Chapter 744 25. Nobunaga Secretly Thinks of a Way Out

After the Kitabatake troops on Mt. Midoyama beat drums and went down the mountain, the battle of Shitarahara completely fell to the Yamanouchi army, and the situation was almost beyond suspense.

The first to completely collapse was the Tokugawa army, which was abandoned by Oda and most of which was already in chaos. After Oda Nobutada and Kawajiri Hidetaka left the rear guard and suddenly withdrew from the battle, Sakai Tadatsugu finally couldn't resist the fierce attack of Yamanouchi's army and collapsed!

The front army rushed to the rear army, and the rear army was already scattered. The more than 4,000 Tokugawa troops could no longer be cleaned up and became the fish under the sword of the Yamanouchi army.

Oda Nobutada and Kawajiri Hidetaka, who were marching, were delighted when they saw Kitabatake Nobutomo on Mt. Midoyama go down the mountain. If there were more than 12,000 people, Oda Nobunaga would definitely be rescued, and everyone would retreat to Okazaki Castle to fight again.

Oda Nobutada, who originally wanted to call on his uncle to join the army, even slowed down his riding speed slightly, preparing to ride side by side with his nephew to rescue his father. The result was of course obvious. As he was walking, he suddenly heard the words "Support the shogunate to fight against the enemy, justice lies in the mountains!", and he was completely panicked.

Kitabatake Tomochika was the first to ride, followed by the people of the southern states, Toiyao Mitsuyoshi was guarding Kitabatake Nobutomo, Sasa Ryūdan's large horse flag was hung high, and the whole army rushed fiercely to Oda Nobutada's troops.

What was particularly amazing was a general wielding a more than two-meter-long demon gold stick. He was 1.8 meters tall, wearing an Amitabha body, but with an Ashikaga two-hiki two-back flag on his back.

Wherever the demon gold stick pointed, the people and horses were shattered, and in just a few moments, dozens of Oda soldiers were killed. Looking closer, it turned out to be a big monk with scars on his head. Who else could it be but Master Jingkong, the head of Luoyang Toji-in Temple!

As a confidant of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, he never betrayed the loyal minister of the shogunate even in the most difficult times of the shogunate. This time, he traveled far and wide, broke into the tiger's den alone, persuaded Kitabatake Gukyou to start an army, and after learning the strategy of the Kitabatake clan, he followed and joined the army. Now, as the tip of the sword of the army, he took the lead in killing into the Oda camp.

Chanting Amitabha did not prevent the ghost gold stick in his hand from spinning like flying. The copper-clad iron stick weighing dozens of pounds was already stained with the blood of the Oda soldiers, and there was no one under the stick.

"Where is Oda Kankuro?" Master Jingkong shouted loudly, and the Oda army retreated in fear.

Of course, no one would agree to him. With his appearance, let alone Oda Nobutada, even if Honda Tadakatsu and Tachibana Muneshige came, you would have to consider whether you can withstand that stick. Anyway, Oda Nobutada looked at his thin arms and legs, and he certainly didn't dare to step forward to fight.

Kawajiri Hidetaka in the battle immediately asked people to move the Yongle Tongma horse emblem to the other side, so that the big monk wouldn't look at the horse emblem and kill him.

"Young master, the Kitabatake people are in turmoil, it's urgent, let's go!"

"Go, go, go..." Oda Nobutada's loyalty was finally broken by the continuous blows, his mind was distracted, and the desire to survive overcame everything.

"The old minister will stay behind! Young master, you go first!" Kawajiri Hidetaka was Nobutada's assistant, and the relationship between the two was the same as that between Koyata and Ashikaga Yoshiaki, half monarch and half father and son.

"Hizen..." Oda Nobutada was a little at a loss, and Kawajiri Hidetaka stripped off the conspicuous contemporary armor from his body.

"Hurry up!" After calling a few loyal horsemen and helping Nobutada change into an ordinary domaru, Kawajiri Hidetaka looked at the road, patted his horse and sent Nobutada away.

"Oda Kankuro Nobutada is here!" Seeing Nobutada running away, Kawajiri Hidetaka put on Nobutada's headband and shouted his name.

The Kitabatake people from all directions finally found "Oda Nobutada" who was perched high under the Yongle Tongma horse. Everyone was brave and rushed to kill him desperately.

Kizoku Nagamasa, Kitabatake Tomochika, Tahara Shigetsuna and others not only drove the soldiers to attack fiercely, but also shouted and shot at close range.

"Oda Kankuro Nobutada has been captured by my Hirasawa Geiki Uemon Yoshimasa!"

A head was hung high in the formation, and Oda Nobutada and Kawajiri Hidetaka's thousands of people collapsed!

This sudden change was really unexpected by both Yamauchi and Oda in the battle, but what's wrong with Yamauchi?

After hearing the words "Oda Kankuro Nobutada has been captured by my Hirasawa Geiki Uemon Yoshimasa!", Oda Nobunaga on the Danshodai looked depressed. Although he recovered quickly, everyone around him knew that Nobunaga must be extremely sad.

"Beat the drums and send the order! Let everyone rely on the platform to fight the enemy!" Nobunaga quickly adjusted his strategy.

Now the Oda army still has less than 20,000 people. If they gather together and rely on Danshodai to defend, the Yamauchi army may not be able to capture it. He still has more than a thousand iron cannons in his hands. Using the high ground to attack the low ground will pose a great threat to the Yamauchi army's feint attack. Every time the Yamauchi army attacks, it will pay a huge price.

From the initial firepower test, the two sides have been fighting for nearly three hours, and most of the soldiers are exhausted. Both Oda and Yamauchi have almost no reserve troops and can no longer continue to fight.

Then it depends on who can hold on longer!

The center and right wing of the Yamauchi army, with less than 30,000 men, slowly advanced and spread out, trying to surround Danzhengdai. In addition to Oda Nobunaga's main force, there were also Niwa Nagahide, Sakuma Nobumori, Takigawa Ikmasu and other troops in Daihara Sakon, as well as the original guerrilla force Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi who regrouped after retreating.

It is said that there was such a conversation in history. The two people in the conversation were Kosaka Danzheng and Naito Osamu, and one asked the other what kind of person Oda Danzheng was. The other replied that Oda Nobunaga was a person who would not leave his sword even if he forgot to bring toilet paper (that thing is called fan nose paper?).

Although this stuff is not much different from those anecdotes, military discipline and the like, and they all seem to be made up by those novelists in the Edo period, but it still reflects the world's view of Oda Nobunaga.

This man is a standard samurai!

He is always ready to fight, and the focus of his life is on war. He can take a shit without paper, but he will never go out without a sword. From a side point of view, since he is a "true samurai", he obviously has many skills that samurai should have.

For example, running away!

In addition to longevity, the samurai who can live to the Edo period have another most important skill, that is, running away! Those who can't run away must have died long ago. Even Tokugawa Ieyasu had a shameful defeat in Mikatahara and ran away on horseback.

Not to mention Nobunaga, who spent half his life in war, suffered countless betrayals in his life, but lived to the age of 49, an SSS-level running expert.

The current situation of this battle has changed from Oda's advantage to Yamanouchi's advantage, but it is still in a stalemate. Even Oda Nobunaga had to start preparing for the worst.