On the fifth day of May, on the afternoon of the seventh day of the stalemate, Odate Harutada looked at the dark clouds in the sky and said softly: "The finishing work of the evacuation of Qianwu and Biwawu has been completed. The remaining commercial houses only need a handful of It's enough to burn it out, but it's unclear whether the heavy rain will bring more variables!"
Everyone was speechless. Matsui Masayuki said worriedly: "The Oda family has been waiting for the opportunity! Waiting for the day when it rains. As long as it rains, the gunpowder will return to moisture. If it is used reluctantly, the power of the iron cannon will plummet. Even if Rain iron with a gunpowder pot cover cannot be avoided, and iron cannons cannot be used in heavy rainstorms..."
"Exactly the same, this is Miyoshi Nagakei's method against Takaya-den in the Battle of Kyokoji Temple..." Ninagawa said angrily: "It must be the plan of the Miyoshi family. The Miyoshi family relied on this despicable method at the beginning. When the rainy season comes, a storm destroys everything!"
"Yes! So there should be a storm this evening!" Nakajo Tokihide sighed: "We don't have much time left. I have already invited the Emperor Masachika to Enryakuji Temple on Mount Hiei I took refuge here, hoping that the shogunate army could save the emperor from this disaster for the sake of the holy mountain temple. Sakamoto Castle is doomed..."
The elder Ninagawa questioned: "Is the Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei safe? Didn't Hosokawa Masamoto and the Ichiko sect all set fire to the mountain?"
"The Master of the Tiandai Seat realizes that Prince Shufa is the emperor's concubine." Yuanzheng Yuanzheng hesitated for a moment: "There should be no problem!"
Matsui Masayuki frowned and said: "With Ashikaga Yoshiaki's crazy temper of killing his brother and mother, deposing the emperor, and his villain Oda Nobunaga and other minions, do you think that the army will let go of Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei? What if we really set the mountain on fire?"
"Then it's just a fight to the death!"
Nakajo Tokihide shook his head and denied: "We cannot fight to the death. We must protect the safety of the emperor and try our best to give him a chance to go to Luo. Retreat! Pushing towards Tango Maizuru Port, Isshiki Yoshimichi has taken so many benefits from us. When things got tough, he turned against the shogunate and joined the shogunate. We don’t have to show him much favor!"
"There are mountains between Tango and Sakamoto, so how do you get there?"
"We have the only chance to break through! And we only have this chance tonight. Take advantage of the rainy night to go north! We are going to have a big breakthrough!" Nakajo Tokihide drew a semi-circle arc on the map of Kinki with the corner of his mouth showing. Confident smile: "Let the miracle of that year happen again!"
…
In the evening, dark clouds came and heavy rain fell. The unexpected heavy rain made the shogunate army particularly excited. Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who was in Kyoto, hurriedly sent an envoy to convey the order, asking the armies to launch an attack at dawn. The implication was to imitate Miyoshi Nagakei. The strategy was just to extend the time from midnight to dawn, and deliberately avoid the influence of weather in order to let them attack in the rain.
After receiving the news, the generals of all the armies gathered in the big tent to discuss the detailed march strategy for the next day. The atmosphere in the tent was not very friendly, and the old problem of unity was still there. How could we help each other if we couldn't trust each other? The Daimyo were very resistant to fighting in the rain, and it was not uncommon for him to complain constantly. In the final analysis, he was not happy to be manipulated by Ashikaga Yoshiaki, even the deputy general Oda Nobunaga.
"Your Highness, is he getting smarter and smarter? No! That's just a little trick!" Oda Nobunaga stood in the handsome tent and stared at the silent Sakamoto Castle, murmuring: "What a great city! A magical city, three Create a miracle every year. Maintain a legend for twenty years. How did you do it?"
Miyoshi Masayasu said excitedly: "Soon this miracle will be ended. How about burning Sakamoto?"
Yoshikawa Motoharu pretended to be surprised and said: "Fire? It turns out it's not raining outside!"
Miyoshi Masayasu said angrily: "What do you mean by this?"
"I mean the truth." Yoshikawa Motoharu hugged his arms and said with a sneer: "If Sakamoto is burned down, how can we raise the military salary for the coalition forces? What can the army eat and drink outside? Of course... If the Miyoshi family is willing to bear the military salary, I, Motoharu, will not pay for it.
Oppose the burning of Sakamoto.”
"You...are using strong words! I have never said such things!"
Yoshikawa Motoharu smiled contemptuously: "Everyone knows whether I said it or not, right? Gentlemen!"
The daimyo from all over the country laughed unbridled. They didn't care about the dignity of the Miyoshi family. They were just lost dogs and existed like yesterday's flowers. At least the Maori family didn't care about the dignity of the Miyoshi family. Miyoshi Yoshitsugi glared at Masayasu Miyoshi angrily and smiled.
The author explained: "It is indeed inappropriate to burn Sakamoto and divide Sakamoto's property..."
"Let's talk about this later! It's getting late. We have to march into Sakamoto at dawn tomorrow. Please go back and prepare for an early rest!" Oda Nobunaga ignored Miyoshi Yoshitsugi's speech and issued an order to expel the samurai present.
The samurai stood up and left in a wise manner, while those from the Miyoshi family could only follow them in despair.
Just after the first watch, the sky was as dark as ink. The torrential rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the thick rain curtain obscured the hazy night. The sound of dense raindrops falling to the ground was like the roar of a waterfall, so that loud shouts from the other side could not be heard even from a few feet away. All of this
Forming a perfect natural barrier, a perfect environment conducive to night attacks and escapes.
At this moment, Nakajo Tokihide quietly sneaked into the woods near the coalition camps of Asakura, Asai, Isshiki, and Wakasa Takeda with three thousand elites, and quietly monitored the movements of the coalition forces. He had to be cautious.
In response, behind him was the fleeing army marching quietly in the rain. It was an army of 15,000 people and thousands of skilled craftsmen.
Thousands of carriages, countless gold and silver artifacts, and the most precious technical resources are one of the essences of the countless efforts Sakamoto has accumulated over the past twenty years. These things cannot fall into the hands of Oda Nobunaga. Originally, they planned to use
A fire burned these efforts and the city. It was a pity that the heavy rain interrupted all illusions and gave them a chance to survive. Maybe it was God's will and fate.
Just like what the Nanman missionaries often said when they were preaching in Ji Nei: "When God closes this door, he will definitely open another door for you."
The money house and the Biwa house retreated in a hurry. As soon as the Battle of Lake Biwa ended, Sakamoto's followers had already foreseen that Oda Nobunaga would not give up. They disguised themselves as ordinary businessmen and worked day and night to empty out Sakamoto's wealth. This process was very complicated.
Fortunately, Oda Nobunaga's attention was quickly diverted by the rebellion in Kinai, and he did not notice the quiet transfer under his nose. Of course, the careful cover and intelligence support of the ninjas also played a vital role.
Most of the supplies were transferred to other safer areas within a few months, but there were always many supplies that were not suitable for carrying and could not be transported away. These supplies became an important part of Nakajo Tokihide's escape operation and could not be woven in vain.
Tian Nobunaga and his minions took away as much as they could. If they could not be taken away, they were buried under the garland of the Buddhist temple or destroyed on the spot. It seemed that they had done a very good job, and this was indeed the case.
Under the heavy rain curtain, the patrol soldiers of the Asakura Army obviously did not notice. On the street dozens of steps away from the camp, a long team passed them by. Several leading samurai lowered their heads.
He complained loudly: "Who came up with this trick? Putting a raincoat on Tōmaru's coat. He must not know how uncomfortable it is to wear armor and put on a raincoat in such a hot and humid weather! I would rather get caught in the rain than wear this thing."
!”
"This is the twentieth time you have repeated this. I would say it is better to stop it in moderation! Aren't you still wearing clothes no matter how hot it is?" The warrior walking beside him smacked his lips with muddy water dripping from one foot to the other.
Said: "It's a pity that I have these calfskin boots! I usually don't want to wear them once, but I finally took them out to show off and encountered this damn weather. The gods and Buddhas must be making a joke on me!"
"You are just a loser. How can you wear cowhide boots in the summer? Besides, even if it doesn't rain, this guy in the dark can't see what you are wearing! It's better to wear cool straw sandals like me!"
"Clogs are fine too. Anyway, as long as they are not leather straps!" The warrior suddenly stopped, walked a few steps into the rain curtain, looked around for a moment, and said with a puzzled look on his face: "Did you hear any strange sounds just now?
"
"What sound?" Several warriors shook their heads and said, "There is no sound!"
The warrior hesitated for a moment, frowned and said, "Is it my imagination? That's not right! I clearly heard the sound of the wheels falling into the puddle, and it was the same sound as my carriage falling into the puddle..."
"Hey! You must have misunderstood! There will definitely be no business travelers passing by in this crazy weather. Apart from us unlucky patrol warriors, who else would wander around in this crazy weather? They will definitely hide under the quilt and sleep.
I feel sleepy!"
"That's right..." The warrior couldn't help but smile. He shook his head and said, "I must be too worried. Let's continue patrolling!"
"After this patrol, I can go and take a nap for a while. I'm almost exhausted from all the fighting these days!"
Nakajo Tokihide wiped the rain off his face and secretly thought it was dangerous. He was not far away from the patrolling samurai. If the samurai took a few more steps, he might be able to see him. Fortunately,
They don't have enough eyes to investigate carefully. Otherwise, this matter will definitely be exposed. There are many soldiers patrolling. Suddenly there is a group of patrolling warriors missing, and they will be discovered in less than an hour.
"Hurry up! Let them go faster. The more you waste a moment, the more danger you will face!" Nakajo Tokihide took a deep breath and ordered the commander behind him: "Immediately send an order for the brigade to move with all its strength. It must be done within an hour.
All of them will leave Takashima County."
This escape operation was a temporary operation. Before evening, an order was suddenly given to leave Sakamoto and retreat north. In order to keep it secret, the black sheep in the legion were specially restricted from passing on the news. The torrential rain that followed further created a good opportunity for them. After a hurried dinner, they could
All the 15,000 troops who were taken away were withdrawn, and the newly recruited military personnel were disbanded on the spot and broken into pieces to return to the town as citizens.
Just when Nakajo Tokihide passed the order, all the chariots and horses happened to leave the vicinity of the northern coalition camp. This was thanks to the negligence of the coalition generals, who fully expected to launch a general attack the next day and did not even bother to set up routine secret sentries.
This created a relaxed environment for Nakajo Tokihide's great escape strategy. Knowing that all the troops had left, Nakajo Tokihide did not hesitate to retreat, leaving the 35,000 troops of the Four Nations Allied Forces far away.
Leave it far away.
This road is very dangerous. You have to pass by the coalition camp overnight, and then you have to go all the way north to enter the enemy-controlled areas of Asai County and Ixiang County. Fortunately, they are all local samurai from Omi.
There is no need to ask for guidance from a guide. At the second watch, the vanguard has already left the boundary of Omi and is heading towards Tsuruga Port along the streets of Hokuriku. Here they will draw an arc that turns to the west, rubbing the southwest corner of Tsuruga County towards Wakasa.
The country is quite close.
I have to say that the timing of this night was really clever. The coalition forces of Echizen Asakura, Omi Asai, Wakasa Takeda, and Tango Isshiki were all concentrated in Takashima County. In the dark and stormy night, they received the next day's general order from Oda Nobunaga.
After receiving the attack order, he went to bed early without much thought and recuperated his energy to prepare for the war the next morning.
No one expected that Nakajo Tokihide would secretly cross Chencang. At such a clever time, he would choose a bold way to escape in front of the defenders. The four countries of Omi, Echizen, Wakasa and Tango were fully equipped.
On the front line, even the guards in the empty areas behind did not expect anyone to escape under their noses, so they just let them escape successfully.
When Oda Nobunaga led an army of 150,000 soldiers into Sakamoto without any resistance early the next morning, he thought that Sakamoto's defenders had collapsed in confidence and gave up resistance completely. He burst into Sakamoto Castle with a big smile and boarded the castle.
When he found the famous castle tower and there was still no one in the city, he suddenly stopped laughing.
"What's going on! Where are the people? Where is Nakajo Tokihide? Where is Matsui Masayuki? Where are Odate Harutada, Ninagawa Kincho, and Yanagawa Motomasa? Where is the promised surrender? Ah! Answer me!
"Oda Nobunaga transformed into a furious dinosaur. He roared and destroyed everything in sight. Even Oda Nobunaga's new favorite, the chief of the minor family, Horikutaro Hidemasa, did not dare to come close to persuade him.
Ikeda Tsuneaki came in a hurry, and when he saw Oda Nobunaga, he shouted loudly: "The money bank is empty! The grain bank is empty! There is nothing in it except rats! We have been deceived!"
"There are no defenders, not even a nickname or a maid. This is an empty city." Akechi Mitsuhide turned his head and suddenly found a letter on the kicked over case. He bent down to pick it up and handed it to Oda Nobunaga, saying
: "This may be a letter left by Nakajo Dewa Mamoru..."
As soon as Oda Nobunaga read the letter, his face turned as dark as the bottom of a pot. He tore the letter into pieces with his hands, threw it on the tatami, stomped on it several times, and cursed: "This bastard Nakajo Tokihide deserves to be killed! He actually made fun of him.
I, the Oda family, must capture him and kill him with my own hands! Immediately order a search for everyone in Sakamoto and capture the hidden remnants!"
The ministers bowed and retreated. Mitsuhide Akechi also retreated with them, but his expression became very strange. Tsuneki Ikeda happened to walk beside him and asked curiously: "What happened to Hinata's guard? Yes."
Not feeling well?"
"Oh! It's nothing... I was just thinking about catching the remnants."
Ikeda Hengxing seemed to understand his feelings very well, and sighed: "I still don't understand how Nakajo Tokihide escaped. He was still there yesterday afternoon, so why are there no people here overnight?"
"I don't know! There must be some special method!" Mitsuhide Akechi smiled, but of course he wouldn't say that he had glimpsed a few words on the fragment. He probably understood how Oda Nobunaga was ridiculed, and it was nothing more than scolding him, Owari, for being such a fool.
He was trying to defeat Sakamoto due to lack of strength and lack of support, so he used the banner of the shogunate to draw a group of thugs to rob the city.
He could probably guess Nakajo Tokihide's escape method. On a dark night with heavy rain, he took advantage of the paralysis of the coalition forces to flee north. He did not go south because the escape route south was blocked by the coalition forces, and it was very difficult to station a large number of naval forces.
Detour. In comparison, the four-nation coalition forces in the north are much more relaxed. Going north is obviously less risky.
Facts have proved that he was right. When Oda Nobunaga came out of his anger, he immediately realized the possible escape route of Nakajo Tokihide. In the name of the general, he ordered Asakura, Asai, Wakasa Takeda, and Isshiki to immediately change direction.
When searching for the remnants of Sakamoto's escape, there must be clues to follow as long as they are not flying to the sky and escaping to the earth.
All four families were very dissatisfied with Oda Nobunaga's bossy attitude. Asakura Yoshikage claimed to be from a famous Echizen family and was very familiar with Oda Nobunaga, a samurai from the Echizen priest family. The Oda family was the Shiba
Yoshitoshi's remnants fled back to Owari together. It was very difficult for him to look at Oda Nobunaga. His unhappiness was written on his face.
Asai Nagamasa was also very unhappy. It was a bit unkind for his brother-in-law to treat Yusuzhong like this. Fortunately, he knew not to make trouble in person. His unhappiness was hidden in his heart. Isshiki Yoshimichi was because of a sudden incident.
He was bedridden with a cold and never showed up. The Oda envoy didn't know what his attitude was.
Wakasa's guardianship of Takeda Yoshitomi was different. He was the brother-in-law of Ashikaga Yoshiteru and Ashikaga Yoshiaki, who were powerful imperial ministers close to the shogunate. His displeasure was expressed on his lips, and he said unhappily:
"It was raining heavily outside. I waited for dawn and trudged all the way to Sakamoto. Now the soldiers are tired and need to rest. Your envoy went to inform the general that we should rest for a day and wait for the rain to subside before setting off."
Messenger Oda was born next to Nobunaga Oda. He had always been arrogant and looked down on others. Seeing that this middle-aged man in his forties dared to defy the odds, he immediately became unhappy and said, "Is Jibu-den trying to disobey orders?"
Upon seeing this, Asai Nagamasa interrupted with a smile: "It shouldn't be said to be disobedient! It's raining so hard outside. Most of the soldiers don't even have raincoats. They walked in the rain at dawn this morning. They were soaked and needed to bake.
Dry your clothes and have a good rest. Going out to hunt in the city now will make the soldiers sick, so for the sake of my family, how about a one-day grace period?"
The Oda envoy avoided Asai Nagasaki's approach and said proudly with a cold face: "Asai Bizen, please respect yourselves when guarding the palace! Don't think that the lord's royal family does not know the importance. I ask again, your highnesses, do you want to respect it?
The lord's military orders are ignored, are you determined to disobey them?"
Asai Nagamasa's face turned red and purple, and his cheeks hurt as if he had been slapped. He glared at the envoy angrily and said, "Humph! Your envoy is so rude! I will enter the city to meet with the general.
Talk about..."
At this moment, the Oda envoy realized that the expressions of several people were wrong, and he was worried that Asai Nagamasa would be allowed to go to Sakamoto Castle to speak ill of him. He quickly blocked Asai Nagamasa's way and sneered: "No need to waste your efforts! I just asked you whether you obeyed the order.
Still disobey!"
Asakura Yoshikage asked with a livid face: "What about obeying orders? What about disobeying orders?"
"It's easy to say anything if you obey orders, but if you disobey orders..."
"I won't disobey! Your Highnesses, please rest assured!" Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly walked in, pushed away the obstructive Oda envoy, and said with a smile: "My lord, I am here to deliver the order. We have just found out that the Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei is hiding a secret agent.
The emperor of the town has decided to hold a military meeting in Sakamoto Castle to discuss the matter of the army besieging Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei. The mission of hunting down the Sakamoto army has been cancelled. Your Highnesses, please rest assured that there will be no disobedience."
"That's good! I thought the General-in-Chief was going to attack us?" Asai Nagamasa saw the young man retreating to the corner in panic, and said with a sullen face: "The tone of the messenger's message just now was arrogant and rude.
We, the noble warriors, are very disrespectful. I, Nagamasa, want to tell the general what I have just experienced, and I must not allow such a hypocritical person to ruin the reputation of the general!"
Akechi Mitsuhide ignored the envoy's pleading expression and said with a smile: "It's easy to talk! It's worth it as long as it can make a few of you angry..."
A crisis was saved by Mitsuhide Akechi's timely arrival. In fact, it was the Oda family's generational retainers who persuaded him to give up the pursuit. The heavy rain was pouring and it was too much to let the four northern coalition forces pursue Nakajo Tokihide's troops. Oda Nobu
The commander had some intention of punishing them when he gave the order. He was just angry that the four families were negligent and allowed Nakajo Tokihide to escape.
But at the time, he didn't think about how inappropriate it was for him to do so. On the surface, it seemed reasonable for a general who commanded an army of 150,000 to establish military laws and arrest the head, and punish him with canonical punishment. But after all, he was only the nominal general of the coalition.
.It is equivalent to the status of an alliance leader rather than the relationship of master and subordinate. The big names in various places do not need to listen to his orders. If you want them to take action, you have to invite people to discuss it carefully and persuade these big names to jointly send troops. It is by no means an edict.
If you are asked to go east, you cannot go west.
Fortunately, Courier Oda woke up quickly, and even better was that there was a step for him to step down at this time. The search team learned the whereabouts of Emperor Masachika from the captured remnant, and Tokihide Nakajo tried to distract Oda Nobunaga.
He used his strength to send Emperor Masachika to the Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei for refuge. This was simply a perfect reason given to him by God, so the previous edict was abolished in a high-sounding manner.
The original design of the attack on Sakamoto had two purposes. One was to pull out the nails that Minamoto had buried in the kiuchi, and the other was to recapture the Emperor Masachika who had escaped from Kyoto. Now Nakajo Tokihide is fleeing in embarrassment with his troops, and only Usa
Kunitsuna Okouchi in Yamashiro is engaged in a battle between trapped beasts, and the nails have been completely removed. At the same time, he has successfully obtained the whereabouts information of Emperor Masachikachi. Both of these two things have been basically achieved.
At this point, it can actually be declared a complete success of the Sakamoto Crusade. As for continuing to worry about where Nakajo Tokihide escaped, it doesn’t matter whether he fled to Etsu and Kaga or went to other places to occupy the mountain and become the king.
Important, important is that it is enough to know that they escaped from Kinei.
"The Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei actually kicked out the negotiation envoys sent by the general, and dared to slander us and other coalition forces as thugs. It is simply unreasonable! Incorrigible!" Oda Nobunaga took out his ribs and inserted it into the map of Enryaku.
On the sign of the temple, it said viciously: "So I, Nobunaga, will formulate the next battle plan! The target is Enryaku Temple on Mount Hiei!"