These bandits are indeed just a mob - this was Ogata's only thought after sneaking into the bandit stronghold.
The poorly arranged sentry posts allowed Ogata and Atachi to easily pass through the defenses of the bandits and successfully break into their base.
There were some tents scattered here and there - this was the scene inside the base of this gang of bandits.
Tents come in different sizes, colors and fabrics. A larger tent should be able to sleep 4 or 5 people, while a smaller tent should only sleep 2 or 3 people.
The bandits lived in these tents.
It was just after 8 o'clock in the evening when Ogata and Atachi broke into the base of this group of bandits.
In ancient times, this time was already the time for many people to go to bed.
Many of the bandits had fallen asleep by this time - which was convenient for Ogata and Atachi.
At this time when some people have already fallen asleep, even if some people suddenly disappear, it is not likely to arouse suspicion. Others will only think that these people who suddenly disappeared went to sleep.
As soon as they entered the base of the bandits, Ogata and Atachi found a tent with two bandits sleeping inside.
Using the Shiranui-style stealth technique, they sneaked into the tent, and then Ogata and Atachi each killed the two sleeping bandits in the tent with a sword - the process was as smooth as flowing water.
The two bandits probably died in their sleep without even realizing what was happening.
Some of the bandits had already fallen asleep, but some were still awake, doing various things to kill time.
For example, Ogata saw a bandit with a big beard and another bandit with a small mustache sitting face to face in a corner of the base, chatting nonsense.
Because the two of them were sitting opposite each other, it would be extremely difficult to assassinate them.
While Ogata was thinking about how to perfectly assassinate the two men, something very lucky happened - the bearded bandit suddenly stood up and left.
Maybe he went to pee.
So Ogata immediately followed behind the big-bearded bandit, and when he got far away from the small-bearded bandit, he raised his knife and pierced his throat with a bird spike.
When the bandit with the small mustache saw that the bandit with the big mustache had not returned yet and rushed to check the situation, he was also killed by Ogata.
As soon as he killed this bandit with a small mustache, Ogata secretly exclaimed "I forgot" - he forgot to ask this bandit with a small mustache which tent their leader named Koizumi lived in.
But this is just a minor oversight that does not cause any harm.
After all, there are still many bandits who are still alive and can be questioned.
So Ogata and Atachi found another bandit who was somewhere outside the tent and was applying oil to his sword.
They can only fight when the wind is favorable, have no loyalty or righteousness, and will flee when disaster strikes - this is the characteristic of most bandits.
Even the Liangshan bandits in "Water Margin" are not all loyal.
Ogata had also read the original version of "Water Margin" in his previous life.
After reading the original version of "Water Margin", Ogata had a great feeling, that is:
If the 108 heroes on Liangshan could be reborn once, many of them except Song Jiang would immediately eat Song Jiang alive.
After finding the bandit who was somewhere outside the tent and was oiling his sword, Ogata simply put the sword to the man's neck, and the man immediately sold out their leader.
They sold all the information in one go, including which tent their leader Koizumi lived in, which route to take to get there, and what his physical features were.
After asking for all the necessary information and sending the bandit on his way, Ogata and Atachi followed the route the bandit had mentioned and found a large tent that was obviously much more imposing than the other tents.
The dim firelight shone through the cracks in the tent.
Ah-Ming's amazing eyesight came in handy again.
The curtain at the entrance of the tent was not pulled tight, leaving a gap about two fingers wide.
Ating looked into the tent from a distance through the gap and roughly scouted the situation inside the tent - there was only a strong man in the tent, and he seemed to be reading a book.
Although his face could not be seen clearly because he had his back to the tent entrance, his sturdy figure was consistent with the information just extracted from the bandit.
Ogata has already thought of a strategy on how to assassinate Koizumi - a two-step strategy.
The first step - rush into Koizumi's tent without being discovered by others.
The second step - stab him to death before he can react.
Ogata's plan was perfect - kill the enemy before he discovered you, so no one would know that an assassination attempt was coming.
Just do it!
The two used the Shiranui-style stealth technique and rushed straight to Koizumi's tent.
After rushing into the tent, Ogata pounced on Koizumi without saying a word, like a carnivorous beast attacking its prey.
Ogata's speed is really too fast.
Because he had heard from Ohno before that Koizumi seemed to be an expert in swordsmanship, Ogata did not hold back at all in order to ensure that he could kill him with one blow before Koizumi could react.
Open fire immediately.
My nerves were already tense before I rushed into the tent.
After rushing into the tent, go all out.
After calculating the distance between himself and Koizumi, he leaped forward.
And Koizumi——didn’t react at all.
After the curtain at the tent entrance was lifted, he turned to look at the tent entrance with a confused look on his face.
As soon as he turned his eyes to the entrance of the tent, he saw a dark shadow flying towards him.
After the black shadow pounced on him, it covered his mouth with its left hand and stabbed his throat with a knife in its right hand.
Ogata was stunned when he used the Great Freedom to pierce the throat of the person under him.
A master swordsman? That's it?
When he pulled the Great Freedom out from Koizumi's neck, Ogata realized that his and Ohno's understanding of the swordsmanship master seemed to be a little off...
"Is this person Koizumi?" asked Atachi.
Ogata looked at the man's face and said, "He has a square face, thick lips, and a burly figure. He is exactly the same as what the bandit just said. He must be Koizumi."
The assassination of Koizumi was much easier than Ogata had imagined.
Just as Ogata was using Koizumi's clothes to wipe the blood off the blade of the Daijizai sword, Atachi suddenly said in a puzzled tone:
"Hmm? What is this?"
After saying that, Atachi bent down and picked up the scroll that Koizumi was holding in his right hand.
Even after he died, Koizumi held the scroll tightly in his hand and refused to let go.
Just now, A-Machi saw through the gap in the tent that Koizumi was looking at something.
A-Machi originally thought that Koizumi was reading a book, but unexpectedly he was reading a scroll.
Out of curiosity, Ating picked up the scroll and read it quickly.
After reading it, Ating's expression changed slightly.
Noticing the change in Atachi's expression, Ogata asked:
"What is written on this scroll?"
"It doesn't say anything serious." A-Machi handed the scroll to Ogata, "It's just a letter of praise."
"Certificate of commendation?" Ogata took the scroll and read it quickly.
Just as Ating said just now - this is a letter of commendation.
The content is to praise Koizumi for his serious work and to issue this letter to praise him.
This kind of praise is quite common.
Some warriors work very hard or have made some achievements, so they will be given a commendation letter to praise your outstanding performance.
In the values ​​of the samurai of this era, nothing is more important than honor.
For many warriors, receiving a certificate of commendation from their superiors is a matter of great honor.
Ogata looked at the scroll in his hand - it had quite a lot of wear and tear, probably because it had been opened and viewed too many times.
Koizumi's full name - Koizumi Seiichiro - was written neatly on it, and a few short words were used to praise Koizumi's serious work attitude, and then some nonsense words like "You are a model of a samurai" were said.
After quickly reading the contents of the letter of commendation in his hand, Ogata couldn't help but feel very ironic.
Today, Ohno told Ogata that their leader Koizumi was also a law-abiding samurai.
After the outbreak of the "Tenmei Famine", he was ruthlessly abandoned by the feudal government in order to relieve financial pressure, and was demoted to a ronin, eventually embarking on the path of becoming a thief.
Is this how the meat-eaters of that domain treat their "model samurai"?
Koizumi was ruthlessly abandoned by the feudal government he had served for most of his life, but he still kept the award certificate awarded to him by the feudal government, which he had read countless times, and took it out to read in the middle of the night.
Ogata couldn't think of a suitable adjective to describe Koizumi, who still had this expression of praise.
Anyway, he has no sympathy for Koizumi.
After the "Tenmei Famine" broke out, he was demoted to a ronin by the feudal government, and then became a road bully, making a living by bullying men and women, killing people and robbing their property.
And now it has been three years since the "Tianming famine".
So many years have passed, and God knows how many innocent people have fallen victim to this guy's murderous hands.
After casually throwing the letter of commendation at his feet, Ogata suddenly heard shouts one after another:
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
This is Ohno's voice.
When they heard Ohno's voice, Ogata and Omachi's faces changed.
"What's going on?" A-Ming frowned, "Why did I hear that Ono's voice?"
Ogata: "I don't know. But thanks to Ohno, our assassination attempt seems to have to stop here."
"Let's get out quickly." Ating turned and rushed out of the tent.
"Wait a moment." Ogata called out to Atachi to stop, then drew out the Daishakuten and cut off Koizumi's head with one blow.
…
…
The reason why Koizumi's head had to be chopped off was because Ogata was certain that when he threw the head of Koizumi, the leader, to the surviving bandits, it would greatly shake their fighting spirit and morale.
And Ogata's judgment was quite accurate.
Holding Koizumi's head, he ran towards the direction where Ohno's shouts came from.
Ogata saw from afar Higasaka and his group, as well as a dozen or so bandits who were confronting Higasaka and their group.
Then I happened to hear a guy shouting in a very confident tone:
"Don't worry! Ohno! We have a leader! You should know how powerful Boss Koizumi is, right?"
"If there are two ignorant guys sneaking into our base, our leader will definitely find them in time and kill them!"
So Osamu took the opportunity to ask back, "Boss? Are you referring to this person?" while throwing the head of Koizumi that he had just cut off over.
After Koizumi's head fell steadily among the bandits, they immediately became chaotic.
"Who are you?" The bandit who had just confidently shouted that they and Chief Koizumi were also shaken by the shocking scene after seeing Koizumi's head, and he even stuttered when he spoke.
"Just a samurai who happened to be passing through the nearby castle town."
After telling the truth, Ogata pulled out the Daishiten from his waist, pressed his center of gravity, and ran fast, creating gusts of wind.
Due to the assassinations by Ogata and Atachi, the base which originally had 30 bandits had lost more than half of its combat power.
After seeing Ogata show up and successfully assassinate the leader of this group of bandits, Hizaka and the others felt their spirits and morale boosted.
After Ogata drew his sword and rushed towards the bandits , Hizaka and others followed closely behind him, and together with Ogata who was behind the bandits, they attacked the bandits from the front and back.
"Quick! Kill this guy! Everyone, come together! Surround and kill that guy!"
The person who made this anxious shout was Ohno.
With the help of his companions, Ohno had just cut the hemp rope that tied his hands behind his back.
Seeing Ogata rushing towards him, Ohno immediately called out to the people around him with a look of fear on his face to kill Ogata quickly, and specifically reminded them to attack Ogata with all their might.
But because Ogata's speed was so fast, as soon as Ohno's anxious shout came out, Ogata had already rushed into the bandits and swung his sword twice, killing two bandits.
Atachi did not just stand there and watch. When Ogata rushed towards the bandits, Atachi followed closely behind Ogata.
A-Ming is a person who has a very clear understanding of his strengths and weaknesses.
She knew that her sword skills were average, but her jujitsu skills were good.
Therefore, when she fought with others in close combat, she mainly used Shiranui-ryu Jutsu to attack the enemy.
A-Machi stood in front of a bandit who was about to attack Ogata.
The bandit didn't have time to react when Ating suddenly flashed in front of him, before he saw Ating stretched out both hands and directly grabbed his right hand holding the knife.
After controlling the right hand he had captured, Atachi used the grappling techniques from Shiranui-ryu Jujutsu to twist the prisoner's right arm into a strange angle.
“Ahhhhhhh——!” A heart-wrenching scream came from the bandit’s throat.
His right arm was broken by Ating, and the bandit could not hold the knife due to the severe pain, and the knife fell out of his right palm.
After making the bandit's knife fall out of his hand, Ating suddenly squatted down, quickly lowered his body's center of gravity, and then launched a sharp sweeping kick.
Ating's leg was like a whip made of steel, hitting the bandit's leg hard.
With a slight sound of bone cracking, the bandit was kicked to the ground by Atachi, and the next moment after he landed, Atachi quickly pulled out his wakizashi and stabbed the bandit's throat.
After beautifully dealing with the bandit, Ating couldn't help but sigh:
——Wearing such thick clothes will definitely affect the speed of attack...
It is a cold winter now. Ating does not have the abnormal physique of Ogata that is tempered by the system. Ating has the physique of an ordinary person. In such a cold winter, he naturally wears thick clothes.
The overly thick clothes slowed down Ating's speed whether he was grappling or kicking.
If she was wearing the ninja uniform that was very convenient for movement, A-Machi was sure that she would be able to kill the bandit much more quickly.
By the way, A-machi has always been carrying the special uniform for female ninjas from Shiranui.
Even though she had only some bad memories of Shiranui, A-Machi had to admit that the female ninja uniform in Shiranui was indeed a very convenient outfit for movement, and suitable for combat and stealth.
It would be a shame to throw away such a set of clothes that she was used to wearing and suitable for combat, so Atachi kept the female ninja uniform with her.
However, in such cold weather, there is basically no chance for the female ninja uniforms with thinner fabrics and extra coolness to appear.
After the assassination by Ogata and Atachi, there were only a dozen or so bandits left, which was not much more than the six people of Ogata and others.
With not much of an advantage in numbers, they were fighting against six people led by Ogata... If their number was multiplied by 10, Ogata might still find it a bit difficult to deal with, but with only a dozen people... the outcome of this battle was determined from the beginning.
Ogata basically killed one person with one strike.
No bandit could block or dodge Ogata's attack.
As for the bandits' counterattack...their slow swords were either easily dodged by Ogata or not.
Or maybe Ogata would cut off the sword just as he raised it.
Just like now - after killing another bandit, Xu Fang sensed someone approaching quickly from behind him.
I turned around and looked back—it was that Ono.
Ohno was holding high a knife that he had probably picked up from his dead companion, and was running towards Ogata from behind.
He probably wanted to launch a sneak attack on Ogata, so he kept his mouth shut, not making any sound, and also suppressed the sound of his footsteps.
But his level was not good enough. Even though he didn't make any sound and suppressed the sound of his footsteps, Ogata still sensed his approach.
When he saw Ogata looking back at him, a look of intense fear immediately appeared on his face.
But as soon as a look of fear appeared on his face, he gritted his teeth, suppressed the fear in his heart, and continued to rush straight towards Ogata.
In order to survive, Ohno has decided to take a gamble.
Facing Ohno who was already prepared to die, Osamu remained calm.
After lowering his eyes and measuring the distance between him and Ohno——
laugh.
The sound of swords piercing through human flesh could be heard.
Ogata used his specialty - grasping the bottom end of the handle of the sword, greatly widening the attack range of the sword, and then aimed at Ohno's throat and used the bird stab of Sakakibara Ittoryu.
The tip of Dashitian's knife sank into Ohno's throat.
Ohno did not expect Ogata to have such a trick, and as he was not strong enough, his throat was pierced by Daishikatsu.
…
…
With Ogata present, the battle started suddenly and ended quickly.
The battle was officially declared over after Ogata killed a demoralized bandit who was trying to escape.
Of the 13 bandits, 8 were killed by Ogata, 2 were killed by A-machi, Hizaka, Kinjo and Tsuchiya each picked up a head, and only Mizuno got nothing.
As soon as the battle began, Mizuno found a bandit and confronted him with swords.
However, due to his lack of practical experience and his fear of the real swords in the hands of the bandits, Mizuno did not dare to go forward. He could only hold up the sword and continuously emit Qi to intimidate the bandits.
The opponent that Mizuno found was also a man who lacked practical experience and was afraid of real swords, so he only dared to hold the sword and continuously emit Qi in an attempt to intimidate Mizuno.
So the scene turned out like this: Mizuno and the bandit were breathing heavily while performing a duet, but no one dared to step forward.
As there were fewer and fewer bandits still standing, the bandit who was confronting Mizuno gradually became afraid, so he took the initiative to withdraw from the confrontation with Mizuno and turned around to flee.
But before the bandit could run far, he was caught up by Ogata not far away and was killed by Ogata with a single blow.
After the battle, Ogata and others began to clean up the battlefield.
They first checked the bandits' base to see if there were any bandits who had escaped.
While checking to see if there were any fish that had slipped through the net, Ogata and his team discovered a lot of good things.
They found the bandits' money and food.
This group of bandits did not have much food. They only had a large bag of polished rice, a large bag of brown rice, a large bag of pickles, radishes and other vegetables, and some salted fish.
These bandits have quite a lot of money.
Ogata and his companions counted the money and found a total of 32 taels of gold, 223 taels of silver and 1,225 copper coins.
After confirming that there were no living bandits around, they began to deal with the bodies of the bandits.
Ogata and Atachi found out one by one the bandits who had just died in their assassination, and then collected their bodies and the bodies of the bandits who had died in the previous battle together - no more, no less, exactly 30 bodies.
If these people were left alone, an epidemic might break out, so Ogata and his companions worked together to dig a big hole and bury the bodies of the bandits.
Also buried in the ground were the bandits' weapons.
Ogata and his companions had no intention of taking away the bandits' weapons and selling them.
Because they have no way to sell the stolen goods.
Moreover, if they appeared in the city with a large number of weapons, it might attract the attention of the government and cause unnecessary trouble.
This morning, when they killed the dozen or so bandits except Ohno who came to have "friendly negotiations" with the villagers, Ogata and his men dealt with the bodies of the dozen or so bandits in the same way - burying them together with their weapons.
After dealing with these things, it was almost 11 o'clock in the evening.
Today they had to travel, fight with bandits, and bury the bandits' bodies. Although Ogata had plenty of energy, he didn't feel very tired, but Hizaka and the others were a little tired.
And walking on mountain roads at night is a very dangerous thing.
Therefore, Ogata and others decided to spend the night in the bandits' base and return to the mountain village after dawn the next day.
After spending a night in the bandits' base, at dawn, they set out on the road back to the village with their spoils - food and money.
After returning to the village smoothly, Ogata and others announced their victory to the villagers.
After learning that the bandits who had been eyeing their village had been wiped out, the villagers cheered and some even cried for joy.
As for how to distribute the spoils they brought back, Ogata and his companions had already made a plan on their way back to the village.
These grains are not convenient to carry, so it is better to give them to the poor village that can barely afford food, and keep the money for themselves.
After returning to the village, Ogata and others told the villagers about their distribution plan.
None of the villagers had any objection to the "spoils distribution plan" drawn up by Ogata and his colleagues - and they probably didn't dare to have any objection.
So a consensus was reached smoothly - the food that was inconvenient to take away would be given to the villagers who could barely afford to eat, and Ogata and his friends would share the money.
As for how to divide the money, Huo Ban and the others had already reached a consensus.
Ogata and Atachi got the biggest share - there was no doubt about that.
Ogata basically wiped out that group of bandits on his own.
In total, Hizaka, Tsuchiya, Kinjo, and Mizuno only saw five heads.
37 out of the 42 bandits were killed by Ogata and Atachi - the couple took the lion's share, and no one had any objection.
The money collected from the bandits totaled 35 taels of gold, 223 pieces of silver, and 1,225 copper coins.
Therefore, Hizaka made a suggestion - the 35 taels of gold would belong to Ogata and Atachi, and they would divide the remaining 223 taels of silver and 1,225 copper coins.
In response to Hizaka's distribution suggestion, Jincheng, Tsuchiya and Mizuno all nodded in agreement.
Although Ogata began to care more about the amount of money he had after he and Atachi officially established a husband-and-wife relationship, he was not a greedy person.
Although Hizaka and the others did not contribute much, they still contributed.
Ogata always felt a little guilty for letting them only share the scarce silver and copper coins.
Therefore, Ogata did not accept all the 35 taels of gold.
Instead, he divided out 4 taels of it, giving one tael each to Hizaka and the others, and he and Atachi took the remaining 31 taels.
At first, Hizaka and the others said they didn't want and couldn't accept the two gold coins, and said they would just divide the remaining silver and copper coins.
But under Ogata's firm request, Higasaka and others could only look at each other and then accept the money Ogata gave them.
Ogata's generosity in giving money greatly increased the favorability of Hizaka and others.
All the evil bandits were wiped out.
The villagers received the food they desperately needed.
Huo Ban and others also received money.
Ogata not only gained a lot of experience points, but also gained some extra money.
The outcome of this battle with the bandits can be said to be a happy one for everyone.