On March 30, the 14th year of Tianwen (1546), at eight o'clock in the hour, Sansanjian Hall.
Otomo Yoshin led the Otomo army to rush into Sanjusangendo Hall, and the few Saito troops who stayed behind immediately evacuated. Before leaving, he didn't even take down the flag, but gave Sanjusangendo, which was still burning with many flames, to Otomo.
"Take down the flag of the Saito family and place the apricot leaves of our Otomo family at the top of Sanjusangen-do Hall!" Taguchi Kamuchika excitedly instructed the samurai to rush towards the main hall, but Kanuchi Toji stopped him. down.
"Zou Ren, please be patient." Toji Kanren narrowed his eyes and glanced at the flags in the Sanjusangen Hall, then turned to Otomo Yoshizumi and said, "Young Master, I suggest you keep these flags. . The flag of the Saito family is still there, and the rest of the Confederate Army may not know that Sanjusangendo has changed hands, and we will have the opportunity to continue sneak attacks."
"How is that possible?" Taguchi Kamikachi retorted after hearing this, "The Saito family has already sent someone to notify the friendly forces of such a big matter, how could it be possible to hide it?"
"No, if the Saito Army really notified the friendly forces, then the Confederate Army would not have allowed us to seize this important position, and would definitely send people to replace the defense." Totsugi Kenren was experienced and calmly deduced. Correct situation, "Since no one is here, it means that the Saito Army must have concealed military information. After all, there is intrigue within the Southern Army, and it is not surprising that there are cases of deceiving friendly forces."
"It's too whimsical." The mature and steady Saito Nagami also retorted: "What if it's a trick of the enemy?"
"With the fragile trust between the southern armies, it is impossible to carry out any complicated strategies." Toji Kanren made a decisive judgment again, "And even if there is a fraud, if we don't remove the Saito family's flag, there will be no Disadvantages. If the enemy really has a plan, in Kyoto with complex terrain and narrow vision, he must have initiated the order with some signals that are obviously observable by all parties. Then, the flag of the Otomo family replaced the flag of the Saito family—— It's very likely that this is the signal they agreed upon. In that case, we shouldn't add any extraneous information."
"But this is the best opportunity to show off the military prestige of my Otomo family..." Taguchi Kamikachi was still a little unwilling. "We were clearly the first Northern Army to counterattack and capture the stronghold. If we don't raise the flag, wouldn't it be a waste of money?" The credit goes to others.”
"Calm down, there are still greater achievements waiting for you, young master." Tojikan raised his hand and pointed - those are the horse seals of Takeda Harunobu at Tofuku Temple in the south, and the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine further south - General Hosokawa Harumoto of the Southern Army was there, "Moreover, they were defenseless."
"Just follow Tojizaemon's advice." Otomo Yoshin heard the words and happily accepted it. He waved his hand and said to his subordinates, "No flags are allowed, no shouting, no celebrations, and no need to put out fires. After a little rectification, continue to Head south."
·
At the same time, the Confederate Army took up its command position at Tofukuji Temple.
Takeda Harunobu looked up at the sun and estimated the movements of the Imagawa Army far northeast of Mount Otowa. According to the agreed plan, they should have already detoured into position at this time and were ready to suddenly cut into the east bank of the Kamogawa River in Kyoto. In this case, the Southern Army should try to attract as much attention as possible from the Northern Army and create space for the Imagawa family to launch a surprise attack.
Therefore, Takeda Harunobu sent 3,000 men from the Asai Army and 3,000 men from the Wakasa Takeda Army to the west bank, allowing them to cross the Higashiyama Bridge and garrison at Chofukuji Temple. Subsequently, the Asai Army continued westward, passed Suilin Temple and entered the East Temple to support the Asakura Army in the battle. The Wakasa Takeda Army went directly north to support the Hexagon Army in the Kankyoji area. The Asakura family and the Asai family are close allies, while the Wakasa Takeda family and the Rokkaku family are in-laws. They cooperate with each other tacitly and do not have too many selfish motives. Letting their respective die-hard allies help out will definitely give the Asakura family and the Rokkaku family an advantage in the battle against the Ouchi family and the Nizi family, thus forcing the Northern Army to also invest reinforcements as reserve forces on the west bank.
In theory, this arrangement is enough, but Takeda Harunobu's keen sense of battlefield makes him confused about the battle situation on the east bank of Kamogawa:
"It's strange." Takeda Harunobu felt more and more strange the more he looked in the direction of Sanjusangen-do, but he couldn't explain why. "After the Oda family captured Sanjusangen-do, they continued without reporting the movement or extinguishing the fire. Take action... Considering it's Oda Nobunaga, it's not surprising. But then Saito
After the family took over... they also did not put out the fire, and the Saito family did not report the movements of the Oda army... It is understandable that the Saito family concealed the movements of their allies to avoid our harm, but the Saito family clearly stayed in the Sanjusangendo Hall, why Not putting out the fire? Allowing the soldiers to be choked by smoke and doing nothing will inevitably lead to dissatisfaction and morale fluctuations among the soldiers..."
The more Takeda Harunobu thought about it, the more wrong he became, until he realized a possibility: Saito Jun did not stay in Sanjusangendo at all, but left. However, there was smoke surrounding Sanjusangendo Hall, making it difficult to see clearly. He originally wanted to send a team of scouts to investigate the situation on the spot, but his keen sense of battlefield made him inexplicably feel the crisis and the urgency of time. So, he turned to give the order directly to the troops:
"Send Tsutsui Army immediately north to Sanjusangendo Temple to take over Saito Army's defense area. If Saito Army is there, order them to go north to Rokuparamitji Temple. If Saito Army is not there, immediately reorganize the defenses and search for Saito Army and Ori at the same time. The whereabouts of Tian Jun." Takeda Harunobu stood up from the mazaar somewhat uneasily and looked towards the smoke-filled north, "Be prepared for battle and beware of the enemy."
·
As a Buddhist daimyo, the Tsutsui family ran Yamato Kofukuji Temple from generation to generation and was committed to expanding their territory. In the hands of the current head, Tsutsui Junaki, the Tsutsui family's territory has almost reached its maximum. Whether it was the previous Kizawa Nagamasa Rebellion or the confrontation between Hosokawa Harumoto and Hosokawa Utsuna, the Tsutsui family was involved. Although Tsutsui Junaki also actively used troops, his military strategy was not very outstanding. Most of the sieges relied on the strong strength of the Tsutsui family to overwhelm others. His arrogant expansion aroused dissatisfaction among many people in Yamato. Even though he was forced to submit to the Tsutsui family, he still obeyed in both positive and negative ways.
In recent years, Junaki Tsutsui, who was just over 20, was supposed to be in the prime of life, but he fell ill several times. He has not yet left a son, which not only makes people worry about the successor of the Tsutsui family. Many members of the Tsutsui family's branches and important ministers of the Tsutsui family had ulterior motives for this, which made the conflicts within the Tsutsui family more intense and the army's combat effectiveness plummeted. Therefore, although the Tsutsui family led a full 6,000 men in this battle, they were not valued by Hosokawa Harumoto, Taiyuan Xuezai and others.
However, Takeda Harunobu did not have many reserve teams to choose from at this time. The 20,000 people in charge of Hosokawa Harumoto are far behind and cannot be mobilized by him. Another option is the 4,000 men of the Kitahata family, but Kitahata Harugu is also a famous general who is skilled in bow and horse. It is obviously more important to keep him to defend the main formation.
After the Tsutsui Army took the order and left, Takeda Harunobu was rarely nervous, and an ominous premonition lingered in his mind. He then went to the top of Huiri Mountain behind Tofukuji Temple and watched the movements of Tsutsui's army from a high position. But the Tsutsui army will soon arrive at Takio Shrine, and will then enter the densely built Kyoto city. By then, no matter how high they stand, they will not be able to see clearly the direction of the army.
However, Takeda Harunobu immediately realized that he was overthinking and he would not lose sight of the Tsutsui Army's movements. Because as soon as the vanguard of the Tsutsui Army entered Takio Shrine, he was beaten out from inside - following the Tsutsui Army who fled in embarrassment were Kyushu elites wearing the Otomo Apricot Leaf Pattern!
·
"What's going on?" Junaki Tsutsui was originally riding at the core of the Chinese army, but in the blink of an eye the battle line almost swept in front of him. Before he could react, the roaring Otomo Army almost defeated the Tsutsui Army's vanguard - wasn't the Saito Army's flag flying on the Sanjusangendo Hall to the north? Why are the friendly forces coming from that direction?
While Tsutsui's army was moving north, the Otomo army that had just occupied Sanjusangendo was also sneaking southward. The teams on both sides happened to collide at Takio Shrine. The difference is that the friendly forces are fully armed and ready for an encounter. However, the Tsutsui army was still advancing unhurriedly in a marching column, and some of the soldiers were not even wearing armor yet - if Takeda Harunobu hadn't told him to be ready for battle in advance, there would probably be even fewer people wearing armor.
Therefore, there is no doubt that the front army of Tsutsui Army collapsed at the first touch. The warriors of each family and the direct-administered warriors all wanted to protect their tribes in the chaos, but no one resisted desperately. On the other side, the brave soldiers of Kyushu who were not afraid of death took the lead in the charge with howls. Tsutsui's army, accustomed to fighting with favorable winds in the past few years, had never seen such a posture before. The tide of defeat quickly swept into Tsutsui Junzhao's horse seal, forcing him to retreat backwards.
"Otomo Army?" Takeda Harunobu in Tofukuji Temple was shocked when he saw this. He had thought that the Saito Army would conceal military information, but he never expected that the flag of the Saito Army of Sanjusangendo could be seen under the enemy's nose. Still standing.
After a few breaths, Takeda Harunobu had calmed himself down and even sat back on his pony. Takio Shrine is only 3-4 miles away from Tofukuji Temple in the main camp. Once the Tsutsui Army completely collapses, the entire Southern Army's command system and messenger lines will collapse. For large corps operations, the movement of the main formation and the horse seal will have a fatal negative impact, causing the entire army to lose command in a short period of time and shake its morale.
Therefore, Takeda Harunobu had no other choice but to immediately send the last remaining Kitahata Army at hand to assist the Tsutsui Army in cleaning up the defeated army and block the Otomo Army's attack. At the same time, a large number of detective horses, ninjas, and scouts were immediately dispatched to find the whereabouts of the Oda Army and Saito Army and see where they were.
As for the Hojo Army who was still besieging the New Riyoshi Shrine - Takeda Harunobu did not notify them of their interest. He also wished that the Northern Army would detour back to Chisekiin, cut off the Hojo Army's retreat, and annihilate the entire Hojo family outside the Shinriyoshi Shrine.
