The battle centered on the small plain on the east bank of Yuwu Lake is about to begin.
From a bird's eye view from the sky, the Oiwa Mountain where Oda Nobunaga is located is in the south, and the Fox Tomb where Yoshigan is hiding is in the north. The straight line distance between the two is nine kilometers, and the central battlefield is less than five kilometers away from both sides.
That is to say, in this mountainous plain area of less than ten square kilometers, a total of 30,000 Saba, 60,000 Oda, and a total of 90,000 people are trying their best to squeeze into the center and rush into the battlefield meat grinder.
They are today's protagonists, and countless people will be crushed to pieces in the flesh-and-blood millstone of the battle.
The battlefield is narrow and the number of people is large. After the formation of troops on both sides is completed, there is basically no room for maneuver.
The only advantage may be the convenience of communication.
Biyue is only four or five kilometers away from the main battlefield of Yuwu Lake. Envoys ride on horseback to send messages, and the longest distance for internal communication within the Sibo Army is half an hour's journey.
The Oda army was more convenient. Oda Nobunaga was stationed in Oiwa Mountain. To the southwest was the Saigake Defense Line, to the northeast was the Iwasaki Defense Line, and to the southeast were Kinomoto's Sakuma Nobumori and Kawajiri Hidetaka who were waiting for orders.
Even the farthest Higashinoyama Oda military force is only two or three kilometers away, and it only takes ten minutes for a horse-riding envoy to convey orders.
———
Yiyin, who was lurking in the Fox Tomb in the north, was hiding in the mountains and forests with five hundred people of the same mind. He looked at the sky and saw that less than five kilometers away from him, a battle had begun.
The Nanman Artillery Team, for which he had high hopes, was located in Tangmu Mountain, less than two kilometers away from the main battlefield.
The effective range of the Fran cannon is between 500 meters and 1,500 meters. The artillery team is located on Tangmu Mountain and bombards the small plain below the mountain. It can basically cover this small plain with a radius of two kilometers.
The Nanman artillery team took action just after the main force of Oda on Higashino Mountain came down the mountain. The sound of their artillery fire was the clarion call for Yi Gin to lead his troops to charge.
Just as Yi Gin was staring ahead in a daze, Kamao clan came over from behind.
"What's up?"
"Your Majesty, the battle has begun ahead.
Lord Maeda Yoshida ordered Lord Hosokawa Fujitaka's troops to be the vanguard, and Lord Akechi Mitsuhide was asked to go to Mount Doki to take charge of the safety of the artillery team."
Yiyin nodded and sighed.
"Maeda is the current general, and I will not interfere with her orders.
If someone else leaks the orders from the front to me again, you will drive the envoy back. I believe in Maeda’s interests, and I will not take Chang Kaishen for granted."
Pushengshixiang was stunned for a moment. She didn't know who Chang Kaishen was. She hesitated and said.
"The Hosokawa Mibuchi family are the core allies of the Shiba family in recent times, and Hosokawa Fujitaka is also your most powerful supporter.
Is Maeda Yoshida's move suspected of using a public weapon for personal use? Will it cause dissatisfaction with the Hosokawa Mibuchi family?"
Yi Gin glanced at the hesitating Kamao clan and said directly.
"I know Maeda's personality very well. Although she hates Mitsuhide Akechi, this war will affect the rise and fall of Spo, and she will never retain her strength.
If she really needed it, she would not hesitate to throw away all the money of the Iga Maeda family.
You people, don't judge a gentleman with a villain's heart.
Just because Hosokawa Mibuchi and his family are the most important allies of our Shiba family, and just because Hosokawa Fujitaka is following me closely, she must be the first to go.
Unity comes at a price. In times of crisis, there is only responsibility.
The internal affairs of the coalition forces have been too complicated in recent times, and many people have small thoughts in their hearts. If we want them to risk their lives and fight, we must set an example.
In the past few days, Shiba's main force has not been able to move. They are elites prepared to deal with the attack of Higashinoyama Oda's main force down the mountain, but Maeda's interests prevent us from openly stating our secret strategy in public.
However, if the Sibo family's army does not advance first, each family will definitely have concerns and hesitate to move forward.
At this time, we need people like Hosokawa Fujitaka to take the lead and show it to everyone.
The mobilization force of the Hosokawa Mibuchi family is more than 200,000 koku, which is even higher than that of recent Shiba collars. She has enough military strength to assume the responsibility of the vanguard.
Maeda's interests must have been settled with Hosokawa Fujitaka, so Hosokawa's army was willing to go first.
As for Mitsuhide Akechi, she made a mistake last time and was cut off from her territory by me. She is already weak and thoughtful, and everyone is afraid of her.
People who dare not offend her call her a poisonous person behind her back, and people who hate her call her a poisonous snake.
You said that at this critical juncture, if Shiba's army is not available and Mitsuhide Akechi is still in the formation, can everyone not panic?
Even for me, when I saw Akechi Mitsuhide's smiling face, I was heartbroken.
Maeda has done well in his interests, and sending Mitsuhide Akechi to Domushan will help internal unity."
Yoshihiro analyzed it for a long time in one breath, just to prove the wisdom of Maeda's decision-making and to express his trust in Maeda's interests.
But in fact, Yoshigan was also filled with bitterness in his heart. This girl Maeda was dishonest, and she was not dedicated to serving the public good as Yoshigan said.
The Four Big Four of the Shiba family in recent times are Niko, Takada, Maeda, and Akechi.
Among them, Nizi Shengjiu's status is the most transcendent.
Niko Katsuhisa himself was the acting official of Shiba in recent times appointed by Yoshigan, and was in charge of all internal affairs. Yamanaka Yukimori, who was as close as a sister, served as the deacon of the Kanto Palace, and was theoretically the top leader in Kanto of the Shiba family.
The status of Nizishan's party in Sibo's family is as stable as Mount Tai. Nizi Shengjiu himself keeps a low profile and does not want to engage in Yiyin and does not participate in the messy internal fights in recent years. He is very trusted by Yiyin.
She was in charge of the supply line this time and was the logistics manager of Yiyin. She did not go to the battlefield.
Takada Yono raised military resources and continuously converted the two million stone military expenditure into actual materials to supply the needs of two places in Kanto.
She may be busier than Nizi Shengjiu now, involving the interests of all aspects, and she is not from a battlefield, and she is even less likely to participate in the battlefield.
Therefore, among the four giants in recent years, only Maeda Yoshikatsu and Akechi Mitsuhide have fully participated in the war.
In the pre-war diplomatic turmoil, Akechi Mitsuhide had already made a lot of contributions, especially Isono Umasa's promotion, which allowed the Shiba family to capture Takashima County in one fell swoop and gain the initiative at the strategic level.
Of course, it was impossible for Hashiba Hideyoshi to go out and brag about this incident because he was the one who hindered it, so this great credit naturally fell to Akechi Mitsuhide.
Even Oda Nobunaga thought it was Akechi Mitsuhide who betrayed Isono Emasa, and Shiba Yi Bank was rewarded for his merits after the war, and the benefits of Akechi Mitsuhide were indispensable.
As a recent general, Maeda Yoshida has a high position and heavier responsibilities.
Perhaps it was out of public interest that she let Hosokawa Fujitaka serve as the vanguard. But it was definitely selfish in leaving Akechi Mitsuhide to eat ashes at Mount Doki.
Maeda's interest is that he does not want Mitsuhide Akechi to get any more credit, and this move is to suppress the reward Mitsuhide Akechi received after the war.
Yoshigan vaguely felt this, but he couldn't say it, he could only pretend to be confused, curse in his heart, and tearfully praise Maeda's loyalty to his interests.
Maeda is indeed willing to sacrifice everything for the Shiba family and give everything for the king. However, this does not mean that she will not trick Akechi Mitsuru.
Shiba Yoshigan used Maeda's interests and loyalty to excuse her, which was illogical in itself and was trying to hide the truth.
After thinking about it for a while, he glanced at the village of Pu Sheng. Yiyin still felt a little guilty, so he sighed.
"Has Akechi Mitsuhide already gone to Domushan? An envoy was sent to send her a message. After my attack, she took over my responsibility for the battlefield affairs.
She can have a bird's eye view of the whole situation at Tangmu Mountain, so she can stay there and fill in the gaps for me."
Maeda's interests drove Akechi Mitsuhide away from the front line. No matter how high-sounding the reason was, it was inevitably suspected of suppressing his love rival, which was too ugly.
Ever since Hosokawa Fujitaka started having sex with Akechi Mitsuhide and had sex with Yoshigan, the two sisters have completely cleared up their past feud and their relationship is extremely good.
Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitaka have formed a comprehensive partnership, which is a comprehensive cooperation from body to profit.
Maeda's interest is to prevent Akechi Mitsuhide from taking any credit. If Hosokawa Fujitaka becomes dissatisfied because of this, sooner or later there will be another trouble.
Therefore, Yoshigan decided to appease Akechi Mitsuhide and handed over the highest command of the battlefield to her after his attack.
Maeda's interest is only to command the nearby coalition forces, and she has no control over Sanada Nobushige. As the commander-in-chief, Yoshigan has the power to command the overall situation.
Yoshigan's idea was that after his attack, Oda's main force would soon be defeated and collapsed, and Oda Nobunaga had no choice but to withdraw.
With the overall situation decided, Akechi Mitsuhide has the title of supreme command, but is actually just a bystander. She also won't get any military honors, but it just sounds more comfortable.
Yoshigan took action and handed over the highest command to Akechi Mitsuhide, which showed that Akechi Mitsuhide was still in the king's heart, which could also appease Akechi Hosokawa's faction and cover up Maeda's petty interests.
At this time, Yiyin was trying his best to reconcile Xini, but he never expected that his inadvertent comfort strategy would save him from defeat in the end, and he would survive from a desperate situation.
Yoshigan did not know that Oda Nobunaga risked the wide opening of his territory and mobilized all the troops to defend Minami Omi and Higashi Mino here.
Oda's main force in Higashinoyama was just the bait used by Oda Nobunaga to lure Yoshigan into attack. Oda Nobunaga's real trump card was the 20,000 reinforcements she had hidden in Kinomoto.
Akechi Mitsuhide miscalculated Oda Nobunaga's strategy and was confused by her trap, causing Yoshigan to misjudge and almost caused an irreversible defeat.
But Mitsuhide Akechi was very lucky, and God gave her a chance to make up for her mistakes.
The supreme command granted by Yoshihiro unintentionally will become a tool for Akechi Mitsuhide to atone for his sins. Sanada Nobunaga's unconvinced attack will become Akechi Mitsuhide's last hope.
The Battle of Yuwu Lake has begun, and the wheel of history is rolling forward without stopping for a moment.
———
"hurry up!"
Sanada Nobushige stood on the bank of the Iiura River, watching groups of Sanada Zowei with high morale crossing the river, and Umino Riichi beside her said.
"The opponent seemed to have given up on the defense of the river and concentrated all its efforts on the hills, earthen ramparts, fences, and ditches in front.
It is said that the Oda army here is from the Northern Omi Army, and their morale is not high. The other generals do not dare to defend the river embankment, probably because they are worried that they will be defeated thousands of miles away and will not be able to organize an effective defense line at Shiyue."
Sanada Nobushige snorted coldly and said.
"I don't care what the opponent's general thinks, my goal is Dayan Mountain! Right!"
Sanada Nobushige shouted, and the Sanada people crossing the river were full of morale and shouted in response.
"Onboard! Onboard!"
At first, only a few groups of people in front of them were shouting, but their shouts seemed to have infected the Sanada people in the distance. More and more people started shouting, and gradually they gathered into a loud roar.
Sanada Nobushige laughed loudly and turned back to Umino Riichi.
"Look, this is my sister, her military spirit is very useful! That guy named Takigawa on the base line of defense, can she block the full blow of my Sanada team?"
Umino Riichi still had the same girlish face as he said calmly.
"They can be excited, because Jindo Palace has given them two hundred establishments, which is enough for them to go through fire and water without hesitation.
But you can't be excited, you are the commander-in-chief, you have to lead them to take down Dayan Mountain and get back those two hundred units.
They are good sisters in the mountains, they are worthy of us, but if they fail in this battle and cannot win the Big Rock Mountain, then you will be sorry to them.
Calm down and don’t let down the expectations of your sisters.”
Sanada Nobushige took a deep breath, exhaled it slowly, and then nodded to Umino Ri.
"Calm down, let's go, let's go to the front and look for weak points in the defense."
———
On the south side of the Saigake defense line, Hashiba Hideyoshi looked at the nervous Ashigaru at the front and said to Takenaka Shigeharu beside him.
"I followed your suggestion and made some suggestions to Takigawa Kazuki, and she was really impatient.
Then, I proposed that my troops control the southern line and protect the shortcut to Changbin City in the rear.
She really agreed, wishing that I would immediately leave her sight and roll aside so as not to be an eyesore."
Hashiba Hideyoshi couldn't help laughing, Takenaka Shigeharu shook his head and said.
"After all, Takigawa Kazuki is a close confidant of the main hall, the second-largest figure in the Muyi clan, second only to Ikeda Tsuneaki, and he always has to be a little arrogant.
My lord, by virtue of your military exploits in defeating Asai, you have become a famous person with 120,000 koku. There are many people with red eyes behind your back. She is jealous of you."
Hideyoshi Hashiba nodded.
"After all, I come from a bad background. In the past, those in the Mother Clothes Club looked down upon me, but now the person they look down upon has climbed onto their head, and it's naturally unbearable.
Takigawa Kazumasu forcibly took over the defense line and left me here to look at the southern passage. My responsibility was finally cleared.
What should we do next?”
Takenaka Shigeharu shook his head and said.
"You don't have to do anything, we'll just watch.
It is said that these Sanada soldiers who have come from afar are the strongest soldiers in Kanto, and we just want to see if they are worthy of the legendary bravery and skill in battle."
Hideyoshi Hashiba said thoughtfully.
"What if Takigawa Kazumasuma blocked the Sanada army's offensive?"
Takenaka Shigeharu smiled.
"Then let her do the meritorious work. Isn't it because she is ostracizing you just to take all the credit? Let's just give it up.
However, I don't think it's that easy.
After all, the Sanada Army had 10,000 people. Although the Shiyue defense line had been well deployed for a month, the morale of the North Omi army was too low, and the number of soldiers was only a few thousand. Even with the favorable geographical location, it was difficult to stop the offensive.
In any case, Isono Danmasa's actions had a great impact on the Kitanomi people, and Takigawa Kazuki was unabashedly wary, and it also made Aguan Sadazaki and others see clearly that they were cannon fodder, and their morale was even lower."
Hideyoshi Hashiba sighed.
"The people of Kitanomi are also pitiful. They are rats in the bellows, suffering from both sides."