Aztec Civilization: Destiny to Conquer America!-Chapter 1817 - 1305: Buddha! These Are... the Demon Firearms of the Yuan Invasion!

The sun dipped slightly to the west, outside the village of the Cold Swamp Tribe, scattered everywhere were the corpses of Ainu people, like a blood sacrifice to the Divine Might altar. However, the Ainu's Divine Might did not have a tradition of human sacrifice, they only accepted various animals, especially bears and salmon. This war altar was increasingly resembling a sacrificial setup for the Chief Divine, prepared for the War God coming from thousands of miles across the highland with blood and sacrifice...

"Chief Divine protect us! Open the gates, gunners and archers prepare! As long as the gunners... the archers will... the samurai too..."

"Yes! Just like this! We must seize the battle opportunity! If the opponent's formation is scattered and intimidated by Divine Might... then charge forward decisively and take them down!..."

"Everyone put on double armor! Over the cloth iron armor, add an extra layer of leather armor! Big Bear, you are the strongest among the Wunang Warriors, wear three layers of armor and lead the charge at the front!..."

"Yes! Listen to the Chieftain!..."

Moments later, the Kingdom's spear formation outside the village gates suddenly became loose, vaguely indicating personnel movement, though it was unclear from afar. From three hundred steps away where the Wa People were positioned, they could only see the Shandan people's spear formation, vaguely divided into three groups, seemingly moving towards supporting the Ainu Clans on both wings.

"Hmm?!..."

The veteran general Shigeyasu Kudo, who had been calmly observing and waiting for the right moment, suddenly straightened his back, his eyes sharpening immediately. Having traveled all the way from Wakasa to the Ezo land, he had fought battles all his life. Among the tribes in the Northeast, when it comes to battlefield tactics, especially battles involving less than a thousand men, he could certainly be considered among the best!

"Haha! The Hachiman Mahasattva has shown its spirit! The battle opportunity I've been waiting for has finally arrived! The opponent's spear formation starts loosening, as long as we lure one unit out, away from the village walls and side cover... that would be the moment for a complete charge of the samurai, with Ryuuteki Cavalry charging from behind, a decisive strike to victory!"

Veteran General Shigeyasu Kudo personally waved the command flag. He ordered his two hundred Kaozaki warriors under him to prepare for the assault, while instructing the previously distant positioned Flowing Arrow Horses to continue shooting arrows, persistently harassing and proactively luring the opponent's warriors into pursuit.

"Yes! Exactly like this! Shoot a few more volleys of arrows, slowly lure out those heavy-armored Shandan elite soldiers... hmm? What is that? A peculiar, golden long tube, mounted on a two-wheeled cart? Why does it look so strange, engraved with all sorts of chaotic bird patterns, is it the Shandan people's war chariot? But there's no horse to pull it, it relies on people to push, and it's so low... peculiar, truly peculiar! Such a heavy cart, requiring several people to push it? ...Hmm? This seems to be made of expensive bronze? Wow! It must be so valuable! Could it be a Shandan scheme?..."

Veteran General Shigeyasu Kudo was puzzled, watching the three Bronze Tiger Squat Cannons of the Kingdom being pushed to the periphery of the spear formation, the muzzles facing the sky. The ten Flowing Arrow Horse archers, busy enticing the enemy, also paused slightly, gazing at the gleaming bronze cannons. Yet quickly, they realized these were indeed bronze tools, great tubes cast from copper coins!

"Bodhisattva! Have these peculiar Shandan tribes realized they can't defeat us, and thus bring out such large bronze implements as peace offerings? How absurd... wow! Such massive bronze implements, at least weighing several hundred pounds of bronze, that's equivalent to a hundred or two hundred big money!"

Looking at the gleaming copper cannon, the Wa People warriors stirred with excitement, as if seeing shining copper coins. Even the decoying Flowing Arrow Horse archers couldn't help but draw closer.

After all, in Kanto, the price of rice was roughly 0.6-0.7 koban per stone, whereas such an unknown quantity of bronze implements might fetch two hundred koban in sale even at a discount, equivalent to three hundred stone of rice. A poor Kaozaki warrior only had a fief of twenty stone, and the annual salary rice he could receive was less than eight stone. In other words, these three bronze cannons represented a lifetime salary earned by serving the Family Head for thirty years, their entire lives!..."

"Chief Divine! How entertaining! Seeing the Kingdom's Tiger Squat Cannon, these Wa People cavalry not only didn't flee, but even came closer, with their eyes lighting up? ...Pity, if only the gunpowder hadn't become damp and unusable for firing stone bullets, one round could directly bombard them..."

Zuwaro shook his head, regretfully setting down the Divine Eye Glasses in hand. Then, he watched the ready gunners and Lu Bu archers forcefully swing down the red command flag. Consequently, the thunderous cannon sound, mingling with the quietly rising smoke, suddenly exploded on the chaotic battlefield!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."

The terrifying cannon sound thundered, the Flowing Arrow Horse archers instantly fell into chaos, the startled horses ran wildly, crashing into each other, to the point of throwing riders off. Meanwhile, twenty Lu Bu archers swiftly dashed out from the dispersed spear formation, reaching the chaotic Flowing Arrow Horses nearby, approaching within a hundred steps. Subsequently, they relentlessly drew their Composite Horn Bows, unleashing fierce and precise volleys!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Arrows pierced fiercely like wolf teeth, spewing plumes of blood, harshly striking the Flowing Arrow Horse warriors' bodies and immediately striking at the hearts of the Wa Country generals! At this moment, with the "Thunderbolt" sounding, the battlefield situation sharply declined. Not only did the prepared assaulting warriors freeze in shock on the spot, but even the surrounding, previously advantageous Ishikari warriors, started shouting in panic and confusion!

"What's going on! What happened exactly? The sky is clear, how could there be thunderbolt?!"

"Ah! The Beiyu Clan is cheering, praying for the Divine Might of Thunderbolt! Their Shaman has actually summoned Thunderbolt!..."

The resounding cannonade was like a heavy hammer on the soul, striking fiercely at the hearts of both the Wa People and the Ishikari Clan! The morale of the Ishikari faction plummeted, while the Beiyu faction, initially panicked, soon realized it was their own shaman's doing, leading to a great boost in morale! But the greatest effect of this round of blank cannon fire was the terror it instilled in the horses of the Wa People, particularly the nearby Ryuuteki Cavalry, plunging them into uncontrollable chaos!...

"Boom! Boom! Boom..."

"Ah! Kudo Chief Retainer? What... what is this, why is there suddenly thunder?!... Ah! My deer hair! Stop, don't run!..."

The young master Kaozaki Yoshihiro, agile in movement, though thrown from his startled horse, was uninjured. He frantically called out the name of his warhorse, but the frightened Jurchen Stallion abandoned him and fled into the western mountain forest.

"Buddha! Is this thunder coming from those long tubes? Is this what the Mages spoke of, the demon firearms that massacred the entire Hakata Castle during the Yuan Invasion?… Ah! The main family's most elite Ryuuteki horses!!"

The old general Shigeyasu Kudo felt like his heart was bleeding as he watched the Shandan Divine Archers shoot with lethal precision, taking down four or five Samurai and injuring six or seven warhorses with just two rounds of shooting! Seeing the main family's most elite Ryuuteki Cavalry, which the Family Head had repeatedly instructed him to preserve at all costs, suddenly collapse before him, how could he explain this upon his return?

"Chief Divine's protection! He has bestowed upon us the blessed Thunderbolt!… Roar! The enemy is frightened by the cannon sound, their formation is scattered… all Samurai raise your spears and swiftly approach the enemy, charge within thirty steps!..."

The battlefield situation changed rapidly. After only two rounds of cannon fire, the attacking Wa and the Ishikari faction were suddenly thrown into disarray. The old general Shigeyasu Kudo had no time to contemplate further, as his whole body trembled. Because, across from them, the spread-out Shandan Spear Formation had already issued a fervent cry to attack!

"Chief Divine's protection! Thirty steps charge!..."

More than a hundred Shandan heavy armor warriors holding spears, and over twenty elite Shandan archers with horn bows, approached the few remaining Ryuuteki Cavalry with high morale. Their fearless charge aimed beyond the immediate target, at the Wa Warriors three hundred steps away, whose formation was shaken by the cannon sound!

"Boom! Boom Boom!"

Another round of blank shots, with the Tiger Squat Cannon spewing blue smoke, like a demon crawling out of Hell. No one knew where the demon's thunder had struck. Could it be that it hit the Ishikari Clan?

The old general Shigeyasu Kudo bit his lip, looking again to both flanks. The Ishikari Tribe was in chaos, with deserters turning to flee. They had already suffered significant casualties, relying on Wa cavalry support, believing their Wa allies could win, thus barely persisting. But now, from across, thunder had released something incomprehensible to them. Meanwhile, the Wa cavalry plunged into chaos and suddenly disappeared in a flash!

The Beiyu Cold Swamp Tribe cheered howlingly, all shouting that it was the "Thunderbolt Divine Might of the Thousand Islands," reenergizing their morale as they attacked again! The Beiyu Cold Shore Division, after a moment of panic, followed the chants of the Chieftain leaders, swarming in attack! They wanted to follow the powerful "Beiyu Thousand Islands Tribe" and charge forward together, determined to completely defeat the fearsome Wa!… No, it was to defeat the fierce Ishikari Clan!...

"The Divine Might of the Black Bear! The enemy even has 'Divine Might assistance', how can we fight that? No wonder the timid Beiyu Clan is all roused in spirit, rushing out en masse from the village... They don't even guard the village anymore, surging just like a swarm of salmon, sweeping to both sides in an assault!..."

"Damn it! We can't keep fighting, the losses are too great! I doubt the Wa can defeat the other side; we should retreat back two li and observe the situation carefully!"

"That's right! The tribe has looted enough already, let's return! This was originally the Wa's tribute-gathering, why should we keep bleeding? Let them fight it out themselves, we retreat together..."

Faced with the Beiyu Tribe's counterattack and the mysterious thunder, the flanks of the Ishikari Clan could no longer hold, showing signs of decline. And at this moment, all the pressure was on the seasoned general Shigeyasu Kudo's decision.

Because throughout this battle, the true determinant of victory on the battlefield was never the skirmishing Ainu Clans on the flanks… The genuine pivotal moment lay with the two spear formations up front, among the hundred-plus heavy-armored Kingdom warriors and two hundred half-armored Wa Warriors!

"Damn it! The Ishikari faction is indeed unreliable, already about to collapse!… And the Shandan Tribe's main force, with their numerous Ezo scattered soldiers, has commenced their charge toward us at this moment! What to do? What to do?! Should we throw everything in, fight to the death?!"

At this moment, Kaozaki Yoshihiro's mind went blank, his eyes filled with uncertainty. The old general Shigeyasu Kudo, however, suddenly had his eyes blaze red! He seemed like a gambler with nothing left, ready to wager all his chips for one final, desperate gamble!