On the afternoon of July 8, the 14th year of Astronomy (1546), outside Okazaki Castle.
Faced with the sudden rise of the red bird horse seal, everyone in the Oda family was a little confused. It would be easy to interpret it simply as a bluff, but if this is not a bluff - it means that Imagawa Goro is indeed in Okazaki Castle .But when did he enter the city? Did he follow Udenbei and Osawabei who entered the city a few days ago to assist in the defense? He had already entered Okazaki Castle before that, so Udenbei and Osawabei only Want to rush into town?
Not long after, the Oda family samurai who invaded Ninomaru reported back that they had seen Goro Imagawa at the top of Ninomaru Castle. They said they had seen it, but in fact, none of the samurai knew Goro Imagawa. I just saw a young man under the red bird horse seal. But the costumes of the guards guarding him were all genuine Imagawa family horses - they seemed to be inseparable.
The question is, how could a rich man like Imagawa Goro enter the Matsudaira family's castle alone without the protection of an army? It seems too risky no matter how you look at it. Could it be that the Imagawa family really anticipated the Oda family's movements? Is that why Goro Imagawa was sent to the city in advance to boost morale? The question comes again - Goro Imagawa has always been a playboy in rumors, and the scandal of peeing his pants in the battle a few days ago is also unknown to everyone. I don’t know—how could the Imagawa family’s retainers trust him to go into the city alone to boost morale? How dare Imagawa Goro?
Countless confusions are in front of me, and I can't figure it out anyway. If Oda Nobunaga was commanding here, he would definitely put these messy thoughts behind him and go directly to the battle himself to lead the army to attack. But Oda Nobunaga did not Oda Nobunaga was so nervous that he would still be very concerned when encountering obviously strange things. He then ordered the troops entering the city to suspend their offensive and instead go to ensure control of the various gates of Sannomaru. At the same time, he immediately sent out scouts Scout the surrounding area to be on guard for the arrival of other Imagawa family reinforcements - Imagawa Goro put up the red bird horse seal, is it a signal to cooperate inside and outside? Is it because Imagawa Goro dared to enter the city because the reinforcements were about to arrive?
The next day, in the early morning of July 9, the 14th year of Astronomy (1546), the enemy's situation was actually discovered by the Oda family's scouts.
"Takeda Army?" Oda Nobuhide looked at Takigawa Kazumasu who was reporting in front of him.
"Yes, my lord, I saw the flag of the Takeda Army appearing in the southeast."
"Southeast?" Oda Nobuhide didn't even need to look at the map. After all, he had long been familiar with the terrain of Mikawa. "Then you came from Minami Shinano and then took the mountain road."
"It's not clear yet. There are ninjas and scouts of the Takeda family around, so we can't get close." Takigawa Kazumasu leaned over and asked for orders: "My lord, do you want to send a team of knights to scout? Only with a certain number of people can we break through the Takeda family's attack." Intelligence barrier, go deeper to the southeast."
"Take the people with you." Oda Nobuhide nodded, selected 50 knights from the horse warriors and the banner warriors of each family, and gave them to Takigawa Kazumasu to take away. At the same time, he continued to suppress Oka The deployment of Sakijo Sannomaru.
But at noon on July 9, the 14th year of Astronomy (1546), bad news came.
"Please forgive me, my lord." Takigawa Kazumasu returned to the Oda Army's main formation outside Okazaki Castle with a gloomy face. "I encountered a Takeda Army cavalry of about 150 riders. To ensure safety, I had to retreat first.
Able to detect the true and false status of the Takeda Army."
"150 Cavalry?" The Oda family samurai in the tent were all surprised, and some even took a breath. After all, in Japan, where horses and cavalry are scarce, the ratio of cavalry to infantry is about 1:8. 150 Cavalry
The appearance of the enemy means that Higashi Mikawa is likely to have reinforcements from the Takeda Army of 1,500 people - including the auxiliary soldiers and civilians who provide logistics, there are probably more than 4,000 people.
"Suspicious soldiers." Oda Nobuhide's eyebrows jumped, and he simply made a judgment, "The Takeda family has 8,000 people in Kamikawa, and there is absolutely no way they can send 4,000 people away from their abilities to support the Imagawa family. Aren't they wary of the direction of Sagami and Kitashino?"
"But even if you are a suspicious soldier, you cannot underestimate the enemy, my lord." Sakuma Morishige remonstrated very uneasily, "Even if there are not 4,000 people, there may be 2,000 people. Even if there are not 2,000 people, even if it is 150 cavalry, it is not enough for us.
It’s a big threat.”
There is nothing wrong with what Sakuma Morishige said. The number of cavalry the Oda army has at hand now is only three to four hundred. If there are 150 sturdy Kai cavalry wandering around Okazaki Castle looking for fighters, they will be there at any time.
It is possible that the Oda Army's siege team of a thousand people could be broken up, and the rear of the Oda Army's special forces that was still blocking the main force of the Imagawa Army south of Okazaki Castle would also be very dangerous. In order to guard against them, the Oda Army itself must use at least
The 100 cavalrymen followed the Takeda Army. But these 100 cavalrymen were all horse warriors or samurai from various families. In other words, they were the backbone of the army. Moving them away would also affect the combat effectiveness of the Oda Army.
.
"All mobile cavalry, come with me. I will conduct a reconnaissance myself to see how many there are." Oda Nobuhide, worthy of the title of Tiger of Owari, still chose a highly aggressive battle when faced with changes.
Method, "Repair (Shibata Katsuie), you will temporarily take over the command of the entire army while I am away."
"Lord, why don't you go forward? You should stay in charge of the central army." While accepting the order, Shibata Katsuie still raised an objection in a low voice.
"I have to see for myself before I can make a judgment." But Oda Nobuhide shook his head, stood up and strode out of the tent.
He led his army toward the southeast and soon passed by Azozaka, where the two armies fought a few years ago. Oda Nobuhide looked at the familiar terrain and mountains and forests, and could still vaguely remember Imagawa Yoshimoto's spiritual layout and scheduling, as well as
He returned to the army camp alone to rescue his subordinates and fought against the seven guns of the Oda family. But now he is not here, and Taiyuan Xuesai, who is more terrifying than him, is also not here - this is the confidence that Oda Nobuhide dared to run rampant in Mikawa.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After passing Azozaka, it is the area around Ganluji Temple, and the water flow of the Oto River gradually becomes narrower and sparser. Oda Nobuhide continued eastward and soon saw Takigawa Ichimasuke reported
The group of Takeda Army knights. They were scattered and guarding the plains around the mountain crossing, with a large number of Takeda Ryoshi flying behind them, giving the Oda Army's scouts no chance to find out what was going on.
"My lord, if you want to charge into the battle, please stay behind." Sasatsu Sunsuke rode his horse to Oda Nobuhide's side and reminded him in a deep voice.
"I know, how could I put myself in danger so easily?" Oda Nobuhide waved his hand, indicating that he did not need to remind his subordinates. At the same time, he squinted at the formation of the Takeda Army and the flags on the mountain road behind them. After noticing the Oda Army
After the cavalry team approached, the Takeda Army cavalry that had been roaming around gradually gathered together, seemingly to prepare for the Oda Army's charge. They had no intention of actively dispersing, but carefully guarded the Taniguchi, letting the Oda Army go.
All the way to a stone's throw away.
"Have you seen something, my lord?" Nakano Yi'an asked in a low voice.
"It doesn't look like there is a large army, but there should be more than just these 150 cavalry." Oda Nobuhide shook his head slightly, then glanced at the murderous elite cavalry of Kai, and gave up the plan of charging into the formation, "Let's go."
In order to guard against the unknown Takeda army, Oda Nobuhide had to further reduce the number of people attacking the city, leaving a certain number of reserve troops stationed outside the city. But before he could resume a full-scale offensive, troublesome things happened again
One after another came. This time it was Mizuno Nobumoto, the current head of the Mizuno family.
"My Lord, I apologize for failing to restrain my subordinates." Mizuno Nobumoto leaned down in front of Oda Nobuhide, raised his hands, and presented a stack of letters. Oda Nobuhide frowned and took it.
letter, while asking: "What is this?"
"Lord, in the previous battle, due to my incompetence, many samurai of the Mizuno family were defeated and captured, and are now being detained in Yoshida Castle. The Imagawa family is very cunning. After seeing the strength of our army, they
The captured samurai were forced to write letters to their relatives and friends in the army to persuade them to defect. Although our Mizuno family is loyal to the Oda family, after all, we are related to each other in the family, and people were temporarily distracted. Please forgive me. All letters have been
Collect it, please take a look at it."
"Well..." Oda Nobuhide flipped through the letters casually, which were nothing more than common letters of inducement. However, because most of the samurai in the Mizuno family were captured, the cohesion of the family was already very weak, and the trust in Mizuno Nobugen himself was also reduced.
Freezing point——When disturbed by this inducement letter, everything will naturally become chaotic.
"The question is, how did these letters get to your army?" Oda Nobuhide squinted his eyes and let his sharp gaze pass over Mizuno Nobumoto's forehead, shocking him into a cold sweat. "The deployment of our army should be
The secret is, how can the Imagawa family accurately deliver the letter to the Mizuno family camp?"
"If I remember correctly, the Mizuno family is deployed in the east of Okazaki Castle, which is the place farthest from the battlefield. Next to you to the south is the Yamaguchi family's position. If there are local ninjas infiltrating, they should see it, right?" Oda
Nobuhide snorted coldly, guessing that it was probably Yamaguchi Kotsugi who was behind this - he had been spying on the Mizuno family's trump card and influence, and was eager to cause trouble to the Mizuno family.
"I asked Yamaguchi Saumasuke, but Saumasuke-sama said he didn't know." Mizuno Nobugen answered honestly.
How could you let Yamaguchi Goshitsugi deliberately frame the Mizuno family and let you know? Oda Nobuhide added silently in his heart - this young master of the Mizuno family is indeed unreliable.
The problem is that if the Mizuno family is in chaos, they may not be able to undertake the task of blocking the siege. The Yamaguchi family obviously has impure intentions. Once they encounter an enemy, it is difficult to expect them to cooperate with the Mizuno family wholeheartedly. But if the Takeda army wants to come to the rescue, the Mizuno family will be the first to do so.
and the Yamaguchi family, the two reserve teams to the east... How could we leave the rear to these two such unreliable foreigners?
So, in desperation, Oda Nobuhide had to adjust his deployment, replacing Mizuno Bei and Yamaguchi Bei in Sannomaru to attack the city, and replaced Sakuma Bei, setting up defenses in the east of the city, preparing to stop Takeda who might come.
Military reinforcements. But the price was - after the distracted Mizuno Bei and Yamaguchi Bei, who was focused on paddling, joined the siege array, the momentum of the attack suddenly slowed down, giving the defenders a chance to breathe a big breath.
