Chapter 5 Chapter Five: The Battle of Shitarahara

Facing the one-in-a-million cavalry warriors, the opponent uses infantry to fight against it. As long as you think about it a little, you will feel suspicious.For infantry, the iron hooves of war horses are as unstoppable as the chariots of later generations.Shanxian Saburo Bingwei jumped on the saddle, brandished a long knife, and shouted: "Kill!" At this moment, his heart suddenly trembled: Could it be the other party's trick to lure the enemy deeper?If so, he would fall into the enemy's trap helplessly. At this moment, Okubo's musket had already started firing the first round.

It is estimated that there are at least seventy or eighty guns.This shot wiped away the doubts in the hearts of Yamagata Sanlangbei and others.Only then did he realize that Okubo was confident.As a result, Saburo Bingwei and the others were caught in a dilemma because they wanted to advance but could not retreat, and they had no way to retreat. The Kite Nest Mountain in the rear has been occupied. There was Takeda Hyogo on the mountain to help Reliance guard it, but I don't know who broke it.In short, the person who launched this surprise attack is by no means an ordinary person.It would be a great shame to the general if he was flanked by front and back when retreating.

Finally, the wooden fence in front of me and the Kelesi Mountain, Chamo Mountain, and Songwei Mountain on the opposite side all clearly showed their original appearance, and the men and horses ambushing in the forest became clear.Shan County knew that Nobunaga was at Chamo Mountain at this moment, and originally planned to kill all the way to open a breakthrough, but it seemed that it was just a dream.The sound of gunfire shook the earth, and the people of Yamagata were being hit hard by Okubo. On Okubo's side, only the general Shichirouemon Tadayo and his younger brother Jiemon Tadasa rode on horseback. "Brother, I'm here." The younger brother rode the horse around, and when he saw his elder brother, he laughed loudly, and then turned the horse's butt towards the enemy.He yelled, "Get out!"

Straight back inside the fence.His older brother Shichiroemon also ran in.Then, gunshots rang out next to the fence. For the cavalry from the mountain county, who came rushing like raging waves, twenty or thirty guns in the area were like scratching the surface of the boot.Therefore, the cavalry rushed after Okubo like a raging spider swarm.Some arrows flew sporadically from inside the fence, and some people were holding long guns and waiting in full force. "Brothers, here's my chance. Step down the fence!" "Break the fence, kill and run to Xinchang's camp!"

Together, Takeda's cavalry charged towards the first fence.There was a splash, and there was the sound of the fence being smashed down everywhere. At this moment, the 1,000 muskets that Nobunaga had arranged there a long time ago opened fire fiercely at the more than 2,000 cavalry crowded at the fence, thump, thump, thump... The sound of the guns was deafening.In the blink of an eye, the noisy battlefield became silent.The musketeers used new equipment, and Nobunaga strictly ordered them to hit every shot, so in an instant, thousands of muskets piled up a bloody wall of people. The gunpowder smoke gradually dissipated to the west, and in front of the fence, only the war horses without their masters were left screaming, and there were very few survivors left.The thundering drums and the high-pitched horns also disappeared without a trace.

"Retreat!" Someone shouted, Okubo's men rushed out of the fence holding their spears, "Victory, this is our victory, it is the victory of the Mikawa warriors." The Oda side took out the enemy without any effort.Although it has reached Katsuyori's generation, the Takeda army in Simu Shingen's era still uses Shingen's tactics in tactics.During this period, however, weapons had changed from knives to spears, and from spears to muskets.Yamagata Saburobei and others insisted on withdrawing from Kai, probably because they intuitively sensed this gap. Saburo Bingwei's men and horses were scattered, and they were at a loss for a long time, but Okubo pursued closely.Just now it was the Pikemen, this time it was the Musketeers.However, Saburobei did not die at this time.He felt that he was about to die, so he let the remnant soldiers flee to the camp of Nobumori Sakuma on the left.According to Atobe Daisuke, if Shinmori wants to betray Nobunaga, he will save his life.Of course, Saburobei didn't believe it all, he just had a glimmer of hope.

As a result, more than a thousand tongues of flame spewed out from Sakuma's formation completely shattered his last hope.Nobunaga divided the Musketeers into three teams, each with a thousand muskets, which were constantly filled with ammunition and ready to shoot at any time. This time, there was no sign of Sanlangbei on the horse.Just as he expected, with his glorious battle history, Saburobei fell on the battlefield of Shitarahara, which made him deeply ashamed.The men and horses in Shan County left behind a mountain of corpses and fled in defeat. Less than 10% of them survived. The sun has risen, and the green hills, blue sky, forests, and flags are clearly visible.

The second branch of the Takeda Army was dispatched, led by Xiaoyaoxuan, the younger brother of Shingen.He hardly ever shows his feelings, and has a serious face. "Rush!" With an order, he has already urged the horse to rush down.With the sound of war drums and horns, the cavalry rushed towards Niwa Nagahide's camp like waves.Inside the fence there was no sound, waiting for the enemy to come.Before long, the vanguard had rushed to the front of the fence. But in an instant, gunpowder smoke enveloped the surrounding area for the third time. Nobunaga once uttered bold words: Fighting the Takeda army is as easy as playing sparrows.Sure enough.In the blink of an eye, more than a thousand muskets knocked down most of Xiaoyaoxuan's troops, but not a single piece of wood was lost from the fence.

"Retreat!" Xiaoyaoxuan still had a serious expression on his face, gathered the dizzy people and retreated. The outcome is self-evident, but War Demon still refuses to give up.The numb heart had already forgotten the sorrow, and the third team, Kobagami Sosuke Nobuya's camp, blew the horn of attack again. On the top of Longtou Mountain, the white clouds were pulled into countless threads and drifted to the east of Changxiao City.On the ground, some horses that have lost their masters run as fast as they want, while others graze freely.Dead bodies littered the field. Notify each other of their names, and then catch up with each other and start fighting—the scene of the Great Battle of Anegawa is gone. The battle has completely evolved into a fierce confrontation between groups.

Kobagami Sousuke Nobusada of the third team led the Red Army to the fence, but was also beaten up. Then, the iron hooves of the fourth team Takeda Saomasuke Shintoyo rushed up again.The armor and shirts of this team are all black, and they are armed like iron towers.If the opponent had no muskets, Katsuyori's cousin would have left his name here. Mino Shoushinfang, the horse farm on the far right, also beat the drums at this time, and launched a charge to the left wing of Oda at the foot of Yanfeng Mountain.Seeing the enemy attacking, Oda sent out another group of infantry to lure them.

However, the letter room thought about it, stopped the attack, and called a messenger: "You go to the place of Lord Sanada Gentazaemon and Lord Warbu Masaki, and also go to Tsuchiyaemon Wei Changji's place." .” "Yes, as ordered..." "Hurry up! I'm thinking of myself, so I don't attack forward. Let others do great work." The reporter felt very strange, and finally nodded and left. In this way, when the left horse assisted Xinfeng to rush to the front of the fence, the Sanada brothers and Tsuchiya Masaji's team in the fifth team were also violently attacking the enemy's left flank. The three of them had already put their lives and deaths aside. They were hit hard by artillery fire, but they neither stopped nor retreated.The first fence has been washed away, and the team has rushed to the second fence while the opponent is loading ammunition, but there are three fences in total.When he rushed to the third lane, his older brother Sanada Gentazaemon stumbled and fell off his horse. At the same time, the guerrillas of Shibata Osho, Hashiba Hideyoshi, and Niwa Goro Zaemon Nagahide, who came round from Morinaga Village in the north, had already launched an attack on the Sanada brothers and Tsuchiya Shoji.Here, the musket also played a pioneering role in opening the way.Tom tom tom, tom tom tom, bursts of blue smoke rose from the grass. As a result, Sanada and Tsuchiya, who rushed to the front of the third fence, were wiped out in the blink of an eye.The heroic figures of Tsuchiya Shoji and Sanada Masaki also disappeared. Only one person in the horse farm letter room hid in the shade of a tree, watching his own people die tragically.Why kill so many people?Zhan Mo's eyes glowed fiercely, he gritted his teeth, and continued to move forward.Needless to say about the defeat, Takeda Genji's family heirloom, the white flag of Hachimantaro Yoshika's family, turned into a piece of rag, fluttering in the wind, looking ridiculous. The Takeda clan who ruled the world just now, disappeared in a blink of an eye.News of successive defeats had been reported to Katsuyori's camp long ago. Katsuyori finally couldn't bear it any longer, he descended from Yaowang Temple Mountain and rushed to the front of the formation.Seeing this situation, the letter room called the messenger again: "You go and tell the lord, that the outcome has been decided. Tell him to escape quickly and withdraw to Jiazhou as soon as possible, and my letter room will be closed. Say that I will never see you again in this life. The lord is gone." The messenger left in a hurry.Xinfang beat the drum again, blocking the front of Oda's army.Oda's army stopped their pursuit, and so did Hideyoshi's soldiers.Although the order for the general attack has not yet come down, everyone can see that now is the best time to pursue. "Don't rush, don't rush. Wait for the enemy to rush up before destroying them." Shinbo was still worried about Katsuyori behind him. He was worried that if Shenglai did not listen to his advice and did not withdraw his troops, it would be difficult to set foot on the land of Koshu again.Thinking of these, he felt sad.He prayed that as long as the lord retreats towards Koshu, he will not be attacked by the Oda and Tokugawa armies, and he can make him reflect deeply afterwards. When the messenger returned again, nearly half an hour had passed. "My lord ordered the troops to withdraw!" "Huh? So easy to accept my suggestion?" "It's not that you accepted your suggestion, but Master Anshan Rendao knelt down and remonstrated to death, saying that now it's the critical moment for the life and death of the Takeda family, so the lord agreed to withdraw his troops." "Oh. It's General Xueshan's remonstrance...Okay, okay!" Xinfang came out from the shade of the tree, set up an awning and looked back, only to see that the banner of the flag that rushed down from Yaowangsi Mountain had begun to move north. "Okay, I can finally have an explanation to the Former Lord." At this time, Niwa Goro Zaemon's team came to challenge again aggressively.The letter room was in front of the battle and immediately prepared to meet the enemy. At this time, Oda had already given the order for a general attack.From south to east, I saw Osuga Gorozaemon Yasutaka, Kanbara Kodaira Taiyasumasa, Hiraiwa Nananosuke Kichi, Torii Hikoemon Mototada, Ishikawa Hoki Shoushusho, Honda Hei Hachiro Tadakatsu and other Tokugawa generals , scrambling to get out of the fence. "Don't let an enemy run away, kill them all, and take Lai's head!" The men and horses in the horse farm letter room blocking the way immediately became the target of the opponent's attack. Xinfang divided his men and horses into three groups to block the enemy troops who were approaching.As soon as they saw that the soldiers who rushed into the enemy army were wiped out, they called for money to withdraw their troops.This way of retreating while fighting, keeps the opponent from getting close to Sheng Lai.At the beginning, there were more than 1,200 people, but after some fighting, they were reduced to 800 people; after they were divided into three teams to fight the enemy, only 600 people remained; in the end, they had been reduced to 200 people. Xinfang organized a death squad for the fourth time. He took the lead, rampaging in the enemy's formation, fighting desperately, and at some point, there were only a dozen or so brothers left by his side.In addition to those who died in battle, those who were injured, those who fled, those who were captured, and those who surrendered, there were countless. Thinking about the mighty military appearance last night, it really seemed like a world away. "That's all. Withdraw!" he shouted to the twenty or so cavalry brothers who followed him.And he himself didn't know how to think, suddenly jumped off the horse, and fought and retreated, and retreated and fought, and unknowingly came to the hill near Idezawa, which is very close to Saru Bridge.Surrounded by dense grass, no one can be seen, only the warm sunshine. Xinfang sat down cross-legged in the grass and felt extremely tired.He wiped the sweat all over his face, and the phantom of Shingen suddenly appeared in front of his eyes. "Shiro has already lost, I'm sorry, my lord... I can only repay one of the ten thousand kindnesses of the former lord..." Thinking that he was at the end of his rope, Xinfang couldn't help laughing bitterly. Suddenly, the grass next to him moved, and an infantryman jumped out holding a long gun. "Who are you, an enemy or a friend?" The soldier said, "I am Okasaburo Zaemon, the subordinate of Kokuro Zaemon Naomasa, please stand up." "Hey, you are really lucky." "What's the matter, victory or defeat is a common matter in military affairs. Get up, and I will fight with you." "Your name is Okaburo, right? Throw away the gun and introduce me. Takeda's veteran minister, Baba Mino Shoshinbo entrusted this head to you." What he said stunned the other party.A general like Xinfang certainly wouldn't lie, but if he threw his spear, he might be at a disadvantage.The samurai hesitated. Xinfang drew out his long knife and handed it to his left hand. "If someone else comes, you will not have this honor. Hurry up and do it while there is no one coming." The letter room looked at the sky, and there was a storm in the sky.He closed his eyes and clasped his hands together. The samurai threw away his long spear, quickly drew his knife, and turned to the back of the letter room. "Even at this last moment, I don't think you are the head of victory." Gang Saburo muttered to someone, and then he raised his knife and dropped it, and the head of the letter room rolled to the ground with a thud. In the afternoon of the same day, at the gate of Nagashino, which was besieged with no food or ammunition, Honda Heihachiro's men finally delivered life-saving food and grass.There was not even a grain of rice left in the city, and there was thunderous cheers from men, women and children. "Great, thank God." Jiu Balang muttered, his eyes blurred. "Although the enemy has receded, we still can't be careless. The most urgent thing is to start a fire and cook to fill our stomachs." He immediately ordered the fire to cook. At this time, a flag carried by a person came into his eyes. "Hey, what kind of flag is that? Isn't that the Genji white flag passed down from Hachimantaro Yoshi's family?" "It is indeed the white flag." Yanosuke Harada, the family member of Tadakatsu who was escorting the grain and grass, replied nonchalantly. Jiu Hachiro was puzzled, "Why is that white flag in the hands of your subordinates?" "I picked it up on the road." "You picked up the treasure flag passed down from generation to generation from the road?" "Yeah, when I picked it up, Jinping Oo next to him said to the enemy's flag bearer——Katsuyai, Katsuyai, even though you are running for your life in a panic, it is not enough to hand over the precious flag passed down from your ancestors to the enemy. Ah! What a body to wrap around!" "Is it so embarrassing?" "Not yet, but even so, this flag bearer is embarrassing enough, no, stupid. That flag is an antiquity and cannot be thrown away. The flag bearer said they have a new flag. Jinping did not show weakness: Yes, you Takeda I threw away all the antiquities, and the veterans of Bachang, Yamagata, Naito, etc. were all antiquities, so I also threw them away. As a result, the standard bearer pretended not to hear, and fled away as if flying away." Said, Yanosuke laughed humorously up. "Oh." Jiubalang didn't smile, but sighed.The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. There is an invisible thing in the world that is ruthlessly ruling everything.This victory made him feel desolate, lamenting the cruelty of human beings: "I don't know the famous Katsuyori, what face will he use to return to Koshu. The 15,000 soldiers are almost wiped out." "Don't think so much. If he returns to Shinshu, there will be more than 8,000 soldiers waiting for him in Kaizu's Kosakadan alone." Kuhachiro sent Yanosuke to the ferry and stood there motionless.Yesterday, the camp on the other side of the river was still lit with long rows of bonfires, but now they are gone, only the stars twinkling on the surface of the Takizawa River.For some reason, Jiubalang suddenly felt tightness in his chest and shortness of breath. "Torii Kyouemon, the war has been won, and there is no enemy left." He muttered, his shoulders shook violently, and he couldn't help crying loudly. The war is won, but people feel lonely. Why is this?Kuhachiro scolded himself.If he was lamenting for the dead retainers, then the grief of Katsuyori who lost 15,000 people is even more difficult to describe. Do the shining stars look the same whether they are on the road of Katsuyori who fled from the desert or in the camp of Nobunaga and Ieyasu?Are they all that charming?For some reason, Jiu Hachiro always has some strange ideas. Soon, red bonfires lit up everywhere in the city.It seemed that dinner was about to be served, and there were crisp laughter everywhere, some people danced to the beat, and some hummed a ditty.When almost everyone was eating, Jiubalang came to the city's kitchen.It was the first time that Gui Ji had encountered such a cruel experience, she was making porridge, her sleeves were torn, her face was covered with dust, and she was smiling at Kubarou.Jiubalang was stunned and came back to his senses.It turned out that the war had already been won. "Where have you been? Come, come and have a taste." Staring at Jiubalang's expression, Guiji looked like a sister and a mother.She walked up to her husband with a pot full of rice balls and steaming porridge that had just been made. Kuhachiro sat slowly at the door. "You can eat too." He grabbed a rice ball and ate it with a smile.The turtle girl in front of me, the dancing flames in the stove, the rice balls, and the smell of porridge, all of these are as fresh as encountering them for the first time in this world. "Wars are so strange!" At some point, he had already sat next to Gui Ji, watching her smile so sweetly and eat so deliciously. "That's so strange." Gui Ji interrupted him very simply, "War, once it is fought, the strong will win, and those who can endure will win." That night, Jiubalang was worried about the attack of a strong enemy, so he stayed on guard until dawn, and he patrolled the city three times.Every time he wondered if there was something wrong with him, thinking too much. The next day, Tokugawa Ieyasu was ushered in the city, and he was relieved - he really won! Tatami mats were newly laid in the lobby, and Kuhachiro and Ieyasu sat opposite each other.There was a triumphant smile on Ieyasu's face, but of course, the smile wasn't genuine.Rather than expressing my heartfelt thanks to Jiu Hachiro, it is more painful to reward him. "This is all the result of Oda-sama's help, and it will be repaid sooner or later." Ieyasu talked to himself for a while, then fixedly looked at Kuhachiro, as if he wanted to see through his heart.After a while, he changed his relaxed expression again, with a smile on his face. The war did not end here, and Ieyasu looked lonely.