Chapter 64: How to Choose (I)
Nobunaga sent Yoshiyuki Sawaki, Shigemasa Nakagawa, and Ikoma's parents as my strength, and the Oda family's power structure in Northern Ise was determined. If nothing else, the three of them will take control of Asaaki-gun, and assist me in Mie Prefecture to control the territory of Northern Ise. And the cooperation method I set out at that military conference will become a concrete governance policy.
Since listening to Shigeharu Takenaka's analysis, the three of them were all relieved, and they took the initiative to subdue after waiting for the food in Xuansheng City to run out of food.
However, in late June, an urgent message suddenly came from the Tsuya branch in Tsu Town, Anno County: the Kitabatake family had abandoned their apparent friendly relations with the Nagano family, and sent troops at the same time as the Kobe family to attack the Nagano clan from both sides!
I was slightly surprised to hear the news. At present, the nominal governor of the Nagano family, Nagano Guto, is the second son of Kitabatake, but in fact he is just a hostage in the hands of Nagano Fujitotsu, and sooner or later he will be deposed. According to the custom of the samurai, at that time, even if he became an enemy, Nagano Guto would not be harmed, but would just be sent back to the Kitabatake family. But now that Kitabatake has broken the alliance first, it is tantamount to giving up this son, giving the Nagano family a good reason to kill Nagano Guto.
Maybe the Kitabatake family is tired of that kind of rat trap! Or, Kitabatake found out that I was being held back by Sen Sho and had a rare opportunity, so he desperately tried to take the life of his second son, trying to take the opportunity to eliminate my most powerful ally in Ise. Kitabatake probably thought that I, as the Kita-Ise of the Oda family, would definitely not give up half of the Asaki-gun that was about to be acquired, so I would not give any support to the Nagano family.
If Kitabatake thinks so, then it's really underestimating my vision. The important surname of the Nagano family, I know very well. Whether it was forcing the Kitabatake family to withdraw from Shima Province in Miyagawa, or defeating the combined forces of Juchi, Furuichi and Kitabatake in Yamato Province, the reason why I was able to gain the upper hand was because the Nagano family helped me contain the Kitabatake family. And once the Nagano family is back in control of the Kitabatake family, Southern Ise and Central Ise will be connected, and I will be in a very difficult situation.
Although it is only Northern Ise, my goal is the entire Ise country, so naturally I will not allow such a thing to happen. Besides, I have a good relationship with Atsushi Nagano, and even if it is based on friendship, I will support you. I can't learn the kind of ruthlessness of Kitabatake Gu giving up his own son.
The problem now is to convince the three of Ryoyuki Sawaki and also to convince Nobunaga.
Of these people, Nobunaga should be the easiest to convince, he has a long-term vision, and can understand the important surname of the Nagano family's ally to the Ise raiders, and my messenger knows the situation, and he will have the right judgment; It's just that if Yoshiyuki Sawaki speaks, there won't be any problems, he has an excellent relationship with me, he trusts me very much, and he won't oppose my opinion, and he is a person who loves him, and he has fought side by side with Nagano Fujitsu before, and the two can be described as sympathetic.
Therefore, what I have to think about carefully is that Nakagawa Shigemasa and Ikoma's parents are probably unwilling to give up the credit and subsequent reward, and insist on taking Xuansheng Castle first. In that case, I can get the two of them to their knees through Nobunaga, but I will destroy the relationship between them. I try to convince them if I can.
Sure enough, when I invited the three of them and proposed to rescue the Nagano family immediately, Yoshiyuki Sawaki had no opinion, but the other two had a difficult face.
"It's okay to rescue, but can we wait until after Xuansheng City is subdued? We've been besieging the city for fourteen days, and there have been some stirring in the ashigaru defending the city, so if we go on like this, we will be able to fall in a few days! Nakagawa Shigemasa advised.
"However, the Kitabatake family is almost out of the nest this time, with a total of 7,000 people, plus the Kobe family, the military potential can reach 10,000, and the Nagano family is encircled...... In the Nagano family, the position of His Royal Highness Nagano Fujitsu was not very stable, and there were many people who were inclined to the Kitabatake family, so they would welcome Nagano Guto as the governor of the family at the beginning; In addition, Yunlin Yuan Yuki is the younger brother of the former family governor, and he is not very convinced by His Royal Highness Fujitsu Nagano, who was born in a separate family. If we don't support us as soon as possible, something may happen within the Nagano family, and it will be too late! I tried my best to explain.
“…… Or, His Royal Highness Kira will withdraw his troops first to come to the rescue, and the three of us will lead 2,000 reinforcements to continue the siege? The 2,000 men in the city were short of combat strength and lacked military rations, so there must be no problem. "Ikoma's parents made such a suggestion.
"Your Highness Ikoma, if it's only two thousand people, the siege won't be a problem. However, how do the surrounding small wealthy families cope? I shook my head secretly, this Ikoma patriarch seemed to be fascinated by the reward of three or four thousand stones, "Hearing that our main force is leaving, going to fight a decisive battle with the Kitabatake and Kobe families, it is hard to guarantee that there will not be a wealthy family inclined to Kitabatake and Kobe to come and make trouble." The two people who don't know each other well, are they sure to deal with it? It's the spring family, and there is some appeal around here. ”
Hearing my explanation, Ikoma's parents had nothing to say. But he didn't say anything, so he was silent. Nakagawa Shigemasa wanted to say something, but when he saw him like this, he also closed his mouth.
I sighed. If it really doesn't work, I'll have to wait for Nobunaga's ruling.
"In this matter, let's ask the lord to make a decision." Yoshiyuki Sawaki said something that I couldn't say conveniently. He has the same position as Nakagawa and Ikoma, and it is more appropriate for him to say this than me.
"What does His Highness Sawaki want the lord to decide? Is it bad to continue the siege of Xuansheng Castle? Ikoma's parents reminded him a little resentfully.
"So, how does His Highness Xuanjing think the Lord Guild will be judged?" Shigemasa Nakagawa asked me.
"If it is the lord, I will definitely consider the overall situation......" I replied thoughtfully, but a flash of realization suddenly flashed in my mind, and in an instant, the problem was immediately solved.
"Actually, you don't have to worry about the lord's side. As long as the lord decides to support the Nagano family, then there will definitely be a fight with the combined forces of Kitabatake and Kobe. As the scale of the war expands, won't there be more opportunities for meritorious service, and the rewards will be even more generous at that time! I laughed and said the key.
Since the previous reward was promised by Nobunaga, he certainly would not go back on his word. As long as the three of them still make contributions, where can't they give this reward? Why do you have to be obsessed with the Spring Clan!
"In other words, it is likely that it will be time for the main family to fight a decisive battle with the Kitabatake and Kobe families and completely pacify Ise?" Yoshiyuki Sawaki reacted quickly.
"The decisive battle is probably not enough," I replied thoughtfully, "but it is still possible to repel the Kitabatake family and then destroy the Kobe family." ”
"Even then, there are two counties, Hequ and Amyun!" Shigemasa Nakagawa also figured it out, and immediately became very optimistic.
"There are 60,000 koku in the two counties, and the Kobe family controls about 40,000 koku." I added.
"That's twice as high as the Harubu family." Yoshiyuki Sawaki echoed.
For a while, the withdrawal of troops was no longer a problem. The three of us and I quickly came to an agreement.
As for defeating the Kitabatake family, all three are confident. With the strength of my family before, I didn't fall behind the Kitabatake family, but this time with Nobunaga's support, what problems will there be?
Now it's just a matter of waiting for Nobunaga's decision.
Nobunaga did not disappoint me.
The next evening, the messenger returned from Omaki Mountain Castle Pegasus and brought me Nobunaga's reply. Nobunaga agreed with me to abandon the soon-to-be-acquired Castle in favor of the Nagano family, and even expressed a certain degree of appreciation. The 2,000 troops sent out were still under the command of three men, and they served under my command until the autumn harvest.
However, Nobunaga gave me another problem: before sending troops to support, let the Nagano family hand over the hostages and submit to the Oda family!
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