Chapter 1225: The great defeat, the glory of the Tokugawa family
"Bang bang..."
There were only about thirty people in the first row of iron artillery. After the first shot was fired, everyone stood still. Even the veteran driver did not order the second row to fire.
Everyone on the Takeda side is observing the outcome of the battle!
"ah……"
"ah……"
"Nani..."
A hundred meters away, obscured by thick smoke, there was a miserable howl.
At a distance of 100 meters, the modified artillery indeed caused unparalleled damage to the attacking Honda Tadakatsu Ashigaru team.
With just one salvo, at least more than twenty soldiers were knocked down, more than a dozen of them died, and the rest were all seriously injured.
For the two thousand Ashigaru men who attacked, the casualties of more than twenty people were nothing, they were very common!
"attack!"
Honda Tadakatsu saw that it took only a row of artillery fire to knock down more than twenty people. He couldn't help but secretly rejoiced, and then he yelled and encouraged his ashigaru to speed up and attack the mountain in a big way.
"It takes ten breaths to load the gunpowder, rush forward..."
Honda Tadakatsu brandished his spear and took the lead in rushing towards the Dragon Abyss.
……………………
"Still standing there in a daze? The first row retreats, the second row steps forward, listen to my orders..."
On the mountainside, the old driver also came to his senses at this time, looked at the densely packed Tokugawa family's ashigaru climbers a hundred meters away, and roared angrily.
"Second row ready."
"aim!"
"Fire!"
The old driver raised his right hand and waved it down fiercely.
"The second row retreats and the third row prepares."
"aim!"
"Fire!"
The old driver gave a series of firing orders, and pieces of white smoke rose up within the firing range of the artillery team.
The outcome of the battle was hidden under the thick smoke, and no one on either side knew the outcome.
I could only hear the miserable screams of Tokugawa soldiers dying before they were hit on the mountain road during the attack.
"Attack, attack! Show your bushido spirit and charge forward!"
Honda Tadakatsu hid behind a tree and roared crazily.
Seeing his retainers and ashigaru falling down in rows, Tadakatsu was a little anxious and confused.
"ah!"
"Amaterasu..."
"Mom, help me!"
The attack route from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside was filled with corpses, which were so densely packed that it was unbearable to look at. Mixed with them were cries for help from those who had suffered serious injuries but were still alive.
When a person is about to lose his life, the first thing he thinks of is his mother, so many soldiers call their mothers to save their lives, which greatly affects morale.
"Lord! Something is wrong. Let's attack slowly first..."
A banner general admonished Honda Tadakatsu.
"Nani? My lord is watching the battle at the bottom of the mountain. We can't slow down our attack. It's just a small Dragon's Abyss. Can't I, Tadakatsu, take it down?"
Honda Tadakatsu stared at General Hatamoto angrily, turned around and looked around, and asked additionally:
"How many casualties are there in our team?"
"Casualties, casualties..."
General Hatamoto hesitated and mumbled twice.
"Say quickly?"
Honda Tadakatsu yelled.
"Roughly speaking, more than half of those who were killed or seriously injured in battle have been killed."
Hatamoto was so excited that he told the truth directly.
"Nani?"
Honda Tadakatsu was stunned, how long did the attack last? There was not even a stick of incense, but more than half of the casualties were killed?
The 2,000-person Ashigaru headquarters has about half an incense stick, and more than half of them have been killed or injured?
"Master, should you continue the attack or...or retreat for now?"
General Ashigaru asked softly.
"My lord is watching from the bottom of the mountain. I, Zhongsheng, have a reputation for bravery and majesty, and I will not allow my troops to retreat, otherwise it will affect my lord's reputation..."
Honda Tadakatsu squinted his eyes, his eyes filled with madness.
"At the foot of the mountain, there are also five hundred iron artillery teams and archers of our family..."
General Hatamoto suggested.
"Go! Mobilize our archers and our iron artillery team to attack the mountain together."
Honda Tadakatsu plans to bet all his strength.
……………………
At the foot of the mountain, Tokugawa Ieyasu, who led tens of thousands of troops to continue besieging Liangyuan, sat on a horse stool with a dull expression.
At this time, the Tokugawa main camp had not yet received the victory report from Honda Tadakatsu who had attacked Ryugabuchi, and could only hear the sound of dense artillery in the distance.
"I didn't expect! In Little Dragon's Abyss, the Takeda family actually gathered so many iron cannons?"
Tadashi Okubo, an important minister of the Tokugawa family, stared blankly at the mountainside with white mist rising, and turned to the family governor Tokugawa Ieyasu.
"Oh? How many?"
Tokugawa Ieyasu's figure moved.
"Judging from the density of fire, there are at least 500 iron artillery soldiers."
Okubo Tadayo counted his fingers and calculated.
Iron artillery was still a rare thing during the Warring States Period. Even Oda Nobunaga and his entire iron artillery force totaled only a few thousand.
The Takeda family, who lives in Kai, is short of resources. How can they bring out 500 iron artillery troops at once?
What's really annoying is that Takeda's counterattack on Tokugawa territory this time, the entire army only had less than 2,000 troops, so where did the 500 iron cannons come from?
However, the sound of explosions from iron cannons kept coming and going, which could not deceive anyone...
"Report!"
An orderly soldier covered in blood rushed into the formation and knelt five meters away from Ieyasu.
"Um!"
Ieyasu nodded solemnly and glanced at the dozen or so solemn-looking retainers and generals sitting around the main formation.
"Lord Zhongsheng, the attack on Longzhiyuan has been blocked. At this moment, we have mobilized 500 archers and iron artillery teams to coordinate the attack on the mountain."
The messenger honestly conveyed the connotation of the battle report. In short, it meant the same thing: the first attack failed.
"Sigh! I understand, go and rest!"
Panic flashed in Tokugawa Ieyasu's eyes, but a thick smile appeared on his face, calming his military morale.
"ha!"
The orderly soldier wiped the blood on his face and backed up to leave.
"Wait!"
Tokugawa retainer Tadashi Sakai suddenly stood up and called to the ordering soldier.
All the Tokugawa retainers looked at him at the same time, with doubts on their faces.
Tokugawa Ieyasu also looked at Sakai Tadashi, but there was a hint of resentment in his eyes...
"Lord Tadakatsu Honda led his 2,000 Ashigaru men to attack the mountain, plus the follow-up 500 iron artillery archers, for a total of 2,500 bannermen. How many casualties are there now?"
Sakai Chuji pretended not to see Tokugawa Ieyasu's resentful eyes, and looked directly at the messenger and shouted loudly.
"Casualties...casualties..."
The messenger hesitated for a while. He didn't know whether he should say it or not. This would greatly affect morale.
"explain?"
Sakai Chuji strode out and stood in front of the messenger.
"More than half of the casualties!"
The ordering soldier knelt down and reported truthfully and cautiously.
"Teng..."
"Nani?"
Ieyasu stopped continuing and stood up with a startled scream.
If an army suffers more than half of its casualties, isn't it already facing a major collapse?
In fact, during the Warring States Period in Japan, many daimyo were fighting a smooth battle. If casualties exceeded 30%, they would collapse. There was no need to wait for more than half of the casualties...
Peasants and soldiers! You still expect them not to retreat even one step, that's a big joke!
However, the two thousand ashigaru banners and iron artillery archers of the clan led by Honda Tadakatsu were retainers trained by the clan. They could be said to be professional soldiers with astonishing combat power.
Therefore, Honda Tadashi's headquarters can maintain more than half of the battle losses and still have strong offensive capabilities.
