After receiving my letter, Nobutaka was overjoyed, and soon sent Katsuhisa Kuriya, one of the four elders of Takeda, to Sakai Town, where he was stationed as his deputy official to contact and participate in the exploration of trade.

At the same time, he personally led his headquarters to join up with Hosokawa Fujitaka and Miyabe Jijun, and together traced the Yura River, which flowed through Tanba and Tango, up the Aragawa River, and put on a posture of preparing to attack Fukuchiyama Castle. The castle is a very important location in the northwestern part of Tanba Province, and has been garrisoned by Akechi Hideman until now. However, now that Akechi Hideman is sitting in Minami Omi, the castle is very empty, and it is impossible to resist the momentum of Wakasa, Tango, and Tajima San. When Akechi Mitsuhide heard the news, he had to divide 5,000 men from the forces that confronted Hideyoshi in the direction of Harima, and his father-in-law's wife, Ki Hirotada, led to support him, while also slightly shrinking his own defensive line.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hideyoshi decisively led the main force to disengage with the Akechi Army, and then entered Settsu Province southward, joining forces with Ikeda Tsuneko and Maeda Toshiie, and attacking South Hanoi as the western route. In addition to his way, Niwa Nagahide and Ikoma parents on the south road, and Tsutsui Shunkei on the east road also went out separately, echoing Hideyoshi, forming a three-way encirclement of Hanoi Province.

In the face of the attack of nearly 60,000 troops on these three routes, Hatakeyama Yoshishu was obviously caught off guard. He probably didn't expect that Ikoma's parents, Maeda Toshiie, who I matched, would participate in the action so quickly, and Shunkei Tsutsui, who had been hesitant, suddenly joined the rebellion, right? Moreover, the army of 60,000 people is already more than twice the strength of the army he belongs to, even if he draws out all the troops in the mountain city country, he may not be able to repel the opposing side, once the decisive battle is lost, or the mountain city country changes, it will be a catastrophe for him.

Considering the suddenness of the situation and the key surname, Ashikaga Yoshishu fell into hesitation and did not make any response for two or three days. As a result, it took these two or three days to decide the ownership of the entire country of Hanoi.

The first to act was the Wakae trio in North Kawachi, who, in keeping with their agreement with Hideyoshi, raised a counter-flag against Ashikaga Yoshishu, thus cutting off the passage between Minami Hanoi and Yamashiro Province. This time, it is not easy for Yi Zhou to rescue Nanhanoi even if he wants to, and he must first capture Ruojiang City. Seeing this situation, the former retainers of the Hatakeyama family in Minami Omi began to defect from Yoshishu and instead supported the new head of the Hatakeyama family, Hatakeyama Masasho, in the Hideyoshi army; Then the wealthy clans in the country also broke with Yoshishu one after another and joined the command of Hatakeyama Masasho.

Realizing that it was too late, Yoshiju had no choice but to abandon Hanoi and lead his army to Mujin River, where Hanoi and Son Thanh meet, to set up a military formation and prepare to resist an attack from the direction of Hanoi.

Although it is a boundary river, the Kizu River is not very wide, and the general width is only about 20 meters, which is naturally not enough to rely on for the formation. However, the valley that flows through the western and southern borders of Yamashiro Province is the most convenient route to Kyoto within Minamiyama Castle, and the rest of the area is surrounded by mountains, making it a battleground for soldiers.

At the same time, Akechi Mitsuhide also led his army to Yamashiro Province. He had discovered Hideyoshi's intentions because of Hideyoshi's sudden withdrawal of troops, and for this reason, he specially attacked the two eastern counties of Harima Province in an attempt to force Hideyoshi to return to defense. However, Hideyoshi was very bold and ignored him, and quickly captured the country of Hanoi, and then approached in the direction of Kyoto. In this way, in order to avoid the collapse of Ashikaga Yoshishu, he had to abandon his actions in Harima Province and lead more than 10,000 main forces except for the defenders of Fukuchi Mountain Castle to support Yoshishu.

However, Akechi Mitsuhide did not directly join Ashikaga Yoshishu, but was stationed in the Yamazaki area of Otoharun-gun, the lowest reaches of the Kizu River. This place is the gateway to the Kyoto Basin along with the entire Sanyo Province and Nangi Valley, and is called the "Shikai" of Kyoto, along with Oe, which holds Mt. Oshi, which holds Mt. [***] in the north, Amisaka, which holds the Tokaido and Higashiyamado in the east, and Waga, which holds the Hokuriku Province in the northeast. Therefore, whether you are traveling from Hanoi or Settsu to Kyoto, you must pass through this important place, and the rebel army is no exception. Not only that, but it is also the confluence of three rivers, the Kizu River, the Uji River, and the Katsura River, which is a very wide river channel and a natural barrier to the southwest of Kyoto. When the three rivers converged, they were renamed the Yodo River and flowed westward into Osaka Bay.

The reason why Akechi Mitsuhide chose to set up a formation here was obviously that he was not optimistic about Hatakeyama Yoshishu upstream, and felt that he was too sudden and wasted such a good natural position in Yodogawa. The subsequent events also confirmed this view, and became the first reason for the defeat of the shogunate army.

On November 13, the day after Akechi Mitsuhide arrived in Yodogawa, Hideyoshi Yura, Tsuneko Ikeda, and Toshiie Maeda led more than 30,000 men on the western route to the Yawata area on the border between Hanoi and Kyoto, and engaged Ashikaga Yoshishu on the other side of the Kizu River. There were about 20,000 people in Ashikaga Yoshishu, and with the advantage of the position, he met Hideyoshi's side with ease, and successfully resisted their attack, and even occupied an advantage on the field, forcing Hideyoshi to retreat sharply. This result confused Ashikaga Yoshishu and made him make the wrong judgment that he could defeat the rebel army here first, so he ordered to abandon his position and launched an attack on Hideyoshi's side. However, after half a day of fighting, Niwa Nagahide's Southern Route Army and Tsutsui Shunkei's Eastern Route Army also arrived one after another, leading their troops to attack Yoshishu's flank, and Yoshishu immediately felt struggling, and at the same time understood the reason for Hideyoshi's retreat. In desperation, he had no choice but to give up part of his army, lead the main force to retreat along the Kizu River, and crossed the Yodo River under the response of Akechi Mitsuhide.

Although he successfully broke away from the battle line and kept his main force, Ashikaga Yoshishu was defeated after all, not only losing a lot of prestige, but also dampening the morale of the remaining troops. Faced with the high morale of the southern bank and the strength of the army twice the number of their own, everyone felt that the future was not good, and the natural danger of the Yodogawa River, which was leaning on the barrier, did not seem to be able to completely reassure them.

Aware of this situation, Hideyoshi did not take advantage of the situation to cross the river to attack, but gave full play to his expertise in strategy. His target this time is the 20,000 Shihao clan in the upper reaches of the Uji River and the lord of Makishima Castle, Ido Yoshihiro. This person is Tsutsui Shunkei's brother-in-law and Matsunaga Tong's father-in-law, and when Tsutsui and Matsunaga were fighting, they repeatedly took refuge between the two families many times; When Naomasa Harada served as the guardian of Yamato, he became the chief patriarch of the Harada family; When Harada Naomasa lost power, he responded to Nobunaga's order and handed over Makishima Castle and Harada Naomasa's sister-in-law, so he was awarded a territory of 20,000 stones; A while ago, Yoshishu entered the Yamashiro Kingdom, and he immediately surrendered to Ashikaga Yoshishu and served as the guardian of Nanshan Castle.

Such a disloyal person, in the face of today's situation, naturally will not mind changing the court again. He quickly accepted Hideyoshi's wooing. Xiang Yizhou raised an anti-flag. Under his influence, in the next few days, as if the dominoes had been overthrown, the small and medium-sized wealthy clans of the entire Nanshan Castle turned their backs on Ashikaga Yoshishu and threw themselves into Hideyoshi's command, and in the military situation of the Yodogawa position, a large number of deserters began to appear.

At this point, whether it is Ashikaga Yoshishu or Akechi Mitsuhide, they all know that the hearts of the people have been lost, and it is estimated that it will be difficult for Yamashiro to keep it. Akechi Mitsuhide soon retreated his forces and prepared to return to his own Tanba country; However, Yoshishu did not act with Ake, and he handed over nearly 10,000 remnants of his army to the deacon Ise Sadako to garrison Yodo Castle, and he returned to Kyoto with 5,000 people under his command.

"Yoshishu has given up and is preparing to fall with his shogunate, and perhaps even to pull Kyoto as a funeral gift." I was quick to make my judgment.

Although I have been living in the main city of the prefecture and have not been directly involved in the war, I have been following the development of the situation, and the information on the battlefield has been transmitted by Tsuya and Iga. Hideyoshi's swift movements and proper strategy, Ashikaga Yoshishu's successive defeats, and Akemitsuhide's lack of skills to return to heaven all fell into my eyes and made me know it to me. And now, Ashikaga Yoshishu has obviously reached the end of his rope, and Akechi Mitsuhide is also not long.

And with the clarity of the situation, Xinjing and Jingzheng also came to the state city in the past two days. Hearing my judgment, Shinkage immediately became worried: "Mother-sama is in Kyoto, there won't be anything, right?" ”

"I still know a little about the surname of Wise Mitsuhide, and I probably won't be embarrassed; However, Yoshishu decided to break the jar, and Kyoto was about to fall into war, and no one knew what he would do......" I said as I thought about it, and I couldn't help but feel a little worried.

"So, Father, how about I lead the elite of my family to Kyoto to rescue my mother?" Shinkyo glanced at Shigeharu Takenaka, who was at the head of the head, and immediately asked me.

"It's not impossible, it's much more convenient for a small group of elites to move than a large army. Now that Yamashiro Province is in chaos, it is possible to enter Kyoto before the army is in a position to enter Kyoto before the army...... However, you are the identity of the head of the family, and you can't go to the danger in person, so let Jing Zheng go instead of you! ”

"I'm willing to do my best for my father and brother." Jing Zheng beside him quickly took a stand.

"I don't want to hand this matter over to someone else, not even Jing Zheng," Xin Jing shook his head, "Let my mother fall into the hands of the enemy, no matter what, I have to take part of the responsibility, and I also have the obligation to help." So be sure to let me do it myself! ”

"Please let me go with you. I, like my brother, have responsibilities and obligations for Ishitani's mother. Jing Zheng asked.

"The main hall, it's rare for the head of the family to have this responsibility, so let him go!" Shigeharu Takenaka also spoke for Shinkage, and put forward a specific plan, "You might as well ask the head of the family to bring Izumi's triple preparation to ...... Triple preparation is a long-term battle elite, light and a hui two partners, can be said to be able to attack and defend, after entering Kyoto, relying on Xiangguo Temple, even several times the number of chaotic soldiers can resist. Moreover, they are the close servants of the Triple Hall, and they will definitely do their best. ”

"Okay!" I nodded. Shigeharu Takenaka said well, it is rare that he has responsibility, and there is a suitable plan ready-made, so it is good for him to exercise. Anyway, he is just in the name of the governor now, and he doesn't necessarily have to be confined to his own family: "Then, you two leave as soon as possible, and discuss with Miyata and Joto if you have something!" ”

"Yes." The two of them received the order together, turned and left the main hall.

Watching the two of them go away, I turned around and asked Shigeji Takenaka: "Chongji, just now I seemed to see you look at Xinjing, and then Xinjing took the initiative to ask for his life." Right? You and Xinjing have a tacit understanding. ”

"Yes, it was the subordinate who asked the head of the family to ask for his life," Shigeharu Takenaka nodded, "The head of the family is not lacking in responsibility, but he is not used to making decisions on his own, and is more willing to ask and listen to the opinions of others...... For example, the last time I came to Shikoku, it seemed to be the opinion of His Royal Highness Jingzheng. ”

"I know Jing Zheng's considerations, he wants to strengthen the relationship with Xinjing. After all, compared to returning to Mie Castle, temporarily giving up his territory and escorting Nobuyai to Shikoku will be very emotional! I smiled knowingly, "At first, I did mind a little, but after I figured it out, I was able to understand, and even let go of my knots." People will always be a little selfish, but Jing Zheng has done a good job in Iga in the past two years, and he is obviously able to act with a public heart, and he knows how to balance, so that he can assist Xinjing, which can just help Xinjing control the retainers and wealthy families...... I think that with proper exercise and beating, he should be able to grow into Xinjing's right-hand man like Xiujing assisted me! ”

"Maybe it's a little abrupt," Takezhong Shigeji shook his head and said, "But compared to His Highness Xiujing, His Highness Jingzheng is still a little worse. ”

"Now, of course, there's no comparison. However, people always grow! And Xinjing will definitely build his own help," I smiled with emotion, "Privately, when Xiujing first came to me, there were also many things that were not good!" ”

……，…… The day before I dispatched Nobuyei and Keimasa, Hideyoshi also received information that the Ashikaga-Akechi coalition had changed, and soon crossed the Yodogawa River and launched a pursuit. In front of the more than 50,000 troops with a rainbow of momentum, the more than 10,000 people of Ise Sadako were naturally not opponents, and after only holding out for more than a day, they were completely dispersed by Hideyoshi, and Yodo Castle also fell into the hands of Hideyoshi. At this point, the southern gateway to Kyoto has been completely opened to Hideyoshi. But at this time, Hideyoshi stopped, he moved his main camp forward to Fushimi Shigetsu Mountain, and then held a military meeting at the foot of the mountain to formalize the command sequence of the coalition attack on Kyoto.

Due to the qualifications of the first attack on Ashikaga Yoshishu, as well as the great achievement of successfully annexing Nanshan Castle and leading the army to capture Yodo Castle, Hideyoshi unsurprisingly assumed the position of commander-in-chief. He appointed Niwa Nagahide, the general of the Southern Route, as his lieutenant, and Ikeda Tsuneko of Settsu as his lieutenant, and ordered Ikoma's family to remain in North Hanoi to maintain the back of the coalition forces and prepare for the subsequent transfer of the seal, perhaps with a sense of exclusion, of course. Tsutsui Shunkei of the East Road was appointed by him as the vanguard and took the lead in launching an attack on Kyoto.

It is the common practice of this era to let the appearance be the forefront. However, now that Ashikaga Yoshishu has lost power, taking the lead means that he is likely to enter Kyoto first, and thus gain great honor and fame. Tsutsui Shunkei was extremely satisfied with this, and soon led his army across the Kamogawa River to Jujo on the outskirts of Kyoto. It's just that he seems to have forgotten that Ashikaga Yoshishu still has 5,000 direct subordinates to the public, which is not only more elite, but also very loyal to the shogunate. These forces were deployed in Kujo's Toji Temple and Tofukuji Temple, and almost gave Tsutsui Shunkei a great defeat. Fortunately, at a critical time, the Ashikaga side suddenly showed signs of chaos and took the initiative to give up Kujo's position, which saved Tsutsui Shunkei's face.

However, in view of the previous lesson of underestimating the enemy's advance and bringing huge losses, he chose to stay on the spot this time, and then sent someone to ask Hideyoshi for help, but in vain he gave up the glory of entering Kyoto first.

In fact, at this time, the Ashikaga side had already received news that Mie Bei had infiltrated from the Higashiyama area on the east bank of the Kamogawa River, broke through the defense in the direction of Gojo Bridge, and entered the core area of Kyoto. They were worried that the triple reserve would go straight to Nijo Castle, where Yoshishu was located, so they hurriedly abandoned their positions and the whole army shrank towards Nijo Castle, but then found that the triple reserve had gone all the way north from the four avenues and entered the Sokokuji Temple in Imadegawa, Kamikyo District, in the north, and had no intention of attacking Nijo Castle at all.

The public of Yoshishu and Bong, who reacted, immediately became furious, and vented all the frustration of being forced to abandon the Kujo position and thus falling short on Mie Bei. Their whole army went to Sangukuji Temple and launched a fierce revenge attack on the triple reserve, and as for the Tsutsui family in the south and the army of Hideyoshi, it was completely out of their consideration.

It can also be seen from this that at this time, Yizhou almost lost his mind and completely lost his grasp of the battle situation. However, what can he do in the case of Yi Zhou? From the moment he left the front line and returned to Kyoto, he already knew that time was running out, and when Hideyoshi's army came, he would not be able to resist at all, and what awaited him would only be destruction. He wasn't even seppuku as a shogun, but he was executed as a rebel who killed the lord. His current rebellion has no strategic considerations at all, and is just a brute purpose to resist for the sake of resistance, in order to maintain the last vestiges of dignity.

Even this pursuit is not so easy to achieve. In the face of the triple preparation relying on Xiangguoji Temple, Bong Gong launched several rounds of attacks in a row, but he was unable to break through the defense line organized by Joto Kazuki at all. Seeing that it was getting late, and their own people were constantly falling, their morbidly high morale gradually declined, and they were finally completely repelled by a surprise attack organized by Miyata Mitsuji during the night.

By this time, the military spirit of the public had completely dispersed. Unable to organize anymore and unwilling to return to Nijo Castle to hold on, they turned into a multitude of scattered rebels who wreaked havoc in Kyoto, burning, looting, and doing everything, turning most of Kyoto into a living hell. The raging fires that spread throughout the city can be seen even from Mt. Fushimi on the southern shore of the Kamogawa River on the outskirts. Hideyoshi discovered this chaos and immediately led some of his elite to the north overnight to save Kyoto, which was on the verge of extinction.

Even so, Kyoto was so devastated that most of Kamigyo was almost in ruins, and the loss of houses and townspeople was even greater than the turmoil of the last time Sokokuji Temple was burned down in 1551, and second only to the Onin Rebellion. However, because of the triple defense, this time Xiangguoji survived and was not burned to the ground like the previous two times.

At the end of November, I went to Beijing at the invitation of Hideyoshi, and I saw this tragic situation with my own eyes. On the outskirts of the temple, a large number of displaced townspeople have gathered, and not only do they have nowhere to stay, but they also have to face the cold weather and the plight of lack of food and clothing.

"The Lady of Mie Hall has already accepted many townspeople to stay in the temple and is also giving soup and clothes outside the temple. But there are still many people who die of cold and starvation every day......" Li Ju Zhengxiu, the senior brother of Xixiao Cheng and the head of the Lin Guang Temple of Xiangguo Temple, folded his hands and whispered to me.

I fell silent. I may not be able to get out of this chaos. If I hadn't sent a triple reserve into Xiangguoji Temple to defend it and defeat the Bongkook public, they might not have turned into raging rebels, and they wouldn't have brought such a catastrophe to Kamigyo District.

However, I did not defeat them, and Hideyoshi's army! Unless Hideyoshi exterminated it in the first battle, the rebellion will still be raging, not in the Kamigyo district near the Sokokuji Temple, but also in the Nakakyo district near Nijo Castle, or in the south of the castle in the Shimokyo district where the two sides are scheduled to fight...... This has always been the case with the wars involving Kyoto, as was the case during the Onin Rebellion, the Astronomical Hokke Rebellion, and the Hosokawa and Miyoshi families.

It can be said that this result was already doomed from the time Yoshishu decided to break the jar and break it, and even when he rebelled against Nobunaga.

After thinking about this, my mood finally relaxed a little, and then I instructed Masahide Rii: "Please do your best to save them." If there is a shortage of materials and money, please go to my commissioner, Yamauchi Kazutoyo, to solve it. ”

"Amitabha, His Royal Highness Jingo is really a bodhisattva!" Satoi Masahide complimented me and said.

"The master really doesn't dare to take this seriously!" I hurriedly thanked him, "Although it is for the general purpose of quelling the rebellion, it is always the responsibility of the samurai such as me to involve ordinary townspeople in the war. Being able to do my part for them can be regarded as making up for our mistakes a little. ”

Riju Masahide wanted to say something, but I had already thrown him away and turned to Shinjing, who was going to greet him, and asked, "Is your mother okay?" What injuries have you suffered? ”

"That's not true," Shinjing replied with a frown, "It's just that because of the raging army before, which caused such a big loss to the Shangjing District, my mother felt very guilty, and always felt that it was because of the reason to rescue her that she had made it like this...... She is currently in a very bad spirit, and she is very haggard, but she still insists on personally working to help the townspeople, and I can't persuade her. ”

"She can't do this!" I couldn't help but frown.

"There's one more thing to report to my father," Keimasa on the other side continued, "Ashikaga Yoshishu is missing. ”

"Why, I haven't found him for six or seven days?" I felt very strange.

"Yes," Jing Zheng nodded, "His Royal Highness Ha Liang has almost searched through the entire Kyoto, but he still hasn't found Yoshishu...... Perhaps, it was to flee to the Tamba country of Akechi Mitsuhide! ”

"No," I shook my head, "since he chose to stay in Kyoto before, he will never leave now." ”

"But where will he hide?" Jing Zheng fell into thought, "If you can catch him, it will be a great credit to the family!" ”

"You just said that you almost turned the whole of Kyoto...... In other words, is there any place you haven't looked for? I thought about it and asked Jing Zheng.

"Of course, it is naturally impossible to search the Emperor's forbidden place and the prince's palace. However, now that the imperial court is busy making up for its previous mistakes, and even Sekihaku Kujo Kanetaka has been exiled, it won't be able to protect Ashikaga Yoshishu, right? ”

"The Xiangguo Temple of the main family, have you already searched it?" I asked him.

"Of course not," replied me by Shinjing, "but we absolutely did not take Yi Zhou in." ”

"If you don't take him in, can't he keep it?" I smiled slightly, "I know where Yi Zhou is...... Perhaps, he is waiting for me to meet him for the last time! ”

(To be continued)