Chapter 65: Chapter :-65 End of Akechi Mitsuhide (Part-1)
Inside a well-furnished and clean room, few older-men wearing Black Haori were discussing things related to the death of Nobunaga. Akechi had ambushed her when she was attending a tea-ceremony and burned the whole temple.
"What should we do? Now that Nobunaga is dead, we have to act swiftly and choose a new leader. Otherwise, the various factions of the 20-provinces will break away from the order she created before her death, and the country will once more enter the Chaotic-period."
"The Tokugawa clan is already mighty so choosing one of their clan members as a successor will put us at a disadvantage while giving the title to someone else who we can't control is also out of the question."
"According to the rules and guidelines made by the late lord Nobunaga, Kiyohime Gerard is responsible for controlling the allied forces in the absence of Nobunaga; she controls more than half of Nobunaga's army and is also supported by {them}"
"What are her thoughts about the sudden assassination of late lord Nobunaga?"
"We don't know yet, the news was already received by her honourable lady, but she still hasn't reached the city; instead she is on her way to the meeting. According to the information we have, Kiyohime-dono is bringing a large part of her army to the city.*
" Most probably, she would avenge her friend and slaughter the Akechi clan."
"Then I will also gather my men for war against the Akechi clan; as a loyal warrior, I will avenge her late Lord Nobunaga.…."
*Bang*
The door shot open when a beautiful woman with cold-crimson eyes, long white-hair, pale white skin, a Black cased Katana hanging from her waist along with a long-barrelled single-handed Flintlock, entered the room.
Her eyes passed by every single one of them, she bowed a little to show her respect to the other members of the council, they nodded and returned the bow before once again starting to discuss Nobunaga's death.
Kiyohime made her way towards the round table and sat down before saying in a low tone.
"What is certain is that Mitsuhide is a shrewd politician, a talented governor and that Nobunaga seemed to favour him a great deal for a good while before their eventual fallout. But everything is cloaked in so much myth and ambiguity, that we don't simply know why Mitsuhide chose to do the act that is making him so infamous."
"Eventually, Mitsuhide was told to reinforce Hashiba Hideyoshi, who was trying to take down the Mouri clan."
"At first Mitsuhide began to comply, but instead struck an unsuspecting Nobunaga at Honnoji Temple, setting the building ablaze. In the end, Mitsuhide seized power from Nobunaga, who was Driven to Suicide along with her heir and many faithful retainers."
"Mitsuhide had tried to appeal to the other lords, but no clans would support him, either because they didn't trust him, or because they saw more potential in the other contenders for Nobunaga's legacy (Nobunaga's son Nobutaka, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu). Not even the Hosokawa clan, who were linked to him through marriage with his daughter, Tama, would lend assistance."
"To at least solidify his rule, Mitsuhide had resorted to a drastic and ruthless thing, hunting down any descendants of Nobunaga and killing them, and in addition almost ended the life of Tokugawa Ieyasu, one of Nobunaga's staunchest allies, when he was isolated far from his home."
"Unfortunately for Mitsuhide, Ieyasu had Hattori Hanzo in his entourage, and they slipped Mitsuhide's attention by sneaking through the Iga province with Hanzo's guidance."
"No matter the reason, since he had betrayed Nobunaga, we must take swift action and deal with him."
"Who do you suggest for being the new successor?"
"Toyotomi Hideyoshi, I, Kiyohime Gerard of the Exalted Gerard family announces you as the new leader of the allied forces, Tokugawa Ieyasu will be the army commander in the front. I have high hopes from both of you…."
"We will not betray your trust, Kiyohime-dono…"
"Very well…."
"What will we do with Akechi Mitsuhide?"
"Nothing…."
"Huh…!?"
"Henrik-sama wants to deal with him himself…."
"THE—Lord Henrik Mikaelson, a-a Mikaelson!?…"
"Yes…"
"But why!? Why would the most-exalted Mikaelson clan take action!?"
"About that, I have no idea, but Akechi Mitsuhide can't be touched…"
"This…."
"Don't worry, Henrik-sama will surely kill him, so you don't need to worry about it."
"Are you sure!?"
"Absolutely….."
"Very well Kiyohime-sama, the council will leave it to you, about handling Mitsuhide…."
"Now we must discuss attacking his forces since he is still busy gathering support while we already have made the preparations to attack him."
They left the room to prepare for the attack, Kiyohime didn't join in the attack much to everyone's surprise, but she flatly stated that this battle is for Hideyoshi and Ieyasu to establish their powers within the allied forces so she wouldn't participate; also it is her duty to guard Henrik against all kinds of dangers.
Understanding that Kiyohime-sama is bound to stand beside the Youngest Mikaelson to ensure his safety, they nodded and left with their army.
Mitsuhide's betrayal of the Oda shocked the capital, and he was forced to move quickly to secure his position. Mitsuhide looted Azuchi castle to reward his men and maintain their loyalty.
Mitsuhide attempted to make gestures of friendship to a panicked Imperial Court; he also made many attempts to win over the other clans but to no avail. Hosokawa Fujitaka, to whom he was related through marriage, quickly cut ties with him.
Tsutsui Junkei half-heartedly supported Hideyoshi.
Mitsuhide had counted on Toyotomi Hideyoshi being occupied fighting with the Mori, and unable to respond to Mitsuhide's coup d'état. However, having learned of the assassination of his lord, Hideyoshi quickly signed a peace treaty with the Mori, and alongside Tokugawa Ieyasu rushed to be the first to avenge Nobunaga and take his place.
Hideyoshi force-marched his army to Settsu in four days and caught Mitsuhide off guard. Mitsuhide had been unable to garner support for his cause, and his army had dwindled to 10,000 men.
Hideyoshi, however, had won over former Oda retainers, including Niwa Nagahide and Takayama Ukon, and had a strength of 20,000 men. The two forces met at the Battle of Yamazaki.
Mitsuhide took up a position south of Shōryūji Castle, securing his right flank by the Yodo river, and his left at the foot of the 270-metre Tennozan. Hideyoshi immediately seized the advantage by securing the heights of Tennōzan; his vanguard then manoeuvred to face the Akechi forces along the Enmyōji river.
Mitsuhide's forces made a failed attempt to force Hideyoshi from Tennōzan. Hideyoshi's general, Ikeda Nobuteru moved to reinforce Hideyoshi's right flank, which soon crossed Enmyōji-gawa and turned the Akechi flank. Simultaneously, Hideyoshi's forces marched against the Akechi front; this started a rout, only two hours after the battle had begun.
Before Mitsuhide could escape, Kiyohime captured him along with his daughter and returned to [Kyoto] after informing the allied forces about Mitsuhide's capture.
Hideyoshi initially wanted to kill the traitor as soon as possible. Still, since he was already under the custody of the Gerard family, there was nothing he could do about it.
Especially since the Mikaelson family were the one who ordered the Gerard family to capture them, everyone knew, Gerard family was loyal to the Mikaelson family and would do anything asked of them by the mysterious clan.
He tried to ask for the custody of Mitsuhide's daughter, but Kiyohime flatly refused him saying that Henrik had taken an interest into her.
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