User blog:BattleGames1/BattleGames1's Season of War Episode 6 - El Cid Campeador vs Tomoe Gozen

Oh man am I having trouble just writing all these sims... no matter I shall just have to move onto the next battle until the little grey cells start working again.



Last time on the Season of War, we had two of the greatest gunslingers of the 19th century battle it out to see who is better legendary figure - and surprisingly, the Kelly Gang made it out alive against the hero of the OK Corral. Now we do same thing again only this time using two of the bravest medieval legends - one a fiery female from the Orient, the other a knight of grace and honour from the Occident.

El Cid, the chivalrous Spanish noble who helped the Castilians drive out the Moors in the Reconquista...

vs

Tomoe Gozen, one of Japan's unsung and rare female samurai...

WHO... IS... DEADLIEST?

=Let's Meet the Warriors=

El Cid
Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid Campeador, was a Castilian nobleman, military leader, and diplomat. Exiled from the court of the Spanish Emperor Alfonso VI of León and Castile, El Cid went on to command a Moorish force consisting of Muladis, Berbers, Arabs and Malians, under Yusuf al-Mu'taman ibn Hud, Moorish king of the northeast Al-Andalus city of Zaragoza, and his successor, Al-Mustain II. {C}After the Christian defeat at the Battle of Sagrajas, El Cid was recalled to service by Alfonso VI, and commanded a combined Christian and Moorish army, which he used to create his own fiefdom in the Moorish Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia. Rodrigo Díaz was educated in the royal court of Castile and became the alférez, the chief general, of Alfonso VI, and his most valuable asset in the fight against the Moors.

(From Wikipedia)

Tomoe Gozen
Tomoe Gozen (巴 御前?) (1157?–1247), was a late twelfth-century concubine of samurai general Minamoto no Yoshinaka, as well as a rare female samurai warrior (onna bugeisha), known for her bravery and strength. She is believed to have fought and survived the Genpei War (1180–1185) between the Minamoto and Taira clans.

While there is much variation on the stories concerning her, the texts are clear that Tomoe was one of the best martial arts practitioners of her day and was famed as a warrior of formidable skill.

Both Tomoe and Yoshinaka fought together in the Gempei War, which she is believed to have survived, unlike her master Yoshinaka. In one battle, she is reported to have single handily defended a bridge against dozens of attackers. In another, she is said to have killed many samurai warriors one after another in single combat and then killed their leader, Uchida Iyeyoshi. Attempting to drag her from her horse, Uchida infuriated Tomoe who promptly decapitated him and delivered his head as a trophy to Yoshinaka.

Her most famous story is from the Battle of Awazu (1184) where Yoshinaka was finally defeated by his enemies. When the battle was lost, Yoshinaka told Tomoe he will fight to the death but she should leave the battle field as he would be shamed to die fighting with a woman; after killing another opposing samurai warrior, she complied and escaped.

What happened after the battle, most sources contest. Some say she was captured by Minamoto no Yoritomo’s henchman Wada Yoshimori during the battle of Kyoto, forced to become his concubine, and then gave birth to the legendary strongman Asahina Saburo Yoshihide. Others say she became a Buddhist nun, reciting sutras on behalf of the late Lord Kiso no Yoshinaka’s soul until her death at the ripe old age of 91. Still others say she avenged Lord Kiso no Yoshinaka by killing his attackers, stealing back Yoshinaka’s head so no one else could defile it, and then walked out into the sea—head in hand—to drown. =Let's Examine the Weapons=