Gamo is the kind of person who is good at killing enemies with "agility".
He ran and tumbled among the rioting mob and drove straight into the enemy's camp.
The heroic figure who wielded the sword as easily as picking up a wick, breaking the enemies' bodies one after another, was no less impressive than those of Namatemaki and his men. Wherever Kamo went, the enemies retreated like waves.
The "Aizu crowd" did not shout and yell like the "Sendai crowd".
The generals and soldiers of the "Xiantai Group" rushed forward to kill every enemy in front of them, fearing that they would be left behind.
Their roars and shouts could be heard clearly even from several streets away.
But this was not the case with the Aizu clan.
They were silent.
Everyone kept their mouths shut and said nothing.
They just silently lined up in a tight formation, silently raised their weapons, silently followed behind Kasumi, and silently killed every enemy in front of them.
In one, everyone demonstrates their bravery, while in the other, they line up in tight formations to kill the enemy. The atmosphere and fighting styles of the two armies are completely different, but their efficiency in killing the enemy is comparable.
…
…
“Forward! Forward!” Sheng Tianmu roared, “Don’t let any of them go! The people of Aizu are not far away! Don’t let them laugh at us!”
As Sheng Tianmu finished speaking, shouts rang out in response to his words.
For Sendai people, nothing could be more inspiring than “the people of Aizu are right next to us.”
The Sendai samurai have always disliked the Aizu samurai.
The reason for this is that too many people think that Aizu Domain is the strongest military domain in the Northeast region.
This made the Sendai samurai very unhappy.
They felt that in terms of bravery, they would never lose to the Aizu samurai.
However, there has never been a chance to prove this to the world. Since the opening of the Edo Shogunate, no large-scale war has broken out in the past two hundred years, except for the "Battle of Osaka" launched in the early days of the shogunate with the goal of destroying the Toyotomi family.
The Sendai samurai couldn't find an opportunity to compete with the Aizu samurai.
Therefore, the Sendai samurai cherished this opportunity to form an alliance with the shogunate to fight against the Ainu.
To achieve a far more impressive record than the Aizu people in this battle - this was the small goal that many Sendai samurai set for themselves in this war.
After hearing Shengtianmo's words "The people from Aizu are not far away", every Sendai samurai was like being injected with chicken blood, and fought the enemy more bravely.
Sheng Tianmu himself was more motivated than anyone else present.
Although he has a simple personality, he is also a man with a rough but meticulous mind.
When he learned that Matsudaira Sadanobu asked them, the "Sendai-shu", to go and quell the gang of thugs who suddenly rebelled, Sheng Tianmu keenly realized that this was most likely a test given to them by Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Later, when he learned that the "Aizu people" would also follow them into the battle, but would be responsible for different areas, Shengtianmu was certain that his judgment was correct - Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to test them, the "Sendai people" and the "Aizu people".
Shengtianmu had heard relevant rumors before - Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was not familiar with Aizu and Sendai, was very curious about the specific .
Lord Rochu probably wants to use this crackdown on the rioters to test the strength of Sendai and Aizu!
Whenever this thought appeared in Shengtianmu's mind, he felt endless power surging from his body.
We don't want to fall behind Aizu even a little bit! We want to show Lord Elder the power of Sendai!
This thought made Sheng Tianmu throw himself into the battle with all his strength.
The reason why Sheng Tianmu became the leader of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou" was not just because of his outstanding martial arts.
The fact that he can hold such a high position in the army is closely related to his strong "steadiness".
Even if he was on a chaotic battlefield, even if he was fighting until he was covered in blood, Sheng Tianmu could always remain calm and observe the battlefield with a calm gaze.
Since entering the battlefield, Sheng Tianmu discovered that there was a guy who had been giving orders to the others since just now.
The distance was quite far, and Sheng Tianmu couldn't hear clearly what he was shouting.
But Shengtianmu could see all his movements.
This guy must have a high status - Sheng Tianmu firmly believed this in his heart.
In fact, the judgment of Shengtianmu was not wrong.
He believed that the person with a not low status was the culprit behind all these events - Maka Nao.
From the beginning, Shengtianmu consciously moved towards the direction where Maka Nao was.
Along the way, no one can defeat him.
This group of thugs who suddenly launched an uprising have begun to show signs of defeat.
There are fewer and fewer people who dare to fight to the end.
More and more people dropped their weapons and the valuables they had just looted from everywhere and fled in panic.
They were as fierce as wolves and tigers as they pointed their arrows and spears at the unarmed civilians.
After being struck by the thundering blow from the military generals and soldiers, they cried and howled and fled in panic.
“What a pity…!” Sheng Tianmu clenched his teeth and thought to himself what a pity.
He was a little annoyed now - if he had more soldiers under his command, he could have used some of them to take a longer route, blocking the thugs' retreat route and leaving them with no way to escape.
Just when Sheng Tianmu was secretly regretting himself, he suddenly saw flags appearing one after another.
A military flag embroidered with trefoil.
Three-leaf sunflower - the family crest of the Tokugawa family, the family that dominated the entire Edo Shogunate.
A military flag embroidered with sunflower leaves appeared - it was obvious what this represented.
“The Shogunate army…?” Sheng Tianmu murmured.
…
…
Whether it was the battlefield controlled by the "Sendai Clan" or the battlefield controlled by the "Aizu Clan", countless thugs fled in panic in the direction away from the "Sendai Clan" and the "Aizu Clan".
They no longer have any grand ambitions such as revenge on the Wa people or establishing a country that belongs exclusively to the Ainu people.
I no longer want money or possessions.
In order to escape faster, those who had just participated in the robbery had thrown all the stolen items all over the street.
There was only one thought left in their minds now: escape.
At this moment, they just wanted to escape.
The clanging sound of armor colliding was gradually forgotten by them.
These people, who thought they were getting farther and farther away from the Japanese army, all showed happy smiles.
It’s a pity that the smiles on their faces didn’t last long.
Because - they suddenly heard the sound of armor colliding and the sound of neat and powerful footsteps in front of them.
Groups of soldiers dressed in full black armor, lined up in neat square formations, appeared before their eyes and in front of their retreat.
Military flags painted with three-leaf sunflower patterns fluttered in the wind among the ranks of these suddenly appearing soldiers.
He was a soldier of the shogunate army.
These shogunate soldiers did not carry swords or guns.
But holding a musket.
A samurai dressed as a general held high his military fan with a three-leaf sunflower pattern and shouted:
"Raise your guns!"
Click, click, click, click…
There was the sound of muskets being raised.
These soldiers who suddenly appeared were all arquebusiers in the shogunate army.
The fuses of the muskets in their hands were lit and ready to fire at any time.
Japan has always looked down upon firearms, so the firearms currently used by the Japanese army are exactly the same as those used in the Warring States Period 200 years ago, without any change.
The musket was still a matchlock.
The artillery is still the bronze cannon.
Over the past 200 years, Japan's development of firearms can be said to have completely stagnated.
However - although compared with the rifled guns currently used by Westerners, the matchlock gun is already an outdated weapon that can be put into a museum, but the musket is still a musket after all, and its power is difficult for the human body to resist.
After the soldiers in the first row raised their muskets and pointed them at the thugs who were fleeing in panic, the general in charge of command suddenly waved the military fan in his hand.
"shooting!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
The sound of gunfire rang out like popping beans.
These arquebusiers don't need to worry about whether their guns hit the enemy or not.
The accuracy of the musket is very poor, but if you stand in a row and shoot together, you can always hit the enemy.
A row of bullets whizzed past, and the thugs fell to the ground screaming.
"Change column!"
The general in charge of command yelled again.
The first row of soldiers who had just fired bullets quickly retreated to the end of the square with their muskets, then used skillful movements to load new bullets into the muzzles, put in gunpowder, and light the match.
The soldiers who were originally in the second row have now become soldiers in the first row.
"Raise your guns!" the general ordered.
The "former second row" soldiers who became the first row soldiers raised their muskets.
"shooting!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
Another row of bullets whizzed towards the fleeing thugs.
"Change column!"
The soldiers of the "original second row" retreated to the back of the square.
The third row of soldiers has now become the first row...
There are 4 rows in the square formation.
After the 4th row of soldiers finished firing, the first row of soldiers who returned to the front row had already loaded new bullets and were ready to fire at any time.
This tactic is the famous "three-stage attack".
"Three-section strike" was first seen in China during the Ming Dynasty.
When General Mu Ying of the early Ming Dynasty was pacifying Yunnan, he used matchlock muskets to deal with the rebels' elephants and other beast-like troops. However, he felt that the firing speed of the matchlock muskets was too slow, so he improved the tactics to "three-stage attack".
As the name suggests, "three-stage attack" means that soldiers stand in three rows to attack the enemy.
When shooting overhead, the second row prepares, the third row loads, and after the first row finishes firing, it passes through the gap between the two rows to the last row. The second row moves forward to fire, and the third row fills the position of the second row. This progressive firing cycle is repeated to ensure an endless barrage of bullets.
Based on the "three-stage attack" tactic, "four-stage attack" and "five-stage attack" can also be derived...
During the Warring States Period in Japan, the daimyo who almost unified all of Japan, Oda Nobunaga, also used a similar "three-stage attack" tactic.
When Oda Nobunaga launched a strategic decisive battle with the powerful feudal lord, the Takeda clan, he used the "three-stage attack" tactic to give the Takeda clan a head-on blow.
Oda Nobunaga first mobilized 3,000 muskets, and then placed anti-horse fences in front of the archers.
The soldiers were then arranged in groups of three, with the soldier with the best shooting accuracy acting as the shooter, and the other two responsible for assembling bullets and fuses.
Oda Nobunaga used this tactic to make the Takeda army deeply feel what "times have changed" meant.
At present, the shogunate army is using the "four-stage attack" tactic against these thugs - the shooters are arranged in four rows and launch a non-stop barrage of bullets at these fleeing thugs.
The "Aizu tribe" and "Sendai tribe" were chasing them fiercely in front, and the shogunate army's artillerymen were firing barrages at them from behind.
These thugs who originally wanted to escape immediately became confused like headless flies.
…
…
Time goes back to not long ago——
Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle——
According to common sense, if a riot broke out in Matsumae Castle, it should be quelled by the Matsumae domain.
However, Matsudaira Sadanobu took over the overall command of the rebellion and told the Matsumae domain chieftain: You don't have to do anything, just leave everything to me.
After taking over the supreme command from the feudal government, Matsudaira Sadanobu quickly conveyed the order, asking the "Aizu people" and "Sendai people" to go to meet and quell the rebellion in the city. Tachibana, who was standing respectfully beside Matsudaira Sadanobu, asked:
"Lord Rochu, only the soldiers from the Aizu and Sendai clans who are staying in the city are sent to quell the rebellion. Isn't that too few people?"
As soon as Tachibana finished speaking, the elder said:
"Of course I won't just let the soldiers from Aizu and Sendai suppress the rebellion."
"We need to add an insurance policy."
"Tachibana, go and find Inamori yourself."
"Tell him to send out a team of musketeers immediately. He can decide how many men to send. Let the musketeers block the retreat of those thugs."
"None of those thugs should be spared."
"yes!"
Tachibana shouted loudly, then lifted the corners of her hakama and quickly retreated from Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.
After Tachibana left, Matsudaira Sadanobu was the only one left in the room.
Matsudaira Sadanobu put his hands behind his back and slowly walked back to the window.
From his position he couldn't see where the riot was happening, nor could he hear any sounds of killing or smashing. Looking out the window, everything outside was peaceful, and there was no sign that a riot was currently happening in the city.
Matsudaira Sadanobu was standing by the window, looking straight at the scenery outside, his face still expressionless, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.
…
…
Time goes back to the present.
Although Shengtianmu could not see the Shogunate army that was displaying its might due to distance and direction.
But based on the three-leaf sunflower-patterned military flags held high and fluttering , as well as the intensive sound of musket fire, Sheng Tianmu could roughly imagine that those fleeing thugs should be getting beaten to a pulp.
However, after seeing the three-leaf sunflower pattern military flag appear, Sheng Tianmu felt a little unhappy.
The shogunate army's timely appearance showed that arrangements had been made in advance.
When the order was given to the "Sendai clan" and the "Aizu clan" to go into battle, the order might have also been given at the same time to the shogunate army's arquebusiers to attack and cut off the rioters' retreat.
Sheng Tianmu dared to conclude that these shogunate army artillerymen who were sent to block the rioters' retreat were not only to prevent too many rioters from escaping, but also to prevent the "Sendai people" and "Aizu people" from failing to quell the rebellion.
Sheng Tianmu felt a little uncomfortable with the feeling that he and his subordinates were being looked down upon.
But no matter how unhappy he was, he didn't dare tell anyone about his resentment.
The shogunate was the de facto ruler of the world (the emperor's court was only nominal, and no feudal domain would ever honor the emperor), and Nagatenme dared not utter a word of complaint against the shogunate.
Sheng Tianmu was very dissatisfied with the shogunate's command - if this kind of news were to spread , it would definitely have some impact on his future career.
Sheng Tianmu took off the evil ghost mask on his face, wiped the sweat off his face, and discarded all the distracting thoughts in his mind.
When he put the mask back on, he turned his gaze, as if he was looking at some treasure, back to the target he had been paying attention to and staring at since just now.
…
…
The sudden appearance of the shogunate's arquebusiers completely destroyed the thugs' morale, which was already at the breaking point.
Many people have never seen a matchlock gun with their own eyes, so many people don’t know what these loud "bang" sounds are. They only know that these sounds are very dangerous, and every time they sound, someone will fall to the ground screaming and wailing.
Maka's face looked... to put it in one word, like a dead person.
He had been preparing for this day for a long time.
He gathered so many subordinates and prepared a sufficient number of bows and arrows, wooden spears and other weapons, just for this day, to take the first step towards his ideal of taking revenge on the Ainu and establishing a country that belonged exclusively to them.
However, in the end, he didn't even see the shadow of the Matsumae domain, and his troops were defeated.
His subordinates were much less reliable than he had imagined - if they had listened to orders and not robbed houses, their march would not have been slowed down.
The speed at which the Japanese army appeared was much faster than he had imagined.
But now it's no use thinking about anything.
He had seen that all his men within his field of vision had lost the will to fight and were fleeing in panic.
Maca has actually lost the will to fight now.
Now he just wants to escape quickly.
After recovering from the shock and regret of failure, Maka Nao gritted his teeth and followed his subordinates to escape.
Maka encouraged herself in her heart:
——As long as you are alive, there is still a chance!
However - just as he turned around and prepared to escape, he suddenly heard a strange noise behind him.
That was the sound of approaching footsteps.
Maka hurriedly turned around and looked back - it was Shengtianmu.
Sheng Tianmu held his Jiefei and ran straight towards Macanao like a tiger coming down the mountain.
Although he was wearing heavy armor, Shengtianmu's movements were not slow at all.
Maka Nao felt like he just blinked his eyes, and Shengtianmu had already "teleported" in front of him.
call--!
Jie Fei rushed towards Maca from top to bottom.
Makano subconsciously raised the wooden spear in his hand to block.
Click!
His wooden spear only lasted for a moment before it was broken by Shengtianmu Jiefei.
Jie Fei broke through the defense of the wooden spear and hit Maka Nao's left shoulder hard.
“Aaaaaaaaa——!”
Maka let out a scream, then fell to the ground and rolled around, covering his already deformed left shoulder.
Sheng Tianmu showed mercy and only broke his left shoulder without taking his life.
These guys who look like senior commanders are far more valuable and can gain more military merits if captured alive than if killed - this is the ultimate truth on the battlefield.
…
…
Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle——
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who stayed in Matsumae Castle, had been paying close attention to the operation to suppress the sudden uprising of the mob.
The messenger who was responsible for conveying messages to Matsudaira Sadanobu at any time was constantly shuttling back and forth in the corridor connected to Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.
No matter what news came, Matsudaira Sadanobu always remained calm and expressionless.
"Master Laozhong!"
Another messenger came to the outside of Matsudaira Sadanobu's room.
"The thugs have completely collapsed. The soldiers are currently hunting down the ones who have escaped. Sheng Tianmu has captured a commander among the thugs alive!"
The messenger brought news of a complete and great victory.
Tachibana, who was kneeling beside Matsudaira Sadanobu, had a look of delight on his face.
However, Matsudaira Sadanobu remained calm and composed.
"Got it." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded, "Retreat."
"Yes!" The messenger who brought the good news quickly retreated.
After the messenger left, Matsudaira Sadanobu took a deep breath and said slowly:
"It seems that... Pu Sheng, Namatenmu and the others are still very capable."
"I just hope they can behave like this when the real war begins."
When talking about the word "real war", Matsudaira Sadanobu emphasized the tone.
"The senior generals in Aizu and Sendai are not just talkative wimps." Tachibana said, "We can rest assured now."
"Yeah." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded gently, "The riot of those thugs came at the right time. It gave me a chance to test Gamo, Namatenmo and others."
"...What a pity..." Tachibana lowered his head and was silent for a while before saying softly, "These thugs... caused the deaths of many civilians in the city..."
After hearing what Tachibana said, Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression remained unchanged.
"These thugs not only gave me the opportunity to test Kasumi and Namatenmu."
"It also provides us with a perfect reason... to declare war on the Red Moon Fortress."
When he said this, a sharp light flashed in Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes.
"It's a pity that so many civilians died."
Matsudaira Sadanobu continued in a nonchalant tone.
"But these casualties should be considered as necessary sacrifices for us to test Aizu and Sendai and have a perfect reason to go to war."
…
…
As a fierce bloody battle broke out in Matsumae Castle—
"A-Ming, relax your waist! Squeeze your legs together!"
"I've relaxed, I've tightened... ah!"
Ogata: "Didn't I tell you to relax your waist and tighten your legs? Look, you're sliding down again!"
A-Ming: "I really relaxed my waist and squeezed my legs together."
With an aggrieved look on his face, Ating tried hard to straighten his body back on the horse.
This place is somewhere in the wilderness a little far away from Qina Village. The ground is flat and there are no trees or other obstacles around.
At this time, Ogata was teaching Atachi how to ride a horse.
Before Chepke left the village and went to Heyezhe, the Red Moon Fortress, Xu Fang proposed to Chepke that he wanted to take away two horses seized from the white people and some weapons.
Just as Ogata expected, Chepke and his men would never refuse their request which was both reasonable and not difficult to handle.
In that fierce battle, many horses died or escaped, and a total of 16 horses were successfully captured.
When choosing horses, Skuluch, who was a Cossack and had a lot of knowledge about horses, came to help.
He helped Ogata and his friends pick out two of the best and most docile horses.
He picked a reddish-brown horse for Ogata.
Then, in order to take into account Ating's height of only 1.55 meters, Sculucci specially picked a slightly shorter horse with black and purple hair when choosing a horse for Ating.
By the way - both of their horses are fillies.
These horses would accompany them for quite some time, so Ogata and A-machi gave each of their horses a name.
Ogata wasn't very good at naming.
Because Ogata's horse had reddish-brown hair, the color of a carrot, Ogata casually named his horse "Radish".
Ating also named the children according to their hair color, and she is not very good at naming.
She thought the color of her horse's coat was like grapes, so she named her horse "Grape".
After choosing the horse, Obe began to teach Atachi how to ride a horse.
Then... scenes appeared that made Ogata deeply realize the truth that "everyone has his or her own strengths and weaknesses."
A-Cheng seemed to lack any talent for horse riding.
No matter how many times Ogata told her to "keep her legs tight and relax her waist", and even taught her personally, Ating just couldn't grasp the trick, and she either slipped off the horse or fell off it.
If Ogata hadn't been quick-eyed and quick-handed, he would have rushed over in time to hug her every time Atachi was about to fall.
Otherwise, after falling from the horse so many times, Ating would definitely have been bruised and battered.
Ogata wondered if it was because of what he and Atachi had done in the past that Atachi had developed some very bad habits.
In the past, when Atachi rode on him, Ogata would hold her with both hands.
Now there was no one to support Ating on horseback, and Ating, who felt very uncomfortable, took a long time to grasp the trick.
"oops!"
Ating slipped off the horse again.
Ogata: ┗|｀O′|┛Ah~~ “Didn’t I tell you to keep your legs together?”
A-Ting: (.﹏.*)