Warring States Survival Guide
Chapter 105 - 64: There Aren’t Many Opportunities to Save Oda Nobunaga’s Life_3

Chapter 105: Chapter 64: There Aren’t Many Opportunities to Save Oda Nobunaga’s Life_3

Ah Man also realized that she had spoken out of turn, so she didn’t dare to mention her own dark history again. Instead, she forcefully pulled her hand away and continued, "Anyway, killing people isn’t that easy, and watching the people beside you get killed isn’t easy either. When faced with these two things, most greenhorns will get blood rushing to their heads, their vision blurs, limbs stiffen, and they can’t hear or see anything. Out of all their skills, they can barely use a third — that’s why you can’t just rely on rookies to fight a war; you have to mix in some of the old hands!"

"Alright, alright, you don’t need to get so worked up, I get the idea!" Harano hurriedly tried to calm her down. He’d already figured out what was going on — it seemed to be an adrenaline problem.

In China, there are two terms: "blind panic" and "running around like a headless chicken." They describe how, when people are under extreme stress, their adrenaline surges uncontrollably, which can make their vision narrow, hearing weaken, and often they can only see what’s right in front of them, paying no attention to anything else. At the same time, the upper body loses strength while the leg muscles start working overtime. The body can’t adapt quickly, so when people run, most of the time it’s a flailing mess.

This is a survival instinct that’s existed since primitive human times, and it’s very hard to overcome it just by force of will — you can only adapt after fighting a couple of battles. That’s basically what Ah Man was talking about — a bunch of young Lang Faction who’ve never seen blood before are suddenly thrown into a bloody fight: whether you’re killing an enemy or watching your own comrades go down screaming in agony, it’s all a huge shock. Their adrenaline must be off the charts, so now they’re all frozen like wood and barely conscious.

Who would’ve thought Oda Nobunaga would actually lose because of something like this? It almost feels ridiculous!

"Looks like the Oda Family can’t hold on!" Ah Qing’s cheeks were still flushed, still peeved at Ah Man for bringing up her dark history, but since the battlefield situation had changed again, she quickly set that aside and tugged at Harano’s sleeve.

Harano looked over in a hurry and saw that the Oda Family’s long spear Ashigaru units did indeed look like they were about to collapse. Many Matsudaira family lower-ranking Samurai had already broken through the spear formation and were hacking away at close range. Though most of Oda Family’s men were still fighting bravely, some Lang Faction couldn’t withstand the pressure and began to mentally break down, leaving their lines and fleeing toward the rear flanks.

Even Oda Nobunaga’s main force, mixed in with the rear Ashigaru archers, was starting to waver. From afar, it looked like Oda Nobunaga was very unwilling to accept defeat, sword drawn, yelling and cursing as if he meant to lead the young attendants and the Returning Horse Group for one last stand, while Ikegami Keisuke was tugging at his horse’s reins, probably trying to get him to turn around and run first.

As for Maeda Toshie and the others... they were a bit far away, so their facial expressions were unclear, but from their posture, these attendant retainers all seemed pretty bewildered — they just hadn’t expected their Lang Faction, after more than a year of intensive training, armored and outnumbering the enemy, would collapse so quickly.

While these Advanced Warriors were still arguing, the long spear Ashigaru couldn’t hold out any longer, and suddenly a gap opened up in the middle of their line.

The Oda Family’s battle line finally collapsed. The long spear Ashigaru at the breach were howling as they routed toward the rear.

Oda Nobunaga seemed, at last, to accept his fate, thinking the loss was beyond saving. He ordered someone to sound the retreat with the Dharma Conch, but he himself didn’t immediately turn and run. Instead, he kicked Ikegami Keisuke twice, shouted a few more times, and led Maeda Toshie, the young attendants, and the Returning Horse Group in a charge forward, seemingly trying to block the enemy to buy time for the Lang Faction to withdraw safely.

At that moment, nobody knew when exactly, the Matsudaira family’s main force was already on the move. A mixed group of infantry and mounted Samurai charged forward, led by a black armored mounted Samurai, cutting through the ranks. They ignored the routing Oda Family Lang Faction Ashigaru completely, heading straight for the ’Eiraku Tsuho’ horse banner, looking like they only wanted Oda Nobunaga’s head.

The two bands of Samurai clashed almost immediately, instantly breaking out into a melee where several people died in a flash. But the Oda side’s Lang Faction Ashigaru had already thrown away their spears and armor, breaking apart in all directions; the Matsudaira family’s Lang Faction Ashigaru followed up, moving in to encircle the big fish — Oda Nobunaga.

Oda Nobunaga finally didn’t dare resist any longer. He shouted a few more times, then led his men as they turned and fled, while the Matsudaira family’s black armored Samurai gave relentless chase, ignoring everyone else, focused solely on him.

It sounds like a long story, but all of this happened in just two or three minutes. The future "number one of Japan’s Warring States" was utterly defeated, chased and battered by a bunch of nobodies.

Ah Man glanced over and quickly yanked Harano, saying, "That big idiot’s finished — we’d better get out of here too!"

Harano looked at Oda Nobunaga, Maeda Toshie, and the others being hounded by the Matsudaira family’s black armored Samurai, retreating in utter disarray. He then glanced down at the pulley bow in his own hands, quickly weighed the pros and cons, his eyes hardened, and he said to Ah Man and Ah Qing, "No rush — follow me!"

There aren’t many chances to save Oda Nobunaga’s neck — maybe it’s worth taking a little risk!