Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 774 The Battle of Jiulongtouchuan
Toyotomi Hideji probably never imagined that the army he gathered would retreat so quickly.

He thought it was possible to talk about everything, but after he surrounded Beizhizhuang City, he received most of the documents accusing him of being a traitor.

Even though the document was sent to Echigo more than ten days ago, Osaka is still trying his best to maintain the peace between the brothers Xiuji and Xiusheng, and persuades the two brothers to sit down and talk.

However, shortly after General Hideji was handed over to Ieyasu Tokugawa, Osaka sent an order to attack Hideji.

"Northern enemy" is a word that has not been heard for many years, and Hideji is unwilling to believe that there will be a day when he will be accused of being an enemy.

He resisted desperately, and led his more than 2 Gifu troops desperately trying to break through Beizhizhuang Castle.Ask him why he backstabbed his own brother.

He couldn't believe it even more, he was still the dominant side half a day ago, and he was about to defeat Xiu Sheng's army and enter Beizhizhuang City, but the 2 army was defeated in a blink of an eye.

His dream of being a world was also shattered.

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In response to Toyotomi Hideji who withdrew his troops from Echigo, Toyotomi Hidekatsu himself carried out extreme mobilization. Zhixing, who was only 30 shi, mobilized a full 1.2 troops to garrison Kitanosho Castle.

But Xiu Sheng did not intend to defend the cage city, he himself is not a passive person.

And in his opinion, although his troops are at a disadvantage, the morale of the Gifu Army must be low, and he is confident that Hideji's Gifu Army will be defeated in the first battle.

The two sides lined up along the Jiulongtouchuan, where the famous Battle of Jiulongtouchuan took place in history. Asakura Sodi defeated 3000 Kaga Ichiko with 20 Tsuruga elites.

Toyotomi Hidekatsu also wanted to learn from his predecessors, and defeated the Gifu Legion, which he thought was already a mob, in Kuryongtogawa.

But when he and Xiuci lined up across the Jiulongtou River, they found that this was not the case. The Gifu Legion on the opposite side seemed not to be affected by this incident, and their morale was still high.

He thought it was because Hideji deliberately concealed the news, so he sent people to publicize the news that the Gifu family was accused of being an enemy in front of the army. Sure enough, the army on the opposite side was agitated, but soon settled down again. .

The political meaning behind the title of the enemy has been spread throughout the world in the hundreds of years of Japanese history, but the soldiers at the bottom did not pay much attention to it.

Because no matter who they fight for, they are still fighting, and it is impossible for anyone who wins to treat themselves better.Only low-level warriors who know the political meaning behind this will be a little afraid.

But fortunately, the middle and senior samurai on Xiuci's side have been patrolling the Yu army formation to appease the lower-level samurai.

"What about the enemy, Ashikaga Yoshimitsu is also an enemy, Oda Nobunaga is also an enemy, they all won the world in the end! No one can block our way back to Gifu today, whoever blocks us, we will defeat them!"

It was rare for Hidetoshi to be so inspiring before the war. Of course, he knew that Nobunaga had never won the world from the beginning to the end.But in this environment, it is necessary to draw a huge pie for the soldiers to appease their restless emotions.

Xiuci also rode his horse to the bank of Jiulongtou River and persuaded Xiu Sheng on the south bank, "Xiaoji, you and I are blood brothers, and we should fight together to achieve supremacy. But you turned your back on your brother!

Now that Xiubao is also in the battle, do you want the three brothers to fight each other, and let the white-haired father and the mother send the black-haired one?
Logically speaking, I shouldn't have forgiven you for doing such a thing, but who made me call your brother.As long as you rein in the precipice and return to Osaka together with me, so what if we brothers sit together in this world? "

Xiuci originally thought that the condition he offered was very tempting. If he wanted to share the world equally with Xiusheng, it would be a lie.In the position of Tianxiaren, Minamoto Yoshitsune was chased to death by Minamoto Yoshitomo.

In fact, Xiusheng's retainers reminded him of this issue, saying that this was just Xiuci's plan to delay the attack.

Xiusheng doesn't know the specific history of Minamoto Yoshitsune and Minamoto Yoritomo, but he also knows the fate of Minamoto Yoshitsune.

Not to mention that he got Chacha's promise that he can sit in the world in the future, so why should he share it with you?

Now that Xiuci came out to persuade him in person, of course Xiusheng had to give him some face and go out to boost morale in person: "Bah~, traitor Sun Qi, how can I have a brother like you. You and I are both from the Toyotomi family Courtier, how can you have the idea of ​​defeating the superior, can you still be worthy of Guan Bai's kindness!"

Then he pointed to the Wuqitong pattern flag behind him and said: "This Wuqitong pattern is the flag of Toyotomi's family, and Sun Qi on the opposite side is also equipped with Wuqitong pattern!"

"Xiaoji, don't talk nonsense! I have always been a loyal minister of Toyotomi's family, but now Daban Castle is being stolen by traitors! You are with me to set things right! My phrase 'people in the world' refers to the position that will be seen in hindsight!"

Xiu Sheng already had the upper hand in speech, holding the title of righteousness in his hand, so he didn't need to talk to Xiu Ci any more, he turned around and pointed at the five-seven-pattern-patterned formation flag to the soldiers behind him and said, "We are all from Feng The sergeant of the minister's family enjoys the favor of the Toyotomi family. Gentlemen, please join me today to fight against the rebels!"

After finishing speaking, he raised the spear in his hand high and pointed at the Gifu Legion on the opposite side, shouting loudly, "Come on!"

Hideji on the north bank was naturally not to be outdone, and raised his samurai sword high in his hand to direct the entire army to charge towards the opposite side.

March/April is the season of spring in Japan. Although it is already located upstream, the water level of Jiulongtouchuan is still high, and the water is submerged to the thighs, and even some areas are submerged to the waist.

Both Xiusheng and Xiuci were enfeoffed in the Echizen Kingdom, but in comparison, Xiuci at least went to the field to inspect some local agricultural development and the living standards of the residents.

Xiu Sheng never went to the ground, in his opinion, Lingmin is a bunch of mud legs, and he has already forgotten that his parents are also from mud legs.In this way, it is even more impossible for him to understand the local water patterns.

The battle area he chose was actually not suitable for crossing the river directly in this season. As soon as his army rushed into the Jiulongtou River, the water potential was too high to restrict its movement.

Although Xiuci on the opposite side also commanded the charge, the iron cannons rushed up first. They were waiting for this moment. How could there be a better target than the soldiers who were stuck in the river and couldn't move?

Anyone who has ever swam knows that when the body weight is too low and the water level is too high, the water will make people go to the critical point of floating.At this time, if there is an external force to lift the person's feet off the ground, the person will float up.

The Beizhizhuang soldiers who were shot and fell to the ground in the Jiulongtou River, overwhelmed the Ashgaru beside him, and were rushed further downstream by the river water bit by bit.

The water level in the lower reaches is deeper, and even if someone can temporarily stand on his feet, he will be taken away by the soldiers who rushed down from the upper reaches.

The vanguard's victory in the first battle greatly boosted the morale of the Gifu army. The bow samurai and the archers behind them began to throw arrows with their own bows and arrows, and they were about to strangle the Echizen army in the Kulongtou River.

Looking at the fallen Echizen army and the corpses washed downstream by the river, the corners of Hideji's mouth rose slightly, and he couldn't help but think, "Xiaoji, you're a little younger when you fight with me."

The more than 2000 people of the Echizen Army took the first two battles and reimbursed nearly half of them without even touching the enemy. The rest of the people retreated without any plans to continue swimming.

Xiu Sheng's reaction was also very straightforward, if you dare to retreat, I will dare to kill with a knife.Finally, after beheading more than a dozen rout soldiers, they only stayed in rout situation, and then they were able to revive them.

But on the other side, Xiuji's army just followed the rout and swam across the river. They were much smarter and took the horse warriors as the forerunner. Due to the height of the horses, the horse warriors could easily cross the river.

Of course, these knights on horseback would not rush into the formation foolishly. After dismounting from their horses on the bank, they held spears in their hands and followed the rout of the troops to charge towards the Echizen army formation.

Don't fail to understand why, Japanese horses are too short for charging.And the life of a warrior is very precious, how can it be wasted in the battle?
For thousands of years, Japanese warriors on horseback were not cavalry in the true sense, but more like using horses as a tool for fast maneuvering. When they came to the battlefield, they still dismounted and fought on foot.

Of course, the elite samurai of the famous masters also have horse battles, but more horse battles are held with bows and shoot each other. Horse battles with melee weapons are very difficult to see in Japan.

There are only a hundred of these elite samurai, and they are the elite organized by Hideji referring to the Niwa family's samurai pioneers.They are responsible for completing the task of breaking out and delaying the arrival of the army behind.

In this era of battles, the elite are rarely on the front line, and the first battle is often a tentative attack, which is the existence of cannon fodder.

Besides, apart from the Toyoharu family, few daimyos have such a high degree of integration within the territory. The military force under the daimyo's command comes from the organization of his own retainers.

Even the directly subordinate Hatakemoto, those ashigaru also followed the small-collar samurai to join the army.

Therefore, in the face of such a group of half-soldier, half-farmer army, only a hundred elite warriors, combined with a certain amount of cannon fodder, is enough to tear their army formation apart.

Only this time, it was the Beizhizhuang Fan's own defeated soldiers who served as the cannon fodder.

Naomoto Matsubara, the general of the second formation, couldn't even tell which were the rout soldiers and which were the enemies who rushed over.He could only hear the screams coming from the left and right sides.

"Push them back!" Xiu Sheng ordered from behind, "Let those rout soldiers turn around and kill the enemy, now there is no time to regroup! Those who don't turn around will be killed as enemy troops, and the heads will be regarded as military merit!"

It is difficult to understand the reason for this order. Many of these rout soldiers are fellow villagers and brothers of these people, but now they are asked to take their heads to receive credit.

This opening cannot be opened casually. Even though many soldiers are in a state of hyperactivity due to adrenaline, nothing is wrong.

But will they feel fear when they calm down, and how dare they hand over their backs to their comrades in the future?
But now Xiuci can't control so much, he just wants to suppress Xiuci, so that he can explain to his "lover" Chacha.

But even though Hideji had pulled the plug, the Kitanosho Domain's army was still gradually retreating under the pressure of the Gifu Legion.

Facing such a disadvantageous situation, Xiu Sheng had no good solution, otherwise he would not have fled from Kaesong directly in the face of the Ming army's artillery.He could only keep shouting helplessly, "Hold it! Hold it up!"

But what is the use of just this?Even he himself kept stepping back because of fear.

At this moment, a loud shout came from the front of the battle, "Echizen Councilor! My lord, please wait a while!"

Xiu Sheng looked over there, but he got a heavy-backed warrior from the horse, brandishing the long spear in his hand and constantly provoking the soldiers around him, causing them to fall to the ground constantly.

"Your Highness, this is Mai Hyogo, Mori Kubei, who took the city so forcefully back then!"

Seeing the visitor Huhe Xiusheng, the attendants beside Xiusheng introduced this enemy general to him.

"I know! One of Ruojiang's eight people, he was the one who made it to Kururi Castle." Xiusheng saw Mori Jiubingwei with a trace of fear in his eyes.

He was very familiar with Hideji in the past, so he naturally knew some famous warriors under his command, and Mori Kubei was one of them.

"Quick, come and block him!" Xiu Sheng yelled, wanting the samurai on the left and right to step forward to block such a fierce man, but the two samurai who rushed forward one after another became his ghosts under the gun.

"The counselor is going away, my family has been looking forward to the reunion of brothers for a long time!" This time it was Makino Narizato who spoke this time. He was originally a retainer of Takikawa Kazuyoshi and Oda Nobuo. Although he was a veteran, he was still quite courageous.

The most terrible thing is not how powerful this veteran is, but because this veteran came from the east side of the battlefield, which is the direction of the upper reaches of Jiulongtou River.

The enemy coming from this direction meant that Xiuci sent a ranger to cross the river upstream to attack him.

"My lord! Our army is weak, and we are invincible now, why not retreat first to protect ourselves!" Xiusheng's old family Naomasa Sakai persuaded him.

In fact, Xiu Sheng had intended to retire a long time ago, but his words were too harsh at the beginning of the war, and now he dare not escape because of face.

Now that his family has given him steps, he naturally intends to use the donkey to go downhill, but he still expressed a little fear, "If I retreat now, the army may collapse at the touch of a finger."

Sakai Naomasa heard that he could leave the horse seal and military flag here, and lead the army on his behalf to delay the pace of the Gifu army. He only needed the lord's money to withdraw to Kitanosho.

Seeing that his family elders had expressed their views in this way, Xiu Sheng immediately praised him for his loyalty and fled from the formation with more than a hundred banner warriors.

Sakai Naomasa already has the will to die. He was originally a retainer of the Niwa family and an Echizen native. After the Niwa family was changed, he was transferred to serve Hidecho, but he was not reused by Hidecho.

Later, Xiujiu was reduced, and Sakai Naomasa became one of the ex-registered samurai.It was Xiusheng who accepted him and gave him the chance to return to his hometown.Now that he has even achieved the status of a family elder, he should report to Xiu Sheng by death.

But the situation on the battlefield was changing so rapidly. Just when he decided to repay Xiusheng's kindness with death, he saw a commotion in the back of the Gifu domain, and soldiers continued to flock to the south bank of Jiulongduchuan.

Logically speaking, even if the Echizen Legion has been defeated, the Gifu Legion should not be so chaotic in pursuit.Taking a closer look, there are still high-ranking warriors riding horses and being engulfed by the army, heading towards the south bank of Jiulongtou River.

In the face of a new round of "reinforcements" crossing the river, Naomasa Sakai was even ready to die in battle, but they abandoned themselves and continued to flee southward desperately.

He fell into doubt, not understanding what happened.

It wasn't until he saw a Tokugawa Aoi flag appearing in the distance that he only realized that Tokugawa Aoi was so beautiful after experiencing life and death.

It's the Tokugawa family's reinforcements coming!

(End of this chapter)