Read Novel Full Chapter 807: A Second Front
Chapter 807: A Second Front
The first clash shook the entire field.
Urakami’s samurai surged forward in a sea of red armor, their banners snapping in the cold morning wind as they charged toward Norihiro’s soldiers on the southern ridge. The last traces of night mist still clung to the empty fields, curling around boots and horse legs before being trampled into mud.
Norihiro’s archers fired before the samurai reached the hill.
Arrows rose in dark waves and fell upon the advancing force. Several red armored warriors collapsed at once. Others raised their shields and kept moving, their steps never slowing despite the bodies falling around them.
They had come expecting victory.
They had not crossed into the South to hesitate before a Daimyo’s army.
The first line of samurai struck Norihiro’s shield wall with a sound like thunder.
Steel smashed against wood and iron. Spears drove into gaps between armor plates. Men shouted as they pushed against one another, their boots sliding in the wet earth. Norihiro’s soldiers had the advantage of higher ground, but Urakami’s warriors were better armed and better trained than most ordinary troops.
They pushed upward with discipline.
A red armored samurai broke through the first defensive line and brought his sword down on a guard’s shield. The wood cracked apart beneath the force of the strike. Before he could finish the man, two soldiers drove spears into his side. Blood darkened his armor, but another samurai immediately stepped through to take his place.
Neither side showed mercy.
From the northern hill, Nathan watched in silence.
Yukihime stood beside him, her pale lance resting in one hand. Its faint blue glow seemed almost unnatural against the blood soaked field below. Hanzo stood on Nathan’s other side, her blades ready, her eyes moving constantly across the armies.
Genzo and the other shinobi waited farther back among the trees.
They had not come to fight openly.
Not yet.
Below them, Norihiro’s banner stood above the defenders.
The Daimyo remained near the center of his formation, mounted and surrounded by his inner guard. His armor was dark, almost black beneath the pale morning sun, with silver details along the shoulders and chest. He had not drawn his sword yet.
He only watched.
Nathan did not like that.
“He is too calm,” Genzo said quietly.
“Yes.”
“Do you think he knows this was planned?”
Nathan kept his eyes on Norihiro.
“He knows someone wanted him outside Minami Kyoto,” he replied. “He may not know who shaped it, but he is too smart to believe that Urakami’s arrival happened by chance.”
The battlefield below grew louder.
Urakami’s soldiers pushed harder against the southern ridge. Norihiro’s first shield line bent beneath the pressure. Several defenders were forced backward, and the samurai quickly tried to exploit the opening.
Urakami rode behind his front line, directing his men with raised sword and a voice that carried across the field.
“Do not let them breathe! Break them here!”
His soldiers answered with a roar.
The red force advanced again.
Then Norihiro’s formation opened at the center.
At first, it looked like weakness.
The defenders stepped backward in controlled lines, leaving a gap broad enough for the samurai to charge into. Urakami’s front ranks saw it and rushed forward, convinced that Norihiro’s soldiers were finally breaking.
They entered the opening.
Then cavalry poured down from behind the southern ridge.
Hundreds of mounted soldiers appeared at once, hidden until then by the slope of the land. Their horses came down at full speed, crashing into the exposed side of Urakami’s advancing troops before the samurai could properly turn.
The impact tore through the red armored ranks.
Men fell under hooves. Spears snapped. Horses screamed as arrows and blades struck them. Urakami’s soldiers found themselves caught between Norihiro’s shield wall and a mounted charge that cut deep into their flank.
“He had them hidden,” Genzo said.
Nathan nodded.
“Norihiro expected an attack.”
The false reports had forced him to move, but they had not made him careless. He had chosen favorable ground. He had brought cavalry. He had prepared a response for an army coming from the west.
Norihiro had not walked into the trap blindly.
He had stepped into it with his sword already drawn.
For the first time, Urakami’s army began to lose its rhythm.
Some of his soldiers turned toward the cavalry. Others stayed trapped against Norihiro’s defenders, unable to retreat because men still pushed from behind. Orders were shouted, but the noise of battle swallowed most of them.
Urakami did not retreat.
He rode directly into the chaos with several mounted warriors beside him. His sword flashed as he struck down one of Norihiro’s cavalrymen, then turned to cut another from his horse.
He was arrogant.
He was loud.
But Nathan could see that the man was skilled.
Urakami fought with the confidence of someone who had survived real battlefields. He did not flail or waste movement. Every strike was direct, heavy, and meant to kill. The sight of their leader fighting restored some courage to the samurai around him.
They began pulling back into a tighter formation.
Their archers moved behind a wall of shields and fired at Norihiro’s cavalry. The first few riders fell. Then more followed. Unable to break the samurai formation completely, the cavalry began retreating toward the southern rise.
The battlefield steadied.
Not because either side had won.
But because both sides now understood that the other was far more dangerous than expected.
Genzo stepped quietly closer to Nathan.
“Our people have moved most of the civilians from the nearby villages,” he said. “The roads are clear.”
“Most?” Nathan asked.
Genzo’s expression became heavier.
“Not all of them would leave. Some are old. Some have nowhere to go. Others believe the battle will remain on the field.”
Nathan looked toward the scattered farmhouses beyond the road.
Smoke rose gently from a few chimneys. From this distance, the homes appeared peaceful. But if the battle spread or either side broke into retreat, those people could be trapped between soldiers within minutes.
“Keep moving them,” Nathan said. “If either army runs toward the villages, get everyone out.”
Genzo nodded.
Another horn sounded from the field.
Norihiro’s soldiers rallied near the center, stepping forward beneath their lord’s banner. Urakami’s force answered with its own horn call and began forming again behind the line of shields.
Then the fighting slowed.
It did not stop completely. Soldiers still clashed along the edges of the field, and wounded men still screamed in the mud. But a broad space opened near the center as the two armies pulled back just enough for their leaders to face one another.
Urakami rode forward.
Norihiro did the same.
Bodies lay between them. Broken spears, shattered shields, and fallen banners covered the bloodied ground.
Urakami’s horse stopped a short distance from Norihiro’s.
The samurai leader smiled.
“You fight better than I expected, Norihiro.”
Norihiro’s face remained calm.
“And you make more noise than I expected.”
A few of Norihiro’s soldiers laughed.
Urakami’s smile thinned.
“You should enjoy this moment while you can. You have already lost.”
Norihiro said nothing.
Urakami lifted his sword and pointed it eastward, toward Minami Kyoto.
“You rushed here with the strength of your army, did you not? You left your city behind you, frightened and weakened.”
His voice carried over the field.
“My main force is already marching on Minami Kyoto.”
The reaction was immediate.
Unease moved through Norihiro’s soldiers. Men glanced toward the eastern road. Some whispered to the others beside them. Even those who remained steady could not hide the concern in their faces.
Urakami saw it and laughed.
“Ten thousand men came south under my command. Did you truly believe I would bring them all here simply to fight you on an empty road?”
He raised his blade.
“While you stand here trying to preserve your pride, thousands of my soldiers are surrounding Minami Kyoto. Your gates will be under attack before the sun reaches its highest point.”
The field grew quiet.
For a moment, Norihiro stared at him.
Then he smiled.
It was not the expression of a man who had just realized his city was in danger.
It was calm.
Almost amused.
“Well guarded,” Norihiro said.
Urakami’s expression shifted.
Norihiro continued, his voice clear and cold.
“You think I would leave Minami Kyoto without preparing for the possibility that you would divide your force?”
His inner guard remained still around him.
“The city walls are reinforced. Its defenders were ready before I ever left. And the commander I entrusted with Minami Kyoto does not lose to men who believe red armor alone makes them invincible.”
Urakami’s smile faded.
“I left Captain Jiro with enough soldiers to hold the city until I return,” Norihiro said. “Every gate is guarded. Every road is watched. Your army will not find frightened civilians waiting to welcome them.”
He leaned forward slightly in his saddle.
“They will find a city ready to bleed them dry.”
Urakami’s jaw tightened.
“You are trying to calm your men.”
“No,” Norihiro replied. “I am telling you that you made your first mistake.”
The two leaders stared across the ruined stretch of earth.
Then Urakami gave a harsh laugh.
“Even if your walls hold, they cannot hold forever.”
“Neither can your army.”
Urakami raised his sword.
“Then let us find out which of us is right.”
Norihiro finally drew his own blade.
“Gladly.”
The horns sounded again.
Both armies moved.
The battle returned with even greater violence.
Urakami’s samurai charged in furious waves, determined to silence Norihiro’s confidence. Norihiro’s soldiers answered with a wall of shields and spears, holding their line beneath the black banner of their Daimyo.
But Nathan was no longer watching only the battlefield.
His thoughts had shifted to Minami Kyoto.
Urakami had not waited for Norihiro to fall.
He had already sent the greater part of his ten thousand soldiers toward the city.
Norihiro claimed the capital of the South was prepared, and Nathan believed he had likely made serious defenses. The man was too calculating to leave his home unprotected when he had expected a samurai threat.
But preparation did not mean certainty.
A city could have high walls, loyal guards, and reinforced gates, yet still fall when panic entered it. Thousands of samurai did not need to take the walls immediately. They only needed to surround the city, frighten its people, weaken its defenders, and find one commander willing to make the wrong decision.
Nathan had planned for Urakami to march on Minami Kyoto after Norihiro’s death.
He had not expected the samurai to begin the assault before the battle here was settled.
That changed everything.
Yukihime watched Nathan’s face.
“Nathan sama?”
Nathan did not respond right away.
Genzo studied him carefully.
“What is it?”
“Urakami divided his army,” Nathan said.
Genzo’s expression sharpened.
“He truly sent men toward the city?”
“Yes.”
“We knew he would try to take Minami Kyoto eventually.”
“He did not wait for the battle to end.”
Genzo looked toward the eastern road.
“If the city is as guarded as Norihiro claims, it may hold.”
“It may.”
Nathan’s eyes darkened.
“But I cannot leave it to chance.”
Hanzo stepped closer, her face tense.
“Minami Kyoto has people inside who are helping us. The gate officer Masato. The merchants who agreed to spread word. The families who hate Norihiro but fear the samurai.”
“I know.”
“If Urakami’s men enter the city,” Hanzo continued, “they will kill anyone who resists. They may begin searching for the shinobi as well.”
Nathan gave a slight nod.
The entire purpose of the plan depended on Minami Kyoto staying out of Urakami’s hands.
The people needed to see the samurai as invaders.
They needed time to resist them.
If the city fell before Norihiro died, Urakami would have a foothold in the South. He could claim he had brought order. He could use the city as a base for the rest of his army. And even if Nathan killed him later, the damage would already be done.
Nathan looked down at Norihiro once more.
The Daimyo remained in the middle of the battle, protected by his inner guard. He was still too composed. Too certain. Nathan could feel that something more waited beneath the surface.
The shrine.
Norihiro had not revealed its power yet.
Nathan needed to stay. He needed to make sure Norihiro did not escape this battlefield.
But Minami Kyoto could not fall.
Not now.
Not before the people inside had the chance to stand against Urakami.
He made his decision.
“Genzo,” Nathan said.
The old shinobi leader looked toward him.
“You take care of things here.”
Genzo’s expression hardened.
“Keep Norihiro on this field. Watch his inner guard. If he activates anything tied to that shrine, pull everyone away from the lower paths. Do not engage unless you have no other choice.”
Genzo looked toward the battlefield, then back at Nathan.
“You are going to Minami Kyoto.”
“Yes.”
Hanzo stepped forward immediately.
“I am coming too.”
Nathan looked at her.
“You stay here.”
Her eyes widened.
“Nathan, I know the city.”
“That is why you are needed here with Genzo.”
Hanzo’s hands tightened around her blades.
“Minami Kyoto is under attack.”
“I know.”
“Then I should be there to help.”
Nathan’s voice became firmer.
“If Norihiro falls while I am gone, Genzo will need someone who understands the city, its guards, and the people inside. You need to be ready to send the right orders. You need to make sure the shinobi do not move too early and reveal themselves before the people can see the samurai for what they are.”
Hanzo’s jaw tightened.
She hated the answer.
Nathan could see that.
But she understood it.
Yukihime stepped beside him.
“I am going with Nathan-sama.”
Nathan nodded.
“Yes.”
A faint blue light brightened around Yukihime’s lance.
Her expression became cold.
“Then I will make certain the samurai regret trying to take the city.”
Nathan turned to Genzo again.
“Keep watch on Urakami’s advance force. Do not let them retreat without us knowing. Norihiro must not be allowed to leave this field either.”
Genzo gave a slow nod.
“We will hold it.”
Nathan looked at Hanzo.
“Stay alive.”
Hanzo’s eyes softened for a brief moment.
“You too.”
Nathan turned toward the eastern road.
Minami Kyoto could not be seen from here, hidden beyond hills, trees, and the long stretch of road that separated it from the battlefield.
But he imagined its walls.
The soldiers gathered behind its gates.
The people inside waiting in fear.
And the red banners of Urakami’s larger army moving toward them.
Nathan started down the northern hill.
Yukihime moved beside him without hesitation.
Behind them, Norihiro and Urakami continued their battle beneath the rising sun.
Ahead of them, Minami Kyoto waited for the second half of the war.