At this time, Masatoshi Asai, the commander of the third Hatamoto Division, faced the strange formation in front of him and couldn't help but complain over and over again.
Imagawa Yoshima's banner formation formed a very dense formation - Masatoshi Asai had never seen such a dense formation in his life. It was like refugees queuing up to receive relief food. And they were not equipped with expensive and sharp samurai swords.
, on the contrary, he has a long spear in his hand - a weapon that can only be used by ashigaru who have no money to buy equipment. How could Imagawa Yoshima use it to equip the flag team? Are they really so poor that they have nothing left?
But the fighting power of these beggar-like Hatamoto team that just broke out was almost terrifying - the third Hatamoto team had stopped attacking at this moment, looking at the forest of spears with lingering fear - and the people who died in front of the forest of spears.
More than a dozen of our own flags.
When Asai Masatoshi first met this banner team, he mistook them for Okuhebe's troops - because the reserve team was so poor that they only had spears, and it seemed that they were from Mikawa. So he immediately sent his troops to meet them, intending to close in
He started a hand-to-hand battle at a distance from the banner team - his judgment was not wrong. Although the pikemen can attack first because of their longer weapons, and because of the direct attack method of the spears, they can form a denser queue. But once
When soldiers with knives get close, the spears can only be used as sticks, and a one-sided massacre will begin. Therefore, the pike team often needs to be equipped with a considerable number of sword and shield players to protect the pike soldiers from approaching enemies.
A personal assault—but Imagawa Yoshima's banner unit is not equipped with such a unit.
Just when Asai Masatoshi charged towards the fish-belly troops in his imagination, something unexpected happened suddenly. Following a few commands, the spear team in front of them stabbed almost uniformly at the same time, stabbing out the airtight array.
The same airtight spears, almost like poisonous snakes spitting messages, caused the dozen flags rushing at the front to be stabbed to death in an instant. Asai Masatoshi himself was almost caught in the attack, and he only retreated after blocking left and right. Behind him,
Looking at the bloody scene, the troops stopped one by one.
"How can you do it so neatly..." Masatoshi Asai watched in stunned silence as Imagawa Yoshima's banner unit stood up neatly with its guns again after several orders. Dozens or hundreds of soldiers were as neatly organized as one person.
Just when Asai Masatoshi was stunned, a group of soldiers from the Hatamoto Nibi circled to the south of Imagawa Yoshima's banner, intending to attack the deadly flank of the spear forest - unlike the agile soldiers who used swords, the battle formation spears were very clumsy.
, it is extremely difficult to mobilize on the spot. Once someone is touched on the flank, the battle is basically over.
However--
"Columns 5 to 10, everyone - turn right!"
As a command sounded, the right half of the Imagawa Yoshima Banner's troops seemed to have been cut off from the main army. All the soldiers held their spears and pointed to the sky. Then, with a turn of their feet, half of the troops turned around without any hesitation.
to the south. The small group of soldiers who rushed over were dumbfounded - the most battle formation adjustments they had come across were to take a unit as a whole and noisily lead it to the other side and then form a formation. This clean and neat way of using individual soldiers as a unit
The three-sided turning method is simply unheard of for them. If such an order is issued rashly on the battlefield, it can easily cause chaos and collapse of the troops!
"Stop it! Stop it!" Asai Masatoshi saw Imagawa Yoshima's banner team dropped their spears and assumed the same posture as before, and shouted hurriedly, but it was already too late.
"Prepare-stab!"
As the command was given again, dozens of spears shot out in unison. The roundabout group of soldiers could not block it at all, and many people were stabbed to death by random shots - no one had a chance to get close.
"this……"
At this moment, even the soldiers of Hatamoto No. 2 Bei were dumbfounded. When they relaxed, they actually gave Ii Ibei a chance to counterattack.
"This is like a hedgehog, untouchable." Asai Masatoshi couldn't think of a solution for a while, and he started to worry, "What should we do if they turn around and fight back?"
But at this moment, the sound of horse hooves sounded behind him. Masatoshi Asai turned his head to look, only to find that Yoshimoto Imagawa had already ridden his horse to the rear of the formation at some point.
"Second and third archers come out and assemble!" Imagawa Yoshimoto raised the folding fan in his hand and ordered loudly.
Seeing the governor's arrival in person, the archers in the banner team did not dare to neglect, and 200 archers quickly arrived in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto's horse.
"The first row squats, the second row squats half, aim to the west, pull the string, and prepare for a horizontal shot! The third row, raise the bow two times, prepare to shoot! Favor the wind!" Imagawa Yoshimoto ordered the archers and said to Masatoshi Asai.
Shouted, "Asai, let your troops disperse north and south!"
"Yes!" Although he knew that hastily dividing the troops into two halves on the battlefield, it might lead to serious chaos and even make it impossible to gather the troops, but Asai Masatoshi immediately followed the instructions. As soon as his troops dispersed, Imagawa Yoshima was no longer in the way.
The Hatamoto team marched towards the east with neat steps, trying to penetrate Masatoshi Asai's troops directly, and then swept southward towards the flank of Nibibi.
Until they saw the 200 archers who had been waiting for a long time behind the third backup.
"The only way to deal with spears is with arrows."
Imagawa Yoshimoto shook his fingers towards Imagawa Yoshima's main team.
After giving the order, arrows came like locusts. Due to the weight and length of the spear, the spearman never held a shield. And the longer battle spear was not more flexible than the sword and could not be used to deflect the arrows.
When faced with a bow and arrow attack, spearmen are the most helpless unit, bar none.
These bannermen, who had killed more than twenty elite soldiers in the battle just now, were so fragile in the face of random arrows. Imagawa Yoshima's finances were very tight, and he relied entirely on the money he plundered from the Imagawa clan's warehouse in the Yuanjiang territory.
Recruiting 300 soldiers is already the limit, so naturally there is no way to equip them with sophisticated armor. Such a close salvo shot down more than 30 soldiers in an instant.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Quickly retreat! Quickly retreat!" Seeing his precious flagon falling to the arrows like wheat, Imagawa Yoshio
I felt like my heart was bleeding, and I shouted and ordered my men to retreat.
"Imagawa, follow me!" Seeing Imagawa Yoshima retreat, Imagawa Yoshimoto did not hesitate to lead the Imagawa family's horses to pursue them. The horses and warriors are all elite warriors who are skilled in bows and horses, and they can shoot arrows on horseback.
Of course, it's no problem. However, Hayasaka Nao, Kira Hoshige, and Tian Shen Kentaro didn't hold bows, so they carefully rode their horses in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto to prevent a sudden cold arrow from attacking.
Imagawa Yoshimoto squinted his eyes and took aim, then bent his bow and nocked an arrow himself, shouting at the back of the retreating Imagawa Yoshima Hatakemoto:
"Tailwind, go up, let go!"
Another round of arrows struck, and Imagawa Yoshima's banner team fell to eight more people who could not escape.
"The shooting is so accurate. This is an attack on a moving target on horseback!" Imagawa Yoshima's bannermen complained endlessly after being attacked. Apparently they did not expect that the horse archers' accuracy was so high.
"Assemble the archers of Okuhirabe and Iibei to support!" Imagawa Yoshima shouted for help, but before the reinforcements of Okuhirabe and Iibei arrived, his banner team suffered two more rounds of random arrows, and finally managed to get rid of them. Imagawa Yoshimoto's horsemen were forced to retreat.
"It's difficult..." Imagawa Yoshima looked at the situation in front of him and knew in his heart that this battle must be lost. It was also more than 7,000 people fighting more than 7,000 people, and more than 2,400 soldiers fighting more than 2,400 soldiers, but he himself With such a tragic defeat, every front is at a disadvantage, and it is only a matter of time before Imagawa Yoshimoto is finally defeated. In less than a morning, the battle that was originally determined to be won has turned into a huge defeat, which has been accumulated with great difficulty. His prestige is probably about to be wiped out.
Just when Imagawa Yoshima gave up turning defeat into victory and was thinking about how to withdraw as many troops as possible, the smoke was lit again on the distant Zijiao Mountain, and the concentration of the smoke was far greater than the last time - last time When the smoke ignited, floods erupted from the Kurama River and Inikawa River at the same time, overwhelming Imagawa Yoshima's army as they were crossing the river. So what does the bigger smoke mean this time?
Imagawa Yoshima looked around the battlefield with some horror, but did not see any adjustments to Imagawa Yoshimoto's deployment. It was not until the subordinates behind him began to exclaim sooner or later that Imagawa Yoshima turned his head and looked in the direction behind him.
In the Forest of Thoughts they passed by on their way, a force of nearly a thousand people suddenly appeared, including more than 300 soldiers, and their flag was the crest of the Imagawa family, a clan that is as famous as the Asahina family and is good at fighting - Okabe Zuo Sanba. This new force has been waiting all morning, always ambushing Imagawa Yoshima's army on its way back, waiting to deliver a fatal blow when the battle situation is decided-Imagawa Yoshimoto dares to kill himself eight times. One-third of his troops remained outside the battle - a testament to his extraordinary confidence.
After Okabe Bei appeared, Imagawa Yoshima's army on the entire battlefield suddenly lost all morale. Without waiting for Imagawa Yoshima's order, various wealthy families began to leave the battlefield on their own, trying to escape around Okabe Bei. But Imagawa Yoshima The real main army is located between the Cangma River and the Inikawa River. It has become a trap and cannot be avoided no matter what.
"My third brother and his hardcore Horikoshi Bei and Ii Ibei are all here, and the main force of the small wealthy family of Yueji is also here." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the main army who was trapped in the middle and had no way out, and finally relaxed like a victory, " Annihilate them and the rebellion in Yuanjiang will be over."
"The heads of several wealthy families in Mikawa are also here." Himura Hiroyuki pointed at Okuhirabe and Todabe who were desperately trying to cross the river to escape, as well as Kirabe who was trapped near the swamp with no way out, "Catch them. It can also be determined by sending a message to the southeast of Sanhe."
"Let Sakyo Okabe march." Imagawa Yoshimoto signaled Akatori Main to give Okabe Matsuna the order, "Encircle and destroy the enemy's main force, and don't let anyone go."
Just when the Imagawa clan troops on all fronts were preparing to launch a pursuit, something unexpected happened. I saw a few cavalry riding straight from the east in the distance. Only when I walked in did I realize that they were actually there. They were all covered in blood, and there were several arrows stuck in their bodies and on the horses they were sitting on. The first person was none other than Taiyuan Xuezhai’s trusted ninja Tu Atonjing.
Tsuchizune rushed straight in front of Imagawa Yoshimoto's horse. When he turned over and dismounted, he knelt down and said tremblingly, "Your Highness, it's not good. The Hojo family seems to have reached an armistice agreement with the Takeda family. Recently, Thousands of people crossed the Fuji River and attacked. Master Yukisai could not escape in time. He did not have time to retreat into Kabara Castle. At this moment, he was surrounded in the rock stronghold by the river! The Hojo family's offensive was fierce, and the rock stronghold was not reliable. Master Yukisai was afraid that Just in the blink of an eye! There are more than 700 people including Kojin Bei, Anwara Bei, Ogibi Bei, Ichinomiya Bei, Hasegawa Bei and Yui Bei in the village! I will fight to the death to break through and ask for help from His Highness!"
Imagawa Yoshimoto was stunned for a moment, and the next moment he came to his senses, he issued an order to withdraw his troops: "Stop the pursuit of the entire army! The Toe rebels have no combat power, leaving only Matsui Bei, Ogasawara Bei and Shinno Bei to defend." But, everyone else, follow me and come back to support Fujigawa!"
Furunoji Yutaka knew that his family's identity was sensitive, so he had been cautious in his words and deeds since the dispatch of troops. He had not expressed any opinions and followed Imagawa Yoshimoto silently. But when he saw that Imagawa Yoshimoto was really going to withdraw his troops, he never He couldn't sit still anymore, so he hurriedly pulled the reins of his horse, "Fourth brother! Fourth brother! The situation is very good now. If we chase him for even two hours, Imagawa Yoshima will be finished, and Yuanjiang will be calmed down!" Think twice!”
"How can that small poyan village stop people?" Imagawa Yoshimoto, however, couldn't help but throw away Furunoji Yutaka's hand, and took the lead in galloping towards the east, "Now every second counts, how can we dare to delay two hours? If we delay any longer, then what will happen? I’m afraid the smelly old man’s life will be lost.”
