The news that the Rokkaku family's troops had captured Minegasa Castle could not be concealed at all, and soon Ryomasa Asai in the north received the report.
As soon as he heard that Minogura Castle had been lost, Asai Ryomasa immediately cursed his mother!
Minipura Castle is located on the shores of Lake Biwa, with a mountainous area to the east. Only a narrow area along the Amano River in the middle is a plain area, and Minepama Castle is located right here.
It can be said that the geographical location of Mibu Castle is particularly critical in this upcoming battle.
Ryomasa Asai originally planned to rely on the terrain along the line between Minigaura Castle and Mt. Minga to confront Rokkaku Sadeyori, but now that Minagawa Castle has been lost, all plans will have to be restarted.
"My lord, the Rokkaku family's troops are currently being recuperated at Minigaura Castle, and they will continue to send troops northward tomorrow at the latest! I believe that our family should set up formations around Naiho River and block the Rokkaku family's troops south of the Amano River." Aguan Zhenzhong, the head of the Aguan clan, spoke at this time.
North of the Amano River are the vast plains of Sakata and Asai counties. Once the Rokkaku family crosses the Amano River, they can go straight to Otani Castle. If there is a decisive battle with the Rokkaku family, which has a superior force, in the Great Plains, the Asai family will definitely suffer.
Asai Ryomasa's eyes stayed on the map for a while, then turned to Dohi Mashun beside him and said, "Xingbu, when can the Kyogoku family be dispatched?"
"The Kyogoku family was mobilizing troops when I left. It will take at least three days to arrive!"
"In this way, our troops will be deployed along the north bank of the Amano River. We will occupy the river crossing points such as Neibo Village, Ueda Village, and Shimoda Village. We will set up wooden fences and prepare plenty of crossbows to guard against death!"
"Wait until the Kyogoku family's troops arrive before making the next plan!" Asai Ryomasa threw the riding crop on the table and sat down.
There are more than ten important ministers of the Asai family sitting in this formation. In addition to Aguan Sadashige and a member of the Asai family, the leader of the Amomori clan is Sadashi Amemori, the leader of the Wakisaka clan is Yasuaki Wakisaka, and the leader of the Yanase clan is Hideyuki Yanase. , Higashino Yukihide, the head of the Higashino clan, Keigen Iguchi, the head of the Iguchi clan, and others were also present.
This time, the Asai family dispatched a total of 4,000 troops, including 2,500 from the Asai family and 1,500 from other wealthy families.
The Rokkaku family on the opposite side dispatched more than 12,000 troops, including 5,000 Rokkaku Sadayori's own troops, 2,000 Goto Takayoshi in the front formation, 1,500 Hirai Takayoshi in the second formation, 1,500 Yamaoka Kage in the third formation, and 1,000 others. In the rear formation, Hirai Sadatake, the son of the important minister Hirai Takayoshi, led 1,000 people to escort Xiaohe's pack team behind.
In terms of military strength, the Rokkaku family undoubtedly had an overwhelming advantage, which was also the fundamental reason for the defeat of Ryomasa Asai in the previous several battles.
It's not that you are too weak, but that your opponent is too strong.
In fact, Rokkaku Sadayori's dispatch of troops this time was very sudden, and Asai Ryomasa had no preparation in advance. If it had been known in advance that Rokkaku Sadayori would send troops, Asai Ryomasa would definitely have sent someone to Echizen Ichijogani Castle to seek help from Asakura Takakage.
However, the messenger asking for help is still on the way, and the Asakura family's reinforcements won't be coming for a while, so they have to rely on themselves for everything.
On November 8, the two sides set up positions on both sides of the Amano River.
It was the dry season at this time, and the water flow of the Amano River was not large. Goto Takatoyosuke, who was in front of the Rokkaku family, began to cross the river after receiving Rokkaku Sadeyori's order.
Goto Takayoshi's team deployed at Uchiho River, so they naturally crossed the river from Uchiho Village.
The Asai family had long been prepared. Hundreds of archers and slingers were arranged behind the wooden fence to deal with the enemy. Goto Takayoshi was repelled even after crossing the river several times.
Rokkaku Sadayori, who was sitting in the main team, was not surprised when he learned that the front team's attack failed, because it was a probing attack in itself.
"How is the Asai family's military strength?"
“Extremely neat!”
"How good is the morale?"
"Not bad!"
"As expected of Ryomasa Asai, although he has been defeated many times, he has also been defeated and defeated again and again! What's even more rare is that every time he is defeated by my family, the opponent's strength does not decrease but increases the next time, which is strange!" Rokkaku Sada! Lai stroked the beard on his chin, looking dumbfounded.
that's the truth.
Rokkaku Sadayori still remembers that when he first sent troops to Kitaomi, Asai Ryomasa had only a thousand troops under his command, and Asai Ryomasa was defeated that time.
The second time, Ryomasa Asai dispatched more than two thousand troops, but was also defeated. At that time, even Otani Castle was occupied by Rokkaku Sadeyori. Fortunately, the Asakura family intervened, otherwise the Asai family would no longer exist in this world.
The third time Asai Ryomasa was able to mobilize three thousand troops, he fled to Mino after his defeat. The next year, he returned to Omi and continued to cause trouble.
Unexpectedly, the opponent actually mobilized four thousand troops this time, and was not affected by the previous defeats at all. This made Rokkaku Sadarai puzzled. This is simply a cancer! The invincible Xiaoqiang!
"My lord, the water level of the Amano River has not been high recently, and the three river crossings including Uchiho Village, Ueda Village, and Shimoda Village have all required large armies to cross the river. However, these three places are all occupied by the Asai family. If we want to successfully cross the Amano River, I am afraid that we You have to work hard!" Takahata Hirai, who was sitting on one side of the formation, said.
Hirai Takayoshi is an important minister of the Rokkaku family and one of the "Seven Heads of Takashima". Historically, his son Hirai Sadatake was one of the "Rokusuku elders" of the Rokkaku family, and his daughter even married Asai Nagamasa as the main wife.
However, Asai Nagamasa soon broke with the Rokkaku family, and successfully defeated Rokkaku Yoshihide in the Battle of Noragada. Then he abandoned Hirai Sadatake's daughter, and had a fierce fight with Oda Nobunaga next door, and then he was successfully "listed"!
"Asai Bizen is not a mediocre person. Although he has been defeated by my family several times, it is because of the Asai family's lack of strength, not because of Asai Bizen's incompetence! If they can't even do these, how can the Asai family fight hundreds of thousands in Kitaomi? Stone Territory?" Rokkaku Sadeyori glanced at Hirai Takayoshi and said expressionlessly.
Hirai Takahao lowered his head in embarrassment, and Yamaoka Kage, the lord of Yamaoka Castle who was sitting opposite, also said at this moment, "The Asai family can't defeat the Amano River water conservancy. Why don't we send some of our troops to go north by boat and launch an attack from behind the Asai family?" attack!"
"In this way, the Asai family's formation can be disrupted by surprise. Then all the troops of the Asai family will come out. Even if Asai Ryomasa has the abilities of his two grandsons (Sun Wu and Sun Bin), there will be no way to recover!"
Upon hearing this, the eyes of everyone in the formation suddenly lit up.
"If we transfer the ship from within the territory, the round trip will take at least three days, or at most five days. I'm afraid it will delay the battle!" The speaker was Ma Yuan Gaogang, the lord of Dicheng Mountain City.
"Although what Yamashiro Shou (Ma Yuan Takasuna) said is reasonable, the number of troops who need to take a boat does not need to be too many. Three to five hundred people are enough! There is a Chaowu Minato in the southwest of this place. Although there is not a big boat, it can take several A hundred people is still okay." Yamaoka Kage continued.
"The Asai family has deployed detectives everywhere, and there are countless ships passing by Lake Biwa every day. What if the Asai family learned the news in advance?"
"During the twelfth lunar month, Omi is foggy from Xu to Hai in the evening, and it is also foggy from Yin to Mao in the morning of the next day! We can take advantage of the fog to go north by boat and launch an attack at dawn. The Asai family will definitely Unprepared!" Yamaoka Kage looked confident, and he was very pretentious, all he needed was a feather fan in his hand and a scarf on his head.
The retainers were arguing endlessly, and Rokkaku Sadayori, who was in charge, naturally would not sit idly by.
In the end, it was Rokkaku Sadayori who made the decision, "As Yomi Sasuru (Yamaoka Kagesuga) said, immediately recruit the ships of Minato Asazuma, and then send a special force northward when the fog starts!"
"ha!"
