Ashigaru were peasant infantry employed by the warlords of Japan to supplement the samurai in their armies.
Ashigaru* stood across the front line with naginata** held upright.
*Ashigaru were peasant infantry employed by the warlords of Japan to supplement the samurai in their armies.
**Naginata (Japanese: 薙刀, naginata) is a traditional Japanese polearm.
It consists of a curved blade mounted at the end of a wooden shaft, and is similar in form to the Chinese guandao, the European glaive, and the Russian sovnya.
Lacquered leather gleamed over their cuirasses.
Greaves and thigh guards completed their armor.
The weight of the formation was murderous.
A frontal formation.
Ashigaru in blocks of ten, twenty.
One samurai assigned to the front of each block.
The samurai fixed the line with naginata or sword.
Both wings deployed.
Archers spread out in rectangular formations.
Side volleys prepared just before contact.
Arrows nocked—movements checked.
Samurai barked short commands.
"Ready!"
"They're coming!"
Spacing on left and right was precise.
A trained formation.
Park Seong-jin swept his gaze across the line.
If he chose a central breakthrough, the archer units on both wings would rake his flanks.
That was where the line would break.
He raised two fingers.
Pointed to both flanks at once.
"Keep your distance."
"Crush the archers first."
His voice was calm.
The entire formation responded at once.
"By your command!!"
Cavalry and horse archers spread wide to the left.
Hooves kicked up dust.
The Cheongi formation fanned out like an opening fan.
Within dozens of breaths, they halted in firing formation at over a hundred jang.
Park Seong-jin stood at the center and drew his blade.
He extended it slowly forward.
The horse archers halted at range.
Piiii—!
Pipipipiping. Ping.
Horns and whistles tore through the battlefield.
The instant the signal fell, the horse archers' arrows blackened the sky.
Whiik. Shuk. Shuk shuk shuk.
A curtain of arrows poured down.
When the first volley fell, the left Wae archer line collapsed.
They returned fire, but the distance did not reach.
Arrows loosed from too far wasted effort without effect.
Flesh and iron were pierced together, and grotesque screams erupted.
"Gyueeeet!!"
"Aaaagh!!"
The Wae bows had shorter range and weaker draw.
Their counterfire cut empty air beyond the Cheongi unit's range.
By contrast, Cheongi arrows shaved away the formation from the flanks.
Armor was solid, and shields were raised—
but exposure beyond the shields was wide.
Thighs, necks, armpits, faces lay bare.
The gaps on both wings widened slowly, like a splitting dike.
Park Seong-jin muttered,
"They're splitting."
When the second volley fell, the Wae archer units lost the strength to hold.
They reeled back and hid behind the heavily armored main body.
Arrows striking solid armor bounced away in sparks.
When the third volley fell, the shapes of the archer wings vanished.
Like a bird with broken wings, the entire Wae formation began to shake.
Ashigaru stepped forward to block, but the incoming arrows were too many.
Park Seong-jin ordered,
"Archers forward!"
The archers advanced.
As the distance closed, some enemy arrows reached friendly lines.
But the rate at which the enemy fell increased.
Park Seong-jin ordered again.
"Archers back!"
The archers withdrew beyond range and continued covering fire.
Park Seong-jin raised his blade.
"Now we strike the center."
The Cheongi unit stirred as one.
Today as well, the battlefield opened at Park Seong-jin's hand.
With both wings collapsing, the Wae center braced itself.
If they failed to hold here, the line would split—
and once split, it would break.
Ashigaru at the front gasped for breath, raising their blades high.
Samurai behind them shouted, short and hard.
"Not yet!"
"Hold!!"
Park Seong-jin advanced.
Without a word, he slowly lifted the blade in his right hand.
At that moment, the Cheongi unit's breathing sank together.
The blade tip cut the sea wind and traced the sky.
Park Seong-jin's voice fell low and short.
"We go. Charge!"
He thrust the blade straight forward.
The whistle screamed.
Piiiiiiii—!!
The cavalry formation, spread like wildfire, surged forward at once.
Each hoofbeat struck the earth as dust rose like a storm.
"Charge!!"
"Cheongi unit—advance!!"
Cheongi cavalry lowered their spearpoints and hurled themselves toward the enemy's depth.
The sound of advance overlapped like crashing waves.
Dududududududu!!
Ashigaru stared in terror as the cavalry closed.
At the moment of impact, the entire front would be lifted.
Striking and blocking would come only after.
A Wae commander screamed in a trembling voice.
"Hold them—!!"
Naginata tips shook.
Samurai pushed forward, but the ground beneath them wavered.
Park Seong-jin's blade cut the wind and pointed ahead.
At the same instant, the first collision struck.
Spearpoints pierced and punched through the Wae line.
Puhk! Bang! Crack—!!
The horse's speed, the length of the spear, and the cavalryman's weight converged at a single point.
The first ashigaru rank broke under that single impact and flew backward.
"Kyaaagh!!"
"Aaaagh!!"
Bodies pierced through slammed into the soldiers behind them, shattering the formation.
Through the torn gaps, cavalry poured in like a waterfall.
Park Seong-jin surged ahead of the cavalry.
Riding the crest of the charge, he alone leapt several jang ahead into the depth.
Where his blade passed, necks, shoulders, and arms fell away.
Bodies split as blood sprayed.
Shuk—tak!
Clang!
Pududuk—!!
A samurai thrust his naginata.
Park Seong-jin's blade cut through the weapon's shaft.
The samurai's sword, already raised, rolled across the ground as well.
"That's impossible!"
"Is that even human?!"
Enemy screams spread through the entire depth.
Following the cavalry, second and third waves crashed in.
The Cheongi unit punched through the front, then split into two streams, burrowing deep into the formation.
The Wae depth began to tear in two.
Samurai who rushed out to block were flung into the air, unable to withstand mounted speed.
Park Seong-jin shifted his grip one-handed and drove deeper.
As the formation split, the balance of the battlefield wavered with it.
He spoke low.
"This is the end."