Chapter 300 The reputation of Niou shocked Kaibi!【8000】
"Don't be stunned! What are you doing? Fight back quickly! Fight back!"
On the watchtower of the camp, Yokokura Keinosuke, a fat man with a fat head and a body as fat as a ball in his belly, with red eyes and a hoarse throat, issued a series of instructions to his men.
The disastrous defeat five days ago had widened the numerical gap between the Souma clan and the expeditionary army to an extremely disparity.
The number of people, equipment, morale, and the horses are all at an absolute disadvantage. They have nothing to rely on except the mountain stronghold under their buttocks.
Unless the gods appear spiritually, or all the members awaken on the spot and become like the Chu army in the Battle of Julu, with one against ten and ten against a hundred, they probably won't be able to survive today.
Although anyone with a discerning eye could see that there was basically no chance of the crusade losing, and the strength gap between the two sides was too great, Yokokura Keinosuke still had some luck.
What if? What if I can repel the fire-thief Kai? What if I can repel the fire-thief Kai? Then there is hope for me to survive! There is hope that I can continue to roam around!
It was this "just in case" that made Kinosuke Yokokura's eyes ignite with a strong brilliance called "desire to survive."
In order to survive and withstand the onslaught of the crusade, Yokokura Keinosuke really went all out - he went to the front line in person and tried to boost the morale of his subordinates by "conquering in person".
But it is a pity that the effect of his courageous act... although it cannot be said to be unsatisfactory, it can also be said to be ineffective.
At this moment, I saw the remnants of Xiangma's army trapped in the isolated village. Their eyes were scattered and blurred, and there was a lingering color of panic between their eyebrows. Any slightest movement could make them feel like they were facing a formidable enemy.
, extremely frightened.
One gangster even mistook a crow flying over his head for an arrow thrown by the crusade, and was so frightened that he ran away with his head in his arms, howling like a ghost.
The so-called "every tree and grass are in war" and "the wind and cranes are roaring" are nothing more than that.
From a certain perspective, the organization of Xiangma Zhong is pretty good.
If other gangs had suffered a huge defeat with "more than half of their members dead or injured", not to mention taking up arms to fight again, they would have dispersed on the same day.
Low morale has led to this... The combat effectiveness and combat performance of the bandit army can be imagined.
There were very few arrows thrown back at the conquering army, which was completely different from the situation five days ago.
You must know that in the previous "Operation to Seize the Pass", the bandit army's counterattack still caused a lot of trouble for the expeditionary army.
Made up of two professional archer teams, the Advanced Archer Team, and the Advanced Iron Cannon Team, and a part-time professional musket team, the Fire Thieves didn't change much except for the quantity of arrows and projectiles.
Looking at the shogunate's territorial leaders... no, looking at the entire country of Japan, there are not many troops that can fight such a wealthy war.
The continuous barrages and the torrential rain of arrows formed a death net filled with the smell of gunpowder and the sharp sound of breaking through the air, firmly covering the village of Xiangma.
This mountain village, which could be called luxurious both in appearance and area, looked so weak and pitiful under this big net - Qingdeng felt a little sympathetic to this group of bandits.
In today's Japan, where the level of civilization is still stuck in the Cold Weapon Age, not all people or organizations have the opportunity to "taste" this kind of bullets, and the arrows are all struck with firepower as if they are free of charge.
Intensive firepower preparations lasted for nearly 20 minutes, until the soldiers of the Third Division and the Eighth Division finally stopped because their arms were so sore and swollen that they could hardly draw their bows.
Although he did not injure or kill many enemies, he dealt a very heavy blow to the enemy's already low morale.
It's windy today.
The steep cold wind roared through the mountains, forests and the earth, continuously carrying the stinking smell of blood, feces and urine; and the shrill wails and screams to the expeditionary army's formation, and carried them to Qingdeng and others
nose and ears.
The stench is so pungent and unpleasant, and the sound is so terrifying that it can make ordinary people who don't know how to fight shudder and tremble with fear.
But for Qingdeng and others who have been dealing with blood and death for many years due to their duties, the stench lingering in their noses and the screams surrounding their ears are just their "daily" things.
Just a part of it.
Aoto, Kanazawa Chusuke, and Mizushima Rensaburo were all unmoved. Their expressions were as usual, quietly waiting for the next order from the coach, my grandson.
My grandson Chutaro, who has delicate features, fair skin, and the appearance of a scholar, and who always smiles at others, now showed a side of him that shows no mercy to his enemies, and is known as the "Dragon of Fire" by the world.
"General attack!" - my grandson calmly waved his hand forward.
Ohh Ohh ohh--!
Amidst the urging horns, the soldiers of the crusade began to take small steps and gradually accelerated.
The clanging sound of swords, guns and armor clashing gradually began.
The awe-inspiring murderous aura combined into a dancing hurricane that pressed directly towards the village.
It is still the king, tiger, and dog who serve as the attack arrows of the entire army.
When the three generals jumped in front of the formation, the crusade's formation suddenly burst into warm cheers from heaven to earth. The already high morale reached a higher level.
There is a saying: A general will have a desire to die, but a scholar will not be greedy for life.
Almost everyone present had witnessed with their own eyes how brave the three generals standing at the front were in the previous battles.
At this moment, these three generals are standing at the forefront of the entire army, fighting side by side with the entire army again - how can this not make people feel excited and raise their fists and bare sleeves?
"Follow me!" - Kanazawa Tadatsuki's roar opened the prelude to the general attack!
With Aoto, Kanazawa Chusuke, and Mizushima Rensaburo as the centers, the soldiers formed three "pointed cones" of basically the same size and plunged headlong into the stronghold.
When Yokokura Keinosuke, who was lying on his waist and lying on the fence of the watchtower, saw this, he became furious and furious, and shouted in a sharp voice regardless of his hoarse voice:
"Shoot arrows! Shoot arrows quickly! The bows, arrows and iron cannons of the officers and soldiers have stopped! It's a good time to counterattack! Everyone, shoot arrows!"
In an instant, the huge cottage looked like a honeycomb that had been poked, a chicken coop that had been disturbed, and the chickens and dogs were jumping around.
Before Qingdeng and others could kill them, the bandits themselves were in chaos.
Some people were so frightened by the firepower prepared just now that they completely lost their will to fight. They either stood blankly with pale faces, or simply collapsed on the ground, fighting with each other.
Some people are like headless flies, neither listening to orders nor stepping forward to fight, but running around without knowing what they are doing.
Although some people still maintained their sanity and had the courage to fight. However, the weak counterattack made by these people was completely useless in the face of the powerful front of the punitive army.
Under the command of the king, tiger, and dog, the expeditionary army entered the village gate as easily as passing through a street in the early morning.
The counterattack encountered during the march was almost negligible.
What happened next...doesn't need to be described in too many words.
What else can the Xiangma people do, who are on the verge of collapse, besides opening their mouths and staring wide-eyed, watching helplessly as the crusaders break down their stronghold gate?
Covered by swords, guns and bows, protected by shields, the "engineers" stepped forward - the gate of the village was wide open!
Qingdeng jumped up and killed the enemy first!
The mortal body of flesh and blood is basically the same as ordinary paper in front of the steel-smelting knife. With just one blow, the person ceases to live, and the blood flows down.
While sheathing the knife, Qingdeng vibrated the knife vigorously to shake off the remaining blood on the knife. Then he lowered his head, glanced at the arm holding the knife, and thought to himself:
——Very good! Recovering well!
With the blessing of the talents of "Strengthening Essence" and "Physical Strength +1", Qingdeng's body has generally recovered and has basically returned to its full strength.
It's just a pity that swords cannot recover naturally like the human body.
The offensive and defensive battle to capture the mountain road five days ago was so fierce that Dingguishen naturally suffered "several wounds".
After the war, Qingdeng carefully counted the blade of Ding Guishen and found that there were as many as 7 gaps in the blade.
Fortunately, most of the gaps were very small. Qingdeng used a whetstone to sharpen them and managed to repair them. There were only two gaps that were too big. The whetstone alone would not help at all, so he needed to hire a professional.
The knife maker.
In a matter of moments, Qingdeng had already rushed into the depths of the enemy group and killed two more gangsters in an instant. He was invincible in every direction.
The attack speed and assault speed of Kanazawa Chusuke and Mizushima Rensaburo are no slower than Aoto.
Wherever the three men went, the enemy formations retreated one after another, like waves breaking apart.
The already dilapidated bandit formation was easily torn out a large gap by the "King Tiger Dog", allowing them to gradually break through the gate of the village, and the soldiers who arrived later charged into the formation.
Unable to escape, countless gangsters smashed themselves on the edges of the three cone formations commanded by "Wang Hu Dog". They also quickly retracted and fell into pieces as if they were photographing the waves on the coast.
In the chaos, Qingdeng heard someone shouting:
"Ah! It's that guy! The evil ghost is here again!"
"Ah! Why is he so haunted?"
"I know him! He is the Nioh! 'Nioh' Tachibana Aoden!"
"I won't fight! I won't fight!"
Qingdeng turned his head following the sound, and saw many gangsters screaming in panic and looking at him as if they were seeing some kind of monster.
When Qingdeng saw this, he couldn't help showing a dumbfounded expression - he never imagined that his face would one day become a weapon.
For the gangsters who had experienced previous battles, Qingdeng, who was always at the front and was the first to pass the level twice in a row, was the most impressive figure.
Seeing this man who is like the incarnation of an evil spirit appear again, and once again raise his knife high, which will definitely bring new bloodshed, how can one not be shocked to death?
For a moment, many gangsters who wanted to muster up the courage to have a good fight with the crusade suddenly lost their fighting spirit after seeing Qingdeng's face, and turned around and fled in a hurry.
This was a one-sided battle, a battle without any ups and downs, and a battle not worth writing about.
The bandits were killed and expelled by the crusade like chopping melons and vegetables. Those who died were surrendered.
From the moment my grandson waved his hand and gave the order of "general attack" to the moment the Soma army was completely defeated, less than 20 minutes had passed.
The shouts of death and screams gradually subsided.
Instead, there were questions one after another:
"Where is Yokokura Keinosuke?!"
"Hey! Tell me quickly! Where is your leader... that Yokokura Keinosuke?!"
"I found you! Kinosuke Yokokura! I took off your head!"
"Whoaaahhhh——! Wait, wait a minute! I'm not Kinosuke Yokokura! Sir! You, you have the wrong person! I just happen to have a big belly like Kinosuke Yokokura! I vote
, surrendered! No more fighting! Please don’t kill me! Please don’t kill me!”
"Go and find him quickly! Kinosuke Yokokura is a very fat man! His size should be very conspicuous!"
As the leader of the Souma clan, Yokokura Keinosuke's head is of course far more valuable than ordinary minions.
According to the price indicated on the wanted warrant, Yokokura Kinosuke's head is worth at least 50 gold.
50 gold... For the team members of Huo Fu Thief Kai, this is an extremely large amount of money.
Even from a political and military point of view, killing the leader of the Xiangma people personally is undoubtedly an extremely high-ranking achievement and is completely worth striving for.
In order to obtain this great achievement, the soldiers of each team went crazy. They stretched their necks and looked around for the huge fat man.
As the west wind spreads eastward, the eating habits of residents in big cities such as Edo, Osaka, and Nagasaki, which are more receptive to novelty than those in remote rural areas, have gradually changed. More and more people are willing to try and accept meat.
.
But even so, there are only a very small number of people who can afford to consume meat for a long time.
The eating habits of most people are no different from the past, one or two hundred years ago - the main side dishes on the table are pickled radish, tofu and other vegetarian foods, and the only meat is seafood, mainly fish.
Therefore, it is not easy to maintain a fat body in Japan today.
Yokokura Keinosuke's huge body is like cotton in a pile of coal - he can't hide it even if he wants to.
After a while, someone raised his hand and pointed to the northwest and shouted:
"Found it! Over there!"
Everyone, including Aonto, looked up - Yokokura Keinosuke was wearing a black standard haori made by a fire bandit that he got from nowhere. While the battlefield was still very chaotic, there was nothing wrong with it.
When people had enough energy to notice him, they led seven of his men and fled toward the mountains and forests in the northwest direction.
Because Yokokura Kinosuke is too fat, and the original owner of the haori he is wearing is obviously a thin man, Yokokura Kinosuke’s two front wrists are in line with the high bulge
The belly is completely exposed outside Haori's body, which looks extremely funny.
Any gangster in the Soma clan can be spared, but Keinosuke Yokokura, the leader of the Soma clan, is the one who must be eliminated no matter what. He must be seen alive and his body must be seen dead.
But the cottage has not yet been completely pacified, and if everyone rushes to chase Yokokura Keinosuke in a disorderly manner, everything will be in chaos.
At this time, Kanazawa Chusuke played his role as "deputy general of the entire army":
He raised his head and shouted:
"Tachibana-kun! Mizushima-kun! Kazama-kun! You quickly bring your troops to chase Hengkura! The rest of you will follow me and continue to clear out the cottage!"
With Kanazawa Chusuke's clear instructions, everything will be easier to handle.
In an instant, the flow of sound suddenly changed - a large number of shouts and footsteps, like torrents pouring out from the mountains, rushed towards the northwest, towards the direction where Yokokura Kinosuke fled!
"Chase! Chase quickly!"
"Keep an eye on that big fat man! That big fat man is our target! We must not let that big fat man go!"
"Don't let that big fat guy get away!"
Aoto, Mizushima Rensaburo and Kazama Nobuyoshi led their respective subordinates, namely the Third Division, the Fourth Division and the Eighth Division, and plunged into the lush mountain forest.
Suddenly, the silence of the mountain forest was broken.
The mountain forest, which is usually quiet, as quiet as the depths of the sea in the middle of the night, suddenly ripples.
"Ripples" connect with each other, expand, and quickly transform into "waves" with astonishing momentum.
Countless wild birds flew out of their nests and circled repeatedly in the sky above the mountain forest, daring not to land for a long time. The sound of flapping wings complemented the noisy footsteps stepped on by Qingdeng and his party, and together they formed an inspiring horn.
At first, everyone thought that arresting the broad-minded and fat Yokokura Keinosuke would be a very easy task.
However... everyone soon realized how wrong their thinking was.
Although Keinosuke Yokokura is fat, his steps are surprisingly agile. He is a nimble fat man!
Like a flying swallow cutting through the waves, he bent his knees, raised his ankles, and hooked a tree root that protruded high from the ground, like a ferocious blood vessel.
In a flash, he jumped onto a huge rock; in another flash, he jumped into the bushes.
While jumping, his huge belly was constantly swaying and shaking under the action of gravity and inertia - this formed a funny but shocking contrast with his body that was as fast as flying, climbing mountains and wading as easily as walking on the ground.
.
The figures of the gangsters who followed Yokokura Kinosuke closely and escaped with Yokokura Kinosuke were also so strong. The rugged mountains were like a flat stone road under their feet.
.
With just a brief thought, you can realize that this is just a very normal and natural thing - as a bandit who lives by the mountains, how could he not be familiar with the mountains? How could he not be good at walking in the mountains?
On the other hand, Qingdeng and others - they were in bad luck.
Kai is a "mountain country" that is unrivaled in all of Japan in terms of its mountainous area and complexity of mountain shapes. Many places maintain an undeveloped, original "purely natural" style.
A tree root protrudes here; a huge rock flies up there.
Here is an impenetrable primitive jungle; there is a huge, bottomless canyon.
The miraculous craftsmanship of nature has turned into a terrifying enemy that will bring disaster.
The team members of the Fire Bandit Kaiju were basically city dwellers who grew up in Edo. How had they ever seen such a formation?
Yokokura Keinosuke is obviously very familiar with the landforms of this area - he specializes in walking the kind of path that a bird has nothing to do with, which is totally not the path that normal humans should take!
Looking up: the "meandering" scenery that primitive people would shake their heads upon seeing fills every corner of the field of vision.
Countless rugged rocks, thick ancient trees, tangled bushes, scattered gravel, as well as swamps, wild bee nests and other objects that appeared from time to time, all hindered the pursuit of Qingdeng and others.
The "Ouch" battle cry of the pursuing troops gradually changed into screams of "Uh-huh".
Someone here accidentally stepped on the air and sprained his ankle; someone there accidentally kicked a stone or a tree root and fell down.
Someone here accidentally stepped into the mud and half of his leg got stuck in the mud; someone over there accidentally disturbed the beehive and was stung all over his head by wild bees as thick as a thumb.
Even Qingdeng was almost injured.
Snapped!
Qingden felt a pain on the instep of his right foot - he accidentally kicked a tree root covered with a layer of protective color under the cover of dense fallen leaves, and almost fell to the ground.
Fortunately, just at the critical moment when his face was about to come into close contact with the ground, Qingden used "Cat Turn +1" to stabilize his figure in time and prevent himself from losing his appearance.
What a pity, among the pursuing troops, the only person who could use his excellent balance to stabilize his body when he was about to fall... was Qingdeng.
Countless people have stepped on the air, tripped over, and been injured due to a moment of negligence.
If we also include the people who were unable to get up to pursue Yokokura Keinosuke due to other reasons such as stepping into the swamp and disturbing the wild bees... the non-combat attrition of the pursuit force has reached a terrifying level.
The complex and changeable road conditions in the mountains are also a great test for physical strength.
For the same journey, mountainous terrain consumes far more energy than flat terrain.
Although some people were not injured, they slowly fell behind due to lack of physical strength.
Under the dual pressure of physical strength and complicated road conditions, the originally tight formation of the pursuit troops was continuously stretched and scattered, and finally became scattered. Here was a lump, there was a patch, and the formation was scattered.
.Looking down from above, it looks like a handful of "black pepper powder" that has been randomly thrown everywhere.
One side is struggling to move even an inch; the other side is like a fish entering the sea and a dragon born in the sky - the gap between the two sides is getting wider and wider.
At the same time, there are trees, rocks, vines and other objects blocking the view.
Therefore...even though he was very reluctant, Kinosuke Yokokura's huge figure still escaped from the eyes of hundreds of pursuing troops.
In order to catch Kinosuke Yokokura, Aomori and others worked hard to chase them so far. It would be really unacceptable if they just come back empty-handed.
As a last resort, Aoto and others could only divide their forces - Aoto, Mizushima Rensaburo and Kazama Nobuyoshi led their respective subordinates and searched in different directions.
"Team 3, follow me!"
In the third division, there are only 32 soldiers who have not fallen behind and are still able to keep up with Qingdeng.
After hearing Qingdeng's cry, the remaining soldiers had to cheer up and follow Qingdeng.
Naturally, Qingdeng would not be so stupid as to run around aimlessly and look for things like a headless fly.
At this critical moment, Qingdeng's "Wind Perceiver" came to the rescue in time!
Identifying the location by listening to the voice - this is the specialty of Aoto who is currently practicing the cloud-ryu ninjutsu!
I saw Aoshinobu closing his eyes, skillfully relying on the extraordinary hearing created by the superposition of "Gathering God" and "Wind Perceiver" to search and identify the direction of Yokokura Keinosuke. His left hand became a palm.
He was walking through the bushes, holding a knife in his right hand to chop the vines; while walking through the mountains and fields, he raised his ears high, not letting go of any slight sound around him.
Whether this will be effective... Qingdeng is not sure.
Ultimately, this search method is just trying your luck.
If Keinosuke Yokokura had not fled to the direction Aoto was responsible for, then no matter how powerful Aoto's ears were, it would still be useless no matter how hard he pricked up his ears and listened carefully.
The harsh road conditions, which can cause you to fall in all directions if you are not careful, have already made all the members of the Third Division physically and mentally exhausted and depressed.
The current road ahead is full of fog called "unknown"; the outcome depends entirely on luck, which is very heartbreaking.
Under the pressure of the two, the morale of the third division was rapidly declining at a speed visible to the naked eye.
About 20 minutes later, Qingdeng heard an impatient shout from behind:
"Hey! Master Tachibana! Are you taking us on the right path? We have been walking along this path for a long time! Let alone the thief chief Hengcang, there is not even a bird poop in sight!"
The owner of this shout was none other than Akabane Koichiro, the member of the Third Division who was the most hostile to Aoto and the one who was least able to deal with Aoto.
At this time, Akabane looked very embarrassed - his waist was bent sharply as if it was about to break, his hands were firmly supporting his knees, he was panting, and the hot sweat covering his body covered the outermost haori. They were all wet.
While he was attacking Qingdeng, he also cast a look full of irritation and impatience towards Qingdeng.
Akabane is like a mouthpiece - speaking out for many people their feelings.
There is no need to ask each person one by one, just by simply observing their expressions, you can find that there are many people with a lot of resentment on their tired faces.
Physical exhaustion and the unsuccessful search had completely worn away their little remaining patience.
Just when Qingdeng was about to say something...suddenly! A wisp of mountain wind brought a faint sound of footsteps!
The mountains and wilderness are no better than the city.
The only sounds that can be heard in this primitive jungle are just the chirping of birds and the chirping of insects.
In such an environment, Yokokura Kinosuke's rapid breathing and heavy footsteps are particularly obvious!
Qingdeng made a decision immediately, turned around following the sound, turned his head and shouted to the people behind him:
"Over here! Follow me!"
The team members didn't know why, and they didn't bother to complain about this or criticize that. They all followed Qingdeng's back like a flock of sheep following a sheepdog.
Qingdeng, and the soldiers who followed Qingdeng, flew across patches of dusty ground.
The mud splashed up by human feet kept hitting the hem of the hakama tube.
Under the sunlight, the continuous woods reflecting bright green colors are constantly being left behind.
As the body gallops forward, similar scenery is constantly updated.
For a moment, a very familiar figure appeared in Qingdeng's eyes - his belly was as big as a ball. He was followed by several subordinates who had escaped together. His chest and shoulders were heaving violently due to rapid breathing.
It’s none other than Keinosuke Yokokura!
Aoto and Yokokura Keinosuke discovered each other at the same time, almost in no particular order.
At the same moment when Aoto discovered Kinosuke Yokokura, Kinosuke Yokokura also heard a strange noise coming from behind him.
He turned around and met Qingdeng's eyes.
Keinosuke Yokokura used practical actions to explain to Ayoto: What "wonderful" expressions people can make when they are extremely frightened.
Aoto heard Yokokura Keinosuke yelling a curse word from a distance.
Immediately afterwards, the flexible fat man turned his gaze back to the front and ran for his life regardless.
Seeing this, Qingdeng waved his hand and ordered his subordinates behind him to "follow up."
A new round of fierce pursuit begins in the deserted Kaibi Mountains!
This is a perseverance confrontation.
Even Yokokura Keinosuke and others who are used to dealing with mountains, after such a long period of running around in the mountains, their bodies are inevitably a little overwhelmed.
Their steps began to slow down, and their bodies were no longer stable. When jumping on rocks and tree roots, their movements were no longer as nimble and agile as before.
This is true even for this group of bandits, let alone Qingdeng and his party who have basically no experience in "mountain combat".
Qingden has the cloud-ryu ninjutsu footwork as a foundation, and also has the "cat turn +1" that can improve his mountain mobility, as well as the "iron lung" that can enhance his physical strength, "strong muscles +1" and other talents.
Blessing, so there is still strength left.
But the rest of the team members... they don't have Qingdeng's abnormal physical fitness.
In a situation like this, it's just a certainty that something will go wrong.
Sure enough - a voice full of hard work and boredom suddenly sounded behind Qingdeng:
"No way! No way! I can't run anymore!"
It's Akabane again.
I saw that Akabane was sweating more than before, and looked more embarrassed than before. Regardless of the dirt on the ground, he lay on his side on a thick and long tree root - a look that would not matter whether it was wind or rain.
The King of Heaven has come, and I can’t stand to get up again.
As a kind of creature that will die if it does not live in groups, human beings are very blindly obedient.
No matter what it is, as long as someone can start it, countless people will dare to follow it openly.
As Akabane became the first "crab eater", more and more people who were already exhausted and wanted to stop and rest followed suit.
For a time, the soldiers of the Third Division were lying or lying down in large numbers, "merging" with the ground beneath them.
As for the remaining people, they basically looked hesitant. They looked at Qingto, then at Akabane and others who stopped and made it clear that they were "not going on strike anymore." They didn't know what to choose now.
"..." Qingdeng was speechless.
He quietly stared at the motionless subordinates behind him.
Then slowly stop walking.
Stopped.
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Happy New Year to everyone! (Leopard Joy.jpg)
The author has returned to his hometown. But as a conscientious author known for his diligence, how could he give up coding just because he returned to his hometown? So the author just finished coding this chapter on a rickety car with a mobile phone.
It was very hard to write! (Leopard Death.jpg) What’s even more frightening is that in the next few days, the author will have to use his mobile phone to code...
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