Chapter 146 35. Three Hundred and One Destroyed Sixty Thousand

Uesugi Terutora was the leader of the Uesugi army and the spirit of the city. With one man and one horse, he galloped with all his hooves, and wherever he pointed his spear, all the soldiers were afraid.

The Ikko Ikki army saw his heroic appearance, like a god of war, and no one dared to challenge him. As a result, the tip of the spear in Uesugi Terutora's hand shone brightly, and he rode his horse for a long time without tasting a single drop of blood.

However, the Ikko Ikki army trampled on each other, howling like ghosts and wolves, and they were not attacked by swords and spears at all, but they had already collapsed. The entire periphery of the Ikko Ikki army had become a hell.

The funny thing is that even if the general Uesugi Terutora was counted, the Uesugi army had only 300 cavalrymen, and the cavalrymen did not even attack with swords and spears, but just drove their horses forward. (It is true that the Japanese cavalry wore better armor in Japan, but it was not good in terms of world standards. These 300 were not the medieval Western European Norman heavy cavalry that charged with lances. Although there were miraculous examples of this in history, it was still an incredible feat of bravery.)

Uesugi Terutora's current state seemed to be a stroll around the town of Kasugayama Castle, just like his usual inspection of his territory. He took a walk with his free-flowing moon hair and rushed to the center of the Hokuriku Ikko-ikki Army.

When he got here, Uesugi Terutora finally found something different. First of all, there was a small-scale organization. The Ikko-ikki Army, under the leadership of the local village chief or preacher they were familiar with, started to protect themselves in groups of "groups" and "speech".

This showed the organizational power of the Ikko-ikki, and its mobilization power at the grassroots level was almost amazing. The tentacles of the religious organization spread to every village, big and small, and touched every citizen who believed in the Ikko sect. Through countless grassroots religious organizations, tens of thousands of believers can be mobilized at a single command. This was a rare mobilization power and speed in the Warring States period.

Since the Ikko-ikki army in Kaga and other countries were all villagers from the same village, even fathers and sons and brothers, everyone cooperated well. When the whistle was blown, the formation hats and headbands were put on their heads, and they raised their spears and formed a circle.

That coordination and formation, from the perspective of the feudal era, can at least be given a good rating. If they can be well fed and well trained, they will definitely be a rare strong army. (Saiga Sunichi is Suzuki Shigehide's Saiga clan of the Kii Suzuki Party. Most of them are disciples of the Ikko sect. As long as they are well trained and fight a few more battles, their fighting power can disgust our Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the great god of Toyokoku.)

But unfortunately, due to the lack of higher-level organization of the Ikko Ikki Army, there are no skilled and powerful middle-level officers, and the shortcomings of the Ikko Ikki Army are greatly exposed. The small groups of Ikko soldiers who have finally gathered together are limited to protecting themselves and waiting for orders. This is a limitation of soldiers in the feudal era, lack of subjective initiative.

Looking at the entire battlefield, the Ikko Ikki Army is not completely one-sided. There is a group of Ikko soldiers in the camp that is particularly strong, and it seems to be almost a crane standing out from the flock. The group of soldiers is getting bigger and bigger, and someone in the center is beating a musical instrument similar to a Buddhist bell, clang clang clang clang, and the Ikko soldiers from all directions are rushing over.

Uesugi Terutora took a look and saw that the horse sign read "Yasui Daisuke of Kaga Province" (Yasui Castle was an important branch city of Kaga Province, controlled by the powerful local lord Yasui clan. Unfortunately, the Yasui clan has fallen. As for the celebrity with the surname Yasui, friends who have visited Osaka must know that he is the developer of Dotonbori and a loyal retainer of Toyotomi Hideyoshi's family, Yasui Doton.), and he was not very clear. However, since someone gathered soldiers on the battlefield, it might be for counterattack or defense. His battlefield acumen told him that he had to defeat this group of people.

Just as he was about to turn his horse around, Uesugi Terutora saw it clearly and rushed to the Yasui Daisuke's troops, which had gathered more than a thousand people. More than 200 Uesugi clan followers followed closely behind, holding their weapons high.

Uesugi Terutora ran closer, but was surprised to find that the group of people and horses were actually retreating slowly. The army of more than a thousand people could be maintained without panic during the retreat.

But he was just being a demon. In the chaotic battlefield, he had the ability and prestige to gather soldiers, but he did not seek to fight back, but to protect himself. This person was also a wonderful person.

But this was just an episode. The troops of An'i Daisuke were directly floating. Then Uesugi Terutora's target must be the "dignified" monks in the center of the formation.

Uesugi Terutora saw that the scattered Ikki army had no one else to organize, so he increased the speed of his horse and rushed to the tent of Namo Amitabha.

As the saying goes, shoot the horse first and capture the king first. Although the Ikko Ikki army is large in number, they can gather under the Kasugayama Castle because they rely on their Dharma master.

Uesugi Terutora saw it very clearly. As long as he defeated the monk from Kanazawa, everything would be fine. The horse under his crotch, Fangsheng Yuemao, was really a good horse with great spirit. With the eagerness of fighting, Uesugi Terutora penetrated the curtain of the Ikko Ikki Army. With a light scratch of the tip of Uesugi Terutora's spear, the curtain made of kapok cloth broke immediately. Several Uesugi cavalrymen also penetrated the curtain and rushed in, just ready to raise their guns to face a fierce battle.

But in addition to the mess on the ground, there was not a single soldier in the tent who resisted. Those hypocritical Ikko Ikki Army leaders abandoned the 40,000 or 50,000 believers who loved and admired them, and ran away without even a shadow.

A Uesugi warrior jumped off his horse, took out his sword, walked forward and chopped down the big flag with Namo Amitabha written on it, then looked at this strange horse logo with contempt.

Uesugi Terutora, who had hit the cotton with his heavy punch, had no choice but to walk out of the tent with a few cavalrymen who caught up with him.

When the big flag fell, the whole army collapsed.

Their officials had already run away, and the grassroots soldiers could not recite their Buddha. They ran around like flies, aimlessly, and ran all over the mountains and plains.

Uesugi Terutora felt too empty. No one was killed. After charging for less than an hour, the 60,000-strong Ikki army was finished. It was really a punch in the air. If I had known that the Ikki army was so vulnerable, in addition to its huge number, it actually didn't even have a single enemy.

He sighed that there was no one in the Hokuriku Ikko clan, and ordered the foot soldiers in the city to capture these rioters, but they were not allowed to kill anyone. He asked them to redeem themselves with 30 coins each, otherwise how could Kasugayama Town have the money to rebuild.