Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

As early as January 30th, in view of the fact that Kusakari Hiratsugu did not express his surrender to Yoshishige within the agreed time, Yamagata Morinobu had already led 2,000 troops from Yoho Castle as planned and began to attack Yodoyama Castle.

But at this time, Kusakari Hirotsugu was already prepared. He used the branch castles and mountain forts around Yodoyama Castle to harass the Takeda army along the way, making it impossible for Yamagata Morinobu to concentrate his forces to attack Yodoyama Castle.

In desperation, Yamagata Shengxin decided not to rush to attack Dianshan City, but to clear out several major strongholds around it to ensure that he had no worries.

Although this approach was safe, it consumed a huge amount of manpower, material resources and time, which was not an easy task for the Takeda army that had traveled a long distance.

Therefore, in order to capture Yodoyama Castle as quickly as possible, suppress the Kusakari clan, and demonstrate the military power of the Takeda clan, Yoshishige, after exchanging an oath with Akihisa Amago and achieving reconciliation between the two families, immediately led his army south with Yamana Tasukuyo to reinforce Yamagata Morinobu.

On the sixth day of February, Yoshishige led an army of 5,500 to successively capture the castles held by Kusakari Takatsugu's allies, such as Kageishi and Matsutakeo, and marched south along the Sendai River Valley to the river area north of Yodoyama Castle.

When Morinobu Yamagata heard that the main force of the Takeda army had arrived, the morale of his troops was greatly boosted, and they cleared several mountain forts southwest of Yodoyama Castle, and eventually pushed their troops to the vicinity of Niimi River.

Seeing that the Takeda army had formed a pincer attack on him from the front and back, and that the surrounding castles were successively captured, Kusakari Hirotsugu in Yodoyama Castle finally began to panic.

On the ninth day of February, he first led 2,000 troops to raid the army of Yamagata Morinobu in the Niimi River area, intending to pick up the weak persimmon and defeat Yamagata Morinobu, who had fewer troops, first to resolve the dilemma of being besieged.

Unexpectedly, Yamagata Morinobu was not only a member of the Takeda clan, but also a top-ranked general of the Takeda clan. This time, in the expedition against the Kusakari clan, he led 500 red cavalrymen to accompany him, and was eager to engage in a field battle with the Kusakari army.

Kusakari Hiraji's initiative to attack Yamagata Morinobu who was stationed in the plains was exactly what he wanted. Seeing the Kusakari army coming towards his main camp, Yamagata Morinobu thought he could finally have a hearty battle. His soldiers were also very excited. Under his command, they formed a battle formation and rushed towards the oncoming Kusakari army with a roar of applause.

Before the battle even started, the Kusakari army was frightened by the momentum of the Takeda army on the opposite side. The vanguard general Wada Yuxing was also nervous at this time, but as things had come to this point, he could only fight to the death.

In a flash, the two sides started a battle in the middle of Kawahara. "Bloody Spear Kuro" Nagasaka Nobumasa led the way and broke into the enemy camp, while Sakakibara Nagamasa and Onitawa Masaaki led their troops to encircle the Kusakari army from the flank.

With the close cooperation of the three, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the left wing of the Kusakari Army was first penetrated by Sakakibara Nagamasa, and then, in less than half an hour, Onitsuka Masaaki also penetrated the right wing of the Kusakari Army.

Upon seeing this, Wada Yuxing immediately ordered the vanguard troops to retreat in an orderly manner, while Kusakari Hirotsugu in the main camp sent out all 500 reserve troops in an attempt to prevent Sakakibara Nagamasa and Oniwa Masaaki from cutting off the Kusakari army's retreat.

On the other hand, Nagasaka Nobumasa led his troops in hot pursuit, forcing Wada Yuxing to fight against him.

Wada Yuuki was originally the lord of the Chito County Chengyunchu Castle. After the castle was breached by the army led by Yamagata Morinobu, he was forced to flee to Yodoyama Castle to participate in the siege. He already hated the Takeda army for breaking into the city, and facing the pursuit of Nagasaka Nobumasa, he was even more angry and humiliated. So, he turned his gun around and decided to fight them, regardless of the dissuasion of the surrounding samurai.

In terms of bravery, this country warrior could be ranked among the people of Chizu County, but he was not in the eyes of Nagasaka Nobumasa. Seeing him coming towards him with his eyes wide open, teeth bared and shouting, Nagasaka Nobumasa muttered disdainfully, "You don't know how to live or die", and then picked up his spear and went to fight.

As soon as the two sides started fighting, Wada Yuxing felt that the general of the Takeda family in front of him was a bit tricky. After less than ten moves, Wada Yuxing was already exhausted, especially after being stabbed in the waist by Nagasaka Nobumasa. He endured the severe pain and began to seek a way to escape.

"Damn it! Come and help me hold it off!" Wada Yuxing covered his waist and asked for help from the warriors around him in pain.

However, seeing how brave Nagasaka Nobumasa was, the Kusakari warriors did not dare to step forward to support him. Instead, they were beaten back by the Takeda warriors around Nagasaka Nobumasa, and gradually distanced themselves from Wada Yuxing. "A bunch of cowards! Bastards!" Wada Yuxing cursed in pain, baring his teeth.

But his curse did not change the situation at all. On the contrary, as Nagasaka Nobumasa's attack speed gradually increased, Wada Yuxing was unable to resist. After being stabbed in the thigh, forearm and other places, he attempted to turn around and flee to a crowded place.

However, Nagasaka Nobumasa did not give him a chance to escape. At this moment, the spear shot out from his hand like lightning and pierced Wada Yuxing's chest squarely.

Wada Yuxing then fell to the ground with a painful expression. Nagasaka Nobumasa quickly stepped forward, stepped on his back, and pulled out the spear with force. Blood gushed out in an instant.

Soon, after struggling for a few times, Wada Yuxing stopped moving. Seeing this, Nagasaka Nobumasa pulled out the wakizashi from his waist and cut off his head in no time.

Afterwards, Nobumasa Nagasaka hung the head in his hand on the spear and held it high, shouting loudly to show his achievements.

"hey-hey!"

"Roar!"

Seeing this, the morale of the Takeda army was boosted, and cheers rose and fell across the battlefield. The Kusakari army, which was already at a disadvantage, lost its fighting spirit when it learned that its vanguard general had been beheaded. The few defense lines that were barely holding up began to show holes under the fierce attack of the Takeda army, and the situation on the battlefield gradually became clear.

However, the 500 reserve troops sent by Kusakari Hiratsugu did play a certain role. Under the leadership of General Komatsu Katsutoyo, this reserve force barely opened up a passage, allowing the almost besieged vanguard troops to retreat to the rear through the passage.

Yamagata Morinobu, who wanted to use the field battle to kill a large number of enemy troops, would not watch the main force of the Kusakari Army withdraw to Yodoyama Castle. So, he waved the spear in his hand, and the 500 red cavalry who had been eager to try immediately joined the battle!

This "red lightning" galloped across the wilderness and rushed into the enemy camp at lightning speed. Amid the neighing of war horses and the shouts of warriors, the foot soldiers and samurai of the Kusakari army became innocent souls under the gun before they could react.

The purpose of the cavalry was very clear, which was to cut off the "escape route" that the Kusakari army had just established and completely trap its main force in the encirclement of the Takeda army.

Faced with such a sudden cavalry team, Kusakari Hengtsugu, who was far behind, was stunned. He never expected that the Takeda family would have such a surprising army.

He knew that the best way at the moment was to continue to send reinforcements to the front line, to resist the charge of the cavalry, and to ensure that the main force could be withdrawn.

But the key point is that he no longer has any extra troops, and he can't let the two or three hundred soldiers guarding the city join the battle. If so, I'm afraid that Yodoyama Castle will be captured by the Takeda army before the outcome is decided.

Helplessly, Kusakari Hengji could only watch the battle situation develop in a direction unfavorable to his side, while he was powerless to do anything.

"My lord, please withdraw the troops. We can't fight any longer!" The warriors beside him also saw the situation clearly. With the idea of ​​withdrawing as many troops as possible, they advised Kusakari Hengtsugu to quickly order a withdrawal. (End of this chapter)