Chapter 196 Thor's Territory

Toyotomi Hideyoshi knew that the Narita clan had heavy armored soldiers, and quite a few of them, but he wouldn't publicize it. The Japanese admired strength, and if everyone knew that Narita Uchinaga was very strong, many forces would attach themselves to him, and the Toyotomi clan would be affected by this shift in power.

His secrecy measures backfired on his soldiers. Nearly a hundred heavily armored soldiers were surrounded by an enemy three times their size. With nowhere to retreat on the crowded city walls, the Toyotomi soldiers could only bravely advance, hoping to fight their way out to the city gate.

Unfortunately, they were destined to be disappointed. When a large number of steel armor-piercing spikes pierced into the crowd, the warrior in charge knew that a breakthrough was impossible. He shouted, and the armored soldiers on both sides of the city wall began to form a defensive formation. Meanwhile, more than a dozen ladders were quickly set up below the city. The armored soldiers in the middle prepared to retreat. Their iron armor was too heavy. If they jumped directly off the city wall, they would be crushed to death.

"Saigo, you guys go up. It seems Narita has been hiding his strength. Heh! So what? Two years... is still too short."

The young man behind Toyotomi Hideyoshi immediately led a dozen samurai to rush towards the city wall. Their figures were clearly more agile than the others; they dodged all the arrows falling from the wall, not a single one hitting them.

When the Toyotomi army saw that Saigo and his dozen or so samurai had climbed the walls of Oshi Castle by hand without the aid of a ladder, they cheered. These were Toyotomi's elite personal guards, all of whom were ascetics and the backbone of his sweeping conquest of Japan and the intimidation of the various daimyo.

The situation on the city wall was immediately reversed. The Narita family's armored soldiers were constantly being hit hard by the cultivators, either coughing up blood or being knocked away. Although they fought bravely to the death, the constant falling of the armored soldiers made everyone realize that the Narita family's defeat was only a matter of time.

"Buzz...buzz...buzz"

The whistling sound came suddenly, and the thick crossbow bolt pierced the body of the armored soldier on the city wall. Narita Ujinaga had no choice but to reveal his secret weapon in advance—the ballista.

Japan's animal husbandry was extremely underdeveloped, lacking materials such as ox horns and animal sinews for making composite bows, which limited their development. This is why bamboo bows and other similar products were so prevalent. As for the ballista, which represented the pinnacle of crossbow technology, Da Xia (the Xia dynasty) strictly prohibited its export.

Narita Ujinaga used his connection with Kaihime to obtain several ballistae from Daikan, each requiring more than a dozen people to maintain, and now they finally came in handy.

When Saigo saw his comrade being pierced by a crossbow bolt as thick as a spear shaft, he went berserk. With a roar, he leaped into the city and charged at the ballistae, with the few cultivators he had brought following closely behind.

"A bunch of idiots. Toyotomi has really been lucky these past few years."

Narita Ujinaga watched as Saigo and his men jumped off the castle wall and charged toward the ballistae. He simply waved his fan, and the armored soldiers hidden in the houses around the ballistae poured out and surrounded several fierce Toyotomi warriors.

“Despicable… Retreat…”

Saigo only had time to let out a roar before he was surrounded by dozens of armored soldiers. The armor worn by these soldiers was clearly different, being more exquisite and sturdier.

Unlike the city walls, the open ground inside the city is surrounded by people on all four sides. On the city walls, you only need to deal with the enemies on the two sides of the walls. As a cultivator in the first realm, no matter how skilled you are, you only have one way to break through: fight to the death.

Saigo was very strong; he successfully broke through the encirclement, but his two fellow monks were pinned to the ground, their fate unknown. Fortunately, the Toyotomi warriors on the city wall took advantage of the lull in the ballistae's firing and decisively retreated up the ladders; otherwise, the casualties would have been even greater.

“Master, Saigo has failed. I beg you to grant me the right to commit seppuku.”

Saigo and his troop of monks knelt before Toyotomi Hideyoshi, begging for forgiveness. They had never been defeated before, and this battle was a disgrace for them for the rest of their lives.

“Saigo, it’s not your fault. We’ve never encountered more than a hundred heavily armored warriors before. Human strength has its limits. Don’t blame yourself too much. I’m old. After I die, the Toyotomi family will still need you to protect it. You… cannot die.”

More than a dozen cultivators wept uncontrollably. Toyotomi Hideyoshi, who rose from the status of a commoner's son to become the leader of the most powerful force in the socially divided Japan, was no ordinary man. His ability to deceive was truly remarkable. The cultivators wished they could die for him right now.

A scout with a red flag on his back galloped up on horseback, jumped off, uttered only one sentence, and then collapsed from exhaustion.

"Hihime is back."

Before Toyotomi Hideyoshi could speak, the impatient Toyotomi Hidetsugu ordered someone to splash water on the spy to wake him up. The spy answered Hidetsugu's questions while shivering, and the situation gradually became clear.

Although Kaihime's army was small, it was still very conspicuous. Even the archers wore light chainmail, while the heavy armored soldiers who took turns wearing armor numbered as many as six hundred.

"Hideyoshi, go and inform the people at Mount Fuji! Their demands... I've agreed." After saying this, Toyotomi Hideyoshi closed his eyes, two cloudy tears rolling down his cheeks. In the end, he still had to compromise. For the unification of Japan... just how much price would he have to pay?

It takes only a day to travel from Edo Bay to Oshijo by fast horse, but Kaihime was in a hurry and it was a long ocean voyage, so she couldn't bring too many horses. All the supplies had to be pushed by manpower in carts, and it would be good if she could make it in two days.

"Master, Junliu, go and capture those spies! Their sneaky behavior is truly hateful."

Seeing the scouts and cavalry constantly appearing around the troops, Kaihime's only monk commander, Wada Shunroku, couldn't help but ask Kaihime for permission to fight.

"No need. It's just for them to see. We're not far from the territory of Ren City. Let's set up camp and rest up ahead. Tomorrow I'll see who dares to stop me."

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