Two days later, on April 19, the 14th year of Astronomy (1545), the border between Izu Kingdom and Suruga Kingdom was reached.
Hojo Ujiyao joined forces with Kasahara Nobuhi and Tominaga Naokatsu. The total strength reached 3,000 people. They were heading north along the official road at a rapid speed, intending to take advantage of the Imagawa family's unstable foothold to raid and recapture Katsurayama Castle.
"Are you sure? The Imagawa family only has 400 horses in Katsurayama Castle?" Along the way, Hojo Ujiyao asked Fuma Kotaro, who was accompanied by the Fuma ninja army for cover, countless times. After all, Hojo Tsunayaka was the first to send back The intelligence of the Imagawa family suspected that the main force of the Imagawa family was here, so the Hojo family immediately gathered most of the troops of Izu and Sagami. If the Imagawa family really has tens of thousands of people here, then the 3,000 people of Hojo Ujiyao who directly penetrated Katsurayama Castle. Plunging into an ambush, it is difficult to escape.
"Going back to Your Highness, I have repeatedly confirmed that the Imagawa family only has the 400 horses. No other troops were seen nearby, and no other Imagawa family troops were seen at the sentries along the way." Fuma Kotaro said with almost no ups and downs. 's voice replied.
"That's good...that's good." Hojo Ujiyao nodded repeatedly, holding in his arms the order given to him by Hojo Ujiyasu. After realizing that the Imagawa family's troops to seize Katsurayama Castle only had 400 people, Hojo Ujiyasu ordered the troops from Izu The departing troops immediately headed north quickly. Before the main force of the Imagawa family arrived, they cooperated with Akabei who was waiting in the east of the castle to capture Katsurayama Castle on April 19. The main force of the Hojo family, Hatamoto, departed from Odawara Castle before nightfall tomorrow. arrival.
"There are only 400 people, but they all have iron cannons." Kasahara Nobuyuki rode his horse to the side of Hojo Ujiyao and said worriedly: "Although a few of us met when we went to Odawara Castle to watch the iron artillery team's martial arts performance, but the soldiers But not yet. If they have to face that thing on the battlefield, they will inevitably panic, right?"
"And if 400 iron cannons are used to defend the city, they will definitely cause us considerable casualties." Tominaga Naokatsu was also uneasy, "We are in a hurry to set off, and the troops have not been assembled, let alone the siege equipment. No. We know how many siege engines Bichushu (Hojo Tsunadaka) and others can build for us to use in these two days."
"Let's talk about it when we get to the city. Everything will be discussed later. Before attacking the city, hold a few more evaluation meetings to inform all the samurai of the existence and use of the "iron cannon", and then let them report it to their own ashigaru." The more Hojo Ujiyao thought about it, the more headache he felt, so he simply gave up, "Or should we lay siege to the city first, set up camp, and block the reinforcements coming from Suruga. Should we wait until the lord's banner army arrives before starting the battle?"
Just when the samurai of the Hojo family couldn't make up their minds, the scout cavalry who was scouting the way in front of the army came quickly on horseback. They dismounted in front of Hojo Ujiyao and others and said: "Your Highnesses, we have discovered enemy troops ahead! There are approximately 100 people in total. Three to five hundred!"
"Enemy army? But reinforcements from the Imagawa family?" Hojo Ujiyao immediately became alert, "They came so fast? Are they in front of us? Are they from the Fuji family?"
"No, judging from the flags and attire, it should be the horseback of Imagawa Harubu." The scout pointed forward, and could faintly see the dust of horse hooves approaching quickly. After a while, you could see the red face gradually becoming clearer in the distance. Bird and horse print.
"Red Bird?" Everyone in the Hojo family recognized the symbol of the Imagawa family governor.
"Are you planning to abandon the city?" Kasahara Nobui reacted first, "Imagawa Harubu decided that it was too dangerous for 400 people to defend the isolated city, and decided to evacuate?"
"Do you want to block it?" Tominaga Naokatsu was also excited. "Although they are all cavalry, it may be difficult for us to pursue them, but if we seize the main road, there is still a chance to leave a team of horses and return! Those are from the Imagawa family. The elite are in danger now and must not let them go."
"Immediately move forward to occupy the fork in the official road and force them to go to the fields beside the official road. The horses cannot run fast in the fields!" Hojo Ujiyao immediately issued the order, and the soldiers of the Hojo family hurriedly formed their formations, leaving the auxiliary soldiers behind. Behind them, they ran forward quickly. However, when they arrived at the intersection of the official road, they found that the Imagawa family's horsemen did not try to escape, but all dismounted, holding black iron rods at them.
"No! The whole army stops!" Hojo Ujiyao realized something was wrong and quickly stopped the troops from advancing, keeping the forwards out of the range of the iron cannon.
However, before he had a chance to explain to his subordinates "what an iron cannon is", the Imagawa family
However, the horsemen strode forward under the command, quickly shortening the distance between the two armies. Seeing the troops, Hojo Ujiyao had no choice but to continue to order the troops to retreat, which confused the soldiers of the Hojo family.
"Why withdraw?"
"Suruga-san, there are obviously few people!"
"What are those black sticks?"
"What are you thinking, samurai masters?"
…
So, on the official road, such a funny scene happened. The massive Hojo army was retreating, but the weak Imagawa family members were pressing forward step by step with some iron rods in their hands. As they continued to retreat, the Hojo family's queue and formation had a tendency to break.
Just when Hojo Ujiyao didn't know how to break the situation, the Imagawa family's horsemen were the first to change their tactics. They were leading the horses in pursuit, but after seeing the Hojo army retreating, they actually got on their horses and charged towards them. The Hojo family's queue rushed over.
"Formation! Formation!" Seeing this, the samurai on the front line of the Hojo family quickly stopped their retreat, and instead ordered their subordinates to form a formation to deal with the possible attack by the Imagawa family. Soldiers of the Hojo family They had long been bothered by the instructions from above requiring continuous retreat, and they stopped retreating one after another and picked up their weapons to prepare for the enemy.
But now the Sichuan army once again stopped more than 30 feet in front of the Hojo army. The horsemen reined in their horses one after another, then turned over and dismounted, and once again raised their iron bars and pointed them at the Hojo army.
The Hojo samurai who had never seen iron cannons were completely confused by this strange action, and they all turned their attention to Hojo Ujiyao's horse seal - the latter wanted to continue to order a retreat, but the current situation and morale did not allow him to do so. Did this.
"Fire the arrow!" So Hojo Yao had to come up with this last resort - it was better than doing nothing.
After receiving the order, the archers on the front line of the Hojo family bent their bows and set up arrows. The arrows rained down like locusts. However, at a distance of more than 30 feet, even though the Imagawa family's horsemen only wore light armor, the bows and arrows still It was difficult to bring about effective killing. A moment later, a burst of smoke rose in front of the Imagawa family's position, followed immediately by a deafening roar and whizzing projectiles.
There was a scream from the vanguard of the Hojo family, and then about ten people fell down - this was still at a far enough distance. The soldiers of the Hojo family were in chaos up and down, and they had no idea. What happened? How come firecrackers were set off on the other side and people died on our side? The level of chaos was almost the same as that of Kazuyama Bei when he saw the iron cannon for the first time.
"I knew it would be like this." Hojo Ujiyao whipped the horse hard on the buttocks, and then cursed: "Don't be afraid, those are the enemy's weapons, bows and arrows ignited by fire, but they are reloaded once It’s going to take a long, long time! Rush forward now!”
However, the soldiers of the Hojo family were obviously frightened and did not immediately respond to Hojo Ujiyao's order. Instead, they all stood still where they were - while the Imagawa family's horsemen on the opposite side were already loading iron cannons. The Hojo family's soldiers Yao was so angry that he cursed and had no choice but to order his troops to continue to retreat. As soon as they retreated, the Imagawa family's horsemen mounted their horses again to pursue them. Hojo Ujiyao's troops were instantly in chaos and began to retreat.
At this moment, Kasahara Nobuya's Hakubei and Tominaga Naosuke's Aobei came up from both sides of the official road and rushed towards the flanks of the Imagawa family's horsemen. They had just seen the firing of iron cannons in the distance. Although the soldiers were also shocked, after all, they had not been hit personally, so they could maintain a certain degree of calmness. The senior samurai who knew the iron cannon tried their best to explain the mechanism of the iron cannon to their subordinates in the shortest possible time, but they did not know that there was any It has no effect - at least it won't be like Hojo Ujiyao's men who were thrown into chaos after two volleys.
After seeing the two wings of the Hojo Army outflanking them, the Imagawa family's horsemen immediately divided into two teams and began to load ammunition at Bai Bei and Ao Bei on both sides. Seeing this, Kasahara Nobu chose to retreat to create a safe distance. , but Tominaga Naokatsu thought to take advantage of the Imagawa Kaimai's reloading, to charge into the formation, and command the troops to rush forward. If there was a misunderstanding in communication, the result would be disastrous. Imagawa Kaimai's warriors Seeing that Kasahara was not coming, he aimed all the iron cannons at Qingbei. After two rounds of volleys, more than twenty of Qingbei's soldiers fell down, and the remaining soldiers were also shocked. light.
But Kasahara Nobuyuki discovered the fighter plane at this time
Taking advantage of the return of the Imagawa family's horses and the lack of time to reload, the soldiers who commanded Shiro Bei rushed forward. Hojo Ujiyao, who was still thinking of ways to reorganize his troops, saw this and hurriedly took Hatamoto and the samurai who could still command around him. For example, the Imagawa family launched a charge at their position. However, the Imagawa family's horsemen did not panic, got on their horses one after another, and floated away with the red bird horse seals. The Hojo family's ashigaru could not catch up, so they had to be pursued by the mounted samurai. , not giving the Imagawa family horse a chance to reload.
However, the members of the Imagawa family remained calm. They took off their bows from their backs, bent their bows and set arrows. Then they turned around and fired a hail of arrows at the pursuing Hojo Army knights. The Hojo Army cavalrymen were already facing the arrows. The direction in which the arrow was flying was running at a fast speed. If the arrow was hit head-on, no matter how well-equipped the armor was, it would still be seriously injured. Although most of the knights who were hit by the arrow were not fatally injured, their riding speed was greatly reduced by the arrow, and some were even injured. Few people fell off their horses. After several rounds of arrows, the cavalry pursued by the Hojo family had become sparse, and the leading samurai also sensed the danger - their number was getting smaller and smaller. If they continued to pursue, they would most likely be killed by the Imagawa family. Ma Huizhong counterattacked and ate it up.
As a result, the Hojo family's cavalry sooner or later began to stop their pursuit and withdraw their troops. Seeing this, the Imagawa family's horsemen also stopped their horses, and began to fiddle with the iron cannons on their horses, completing the reloading and Loading work. After getting ready, they turned around and rode their horses again. The knights of the Hojo family were in a dilemma and had to continue to retreat, but the horses of the Imagawa family just pressed all the way towards the main army.
"Damn it." Hojo Ujiyao was overwhelmed by the difficult situation in front of him. He didn't even know how to continue commanding. "Retreat first, then go back and explain to the entire army what iron cannon is, and then attack!"
"But your highness, the master's order is for us to..." several subordinates reminded uneasily.
"How can we fight now? Then Imagawajibu's horseback crowd is just like the brown sugar. They can't be beaten, and they can't be caught up." Hojo Ujiyao looked like he was hopeless and waved his hands repeatedly: "All The army retreats together! Anyway, we have achieved our goal by drawing the Imagawa army out of Katsurayama Castle. In this way, when the main force of the Lord arrives at Katsurayama Castle tomorrow, we will face almost an empty city!"
As a result, the Hojo family began to retreat continuously, and the harassment and pursuit of the Imagawa family's horsemen also continued. They would rush to a place very close to the Hojo family's defenders, complete a round of shooting in the face of the arrow rain, and knock down several people. Then he stopped loading unhurriedly. After the loading was completed, he once again rode his horse towards the rear guard and completed the volley. The Hojo army was driven all the way. When they tried to fight back with cavalry several times, the Imagawa family's horses all ran away. Finally, the cavalry had to return, and the horsemen followed again.
This lasted until the evening. After the Hojo family's cavalry made one last attempt to drive away the Imagawa family's horses, the Imagawa family never returned - and never looked back. At this time, the Hojo family had been driven several miles into the Izu territory. , it is impossible to arrive at Geshan Castle tomorrow.
"Calling it up." Looking at the Hojo family who were rectifying the chaos in the distance, Imagawa Yoshimoto hung his iron cannon on his back and snapped his fingers at the subordinates behind him, "Go back to Katsurayama Castle and rest for the night. Hello. Eat your horses and go deal with the main force of the Hojo family tomorrow."