Volume 1 Kawajiri Island Storm Chapter 13 The Battle of Kawajiri Island (3)

  "Reporting to Your Excellency, the vanguard of the Takeda clan's mobile unit is the five hundred red armor cavalry led by Iida Tokichiro, and they are now charging towards our main camp."

  Uesugi Kenshin simply nodded.

  "The second team is the cavalry of the Manchu Plain White Banner Army, with a strength of about 1,300 people."

  "The third unit is the Sanada Yukimura corps, with about 800 men, making a direct attack on our main camp."

  After hearing the report from the scout, several generals of the Echigo army exchanged a glance and knelt down in front of Uesugi Kenshin, urging in unison: "Please, my lord, leave this place immediately."

  Uesugi Kenshin's face was stern, he remained silent, his subordinates exchanged glances with each other, they didn't know what their lord was thinking at this moment. When the Takeda army appeared behind the Uesugi army, the situation had already turned around, and the momentum would continue to develop in a direction unfavorable to the Uesugi army. If they continued to fight hard, there would be a danger of total destruction.

  At this time, Uesugi Kenshin suddenly stood up, clenched his fists and said: "Give me another hour and it will be enough."

  All the generals knew what Uesugi Kenshin meant, and the battle situation had once developed in a very unfavorable direction for the Takeda family, but who would have thought that Takeda Nobushige was so resistant to war, and the support of the Tsukuba team came at just the right time. However, even if they gave the Echigo army another hour, they could necessarily break through the Takeda army's formation in front of them.

  "Now that things have come to this point, it's too late for regrets, Your Excellency." Straight Jiang Shigeng advised.

  Uesugi Kenshin burst out laughing and said to Sanada Yukimura, "Am I not a person who understands the flow of battle? Pass down the order, have 10,000 fresh troops from the vanguard appear at the rear, inform them to attack the vanguard's fresh troops head-on, gather on the west side of Yawata Plain, then retreat to Zenko-ji Temple."

  "All troops fight to the death, break through the bloody road, and must retreat to Zenko-ji Temple!"

  "Yes."

  Upon receiving Uesugi Kenshin's order, the messengers dispersed in all directions and delivered the message of withdrawal to each unit engaged in fierce battle.

  At the same time, Takeda Shingen also issued an order to pursue the Echigo army. The Takeda army, which had been defending its position, left its formation and entangled with the retreating Echigo army.

  The Takeda army's original crane wing formation was a semi-encirclement, and after switching from defense to offense, the two wings were like a pair of pincers that tightly clamped down on the enemy, not allowing them to retreat.

  This is exactly what Takeda Shingen had in mind when he first decided to lay out the Crane Wing Formation!

  Up to this point in history, the Takeda Nobusada corps at the tip of the crane wing had collapsed and was unable to intercept the retreat of the enemy army due to the death of the general. However, with Li Xiao's appearance, the Takeda Nobusada corps still had combat effectiveness, further delaying the enemy's retreat, resulting in greater casualties for the Wu army than in history.

  At this moment, Li Xiao was no longer in the formation of his own team. He rode on his chestnut horse, holding a long spear and turning around to gallop towards the rear camp of the Takeda family.

  If it were true as in historical legend, there would be a "one-on-one" duel between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin.

  At this moment, Uesugi Kenshin must have personally led a small group of cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the Takeda army's main camp.

  The reason is simple, at this moment the Takeda army is on the verge of a great victory and is pursuing the enemy in full force, so there are no troops to defend against the interceptors. On the contrary, it is the weakest moment for defense. This is indeed the best opportunity to turn defeat into victory.

  Uesugi Kenshin himself seized this moment, taking advantage of the gap in the Takeda army's defense and charging straight at Takeda Shingen. If he could cut off Takeda Shingen's head, regardless of how the two armies fought, the Takeda clan would undoubtedly be defeated in the Battle of Kawanakajima.

  The retainers will not be able to face a Takeda family without Shingen, and it can be predicted that not only the internal collapse of the Takeda family but also the loss of all Shinano under the attack of Echigo.

  At this moment, what could be a greater merit for Li Xiao than saving the general before the battle? Thinking of gold, territory, and gentle Japanese beauties, Li Xiao couldn't help but drool.

  At this time, Takeda Yoshinobu's troops were reorganizing after their defeat. Takeda Yoshinobu's performance in this battle was extremely poor, failing to see through the enemy's tactics and disobeying Shingen's orders to hold his ground, instead advancing recklessly and becoming deeply surrounded.

  Not only did it cause the collapse of the Takeda family's right-wing front line, but also led to the death of the brave general Morozumi Toranosuke. After Takeda Yoshinobu escaped from the siege, his troops had already lost more than half.

  At this moment, Takeda Yoshinobu happened to see Li Xiao rushing across the battlefield and asked left and right: "Our army is pursuing the Vietnamese army, why did he not advance but retreat? There was no flag with a centipede inserted behind him, obviously not an envoy."

  Takeda Yoshinobu, also known as Katsuchiyo, spoke up and said: "I know him, he is a samurai from Ming country newly recruited by our lord."

  "That's right, this person has just surrendered to our lord and his thoughts are unpredictable, it's also possible that he is a spy from the Yue State."

  "Looking at his advancing direction, it seems he is heading straight for the main camp of our lord. Could it be that he has ulterior motives towards our lord?"

  Takeda Yoshinobu said in a severe tone: "No matter what, he cannot be allowed to approach Father, someone must be sent to intercept him."

  Li Xiao was galloping on horseback when he saw a dozen or so cavalrymen suddenly rush out of the formation beside him, charging straight for himself.

  The leading cavalryman shouted loudly in Japanese: "Stop it, stop it."

  Li Xiao was taken aback for a moment, then suddenly understood and couldn't help but curse in her heart. It really proved that saying: What you fear is not the wolf-like enemy, but the pig-like teammate.

  Li Xiao ignored the dozen or so riders and instead lashed out with his whip, breaking through their interception and rapidly charging towards Takeda Shingen's main camp.

  Li Xiao was accelerating his gallop and shaking off the pursuers when he suddenly saw several cavalrymen stop their horses, draw their bows and shoot arrows at him.

  "Whatever."

  Li Xiao cursed loudly, wanting to dodge but it was too late. He wasn't some skilled horseman, and the trick of hiding in the stirrups was only something he had heard of. With several arrows flying towards him, he could only use his spear to deflect them. Fortunately, all the others missed their mark, except for one which hit his right shoulder.

  Just as Li Xiao thought it was going to be a tragedy, he realized that his shoulder didn't hurt at all. It turned out that the arrow hadn't penetrated the armor, but had instead been stuck in the large sleeve of his garment, which was caught between the armor plates.

  Li Xiao silently thanked his luck, broke the arrow shaft on his right shoulder into two segments, and then continued to ride his horse at high speed.

  Takeda Shingen guarded the main camp with his troops, and had already launched a pursuit of the retreating enemy forces. As a result, only seven or eight samurai and pages were left to guard Takeda Shingen himself, while the rest were merely flag bearers, doctors, and priests who were non-combatants.

  At this moment, Takeda Shingen was sitting on a wide board stool wearing heavy armor, his right hand holding a small fan-like gunbai, his face solemn as if deeply thinking about the battle situation, and his personal attendant knelt beside him to his right, holding a taichi.

  Behind him are arrayed the two heirlooms of the Takeda family, the Honored Flag and the Shield of the Takeda. These two treasures have been passed down from Minamoto no Yoshikuma, the ancestor of the Takeda family, and have been handed down through generations as precious family heirlooms.

  Before every battle of the Takeda clan, the head of the house had to pay respects to these two objects and pray for protection before advancing.

  "The Honkei" was the "Hi no Maru" flag (the current Japanese national flag) given by Emperor Go-Toba to Minamoto no Yoshimitsu, and the Takeda clan called it "Honkei", which is also the oldest existing Japanese national flag. The Tate-nashi is a suit of armor, also known as the Tsukuba-hōjō-yoroi, which is the armor with white bear fur on the helmet that is often depicted in game CGs as worn by Takeda Shingen.

  In fact, this armor was never worn by Takeda Shingen himself, but only used for worship and sacrifice.

  The sun had already set, and a strong wind with a bloody smell was blowing on the Yawata plain, causing the banners with the Takeda rhombus pattern to flutter ceaselessly.

  Suddenly, a loud neighing sound of a horse was heard. Takeda Shingen could clearly see that in front of him, there was a monk-like warrior wearing a headscarf, riding a brown warhorse and charging towards the main camp with his sword held high.

  Even though they were separated by dozens of meters, in the instant their eyes met, both of them suddenly realized who the other was.

  Even Takeda Shingen, who was normally calm and composed, couldn't help but get up from his wide board seat, looking shocked and pale as he said: "Uesugi Masatora."

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