It all started with the Battle of Noda Fukushima last year. At that time, Kasai Yoshikiyoshi and Miyoshi Masakatsu took refuge in Nobunaga in front of the battle, which made the Miyoshi trio extremely passive for a while. When the Miyoshi and Oda families negotiated peace, Miyoshi Masakatsu returned to Settsu, and the eighteen-year-old Kasai Yoshikiyoshi returned to the Sanki country headquarters without any trouble, which made the three of Miyoshi hate it so much.

By mid-September, encouraged by the Battle of Shirai Kawara in Settsu, the Miyoshi Trio finally couldn't bear it anymore and united with 12,000 people to go into battle to attack the Kosai family with the guilt of defection.

The three of them are so urgent, and there is no way to do it. Last year, the Miyoshi family was forced to make peace by Nobunaga and me, and was forced to cede Katsurui Castle and the four eastern prefectures of Awa Province, and their strength and momentum were once again severely hit, and they were gradually unable to suppress the major wealthy clans of Sanki Province. At this time, they must do something, on the one hand, to restore their prestige, and on the other hand, to warn Sanuki Province.

As for the Tokawa Depository, the reason why they participated in the operation was probably to get more direct leaders and strengthen the position of the Tokawa family as the guardian of the Sanki Kingdom.

In fact, the strength of the Jukawa family, as a branch of the Ueda family in Yamada County, Sanki Province, was originally not worth mentioning. However, this family actively moved closer to the Miyoshi family early on, and with the support of the Miyoshi family, they in turn overpowered the Ueda family, which was a clan, and controlled the Kannai and Mitani families, which were also branches of the Ueda family, and ruled the entire Yamada Prefecture. When Miyoshi Nagakei's younger brother Shikawa Ichi was succeeded and became the head of the Tokawa family, he was able to replace the deceased Miyoshi family elder and Shinohara's father Shinohara Nagamasa, and served as the guardian of Sanki Province.

However, even though he ruled the entire Yamada County, the direct leaders of the Ten Rivers family were still pitiful. In the past, the four families of Yasutomi, Kagawa, Kosai, and Nara, who were also known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of Hosokawa", and the Hankawa family, the easternmost part of Sanki Province, each had more territory than the Tokawa family.

For example, the Kosai family, which was to be defeated this time, happened to border the Yamada County of the Tokawa family to the west, and the family territory included the three counties of Ayahojo, Ayananjo, and Kagawa, and had a salt-saturated water army and trade routes with Korea, and accumulated a lot of funds. If you only count their own families, their strength is much higher than that of the Ten Rivers family.

And there are historical reasons why Xiangxi Jiaqing and Miyoshi Zhengsheng turned their backs on the three people. Miyoshi Masacho, the father of Miyoshi Masatsu, was hostile to Miyoshi Yuanchang and Miyoshi Changqing at the beginning, and was finally killed by the Battle of Ten Rivers and One Existence at the mouth of the river; And Kasai Yoshikiyo's father, Kasai Motosei, was a loyal retainer of the Hosokawa family, not only supporting Hosokawa Harumoto and Miyoshi Masacho in the Battle of Eguchi, but also resisting Miyoshi Chokei for eleven years after Harumoto was exiled and Masacho was killed. It was not until the third year of Yonglu (1560) that the salt-saturated water army was defeated by the Ataku water army, and Yuan Ben himself died in the battle with the Miyoshi family, leaving only the eight-year-old sister-in-law Kasai Yoshikiyo, who was the head of the feather bed family of the Xiangxi tribe, and expressed his submission to Miyoshi Changqing.

Now that I see the Miyoshi family menacing, even if the position is biased towards the Miyoshi family, I know that it is impossible to be easy to be good this time. He hurriedly summoned the Fu family and the Takinomiya family, both of which were members of the Xiangxi family, and stationed 3,000 troops at Katsuga Mountain Castle of the Xiangxi family, and sent an envoy to me asking for help. Kasai Jiaqing organized men to build a castle by the sea as a base for our side to enter the land from the sea.

When I received the Xiangxi family's request for help, I naturally would not stand idly by, and immediately sent an envoy to the Miyoshi family to express our serious protest and strong condemnation. I solemnly pointed out to the Miyoshi family through the envoy that since the Kosai family had previously surrendered to Nobunaga, it was naturally included in the contract between the two families, and it was under the protection of my Oda family. However, this lip service was naturally despised by the Miyoshi family, and they even thought that this was a manifestation of my lustful inwardness, but they worked harder to invade the Xiangxi family, and fought all the way to Katsuga Mountain Castle, surrounding Kasai Jiaqing, Hatoko Shizai, Fujia Zixian, Takimiya Yasushi, etc. in the city. Fortunately, Katsugayama Castle is a residence that the Kasai family has been running for hundreds of years, and Katsuga Yama is backed by the sea, so it can be supported by the salt-saturated water army on the sea, temporarily blocking the army of the Miyoshi family.

All right! I'll admit, I did pay lip service...... Before the envoy of the Xiangxi family arrived in the city, I received the news in advance that the Miyoshi family was out of battle, and I had already started the adjustment work.

The first thing I did was to contact the Kankawa family in Higashisanki.

The Kankawa family is the sixth largest family in Sanki Province, and its territory includes the easternmost counties of Kanchewa and Ouchi, as well as Shodoshima, the second largest island in the Seto Inland Sea and second only to Awaji Island. However, because the two counties of Hanchuan and Ouchi are located in the mountainous area, the territory of the stone height is limited, and it is not as good as the Yamada County, which is the direct leader of the Tokawa family.

Last year, Miyoshi Choji lost the essence of the four counties of Katsurui City and Awa, and his weight at home was greatly reduced. In order to expand the influence of the main family, Shinohara Nagabo set his sights on the Higashisanki guardian Yoyasutomi family, and the territory of the Kankawa family, which was sandwiched between the Yasutomi and Shinohara families. For this reason, he took advantage of his father's relationship as the guardian of Sanki Province in the past, and married his daughter to An Fu Shengding, the sister-in-law of the An Fu family, and urged the An Fu family to move closer to Miyoshi Changzhi. At the end of the year, in order to open up the passage between the two families, Yasutomi Mori relied on the support of Shinohara Nagabo to capture the Ouchi County of the Kankawa family, and drove the head of the Kankawa family, Hankawa Motokuma, who was stationed in Toramaru Castle, back to the Hisunori Castle in the main area of Kangawa County.

The Kankawa family was originally under the Atsumi family, but the Yasutomi family attacked the territory of the Kankawa family for no reason, which is an extremely unjustified act (imagine Nobunaga attacking my Mie Prefecture for no reason...... Hanchuan Motokai naturally gritted his teeth and hated it. At my invitation, he quickly made the decision to agree to unite, and began to rally Ashigaru in the domain to prepare for the recapture of Ouchi and Toramaru Castle.

Next, I contacted the Nara family in Nishisanuki.

This family has two counties of Naka and Uzu, and is the end of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Hosokawa", and the ancestors have served as the guardian of Settsu many times under the Hosokawa clan, and during the Onin Rebellion, the head of the family, Nara Taro Saemon Motoyasu, was one of the humerus ministers of Hosokawa Katsumoto, the general of the Eastern Army. When the Hosokawa clan declined, these four families also lost their positions in Kinai and returned to their own territory in Sanuki Province. Then the Miyoshi family rose up and led their army into Sanuki Province, and the Nara family was forced to surrender and surrender the port of Utatsu as the headquarters of the guardian Shinohara Nagamasa. Until now, this port town is controlled by the current guardian Daijukawa Depository.

The Port of Utatsu is the most important port in Shikoku. If Katsurui Castle is the political, economic, and cultural center of Shikoku, then Utatsu Port is the gateway to Shikoku, and the modern Setouchi Ohashi Bridge is also built in this place. Before the Hosokawa family used Sakai Town as a base for exploration and trade, the port of Utatsu was the main transportation route between Shikoku and Kinai, and it also served as a gathering of troops and the accumulation of supplies. At the beginning, Hosokawa Yoriyuki, the ancestor of the Hosokawa clan, and his own brother, Hosokawa Mitsuichi, the ancestor of the Awa Hosokawa family, fought against the Hosokawa Kiyoshi clan and won the title of Saki Ichi, so they set up their own castle here until they went to Kinai to serve as the governor.

Losing this port town, the strength of the Nara family was seriously damaged, and they didn't have a good impression of the Miyoshi family. If the Miyoshi family has been strong, it will be no problem to subdue the Nara family, but with the current situation of the Miyoshi family, the head of the Nara family, Nara Motomasa, will naturally have other thoughts.

However, he reserved his attitude towards my solicitation and did not reply. This is something that cannot be helped, after all, not everyone can see the situation clearly and make decisive decisions. Nara Motomasa could not have imagined that the Kagawa family, which owned the three counties of Toyota, Sanno, and Tadu to the west of the Nara family, would soon win over his family's important ministers, kill his acting official Kanakura Hidetada, and annex most of his territory...... That's it! With the cooperation of the Hanchuan family, it's about the same.

On September 21, I started the operation at the same time as Shinyuki Hosokawa. Hosokawa Shinyuki left 1,000 men to defend the castle, and Wasuka Masakatsu led 2,000 Ashigaru, Kanie Bei and Awaji Bei, a total of 5,000 men to attack the two prefectures of Awa and Miyoshi in the central part of Awa Province, and moved closer to Higashi Sanuki. For the first time, I also recruited Ashigaru in the territory, and raised a total of 3,000 men, and then gathered 2,000 naval troops, Tsushima Bei, and Miju Bei, and gathered a total of 8,000 troops to enter Shiratori Port, and merged with the nearly 1,000 troops of the Kankawa family. The remaining 2,000 sailors, 1,000 guarding the Akashi Strait, and 1,000 sent a large amount of rations and some firearms to the Kosai family, and informed Hosokawa, Kankawa, and our actions to encourage the Kosai family to continue to hold on.

On the second day, I attacked Ouchi Prefecture with Kankawa Motokuma. This county borders Awa County in Awa Province and is separated from Miki County in the Antomi family and Kankawa County. Originally, the Yasutomi family and the Shinohara family jointly captured a territory in Kankawa-gun as a passage between the main office and Ouchi-gun, but as soon as the army arrived, the passage disappeared immediately. Yasutomi Mori, who was stationed at Toramaru Castle, saw that he could not get reinforcements from Miki-gun, and when he heard that the Shinohara family was also under attack, he immediately abandoned the castle and fled with his wife to the territory of the Shinohara family in Awa Province, and Ouchi Ichigun also returned to the hands of the Kankawa family.

In the assessment room of Toramaru Castle, Kankawa Motogami invited me to the main seat, and he and his younger brother Hankawa Hikaru lived on the right side of the lower head, and solemnly thanked me.

"This time I was able to get back the old collar, thanks to the strong support of Awaji Hall, my Hanchuan family is grateful!" He bowed down deeply, "In the future, if it is useful, please ask Awajiden to do so." ”

"Ah, His Highness Hanchuan doesn't need to be polite." I replied casually.

"I wonder what Awajiden is going to do next? Did you invade the Miki gun of the Yatomi family? …… Or even the Yamada-gun of the Tokawa family? Mitsunaga Hankawa said excitedly.

"Shut up! How Awaji Hall acts, how can you put your beak in it! Hanchuan Motokai hurriedly scolded his younger brother. However, looking at his eyes and expression, it is clear that he is also related.

This is the ambitious samurai...... Perhaps, he wants to be like the previous Shihe family, follow the right people, and then there is a good hope that he will destroy the Yasutomi family and obtain the status of the guardian of Tosangi. Anyway, after the battle for Ouchi County, the Anfu family acted against the wealthy family for no reason, and he had lost his righteousness as the guardian of Tosanki, and he had a great grudge with the Hanchuan family.

According to the current situation, the Xiangxi family, which was originally matched by the Anfu family, will no longer follow, let alone the Shihe family, which came later. Therefore, the Yasutomi family can only use the forces directly led by Miki County, and at most, plus the Yusa family in the mountains at the junction of Awa and Sanki, they are at their weakest.

And seeing the strength of my subordinates Tsushima Bei and Mie Bei, and getting along with me for two more days, he now obviously regards me as the right person.

It's no wonder that since entering Kinai and Shikoku, I haven't lost a battle. Needless to say, the pacification of Yamato and Hanoi in Kinai was due to the general trend of Nobunaga and the prestige of the Rokkaku family. However, in Tosa Province, he defeated the relatives of Chosō Ibu, who was on the verge of rising, and defeated Chosō Ibu back to its original form; The lightning pacification of the four eastern prefectures of Awa, the capture of the first city of Shikoku Shengrui Castle, and the blocking of 20,000 three good troops in Settsu Province were all my personal play.

In addition, my reputation has always been good, and the wealthy who follow me have not seen anyone suffer. Even if I captured Katsurui Castle and the four eastern prefectures of Awa, I didn't keep it for myself, but gave it back to the Awa puppet to protect Hosokawa Shinyuki. This time I sent troops to Sanuki, and I also occupied the name of righteousness, in order to maintain the peace agreement and assist the Xiangxi family, which was invaded by the Miyoshi family. Those wealthy families who followed the Miyoshi family to attack the Xiangxi family must have some feelings!

Imagine that the Miyoshi family is like a hunter, who is capturing the dog badger of the Xiangxi family, and the other wealthy families are hunting dogs and the like, hoping that after catching the dog badger, they can get some bones from the hunter. But who can guarantee that if the hunters are hungry again, and there are no badgers to catch, they will not feed their appetites?

Perhaps, you can borrow this Hanchuan Motokuma?

"His Highness Hankawa—" I said in a slightly longer voice.

"Yes. Please command Awajiden. "Hankawa Motokumi owes himself.

"I have no intention of fighting a decisive battle in the country of Sanuki. This is not the most suitable option. ”

"Is Awaji Hall going to evacuate Sanuki Province?" Hanchuan Motogami asked with a surprised face, "However, the Xiangxi family is still under siege!" ”

"Huh!" I smiled, "It's not a decisive battle in Sanki Country, but can you do it in Awa Country!" ”

"This ......" Hankawa Motogami thought for a while, and still didn't seem to have an eyebrow, so he asked dryly, "What does Awaji Hall need my Hankawa family to do?" ”

"I will soon attack the territory of the Anfu family and the Shihe family. However, I hope that the Kankawa family will take advantage of the situation to propose to the Miyoshi Sanren and the Shikawa clan to surrender, on the condition that the Ouchi Prefecture recaptured by the Kankawa family port be retained," I also made a direct request to him, "Of course, this friendship, I will take it to heart." Please rest assured that His Highness Kankawa is here. ”

"Since Awaji Hall said so, my Hankawa family will naturally obey my fate," Hankawa Motokushi nodded, "It's just, will the Miyoshi family agree to this condition?" ”

"Please don't worry about this, too. The Hankawa family is to surrender to the Miyoshi Sanren and the Shihe Depository, and it is Miyoshi's strategy to win over the Yasutomi family and capture Ouchi County, and it will not get the support of the Sanko and the Shihe family. I explained.

"I Yuan Kan understands. Just do it. "Hanchuan Motokumi bowed down and responded.

When Brother Hanchuan went out, Xiujing, who was on the left side of the next head, owed: "What my brother means, I roughly understand." It's to create a situation that is favorable to the Miyoshi family, and to create the illusion that we have to withdraw from Sanuki, right? ”

"Not bad." I nodded, "Then His Highness Shin will lose another trick there, and retreat to Shengrui City, and the Miyoshi family will definitely take the opportunity to besiege the city, and then fight a decisive battle with us in Awa." ”

"But why don't you fight a decisive battle in Sanuki Country?" Gamo Fuxiu asked.

"Think about it?" I asked with a smile.

"Because you're not familiar with the terrain?" Gamo Fuxiu thought about it and asked uncertainly.

"It's just one aspect. There are two other reasons. ”

"There are two more...... "Gamo Fuxiu thought for a moment, and then gave up, "I really can't think of it, and I ask His Highness for advice." ”

"It's not your fault. Because you don't know the characteristics of the domestic forces in Sanuki," I explained with a smile, "The powerful clans of the Sanki country are very strong, and the entire thirteen counties of the Sanki country are almost completely divided by the six wealthy clans. Therefore, if I win the battle in Sanuki, I will inevitably cut off a piece of the direct collar, and then it will definitely damage their interests, and for this reason, they will unite and work hard to fight me...... On the contrary, if it were a decisive battle in Awa Province, there would be no reason for the wealthy clans of Sanki Province to fight. Moreover, they are now gradually centrifuged by the Miyoshi family, and there is no extra territory in Sanqi country as a reward, so naturally they can't raise any fighting spirit. ”

"I see!" Gamo Fuxiu bowed down, "I've been taught here!" ”

"However, in this case, even if you win, you will only drive the Miyoshi family out of Apo completely, and you won't be able to destroy the Miyoshi family?" Xiujing questioned.

"Do you think that if they are driven to Sanki Country, will the Miyoshi family continue to survive?" I asked rhetorically.

Xiujing thought for a while and nodded: "According to what my brother just said, the situation of the various wealthy clans in Sanqi Country is indeed difficult. ”

"yes!" I also nodded, "Not to mention the loss of prestige, not to mention the centrifugal tendencies of the wealthy families, and not to mention the huge gap in income. The overlap of the three governance systems alone is enough for the three good families...... Hmph, the Kinai faction led by the Miyoshi Sanko, the many retainers of the Awa Guardian Daidai Miyoshi Choji Family, and the people of the Sanki Province Guardian Daijukawa Depository. Can the 20,000 stone direct collar of the Ten Rivers Yamada Prefecture, plus one Utatsu Port, support such a huge ruling structure? ”

"According to my brother's analysis, it's not difficult to overthrow the Miyoshi family now? Maybe you can take the opportunity to unite the wealthy families of Sanki Country. Xiujing said.

"But now it's too reluctant to unify, let's enter when they need me!" I shook my head, "The Miyoshi family can't fully get the support of Sanki, because they were too hasty and too reluctant to unify, and as a result, as soon as they showed a decline, the wealthy families showed a centrifugal tendency. ”

"That's true," Gamo Fuhide also understood, "If you want to say that it's not reluctant, it's like the Yamato Tsutsui family summoned by His Highness last time, as well as the Hosokawa family of Awa and the Ataka family of Awa here?" ”

"Forget it!" I smiled.

(To be continued)