After the smoke rose, a roar suddenly sounded. The volley of iron cannons fired at a very close distance almost instantly shot down more than 20 precious knights of the Chosong Gabu family, including men and horses.
.However, the dismounted horses and their master's corpse were unable to stop due to inertia, and crashed into the Shimazu Ashigaru who were sitting there, knocking over twenty people almost instantly.
However, the remaining Shimazu Army Ashigaru immediately got into trouble after the shooting. They casually threw the priceless Tanegashima iron cannon in their hands at the Nagasogabe family cavalry who stood up because their horses were startled and stood up, and then picked it up.
He picked up the spear that was placed on the ground and stabbed the knights of the Chosougabe family. The knights of the Chosougabe family never expected that these ashigaru would have such a trick, and they were helpless and stabbed many people to death. However,
Then the cavalrymen of the Miyoshi family who arrived on horseback raised their swords and easily hacked to death the twenty or so scattered Shimazu family ashigaru.
Despite this, they had delayed long enough - the main force of the Shimazu Army had already covered a considerable distance. When Tokawa Demho and Fukudome Kamamasa led the cavalry of the Miyoshi family and Nagasogabe family again
After catching up to the rear of the Shimadzu army, they saw dozens of Shimazu army ashigaru walking at the end. They turned around without saying a word. They sat down on the ground resolutely and aimed their iron cannon at the pursuers.
soldiers.
Relying on this life-threatening "sacrifice and annihilation" method, Shimazu Yoshihiro was able to lead half of the remaining soldiers to throw off the pursuit of the four nations' armies, and rushed into the swampy Okita border. Tokawa Preservation Watch
After taking a look at the somewhat tricky terrain, he looked back at Yu Qiuping's Maple Bird Horse Seal - the order issued was still to continue the pursuit without any change. Seeing this, Tokawa depository raised the katana in his hand.
, signaling his subordinates to follow him and continue to pursue him. The Ashigaru of the Miyoshi Army and Choso's army also followed the family's cavalry and rushed into Okita Marriage.
There are two long lines of muddy fields spreading from north to south in Okitabana. They originally looked like paddy fields, but they have become muddy due to being abandoned for too long. Sandwiched between these two muddy fields is the official road passing through Okitabana.
However, there are still many swamps scattered across the official road. Between the mud field on the right and the Ariake Sea, the muddy tidal flats are prohibitive. To the west of the mud field on the left, there are also shrubs and swamps.
The complicated hills are not a place that the army can easily pass through.
The Miyoshi Army originally wanted to enter the battle from the official road, but the Chosoga Army walking to the east of them refused to go to the tidal flats, so the Miyoshi Army had to let the Chosoga Army enter Okita Rana from the official road, while they marched from the hills.
"It's really difficult to pursue in a place like this..." Shihe depositor carefully controlled his horse, slowed down the horse's speed, and tried hard to control the horse's reins to avoid the swamps and shrubs. The soldiers of the Sanhao Army behind him were also suffering.
Word.
"Those Satsuma mud-legged guys can run pretty fast. Shouldn't it be their first time here?" Tokawa deposited his heart to compare the Satsuma troops who were escaping in the swamp with Shimazu who was leading them.
Yoshihiro, "What's the point of being 'the most brave in the three states'? He can run faster than a rabbit."
Shihe Cumbao finally bypassed the most dense and fragmented part of the swamp and rode his horse onto a slightly flatter piece of land. He raised his eyes and saw that Changzong's troops were separated from them by a mud field because they were walking.
It was the official road. Although there was some confusion in the queue due to the swamp, the progress was much faster than that of the Miyoshi Army, and they followed Shimazu Yoshihiro. Behind the Shikoku Army, the Red Leaf Army's Rakihara Bei and Yushu Bei were
They also followed the steps of the Shikoku Army from east to west and pursued into Okita Maran. This made Okita Maran more crowded, almost to the point of being crowded with each other. Behind the Red Leaf Army, the flag of the Ryuzoji family could be faintly seen.
They also followed, and the 40,000-strong coalition army was gathering together at this moment.
"It's really troublesome. It's easy to come in this way, but it's probably more difficult to go back. If I don't catch up with Shimazu Yoshihiro, do I have to go back? Wouldn't that waste a lot of things?" Tokawa deposited his horse forward,
Seeing the vanguard of the clan in front of him quickly chasing after him, he was about to rush out of Okita Bana's range. He murmured in his heart, "Or is it that His Highness Jibu intends to take the opportunity to launch a general attack and hit the Shimazu family behind Okita Bana?"
Go to our main camp? But this is too hasty. And didn’t we say before that as long as the consumption continues, the Shimadzu army will run out of food first? Why is there any need to fight this battle? So far, the Shimadzu army has been plotted by us.
Ah, there is no need to be so anxious, this is not in line with His Highness Jibu’s style."
As the troops of the four countries continued to advance behind Shimazu Yoshihiro, the Shimazu army's camp and Moridake Castle appeared in the distance, and in front of the camp and Moridake Castle were several wooden fences and
There are a large number of Shimadzu Army iron gunners ready to go. Tokawa Demho is worried that the main force of Shimadzu Army will come out to attack, so he wants to restrain the troops and wait for the friendly forces behind them, and then advance in formation. However, the vanguard at the front is in a bad mood at the moment
The surge seemed to have no intention of stopping, and it seemed that it would be okay to break through in one go. The complex thoughts popping up one after another in his mind gave Tokawa Demho a headache, so he turned his head and scratched his head, his eyes also
Inadvertently, due to the movement of his head, he fell into the mud field on the left.
Then he suddenly froze.
He clearly saw the black muzzle of an iron cannon in the pile of straw beside the ridge of the mud field.
·
"Learn from it, fellow strangers."
At the same time, on the command platform behind the Shimazu Army's wooden fence front, Shimazu Iehisa held a loaded iron cannon and fired a shot into the sky as a signal for counterattack.
"The Shimazu family's Diaonobushi!"
·
Before Tokawa turned his head back, he saw the muzzle of the iron cannon that poked out the straw flickering with fire. In an instant, gunshots were fired in and out of Okitamaran. A large number of Shimazu army ambush troops suddenly appeared from both sides.
They emerged from the weeds and straw piles in the mud field and opened fire at the unsuspecting Shikoku army. At the same time, the Shimadzu Army iron gunners waiting behind the exit fence at the southern end of Okita Rani also opened fire, stopping Nagasune.
The pace of the vanguard advance of our army and the Sanhao Army.
Because the formation was too dense, under the volley of Shimazu Army, the soldiers of the Miyoshi Army and Chosoga Army in the front row were knocked down like wheat. Takahara Tsuri, who was the vanguard of the Miyoshi Army, was killed almost instantly.
The iron gunner of the Shimadzu Army lurking in the mud field was killed with one shot, and the vanguard of the Miyoshi Army was shaken by this. It would have been fine if it was just resistance from the front, but the firing of the iron gunner of the Shimadzu Army lurking in the mud field made the Miyoshi Army and Chang
The entire march of Zongga's army became slightly panicked. The fierce roar of iron cannons made them unable to distinguish the direction of the enemy's attack. In their haste, they thought that there were enemies on all sides.
"Don't be afraid of these enemies!" Kasei Konishi, a famous general in the Miyoshi Army and known as the "Blind Warrior" because of his eye disease, stood up at this moment, drew his katana and rushed towards the Shimazu Army's defense line with the support of his guards.
"Don't worry about the ambushes on both sides! Not many people can be hidden in the mud! Break through the defense line in front of you and leave this swamp!"
Kōnishi Yoshiaki's judgment was very correct. His call was responded to by many Miyoshi Army soldiers. They immediately followed Kōnishi Yoshiaki and rushed to the Shimadzu Army's wooden fence with shouts. However, due to the narrow and harsh terrain, Miyoshi The army failed to gather enough troops to launch an attack. The few brave soldiers were quickly killed by spears and iron cannons in front of the fence. Xiangxi Jiaqing was also hit between the eyebrows by an iron cannon and died. With all the attackers sacrificed, the remaining The three good soldiers immediately lost their courage and pushed and tried to retreat.
Samkawa Motoyo, who arrived later, tried to clean up the chaos and reorganize the formation, but was overwhelmed by the continuous iron cannon attacks from all directions. He wanted his men to fight back, but he didn't know which direction to fire. Attack by the Shimadzu army's iron artillerymen The method was very particular, giving priority to shooting those well-armored samurai, which led to the collapse of the command system in the Miyoshi Army. Samkawa Motoharu could no longer control the situation.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Samkawa Motoharu knew that something was wrong, and hurriedly shouted to command his men to escape. However, the crowded Okita Maranchi was already crowded with soldiers, and those who wanted to retreat had no way to go, and they trampled on each other. The Miyoshi Army fell into chaos. Countless ashigaru on the front line tried to push aside their comrades behind them to evacuate. Many ashigaru were squeezed into swamps and mud fields in the chaos, becoming living targets for Shimazu's army to shoot, which in turn triggered With further chaos, the front army of the Sanhao Army gradually became out of control.
"Let the people behind go back first!" Hankawa Motoyo remembered jumping to his feet, wanting to send messengers to the back to inform, but the messengers couldn't squeeze back on this narrow road. At this time, the sound of cannons sounded again .Fortunately, Samkawa Motoharu did not survive this round and was shot from his horse.
The situation of the Changzong family was no better than that of the Miyoshi Army. They rushed forward and suffered a more violent blow, and a large number of the backbone of the army were killed. The massive attrition of the samurai resulted in no one to command at all, and the pressure was insufficient. Light, chaos and fear also continued to spread in the army. Thousands of iron cannons fired non-stop, but the ashigaru of the Miyoshi Army and Choso's army were crowded in the swamps and mud fields, unable to fight back, and could not even touch their opponents. Difficulties. A few iron cannons and archers tried to shoot at each other, but they were quickly discovered and solved. Some unlucky ones were even trampled to death by their own defeated soldiers. On a battlefield filled with gunpowder smoke and blood mist, iron cannons The sound kept ringing, and people kept falling around them. The morale of the Shikoku ashigaru was gradually disintegrating. They couldn't tell whether they were stepping on corpses, a pool of blood, or a swamp. They tried their best to escape backwards, one foot deep and one foot shallow. The defeated soldiers rolled back with the troops behind them.
·
Ame Qiupei, who was behind Okita Tate, witnessed the chaos of the front army that was suddenly ambushed by iron artillery, and immediately realized the Shimadzu army's tactics - it was the famous Diaoye ambush.
Looking at the entire Kyushu and even the entire world, the Shimadzu Army's iron cannon deployment ratio is quite high, even close to the Red Leaf Army's iron cannon ratio. This is mainly because when the iron cannon was first introduced, it was in Satsuma. European merchant ships brought iron cannons to Tanegashima Island in Satsuma Province. The Shimazu feudal lord at that time spent a lot of money to buy iron cannons. The weapon of iron cannons also flowed into Japan, which greatly changed the direction of the troubled times of the Warring States Period. Iron cannons were the first to be imitated. The one who made the cannons was the Shimadzu family, so the iron cannons were also called "Tegashima iron cannons." After decades of development, Satsuma country had a large number of iron cannon workshops, although there were some iron cannons because Tanegashima was occupied by the Uakiu family. Damaged, but the Shimadzu Army was still able to rely on long-term accumulation and equipped with a large number of iron cannons. It was the large number of iron cannons in the army that allowed the Shimadzu Army to fight in the Battle of Takagi, the Battle of Okita Bata, and Totsugi in previous lives. In the Battle of Kawakawa, three major battles that decided the fate of the Shimadzu family, the Shimadzu family was proud of the "fishing and ambush tactics", using small baits to lure the enemy into encirclement, and then destroying the enemy's morale with volleys of iron cannons.
"Sure enough, this is the trick." Yu Qiuping frowned, and then immediately ordered, "Send the order to Liaoyuan Bei and Fushu Bei to immediately withdraw from the Okita-nobu formation and make space for Changzong's army and Miyoshi's army to evacuate.
! Notify His Highness Ryuzouji again and ask him to stop his advance! We are ambushed!"