The fire took advantage of the wind, and the wind helped the fire. The mountain fire in Linxiang Mountain that was first ignited also spread the fastest. At the end of September 28th, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Hojo Ujiyasu had to lead his troops to retreat from the forest.
Xiangshan, directly took the mountain road and retreated to the northwest bank of the upper reaches of the Yui River. However, the main force of the Imagawa Army, Asahina Bei and the five banner troops, were still on the southeast bank of the Yui River.
Also on the northwest bank of the Yuigagawa River, the remaining 700 people of Senabei and Sekiguchibei have to face the attack of more than 4,300 people from Hakubei, Aobei, and the Hojo family at the same time. This is an almost impossible task. Imagawa Yoshimoto also
There was no other choice. While moving the fourth Hatamoto guard who had entered the forest and set fire to the main formation, he instructed Asahinabei. The remaining members of the first, second and third Hatamoto guards, a total of more than 3,500 people, were deployed from the northeast to the southwest.
Forced to cross Yuigagawa, trying to contain the more than 2,400 remaining banners of the Hojo family, and share the pressure on the trapped Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei.
However, Hojo Ujiyasu had already anticipated Imagawa Yoshimoto's actions. With a wave of his horse's seal, the Hojo family flag was directed towards various bridges and shoals, and was about to attack halfway across the river, blocking all the Imagawa troops on the other side of the Yuigagawa River.
"No, I can't beat him!"
The Imagawa army charged several times, but still could not make any achievements. The number of bridges upstream of the Yui River was very limited, and they had long been blocked by the Hojo family's infantry and archers. If they wanted to break through, they could only wade through the shallows. But
The water flow of the Yui River is already fast, and the Hojo family is waiting on the other side. Every time the Imagawa army has no chance to form a formation after wading across the river, it is forced to be defeated by swords, guns and random arrows. After all, the Hojo army is also
The powerful Kwantung army is no less powerful than the Imagawa family's banner.
"I'll take the lead myself!" Yamada Keitaka, the second reserve captain of Hatamoto who had just retreated from the front line and bandaged up, saw that the battle situation was not going well. He also became furious. He picked up a knife and a round shield and ran to a shoal.
Then he went. He summoned a few knights on horseback, chose a place where the water level was slightly deeper and the defense on the opposite side was not very tight. He rode his horse and rushed in. The river water suddenly overflowed the horse's belly, and the horse's progress suddenly became difficult.
.
The appearance of several knights on horseback immediately attracted the attention of the Hojo family defenders. When Yamada Ketaka was halfway through the charge, random arrows flew towards him. He held up his round shield to block it, but it was still inevitable.
He was hit by two arrows in the thigh. It was even worse when he sat down on his horse. He was hit by several arrows and fell into the water wailing. But Yamada Ketaka also took advantage of this moment to jump forward suddenly and almost jumped to the shore.
Then he roared and took a step forward, jumping onto the gravel on the beach.
Two Hatake Asharis of the Hojo family faced them with their spears. Yamada Keitaka didn't hide, and he hit them with a buckler, placing all his strength on the buckler. At the moment of the collision, the bamboo of the two spears
The gun barrel shattered in response. The two ashigaru were caught off guard, and Yamada Keitaka turned around and killed them with a sweep.
The samurai behind them seized the gap created by Yamada Keitaka and quickly jumped onto the shore. Behind them, many second-level Hatamoto samurai and ashigaru jumped into the river and rushed in hand and foot.
The changes in the battle situation even attracted the attention of Hojo Ujiyasu himself. When he saw that the river bank defense line was in danger of being breached, he immediately arranged for more than a dozen of his horse cavalry to rush to support. Yamada Ketaka sat down on his horse to cross the river.
He was shot to death at that time. Now there are only three Imagawa Army cavalry on the northwest bank of the Yuigagawa River. They cannot cope with the impact of the Hojo family's horse cavalry, and they are all knocked off their horses.
In desperation, Yamada Keitaka snatched the spear from the hands of a fallen soldier of the Hojo family. In the chaos, he suddenly stabbed at a horseback cavalryman of the Hojo family, knocking him off his horse. Then he got on his horse and rode on the horse to grab him. The incoming horses charged head-on at several horseback cavalry and fought with them. The impact of the second unit dispersed the pressure of other attacking troops, and the positions in front of the first and third units were breached.
Seeing that the commotion on the beachhead was getting louder and louder, Hojo Ujiyasu himself could not sit still and came to the front line to supervise the formation in person. All of Hojo Ujiyasu's samurai guards came out, and the Imagawa troops who came ashore were defeated steadily after a few sieges. Yamada Ketaka I was stabbed once and retreated in embarrassment. The number of soldiers who landed on other beachhead positions was always limited, and they could only form a circular formation to resist. In the end, they were driven back to the river, and were shot by random arrows during the retreat. A bunch of them were shot down.
"No, Your Highness, fighting like this is not an option." Akai Kurotaka watched as the Imagawa family's Hatamoto samurai kept falling on the banks of the Yuigao River, and even the river water was dyed red. He couldn't help but protest loudly, "Too many people have died. !Can’t beat it!”
"It's okay, just delay it for a while. I just want to drag the main force of the Hojo family to stop them from attacking Senabei and Sekiguchi." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked worriedly at Senabei and Sekiguchi who were trapped on the other side. Prepare.
"Fourth brother, to put it bluntly, even if the Hojo family's Hatamoto doesn't participate in the siege, Hakubei and Aobei alone are no longer what Senabei and Sekiguchibei can handle. Collapse will happen sooner or later. We can't do it just for rescue. He pushed the whole army into the firepower, and a woman's kindness cannot be tolerated." Yutaka Furuno saw at a glance the decline of Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei at this moment, and understood that their collapse was not far away.
"No, just delay it for a while." Imagawa Yoshimoto refused without explanation, "There will be a turn for the better soon."
Under the insistence of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the Imagawa army still rushed towards the Yuigagawa, fearlessly sacrificing their precious lives.
And he raised his head, looking at the sun that was gradually moving towards the west, and then at the red bird horse print flying above his head, watching the flag from hunting to gradually being lowered, and then slowly turning towards the south. The strong wind that passed by my ears also turned into a fierce north wind.
"Every time the sun sets in the west, the mountain wind in the Yui area will change from southerly to northerly." Imagawa Yoshimoto is waiting for this opportunity. All forest fires and mountain fires that have been ignited will now change direction. "The Hojo Army If we invade Suruga first, even if we can gain geographical advantage, how can we seize the right time?"
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After the howling north wind blew, the situation on the battlefield changed instantly. The fire spreading northward in the Ishikiri Forest suddenly slowed down, and then turned and burned southward, with thick smoke billowing along with it. It had already been Forced into a desperate situation, Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw and fled back into the forest again, using the complex terrain in the forest to build a defense line. In contrast, the fire was originally set at the southern end of Ishikiri Forest. However, Chibei, a subordinate of Tsunaka Hojo, was dumbfounded and watched helplessly as the fire and smoke came towards him.
The battle situation affected by the change in wind direction was not only the Ishikiri forest. The mountain fire that was originally burning towards Linxiang Mountain in the southeast wind also stopped abruptly and turned towards Nakao Mountain in the south. The thick black smoke rode on the wind to cover the sky.
The Edo soldiers of Toyama Tsunakage's unit who were attacking Honkoyama from the downwind position were so smoked that they had to retreat in embarrassment. If the wind direction remained unchanged, they would even be smoked out of the battlefield directly.
They retreated to Kabara Castle to avoid the fire. The pressure on Honmitsuyama's main formation was relieved, and Imagawa Yoshimoto was able to leave only Hatamoto's fourth unit and put the fifth unit into the battle line.
"Asahina Bei, take advantage of the opportunity that the mountain fire has stopped to quickly go up to Mount Rinka, then cross the Yui River from Mount Rinka, and go to the northwest bank of the Yui River to attack Hojo Ujiyasu's Goshiki Danmain, and attack our troops who are crossing the river frontally!"
Imagawa Yoshimoto looked at the situation on the battlefield and gave another instruction, "Let Asahinabe's auxiliary soldiers cut down enough logs and sharpen one end for later use!"
"Instruct Okabe Bei to get rid of Kurobei's entanglement, return to the place where they originally dredged the river, completely dredge the second dam, and restore the flow of the Banko River to its maximum!"
"Let's go up the mountain!" After Asahina Taino got the order, he took the reins of his horse and rushed towards the Linxiang Mountain where the fire was burning. "Brothers, go up the mountain and drink soju!"
Seeing that Asahina Tai could take the lead, Asahina Bei's soldiers no longer hesitated, and followed them one by one into the smoke-filled Linxiang Mountain.
"Your Highness wants us to dredge the river?" Okabe Hisatsuna looked at the battle situation with a troubled face after seeing the order issued by Akatorimain, "Where do we have extra manpower? It will be good if we can maintain the battle line!
"
"His Highness's order is as big as the sky. Even if Your Highness asks us to jump into the Banko River right now, we will still carry it out." Okabe Otsuna said in a deep voice without explanation, then drew his sword in his hand and led the Hatamoto guards into battle in person, "Mei
No (Hisatsuna Okabe), if you take the people to clear the river barrier, I will block the Hojo family."
"Separate a team? Are you going to dredge the river again?" The resourceful Tamu Motochu saw the purpose of Okabe's mobilization at a glance. Although he didn't know what the current situation of the battle downstream was, his instinct told him that Okabe could not be allowed to move.
Bei's move succeeded. "Stop them, don't let them pass!"
Tame Gentada detached 50 soldiers as a reserve force from the front line and turned to the southwest. Okabe Bei had suffered a serious attrition of troops due to floods and random arrow attacks just now, and maintaining the front line was already at its limit. Obviously
There are no extra reserves that can be mobilized - unless Okabe Otsuna comes in person.
However, just as the 50 black warriors were about to pass by Okabe Bei's formation, they saw 10 people coming to kill them. They were all dressed in bright armor, and they were clearly dressed like Hatamoto guards. The leader,
It was none other than Okabe Okabe herself.
"We, Okabe, have a reputation as a strong army at home, but before in Yuanjiang, all the troops fought to the death, but in the end, only our troops withdrew from the battle without firing an arrow. It is really shameful. Now that I have been entrusted with an important task by His Highness, if
If you return without success, what face will you have when you return to Imagawakan? How will you face the ancestors of the Okabe family and Izumi?"
Ignoring the obstruction of the guards around him, Okabe Oyatsuna was the first to charge towards the enemy formation while wielding his sword. Seeing the heroism of the family leader, the samurai behind him were all excited. They shouted and followed him, fighting together with the detoured troops.
