Seven miles south of Red Moon Fortress (approximately 28 kilometers today), on a broad plain——
The rising sun rises from the other side of the mountain. The sun seems listless. The sunlight shining on the vast land covered with white snow is extremely dim, which makes the atmosphere of the shogunate army camp on this plain even more heavy.
Looking around, every general and soldier in the camp looked sluggish and decadent. Almost everyone had their heads lowered and there was no smile on their faces.
There was silence everywhere in the camp - the only sound was the screams of the wounded while they were being treated.
In the center of the camp, in a luxurious tent, all the military generals gathered here.
"Is everyone here?"
In the camp, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting in the front seat, looked around at the generals in front of him.
The number of generals in the camp is much smaller than before...
"Everyone is here." A general sitting not far from Matsudaira Sadanobu said respectfully.
Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded: "Then let's start the military discussion."
"I won't talk too much nonsense to you. I'll just talk to you about the topic."
"We will collect the remaining troops from the 2nd day. After the 2nd day, the entire army will retreat and withdraw from Ezo."
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who always acted vigorously and resolutely, used only three concise and concise sentences to make the generals in the camp show complex and diverse expressions.
"Retreat?!" a young general with his head wrapped in thick linen shouted loudly, "Master Lao Zhong! We have not lost yet! We have now gathered 6,000 generals! We still have the strength to fight! We have not lost yet.
!”
After the disastrous defeat at the hands of Ogata, the entire army was completely defeated.
Fortunately - Matsudaira Sadanobu showed up in time. He personally took charge of the gathering of the remaining soldiers.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who stepped forward in time, calmed the minds of the generals like a sea-calming needle when Inamori was killed in battle.
After having the backbone, the generals gradually returned to their proper state, each performing their duties and gathering the remaining soldiers who had been scattered in various places.
After a few days, they had successfully collected 6,000 soldiers and some baggage that had been abandoned on the road.
As soon as the young general finished speaking, several voices echoed:
"Yes! Master Lao Zhong! We can still fight again!"
"The tragic defeat a few days ago was just a sneak attack by that executioner Ittousai! If we fight again, we will definitely not make the same mistake again! We will definitely win in one battle!"
"Lord Lao Zhong! Let us fight again!"
…
Matsudaira Sadanobu did not interrupt these people's speeches, but quietly put his hands on his legs, and tapped his right thigh rhythmically with his right index finger.
After allowing these generals to make impassioned speeches, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a calm tone:
"Fight again? Have you taken a good look at the condition of these remnant soldiers that have been gathered back now? Do you think such a force can still fight again?"
Matsudaira's words made the group of people who had just threatened to "fight again" choke.
"The morale of the entire army is completely exhausted. If we ask them to launch a new attack on the Red Moon Fortress, I am afraid they will mutiny directly." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued, "And - have you ever thought about the baggage issue?"
"When the whole army fled, they abandoned a lot of baggage, including a lot of food and grass."
"With our army's current baggage reserves, it is no longer enough for our army to launch a new attack."
"While the current baggage reserves are enough to allow the remaining troops to withdraw to the mainland, retreating quickly is our best option at the moment."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, a hoarse shout suddenly sounded:
"Lord Naka! Are we really going to retreat like this? We have suffered so much humiliation because of the executioner Ittosai, are we really going to retreat like this?"
Everyone in the camp, including Matsudaira Sadanobu, focused their attention on the owner of the shout, Kamao.
From a certain point of view, Kamao's experience during this period can be regarded as a blessing in disguise - as a general of the Aizu army, he has been recuperating in the rear since he was seriously injured by Jindu, so he perfectly matched Ogata's surprise attack.
Passed by by mistake.
After the army was defeated, Pu Sheng, who was still injured, kept holding on to gather the defeated troops, and made great contributions to the gathering of the defeated troops.
Because he was the commander-in-chief of the Aizu Army, Kamao sat very close to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
After everyone focused their attention on him, Pu Sheng, whose cheeks turned red due to emotion, then loudly said:
"Lord Lao Zhong, we have paid a huge price for the crusade against the Red Moon Fortress! I am really not willing to retreat like this!"
These days, in addition to gathering the remaining soldiers, Matsudaira Sadanobu has also been in charge of the statistics of casualties.
It is difficult to count the casualties of ordinary soldiers, but it is easy to count the casualties of generals.
Not counting the losses of ordinary soldiers and materials, the casualties among the generals alone were extremely heavy...
At present, there are 9 named generals who died under Ogata's sword, including Inamori.
The losses were so heavy, and in the end they had to return without success - this was really hard for Pu Sheng to accept.
Pu Sheng's shout just now can be said to have shouted out the aspirations of many people present. Many people showed expressions of sadness or pain after Pu Sheng finished speaking.
"...Kamao-kun." Matsudaira Sadanobu said calmly, "I can understand your mood."
After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu raised his head and looked around.
"Everyone, I hope you all understand - more than any of you here, I don't want this battle to fail."
"But the fact is so cruel - we have been defeated and have to retreat. It is useless no matter how hard we don't want to accept this fact."
Kamao opened his mouth, as if he wanted to refute Matsudaira Sadanobu.
But after opening and closing his lips for a while, Pu Sheng finally closed his mouth tightly and lowered his head with a dejected expression.
"It's all gone."
Matsudaira Sadanobu, whose expression remained unchanged, stood up from his horse.
"Everyone, please continue to act as planned."
"After collecting the remaining troops for another 2 days - the entire army retreats."
After that, Matsudaira Sadanobu took the lead and walked out of the camp with his hands behind his back.
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu left the camp, his nickname, Tachibana, immediately greeted him.
"Tachibana, let's go."
"yes."
Under the escort of the guards, Matsudaira Sadanobu and Tachibana walked side by side on the way back to the camp where they lived.
"Tachibana, what's wrong? Are you also dissatisfied with my order to retreat the entire army?"
"No!" Tachibana immediately said urgently.
"Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu turned around and glanced at Tachibana, "Your expression has already revealed what you are thinking."
"?!" Tachibana was startled, pursed his lips, and slowly lowered his head, "...Loonaka-sama, if we just withdraw like this... when we return to Edo, countless people will impeach me.
You..."
"I know." Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his attention back to the front, "After all, I initiated and personally supervised this battle. When I go back, I'm afraid even His Majesty the Emperor will follow me and add insult to injury. After all, I and
Relations with His Majesty the Emperor have always been very bad."
Tachibana: "In that case..."
"Even so, we have to withdraw our troops." Before Tachibana could finish his words, Matsudaira Sadanobu interrupted him, "There is no need to continue fighting a battle that has no chance of winning. If the remaining troops are exhausted, what will happen to them?"
It will be a disaster for the shogunate. So—just calm down, Tachibana."
Tachibana raised his eyes and glanced at the back of Matsudaira Sadanobu in front of him, who was walking forward resolutely, and his eyes slowly turned red.
While holding back his unwilling tears, he gritted his teeth and said:
"It's all that damn executioner's fault...!"
Tachibana, who was immersed in unwillingness, did not notice that when he shouted the word "executioner", Matsudaira Sadanobu's pace slowed down by half a minute - but soon the pace returned to normal.
…
…
Red Moon Fortress——
"Okay, your wound is recovering well." Cunoya checked the wound of the wounded man in front of her and nodded, "After two or three more days of rest, you should be able to go to the ground."
In order to facilitate the treatment of the wounded, Chanup vacated more than ten empty rooms specially designed to accommodate the wounded.
During this period of time, Kunoya stayed here longer than at her own home or clinic.
After looking at several wounded people in one breath, Cunoa let out a sigh of relief. Just as she was about to take a rest, an urgent shout came from behind her:
"Cunoa! Cunoa! Come and see his wounds!"
Cunoya turned around and saw several young men carrying a man whose upper body clothes were stained red with blood, running towards Cunoya quickly.
"You..." Kunoya raised an eyebrow and glanced at the group of young men in front of her, "Are you the people sent by Chanup to scout the movements of the He army?"
"Yes!" replied a young man who was carrying the bloody man. "When we were out scouting He Jun's movements today, we accidentally walked into the territory of a bear that missed hibernation and had an extremely bad temper! It
After seeing us, they probably thought we were invading its territory, so they immediately rushed over to attack us!"
Although he successfully defeated the He army, Chanup still did not dare to relax completely until it was confirmed that the He army had completely evacuated this place. Therefore, these days, he sent some people who were still free to move out to scout the He army's movements.
, confirm Hejun’s current approximate location.
"Were you attacked by a bear..." Cunoya glanced at the bloody man and said, "Follow me, there is just one empty bed left here."
Cunoya led them to an empty blanket in the corner of the room. After asking the young men to put the bloody man on the blanket, Cunoya took out a pair of scissors from her arms and cut the bloody man's chest.
After cutting off his clothes, he looked carefully at the bloody man's wounds.
"The chest was scratched by the bear's claws...the claw marks are really big. The bear that attacked you is quite big. This kid is very lucky. If he had gotten closer to the bear, he would have been cut in half by the bear's claws.
Already."
"Can he still be saved?" someone asked.
"The wound is not very deep, and there is a chance that it can be saved." Kunoya said calmly, "I will try my best, but whether this young man can be saved depends on his luck."
After saying that, Cunoa called an assistant not far away and read out a series of medicines to the assistant like she was chanting a spell, asking the assistant to quickly bring all the medicines she read.
After the assistant left quickly to get the medicine, Cunoya heard a young man who had just carried the bloody man say angrily:
"Damn Unkamuyi..."
Cunoya glanced at the young man: "Have you killed that bear?"
"Of course!" the young man said without thinking, "it attacked us. If we hadn't reacted quickly, my friend would have died under the bear's claws! The bear had already transformed into the abominable Unkamuyi
, of course we couldn’t let it go! We shot it directly to death with poisonous arrows!”
"Damn Unkamuyi..." Kunoya repeated in a low voice what the young man had just said, and then she let out a low laugh as if she was amused.
"Kunoa, why are you laughing?" the young man asked.
"Nothing." Kunoya shrugged, "I just suddenly thought of it... It should be considered a very interesting thing."
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Kunoya’s Clinic——
"Skullucci." Ogata asked Scrooge, who was sitting next to him, "What are you writing?"
"I'm writing poetry." Scrooge replied, "I don't know why, but I've been very inspired these days. Okay, please be quiet for a moment. I suddenly had a new inspiration, and I want to write it down quickly."
After saying that, Scrooge turned the notebook in his hand to a new page, picked up the pen, and then wrote quickly:
…
[The army came to kill and plunder and attacked the village.
The father of the red-haired boy lost his head.
The mother disappeared to protect the boy.
The young man was crying and wailing.
He prayed for the arrival of the noble knight to save him from the fire and water.
But the knight has not been seen for a long time.
No one wants to be that noble knight?
There are still some.
The red-haired boy quickly found someone who was willing to become that noble knight.
In the mirror.]
…
After placing the last stroke, Scrooge held the notebook far away from his eyes, holding the notebook in one hand and stroking his chin with the other.
"Well...it still feels a bit nondescript..."
"Can I see your poem?" Ogata asked in a half-joking tone.
"That's not possible. You and others probably can't understand our poetry. Besides, the poetry I just wrote is a bit bad and has no value for outsiders to read."
After Scrooge put his notebook back into his arms, he moved his eyes to look at Ogata a few times.
"Your recovery ability is really amazing. When I came to see you yesterday, your face was still a little pale, but today your face is much rosier."
"This is one of my few strengths." Ogata said as he sat up from the blanket.
"Aren't you going to lie down?" Scrooge asked.
"I've been lying down since this morning. After lying down for so long, it's time to sit down."
"Would you like some water?" Atachi, who was also sitting next to Ogata, asked.
Ogata shook his head.
"If that guy Vasili were here, he would definitely envy you." Skulucci said in a joking tone at this time, "You are also injured, but you have a beautiful woman to accompany you. But he can only accompany me.
"
When Ogata defeated the seven formations of the shogunate army in a row, although Ogata was wearing armor with excellent performance at that time, in such a fierce battle, even with the protection of the armor, it was unlikely that he would not be injured at all.
After the battle, when looking at the injuries on his body, Ogata had an astonishing 11 injuries on various parts of his body.
When Ogata fought a bloody battle with the shogunate army, he was completely focused on how to defeat the shogunate army, and did not pay attention to where there was another injury on his body. Therefore, after the war, he learned that he had so many injuries on his body.
, Ogata was also surprised.
In the past few days, Ogata and Amachi, who has not recovered from his injuries, have been living in Kunoya's clinic and receiving treatment from Kunoya. Although there are many injuries on Ogata's body, they are just ordinary skin injuries and have numerical values.
Ogata, who had a high amount of "vital energy", only rested for a few days, and his complexion recovered greatly.
Seeing that Skulucci mentioned Vasili, who was also an old acquaintance of Ogata, Ogata took advantage of the situation and asked:
"Skullucci, how are Vasili and the others doing now?"
"They are either eating or eating something every day now." Skulucci shrugged, "Except that life is a little boring, everything is fine."
"This time... I really appreciate your help." Ogata sighed softly.
A total of 64 people came to aid Ogata, including Skulucci. After a bloody battle with Ogata and the shogunate army, a total of 20 people died, and almost all of the remaining people who were still alive were injured.
The casualties were tragic...
Faced with Ogata's words of deep gratitude, Scrooge just smiled and shrugged:
"Neither I nor Vasili, they just did what we all wanted to do. So there is nothing to thank you for."
“Besides—we’ve also been paid handsomely.
Scrooge grinned.
"Last night, that Chanup suddenly came to our place and told us that in a few days they would be able to collect half of their belongings and send them over. After that, Vasili and the others went crazy with joy and were excited until they were all over the sky.
It’s almost daylight and I’m still not asleep.”
"In terms of remuneration, we actually made a profit."
Having finished speaking, Scrooge stood up from the floor.
Looking at Scrooge who was getting up, Ogata asked: "Are you leaving?"
"Yeah." Scrooge nodded, "I've stayed with you long enough. It's time to go back and see how the gang of brats under my command are doing now."
"If I hadn't been watching them, God knows what they would have done to kill their boring time."
"Anyway - today's visit is here first. Take care, Ogata-kun, I will come to see you tomorrow."
After saying that, Skulchi quickly walked away from the sight of Ogata and Atachi.
After Scrooge left, Ogata and Atachi looked at each other - they were the only two people left in the clinic.
"Skullucci is right." Amachi carefully looked at Ogata's face several times, "You look much better today. I really envy your physique..."
Atachi smiled bitterly and patted her upper chest, which was still wrapped in linen.
"I really want to have a physique like yours... When will my injury heal quickly..."
At this time, just as A-Machi finished speaking, a loud echo sounded outside the house:
"If you want your injury to heal quickly, sleep more and eat more."
Ogata and Omachi looked at the door of the clinic - Kunoya strode into the clinic holding her smoking gun that seemed to have just been extinguished.
"Kunoa." Amachi said, "You're back."
"Well. I'm not that busy today, so I came back early to take a rest." Cunoya, who seemed to be in a good mood, smiled and took out the tools for cleaning the bong from the cabinet in front of her.
Looking at Kunoa who was smiling, Amachi asked: "Kunoa, you seem to be in a good mood today. Did something good happen?"
"Nothing good happened." Cunoa said, "I just encountered something that made me very emotional today."
"Something that makes you very emotional?" Ating looked confused.
Ogata on the side was now looking at Cunoa with curious eyes.
"Just now, a group of young men carried back a young man who was injured by a bear..."
Cunoya gave a brief summary of what had just happened in a few words.
"You two should know what 'Unkamuyi' is, right?"
Ogata and Atachi nodded. The two of them were no strangers to "Unkamui". Not long after they set foot in Ezo, they were attacked by Unkamui.
Unkamuyi is an Ainu word meaning "evil god".
The Ainu people believe that every animal except deer has a god residing in its body.
If an animal attacks a human, the Ainu people believe that the god inhabiting the animal has become an evil god, that is, it has degenerated into "Unkamuyi".
Once they become "Unkamuyi", they will be listed as a must-kill target and will be expelled at all costs.
Seeing that both Ogata and Atachi knew what "Unkamuyi" meant, they smiled meaningfully and said quietly:
"We Ainu people classify animals that have harmed humans as 'unkamui' and expel them at all costs."
"But what did we do wrong with these animals that we classified as 'Unkamuyi'?"
"Most of them were just hungry and wanted to eat, and then humans happened to appear in front of them, or they attacked humans who invaded their territory."
"From their point of view, they are just living according to their instincts. The only thing they did wrong is that it affected the lives of us humans."
"The standards by which we judge whether an animal is a 'unkamuyi' are completely selfish."
"Animals that don't offend us humans are good gods, and animals that offend us humans are evil gods."
"According to selfish standards, we give animals the title of 'Unkamuyi', and then give ourselves the righteous title of 'Expelling Evil Gods' to expel the so-called 'Unkamuyi'."
"Do you feel that this kind of behavior is very similar to the invasion of us by the Japanese army this time?"
Kunoya turned to look at Ogata and Omachi, the meaningful smile on her face was now so intense that it couldn't be more intense.
"In Kazuto's eyes, according to their standards, we are probably their 'unkamuyi', and we are the ones who must be expelled."
"Our behavior of expelling animals that harm us humans is not much different from the invasion of us by the Japanese army this time - they are all vilifying the 'Unkamuyi' in their own eyes."
"Whether it's Kazuto or the Ainu, even though their cultures and living customs are completely different, there are some things that are completely the same."
"Or perhaps this is the case for humans everywhere."
"Everyone will give others the name of 'Unkamuyi' according to their own preferences and standards, and then give themselves the title of 'expelling the evil god'."
“So at the end of the day – what is ‘Unkamuyi’? Who is ‘Unkamuyi’?”
After Kunoa finished speaking, Ogata and Atachi showed completely different expressions.
Ogata looked at Cunoa with a slightly surprised look, pursed his lips, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face.
As for Atachi——
"Hmm..." Amachi pondered, his whole little face tensed up because he was thinking hard, "Kunoya, what you just said... feels a bit difficult to understand, I didn't understand...
…”
"Hahahaha." Kunoya laughed a few times, "It doesn't matter if you don't understand. What I just said was just what I felt at the moment, and I just said what came to my mind. Take what I just said
Just think of it as complaining."
"If you are really curious about what I was talking about just now, you can ask your husband."
"I saw your husband's expression - he should have understood what I just said."
A-Machi turned to look at Ogata, and Ogata, who was suddenly called by Cunoya - he was looking thoughtful, and was stunned when he faced Cunoya's sudden call.
After looking at Omachi, and then at Kunoa, Ogata scratched his hair:
"If you want to know what Kunoya said just now, I can indeed explain it to you as much as possible... but I'm not a very good talker, so I don't know if I can explain it to you.
clear."
"Well... forget it. There's no need to explain it to me." A-Machi showed a bright smile, "I've never been interested in such big principles that seem to be full of philosophy. I also hate listening to any big principles."
"Anyway, no matter how philosophical the truth is, it's not as important as 'what you and I will eat tonight'."
Seeing the carefree smile on Machi's face, Ogata was stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help but smile too.
"...Yes. You are right." Ogata smiled, "What does 'Unkamuyi' have to do with us? Instead of thinking about these big principles, it is better to think about what we will eat tonight."
"I really want to eat fish!" Ating raised his hands high.
"I also miss the taste of fish a little bit." Ogata agreed.
"Don't think about fish." Kunoya said angrily, "Just be obedient and eat the 'casualty meal' I made for you."
The expressions of Ogata and Omachi fell together.
…
…
Volume 7 "Unkamuyi" - the end!
*******
*******
Preview of Volume 8 (Final Volume) "Ittosai":
…
"Mr. Ogata, go to the holy land of Mount Koya. There may be everything you want there."
…
"You are already an enemy of the emperor, and now you want to be an enemy of the Buddha?!"