Chapter 160: Fierce Battle!

Time quickly arrived at the hour of noon.

Zhao Yuan stood on the city wall looking down; a vast, swarming mass of Japanese pirates surged toward the city wall like ants.

Before the barbican gate under the city, short-statured Japanese pirates hugged a battering ram, slamming it against the city wall with a thunderous sound.

At this moment, the defending troops on the wall did not even need to aim carefully.

Rolling stones and logs thrown down indiscriminately from the wall could plow a bloody path through the crowd.

The attacking Japanese pirates below the wall were fierce and fearless, struggling to be the first to advance.

On the hillside outside the city, Japanese pirates came in an endless stream, wave after wave, baring fangs and brandishing claws, rushing straight toward the city like moths to a flame.

Zhao Yuan watched, secretly alarmed.

Having been on the Japanese islands for over a month and fought four battles of varying sizes, this was the first time he had seen such bloodthirsty Japanese pirates.

In an instant, the blood in his body was burning.

His entire being was filled with a soaring will to fight.

He stepped forward violently, slashed a Japanese pirate climbing onto the city wall, and then roared, "Brothers, General Li is already on his way back, help me kill these sons-of-a-bitch Japanese pirates!"

"Kill the bastards!"

"Kill them!"

The emotions of the defending troops on the wall were also thoroughly stirred up, and they roared as one.

With the battle at this point, tactics were no longer important. There was only one word: "Charge." You slash me with a blade, I climb the wall and stab you with a spear; let's see who can hold out until the end.

Hand-to-hand combat in the age of cold weapons was extremely brutal.

Furthermore, since Zhao Yuan was on the defending side, even though they were fewer in number, they still traded blows back and forth with the Japanese pirates.

On the hillside outside the city, Kikkawa Motoharu placed his hand over his brow to gaze into the distance.

At this moment, the world in his eyes was left with only two colors: red and white.

White was the leisurely clouds in the sky, and red was the dazzling blood on the ground and the city walls.

A northwest wind swept past, carrying a biting chill and the heavy, rank smell of blood.

This group of Ming Army soldiers was even more tenacious than he had imagined.

This must be the main force of the Ming Army.

It seemed that what followed would be a brutal, fierce battle!

"Clan Head, we cannot continue to attack like this, let us withdraw," Kikkawa Motoharu was thinking when a clan general beside him said with a sobbing tone, "Clan Head, the blood of the warriors of the Mori Clan and the Kikkawa Clan is almost drained!"

"That is right, Clan Head, look, the Ming Army's Three-Headed Gun, every time they fire, a whole row of us falls," another clan general echoed.

Kikkawa Motoharu was also a fierce general in the army, and his temperament was even more eccentric and violent.

Hearing his subordinates express a desire to retreat, he turned around, slapped him hard, and barked, "Baka, do the warriors of my Kikkawa Clan and the Mori Clan not even have this much courage now?"

"Our numbers are so much greater than the defenders in the city; we can wear them to death just by exhausting them with our men!"

"But Clan Head, this city is simply not worth us spending such great effort," the man covered his cheek and replied with a grievance-filled expression.

Even if they took this city, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Great Ming had vast territory and abundant resources, with a huge population; even if all these Ming Army soldiers were wiped out here.

Great Ming would not even be scratched.

They were different; if their own troops suffered too many losses, not to mention the other daimyo outside, even the retainers below would start to have other thoughts.

Kikkawa Motoharu looked stubborn and waved his hand to refuse, "You need not say more; if any disaster occurs, I will bear the responsibility. You only need to obey my orders now."

"Clan Head..."

"Shut up!"

The battle continued; by now, the trenches under the city were filled with corpses, and bright red blood overflowed from the pit soil.

The originally golden-yellow earth had now become soft and red.

The Japanese pirates behind held their weapons high, stepping on corpses, roaring as they ran forward. They knew that if they wanted to live, they had to run faster and be the first to climb the city wall. If they were timid, not to mention the rolling stones and arrow rain from the wall, even the supervising officers behind them could take their lives.

A Japanese pirate clad in armor, with a somewhat tall and sturdy build, held a shield in one hand and a blade in the other, rushing straight toward a long ladder.

Once at the front of the ladder, he clamped his steel blade in his mouth.

Then, using both hands and feet, he crawled upward rapidly like a spider.

In the blink of an eye, his figure had flashed up a dozen wooden rungs.

The defenders on the wall saw this and hurriedly looked for rolling stones to smash him, but unfortunately, the surrounding rolling stones were exhausted. At this moment, the sturdy man seized the opportunity, suddenly accelerated, and within a few breaths, had flashed to half a yard below the top of the wall.

Defenders on both sides raised their spears to stab, but the Japanese pirate held his wooden shield high, tightly protecting his body underneath.

"Ding-dong."

Only a muffled sound was heard as the two long spears were blocked by the wooden shield.

The sturdy Japanese pirate's figure clearly stalled, and a great force came from his shoulder blade. But under the threat of life and death, he instantly erupted with twelve times his strength.

He suddenly raised the giant shield upward, and the long spears were sent into the air.

The two defenders lost their footing and tilted backward.

Taking advantage of this, the Japanese pirate gave a ferocious grin and, like an ape, grabbed the ladder and flipped upward more than ten rungs in a flash.

He climbed onto the city wall.

He took the long blade from his mouth and swept it violently to the left and right.

Two Ming Army soldiers fell in response.

Now, the Japanese pirate was even more smug; his blood-red eyes looked at the Ming Army soldiers on the wall.

It was just like a vicious wolf that felt it had mistakenly entered a flock of sheep.

Unfortunately, he had mistakenly entered a pack of tigers.

Before he could be happy for a moment, a long spear thrust forward, firmly nailing into his chest and piercing through it. His expression immediately froze, and he looked at his chest with difficulty.

A wooden shaft was embedded in his flesh, and fresh blood gushed out like a spring.

He grabbed the spear shaft with one hand, desperately trying to pull it out from inside. Two more Ming Army soldiers stepped forward, raised the long spears in their hands, and thrust them forward, fiercely piercing into the Japanese pirate's chest.

The three of them shouted in unison and exerted force to heave upward! The Japanese pirate's body suddenly soared into the air, then plummeted violently off the city wall.

"Sigh, what a pity!"

On a dirt slope not far away, Kikkawa Motoharu, who had just been holding his breath in concentration, wore a look of regret.

It was just a little bit off; if he had only held on for a little longer, this siege battle would have been much easier to fight.

"Clan Head, let us withdraw the troops first," another retainer advised.

"Baka, this is the perfect opportunity to break the city; whoever dares to mention withdrawing again, I will never forgive him!" Kikkawa Motoharu roared angrily, then personally arrived at the front line to take command from the center.

It was a pity, however, that the morale of his troops had already dissipated.

Even an iron army will have its morale collapse when the number of casualties exceeds thirty percent.

Looking at the fierce Ming Army on the city wall, and then looking at the corpses covering the ground below the city, the Japanese pirates attacking the city could no longer remain calm.

It was unknown who shouted, "Retreat, retreat."

The thousands of people below the city all ran backward together.

They kept shouting, "Run quickly."

The fear of death soon spread throughout the ranks.

"Baka, baka, go back, you all go back for me, a bunch of cowards, weaklings, a bunch of cowards and weaklings!!" Kikkawa Motoharu was exasperated and used his long sword to frantically drive his troops back.

However, his voice was quickly drowned out by the sounds of terror.

(End of this chapter)