Chapter 733 16. The Yamanouchi Group Wins First

Nobunaga held up his monocular telescope, ignored Takigawa Ieyasu who was kneeling under the tent and asking for help, and carefully checked the number of troops and cannons mobilized by the Yamauchi army.

In order to fight this battle well, Oda Nobunaga prepared a lot, including large-scale conscription of horsemen, purchase of local gunpowder and lead, and collection of iron cannons. Of course, in addition to this, the most important thing is the cannon!

Anyone who has seen the power of cannons will not doubt it. No matter how strong the castle is or how brave the samurai is, they will die in front of cannons.

According to Nobunaga's estimation, the Yamauchi army has been hiding, secretly purchasing and learning to cast for these years, at least a dozen cannons. And after he allowed Gifu to build the Nanman Cathedral and allowed Luoyang to resume missionary work, he only received four Portuguese cannons of different sizes as gifts from the Jesuits.

This is far from enough!

To fight those small forces, a country bumpkin who has never seen the world only needs a cannon, but if he wants to fight a decisive battle with Yamauchi, this is far from enough.

It is not realistic to learn to cast cannons temporarily, but Nobunaga is rich! Very rich! Very rich!

After controlling Sakai, Nobunaga will naturally not miss the direct contact with the Nanman forces. The Yamauchi family and the Hojo family can open the port to preach and accept foreign culture. There is no reason for Oda Nobunaga, a weirdo with a slightly "worshiping foreigners" characteristic, to reject foreign culture. And the Nanman merchants naturally all adhere to the belief that if they have business, they are fools. As long as they can make money, they will even sell the ropes to hang themselves, let alone cannons.

Nobunaga glanced at the large wooden frame covered with camouflage not far away. Eight gun-wielding warriors were guarding the four directions tightly. No one could get close to there without Oda Nobunaga's order.

"Tell Sakon that this is just a test from Shimotaro. If you want help now, you can become a pediatrician in the future!"

"Eh?" The messenger who asked for help did not expect Nobunaga to say this and was a little confused.

"Don't you understand?" Nobunaga finally looked at the messenger straight in the eye, and the man shuddered all over.

"Yes! Yes, yes! I understand!" The messenger's heart trembled, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead unconsciously.

As he was speaking, the sound of artillery started, and the Portuguese guns in front of the Yamauchi army began to bombard Takigawa Ieyasu's troops guarding the trenches and horse fences. The damage of the shotgun to the fortifications was not too great, and it was naturally useless for the trenches. However, after being shot five rounds of rapid fire, the soldiers behind the horse fence still suffered heavy losses.

Takigawa Ieyasu's troops were shaken!

The troops facing the bombardment on the first line of defense undoubtedly began to retreat backwards, and no samurai even came forward to stop them, because the samurai were also scared. No matter how good your martial arts are, you are afraid of cannons!

It's not that Takigawa Ieyasu is unwilling to fight, it's that he can't fight! Even if you are the Mikawa people, or even Nobunaga's hatamoto people, you can't be fearless enough to withstand the bombardment and hold your position unmoved. For an army that is mostly conscripted soldiers, fighting is not the first priority, but saving lives is the first priority, and looting is second.

"Beat the drum, order your uncle to send troops to charge the battle!" Ashikaga Yoshiaki shouted when he saw that the bombardment was successful.

Fujiwara Dan was watching the battle quietly, and did not stop it. The envoy of the main team naturally rushed out to pass the order, and Ashikaga Yoshiaki's drum holder also began to beat the battle drum.

The uncle that Ashikaga Yoshiaki was talking about was naturally Imagawa Yoshichika. As the general of Takigawa Ieyasu in front of him, he would undoubtedly shoulder the responsibility of breaking the enemy first. After receiving the attack order from the main camp, Imagawa Yoshichika was not vague and immediately selected the generals.

"Your Highness, please send me to fight!" A young warrior who was still childish but showed a good temperament came out enthusiastically.

Imagawa Yoshichika saw that it was the eldest son of Iwase Tamebe Shosuke Motomasa, the lord of Matsuyama Castle, who was assigned to one wing, but he didn't remember his specific name.

"What's your name!" Imagawa Yoshichika was also a teenager when he was brought up by Kobayata, who said that you are now the son of Imagawa Osamu Daisuke, so he didn't look down on the young man in front of him.

"My son's name is Fujijiro Motomori!" Iwase Motomasa saw that his son had already stepped out, and he also wanted to make him famous.

"Okay! Fujijiro, if you can get the first place, I will give you my name!" Imagawa Yoshichika took one of his spare spears and gave it to Iwase Motomori.

Iwase Motomori was also unambiguous. He took the spear and took the lead, leading his father's Matsuyama troops to attack Takigawa Ieyasu's troops. The Matsuyama group was born from the castle soldiers who guarded Takatenjin Castle back then. They fought against Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo and were very effective.

The drums sounded more and more excited. After Iwase Motomori went in first, the Yamauchi right wing troops also began to move forward. Once they broke through, they would expand the results of the battle.

At this time, the Takigawa group had also stopped losing. With the replacement of the soldiers defending the second and third lines, they rushed to the first fortification again. However, they were bombarded before the battle, and their fighting spirit was unstable. The elite troops of the first line were defeated again, and the second line troops that were supplemented were worrying in all aspects.

"Shoot! Shoot!" An Oda iron cannon head shouted loudly.

Across the fence, the Oda army's counterattack finally began, and hundreds of iron cannons exploded at the same time. The offensive of Iwase Motomori's troops was stopped, but that was all. This distance was only enough for the Oda army to fire a round of volleys. When the two sides were entangled, it all depended on the real ability of the sword to cut the flesh.

"It was Iwase Tojiro Motomori who was the first to break into the enemy camp!" A loud shout resounded throughout the venue.

"Great!" Iwase Motomasa was in the back camp and was very excited when he saw his son was the first to rush into the Oda camp without any injury.

"Tamibe has a good son!" Imagawa Yoshichika's own children are still young. He and Imagawa Yoshimoto's daughter Matsuhime are in harmony and have two sons and one daughter.

"Tabei Futa, come to fight!" A samurai also jumped out of the Oda camp.

Iwase Motomori, who had just jumped over the trench, was directing his trusted family members sent by his father to remove the fence and throw the fence into the trench to remove obstacles on the way to attack.

"You're just in time!" Although the young man was only about fifteen years old, he was brave and well versed in the secret of "single challenge".

Without saying a word, he brought several of his family members and servants, and rushed towards Taibei Futa with spears and swords. We will fight you alone. If you don't agree, bring a group.

Both armies were paying attention to this small battle. At this time, the sky was bright, and the battlefield of Shitarahara Rengo River was no longer covered. The armies were scattered all over the place, strict and awe-inspiring, and the shouts of killing became louder and louder.

"The enemy general has been captured by our Iwase Tojiro Motomori!"

The Yamauchi army cheered, and the first gap in the first fence was successfully opened, and the morale of the army was boosted!