Chapter 112 - 69: So It Was Fixed Thinking?_2

Words : 1427 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 112: Chapter 69: So It Was Fixed Thinking?_2Under the rain of arrows, men from both Long Spear Ashigaru formations on both sides kept screaming and falling. The Qingzhou army was holding up better, but in Oda Nobunaga’s spear formation there was some commotion—a little less tenacious than last time, as if the previous battle had worn them down. Still, the ranks only loosened for a moment before closing up again under the kicks of the Spear Ashigaru Commanders, pushing forward once more. By this point, there was no stopping—they could only rush to get closer to the enemy as quickly as possible. Soon, both armies’ flanks made contact first. Next, it should have been a brutal melee, long spears stabbing back and forth—a test of who could endure the bloodshed longer. At least, that’s what Harano thought. But to his utter surprise, all he saw from afar were spearheads rising and falling like a forest—then the Qingzhou troops actually lost the initiative, taking the first round of stabs with a chorus of screams. Each round got worse for them, even less resilient than Nobunaga’s forces had been at East Tsubono—as if a giant had kicked them hard, the front rank toppled all at once. The same group of people—how could things change so much in just over ten days? Ah Man was completely dumbfounded. The more she watched, the more it felt wrong. From afar she could see Nobunaga’s spears seemed suddenly longer. Rubbing her eyes, she tossed out a "I’m going to take a closer look," then ducked down and ran off. Harano was anxious too—their vantage today was a bit distant; the fighters looked no bigger than fingernails, making it hard to see any details. Luckily, Ah Man quickly ran back, face full of disbelief: "Big fool—no, Oda Nobunaga has come up with a new trick again! He... he changed the long spears. He switched from the Two-Room Spear to the Three-Room Spear—they’re a whole room longer! And he’s merged all those river pirates and mountain bandits from the Kawamata Group and Hosokawa Faction, stuffed them in with his Lang Faction as Spear Ashigaru Commanders!" Her eyesight was excellent, at least much better than Harano’s. Even from afar she noticed something was off; getting close confirmed it. Oda Nobunaga hadn’t just mixed a batch of battle-hardened, ruthless veterans into his Lang Faction, he’d also secretly lengthened his spears by two meters! The extra length was always hidden; as the Ashigaru marched, they gripped the spears from the middle, the extra two meters trailing behind. Only when the armies drew near did the spears suddenly reveal their fangs—using the two-meter advantage in reach, the front ranks stabbed from afar while the back ranks swept down, instantly bewildering the Qingzhou army with shorter spears. The first clash and their formation collapsed in a heartbeat. Searᴄh the Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Hearing Ah Man’s account, Harano couldn’t stay put either. Add in Nobunaga’s overwhelming advantage now and the much-reduced danger on the battlefield; he hurried forward for a closer look at the acts of battle—Oda Nobunaga really had changed the spears, from the old 4-plus-meter long spears to ones over six meters. Now, every extra inch gave extra strength, pinning the Qingzhou army in place, unable even to stand firm. Both wings had been pushed back to the flanks of the center, resulting in disaster for the middle formation, caught in a crossfire and beginning to lose their shape as well. Meanwhile, in what had once been an all-young Lang Faction, indeed several dozen fierce, scar-faced middle-aged men had been mixed in, shouting and barking orders. The young Lang Faction under their yelling—and occasional kicks—let out war cries and desperately jabbed at the Qingzhou troops. These young fighters were clearly still nervous and tense, but with such a strong early advantage—plus someone kicking their butts and showing them where to attack—all they had to do was follow orders. The nerves didn’t matter all that much. After just a short clash, not only did the Qingzhou army suffer heavy casualties on both wings, the center also fell into confusion. Their Grand General kept blowing the Dharma Conch, seemingly to adjust the formation or order the troops to hold firm, but it was pointless. If anything, it only made things more chaotic on their own side. At that moment, the long spear Ashigaru in Nobunaga’s central line suddenly parted, and a cavalry force made up of Nobunaga’s Umamawari and a large number of junior Samurai Vassals charged suddenly, shouting as they smashed into the Qingzhou army’s center. Instantly, Qingzhou’s center fell into shambles—a feat hard to pull off under normal conditions. Usually, Qingzhou’s troops could brace with different-length spears to repel a cavalry charge, but their wings had already collapsed, leaving the center exposed as if surrounded on three sides. Already reeling from the crossfire, they had no idea how to react when the cavalry hit. The Qingzhou army finally couldn’t withstand this final blow. Amid screams and chaos, they completely collapsed. Waves and waves of Ashigaru abandoned their weapons and ran screaming for the rear, not even looking back when cut down by mounted Samurai—while the center was breached, the wings, already devastated, retreated again and again and finally broke. They didn’t hesitate—dropping their cumbersome long spears, they rolled and scrambled off the field. Their rear ranks—the Bow Ashigaru and miscellaneous troops—fared even worse. The moment the front started to run, they were already sprinting; in fact, lacking armor, they could run even faster and had a better chance to get away. In just a minute or two, the defeat was absolute. The Qingzhou army utterly collapsed. Ashigaru by the thousands scattered everywhere, ignoring the Samurai who tried to stop them—everyone wished they had been born with more legs. Even Ah Man got excited—she loved a battle won in one blow. She shouted to Harano, "Since we’re here anyway, let’s go chop a few heads! Maybe we’ll even get the reward for routing the enemy!" This was the best time to jump in—there was no fight left in the enemy, all they wanted was to get home. Chase after them, chop them down—no risk at all, just easy pickings. Sometimes you didn’t even need to swing your blade. Just keep after them, and the enemy, nerves shot to hell, might just drop dead from exhaustion on their own. Ah Man was itching to grab whatever spoils she could—even if it wasn’t official merit, a few enemy heads could still fetch a bit of cash. But Harano wasn’t interested in that kind of thing. Instead, he mused, "We won just like that? Hasn’t anyone ever thought to just make the long spears a little longer before?" Ah Man stared regretfully at the defeated troops fleeing over the hills, but there was nothing she could do if Harano didn’t want to give chase. She hesitated, then said, "My old man told me, the Long Spear Ashigaru formation was first used by the Miyoshi family, and from the start they used the Two-Room Spear. Over the years, everyone’s gotten used to it. After all, the Two-Room Spear is already long enough to keep out mounted Samurai—their strength is useless if they can’t get close. Never heard of anyone switching to the Three-Room Spear..." So it was just fixed thinking? Samurai trained from childhood, fully equipped in armor—there was no way the Ashigaru, mostly commoners, could stand against them; they’d often break at the first charge. Then the Miyoshi family came up with massed spear formations to counter the Samurai—a tactic that worked because even the bravest, most skilled Samurai couldn’t withstand being poked by several, even a dozen, four-meter-long spears at once. No way to show off their skills. So, after fighting like this for so long, the Samurai had been edged out, the Spear Ashigaru had become the new core of warfare, and everyone imitated the Miyoshi method—using Two-Room Spears to jab at each other. Then after Oda Nobunaga’s crushing defeat last time, he went home, licked his wounds—and came up with a new plan against the spear troops? Stab them with even longer spears? Nobunaga really lived up to his name as an Oddity—he’d actually come up with something new. Harano nodded to himself, starting to feel that although he’d traveled through time, history itself was still on track. Oda Nobunaga still had real skills—maybe this mess in Owari would be over soon.

Chapter 112 - 69: So It Was Fixed Thinking?_2

Comments (0)