Chapter 65: A Small Investment
The future “Japan’s Number One Person of the Warring States” was personally commanding a battle for the first time, only to be routed and flee like a kicked stray dog. He left behind seven or eight fallen pages and attendant vassals, barely stopping short of crying out for his mother and wailing incessantly. It was a truly pathetic display.
This was completely unexpected by Yuan Ye. He had come just to watch the excitement and never imagined things would turn out this way, but he felt it was a good opportunity.
Helping Oda Nobunaga now, covering for him, would surely make settling and developing in Owari much easier in the future. Even if, according to history, Oda Nobunaga was unlikely to die and would almost certainly escape back to Nagoya Castle, Oda Nobunaga wasn’t a prophet and would still owe him a favor.
This could be considered a small investment in the future. Yuan Ye felt the cost-benefit of taking a little risk was very high. He called out to A Man and A Qing, then slid down the dirt mound, mounted his horse, and charged diagonally towards the battlefield.
“What are you doing!” A Man shouted from behind, feeling he was running in the wrong direction.
“I’m going to help Oda Nobunaga, you two cover me!” Yuan Ye hastily instructed, urging his horse forward. The three-flower mare responded obediently, immediately accelerating and leaving A Man and A Qing behind.
“You idiot!” A Man didn’t expect him to stir up trouble again when they were already running away. But since he had already charged out, there was nothing she could do. She began observing the terrain, contemplating how to cover his retreat later, while inwardly scolding him – he made decisions without consulting her properly, showing no sign of a “wise ruler”!
Yuan Ye galloped forward, cutting diagonally into the battlefield. Within a minute, he reached a position parallel to Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga’s group was in a dire situation. The black-armored samurai leading the Matsudaira forces had excellent archery skills, firing several arrows in rapid succession while in pursuit. Each arrow was aimed directly at Oda Nobunaga. It was only because his attendant vassals and guard unit were shielding him that he remained unharmed. However, several of his guard unit and attendant vassals had already fallen from their horses. Even if they weren’t dead yet, they were doomed to be surrounded and killed.
Being pursued and annihilated was truly miserable; it was difficult even to fight back, only able to take hits.
Yuan Ye assessed the situation, urged his horse forward again, and after a short dash, slowed his mount. He took his crossbow from the saddle hook, began to regulate his breathing, and adjusted to the rhythm of the three-flower mare’s movements. He wasn’t a novice at mounted archery, having practiced at home, but the horse’s speed couldn’t be too high.
Some of the Matsudaira samurai noticed Yuan Ye, but at this moment, no one was as valuable as Oda Nobunaga on the battlefield, so no one paid him any mind. Even when they saw him slow down and draw his bow and arrow from a distance, no one cared. They were nearly parallel, nearly a hundred meters apart, so he could only lob shots, and their accuracy was negligible. As long as they weren’t too unlucky, they didn’t need to worry.
Yuan Ye, however, was worried. He had never shot anyone in his life, and in modern society, there was no opportunity, no experience at all. But he didn’t necessarily intend to do anything to the Matsudaira forces or kill anyone. He just wanted to delay their pursuit, so that Oda Nobunaga would owe him a small favor. He was just making an investment in the future. Shooting a few arrows would be enough, and then he would flee. He had no intention of charging in to block them at the risk of his life.
His life was far more precious than Oda Nobunaga’s. He wouldn’t engage in a losing business.
…
Torii Tadahira, clad in black armor, was the commander-in-chief of the Matsudaira raiding party. He had received dual orders from the Imagawa family and Okazaki Castle in Mikawa to intensify the raids. So, he personally led the team, even reinforcing their strength, aiming to quickly destroy the Dongjin and Dongmu forts and then raid south. However, he never expected that the new head of the Oda Danjō no Chū family would come out himself.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Oda Nobuhide, the “Tiger of Owari,” had plagued Mikawa for over ten years, and countless samurai of the Matsudaira family and other Mikawa local lords had died because of him. If he could bring back the head of his son, Oda Nobunaga, it would not only avenge the dead but also earn him immense merit. It might even please the Imagawa family, allowing them to exchange Takechiyo, their hostage and head of the family, and revive the Matsudaira family.
And now, if he could just scatter these riding guard pages, he would achieve an unparalleled feat!
It was only one step away!
Torii Tadahira’s excitement grew with each thought. For a moment, there was no one else in the world but him. His eyes were fixed on Oda Nobunaga’s flickering silhouette. Just as he was about to draw his bow and shoot another arrow, hoping to bring him down from his horse, his arm suddenly jolted. A powerful force surged from his rear flank, shaking him so violently that he almost fell from his horse. The arrow he had just drawn flew off.
He was greatly alarmed and struggled to regain his balance. He quickly looked down and saw that his right arm had been struck by an arrow from his rear flank. The arrow’s force was immense; it had pierced his kote and embedded deeply into his flesh and bone. It was only then that he felt a tearing pain, and his face instantly turned pale.
Such powerful bow force!
He glanced back in the direction the arrow had come from and saw only a black-armored samurai slowly riding on the distant plain behind him, about fifty ken away. A black dot was rapidly enlarging between them…
This was his last conscious thought. The next moment, a fletched arrow crossed a hundred meters, leaving only a blur on his retina before piercing directly into his left eye, felling him from his horse.
…
Yuan Ye quickly fired two arrows. His arm felt a bit uncomfortable. Seeing that the target had been hit and fallen, he shook his hand and observed the situation.
He hadn’t expected to be so accurate. He thought the opponent was wearing armor, making it difficult for arrows to penetrate, so he wouldn’t be killed. He thought these two arrows would at best slow down the pursuit. He hadn’t expected to accidentally kill the opponent – he probably killed him. He felt the last arrow hit the face, but it was too far to see clearly.
As he stood there shaking his arm, the excited Matsudaira samurai who were in pursuit were stunned. While chasing, their commander-in-chief inexplicably died. They all reined in their horses, some shouting in anger, others confused and lost, some quickly dismounting to check on Torii Tadahira’s condition, and others circling around searching for the “killer.” The scene was chaotic.
Oda Nobunaga noticed the commotion from the enemy behind him and felt a surge of impulse to rein in his horse and counterattack. However, his followers were already in disarray, scattered everywhere, all fleeing. He couldn’t possibly rally them for a counterattack. If he lingered any longer and got entangled with the enemy’s mass of spearmen and ashigaru, he would likely die.
Having lost so badly, even Sun Tzu reborn or Zhuge Liang returned would not be able to turn the tide. He could only let out a hateful sound, cast one last glance at Yuan Ye, and continue to flee at full speed with his pages and guard unit.
This time, however, he was much calmer and less disheveled than before.
Yuan Ye felt his investment of goodwill had succeeded. Seeing that the Matsudaira forces were also reacting, with several samurai furiously charging towards him, he turned his horse to retreat. He also raised his bow and shot another arrow, felling another charging enemy.
“This way! This way!” A Man called out to him from a distance, then raised her matchlock gun and fired a shot at the Matsudaira forces. However, at this distance, the accuracy of the matchlock gun was abysmal, only about 2%. She didn’t hit anyone, but the commotion was significant, causing the enraged Matsudaira samurai to instinctively slow down their horses and slightly avoid the direct path. Some even fired arrows back at them, but the arrows fell to the ground halfway, having no effect.
Yuan Ye didn’t rush to flee. He hadn’t participated in the battle before, and his horse had the advantage. Upon reaching A Man and A Qing, he waved for them to go ahead. He then turned back and shot another arrow, felling another Matsudaira samurai. The arrows fired back by the Matsudaira forces fell to the ground thirty to forty steps away, still unable to harm him in the slightest.
After this back-and-forth for several hundred steps, the Matsudaira samurai’s eyes gradually cleared. They were no longer as enraged as they were at the beginning. The expressions on some of their faces became hesitant, as if they couldn’t understand what had happened. There were only seven or eight people pursuing them. If they continued chasing for a few more miles, they might be wiped out. But how had the other side achieved this?
Why did he fell one enemy with each shot? Why was his bow strength so terrifyingly powerful, and the arrow speed so frighteningly fast, as if a god had descended from heaven?
Could he be the number one archer on the Tōkaidō?
They hadn’t heard of such a fierce warrior in the Oda Danjō no Chū family before!
Seeing that their pursuit had weakened, Yuan Ye didn’t intend to press his advantage. Killing a few more wouldn’t benefit him, so why expend the effort? He urged his horse forward and called for A Man and A Qing to run. A Man vigorously rammed the ramrod into her matchlock gun, pulled the trigger, and fired another shot at the Matsudaira forces, startling them again. However, she still didn’t hit anyone.
They retreated alternately, always maintaining maximum distance from the enemy. At this range, the matchlock gun was useless. She fired several shots intermittently, hitting nothing, and could only spit and curse before running behind Yuan Ye’s horse.
The three of them ran diagonally. After shaking off the pursuers, they slowed down to let A Man and A Qing catch their breath. They still needed to earn money to buy more horses; one horse was too few.
A Man and A Qing didn’t mind. They had good stamina to begin with, and with Yuan Ye’s good food lately, their physical strength had improved even more. Running several miles in armor wasn’t too tiring. A Man even lamented the lost bounty from the heads they couldn’t collect.
Yuan Ye didn’t care. He wasn’t short of a few coins. He simply took turns riding with them, returning to the camp at the fastest speed.
Several defeated followers of the Oda family had already returned to the camp. They were probably naturally fast runners, having fought hard and then sprinted to escape the battlefield. Their long-distance running was even faster than Yuan Ye’s group of three, who had not exerted much energy. Their talent was quite formidable; if sent to modern competitions, they might even win a few medals.
Oda Nobunaga’s group had not yet returned. They had likely exerted too much horse power from repeated charges and battles. After escaping danger, they needed to rest their horses to prevent them from dying. It would probably take some time for them to return.
Knowing that the front lines had been defeated, the samurai left guarding the camp were greatly alarmed. They sent people to scout ahead while distributing weapons to the rookies and ashigaru, preparing to organize defenses for the camp. Yuan Ye ignored these matters, as he couldn’t interfere anyway. He gathered his own people, ready to evacuate at any time.
Fortunately, news soon arrived via fast horse: the Matsudaira forces had not pursued excessively and had returned to clear the battlefield. The camp finally stabilized somewhat.
Shortly after, Oda Nobunaga also returned safely, having gathered a group of scattered followers and ashigaru. Yuan Ye began to complete his task, as he was a hired “battlefield doctor.” With a large number of wounded soldiers appearing, he had to treat them.
He quickly became busy, using the same methods as Nightingale: cleaning wounds as thoroughly as possible, maintaining environmental hygiene, frequently changing gauze and bandages, and doing his best to minimize the possibility of wound infection. He was diligent and responsible. In this era, these medical conditions were sufficient, and most wounded soldiers would survive.
Of course, this was also related to the fact that the wounded soldiers were all lightly injured. The severely wounded… could not escape the battlefield and were likely beheaded by the Matsudaira forces by now.
Yuan Ye was busy until nightfall, removing an arrowhead from the last lightly wounded follower. As he was contemplating whether to make another round of inspections, Maeda Toshiie appeared outside the small tent and called out listlessly, “Lord Yuan Ye, His Highness wishes to see you.”
