Chapter 565 A thousand years of bloody battle! [9700 words]
The Japanese army that attacked this time was the Second Army, which had never participated in a battle in these days and had remained unscathed. It was also the direct line force of the shogunate.
Although in terms of combat effectiveness, the direct troops of the shogunate are not much better than the vassal armies of each domain, and may even be slightly weaker than those of the powerful domains such as Aizu and Sendai, but they have never participated in a battle these days, so their physical strength is
, the will to fight is more abundant.
One after another, they added to his obstacles, and now even the precious artillery array was destroyed in the sea of fire. Inamori's anger has been directly ignited.
He just wanted to take over this abominable fortress quickly and kill all the damn barbarians in the fortress, so he almost without thinking sent out the direct troops who had not been sent into battle these days to preserve their strength, hoping to use the fastest force.
Quickly ending this battle that he expected should be very easy.
On the other hand, the important outer city wall on the Red Moon Fortress side has now been destroyed, leaving them with only the inner city wall as the last line of defense.
They could no longer use the "outer city wall to resist the enemy and the inner city wall to shoot from long range" tactic that had caused the Japanese army a lot of trouble these days.
There are not enough fighters.
Only the last line of defense remains.
There is no way out.
The intensity of this battle is beyond imagination.
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In the sky where the wind and snow had just stopped, rays of sunlight filtered through the gaps in the slightly dispersed dark clouds and sprinkled on the snowfield like light dust, on the city wall where shouts were now rising and blood was splattered everywhere.
Under the dim sunshine like yellow mist, there are slashing, defense, encirclement and suppression, and assault everywhere.
Arrows were flying around everyone and piercing their heads.
The Ainu's spears and the Kazuto's swords were used to capture and kill each other.
The sound of the blade chopping on the armor.
The sound of wooden shields clashing.
The sound of stepping on the "soft floor" made of human flesh.
Because he was injured, he made a sound that he could not believe was a human being...
The inner city wall, which is not very wide, is filled with dim sunlight. The inner city wall of the Red Moon Fortress is destined to leave a heavy mark in the history books of future generations. The Ainu and Kazu people grew up on the same land.
The two kinds of people are now like a pair of bears and wolves entangled together.
They kept rolling around, entangled, and fighting on this small city wall.
The "bear" opened its huge mouth and bit the "wolf"'s leg.
Although the "wolf" is not as powerful as the "bear", he still fights to the end, using his teeth and claws, which are far inferior to the "bear" weapons, to bite the "bear". The dripping blood of the "bear" and the "wolf" is splashed everywhere.
The battle was so fierce that the front lines of the two armies were changing all the time.
Suddenly somewhere, someone made a big stride forward, and then was pushed back again.
Suddenly, the Ainu gathered together, preparing for a sharp attack on Kazuto, but were immediately dispersed.
This place was the scene of the most intense fighting just now, but in the blink of an eye, another even more intense fighting took its place.
The dim sunlight reflected the fighting figures of the warriors of the two races, their ferocious faces, and their painful expressions after being injured.
Light and darkness, blood and fire, battles and defeats, survival and death, Kazuto and Ainu - this is the scene on the inner city wall.
This small inner city wall is like a microcosm of the thousand-year struggle between the two peoples.
The two ethnic groups grew up on the same land, but they had different faces and different cultures, and they fought for the land.
As thousands of years have passed, the territories of the two ethnic groups have changed, and the people have also changed for countless generations.
In this world of right and wrong, the only thing that remains unchanged is greed.
The only thing that remains unchanged is that after the blood flowing in the bodies of the two peoples is blended together, they are actually indistinguishable from each other.
Kazuto has vowed not to give up until he captures the Red Moon Fortress.
The soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress also fought to the death to defend their last line of defense.
In this struggle that they could no longer retreat or lose, Chanup had used the last resort at his disposal.
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Chanup used agility that was not befitting his age. He pulled out an arrow from the quiver behind his back, loaded it on his bow, and fired the arrow straight at a Japanese soldier who had just emerged from the ladder.
.
"Mr. Chanup!" At this time, a young man standing next to Chanup said urgently, "Please step back!"
"Many people were touched by your fighting spirit and took up arms to follow you!"
"If anything happens to you, we..."
Before the young man finished speaking, Chanup interrupted with a smile:
"Back off? Young man, where can we go back now?"
"Once the inner city wall falls, our hometown will be completely destroyed."
"This is our last line of defense."
"There is no room for us to retreat!"
"Fighting side by side with you is the last resort I can use."
After saying that, Chanup once again took out the arrow from the quiver and shouted at the same time:
"Come 5 people! Follow me!"
The last resort that Chanup could use was to go into battle himself to increase their defense strength as much as possible while boosting the morale of those who were still alive.
Retannoe, who had repeatedly prevented Chanup from going to the front line, did not jump out and intercept Chanup at this time.
Because Retannoe is now holding a bow and arrow and fighting on the front line.
Not just Chanup, Retannoe.
Now in the Red Moon Fortress, almost everyone who can go up to the city wall to fight is fighting hard on the city wall.
Including Amachi.
Before the enemy climbed up, Chanupu once advised Amachi to take refuge in a safe place, but Amachi refused without hesitation.
Seeing that he could not persuade A-Machi, Chanupu could only send people to protect A-Machi, who was hit hard by the Japanese soldiers after the Japanese soldiers launched a charge, just like he protected other shooters.
Just like destroying the Japanese artillery array, A-Machi and her "shooting team" killed and wounded all the Japanese soldiers who seemed to be difficult to deal with one by one.
Naturally, the Japanese army discovered A-Machi as a "powerful firepower point" and tried several times to attack A-Machi's location. However, because A-Machi was at the deepest part of the inner city wall, they, the shooters, had a large number of soldiers protecting them.
, so unless they killed all the soldiers blocking them, or took advantage of the opportunity to shoot a cold arrow to kill Ah-Ting, they were destined to have no way to deal with Ah-Ting.
Atachi is not the only female warrior on the wall.
On this fierce battlefield, Chanup's only daughter Aisuma is also fighting hard.
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"hiss……"
Aisuma clutched her right arm, and the constant soreness in her right arm made Aisuma take a few breaths.
Since three days ago, their military strength has been stretched thin, and capable female heroes like Aisuma have to go to the battlefield.
The three days of fighting made Aisuma feel like three years had passed.
The fierce battle was naturally accompanied by corpses that looked like they were dying.
The dead body located next to Aisuma's left foot is that of her compatriot. This man's skull has been opened with a spear.
The dead body next to her right foot had a knife in the abdomen, and the intestines flowed out from the wound, piled on a pair of hands that were folded while trying to stuff the intestines back.
A Japanese soldier not far away had his left leg seriously injured. Only a little flesh was left on the knee of his left leg. He was stumbling backwards on his remaining stump.
Another Japanese soldier, his legs were seriously injured, so he could only crawl on the ground with his hands.
Aisuma has long been indifferent to this tragic situation.
The biggest change that these three days of fighting brought to Aisuma is that she has completely become a person who no longer reacts to dead bodies of all shapes.
There is only one thought in her mind right now: drive these people away.
Even if Aisuma's arms are sore from days of drawing a bow and shooting arrows; even if every time she raises her right arm now, the pain is so painful that Aisuma's facial features are distorted and she lets out a painful groan; even if she will die at any time now,
Aisuma still gritted her teeth, pulled out a new arrow from the quiver, and loaded the arrow into the bow...
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A slash from the upper right to the lower left slashed the face of an extremely majestic Japanese soldier.
What was transmitted along the knife to Tang Shen's arm was not only the murderous touch, but also the reaction force caused by the blade's strike.
This reaction force was transmitted to Tang Shen's shoulders in one breath, piercing Tang Shen's nerves like tiny needles.
"Well……"
After retracting the knife from the Japanese soldier whose face was chopped open, Tang Shen raised his left hand to cover his right arm.
Tang Shen's right arm is now extremely congested due to strenuous exercise, the muscles are tight, and the veins are popping out.
The relentless fighting had put Tang Shen's right arm in a state of overwork, reaching the limit that his old body could reach.
Now, every time Tang Shen swings his sword, his muscles and bones will feel severe pain, protesting to Tang Shen.
"Quick! Kill this old man!"
"This old man has killed many of us!"
"Surround him! Surround him!"
Five nearby Japanese soldiers noticed something strange about Tang Shen, so they fired their guns and surrounded Tang Shen.
However... they had just stepped within three steps of Tang Shen when an arc-shaped sword light enveloped them all, passing over every vital part of their bodies.
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The passage of time will not be made faster or slower by anything.
The originally dim sunlight slowly turned into the unique orange light of the sunset.
In this era where all lighting relied on fire, the shogunate army obviously did not have the ability to fight at night.
Troops that can carry out night battles in the dark and blind are basically the best of the best.
If a force like the Shogunate Army, which has fallen in peaceful life and has been degraded for a long time, starts a night battle, I am afraid that there will be large-scale "non-combat attrition" on our side due to various things before we see the enemy.
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Daomori looked at the orange sky above his head, the military accessories in his hands, and the teeth in his mouth were chattering.
The inner city wall of Red Moon Fortress has not yet fallen!
"...Lord Inamori." A close confidant next to Inamori was afraid that Inamori, who had threatened to capture the Red Moon Fortress in one day yesterday, would get angry and force the troops to continue fighting at night, so he took courage and continued Said, "Night is coming, we..."
"I know!!"
Before the confidant finished speaking, Inamori interrupted the confidant with a roar.
After receiving a roar from Daomori, the confidant immediately shut his mouth, straightened his back, and did not dare to say any more.
Inamori looked like he was about to spit out fire, pouring firelight towards the distant castle.
After a long while, Inamori finally said in a deep voice:
"...Retreat. Prepare to spend the night."
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"Kazuto... retreated..." Chanupu murmured in a low voice as he looked at the Japanese army retreating slowly like an ebbing tide.
Everyone, like Chanup, looked at the retreating Japanese army, with extremely complicated expressions in their eyes and faces.
After watching the Japanese troops retreat, they looked at each other.
Look at me, look at you. Everyone is covered in blood, and everyone’s face is full of fatigue.
It was clear that they had successfully repelled the Japanese attack again and had held on for another day, but almost no one looked happy.
Anyone who would have had joy on his face would completely disappear after seeing many familiar faces missing, and seeing that the people who are still alive look like people who can’t bear to look at them any longer. .
Although they had once again successfully repelled the Japanese soldiers who had climbed up, the atmosphere on the city wall was so heavy that it made people breathless.
"Chanup, are you injured?" At this time, Retannoe, who came to look for Chanup, looked at Chanup's face with surprise.
There is now a huge scar on the side of Chanup's face from the left corner of his eye to the right corner of his eye.
"It's okay, I was just accidentally scratched by a Kazuto's spear."
After saying that, Chanup withdrew his gaze from Retannoe and looked around with a complicated look: "There are too many people missing..."
"...Let the children get out first." Retannoe said softly, "I see that many children can't even stand still..."
"Let the children who are still physically strong stay on the city wall and stand guard, and the other children who are about to collapse from exhaustion, let them quickly rest under the city wall and prepare to eat." Chanup said, "Let's divide the work and cooperate. .I will assign the personnel to stand guard tonight. You lead a group of people to carry the wounded down and clear the city wall."
Retannoe nodded and quickly left in front of Chanup, who also began to direct the soldiers who could still walk to evacuate from the city wall in an orderly manner.
"Ms. Atachi."
After the soldiers withdrew from the city wall in an orderly manner according to Chanup's arrangements, Chanup found A-Machi.
All other members of A-Machi's "sniper team" have now withdrawn, leaving only A-Machi sitting in place.
She raised her head and looked out of the city as if she were looking into the distance or looking at something else.
"I have really worked hard for you today, and I am very grateful to you." Chanup's words did not conceal his gratitude, "Now that the army has retreated, you should go down and have a rest. "
Today, when A-Machi found him and told Chanupu that she wanted to use her musket to launch long-distance shooting at the Japanese artillery array, there was a large part of the reason why he finally agreed to let A-Machi go into battle. It's because Atachi is Ogata's wife.
"Mashima-kun is an incredible person, so his wife might not be an ordinary person." This was what Chanup thought at the time.
In addition, A-Ting insisted on letting her go into battle, and he couldn't convince her no matter what. In the end, Chanup thought of "give it a try" and let A-Ting go into battle.
In the end, it turns out that she is truly worthy of being the wife of a hero like Majima-kun.
"Mr. Chanup, you have to thank me like this." A-Machi smiled at Chanup, "You and I are now grasshoppers on the same rope. If your city can help,
, it’s also a disaster for me.”
"What's more, you are also very kind to us."
"First, he helped us find the pair of doctors. Then he treated me who was injured."
"Both the emotions and the reasons, I have no reason to sit idly by and watch."
"I haven't been outdoors for a long time. During this time, I have been bored in Kunoya's clinic."
Having said this, A-Machi turned his head and turned his gaze to the distance outside the city again.
"I want to stay here for a while, and I will go down to rest later."
Seeing what A-Machi had said, Chanup naturally couldn't say anything else. After telling A-Machi something like "It's very cold at night, be careful not to freeze", he then went on to direct the children to leave the city wall in an orderly manner.
Up and down.
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It was a moonless and starless night.
During the day today, after the terrifying wind and snow blew, the dark clouds that accumulated in the sky have not completely dispersed.
At the beginning of this struggle, everyone in the Red Moon Fortress would celebrate every night with success in keeping Kazuto out of the city.
But now there is no similar scene happening in the city fortress.
After nightfall, except for the soldiers who needed to stand sentry on the city wall, the rest of them withdrew from the city wall.