Chapter 22 Chapter 22: Enter the Dragon and the Tiger

On the morning of March 17th in the twelfth year of Tianzheng, Tokugawa Ieyasu recalled Sakai Zaemon Wei Tadaji, who had been sent to Kuwana, and boarded the position of Komaki Mountain together with him, and immediately called his staff to discuss matters. Attending the meeting were Honda Heihachiro Tadakatsu who strictly guarded the position at the southern foot of Komaki Mountain, Ishikawa Hoki Shoushou on Komaki Mountain, Kanbara Kodaira Taiyasumasa who sneaked into the north to investigate the enemy's situation, and Okheira Nobumasa and Ii who were stationed in the Fanggen Hut in the northeast. Manchiyo Naomasa, in addition to Nobuo's general Amano Keitoshi and others, they discussed the military situation while wiping the sweat from their brows.

Ieyasu first inspected the fortifications of the position, and got into the big tent without making a decision. Then he unfolded the map, looked at it intently, and suddenly said: "It seems that there must be a war. Thanks to Ikeda Katsuto The fire burned all the villagers to our side. There are Nobuo and our relatives on the other side of Xiaozhe, Mitsui and Shigekichi in the southwest, including Xiaozhe of course, all the fortifications have been built." Ieyasu's so-called relatives of Xiaozhe refer to Nobuyasu's wife Tokuhime and Nobuo's uncle Ikoma Haemon. "All the preparations are ready. No matter when Chikuzen comes, we must lead him into the field battle we are good at. Then we can fight Hideyoshi."

"My lord is wise." Tadashi Sakai said, "Everyone is now full of energy and vows to take back Inuyama Castle." But no one answered, and everyone was nervously waiting for Ieyasu's decision. "Wars should be fought when morale is strongest. If we don't strike the enemy hard in this area, the people will lose their trust in us, and the enemy will take advantage of it. Therefore, we must first kill the forests that have rushed to the Haguro area. Musashi Shou fights back. Who will go up?" Sakai Chuji looked around everyone with a smile, but no one responded.Everyone knew in their hearts that when Ieyasu said these things, he had already made up his mind.Sure enough, after a while——

"Heihachi." Ieyasu looked back at Tadakatsu Honda. "Sure enough, my lord still wants to send Zhongsheng." Everyone thought so. "Ah, no, no, it's still too early for you to go. Right now, Mori Musashi is eager for merit, and his morale is high. Maybe Katsuto will send reinforcements. You should garrison the foot of the mountain first, just in case Katsuto aid." Zhongsheng's face flushed red. "It's all up to the master's arrangement!" He seemed dissatisfied with Ieyasu's order, so he didn't say "follow the order" bluntly.

"Xiao Pingtai." "Here." Yasumasa Kanbara hurriedly leaned forward. "The proclamation you went to spread a few days ago has worked. I think the task of luring the snake out of the cave this time is entrusted to you." "Luring the snake out of its hole..." "Just lure the enemy out. As soon as the enemy comes out, you withdraw immediately." "withdraw?" "Attack and retreat are both tactical needs." Ieyasu said lightly, and then turned to Nobumasa Okuhira, who was known for his upright temperament. "Xinchang, you are my son-in-law, and I will entrust you with the offensive mission this time. Go and compete with Shengren's son-in-law."

The words were light and humorous, and Chuji and Shuzheng couldn't help but smile at each other.Although war has become a daily routine for samurai, once a decisive battle begins, life and death are at stake, so there is no humor at all.Because of this, every time the military meeting is about to end, Ieyasu always cleverly finds an opportunity to incite everyone, good omens, gods bless, victory is at hand, etc. In short, every time he uses some auspicious words to motivate everyone and inspire everyone. morale.In other words, in combat, one must first use rationality, strategize, and arrange carefully, and then put aside rationality and use fanatical emotions to agitate everyone and arouse their desire to win.

Then, as if nothing had happened, Ieyasu ordered to the excited Okping Nobumasa: "When Xiaopingta lures the enemy out, you immediately lead the troops and defeat them in one fell swoop. How many troops do you have now?" "More than a thousand people." "Oh. Morinagake's men are at most three thousand, so one thousand is enough for you. This is different from Chikuzen's positional attack tactics." "As ordered." "Once Musashi Mamoru learns your name, he will definitely tremble with fright." "clear." "The other party knows that you are Ieyasu's son-in-law, and he definitely wants to compete with you. You have to show a hundred times the confidence and courage, and let the two sides see whether Shengren or Ieyasu's son-in-law is better."

Xinchang bit his lips, nodded firmly, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. "The victory or defeat in the first battle is related to the morale of the whole army. Only victory is allowed and no defeat is allowed." "Xinchang understands, please rest assured, father-in-law." "Actually, Xiaopingtai and Zhongkatsu are very envious of you, but the other party is Katsuto's son-in-law, so he entrusted you with this task. I hope you will live up to everyone's expectations, and let everyone see the gap between Katsuto and Ieyasu with facts, Musashi Mamoru The gap between us and you. If the morale of our army is boosted, the morale of the enemy will plummet..."

After saying that, Ieyasu seemed thoughtful, and laughed. "Compared to the battle of Nagashino, this battle is much easier, Xinchang." Xinchang glared at Ieyasu, speechless.The words of the father-in-law are: If you can't win, don't come back alive. This is to make Xinchang make up his mind.In fact, without Ieyasu's reminder, Xinchang also knows that this battle can only be won, not lost.In the previous first battle, Nobuo lost both in Ise and Inuyama.If the Sanhe Reinforcement Army, which was unanimously favored by everyone, also suffered a defeat, people would naturally doubt Ieyasu's ability.

"Tadaji." Ieyasu's gaze shifted from Nobuchang to Sakai Zaemon, "You lead a mobile unit to serve as Nobuchang's backup. However, it is estimated that there is no need..." "yes!" "That's it. First go all out to beat Musashi Shou back to Inuyama, and then wait for Chikuzen to visit, haha... By the way, Amano Keiri, you go and show the way." "As ordered. When, then, to act?" Jiakang ordered sharply: "Let's go immediately, and beat all the enemies back before sunset!" What he meant was that if the enemies wanted to move, they would definitely launch a sneak attack under the cover of morning mist before dawn.However, judging from the current situation, the enemy seems to have no intention of attacking them, so they simply took the lead.

"Fill your stomach first, and wait until you go out, just as the enemy is cooking. If the enemy is unsuspecting, you will definitely get unexpected results." Everyone obeys orders and prepares for battle in each camp. The main camp on the mountain is Ishikawa Shumasa, and Honda Tadakatsu at the southern foot of the mountain secretly moved his troops from the east to the vicinity of Erzhongbori. Once there is a turmoil, he can quickly go into battle, and Sakai Chuji will be ahead of Honda. Take action.Since Yasumasa Kanbara at the front was almost directly confronting Mori Musashimori of Haguro, the troops of Kanbara would advance to the area of ​​Rakuta and Yawata, echoing the team of Nobumasa Okheira on the left. Everyone took action, and Ieyasu handed over the remaining affairs to Ishikawa Susho, while he went down the mountain and quickly withdrew to Qingzhou City. The cherry blossoms and peach blossoms have withered, and the mountains are filled with soft green. "Why is the oriole screaming so happily today?" Yasomasa Kanbara, who was in charge of luring the enemy, looked up at the sky. There was neither a bright sun nor thick clouds in the sky. "Son-in-law competes with son-in-law..." Kang Zheng looked at the flag fluttering on the Haguro Hill, and said to himself, "No matter what this time, let Xinchang do a great job. But how can we lure the enemy out?" ?” First of all, he made a gesture of attacking Haguro from the front, and then took a step back to look for a fighter. After that, he could only watch the contest between Okuhei and Mori Muzangmori from the sidelines. As Okuhira's vanguard advanced side by side with Kanbara's troops, the enemy ahead suddenly cried out.They never imagined that the other party would dare to launch a provocation openly in broad daylight.Even so, the enemy's reaction was still very fast, forming a road in a moment, and the column rushed towards Kang Zheng. In this way, there is no need to deliberately lure the enemy.Kang Zheng immediately called a herald. "Order the Musketeers to aim at the frontmost general and fire. Use this as a signal to launch a charge!" The herald quickly communicated to the Musketeers ambushing on the second front. At this time, the orioles in the forest were still singing tactfully. Although the sun was no longer so strong, there was no wind at all, and the weather was still hot, and the inside of the armor was wet with sweat. "Bang bang bang" there was a burst of gunfire from the hills to the forest, and the men and horses rushing up immediately stopped their progress.Mori Musashimori's striker, Nabeta Uchizo, took the lead and fell off his horse.At this moment, a burst of shouts sounded, and the men of Kanbara Yasumasa went straight to Haguro and killed them. Bullets continued to shoot at the troops of Mori Mu Zangshou, making a burst of loud noises.The flocks of birds in the forest were frightened, and flocks fled to the sky in a panic.A burst of shouts shook the ground trembling.In an instant, this area completely turned into a battlefield of blood and fire, with a tragic atmosphere everywhere. Knowing that the striker Nabeta Naizo Yun was shot and killed, Mori Musashi was furious.At this time, he was sitting in the camp of Hachiman Forest, planning to divide his troops into three groups, and drive the enemy back to Xiaomu in one go.Now that Nei Cangyun had died in battle, he had no choice but to change his battle plan. "Okay, Kanbara Komasa, I'll fight with you!" Morinagake laughed wildly at Yae Sakura who hadn't finished falling yet, with anger in his eyes. At this time, Moricho had already received another news: Hideyoshi's two generals, Horio Mosuke and Yamauchi Inemon, were ordered by Hideyoshi to be stationed in Haguro.The young Musashi Mamoru was very dissatisfied with this.He and the Ranmaru brothers lost their father prematurely, so they are very competitive.He must firmly grasp the opportunity of victory before Horio and Yamauchi enter Haguro. "Call Suzaemon! Yasumasa dares to insult me ​​Oni Musashi!" Morinaga ordered someone to call Noro Suzaemon, who was in charge of commanding the right wing. "Nabe Tian Nei Zangyun was killed, and I want to avenge him. Pass my order, and the three groups of people will join forces to wipe out the Shenyuan tribe in one fell swoop." When Norosuke Zaemon heard this, he couldn't help being taken aback.But he immediately left the camp and joined the troops according to Mori Musashi's order. The sound of horns broke the tranquility of spring, and both sides of the road were filled with colorful flags. Kanbara Yasumasa saw that Morinagake's brigade was rushing over the fields, forests and hills, and they were approaching in a dark manner. He immediately ordered the vanguard to fall to the right and retreat quickly.In the eyes of the enemy, Kanbara Komasa must have been frightened by the great name of "Oni Musashi" and ran away with his tail between his legs. "The opportunity has come." "Come on!" When Mori Changke was about to adjust his formation and go straight to Kang Zheng, a loud shout suddenly sounded from the forest on the left: "Go up, go up! Go up, go up!" Under Ieyasu's order, the men of Okahira Nobumasa, who were determined to fight against Katsuto's son-in-law, shouted the battle cry formulated by Ieyasu himself for the first time. "Go!" A slogan is enough to make people's hearts jump, but it ends with "Go!", which is really frightening. However, the loud shouts did not deter Sen's troops. "Hmph, Okuhei, stop chasing Kanbarabe!" Norosukezaemon and his son at the front immediately made preparations to face Okuhira. Of course, the pace of advancement did not slow down. Just as Mori Musashi's army was approaching like a tide, suddenly, a fast horse rushed into Mori's team like an arrow off the string. "Get out of the way, everyone, Ikeda Katsuto's son-in-law, Mori Musashi, where is Okuhei Kuhachirou Nobumasa here to take your life!" This person is Okuhei Nobumasa, who is even more arrogant than Mori Musashimori. I saw Mori Changke's men and horses gave way and closed again.Okuhei Jiuhachiro ignored this and went all the way to kill.He was wearing a black helmet and wielding a Zhangba long spear in his hand, flying up and down, blocking from left to right and killing from right.The war horse under the crotch also seemed to have wings, and with a long cry, it soared into the air among the crowd, scaring the enemy to hide in a hurry.When they came back to their senses and picked up their swords and guns again, Xinchang had already killed them. "Protect the general, don't let him hurt the general!" "Brothers, follow the adults and rush in!" The retainers behind Xinchang were at most twenty feet away from him. Seeing the general rushing into the enemy army without hesitation, they would never leave it alone, and rushed into Mori Muzang guards like a storm. among the team. "Where is Mori Musashi? Okhei Nobumasa needs to meet him for a while!" At this time, Mori Musashi was sitting in command in the bamboo forest extending from the base camp to the Hachiman forest, and someone shouted loudly from a distance. "Who is yelling? Listen... Our team seems to have stopped moving forward." Although they were puzzled, no one thought that the enemy generals had rushed into their camp. "What's going on?" Mori Musashi kept the reins in his hand, still wondering.I saw a war horse galloping towards the edge of the bamboo forest like a storm, heading towards the base camp. "Who was that person just now? He doesn't look like one of us." Musashi Mamoru leaned out from the saddle quickly. At this time, a clear voice came into his ears: "Where is Mori Musashi? Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law Okuhei Kuhachiro Nobumasa wants to compete with you!" Because of the favorable wind, Nobumashi's voice was clear Chu Di came from behind. Mori Musashi was taken aback, and hurriedly turned his horse's head, seeing his men yelling to get out of the way.Opin's team rushed over. "The enemy has gone around behind us!" "My lord, be careful!" "Surround them and wipe them all out!" Mori Musashi had no choice but to turn his horse around again.At this moment, he suddenly found that the men and horses seemed to have been divided into several sections by the enemy's troops. "Sukuzaemon! Where did Suzaemon go? Retreat to the left, don't mess up, keep the formation!" At this time, another thunderous shout sounded from the hill between Haguro and Inuyama: "Go up, go up!" "Go up, go up!" After Nobumasa Okhein broke into the enemy's formation, he made a cheering sound. "My lord!" Norosuke Zaemon flew off his horse, and ran to Mori Musashimori, "We are surrounded. The enemy is in front, and the rear is also... Please quickly retreat to Inuyama Castle!" "Surrounded? No, I will never withdraw, never!" At this time, Xinchang yelled frantically from the opposite side of the bamboo forest: "Where is Ikeda Katsuto's son-in-law Musashimori? If you have the guts, come out for me. Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law Okuhei Kuhachiro insists on fighting you today." Male and female are not allowed! Where is Mori Musashi guarding..." After Nobumasa Okira entered Morinagaka's army without blinking an eye, the news of Haguro's attack immediately reached the ears of Katsuto Ikeda of Inuyama Castle.Upon learning of the accident, Shengren couldn't help but tremble in fright, but then smiled and said: "Don't worry, we have already discussed how to deal with it." Katsuto dismissed the reporter first, and had his two sons, Katsukuro Motosuke and Sanzaemon Terimasa called, immediately. After a while, Mr. Huizheng came to the hall in one step. "The person who reported just now said that Haguro was attacked by the enemy. You should rush to support and let Musashimori withdraw safely to Inuyama Castle." "Obey! Go to Haguro immediately, give the enemy a hard blow, and let Musashimori withdraw safely." As he said, Huizheng was about to walk out of the big tent full of confidence. "Wait a minute!" Motosuke stopped Huizheng, and said to his father with a calm face, "Musashi Shouding will retreat to the city, we can't attack right now." "Can't attack?" "Of course not! I have sent Iki Kiyobei ​​to investigate, and the only ones who came out were Sakai Tadaji and Okheira Nobumasa. Behind them, the elite troops of Ii Naomasa and Honda Tadakatsu have already prepared their troops and are waiting for us to go out. " "That's why I said it's best to go to support. Once Musashi Mori dies in battle, morale will plummet." "No!" Yuansuke still resolutely objected, "The main force of our army has left Inuyama Castle, what if we are cut off by Honda's troops? We have already crossed the river at that time, and there is no place to stay, and there are pursuers behind If you force each other, you will immediately fall into a desperate situation.” When Yuansuke said this, Katsuto also became nervous.As we all know, there are two generals in Tokugawa's account who are particularly terrifying. One is the resourceful Sakai Chuji, and the other is the extremely brave Honda Tadakatsu.Although Sakai's men and horses have already left, there is still Honda watching... As Yuansuke analyzed, Honda must be waiting for them to come out. "Oh? You mean, even if we don't send reinforcements, Musashi will withdraw?" "This is our agreement. I don't think he is so stupid as to break the agreement and kill himself." "Well, we will hold on to the city, open the city gate, and wait for Musashi to withdraw." Since he had already issued an order to Mori Musashi to withdraw to the city immediately if the situation was abnormal, Katsuto finally gave up sending troops to support him. There are two reasons for this idea: one is that Okping's troops have achieved a central breakthrough against Mori Musashi's garrison, and the other is that Sakai's men and horses accidentally went around behind Okping. Hearing Xinchang's shouts, Musashi gritted his teeth in anger, wishing he could rush forward immediately and desperately.Norosukezaemon grabbed his horse's reins tightly. "My lord, retreat to the city quickly! Hurry up! Otherwise it will only increase the casualties... Alas, why are you so stubborn!" After finishing speaking, Zuzaemon slapped Musashimori's mount's butt with a gun.The war horse suffered from pain, let out a long hiss, and galloped towards the direction of Inushan.As a result, Morishagako's subordinates scrambled to retreat... In fact, Ikeda Katsukuro Motosuke was not afraid of the bravery of Honda and Ii and refused to send reinforcements, but felt that it was meaningless to have a large-scale conflict with the enemy before Hideyoshi arrived.It is of course good if we can seize the enemy's flaws and turn the world upside down, but we must avoid large-scale conflicts in order to preserve our strength.In this way, Hideyoshi can see the powerful power of Tokugawa.Otherwise, even if Hideyoshi acknowledged Ikeda's contribution on the surface, he would attribute the victory to Tokugawa's lack of strength in his heart. Once he really clashed with the enemy, Mori Musashi's mood changed completely.At the beginning, he was able to plan carefully and attack flexibly, but when he saw his family rout like a tide, he couldn't help being furious.After retreating for less than eight miles, Musashi Shou brought his horse back again and yelled frantically, "Stop! Everyone stop, turn around and fight back! The reinforcements have already left the city. Let's drive the enemy back with all our might!" Hearing Musashi Mamoru's shout, some soldiers stopped, while others slipped away quietly... I don't know when, the sun has already set, and the seventeenth moon shows a smiling face from the mountains in the east.At the foot of the mountain, the flames of bonfires danced everywhere. "No retreat! Who dares to retreat again..." At this moment, a young samurai hurried over with a bloody knife in his hand, and knelt down in front of Mori Musashi with one leg. "Noro Suzaemon and his son fought a fierce battle with Matsudaira Yoshishichiro, and both died in battle. Before dying, he left a last message, saying that he must be returned to Inuyama Castle safely. Please withdraw quickly..." "Nolu and his son died in battle?" "Yes, the father and son said that if you are lucky enough to be a substitute for the lord, even if you die in battle, it will be extremely honorable. I hope that the lord will quickly withdraw to the city, even if you withdraw one more soldier." Hearing the bad news of his beloved general, Oni Musashi Mori was heartbroken.He stared blankly at the sky, let out a mournful cry, and then wailed loudly like a child. "Do you think I can go back? Do I still have the face to go back?" "Why don't you have the face to go back? Please withdraw quickly, my lord, otherwise, Aubin Xinchang will come after you immediately. Please turn your horse around quickly!" God always seems to like to joke with people, and the words of the samurai were immediately fulfilled-at this moment, a group of cavalry appeared beside the bamboo forest around the corner.The moonlight gradually brightened, and the enemy warriors who were chasing after him, with their helmets and armor on their chests shining with silver light, approached Mori Musashimori step by step. "Oh, today's somersault is too miserable!" Gritting his teeth, Musashimori turned his horse's head to the north helplessly, and he no longer had the heart to look back.With such a disastrous defeat in the first battle, is there any chance to get rid of the shadow of the "defeated general" in the future? The city gate was wide open in front of him, Sanzaemon Terumasa's subordinates had already built an iron wall with knives and guns at the gate, waiting for him to return, Mori Musashi cursed himself secretly, and rushed into the city like a storm. "Bang bang bang" a burst of violent gunfire shot from the city to the following pursuers. More than 500 troops from Mori Musashi's retreat poured into the city, and then chased after Opping and Sakai's troops.Huizheng didn't want to close the city gate.Some of the miscellaneous soldiers who did not have time to enter the city were begging loudly to open the door, while others turned to the enemy angrily.Of course, more than half of the soldiers who turned to the enemy surrendered. As soon as the chasing party saw the tight defense of the city, they quickly organized their team and retreated calmly. This battle fully achieved the goals of Ieyasu, Sakai and others.Okuhei Nobumasa is the only one who deeply regrets not being able to kill Mori Musashimori.However, since the enemy had fled back to the city, he did not dare to attack the city rashly. "The enemy has all withdrawn." When the soldiers watching the wind came down from the watchtower and rushed to Ikeda Motosuke's big tent to report, Motosuke and Musashi Mori both sat on the bed, looking desperate . The bonfires around gradually faded, the moon rose, and the silver moonlight filled the earth. "Yuanzhu, you are the one who advised your father-in-law that rescue is useless?" When Mori Musashi asked him, Motosuke couldn't help being shocked. "Didn't we make an appointment from the beginning? Whenever there is a situation..." "I don't understand what you said. We have an agreement first, but the agreement is that we are not allowed to attack without authorization. Today, I did not take the initiative to attack the enemy, but the enemy came to provoke me in broad daylight." "Even if the enemy provokes you, you should retreat immediately... Have you already said this? Anyway, you retreated safely, aren't you dissatisfied?" "You may be satisfied, but I have lost many retainers." Musashi guard gritted his teeth, "It's really frustrating for such a thing to happen!" "Did you think you lost today?" "What time is it, you still have the mood to joke! Our army has lost more than half of its soldiers, so it's not a failure, is it a victory?" "Yes! Although it can't be called a victory, it is definitely not a failure. You think, we were the first to invade Owari and take this city. How could the enemy be reconciled? They must risk their lives to take it back. In the end, your men succeeded The enemy had no choice but to abandon the city. No matter how you look at it, it was the enemy's defeat. Therefore, it is all reasonable that this battle caused such a big disturbance." "However, we watched the enemy escape from under our noses..." "Think about it calmly. What should we do if most of Honda and Jingyi's troops take advantage of the gap and attack the city when our troops rush out to fight with Sakai and Opin's troops? , Although today's battle is not a victory, it is definitely not a defeat. We must let Master Chikuzen know that the contest with Tokugawa is not easy to win." Musashi Mamoru couldn't say a word, he just stared at Motosuke fiercely, trembling all over. Motosuke's words were not entirely unreasonable, but Musashi Mamoru never thought that he had done anything.In this battle, Tokugawa Ieyasu won, Ikeda and his son also won, and there was only one person who lost, and that was himself!Musashi Mamoru was full of depression, unable to speak...