Chapter 65

The splashing of blood, the deafening shouts of battle...

In a field within the Tanaka family's territory, a desperate struggle was unfolding.

Tanaka Tadayoshi fought as he moved, even attempting to break through the encirclement several times, but to no avail. The only result was that the samurai of his clan around him kept falling. On the other side, the ashigaru (foot soldiers) of the Tanaka family were gradually moving towards the left forest, trying to escape into the woods. The troops of the Fujiwara and Komatsu families knew the intentions of the Tanaka ashigaru but only slightly obstructed them, without pursuing them. It was better for them to escape; after all, these peasant soldiers were insignificant.

After deliberately letting the fleeing Tanaka ashigaru go, the two families concentrated more of their forces on surrounding the Tanaka samurai and Tanaka Tadayoshi.

In less than an hour, despite their fierce resistance, Tanaka Tadayoshi was left with only three samurai and a few loyal ashigaru. The rest were either injured or dead, or had fled the battlefield. For this, the Fujiwara and Komatsu families also paid a heavy price. As the saying goes, a cornered beast still fights, and a fish will die to break the net. The fighting power of the two families was reduced by nearly half due to injuries and deaths.

"Ah!" With his right arm injured, Tanaka Tadayoshi, protected in the center by his men, let out a long cry to the sky, his heart filled with complete despair. The thought that the foundation built by two generations of the Tanaka family would be destroyed by his hands was like a knife twisting in his heart.

"Ha ha ha, old Tanaka, prepare to die! Your head will be used to worship my son," Komatsu Daizō said viciously, seeing victory within reach. On the other side, Fujiwara also laughed wildly, seeing the son of the traitor who had destroyed the original Fujiwara family about to be executed. The long-suppressed resentment of his family being oppressed by the Tanaka family was completely gone. As the two men reveled in their triumph, they did not notice several suspicious ashigaru slowly approaching them. The surrounding ashigaru were completely unaware and had no sense of vigilance.

Tanaka Tadayoshi slowly picked up the tachi (long sword) in his left hand, his eyes gazing towards the direction of Tanada Castle, silently praying, "Taro, you must escape. The future of the Tanaka family depends on you." Yes, to uphold the dignity of a samurai, Tanaka Tadayoshi was preparing to commit seppuku (ritual suicide).

Suddenly, "whoosh," "whoosh," "whoosh," several long arrows shot from the nearby forest, immediately felling several unprepared ashigaru of the Komatsu family. The attackers were the troops of the Rō family. At a distance of less than twenty steps, for the several Rō family samurai who practiced archery hundreds of times daily, these ashigaru were like live targets.

After a round of arrow rain, a group of over sixty men suddenly emerged from behind the Komatsu and Fujiwara forces, quickly forming ranks. At the front of the formation were dozens of samurai wearing white capes with a carved eagle.

But the situation was not over. As everyone was stunned, several ashigaru standing behind Fujiwara Heishin and Komatsu Daizō suddenly attacked, instantly stabbing the two with their spears. Unprepared, Fujiwara Heishin was immediately killed, his face still showing disbelief as he died. Komatsu Daizō, though not immediately killed, was severely injured. The several assassins, seeing their mission succeed, immediately formed a circle and waited for reinforcements. The two families' forces, already in panic from the sudden attack, were now thrown into chaos with the death of their leaders.

"Kill!" The two groups of Rō family troops seized the opportunity, advancing in a square formation of spears, moving quickly towards the two families' forces.

Everything happened too quickly and suddenly. By the time everyone realized what was happening, the two square formations had already begun their attack. "Ah!" "Father!" "Lord!" "The lord is dead!" "Run!" The battlefield was filled with cries of horror and panic. The situation on the battlefield had once again dramatically changed.

The ones who launched the surprise attack were Masahiro and others. While Tanaka Tadayoshi led his forces to intercept the combined forces of the other two families, Masahiro had cleverly used Tanaka Masahiro to open the gates of Tanada Castle, thus capturing it. When the three families began their battle, Masahiro had already cleared Tanada Castle, and his forces had eaten and were ready for action. After receiving the signal from the scouts that the battle had officially begun, Masahiro left a few injured ashigaru to guard the castle and led the rest of his men through a side path to the battlefield. Along the way, they encountered fleeing peasant soldiers, but Masahiro ignored them and continued to speed up. Finally, about half an hour ago, they arrived near the battlefield. After meeting with Tadayoshi, based on the latest information from Tadayoshi's surveillance, Masahiro made a quick decision and immediately set up this surprise attack plan.

Now everything was going according to plan, and even the enemies were very "cooperative." The white military flag with a soaring eagle flapped in the wind. Under the flag, Masahiro looked at the battlefield filled with injured and dead, feeling a surge of excitement. This was his first time participating in a large-scale battle with over a hundred people. It could be said that this was Masahiro's first official battle.

"Lord Tadayoshi, how are things on your side?" Seeing that the two families' forces had not yet collapsed, Masahiro decided to create more chaos and shouted to the still surrounded Tanaka Tadayoshi.

"Ah... who are you?" Tanaka Tadayoshi, clearly still dazed by the sudden turn of events, immediately responded loudly to Masahiro's question.

"Ha ha ha, Lord Tadayoshi, I am Rō Masahiro of the Rō family. Invited by Lord Masahiro, I have come to denounce the Komatsu and Fujiwara families for their unprovoked invasion of another's territory." Masahiro deliberately raised his voice and spoke loudly. This was the righteous cause he had prepared in advance, using the name of the deceased Tanaka Masahiro, which was clearly the most appropriate.

"Ah?" Hearing Masahiro's words, Tanaka Tadayoshi was both surprised and delighted, as if he had found a lifeboat in the sea. He quickly said with an excited voice, "Thank you for your assistance, Lord Masahiro. After this battle, the Tanaka family will offer 2000 koku of rice as a reward, no, 3000 koku." After suffering multiple blows, he had completely forgotten where the Rō family had come from, and whether he could dismiss them with a few thousand koku of rice in such a weak position. But even if he knew, did the Tanaka family have any other options?

"Gentlemen, our family has received strong support. Please follow me and fight bravely to break through the encirclement. Regardless of whether you live or die, I will reward you heavily," the originally desperate Tanaka Tadayoshi now seemed to have regained his youth. He raised his tachi with his left hand and said to the few remaining clan soldiers around him. Seeing the strong support arrive, everyone was also excited and immediately shouted as they charged towards the surrounding enemies.

The combined forces of the two families were now caught in a pincer attack.

"Prepare, thrust, withdraw, thrust again," Masahiro loudly commanded the spear formation to continue advancing. Several Komatsu samurai tried to block them but were instantly pierced by the forest of spears. "Ah!" The Komatsu forces, heavily hit, were the first to break and scatter, shouting as they fled in all directions. Following the Komatsu forces, the Fujiwara forces also began to disintegrate.

The two families' forces collapsed like a house of cards.

(Please note: I have a cold and a fever, so I'm not in the best condition, but I promised not to miss any updates, so I persisted in writing this chapter. The quality might not be the best, so please bear with me! The new book is entering its fifth week, already A-signed, with over 180,000 words updated, and I will not stop updating, at least 1.5 million words or more. It was on the Sanjiang Potential List in the third week, the New Book Recommendation List last week, and the Historical Category Strong Recommendation List this week. It is currently the top new historical book. Dear readers, after finishing, don't leave in a hurry. Even if you don't have votes, please add it to your bookshelf. I beg you, my principle is that even if I fail, I will write over 1.5 million words, failing spectacularly! Enjoy writing, enjoy solitude.)

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