Chapter 521 A single person with two swords and two guns, alone in the barracks of the 3000 army (4) [8000 words]
Thanks to the book friend "Nv Jiayan" for posting the "Picture of Japanese Spear Types" in the comment area of Qidian. If you are interested, you can go to the comment area of Qidian to view this picture. The author salvaged this post. There are ancient figures in this picture.
Various styles of Japanese spears.
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Not long after Ogata and the others set off,
Takta Village
"What, what's going on?!"
Mogami stared blankly at the scene in front of him.
This morning, ever since the sun rose above the horizon, Mogami has been anxious because of nothing else but the fact that Izawa and others he sent to clean up Takta Village have yet to return.
Until time passed bit by bit and the sun had risen close to five o'clock (8 a.m.), Mogami finally couldn't sit still.
Ize and the others were delayed in returning, making it impossible for the entire First Army to move forward.
After obtaining the consent of the Immortal God, Mogami led more than 20 cavalrymen to Takta Village to find out what happened.
What happened next...is not difficult to imagine.
After returning to Takta Village, Ize was so shocked by the sight before his eyes that he almost fell off his horse.
Ize, the soldiers who followed Ize and stayed in the village last night, widened their eyes full of fear or confusion, clutched the wounds on their bodies, and fell to the ground, their bodies cold. This was
The scene before Mogami's eyes.
Not only Mogami was frightened by this scene, but the more than twenty cavalrymen who followed Mogami here were also stunned and looked at each other in shock.
"Yes, were they attacked by Ezo?" A cavalryman closest to Mogami tightened his grip on the spear in his hand and cast a wary gaze around him.
"...No." Mogami shook his head, "Probably not."
"Go and look around to see if there are any other survivors or anyone suspicious around the village."
After quickly giving the order, Mogami picked up his katana gun, dismounted from his horse, and walked slowly towards Izawa's body not far away.
After briefly checking Izawa's body, Mogami went to look at the body of another soldier.
After looking at the corpses of all the soldiers at the scene, Mogami's expression became serious at a speed visible to the naked eye.
After Mogami inspected the corpses, the twenty or so cavalrymen he brought just finished inspecting the surrounding area of the village.
"Sir, there is nothing unusual near the village."
"...Go back to camp." Mogami said in a deep voice, "We must report the situation here to uncle as soon as possible..."
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First Army Camp, somewhere at the entrance
"Laozhong-sama, are you leaving?" Sheng Tianmu looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu in front of him with regretful eyes.
At this moment, Matsudaira Sadanobu was standing opposite Ikutenme. Tachibana and his "exploration team" were waiting quietly behind him.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was standing with his hands folded, showed a faint smile:
"I have to return to the Second Army as soon as possible to join Inamori. Thank you for your hospitality last night."
The 5,000-strong Second Army led by Inamori is now located three miles (11.772 kilometers) behind the First Army, not too far away, but not close either.
Currently standing in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tenmei is actually saying goodbye to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had the most power in the world, rarely had the third eye in his camp at this time. Naturally, he wanted Matsudaira Sadanobu to stay in his camp for a while, and many people got close to him.
It's a pity that Matsudaira Sadanobu, who wanted to go back and join Inamori as soon as possible, had no intention of staying in the First Army under the command of Ikutenmu from the beginning.
The reason why he chose to come to the First Army's camp last night was simply to say hello to the Third Eye.
After hearing these words from Matsudaira Sadanobu, Shen Tianmu hurriedly replied:
"I don't dare to be a subordinate. I just did what I should do."
Just when Sheng Tianmu was about to say something more, a general in attendance suddenly appeared behind Sheng Tianmu with an anxious look on his face, then quickly ran behind Sheng Tianmu and whispered something to Sheng Tianmu.
After the general's whisper ended, Sheng Tianmu's expression suddenly changed.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who noticed the sudden change of expression on Tenmu's face, asked:
"Sheng Tianmu, what happened?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu's role in this 10,000-strong army was similar to that of "supervisor".
Although he does not hold any command power, he has the power to intervene in all affairs of the army.
Even if he did not have this power, Matsudaira Sadanobu's status as a "old Chinese" was enough to prevent the Tenmu from hiding any military affairs from Matsudaira Sadanobu.
So after Matsudaira Sadanobu's question ended, Sheng Tianmu quickly replied:
"It's the Mogami you met last night. He just sent the latest military information..."
"The soldiers who were responsible for cleaning up Takta Village last night have not returned yet."
"Mogami, who I sent to check the situation, has just returned to camp."
"According to Mogami's report, all the soldiers responsible for cleaning up Takta Village died tragically."
"Were they killed by Ezo who came to reinforce Takta Village?" Matsudaira Sadanobu frowned slightly.
"No..." Sheng Tianmu shook his head solemnly, "Almost all the soldiers were hit in the vital points and killed with one blow... The people who attacked those soldiers seemed to have extremely high level of swordsmanship..."
"A person with extremely high swordsmanship?" Matsudaira Sadanobu's slightly frowned brow suddenly relaxed, and his originally slender eyes slowly opened...
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Pasha, pasha, pasha...
The "snap" sound of horses' hooves in the snow resounded one after another at a very regular frequency.
Ogata and his party of 5 people and 2 horses were slowly moving forward somewhere deep in the mountains at a leisurely pace.
Because the surrounding land conditions were not very good, Ogata and the others did not dare to let the horses run too fast. They only dared to let the horses move at a "leisurely" speed.
Lilata, who was sitting between Omachi and Ashley, was able to play with the small windmill that Ogata had just given to her because Amachi and Ashley were protecting her in tandem.
The Ainu people did not have such a thing as a windmill, so this small gadget that could spin with just a gentle blow attracted Lilata's full attention once she got it.
Although judging from Lilata's condition, there is still a long way to go before she can recover as before, but her expression has improved a lot compared to before. At least there is a little more smile on her face, and her eyes are no longer the same as before.
So bleak and dull.
Ogata had been paying close attention to Lilata's condition just now.
Ogata found that the effect of the small windmill he had made was much better than Ogata imagined, and he couldn't help but feel as if a big stone had fallen in his heart.
"Ah, Mr. Majima, look." At this time, Aizan, who was sitting behind Ogata, suddenly pointed forward, "Is the road ahead blocked?"
Hearing Aizan's words, Ogata hurried forward and took a closer look. He saw many big trees falling on the road ahead. The trunks of each tree were covered with thick snow, which blocked Ogata's path.
It's blocked to death.
"What's going on with these trees?" A-Machi stared blankly at the trees blocking their path.
"These trees may have been washed away by avalanches." Ayzan explained, "This kind of thing is very common in the mountains. From time to time, avalanches will happen and some trees will be washed away."
"It's really troublesome..." Ogata smiled bitterly, "A horse can't jump over it... It seems we can only take a long detour."
"I hope this detour won't take us too much time..." Aizan, who was sitting behind Ogata, agreed with a wry smile.
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First Army Camp, Commander's Camp
All the generals of the First Army are now gathered in the commander's camp.
They sat on the mats as always, sitting around the east and west sides of the exquisite sand table.
Wearing armor would make it extremely inconvenient to kneel down, so in the ancient Japanese army, generals would not sit down on their knees, but would instead sit on small ponytails.
"Ha..." Kuroda, who was sitting next to Qiuyue, yawned widely and picked at the dirt between his fingers.
After the yawn passed, Kuroda turned his head and asked Qiuyue beside him in a low voice:
"Qiuyue, let's guess together why the military meeting was convened so suddenly. I guess there may be another mission."
"I won't guess about such a boring thing," Qiuyue said lightly.
"It's so boring." Although he was rejected by Qiuyue at the speed of light, Kuroda didn't have any trace of frustration on his face and continued to pick at the dirt between his fingers to pass the time.
All the people in the camp were silently waiting for the arrival of the Celestial Eye who suddenly summoned them.
call!
When everyone was bored and doing various things to pass the time, the curtain at the entrance of the camp was suddenly lifted.
All the generals followed the sound and turned their heads to see three figures appearing at the entrance of the camp.
The two figures among them are the familiar ones everyone is familiar with, Naitanmu and Mogami.
As for the third person, he was not wearing armor and was only wearing ordinary cloth. Compared with everyone present, he seemed a little out of place.
But after this person appeared, the generals in the camp showed two completely different expressions.
Most people, such as Qiuyue and Kuroda, looked shocked.
A few people looked confused.
The man in civilian clothes who entered after Tenmoku and Mogami was none other than Sadanobu Matsudaira.
Those who were doubtful after seeing Sadanobu Matsudaira were those who had never met Sadanobu Matsudaira. Although they didn’t know who this person was, they could vaguely sense what this person was from the material of his clothes and his personal temperament.
Ordinary people.
After Matsudaira Sadanobu and others entered, all the generals in the tent stood up one after another and saluted Matsudaira Sadanobu and Sheng Tianmu who entered the tent.
Matsudaira Sadanobu and Nagotenmu walked straight towards the main seat, and they sat side by side.
As for Mogami, he sat on the west side of the sand table, directly opposite Qiuyue.
After taking a seat, Sheng Tianmu introduced to everyone in the tent... to be precise, to those who didn't know what Matsudaira Sadanobu looked like, he introduced who the person sitting next to him was.
After learning that this gentle-looking middle-aged man was Matsudaira Sadanobu, the doubts on the faces of the generals who had just seen Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly turned into looks of shock like Qiuyue and the others.
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As for Akizuki, he had now recovered from the shock, and then began to wonder why Matsudaira Sadanobu was here.
Qiuyue knew about this fact last night that Matsudaira Sadanobu was in the barracks of their First Army, but because she was not of a high level, she had never been able to see Matsudaira Sadanobu.
As far as Akizuki knows, Matsudaira Sadanobu should have left their First Army barracks just now, heading to the Second Army behind them to meet up with General Inamori. Why is he here?
Not only Qiuyue is confused, but Sheng Tianmu is also confused now.
Just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had already planned to leave, suddenly expressed that he was not in a hurry to leave after learning that the soldiers responsible for cleaning up Takta Village were killed by people with extremely high-level swordsmanship. He wanted to participate in this fight for this people.
A military meeting convened due to an incident.
Although he was confused, he didn't dare to ask any more questions.
After introducing Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tenmei cleared his throat and then said loudly:
"Mogami, tell everyone what you just discovered in Takta Village."
Sheng Tianmu, who always acted vigorously and resolutely in his work, went straight to the point without making any pleasantries or making too many opening remarks.
After being called upon by the Immortal Third Eye, Mogami responded with a "yes" and slowly told everyone present about the shocking incident he had just discovered in Takta Village.
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"...I carefully inspected each body."
"Almost all of the corpses suffered injuries to their faces, throats and other vital parts that could not be protected by armor. Basically everyone was killed with one blow."
"Judging from the shape of the wounds, these wounds were all made with samurai swords. Those Yamato swords from Ezo simply can't make such wounds."
"At the same time, judging from the technique and the shape of the wounds, there may only be one person who killed all those soldiers..."
"So I think the person who killed those soldiers was most likely a person with extremely high swordsmanship."
Mogami used the shortest possible sentences to explain what he had just discovered in Takta Village one by one.
After Mogami finished speaking, almost everyone had heavy expressions on their faces.
In the current environment of long-lasting peace, not everyone among the generals currently in the coach's tent has excellent skills.
But even if they don't have excellent skills, they also know how difficult it is to accurately hit the opponent's face, throat and other parts that cannot be protected by armor when facing off against an opponent wearing armor.
If it is true that these 30 heavily armed soldiers were defeated by one person as Mogami just guessed... then this person's swordsmanship is so high that it is simply unimaginable.
"So what's going on now?"
Suddenly, someone spoke.
The person who spoke was Tiandao Xun, one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
Unlike people like Qiuyue who look very much like samurai, Tiandao is the kind of person who looks... particularly hard to mess with.
Tiandao has a somewhat messy Tsukiyo head, and there is a long scar from the forehead to the back of the head on his shaved head. It looks like a centipede lying on the top of his head, which looks extremely scary.
The eyes are too slender and resemble the eyes of a fox.
He is obviously a military general, but his skin is unusually fair, giving people the impression that if the sun shines on his skin, it might reflect light.
After Tiandao spoke, everyone focused their attention on Tiandao.
Tiandao seemed to enjoy the feeling of everyone waiting for him to speak. He grinned until the corner of his mouth almost touched the base of his ears and continued:
"So there was a samurai with extremely high swordsmanship who killed all those soldiers?"
"It's not necessarily us Kazuto." Mogami replied softly, "It's also possible that he's an Ezo who learned our swordsmanship and used our katana. It's not like there's an Ezo who can use our Japanese swordsmanship.
A strange thing."
"Quack, quack, quack, quack."
After Tiandao let out a series of his trademark duck laughs, he cast a teasing look at Mogami.
"Are you sure you read it correctly? In fact, those soldiers were not killed by samurai swords, but by Ezo's mountain swords. And it was not just one person who killed those soldiers, but a large group of people."
"Do you think I'm the kind of person who can't tell whether the wound was caused by a katana or an Ezosan sword, or the approximate number of murderers?" A look of anger appeared on Mogami's face.
Tiandao shrugged: "I just expressed reasonable doubt."
The conversation between Mogami and Tiandao made the atmosphere in the camp instantly tense like a bowstring.
But at this moment, Qiuyue suddenly spoke:
"...I'm more curious about why the 'mysterious swordsman' wanted to kill all our soldiers."
"Was that 'mysterious swordsman' invited by the Ezo to reinforce the Takta Village, or to avenge the villagers of Takta Village?"
"Or is it that the 'mysterious swordsman' just happened to pass by that place and killed all our soldiers for some reason?"
Qiuyue's sudden speech calmed down the already tense atmosphere.
"If the 'mysterious swordsman' just happened to pass by that place, why did he suddenly attack our soldiers?" a military commander from the Morioka Domain asked.
This question from this general raised questions in the minds of many people present.
Anyone with a little bit of brains knows what a person wearing a full set of armor represents.
They really couldn't imagine what kind of people would have the courage to attack the country's generals.
"Is it simply because of hatred of the shogunate?" Tiandao, who still had a smile on his face that made people feel uncomfortable, spoke again, "There are quite a few such people."
"For some reason, I hated the shogunate, so when I saw the shogunate's generals, I couldn't help but attack them."
"That before... ah, no. Isn't that the executioner Ittosai who is also very famous now? That executioner Ittousai was even crazier. He directly attacked Nijo Castle in Kyoto, and even the emperor was shocked."
Because everyone was seriously participating in the military discussion, no one noticed that the expression of Sadanobu Matsudaira, who was sitting next to Iku Tenme, changed slightly after Tendou uttered the title "Executioner Ittosai".
"... Mogami, have you sent someone to investigate the area around the village? Have you found any clues about the 'mysterious swordsman'?" Kuroda, who rarely spoke at military meetings, rarely spoke out at this time.
Mogami shook his head: "Nothing was found."
"That's going to be difficult." Kuroda sneered lowly, "I can't even find the 'mysterious swordsman'."
"There are indeed no clues at the moment..." Mogami said solemnly, "But I think that even if there are no clues, we can't just ignore the 'mysterious swordsman'."
"He has killed so many of us. If he just swallows his anger and ignores him, wouldn't it be ridiculous?"
"And I think it is extremely necessary to find out the identity of the 'mysterious swordsman'."
"It would be fine if he is just a helpless person who is targeting Japan for some reason."
"But if he is a member of a group whose purpose is to fight Japan...then I think this matter is not trivial."
Mogami's voice had just finished. Sheng Tianmu, who had been silent just now and was quietly listening to everyone in the camp expressing their opinions, finally spoke up:
"...Mogami is right."
"No matter what, we cannot turn a blind eye to this man who murdered our soldiers."
"Since our general was killed last night, even if he had transportation such as horses or dog sleds, he could not have gone too far."
"Look now, maybe we can still find them."
After finishing his words, he raised his eyes and scanned the generals in front of him.
"I decided to send people to track down the man who killed our soldiers. Who is willing to take on this important task?"
As soon as Sheng Tianmu finished speaking, most of the generals in the camp made impassioned speeches, selling themselves to Sheng Tianmu, including Qiuyue.
Compared with attacking unarmed old, weak, women and children, this kind of mission that might be able to compete with a master is what Qiuyue is interested in.
But Qiuyue has many competitors.
Mogami, who sits directly opposite Qiuyue, is also one of Qiuyue's competitors.
"Lord Sheng Tianmu! Please allow me to lead people to track down the thief who killed our soldiers!"
Mogami always had a loud voice, so his voice directly drowned out the voices of most of the people in the tent.
"The generals responsible for cleaning up the battlefield all died tragically. I have an unshirkable responsibility! So please leave this task to me! Give me a chance to redeem myself!"
Sheng Tianmu took a deep look at Mo Shang: "How do you plan to track down the thief?"
"There are currently no clues!" Mogami replied without hesitation, "As far as I know, there is a village called Siwasi Village in the mountains a little distance from here."
"Xiaguan plans to go to that village first to look for clues."
"The villagers in that village may know some useful information. I think it is very necessary to go and investigate."
After being silent for a while, Shen Tianmu nodded slightly.
Seeing Sheng Tianmu's action, most of the generals in the camp who had been trying so hard to sell themselves changed their expressions and secretly said, "Not good."
And what happened next was perfectly in line with the worst expectations they had just imagined.
"...Okay." After being silent for a while, Shengtianmu said seriously, those soldiers were killed, and you do have to bear some responsibility. Mogami, the task of tracking down this thief will be left to you."
"I will give you 50 elite soldiers who can ride horses, as well as 10 sets of bows and arrows, and 5 iron cannons."
Having said this, Sheng Tianmu raised his head, scanned the generals in the camp, and then announced their names one by one.
These generals named by Sheng Tianmu were all generals from other vassal states except Sendai Domain.
After naming these people, the Third Eye said:
"These people I just named are responsible for assisting Mogami in tracking down the thief."
These people who had just been named had looked frustrated because they had failed to receive the task, but now the expressions on their faces had undergone a 180-degree change, from frustration to ecstasy.
Even though I'm just assisting Mogami, it's still thousands of times better than being idle in the camp.
Only those who had to continue to be idle in the camp, such as Qiuyue and Tiandao, continued to have expressions of frustration and... displeasure on their faces.
After quickly assigning the tasks, Sentenmu noticed that Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting next to him, had a strange expression on his face.
"Sir Lao Zhong." Sheng Tianmu asked, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong with your body?"
"...Nothing." Matsudaira Sadanobu closed his eyes and sighed.
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about a day later
"Ah, I saw it!" A-Machi said loudly, putting a hand on his eyes, "I saw the smoke!"
Hearing A-Machi's words, Ogata let out a sigh of relief: "We've finally arrived..."
Yesterday morning, after they officially set off for the Sivasi Village to hand over the child Lilata to her grandmother who lived in Sivasi Village, Ogata and the others encountered many accidents one after another.
First, the road ahead was blocked by trees washed down by avalanches. It took a lot of time to take a long detour.
Then, I don’t know whether it was because Lilata was still young and could not memorize the road to the village where her grandmother lived, or because her mental state was not very good, Ogata and others had to walk frequently.
Stopping and walking, Lilata slowly recalled how to get to the Sivasi village.
It only took half a day to reach Sivasi Village on horseback. Due to these accidents, it took Ogata and the others nearly a day to finally see the smoke.
Although it took a lot of time, fortunately, we finally reached our destination successfully.
Ogata lightly tapped the horse's belly with his heel, driving the carrot under his crotch to run faster, running straight towards the smoke rising from the kitchen ahead.
After crossing a small snowfield, Ainu houses appeared within Ogata's field of vision.
Out of politeness, Ogata and the others got off their horses when they were still a short distance away from the Sivasi village, and led the horses slowly toward the village ahead.
After getting closer to the village, the villagers finally discovered the sudden visit of Ogata and others. The young men in the village rushed out of the village with various weapons, blocking the villagers and Ogata and others.
Among the people, everyone looked at Ogata and the others with wary faces.
"Don't be nervous! We don't mean any harm! (Ainu language)"
Ayzan shouted loudly to the villagers in front of him in Ainu language.
"Is Urape here? (Ainu)"
The name of Urapeli Lata's grandmother.
Looking at the familiar Ainu faces and listening to the familiar Ainu language, the villagers in Siwasi Village looked at each other.
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"How could this happen...! (Ainu language)"
A mother-in-law, who was probably around 60 years old, wailed and raised her hands to cover her face while sobbing.
This mother-in-law is none other than Lilata's grandmother, Ulapei.
Ogata and the others are now at Urape's home.
Just now, Ogata and the others had informed Urape and the village chief of Siwasi Village and others about what happened in Takta Village.
The village chief, who was very concerned about the identity and purpose of Ogata and others, asked to sit aside and listen before Ogata and others started speaking.
Ogata's visit to Siwasi Village this time, in addition to sending Lilata back to her relatives, also had another purpose, which was to tell the villagers of Siwasi Village to take refuge quickly to avoid the military disaster.
Who knows what the shogunate's army will do next, and which village will be wiped off the map?
Wulape covered her face and cried loudly, which brought back bad memories to Lilata beside her. She looked down at the windmill she was holding tightly with her hands and cried silently.
Ogata and the others did not bother them, and allowed them to cry in the face of such a tragedy. If they did not rely on crying to vent their anger, they would probably go crazy.
The village chief sitting next to Urape sighed silently, then gestured and glanced at Ogata, who was sitting opposite him, and motioned Ogata to go out with him.
Ogata, who understood the meaning of the village chief's eyes and movements, nodded gently, then stood up and walked out.
And Aizan, who has evolved into an excellent "translation tool man", also goes out with Ogata.
After walking out of Urape's home with the village chief, the village chief asked Ogata impatiently:
"Do you know the approximate number of Kazuto troops appearing nearby? (Ainu)"
"As far as I know, the total strength of the nearby army is about 3,000 people." Ogata said bluntly, "And the follow-up troops are about 7,000 people."
This information was all obtained from Izawa before by Ogata.
After listening to Ayzan's translation, the village chief's mouth slowly opened in surprise.
10,000 is an astronomical figure for a village chief who is used to living a life of peace and quiet. It would take hundreds of large settlements to gather so many people...
"Village Chief, I suggest you take the villagers and hide in the mountains as soon as possible." Ogata continued to say in a calm tone at this time, "If you continue to stay in the village... maybe something bad will happen."
Ogata's choice of words is very euphemistic.
Although it is euphemistic, the village chief is not an idiot, and he naturally knows what the "bad things" Ogata talks about are roughly.
"...I understand." The village chief breathed a sigh of relief, and then said solemnly to Ogata: "Thank you for sending the child here and informing us that Kazuto's army is nearby. I
We will immediately arrange for the villagers to take refuge deep in the mountains. (Ainu)"
"Move as quickly as possible." Ogata added, "After all, no one knows how the army will act in the future..."
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The five "Xianzhou Seven Guns" who participated in this battle have all appeared. To prevent everyone from forgetting, I will list the names of these five people. If you can't remember the full names, just remember the last names. Author
I can’t even remember their full names.
Born Tenmoku Zuemon
Qiuyue Liqian
Kuroda Geni
Kaoru Tiandao
Yoshihisa Mogami
ps: Tomorrow is finally "Single player, two swords and two guns, alone in the barracks of 3,000 troops (final)"! I can finally get rid of this title... This title is too long... It makes me tired of writing...