June 21, the 14th year of Astronomy, Kyoto.
It was an ordinary morning, and the various units of the Confederate Army were out in battle as usual, harassing the Northern Army's positions endlessly. However, what was ushered in was the Northern Army brigade roaring out to launch a counterattack. Fortunately, the Confederate army's defenses were also well built. Although they were caught off guard, they were able to successfully retreat to their respective positions. Chisekiin, Takio Shrine, Higashiyama Bridge, Suirinji Temple - after all the daimyo of the Confederate Army sent back reports of the attack, Hosokawa Harumoto, the general of the Confederate Army, and Taiyuan Xuezai, the leader of the army, began to realize the seriousness of the problem.
"Could it be a desperate general attack by the Northern Army?" Hosokawa Harumoto kept rubbing his palms. The tense battle situation made him break out in a cold sweat. "They have determined that if they drag it on, we will only exhaust them, so they want to kill the enemy?"
"It is not impossible." Taiyuan Xuezhai showed no surprise at all, but nodded and said: "If this is the case, let all the ministries strictly guard their positions and attack cautiously. Our army has been entrenched for many days, and the defenses are indestructible. As long as this is the case, If we don't rush into battle, there's no chance of losing our position."
"There is no need to attack. I ordered all the big names not to step out of the position." Hosokawa Harumoto simply went to the extreme and said categorically to the messengers at the door: "As long as we drag it on, they will be the first to fall! Since They are all fighting for their lives on all fronts. It must be that food and internal conflicts have become unsustainable. It is absolutely impossible for us to fight them decisively at this time! We are strictly ordering all ministries not to go to war!"
After Hosokawa Harumoto's order was issued, all units of the Confederate Army immediately went on the defensive. The Union troops attempted to attack the position, but soon found themselves helpless against the Confederate turtle shells. In desperation, various departments of the Northern Army tried various challenges and provocations, trying to provoke the Southern Army to fight through humiliation, and even took the initiative to change positions in front of the Southern Army and cancel their combat readiness. However, there was a death order. The Confederate army remained unmoved. In the end, the Northern Army had to return home at sunset.
After nightfall, the Northern Army's camp was also extremely restless, and the Southern Army was also on full alert to prevent the already desperate Northern Army from launching a night attack. Of course, it may also be that the Northern Army did not launch an offensive at night because they considered that attacking such a strong camp at night was tantamount to hitting an egg with a stone.
But by the next morning, the Northern Army was still not moving, and various departments of the Southern Army could not help but become suspicious. Among them, the one with the strongest suspicion is Takeda Harunobu of Suirin Temple.
"Yesterday's fierce attack was probably not to scare us so that we could retreat overnight, right?" Takeda Harunobu seemed to have seen through the little Jiujiu in Miyoshi Nagakei's heart. However, the scouts he sent for reconnaissance were all intercepted by the ninjas of the Northern Army. If he wanted to truly conduct in-depth reconnaissance, he had to let the army cover him - but Hosokawa Harumoto had strictly ordered all the troops not to go out yesterday. Seeing that the battle was about to be won, and the opportunity to reward one's merits was about to come, Takeda Harunobu did not want to follow the truth at this time.
Therefore, Takeda Harunobu asked the troops to prepare for the battle, and on the other hand, he arranged Kasuga Torasuna as a messenger to state his interests to Hosokawa Harumoto and obtain permission to attack. However, Hosokawa Harumoto was unable to make an immediate decision, and Taiyuan Xuezhai had to return to the Imagawa family formation last night to assist in military strategy. As a result, Hosokawa Harumoto also lacked a mastermind who could make decisions for him. After a whole morning of delay, it was not until lunch was over that Hosokawa Harumoto finally made up his mind and allowed each department of the Southern Army to send out small groups to test the strength of the Northern Army——
It turned out that the Northern Army's position was already empty. The remaining Duanhou troops and ninjas quickly evacuated after seeing the empty city plan exposed. The main force of the Northern Army had already taken advantage of the darkness to withdraw from the front line. The military information spread throughout the Kyoto battlefield as the messengers galloped, and various departments of the Southern Army, claiming that they had been tricked, attacked one after another, hoping to carve up the baggage left by the Northern Army - if they were lucky enough to catch up with a group of auxiliary troops, they would say Maybe there will be many more seizures.
The one who took the lead was the Oda Army stationed at Takio Shrine. Oda Nobunaga did not notify the Asakura and Asai families in the shrine at all. Even before Hosokawa Harumoto came into contact with the war exemption order, he bypassed Takio Shrine from the side door and ran all the way to Sanjusangendo Hall. After discovering that Sanjusangendo was empty, he immediately crossed the Shichijo Bridge and headed straight to the Imperial Palace and Nijo Castle in the north, leaving all the rest of the friendly forces behind.
But at this time, Takeda Harunobu was not in a hurry. He began to worry about the possibility of the Northern Army luring the enemy into faking defeat—could the Northern Army just want to pretend to retreat, but actually lead the Southern Army into the northern part of Kyoto and annihilate it? But to abandon so many strong positions that had been built for many months in one fell swoop was a huge sacrifice. If you want the coalition forces, each with their own ulterior motives, to implement such a difficult plan as a whole, Mihaoshi Changqing probably doesn't have the ability to do so, right? If it were just the Mihaoshi family's own troops, the possibility of counterattack would not be ruled out.
To be able to persuade various daimyo to abandon their safe positions, other than actually retreating - what other reasons could Miyoshi Changqing give? Risking the collapse of the army during the retreat and enduring the huge casualties in the decisive battle with the Confederate army, just to give his Miyoshi family a future?
Of course, with this thought in mind, Takeda Harunobu actually acted very cautiously. It was not until the banner of the Oda Army appeared at Shin-Zenkoji Temple that Takeda Harunobu led his army northward from Chofukuji Temple, intending to use the Oda Army as his scouts. Behind the Takeda Army, the Imagawa Army also circled out of the refugee shed at Toji Temple and followed the Takeda Army toward Hokoji Temple in the north.
At noon on June 22, the 14th year of Tianwen, the Oda army occupied Pingdong Temple again. At three quarters of noon, Zenchoji Temple was also captured by the Oda army. At five quarters of noon, Oda Nobunaga entered Honnoji Temple, but still no ambush of the Northern Army was found. At this point, Takeda Harunobu and other Southern military daimyo were completely relieved, and they advanced towards Nijo Castle at full speed. The Imperial Palace probably could not capture Oda Nobunaga. . Even the Rokkaku Army and the Wakasa Takeda Army who were far away in Settsu Kanchi had already heard the news and rushed over, chasing them all the way to the outside of Oizumi Temple. On the streets and alleys of Kyoto, supplies left behind by the Northern Army during its evacuation can be seen everywhere.
At 7:00 noon on June 22, the 14th year of Tianwen, the Oda army occupied the imperial palace and ensured the safety of the royal family and ministers immediately. Almost at the same time, Oda Nobunaga himself led a small group of horse soldiers and rushed directly to Nijo Castle. He was the first to rush into Nijo Castle before the Takeda Army and other Southern Army units, and planted the Oda family's horse seal on Nijo Castle. , enjoy the scenery of this battle.
However, just when Oda Nobunaga was about to place the Oda papaya flag on the Nijo Castle castle tower, something embarrassing happened.
"What? The Miyoshi family left the Gongfang Palace... er, the fake Gongfang Palace in Nijo Castle?"
After learning the news, Hosokawa Harumoto hurriedly hurriedly surrounded by his cronies, and finally arrived at Nijo Castle at the end of June 22, the 14th year of Tenmon. In addition to the troops guarding the surrounding areas, most of the southern army's daimyo troops were currently stationed around Nijo Castle and the Imperial Palace. The daimyo of the Southern Army all came to the assessment room in the Nijo Castle Castle Tower, waiting for the arrival of Hosokawa Harumoto. Sitting on the main seat in the evaluation room was the ten-year-old Ashikaga Yoshito, the eldest son of the late Ashikaga Shogunate's 12th generation general, Ashikaga Yoshiharu.
An extremely embarrassing situation occurred. All the daimyo present looked at each other, waiting to throw this difficult problem to Hosokawa Harumoto.
Because Ashikaga Yoshiharu died suddenly and suddenly, he did not have time to complete the inheritance ceremony of the shogunate. Therefore, the Miyoshi family, which had already controlled Kyoto at that time, naturally supported the eldest son Ashikaga Yoshito to succeed him. Hosokawa Harumoto had no choice but to do the next best thing. With the help of the general Mibuchi Haru, he found the second son of Ashikaga Yoshiharu who became a monk, Ashikaga Yoshiaki, and supported him as a general.
In Hosokawa Harumoto's vision, the battle between the Miyoshi family and the Hosokawa family will be long. Even if Hosokawa Harumoto retakes Kyoto with the momentum of the Confederate Army, Miyoshi Nagakei will inevitably evacuate with Ashikaga Yoshitō and establish a new imperial palace in the territory of the Miyoshi family, continuing to maintain the pattern of two generals fighting against each other.
But why did Miyoshi Nagakei leave Ashikaga Yoshito behind? Didn't he actually take away his righteous name? What on earth are Sanhaojia thinking? Hosokawa Harumoto couldn't figure it out no matter how hard he tried.
Although the Miyoshi family has suffered a huge loss in reputation and brand name, Hosokawa Harumoto is also facing a huge trouble now - how to deal with the "pseudo general" supported by Miyoshi Nagakei? In fact, Ashikaga Yoshiharu had already regarded Ashikaga Yoshito as his heir before his death, and sent all his other children to temples to become monks. Ashikaga Yoshiharu's identity was also recognized by most of the Kinki daimyo, including the leader Hosokawa Harumoto. and approval from shogunate and court officials.
Although the two armies had fought before, Hosokawa Harumoto and Miyoshi Nagakei called each other's generals "pseudo generals." But really counting the qualifications, it was Ashikaga Yoshiaki who was supported by Hosokawa Harumoto - more like a temporary fake. Hosokawa Harumoto himself has nothing to do with Ashikaga Yoshiaki. On the contrary, he has a good relationship with Ashikaga Yoshiaki as the young master. He only found Ashikaga Yoshiaki from the temple in order to pull the flag.
So now...how to deal with the real general Ashikaga Yoshitō who has been declared a "fake general"? Hosokawa Harumoto felt a headache. Under house arrest? I'm afraid there are many people in the shogunate who are dissatisfied with Hosokawa Harumoto, right? Release? So what if this real flag is taken away by Miyoshi Nagaki or someone who opposes the Hosokawa family? Or fortunately, give up Ashikaga Yoshiaki and re-support Ashikaga Yoshito - this is not done in this world, right? If it is so capricious, the Hosokawa family will not be a joke?
Just as Hosokawa Harumoto was thinking wildly, something unexpected happened suddenly.
I saw Ashikaga Yoshitō sitting up from the main seat in an instant. In front of all the daimyo of the Confederate Army, he raised his hand and pointed fiercely at Hosokawa Harumoto:
"Qing Yuan is a traitor, how could he poison my father?
