Volume 2: Thick and Heavy Winds and Clouds Chapter 67: Sweeping Away Thousands of Armies Like a Rolling Mat

  A fifty-two-year-old Hōkō Shigetoshi, clad in armor, leaned on the large spear in his left hand and barely managed to stand. His right hand had just been cut off by a Vietnamese warrior and could no longer be used to hold a spear for combat.

  Seeing his father injured, the eldest son Tokimune and several ashigaru soldiers were guarding him tightly, desperately fighting against the enemy soldiers who wanted to take Tokimune's head.

  At this time, most of the samurai from the Hoshina family who were beside Masayuki had already died in battle. Many of them were long-time vassals who followed Masayuki, and the attack by the Echigo army led by Kikkawa Kagetoki did not weaken. Although they also suffered heavy casualties, under the command of Kikkawa Kagetoki, the attack was like a stormy wave, one wave after another.

  "Father, Rai Fū of the Tsukahara clan has been killed in action. The enemy army has broken through our right flank's gun emplacement." reported Hoshina Masatsune, one of the three sons of Hoshina Masayuki.

  Hōjō Shigetoki looked around, and it was a scene of carnage. He saw many fallen Takeda soldiers, their dying screams echoing through the air. Before him, one Takeda warrior still clung to life, his intestines spilling out of his broken abdomen as he crawled inch by inch on the ground.

  Hokō Shunjū gazed up at the sky, let out a long sigh and muttered to himself: "Is it that my destiny as a warrior is going to end here?"

  "Hokoro Masatoshi looked at his two sons and said in a serious tone, 'A warrior's fate is to die on the battlefield. Now is the time for us warriors to show our glory.'"

  "Yes, Father." replied Masatoshi Hoshina and Masatsuki Hoshina in unison with determined looks on their faces.

  Just as Hōjō Tokimune was about to lead his sons in a final charge, a loud neighing of horses came from the other side of the mountain.

  Hokō Shinsuke felt as if the mountain slope he was standing on was shaking, and he had a strong sense of instability. The Vietnamese warriors in front of him, who were about to launch a fierce attack, suddenly stopped moving, their actions frozen in mid-air as they wielded their swords.

  The warriors of Yue all turned their heads in the same direction, and a few people even showed a look of horror.

  The Takeda cavalry charged in with overwhelming force at this moment.

  "Run quickly."

  The original samurai who was rushing to the front suddenly woke up and started running away in a flurry. At this moment, he saw that his opponent's entire body had been pierced by a large spear from behind, lifted high into the air, thrown out for several zhang, and fell among the Vietnamese army.

  Hokō Shunjūn was stunned on the spot, lifting a big living person into the air. Such arm strength is also too terrifying! And in the Takeda family, besides Li Xiao, who else can do it?

  With the Takeda crest held high, Li Xiao led the charge wearing thick armor, wielding a large spear that stabbed, thrust, charged and killed its way through the enemy lines. Wherever he passed, no one could stand in his way. As he rode on horseback, his spearhead swung wildly, and wherever the tip of the spear pointed, more than ten Vietnamese soldiers clutched their chests and fell to the ground.

  Behind Li Xiao, several arrows flew out, tearing through the air and making a sharp, urgent sound, directly shooting down the Wu soldiers who were about to rush forward and fight with Li Xiao. On the other side, the Wada cavalry saw how brave Li Xiao and his men were, and their morale greatly increased, so they shouted loudly in unison, driving their war horses to charge downhill.

  Dao Sheng Meng was like a shadow, firmly guarding Li Xiao's side, so Li Xiao could relax and swing his big gun to kill people. From the beginning, Li Xiao had aimed at the location of Kizaki Kei's family crest, driving his warhorse to charge towards the enemy's position.

  Facing the unstoppable cavalry charge of the Takeda army, the Echigo army did not dare to engage in a fierce battle without forming a gun array. Many brave Echigo soldiers wanted to rush forward and fight against the Takeda cavalry, but they all ended up being trampled by the horses or shot down by the guns, and then crushed to death by the horse hooves.

  At this time, no one can stop the cavalry of the Takeda family. Li Xiao and his cavalry almost killed in an instant, arrived at the front of Kikukawa Kagetoki's house. His personal samurai risked their lives to block the cavalry charge, but under the arrow shooting of the Takeda archers, half of them were injured on the spot.

  The rest of them were scattered by Li Xiao, Dao Sheng Meng and the Wada cavalry who rushed over immediately.

  Kakizaki Kageie, known as the unconquerable hero of the seven provinces of Echigo, showed his terrifying strength at this moment. With a swing of his large pike, he struck down the legs of the Takeda cavalry horses charging towards him, standing still on the spot.

  The cavalryman's warhorse suddenly sank its hooves into the ground, and he flew directly off the galloping horse.

  However, Obata Yumi rode on horseback, took aim at a arrow shot by Kikkawa Kagetoki and hit his right shoulder. Kikkawa Kagetoki was in pain but still showed great bravery, swinging his spear and knocking down another Takeda cavalryman from his horse.

  Li Xiao couldn't bear to see Sakaki Kageya continuously killing people, so he rushed over on horseback and shot at him with his gun. Sakaki Kageya knew how formidable Li Xiao's gunshot was, but in the midst of danger, he still used his large sword to forcefully block Li Xiao's gunshot.

  The guns shook back and forth, with both men's strength evenly matched at this moment, neither able to overpower the other.

  But Kizaki Kagetoki was unable to escape the fate of being defeated by Takezō, and just as he had barely blocked Li Xiao's assassination attempt, before he could even catch his breath, Tsukahara Bokuden flew in on horseback, his massive warrior sword flashing down, cutting off both the gun and his opponent's right arm.

  The figure of Kizaki Kagetaka, the famous brave general of Echigo, was thus submerged in the rolling hooves of the Takeda army.

  Kakizaki Kageie's surrender.

  At the moment when Kikukawa Tsunakage's head, along with his black sickle-shaped helmet, was raised high on the tip of a spear by Takeda cavalrymen. The morale of the Echigo army still fighting on the hillside suddenly collapsed.

  The soldiers of the Later Army looked at this scene with incredulity, but when they saw the helmet of Kikkawa Motoie and the flag bearing the crest of the Kikkawa family, which represented the commander-in-chief, being cut down by the Takeda army, they finally believed the news.

  Kakizaki Kageie's reputation as a formidable enemy was well-known to both the Echigo and Takeda armies. Now that Kakizaki's head had been taken by the Takeda army, his soldiers found it difficult to suppress their fear, losing control and fleeing in all directions.

  There were also several brave warriors who wanted to take back the head of their general, but soon after Kikukawa Tsunaharu was killed, the morale of the Takeda army rose and they all rushed down the mountain and cut them down.

  The situation on the battlefield reversed at this moment, and the Takeda army's original iron artillery, bow-legged light cavalry, also took up their swords, spears, and long guns to join the charging troops. The Echigo army showed a trend of collapse.

  Ike no Shōji's forces under the command of Sengorō Shibata and Asanobu Shitahara were baffled by the sudden collapse of Kikkawa Kagetoki's unit, but they soon realized what had happened when they saw the Takeda cavalry charging down the mountain. They quickly rallied their troops to block the enemy's advance.

  The distant Nagano army, the Uesugi clan's troops, and the direction of Uesugi Kenshin's main camp were still unclear about what had happened on the mountain slope.

  At this moment, Li Xiao and his Takeda cavalry killed the Kikkawa Kagetoki's army in one breath, and the defeated Echigo army was chased and slaughtered by the Takeda army all over the mountain.

  Li Xiao showed no mercy and charged towards the Viet rear army's iron cannon team and bow foot light cavalry, who had not yet retreated from the battlefield.

  Without the protection of the gun corps, the cavalry cut in unimpeded, into this iron cannon corps and bow-legged light infantry. The Takeda army's iron cannon light infantry and bow-legged light infantry only had time to barely draw their swords, when the Uesugi army's cavalry on horseback stabbed with spears and slashed with great swords, cutting them down to the ground.

  The Takeda cavalry, led by Li Xiao, was like a sheep entering a wolf pack, killing the rear army as easily as cutting vegetables, and for a time, heads rolled and blood flowed into rivers.