Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle——
With the troops about to be dispatched, Matsudaira Sadanobu has been very busy these days.
But Matsudaira Sadanobu is a "super workaholic". He not only does not feel tired when he is busy all the time, but he actually enjoys it.
But he is not the kind of person who is so busy that he ignores the simple principle of "combining work and rest".
At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had just finished a lot of work, was standing in front of a window with his hands behind his back, looking at the snow-capped mountains in the distance.
Relaxing your mind while enjoying the breeze and the scenery - this is Matsudaira Sadanobu's favorite way to relax.
His little name stood behind him, enjoying the breeze with him.
While enjoying the breeze and the scenery, Matsudaira Sadanobu would occasionally chat with Tachibana, who was always by his side.
For example, now——
"Tachibana." Matsudaira Sadanobu asked Tachibana behind him casually, "I heard that when the Sendai Domain's Namatemoe and others were practicing martial arts every day, they made too much noise and disturbed many people. Is that true?"
"That's true." Tachibana replied immediately, "Sama Nakatenmu and his men all have loud voices, so the noise they made during their training really disturbed quite a few people."
Having said this, Tachibana paused, and then asked Matsudaira Sadanobu:
"Master Lao Zhong, do we need to warn them to watch the volume?"
"That's not necessary." Matsudaira Sadanobu said, "Let them handle such trivial matters."
"I wanted to take advantage of some free time to go watch Sheng Tianmu and his men's training and see what kind of great men the 'Seven Spears of Xianzhou' are."
Having said this, Matsudaira Sadanobu smiled with a hint of helplessness.
"It's a pity that I just can't find the time."
Matsudaira Sadanobu just wanted to chat casually with Tachibana behind him.
But as they chatted, Matsudaira Sadanobu's thoughts uncontrollably returned to thinking about serious matters.
During this period, the general of the Aizu army, Gamo, and the general of the Sendai army, Namatenmo, stayed in Matsumae Castle and discussed future military dispatches with the generals of the shogunate army headed by Inamori.
Gamo and Namatenmo were the generals of the 2,000 Aizu army and 1,800 Sendai army respectively, so Matsudaira Sadanobu could ignore the generals of other feudal armies, but he could not ignore these two people.
During this period, Matsudaira Sadanobu carefully observed and became familiar with these two generals who were unfamiliar to him.
Although the time was short, Matsudaira Sadanobu still had some basic understanding of these two people.
People born in Tianmu have a rather bad temper and are simple and rough in character.
Moreover, Sheng Tianmu is a bit arrogant and has excessive confidence in his martial arts and the strength of the Sendai army.
As for Kasumi, he is a quiet person with few expressions, and he looks a little gloomy.
A few days ago, Matsudaira Sadanobu heard something about Gamo.
Matsudaira Sadanobu heard that Gamo's heart was far from being as "calm as water" as he appeared on the outside.
Pu Sheng is actually a person who cares very much about and desires fame, wealth and power.
Whether this news is true or false remains to be studied and discovered by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
There are two things that Matsudaira Sadanobu is very concerned about now.
The first thing I care about is the strength of the soldiers of the Aizu Army and the Sendai Army.
The second thing that I care about very much is whether the Aizu generals headed by Gamo and the Sendai generals headed by Namatenmo are reliable on the battlefield.
Matsudaira Sadanobu knew the quality of the soldiers and generals of the shogunate army, but he had no idea about the generals and soldiers of the armies of other feudal states.
The combined armies of the Aizu and Sendai clans totaled 3,800 people. If the generals and soldiers of the other clans were weak, it would be fine, but if the generals and soldiers of these two clans were particularly weak, it would be a huge headache for the "Shogunate & Northeastern Clans Allied Forces" with a total strength of only 10,000 people.
Although during this period, Gamo and others, as well as Namatemome and others, have discussed the future military deployment with the generals of the shogunate army - but this cannot show the strengths and weaknesses of the generals.
A person who can't say a word in a military meeting for half a day is not necessarily a mediocre general.
Someone who can speak eloquently in a military meeting may not necessarily shine on the battlefield. The most typical example is Zhao Kuo, who was successful in the Tang and Warring States Period and left the idiom "talking about war on paper" in the Confucian cultural circle.
Matsudaira Sadanobu now really wanted to find an opportunity to test the level of the generals and soldiers of Aizu and Sendai.
If we have an idea of ​​the strength of the generals and soldiers of these two fiefdoms in advance, it will make many things easier in the future.
Just as Matsudaira Sadanobu unconsciously turned his thoughts to thinking about serious matters, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the room, approaching from afar at a very fast speed.
"Master Laozhong! I have something urgent to report!"
"Come in." said Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Wow.
The paper sliding door was opened.
A young man knelt on one knee behind the door, sweating profusely, and reported to Matsudaira Sadanobu:
"Lord Rochu! The naturalized Ezo riots in Matsumae Castle! The planned Ezo riots in Matsumae Castle!"
Because the matter was urgent and serious, the young official reported it twice in a row.
Tachibana, who was standing behind Matsudaira Sadanobu, was shocked.
However, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression did not change at all.
It was as if he hadn't heard any important or noteworthy news at all.
"In which places are the naturalized Ainu rioting?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked in a calm tone.
The young official quickly named several streets in Matsumae Castle - all of which were very close to the northwest corner of Matsumae Castle.
"How many naturalized Ezo people were there in the riot?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked.
"There are currently about 200 people known to have joined the riots! But there are still more naturalized Ezos emerging who are participating in the riots."
"They are burning, killing and looting everywhere. Currently, civilians in those streets have been attacked, with heavy casualties!"
Even after learning of the heavy casualties, Matsudaira Sadanobu remained calm.
With his hands behind his back, he pondered for a moment and then said softly:
“…This is a good opportunity.”
At this time, Tachibana, who was standing behind Matsudaira Sadanobu and serving him, did not hear that Matsudaira Sadanobu's words were a double entendre.
The uprising of naturalized Ezo people in Matsumae Castle was a good opportunity for the two things currently facing Matsudaira Sadanobu.
…
…
"Alright! Have you guys rested enough?!" Sheng Tianmu shouted at Qiuyue and Kuroda, "Let's continue training!"
Hearing Sheng Tianmu's words, Qiuyue and Kuroda both looked bitter.
"Don't make such an expression!" Nagatenmu shouted, "This war with the Ainu is a rare war since the opening of the shogunate!"
"We are fortunate to be able to participate in this war, and we must not give up this great opportunity to make the Sendai Domain famous!"
"In this battle, we will let the world know the bravery of our Sendai samurai!"
"Now that the war is imminent, we must stay tense both physically and mentally!"
"Hurry up and pick up your guns!"
Akizuki and Kuroda, still with bitter faces on their faces, picked up their wooden spears slowly.
But at this moment, a loud announcement sounded.
Then, a figure quickly flashed in from the entrance of the courtyard.
The figure was a young official.
As soon as the young official appeared before Sheng Tianmu and others, he reported loudly:
"Master Sheng Tianmu! Master Lao Zhong has an order to convey!"
Seeing that the visitor was the envoy of Lao Zhong, Sheng Tianmu did not dare to be negligent. He quickly put down the wooden spear in his hand and led Qiuyue and Kuroda to kneel in front of the envoy.
The messenger did not say much and directly informed the riots currently happening in the city.
Then he passed on the order that Matsudaira Sadanobu had just issued:
"I order you to lead the 'Xiantai people' to repel the thugs from Rongjin and the four sections."
The so-called "Sendai people" refers to the Sendai clan generals and soldiers who followed Namatsutamu and others to stay in Matsumae Castle.
When the order was given, Sheng Tianmu was slightly stunned at first.
Then he said loudly in a tone that suppressed his ecstasy:
"yes!"
After conveying the old eunuch's order, the messenger quickly left from the sight of Sheng Tianmu and others.
After the messenger left, Shengtianmu stood up from the ground.
Then he looked up to the sky and laughed.
"Akitsuki! Kuroda! Gather all the soldiers in the city!"
"It's time to go out into battle!"
…
…
The general of the Aizu army, Gamo Miyuki, did not look like a military commander.
He is not of a big build, and although he is taller than the average person, if converted into modern length units, his height is over 1.6 meters. However, this height is not so high that people would feel he is a giant.
But despite his appearance that did not look like a military commander, he was one of the most powerful generals in the Aizu domain.
During this period, the group of people led by Nakatame from Sendai Domain have been training their bodies and martial arts vigorously every day.
The same is true for Kasumi.
However, Pu Sheng's daily practice is much quieter than Sheng Tianmu and the others.
At this moment, Kasumi was standing in front of a wooden stake with all its leaves fallen off.
Gamo is famous for his "tachijutsu".
His favorite sword, Lei Zou, hung quietly on his left waist.
The Tachi is quite different from the katana used by samurai today.
The two biggest differences are how they are worn and the eras in which they were popular.
When the katana is worn at the waist, the blade faces upwards.
When the katana is worn, the blade faces downwards.
The reason for this difference in wearing style is mainly because the two swords are used in different types of battles.
The katana is mainly used in horse battles, while the katana is mainly used in foot battles.
When riding a horse, the blade is worn facing downwards, making it easy to draw the knife and quickly engage in battle.
Moreover, the blade is worn downwards, so the bottom of the scabbard is not likely to poke the horse's butt.
The tachi was mainly popular during the late Heian period and the subsequent Kamakura shogunate period, which lasted for several hundred years.
Several hundred years ago, when Japan sent envoys to the Sui and Tang dynasties to learn about the advanced culture and systems of the Tang Dynasty, it entered three eras successively - the Asuka period, the Nara period, and the Heian period.
These three eras together span exactly 600 years (592 AD - 1192 AD).
During these 600 years, the emperor was the de facto head of state and held state power.
The tachi became popular in the late Heian period.
At the end of the Heian period, the samurai group seized state power from the emperor and established the first shogunate in history, the Kamakura shogunate. The development of the tachi reached its peak then.
During the period from the Heian period to the Kamakura shogunate period, duels were particularly popular among samurai during battles.
When fighting, both sides first lined up, and when they were ready, they would shoot a haystack arrow towards the other side's formation.
As the arrows flew through the air with sharp whistling sounds, the generals of both sides rode out of the army formation and came to the open space in the middle.
Next, the generals of both sides introduced themselves loudly at the top of their lungs, and the content was nothing more than showing off their family background and their bravery.
I am so-and-so, my ancestor is so-and-so, he once won a certain battle in such-and-such a dynasty, chopped off the head of so-and-so, etc. And I am also such a great warrior, I once killed so-and-so in battle - this was the most mainstream self-introduction content at that time.
After introducing themselves, the generals from both sides started to duel.
This kind of one-on-one duel is called "Yiqitao".
At that time, most people would fight one-on-one while riding on horses and using swords.
The common view among the samurai of that era was that a true man and a true samurai was one who could ride on a warhorse and fight the enemy one-on-one with a katana.
Then their "one-on-one duel culture" caused a lot of jokes when the Yuan Dynasty sent troops against them.
In the late Kamakura period, after the Yuan army crossed the sea, many Japanese generals foolishly planned to fight the Yuan army in a one-on-one duel.
So at the beginning of the war, you can see this scene:
The Japanese general, wearing gorgeous armor and holding a sword, walked out of the formation in a majestic manner, shouting loudly to the Yuan army, asking the most powerful warriors of the Yuan army to come out and fight him head on.
The Yuan army's generals and soldiers looked at the Japanese generals who had inexplicably gone into battle and then spoke some incomprehensible words in confusion.
The Yuan army generals and soldiers were moved by the Japanese generals' behavior of "sending heads thousands of miles away".
So he raised his hand and shot thousands of arrows, turning the Japanese general into a hedgehog.
The Yuan army had fought countless battles in Europe and Asia. What kind of war scenes had they not seen? How could I talk to you about martial ethics?
There are still many paintings depicting this "New Year's Day Battle" circulating today.
Many of these paintings depict similar content - Japanese generals wearing gorgeous armor were shot into hedgehogs by the Yuan army's arrows, or Japanese generals were shot by arrows and fled in panic.
After being severely "trained" by the Yuan army, the Japanese army finally realized that their "one-horse attack" was useless in a real war.
Therefore, since the "Gen-Japan War", Japan's "Ikki-to-Tao" culture has weakened.
In the subsequent wars fought by Japan, whether internal or external, it never played the "one-ki-to-defend" strategy again.
The decline of the "Ikkito" culture led to the decline of the katana as well.
After the fall of the Kamakura shogunate and the establishment of the second shogunate, the Muromachi shogunate, katana designed specifically for infantry combat began to appear.
The katana reached its peak during the Warring States Period after the Muromachi shogunate and the Edo period when the current Edo shogunate was established.
In the Edo period, the sword worn by every samurai at his waist was a katana, and the katana became a rare weapon.
In the Edo period, wearing a tachi instead of a katana was seen by others as wearing a suit with sneakers on.
Therefore, at a time when the tachi is already extremely rare, Gamo, who possesses superb "tachi techniques", is as rare as a rare animal.
Standing in front of the wooden stake, Kasumi was as motionless as an old pine tree.
In fact, he had been maintaining this half-squatting position for half an hour.
Finally - he slowly placed his right hand on the hilt of Lei Zou's knife, which was hanging on his waist with the blade facing downward.
He opened the scabbard, let his left arm hang loosely, steadied his legs and feet, and continued to stare straight at the wooden stake in front of him.
He adjusted his breathing, and after about half a while, Pu Sheng twisted his waist, let out a shout, took a step forward and squatted, the knife flashed, and then the blade was quickly retracted into the sheath.
After sheathing his sword, the wooden stake in front of Kamo was unexpectedly——!
There is no change...
After putting Lei Zou back into the scabbard, Pu Sheng stood up straight, then raised his hand and gently poked the wooden stake.
Click...
Following a slight cracking sound.
A diagonal knife mark appeared on the wooden stake.
Then the wooden stake slowly fell to the ground along the diagonal knife mark.
After the upper half of the wooden stake fell to the ground, a waiter who had been standing respectfully beside him hurriedly came over with a flattering smile and a hand towel in his hand.
"Master Gamo, your skills are so amazing the more I watch them!"
The messenger actually didn't understand what was so wonderful about Pu Sheng's technique just now, but he just patted the horse.
Pu Sheng ignored his waiter and took the towel to wipe the sweat from his forehead.
He was actually practicing his concentration just now.
Split a wooden stake with one knife, and keep the stake in its original shape after being split diagonally - this is not a difficult task, as long as the knife is fast and steady enough.
The difficulty lies in maintaining a low center of gravity and remaining motionless for half an hour, while still being able to accurately split the wooden stake and keep it in its original shape.
While Kasumi was wiping his sweat with a sweat towel, the waiter who had just handed him the sweat towel continued to flatter him.
"With Lord Gamo's skills, you will surely be able to perform with great power in this war against the Ainu! Let your name of bravery go down in history forever!"
Kasumi has always been a person with few expressions and few words.
From the beginning, she has been looking like a dead mom.
But after hearing what the waiter said, emotions surged in the depths of Kasumi's eyes.
He drew the Lei Zou from his waist again, then held the Lei Zhou upright with the tip pointing straight to the sky.
Because the katana is a sword specially used in horse battles, the length of the katana is often longer than that of the katana. In order to facilitate slashing on horseback, the curvature of the blade is basically larger than that of the katana.
However, this is not absolute. The length and curvature of some katana are no different from those of katana.
Ogata's Daishakuten is the best example.
Although Ogata's Daishakuten is a katana, the blade is 75cm long and has a large curvature. It is a typical "katana that is no different from a tachi".
The blade length of Gamo's Thunderstrike is slightly longer than that of Ogata's Daishakuten. Converted to the modern unit of centimeters, the blade length of Thunderstrike is about 77cm.
Gamo carefully looked at his beloved sword with the tip pointing to the sky.
In the warm winter sun, Lei Zou's blade flashed a clear blue light under the light.
Looking at his beloved sword, Gamo whispered in a voice that only he could hear:
"It would be great if the name of bravery could be recorded in history forever..."
As soon as Pu Sheng finished his murmur, a loud announcement suddenly sounded.
Then there was a sound of footsteps coming from far away.
The visitor was a messenger from the elder councilor Matsudaira Sadanobu.
…
…
Somewhere in the northwest corner of Matsumae Castle——
Looking at the scene in front of him, Maka was in a good mood.
The scene currently appearing in front of Maka Nao is very similar to the hell in Buddhism.
There was blood everywhere, broken limbs and body parts everywhere, wailing and screaming everywhere.
Just now, Maka Nao led a group of people to raid this street.
In just a moment, Makanao and his men used the archery skills that the Ainu people were best at, and slaughtered the street.
A feeling of pleasure of revenge surged from Macanao's heart and then spread throughout his body.
Looking at the corpses of people on the street, Maka was in such a good mood that he wanted to laugh out loud until he cried.
Makanao was of his father's generation and moved into Matsumae Castle, becoming one of the naturalized Ezo people of Matsumae Castle. Makanao was not yet born when his father brought his mother to move into Matsumae Castle.
It was only after they had lived there for a year that they gave birth to Macanao.
Many Ainu people decided to naturalize as Japanese people because of this reason - they were deceived by others' sweet words and thought that "Japanese land" was a paradise.
Maka's parents are a typical example.
I mistakenly thought that becoming a naturalized Japanese would allow me to live a much better life than before, but after actually moving into the "Japanese Land", I realized that this was not the case at all.
The memory of Maca Nao and people is the memory of being "discriminated".
Even after they put on human clothes, the human people still thought they were a group of barbarians, just a group of monkeys in clothes.
The discrimination against these naturalized Ainu was reflected in all aspects.
For example: when the naturalized Ainu people walked on the street, they were looked at strangely.
For example: they believe that the naturalized Aizo are a bunch of lazy and stupid guys who always think of stealing when doing work, so they are unwilling to hire naturalized Aizo.
Over time, because they could not find suitable jobs in the city, many naturalized Ainu decided to take the wrong path and make a living by committing murder and robbery.
These naturalized Ezo who have gone astray have caused the overall reputation and image of naturalized Ezo to decline again.
This led to more discrimination against naturalized Ainu people.
Thus, a vicious cycle was born.
Maca Nao is a typical example of "going astray due to discrimination".
He used to be an employee in a fabric store.
He was the only "non-Japanese" employee in that store.
The reason why the store owner hired Maka Nao was not because he did not discriminate against naturalized Ezo people.
It is because it is cheaper to hire naturalized Ezo people.
Many stores are unwilling to hire naturalized Ainu, making it extremely difficult for them to find a job.
This gave each store ample room to hire naturalized Ezo people at a low price - what? You think the price is too low? Then go find another store and see if they are willing to hire you.
The naturalized Ainu had no choice but to accept such unequal treatment. They were doing the same or even harder work as other people, but they were paid much lower wages than other people.
Macanao was only 14 years old at that time. Although he suffered discrimination in all aspects of life, he still yearned for a better life.
He thought: work hard, save money, marry a Japanese wife, give birth to a mixed-race child, and then let his son marry a Japanese wife...
As long as the interbreeding continues like this, generation after generation, their descendants will no longer have the appearance of the Ainu people, but will become completely Japanese.
With such a beautiful wish in mind, Macanao worked hard with all he had.
However, only half a year later, something unexpected happened.
The money in the cash box in the store was suddenly stolen.
From beginning to end, Macanao didn't even know where the cash box was.
But everyone in the store, including the owner, unanimously suspected that Maca was the thief.
At that time, there were frequent news reports of "naturalized Yezo stealing money or goods from stores", so when the theft happened to them, the store owners subconsciously suspected that it was Maka Nao, the only naturalized Yezo in the store, who was responsible.
Even though Maca argued hard and said he was innocent, the shop owners remained unmoved.
When the government officials arrived, they also felt that Maka Nao was the biggest suspect, so they took him away directly and then sentenced him to severe punishment, intending to torture him into confessing.
At that time, facing the various tortures from the government, Maka Nao almost died.
Just when Maka could no longer endure the torture and was about to admit directly that "I did it" to free myself, the government finally found out who the real murderer was - the murderer was another Japanese clerk in the store.
After being cleared of suspicion, Macanao finally gained his freedom.
However, after gaining his freedom, Maka's mood and thoughts changed drastically during this dark prison life.
Whenever Macanao recalled the scenes in which the shop owner and the police officers suspected him of being the thief without any explanation, he felt as if his chest was being pricked by needles as thick as an adult's arm.
The seeds of hatred were planted in Macanao's heart.
After regaining his freedom, Maka did not follow the right path again.
Instead, it started to go astray.
Since he embarked on the wrong path, Macanao has become much more shrewd than his other "colleagues".
The reason why he has not been caught until now is that he used a lot of money from robbing houses to build relationships with the Matsumae domain, and officials from the Matsumae domain secretly assisted him.
At the same time, compared with his peers, he is much more brutal and ambitious.
Ever since he became disillusioned with the so-called right path, Macanao has always had a desire in his heart.
The desire for revenge.
They longed to make the Japanese people who looked down on the Ainu people pay the price.
At the same time, they also long to establish a country that only belongs to them, the Ainu people.
And he, Makkanao, became the first head of state of this new country.
So starting from half a year ago, Maka Nao began to secretly prepare for revenge on He Ren.
Silently accumulating strength and silently waiting for the opportunity.
In Matsumae Castle, there were countless naturalized Ainu who were full of hatred towards the Wa people, so Makanao easily organized a large group of people in secret.
And now, Macanao has also waited for the best opportunity to start an uprising.
Through the network of relationships he had established in the feudal government, when Matsudaira Sadanobu just arrived at Matsumae Castle, Makano received the news that "the elder councilor Matsudaira Sadanobu is now in Matsumae Castle."
Makano had no idea about Kazuto's official position - but he only needed to know that Matsudaira Sadanobu was Kazuto's second in command.
Kazuto's second-in-command is now in Matsumae Castle - Maka thinks this is a great opportunity.
Whether kidnapping or directly killing Matsudaira Sadanobu, it would be a huge blow to Kazuto.
So Makanao quickly made a new uprising plan - after the uprising, he would go straight to the Matsumae domain's capital.
Matsudaira Sadanobu must be there.
Their goal was to kidnap Matsudaira Sadanobu.
If he failed to kidnap Matsudaira Sadanobu, he would just take his head.
Maca Nao set today as the day for the uprising.
The 300 or so men he gathered will be divided into four teams, starting from four streets and heading straight for the Matsumae domain's headquarters located in the center of Matsumae Castle.
Many of the 300 or so men that Macanao gathered had been naturalized for some time and no longer knew how to use bows.
So among these 300 people, only 70 or so used bows and arrows.
The rest of the people used wooden spears with cut ends or knives obtained from various sources as weapons.
Although the weapons are a bit crude, the current operation is going very smoothly.
The four teams that set out from four streets all won the first battle.
In their surprise attack, civilians in those four streets were either killed or injured, which made Maka Nao and others feel proud.
"Charge! Don't stop! Charge forward! Don't stop!"
Maka Nao waved the wooden spear in his hand and loudly commanded the team he was in charge of.
Macanao was not carried away by the current smooth situation.
He knew that the reason they were doing so well now was because Kazuto didn't react.
Once the Japanese army arrives, they will be in trouble.
Knowing that they had to speed up, Maka kept shouting "Hurry up" and "Don't stop" over and over again, urging his men not to delay and rush straight to the mansion.
However, it is obviously impossible to gather people's hearts by just shouting a few times.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
Maka rushed towards the three young men not far away in a rage.
The three young men broke away from the team, rushed into a fabric store, and with greedy looks on their faces, they took out the money that was placed behind the counter, and then stuffed the heavy yellow and white things into every place on their bodies that could fit something.
One of them even tucked a piece of cloth that looked very expensive under his armpit.
"Put down what you are holding! Continue to charge forward with the main force!"
The three young men shrank back at Macanao's angry rebuke.
However, they did not put down the yellow and white things on them.
One of them stiffened his neck and shouted at Maka confidently:
"These Japanese always bully us! What's wrong with us taking a little from them?!"
"Now is not the time to take these things!" Maka Nao's face flushed with anger, "As long as our uprising succeeds this time, there will be plenty of opportunities to take these money and cloth in the future!"
In fact, these three young people didn't quite understand what Macanao said.
Now they just want to take away the money and the cloth.
Ever since the first person appeared and began to plunder, this behavior immediately began to spread rapidly like a highly contagious disease.
More and more people broke away from the main group and began to smash and loot the surrounding shops.
To take revenge on the Ainu by starting an uprising and establish a new country that belongs only to them, the Ainu?
Sorry, most of the people under Macanao cannot understand this ideal.
The idea of ​​most of Macanao's subordinates is very simple: they want to live a life with food and drink and not have to worry about money and food.
Seeing that the team's discipline was beginning to show signs of collapse, Macanao gritted his teeth, a hint of ruthlessness flashing in his eyes.
Then, he raised the wooden spear in his hand and shot to death the young man who had just said to him in a righteous tone, "What's wrong with taking other people's things?"
"Listen up!" Maka said without immediately pulling his gun out of the young man's body, "Stop looting! Put down everything you have! Continue to charge forward with the main force!"
Maca's act of directly using a gun to stab people to death gave a great shock to those who were still thinking about looting.
Some people were so frightened that they quickly threw away the yellow and white things on their bodies.
Just when the team's discipline had finally been restored a little bit -
"Sendai warriors! Follow me!!"
At the end of the street ahead, there was a sudden roar that seemed to blow the entire street apart.
Hearing this roar, Maka's face turned pale instantly.
…
…
Matsudaira Sadanobu decided to send out the "Aizu clan" and "Sendai clan" currently staying in Matsumae Castle to fight against the naturalized Ezo who were causing rebellion in the castle.
Matsudaira Sadanobu felt that this was a good opportunity - a good opportunity to see whether Gamo, Namatenmo and others had real abilities on the battlefield.
So after sending orders to Gamo and Namatenmoku to go into battle, Matsudaira Sadanobu quietly stayed in the feudal palace, waiting for news.
Of course - just to be on the safe side, Matsudaira Sadanobu sent people to organize a reserve team.
If Pu Sheng, Sheng Tianmu and others fail to perform well, we will send out the reserve troops to wipe out these rioters in one fell swoop.
The "Sendai people" who followed Namatemuro and stayed in Matsumae Castle included Namatemuro himself, and there were only 50 people in total.
He didn't have any heavy weapons with him, let alone long-range weapons such as bows and muskets.
But even though he lacked sufficient numbers and equipment, Sheng Tianmu had enough confidence that he could rely on the forces at hand to defeat these naturalized Ainu who were rebelling.
After quickly gathering the "Xiantai Crowd", Sheng Tianmu took the lead, holding his beloved gun, and rushed straight to the front battlefield.
Sheng Tianmu’s favorite gun - the three-bar gun, was named “Jie Fei”.
Because its gun body is crimson.
Moreover, the Jiefei gun of Shengtianmu is also different from the ordinary three-bar gun.
The tip of the Kaihi spear is extremely long and wide, and the length of the tip is longer than the blade of an ordinary wakizashi.
Riding horses in such a city area would not allow the cavalry to fully exert their combat effectiveness, so Sheng Tianmu and his men all went to the battlefield on foot.
Sheng Tianmu, dressed in full helmet and armor, took the lead. Although he was wearing heavy armor, he was still able to run fast.
Qiuyue and Kuroda followed closely behind Shengtianmu.
Three of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou" charged in the front, which greatly boosted the morale of the rest of the ordinary soldiers. They shouted and rushed to the battlefield.
As they sped along, they finally saw streets covered with blood and corpses.
They saw the naturalized Ainu people who were wearing kimonos but had facial features that were completely different from those of humans.
"I am the 'Seven Spears of Senshu', Nagatenmoku Soemon!"
Sheng Tianmu roared loudly.
The sudden arrival of the army made Maka terrified.
"Shoot! Shoot! Shoot!"
Maka hastily signaled his subordinates to fire a rain of arrows at the sudden attacking army.
The arrival of the Japanese army was much faster than he had imagined.
Arrows flew out and attacked the "Xiantai people".
Facing the oncoming rain of arrows, Sheng Tianmu's face did not show the slightest fear, and even his steps did not slow down for a moment.
Although they did not have equipment such as bows and arrows and muskets, they still had sufficient equipment such as armor, shields, swords and guns.
The soldiers who could stay in Matsumae Castle with Sheng Tianmu were naturally not ordinary soldiers.
Everyone is an elite in the army and is wearing sophisticated armor.
Before setting out into the battle, they had already received intelligence that the rebellious naturalized Ezo people had a large number of bows and arrows.
So before going into battle, Sheng Tianmu specifically instructed everyone to wear armor and carry shields.
Everyone held a shield in their hands that could hide most of their bodies.
When they saw the rain of arrows coming, they immediately raised the shield in their left hands and tried to hide every inch of their bodies behind the shield.
Sheng Tianmu’s body is too tall, so the shield he uses is also a specially made shield.
His shield was like a wall; he only needed to lower it to hide most of his body behind it.
A shield of this size can only be used by someone with amazing arm strength like Sheng Tianmu.
There is an old motto in Sheng Tianmu's family: Don't be afraid of arrows and bullets. The more you are afraid of arrows and bullets, the more they will fly towards you.
Sheng Tianmu, who had been influenced by this ancestral precept since childhood, not only did not feel fear when facing the oncoming arrows, but he became more and more excited.
Under the protection of shields and armor, Sheng Tianmu and his men rushed forward.
Finally——he successfully killed those thugs.
"Barbarians! Behold the 'Spear of the Immortal State'!"
Sheng Tianmu roared and swung out the Jiefei in his right hand with one hand.
Jie Fei thrust forward for the first time and pierced through the bodies of two thugs in one breath.
Afterwards, Sheng Tianmu swept to the right, and the skin, flesh and bones of the two thugs were all cut into pieces by the sharp tip of the gun. The two men were torn into two halves very roughly.
Following Sheng Tianmu, the other two guns of the "Seven Guns of Xianzhou" were also thrown into the battlefield.
Qiuyue is good at using the "heavy gun" with a barrel as thick as a bowl.
Such a heavy gun is very compatible with his marksmanship.
The characteristic of Qiuyue's shooting is its grand and sweeping movements.
The most suitable place for this type of marksmanship is a battlefield with enemies everywhere.
Qiuyue still held the shield in his left hand, and swung the "heavy gun" in his right hand from the lower right to the upper left, sweeping the gun barrel towards the two thugs in front of him.
Although the two thugs reacted quickly, they subconsciously raised their arms because they had no shields or anything else to defend themselves.
The barrel of the gun hit the arms of the two thugs.
The sound of bones breaking was heard.
The two men felt as if a wild boar rushed down the mountain and hit their arms, causing the bones in their forearms to shatter quickly.
Then, his arms broke from the shoulders and smashed towards his chest.
This tremendous force went directly along their arms to their chests, shattering their ribs and internal organs.
Because Qiuyue swung the gun from the lower right to the upper left, the two men were directly knocked into the sky by Qiuyue.
These two living people were like soft pieces of paper that were blown directly into the sky, flying nearly 3 meters high, and then fell to the ground in a beautiful parabola.
A living person was knocked flying directly - not to mention the thugs who were still alive , even some of the "Sendai people" present were staring at this scene in amazement.
As for Kuroda—he also shook his gun at this time.
The gun used by Kuroda was an ordinary Jumonji gun.
The so-called Jumonji spear is a type of sickle spear with two sickle blades on the left and right sides of the spear head.
Because the two sickle blades and the spear head and spear shaft just form a "cross" shape, it is named "cross-character spear".
The shooting technique used by Kuroda is the most popular, hottest and best-known shooting technique today - Hozoin-ryu shooting technique.
Kuroda leaped forward and leapt into the midst of a group of thugs.
For them, who are masters of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou", holding the shield with one hand to protect against arrows and then wielding the spear with only one hand is just an extremely easy thing.
I saw Kuroda's Jumonji spear draw an arc in the air.
The long and sharp sickle blade cut off the heads of the two men in one breath.
When it was swung again, two more heads flew into the air.
Then Kuroda thrust his spear forward and pierced the other man's body.
Namatenmu, Akizuki and Kuroda are fully armed to the teeth in the true sense of the word.
In addition to wearing armor that is specially designed for their "Seven Spears of Xianzhou", they also wear an evil ghost mask on their faces that only reveals their eyes.
Since the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago, it has been very popular for generals to wear ferocious masks on the battlefield.
This can not only protect the face, but also deter the enemy.
The three people wearing devil masks waved their spears up and down, and the feather robes on their bodies fluttered in the wind.
They look like both gods of war and ghosts.
Wherever the tip of the "Spear of Xianzhou" goes, there is nothing but blood and death.
The thugs were either beheaded, or had their limbs severed, or their entire bodies were shattered into pieces that were difficult to put back together.
Among these rioters, there were even some naturalized Ainu who were still seen everywhere in the streets yesterday.
Most of those who have been naturalized for a short time and still know how to draw a bow and shoot an arrow have never hunted in the mountains again.
Only a very small number of people have experience in hunting wild animals.
These people now only felt that Sheng Tianmu and others were much more terrifying than the bears, wolves and other ferocious beasts they had encountered before.
Even though they rushed forward one after another to attack, apart from losing their lives in vain, they were unable to hurt Sheng Tianmu and the others at all.
The arrows used by these naturalized Ainu who started the rebellion were all poisoned arrows whose tip was coated with poison that the Ainu people liked to use for hunting.
Just one arrow would kill the man for sure.
However, this requires hitting the enemy and letting the arrow penetrate into the enemy's flesh.
The armor worn by Sheng Tianmu was a large armor specially made for the lord of Sendai Domain. It was made of iron from head to toe.
In Japan, which lacks iron ore resources, armor made of iron from head to toe is extremely rare.
Shooting through such armor - this kind of thing can probably only be done by a shooter who is one in a thousand and has undergone hard training.
What's more, Sheng Tianmu and the others have shields for protection.
Moreover, they are all masters who have the ability to see and hear in all directions.
While they were watching out for arrows, they fought bravely against the enemy.
The "Xiantai people" were inspired by the bravery of Sheng Tianmu and others, and their morale increased. They followed Sheng Tianmu and others, raised their weapons, and launched a fierce attack on the thugs like a storm.
These generals and soldiers who are qualified to stay in Matsumae Castle with Sheng Tianmu are, without exception, the best in the army.
There were a total of 6 generals in the palace.
The so-called "attendant general" is a general whose position in the army is second only to the general-in-chief. He can often lead a part of the army to fight alone.
How could these unorganized and undisciplined thugs possibly defeat the regular army, especially the elite troops led by the three "Seven Spears of Xianzhou"?
…
…
While the "Sendai clan" were defeating the thugs in the area they were responsible for with ease, the "Aizu clan" on the other side were also showing the heroic spirit of the samurai of "the most powerful military clan in Oshu."
Like Namatenmoku, Gamo personally led the "Aizu people" to the front line of the battlefield.
At the same time, like Sheng Tianmu and the others, he did not ride a warhorse that was difficult to use in the streets, and he carried a shield that could be used to defend against arrows.
Come to think of it, the color of the armor he used as the general of the Aizu army was completely opposite to the color of the armor used by the "Senshu Seven Spears".
The armor worn by Kasumi is a combination of blue and white.
He held a shield in one hand and a katana in the other. After Namatemaki and his men reached the front line of the area they were responsible for, Gamo and his men also arrived at the battlefield they were responsible for, the Aizu clan, almost at the same time.
The tachi is a sword specially used in horse battles, and the tachi techniques used by Gamo can only exert their true power in horse battles.
But this does not mean that Gamo cannot use katana in foot combat.
Gamo leaped into the middle of the enemy group on the road.
Before the enemies could react, they saw a flash of a knife.
Kamo first chopped the first guy's right shoulder diagonally, cutting him in half, then raised the tip of the knife slightly and stabbed at another guy behind him. When he retracted the knife, it also swept the body of a person next to him, and then chopped that person's body in half.
Because the katana is mainly used in horse battles, katana techniques often have a common characteristic - simple and crude.
On horseback, you simply can't perform too many fancy techniques.
Moreover, when riding a horse at high speed, you often only have one chance to attack the enemy.
Therefore, most of the sword techniques seek to kill the enemy with a simple strike.
The sword technique used by Gamo took this concept to its extreme.
This made his sword extremely brutal.
These thugs who could neither hide nor retreat could suffer any consequences other than death, with no other outcome being "injury".