Chapter 71: The Three Armies Are Defeated

  Guns have been the king of all soldiers since ancient times, and there are many famous generals in history who used guns, such as Zhao Zilong, Wang Jingyao, Wei Rui, and Yue Fei. They were all brave generals who dared to charge into battle with just one gun and one horse. Li Xiao remembered that the old cadre often sighed that modern martial arts had declined, and cold weapons like guns had completely exited the era's trend. However, on past battlefields, guns were absolutely a top-notch killing instrument.

  The sky above Baigen Mountain is getting darker, and it's about to enter the night. At this moment, the cloud layer at the edge of the sky is gradually thickening, and it seems that it will rain soon.

  And when Li Xiao, who had inserted the Takeda rhombus flag, turned back and killed his way back into the Saito Choshin army formation. For the ashigaru soldiers of Echigo, it was as if the god of killing had returned.

  Li Xiao has already killed over a hundred people today, and with so many kills, he naturally has a strong killing aura about him, viewing human life as worthless. As the enemy soldier rushes towards him, Li Xiao doesn't think much, reacting on instinct, taking aim at the opponent's weak point, and shooting to take them down.

  A famous warrior from Yue rode a war horse and made a solo challenge to Li Xiao. Before the opponent finished introducing himself, Li Xiao directly thrust his spear into the horse's neck, skewering both the man and the horse together.

  Shocked, frightened, and terrified expressions appeared on the faces of the Vietnamese military officers.

  Li Xiao drew his sword, and with a single swing, brought out a burst of bloody rain. The warrior and his horse fell to the ground together. At this moment, the surrounding enemy troops suddenly lost their will to fight, and fled in all directions.

  Now, Shima Kiyooki and Obata Yumi are leading more than a dozen cavalrymen to break through the Takeda army's main camp. The Echigo gunners' coordination is very tacit, once one person uses a spear to challenge the mounted cavalryman, another person will go down to stab the war horse.

  Both sides fought fiercely for a while, and the Echigo army's ashigaru used this method to stab several Takeda cavalrymen's horses to death. After the Takeda cavalrymen fell off their horses, they were immediately surrounded by a group of Echigo ashigaru who stabbed them repeatedly with long spears.

  Dōshin was also extremely exhausted at this point, and with his own strength alone, he could have definitely killed his way out of the encirclement. However, in order to protect the cavalry behind him and the poor close combatant Yumi Kotoba, he couldn't escape for the time being.

  Although Island Victory Meng killed more than a dozen Vietnamese soldiers and warriors in a row, even more Vietnamese soldiers kept coming in endlessly, fighting couldn't finish them off, killing couldn't finish them off, and the more they fought, the more there were.

  "Sir, you'd better escape on your own." Obata Yumi saw that the enemy was heavily surrounding their side and couldn't help but advise Shima Katsuo to flee by himself.

  Only then did Island Victory see Mōri Motonari kill another samurai, and he said to Obata Yumi, "No need to say more, let's think of a way to get out of here."

  Kobayakawa Yumi subconsciously touched the quiver, but forgot that it had been empty for a long time. Kobayakawa Yumi pulled the reins, lowered her head and eyes with a hint of sadness, shook her head gently and said: "I'm afraid it's going to be difficult, I just hope that after Master kills his way into the encirclement, he can take care of my family for me."

  Dōshin Mō took on another attack from a lightly armored samurai, and though he was getting more and more exhausted as the battle wore on, as a warrior he couldn't show even a hint of fatigue now - he still had to rally the remaining men to break through the encirclement.

  "Don't talk nonsense, of course your family will be taken care of by you yourself."

  "That's right," said Kobayakawa Yumi, nodding her head and smiling again. "We are warriors, we cannot give up until the very last moment."

  Dǎo Shèng Měng hāhā yī xiào, zhèng yào shuōhuà shí.

  But saw the originally blocking Vietnamese army in front of him, fleeing in all directions, those Vietnamese soldiers' faces were filled with fearful expressions as if they had suddenly seen a flood beast.

  The sound of horseshoes echoed, and Osamu Yumi saw the Takeda's flag stained with fresh blood.

  "It's Master Li, he hasn't abandoned us." Looking at Li Xiao, who was covered in blood, gripping a large spear and riding towards them on horseback, Yumi Komatsu almost burst into tears.

  Daoming Island also burst out laughing loudly and shouted towards his back: "The adults have come to save us, let's all kill our way out together."

  More than a dozen Takeda cavalrymen who had escaped with their lives were also overjoyed.

  Li Xiaozhi stopped his horse and saw that Rikito and Obata Yumi were both safe, he was overjoyed. However, upon re-examining the scene, his brow furrowed as he said: "Why are there only so few people left?"

  "Sir, apart from us, there are others also trapped in the formation."

  "Is there anyone else? Alright, no need to say more," Li Xiao swung his spear and said, "Is everyone willing to follow me to kill again and rescue the others?"

  Although everyone was exhausted and injured, they still responded in unison: "We are willing to follow you, sir."

  Li Xiao nodded and said: "Everyone follow me, don't get scattered."

  Then Li Xiao led the charge again, this time the lightly armored infantry of the rear army saw Li Xiao leading a dozen cavalrymen to kill them, and they almost didn't even think about resisting, scattering their feet and retreating. It wasn't just the low-ranking infantry who did so, even the famous warriors of the rear army who had experienced several battles were terrified, no one dared to approach Li Xiao's vicinity.

  Occasionally, one or two who were slow to react or ran a bit slower would be picked off by Li Xiao's spear, but wherever he went, the rear troops retreated without exception.

  Originally surrounded and having fallen into despair, the Takeda cavalry from all directions saw their own cavalry returning and felt a sense of rebirth.

  "Adults, don't abandon us."

  The Takeda cavalrymen regained their spirit and rode into battle on horseback, killing the enemy.

  All the way, there were three or two Wada cavalry joining Li Xiao's cavalry flood, and the number of Wada cavalry increased again. Later, Li Xiao even specifically looked for places with more soldiers from Echigo to charge and kill, and often rescued a few Wada cavalrymen.

  And every time Li Xiao came to such a situation, the Koizumi Asanobu army would disperse in an instant. In this way, the military power of the Saito Asanobu army was completely destroyed under the impact of the Takeda family cavalry.

  Uesugi army's main camp.

  The expressions of the commanders of the Wu army at this moment are quite colorful. It was thought that Saito Toshinobu's troops had already surrounded and killed this Takeda cavalry, but although Li Xiao escaped, it is still acceptable.

  But their expressions changed 180 degrees the moment Li Xiao turned back to kill, Li Xiao not only didn't escape alone, but also turned back to rescue the Wada family's cavalry team. Moreover, he charged left and right in Saito Toshinaga's army formation, and now Saito Toshinaga's defeat is a foregone conclusion.

  Is this a monster or what? After fighting to this point, everyone is exhausted, isn't he tired at all? And his cavalry troops, are they all made of iron too?

  Many Vietnamese leaders thought so in their hearts, but at this moment, no one dared to say it out loud.

  Watching the defeat of Saito Toshinobu's army, Uesugi Kenshin could not help but throw his rosary to the ground and pointed at Li Xiaochuan below, shouting: "Is it that I have no one who can withstand this Li Xiaochuan after my death?"

  The various generals all showed a look of shame on their faces under Uesugi Kenshin's severe words.

  "Your Excellency, we still have the troops of Yamamoto Kansuke and Chikasanomori Ujinobu that can be mobilized. Moreover, our main army has not yet gone into battle. These several thousand fresh soldiers are enough to completely surround and annihilate the Takeda army here."

  Naoe Kagetsuna, who was standing beside him, let out a sigh and gazed at the battlefield where the Echigo army was being slaughtered by the Takeda cavalry, saying in a low voice: "Is it of any use? The morale of our troops has been broken, and I'm afraid that the other commanders and soldiers are not willing to engage with the enemy at this moment."

  After Naoe Kanetsugu said that, the Vietnamese generals fell silent. Today, this Ming general is incredibly brave, as if possessed by the great god of Hachiman, in such a state, it's likely that even the Vietnamese army would not dare to fight him.

  As they spoke, the already dark sky suddenly poured down heavy rain, and this early spring frost in the mountains was enough to make people's bones cold. Ordinary people were fine, but if wounded soldiers got wet, it could be life-threatening.

  Uesugi Kenshin gazed out into the rain for a moment before speaking in a low voice: "Sound the conch shell, withdraw the troops."

  "Your Excellency, General." The other generals stepped forward and said in unison.

  Uesugi Kenshin said, "Fighting again will not be beneficial. I never thought that Uesugi Shigeuji, who has been undefeated for over 10 years, would suffer a crushing defeat at the foot of Hakusan Mountain today. There is no need to say more, withdraw the troops."

  With Uesugi Kenshin's loud shout, the main camp of Echigo army blew the conch shell to retreat.

  As the sky grew darker, in the heavy rain, the Color Corps led by Shige Nagao and the Yamamoto Temple led by Sadayuki Sanada took the lead, while other Echigo Ueno allied forces began to retreat, carrying their wounded out of the battlefield. Meanwhile, on another hillside, the remnants of the Takeda army's main force also began to withdraw, slowly retreating towards the Shirane Pass.

  Uesugi Kenshin watched the Takeda army retreat in the rain, and saw Li Xiao leading the remaining thirty Takeda cavalrymen as the rearguard, covering the main force's withdrawal to the mountain pass.

  "Wait for it, I, Uesugi Kagetora, will have another battle with you sooner or later."

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