Chapter 544 6. The Sound of the Cannon Brings Peace to the South of the Yangtze River

Oda Nobunaga had connections in Luoyang. He heard that he would be given a cannon for free if he preached, so he sent people across Lake Biwa to Beijing to find the Nanman missionaries that night.

The next day, the road to Minamizu Castle was opened, and the Shangluo Army directly surrounded Guanyin Temple and abandoned other branch castles. The defenders of other branch castles had already heard the twelve consecutive shots of the Portuguese guns, and saw that the Rokkaku Army's numerical advantage was rubbed by the Oda Army.

Obviously, people's hearts are made of flesh and are very soft. No matter how determined they are to fight and how loyal they are, they will waver.

Anyway, Guanyin Temple is a strong city in the world. Even if the Shangluo Army has 60,000 people, what's the use? It will definitely not be taken down in ten days and a half. Wait until the crisis is really serious before considering what to do.

This idea made most of the Rokkaku defenders begin to waver and wait and see the outcome.

After seeing the power of the Portuguese, Oda Nobunaga sent a military order to let the Yamauchi Army send people to dismantle the side of Minamizu Castle facing Guanyin Temple and clear the shooting range.

After knowing the range of the Portuguese cannon, Oda Nobunaga would certainly make the best use of it. If it could destroy Minasaku with one round of cannon, it could also destroy Guanyin Temple with several rounds of cannon. And there happened to be Minasaku as a high ground, and anyone who didn't use it would be a fool.

Kobayata had to pick strong soldiers, twelve people took turns to carry each cannon, and carried the cannon to the 30-meter-high Minasaku Castle. The muzzle was pointed at Guanyin Temple, ready to fire at any time.

Of course, the pre-war preparations were more than that. After the cannons were ready, more than 22,000 people in the 60,000-man army also left the camp, divided into teams, waved flags and shouted, and pressed towards Guanyin Temple with powerful military power.

Then Ashikaga Yoshiaki sent people into the city, promising to save the lives of the Rokkaku clan and to provide security for half of Kanzaki County.

The Rokkaku clan refused, so the cannons on Minasaku Castle fired 20 rounds of rapid fire at the outer wall of Guanyin Temple Castle 200 meters away.

Oda Nobunaga held a monocular telescope and watched with great interest. The soldiers of Guanyin Temple Castle were howling and crying for their parents.

I really don't know where he got this treasure from. Xiao Pingtai has never seen it. I didn't expect that Oda Nobunaga would use it first.

"Please dismount and fire two more rounds!" Nobunaga's mother Kanemori Nagachika ran over to convey Oda Nobunaga's order.

Xiao Pingtai only felt sorry for the money. One round of artillery cost several kan, and Oda Nobunaga didn't open an account to reimburse. He also wanted the Yamanouchi army to fire two more rounds to increase the intensity of the attack.

Fire!

Clean the barrel with warm oil, and then wipe it clean with a sponge and a bristle brush. The sub-gun is also loaded and can fire lead bullets again.

Then there are two rounds of artillery fire of 40 rounds. Although the distance is far, it is fired from a platform of 30 meters. And it doesn't care about killing nearby enemy troops or breaking through the city gate. The main purpose is to hit the morale of the defenders in Guanyin Temple Castle.

So at a distance of 200 meters, the rain of bullets was really overwhelming, but the actual casualties were probably only a dozen unlucky people behind the city wall.

The soldiers of the Rokkaku Army could not be so calm. As long as the cannons were fired, hundreds or thousands of lead bullets would fly over. The whistling sound was sharp and piercing, and the sound of the cannons shook people's hearts.

In short, they were just cowards!

At this time, if they made a concerted effort, the outer pills of Guanyin Temple might have directly broken through. But Oda Nobunaga was very strange. He actually ordered the troops to withdraw, and at the same time asked the cannons of the Yamanouchi Army to fire a shot into the city every half an hour, regardless of where to fire.

Relying on cannons to disintegrate the morale of the army? Is it reliable?

Xiao Pingtai felt that although the morale of the Rokkaku Army was unstable, there were still three points of iron in the broken ship. Since they were defending the city, they would not have no morale at all.

The other armies had been ready to fight and prepare to attack Guanyin Temple today and strive to conquer the city as soon as possible. But Oda Nobunaga's order to return to the camp drove them all back.

Are you really waiting for the people of Rokkaku to collapse? Why does it feel so unreliable? Xiao Pingtai touched his head. The Portuguese gun was powerful, but not so exaggerated.

But it seemed to prove that Oda Nobunaga was far-sighted and that the Portuguese gun was invincible. That night, there was a commotion in Guanyin Temple, and the sound of horses and men neighing was endless. Soon, there was a fire in the tower, illuminating the night.

Internal strife!

I don’t know who responded to Oda Nobunaga, or if they were ready to use the heads of Rokkaku father and son to make a surrender.

After watching for half a night, the Guanyin Temple city was opened, and Yamaoka Keiki and Aochi Shigetsuna opened the city. Obviously, there was no victory or defeat in the city.

Rokkaku Yoshitaka and Rokkaku Yoshiharu saw the commotion in the middle of the night, and they made a plan. Under multiple stimulations day and night. Finally, they led their confidants, opened the back city, and walked out of the city.

The relatives of the Rokkaku clan who were left in the city were also arrested and brought before Oda Nobunaga and Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Without torture, they sold out Rokkaku and his son.

Rokkaku and his son fled to Koga County, preparing to rely on the endless mountains and the fierce and brave mountain people to resist the Shangluo Army. And wait for the Shangluo Army to fail, and then plan to rise again.

Guanyin Temple was completely captured.

Upon hearing the news, all the counties and cities in Jiangnan surrendered in droves, and only the Gamo clan of Hino Castle was still hesitating.

Oda Nobunaga waved his hand, and Aochi Shigetsuna (son) and Kobe Gumori (son-in-law) entered the city to persuade Gamo Sadahide to surrender, and his son Gamo Kenhide agreed first. Then he took the initiative to hand over his legitimate son Gamo Tsuruchiyo as a hostage to express his surrender.

This Tsuruchiyo is Nobunaga's good son-in-law, Gamo Fuhide, who is said to have the ambition to unify the world after Toyotomi Hideyoshi's death, also known as Gamo Ujisato.

Just like in history, when Nobunaga saw Gamo Tsuruchiyo, he liked her very much and agreed to marry her on the spot, saying that he wanted to recognize Tsuruchiyo as his son-in-law.

Kobayata stood on the dry bank nearby and watched coldly. He could clearly see that this short and skinny little radish-headed man in front of him had no extraordinary magnanimity.

Why did Oda Nobunaga sacrifice a daughter? It was for the prestige of the Gamo family in Jiangnan, to use the Gamo family to stabilize the hearts of the people in Jiangnan and unify the powerful families in Jiangnan.

Moreover, the Gamo family was the former head of the Rokkaku clan, the guardian of Minami-Omi, and had mediated the riots in Guanyin Temple. In Jiangnan, it was the second-in-command after the fall of Rokkaku.

To appease such a force, a daughter is nothing, especially for Oda Nobunaga, who gave birth to children like giving birth to a child.

There was no affection or warmth. It was just an exchange of interests.

Gamo Sadahide immediately retired, Gamo Kenhide became the head of the Hino Gamo clan, and Tsuru Chiyo, the son-in-law, followed Oda Nobunaga and was raised by Nobunaga himself.

Is this love or hostage? Is there any need to talk nonsense?

It took less than half a month to pacify Jiangnan, and almost all the open resistance forces were eliminated.

All the obstacles to the Shangluo Army's march to Luoyang disappeared, the Miyoshi trio evacuated Kyoto, and Matsunaga Hide and Matsunaga Michimichi led their troops to welcome Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Luoyang opened its doors!