Chapter 278 12. Yoshikatsu Murakami Reveals His Weakness

Takanari Hidemasa led the way, facing Murakami Yoshimitsu, a member of the same clan as Murakami Yoshikiyo.

In many people's impressions, the Murakami family is also a daimyo family with strong cavalry, but in fact, Murakami Yoshikiyo is a samurai who is good at commanding long spears and foot soldiers to fight fiercely on foot.

It was recorded in history that he and Saito Dosan were both good users of the spear tactics, but that was a tactic directly belonging to the regular soldiers of Murakami Yoshikiyo's team.

Murakami Yoshimitsu's foot soldiers still used ordinary two-barreled guns, but less than three meters. They were no different from Takanari Hidemasa's foot soldiers, and they stabbed each other fiercely.

The archers and foot soldiers in the rear teams of both sides could only shoot into the sky, and the results were not great, but it was better than nothing.

However, there are no weak soldiers under a strong general. After all, Murakami Yoshimitsu has been fighting with Murakami Yoshikiyo for many years. Even if he was attacked by Takanari Hidemasa, he still commanded calmly and held his position.

The Uesugi army used a modified front arrow formation this time, with Takanari Hidemasa's team of nearly a thousand people as the big arrowhead in the vanguard, and the five teams of Momoi, Kojima, Yasuda, Shida, and Kaji as small arrowheads, following Takanari Hidemasa's troops.

If the Takanari team can tear open the Murakami army's defense line with one blow, the five teams will stick to the two wings of the Murakami, and the Uesugi army will go straight to the Murakami center. However, Takanari Hidemasa fought bravely, and Murakami Yoshimitsu resisted firmly, and the Murakami army did not retreat.

With this formation, Uesugi Terutora's ability was revealed. Shimazu Tadanao also made an arrowhead and attacked Murakami Yoshimitsu from Takanari Hidemasa's flank. The triangle of the arrowhead gradually straightened and became a straight line. Replace Takanari Hidemasa's troops and recuperate.

The main force of the Uesugi army was the five teams of Nagao, Nakajo, Mori, Suda, and Yoshie, which also made five small arrowheads and entered the battle from the right side of the first five teams. The arrows spread out to form a flat formation, replacing the front team.

The advantage of the Uesugi army gradually emerged, and the soldiers kept changing the formation to fight. Although it was not the so-called world-famous car hanging tactics, they also understood the essence of military tactics.

After fighting for about an hour, the front-line troops of Murakami Yoshikiyo were under the threat of being hit at all times because they were the party under close attack. They didn't dare to move at all, and the Uesugi army had already changed a batch of people.

The soldiers' strength could not keep up, and the quality of the generals began to appear uneven. The left wing Makishima Motoharu was obviously unable to support it, and the right wing Kojima Jubei was already shaky.

However, due to the hasty deployment, Murakami's rear team could not go up to replace the front team. Yashiro Masakuni was anxious on the horse, but Murakami Yoshikiyo was not anxious at all.

He seemed to be counting something in his mind, waiting for a certain degree.

"Lead a hundred cavalry to flank the enemy of the Makishima team." Murakami Yoshikiyo's military companion pointed at his son Murakami Yoshitoshi.

Murakami Yoshitoshi was as brave and daring as his father, and he answered the order loudly. With a point of his spear, Murakami Yoshikiyo's cavalry immediately divided into 100 cavalrymen and rushed out with Murakami Yoshitoshi.

These cavalrymen did not carry swords or spears, but each of them had a longbow, and they were extremely capable. However, in a moment, they rushed to the side of the Makishima team, but did not join the Makishima team. Instead, they walked around the team, drew their bows and arrows, and continuously attacked the Yoshie team of the Uesugi army.

The Yoshie team was originally weak in strength, with more than 190 people at most. The frontal Makishima team had more people than him, but the soldiers were tired, so they showed a decline. Now that the reinforcements of 100 cavalrymen have arrived, the morale is greatly boosted. The two armies fought back and forth, which was very beautiful.

And the Yoshie team lost more than 20 people, and they really couldn't bear it, and couldn't stand the narrow attack from both sides. Finally, they stopped attacking, huddled together and retreated while beating the gong.

Uesugi Terutora, Takanari Masayoshi and Naoe Kagetsuna beside him nodded their heads and asked who this man was. He was not a reckless man at all, but was brave and resourceful, and he sent out a hundred cavalrymen to help.

Takanari Masayoshi was familiar with the people, and explained the various teams of the Murakami army on the opposite side to Uesugi Terutora.

He learned that it was the legitimate son of Murakami Yoshikiyo, Murakami Mubei Yoshitoshi.

"Izumi, Izumi. Such a brave and resourceful samurai should not bring down your military reputation." Uesugi Terutora immediately ordered his generals to Kakizaki Keie to intercept the Murakami cavalry.

Murakami Yoshitoshi rode his horse non-stop and attacked the Uesugi army's Nagao team, and the cavalrymen on horseback shot arrows continuously. The sound of the strings kept ringing, and the whole field was filled with the majestic and heroic figure of Murakami Yoshitoshi.

The Nagao team could not withstand the attack from both sides and was forced to retreat.

The Makishima and Kojima teams of the Murakami army took a deep breath and immediately retreated, replacing them with fresh troops. The Leyan Temple team and the Uchiyama team replaced the troops very quickly, and did not leave any gaps for the Murakami army.

The crisis of the Murakami army was completely resolved, but they still fell behind in the end.

Kakizaki Kageie approached Murakami Yoshitoshi on the battlefield, but Murakami Yoshitoshi was quite different from his fiery father. Seeing someone riding a fast horse towards him, he was scared without hesitation. His cavalry had been running for nearly 20 minutes, so how could they fight against the cavalry who had just entered the field? The horses turned their heads and retreated to the center of the Murakami army.

The Uesugi army was in vain, and Kakizaki Kageie angrily retreated to the main camp.

"Zhou's defense is indeed well-deserved. He was careless last time with Kamikawa. This time, the battle in formation is quite spectacular!" Uesugi Terutora did not care about the temporary situation, and looked at the whole field to seize the opportunity.

The Uesugi army on the field has changed to the third wave of troops and horses to charge the formation. Yamamotoji Sadanaga made the main breakthrough and faced the Murakami Yoshikatsu team that replaced the Murakami army.

Murakami Yoshikatsu is also the son of Murakami Yoshikiyo. He is just 20 years old now and does not have much experience in battle. He has only fought for four or five years with his father and brother. Therefore, he can only be second to Murakami Yoshimitsu.

However, his troops were good, and they were all deployed by Murakami Yoshikiyo to his main team. Especially the 300 long-handled foot soldiers, each of which cost more than one kan.

The 300 people attacked together, like a forest and a quilt, and huge waves hit the shore. For a while, with the cooperation of the arched foot soldiers, Yamamotoji Sadanaga was forced to retreat step by step, causing the Yamamotoji team to suffer a lot of losses.

Uesugi Terutora immediately issued an order, and Sensaka Kagechika pulled up his 200 iron cannons to go up and kill the prestige of the Murakami army.

Sensaka Kagechika naturally obeyed the order and led the 200 people from his headquarters and the 200 iron cannons down the mountain like a tiger. They joined the Yamamotoji Sadanaga team in a disorderly manner and began to exert their strength.

It happened that the infantry of the Yamamotoji team was defeated again and retreated 30 to 40 meters.

Sensaka Kagechika ordered the foot soldiers to hold wooden shields to cover the iron cannons to enter the Murakami army.

Murakami Yoshikatsu saw the iron cannon team coming, and he could not retreat, so he just ordered his team to move forward. The soldiers raised their long guns, shouted slogans, and marched in unison, preparing to quickly cross the 30-meter distance and pierce the iron cannons of the Chisaka team.

In a flash, the Chisaka team finished reloading and immediately fired a volley, killing more than 20 people.

This was not over yet, the second and third rounds of the Chisaka iron cannon team, which were divided into three waves, poured down like a shadow.

Murakami Yoshikatsu's team was shattered!