The Takeda Family's Ming Country Warrior * Chapter 11: The Battle of Kawanakajima (I)

  Facing the Takeda army's offensive, the Uesugi army formed a crane wing formation, preparing to delay the battle until the reinforcements returned with aid. Takeda Shingen firmly believed that at this moment, the reinforcements had already learned of the attack on the main camp and were hastening to come here, and as long as they could hold out until the arrival of the reinforcements, the Uesugi army would certainly retreat.

  Takeda Shingen's crane wing formation, the vanguard of the left wing was led by his younger brother Takeda Nobushige, followed by Anayama Baisetsu's unit and Harada Sanemitsu's unit. The right wing vanguard of the crane wing formation was led by Naito Masatoyo, who was equal to Nobushige in military strategy, one of the four most trusted retainers of Takeda.

  The flag unit of the Takeda army was led by Ina Tsuratane, younger brother of the senior retainer Iinuma Sadamichi, who later became famous as Sanada Masayuki.

  Finally, there is Mochizuki Corps, Imafuku Kiyoshi Corps, and Takeda Nobuyoshi Corps as reserve.

  The situation of the battle from 7:00 to 9:00 was that the left wing of the Takeda army's crane wing formation, led by Takeda Nobushige, was first attacked by the powerful Kanzaki Norihide of the Echigo army and was at a disadvantage.

  The situation on the right flank was even more precarious, as Takeda Yoshinobu, the eldest son of Shingen, ignoring his father's strategy of tenacious defense, advanced recklessly and fell into the encirclement of the Echigo army.

  On the other hand, another member of the right wing, Takeda's brave general Moritada, seeing that the prince was surrounded and at a disadvantage, also led his army to break away from the formation to rescue him, but similarly fell into a fierce battle with the Viet army.

  At this moment, Takeda Shingen, who was known for his stability and composure, could no longer sit still. In a rage, he threw aside his helmet and ordered the messenger to convey the following order to each unit: "Even if Yoshinobu is killed in battle, none of you are allowed to go to his rescue or leave your positions."

  "But Taro is your own child, the future heir of the Takeda family." At this time, the general Yamagata Masakage spoke up to persuade him.

  "Because of this vassal's arbitrary actions, the Takeda army is in danger of total collapse. If the situation continues to deteriorate before the reinforcements arrive, my military luck as Takeda Shingen will come to an end at Odawara."

  Takeda Shingen let out a long sigh and looked up at the "Sunzi Si Ru Flag" fluttering above his head in the strong wind.

  "It has come to this, and only the reserve corps of Mōri can take the place of Tsukahara Bokuden." Takeda Shingen gave orders to his mounted messengers.

  With this, Shingen Takeda had no extra military strength to support the hard-fought troops of Nobushige Takeda. Shingen Takeda couldn't help but sigh and say: "Nobushige, Nobushige, you must hold on."

  When the Yue army's archers and crossbowmen launched a hail of arrows, Li Xiao was the first to regret why he had to be so tall and big, making himself a target for all to see.

  When the arrows came, Li Xiao hastily drove his horse back to avoid them, looking quite flustered. Fortunately, at this time, many soldiers were crowded outside using straw bundles and wooden boards to support the arrow shields, so no one saw Li Xiao's embarrassing situation.

  After several waves of shooting by both sides' archers, they retreated one after another. Then the vanguard troops of both sides moved forward to take turns, with hundreds of bamboo spears spaced three or four meters apart, provoking each other.

  Can't help but say that Li Xiao's horsemanship is still very poor, barely able to ride a horse, let alone fight on it.

  Once again, Li Xiao lost control of his balance and fell off the horse, landing on the ground in a most undignified manner. Fortunately, if it weren't for the several lightly armored soldiers who risked their lives to protect him, Li Xiao's transmigrated life would have ended right there.

  He adjusted his helmet and touched his face, damn it, he was actually bleeding from the nose, this really compromised the dignity of the Ming State warrior.

  Li Xiao deeply understood that in such a large-scale battle, personal bravery was not the most important factor. The deciding factor in the clash between the two armies lay in the two words "momentum". As the saying goes, when two forces meet on a narrow road, the brave one wins. No matter how strong Li Xiao's personal bravery was, he could not turn around the unfavorable situation at hand.

  The Takeda army, led by Takeda Nobushige, was being pushed back by the Echigo army of Kikkawa Kagetaka, and many Takeda soldiers were pierced by bamboo spears and fell to the ground. The Echigo warriors then stopped in their tracks, took out the short swords from their waists, and laboriously cut off the heads of the Takeda officers.

  The head is the proof of military merit, after cutting off the head, the head obtained after the war can be exchanged for military salary, if lucky, one battle can cut three or four heads, and get several hundred yuan, of course, if you kill a famous warrior, it's even more profitable.

  Of course, if you're unlucky, your own head will also be counted as someone else's military achievement.

  After the warriors left, ordinary foot soldiers would search the bodies of the warriors like crows picking at leftovers, and if they found decent weapons or armor, they could take them for their own use.

  In the Warring States period without separation of soldiers and farmers, daimyos hired farmer-soldiers to go to war. The most basic guarantee was that they could eat two meals of rice per day (normally, peasants lived a hard life and often couldn't even eat the rice they grew themselves). As for beheading enemies on the battlefield, that was extra income.

  It's just like now company employees, rice = basic salary, first-level = bonus.

  Witnessing this scene, Li Xiao was naturally stunned. He only then understood why the historical records of the Chongqing Island Battle lasted a full eight hours. If they were fighting at this pace, it wasn't strange at all.

  What Li Xiao saw before him was also the most common way of fighting in this Japanese Warring States period. Those temporarily recruited peasant soldiers, who lived at the bottom of society and were extremely poor, had nothing to do with the victory or defeat of the daimyos. The only two things that mattered to them were...

  The first thing is to ensure survival, and the second thing is how to make a profit while ensuring survival.

  It was precisely because of this that the troops on the Kizaki side, with half attacking the Takeda Nobushige army and the other half busy clearing the battlefield in the rear, did not deliver a fatal blow to the retreating Takeda army.

  Just as the Echigo army was pursuing, they suddenly found that the defeated Takeda army had dispersed from both wings and was attacking them head-on. The Takeda family's iron cannon troops, who had reloaded their ammunition, were now facing them. Before the Echigo army could react in time, the Takeda army's iron cannons fired in unison, the sound of the cannons exploding like thunder on a clear day, instantly catching the pursuing Echigo army off guard.

  This is the tactic that Li Xiao had originally suggested to Takeda Nobusada, somewhat inspired by the Shimazu family's "yari no jūjin" (spear array) tactic. In fact, Li Xiao had seen this tactic before in another film depicting the American Civil War.

  Lure the enemy into the ambush circle of our artillery, then suddenly launch a barrage to inflict casualties, and then counterattack.

  In fact, the sudden and intense cannon fire not only caused casualties but also dampened the enemy's morale. Many Vietnamese soldiers were stunned by the sight of their comrades' bodies lying nearby, while others were left dazed and disoriented by the deafening sound of the cannons, as if they had been struck dumb.

  At this time, the Takeda army retreated to both wings and returned to kill, while the iron artillery troops in front also dropped their iron cannons and drew out their knives from their waists, rushing forward together.

  Li Xiao's spearhead easily pierced the bamboo armor of a Yue soldier, stabbing through his chest. Although he had played games like Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors, where you could kill hundreds or thousands of people, this was his first real-life experience with bloody murder.

  Seeing the opponent's body convulsing, blood foam spraying out of his mouth, Li Xiao felt extremely nauseous, but still had to continue, no choice, this was the warrior's fate. Looking at several foot soldiers under him with excited faces, skillfully beheading the soldier, Li Xiao took a few deep breaths.

  "The great general is indeed mighty and unparalleled, taking down the first head in the initial battle." One of his subordinates, a foot soldier, stepped forward to flatter Li Xiao.

  This Shinjiro was the lightest and weakest of all the samurai under Li Xiao, who would hide behind the farmers during battles and didn't dare to charge forward. He somehow managed to get the title of a samurai despite his incompetence. He seemed to know he wasn't worthy of being a samurai, so he acted very humbly and tried to curry favor with others, which was quite embarrassing.

  "Alright, no matter how bad it is, it's still our own doing. Li Xiao forced a smile and said: 'Don't slack off, continue to kill the enemy.'"

  The soldiers' morale was greatly boosted, and they responded in unison.

  It has to be said that Li Xiao's height of 1.85 meters, combined with the excellent physical quality of modern people, is quite outstanding in Japan's Warring States period. How to put it, with Li Xiao's current martial arts skills, converted into game data, his combat power value should also be above 80 now.

  Li Xiao estimated that in the past when playing games, Li Xiao's eyes were on the Warring States generals. If their strength was above 90, they could be considered as the bravest of the three armies; if it was above 80, they could still be called brave generals; those with a strength of 70 were just barely satisfactory, while those below 60 were all considered useless.

  According to Li Xiao's standard, Mu Xiaofeng should be silently weeping at this time.