"Innocent!"
Takayama Ichizawa glanced at him, a cold glint in his eyes. In the end, he was still too young.
The current situation is no longer one where simply holding out is enough. The enemy's strength is beyond imagination, and continuing to hold out here will only result in total annihilation.
Without a leader, Eight Gods Island will be powerless to resist!
He said in a deep voice, "Retreating now still offers a glimmer of hope. If we can reunite with the wanderers, we might still have a chance to fight back. But if we die here, then there will be no more chances."
"So we're going to abandon our brothers?" The lieutenant was shocked!
He never expected that the usually iron-willed leader would make such a decision. Retreating now would undoubtedly leave these 10,000 men stranded here, with no chance of escaping the pursuit of Great Liang.
Without their leader, they would crumble completely, which would be no different from letting them die.
That's ten thousand people.
"I have no choice!" Takayama Ichizawa glanced at him, then turned and fled.
Under the cover of his trusted confidants, he quickly withdrew from the position and headed towards the center of Eight Gods Island, where the people of the Great Liang Yamata Nation were based. The 100,000 people of Great Liang might not be able to take him down immediately.
The lieutenant, watching Takayama Ichizawa's retreating figure, roared, "Sir, where is the martial spirit you taught me?"
A true strong person would never allow themselves to retreat even a single step!
What do you mean by losers not worthy of living!
Running away is the most shameful act!
All those seemingly righteous excuses no longer hold water.
"Fool! Martial spirit only exists while you're alive. Who'll remember you once you're dead?"
Hearing his words, Takayama Ichizawa, who had run far away, shook his head dismissively. Seeing him surrounded by the enemy, he couldn't help but mutter, "The spirit of martial arts is profound and extensive, but unfortunately you've only learned half of it."
If you don't learn the essential points later on, then you're a wise person who knows when to yield!
All that talk about martial arts spirit is just a bluff.
If a small country is too stubborn, it will be destroyed.
To intimidate subordinates, one must employ martial arts principles, forbidding them from retreating so they can be even more courageous. But when it comes to oneself, one must be pragmatic and discerning – that is the true spirit of martial arts.
Besides, we're not running away; we're just making a strategic retreat.
"The commander has run away!"
When the soldiers of the Yamata Nation saw that Takayama Ichizawa had run away, they couldn't help but show blank expressions, and then they panicked. Damn it, their boss ran away while they were fighting.
Fortunately, their hesitation was short-lived, because Great Liang had already made the choice for them!
"Kill!"
A deafening battle cry swept over them as almost all 80,000 Qihuo Army landed on Eight Gods Island and charged towards them.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
The overwhelming rain of arrows was as if they were free, completely covering them within the attack range. Inside, it was like a living hell, with countless Yamata Nation soldiers being shot to death.
Seeing this, Takayama Ichizawa's deputy general felt his scalp tingle and exclaimed, "How can Great Liang be so strong? This rain of arrows is simply too terrifying!"
He wanted to retaliate, but under the overwhelming rain of arrows, he could only keep dodging, which filled him with despair, and he could see no hope of survival.
The archers of Great Liang are far too arrogant.
As he watched the enemy soldiers charge forward, his eyes filled with fear, and his teeth chattered uncontrollably.
However, he still held fast to the spirit of martial arts, and he wouldn't allow himself to retreat. He glanced at his brothers beside him and roared, "Brothers, let's fight them to the death! Martial artists never retreat!"
"Let's give it our all!"
The others also realized they were surrounded, and this time they didn't care about being in a bad mood anymore; they were thinking, "I'll take someone down with me even when I'm about to die."
No sooner had he finished speaking than a deluge of arrows rained down, pelting down directly on his head.
Puff puff puff!
Blood splattered everywhere, and this volley of arrows felled thousands of men into pools of blood. The soldiers who had been holding on collapsed instantly, allowing the Qihuo Army to charge straight in.
The Qihuo Army, now equipped with upgraded weaponry, possesses unparalleled fighting power among all armies in the All Under Heaven, and the soldiers of the Yamata Nation simply cannot withstand them.
In just one attack, the 10,000 men offered only a brief resistance before being completely wiped out by a hail of arrows. Only Takayama Ichizawa managed to escape with a few dozen men.
The blood on the ground seeped into the sea, staining the surrounding waters red.
The lieutenant's eyes widened in fury, but he was powerless to do anything. He roared, "Long live the Emperor!" and then committed seppuku, collapsing to the ground.
The dozen or so soldiers around him followed suit and committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment).
In an instant, the ground was littered with corpses, each one filled with resentment. They couldn't understand why the Great Liang was so powerful, completely overwhelming them with no chance to fight back.
However, many more people simply knelt down, expressing their submission and choosing to surrender.
"He committed seppuku?"
Looking at his lieutenant committing seppuku, Ran Min's eyes flashed with surprise. He chuckled, "Interesting. Quite fierce. Is this what they call the spirit of martial arts?"
He thought of the Yamata Nation that his lord Lin Yi had told him about, and how the almost abnormal martial spirit of the Orochi Kingdom had deeply impressed him. He had thought it was just talk, but now it seemed to be true.
"They're all ruthless people; at least they dared to commit seppuku, which is far more cruel than cutting off one's throat!" A guard on the side couldn't help but shudder and said in a deep voice.
Don't underestimate seppuku; it's a rather perverse way to die, even a rather cruel one.
Cutting your own throat can kill you quickly, but if you commit seppuku, you won't die so fast; you'll be watching yourself die with your eyes wide open, a truly desperate situation.
Ran Min couldn't help but shake his head, saying disdainfully, "They do have some guts, but it's all for naught. It's only because they haven't encountered a strong opponent; otherwise, many more of them would have committed suicide."
If you can't win, commit seppuku (ritual suicide). It sounds heroic, but upon closer inspection, it's actually quite foolish.
It's easy for you to fight weaker countries, since you lose less often. But if you were to fight the current Great Liang, and really follow their martial arts spirit, I estimate that most of the people in the Yamata Nation would commit suicide.
To put it bluntly, it's all nonsense.
Forehead!
This left the lieutenant speechless. Upon reflection, it was indeed true. At first, he was shocked, but then he realized it was utterly insane.
Oh well, if he's dead, he's dead.
He ordered the bodies to be thrown into the sea to prevent a plague from spreading. After all, this place would be part of the Great Liang in the future, and it couldn't be allowed to become polluted. Let them go to the sea to feed the fish.
But here's the question: what happened to those Yamata Nation soldiers who were kneeling?
He whispered, "General, what should we do with these people?"