Prime Minister Bizen

Chapter 809 East-West Battle (21) Suruga Decisive Battle ([-])
The 5000 members of the ranger Mikawa, whom Sakakibara Komasa had placed high hopes on, failed to break through the heavy armored infantry formation of only 1200.

Moreover, because there were more than a thousand rangers wandering around, harassing and shooting, and because the frontal heavy armored infantry bravely pushed back with axes, this army was actually squeezed in the plain south of Inagawa and west of Asahinagawa.

Yasomasa Sakakibara, who was caught in a frontal battle, didn't know anything about what happened here. He just scolded Oka Minister Mori and Sakai Shigeta several times in his heart. However, after the world is settled, I will definitely play you to the lord."

Fortunately, the superiority of troops is still there. Under the wave after wave of offensives, Chang Lubei, who is at the forefront, has suffered a lot of losses. Although the Xiu family has equipped them with sufficient armor, but it is really here. In this level of battle, Hitachi's long-tailed ashigaru still suffered great losses.

His son Tadacho Sakakibara pointed to him and said, "Father, the Toyoharu army has retreated!"

Sakakibara Komasa looked in the direction of his son's finger, and sure enough, as he said, the Toyoharu army in the front appeared to be retreating, but the excitement didn't rise for long, and he saw the enemy army coming up again from behind , so it seems that the retreat just now is more like a change of rotation.

The original thick army formation continued to weaken, so that Masatoshi Suga had to give an order to withdraw from Hitachi, who was standing in front of him, and pushed up Hitachi's No. 1 reserve, which was previously a reserve.

It is a very dangerous thing to replace the army in the battle between the two armies, but looking at Chang Lubei's ever-decreasing troops and weakened gun wall, he knew he had to do it.

Otherwise, even if it is a standing stock, instability and retreat will occur after the loss of personnel exceeds 3%.

He was very aware of the Hide family's formation, and knew that even if you counted the guards of the formation on the frontal battlefield, it was only two lines of defense.

If Chang Lubei breaks up, it will inevitably affect the guards on the side and the heavy armored corps of the flank guards. This army is the treasure of the Xiu family.

So before retreating, he specifically asked Xiujia for instructions. Not only did he get the approval of Xiujia, Xiujia also said that he would transfer his goben fans as a supplement to the 1st and 2nd rounds of Hitachi's preparation. Formed behind him, and transferred Chang Lubei back to the formation to serve as a guard and rest.

If the standing guard is the soldiers who have undergone the training of the Xiu family's new formation, and the proportion of iron cannons has been increased to 3%, then the defense is the fan team trained according to the Xiu family's old tactics. The entire fan team has 1500~1600 people and only 300 iron cannons.

As for the reserve team, it is the same as other reserve teams. If the entire reserve team can use 100 iron cannons, it is considered a well-equipped team.

It is mainly the old Sengoku fan team composed of long-tailed ashigaru, bow-footed light, and stone-throwing ashigaru, but let alone, as an old military formation, it is really better than the old army in throwing guns and playing with guns. Xinzhen needs to be more familiar.

As for the Yuben Fanzhong, this team is even more special as a team dedicated to guarding Fengchun City as the guards of Xiujia Honjo.

Regardless of whether it is the 1st fan or the 2nd fan, those who can be selected into the fan must be Kanto servants from Jibei or Kanto samurai children.And because its upper and lower outfits are well-dressed in the world, with blue tasseled iron pockets on their heads, each holding a flintlock iron cannon and red spear as standard equipment, and each warrior has his own hand axe, golden hammer, and katana sword as his assistants.

It can be said that except for having no horses and no longbows, its armed forces are a replica of the banners.

It makes sense to configure flintlock guns, because the main task of this team is to defend Fengchun City. Since it is defending the city, there is no need to worry about other people getting close for the time being. Use fast, rain-proof and armor-piercing guns The flintlock was just right.

And this is also the reason why the Xiu family transferred the Goben fans to the back of the two fan teams, because they had a flintlock iron cannon, and they deliberately selected tall and powerful people during the screening, and then relied on Xiao Mu Shooting from a high position can effectively make up for the lack of iron guns on the front line after Hitachi was transferred back by the iron guns.

Of course there is another reason Hideka didn't mention, but Suga Masari knew it very well.

That is the imperial guards who are the guards of the Xiu family guarding the main formation. They are placed behind them. They are supported by iron cannons in name, but in fact they are a kind of supervision, which means that the Xiu family will no longer allow two times and then take a step back. mean.

If there is another retreat before the army of Gomoto, regardless of samurai or ashigaru, Gomoto can kill first and then play.

This is the Xiu family who will supervise the battle team!

Of course, Xiujia also knows the pressure of Masatoshi Suga. The main force can hold on for more than 3 hours under three times the pressure, which is enough to see that Masatoshi Suga is well-armed.

So Hideka sent envoys to the north to order Ukita Sokatsu, Sanada Nobushige and others to break through the formation as soon as possible. Whether it was crossing the south to support the frontal battlefield of Tokugawa, or sending people to attack the Tokugawa main formation, there must be an explanation.

It cannot be said that my weak troops on the frontal battlefield blocked the enemy in front, but your superior troops on the side battlefield were also blocked by the enemy on the opposite side.

In fact, the command of the entire battlefield has nothing to do with the Xiu family, because too much gunpowder has been put into the front-line iron guns to obscure the view, and the Xiu family can only use messengers and rangers to understand the occupation and make overall arrangements.

Therefore, the command of the frontline battlefield often needs to rely on the general's personal ability to implement the original plan.

For Suga Masatoshi on the frontal battlefield, it is a very energy-consuming problem to complete the formation change under the attack of an enemy force three times his own. Withdrew little by little.

Especially before Hitachibi's iron cannons withdrew, the Tokugawa army's offensive, which had lost the suppression of long-range firepower above their heads, suddenly rose, which put great pressure on Suga Masatoshi to change his formation, and also made Sakakibara Komasa see the flaws ahead.

"Is it because they have been firing iron cannons for a long time and can't shoot anymore?" Sakakibara Yasumasa murmured to himself.

But the reality didn't give him a chance to think at all. After a while, his son Sakakibara Tadaga said again, "Father, the young master has moved!"

Yasumasa Sakakibara looked towards the green hills behind him, but he saw that Tokugawa Hidetada and Mayin had indeed moved eastward from the main camp. They have to be filled in.

"It doesn't matter, I don't know when the outflanking army will come from the rear, and we must race against time to win this battle." The reality has not allowed Sakakihara Komasa to think too much, and he finally made a decision.

The thoughtful Sakakibara Komasa recruited Akabi General Yoshikatsu Murakami and said to him, "Did you see the opening of the enemy's right wing? The two army formations are being exchanged, but there is a problem with the connection."

Yoshikatsu Murakami nodded and looked at the master's house and asked, "What does the master want me to do?"

"This should be the job of Nei Shanzheng (Oka Minister Mori) and the others. Although I don't know why they haven't attacked from the side until now, we must seize this opportunity." Sakakibara Yasumasa said to his retainers Said: "Take the red team up, kill them while they are in chaos, and assist Gorozaemon (Osuka Tadamasa, the eldest son of Sakakihara Yasumasa who inherited his grandfather's family name) to make a frontal breakthrough."

"Yes!" Murakami Yoshikatsu was born in the Murakami family of Shinano country, the great-grandson of Murakami Yoshiki who was defeated by Takeda Shingen.His grandfather served Nobunaga in the Nobunaga era, and was later handed over to Tokugawa Ieyasu by Nobunaga.

When Tokugawa Ieyasu formed Chibei, he did not have his name, but he handed it over to Ii Naomasa, who was in charge of suppressing the Shinano area.

Later, the Shinano Kai essence Akabe followed Ii Naomasa to bury the city of Kabu, and was not selected for Akabe, but Murakami Katsushige and his son, who followed Ii Naomasa to know the method of Akabe, became an important help when Sakakibara Komasa reorganized Akabe .

Later, Katsushige Murakami passed away. His two sons, Yoshiharu Murakami and Yoshinaka Murakami served as generals of the Red Army.

Now that his elder brother Murakami Yoshiharu is leading the army to assist his eldest son Osuka Zhongzheng in the battle, his younger brother Murakami Yoshikatsu has naturally become the key to leading Chibei to break through.

But it is said that this team is composed of Anayama Chibei, Nanshinano Ogasawara, and Kiso Chibei as the backbone, supplementing the new Chibei formed by soldiers from the Three Kingdoms of Jia Junyuan. Chibei's part of the spirit is still stronger than the average team.

I saw Murakami Yoshikatsu leading the red team away from Sakakibara Yasunari, and then headed towards the right wing that Sakakibara Yasunari had seen.

There was indeed a gap there, which was left by the heavy armored soldiers of the Mobile Rangers who took the initiative to cross the river to attack the Sanhe people, and the Jurchen rangers attacked and harassed the crowd.

The mobilization of thousands of people on the north bank of Inagawa, especially the actions of such a unified Red Armor Army, naturally could not escape the eyes of Ukita Tai and Ukidoqi on the south bank.

They recruited their retainers and asked, "Is that Chibei? Is it the same Chibei army as Ueno Bei?"

The samurai on the left and right said to their patriarchs, "The Tokugawa family inherited the old leader of Takeda and naturally inherited the Tokugawa family's Chibei army. Back then, there was a well Ichibei that was destroyed by the Lord at the foot of the castle. Later, I heard that Tokugawa rebuilt it. If it’s Chi Bei, it should be this one.”

"How do they compare with our family's red equipment?"

"I didn't have a good meal under the master's hands back then. In order to protect the main force and retreat, Ii Naomasa had to personally lead the red equipment to make a surprise attack. In the end, most of the red equipment were lost."

Yuxi Duotai's retainers were originally given to him by the Xiu family, so they naturally saw the change in the young Patriarch's demeanor, and immediately persuaded him, "Young Master, our army is Qingqi, and we should mainly use long-range attacks to harass. It's a matter of formation.

What's more, our army has been fighting for a long time so far, and the arrows in the pot are exhausted. It is true that we have no spare energy to get involved in the affairs there.In my opinion, it is better to send someone to inform Hitarosuke (Masatoshi Suga) and the boss to deal with the rapid changes of the Tokugawa Army. "

"Father's formation, you and I both know that he doesn't have any main force. Besides, it will take time to make a change. Besides me and Qingqi, which other troops can move quickly to stop the enemy? Even if it delays for a moment That's good too!"

I don't know if it's the same heart of brothers, and Yu Xiduoqi on the other side also has the same idea. I saw that he no longer led people to harass the Sanhe army formation, but brought people to rein in his horse.

As soon as he arrived, Yu Xiduoqi said: "Brother, I want to take people north to delay the progress of the Red Army."

"I also have the same intention, but now that the arrows in the pot are exhausted, there is really no energy left to hinder it!" Yu Xijiatai replied.

"I still have less than half of the arrows on my side. Elder brother came out early to stop the enemy. I am afraid that the soldiers are exhausted from drawing their bows. Please, brother, give me the arrows in your army, and let me go to stop the enemy. "

Yuxi Duotai didn't want to give this credit to Yuxi Duoqi, but he had to admit that what he said was true.At this time, the bows and arrows still needed manpower to fire, unlike the firearms of later generations, just pulling the trigger.Every time the string is pulled, the muscles need to be exerted, and it is easy to exhaust the muscles after shooting for a long time.

So even if he was reluctant, he could only agree to Yuxi Duoqi's request, and asked his subordinates to collect the remaining arrows and give them to take away, while he continued to wander around the Sanhe people with his rangers.

It's just that there are no arrows to harass them, so they can only frighten those ashigaru with their horses, and slash and kill some fleeing soldiers with their knives.

But it was Yuxi Duoqi who once again crossed the river from the south bank of the East Daochuan River to the north, and went to slow down the pace of Chibei's progress.Just because the width of the battlefield is really too small, its main army horses still step on the Inagawa stream eastward and shoot arrows at Chibei who are walking along the bank.

It's just that this Chibei is not as helpless as the Sanhe people. Faced with the ranger attack, he decisively rushed out of 500 red armored cavalry to drive away.

Jurchen rangers boast that the horses are good, but after all, they have been galloping for a long time, and their horsepower has declined, while the red armored riders are restless and full of energy. In addition, they are galloping on the horses, bending their bows and shooting arrows. They reacted quickly, but there were more than a dozen people who couldn't react and were picked to death by Chibei on Inagawa.

It was also at this point that Yoshikatsu Murakami understood why the Mikawas were unable to attack the front and flanks for a long time. It turned out that there was such a prisoner's ranger attacking on the southern battlefield, and the direction of the army formation on the south bank of Inagawa seemed to be the same as Fengchun's army. There was an army blocking them, killing the Sanhe people so that they could not advance half a step.

The movement here finally caught the attention of Suga Masatoshi and Hideka, but right now neither of them have any infantry to block the opening, so should Hitachi, who has retreated halfway, be blocked?

After thinking about it, Xiu Jia felt that if he really did this, Chang Lu's army would definitely not be able to make an elite assault if the army was not in order, but it would be defeated everywhere.

After thinking about going to Hideo's house, he couldn't hold back his heart anymore, and he clenched his right fist and slammed it heavily on the wooden fence of the turret, "After all, there are still fewer soldiers, Matsuhachiro (Ashikashi's family) and Fukushiro (Fukushiro) Toyotomi Shige's family) what's going on over there, why haven't you come here to attack!"

Xiujia ordered to the underside of the oar tower, "Call the attendants and the bannermen, and march forward with the banners drawn!"

When Hideka came down from the turret, he said to Kira Mori, who was standing behind him, "Go to Genjiro's formation and ask him how long it will take him to break the formation. Now I have pushed up the formation, so don't ask When the battle is resolved on my side, it has not been resolved on his side.

Tell him that I will hand over the responsibility of Ye Lichuan North Bank to him, and let him defeat the enemies on the North Bank as soon as possible, and then bring Ibaraki Beinan to help and attack the frontal enemies. "

Then he said to another attendant, Yasuyuki Narita, "Go to the south side and find Yasutora Maeda (the eldest son of Keiji Maeda) of the 3rd Battalion of the Hatakemoto Congregation, and ask him to take someone to cross the Asahinagawa barrier first." Enemy, desperately want to buy time for me to change formation. Then go to Hitachi and tell him that the frontal battlefield is handed over to him. Hitachi will bring support and me after training for a while after being replaced!"

After finishing speaking, he got on his horse and said to the left and right, "The army flag and horse seal of the formation will move south with me, and the people of the banner will gallop ahead to kill the enemy and break the formation!"

(End of this chapter)