Great name!

Chapter 270: The Battle of Zaga

Time passed quickly, the snow on the treetops began to melt, and even the breeze became much warmer.

However, the construction of Azuchi Castle has never stopped.

Nobunaga had long been eager to see the magnificent city in his mind, whose castle tower would be unprecedented.

Under Nobunaga's expectation, Niwa Nagahide became more anxious. When it came to the last day of mid-February, Niwa Nagahide looked at the magnificent castle tower and breathed a sigh of relief.

He felt relieved and immediately ran to report to Oda Nobunaga.

When Nobunaga was in the small courtyard of his residence, he could look up and see the seven-story castle tower.

Each floor of the castle tower is magnificent, with various auspicious beasts carved on it.

In addition, with the addition of gold foil, the golden castle tower can be seen under the sunlight even as far away as Kyoto.

Nobunaga immediately went up to the castle tower with Nobunaga and others. At the top floor, the cold wind was howling, but when they walked to the railing, they could take in the view of Lake Biwa and even the entire Azuchi Castle.

Nobunaga leaned over the railing and looked towards Kyoto. He pointed at Kyoto and said loudly: "What do you think the people in Kyoto will think when they see Azuchi Castle looming in the clouds?"

Hashiba Hideyoshi quickly flattered him, "Nobunaga-dono, I thought that the emperor and nobles of Kyoto would think that the place where the gods in the sky live is just like this, seeing the castle tower in the clouds."

As he spoke, he cried with excitement. Hashiba Hideyoshi wiped his tears without shame and said, "I can also see the castle tower of Azuchi Castle from Nagahama Castle. The thought that I can still see the face of Nobunaga-dono from Nagahama Castle really touched me."

Nobutora frowned slightly and said, "You fucking monkey, you are worthy of being Nobunaga's loyal dog. Only you can flatter him like this. Even Takigawa Kazumasu and Akechi Mitsuhide can't flatter him as well as you!"

Shibata Katsuie, who was standing by, said with a stern face, "Monkey, you are the lord of a city after all, why are you crying like a woman? You are so shameless!"

Hashiba Hideyoshi's eyes were red as he glared at Shibata Katsuie, saying aggrievedly, "Lord Shibata, you don't understand my feelings towards Nobunaga-dono. I've said before that Nobunaga-dono is my father in my heart, and he always has been and he will be in the future!"

Xin Hu laughed and said, "Monkey, you are really shameless. You are a generation older than the master of the family, but the master of the family doesn't have a brother as old as you."

"Hahaha…"

Niwa Nagahide and others couldn't help laughing out loud, even Nobunaga laughed out loud.

Hashiba Hideyoshi did not dare to confront Nobutora head-on. He quickly explained to Oda Nobutada: "Master, please do not misunderstand me. How can I be your brother? As long as I can serve the Oda family, I will be grateful."

Oda Nobutada was a little embarrassed, but for Nobunaga's sake, he still said, "Monkey, your feelings for father are indeed extraordinary."

Nobunaga turned around and said, “Well, let’s not talk about the monkey anymore, the matter of the castle tower is settled, and I have one less wish.

But here, looking towards Honganji Temple, it really feels like a thorn in my throat.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, it's time to settle some things. Nobutada, you will follow the previous plan and send troops to attack the enemies in Kiide. I will stay in Azuchi Castle."

Sakuma Nobumori, who was following behind him, asked hurriedly, "Nobunaga-dono, where are the troops that the master of the family is leading from?"

Nobunaga said as a matter of course: "Where else can we go? Kii is also part of the capital, so the troops should be dispatched from the capital."

Sakuma Nobumori became anxious when he heard this. At least 20,000 soldiers would be withdrawn. If so many soldiers were transferred away, he would have no advantage over Honganji, and it would be even more difficult for him to defeat him.

He hastily stopped him and said, "Nobunaga-dono, it is urgent to attack Honganji Temple now. Moreover, the Ikki of Honganji Temple is fierce. I am already struggling now. If tens of thousands of troops are mobilized, I will not be able to blockade Honganji Temple."

Oda Nobunaga was furious when he heard this. He turned around and glared at Sakuma Nobumori, cursing, "Sakuma, what nonsense are you talking about? I gave you so many troops, but you didn't make any progress. Now you tell me that you can't fight because you don't have enough troops? If you can't fight, then don't fight. I will replace you now."

Sakuma Nobumori's face turned from red to white after being scolded. This should be just a scare to show his dissatisfaction with him.

However, others, especially Niwa Nagahide, were very happy to see Sakuma Nobumori being scolded. If Sakuma Nobumori was removed from the position of legion commander, then he would have a chance.

It’s a pity that he accepted the task of repairing Azuchi Castle, otherwise it would not have been Nobumori Sakuma’s turn to be the legion commander.

……

Oda Nobutada acted quickly. Nobunaga gave the order yesterday, and today Nobutada began to issue conscription orders, and all the selected soldiers began to gather in Kyoto.

Before this, Oda Nobutada had sent people into Kii to contact the forces there that were willing to surrender to the Oda family, and this move was not in vain.

The Sangenshu from the Saiga clan and Suginohō from the Negoro clan agreed to serve as the Oda clan's internal supporters.

These two internal forces have handed over the distribution of the Saiga clan's power to Oda Nobutada.

On February 23rd, the troops from Owari and Mino finally arrived at Azuchi Castle. In addition to the troops from these two countries, Nobunaga also summoned troops from other countries.

These included Tsuda Nobutora, Oda Nobuo, Oda Nobukatsu, Oda Nobutaka and other Ise people. In addition, Oda Nobunaga also recruited troops from Echizen, Wakasa and Harima to gather in Kyoto.

The forces that came from Harima included the Kodera family, the Miki family, the Bessho family, etc. Among them, several hundred people from the Kuroda family were incorporated into Tsuda Nagatobu's advance team.

Tsuda Naganobu, with 1,000 men from the Tsuda family and 500 men from the Kuroda family, was a member of Oda Nobutada's direct army, serving as the vanguard. The vanguard general was Tsuda Naganobu.

As Nobutada's brother-in-law and close friend, Oda Nobutada naturally wanted to make use of Tsuda Naganobu.

The vanguard army is most likely to gain military merit, so he appointed Tsuda Naganobu as the vanguard general, which made Oda Nobuo somewhat dissatisfied.

But now the head of the Oda family is Nobutada, and Nobunaga has handed over all matters related to the conquest of Kii to Nobutada, so it is useless for Oda Nobuo to object.

He could only complain to his brother and uncle: "Tsuda Naganobu is just relying on the reputation of his father, Jingzhao Yin, how can he be appointed as the vanguard general?
My brother is really biased. We are his relatives, but we are not as good as an outsider like Tsuda Naganobu. Am I not worthy of the position of the vanguard general?"

Oda Nobuo said this during the discussion, and his voice was not restrained, so everyone heard it. However, many people watched with interest and did not say anything. They wanted to see the quarrel between Lord Nobuo and Tsuda Nagatobu.

Before Tsuda Naganobu could speak, Oda Nobutada was somewhat dissatisfied. He looked at Oda Nobuo and asked loudly, "What's wrong, Nobuo? Are you dissatisfied with the arrangement made by me as the head of the family?"

Oda Nobuo did not show any weakness. You have to know that this guy is extremely bold and arrogant, and he is also cruel and ruthless.

Two years ago, Oda Nobuo was resentful of Kitabata Munori's contemptuous and retreating look, so he deliberately spread the news that Kitabata Munori intended to rebel.

Then he cried "Catch the thief" and led his troops to raid Misase Village on trumped-up charges, killing the entire Kitabatake clan. He also sent troops to exterminate all the samurai who were loyal to Kitabatake Tomori.

The Kitabatake clan was destroyed, and his wife Chiyo Gozen could not bear the humiliation and committed suicide with a knife. He did not even look at her and had her thrown into the mountains to be dismembered by wild beasts.

Afterwards, he changed his surname back to the Oda family's surname, and often sent gifts and letters of greeting to Kidie, trying to make Kidie recognize him as his legitimate son and compete for the position of head of the Oda family.

But how could he, the son who was sent to a feudal domain, compare to Nobutada, the eldest son by legal right?
Besides, Oda Nobutada was the son raised by Kicho herself, so how could she train a rival for her son? So all of Oda Nobuo's plans came to nothing.

After Oda Nobutada asked this question, even the lawless Oda Nobuo in Minami Ise had to bow his head and said, "I just have some different opinions, but I definitely don't mean to question my brother."

Nobutora immediately said: "This is a formal military meeting. Lord Nobuo should be called the head of the family!"

Oda Nobuo's eyes bulged and his heart was burning with anger. He immediately looked up to find the person who spoke, and saw Tsuda Nobutora.

Tsuda Shintora chuckled and seemed not to take him seriously, but he didn't dare to refute. He could only snort and lower his head to sulk.

Nobutora chuckled and thought to himself: What a person! You said my son depends on me. Why don’t you take a piss and look at yourself? Apart from the identity of being the son of Oda Nobunaga, what else do you have?
After this little episode with Oda Nobuo, the military meeting ended quickly.

On the third day after the army assembled, it left Kyoto and headed for Kii to fight.

The Oda army crossed the Yodo River and reached Yawata on the same day, and then arrived at Izumi Kunikasho the next day, launching an attack on the Ikko Ikki's fort at Kaizuka.

Tsuda Naganobu led a vanguard of 5,000 troops to launch a fierce attack on the Ikki stronghold. There were only a few Ikki members left in the fort, only about 1,000 people, most of whom were believers.

Although the fort was filled with a motley crowd, Tsuda Naganobu did not underestimate the enemy. He still followed the battle process and sent more than 500 people to test the enemy's combat effectiveness.

More than 500 Oda soldiers fought for nearly half an hour, and then they retreated, dragging several corpses and wounded soldiers.

Tsuda Naganobu was holding Nanman's monocular telescope in his hand. He watched the battle process just now. He found that the combat quality of the defenders in the city was not high, but their fighting will was very strong, which might be related to the chanting behind them.

Tsuda Naganobu looked at Shima Sakon who was standing beside him and said, "Lord Sakon, you will lead your troops to attack them later. Kanbei, have your men lead a team to follow."

Kuroda Kanbei was overjoyed. He saw that the fortress ahead could be conquered in a short time. This was a credit. Now he could get the credit for free, so how could he refuse? Naturally, he led his men to follow.

Soon, one or two thousand Oda troops launched a fierce attack on the castle, and the defenders who shot arrows on the city wall were soon suppressed by the Oda army's iron cannon team.

Under the cover of the iron cannon team, hundreds of elite soldiers led by Shima Sakon launched a fierce attack on the city fortress.

The defenders in the fortress chanted "Amitabha" and fought with the Oda army without fear, but they were outnumbered and their combat skills were not as good as those of the Oda army. Moreover, they had two or three hundred children and their real combat strength was only more than eight hundred people.

They fought for nearly two hours and the fortress was captured. The city was broken and many enemy soldiers were captured.

Among them, all the believers who firmly believed in the Jodo Shinshu sect were dragged out and beheaded. The remaining people who changed their beliefs were very few, almost pitifully few.

Of the more than a thousand people in the fortress, only less than seventy or eighty were left.

Tsuda Naganobu captured the fortress of Kaizuka and immediately sent someone to report the victory to Oda Nobutada. Oda Nobutada immediately accelerated with his main force and arrived at Kaizuka in the evening.

At this time, Suginobo of the Negoro clan came to pay a visit to Oda Nobutada, hoping to lead his troops to attack the Saiga clan.

Suginobō's full name is Suginobō Tsūsuan. His original nickname was Tsuda. He changed his nickname because he inherited Suginobōin. He was the son of Tsuda Kanmono Suonaga.

After meeting Suginobo's plan, Oda Nobutada moved his troops to Sano-go and marched towards Shidake a few days later. He divided his troops into two teams, one along the coastal road and the other along the mountain road. On the mountain road, the newly surrendered Sangenshu and Suginobo served as guides, leading a total of 30,000 Oda troops including Tsuda Naganobu, Hashiba Hideyoshi, Bessho Nagaharu, Bessho Shigemune, and Hori Hidemasa into Saiga and set fire.

However, the Saiga clan also built fences along the river bank in front of the Kosaga River for defense, and took advantage of Hori Hidemasa's troops crossing the river to fire a large number of cannons at them, causing heavy losses to Hori Hidemasa's troops and forcing them to retreat.

In order to besiege the Saiga clan in turn, Inaba Iktetsu, Ujiie Naomoto, and Iinuma Nagatsugu, who were originally responsible for guarding the front and rear of the mountain road troops, set up their formation at the ferry crossing of the Kinokawa River.

At the same time, the Oda army's troops advancing along the coastal road were led by Takigawa Ikmasu, Akechi Mitsuhide, Niwa Nagahide, Hosokawa Fujitaka, Tsutsui Junkei and the Yamato clan, and headed towards Tanowaguchi with 3 troops.

After drawing lots, Akechi Mitsuhide and Hosokawa Fujitakanao were to march along the road in the mountains, while the other troops were divided into two teams and marched through the valleys beside the road. The Saiga clan also sent out troops to fight against the enemy.

After Oda Nobutada and his troops including Oda Nobuo, Oda Nobukari and Oda Nobutaka joined the battle in the rear, the Saiga clan was defeated and Shimotsu Gonai, a retainer of Hosokawa Fujitaka, made great contributions with the Ichiban spear.

After the victory, the Oda army continued to advance towards Nakano Castle and surrounded the city.

The Saiga clan in the nearby Ichinomiya, Jukawa, Otagaki and other forts abandoned their positions and retreated one after another.

And Ota Sakon, who surrendered to the Oda clan in Saiga Shuri, served as the first to attack Nakano Castle and capture the castle commander Saiga Gondayu.

Afterwards, Oda Nobutada moved his main camp to Awana. When Nakano Castle saw that the situation would not be reversed, it surrendered and handed over the city. After accepting the surrender, Oda Nobutada took over Nakano Castle and stationed there.

Then Oda Nobutada summoned Tsu Gonai, a retainer of the Hosokawa family, to praise him.

Next, Oda Nobutada planned to use Nakano Castle as a base to continue his attack on the Saiga clan.

(End of this chapter)