Chapter 71 The Eight Treasures Army of the Moroboshi Family

The ten large guns were the source of Otomo Munemori's confidence. They were not only a powerful weapon against the Mori family, but also a trump card to defeat the Moroboshi family. Therefore, without delay or hesitation, he waved the military fan vigorously, and the eight hundred foot soldiers began to attack the city under the leadership of the samurai.

This time it was not a test, so they did not take the narrow mountain road. The samurai took off most of their armor and bravely chose to travel light, taking the risk of climbing up the mountain from both sides of the hill with their foot soldiers.

Guiwan Mountain is formed by the Jinzhu Peak and two Yudai Hills. Although the Yudai Hills are not steep cliffs, the full curve makes climbing a very dangerous thing. You must always stick close to the hill, because if you are not careful, you will roll down, and the consequences can be imagined.

However, the samurai of the Otomo family didn't care about these at all. They both took the lead and forced the foot soldiers to speed up.

Their main task was to tie up the troops defending the city so that the Moroboshi family could not concentrate their forces to defend the city gate. Therefore, the leading samurai did not care that from time to time there were foot soldiers rolling down and breaking bones and bleeding from their mouths and noses. They just urged everyone to climb up desperately, because only by getting close to the city wall and putting pressure on the defenders could they show their value.

In fact, if the hill had not been too steep for the archers to stand and shoot, the samurai of the Otomo family would have forced the archers to stand up and launch a counterattack. Now they could only keep approaching and bring pressure to the Moroboshi family defending the city, forcing them to send more people to defend.

At this moment, two hundred elite hatamoto carrying shields and large guns quietly approached the city gate along the mountain road at the fastest speed. They were the key to Otomo Munemori's capture of the city.

However, Otomo Munemori was very courageous as he dispatched thousands of troops in one go, including 200 elite soldiers. He wanted to decide the outcome in one battle. I just don't know if he was prepared to return in defeat.

If the siege cannot be won in one battle, it will fall into a long war of attrition. This is not good news for the Otomo family who came alone. The supplies they brought with them will not be enough. Therefore, after taking out the trump card, Otomo Munemori will inevitably have to take a gamble. This is his character and also the gambler side of the Japanese.

But this is a good thing for Yan Xu, because he lacks combat experience, and it is difficult for him to ensure that he does not reveal fatal flaws and be caught by the opponent in a long offensive and defensive battle.

Therefore, the best option for Yan Xu was to weaken the Otomo family as much as possible through a major war and to completely injure and cripple the enemy.

Therefore, Yan Xu did not take out the prepared surprise right away, but let Yi Yujing wait for the best opportunity, because only in this way could he eat the fattest piece of meat in one bite.

At this time, the samurai who climbed up from the hills on both sides had passed the steepest part. Taking advantage of the slope slowing down, they began to gather the foot soldiers who climbed up and spread them to both sides, trying to make the defending side more passive by expanding the attack area. After all, their main purpose was not to break the city, but to distract the energy of the defending side.

Besides, it is not so easy to break into the city, especially when they didn't even bring any decent siege equipment. If they just rely on human lives to fill the gap, who knows how many lives will be lost.

However, the pressure brought by the Otomo army still made the defenders dare not be careless at all. The opponent's numerical advantage was too great. Even if they were divided into two, there were 400 people on one side, which alone exceeded the total number of soldiers defending the city, not to mention the elite troops gradually approaching in the mountain road.

Yi Yujing, who witnessed all this, did not panic at all. She responded calmly and asked the farmer to throw the rolling stones and logs that had been prepared in advance down the slope before the other party dispersed.

Because the hillside was steep and had been specially trimmed, the wood and rocks thrown from the wall could not stay still and rolled over towards the Otomo army who had not yet stood firm. The one-meter-long rolling logs and the big rocks were like electric tricycles with the throttle turned to the bottom. Anyone who saw them would not panic. Even if there were no old men or women on them, it would not delay the foot soldiers from dodging in panic. The result was that those who were not standing firmly would slip and reach the foot of the mountain faster than the rolling logs and rocks. Those who stood firmly might not be able to dodge, and being hit would result in rolling down.

The samurai of the Otomo family cursed and accused the other side of lacking the spirit of Bushido, but there was nothing they could do because neither Yan Xu nor Yi Yu Jing had any intention of opening the city gates to welcome the other side to a one-on-one samurai duel.

No matter how good the swordsmanship of the Otomo family is, they can't split the thick rolling logs and heavy rocks. There is no other way except to dodge. They really think that they can fight against steel by infusing their will into the flesh. Are they stupid?

The chaotic Otomo army failed in their attack and instead lost a lot of people. However, they did not collapse because they had enough numbers. No matter how hard the defenders tried, they still missed a lot of people. These people, led by the desperate and fanatical samurai, continued to approach the city wall.

From this point of view, Otomo Munemori's reputation is not exaggerated. At least he is good at managing the army. Even though these foot soldiers were full of panic, they still did not dare to retreat. They even rushed towards the city wall screaming and seeking death under inexplicable coercion.

Because as long as they died in battle, they would not have to continue to endure the torture of war, and their families would not be blamed by the general.

Facing the desperate Otomo army, Yiyu Shizuka didn't even look at them twice, because standing in front of him was the newly formed Hachiho Army, an army he had never heard of before.

The Eight Treasures Army, composed entirely of hatamoto, is equipped with peculiar equipment, but Yiyu Jing is not sure about its combat effectiveness. However, he is very clear that the twenty large barrels inlaid with tiger heads can definitely decide the outcome of the war, especially the weapon named Eight Treasures Dahua Wheel by the adults, which gives him a lot of confidence.

"Each of you take five tiger squat cannons to both sides, disperse the gathered Otomo troops and make them lose the threat to the city wall. The remaining ten cannons will hit the elite troops in front of the city gate. They must be wiped out." Yi Yujing saw it clearly. Although the momentum on both sides was huge, the focus of this attack was always on the elite troops on the mountain road.

Moreover, as long as there are enough farmers, you can get ashigaru, but this is not the case with elite hatamoto. Training, equipment, and experience require too much energy and resources.

Especially once the hatamoto form a certain scale, they will become more terrifying. They are disciplined and are a backbone force more suitable for the battlefield than samurai. As long as they do not retreat, even if the foot soldiers and samurai fail, they can hold the last bottom line and reduce losses.

Therefore, destroying this elite hatamoto team would be more distressing to the Otomo family than annihilating all 800 foot soldiers, and might even make Otomo Munemori angry to the point of going crazy.

However, if you are weak, you should be strong, and if you are strong, you should be weak. If Ichiha Shizuka puts most of his forces on the elite force on the mountain road, the Otomo army on both sides will definitely choose to explode, and then break through from both sides regardless of casualties. Once they break into the city, the Moroboshi family, which has lost its city defense advantage, will inevitably fall into a passive position. Therefore, the mobilization and allocation of forces, as well as the reserve army, all require careful considerations, and are by no means as simple as distributing them evenly or concentrating them.

Fortunately, Ichiha Shizuka was a person who was unwilling to be lonely. Although he was a small figure in the army during several expeditions of the Otomo family, he studied hard on weekdays and observed carefully when going to battle. He was familiar with military formations, especially the Otomo army, so he was not flustered when responding and advanced and retreated in moderation.

Otomo Munemori, who was commanding 800 foot soldiers at the foot of the mountain and trying to tear open the defense, always felt that he couldn't use his strength. In the end, he had no choice but to let his elite troops fight head-on. But today he was destined to be disappointed, because this time his opponents did not play according to common sense and they chose to cheat.

(End of this chapter)