Chapter 47 Mrs. City

In mid-autumn, around August 25, Nobunaga had already returned to the Huyuqianshan position that surrounded Kita Omi Otani Castle.After arriving, Nobunaga calmly ordered: "Wait for Xiaogucheng to fall." After Nobunaga wiped out Echizen with lightning speed, he returned here as soon as the lingering smoke in the valley had not cleared, and gave orders from here. Nobunaga appointed a large number of old generals who were familiar with the situation of the territory to serve as guardians. For example, he placed Echizen's subjugated general Maehajitsu in Toyohara Castle, appointed Asakura Kagekage as the guardian of Ono Castle, and arranged Yarokuro Tomita in Fuchu Castle. Mitsuhide, the wise ten soldier guard, was placed there as a supervisor.

Mitsuhide is the best fit to work here.In the era when he did not make a fortune, he worked for the Asakura family and lived in Ichijo Valley City.At that time, he was treated coldly by his family and had not yet been recognized by the world, but now, his status has been completely reversed. He was a patron of the sect back then, but now he is in charge of monitoring the Asakura clan, the main family in the past.Guangxiu felt a little complacent, but also had various emotions. Mitsuhide's talent has been continuously appreciated by Nobunaga, and now he is one of Nobunaga's favorites.

Mitsuhide, who is good at knowing people, has thoroughly understood Nobunaga's character after years of fighting and daily work.Nobunaga's face, words, complexion, etc., he can clearly see from a distance. He sent fast horses from Echizen several times to deliver letters, and he did not act arbitrarily at all, but asked the letter chief for instructions one by one. Nobunaga read these documents and letters beamingly every day on the front of Huyu Mountain, and then gave instructions. "If the battle is like this, it will be really easy." "Don't talk nonsense, your thinking is very insidious. Maybe the lord will give some order tonight. The enemy's Asai clan, judging by their persistence, may be stronger than we imagined."

"They want to stay the course?" "Needless to say, the main city and branch cities in the six counties of Beijinjiang, with a total of 390,000 shi, will not be easily defeated." On the periphery of the quiet position, the sentries were chatting.The cloudless blue sky, the mountain ranges, the autumn is full, and there is a lake at the foot of the mountain. "Ah... Master Kinoshita is here." Fujikichiro came to a nearby position from Yokoyama Castle.With four or five of his men, he strode over from the distant valley.He talked and laughed with his followers, and his teeth looked even whiter under the sunshine of autumn.

After a while, he came over. "Hey! Yo!" He greeted the left and right. He built Zhougu City, and then was entrusted with the great task of Hengshan City. His status in the Oda Army was obviously not trivial, but he was still the same, unchanged at all. Some of the generals have always been very serious, and they evaluate Tokichiro as a frivolous person.Another group of people think that he is not moved by his fame. Although he ascended to a high position in one fell swoop, he is still his past self. There is hope to go up, in short, he has many advantages. Basically, people who hold the latter view have great affection for him, and the number of them may be one person in a hundred.

After Fujikichiro wandered to the battle, at some point, he invited Nobunaga to climb the mountain again very casually. "Unexplainable guy." Shibata Katsuie, Sakuma Nobumori and others came outside the camp, spit, and said angrily, "His behavior is disgusting, showing off his cleverness, the most annoying .” "Don't explain the purpose to us at all...and don't ask our opinion." "And isn't this too dangerous? Even in the daytime, in such a vast mountainous area, the existence of enemy ninjas cannot be ruled out. What if the enemy sniped from a distance?"

"My lord is really..." "No, it's Fujikichiro's fault. He told the lord courteously that bringing many people up the mountain would attract attention." Staff members other than Shengjia and Xinsheng were also very unhappy.Although I know that Fujikichiro will always pick an opportunity to take Nobunaga to a high place, and then use his wisdom to explain the battle strategy, but this incident itself is extremely unpleasant.This unhappiness seems to be due to his ignorance of the existence of other advisers. Fujikichiro may not know what these people are thinking, or he is not interested in paying attention to them. He walked in front of Nobunaga like a mountain tour, and laughter came from the silent mountain from time to time.

There are only twenty or thirty of his subordinates and Nobunaga's entourage in total. "I sweat a little when I climb the mountain, my lord, how about I hold the handle for you?" "Are you kidding me!" "It won't be long." "Climbing is not enough, is there a higher mountain?" "Unfortunately, there are none around here...but it's very high." Fujikichiro wiped his sweat and looked around. Nobunaga also stood aside, looking at the nearby valley from the top of the mountain, and found that there were soldiers on guard hidden among the trees everywhere, and they seemed to be Fujikichiro's men.

"Everyone on the same road, you can rest here for a while, there are too many passers-by ahead and it is difficult to walk." After Fujikichiro finished speaking, he and Nobunaga walked dozens of steps towards the southern mountain peak.There were no trees at all, and it was covered with grass and awn ears suitable for pasture. Among the thatch, there is a sprig of lisianthus swaying.Flowers of goldenrod and creeper were wrapped around the belt of the knife. The two walked forward step by step in silence.The front is facing the sea, and there is no way to go. "My lord...please squat down."

"Is that so?" "Please try to hide in the grass." So the two almost climbed to the edge of the cliff. At this moment, a distinct city suddenly appeared in the basin below. "That's Xiaogu Castle." Fujikichiro said in a low voice, pointing with his finger. Nobunaga nodded, but did not speak. There was something deep in his eyes, not just because he was near the enemy's main city. In the city surrounded by his army, his own sister, Mrs. Shi, is the wife of the city lord and gave birth to four children. She still lives in the city. The Lord sat down from the two of them.The flowers and tassels of autumn grass surrounded their shoulders.

Nobunaga had been staring at the castle below, and then he turned his face to Fujikichiro. "My younger sister must have resented me as an elder brother. I married her into the Asai family without any explanation. I told her: 'You have no choice but to sacrifice yourself for the benefit of the family.' I still remember her The appearance when he entered the sedan chair crying... Tokichiro, these things seem to be happening right in front of his eyes." "I also remember very clearly that there was a lot of dowry and a gorgeous sedan chair. The lady was surrounded by horses and entourage, and married to the north of the lake. The ceremony that day was really spectacular." "Ashi was only fifteen years old at that time, and she was an innocent girl." "The bride is petite and cute, she looks a bit like Wang Zhaojun." "...Fujiro." "yes." "You should understand my Nobunaga's pain." "Because of that, I'm also having a headache." Nobunaga raised his chin and said, "It's easy for me to flatten this city, but I also want to rescue Oshi from the city unscathed... The war of one country and Nobunaga's troubles are mixed together, and it becomes Even so, I, Nobunaga, am an ordinary person, and I don’t want to give up on anyone.” "It's normal." Fujikichiro said with a bow.He is also an infatuated person, and Nobunaga's emotional character has something in common with what he thinks. "Just now you said that you wanted to take a look at the terrain of Xiaogu City. Also, your strategy of attacking Echizen first instead of solving here was also due to your troubles. I have already noticed this. Sorry for talking too much, To put it presumptuously, it is your troubles that show your strengths and your deep affection. Yoshiro Komito feels that he has discovered one of my master's strengths." Nobunaga clicked his tongue and sighed: "Only you feel it. Seeing me stationed here, doing nothing all day long, Shibata, Sakuma, and other officials under the account just looked puzzled. Especially Singer and others People, are still laughing at my stupidity behind my back." "It's because you don't know what to do, my lord." "Can I not be confused? If we start from the outer city of Xiaogu City and smash the enemy's defenses one by one, driving them to a dead end, then the people of Asai Nagamasa and his son will definitely monitor Ashi and finally kill her." Pull those who perish together." "Basically it will be like this." "Tokyoshiro, you just said that you knew my Nobunaga's thoughts a long time ago, but now you are very calm when you say it, what is your plan?" "Not without it." "Then why didn't you speak out earlier to comfort me?" "Recently, I've tried to be careful not to advise you." "Why?" "Because there are still many people under your account." "Why should you be afraid of the jealousy of others? That kind of talk will only disturb people's tranquility. Nobunaga alone decides everything. You can just express your feelings... If you have a good plan, come and hear it." "Please take a good look." Fujikichiro said, pointing to Xiaogu Castle in the distance. "The characteristic of this castle is that the three castles are neater than ordinary castles and are independent of each other. The first castle is inhabited by Asai Hisamasa, known as the main hall, and his son Nagamasa, Mrs. Shi and his children live in the third castle. us." "Well... you said that, right?" "Yes, the castle that can be seen between the first castle and the third castle, that is, the second castle, commonly known as the Kyogoku Castle, is guarded by three veteran ministers Asai Genbo, Mitamuraemon, and Ohnoki Tosamori, so If you want to take Xiaogu City, instead of beheading the head and tail, it is better to capture the Jingji city first, so that the city walls on both sides will be cut off, and you will be in a situation of isolation and helplessness." "...Do you mean to capture the Kyogoku city in the middle first, and then implement the plan on this basis?" "No, if we try to attack by force, the first and third city walls will of course send reinforcements, and we will be flanked, and the battle will have to become a fierce battle. At that time, should we break through the defense line in one fell swoop, or retreat? What? In any case, the safety of the mayor's lady in the city will be unpredictable." "Then what do you say should be done?" "The first strategy in terms of tactics should be to send envoys to inform Asai and his son of their interests and make them surrender. Both the castle and Mrs. Shi can be obtained safely. This is the best result." "You should also know that we have repeated this kind of thing twice. I sent Ando Igamoru as my envoy to the city and told him that if he surrendered, the old territory of Xiaogu Castle will be returned as it is. In addition, The Echizen he relied on has been taken into the hands of my Nobunaga, but Asai and his son are still stubborn, ignoring me at all...the reason why they are so tough is because they have mastered my Nobunaga's relatives, I will not attack violently City, they are using Ah Shi's life as a shield..." "No, it's not just that. Over the past two years, I have observed carefully in Yokoyama Castle. Mr. Nagamasa is indeed wise and powerful, and he also has ambition. It's just that his ambition is too small. Of course, this is not General Ashikaga. It can be compared with the Yijing of Echizen. Therefore, in order to prepare for attacking here one day, I have been thinking about the best strategy on weekdays, and now I can finally use a small amount of it. With one soldier and one soldier, Fei easily took it down." "What? What are you talking about?" Nobunaga thought he heard it wrong. Fujikichiro repeated again: "It is the second castle there. That castle has already been taken into my pocket, so please rest assured." "What you said is true?" "At this time, why should I still joke with you, my lord?" "But it's unbelievable." "You're right. Whether it's true or not will be revealed immediately. I'm calling a monk and a veteran here now. Can you meet them here?" "Who are these two people?" "One of them is called Miyabe Zenxingbo, and the other is Onoki Tosamori, a veteran in charge of Kyogoku Castle." Fujikichiro waved his hand.A soldier bent over and ran from the grass.Fujikichiro called him nearby, told him something, and then said, "Hurry up!" and sent him away. Then, Fujikichiro turned his head and said to Nobunaga: "I just sent him to call someone, and he will come here soon." Nobunaga still had a puzzled expression. Although he believed in Fujikichiro very much, he just felt strange. Why was Fujikichiro able to bring the veterans of the Asai family here at will? It was still early, and during the chat, Fujikichiro explained the whole story as if nothing had happened. "The matter has to start from the time when I just received Hengshan City from my lord..." Nobunaga was a little surprised, he stared at Tokichiro's face seriously. Yokoyama Castle is an important front line, so Nobunaga specially left Fujikichiro's team here to control Asai and Asakura.He remembered that this was only a temporary garrison instruction, and he did not promise to give the city to Tokichiro. I don't know when, Fujikichiro began to claim that he had led the city. However, at this moment, Nobunaga was eager to hear what happened next, so he didn't bother with these trivial matters. "The time you said was the year after the attack on Mount Hiei, that is, the spring of the year you visited Gifu City to pay New Year's greetings, right?" "So, on the way, I arrived near Imahama. Hanbei Takenaka fell ill, so the plan was postponed. When I arrived at Yokoyama Castle, it was already night." "I'm not in the mood to listen to your stories, so you pick the ones that matter." "The enemy saw that I was not in the city, so they attacked Hengshan City at night. I immediately repelled them. Among the enemy monks and soldiers captured alive, there was one named Gongbu Shanxingfang." "It's a prisoner." "Yes, I kept him carefully in the army, and when I had time, I told him about the general trend of the times and the way of the samurai. In this way, one day he took the initiative to ask to persuade the old master Onoki Tosamori, so he asked Tosamori to persuade him The other old ministers eventually surrendered to me one by one." "Is that so?" "There is no joke on the battlefield." "Hmm..." Nobunaga was amazed by Fujikichiro's foresight and the cunning that shone in it, which is no longer admirable. As Fujikichiro said, there are no jokes on the battlefield. It didn't take long before Miyabe Zenshobo and Ohnoki Tosamori came over under the leadership of Fujikichiro's men. The two knelt in the grass far away and saluted Nobunaga. Nobunaga asked Tosamori a few questions to confirm what Fujikichiro said was true. Tosamoru replied respectfully: "I surrendered not because of my own opinion. The other two veteran ministers who served in Kyogoku City also thought it was a foolish act to oppose you. This would only speed up the demise of your own family and make the people in the territory suffer. We After deeply reflecting on this, I submitted an affidavit to Kinoshita-sama to express my will." "You even have the oath?" Nobunaga turned around and asked. "I never thought of reporting this to you with a blank sheet of paper." Fujikichiro replied with a smile. Soon, Nobunaga went down the mountain, and Fujikichiro and Shanxingbo returned to the position of Hengshan City.Onoki Tosamori quietly returned to the second castle of Otani Castle from the path.