Their hot fury began to melt the cold fear that crept up the spines of the men, as they started to break free of their frozen stupor. The Special Forces Unit followed behind the rest, grateful for the order to retreat.
But it was far from enough. The men were terrified, and the enemy was growing ever closer. The way things were going, they would not even survive the first wave. Complete annihilation was on the horizon, and it was all orchestrated by one man who was not even present.
But by the gods, Gengyo would not allow that to happen. The shame of falling victim to such a strategy was more than he could bear.
He urged his horse forward till he stood between his men, and the enemy - who were closing that one-kilometre distance at a rapid pace.
"MEN!"
He barked, his gaze intense. The Special Forces unit stiffened – they had never seen him so furious.
"I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THIS DEFEAT. I REFUSE TO SHOW FEAR TO THIS RABBLE!"
"I AIN'T F.U.C.KIN' SCARED, BOY!"
Morohira roared, banging his clenched fist hard against his chestplate.
"AYE! WHY SHOULD WE FEAR MEN WHO FEIGN TO BE DEMONS, WHEN WE ARE ALL QUITE COMFORTABLE GOING TO HELL?"
"OR ARE YOU NOT? DID YOU MARCH UP UPON THIS BATTLEFIELD MERELY FOR COIN? I SPEAK TO YOU – ALL OF YOU. GOSANKYO ARMY. NIWA ARMY. WILL WE FLEE WITH OUR TAILS BETWEEN OUR LEGS, ONLY TO BE SLAUGHTERED? OR WILL WE FIGHT, AND DIE AS LEGENDS!?"
His words seeped through the cloud of fear that had tainted them, and the lesser men began to see the real purpose of their stance here today. They did not simply fight to serve their lord, and to serve their coin, they dreamed of fighting so that the world would hear their names. So that they would not live out their lives as mere peasants, dying in the cold of some disease.
"RAH!"
Gosankyo let out a frustrated shout. Two systems in his body were in open conflict. His primordial systems that desired only self-preservation, battled within his head, aiming to defeat his dream for glory. This was not just a battle where men met upon the field. Nobunaga had changed the stage entirely. He had attacked each man individually, within their minds – where most were weakest.
But he could not dare to let his cowardice rule him. Especially when one so young, with so much potential, was willing to give his life for the sake of this victory. To him, in the grand scheme of things, this battle was worth little. But the boy seemed to have taken personal offence, and he thought he knew why.
He spurred his horse to the front, as he and Nakatane both joined to stand side by side with the young strategist.
"I REFUSE TO COWER IN THE FACE OF MAD MEN! I PLACE MY TRUST, AND MY LIFE, WITHIN THE SWORDS AND SPEARS OF MY OWN MEN! I WILL FIGHT!"
Gosankyo called out, his voice raw with emotion, so that it all but cracked. But his face was hardened. Doubts were cast aside. The only thought present was a single minded persistence that craved victory.
His men met his gaze, as they still shuddered from the horrific display of earlier. He really was ready to die. There was no deceit within those eyes. Only a true coward, and the worst of men, could have looked in those eyes and turned tail. Even though their experience was little, and the lives they had lived had been that of peasants, in that moment, under that amount of trust, they dared to assume the hearts of warriors.
"WE FIGHT FOR YOU, GOSANKYO-SAMA! FOR VICTORY!"
A bold man by the front raised his spear, and soon all the Gosankyo men seconded his shout.
"AWOO!"
A more beautiful sound I dare you to find, than the shout of men united for one purpose, unwavering in their determination.
"WILL WE COWER WHEN OUR ALLIES ARE SO READY TO FIGHT?"
Nakatane called out, bristling. He had realized there was something more significant to this battle, and would dare to let his forces crumble.
"NO!"
The men shouted as one.
"BEHOLD! MEN OF THIS UNITED ARMY! BEHOLD HOW DEMONS FALL!"
The men were almost on top of them now. Only a little over one hundred metres sat between the three mounted leaders, and the raging onslaught of over 400 bloodthirsty beasts. But none of them showed even a drop of fear. They had wrung it out from their blood.
Gengyo notched his arrow, and pulled back his bowstring.
FWOOSH
SPLURT
It soared through the air, and took one of the leading men in the eye, killing him instantly, and causing those behind him to stumble over his dead body. And like that, the army was revealed to be human.
"ALL MEN WITH A BOW! SEND THESE DEMONS BACK TO HELL!
It was only then, at the last instance, that they rode back to join their ranks. But they did not do so on a horse. They dismounted, and joined their men to fight on the front lines.
A flock of almost 100 arrows flew up into the darkening sky, and descended upon the approaching forces with malice, claiming many lives.
The enemies bow units were effectively useless. As they could not fire whilst their own men were fighting. The optimal composition for that army would have been all spear, sword, and cavalry units. But such a makeup would have been odd, and would have raised suspicion prematurely.
"ASSUME SPEAR FORMATION!"
Gengyo called out, joining his men in taking up the spear.
"YARI WALL!"
They directed their spears outwards, forming a column of spikes. The other forces joined them in this display.
Their fear had all but disappated, as they were fired up by the commander's speeches. And now, seeing so many of the enemy forces dead or wounded… They could not fear such mortals. Instead, their fear was replaced by anger. Anger that they were ever afraid of humans at all, and as the first wave of men hit, the united army stood strong.
"OORAH!"
The men roared, stabbing outwards with their spears.
"ASSUME SWORD FORMATION!"
They cast their spears aside, and rushed in. A wall of dead lay where the points of their spears ended, and they stepped over them with authority, becoming a force of slaughter amongst the ranks of the attacking spearmen.
"GOSANKYO ARMY, PUSH!"
Gosankyo called out, right in the thick of the action. Despite all that had happened, he still remembered the plan, and was sticking to it. He and his concentrated forces pushed forward, one step at a time, claiming many lives along the way. They adopted a new formation on the spot, one that allowed men - from three rows back - to get in on the action, by extending their long yari forward.
It was brutal. Against such a wall, even if their numbers had been even, the enemy would have struggled. But as it happened, they had men numbering three times as much, and they relentlessly pushed forward, slaughtering all that stood in their way, like a madly predatory snail.
"MIURA! CAVALRY INCOMING!"
Jikouji called out, the panic evident in his voice. They swept down the field, past the right-wing – where they knew the forces to be weakest – aiming to slaughter the defenceless bow ashigaru, before moving on to assault the rear of the engaged forces.
Gengyo heard his cry, and responded without the slightest bit of concern. This was something he had prepared for beforehand, and compared to everything else that had transpired, it was a simple counter, making him pay the mounted horseman almost no mind.
"COUNTER-CAVALRY! DISPATCH!"
Before the fighting had begun, he had gathered up ten of his best men, and spoken to them, away from the rest.
"Father, brother, Yoritomo, Aritada, Togashi, Rokkaku, Sasaki, Niiro, Kitajo, Munakata. I have an important task for you all in the battle to come."
"Important task, eh? You only need me for that."
Morohira had said.
"When the battle starts, and I call out sword formation, I want you to keep your spears, and listen for my command. Your task will be to block off the cavalry when they attack, so remain in a position where that will be possible."
And they had done just that. Immedietely as the order was uttered, they separated themselves from the frontline fighting, and moved to form a wall in the path of the cavalry, their spears pointed upwards, ready to skewer anyone that moved too close.
Unable to slow their speeding horses in time, the hors.e.m.e.n crashed onto the spears. The sound of screaming horses filled the air, as the riders were cast from the saddles, landing hard upon the floor. They did not even have time to recover, as the sharp point of the yari put an end to their lives.
Even those that had managed to pause just in time did not escape so easily. It was almost impossible for them to duel with the long yari, given the mere swords that they were holding, and they were slaughtered rather quickly.
When their numbers were reduced to ten, the riders realized the futility of their assault, and with a trace of fear on their faces - as a bloodthirsty Morohira rushed to claim their lives - they galloped away.
"BEGIN ENVELOPMENT!"
Gosankyo called out, having quickly broken through the enemy right wing. He circled his men around, and brought them down hard on the rear of the centre. Trapped by two spear walls, the innermost men were crushed. They turned to look back in confusion, seeing a horde of spears aimed their way.
It was enough for most of them, and they began to rout. Not that there were many places they could run to – very few escaped.
Gosankyo fought fiercely, leading the assault from the very middle, staining his armour and his spear in the blood of his enemies. Nakatane and Jikouji were of a similar appearance – both stained in blood, only they chose to do slaughter with their swords rather than spears.
The Special Forces Unit routed the enemy left wing before the Gosankyo army could even come to assist them. As it happens, they performed a flanking manoeuvre of their own. The men who formed up the counter-cavalry force – instead of rejoining at the front lines – swept around the side, and cut through the backs of the enemy.
They were an elite unit, and it wasn't long before the enemy soon felt a similar fear, feeling as though they were fighting demons rather than men. Especially with the bestial nature in which Morohira threw himself about, with apparently no concern for his life, and his only intent to find more prey.
One of the last men – realizing that all his comrades were either dead, or were fleeing – threw himself at Morohira, in a maddened attempt at taking the man with him. The two crashed to the ground, brawling. But unfortunately for the man, this was exactly where Morohira's strength lay.
He quickly threw the man off the top of him, and pinned him to the floor, reigning down blow after blow with his armoured fist, thoroughly disfiguring the face of the enemy under him. With a sickening crack, the skull fractured, and the man breathed his last.
When he rose to his feet, he realized that the fighting had stopped, and his allies were looking his way. There was a mutual feeling within those stares: 'I'm glad he's on our side…'
//Author's Note
Hope you enjoyed! The last chapter for today will be coming very shortly!