Pillars of the Wu family

The samurai of the Asai Army also went to bed early after a busy night. There were still many injured samurai in the camp on the mountain who needed an early rest, because the medical officers in the camp could only do it for them due to the lack of necessary medical conditions on the mountain. After simple bandaging and disinfection, and an early rest on the mountain, the task of monitoring the movement of Oiwa Mountain was handed over to the Isanoman Masahiro at the foot of Mt. Kidake.

Logically speaking, there shouldn't be any problem. The less than [-] troops on the mountain and the [-] troops below the mountain are enough to resist the surprise attack of Kira's army. Separation of the mountain and the mountain is an effective way to deal with the surprise attack. If Kira It doesn't matter if he doesn't come home, as long as he dares to rush over, no matter whether he raids Isano Masahiro's headquarters blocking the way up the mountain, or goes around the mountain to attack Asai Nagamasa's protection, he will face a counter-surprise attack from the other direction.

Not to mention that the location of Isanoman Chang's camp is very ingenious. Setting up secret whistles on several nearby dense forests and high slopes will cover a large area in the east of Jianyue Mountain within the police range. In Chang's ears, the large-scale mobilization of tens of thousands of troops at night was very loud. No matter how careful he was, he couldn't completely cover up all the sounds.

But Asai Nagamasa still missed a trick, and Jian Yueshan's defense system is not perfect.

In the midsummer season, the dawn is relatively early, and the sky is already slightly bright at the fourth watch. This is the last ray of darkness before dawn, and the silent night will end in just half an hour. The Asai Army's night watch The soldiers had been suffering for most of the night, cold, hungry and drowsy. All they could think about was the warm blanket and a bowl of delicious hot soup. This was the most relaxing moment for them.

This is the hottest summer of the year. Walking in armor for a while makes you sweat all over your body, so the armor worn by both samurai and ashigaru is very thin, but such thin clothes are very comfortable at the foot of the mountain, but once you go up the mountain It becomes troublesome, such thin clothes can't hide the cold mountain wind at all.

Because Mount Jianyue is located between Lake Piwa and Lake Yuwu, the water vapor from the lake that has been scorched by the sun all day condenses into dewdrops and falls in the middle of the night.Standing in the big camp, their bodies became very wet within a short while. The night watchmen were trembling with three guns in their hands. They were wet and cold all over their bodies, and they were very uncomfortable. They hoped to squeeze in the direction of the fire, and occasionally caught a glimpse of The samurai curled up and dozed before the fire was full of envy.

The young Ashigaru tremblingly held the bamboo gun and said to his companions: "I really want to lie in front of the fire and sleep for a while! Even if it's just for a while! I don't know what's going on, my head is dizzy, it seems very uncomfortable look."

"Ah! Oops! I'm sick!" His companion trembled and said annoyedly, "This is such a trouble! Once you get sick, you won't be able to get up for a few days. The warriors will definitely get angry!" [

Another young man said in a hoarse voice: "I've already been sick! Now I'm shaking all over, my head is hot and my legs don't seem to be my own. I think I should take a rest earlier! Otherwise, I might fall over and be unable to get up! "

A few ashigaru gathered around and murmured in a low voice: "Why don't we go and talk to the samurai? If we really can't support our bodies, there will be problems!"

"This is a cold syndrome. As long as you cook some ginger soup and drink it, you will be cured in a few days." The middle-aged ashigaru, who was wearing thick clothes, didn't seem to be cold at all. Qing trembled all over, and complained: "I told you to bring more clothes. I just said that my luggage is full and I don't want to bring it."

These young ashigaru murmured a few words in a low voice and were about to walk over when they were stopped by a short ashigaru: "Don't go! Let me, Shinsaburo, go! The samurai master is only angry at me! At least let me go!" A few sick patients in our same village rested overnight, and if we carry it so hard, we will have problems with our bodies!"

So the little man rushed to the fire to negotiate with the samurai. After a while, he heard a fierce quarrel. It seemed that the sleeping samurai was disturbed by the ashigaru's plea. He jumped up and kicked the little man to the ground lightly, beating around him while cursing.

Seeing this posture, these young ashigaru panicked and rushed over to dissuade them.After being threatened by several samurai drawing their swords, the middle-aged Zuqing yelled: "Don't fight! Don't fight! If you continue to fight, there will be accidents! If you continue to fight... Shinsaburo! Shinsaburo can't do it! Everyone Come and see!"

The short man named Shin Saburo was beaten, and he spat out blood. He exhaled more air than breathed in, and he was about to die. The samurai seemed to think it was too much after exhaling the breath, so they threw a handful of copper coins to let the two Ashgaru hang him up. He went to the big camp for treatment. As for other ashigaru requests, he was rejected without hesitation. He had to stay vigil until dawn and there was no discount.

These miserable ashigaru did not dare to resist, even when they saw their companions being beaten to death, they just dared not speak out.It would be useless to let them continue to fight hard. The samurai lord who led them to serve in the military was temporarily assigned to guard on the other side. These samurai were not these ashigaru lords of the village, and they would definitely not cherish them. body of.

The angry ashigaru shrank into a corner full of resentment and said nothing. Several people walked back and forth trying to make their bodies warmer. The child's father died when he was young. His mother remarried to Shengba, an old widower in the village. There were three sons in Shengba's family who were much older than him. Bully.

It's just that if this is the case, his life will not be too hard. It's just that his mother died of a plague a few years after she remarried.Since then, Shinsaburo has become the adopted son of the Katsuhachi family. The old widower has a dirty background. He has been colluding with the wild bandits on Mount Ibuki all year round to do some bad things. Is it tall?That is because when the body is long, it is starved to death by starvation. "

"Hey! How does Uncle Shinnosuke know so clearly? Could it be that he likes Shinsaburo's mother?"

"It seems to be true, but I often hear Uncle Shinnosuke scolding Katsupachi as a bastard, and saying that a good woman is ruined..."

Shinnosuke said angrily: "You boys will make fun of uncle, so I won't tell you stories in the future."

When the ashigaru were entertaining themselves, they suddenly felt birds fluttering in the woods outside the camp. Shinnosuke raised his head and looked at the flying birds in the sky for a long time. He joked in a low voice: "Uncle Shinnosuke can't say what we said! Why are you staring at the birds in the world!"

A few ashigaru laughed and laughed, but saw Shinnosuke frowned and said: "It's strange, how could there be birds flying in the middle of the night? This is not right!" [

"Who knows! Maybe it's almost dawn and I'm going out of the nest to catch bugs and eat them!"

Shinnosuke asked: "Have you ever seen a bird that comes out of its nest in the middle of the night to catch insects? The wood leaf owl doesn't count."

"It seems to be gone. Then what could it be? Yaksha? Evil ghost? Or..." Several young ashigaru huddled together in fear of the unknown, instinctively gathered together to exchange for a slight sense of security.

"Maybe..." Before Shinnosuke finished speaking, he suddenly opened his eyes wide and pointed in disbelief at the samurai rushing out of the woods not far away, and stammered, "It's the enemy... an attack!"

A large group of dark samurai rushed out of the woods continuously. They waved the very eye-catching Ashikaga Nihito flags, and drew out their bright swords and spears to face the frightened gatekeeper with a single blow.The few ashigaru who were frightened and stunned separated without even screaming. The black-armored warrior was splashed with blood, but he didn't even frown. He calmly drew his sword and charged To the gatekeeper warrior who was dozing in the fire, a few short screams sounded, and a few more dead souls were added.

Behind this group of samurai was the black armored ashigaru who kept coming up. They rushed into the camp after the assaulting samurai, and then hundreds of mounted samurai surrounded by a general appeared outside the camp.Under the order of the general, hundreds of horse-riding warriors turned into a dozen squads and charged into the camp to kill and set fire.

No one would have thought that Nakajo Tokihide would find the side of Mount Kidake from nowhere, let alone that he would endure until midnight to suddenly launch a night raid. The entry point he chose was another road up the mountain behind Mount Kidake. This is the only dead corner of the perfect defensive circle built by the Asai Army. This dead corner can only be maintained for one night at most. Asai Nagamasa will inevitably reorganize the hastily built camp at dawn.At that time, this dead end will also be blocked.

It was he who delivered the information that Tokiyuki Yamamoto received on Mount Big Rock yesterday afternoon, reminding Tokiyuki Yamamoto that he could take advantage of this opportunity to make a bold time difference. Tokiyuki Yamamoto quickly agreed to his proposal and made a series of cooperation. They managed to attract all the attention of the Asai army for half the night, and then came back with a fatal blow when they were exhausted.

It must be said that his attack was indeed a fatal blow. The sudden attack by the generals made the Asai family dizzy. Ji Liangjun, who was staring blankly, didn't know what to do at all.

Nagamasa Asai sleeps very well.He slept soundly and deeply, and didn't hear any movement in the big camp. It wasn't until a few surnames hurriedly woke him up and wiped him several times with cold towels that he woke up his dazed consciousness. With the screams of ghosts and wolves in the camp, Asai Nagamasa immediately realized what was wrong.

"Oops! It must be Tokiyuki Yamamoto who went around to deal with the aftermath and raided the camp! No matter how guarded by Isono Tanba, he couldn't even detect the sneak attack from the direction of Oiyama..." Nagamasa Asai's brain was a little confused, and he paced back and forth Turning around and frowning, he said, "That shouldn't be the case! It's not the first time Isono Tanba has commanded troops. You shouldn't make such a low-level mistake. Even if there is a real problem, Chono Wakasa, Hyakunai Kurauke , Endo Kiemon is here, they will definitely try to prevent this kind of mistake."

Nagamasa Asai's confidant Hidekatsu Wakisaka ran in from outside the tent and said in a panic, "My lord, it's not good! Fighting broke out in the camp at the foot of the mountain!"

Anming Wakisaka, another member of the crowd, also came over and said, "My lord! The camp is in chaos right now, what should we do?"

Asai Nagamasa saw the poor performance of several trusted retainers, and felt more and more unhappy in his heart. He secretly scolded these guys, as expected, they just had nothing to do with them to have fun and do small things. He couldn't help but frowned and scolded: "What do you look like in a panic! Isn't my family trying to find a way... Put me in armor first! It doesn't matter if it's a battle or not!"

Several cronies hurriedly put on the armor for him. Before the armor was passed on, they saw Akao Kiyosuna suddenly come out from the corner. He was dressed in a mess and looked like he had just experienced a battle. He said with a heavy breath: "My lord! The Kira army in the camp is attacking fiercely, and we are almost unable to resist! Please prepare to retreat quickly, my lord!"

Asai Nagamasa said in surprise: "The situation is so serious? Doesn't it mean that there are not many raiders?"

"It's really not many, at most 3000 people, but Nakajo Ideha Morihide is leading the army, and he has a very powerful sword warrior under his command. We can't stop the sharpness of these three warriors!" Kiyozuna Akao He sighed and said, "Let's retreat down the mountain as soon as possible, while the chaos at the foot of the mountain begins!"

"No! We must not withdraw! This withdrawal of our family either caused Tanba Isano to die in battle, or our family died on Mount Kiyake! The Asai family cannot withstand such a heavy blow, so we must find a way to hold on!" Nagamasa Asai is still stubborn His persistence made the Asai family samurai feel very helpless.

But the current situation has far exceeded his imagination. When Asai Nagamasa just stepped out of the big tent, he saw Nakajo Tokihide leading hundreds of warriors rushing towards him, and immediately there were hundreds of Asai The samurai of the family consciously formed a group.Asai Nagamasa was tightly protected in the circle, Nakajo Tokihide was blocked several times, and he also felt helpless with the fearless samurai and the huddled square formation.

Shioka Kazuha and Hayashizaki Jinsuke, who were wearing large armor, guarded Nakajo Tokihide from left to right, and behind them were dozens of samurai who were good at wielding swords. The Asai Army's square array is not worried about being surrounded by anti-encirclement.Powerful military force can only explode with amazing combat power after it has formed a large scale. Nakajo Tokihide is using this method to tell everyone that the original intention of practicing swordsmanship is to better kill the enemy on the battlefield. In this era, there is only a killing sword. Living Sword.

At this time, the sky was slightly brighter, and the white belly in the east indicated that a new day was coming. The tenacity of the Asai Army was completely beyond Nakajo Tohide's expectations.Many samurai of the Kira family were amazed by the tenacity of the people of Kita Omi.

Tokihide Nakajo’s action this time is actually taking a great risk, because Ika County is very close to Tsuruga County in Echizen Kingdom, and Tokihide Nakajo’s troops have to go around a long way to sneak into Omi Kingdom. Only by crossing the mountains and avoiding the sphere of influence of the Echizen Kingdom can they come to the Omi Kingdom, so this fierce and tyrannical army actually has no logistical support at all.

When soldiers eat food and fight, they must be paid first, otherwise the samurai will not be willing to use the ashigaru and they will not be motivated, but Nakajo Tokihide insisted on bringing the army to fight over the mountains and mountains under such difficult circumstances. What he relied on was Several days of dry food brought by the soldiers.Up to now, there is not much left to eat. If you eat up all the food you bring, you can only imitate the defeated soldiers and rely on the grain of the peasants to get enough food.

The so-called exhaustion and then decline, Nakajo Tokihide's surprise attack was originally a dangerous move by the soldiers. The three thousand troops had no confidence in their hearts. Resolute resistance made them lose the opportunity to completely seize the big camp, and they didn't know which cooker to start the next meal.

in this case.Even Tokihide Nakajo is helpless. To be able to come up with such a bold surprise attack tactic and successfully execute it is already full of luck. It would be too embarrassing to expect him to have another good fortune to collapse the stubborn Asai Army. There are no more opportunities for the sky to brighten.Nakajo Tokihide retreated the same way.

Asai Nagamasa was also forced to do nothing, the food was burned out in a fire, why did he set up camp, he couldn't let thousands of troops live on the mountain like savages and eat wild fruits, and he also saw that this Kira army was going to go the same way After retreating, he pursued the surprise attack army with all his strength, so he ordered the army to guard all places and not to move rashly, and made a move to leave if he wanted to.

It was a nasty choice for him to do this. The Asai army really had no way to continue the pursuit. Most of the food and grass in the camp had been burned. There is no plan to forcefully keep this night raiding army. Since they want to stay but can't, it's better to pretend to be generous and let them go.

Tokihide Nakajo went down the mountain road on the west side and turned to retreat in the direction of Yuwu Lake. Lin also sent out a signal to retreat before he retreated. Dozens of firecrackers named Zuo Yichang, Yamamoto Tokiyuki knew the surprise attack army when he received the signal. When he failed to capture the camp and retreated, he immediately ordered the entire army to retreat and give up the assault on Yamashita Asai's army.

This battle was later named the Battle of Jianyue. The two sides invested a total of more than 1 troops. Among them, 800 people from the Asai side killed more than 4000 people and injured more than [-] people. Most of the food and supplies were burned. The loss is heavy. Well, what is lacking is not just food and supplies, but also part of the family wealth and hard work accumulated by the Asai family, which can be said to be a serious injury.

On the other hand, the Kira Army's two armies totaled more than [-] people, and more than [-] people were killed in the battle, and more than [-] people were injured. The rare loss of soldiers and generals failed to obtain the benefits of food, supplies and prisoners from this night attack. , they are fighting a war purely for political gain.

The Asai army was half-destroyed, not only lost troops and generals, burned a lot of food, grass and supplies, but also regained the prestige gained in the battle of Norada, but as the only one who could persist in the night attack of the Kira army's hundreds of trials The samurai, the young and tough Asai Nagamasa is still firmly remembered by many famous names in Kinai. (to be continued...)