Tokawa Yisun struck with his halberd. He clearly used great strength, but it only felt like it was hitting cotton. It turned out that Imagawa Yoshimoto's hands did not directly block, but moved the knife sideways and forward. He was stunned. Most of the force of this blow was removed in the lightning and flint. Toga Ichimoto was on his horse and could not continue to exert force, so Imagawa Yoshimoto directly pushed the halberd away.
In the blink of an eye, Kira Weicheng had also rushed over, swung his giant sword, and struck Shihe Icun head-on. The best thing about Kira Weicheng was his strength. If it was just a competition of strength, he could actually make Shihe. He Yicun had to use all his strength to block. But Imagawa Yoshimoto seized the opportunity, slapped his horse forward, and threw several positions away from Tokawa Icun.
"Chase!" Miyoshi Nagakei would never let Imagawa Yoshimoto leave. He immediately rode his horse past the entangled Toga Ichimori and Kira Kaisei, and drove directly to Imagawa Yoshimoto. Imagawa Yoshimoto waved his hand, and behind him Kentaro Tasaki Knowingly, he slapped the horse and rushed out, stabbing Miyoshi Nagakei with a knife in one hand, trying to get a space for Imagawa Yoshimoto. Then Imagawa Yoshimoto clamped the horse's belly, sat down and galloped like a horse. Miyoshi Nagakei's horsemen Although they are both proud men in the military, their equestrian skills are still much inferior to those of Imagawa Yoshimoto. On this complicated mountain road, Imagawa Yoshimoto was quickly separated by more than ten feet.
"I didn't expect it to be so easy..." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the mountains getting closer and closer, turned his head and glanced at the pursuers who were left behind, and continued to silently speed up the horse. However, just as he The moment the prancing horse was about to reach the top of the mountain, his innate keen sense of smell made him aware of the danger - he suddenly reined in the horse and stopped at the top of the mountain. The next moment, dozens of feathers appeared in the valley below. The arrows came like locusts. Imagawa Yoshimoto hurriedly pressed his horse's head to bend down to avoid being shot into a hornet's nest. When he turned around, he saw Miyoshi Nagakei's horse seal waving - obviously he was attacking the archers in the valley. The order to fire a volley was given.
"Such a good place, naturally the archers have been ambushed for a long time." Miyoshi Nagakei, who arrived afterward, laughed and pointed at Imagawa Yoshimoto and said: "Why do you think you were able to break through so easily? It was intentional. I brought you here!"
A little cold sweat broke out on Imagawa Yoshimoto's forehead - there were so many archers in the valley at the foot of the mountain, and he had no chance to get to the side to watch the battle - he would be set on fire as soon as he showed his head. But at this time, behind him, The pursuers and his own horsemen also followed, but the Imagawa army was still at a disadvantage in terms of total numbers, and it was not an option to continue to entangle like this.
"Keep the distance!" Imagawa Yoshimoto pulled his horse away, and at the same time led his horse back to the crowd and started running towards another mountain road going down the mountain.
"Follow them! Don't let them move to other hills!" Sanhao Changqing also immediately led the crowd in hot pursuit.
"Load the gunpowder!" Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly issued an order to the horsemen, each armed with an iron cannon.
"Your Highness, it's too difficult!" Himura Hiroyuki shouted to Imagawa Yoshimoto: "This kind of mountain road is difficult to walk. The distance between the two sides is so close. There is no chance to make such a complicated loading action!"
"No need to load the ammunition, no need to compact it, just stuff it with gunpowder!" Yoshimoto Imagawa ordered loudly without any explanation. Upon seeing this, the horsemen followed the order one after another.
"Are you crazy? You still want to use iron cannons now?" Miyoshi Nagakei disapproved after seeing the movements of the Imagawa family's horses returning to the crowd. Although for safety reasons, he slowed down his horse slightly and asked his subordinates to push forward. But after all, he is also the controller of Sakai Town, so he is naturally familiar with this novel weapon. "In such a bumpy place, if you chase me, how will you get the chance to use the iron cannon? Chase me!"
Under the leadership of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the movement trajectory of the Imagawa family's horsemen became erratic. Instead of running to another hilltop, they circled around the mountain road and headed towards the mountain where Imagawa Yoshimoto was almost shot by random arrows just now. Run to the place of ambush.
"What does this mean?" Miyoshi Nagakei, who was chasing closely behind him, became more and more curious. He had been staring at the movements of the Imagawa family horsemen with all his attention. They had clearly only completed the first step of loading the iron cannon—— Loading gunpowder, without inserting projectiles or compacting them, would make it impossible to launch them. Then if they ran to the foothills like this, wouldn't they become the target of the archers without any chance of fighting back?
Although Miyoshi Nagakei was puzzled, the best solution at the moment was to continue chasing Imagawa Yoshimoto. Just as he was about to force the Imagawa family's horsemen to the foot of the mountain, an unexpected situation suddenly happened again.
As soon as Imagawa Yoshimoto gave an order, the Imagawa family's horsemen all set fire and pulled the triggers, firing in the direction of the valley below - after a roar, smoke rose, but there was no scream or wailing at all - —Because those iron cannons were clearly not loaded with bullets.
"What do you mean?" Sanhao Changqing frowned unconsciously, "Except for making some cigarettes, it's not used for anything..."
etc!
Miyoshi Nagakei finally realized what Imagawa Yoshimoto's purpose was.
Gunsmoke!
Although the volley of iron cannons did not cause any casualties, the smoke that spewed out directly obscured the sight of the archers of the Sanhao Army below the valley - they could not see the enemy's position clearly now!
Imagawa Yoshimoto also took the opportunity to get to the high point at the foot of the mountain and began to observe the battle situation from a high position. At the same time, the Imagawa family's horsemen turned over to meet the enemy, trying to hold back the pursuing Miyoshi Army and give Imagawa Yoshimoto Yuan buys time.
Miyoshi Changqing frantically shook his horse seal, trying to direct his archers to shoot blindly at the gunpowder smoke - but he realized after a moment that the archers whose vision was obscured by the gunpowder smoke naturally couldn't see his horse seal. The order was issued. In other words, he had completely lost control of that army.
Gaining a high point of view, the situation was instantly clear. But Imagawa Yoshimoto also knew that the time left for him was only a few dozen breaths before the smoke dissipated. He had to see clearly the movements of the entire Northern Army and judge the movement of the entire Northern Army. What orders did Miyoshi Nagakei give when he commanded just now, and then passed the information to Takeda Harunobu.
In the Sanjusangendo Hall on the east bank of the Kamogawa River, the Maori Army of the Northern Army is stationed. To the north, the Hatano Army and Yusa Army, which were originally stationed at Kenninji Temple, have gone south and have passed Rokuparami Temple. They seem to be rushing there. Takio Shrine supported the Otomo Army who was attacking south. Both the Hatano family and the Yusa family were closely related to the Miyoshi family. Their actions were obviously instructed by Miyoshi Nagakei. The Otomo Army almost controlled Takio Shrine and tried to Moving further south. To the northeast of them, the Hojo Army, which was still besieging the New Riyoshi Shrine, saw that it was about to get dumped and hurriedly withdrew to Chisakein.
On the west bank of the Kamogawa River, the Urakami family and the Akamatsu family in Hedoji Temple northeast of Shin-Zenkoji Temple raised flags and seemed to be preparing for battle. The Ouchi army withdrew to Oizumi Temple to the west of Hedoji Temple and built a new line of defense.
.To their south, a large number of Southern Army banners besieged the Nizi Army in Yuanjiao Temple, but no one had the intention to launch an offensive first.
In the northernmost part - Zenchoji Temple north of Heiyoji Temple, the Yamana Army and the Kono Army, which were the last reserve forces of the Northern Army, also took action. They did not set up defenses on the west bank of the Kamogawa River, but were crossing the Shijo Bridge to Kennin.
Temple, apparently wanting to cooperate with the large-scale offensive launched by the Northern Army on the east bank of the Kamogawa River.
Compared with the plan before the war, this has undergone earth-shaking changes. Who would have thought that the east bank of the Kamogawa River, which was originally a feint attack, would become the main battlefield; the west bank of the Kamogawa River, which would have ended in a sit-in and see-saw, turned into a mess.
; And the Oda army, which was originally thrown out as abandoned soldiers, now rushed to the west bank of the Kamogawa River - the reason why the entire battle situation became so chaotic is probably due to Oda Nobunaga's mischief, right?
"Koichiro, pass the order to this formation." Imagawa Yoshimoto completed his overview and thoughts on the battle situation in an instant, and then said to Hayasaka Nao who was holding the red bird horse seal behind him: "Let His Highness Takeda send the troops sent to the west bank.
After being transferred back to defend Tofukuji Temple, the main force of the Northern Army is gathering towards the east bank and rushing towards his command position! First comes the Otomo Army, followed by the Maori Army, and then followed by the Hatano Army, Yusa Army, Yamana Army and Kono Army."
"But Your Highness, we and the Takeda family use two sets of semaphores. Even if we are familiar with each other, we may not be able to convey so much information." Hayasaka Nao looked embarrassed.
Imagawa Yoshimoto glanced at the smoke that was gradually dissipating, and realized that he could no longer care about so much, so he said in a deep voice: "Send an envoy to take a detour to inform the details. If Ma Yin says it, tell His Highness Takeda to send people back to support our formation.
, the main force of the Northern Army is on the east coast!"
The red bird horse seal swings anxiously, warning Takeda Harunobu who is several miles away. I don’t know if he can find it in time. But Imagawa Yoshimoto has no chance to stay any longer. As the smoke gradually fades, the Miyoshi family
The archers finally saw the enemy close at hand and Miyoshi Nagakei's order, and the arrows rained again. Imagawa Yoshimoto had no choice but to retreat with his men on horseback, retreating from the western foot of Otowa Mountain, and Kazuo and the Miyoshi family banner
Arms and spears are fighting fiercely, and shields are ready to meet.
Fortunately, Takeda Harunobu from Mount Keihi happened to be commanding the troops to fight when he noticed the red bird horse seal that appeared and then disappeared on Otowa Mountain.
"What do you mean... return to support our formation? The main force is in the east?" As a master of military strategy, Takeda Harunobu is familiar with the semaphore of his ally Imagawa family, far beyond Hayasaka Nao's imagination - but even so, in a hurry,
Can't read any more information.
He looked down at the Otomo Army that was still attacking fiercely, the Tsutsui Army that had retreated, and the Kitahata Army that had just met. He then looked at the only reserve force at hand - his own 8,000 Takeda Army, and gradually realized
The embarrassment of the situation.
There are probably a large number of Northern troops who have not yet appeared on the battlefield. If any of them reach the east coast and break through to the south in one go - the Southern Army's frontline command position will be reduced to nothing. By then, the Southern troops fighting in various places in Kyoto will be wiped out.
The generals were leaderless and completely defeated.
"Send an order to bring back the Asai Army and the Wakasa Takeda Army." Takeda Harunobu hurriedly sent a messenger to the west bank of the Kamogawa River, and at the same time arranged for someone to go to the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine in the south. "Notify His Highness again! Although
I don’t want to cause trouble, but the time may have come when the Hosokawa Army must take action! Otherwise, there is a risk that the Southern Army will collapse!”