Fire takes advantage of the wind, and the wind helps the fire. The mountain fire in Linxiang Mountain that was first ignited also spread the fastest. At a moment's notice on September 28, the fifth year of Tenmon (1536), Hojo Ujiyasu had to lead his troops to retreat from Rinxiang Mountain, and retreated directly through the mountain road to the northwest bank of the upper reaches of the Yui River. However, the main force of the Imagawa Army - Asahina Bei The five flag-based troops are still on the southeastern bank of the Yui River.
Also on the northwest bank of the Yuigagawa River, the remaining 700 people of Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei had to face a pincer attack by more than 4,300 people from Shiro Bei, Ao Bei, and Hojo Hatamoto at the same time. This was an almost impossible task. Imagawa Yoshimoto had no other choice. While he transferred the Fourth Lieutenant of Hatamoto who had entered the forest and set fire to the main formation, he also instructed Asahina Bei, the first Lieutenant of Hatamoto, the Second Lieutenant, and the Third Lieutenant, a total of more than 3,500 people, to come from the northeast. Nishio forced his way across the Yuigagawa River in an all-out attempt to contain the more than 2,400 remaining bannermen 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 heading 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 Imagination Army charged several times, but still could not make any achievements. The number of bridges on the upper reaches of the Yui River is very limited, and they have long been blocked by the Hojo family's infantry and archers. The only way to break through is to wade through the shallows. However, the current of the Yuiga River was already fast, and the Hojo family was well prepared on the other side. Every time the Imagawa army waded across the river, they had no chance to form a formation, and were forced to be defeated by swords, guns and random arrows. After all, the Hojo Army is also a strong army in Kanto, and its combat power is no lower than that of 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 angry. He picked up a knife and a round shield and ran to a shoal. And go. He summoned several knights on horseback, chose a place where the water was slightly deeper and the defenses on the opposite side were not very tight, and 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 mounted samurai 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 the attack, but he was inevitably 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, almost jumping to the shore, then roared and took a step, jumping onto the gravel on the beach.
The two Hatamoto Ashari of the Hojo family faced them with their spears drawn, and Yamada Keitaka didn't hide away. He raised his buckler and hit them, placing all his strength on the buckler. The moment they collided, the bamboo shafts of the two spears shattered. The two Ashigaru were caught off guard, and Yamada Keitaka turned around and killed them with a sweep.
The samurai behind him seized the gap created by Yamada Keitaka and quickly jumped onto the shore. Behind them, many Hatamoto samurai and ashigaru from the second branch jumped into the river one after another, rushing in hand and foot.
The changes in the battle situation even aroused 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 a dozen of his horse cavalry to rush to support. Yamada Keitaka's own horse was shot to death when crossing the river. 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 cavalry and are knocked off their horses one after another.
In desperation, Yamada Keitaka snatched the spear from the hand of a fallen soldier of the Hojo family, and in the midst of the chaos, he suddenly thrust at a horse cavalryman of the Hojo family, knocking him off his horse. Then he got on his horse and rode the stolen horse towards several horsemen and cavalry, fighting with them. The impact of the second preparation dispersed the pressure of other offensive forces, and the positions in front of the first and third preparations were broken through.
Seeing the commotion on the beachhead getting bigger and bigger, Hojo Ujiyasu himself couldn't sit still and came to the front line to supervise the formation in person. All of Hojo Ujiyasu's samurai guards came out, and after a few sieges, the Imagawa troops who came ashore were defeated steadily. Yamada Ketaka himself was stabbed once and retreated in embarrassment. The number of soldiers who landed on several other beachheads was always limited, and they could only form a circular formation to resist. In the end, they were driven back into the river, and another batch was shot down by random arrows during the retreat.
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"No, Your Highness, fighting like this is not an option." Akai Kurotaka watched as the Hatamoto samurai of the Imagawa family 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 need to drag the main force of the Hojo family to stop them from attacking Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked worriedly at Sena Bei 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, Baibei 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." Furunoji Yutaka could see the decline of Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei at a glance, 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 turnaround soon."
Under the insistence of Imagawa Yoshimoto, the Imagawa army still rushed towards the Yuigagawa, fearlessly paying their precious lives.
And he raised his head and looked at the sun that was gradually moving towards the west, and then looked at the red bird horse print flying above his head, and watched the flag from hunting to gradually being lowered and drooping, and then slowly turning towards the south. Float. 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. Sena Bei and Sekiguchi Bei, who had been forced into a desperate situation, seemed to have grasped the life-saving straw and fled back into the forest again, using the complex terrain in the forest to build a defense line. In contrast, Hojo Tsunaka's Akabi, who originally set a fire at the southern end of Ishikiri Forest, was dumbfounded and watched helplessly as the fire and smoke came toward 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. Thick black smoke came in overwhelmingly on the strength of the wind, and smoked the Edo people of Toyama Tsunkage's unit who were attacking Honmitsuyama from the downwind position to death, and they had to retreat in embarrassment. If the wind direction remained unchanged, they would even be smoked out of the battlefield and retreat to Puhara 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 preparer and put the fifth preparer into the battle line.
"Asahina Bei, take advantage of the opportunity when the mountain fires stop, hurry up to Mount Rinka, and then cross the Yui River from Mount Rinka 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 Bangu River to its maximum!"
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"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.
"His 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 His 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 Bei's transfer at a glance. Although he didn't know what the current situation was like downstream, his instinct told him that Okabe Bei's move could not be allowed to succeed. "Stop them, don't let them pass!"
Tamu Gentada detached 50 soldiers as reserve troops from the battle line and turned to the southwest. Because Okabe Bei had just encountered floods and random arrow attacks, his troops were severely attrited, and maintaining the front line was already at its limit. Obviously, there was no extra reserve team to mobilize-unless Okabe Otsuna came in person.
However, just as the 50 Black Soldiers were about to pass by Okabe Bei's formation, they saw only 10 men coming to kill them. They were all wearing distinctive attire, clearly the kind of attire only a Hatamoto bodyguard would wear. The leader is none other than Okabe Chitsuna himself.
"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?"
Okabe Oyatsuna ignored the obstruction of the guards around him and rushed towards the enemy formation with his sword. The warriors behind him were all excited when they saw how brave the family leader was. They shouted and followed, fighting together with the detouring troops.
