At three o'clock in the morning, in the jungle on Jinli Mountain.
Hojo Matimasa, who was ambushing here, could vaguely see through the thick fog the Imagawa family's army, which was almost undefended, marching on the narrow official road. After all, he was young and energetic, and he had almost restrained himself several times.
I can't help but be ready to attack.
"We can't fight yet..." Hojo Weimasa kept complaining, his eyes fixed on the place where Hojo Uzuna's horse seal was. In this battle, Hojo Uzuna and his troops stayed beside the Fuji River to besiege Taiyuan Xuezhai.
, and handed over the main force to the command of Hojo Ujiyasu.
In the eyes of others, this may be Hojo Ujitsuna training himself to be the successor. But only the people of the Hojo family know that it is just because Hojo Uzuna is stronger. Even though he is only 22 years old, his military strategy has already surpassed
He has surpassed his father and all the senior generals in the Hojo family, and no one in Kanto can match him. When he went into battle for the first time 6 years ago, at the age of 16, he beat the shit out of the Ogitani Uesugi family.
Because of this, everyone in the Hojo family believed in Hojo Ujiyasu's command and judgment, and the younger brother, Hojo Oimasa, naturally did the same. Hojo Ujiyasu didn't give an order, and even if he died, he would not move a finger.
He turned his head and looked to the west. At the foot of Hamaishi Mountain where Hojo Tsunadaka was ambushing, there were still a large number of Imagawa troops that had not passed. He turned his head and looked to the east again. It seemed that Imagawa Yoshimoto's forward progress was not very fast either - but Kirita
It was so thick that he couldn't see clearly. According to the original plan, the ambush would only be launched when the two conditions of "all the Imagawa troops crossed Hamaishi Mountain" and "the vanguard of the Imagawa troops arrived at the foot of Mount Nakao" were met. Hojo Noshimasa more than once
He lamented that his brother's appetite was really big - he actually dared to make a plan to annihilate the main force of the Imagawa family in one go.
"It's so slow, Mr. Suruga, you're really slow..." Hojo Weimasa cursed and muttered, and looked at the young man behind him, "Are you Suruga people always so slow?"
"Anyone who doesn't bother will die in Huacang." The young man replied in a low voice through gritted teeth.
Hojo Maimasa was about to respond, but was suddenly attracted by a slowly rising smoke. He looked closely and found that this was the smoke signal that was lit where Imagawa Yoshimoto's horse seal was.
"What does this mean?" Hojo Weimasa greeted the young man behind him, "Tsunari, do you understand?"
"It means 'wait a moment'. Imagawa Yoshimoto doesn't know whether to slow down the march or take a rest on the spot. He wants to tell Kabara Castle to let them hold on for a while." A young man named Hojo Tsunari said coldly.
His real name is Fukushima. He is the eldest son of the Fukushima family in Suruga Hanakura. He was also the only male member of the Fukushima family to escape from the catastrophe, except for the Fukushima Katsunari family who surrendered. He escaped under the desperate cover of his retainers.
Fujikawa was taken in by the Hojo family. He received the name given by Hojo Uzuna and changed his name to Hojo Tsunari. He became the adopted son of Hojo Noimasa, who was about the same age as himself. He was eager for revenge and did not care about his age and seniority. As long as he could be with Imagawa
When the army is at war, he is willing to do anything.
"Haha, it's such a long time." Hojo Weichang impatiently leaned on the tree trunk behind him, crossed his legs and started to rest, "Then just wait, we are going to die today anyway, it doesn't matter whether it's sooner or later."
"Will this beacon work?"
Hayasaka Nao looked at the smoke that she had just summoned the auxiliaries to light in the thick fog, and looked at Imagawa Yoshimoto with some uneasiness.
"Every person who can deceive an ambush is counted as one. They are probably ambushing each other in the mountains and forests. Communication is not easy and there is no way to share information in time. But the smoke I set off can be seen by every ambush of the Hojo family." Imagawa Yoshimoto
He pulled out his folding fan and fanned the thick smoke that was close to him. Then he got on his horse and said, "Let's go. After bypassing the woods in front, the ambushes behind us will lose sight of our movements in the thick fog. Imagawa
Iahata obeys the order and follows me at full speed, crosses the Yui River, and seizes the highest point on the Yui Plain - Honmitsu Mountain!"
At 6:00 a.m., the Imagawa banner's main force crossed the Yui River and advanced toward Honmitsu Mountain in the northeast.
Mount Honko is located at the easternmost end of the Yui Plain surrounded by mountains. One mile to the east is Mount Nakao, which is most suitable for ambush. And less than 1 mile to the north of Mount Honko is Mount Hayashika, and the Yui River is
From here, it flows southwest into the Yui Plain. Three miles west of Mount Rinka, the Banko River flows from north to south into Suruga Bay. The place where the Banko River merges into the Yui River has nourished a large area of dense forest due to its rich water source.
, covering the intersection of two rivers, is called Ishikiri Forest - Ishikiri Forest is located approximately 4 miles west of Honkoyama Mountain and 6 miles southwest of Linxiang Mountain.
"There should be countless eyes watching us in the mountains to the north, right?" Imagawa Yoshimoto stationed his horse on the bank of the Yuiga River, as if he could feel the sight of countless Hojo troops through the thick fog. "The troops will first walk eastward along the official road.
Pretend to head towards Nakao Mountain to confuse the enemy. Once you reach the south of Honkoyama, turn vertically north and seize Honkoyama."
"Instruct the rear army to prepare to speed up! As soon as our vanguard reaches Honmitsu Mountain, the Hojo family will probably realize that their ambush has been discovered, and the battle will begin. If they have not moved away from Mount Jinkasa and entered the Yubi Plain by then.
, will be defeated immediately. All samurai and Ashigaru, after crossing the Yuigagawa River, took back their equipment from the auxiliary soldiers, put on their own armor, and prepared for battle. Asahina Bei and Okabe Bei followed me, Se
Nabei and Sekiguchi Bei took advantage of the heavy fog to enter the Ishikiri Forest to ambush, Miura Bei, Abe Bei and Udono Bei crossed the river as soon as possible."
"Hurry up!" Imagawa Yoshimoto waved to the soldiers who were crossing the river on several bridges and fords across the Hikawa River to speed up. At the same time, he glanced meaningfully at the river water.
"coming."
At eight o'clock in the morning, Toyama Tsunakage, who was ambushed on Nakao Mountain, whispered excitedly. As the leader of the Edo people, Tsunakage, the confidant of Hojo Ujitsuna, has always been known for being good at fighting, so he was also entrusted with it.
The important task of ambush on Nakao Mountain. At this moment, watching the vanguard of the Imagawa Army surrounded by Imagawa Yoshimoto's red bird horse seals continuously attacking eastward, he was extremely excited. He seemed to have seen the careless Imagawa Army marching
The queue hurriedly walked along the narrow channel between the mountains and the sea, as if they saw how the unprepared Imagawa troops were defeated in one fell swoop and fled in all directions when the wolf-like Hojo Army attacked Nakao Mountain.
For this moment, the Hojo Army began its layout two days ago. The ninjas in Fuma came out and completely blocked the information east of Xingjin. Then they made an emergency landing at the Kamahara family and asked the Umahara family's guide to lead the way and guide the 8,000-strong Hojo family army in their layout. On the dangerous mountains everywhere, they were waiting for the main force of the Imagawa family to rush to the rescue and throw themselves into the trap. In order to further lure the Imagawa army into the ambush area, Hojo Ujiyasu even asked Umihara Mitsuru to contribute his own horse-backed writings. He faked his death and sent an order, falsely reporting military information that the Hojo family's army was besieging Kamahara Castle and Fuji Village.
All the plans were perfect until Imagawa Yoshimoto fell into the trap.
Toyama Tsunakage stood up slowly and raised the katana in his hand. The Hojo army and the Edo people who were ambushing on the mountain had already completed their formation. Seeing the Imagawa army getting closer and closer, they waited for Toyama Tsunakage's order. They were about to rush down the mountain.
However, the Imagawa army in front of them suddenly made a 90-degree right-angle turn. Under the leadership of the red bird horse seal, they went straight north and rushed towards Honkoyama.
"What do you mean? Lost your way?"
Toyama Tsunakage looked confused and put down his sword at a loss.
At this time, Imagawa Yoshimoto was leading the way, leading the bannermen to climb Honmitsu Mountain. Fortunately, the Hojo family did not occupy this hill on the Yui Plain, giving Imagawa Yoshimoto a commanding height from which he could survey the entire battle situation.
When they reached the top of the mountain, the fog had gradually dispersed. Imagawa Yoshimoto stopped and looked back to the Yui Plain in the west. More than 7,000 of the Imagawa family's 8,000-strong army had already crossed the Yui River. Only Miura Bei and Abe were left. Bei and Udono Bei were still waiting by the river to cross.
"It's almost time. The Hojo family will soon realize that they have been deceived and start a fight."
Imagawa Yoshimoto murmured in his mouth.
Suddenly, a few hundred meters to the north, a faint light was reflected in the woods at the top of Linxiang Mountain, which just caught Imagawa Yoshimoto's eyes. Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't need to think too much, and he understood what was hidden on Linxiang Mountain. He He took off the long bow from his waist with his left hand, took out the arrow from the quiver with his right hand, bent the bow gracefully and aimed the arrow at the top of Linxiang Mountain, which was a head shorter than his own Benguang Mountain. Then he used his waist strength to pull hard, and The almost exaggerated amplitude and posture stretched the bowstring to the point of breaking.
Squinting his eyes, he aimed casually, and the sound of "Li Xian" sounded in his ears, and a sharp arrow shot out of the air.
"You self-righteous guy, come out and see who is the prey."
Imagawa Yoshimoto chuckled and whispered.
The arrow shot into the dense forest with astonishing force, startling countless birds.
At the top of Linxiang Mountain, a bearded man was sitting under a big tree with his head tilted. On the trunk of the tree just a hair's breadth from his ear, the arrow that had just been shot was nailed. The arrow penetrated the wood three-thirds of the way, and the tail of the arrow was nailed to the tree trunk. The feathers were still trembling slightly, making a harsh buzzing sound. If he hadn't tilted his head, the arrow would have hit the center of his eyebrows instead of the trunk of the tree.
The surrounding Hojo family members, Hatamoto and Horseback, were shocked and hurriedly gathered around to see if their young master was injured. However, Hojo Ujiyasu didn't care and just laughed a few times. The scars on his face also appeared as the muscles changed. Somewhat ferocious.
"Smug fellow, do you think you are hunting?"
Hojo Ujiyasu stood up and shook his neck vigorously, making a crisp sound. He tore off the arrow nailed to the tree trunk, broke it in half in his hand, and threw it casually down the mountain. Then he raised his eyes,
He looked fiercely at the red bird horse print on the top of Benguang Mountain.