Great name!

Chapter 273 Enemy Chapter Front and Back Attack
This time, in order to ensure their retreat, the Honganji army was accompanied by the Mori family's navy, which advanced along the Izumi coast towards Kii.

As soon as the Honganji army was mobilized, before they left Honganji, the news had already leaked to the Oda army.

Masanao Sakai looked at Tsuda Nobutora eagerly, and Nobutora nodded slightly and said, "As expected, Honganji is unwilling to accept the submission of the Saiga clan to our Oda family. Lord Sakai, now we can proceed according to the plan."

Masanari Sakai was overjoyed, the credit was about to come to him!
"Okay, I'll make arrangements right away."

Nobutora also stood up and said to Honda Masanobu beside him: "We can also leave here, let's go."

Onitsuka Masaaki, Fujido Takatora and others immediately followed Nobutora's steps and left the castle.

Soon, there was only one man left in the fortress.

Time passed quickly, and the Oda army had already made preparations. The Honganji army finally arrived outside the city.

The guard looked at the dense crowd of heads outside the city, and his scalp tingled. He immediately shouted to his men, "Archers, get ready!"

The archers climbed up the city wall one after another, hid behind their shields and waited for orders.

Outside the city, Xiajian Zhongxiao and Xiajian Lai Lian were wearing armor, monk's robes, and white scarves on their heads. They were riding on war horses and looking at the city wall in front of them.

Shimomama Rairen pointed to the front and said, "It seems that there are indeed fewer Oda troops in the city. If they had seen our army appear before, they would have sent troops to counterattack."

Xia Jianzhongxiao nodded and said with a smile: "This is the Buddha helping us. A great opportunity is right in front of us. We can't miss it. Send troops immediately and take this place!"

Following the order from Shimomura Nakataka, a powerful family soon led hundreds of rebels and advanced towards the castle.

Mitsui Chengjia waved his hand and shouted, "Pingli, you lead the team and go first!"

Pingli, wearing a cow horn hat, immediately led more than ten samurai and more than a hundred foot soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers, carrying shields and moving forward.

The commander on the city wall looked at the approaching Ikki and raised his hand to tell the archers to get ready.

When they were about within an arrow's reach, the guard shouted, "Get ready!"

The next second, dozens of foot soldiers from the advancing Ikki drew their bows and shot arrows, catching the Oda army off guard.

Several Oda archers who did not have time to dodge were shot and fell off the city wall, while the other archers hid behind their shields.

The guard quickly stretched his head to take a look and shouted, "Shoot, shoot!"

Now the foot soldiers no longer fired in unison. Instead, they found the right opportunity and shot arrows outside.

Arrows kept falling, hitting the ground, the shield, or the unlucky soldiers behind.

As the group advanced, people kept falling down, wailing, and their lives or deaths were unknown.

But they continued to advance and soon reached the city.

Now the bloody siege began. The rebels erected stairs and climbed up. The defenders on the city wall fought desperately and the battle situation became tense.

Shimomama Nakataka looked at the situation and frowned, saying, "Let the artillery team go up to suppress the enemy's defenders, and let Mitsui break through the city gate first!"

The envoy immediately rode quickly to the front line to convey the order.

Mitsui, who had already led his troops to the vicinity of the city, heard the order and waved to the retainer beside him, "Nobuie, you take your men up and break through the city gate!"

Nobuie nodded, and immediately ordered more than ten samurai and several foot soldiers to rush forward carrying a large piece of wood.

When the garrison commander saw the enemy was about to storm the city gate, he immediately shouted, "Quick, let the third squad guard the city gate."

A red-armored warrior with a star-shaped helmet immediately led more than a hundred foot soldiers to the city gate to defend it.

But after more than a quarter of an hour, with a roar of victory from the other side, the city gate was directly knocked open, and the rebels rushed in roaring.

When the garrison commander saw this, he immediately said, "We have defended this far, that is enough, retreat immediately!"

He mounted his horse without hesitation and led the retreat.

As the main general retreated, the other Oda troops also fled. The Ikki successfully captured the castle and opened up the road to the southern part of Izumi.

Shimomama Nakataka watched the Oda papaya flag on the castle fall down and the Honganji flag was raised. He smiled and said, "See, the Oda army's defense is indeed empty. We must advance quickly and not miss the opportunity to fight!"

The Honganji army only left a part of its troops to clean up the battlefield and guard the castle, while the rest marched directly to the southern part of Izumi.

Near the battlefield, the ninjas left behind by Taroko Mitsutoshi looked at the movements of the Honganji army and immediately turned around and left.

At this time, Oda Nobutada had arrived in the woods near Wakayama to reorganize his troops and rest.

Tsuda Naganobu hurried over and stepped forward and whispered, "Master, my father sent a ninja to inform us that the army of Honganji is advancing towards the southern part of Izumi and will arrive near the northern part of Wakayama in about two hours."

Oda Nobutada was a little excited. He stood up and walked back and forth, saying, "When they reach the vicinity of Wakayama, it will be evening. This is God's help. Let our soldiers prepare to attack the enemy camp tonight!"

Tsuda Naganobu reminded: "But the Mori family's navy arrived ahead of time, and they are on guard near the west of Waka Mountain."

Oda Nobutada smiled and said, "The Mori navy is still unaware of our actions. We just need to be careful and alert now. When our army is preparing for a night attack, we can send a troop to the west to stop the Mori army from rescuing Honganji."

Tsuda Naganobu nodded and said, "Okay, I'll arrange for someone to tell father right away."

Oda Nobutada nodded and waved his hand to let Nagatobu leave.

At this time, the Honganji army galloped southward without encountering any obstruction from the Oda army, so their journey was smooth.

Shimomama Nakataka was in a very good mood. He called the messenger and said, "Go back immediately and tell the master that our army has a smooth journey and will soon reach Kii."

Hearing this, Shimomama Lai Lian complained: "What a pity, I haven't seen any Oda troops along the way, and I haven't taken any action yet. It's really annoying!"

Shimomama Nakataka consoled him, "Master Fayan, don't worry. When our army reaches Kii, we will let you kill as much as you want."

Lai Lian's face looked better in the next room.

After a while, a messenger came running in front and said, "Report! Master Xingcheng, the army in front reported that they have arrived at the northern foot of Wakayama. It's getting late today, so they hope to set up camp and rest."

Shimomama Nakataka nodded and said, "Well, let them prepare for the team behind them."

The army of powerful families that had arrived at the northern foot of Wakayama began to rest. They arranged their soldiers to cut wood nearby in preparation for dinner.

The ninjas hiding in the dark looked at the Honganji nobles' army that was setting up camp, counted the flags, and then left.

By the time all the troops of Honganji arrived, it was already dark. After a day of forced march, everyone was very tired, even Shimomana Nakataka was exhausted.

However, as soon as they entered the tent, the nobles brought them delicious food and wine, and women came forward to serve them.

Shimomura Nakataka had no interest in these women of average looks and just asked them to pour wine. In order to maintain his fighting ability, Shimomura Rairen did not touch any women.

The other monks were exhausted after a day of work and just wanted to relax. Shimomana Nakataka looked at his unruly subordinates and said with some dissatisfaction: "We are still marching and fighting. If you are like this and the enemy attacks your camp, how will you fight?"

A monk hugged the girl and said jokingly, "Brother Xingcheng, you are joking. We have not seen any Oda troops along the way. How could the enemy attack us?"

The others also laughed and didn't take it seriously.

Shimomama Nakataka couldn't say anything. Behind these people were all descendants of various families in Honganji. The relationships between them were complicated and he was helpless.

Xiajian Zhongxiao snorted and thought to himself: What a bunch of bugs!
There was joy and laughter in the camp of the Honganji army. After the day's experience, everyone felt that victory was in sight.

The noise lasted for more than an hour and soon fell silent. After all, everyone had been marching for a whole day and had limited physical strength. Plus, they had drunk some wine, so they all fell asleep.

Even though there were sentries, everyone was just dozing off.

The Oda army's spies were watching in the woods outside the Honganji military camp.

The leader said: "Go and report quickly, the enemy is tired and resting."

A spy behind him immediately retreated.

Oda Nobutada, who had been waiting for news, was overjoyed when he heard the news. He immediately ordered: "Naga Nobu, you lead your troops to secretly approach the enemy camp and wait for my news before launching a surprise attack!"

Oda Nobuo was very angry when he heard this. He stood up angrily and said, "Master, why are all the meritorious deeds attributed to the Tsuda family?"

Oda Nobutada glared at Oda Nobuo and cursed, "How dare you say that? Have you forgotten what happened to you at the foot of Saiga Castle? You idiot, shut up.

Now obey my orders. If you dare to make trouble, I will deal with you according to military law. Don't take me as a joke!"

Oda Nobuo was frightened by Nobutada's sudden anger. He did not dare to refute and quickly sat down, lowered his head and said nothing.

Tsuda Naganobu smiled broadly and turned away.

Hearing the noise, Oda Nobuo looked up at Tsuda Nagatobu's back, feeling so angry that his teeth were itching.

This was just a small episode. Tsuda Naganobu led the vanguard troops to the woods near the Honganji army base at midnight and waited in the woods.

Chang Xin turned around and said to Ishimaru Hachiro: "Ishimaru, go and tell the master of the family that our troops have arrived at the designated location."

Ishimaru Hachiro immediately ran to Oda Nobutada to report the situation.

Oda Nobutada immediately gave the order: "After a quarter of an hour, let Nagatobu launch the attack. Remember, fight your way in and make sure to defeat the Ikki group at Honganji. Don't let them react."

Tsuda Naganobu received the order and immediately ordered: "Sakon, Keijiro, you two lead your troops to seize the camp gate first, and I will bring others to support you!"

Shima Sakon and Maeda Keiji led 500 elite soldiers to approach the enemy camp gate, and captured the laxly defended camp gate in just a few minutes.

"kill!"

Maeda Keiji shouted loudly and rushed in first. He used his spear to pick up the campfire and poured it on the tent next to him, which soon caused a big fire.

At this time, the rebels were already tired and had drunk alcohol. They were still confused when they heard the noise. It was not until the foot soldiers of the Tsuda family cut through the tent and the cold blades pierced their bodies that they reacted.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

"Run! The enemy is coming!"

"Hurry up and fight back!"

It took more than a minute for the Tsuda group to break into the formation before the Ikki group behind them reacted, but it happened in the blink of an eye and the camp was in an uproar.

The sounds of the rebels shouting were everywhere.

Shimomama Nakataka, Shimomama Rairen and others were also awakened by the quarrel. Shimomama Rairen was sleeping with A and was a light sleeper. He woke up immediately and shouted to the monks around him to assemble.

After Shimomiya Nakataka woke up, it was too late for him to put on his armor. Under the protection of several monks, he ran out of the tent and looked forward.

Shimomama Nakataka shouted, "What's going on ahead? How many enemies are there? Go check!"

"Call the others to gather immediately!"

Shimomiya Nakataka shouted loudly, looking very excited.

After a while, Xia Jian Lai Lian came with a group of monks to join them. He immediately said, "Brother Xingcheng, I'm here to protect you. You raise the flag immediately and let the others come closer!"

Following the advice, Shimomiya Nakataka immediately raised a large flag and called on nearby troops to join him.

However, the vanguard had already been disrupted by the Tsuda clan, and then Oda Nobutada led the Oda army to attack, and the vanguard collapsed.

Fortunately, the collapse of the front army provided some precious time for the middle and rear armies. Shimomama Nakataka and Shimomama Rairen had already organized some troops to resist, and others were also organizing their subordinates.

Tsuda Naganobu led the Tsuda tribe and rushed to Shimomama Nakataka first.

When Shimomama Nakataka saw the banner of the Tsuda clan, he shouted, "We have fallen into a trap today. It must be the work of Tsuda Shingen. The Tsuda clan's troops are right before our eyes. Uncle Ho-yan, you must avenge our Honganji!"

Lai Lian immediately picked up the cannon in his hand and said, "Don't worry, Junior Brother Xingcheng, I will definitely take down the enemy general's head!"

He shouted loudly and immediately asked his disciples to lead the troops into battle.

As soon as these sturdy and skilled monks took action, Tsuda Nagatobu's offensive came to a halt, and the elite troops of the two armies began to fight.

Shimomana Nakataka saw this scene and said happily: "If we buy another half an hour, our army can recover!"

However, he was happy too early. The next moment, shouts of killing were heard from behind the Honganji army, and an Oda clan force of up to 10,000 people rushed out.

The rear army, which was still organizing its defense, had just stabilized when it was frightened by the sudden attack of the Oda army.

Two powerful generals, Onitsuka Masaaki and Fujido Takatora, under the command of Tsuda Nobutora, led their troops to charge into the rear army of Honganji first, followed by Mori Kanari and Sakai Masanari who led their troops to rush in as the follow-up troops.

Although the rear army general Shimomama Raityu organized monks to resist, he was targeted by Onitsuka Masaaki and Todo Takatora, who took advantage of the chaos to kill Shimomama Raityu.

After the death of Shimomiya Raityu, the already unstable morale of the rear army immediately collapsed, and the defeated soldiers attacked Shimomiya Nakataka's central army.

Shimomama Nakataka only heard a great commotion in the rear and had no idea what was going on. Then he saw Shimomama Rairyu's big flag fall down, and he became completely panicked.

The monks around him said in panic: "Brother Xingcheng, please withdraw your troops quickly! Our army is surrounded!"

"If we don't run, we'll all die here!"

"Run west quickly, the Mori navy is there to support us!"

Shimomiya Nakataka saw the demoralized army, and with the enemy attacking from both sides, he became discouraged and immediately called back Shimomiya Lai Lian to break out to the west.

(End of this chapter)