Anegawa originates from Mount Shinho, a branch of the Ibuki Mountains at the junction of Omi and Mino.
The overall height of the Ibuki Mountains is more than 1,300 meters, while the birthplace of Mount Shinho is about 1,000 meters. The Anegawa first flows from north to south, passing near Mita Village and Uesaka-go, then turns westward to join the Kusano River, and finally flows into Lake Biwa.
Anegawa is a very famous river in the history of Japan's Warring States Period. The reason is because of the historical war between the Oda family and the Asai family that broke out here.
And today, a tragic war will also break out here.
On November 15th of the first year of Xianglu, Uesaka Castle finally received reinforcements after being besieged by the Asai family for several days.
Before long, Kyogoku Takahiro, who came to support, took the lead in attacking Asai on the left side of Uesaka Castle.
The Mitsui Setsutsuna team and the Asami Sadatsuki team from the Kyogoku Seimee front team went straight to the Asai training team from the Asai Seimee team. Mitsui Setsutsuna's team and Asami Sadatsuki's team had a total of 300 people, and six rows pressed against Asai's team.
Asami Sadatsuki was wearing a large pale red armor and walking at the forefront of the army with a sword in hand. The Asami family has been in dire straits since Asami Sadatori was exiled, and the family name has declined. The main culprit for this result is the Asai family, so Asami Sadatsuki wants revenge.
"In front of you is the Asai Well drill team. Our troops have the advantage in numbers. Don't be afraid! Raise the spears in your hands and don't make it seem like you are unarmed!"
"Raise the gun!"
The combat effectiveness of peasant soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers has always been very low. In a joint battle of this scale, if there is no samurai command, the whole line will be defeated in less than a quarter of an hour.
With Asami Sadame taking the lead, the peasant soldiers in the two rows at the back stabilized slightly, and began to follow Asami Sadame and slowly approach the Asai drill team in front.
When he was less than 100 steps away from the Asai family's troops, Asami Sadatsuki immediately drew out the sword from his waist and shouted, "Charge! Charge over and kill them!"
This distance has already entered the range of the bow and arrow, so you must speed up and rush forward to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, otherwise you will face the crazy output of the enemy archers!
Having said that, the distance of 100 steps cannot be reached in the blink of an eye. This distance was enough for the Asai family's ashigaru to fire two rounds of arrows before Asami Sadatsuki's team rushed forward.
Sure enough, when Asami Sadame's team started to charge, En Asai on the opposite side was not to be outdone and shouted, "Raise the gun, the archers shoot!"
"shooting!"
"Swish, swish, swish!" Twenty or thirty archers immediately ran to the front of the team, and then fired a round of arrows in front of them before they had time to aim.
After the archers in the first row finished shooting, they quickly stepped back and gave up their position to the archers in the second row. Soon more than 20 archers shot out the arrows in their hands.
"Archers fight back!" Seeing four or five of his own ashigaru fell to the ground after being struck by arrows, although he knew that these few ashigaru were not in danger unless they were too unlucky, Asami Sadatsuki was still very angry and quickly ordered the bows and arrows under his command. The hand fires back.
And when the archers under Asami Sadatsuki fired a round of arrows, the Ashigaru holding spears in front had already begun to fight.
"Kill!" Compared to the Asami Sadune team's ashigaru, the Asai family's ashigaru are indeed more fierce. Even if they don't have an advantage in numbers, they still fight very quickly.
Peasants and soldiers on both sides were armed with 4.8-meter machetes. Oh no! Holding a 4.8-meter long spear, they began to slap each other from a distance. The battle lasted for nearly half an hour, and the casualties on both sides were only about ten people.
And if the samurai who participated in the battle are still alive after the battle, then there will be a description that "the battle was very fierce, with more than 10 casualties on both sides!", which will add to the laughter of our Chinese keyboard warriors.
The Japanese-style spears used by Ashigaru are generally three-guns. "Jian" is a unit of length. One is about 6 meters, so the overall length of the three-room guns is four and eight meters.
With combat weapons of this length, the distance between combatants on both sides will naturally not be too close. A weapon of this length is inconvenient to use, let alone flexible, so the attack method is very simple.
In addition, people in this era are generally short, thin, and not very strong, and most attacks are just a series of slaps. A strong ashigaru may be able to find the right opportunity to find a gap in the "forest of guns", and then stab a peasant soldier with a sudden stab. An ashigaru who can do this can generally be called a "warrior"!
Fights between peasants and soldiers usually consume each other's physical strength. When one side's physical strength is exhausted or morale collapses first, the other side will naturally win.
Therefore, this is also the reason why there is such a description as "the battle lasted for several hours, with dozens of casualties on both sides".
Peasants and soldiers have no salary. They prepare their own rations during war and pay for their own weapons. They may be rewarded with a few bushels of rice after the battle, but this is all in exchange for their lives.
In such a situation, who would be so stupid as to rush forward and fight to the death? Is my life only worth a few buckets of rice? A thousand years ago, Tao Yuanming "wouldn't give up for five buckets of rice", but now we are asked to "fight tooth and nail for five buckets of rice"?
nonexistent!
Anegawa, within the main formation of the Asai family.
"Lord, the enemy has launched an attack. Sadazune Asami has begun fighting with Echizen Mori, and Mitsui Setsuna is currently confronting Echizen Mori (Asai Kiyomasa)." Asai Ryomasa sat calmly in the main formation, a The samurai was standing aside to report the latest battle situation ahead to Asai Ryomasa.
"What's going on with the rest of the Kyogoku family's troops?" Ryomasa Asai asked with half-squinted eyes without raising his head.
The samurai then replied, "The enemy Ōnoki Kagamo has no movement near Asami Tsushima, and Kyogoku Takahiro's main formation is near Ishida Mountain southwest of Uesaka Castle. As for the other troops, they have not yet been determined."
"Where is it in Uesaka Castle?"
"There is no movement in Uesaka Castle!"
"There is no movement? The Kyogoku family is so eager to attack our family. It is impossible that only a few hundred people are participating in the attack, while the other troops are silent."
"The strangest thing is that even the troops in Uesaka Castle have not been dispatched. This is unreasonable!" Asai Ryomasa suddenly had a bad feeling.
"The Criminal Department, send all the detectives out immediately. Don't just focus on the battlefield. We must also investigate Uesaka Castle, Ishida Mountain and other places! I always feel that something is wrong with the Kyogoku family's movements!"
"Ha!" Dohi Punishment Department Shaofu Zhenshun quickly took the order and walked out of the formation.
Then, Ryomasa Asai looked at Sadashi Umori who was sitting aside, "Please ask Umori-don to lead the warriors of the Umori family to the rear of the battlefield. If our military situation becomes unstable, please ask Umori-don to lend a helping hand."
"I understand!" Yumori Sadji nodded, and then strode out of the formation.
After giving the instructions, Asai Ryomasa looked at a map in front of him. When his eyes glanced at the "Ane River" marked on the map, Asai Ryomasa suddenly showed a smile.
"Kyogoku Takahiro, no matter what your plan is, our Asai family will definitely win this battle!"
