Chapter 557 The Guardian of Kwai and the Sword【5300 words】
Red Moon Fortress, outside the city, the Third Army (Aizu Army), main formation——
"Is this the Red Moon Fortress..." Kamao, who was not tall, stood in front of his horse, holding the sword at his waist with one hand and akimbo with the other.
"Except for the two walls, there doesn't seem to be anything special about it. In terms of ease of defense and difficulty of attack, it should not be as good as our Edo Castle." At this point, Kamao changed into a mocking tone, "Facing the
In such a fortress, how could the First Army achieve nothing for two consecutive days..."
"Heh, I thought that with the Sendai Clan's troops stationed in the First Army, its combat effectiveness wouldn't be much worse, but I didn't expect it to be like that."
After mentioning the "First Army", Pu Sheng's thoughts involuntarily drifted back to last night...
…
…
Last night——
"...Inamori-sama, I understand everything in detail."
Inamori's commander's tent was particularly crowded at this time - because this was the first time that the generals of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd armies gathered together since the troops officially set off for the expedition.
Compared with the First Army and the Second Army, the generals of the Third Army...or the Aizu Army seemed a little dusty.
However - despite the dusty life, without exception, they all looked resolute.
Just now, Inamori briefly and concisely explained his future battle plan to Kamao - Inamori, who did not want to spend more time on those barbarians, planned to let the Aizu army take over the "main attack" position.
After listening to the brief description of Inamori's order, Kamao gave the above answer without hesitation.
"...Can you really do it?" Although he expected that Kamio would agree without hesitation, Inamori couldn't help but asked Kamio, "Your Aizu army just conducted a forced march, right? I want you to march the next morning.
Wouldn’t it be too reluctant to participate in the attack?”
"No." Kamao replied without hesitation again, "This level is nothing to us Aizu people!"
"Inamori-sama, please feel free to leave it to us, Aizu!"
"I can't guarantee anything else."
"But I dare to guarantee that we, Aizu, will capture the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress within one day!"
Pu Sheng's words caused an uproar in the coach's tent.
For the warriors who value reputation and bravery, Pu Sheng's heroic words attracted a lot of admiration.
But at the same time - it also attracted some strange looks and sneers.
"...Ha." A sneer sounded at an inappropriate time, "Lord Pu Sheng, I'd better remind you - the barbarians in that city are not easy to deal with."
"Their iron cannons are very powerful, and they now have a master who is good at defending the city to help. The outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress is not so easy to take down."
Kamio turned to look at the person who spoke - Kamio recognized him, he was a general of the Yonezawa clan.
After listening to this general's obviously harsh words, Pu Sheng was not annoyed.
He just twitched the corner of his mouth and let out a sneer.
"Then you just have to wait and see." Kamao's sneer turned into a confident smile, "see with your own eyes whether the prestige of our Aizu clan is built or blown out!"
After saying that, Pu Sheng patted the tachi on his waist - his favorite sword: Lei Zai.
…
…
Time returns to the present——
"Lord Kamao."
A calm and calm male voice suddenly entered Pu Sheng's ears, causing Pu Sheng's thoughts to get rid of memories and return to reality.
The person who spoke was one of Pu Sheng's cronies.
"All troops are in position." The confidant said slowly, "We can launch an attack at any time."
"Okay." Pu Sheng nodded gently, "Then - let's get started."
Pu Sheng put his hand on the length of the left waist, with an astonishing curvature of the tachi Lei Kao, slowly pulled it out, and raised it above his head.
"attack--!"
Pu Sheng struck the thunder in his palm downwards heavily, as if he was going to split the city in front of him in half from a distance.
…
…
Red Moon Fortress——
"Hey Mr. Lin." Reitannoe now also called Lin Ziping "Mr. Lin", "Is the army outside the city really so powerful?"
Just now, Lin Ziping suddenly summoned Retannoe and others through Chanup's mouth.
As soon as Retannoe and the others arrived, Lin Ziping told them bluntly that the Japanese army outside the city had replaced them with another army to attack them. And this new army was unusual.
It was impossible for Retannoe not to mutter about Lin Ziping suddenly speaking such an unexpected thing in such a serious tone.
As soon as Retannoe finished speaking, Lin Ziping said in a deep voice without thinking:
"It's very powerful. The army outside the city can be said to be famous in our 'Heren Land'..."
"Although I have never seen the fighting posture of this army with my own eyes."
"But to be relied upon so much by the Edo shogunate, and to have his reputation spread so quickly, he is probably not someone who does not live up to his reputation."
"In short - don't take it lightly!"
Lin Ziping's current expression was so solemn that it seemed to freeze the air around him, and the hearts of those around him could not help but tighten.
At this moment--
woo woo woo woo--!
Conch, which I have been used to hearing these days, suddenly struck everyone's eardrums at this moment.
"Are you here...!" Chanup, who was standing next to Lin Ziping, looked sullenly and turned his gaze to the troops holding "Aizu Sankuei" who were slowly moving outside the city with the sound of conch shells...
…
…
…
"Kazuto is coming! Kazuto is coming!"
"Ready! Everything is ready!"
"Just like the previous two days! Knock down everyone who climbed up!"
…
Speeches similar to this were heard constantly on the inner and outer city walls.
Lin Ziping had just asked Retannoe and others to spread the reminder throughout the inner and outer city walls that "the Heren outside the city are different from the past. They are elite troops among the Heren and should not be taken lightly."
However - many people still look complacent even after hearing this reminder.
The smooth battle in the previous two days gave everyone great encouragement and confidence.
Everyone's confidence in protecting their homeland is now at an all-time high.
Everyone believed that today, like the previous two days, they could make it impossible for Kazuto to even climb the city wall.
It's just that... it didn't take long for the "satisfaction" on some people's faces to slowly dissipate...
…
"Hey, the Kazuto outside...the movements are really different from the Kazuto before..."
"that is true……"
…
It has the highest height, the best view, and is also the first to launch an attack. The tribesmen on the inner city wall were the first to discover the difference between the Kazuto outside the city and the Kazuto in the past.
At this moment, the group of Japanese outside the city holding a unified military flag, carrying wooden shields, and under the cover of their own archers, rushed towards the outer city wall - although the march was fast, the order was not disorderly.
Soon, the Kazuto outside the city fought their way to the base of the outer city wall despite being covered by projectiles and arrows, set up a long ladder, and officially began to attack the Red Moon Fortress.
"Get out of here!" A young tribesman fiercely stabbed Kazuto with a spear in his hand, who had just climbed up the long ladder.
This young tribesman originally thought that he could stab the newly climbed Kazuto down just like he had stabbed countless Kazuto in the past two days - but the scene that appeared in front of him next made the young man unable to bear it.
Zhu Yin's eyes widened in astonishment.
I saw the Kazuto nimbly twisting to the side to avoid the spear, and then aimed at the tribesman who had not had time to put away the spear and chopped off the sword in his hand.
Unless you are a master of sword-wielding, the sword is not designed to "break armor", and it is impossible to cut through armor no matter what.
However - the Ainu happen to be a people without armor.
It may take a little more effort to cut through armor with a knife, but it's very useful when used to cut through flesh and blood.
I saw a slanting light passing over the young tribesman's body.
Blood splattered immediately after the sword light.
After the sword light was completely swept away, the young tribesman had a huge stab wound on his upper body from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, and blood and internal organs flowed out from the huge wound.
"Ahhhhhhhh!" The young tribesman fell to the ground, covering the wound on his upper body, and let out a scream that made the listener's skin crawl.
As for that Kazuto - after seriously injuring the young tribesman with one blow, he no longer paid attention to the enemy who had lost the ability to resist and was not far from death. Instead, he picked up the knife and looked for the next opponent.
Similar scenes continued to appear all over the outer city wall.
…
"Quick! Knock down all these guys who are climbing up!"
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah--!"
"Hey! Someone here to help! We can't stop it!"
"Hmm...! My head..."
…
As soon as the battle began, both the commanders headed by Chanupu on the inner city wall and the ordinary tribesmen on the outer city wall quickly discovered the extraordinary nature of Kazuto's attack.
Neither his skills nor his will to fight can be compared to those of the previous two days.
Not long after the battle began, the Aizu samurai who climbed up successfully occupied a small area on the outer city wall and built a stronghold that could steadily transport troops upward.
"Shoot arrows over there!" Lin Ziping shouted to the dozen or so archers beside him, "shoot those and the people who have established a stronghold!"
"Come 20 people here! This place is about to be lost!" Chanup ordered loudly, "Retannoe, you go to the city wall and bring 80 reserve troops over in case of emergency!"
Since the battle began, in order to fight against today's extremely powerful force, the commanders headed by Chanup have been far busier than before.
It's just that... even with the vigorous command of Chanup and the others, as well as the vigorous resistance of the people on the wall, they still can't reverse their slightly disadvantaged battle situation.
…
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Third Army (Aizu Army), Main Formation——
"...The battle situation is as I expected." Kamao, who was observing the battle situation with a telescope, slowly put down the telescope in his hand, "The troops of the Sendai clan and other vassal states, faced with this level of barbarians, had no results for two consecutive days.
……"
Pu Sheng, who usually had few expressions, had a rare sarcastic curve at the corner of his mouth.
He looked at the fortress in the distance.
Then he lowered his head and looked at the sword on his left waist.
There was a thoughtful look on his face.
…
…
The whole army's main formation——
As soon as the battle began, Inamori was already standing on a high slope with a good view, observing the battle situation with a telescope.
Looking at the battle situation on the outer wall where the Aizu army had the upper hand, Inamori couldn't help but smile with joy.
"As expected of Aizu." Inamori said, "I was not disappointed."
The senior generals of the First Army and the Second Army are now standing behind Daomori, accompanying Daomori to observe the battle situation.
After hearing what Inamori said just now, the faces of the generals of the First Army - especially the generals from Sendai Domain, such as Akizuki and Kuroda - all darkened.
The generals of the First Army... their current mood, in a word, is - aggrieved.
They stormed for two days, but were unable to do anything against the Red Moon Fortress. The Aizu army launched an attack on the first day and gained the upper hand.
This strong contrast illustrates cruelly and directly that the combat power of the First Army is far inferior to that of the Aizu Army.
This made the generals of the First Army extremely frustrated.
Generals like Akizuki and Kuroda who were born in the Sendai clan who had always regarded the Aizu clan as their rivals felt so aggrieved that it was difficult to describe them in words...
And some generals of the Second Army, who had been fishing for a living these days, secretly cast mocking and gloating glances at the generals of the First Army.
The Second Army has 5,000 direct descendants of the shogunate, so all the generals of the Second Army are direct descendants of the shogunate.
As direct line generals of the shogunate, they had a slight sense of superiority towards the generals of the First Army, which was composed entirely of feudal armies.
Naturally, they would not miss this rare opportunity to mock the First Army.
"Tch..." Qiuyue, one of the only remaining "Xianzhou Seven Guns", whose upper body was still wrapped in thick linen, felt the mocking glances from the generals of the Second Army, turned her head away, and tried not to let go.
Ignore those people's looks.
…
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Red Moon Fortress, Chanup's residence——
Chanupu, Aisuma, Otunpuyi—their families are now all involved in the frontline battle in different ways.
But Chanup's residence did not become deserted.
Because Tang Shen still lives here.
At this moment, Tang Shen was huddled in the corner of the house, looking at the ground in front of him expressionlessly, as if in a daze.
It wasn't until a huge cry of death came from the south that Tang Shen's expression finally changed.
"The noise this time was so loud..." Tang Shen turned his head and looked outside the house, looking towards the direction from which the huge noise came - the south.
Like a magic trick, the expression on Tang Shen's face changed several times after turning his head to look south.
At first, his face was expressionless.
Then he frowned slightly, and a look of unbearability appeared on his face.
In the end - the unbearable look turned into helplessness.
Tang Shen raised his hand.
Gently stroking the thick and long crutch placed at his side.
…
…
The Aizu army's fierce attack continued until noon.
No matter how good the Aizu samurai are in fighting, they are not invincible.
After carrying out a fierce attack for nearly an hour and a half, the movements of the Aizu samurai had obviously become sluggish.
Therefore, after the sun hung high in the sky, Pu Sheng issued the order to retreat. He asked his generals to withdraw for lunch and use the lunch stall to rest and recuperate.
On the inner and outer walls of the Red Moon Fortress, the tribesmen stared blankly at the retreating Aizu army.
"The army retreated..."
"Finally retreated..."
"But it's just a temporary retreat...I'll call again in the afternoon..."
"Hey! Here are some people to help! This guy is going to die if he doesn't get treatment! Get him to treatment quickly!"
"It's the same here! There are so many wounded! Hurry up and get them for treatment!"
…
At this moment, after Kazuto retreated, the atmosphere of joy and confidence no longer filled the inner and outer walls as before.
The air is only filled with the smell of blood, uneasiness, and fear...
Chanup glanced at the outer city wall - according to his visual inspection, this morning, in just one morning, the casualties were probably equal to the total casualties in the previous two days...
"Chanup..." Retannoe murmured in a deep voice, "There are heavy casualties..."
"...Now let's treat the wounded quickly." Chanup said in a deep voice, "Go to the city wall and bring some people up, and carry the wounded down quickly."
"The He army outside the city is different from the He army in the past. It will not be surprising if he launches another attack anytime."
"Let everyone have lunch quickly and take some time to take a rest."
…
…
Third Army (Aizu Army), Main Formation——
Pu Sheng sat upright on his horse and ate the rice balls in his hands.
He lived and ate wherever the soldiers lived and ate - this was the philosophy Pu Sheng always adhered to.
As the general of the 2000 Aizu Army, he did not eat any delicacies. He only ate the most ordinary rice balls with no holes in them like ordinary soldiers.
There has always been a custom about eating rice balls that originated from unknown time - that is, before eating rice balls, roast the rice balls on the fire. After the rice balls are burnt a little, the burnt smell can make the boring rice balls
It has more flavor and can also have some appetizing effect.
Kamo especially likes this kind of burnt rice balls.
When Pu Sheng was happily chewing the rice ball in his palm, one of his cronies suddenly ran towards him from the side of him.
"Master Kamao! Master Inamori has sent a message!"
"What did Inamori-sama say?" Kamao asked.
"It's nothing. He just praised our Aizu army for being very brave and did not disappoint him. I hope we can keep up our efforts."
"Keep up the good work..." Pu Sheng shrugged, "Please tell Daomori a word for me - we will definitely be in a desperate situation, and before the sun sinks into the ground today, we will definitely capture the outside of the Red Moon Fortress.
Wall!"
The confidant looked surprised: "Capture the outer wall of Red Moon Fortress today? Isn't this... too forced..."
"Although those barbarians are not something to be afraid of. But... please forgive me - it is somewhat impossible to capture the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress in one day."
"I know." Pu Sheng responded without hesitation, "If we follow the regular fighting method like this morning and fight until the sun goes down, we probably won't be able to capture the Red Moon Fortress."
"so--"
Pu Sheng slowly stood up from his horse.
With his eyes that shot out cold light, he looked at the distant city fortress.
"This afternoon, I will personally lead the army to attack the city!"
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Let me tell you some stories about the creation of this book.
The author likes tragic stories very much, so the story about the Aizu clan during the late Tokugawa period, even after the last shogun of the Edo shogunate had surrendered, still tried to mend the cracks in the sky and save the building from falling, really poked at the author's quirks
of.
[Part of the prototype of the battle at the Red Moon Fortress in this volume is the battle in which the Aizu clan fought like an egg against a stone when facing the overthrown army, but still fought to the end]
The author has once thought about writing a collection of short stories to specifically describe the story of the Aizu Domain at the end of the Tokugawa period. The name has already been thought of - "Aoi and the Guardian of the Sword". But the author obviously does not have the energy to write this recently.
I already have a collection of short stories, so I don’t know when I will have the opportunity to write this collection of short stories (Leopard Head Cries.jpg)