Chapter 394 53. Fan Fuhuchang Attacks the Waterway

"Boom! Boom! Boom boom boom!" The gunpowder and kerosene buried shallowly outside the ditch exploded quickly, one after another.

To be honest, the actual lethality of this amount of gunpowder and kerosene was very low, and some places did not explode. No more than ten people were killed on the spot, which was just a drop in the bucket for the Takeda army of thousands of people.

However, the fierce explosion and the attack from behind still frightened the soldiers of the Takeda army, and the fierce offensive was a one-sided attack. They retreated backwards unconsciously, no longer as brave as they were a moment ago.

"Danzheng is really a good military strategy!" Yamamoto Kansuke was still panicked when he saw the explosion, but he recovered soon.

Looking at Suwa Katsuyori, who was still surprised by the chain explosions in front of the battle, and a soldier who was unfortunately stepped on a gunpowder barrel and was thrown into the sky by the air wave, and then screamed and fell to the ground, and was stunned and speechless. Yamamoto Kansuke gently said to wake him up.

"Danzheng is indeed a wise general!" Suwa Katsuyori, who had come back to his senses, could not help but applaud.

The two men did not care about the failure of this attack. Kobayata even used this trick. I don't believe he can have any better way to stop the Takeda family's army.

The Takeda army came quickly and left quickly, rushing up like a tide and retreating like a rolling tide.

The conscientious ones even carried the injured fellow villagers and team members back, not leaving them to Kobayata to behead.

Although the army retreated, Kobayata's fortifications were also severely damaged, and the ditch full of bamboo thorns had been filled up by a small half. The Takeda army not only brought bamboo rafts, but also straw bags and earth bags. As for the half-man-high low wall, many places were pushed down.

Only the fence was still intact and had not been damaged. It could be slightly reinforced and continued to defend.

On the one hand, Kobayata ordered people to quickly burn the bamboo rafts left by the Takeda army in front of the battle to prevent them from using them in the next battle. On the other hand, he collected the wooden shields and bamboo bundles left by the Takeda army and the ones owned by Kobayata's army, and moved them behind the fence to strengthen the defense of the fence.

There was no time to deal with the dead soldiers, so they could only drag the injured soldiers who seemed to be salvageable back and find a dry place to place them. Let a few soldiers take care of them temporarily and save them if they can.

After the whole army retreated to the fence, they continued to resist the next round of attacks by the Takeda army. No one spoke, and no one cried or was sad. They worked silently, and those who could take time to rest quickly lay down.

"Heiroku, how many have been killed again?"

"Tanzheng, 35 died, and more than 30 were seriously injured and could not fight again."

"How many can still fight now?"

"No more than 300, at most 270 or 80."

When Heiroku said this, his body was even shaking. There were only more than 200 soldiers who could still carry guns in the whole army, and they really only had the strength to fight once. After enduring a round of attacks, it was over.

"Okay, I got it. Help me load the cannon." Xiao Pingtai nodded. Although he was prepared, he still felt a little sad.

...

"Danzheng's resistance was unexpectedly firm!" Takeda Harunobu had been watching the battle. After seeing the Takeda army retreat because of the explosion, he was quite touched.

"He is indeed a loyal man!" Takeda Norimura echoed his elder brother. It was not the first time he and Xiao Pingtai had fought each other. There was some sympathy in it.

"It's a pity that such a samurai chose the wrong Prime Minister Yamanouchi. Now he is just a candle in the wind." Although Iitomi Toramasa also regretted Xiao Pingtai's death, he looked like he was sure of victory. He was not frustrated at all because of the failure of the attack on the mountain yesterday.

"If you can capture Zixiaoji Danzheng alive, Your Highness must recruit him." Yamamoto Kansuke suggested.

Takeda Harunobu nodded undeniably, signaling Suwa Katsuyori, who had regrouped, to continue the attack. At the same time, Takeda Yoshinobu and Iitomi Toramasa also left the team and disappeared.

The soldiers of Kobayata's unit were already timid after such huge casualties. The reason why they are still fighting here is that the samurai are still there and have not retreated yet, and they are blindly accustomed to following the officers.

Secondly, Kobayata followed Kanai Aigoro's suggestion to dig a ditch behind the fence, which not only prevented the escape of the formation workers, but also actually cut off the retreat of Kobayata's entire team.

Now no one can leave!

The Takeda army, waving flags, was more prepared this time. Most of the soldiers in the rear team carried straw bags and earth bags, ready to fill the trenches completely. At the same time, there were soldiers carrying hoes and shovels, and it seemed that they were also ready to completely destroy the low wall.

A bamboo bunker was set up in front of the formation, and the miscellaneous soldiers of the Takeda army rushed forward, crouching to fill the trenches and tear down the low walls. The iron cannons of both sides roared from time to time, but there was not much success.

In less than an hour, the miscellaneous soldiers of the Takeda army completely cleared all of Kobayata's fortifications. This time, the only thing blocking them was a fence, a thin fence.

The sound of the conch shells rang out, and the Takeda soldiers with swords and guns and ferocious faces rushed out. They madly attacked Kobayata's last fence with amazing momentum.

Kobayata swallowed his saliva, raised his iron cannon, and aimed at a sturdy Takeda warrior wearing black armor. A gunshot sounded, and the man fell down, but it did nothing to delay the attack of the Takeda army. The Takeda army still rushed forward.

The soldiers of each team held long spears and attacked the Takeda army across the fence. Every gunshot pierced the flesh, and every knife saw blood. Shouting, wailing, and screaming.

As soon as the battle between the two sides came into contact, the most intense attack and defense broke out directly, devouring every brave soldier.

Xiao Pingtai's pupils shrank rapidly as he stared at the battlefield. He suddenly saw the scene he least wanted to see.

Dozens or even hundreds of bamboo rafts rushed down the wide surface of the Tenryu River, and on each raft stood two or three soldiers of the Takeda Army, some of whom were even holding bows and arrows with steady waists and horses.

"Danzheng, it's impossible!" Aji had an arm injury and could only hold a small sword in his right hand for the time being. He hurried back to Kobayata.

"No matter how much I calculated, I didn't calculate that the soldiers of Kai can row and swim!" The speed of the bamboo rafts was so fast that the boats took advantage of the water and the water helped the boats to pass a hundred meters in the blink of an eye.

The Kai people who couldn't swim had long been drowned in the floods of the Fuebuki River and the Kamashi River for many years. Now they can't be said to be all fish in water, but they are not far behind.

"Danzheng, the Ito team of the Kai army is paddling bamboo rafts to attack, let's go!" Heiroku also rushed over and grabbed Kobayata's arm.

Kurosawa, who had been guarding the main camp, also helped Aji and the others to lift up the bamboo leaf horse flag weighing hundreds of taels and prepare to escape.

"Leave? Where to go? Get some arquebusiers, we'll go to the shore to stop the Takeda army."

There was no way Kobayata could escape, things had come to this point, the only option was to fight to the death!