Warring States Survival Guide-Chapter 206 - 143: Xiao Qi is Dead!!!!!!!

Ishimochi Kenshiro stumbled along with the crowd, finally crossing the moat and pits before reaching the front of the Rock Fortress.

The place was a scene of hell on earth, with the Iron Cannon from the fortress and tower continuously bombarding, and explosive ceramic pots occasionally being thrown down. People were constantly screaming and collapsing, with hot oil pouring down unexpectedly from above, causing a large crowd to scream in agony, topple over, and roll around chaotically.

Stunned for a moment, Ishimochi Kenshiro instinctively grabbed a Lang Faction member who had hot oil splashed over his face, using him as a shield against falling lead and arrows. After wiping his face forcefully, he finally regained some composure. Looking around, he saw a siege ladder erected not far away, and members of the Matsudaira family’s Lang Faction were desperately trying to climb it, unable to reach the castle wall and being knocked down repeatedly.

He looked around for a moment, unable to find a better position. Throwing aside the dead Lang Faction member in his hand, he rushed over, forcefully pushing away a Lang Faction member who was preparing to climb the ladder, his eyes flashing fiercely as he took the lead in the climb.

As a Little Soldier Skill instructor for the Matsudaira family, he was firmly established as one of the vanguard Samurai, otherwise, he would not be leading the army from the front.

It was now that his value showed, having been trained in martial arts from a young age, his body was tempered and refined, and with extensive battlefield experience. Even now, clad in Heavy Armor, his movements remained agile. Holding the Tachi in his mouth, he swiftly climbed the ladder, outpacing ordinary Lang Faction members and reacting excellently. Sensing a flicker of shadow at the crenel, an enemy stabbed with a Long Spear, he immediately spun to the back of the ladder, followed by a cry of anguish as an Attendant behind him was struck and tumbled down the ladder.

He paid no attention to the fate of his Attendant, using just his hands on the back of the ladder, climbing hard upwards before twisting his waist and spinning back to the front of the ladder.

By now, he was very close to the castle wall. Taking a slight breather, he instinctively swung his arm to deflect an arrow shot at him from the side, then his legs suddenly exerted force, rushing a few steps swiftly up the wall. As he released the Tachi into his hand, he promptly struck down an Archer who was about to shoot.

There were many enemies guarding here. Seeing someone suddenly rush up the wall, they were collectively stunned for a moment before quickly reacting. Three nearby Long Spear wielders thrust their spears at him, while the last discarded his spear, drawing a Tachi from his waist and charged at him, intending to force him off the wall.

Though the three enemies were quick to react and acted swiftly, in the eyes of a Swordsmanship master like Ishimochi Kenshiro, they were full of openings. He slightly turned to dodge a Long Spear, grabbed another’s spear shaft with one hand, and leveraged the enemy’s force to send them and their spear crashing down the wall with a cry.

The last Tachi came down on him, but he sidestepped, reducing its impact, the blade only scraped the lacquer of his Fine Iron Armor, sending sparks flying, slightly tilting him but failing to draw blood. Using this tilt, he grasped the Tachi hilt with both hands and executed a Reverse Kasaya Slash, slashing open the last enemy’s belly, followed by a Spin Slash across the neck of another Long Spear wielder who hadn’t yet regathered his spear. Though not beheading him, it caused the enemy to collapse instantly.

In a flash, Ishimochi Kenshiro courageously took the lead, fighting three alone, killing them while only losing some lacquer from his armor. Yet he did not get complacent or respond to the cheers of the Lang Faction below, suppressing his heavy panting as he angrily shouted and forced himself to charge forward.

With his long experience, he knew once reaching the wall and slaying multiple enemy Lang Faction members, it greatly intimidated the enemy. At this point, if he mustered further courage and acted as if charging, he could scare them into retreat.

No need to terrify them for long; just enough for them to hesitate in engaging, and in their confusion, more could climb up, enabling the fortress to be taken.

But this time he miscalculated. As soon as he shouted in rage, the enemy also called out in a loud, extremely grief-stricken voice, drowning out his shout - "The banner is dead!!!!!"

According to Wanjin’s "Eighty-Eight Simple Laws": Those who hesitate or whisper on the battlefield, death; those whose careless guard leads to the loss of position, death; if the commanding officer dies, and the subordinates fail to properly support, with no casualties, and if the banner dies with no harm or contribution, all are executed to set an example.

Now the squad leader died on the spot, and each soldier of the team, if they survive unharmed after battle, will collectively be beheaded. If they abandon position and flee, that’s also beheading, committing both grave sins together, resulting in severe death, implicating family grounded and stripped of all rights enjoyed by Wanjin citizens, virtually returning to family status, veritable "slaves," losing previous privileges forever.

This squad’s soldiers instantly saw red, knowing this Armor-clad Samurai potentially doomed them all, even possibly their whole family!

At this moment, the fear of death no longer mattered, or perhaps the soldiers’ yearning for survival had overwhelmed the terror of dying. The words "Command Flag has fallen" had scarcely been uttered when the group raised their swords and spears and charged madly towards the battlements, determined to kill Ishimochi Kenshiro on the spot, allowing no chance of escape, lest they be unable to explain to the military police after the battle.

Even though Ishimochi Kenshiro had trained in martial arts since childhood, with excellent talent and surpassing skills, he couldn’t withstand such a reckless mob. If not for his fine iron armor, he would have been stabbed to death here and now, leaving him no choice but to frantically swing his sword in defense, retreating step by step. Before long, he was forced back to the battlements, but he managed to break through thanks to his extraordinary bravery, buying a bit of time. The personal attendants behind him were already climbing up one after another, seeing him besieged and in grave danger, they immediately let out a yell and joined the fight.

In an instant, a bloody melee erupted around this small battlement, screams blending into one another, with no one willing to retreat even half a step. Ishimochi Kenshiro swung his blade forcefully, barely cutting down one more person before he felt his strength had entirely drained, unable to hold on anymore. Taking advantage of a moment where a Lang Faction member beside him got stabbed to death, he fiercely pulled the body over and flung it outward, using his last ounce of strength to push back and temporarily stop the attacks.

He started gasping deeply, hoping to regain his strength quickly, and swiftly glanced around to check on the situation of the other vanguard warriors, feeling unlucky because the elite forces here were difficult to break through, perhaps not much to rely on.

Upon observing, aside from his position, there were also two places where others faced relentless enemy fire climbing up to the city wall. But even upon reaching the wall, they couldn’t disperse the defenders. The Nozawa family’s Lang Faction were unlike ordinary aristocratic households, possessing extremely stubborn combat willpower. Faced with fierce assaults from armored warriors, even after several were cut down, there was absolutely no intention to shout "the city is breached" and start fleeing. Instead, they grew more frenzied, charging ahead, stabbing with long spears from behind, slicing with blades at the front, refusing to retreat even in deadly combat, with most of the armored warriors assaulting the walls getting killed. The remaining Lang Faction could only squeeze at the battlements and arduously hold their ground, basically matching lives with numbers.

The situation was worse than his position; it looked almost bizarre from a glance, as if Nozawa family’s forces wanted to crazily charge down the battlements, while Matsudaira’s people blocked the way with their bodies, not allowing passage.

The firepower from the Rock Fortress hadn’t diminished much; the fortress was lavishly constructed, with a broad, flat wall accommodating many armed personnel, each corner featuring horse faces and towering turrets. Currently, a mass of iron gunners and archers continued firing frantically from above, uninterruptedly shooting at enemies below the Rock Fortress, holding every advantage.

The tower had to be attacked quickly; all the iron gunners and archers inside must be killed, or not many of their forces could ascend afterward...

Ishimochi Kenshiro took a glance and was filled with anxiety; immediately there was a sharp pain in his side. Several Lang Faction members in front of him had been killed, bloodied enemy eyes were red, holding a One-Room Spear stabbed into his side, but the spearhead was temporarily obstructed by the armor plates, only slightly penetrating the flesh, pushing him backwards.

Yet, the enemy was swiftly cut down by another Matsudaira Lang Faction member climbing up behind him, who then got another neck cut from an enemy, stunned before slowly collapsing...

Followed by two long spears thrusting at Ishimochi Kenshiro, utterly hating this heavily armored warrior who couldn’t be killed, determined to finish him off first.

Ishimochi Kenshiro had no choice but battle fiercely, slashing continuously, re-entering the meat grinder warfare, feeling like he was stuck in a quagmire. Even if the enemy’s skills were extremely poor, coming at him with just three to five moves repeatedly, not worth mentioning, he utilized his superior swordsmanship to cut down several more enemies, yet still unable to advance or expand the breach, with enemies unfearing death, charging repeatedly, fighting fiercely throughout, some even going berserk upon seeing the fallen, rushing up recklessly to trade lives.

Exhausted and continually wounded, he lost track of time, with only the thought of holding the battlements left in his mind. He had no idea how long had passed when suddenly a sharp, somewhat childish female voice called from behind the enemy, using the Owari dialect to shout something. Right after that, his view suddenly cleared, with enemies scattering to both sides, revealing a gigantic iron cannon behind, with a muzzle as large as a bowl.

Ishimochi Kenshiro stood dumbfounded for a moment, but his long experience in combat gave him an instinctive sense of danger. Reflexively pulling a Lang Faction member to block in front of him, then he heard an extraordinary boom, the Lang Faction member in front seemed to be struck by a giant hammer, crashingly slammed backward, directly colliding him off the battlements. The Matsudaira Lang Faction members surrounding the battlements also screamed miserably, struck like sieves by countless iron sands and pellets.

Flying in mid-air, Ishimochi Kenshiro’s last thought was "It’s over; the southern enemy reinforcements have arrived..." followed by a hard fall to the ground, with sharp agony attacking every part of his body, blood flowing from his mouth and nose, twitching all over, gradually motionless.

Matsudaira’s most renowned Little Soldier Skill instructor, the best swordsman of Sankei Province’s current generation, a dozen-time "First Blade" and "Vanguard" honoree, thus lay in an odd posture on an unnamed hill, likely never to return to Sankei Province again.

Shortly afterward, similar gigantic booms started sounding repeatedly from the Rock Fortress’s towers, sweeping large amounts of iron sand and pellets across Matsudaira family members, eventually Matsudaira family couldn’t hold on anymore.