Volume 1: Stormy Weather in Kawajima Chapter 55: Three-Interval Gun

  Cheers!

  With the sound of the wooden sword's chop, two figures merged and separated, and one person was thrown out.

  "What? Shōsuke of Kamizumi actually lost the battle?"

  Right under the eyes of the Hojo clan leaders, Kamizuki Hidetsuna was utterly defeated by Sagara no Iwao. The Hojo clan leaders did not know Sagara's name, but they felt that he seemed to have nothing special about him, however, when he fought with Kamizuki Hidetsuna, his swordsmanship was exquisite and the speed of his sword was incredibly fast.

  Shi Gang Yiyu defeated Kamizumi Hidetsugu, but Li Xiao from Ming country was even stronger than his subordinate. It seems that Li Xiao is just a foot soldier general, which means that the defeated Kamizumi Hidetsugu was at most an ordinary warrior and the head of the foot soldier group.

  Recalling the defeat of Tsunaya Mashiro, Mitsuba Morofuyu, Obata no Shigenaga and Matsudaira Yoshitaka who were all high-ranking samurai, the Hōjō clan began to suspect that the Takeda clan's ranking system was flawed. Was it possible that a mere ashigaru leader was actually of higher rank than an ashigaru taisho or even a samurai taisho? Various speculations and doubts arose.

  Until the moment of defeat, Uemura Hidetsugu still couldn't believe this result. He couldn't even beat Li Xiao's subordinate, let alone challenge Li Xiao himself.

  Ueizumi Hidetsugu was crawling on the ground, having been injured by a blow from Sakakibara's wooden sword to his right shoulder during their previous match and could no longer move.

  "How is it possible that this self-proclaimed Li Xiao has such a formidable subordinate?" Shang Quan Xiuyin raised her head and glanced at Li Xiao, who was sitting calmly.

  Li Xiao stood up at this moment, gesturing to Shi Guangyi to retreat, then stretched out his hand and pointed: "Dihuang Bayan, now I can fight you, right?"

  Although it is common for people to refer to Houjou Masako as "North Star", that is a private nickname, and Li Xiao saying it out loud in public has a somewhat impolite tone.

  Hojo Kousuke also walked to the scene, facing Li Xiao, and said: "Your subordinates' swordsmanship is extremely swift with every move, not dragging or hesitating at all. It seems to be a fusion of the Kotengu Shinto style and the Kashima Shinden style, taking the strengths of both styles."

  Li Xiao smiled slightly, neither confirming nor denying, secretly admiring Akira Kito's discerning eye.

  Hojo Tadakage stared at Li Xiao and said, "If you have the strength to match your subordinates, then you are indeed qualified to fight me. Don't disappoint me."

  After finishing his life, he took out his own long gun. The long gun that Hojo Masako had was a cavalry spear for horse battles, about two rooms in length.

  And Li Xiao had someone bring over the three-barreled gun that Takeda's family was accustomed to using.

  At that time, the Japanese ashigaru used two types of guns. One was a long-handled gun, such as the Sanjaku gun, which was equipped by the Oda, Takeda, Uesugi, and Tokugawa families. The other was a short-handled yari, also known as a gun with a length of about 2-3 meters.

  Generally speaking, the three-barreled gun is often used by regular troops because temporary recruits from farmers find it difficult to operate long-handled three-barreled guns. When regular troops use three-barreled guns, they are mainly used as a gun array. The dense and forest-like three-barreled gun array is very powerful in terms of attack when advancing and defense when defending.

  So in accordance with traditional Warring States tactics, as a warrior it is rare to use this type of three-section staff.

  Because samurai would not form a gun line with low-ranking ashigaru, they mainly served as the head of ashigaru units on the battlefield, commanding ashigaru soldiers or seeking out enemy samurai for individual combat.

  Generally, samurai trained in individual combat techniques, so the primary weapons of infantry or cavalry warriors were relatively agile swords such as the katana, wakizashi, or nodachi.

  On the other hand, if a samurai uses three spears as his weapon, it is easy to fight individually because the spear handles are too long and inconvenient to move and swing, and after using them for a long time, physical strength will also decrease greatly.

  Li Xiao took the three-shaku spear from the ashigaru's hand, first pulling off the scabbard and then disassembling the sharp blade of the spearhead. After removing the spearhead, this long spear was still close to three shaku in length.

  Li Xiao picked up this long gun and tried it out.

  Only to see Li Xiao waving, the momentum was very frightening, the sudden stabbing was as fast as lightning, and when swinging, the spearhead swung out with a strong wind, blowing people's faces near, those who were usually self-proclaimed, arrows in front of their faces, but not daring to meet eyes, the Northern Family generals, at this moment also couldn't help but leave their seats, retreating backward.

  Indeed, after Li Xiao picked up this three-room gun, its attack range suddenly expanded, and the original martial arts venue suddenly became much smaller. The leaders of the Takeda and Northcutt families, who were originally seated opposite each other, had to retreat several meters back before they could make room for Li Xiao to use this large gun.

  Compared to most Japanese people of this era, Sanjian Gun's height and arm span were no match for the robust physique of modern man Li Xiao, who danced between them with ease, as if wielding a sword.

  Seeing Li Xiao being so formidable, Nishio Naganuma's expression naturally turned serious. Although he also used a gun, its length was shorter than his opponent's by about one jo (a unit of measurement). In other words, when the two men competed in marksmanship, Li Xiao's long gun could attack him first, putting Nishio Naganuma at a disadvantage in terms of weaponry.

  With a flourish, Li Xiao slammed the large gun in his hand heavily onto the ground. The three-section staff was still relatively suitable for him to use. However, the large guns that Li Xiao usually used were not as long as this one, such as the one he used when dueling with Shioka Iori before, which was only two sections longer.

  The reason why Okita Souji uses a katana is that once he gets you within his range, using a longer spear to counter him would only get you killed faster.

  Depending on the opponent, choose a weapon that suits oneself and is tailored to the opponent, which is also the "Heihō" often mentioned by Japanese swordsmen before battle in this era.

  Let's take the duel between Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō on Ganryu Island as an example.

  At that time, Sasaki Kojirō's swordsmanship was at its peak. When he was young and training as a warrior in Suo Province, he had once cut down a swallow flying in the air. The technique of cutting the swallow into two with one slash, called "Tsubame Gaeshi", was his own invention.

  Sasaki Kojirō normally used a famous sword called "Drying Pole", also known as "Bizen Osafune Long Exposure Light". The sword was three feet two inches long. Drying Pole's long blade gave it a greater range, and Sasaki Kojirō's ultimate technique, "Swallow Return", could take advantage of the long sword to its fullest extent.

  Miyamoto Musashi, who went to Ganryu Island to challenge him, abandoned his famous Niten Ichi Ryu style and used a temporary wooden sword made from an oar of the boatman, which was four feet two inches long, one foot longer than "Mogito", and defeated Sasaki Kojirō with this wooden sword.

  It is said that at that time, the outcome was decided in just one move, and Sasaki Kojirō didn't even get to use his signature technique "Tsubame Gaeshi".

  The Takeda and Hojo clans are all holding their breaths as they watch, Li Xiao and Hojo Tsunayoshi are about to begin their gun technique competition.

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