At 7:00 on July 26, there was a high ground just north of Okezama, where the vanguard of the Oda family was hidden.
A strong wind blew by, and his black cloak rustled in the wind. Oda Nobunaga was dressed in black clothes and black armor. Under two capable and domineering sword eyebrows, his falcon-like eyes were staring at the Matsudaira Army not far to the south.
"Lord, please take your horse back to the crowd and retreat." Shibata Katsuie, who was standing at the side with a strong back, advised, "Just come down and carry out the assault work."
"Haha, in fact, Quan Liu is worried that if the war doesn't go well, I will be too far forward and unable to evacuate." Oda Nobunaga snorted coldly, "Is our most powerful general of the Oda family also so cowardly? ?”
"I don't dare, it's just..." Shibata Katsuie replied angrily, "My lord, you are..."
"No need to say more, I won't listen." Oda Nobunaga shook his head, "This is a surprise attack that will block the fate of the Oda family. No matter what, I will personally stand on the front line."
"Get ready to start," he said sharply.
"Lord, why don't you wait for the reserve team behind to be assembled before launching?" Tsuneaki Ikeda, who was following beside him, advised.
"No need." Oda Nobunaga slowly drew the knife in his hand, high up to the sky, and the early morning sunlight reflected the sharp light on the blade. "This battle does not require gathering, all it requires is courage." Then, his arms tightened suddenly, and the katana slashed forward quickly.
"charge!"
At eight o'clock in the morning, in the tub, the Matsudaira family camp.
The sudden sound of the horn from the north caused chaos in the military camp where breakfast was being held. Soon, messengers rushed back from the observation tower.
"Your Highness," the messenger reported to Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had already arrived in person, "you are the troops of Katsuie Shibata of the Oda family."
"Why did the Oda family appear here! I want to see for myself," Matsudaira Motoyasu pushed away the messenger and quickly climbed onto the observation deck. Behind him, Sakai Chuji, Ishikawa Sumasa and other family elders also followed.
After boarding the observation deck, I saw an Ashigaru regiment of about 300 people rushing out of the mountain forest to the north. There were also a dozen horse-riding samurai leading the charge. In Japan, most daimyo families do not have large-scale adult families. An organized cavalry unit. Generally, only samurai have the strength to equip military horses, and they usually lead their own ashigaru charges. There are only the daimyo's own female warriors, and there will be a large number of knights who do not need to lead infantry.
"Your Highness, there is no need to worry. They came to Okezama through a small road from Koto." Sakai Tadashi saw Matsudaira Motoyasu trembling nervously, so he comforted him, "I have walked this small road with my late lord, and it is narrow. It is not conducive to traffic. It is already overwhelming to supply about 500 soldiers for the expedition. It is probably just a harassment."
"We also have 500 soldiers," Matsudaira Motoyasu swallowed and thought silently, "Narumi City's food and grass for the next month are here, we can't give up. If such a crime is committed, the family governor will definitely take the opportunity... "Matsudaira Motoyasu sighed, "Send orders to all ministries to stay on the spot."
"Yes!" After receiving the order, the elders behind them returned to their respective troops, commanded the soldiers to pick off the bamboo armor from the auxiliary soldiers, completed the preparations before the war, and began to rely on the defense of the camp.
"The camp that was hastily built last night may not be strong enough." Matsudaira Motoyasu regretted why he allowed his auxiliary troops to work carelessly last night. "Immediately sent messengers to the friendly forces in the five surrounding cities to apply for reinforcements."
The Matsudaira Army's miscalculation of the situation led them to make wrong judgments in the initial period. They believed that the Oda family only had about 500 soldiers, so they did not choose to retreat, but defended on the spot.
However, when Oda Nobunaga's own banner and horseback troops appeared in the mountains and forests to the north, everyone in the Matsudaira army was shocked.
"Brother Master Ji himself!" Matsudaira Motoyasu couldn't sit still at this moment, "How is that possible! Is the family governor himself coming to make a surprise attack? Is there more..."
"It shouldn't happen." Sakai Chuji is no longer as confident as before. "This road... really can't pass so many people. If there are so many soldiers, how can the baggage team supply them? They all bring their own dry food and wear armor. Did you come on the run?"
There was only time to set up simple defenses such as fences and antlers around the camp, and there was definitely no time to dig trenches. Shibata Katsuie, who was always known for his bravery in combat, was not polite and ordered the samurai to dismount and fight on foot, attacking the junction of the Matsudaira family's defense line. The well-equipped Hatamoto samurai charged into the battle under his own leadership, not avoiding stray arrows. The katana in his hand quickly chopped the wooden antlers, but several samurai were pierced by the ashigaru holding iron-tipped bamboo spears. Armor. The hastily deployed Matsudaira family failed to handle the defense of the junction between the two armies, and Shibata Katsuie took the opportunity to break through. After the precious samurai suffered heavy casualties, they finally opened a tunnel outside the north gate of the Matsudaira family. The hole was opened, and a large number of Ashikaru behind him immediately poured in. Matsudaira Motoyasu had to send his own flag team to plug the leak. With the hard work of Torii Motoda and others, the situation was finally stabilized.
Nobunaga's banner team and the horseback troops also quickly entered the battle. The Matsudaira family was at a disadvantage in terms of numbers, and the defensive advantage was not reflected due to the simplicity of the camp and the hasty battle, so they were forced to send out all reserve teams to maintain the battle line. of completeness.
But unfortunately, at the exit of the mountain forest, the flags of the Takigawa family, the Mori family, the Sasa family and the Sakuma family appeared one after another. The total number of troops sent by the Oda family to the battlefield has reached as high as 2,000. Oda Nobunaga was decisive The newly-joined troops were ordered not to change into battle formations, but to stay in column, move into the two wings of the Matsudaira family's defense line, and then spread out laterally to outflank the weak defense line. At two o'clock in the morning, the Matsudaira family's defense line was already stretched. After announcing the fall, Matsudaira Motoyasu, who had no time to shrink his troops, helplessly watched his troops lose their organization after being penetrated and collapse across the board. Nobunaga's cavalry team even tried to capture Matsudaira Motoyasu himself. Under the desperate protection of the flag's cavalry, Matsudaira Motoyasu escaped. The Oda family cavalry did not choose to pursue the Matsudaira family's infantry immediately, and gave the infantry time to throw away their armor and weapons and flee into the mountains. However, only a few troops followed Matsudaira Motoyasu himself to evacuate. Dozens of people. If the Matsudaira Army wants to regain its combat effectiveness, it is estimated that it will have to wait until these separated troops return one after another to return to the organization. This may take nearly a month. And all the luggage that the Matsudaira family has worked hard to transport is It fell into the hands of the Oda family.
After the Oda family cleaned up the battlefield, they immediately began to consolidate the defense of the camp. Sure enough, at 8:00, the support troops from Takake Castle arrived belatedly. Asahina Nobuyuki only received the first report from Matsudaira Motoyasu, saying that the Oda family might have Nearly 500 people attacked Okehazama's transport team. So he hurried over with 300 soldiers and 600 auxiliary soldiers. He was shocked to see that the camp had changed hands and the Oda family was strengthening the camp.
"Mikawa, you usually preach about how persevering you are as a samurai, but you can't even hold on for an hour." Asahina Nobuyuki immediately commanded the troops to attack, hoping to catch the Oda family by surprise. However, the Oda family's huge force quickly
Beyond his imagination.
"There are at least 1,500 soldiers!" Asahina Nobuyuki looked at the huge formation of the Oda family who came out of the stronghold to attack, and took a breath, "With this number of soldiers, there must be nearly 3,000 auxiliary soldiers. So here we are.
Could it be that there are more than 4,000 people? They flew here from Owari!"
Seeing that the situation was not good, he quickly retreated, but it was too late. The difference in numbers caused the troops to be stuck after a slight contact, unable to adjust the formation and retreat, and was finally completely defeated. Asahina Nobuyuki himself had to lead
With Hatamoto abandoning his army and absconding, the Oda family simply did not pursue it and did not cause any greater casualties. After receiving the news of Asahina Nobuki's fiasco, Uden Nagateru immediately reduced all troops and scouts, and tried his best to defend Takake Castle while moving to the rear.
Delivering urgent military information. This was also the first courier to rush back to Okazaki Castle to call the police.
Okabe Motonobu, who left Narumi Castle, got rid of the entanglement of Niwa Nagahide who stayed behind, and when he rushed to Okezama, he happened to see the entire army of the Oda family attack and defeat the troops of Takake Castle. After weighing the battlefield situation, he immediately
The division retreated towards Narumi Castle. The Oda family was unable to pursue them, and Okabe Motonobu was able to escape unscathed. However, this emergency mobilization also used up the excess food and grass in Narumi Castle. Okabe Motonobu, who had only three days of food left, was unable to carry out the mission.
Any maneuver was possible. The Oda family simply did not know this.
However, Okabe Gennobu, who retreated back to the city, found that his prediction at the time was unlikely to come true. The Oda family, armed with a day of food and grass, made a surprise attack on the family's food team. The Oda family troops had no worries after receiving the food and grass.
"There must be a spy inside! He's still at a high level!" Okabe Gennobu cursed fiercely, "otherwise, how could our grain and forage team fall into the enemy's hands in advance according to the specific travel time?"
Motonobu Okabe retreated in time, which was considered a good thing. Then the reinforcements from Odaka Castle ran into the main force of the Oda family and collapsed at the first touch. Under the pursuit of the mother-in-laws, almost the entire army was destroyed, and the castle lord himself also died on the battlefield. Odaka Castle
The remaining troops hurriedly asked for help from Narumi Castle. Okabe Gennobu sent several family elders to leave with one-third of the soldiers. In fact, it was also to share the pressure of food and grass.
Matsudaira Motoyasu retreated all the way to the south, and happened to encounter the Anxiang Castle defenders led by Asahina Nobuyasu and the Kariya Castle defenders of Mizuno Nobugen who came to support them. After being informed that the enemy was unprecedentedly powerful, the three men immediately retreated to Kariya Castle and Anxiang Castle.
Xiangcheng consolidated its defense. These 500 soldiers were the only mobile force that Sanhe could mobilize now.
Time goes back to the evening of July 28, Okazaki Castle.
Sena Ujitoshi summoned nearly a hundred more samurai and ashigaru along the way, plus the remaining troops from Okazaki Castle, and the number of troops that could be mobilized reached 200 combat soldiers and 600 auxiliary troops. Sekiguchi Ujihiro went to Minami Mikawa to continue the emergency
Recruiting troops. In the evening, Sena Ujitoshi, who arrived at Okazaki Castle, listened to the military report and held a pre-war evaluation meeting for the leaders of more than 200 people. Uakihira also participated.
"This is the situation," Sena Ujitoshi finished the introduction and made a summary, "The Imagawa Army, which originally had the upper hand on the border, was unable to communicate with each other due to the loss of Okehazama, and was unable to gather troops, and was defeated by the Oda family one by one.