Chapter 53 strategic genius

The reason why Nobunaga became a strategic genius is mainly because he loves war.He is very much looking forward to the occurrence of war, even if there is no glorious name for the unification of the world, hegemony and hegemony, he will still look for various opportunities to start the war.As long as he can be on the battlefield, Nobunaga feels extremely happy. If it weren't for this, Nobunaga would not have slaughtered all the soldiers, civilians, men, women, old and children in the villages and towns that the army passed through.When dealing with war, Nobunaga has only one principle: Those who follow me will prosper, and those who oppose me will perish!

Assuming that Nobunaga is fighting for justice, then who gave him the right to build Skull Mountain under the banner of justice?Who should the innocent victims ask for justice? There is no justice in any war, no matter how magnificent the cause.It is the common people who suffer forever, this is the eternal truth. Since the Battle of Ozama, Nobunaga’s old enemies such as Saito, Asai, Asakura, monks from Mount Hiei, disciples of Honganji Temple, Kazuki Nagashima, and Takeda have been wiped out one after another. Now the Oda Army has begun to march towards the Hokuriku, China, and Shikoku regions. Attack at the same time, seeing that the unification of the nations is just around the corner.But Mitsuhide is clear: Even if Nobunaga can unify the nations, he will still find various excuses to start a new war.As long as such a person lives for one day, the world will be a Shura hell where blood flows into rivers and corpses pile up like mountains.

After scenes of tragedies such as the burning of Mount Hiei were played out in Mitsuhide's mind, he finally made up his mind: Nobunaga must not be allowed to continue living in the world! However, if he really launches a rebellion, what are his chances of winning?Nobunaga is not human, he is the incarnation of demons and ghosts, can he really defeat such an opponent?In addition, even if Nobunaga can be killed as he wished, the handling of the funeral will be very difficult.Shibata, Niwa, Takikawa, etc. are all experienced generals, and Hideyoshi, even though he usually knows how to flirt, he is indeed a powerful character who pretends to be a pig and eats a tiger.

Thinking of these, Mitsuhide became hesitant again.He was restless, unable to sleep or eat, and prayed to God in the shrine day and night, hoping that God Atago would guide him to find a bright path as soon as possible. Mitsuhide's determination to defeat Nobunaga has not changed. What he urgently needs to solve now is how to find the best way to deal with the funeral as soon as possible. On May 21, when Ieyasu finished his visit to Azuchi Castle and was about to leave for Kyoto, he secretly summoned Hattori Hanzo in his dormitory. Ieyasu entrusted him with the Wuming sword: "Take this sword and go to Guishan, and hand it over to Prefect Hyuga in person. Remember, no one will find out!"

"Yes." Hanzo took the Wuming Sword from Ieyasu without asking any nonsense. Ieyasu will never forget Nobunaga's plan to kill with a knife. It was Nobunaga who forced himself to kill Nobunaga—his most trusted legitimate son and the second-generation successor of the Tokugawa family.For more than a thousand days and nights in the past three years, Ieyasu has already poured all his hatred on the Wuming Sword. Now, he wants to use Guangxiu's hand to avenge his love for his son! Ieyasu wasn't too sure about Mitsuhide's intentions, but his intuition told him that an irreconcilable grudge had developed between Nobunaga and Mitsuhide.Mitsuhide, who was a receptionist, was urgently ordered to send troops to China, which shows how complicated the situation is.

(If Mitsuhide intended to kill Nobunaga long ago, wouldn't it be more powerful for him to present him with the inscribed sword at this moment? Regardless of whether Mitsuhide had the intention to kill or not, Ieyasu believes that in terms of the use value of the inscription sword, this matter is definitely worth it take a gamble) On the 28th, Mitsuhide left Mount Atago and returned to Kameyama Castle.As soon as I got home, I heard the servant report: Someone has been waiting for a long time. Mitsuhide heard that it was Ieyasu's envoy Hattori Hanzo who came, and hastily ordered him to come to the hall for an interview.

After seeing Mitsuhide, Hanzo offered a few inscriptions to the sword. "Is this dedicated to me by His Highness Ieyasu..." Mitsuhide's gaze was fixed on the ancient sword in front of him, and he tried his best to guess Ieyasu's true intentions.Suddenly, he felt an indescribable demonic aura emanating from the sword, and was overwhelmed by the demonic aura, Guangxiu's thoughts froze for a moment. "My lord, please tell me: This sword will definitely be of great help to the general's great cause." The moment Mitsuhide took the Wuming Sword from Hanzo's hand and drew it out of its sheath, he was at a loss:

The blade patterns are clustered like clouds, and the blue-black sword body presents a color as deep as the sea.Staring at the blade, Mitsuhide felt as if he had fallen into the bottomless abyss of eighteen levels of hell, and inexplicable fear enveloped his whole body.This sword has been stained with the blood of countless people so far, and the resentment that can never be dispelled has already been cast in the blade! Mitsuhide felt trembling all over his body, and at the same time, the mood that had been wavering since visiting Atago Shrine was finally completely consolidated at this time.

"Your name is Hattori Hanzo, right? Please tell His Highness Ieyasu that Mitsuhide is taking care of this sword for the time being." After Guangxiu finished speaking, he suddenly realized that the Wuming Sword was sticking the hilt tightly in his hand as if consciously. "It's God's will!" Guangxiu couldn't help sighing. The day after Mitsuhide got the Wuming Sword from Hanzo, Nobunaga took Mori Ranmaru and dozens of servants and servants from Azuchi Castle to Kyoto. Nobunaga was not aware of Mitsuhide's attempt to plot chaos.In his eyes, all retainers, whether civil servants or generals, are his own dogs.Nobunaga never believes that there will be a dog that bites its owner back, but this is just his assumption, and this is Nobunaga's biggest negligence.

Nobunaga's entourage to Beijing on this trip did not exceed forty people. He believed that within the scope of his rule, let alone assassins, there was not even a single mosquito that dared to bite him.But Nobunaga overlooked one point: with such a small number of guards, even a group of thieves may be difficult to defend against, not to mention that disasters are about to break out in Xiaoqiang, this is Nobunaga's second biggest negligence. In fact, Nobunaga was not all blindly confident, and there were no problems on the way from Azuchi Castle to Kyoto.In fact, his judgment is much sharper than the average person.

After entering Beijing, Nobunaga took the Nishitoin Honnoji Temple in Shijo⑦ as his lodging place for this trip. Even in the city of Kyoto, where there are many ancient temples, the splendor of Honnoji Temple is one of the few.With a compact structure and a spacious Buddhist hall, Nobunaga's choice to stay here seems quite discerning.But he overlooked one point: Although there are empty boroughs around the Honnoji Temple, there is no military fortress; although the parapet wall is much higher than that of ordinary temples, it is not too difficult to climb up.This is Nobunaga's third biggest negligence. This is precisely the most fatal oversight. On May 21st, eight days before Nobunaga's entry to Beijing, the eldest son Nobutada also arrived in Kyoto ahead of schedule with about a thousand attendants and entourages, and stayed in the Myogakuji Temple in Yakushicho, a suburban area.