On the edge of the chaotic tidal flat, the ambushed samurai of the Oda family rushed to where Imagawa Yoshimoto was. Oda Nobuhiro's Shoushan people and Oda Nobuhiro's Anxiang people also attacked from both sides, leaving Zhen Xibei and An Yuanbei who were trying to rescue Ma Yin unable to move, struggling to support themselves in the chaos. As a result, Imagawa Yoshimoto and the few accompanying guards had to face an enemy army several times their own in number.
At this moment, Imagawa Yoshimoto was being attacked in turn by seven Oda family samurai. He relied on his body skills to move around desperately to avoid being cut into pieces with random swords. He rolled forward on the muddy ground and briefly jumped out of the crowd, but his clothes were instantly in a mess, covered in mud, and so dirty that Imagawa Yoshimoto felt sick.
"It's so dirty..." Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't know whether he disliked his clothes or was cursing. He looked around at the seven Oda samurai who were besieging him and said, "Is this the way your Oda family uses one-horse begging? "
"You 'Ikki', we 'beg' for you, why not 'Ikki'?" Oda Nobumitsu took Hayasaka Nao's saber and made a sword dance, and walked towards Imagawa Yoshimoto with a sinister smile.
"They are all low-level wild samurai fighting methods. Is there any reason for samurai to attack without knowing each other's names?" Imagawa Yoshimoto snorted coldly, and then used Ryumaru to point at the remaining six Oda family samurai, "That's rude. Disciples, all please sign up!"
"Oda Nobbo!"
"Okada Juno!"
"Sasa Masaji!"
"Sasa Sunsuke!"
"Nakano Ichiyasu!"
"Below Zhenqing!"
"Okay." Imagawa Yoshimoto took a deep breath, then held the katana in both hands and faced Oda Nobumitsu's sword head-on. Before he could adjust his breath, Oda Nobuka stabbed him with a knife from behind. Imagawa Yoshimoto jumped to avoid it, but Sasaki Masaji and Sasa Sonsuke followed behind him to make up two more shots. Imagawa Yoshimoto blocked one shot with his knife, and turned sideways to let go of another shot, but immediately came two more cuts from Okada Shigeno and Nakano Kazuyasu. He rolled over and dodged in a fraction of a second, and what was waiting for him was another blow from Zhenqing below...
Under the endless siege, even an extremely flexible samurai like Imagawa Yoshimoto was at the end of his rope. Two cuts were made on his thigh and shoulder. Guards such as Kira Usei and Tian Shen Kentaro wanted to rush to rescue, but they were also trapped in a distance and difficult to approach.
At the critical moment, the sound of horse hooves sounded behind, and Himura Hiroyuki arrived with dozens of horsemen, fighting a bloody path and rushing to Imagawa Yoshimoto. However, as soon as their front legs were back, the soldiers guarding the mountain were chasing and intercepting them again, determined not to let Imagawa Yoshimoto leave.
"Your Highness, get on the horse!" Himura Hiroyuki signaled a horseman beside him to dismount. The samurai turned over without saying a word, made way to sit on the horse, and helped Imagawa Yoshimoto to his horse. Imagawa Yoshimoto didn't even have time to see the samurai's appearance clearly. He only saw that he seemed to have a white hairband on his head.
"Let's go!" After seeing Imagawa Yoshimoto sitting firmly, Heimura Yangha immediately led the crowd to break out. Kira Usei and Tian Shen Kentaro also hurriedly came to join forces, once again fought their way through the rebel army, and protected Imagawa Yoshimoto as they left south. The samurai who had just given up his seat to Imagawa Yoshimoto without any complaints was quickly submerged in the sea of Oda papaya after the battle was stopped.
Imagawa Yoshimoto felt a dull pain in his chest, and asked in a low voice to Himura Hiroyuki: "What was the name of the samurai who gave me the horse just now?"
"Odagiri is flourishing." Himura Hiroyuki replied quickly. After noticing Imagawa Yoshimoto's sadness, he simply added: "He was picked out of the grass by the former master. He was deeply favored by the Imagawa family and was able to serve the current president. It is his honor for the governor to die in battle for his life. Your Highness need not worry."
At this moment, Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly noticed that there was still a group of Imagawa family horses fighting in the depths of the rebellious army. The number was about fifty people, but they had been overwhelmed by the huge number of defenders and Anxiang soldiers. Surrounded by everyone, many people were knocked off their horses. Seeing that they were unlikely to survive, they were still shouting for a fierce fight.
"That's that?" Imagawa Yoshimoto pointed in that direction with Ryumaru.
"It's the special force led by Akai-sama." When mentioning the names of his colleagues for many years, Himura Hiroyuki's tone was unavoidable, and he said with some difficulty, "They rushed into the battle first as bait to attract the enemy's attention. If there is a chance, I will lead the army to rush to His Highness and rescue you."
"Akai... Then they..." Imagawa Yoshimoto was riding forward surrounded by horsemen, while looking at the gradually shrinking encirclement around Akai Kurotaka and the horses and soldiers who were constantly bleeding.
"Master Akai said that this battle was ultimately caused by him losing the hostage, so he should be responsible and should die to apologize. It is their honor to sacrifice for the governor, and it is also the honor of the Imagawa family. It is the duty of a samurai to wrap his body in horse leather. , everyone will have this day, Your Highness, don’t worry too much.” Femura Yangha was no longer willing to see the last date of his good brother, but looked away, pretending to be calm and said in a deep voice: “Your Highness, please evacuate quickly, don’t It’s a failure to live up to their sacrifice.”
Imagawa Yoshimoto was silent for a long time, thinking a lot and remembering a lot of things.
Then he suddenly reined in his horse, and the horseman stood up, his neighing sound frightening the surrounding guards.
"I gave the order to lure the enemy. I should also be responsible for their lives. I have to go back and rescue them."
"If His Highness insists on this, then I will take the people back, Your Highness, please break out of the encirclement first!" Seeing that Imagawa Yoshimoto's tone was so firm, and there was no time on the battlefield to persuade him to take back the order, Himura Umoha replied, "The son of a daughter of gold. , don’t sit in the hall. You are the governor of the family, and it is good to love your soldiers as your own son, but there is no need to put yourself in danger."
"I will go back to save people. As for whether to come or not, it is your choice, Feicun, and your own choice." Imagawa Yoshimoto looked around at the horsemen behind him, and then whispered, "This is not an order from the governor of the family. , it’s just ‘Imagawa Yoshimoto’s’ choice.”
"You all can choose for yourselves and make a choice without regrets."
After saying that, he clapped his horse and ran away, took out the other saber Sosan Zumonji from his waist, and resolutely turned around to attack the Oda family's army.
·
Amid the heavy siege of the Oda family, Akai Kurotakamasa fought tirelessly, but there were fewer and fewer subordinates around him, but everyone felt calm in their hearts - they knew that every more moment they persisted, the chance of the family governor's escape would increase. Just a little bigger. Every horse warrior is a warrior who is loyal to his master and his governor, and has long been prepared to die for his master.
A hidden arrow was shot, hitting the head of the horse Akai Heigao was sitting on. The horse whined and fell to the ground, knocking Akai Heigao off the horse. Akai Heigao fell hard, and there was a crisp sound in his right leg, followed by unbearable severe pain. It was probably a fracture, but he still held on and wanted to continue fighting, but the light of the sword had already been reflected. In front of him - he knew that this was the day he would die, and it was a pity that he would not be able to see his soon-to-be-born child.
However, the pain of the sword cutting into the body did not come. Instead, there was the heavy sound of horse hooves on the ground. Akai Heigao looked up and saw a heroic knight standing in front of him with a sword, knocking back the enemy for several seconds. step. He sat down on the white horse, whose mane was dyed red with blood. He held a katana in each hand, and the one in his right hand was the Imagawa family's heirloom samurai sword - Ryuumaru.
Akai Kuroko suddenly realized who the reinforcements in front of him were.
"Your Highness? Why are you here?" Akai Heigao stood up suddenly.
"Come back to save people." Imagawa Yoshimoto simply replied, and while turning over and dismounting, he said to Akai Kurotaka, "Your leg is seriously injured, isn't it? Get on the horse, and I will cut off the hindquarters."
"Your Highness?" Akai Heigao was completely stunned, and even got a little angry after a moment: "What are you doing back here!"
"Come back to rescue you. Isn't your pregnant wife still waiting for you to come back?" Imagawa Yoshimoto waved his sword to respond to the enemy, while commanding the returning horses to support their companions and retreat.
"I don't need it, Your Highness! It is my duty and honor to die fighting for my family governor. You don't need it..."
"Do you think I'm a good governor?" Imagawa Yoshimoto interrupted Akai Kuroko's roar and asked a question without starting to a conclusion. Akai Kuroko was speechless for a moment and didn't know how to answer, while Imagawa Yoshimoto He laughed heartily to himself and said:
"Let me tell you, I haven't even properly approved a single document. All government and military affairs were handed over to my teacher. I have never cared about the interests of the Imagawa family for even half a day, let alone put any effort into it. . I am just an idle playboy, a mediocre master who is not enterprising. Do you think I am a good family governor? Am I worthy of your death for me?"
Yes, I never really regarded myself as the governor of the Imagawa family from the beginning to the end, and I didn’t want to be the governor, so I never fulfilled my duties as a governor, not even for a day. Ask yourself, since I am a house supervisor who has never performed his responsibilities competently, what qualifications do I have to enjoy the privileges of a house supervisor? What qualifications do I have as a family governor to ask these loyal subordinates to die for me? Isn't this shameful?
Since you don't want to be a family governor, you shouldn't openly enjoy the benefits that a family governor brings to you, let alone accept the loyalty and lives offered by your subordinates without shame.
Therefore, I will go to the most dangerous places, fight side by side with every retainer, never abandon any of my subordinates and retreat, and treat them as equals.
"My life is not more precious than yours, and you don't need to die for me."
Imagawa Yoshimoto snapped his fingers towards his chest.
Only in this way can I manage to feel at ease when facing the sincere loyalty of my subordinates. Because although I failed to fulfill my responsibilities as a household supervisor, I fulfilled my obligations to my subordinates as an equal.
From now on, I will always stand at the forefront of the battlefield, standing with all my retainers and subordinates, living and dying together.
·
"worth!"
Akai Heigao on the side suddenly roared.
"What's it worth?" Imagawa Yoshimoto asked puzzledly.
"It's worth dying for you!" Akai Heigao roared in response, taking out the knife to fight regardless of his injured leg.
"For a cheap family governor who indulges in flowers, birds, romance, sex, dogs and horses?" Imagawa Yoshimoto himself laughed.
"For a family governor who is willing to risk his life for his subordinates! For a family governor who is willing to live and die with his lackeys!" Akai Kuroko raised his arms and roared at the top of his lungs: "For your highness, the governor! For the Imagawa family!"
"For His Highness the Governor! For the Imagawa family!"
——The horsemen roared in unison with great force. The deafening roar and the aura of despair made the besieging Oda army stunned.
