Chapter 5 5. Now We Have a Common Name in the Future

Kobayata estimated the enemy and our situation and felt that the salted fish around him would not come to protect him. So he began to retreat quietly, and a warrior on the opposite side immediately ordered two people to walk towards him. Kobayata had a bad feeling, and looked back to see that his general, Hosokawa Saime Masamichi, was slowly moving forward under the protection of dozens of people.

Kobayata hesitated for a moment, but finally he mustered up his courage and shouted loudly: "A member of the Ashikaga clan of the Seiwa Genji, a descendant of Ashikaga Yoshiyasu, the last descendant of Hosokawa Kanrei, the son of the doctor Hosokawa Harumiya, Hosokawa Saime Masamichi, comes to ask for advice!"

As soon as the shouting stopped, half of the battlefield suddenly became quiet. Fight with one horse? In an era where a cannon can kill people with one shot, there are still fools who fight with one horse? Everyone who heard it obviously slowed down their movements, and those foot soldiers who acted more like filming than fighting didn't even act. Some people directly held their long spears and made a awning with their hands to look over here.

So the whole audience's attention turned to the young warrior Hosokawa Saijo who was surrounded by guards. The old warriors around him were still looking for the source of the shouts, but when they looked around, they found that their side had a clear advantage.

So they escorted Hosokawa Saijo and rode forward. When he found Kobayata holding a flag standing in front, he suddenly realized. He looked at Kobayata with some scrutiny. Kobayata was still secretly happy that he had escaped a disaster and did not notice it.

The old warrior then shouted loudly again, asking for a fight. The middle-aged warriors on the Shirakawa side saw that half of the battlefield had heard it. So they stopped sitting quietly and watched the battle, stood up, and responded loudly: "The head of the Minamoto clan, the hero of Musashi Shichiro's party, the chief of the Kodama party, Kodama Totomi no Kami Yorihime, come to fight." The guards of both sides then fought against each other, and the two generals also used long spears, jumping left and right, or slapping or stabbing.

The old warriors protected Hosokawa Saijo to prevent the opponent's cold guns and hidden arrows.

Kobayata was quietly fishing around the battle group. He didn't want to fight if he could. He kept his life first and meritorious service second. He continued to retreat one step at a time.

He looked at his own commander, Hosokawa Saeki, who was like a newborn calf who was not afraid of a tiger. He fought vigorously and had a sense of victory.

And the opponent's Kodama Yoriei was not a weakling with poor fighting ability. Seeing that Kodama Yoriei ducked to avoid Hosokawa Saeki's stab and had not yet turned around, Kobayata shouted again in a very cunning way: "The enemy general Kodama Totomi no Kami Yoriei has been captured by Hosokawa Michimasa. Hosokawa Michimasa has made a name for himself with his spear!"

Kodama Yoriei, who was obviously not dead, was obviously stunned. Seeing this, the old samurai chopped him with a knife. Kodama Yoriei, relying on his natural reaction of many years of fighting, stepped back to dodge and staggered. As a result, at this moment, Hosokawa Saeki stabbed the second spear and hit Kodama Yoriei in the lower abdomen.

So, Kodama Totomi no Kami Yorihide was defeated without fulfilling his ambition and accomplishing his mission.

When the enemy general died, most of the samurai hatamoto who were guarding him gave up resistance and knelt on the ground, saying that they were defeated.

There were also two samurai who stripped off their armor and stopped defending. They attacked with spears and risked their lives. The result was naturally that two fists could not defeat four hands, and one spear could not defeat ten or eight spears. They were shot all over and died heroically.

The Shirakawa army, which was already at a disadvantage on the battlefield, collapsed immediately, like a mountain collapsing and a jade pillar falling down. Except for a few who ran back to the city, most of the farmers and peasant soldiers threw away their armor and ran back to the village along the mountain roads they were familiar with.

Hosokawa Saijo laughed excitedly, and a warrior beside him came forward to chop off Kodama Yorihide's head, and took off the helmet with Kodama Yorihide's name on it and the sword he used.

The old samurai called Koyata, still with a solemn expression, but with a slight breath after the battle: "I will remember your contribution. Now quickly present the head that Sai Nu Masa took to the lord."

Koyata held the dead head, and the other held a helmet and a sword. He ran and shouted: "Hosokawa Sai Nu Masa Mitsumasa has made great achievements in defeating the enemy general. Hosokawa Sai Nu Masa Mitsumasa has made great achievements in the first spear!"

He ran to the main camp quickly, and the alert hatamoto and horse riding made way. Koyata knelt on one knee, presented the head, and also stole a glance at the lord Yamanouchi Major General Shinano no Kami Yoshiharu on the stool. He was a strong middle-aged man with a heroic temperament.

Yoshiharu Yamanouchi looked at the head and the armor and sword, turned his head and smiled at the old samurai who was sitting below him and inspected the troops under the castle: "Doctor Harumiya gave birth to a good son!" Hosokawa Harumiya immediately bowed his head and praised the lord for his good command and success.

Other retainers and samurai also joined in the commercial blows, and Yamanouchi Yoshiharu took the opportunity to send a hatamoto samurai with a flag into the city to persuade them to surrender.

That night, the battle of Shimoyama opened the city, and the Yamanouchi family won the first victory. Kobayata was allowed to take Kodama's wakizashi, and the reward for his merits would have to wait until the end of the war. The battle of Shimoyama was just an appetizer, and Kobayata's journey to the Warring States period had a good start.