Chapter 243 Fatal Mistake

Faced with a wild boar monster that was huge in size, had sharp fangs, was shaking and growling, and had black smoke coming out of its butt, even the bravest warrior of the Mori family began to feel uneasy. He didn't know where to put his hands and feet, and his face turned pale.

This was the case for all honor-conscious warriors, not to mention ordinary soldiers. They didn't just turn around and run, thanks to the sea behind them.

"Order the arquebus team to move forward immediately." Mori Hidemoto took a deep breath, knowing that he could not delay any longer, otherwise his soldiers would completely lose the courage to fight, so he immediately gave the order, leaving the soldiers no time to think.

After learning about the exaggerated proportion of firearms equipment of the Moroboshi family, the Mori family secretly purchased arquebuses and large barrels everywhere, and spent a huge amount of money to gather 600 arquebusiers and 30 portable large barrels for Mori Hidemoto in a short period of time, which came in handy at this moment.

The Mori family's arquebusiers naturally used matchlock guns. They needed to wrap a long matchlock around their arms to prevent scratches, then raise the gun and aim, and finally light the gun with the matchlock. It was very troublesome because the muzzle needed to be stabilized throughout the whole process. If there was a slight shake, the already unreliable hit rate would be even more off.

Moreover, due to the different craftsmen in different places of origin and the different production times, these iron cannons of different calibers are both new and old, and even the bullets are different, including copper bullets, iron balls, lead blocks, and even stones. It can be said that as long as they can be stuffed into the barrel, there is nothing they dare not use. This results in the range and power of the iron cannon team relying entirely on luck, and they can only rely on lining them up in a row to increase their hit rate.

The Moroboshi family's arquebusiers were different, as they used a uniform short, small-caliber striker rifle.

Based on the Dresser striker rifle, this rifle not only has a smaller caliber, but also shortens the length of the barrel and buttstock, keeping the length to one meter and one meter, and reduces the weight by nearly half from nearly ten kilograms, making it easier to operate for short-statured arquebusiers and more suitable for prolonged use.

After the order was issued, the wooden-shelled, iron-clad Pig Tanks slowly moved forward with the surge of steam. Their huge size and number created a huge sense of oppression, which made the increasingly nervous arquebusiers unable to bear it any longer. No one knew who fired the first shot, which immediately triggered a chain reaction. Amid the angry roars of the warriors, the precious first bullet was wasted.

For a musket that is slow and complicated to load, the first bullet is extremely important. In many cases, in order to ensure maximum lethality, the gun will even be fired at close range.

It is a waste to shoot from hundreds of meters away now.

As expected, in the thick smoke, only a few of the flying bullets hit the Zhutu tank, but they could not do anything about the front armor that was fixed with two millimeter steel plates with rivets in front. The angry warrior chopped the first bastard who fired the shot to death on the spot.

When the smoke cleared, the people of the Mori family saw that the Moroboshi family's troops were unharmed, and their hearts sank immediately, and their morale dropped another point.

In fact, this is normal. Although the Pig Tank is a joke, it depends on who you compare it with. At least ordinary soldiers will definitely be helpless.

"Tell them to hide the large guns and not to open fire without orders." Maori Hidemoto took a deep breath of the smoke-filled air and gave stern orders, because he was prepared for the worst.

Now Maori Hidemoto has confirmed that those are not wild boar monsters, but he would rather they are monsters, because monsters also need to reproduce and need populations, and vehicles like chariots can be manufactured in large quantities as long as there is money.

Just thinking about hundreds of invulnerable chariots rushing into the territory of the Mori family made Maori Hidemoto shudder, so he issued an order that even surprised himself. "I hope it won't be used." Maori Hidemoto took another deep breath and said, but before he could exhale, he was shocked by the dense gunfire and damage caused by the Moroboshi family.

After the Mori clan's arquebus team fired the first shot, while the other side was reloading, the Moroboshi clan's arquebus foot soldiers stuck their heads out, raised their guns, aimed slightly, and pulled the trigger. Standard bullets spurted out from the barrels one after another. Although not every shot could hit the enemy, the hit rate was still more than three levels within a hundred meters.

This was already quite horrifying. The arquebusiers of the Mori family who were standing in a row were like those bitten by dogs. One of them fell down every few days. The boiling blood and spurting brain matter almost made the arquebusiers' morale collapse.

This was because there was a half-person-high horizontal bamboo raft in front of them as a barrier. Otherwise, with the posture of them standing in a row, it would be a shame if half of them didn't die and it would be a shame for the guns used by the arquebusiers.

Although Mori Hidemoto was shocked by the hit rate of the Moroboshi family's muskets, he did not dare to withdraw the arquebusiers who relied entirely on the samurai to maintain their formation with swords, because he knew very well that once the order to retreat was given at this time, the arquebus team would collapse immediately, and the other soldiers whose morale was already low would also collapse. Therefore, he immediately ordered the samurai to take the lead in the charge and absolutely could not let the Moroboshi family enter the relatively empty port.

With the powerful destructive power of the firearms of the Moroboshi family, once they enter the port, without any cover, all the soldiers of the Mori family will become targets of the enemy. They will either die at the muzzle of the gun or jump into the sea and drown. As for leaving by boat, don't joke about it. Unless all the soldiers of the Moroboshi family are dead, how can they just watch them turn around and line up to board the ship?

At this moment, Mori Hidemoto's order was obviously to send these loyal and brave warriors of the Mori family to their deaths, but he had no choice because of incomplete intelligence and he made too many mistakes.

First of all, he shouldn't have had any hope in the so-called demon ninja. He actually thought that the other party had a chance to assassinate the head of the Moroboshi family.

Secondly, they should not have continued with the original plan after discovering that the assassination attempt by the Demon Ninja had failed and the Moroboshi family had already made preparations. This was the most fatal mistake.

Finally, they should not line up their troops at the port, as it is spacious enough to accommodate a large number of troops, but it would also expose the Mori family's soldiers to the Moroboshi family's guns.

In fact, it was not his fault. Although Mori Hidemoto was an excellent general, his previous thinking and experience misled him. He still followed his past habits and chose to deploy his troops in an open area to prepare for battle.

Even if Mori Hidemoto took the issue of firearms into consideration, the Japanese firearms had to be lined up and fired in unison to exert sufficient lethality, and this also required a wide area, so choosing to line up at the port was inevitable.

In the final analysis, it was the Moroboshi family that was cheating. Not to mention the allegiance of the demon ninja, the gap in equipment alone was something that the Mori family could not make up for.

Although both are muskets, the rubbish iron cannon cannot be compared with the striker rifle. The latter is a breech-loading rifle. Not only is it fast to load, it also does not require complicated movements and procedures. Therefore, it can be easily loaded and fired while hiding behind a pig tank. In this case, no matter how Mori Hidemoto arranges himself, he will inevitably end up in failure.

(End of this chapter)