Chapter 53: No one is capable of fighting

Dozens of samurai led hundreds of foot soldiers in charging together, just like senior students leading the charge to the cafeteria after class. The momentum was truly astonishing.

But to Yan Xu, who had just led everyone to burn incense at the Guandi Temple, everyone looked like a traitor to his country. So when facing the enemy's charge, he just trembled with excitement, but had no intention of retreating. He struggled to maintain his composure until the enemy rushed into a range of 30 meters before ordering the crossbowmen on both sides to shoot.

The light crossbow is very light, and even short and weak foot soldiers can use it. However, because the crossbow arrow is short and light, it loses speed too quickly, especially this antique-made wooden iron-headed crossbow arrow is less than a foot long, so the effective range is only thirty or forty meters, and the maximum killing distance is within twenty meters. That's why Yan Xu suppressed his excitement and waited until the range was within thirty meters before giving the order. By the time the shooting was carried out, it would have just enough killing power, at least for the foot soldiers without armor.

Hundreds of people charged forward and rushed within thirty meters. The pressure was extremely great, but Yan Xu had considered it very clearly beforehand. The crossbow only had one chance to shoot, because there was no time to complete a second rewind within the effective range of the light crossbow.

Although this was a pity, the light crossbow, which was used for the first time, was extremely effective. The people of the Fukushima family just rushed into the area with the greatest lethality and were swept by hundreds of crossbow arrows. In addition, according to Yan Xu's instructions, the crossbowmen avoided the armored warriors and stabbed the cloth-clad foot soldiers hard, thus killing fifty or sixty foot soldiers in one breath.

Because they were not wearing armor, the sharp crossbow arrows penetrated half a palm deep. The foot soldiers, who already lacked armor and fighting spirit, wailed immediately, and the Fukushima family lost one-tenth of their troops.

In a cold weapon battle, if one loses 10% or 20%, it is almost time to retreat. Those who can withstand 30% to 40% casualties are the elite among the elite. Fighting to the death is extremely rare throughout history. So if so many people are lost, even if they are all foot soldiers, the charging samurai will inevitably be affected.

At this moment, Yan Xu raised his Mo Dao and shouted, "Charge!"

Two hundred spear-wielding foot soldiers laid down their spears and charged forward, not caring at all about what was ahead. Even the samurai of the Fukushima family were frightened by their posture.

The fighting power of samurai and foot soldiers varies greatly. In addition to equipment and training, morale is the key, especially on the battlefield. A samurai with high morale can easily chase and chop a group of foot soldiers.

There is no way. One is anxious and just wants to survive, while the other is in high spirits and eager to make a contribution. If they face off, it is easy to tell who will win and who will lose.

But this does not mean that Ashigaru are useless. Many samurai were stabbed to death by Ashigaru who took advantage of the victory to pursue their enemies.

Just like now, two hundred foot soldiers rushed over with spears held down regardless of anything. The samurai were panicked when they saw it, because there was nowhere to hide. The worst thing was that the opponent's spears were real ones. Their proud haramaki and domaru were completely useless. More than a dozen of them were stabbed to death on the spot.

Fukushima Masaki's heart skipped a beat, and he knew he had to fight hard. If he didn't, he would definitely lose, and even if he tried to escape, it would be a disaster.

Fukushima Masaki was born into a true samurai family and was quite skilled in martial arts. Moreover, once he charged, other samurai dared not retreat or even let him get hurt, otherwise, regardless of whether they won or lost, they would damage the honor of the samurai. Therefore, they could only charge harder.

Although the foot soldiers of the Moroboshi family followed orders 100%, they were also human beings. They would be afraid and panicked when facing the desperate samurai. Moreover, the difference in skills could not be made up by desperate efforts. Therefore, the approaching samurai would be hacked to death after cutting off the bamboo pole. However, at this time, the crossbowmen on the left and right had put down their crossbows and picked up spears to approach from both sides, causing the foot soldiers of the Fukushima family who had just been hit head-on to panic. Therefore, the situation was still favorable to the Moroboshi family.

"Send a signal!" Fukushima Masaki slashed at a foot soldier of the Moroboshi family with his sword. The smooth bamboo armor did not bear much force, and although it made a cut, it was difficult to further damage the opponent, forcing him to kick the opponent down, and then stabbed the samurai sword upside down through the gap, and finally killed the opponent.

However, the fact that it took so much effort to kill a foot soldier made Fukushima Masaki realize that he could no longer hold back. With a shout, the surviving servants beside him blew the bamboo whistle hard, and dozens of ronin he had hired along the way rushed over from not far away. Once they joined the battle, the Fukushima family would inevitably fail.

The problem is that Yan Xu is not stupid. Although he has never fought in a war, he knows the importance of the reserve army and is even more aware of the power of ambushes. So he sent Hui Ruomaru with twenty elite ronin to the rear early on, just in time to block the ronin hired by Fukushima Masaki, resulting in a fierce battle between the two sides as soon as they met.

The elite ronin soldiers of the Moroboshi family wanted to prove their worth, while the ronin hired by the Fukushima family were also obsessed with the promises of Fukushima Masayoshi. Neither side was willing to retreat, so the fight was naturally brutal.

However, although the number of ronin hired by the Fukushima family was larger, the elite ronin of the Moroboshi family were clad in heavy bamboo armor. Not to mention the iron swords in the hands of the ronin, even the samurai's fine iron swords could not easily break their defense. Many ronin even broke their katana due to excessive force, and were then chopped to the ground by the elite ronin soldiers who each had two swords.

Hui Ruomaru is even more powerful. No one knows where he learned the dual-sword style. With Snow Blade in one hand and Snow Flower in the other, he slashes left and right, bravely breaking into the enemy's formation and being unable to defeat any of them. There is really no one who can defeat him.

Although Hui Ruomaru's swordsmanship is powerful, it is not to this extent. It is purely the bonus of the sword.

The snow blade was not afraid of collisions, and was longer and heavier, so it could split the opponent's blocking posture. However, the snowflakes were so sharp that only a ronin in cloth could block them. A slight touch would cause a bleeding wound, and he would immediately panic, and then be killed with a single knife.

Fukushima Masaki was stunned when he saw this scene. He knew that if he didn't retreat, his entire army would be wiped out, because his foot soldiers could not hold on and fled in all directions. Once all the core samurai died, he would be really finished. So he took the dozen or so surviving samurai, gathered the remaining foot soldiers and fled to the rear, using the hired ronin as scapegoats.

Yan Xu could no longer hold back and even forgot about whether he would get killed. He swung his Mo Dao and charged forward. Naturally, the fifty flagstones who were on high alert rushed forward faster than him, so Fukushima Masaki ran even faster.

A samurai from the Fukushima family who had injured his leg could not run fast and fell behind. When he heard the heavy footsteps approaching, he gritted his teeth and turned around to fight to the death. The problem was that he was only 1.5 meters tall and the katana in his hand was less than three feet long, while Yan Xu was 1.8 meters tall and the Mo Dao in his hand was six feet long and weighed ten kilograms. He swung the katana down and broke it on the spot. The broad blade slashed diagonally on his shoulder and immediately sank into it.

It was Yan Xu's first time chopping someone, and he was just nervous, so he naturally used all his strength. The knife first split the collarbone, and then the ribs and flesh were severed under the blade. It didn't stop until it cut through the heart.

At this time, Yan Xu was actually confused and lost the ability to think. Only instinct remained. So he pulled out his Mo Dao randomly, with half of his heart and lungs hanging out. He continued to chase and hack, until he killed two frightened foot soldiers. Only then did he use up his breath and put an end to this battle. It can be said that there was no one present who could fight.

(End of this chapter)