After hearing Tachibana Munushige's assertion, Shimazu Michihisa obviously didn't believe it. He looked at Tachibana Muneshige suspiciously. "Are you confident in what you say?" As a general here, he naturally understands how bad the current situation is. The army commanded by Tachibana Munesege is actually a combination of the vassal armies of various powerful families. It cannot be regarded as a whole. On the contrary, each has its own thoughts. Although Tachibana Munesege has been working hard to unite his men in the past few months. However, due to limited time, the results of this force were not enough. If everything goes well, this pattern is nothing, but after these days of retreat and consumption, all the vassal armies have suffered huge losses. Under this situation, everyone's hearts are a little unstable, not only It's just Shimazu Dichihisa's family. Others also want to retreat, but they are not as high-status as Shimazu Dichihisa, so they don't dare to say it in front of Tachibana Munege. Tachibana Munesege just smiled slightly, "I know better than you who Naotaka Ii is. How dare such a junior act recklessly in front of me!" Then, he turned around and left with a few followers. Then he mounted his horse directly and led his followers out of the city to his military formation outside the city. Then he immediately summoned several generals to him. Soon these generals gathered around him, anxiously asking about his current situation, eager to get the next countermeasures from him. Unlike before, Tachibana Muneshige was now solemn. He waved his hand to silence the generals, then picked up the telescope and observed the situation on the front line. At this time, the shogunate army had already pressed in front of their formation. The large black army looked so imposing that it was almost impossible to see the side. . Although he spoke very relaxedly in front of Shimazu Michihisa, he also knew in his heart how bad the situation was now. It was only in order to stabilize the hearts of his subordinates that he acted as calm as before. The shogunate actually asked the elder Naotaka Ii to personally lead the army to attack Kinki, which was indeed beyond his expectation. In his opinion, now that the situation of the shogunate has collapsed to this point, they should defend Kanto, but instead they After weakening the troops in Kanto, he sent a large army to attack Kinki, which made him secretly lament that the current shogunate was really empty. He had been with Zhou Pu before, and he had already known the Han's plan. When Ii Naotaka came out with the army, he had already made the Han's strategy successful. Next, Kantong would face a comprehensive attack by the Han army on land and sea, and his own The first task is to hold back Naotaka Ii's army so that they cannot return to Kanto to aid, making it easier for the Han to directly attack the shogunate. However, although the shogunate made a wrong decision, now he still has to face pressure from the enemy. There is no time to be careless right now. "Gentlemen, now the shogunate's army has pressed in front of our army's formation. This is indeed the most difficult moment for our army!" Tachibana Munesege put down his telescope, and then turned to look at his generals. "Nara Castle is just a small city and cannot accommodate our army. Therefore, our army must not retreat, otherwise it will only be surrounded and destroyed by the enemy. Our army can only fight from behind the city and strive to repel the enemy. !" When he said this, the generals looked at each other, but no one said anything. This is indeed a fact. Although Nara is a city, the city's defense is very crude and cannot accommodate the entire army. "I have sent an envoy to Kyoto before. Mr. Zhou has led an army to Nara. As long as our army continues to hold on for a while, Mr. Zhou will come to reinforce us." After explaining the current serious situation clearly, Tachibana Zongmao turned to the generals and said, "As long as we hold on for a few more days, it will be fine!" When they learned that the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty had arrived with a large army, everyone seemed much more relaxed. During this period of time, after many battles, the Han army left an indelible impression on them and gave them the confidence to be invincible. As long as the envoys of the Celestial Dynasty came over, everyone believed that they would be able to stop the shogunate army. "We have fought all the way and have made great achievements. The imperial court has continuously awarded rewards, and there will definitely be even greater rewards in the future. But if we are defeated here, all our previous efforts will be wasted! Do you want to let all the previous efforts go to waste? Are they all in vain?" Tachibana Munege looked around at the generals and gave them motivation with his sharp eyes. "Okay, the situation is urgent now. Everyone, I will meet you all again at the celebration banquet!" After saying this, Tachibana Munesege waved his hand to let them leave, "I am here to personally command, and I will live and die with you!" In agitation After boosting the morale of his generals, he called them back to their respective military formations, and he also mounted his horse again, preparing to patrol around.?Assist your subordinates everywhere to defend against enemy forces. At this time, the formation of the shogunate army under the city was also completed. Their troops were mixed but not chaotic, and their clothes were also very uniform, their armors were bright, and they were clearly displayed in front of Tachibana Muneshige and others. Then, there was a sudden commotion in front of the shogunate's army. The line that was originally as tight and solid as a city wall began to move. A large group of shogunate soldiers holding spears pressed against Tachibana Muneshige in a tight line. Next to these soldiers holding spears, there was a group of soldiers holding iron cannons. They were equally numerous and in a tighter formation. They seemed to be preparing to bombard their own formation. It seems that the enemy can no longer hold back and wants to attack directly. Tachibana Muneshige calmly observed the opponent's formation and estimated the distance between the two sides. Then, he ordered his musketeers to also line up in front of the formation. These carefully trained musketeers formed several rows according to the training of the Han army, and then raised their muskets and pointed them at the opponent's military formation. "Fire, give priority to their musketeers!" When Tachibana Muneshige felt that the enemy had reached a distance enough to strike accurately, he finally ordered the musketeers to open fire. As the officers shouted commands, the musketeers in the front row began to fire. As if being hit head-on by an iron fist, the shogunate army formation in front suddenly stopped, and then many people in the front row fell directly to the ground. After suffering the first severe blow, the shogunate army also formed a formation and began to attack. The shogunate army in the front row used muskets. These musketeers were all musketeers from the previous Kyushu clan and Maori clan armies. During this period, they accepted the Han army. Their training, tactics and shooting skills have all improved a lot, and the muskets they use are all firearms used by the Han military, so the shooting accuracy is much better than the muskets they used before. Although they could not aim accurately, under their deliberate control, the bullets still hit the musketeers in front of the formation as much as possible. Even if they were deliberately covered by other shogunate troops, the losses were still huge. After being bombarded by the opponent first, the shogunate army, which had hastily rearranged its position, quickly launched a counterattack. However, the quality of their guns was far inferior to that of the army here, so only a handful of bullets could reach it at this distance. Hitting the enemy doesn't pose much of a threat. And they were well aware of this situation, so they continued to advance the military formation amidst the continuous bombardment of iron artillery, hoping to shorten the distance between the two armies and change this confrontation of disproportionate consumption. Although they suffered a lot of casualties, they still achieved their goal bit by bit and pushed to a place only a few dozen steps away from the enemy's formation. At this time, their numerical advantage was able to be exerted, and a large number of musketeers continued to attack Open fire, covering your own troops as they continue to press, while trying to cause casualties to the opponent. Upon seeing this, Tachibana Muneshige immediately ordered the musketeers to recover and scatter to the rear of the pikemen's formation. "It would be nice if there were some field guns." He thought with regret. During these times, the combat skills and combat capabilities of the Han army shocked him a lot, but what impressed him most was their sharp artillery fire, especially those mounted on artillery carts, which could move around lightly and flexibly, providing the side with Strong firepower guaranteed. The shogunate's army is now in such a tight formation that if they can be bombarded with field artillery, they may be able to directly repel this wave of offensive. However, this meaningless sigh did not last long. Tachibana Munesege carefully observed the frontal formation, then immediately mounted his horse and turned to the left flank with his personal entourage. And on these frontal battlefields, Some of the musketeers who retreated followed him to the left wing while reloading. Although the front was under great pressure, from his perspective, the shogunate army did not use all their strength, but seemed to attract their own attention. It seemed that their purpose was not to seek a frontal breakthrough of our own army. After carefully observing the movements of the rear of the opposing army, Tachibana Munesege believed that they wanted to seek a breakthrough from their left flank. Just when he felt the left wing, another commotion sounded from the side and rear of the shogunate army, and this time their momentum was greater than before, and the billowing smoke and dust drifted all the way this way. Tachibana Muneshige immediately heard the sound of intensive horse hooves, and then his expression changed slightly. He immediately urged the officers on this side to defend carefully, and at the same time began to shrink the front line, making the military force more dense. And just under their sight, hundreds or perhaps thousands of horses galloped over here. Although the Japanese horses were not very tall and their carrying capacity was limited, when so many cavalry charged, it was still like an earthquake. ?The ground shook slightly. These cavalrymen all held long iron spears in their hands, and their sharp blades shone dazzlingly in the sun. Behind the cavalry, a large group of shogunate soldiers followed them quickly and rushed towards this side. The pace was so fast that they didn't even bother to maintain the formation. It seemed that they wanted to let the cavalry break away from the front line first. , and then let the infantry completely defeat this enemy army. This momentum made the defenders change their minds, but the experienced officers immediately stabilized the line and urged the soldiers to step up their formation. They all knew that in the face of the charge of the cavalry group, if they retreat rashly, they will never be able to outrun the horses. Yes, running will only make you die faster! And if their flank is broken through by the enemy, these cavalry and subsequent armies will definitely continue to penetrate deeper until the entire army's front is shaken, and at that time they will be defeated miserably. Under the supervision of the coach Tachibana Muneshige and the urging of the officers, these already panicked soldiers finally stabilized their position. They formed several square formations, and then raised their spears to face the front. The soldier at the front squatted down, raised his spear diagonally upward, and inserted the handle of the gun directly into the ground to face the rushing enemy troops. At this time, the musketeers who were transferred for reinforcements also rushed to the battlefield. They formed several small square formations behind the pikemen's line, and then began to reload and wait to meet the enemy. Under the watchful eye of Tachibana Muneshige, the group of charging cavalry got closer and closer, and finally ran directly into the oncoming spearmen formation. The horses in the front row were immediately pierced by spears, and when the blood burst out, The cavalry on horseback were also thrown heavily into the air, but the spears in their hands had already penetrated into the opponent's army. Several spears even penetrated a few people, and screams could not be heard. These cavalrymen quickly fell heavily into the formation of spearmen. Some of them were killed directly, while the remaining ones were immediately pierced by spears while they were unconscious. No one paid attention to the first batch of casualties. The subsequent cavalry continued to attack. They had all received the order from the elder to break through the enemy's formation at all costs and bring victory and hope to the shogunate. With the desperate attack of the cavalry, the pikemen began to retreat, and the originally tight line began to become a lot looser. At this time, the infantry following the shogunate army had also rushed up, holding the weapons in their hands. The long naginata was wielding it, and it howled and launched an attack on this side. "Bang!" The musketeers who had finished loading began to fire at several gaps that were breached in the front. The continuous bombardment of muskets caused the enemy to suffer a large number of casualties in a short period of time, and also stabilized the front of our own army. . Then, a group of soldiers holding tachi launched a counterattack on the opposite side, and then started a melee on the front line with the enemy troops who had already entered the formation. These troops were the close troops that Tachibana Muneshige brought directly from the Yanagawa Domain, and they were also the close troops that he had trained for decades. He initially placed this troops on the left wing to prevent the enemy from launching an assault on the flank. During the Warring States Period, although the main forces on the battlefield were spears and iron cannons, swords still played a role in hand-to-hand combat. At that time, samurai swords, generally two to three feet in size, were popular on the battlefield and were used in close-range hand-to-hand combat. However, Tachibana Michyuki was unique and preferred to let his subordinates use three-foot to five-foot long swords, and invented the "Shadow Style", a sword fighting method not passed down by the Tachibana family. The long knife is quite inconvenient on the battlefield, because in the normal situation of close combat, if the long knife is not used well, it may be killed by counterattack. However, when the enemy is under artillery attack or the position is in chaos, the long knife can be used effectively. Inflict a major blow to the enemy. As the adopted son of Tachibana Michizuki, Tachibana Munesege is also very familiar with this. He saw that after the initial reception, the enemy cavalry had been depleted a lot, but the foothold was not yet stable, so he wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to fight with Opponent strangled. Under the repeated attacks of muskets and swords, the enemy's position began to panic, and the casualties increased. The cavalry, which was originally used as an assault spear, also fell into the enemy's formation after suffering a large number of casualties, losing its initial strength. The impact also caused them to be separated into small strands, just like the waves left on the shore after the tide ebbs. "The whole army attacks!" Seeing that the time was right, Tachibana Muneshige immediately ordered the military formations around him to press towards the opposite side. A large group of people rushed to the front line, and then the weapons in their hands connected with the enemy troops. There was the clash and roar of weapons everywhere. Tachibana Munege rode directly to the front line with his followers, although there were cold guns everywhere. Cold arrows, but he shouted around fearlessly, asking his men to desperately resist the enemy. Under Tachibana Muneshige's personal supervision of the formation, the enemy troops that rushed into our formation began to be unable to hold on, and heThey gradually retreated, and Tachibana Muneshige raised his head, observing the enemy's movements behind their army. If it were him, he would continue to send troops to attack the already shaken left wing. He must take advantage of this opportunity to fight the enemy, at least using his army's numerical advantage to consume the enemy. However, as far as he could see, the enemy's army was only intermittently Some troops rushed over, but they did not continue to launch large-scale attacks, but showed signs of retreat. "Ii Naotaka is too cautious." He sighed inwardly. It seems that Ii Naotaka was a little surprised by his ability to resist. He was afraid that if he continued to send troops to attack, his army would be shaken. Therefore, at the last moment, he chose to be cautious and continue to consume his army. But this is easy to understand. As the elder of the shogunate, and with the hope of the entire shogunate at this time, he certainly does not dare to take too many risks. He cannot afford to lose. At this time, with Tachibana Muneshige's full counterattack, the shogunate army also began to retreat, and finally the entire left wing returned to silence. At this time, most of the soldiers from the two sides who initially engaged the enemy had already left the world, and the entire wilderness A large number of corpses were left on the ground. Tachibana Munege didn't have time to lament the uncertainty of life and death on the battlefield. He picked up the water bag and drank a sip of water directly, then rode towards the main formation on horseback. At this time, the central battlefield had been fighting for a long time, but this was not the main direction of attack, so after the attack on the flanks failed, they gradually retreated. After seeing them out of sight, Tachibana Muneshige knew that at least he would be here again today. Although it cost a huge price to block the enemy's attack. And that night, he finally got the exact news from Zhou Pu. Now Zhou Pu has led the entire army to a place only more than twenty miles away from Nara, and he can reach Nara tomorrow. Finally reaching the end, he felt relieved. (To be continued.)