Takatsuki Castle's defender Irie Haru Masashi is not a descendant of Ishiyama Honganji, nor is he a devout disciple of the Pure Land Shinshu Sect like his brother, and he was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki and broke through, although he still has the strength to fight, but he knows that Ishiyama Honganji will not let him continue to serve as the defender of Takatsuki Castle, and Irie's territory may also be deprived. Seeing this, Akechi Mitsuhide sent his father-in-law's wife, Mu Beom-hee, as an envoy to secretly enter the city, and he repeatedly asked Irie Harumasa to change the two banners as soon as possible to show his submission to the shogunate army.

Under the persuasion and insistence of Irie Harumasa, most of the retainers in Takatsuki Castle began to approve of Takatsuki Castle's implementation of the change of banners, and on the second day, the shogunate's Nijo flag was planted at the head of Takatsuki Castle to show obedience to the shogunate army, and at the same time, Akechi Mitsuhide responded to Iritsuka's proposal to march into the Ichiyi army formation, forcing the latter to withdraw from the Takatsuki Castle area.

Akechi Mitsuhide was not an unreasonable man, he did not have arrogance under the victory, and he promised that as long as Takatsuki Castle surrendered to the shogunate army, Irie Harumasa would continue to serve as the lord of Takatsuki Castle without change, and he would also be able to serve as a shogunate in the shogunate.

Serving as a shogunate is the right thing to do, and this matter is still done by Akechi Mitsuhide, but Akechi Mitsuhide is not simply trying to seize Takatsuki Castle, after Takatsuki Castle changed banners, Akutagawa Yamajo's defender Akutagawa Rokuro Masashi, Ibaraki Castle's Ibaraki Shigeto, and Miyake Kuniko of Miyake Castle have expressed their obedience, and all of a sudden the shogunate army occupied a large area of land, and the army reached Ishiyama Honganji Temple.

It's understandable that Ibaraki Shigetomo and Miyake Kuni's pro-Makoto shogunate army defected, and they were all bigwigs of the Settsu people under the Miyoshi Nagakei regime. Unlike another big man, Irie Chunji, they took refuge in Ishiyama Honganji out of realism considerations.

However, the owner of this Akutagawa mountain castle, Akutagawa Masashi, can be said to have been single-handedly supported by Ishiyama Honganji, you must know that Akutagawa Mountain Castle was originally the residence of the Akutagawa clan, and later Akutagawa Sun Juro rebelled and became the residence of Miyoshi Chokei. This Akutagawa Sunjuro is not an outsider. According to the seniority, he is still the cousin of Miyoshi Changqing, but this guy married the adopted daughter of Miyoshi Changqing, and the cousin became a cheap son-in-law, which is really messy enough.

Akutagawa Sunjuro's father, Akutagawa Nagamitsu, was the third son of Miyoshi, and then succeeded to Akutagawa Nobutada as his adopted son and inherited the position of lord of Akutagawa Mountain Castle, and Miyoshi Motocho, the grandson of Miyoshi, gave birth to Miyoshi Chokei.

Akutagawa Masashi is already a side branch, if it weren't for a good surname. In addition, they have always been clamoring that they are the true successors of Akutagawa Mountain Castle (I have not seen him shout in the Miyoshi Chokei era), and Honganji Xianru will not support him to become the lord of this Akutagawa Mountain Castle, and I never thought that he would be frightened after Takatsuki Castle surrendered to Cheng. It's also a matter of surrender.

As you can see from the map, after Takatsuki Castle, Akutagawayama Castle, Ibaraki Castle, and Miyake Castle surrendered to the shogunate army, Ishiyama Honganji Temple would face the danger of the shogunate army, and if you went down the Yodo River, you would reach Ishiyama Honganji. As long as you are not a fool, you can get a glimpse of something different from it.

Ishiyama Honganji Temple is about to face the shogunate army. As well as the edge of the Eastern Army, which was following behind the shogunate army, the situation was critical, the Ishiyama Honganji Temple was in danger, the cause of the people was always in danger, and the lives of the monks of Honganji were in danger. All along, everyone was waiting for Honganji to show what to do next.

Since the launch of the Tsuyoshi Army, the Ichichi Cause almost lost its foothold in the Battle of Takata Castle, but in the end it was won by the retreat of the Miyoshi Army, and the rest of the time their actions went very smoothly.

However. Just when the situation has always been good, the battle of Yamazaki. The victory in the first battle and the defeat of the Irie people at Takatsuki Castle did not seem to be very casualties on the surface, but for the local samurai who were already panicked, it was no less than a thunderbolt from the sky.

You must know that the army of the Date family is already close at hand, and if you continue to stay in the camp that has always been in the same camp, you will become the target of the Date army, and the Shogunate army can ensure their safety to a certain extent, and in their hearts, the Shogunate still has some security capabilities. Even if it doesn't work, it is not impossible to defect from the shogunate to the Date family at that time, and in this way, their status is a member of the samurai family, not a member of the temple family, which is an important weight in the negotiation.

Under the double pressure of the Date Army and the Shogunate Army, it was unexpected and natural for the defenders of Takatsuki Castle, Ibaraki Castle, Miyake Castle, and Akutagawa Yamajo Castle to make such a decision, and the morale of the Shogunate, which had always been high, was fatally damaged. Honganji's heart is dripping blood.

Honganji was looking around, but no one could give him advice, and Honda Masanobu, whom he had recently relied on, was no longer on the spot, and shouted in a low voice: "Where did Honda Masanobu go, why didn't he show up to report to him, it's too unusual." ”

Someone replied, "Half a month ago, you sent him to Harima Province on a business trip. "It's said that it's a business trip.,In fact, it's to instigate Mikijo to rebel.,Let Miki Castle block the invasion of the Date army.,This matter is an open secret inside Honganji.,But it's still not possible to say it with great fanfare.,You must know that the relationship between Honganji and the Date family hasn't been completely torn up.,Punches and kicks have been done.,But the skin hasn't been torn off.,This is the relationship between Honganji and Date's family now.。

Honganji snorted coldly and stood up. The shogunate army is pressing forward step by step, and the situation has gradually become far away from the development process he has designed in advance, but at present, there is no way back for Honganji, to be precise, he himself has no way out, and the Lotus Master can calmly withdraw from Kaga Province to develop believers in Kinai, does he still have a way back? Honganji Xianru doesn't want to go, since there is no way out, let's do it vigorously.

Honganji Temple made the following decision: you want to fight, fight there, and ordered the Yamato Front Army to end the battle as soon as possible and then raid Yamashiro Province to cut off the rear route of the Eastern Army, and at the same time called on all localities to gather at Ishiyama Honganji Temple and fight to the death with the Eastern Army.

At the same time, in order not to suffer from the enemy, Honganji Akiru ordered Shimoma Yoriteru to go to Harima Province to meet Date Masashiro to sign a no-war agreement, even if he gave up some benefits, he would stop the Date army at Miki Castle and stop advancing at any cost. He didn't believe that Miki Castle would be able to hold back the Date Army's attack.

He was about to give an order when an attendant ran in nervously and reported, "Master." The scouts reported that Miki Castle had been broken from yesterday, and at the same time, more than 5,000 people from the front of the Date Army had entered Akashi County, obviously to deal with us, and asked the Lord to make a decision. ”

When Honganji Xianru thought that there would really be an enemy on his belly and back, he panicked all of a sudden, knowing that the Date army was all elite divisions, as high as forty or fifty thousand people. Once such a large army pours into Settsu Province, plus the Eastern Army, the situation is really out of control.

Honganji appears to have made a decision to deal with the Eastern Army. He was able to calmly prevent the Yamato Front from raiding Yamashiro Province, but now when the Date army appeared behind him, his calmness was lost all at once, but he didn't know what to do.

It was a battle to the death with the Eastern Army. Or suspend the offensive. Waiting for the Yamato Front army to retreat to Ishiyama Honganji Temple, all of a sudden surrounded his mind.

He still had time to deal with the urgent situation, and he issued several orders in succession to strengthen the cavalry force patrolling the line of Ishiyama Honganji Temple and Koshisui Castle, and at the same time replenish the foot soldiers of the various checkpoints. The Ranger sent twice as much, from three reports a day to four reports a day. Suspend the construction of camps outside the city, and make every effort to repair the city walls. At the same time, he also ordered the Kii Saga people, who had not moved, to enter Izumi Province. Protect the flank of Ishiyama Honganji Temple and do a good job of receiving the Yamato Front.

Honda Masanobu returned to Ishiyama Honganji that night. Immediately, he was brought into the inner courtyard by the attendants of Honganji Xianru, and the face of Honganji Xianru was presented. In the past, Honda Masanobu received such courtesy, and others were envious, jealous and hateful, but now it is not.

Honda Masanobu who returned from the battlefield of Miki Castle went from one extreme to the other, he originally thought that with Miki Castle he could block it for at least three or four months, but he never thought that the outer city would be broken without blocking it for a day and a night, and the inner city would be broken in two or three days, and even Miki Castle would be difficult to block the attack, I am afraid that only Ishiyama Honganji Temple would have the strength to fight, and the rest of the castles would not have much effect.

Listening to Honda Masanobu's personal experience, Honganji appeared to have the same heavy face, he also did not expect that the combat effectiveness of the Date army was so strong, and it was possible to attack a fortified city with a garrison of one or two or three thousand in one battle, and it took less than a day to break through Miki Castle.

Honganji was shocked and frightened. Surprisingly, the Date army was so strong, Miki Castle could not be stopped for three or four months in his original expectations, at least it could make him disgraced and block for a month, so that he had the confidence to fortify step by step along the way, and now it was broken in one day, if he didn't pay attention to it, I am afraid that Ishiyama Honganji would be difficult to resist his military peak. The fear was that the Date Army's troops had reached Akashi Prefecture and were about to invade Settsu Province, and once he and the Eastern Army formed a joint force, Ishiyama Honganji Temple and even the entire business would be pushed into a crisis.

What's next?

Honganji Xianru asked his own question urgently, he knew that once the Eastern Army and Date Army merged, then Ishiyama Honganji would be under siege, don't forget, now Awaji Island is under the control of Date Family's naval army. Under the attack of land and water, Ishiyama Honganji Temple will fall into a situation of encirclement on all sides.

Honda Masanobu had already thought about this problem on the way here, he organized the words, opened a parchment scroll, which turned out to be a rough map, pointed to the map and said: "Miki Castle is lost, the Date army will take all Harima Province, and the next step is nothing more than to attack Izumi and Settsu Province from land and water, and at the same time, it is possible to contain Tanba Province from Tango Province." On land, the two cities of Yuesui Castle and Arima Castle were strengthened, and the troops were strengthened as much as possible to firmly control these two cities. ”

Honganji Xianru nodded and responded: "This matter is reasonable, so how to prevent an attack from the waterway?" ”

After pondering for a moment, Honda Masanobu said: "Dharma Master, Kawachi Country is the foundation of Hatakeyama Takamasa, you can transfer Hatakeyama Takamasa back to Hanoi Country, the statement is strong, he will return to Kawaoi Country, Hatakeyama Takamasa has 10,000 soldiers, horses, and horses." At the same time, the walls of Izumi were cleared, ports were burned down, castles were built in various mountain passes, and the people were mobilized to enter Izumi country, and at the same time, they could launch a single attack so that the enemy who came up on the water would not have any place to stay. ”

After a pause, Honda Masanobu said again: "Master, this is only a military consideration, and at the same time, we must make a final effort to send an envoy to make peace with Date Masahiro, which is just to delay time and give us time to deal with the Eastern Army calmly. ”

Honganji was silent, he agreed with Honda Masanobu's analysis and inference, but the current situation is not only the Date army, but the most important thing is that after the defeat of the Battle of Yamazaki, then Takatsuki Castle, Ibaraki Castle, Miyake Castle and Akutagawa Yamajo Castle have surrendered to the Eastern Army, and because of the suddenness of the matter, coupled with some other important factors, the Yamato Front Army has always contained a large number of soldiers and horses, and Izumi, Hanoi, and Kii only have a fighting force of the Saga people, and the Saga people have only developed to the present of only four or five thousand people. There are still nearly 150,000 people in the direction of Ishiyama Honganji, if you don't count the nearly 167,000 people on the Yamato side, there are 780,000 people scattered all over the place, and now the number between the eastern and western armies is equal, and the eastern army still has a certain advantage.

Honganji is in a dilemma, if the troops are divided and garrisoned, once the Date army is raided, it will be in danger of being defeated, but if they are allowed to turn, they will be trapped in Ishiyama Honganji and Yamato, and I am afraid that the business that has always been destroyed will be ruined.

Honganji Xianru weighed for a long time, but it was still difficult to decide, so he asked Yu Honda Masanobu, "Do you think Date Masatoshi will give us time to deal with the Eastern Army?" ”

Honda Masanobu thought for a while, and then said: "Now the total number of the Eastern and Western armies is to a certain extent, and our side has an absolute advantage, but the Yamato direction has contained too many people, and at the same time, it has to be pinned down by the Date Army, and when facing the Eastern Army, the forces we can only squeeze out are essentially inferior to the Eastern Army. If, and I am talking about, if our side loses the battle with the Eastern Army, the Eastern Army will take all part of Settsu, Izumi, Kawachi, and Yamato Province, plus their original Yamashiro, Omi, Wakasa, Echizen, and other places, and will become a large military group, and at the same time have the righteous name of the Muromachi Shogunate, which is something that Date Masaki does not want to see, and he tries his best to avoid. ”

Honda Masanshin is very straightforward and does not shy away from it.

Honganji Xianru immediately made a decision, personally commanded the battle to fight the shogunate army to the death, and at the same time ordered Shimoma Yoriteru to go to Harima Province to negotiate peace. (To be continued.) )