Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 104 - 64: Not Many Chances to Save Oda Nobunaga’s Life_2

Chapter 104: Chapter 64: Not Many Chances to Save Oda Nobunaga’s Life_2

Harano didn’t understand, which was no surprise. As a modern person, he’d never seen anything like this, and he wasn’t a student in this particular field—come on, it’s the twenty-first century, no sane person studies how to stab people with long spears, he really didn’t know how!

He was just about to ask what "spear beating" was all about, when the spear formations carefully edging closer immediately gave him a real-time demonstration of exactly what "spear beating" meant:

The first line of both spear formations were cautiously probing with their towering, trembling long spears, each more than four meters long. After all, from six or seven meters away, trying to thrust and actually hit a vital point without the opponent dodging or simply stabbing at empty air required real skill—it wasn’t nearly as easy as people imagine. And just then, the second row on both sides quickly moved up close behind their own first rows, raised their long spears upright in unison, then slammed them down through the gaps, heavily bashing against the probing spearheads and shafts of the enemy. Instantly, a chorus of snapping and cracking echoed across the battlefield, and a swath of levelled spears were hammered down so their tips jabbed into the earth.

Harano had never expected a trick like that, and for a moment he blurted, dumbfounded, "So that’s ’spear beating’?"

"Yeah, it’s a move to fight for the midline and initiative." Ah Man somehow kept her focus on two things at once, watching while also acting as his commentator. "These long spears are top-heavy, bottom-light, super springy. If you charge in and thrust, and then suddenly get hit by a round of spear beating, your spear droops, your stance wobbles, and you’ve lost the midline and any chance to strike first. If their first rank rushes you right then, your line could fall apart in an instant—next thing you know, the whole formation’s collapsed!"

So that’s how it worked...

Harano took it to heart, determined to come up with a countermeasure for the future, just in case. Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Oda and Imagawa’s spear formations were now fully engaged. Neither side managed to seize the initiative or completely lose control of the midline—so immediately it turned into a brutal tangle of "spear hedges" bashing into each other, with spears tangled in a confused melee. Dozens of front-rank long spear Ashigaru were hit in vital spots within moments, spurting blood everywhere; the screams drowned out even the urging of the Dharma Conch from the rear ranks.

Now the lower-ranked Samurai mixed in with the long spear Ashigaru started making a difference too, wielding their two-meter spears, shouting encouragement, using their better thrusting skills to stab desperately, trying to break open gaps in the enemy lines. Then, with superior armor, they’d charge in to slash with their swords, aiming to completely disrupt the enemy formation.

But for now, both sides were deadlocked. The line stalled in brutal stalemate as Ashigaru on both sides fell shrieking to the ground. The casualties seemed about even—for now. But just as Harano was thinking things looked okay, he suddenly noticed that the Oda line appeared to be slowly giving ground, and their casualties seemed to be mounting faster than the enemy’s.

He was startled and confused; until now, he’d thought the battle was simply dull, with both sides coming at each other head-on and no clever tactics. He’d figured Oda Nobunaga, with his better armor and greater numbers of armored men, would slowly gain the upper hand, grind down Matsudaira, chase down the routed foe and maximize their gains—so at worst, the casualties would be a hundred or two, and Oda, who had money, could sweep the field, loot enemy armor and replenish his ranks in no time—a pretty decent victory overall. But how had it only been less than a minute, and the Oda army was already losing ground, being stabbed back step by step?

Could it be exhaustion?

Sure, close-quarters fighting takes a huge toll on stamina. According to Ancient Rome, the front rank would be exhausted within three minutes, but only about a minute had passed so far—how could they not be able to hold the line already?

As a modern man, he was totally baffled—how could the supposedly superior side be forced to retreat? But Ah Man finally figured it out, slapped her thigh hard, and cursed, "Damn it, so that’s what’s wrong! I knew something was off!"

"What is it?!" Harano quickly humbled himself and asked for guidance—if you don’t know, you’ve got to ask, so you don’t fall into the same pit yourself someday.

"What else could it be! He’s just a big idiot, bringing a bunch of green kids with him—his Lang Faction barely has anyone who’s killed before!" Ah Man’s doubts finally cleared, and she sprang back into her usual manic pace, super excited: "I thought it felt off this morning—his Lang Faction is way too young, and they don’t have that... I can’t put it into words. Anyway, they don’t have ’the look.’ Clearly a bunch of green recruits, hardly any veterans in the lot!"

Harano stared blankly for a moment, watching as the Oda spear line was pressed back even further, chaos breaking out in more than one spot, then recalling Oda Nobunaga’s Lang Faction—yeah, they really did all look about sixteen to twenty, all young as hell. Looks like they really were a bunch of green kids—talk about throwing logic out the window! Oda Nobunaga, of all people, making a rookie mistake like recruiting no veterans?

What about Lin Xiuzhen, Hirata Masahide—didn’t they notice? Why didn’t anyone send him some old hands?

He got it now, and just about cracked up right there—who’d have thought "Japan’s Warring States’ Number One" would pull a move this dumb on his own battlefield. But Ah Man, thinking he still didn’t get it—and excited out of her mind—started shouting beside him again: "You still don’t get it? You can’t fight a war with just green kids! Killing isn’t that easy. The first time A Qing was forced to strike back and kill someone, she pissed her pants..."

A Qing was watching the fight with a cold eye, totally unmoved by blood and death, but suddenly heard her own black history mentioned out of nowhere. She jumped, lunged over and clamped Ah Man’s mouth tight; her pale melon-seed face flushed bright red, her slender body shivering, head turned away from Harano, flat-out refusing to meet his eyes—what did she have to do with any of this? She’d only been keeping watch nearby; how did she suddenly get roped into it?