Chapter 31

"Damn, I wish that general were already dead..."

It was January of the tenth year of Eiroku.

Amidst the deep snow, Kōki led his troops toward Kyoto.

Thanks to the nearly completed road, the journey from Shinchi, Ise, Iga, and Kōga was swift, but once they entered southern Ōmi, where the remnants of the Rokkaku clan were still active, the snow slowed their advance.

Kōki had thought it might be fine even if they didn't make it in time.

He had considered that if they enthroned another general, it might be better than Yoshimasa.

"Both Kyouko and Oichi gave birth to lovely daughters, yet I have to go and pay respects to that damn general..."

"My lord, please do not say such things openly."

Masanobu, who was by his side, warned Kōki with a changed expression.

He thought it would be disastrous if anyone else heard.

"Even if he's dead because we didn't make it in time, it would be an act of God, right?"

"My lord, that is also forbidden."

"Besides, we are busy governing Iga."

With the Rokkaku clan destroyed, the Shinchi family was officially entrusted with the governance of Iga by the Oda family.

Iga was a remote mountainous region, and ruling it offered little benefit; in fact, it could be a burden.

Nobunaga, focusing on the control of southern Ōmi, officially entrusted the governance of Iga to Kōki, a capable and loyal vassal and his brother-in-law.

'What a great honor.'

While thinking that it was a huge deficit, Kōki began the construction of the road connecting Iga Ueno, Kōga, Shigaraki, Ōtsu, and Kameyama.

Additionally, at the request of Matsunaga Hisahide, he was also working on the road connecting Ise and Yamato.

Hisahide wanted to improve the transportation between Yamato and Ise to promote economic development in Yamato and eliminate the resistance of the remnants of the powerful clans he had yet to destroy.

Even if the remnants rebelled, they wouldn't gather many people if the local residents supported the Matsunaga family's rule.

Rebellions and uprisings often failed to gather people in Ise, and Hisahide was aiming for that.

'He might be targeting Ise.'

'If he attacks, we will repel him.'

When Hinoe Masaharu asked in a malicious tone, the old man who had been favored by the great lord Miyoshi Nagayoshi would never take such a short-sighted action.

While caution was necessary, Kōki thought it was wrong to be as suspicious as Yoshimasa.

"More importantly, is he still alive? That damn general."

The Shinchi family was heading to Kyoto through the road under construction.

The Three Amigos of the Miyoshi clan, who had learned that Nobunaga's main force had left Yoshimasa's side, landed from Shikoku and attacked the Hongan-ji temple, where Yoshimasa was staying, with the support of the powerful clans they had once subdued in Settsu, Kawachi, and Izumi.

Thanks to the fierce resistance of Ikeda Katsumasa, Imada Chikaoki, and Miyoshi Yoshinaga, who were entrusted with Settsu by Nobunaga, and the quick reinforcement by Akechi Mitsuhide, who remained in Kyoto, and the swift aid by Azai Nagamasa, the battle was over by the time Kōki arrived in Kyoto.

"Lord Ise, you didn't make it in time either?"

Hisahide, who arrived almost simultaneously, called out to Kōki.

"The road in southern Ōmi is not yet complete."

Nobunaga was having the laborers he gathered spread money, but it would still take time to complete.

Kōki had also provided manpower, but the development within the Shinchi domain limited the assistance.

As a result, the journey from Kōga to Ōtsu Castle took longer than expected.

"The snow also affected us."

In this era of the Little Ice Age, winters were cold and snowy, often hindering military movements.

"When the snow melts, I will also rely on you for the road to Yamato. We plan to send people to improve the roads within Yamato."

The old man Hisahide, who had been favored by the great lord, now seemed to be diligently working on the development within Yamato.

While he was a Sengoku daimyo and could not be completely trusted, he was currently focused on the development of Yamato.

"My brother-in-law."

While talking, Azai Nagamasa, who had played a significant role in the defense, approached them.

Nagamasa, who had married Nobunaga's sister, began to call the older Kōki his brother-in-law.

"You did a great job, Lord Nagamasa."

"My brother-in-law and Lord Hisahide also arrived quickly. I heard you are working on large-scale road construction?"

"I think it wouldn't matter if we didn't make it in time..."

"The real battle is yet to come, Lord Shinchi. We all didn't make it in time."

In response to the crisis in Kyoto, Nobunaga had sent out a vanguard of his troops.

One of those units, the Kinoshita army, also arrived, and Toyotomi Hideyoshi called out to Kōki.

"Lord Hideyoshi, it must have been tough in the cold. And who is this gentleman?"

"This is Nakamura Chōji, my retainer. He is an excellent man and has been a great help to me."

Nakamura Chōji was a young man with fair skin and a feminine appearance.

While he was practically a vassal of Hideyoshi, formally, both were vassals of the Oda family.

Therefore, Hideyoshi spoke to him politely.

"I am Nakamura Chōji. I am aware of your distinguished reputations."

Nakamura Chōji greeted Kōki and the others politely.

"Except for Lord Nagamasa, we didn't make it in time, but the lord has ordered us to recover in Settsu."

"Another campaign in Settsu..."

When the Miyoshi clan attacked, the local lords would submit to them, and when the Oda clan attacked, they would submit to them.

It was impossible to kill them all, so they had to attack the same places multiple times, which was troublesome.

While the loyalty of the samurai in this era was like that, Kōki thought, 'The shogun should do the campaign himself.'

"Lord Yoshimasa has said that even though some did not make it in time, they should recover in Settsu."

Kōki was even more irritated because the messenger was Akechi Mitsuhide, whom he did not like.

To Kōki, Mitsuhide seemed to be flaunting Yoshimasa's authority.

Frankly, he thought, 'Who do you think you are?'

"Lord Ise, you don't like Lord Mitsuhide, do you? He is also reluctantly saying those things because of orders."

Hisahide, who seemed to know him, defended Mitsuhide, but Kōki could not like Yoshimasa and his followers.

He thought, 'It's because you guys are not doing your job properly that we have to suffer.'

"Next time, we must take the heads of the Three Amigos of the Miyoshi clan!"

The next day, Nobunaga also appeared in Kyoto with his generals and troops, greeted Yoshimasa, and then marched to Settsu.

"Lord Nobunaga, there is a poetry gathering tonight. Will you not participate?"

However, at that time, Yoshimasa prioritized his relationship with the court nobles over the war and tried to force Nobunaga to attend, leading to a conflict.

The details of what happened were kept secret to avoid spreading any discord between the two.

"Attack!"

This was the second campaign in Settsu, so this time Nobunaga was ruthless.

He executed Inaba Harukatsu, who had surrendered at Takatsuki Castle, and many other local lords either fell to Nobunaga or fled, abandoning their castles and territories.

They also pursued the fleeing Three Amigos of the Miyoshi clan relentlessly and finally cornered one of their leaders, Miyoshi Nagayasu.

"Attack!"

Nagayasu was cornered by Hideyoshi and Nakamura Chōji, who had successfully predicted his escape route from a nearby map and ambushed him.

Nagayasu's retainers, such as Itō Nobushige, Takebe Kiyonori, Wakatsuki Mitsuari, and Edo Bichū-no-kami, were killed one after another, and finally, Nagayasu himself was beheaded by Sen no Shigehisa, who had recently joined the Hideyoshi family.

"Hideyoshi did it. We will also aim for the heads of the enemy!"

Ii Naomasa, who had been granted land in eastern Mino by Nobunaga, also participated in this battle.

He captured the army of one of the Three Amigos, Iwanari Tomomune, and pursued him with the forces of Dan羽 Chikahide and Maeda Toshiie. The head of Tomomune was taken by Maeda Toshiyori, a vassal and relative of Ii Naomasa.

Toshiyori was the adopted son of Maeda Toshiie's brother, Toshihisa, but his biological father was from the Takigawa clan. After his adoptive father Toshihisa was stripped of his position as head of the Maeda family and went into exile, Toshiyori was placed under the Takigawa family. This was a temporary measure, and it was unclear whether he would return to the Maeda family.

"One more to go."

On Nobunaga's orders, the Oda and Azai armies relentlessly pursued the heads of the Miyoshi clan and their retainers.

If they escaped to Shikoku again, they would quickly regroup and send troops to the Kinai region.

"My lord, there is an enemy force ahead."

Kōki also led a unit and advanced, but the commander of the blocking enemy force was an unexpected figure.

"Saitō Tatsuoki..."

Tatsuoki, who had fled to Nagashima after the fall of Inabayama Castle and then entered the Kinai region, led his forces to challenge the Shinchi army.

"Hiroshige, you are fighting your former lord."

"I have my thoughts, but even if I betrayed him, I wouldn't be treated well."

Tatsuoki was accompanied by the sons of the late Naga井 Dōri, and Hiroshige was hated by them because he believed Dōri's death in battle was due to his fault.

Hiroshige expected that he wouldn't be treated well even if he betrayed Tatsuoki.

"I am already a vassal of the Shinchi family. Let's end this quickly."

The Saitō army was composed of ronin and ikki forces, but they were inferior to the Shinchi army in numbers, quality, and firearms.

"The ambush is completely transparent. Let's finish this quickly!"

After weakening the enemy's strength and morale with long-range attacks, the elite unit led by Shimazu Kiyohisa charged into the Saitō army.

Tatsuoki managed to escape, but the heads of three of Dōri's sons, Tomotsugu and Tokiharu, were taken.

Continuing the pursuit, the Shinchi army encountered an unexpected and formidable enemy.

They fought against the combined forces led by Araki Murashige, Nakagawa Kiyohide, and Takayama Ukon and his son.

"They are strong..."

All of them were excellent generals, and despite the Shinchi army's numerical superiority, the battle was at a stalemate.

The Shinchi army, prioritizing speed, did not bring large cannons, while the Settsu forces prepared bamboo shields to defend against gunfire and used the terrain to minimize damage.

Still, the continuous gunfire and arrows were a characteristic of the Shinchi family.

The Shinchi army suffered minimal damage, while the Settsu local lords' combined forces, despite their tenacity, gradually increased their losses and skillfully retreated before collapsing.

"They escaped..."

The battlefield spread not only in Settsu but also in Kawachi and Izumi.

Overall, the Oda forces had defeated many of the Miyoshi clan's relatives, retainers, and local lords, capturing and destroying their castles.

Chikamasa, the last of the Three Amigos of the Miyoshi clan, was defeated by Shibata Katsuie, and other relatives and powerful retainers, such as Miyoshi Masakatsu, Miyoshi Masaharu, Shinohara Masahide, Anzai Nobuyasu, and Hosokawa Masaharu, followed.

The Oda forces also suffered many losses, but Shinohara Masafusa, who had comparable strength to the Three Amigos, made peace with Nobunaga and retreated to Shikoku.

Losing many relatives and powerful retainers, the Miyoshi clan lost the ability to interfere in the Kinai region for a while.

However, there were still local lords and temple forces in the Kinai region who opposed the Oda family, and it would take a long time to stabilize the region.