Chapter 636 42. Hojo Blows the Horn of Counterattack
At this time, Sanada Masayuki had no time to assist Hosokawa Saion in attacking the main force of the Hojo clan. The more than 200 troops of Nakayama Ienori were all foot soldiers raised by the Hojo clan with gold and rice. They would have nothing to eat if the Hojo clan was destroyed, so they fought very bravely.
The troops surrounding the front team of the Hojo clan could not win the victory. They attacked with more than twice the number of troops, but they only ended up in a stalemate. They were really useless.
Originally, Ashikaga Nihiki's two large horse flags joined the battle with the sound of drums, which boosted the situation of the coalition forces, but they had not achieved any brilliant results. There was also a loud sound of conch shells on the Hojo clan's side.
The 3,000 people of the Hojo clan finally arrived at the battlefield of Oshi Castle, and Oishi Ujiteru, who was originally on the defensive, finally changed his color. The Hojo clan's three-stepped large horse flag swaggered towards Hosokawa Saionu, and the horn of the Hojo army's counterattack sounded.
"Please wait for a moment, Your Highness, I will be back soon!" Oishi Ujiteru was in high spirits.
"Then I will wait here for the news of my uncle's victory!" Hojo Ujinao finally showed his joy.
"It's all thanks to your highness sitting in the center of the army and not panicking in the face of danger."
"Hahahaha, uncle taught me well."
The two men praised each other, and the warriors of the Imperial Horse also shouted loudly to recruit people to launch a counterattack against Hosokawa Saijo. Originally, they were the victorious army, and their spirit was slowly recovering.
The late-coming Hojo clan's Houji, 3,000 people, followed the order of Oishi Ujiteru and divided into two groups. One group came to strengthen the main camp of the Hojo clan, and the other 2,000 people stepped on the mud and slowly surrounded Hosokawa Saijo from behind.
This is not a strange plan, it is just a fair use of the military advantage to surround you!
Hosokawa Saijo saw it with her eyes and was anxious in her heart. The main Hojo team in front of her did not collapse, and Houji followed up. More than a thousand people had fought for more than an hour, and they were exhausted.
The sunlight in the spring afternoon was not too strong. Hosokawa Cainu looked around and saw that the Yamanouchi army was getting smaller and smaller, while the Hojo Sankailing was getting larger and larger.
Matsumi-sai was panting heavily. The old man was leaning on a spear splattered with blood, and several arrows were stuck in his doma. There was mud, dirty blood, and some fishy unknown tissues on the wrinkled old face.
"I'm old! I can't kill anymore! I really can't kill anymore!" Matsumi-sai said bitterly.
"…………" Hosokawa Cainu did not answer Matsumi-sai.
Not far away, the Nakayama Ienori team, who had been rushing and fighting all the way without caring about casualties, suddenly burst into a fierce cheer, and the communication channel between the Hojo front team and the Hojo main team was opened again!
"We won! Our army won!" The cheers of the Hojo army resounded throughout the streets of Kamakura.
"Let's go! We can still be useful to His Majesty the Prince!" Matsumi-sai said as he was about to pull Hosokawa Cainu.
"Leave? Where to go?"
"It doesn't matter where, the situation in Oshi Castle is probably difficult to deal with!"
But the situation did not give them time to hesitate. The Yamauchi army, who had been attacking the main force of the Hojo army with a weak force, lost half of their breath when they saw the reinforcements of the Hojo army.
At this time, even Sanada Masayuki fled to Hosokawa Saimie. His originally complete equipment was loose, and the shackles on both sides were all gone. The long ladder and horse flag behind him were broken into three parts, and the horse flag was stained with liquid mixed with something unknown.
"Sai-nü, I'm afraid I can't get away!"
"Why can't I get away! Follow me!"
At this time, Hosokawa Saimie knew that the battle of his unit had basically failed, and his only task now was to retreat with the remaining less than 2,000 people.
Where to retreat?
The terrain of Oshi Castle is a swampy paddy field that the Hojo army cannot deploy, and the same is true for the Yamauchi army! When attacking, they can form a large formation and attack slowly according to the rhythm. But what about retreating? The Hojo army is right here, and the two sides are still fighting each other, and they have not broken contact at all.
In this situation, if you encounter a tyrant, just abandon all the troops and horses, and throw the army on the spot. While the enemy has not come up, our army is resisting, find a gap and rush out, and you will be able to escape.
But Hosokawa Saijo will never abandon the army and flee!
"Slowly withdraw the troops and move towards the nearest Murakami Katsurao-dono!"
The solution is not a solution, approach the nearest Murakami Yoshikuni's troops. Join the two armies and summon the remaining troops that are still attacking the Hojo front team. If there are 8,000 or 9,000 people in hand, there is still a possibility of a slow retreat.
"Hojo clan general Kuwahara Gorozaemon comes to ask Hosokawa Saijo for advice!" A Hojo samurai wearing a crab-shaped hat and holding a spear, swung away three spears that were stabbed at once, and shouted more than ten meters away from Hosokawa Saijo.
Since the generals of both sides did not fight on horseback, Kuwahara Gorozaemon only saw the two flags of Hosokawa Nihiki flying more than ten meters away, and was not sure where Hosokawa Saemon was actually.
If it was normal, the general would be high on his horse, and with the flying flags and horse emblems, he could be identified at a glance.
"I'll go!" Sanada Masayuki held his gun and went to block Kuwahara Gorozaemon, without giving others a chance to hesitate.
The situation of war is so irregular that the situation of victory and defeat often changes in an instant. The Yamauchi army, which was just full of righteousness and fought hard against the Hojo army, lost its courage after being attacked from both sides.
Even though the two flags of Hosokawa Saemon's Hosokawa Nihiki were still flying not far away, they could not stop the soldiers from slowly retreating. The reason why the Yamauchi army did not collapse was because Hosokawa Saemon was still there and had a backbone.
At this time, Hosokawa Saijo had to show up. If he didn't show up, the team would really be scattered.
Helplessly, Hosokawa Saijo, wearing a conspicuous Nanbando armor, beat the Taiko drum, stood under the two horse flags of Hosokawa Nihiki, and announced to the Yamauchi army that the commander was still there and the whole army could still fight.
The Hojo army intentionally or unintentionally let the Yamauchi army gather together, driving the Yamauchi army to gather around Hosokawa Saijo. Except for a very small number of those who fled and died in battle, about 1,600 to 1,700 people were oppressed by the Hojo army and had to fight the last desperate battle.
"Am I, Hosokawa Michimasa, going to die here today?"
The extremely strong Hosokawa Saijo closed his eyes unwillingly, but he only sank a little. Not long after, he cheered up, waved the military uniform, called on the soldiers to fight and retreat, and try to join up with most of the Yamauchi army.
How could Oishi Ujiteru allow Hosokawa Saijo to escape unscathed? He used his force, which was three times greater than Hosokawa Saijo's, to attack the soldiers of Hosokawa's army.
At the same time, he did not hesitate to use his bows and cannons to shoot at the Yamauchi army who were trying to escape. Every time Hosokawa Saijo moved, a loyal and brave soldier of the Yamauchi army would fall.