Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 178 Super Oda Melee

Owari fell into turmoil again, and Harano had to temporarily give up exploring the Ise Mountains and return to Shinwantsu to prepare the army to assist Oda Nobunaga in dealing with the challenges of Saito Yoshitatsu and Oda Nobukane.

There was nothing he could do about it. He was still highly dependent on the trade routes controlled by Oda Danjotada. Even though his ally Oda Nobunaga was very troublesome and always asked him to help in battles, he still had to go. After all, only when Shinwanzu was in good condition could he continue to explore the Ise Mountains. Without the power of Shinwanzu and so many elite subordinates, he would be killed by wild boars within three days if he went into the mountains alone, let alone any exploration.

Of course, Oda Nobunaga seemed to realize that he had been asked for help too many times, or that he needed the support of his allies more and more, and that his dependence on the gunpowder of New Wanzu was increasing. So he waved his hand and returned the old Wanzu, indicating that the old Wanzu could be used as the garrison for the Wanzu army, so that Hara would not have to drift on the sea every time he came to help.

In this way, the war between the Upper Four Counties of Owari and the Lower Four Counties began, and both sides began to form alliances and seek confrontation.

For example, through marriage, Oda Nobunaga married off his sister and formed an alliance with the lord of Inuyama Castle, Oda Nobumasa, which was considered a close ally. He was able to turn the tables and gain an arm of Iwakura Castle. Inuyama Castle was also a large castle in the upper four counties of Owari. The lord Oda Nobumasa's father, Oda Nobuyasu, was the follower of the old lord of Iwakura Castle, Oda Nobuyasu (a close retainer who grew up with him since childhood, for example, Ikeda Terumasa was Oda Nobunaga's follower). He did not want to succumb to the traitor Oda Nobuaki and decisively threw himself into the arms of Oda Nobunaga.

At the same time, this was also a powerful counterattack against Saito Yoshitatsu's "conspiracy". Inuyama Castle was in a relatively special location, located in the northeast corner of Owari, like a sharp blade stabbing into Mino's waist. As the Inuyama Castle clan turned to Oda Nobunaga, it could tie up a lot of Saito Yoshitatsu's energy, making it difficult for him to fully support Iwakura Castle. The situation began to evolve into a duel between Oda Nobunaga and Oda Nobuaki.

Faced with this situation, Oda Nobuaki and Saito Yoshitatsu were not idle either. While fighting a small-scale battle with Oda Nobunaga, they were also planning to target another "veteran rebellionist" in Oda Danmasatada's family - Oda Nobuyuki, the protagonist when Oda Nobunaga's biological mother was preparing to "depose the eldest and establish the youngest", Oda Nobunaga's biological brother and the lord of Suemori Castle.

"So, his rebellion failed again?"

Entrusted by Oda Nobunaga, Harano was stationed in Inano Castle in Kaito County with the Wanzu Army. In order to suppress the local powerful families and prevent them from moving, he was also on guard against a sudden attack by the Iwakura Army in the area. This was considered a key node on the current front line of the upper and lower four counties of Owari.

At this moment, he was looking at the latest information provided by Aman, and he was hesitant to speak. It felt very mysterious and wonderful. After all, so many Oda people were fighting each other, and the atmosphere was a bit like Cthulhu.

The original battle between Oda Nobunaga, Oda Nobumasa and Oda Nobuaki had already looked a bit chaotic, and now Oda Nobuyuki had appeared again, plus the previous Oda Nobuyasu and Oda Nobuie father and son, all you can see are Odas. And if you count the elders, retainers and other miscellaneous people of each family, there are about three hundred Odas participating in this battle, it's simply a super Oda melee.

All I can say is that the Oda family’s 170 or 80 years of reproduction and reproduction in Owari were not in vain, and they really gave birth to a very large group of people.

However, Yuanye was more concerned about Oda Nobuyuki's situation. After all, there were few people who could rebel twice. Aman sat cross-legged in front of him, eating the peaches offered by the nearby nobles, and said vaguely, "Of course he failed. This dung ball wanted to betray again and was planning to attack the Furuno Castle. As a result, his family elder Shibata Katsuie betrayed him first and tied him up and sent him to Kiyosu Castle."

"What did Oda Nobunaga say?"

"Oda Nobunaga locked up Oda Nobuyuki and their mother together as company." Aman thought for a moment and said, "He praised Shibata Katsuie, believing that he fulfilled his past oath (Shibata Katsuie and Oda Nobuyuki swore not to rebel again after being forgiven for their rebellion last time), and stopped his lord from being disloyal and unjust in time, and could become a role model for the samurai family. He was reappointed as the family elder of the Danjo Tadashi family, and his status was probably only slightly lower than that of Sakuma Shigeshige!"

"Is that so..." Yuan Ye nodded slowly. So he could avoid being killed for rebellion twice in a row? And the world is so unpredictable. One of Oda Nobunaga's four family elders was almost half-disabled after the rebellion, one committed suicide, and two died in battle. The two family elders of his brother who had been rebelling were fine, and now they have become Oda Nobunaga's family elders.

His thoughts wandered for a moment, and he marveled at this wonderful historical phenomenon, then his thoughts turned to Shibata Katsuie.

In the future, he will be known as the "Four Heavenly Kings of Oda" together with Takigawa Kazumasu, Akechi Mitsuhide, Niwa Nagahide, and Hashiba Hideyoshi. As we all know, there are usually five of the Four Heavenly Kings, and those who have played the "Taiko" series will be no stranger to him. He is a representative of the Owari nobles, and together with another representative, Sassa Narimasa, he daily snatches the task of being the "protagonist (monkey)", and constantly ridicules and belittles him. He is considered a villain in the game.

Now, this big villain has returned to his position and officially belongs to Oda Nobunaga. It seems that he has also won the favor of Oda Nobunaga. I guess I will have to deal with this big villain in the future.

As for the other minor villain, Sasa Narimasa, he seems to be still young. As the fifth son of the Sasa family, he is still studying in a temple school. It is likely that he will not join Oda Nobunaga until his elder brother Sasa Masatsugu is killed in the Battle of Okehazama. Therefore, he will not be seen for a while.

After finishing his peach, A-Man saw that he was in a trance, so he was not surprised. He did not care what he was thinking about, and turned to his routine report: "Everything is normal in Hibitsu Village. There is no abnormality in the latest report."

This was something Yuanye had specifically ordered. The Hibitsu Villa must report back every three days. When Yuanye came to his senses, it seemed that the latest search team still had no results. He really couldn't help in this regard. After all, he couldn't figure out what was going on. Now he could only try his luck. He was ready for a protracted war. He shook his head slightly and asked, "Got it. Is there anything else from Owari?"

"Gone."

"What about Minong?" Yuanye asked, "How is the progress in Minong? How many available manpower are there now?"

"Not many. Most of them have just been put in place and are seeking opportunities to access intelligence. As for the news sent back..." Aman took out a small notebook from his pocket and flipped through it, then pondered, "Most of them are unconfirmed news. The more special one is that Saito Yoshitatsu just broke through Akechi Castle, and the head of the Akechi family, Akechi Mitsuyasu, committed suicide after the castle fell."

"Akechi Mitsuan?" Yuan Ye was surprised for a moment and hesitated, "Is he... I heard that he has a son named Akechi Mitsuhide. Is there such a person?"

Now the "living people" of Shinwanjin have just begun to infiltrate Mino, and a lot of information is incomplete or unorganized. Ah Man flipped through the small notebook for a while, and after a while of sifting through her handwriting that only she could understand, she hesitated and said, "We don't have any records in this regard, but according to some of the information submitted by the old man before, there is such a person, who is... the adopted son of Akechi Mitsuan, in his twenties, with the common name Jubei, but he is not famous, and the old man has never paid much attention to him."

"Akechi Mitsuyasu's adopted son?"

"Yes, Akechi Mitsuyasu is both his uncle and his adoptive father."

Yuanye suspected for a moment that Oda Nobunaga was about to gather the "Four Heavenly Kings of Oda" and asked with concern: "Where is he now?"

Ah Man flipped through the notebook again, feeling that her job as the "East Factory Director" was really fucking hard. This idiot master had one thing after another all day long, and inexplicably began to care about little people again. But she was more or less used to it, and after flipping through it for a while, she said, "I don't know, this guy is not noticeable at all, who knows what happened to him after his family was destroyed."

Yuan Ye was surprised to hear her say that. "Then why did you specifically mention the Akechi family? You said that Saito Yoshitatsu's capture of Akechi Castle was special."

"Because Akechi Mitsunari is Nohime's uncle, that is, Oda Nobunaga's uncle." Aman asked curiously, "Don't you know? The Akechi family is a branch of the Toki family, the guardian of Mino. Nohime's mother was from the Akechi family, so the Akechi family has always been pro-Owari faction, which is why they were punished by Saito Yoshitatsu."

Yuan Ye really didn't know. He had never paid much attention to Mino's affairs before. He hesitated for a moment and said, "That means... Akechi Mitsuhide is Nohime's cousin?"

He used to wonder how Akechi Mitsuhide suddenly became an important minister to Oda Nobunaga and how he suddenly gained his trust. Was it because of nepotism? Was Akechi Mitsuhide actually Oda Nobunaga's cousin?
"Probably!" Aman asked curiously, "What's wrong with that? The marriages between daimyo and samurai are always like this, with so many connections that anyone can be related to anyone else. Aren't you one of them now? You and Nohime can actually be considered relatives, and you can also be related to the Akechi family."

It turns out that the Japanese Warring States period was just a group of relatives fighting...

Yuanye understood, but it didn't matter. He wouldn't recognize these relatives...well, he would only recognize the Dog Princess and forget about the other relatives. When it came time to beat or kill, he wouldn't be polite at all.

He gave the order directly: "Then let the people in Minong search for his whereabouts and pay more attention to this person...if he is not dead."

Ah Man casually wrote down his request in a small notebook, and prepared to send a message to Mino to find Akechi Mitsuhide, and then she would not care about it anymore. Yuanye had a lot of similar bullshit requests. It was normal for her to want to pay attention to this today and that tomorrow. She just continued to do her thing.

Yuanye sat there without moving, slowly savoring the fact that these familiar historical figures were beginning to get back on track, slowly opening the curtain on the drama of the fierce battles in the Japanese Warring States Period. It felt like a certain historical turning point was getting closer and closer.

(End of this chapter)