$ Chapter 556 18. Crush Stones and Leave the City to Fight to the Death

Gun cannons roared and bowstrings rang four times under Toishi Castle.

After all, they were regular foot soldiers trained by Yamanouchi Yoshiharu and Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, and the number of officers reached a rare 25% of the entire army, more than half of which were at the grassroots level. Even after being bombarded by Takeda Shingen's two rounds of six Portuguese guns, they were still able to form a line and move forward steadily.

After the Takeda army was bombarded by the cannons of the Yamanouchi army located on a small slope of Shia Mountain, the A army was in the best condition and stood still. The Shinano people were quite shaken and confused, and as for the Suruga people, they were lucky and had not been hit by the cannon.

This time, Kobayata's command completely brought the entire Yamanouchi Goniwa 13th Division, except for the 1st Division led by Murakami Yoshimitsu, and the remaining 12 divisions.

The generals of each division were all loyal warriors who served Yamanouchi with equal courage and experience. It is not an exaggeration to call them the treasures of Yamanouchi.

The wide front of the enemy, three-stage horizontal formation, the 5th, 6th, 9th and 11th squads actually faced the enemy head-on. The archery foot soldiers and the iron cannon foot soldiers took turns firing their long-range weapons. They were used to the sound of cannons whizzing overhead.

Who told them to test-fire the Portuguese guns frequently under Fuzhong City? This was inevitable in order to train artillery and train war horses to fight in the sound of cannons.

Many foot soldiers were even awakened by the roar of cannons in the morning. They were usually nervous because of cannons, but they were much more relaxed on the battlefield.

Get used to it!

Xiao Pingtai's combat strategy this time was very plain. He did not adopt the simple strategy of a large group of people rushing in chaos. Instead, he adopted a direct attack method and attacked the Takeda army head-on. He confronted the Takeda army head-on on the narrow river beach plain beside Shi'a Mountain and Xichuan River, and stuck to the Takeda army.

Then the soldiers in Toishi Castle came out in full force, attacking the flank of the Takeda army from the side. Under the double panic and attack of the Takeda army, they used the advantage of artillery to directly kill the samurai generals of each team of the Takeda army, and finally attacked Takeda Shingen's main camp.

There is no extraordinary plan, no brilliant plan, only the confidence to fight to the death!

Sitting on the Hundred Dan, Kobayata didn't worry about anything else!

"Order Minggoro's 5th Division to go forward and entangle Baba Minomori, and Shiro's 11th Division to entangle Naito Shujin, Aji's 9th Division to entangle Suwa Shiro, and the 6th Division to go forward and cooperate. The subsequent teams are ready to rotate at any time!"

"Takashi Heibei on the left wing should not move lightly. Please ask him to lead Takanari Hougonggong to cover one side of the battlefield and invite the Takeda army!"

The envoys kneeling in front of Kobayata listened to the order one by one, mounted their war horses and galloped out to pass orders to each division.

The command and dispatch of pure professional troops are completely different. The military orders are smooth and the ability to implement strategic goals is far better than that of ordinary old-style troops mixed with a large number of peasant soldiers.

The two sides are still in the process of testing firepower for the time being, and the cannons of the Takeda army are silent. It is not a problem, but the front of the army is gradually unfolding, and a large number of Takeda troops are arranged in the firing range, so they can no longer shoot. The artillery positions of the Yamauchi army are on the slope, and they are still firing fiercely.

"Enemy!" Chen San shouted!

"It was me, Ogasawara and Shiro Nagamasa, who were the first to break into the enemy formation!" A loud shout came from the formation.

The long-handled foot soldiers of Ogasawara's troops were arranged in a spear formation and slapped the Takeda army fiercely. With a bang, hundreds of long spears of the two armies collided with each other, and a fierce fight began.

At the same time, the other three teams also collided with the Takeda army teams in turn. The troops of all standing foot soldiers were neat and uniform. Under the shouting of the ashigaru holding the sword, three rows of long-lanced ashigaru waved their long spears one after another, continuously hitting the soldiers of the Takeda army, like waves hitting the shore, like a raging tide hitting the sky.

Although there were only 5,000 people participating in the battle, they completely entangled the 10,000 Takeda army (excluding about 4,000 in Suruga and about 3,000 in Takeda's main camp) who were facing the enemy head-on.

The Takeda army was originally a mixture of various types of soldiers. Some regular soldiers and farmers wanted to fight, while others wanted to defend. The sergeants who held flags, carried ammunition, and carried wooden shields were even more at a loss. They were not combat personnel in the first place, and the Yamauchi army suddenly appeared, and they were forced to mix in with the team to meet the enemy together.

If the sergeants, who accounted for 40 to 45% of the total number of troops, were stripped away before the battle, the number of soldiers of the Takeda army who faced the Yamauchi army head-on might be less than that of the Yamauchi army.

However, the participation of these non-combatants did not enhance the actual combat capability of the Takeda army much. On the contrary, under the fierce bombardment, there was a serious riot and vacillation.

Although the generals of the Takeda army were trying hard to maintain the front line, it was inevitable that these menial servants had the intention of escaping. This intention became stronger after a cannon of the Yamanouchi army hit the team of Yoda Nobuhisa, the lord of Yoda Castle in Shinano.

"Shoot! The horse mark of the enemy general Yoda Mutsu-no-kami was blown off!"

Following the direction pointed by Tatsuzo, Kobayata could see clearly that the Yoda team of the Shinano vanguard was greatly shaken, and retreated under the bombardment and strong attack.

"Very good, pass the order to the cannon leader behind to focus fire on the middle section of the Shinano."

The cannon leader on the hillside came from the Chiba clan of Soshu, but the Chiba clan was oppressed by the Hara clan, the regent of the family. The Hara clan of Soshu was divided into several factions and fought each other. One of the factions was represented by Hara Toratane, who was driven away by the Kobumori. The other faction was the one to which the current Hara Tsumakatsu belonged, and was defeated in the Chiba Rebellion. Later, he served as a cannon samurai to Yamanouchi Yoshikatsu, who was in Kyoto at the time, and now he is the cannon leader.

"Also, send an order to Toishi Castle, the time has come!"

"Yes!"

Tatsuzo ran back, and then a stick fire arrow flew into the sky.

Drums were beating loudly, and flags were flying in Toishi Castle. Soldiers in the city were filled with hatred for their country and their families. After learning yesterday that Fujiwara Dan, the general of the Shimoyamauchi clan, was coming to help, they were surprised and surprised. They had originally prepared to fight a final battle with Takeda Shingen in the city, but they did not expect the royal army to arrive.

Now, hearing the sound of the sticks and fire arrows under the city, the 493 people including the general Suda Mitsuyori all tied white cloth on their heads and wore only light armor. The front team held bows and arrows, and the back team held long spears. They opened the city gates and secret doors and rushed out of the city.

All the soldiers of Toishi Castle shouted wildly, excited their morale, and were determined to defeat Takeda Shingen in one battle to comfort the countless people who died in Saku County!

The Suruga people who besieged Toishi Castle were the first to bear the brunt of the attack and were stunned by the Toishi Castle army who risked their lives.

Before Takeda Yoshinobu made a decision, the brothers Okabe Motonobu and Okabe Masatsuna, who were the core of the Suruga crowd, "could not hold on" and fled to the sides. After the two fled, the remaining Suruga people did not want to fight, and retreated in panic, leaving a path for the soldiers of Toishi Castle.

It took only a dozen minutes for five hundred people to defeat four thousand people.