Otoyomegatari - Vol. 13 Ch. 94 - Crossroads

[RexNemorensis]

Rule of Combat #1: You are not SupermanNikolovsky.

 

[Eeliejun]

@Lexical I know. The Russian Empire army was a mess for a lot of reasons. I just find it a bit over the top that Nik rushed them and killed a couple of them in a melee. Tbh he would have died doing that. Personally to me, it would have a lot better if he out sniped them and they retreated after taking losses rather than him charging without cover at them, then killing some of them, and then getting back without any scratch. Don't get me wrong it could be that he would survive in RL. Just felt different than we have seen in the past that you need to be careful to survive out in the world.

 

[Lexical]

@Eeliejun a fair point indeed. Though my thought process was that since at the time they made up for quality by quantity , by firing in volleys, charging was the safer option since both sides had already started exchanging fire. By lowering morale by picking off one or two soldiers then charging in while they are reloading their muskets, a small chance to capitalize on their disarray is possible. Of course this is all in the hypothetical and I'm by no measure a historian. What i can say with confidence is that having spent a bit participating in paintball and airsoft skirmishes, flanking and forcing the situation into cqb can cause quite a mess when the other party isn't expecting it and with a good bit of luck one can disengage before the others overwhelm you.

As for the narrative dissonance, I'm not too sure i'd agree. In a prior arc with a skirmish event, in the chapter 30s when Amira's clan is trying to kidnap her / pillage the town, her brother single handedly does the following:
-snipes a backstabbing party's leader with a single arrow
-escapes a plethora of musket fire
-indirectly destroys an artillery team with an explosion
-trumps several pursuing mounted swordsmen with his own sword
-fends off another squad of swordsmen this time while on foot.

As if that wasn't enough he then triumphs over some attacking horsemen armed with muskets while armed with but bow and manages to drive them off with some help from his friend and his sister . All told, he was responsible for dozens of deaths during a few chapters . Leaving him aside, to my eyes it seems we are encountering mainly characters that present themselves larger than life throughout the various arcs, be it the twin twins, the granny, Amira, bread girl, the palace arc ladies, and so on . one of the few low key characters would be this englishman that we're following

 

[Piamette]

Damn, I'm positive that this will end in a tragedy. At best, a bittersweet conclusion as Nik and others die to secure Smith's returnal home.

 

[driftingabove]

Oh no

 

[Omegax]

Holy shit Nikolovsky's rush! i fear we're not getting home now.

 

[krisdreemurr]

thank you for the chapter! i'm worried for them

 

[Panino]

The action scene wasn't exaggerated.
Nikolasky is very experienced and the firearms they where using there were very slow. He took advantage of their reloading time and a big man with a bayonet was one of the most scary things in combat for the soldiers. Nikolsky took a bet to kill a few inexperienced solders to stop their advance.

 

[ninjadork]

Three cheers for Nikolovsky the Badass.
@Eeliejun Actually, such a "one vs many" scene is entirely realistic. It's not common nowadays because autoloading firearms both make it more dangerous and reduce the need for people to learn HTH, but the vast majority of fist fights last less than 30 seconds. Add knives and fight-to-the-death mentality into it, and it's not uncommon for a fight to go from start to finish in less than 5. Furthermore, unless the unit in question has specifically trained to fight "in close formation" as it were, a single combatant will not have to fight more than two people at a time; the unit can't coordinate well enough to get more fighters involved. And of course, it's incredibly difficult to shoot into a melee with any reliable chance of not hitting your ally.

So with all that added together into a single-shot musket setting, it's entirely feasible for a veteran soldier to fight off a squad of less-skilled soldiers through a combination of good positioning and shock tactics.

 

[kkfvjk]

Whew that was nerve wracking

 

[Sandpaper]

When Nik was like "I have 5 daughters" I knew shit was about to go down...hope my boi survives all the death flags 😭

 

[Eeliejun]

@ninjadork You are right about the time length. Combat is fast and deadly. Stuff like this can happen in RL that is true and not saying something like this can't happen. The main problem I have is that he needed to traverse a lot of ground to get to them. They will have time to shoot and miss because of musket fire but they also have time to prep for his charge they can see he is closing in. Then he gets there gets to jump on them kills a couple of them without a scratch and then retreats without them trying to attack him or shoot him again. We are also assuming the soldiers he fought did not have any experience and that is fine. I think it would be fine if Nix found a good postion and started to shoot at them and he got some hit because like we already saw he is good with his rifle and that the enemy broke because no experience and they don't want to die and flee. To me the charge felt a bit much and not really needed. It felt a bit over the top.

 

[daywithoutgames]

page 5 : the fat guy doesnt take off his turban even when he goes to sleep ?

the fat guy is a big target but he doesnt get a single scratch ? he is so over-powered , please nerf him , lol .

 

[ninjadork]

@Eeliejun Fair enough. I can understand the charge being a bit much.

 

[ViEmlleSzDias]

Oh God...
Even tho I know Mori doesn't write tragedies (or at least didn't), she always manages to get me at the edge of my seat. 😓
And now, while I really want to see Karluk's village and everyone again and seeing Smith's party interacting with them, I hope Henry makes the desicion to listen to Ali. I mean, he promised. And continuing his mission, even tho it's a noble one, would be too irresponsible on his part, especially because his life is not the only one at stake right now.
If they do go back, I'm sure we will get Amira and CIA's POV in another way.

 

[Omnicloudx13]

Nikolovsky is one badass motherfucker charging an enemy army unit like that alone and living.

 

[dragoonstorm7]

holy fuck what a badass.