"Lord, please leave quickly!" At the critical moment, Honda Tadayoshi, who was accompanying Matsudaira Hirotada, didn't care so much anymore. He whipped Matsudaira Hirōtada's horse's butt hard and looked at Abe Sakichi. The others protected Matsudaira Hirotada and left, while he took the remaining few horses and turned around to attack the Mizuno Army's cavalry. They were instantly overwhelmed by the army, but they also bought precious time for Matsudaira Hirotada.
"Guangzhong, this way!"
At the critical moment, Imagawa Yoshimoto led 200 horses to fight back. A burst of arrows drove back the Mizuno family's pursuers, and Matsudaira Hirotada had a chance to breathe. Looking around, the troops of Imagawa Junzhen Nishibei, Kirabei, and Makinobei all began to converge and retreat. The tight formation prevented Oda Nobuhiro from finding a chance to attack, and he was just slowly following behind.
"Gather the stragglers of the Matsudaira clan as much as possible." Imagawa Yoshimoto took a look at the situation in the west of Sakurai Castle and realized the seriousness of the situation - of the 1,100 people the Matsudaira clan brought to the battlefield, it was not easy for more than 200 to come back in the end.
However, Mizuno Bei obviously did not give the Matsudaira family a chance to regroup, and immediately came to kill them again, followed by the troops of the Fukuoka Matsudaira family. Oda Nobhiro's troops did not dare to attack the Imagawa army head-on, but they were still very interested in the defeat of the Matsudaira clan. They also went straight to the south and even blocked the Fukugata Matsudaira family's advance route, forcing the Fukugama Matsudaira family to go through Sakura. Go northwest of Jingcheng City. This also caused the defeated army of the Matsudaira family to flee north to be completely surrounded, and they had no choice but to kneel down and ask for surrender.
"Brother, this is the Mizuno family!" Matsudaira Hirotada's helmet fell off at some point, and his hair was disheveled.
"Rebellion, Mizuno Shimono may have been controlled by others. Maybe Toshichiro Mizuno is in charge, so he will naturally move closer to the Oda family." Imagawa Yoshimoto repeated the Imagawa family's speculation to Matsudaira Hirotada, but at the same time he said Observing the battle situation extremely calmly.
"Then what should we do now?" Matsudaira Hirohada was completely crazy. He wanted to rush back to the rebel army to rescue the Matsudaira family's subordinates. However, Abe Nobuyoshi and others held him tightly and admonished him with tears in his eyes: " Lord, you must calm down! Let’s retreat to Anxiang City as soon as possible! Your life was bought by Lord Honda and countless warriors, you can’t do this again!”
"There is really a chance to counterattack."
Imagawa Yoshimoto's plain words seemed so calm in the critical situation. Matsudaira Hirotada and others were stunned when they heard the words. At present, the combined forces of the Oda Army, Mizuno Bei, Sakurai Matsudairabe, and Fukugama Matsudairabe total 3,000 people. After the Matsudaira clan's troops collapsed, Imagawa Yoshimoto only had 1,200 Jinsaibei and 900 Kirabei. It’s just a human and the 300 people from the Makino family. What's more, the Imagawa-Matsudaira coalition forces were newly defeated, their morale was low, and all their units were retreating. It didn't look like they could counterattack.
"Look, Oda Ohsumi's troops have now reached the west of Sakurai Castle, while the troops of the Fukugama Matsudaira family who detoured are to the north of them, blocking the Oda army's way back to Anxiang Castle." Imagawa Yoshimoto He raised his hand and pointed, revealing the huge flaw in the enemy's formation:
"Now our army has stopped retreating and is heading straight for Anxiang City. Oda Ohsumi must immediately go north to return reinforcements. After all, it is his own city. But the Fukuoka Matsudaira family is not willing to defend Anxiang City. It is impossible for the Oda family to do so. There was a bloody battle between the castle and the Imagawa family, whose number was several times theirs. At that time, if the Fukugama Matsudaira family hesitated, they would block Oda Ohsumi's troops. They and the Oda family were just cheap allies who had little trust and trust. There is a tacit understanding, and there will inevitably be conflicts and chaos, which can mess up the formations of both their armies. If we take advantage of the situation, we will have a chance to defeat them."
"The west side of Sakurai Castle is now in a mess. The troops of the Mizuno family, the Oda family, and the Sakurai Matsudaira family are intertwined, and they are all chasing the broken troops of the Matsudaira clan. Once the friendly forces in front are defeated and roll back to the front, they will have no time to regroup. Their troops Once we retreat, we have a chance to rescue the scattered friendly forces, and if things go wrong, we can capture them and call them."
"How's it going?" Imagawa Yoshimoto turned around and looked at Yamada Keitaka, Obara Masumi, Nafuruno Ujitoyo and others.
"I think it's feasible, just give the order," Yamada Ketaka, a veteran for many years, said with relief.
However, Ohara Jinmi and Na Furunoji Yutaka looked at each other and shook their heads. Imagawa Yoshimoto knew their subtext even without asking - why risk the family's troops to save the Matsudaira clan?
"Earlier in Shinano, my brother was not at all willing to take advantage of the Takeda family's adventure." That Furunoji Yutaka advised meaningfully, expressing his protest without arousing the resentment of everyone in the Matsudaira family.
"The situation is different." Imagawa Yoshimoto just smiled slightly, and then snapped his fingers in the direction of Anxiang City, "Zhenxibei, march towards Anxiang City! Kirabei, cover the rear and prevent the Oda army from returning reinforcements! Makino Bei, guard the gates of Sakurai Castle to see if any enemy troops are entering or exiting!"
Gu Gen·
Under the command of Yoshimoto Imagawa, the Imagawa army stopped retreating, turned its offensive, and headed towards Anxiang Castle. Oda Nobhiro was busy catching deserters from the Matsudaira clan just now, but it was already too late when he discovered the unusual movements of the Imagawa army.
"No way, are we going to counterattack if we don't retreat at this time?" Oda Nobuhiro hurriedly jumped on a small hill and saw that the flag of the Imagawa Army Flag Team was indeed heading towards Anxiang City, and then he became anxious.
"Go back to Anxiang City immediately and don't worry about the prisoners anymore!" Oda Nobhiro roared to urge the horses, swinging his whip in the air at all the soldiers who were still lingering and unwilling to leave, "Quickly! Take everything you grabbed. Throw it down! Withdraw! Don’t you dare to stay and engage in military law again!”
Oda Nobhiro issued such a strict order, and samurai at all levels did not dare to delay. They urged their deployment and reluctantly headed north. However, on the flat ground in the northwest corner of Sakurai Castle, they were pursued. The Fukugama Matsudaira family was blocked. The troops of the Fukugama Matsudaira family were searching the battlefield for the gold and silver that had been dropped by the defeated soldiers, but the queue of several hundred people was long and chaotic.
"Let them stop the Imagawa army immediately, or they will make way for us!" Oda Nobuhiro suddenly became angry, and he yelled at the envoy and ordered, "Hurry up, let those Mikawa guys go away!"
The envoy who was so angry naturally did not look down upon Matsudaira Chiji of the Fukugama Matsudaira family. He sternly conveyed Oda Nobhiro's instructions, but Matsudaira Chiji also instantly became serious: "What does Oda Ohsumi Mamoru mean? ? The two families are temporary allies, how can we be under his command? I am not his retainer, so who should I blame him for? "
However, Matsudaira Chiji did not dare to fall out with Oda Nobuhiro, who had a large number of people. However, he was full of complaints and naturally had no intention of saving the Oda family's city. He just slowly began to restrain the troops and left Oda Nobuhiro. Several channels for return aid. Oda Nobhiro hurriedly urged his men to pass through Fukuoka Matsudairabe and go north, but the formation was a bit disorganized. It was difficult for the leading troops to enter Anxiang City before Jinxibei. However, before the leading generals of the Oda family could go to the city to defend, they found that Jin Xibei had changed his direction and instead went towards the somewhat confused Oda Nobhiro's horse seal.
Oda Nobhiro was horrified when he saw this, and hurriedly wanted to adjust the position and camp. However, how could his own soldiers who were sandwiched in the Fukugama Matsudaira family's troops be mobilized quickly? Several chaos broke out in an instant. Matsudaira Okaji had just woken up from a dream and hurriedly formed a formation to defend against the enemy, but their troops were too weak. Oda Nobhiro and Matsudaira Okaji immediately asked for help from the Mizuno family. The Mizuno family hurriedly gathered their troops and wanted to come over, but were blocked by the Oda army and Fukumagama Matsudairabe. They had to join the Sakurai Matsudaira family and tried to pass through Sakurai Castle. , attacking the flank of the Imagawa Army - However, Kirabei and Makinobei had been on guard for a long time, and they were well positioned so that they had no chance to take advantage.
Just when the troops of Oda Nobuhiro and Matsudaira Chiji were in chaos and the Imagawa army's counterattack was about to succeed, trouble came again. I saw an Oda army suddenly coming out of the north of Anxiang City. Not only did they sneak here quietly, but the flag was the troops of the Yamaguchi family of Narumi Castle. There were already more than 1,200 people - more than Imagawa Yoshimoto last time. Seeing that Yamaguchi taught an additional 300 people, it seems that he has really developed well in recent years.
If the Imagawa Army continues to advance, Yamaguchi Bei will have the opportunity to flank the Imagawa Army at any time and block them in the gap between Anxiang Castle and Sakurai Castle. Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't have much choice, so he could only regretfully order the troops to retreat immediately. However, Yamaguchi Kotsugi was very polite and had no intention of pursuing him. He just sent Imagawa Yoshigenrei out of the country.
·
"After this great defeat, the Matsudaira clan is doomed."
On the bridge crossing the Yahagi River, Nagoya Furunoji said to Imagawa Yoshimoto with a little gloating. Imagawa Yoshimoto followed his gaze and could see Matsudaira Hirotada returning east across the river with only a few dozen troops. The flags on the backs of these defeated soldiers of the Matsudaira clan were all in pieces, and their armors were in tatters. They had all managed to escape from the battlefield and return to their ranks. The remaining nearly a thousand troops were buried under Sakurai Castle on the other side of the Yahagi River. I don’t know how many people were captured, how many died in battle, and how many people escaped, but they haven’t found a chance to escape yet.
But after losing nearly half of the troops and samurai at once, the Matsudaira clan's status also plummeted. With the break of the Mizuno family's alliance and the betrayal of the Sakurai Matsudaira family and the Fukumagama Matsudaira family, Mikawa west of the Yahagi River was completely separated from the control of the Matsudaira clan. In addition to the wealthy Higashi Mikawa family who became independent after the death of Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, the land that the Matsudaira clan can control now is only a small circle around Okazaki Castle. Among the main branch families, only the Tojo Matsudaira family and the Goi Matsudaira family still support Matsudaira. Guang Zhong.
"This is a good opportunity for us to extend our power deep into Mikawa." Then Furunoji Yutaka whispered into Imagawa Yoshimoto's ear, "Whether we take this opportunity to control the Matsudaira family, or we clean up those who are not listening to the instructions in Mikawa. Whether it is the wealthy families of Xuan, they are all within your choice, Fourth Brother. Although the wealthy families of Higashi Mikawa nominally surrender to our Imagawa family, they have neither hostages nor military service. In the past, we were worried about the influence of the Matsudaira family and did not dare to annex them. They are afraid that they will join forces with the Matsudaira family to fight against us. Now that the Matsudaira clan has collapsed, this is a good opportunity for us."
"Some are happy and some are sad." Imagawa Yoshimoto sighed helplessly and looked at the lonely figure of Matsudaira Hirotada - he was looking back at the land of Nishi Mikawa with tears in his eyes.
