The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 517 Arrow
Battle formations clashed, twisted, and collided, spraying blood, flesh, and lives from the gaps. The Japanese charge was halted for a moment, then slowly began to advance again.

"Something's wrong."

Wu Mingxiao deflected the oncoming Japanese sword, but his hands trembled, and the hilt nearly slipped from his grasp. His opponent, meanwhile, had already raised the sword high, letting out a shrill, monkey-like scream, ready to bring it down on his head!
laugh!
A pale hand reached out from behind him, its five fingers forming a claw as it suddenly tore open his throat.

The body fell to the ground.

Wu Mingxiao took a few breaths and then heard Zhao Ying speak calmly.

"So all Japanese pirates are this fierce? Your Dengzhou Guard has managed to hold the line."

Wu Mingxiao shook his head.

"No, Miss Zhao, something's not right with these Japanese pirates."

"The so-called Japanese pirates are mostly refugees, with at most a few impoverished people who know martial arts... They are the 'ronin' from Japan. It is rare to find them who can actually use their skills. I usually take them down with one strike."

"These Japanese pirates today are very strong."

He raised his hand and glanced at his Japanese sword, which had several chips on it. Almost one in ten of these pirates was a tough opponent; while not as difficult to deal with as the one from before, they were still enough to hold their own against him for a few rounds.

Zhao Ying kicked the knife from the corpse's hand to Wu Mingxiao's side, then turned and grabbed the ankle that was quietly kicking her from behind, snapping it with a crack. She then grabbed the attacker's throat and said coldly.

"It would be strange if they were ordinary refugees, given that they could hide for so long without leaving a trace and that their numbers were so large."

Wu Mingxiao nodded.

"That's the truth."

He picked up the knife, rushed forward a few steps, and leaped onto a raised rock.

In that brief moment, he scanned the battlefield with his gaze.

The two were positioned at the rear of the battle line, along with Ming Wanhai and several other martial arts practitioners, who were intercepting stray Japanese pirates who were breaking through the battle lines.

In front of them was a defensive line formed by the soldiers of Dengzhou Guard, which surrounded the entire cliff in a semi-circle, preventing the Japanese pirates from breaking through.

In the center of the battle, Qi Jiguang's army, spearheaded by the Qi family army, was fiercely drilling into the Japanese army's formation. They had almost broken through the Japanese formation and were only about ten feet away from the cliff.

The situation seems to be very promising.

Wu Mingxiao, however, had a solemn expression.

Because the Japanese lines are gradually pushing back the defenses of Dengzhouwei.

Most importantly, the advance of Qi Jiguang's army has visibly slowed down. The width of their wedge formation is also being squeezed narrower and narrower.

These Japanese are a real problem.

At the same time, in the center of the battle, the middle-aged man following behind Qi Jiguang suddenly spoke up.

"Sir, it won't work, we can't drill through it."

"The first ones to come up are just cannon fodder to spread out the battle line; the ones that come up later are the real deal. If we stop any longer, the brothers behind us will get trapped."

Qi Jiguang, without turning his head, grunted an "Mmm" but did not respond. He continued to charge forward, slashing and hacking, his gaze silently passing through the crowd and landing on the highest point of the cliff.

There are two people there.

One old, one young.

The old man was short but extremely muscular, his chest exposed, revealing a muscular physique covered in scars. A five-foot-long Japanese sword was tucked into his waistband, its scabbard a dark purple with intricate and ornate patterns. He had a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, and he squinted at the battle formation ahead.

The young man was tall and clad in armor, with a calm expression. He was also glancing at Qi Jiguang. The two exchanged a glance and then looked away in tacit agreement.

The young man pursed his lips and spoke in a deep voice in Japanese.

“This General Qi is indeed remarkable. If he hadn’t brought the elite troops assembled by three daimyo, he probably would have broken through our battle formation… We’ve fallen into a trap, Lord Tanaka.” The old man, however, didn’t seem to care at all.

"so what?"

"He trains his troops well, but he only knows how to lead the charge and doesn't understand military strategy. Look, he can't keep up. In a little while, he'll be trapped, and then no matter how brave he is, he won't be able to fight alone."

"Sakata-kun, it seems that this opponent you've always been wary of isn't as outstanding as you've described."

The young man did not answer.

Is this General Qi really that simple?

In that brief glance they exchanged, he saw not a trace of panic, only a deep, unyielding killing intent. That was not the look of a beast trapped in a predicament.

Sure enough, the next moment, something unexpected happened.

The Qi Family Army's original triangular wedge formation suddenly folded inward from its apex. Qi Jiguang retreated into the center of the battle formation, and the edge of the formation began to form a circle with his steps.

Then, he leaped out of the battle formation by stepping on his subordinate's shoulders and charged out in a direction parallel to the cliff! The Qi Family Army's battle formation also changed instantly, the arrowhead formation changed from vertical to horizontal, and it pierced towards the unsuspecting Japanese!

"Tsk!"

The young Japanese man frowned.

The enemy's intentions were clear. Initially, Qi Jiguang wanted to lead his troops directly to the edge of the cliff, spread out their formation, and pin the Japanese soldiers down beneath the cliff. But after realizing this was impossible, he immediately changed his strategy.

He planned to break through the Japanese formation, trapping the front-line Japanese within the encirclement of the Dengzhou Guard and Qi Jiguang's army, and then eliminate them. He would then repeat this process, gradually dismantling all the Japanese formations and squeezing out their footholds.

If we only consider tactics, there's nothing unusual about it.

However, the terrifyingly coordinated teamwork of the Qi Family Army, and Qi Jiguang's decisive and clear-headed decision to seize the gaps left by the Japanese soldiers from different parts of the Ming Dynasty during the lulls in the fighting, and to change formations to exploit those gaps, transformed this simple tactic into a tremendous threat.

If he manages to break through the formation laterally, the outcome of this match will be uncertain.

"Lord Tanaka, it's your turn to make a move."

The young Japanese man said.

The elderly Japanese man shrugged.

"Alright, all we need to do is remove that young man's head, right?"

The young Japanese man nodded.

The old Japanese man grinned, then suddenly slung his sword over his shoulder, leaped off the cliff, and swayed as he walked toward Qi Jiguang.

When the Japanese soldiers on his journey saw him, even in the midst of battle, they all stepped back several feet to make way for him.

However, not everyone is so perceptive.

Ahead, a soldier from Qi Jiguang's army who had broken away from the formation was fighting a Japanese soldier. Both of them were so engrossed in the battle that they had no time to pay attention to what was happening around them.

The soldier from Qi Jiguang's army suddenly roared and swung his sword down, knocking the Japanese man back several steps, but he ended up blocking the old Japanese man's path.

wow-

Blood splattered everywhere.

The Japanese man was suddenly cleaved in two.

The elderly Japanese man paid no attention to the corpses, stepped over them, and did not even glance at the Qi family army soldiers who were standing there dumbfounded. He slowly walked towards Qi Jiguang.

(End of this chapter)