearly, the imperial court's envoy has just come! What does this mean? His gaze quickly swept over everyone's faces, cold and frenzied. This shows that they are afraid of us! Yes, they are afraid of the military might of my Oda family! I'm afraid of your bravery! The enemy is afraid before the war, is there any higher glory than this?! ”

"The Lord is mighty! The Oda family is prosperous! Together, we respectfully replied that as vassals we have an obligation to satisfy the vanity of our lords.

"I announce that five days later, on June 28, I will have a joint battle with the Asai and Asakura armies!" Oda Nobunaga shouted with a fist. "At that time, the Asakura army will go south to reinforce Kotani Castle, and our army will send troops to intercept it, and Asai Nagamasa will inevitably come out from Kotani to respond! The main force of our army took this opportunity to defeat it in one fell swoop, and then combined with the Asakura army! He turned his head to Tokugawa Ieyasu and said, "The burden of intercepting the Asakura army will be handed over to His Highness Tokugawa and the Samurai of Mikawa, no problem, right?" ”

"Please rest assured, His Highness Bullet Zhengzhong!" Tokugawa Ieyasu said firmly: "The Samurai of Mikawa will make it difficult for the Asakura army to cross the thunder pond!" ”

"However, this time the Asakura army sent 15,000 troops, and His Royal Highness Tokugawa's army alone seems to be a little thin......" Oda Nobunaga suddenly looked at me. I will send the most powerful Zhuxing Qing clan to assist His Highness, I hope you will cooperate sincerely and do your best! ”