Ch.226Nagasaki (2)

The Ulus cavalry mounted their horses.

In their hands, they held composite bows reinforced with cattle or sheep horns.

Their bows were exceptional weapons—small in size but with accuracy and destructive power overwhelmingly superior to ordinary bows.

When wielders of such bows mounted horses with swift mobility, their effectiveness was tremendous.

This was why the Central Plains nations always feared the nomads.

Because the nomads were few in number, those who pursued them would suddenly find their companions disappearing, struck down by arrows.

Their hit-and-run tactics were commonly called nomadic warfare.

The continental nations of the Central Plains, Korean Peninsula, Manchuria, and Tibet had always suffered from these nomadic attacks.

That’s why they remained constantly vigilant against the nomads.

But Japan was different.

They had lived on their unique island terrain.

The natural boundary of the sea protected them from outside invasions.

What little invasion they experienced mostly came from those living within the archipelago.

Invasions from groups like the Emishi or Hayato.

These groups were threatening to the islanders. However, while they knew how to attack on horseback, they didn’t shoot arrows while riding.

In other words, the islanders had no idea how dangerous the steppe nomads could be.

Snort.

The horses made rough snorting sounds.

Warriors sat on them with expressionless faces.

For them, battle was always an extension of hunting.

The enemy was prey,

And the Ulus warriors were hunters.

When prey was powerful like bears or wolves, hunters often suffered casualties.

That’s why hunters always made thorough preparations before setting out.

Well-sharpened arrows.

Crescent-shaped curved blades.

And charms sent by their families.

These things would protect them.

They would prevent the prey from harming them.

While thinking this, a man with a massive build stood before them.

A flag with the sun, moon, and blue background.

The man holding this flag was none other than the leader of the hunters, Gurkhan.

He looked at the Ulus warriors, who were both warriors and hunters, and spoke.

“The sky is clear.”

“Yes.”

“It’s a perfect day for hunting.”

Gurkhan nodded at this.

He looked at everyone and began to sing.

It was a song called Hangarad.

The song contained simple wishes—for successful hunting, for family well-being, and for a peaceful life.

The warriors sang along, praying for their own safety.

When the song ended, Gurkhan raised his flag high.

The warriors responded.

“God! Tengri! Ancestors! Protect us!”

“Let the enemy’s blade miss us!”

The warriors shouted these words while raising their swords high.

When the atmosphere reached its peak, Gurkhan thrust his flag forward.

At his motion, the horses seemed to know what to do and pawed the ground.

The warriors on their backs grabbed the reins and leaned forward.

Then the horses slowly began to pick up speed.

Clop, clop.

With each movement of the horses, the sound of hooves echoed.

As the sound rang out, the surrounding environment began to pass by more quickly.

Green steppes, towering mountains, clear water sounds.

All these merged together and passed by rapidly.

For the warriors, especially the Ulus horsemen, such scenery was familiar.

Rushing toward prey.

And hunting that prey to return safely to their families.

That was the nomadic life.

That was everything to them.

That’s why they were calmer than anyone else in this fleeting moment.

Even knowing that armed prey would soon thrust spears at their necks.

This was all a fleeting moment.

Just a moment, like the beautiful scenery passing by them now.

A brief moment where lives intersect and mix.

They were simply faithful to this fleeting moment.

* * *

“Hyaaaaaaah!”

Yoshitsune was considerably startled by the sudden attack of the Mongol army.

This was because he had predicted they would station in Nagasaki and resist.

Making such predictions meaningless, they were now on an aggressive offensive.

And with a small number of cavalry at that.

Clang!

The Mongol soldier who blocked Yoshitsune’s sword thrust smirked.

It was a look that seemed to say “Is that all you’ve got?” which made Yoshitsune grind his teeth.

“Insolence! How dare you look down on me!”

Angered, Yoshitsune extended his right foot and swung his sword.

Surprised, the cavalryman couldn’t dodge in time and fell from his horse.

As soon as he fell, Yoshitsune leaped and thrust his sword into the fallen Mongol cavalryman’s neck.

“Gurk.”

Confirming the instant death, Yoshitsune swung his sword with satisfaction.

Blood dripped down following his movement.

As he was about to survey his surroundings, an aide urgently approached him.

“General! Enemy cavalry keeps pouring in!”

“I know that. How many enemies are there exactly?”

“They keep coming in waves, so we can’t confirm the exact number.”

“Tch.”

Yoshitsune clicked his tongue.

This was because, as his aide said, the enemy numbered about 100 horsemen, sporadically striking at Yoshitsune’s main force.

Being small in number, they weren’t causing major damage.

However, with simultaneous attacks coming from multiple directions, Yoshitsune’s forces couldn’t deploy their tactical formations or execute their strategies.

“The enemy is restricting our tactical deployment range. This clearly has military intent, so we must respond regardless of accumulated damage.”

Yoshitsune’s decision was extremely rational.

While there was no significant damage at the moment, reducing the area for tactical deployment meant fewer options to prepare against enemy attacks.

On the battlefield, being forced into limited choices was essentially a shortcut to defeat.

In combat, what the enemy wanted was to impose their will through violence.

However, those who went to war wouldn’t easily accept such violent demands.

So the only option left for the enemy was to use death.

To put it simply, a situation where one had to take choices forced by the enemy meant imminent annihilation.

Therefore, although he couldn’t clearly know the enemy’s intentions, he couldn’t ignore their attempt to restrict his tactical deployment range.

For this reason, Yoshitsune was demanding an active response from his aide.

“Yes, sir!”

The aide who received Yoshitsune’s order bowed.

Then he led the soldiers to actively respond to the Mongol army’s attack.

Accordingly, the shogunate army, larger in size than the Mongol forces, began to overwhelm the enemy.

Overwhelmed by the shogunate forces, the Mongol army stopped their offensive and retreated while maintaining distance.

“The enemy is retreating!”

“Haha! These nomads aren’t so tough after all!”

“Long live the shogunate army!”

The soldiers rejoiced seeing the retreating enemy.

Seeing this, the aides clenched their fists as if they had seized victory.

“Pursue the enemy immediately! We cannot let them retreat like this!”

In Japan, where infantry combat was mainstream, chasing retreating enemies was natural.

This was because enemies who had lost their fighting spirit focused on fleeing and didn’t resist.

Breaking the enemy’s momentum and forcing them to retreat was more important in close combat.

Pursuing fleeing enemies afterward inflicted additional casualties.

So they didn’t worry much if they couldn’t inflict significant damage in direct face-to-face combat.

“Forward!”

“Pursue the Mongol army!”

In Japan, those responsible for pursuit were mainly cavalry.

Of course, infantry also gave chase, but since cavalry was faster, they could achieve more military accomplishments in pursuit and annihilation battles.

So the cavalry, eager for military achievements, chased after the Mongol cavalry.

“A great victory, General!”

“Indeed! These Mongols aren’t much after all!”

Yoshitsune remained silent at his aides’ words.

He simply stared silently in the direction where the enemies had fled.

“General! It’s a great victory! If we pursue the enemy and recover Nagasaki… General?”

Yoshitsune raised his hand to stop his aide.

The aide could only look puzzled at this gesture.

At that moment, terrible sounds echoed from the distance.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Kuhk!”

“…”

“…”

The aides’ faces turned pale at the brief screams.

And everyone looked in the direction Yoshitsune was staring.

There stood the cavalry who had just been retreating with apparent defeat.

And in their hands were the heads of the cavalry who had been pursuing them.

“Im…impossible…”

“What is this…”

False retreat.

The aides now realized they had been deceived.

“Gen…General.”

“Everyone, don’t act rashly. And… now the real battle begins.”

“What do you mean by that…”

Yoshitsune didn’t answer the aide’s question.

He just silently stared in a certain direction.

Following this, the aide naturally looked in that direction too.

“Hii…hiik!”

“O…oni! Oni!”

The aides began to make a fuss.

This was because oni, monsters from legend, had appeared before them.

Enormously tall with thick bodies.

Made of muscle, they couldn’t help but look larger and more intimidating.

And there wasn’t just one or two of these oni.

Between them, riding a horse, was someone who appeared to be the Oni King, wearing golden armor.

“The…the legend was true.”

“Golden armor and a club as big as a human body… it’s…it’s really the Oni King!”

If the aides were this frightened, the regular soldiers were nearly scared out of their wits.

The appearance of the oni was that shocking.

“Calm down! They are not oni! They are humans like us!”

As the army’s confusion grew, Yoshitsune finally had to step in.

When Yoshitsune, legendary for his eight-boat leap, stepped forward, the soldiers began to calm down.

“That’s…right. We have Gakeotos!”

“With General Minamoto Yoshitsune of the eight-boat leap, even oni can’t harm us!”

As the soldiers’ confusion visibly subsided, Yoshitsune breathed a sigh of relief.

Swoosh.

At that moment, a chilling sound came from somewhere.

“Hup!”

“Im…impossible…!”

One arrow.

That arrow pierced through the flag symbolizing the Minamoto clan in one go.

The distance between the shogunate army and the Mongol army was quite long.

Additionally, the wind was blowing.

Yet the Mongol army, as if mocking these environmental factors, demonstratively pierced the Minamoto clan’s flag right in front of Yoshitsune.

“…”

And the Oni King, who appeared to have shot this, was looking at Yoshitsune with one corner of his mouth raised.

Seeing the Oni King’s smile, Yoshitsune couldn’t help but swallow dry saliva due to tension.