“Wuwuwu! Wuwuwuwu!”
Grandfather Jiang struggled hard, and he was so scared that his face was covered with tears.
Because his mouth was tied with a dirty piece of cloth, Grandfather Jiang could not utter a single complete sentence and could only whimper whose meaning was incomprehensible.
From the beginning, Grandfather Jiang was in a confused state.
He was first taken to a small camp, and soon pushed into a tent. In the tent, he saw the middle-aged man who was rescued by Ogata Ittosai yesterday. Then, after being asked by the middle-aged man "was the samurai you saw yesterday Ogata Ittosai?", he was taken back to where he was originally imprisoned.
And then... only half a moment later, three warriors in helmets and armor appeared in front of him.
When the three of them appeared in front of Grandfather Jiang, without saying a word - two of them controlled him on the left and right, and the other one took out a very dirty piece of cloth and tied Grandfather Jiang's mouth tightly, preventing Grandfather Jiang from speaking.
No matter how stupid Grandfather Jiang was, he realized what was happening.
He struggled hard - but he could not break free from the grasp of the three soldiers.
He wanted to wail, wanted to ask why he was being killed, and whether the information he had provided so far about Ogata Ittosai was true - but because his mouth was tied with cloth, he could not make any sound except for "wuwuwu" whimpering.
The three soldiers didn't say a word to Grandfather Jiang from beginning to end.
They pushed Grandfather Jiang directly to an empty space, kicked his knee, forcing him to kneel on the ground, and then one of the soldiers quickly drew the knife from his waist.
The knife flashed across Grandfather Jiang's neck, and a good man's head fell to the ground, dyeing the white snow below red...
From the time these three soldiers appeared in front of Grandfather Jiang to the time Grandfather Jiang's head was chopped off - from beginning to end, less than 2 minutes passed...
Grandfather Jiang was still worried about whether he could survive and get the gold sand back, but in less than 2 minutes, his head and body were torn apart... And until his death, Grandfather Jiang didn't know why the butcher knife fell so suddenly...
…
…
Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent——
"Lord Rochu, please forgive me for my negligence." In the tent, Tachibana knelt in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu with a face full of shame, "As a junior of Lord Rochu, I actually slept until the sun was high in the sky before getting up..."
Because she was extremely tired yesterday and went to bed very late, Tachibana slept so soundly last night that even an earthquake might not have woken her up.
Matsudaira Sadanobu knew that Tachibana must have accumulated a lot of fatigue yesterday, so he did not send anyone to wake Tachibana up, letting her sleep all the time.
Tachibana slept until just now when she woke up.
After waking up, she asked others about the time. After learning that Matsudaira Sadanobu had already woken up, Tachibana quickly dressed with a look of shame on her face, and then rushed to Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent to apologize to him for her dereliction of duty.
"Alright." Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly, "Get up quickly. I told no one else to wake you up. You worked really hard yesterday, and you deserve to sleep a little longer."
After letting Tachibana stand up quickly, Matsudaira Sadanobu straightened his face and asked seriously:
"Go down now and check if the people who went out to look for me yesterday have returned."
"Because of yesterday's accident, we have already wasted quite a bit of time. We can't waste any more time like this."
"Once everyone is here, we will immediately get back on the road and reunite with Inamori and the others."
"Yes!" Tachibana responded loudly, then quickly walked out of Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent.
After quickly walking out of Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent, Tachibana couldn't help but stop and look back at Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent.
"Lord Nakagawa seems to be in a bad mood today..." Tachibana muttered in a low voice that only she could hear.
Tachibana has been with Matsudaira Sadanobu for a long time. Over the years, Tachibana has probably spent more time with Matsudaira Sadanobu than with his wife and children.
Because she had always been by Matsudaira Sadanobu's side, Tachibana knew all the little habits in Matsudaira Sadanobu's life.
When entering the camp to look for Matsudaira Sadanobu just now, Tachibana quickly noticed that Matsudaira Sadanobu seemed to be in a bad mood today. When Matsudaira Sadanobu was in a bad mood, he would exude that kind of aura.
Although he was wondering why Matsudaira Sadanobu was in a bad mood today, Tachibana did not have the courage or qualifications to ask Matsudaira Sadanobu why. He could only keep this question in his heart for the time being, and then quickly left the entrance of Matsudaira Sadanobu's tent to deal with the new task that Matsudaira Sadanobu had just assigned to him.
…
…
Red Moon Fortress (He Yezhe)——
The Red Moon Fortress is quite lively today.
Because today is the day of the twice-a-year hunting festival.
The hunting festival was held in a spacious open space in the Red Moon Fortress.
This open space is spacious enough to accommodate most of the residents of Red Moon Fortress.
The entertainment activities in Ainu society are much scarcer than those in Japanese society. In Ainu society, there are not many fun games, and there are almost no entertainment venues.
Therefore, most of the residents of Red Moon Fortress are very welcoming to the Hunting Festival, which is not only a good way to kill time and have fun, but also has great significance in itself.
Before the hunting festival began, the open space was already filled with spectators who came to watch.
Some people who arrived late and couldn't find a seat could only sigh and find something to step on, stand high up, and use the height advantage to watch the hunting festival.
Only the high-ranking officials of the Red Moon Fortress could sit at the northernmost part of the open space. As the leader of the Hunting Festival, Chanup naturally sat in the middle. On the left and right sat the others, led by the "second in command" Reitannoe.
After all, the Hunting Festival is a new activity that was created not long ago in their Red Moon Fortress, so it is not like the "Bear Spirit Festival" which has a long history and has too many red tape.
After Chanup gave some very formulaic opening remarks to everyone, the hunting festival began.
The whole process of the hunting festival is very simple - the young people take turns to shoot arrows, first shooting at a wooden stake that is only 5 meters away. After hitting the target, they shoot at a wooden stake 7 meters away. After hitting the target again, they shoot at a wooden stake 10 meters away... and so on, they keep repeating the process of "shooting at farther wooden stakes after hitting the target".
According to statistics, there are 15 wooden stakes, each of which is very thick and long, requiring an adult man to hug it. The farthest stake is 50 meters long.
Since the hunting festival was officially held, only a few people have been able to hit all 15 wooden stakes at different distances.
Since Chanup announced the start, one young man after another came on stage with their bows and arrows.
Because the purpose of the Hunting Festival is to allow the heroes who died in the search for a new home to see their descendants grow up healthily, Chanup and his men stipulated that all young people aged 13 and 14 in the Red Moon Fortress must participate in the Hunting Festival.
Chanup's eldest son, Otunpuyi, who just turned 13, is now sitting in a corner of the open space, holding his bow and arrow, anxiously waiting for his turn.
Because he kept his head down, he didn't notice that his sister Asuma was sitting not far away, giving him encouraging looks.
Asuma gave her brother an encouraging look and prayed in her heart that her brother, who was participating in the hunting festival for the first time, would have a good performance.
Aisuma, 15 years old this year, is no longer old enough to participate in the hunting festival. She can no longer attend the hunting festival this year and can only sit in the "audience seats" like she does now.
"Ah, Aisuma, it's Otunpuyi's turn to play." Puchina, who was sitting next to Aisuma, hurriedly pulled Aisuma's clothes.
Puchina, who had made Aisuma angry by interfering in her private life, apologized to Aisuma a few days ago. Aisuma was the kind of person whose temper came and went quickly. After Puchina apologized, Aisuma gladly accepted Puchina's apology and the two reconciled.
Puchina, who is also past the age to participate in the hunting festival, is now sitting in the "audience seats" side by side with Aisuma.
"Yeah! I saw it!" Aisuma looked intently at Otunpuyi who was slowly walking onto the field with a bow and arrow.
Also starting to concentrate was their father, Chanup.
After standing in front of the "5-meter stake", Aotongpuyi took a deep breath, then got ready and put the arrow on the string.
Looking at Aotongpuyi's posture, Aisuma's brows immediately frowned.
At first glance, Otungpuyi's posture seems standard, but upon closer inspection - there are still quite a few mistakes.
After aiming the arrow straight at the "5-meter stake" in front, Aotongpuyi suddenly released the taut bowstring in his hand.
whoosh!
The arrow hit the "5-meter stake".
Although it hit the target, Asuma's brows furrowed even more tightly.
As an expert hunter, Asuma saw accurately that the arrow barely hit the target. If it was just a little bit higher, it would have hit the target.
After successfully hitting the "5-meter stake", the tension and panic on Aotongpuyi's face eased a little, and then he took out a new arrow and aimed at the "7-meter stake".
After repeating the actions of drawing the bow and aiming, Aotongpui let go of the bowstring.
whoosh!
No shot...
A look of anxiety flashed across Otunpui's face, and he quickly pulled out a new arrow.
whoosh!
Still no shot...
He kept drawing new bowstrings and pulling the bow.
But he just couldn't hit the wooden stake which was only 7 meters away from him.
Aisuma and Chanup’s brows furrowed deeper and deeper.
More and more people in the "audience" began to whisper. Some people looked at Otunpui with a little more mockery in their eyes.
Before Otongpuyi came on stage, the people with the worst performance had hit the "5-meter stake" and the "7-meter stake".
Aotongpuyi drew his arrow and shot at the "7-meter stake" for the 12th time - unfortunately, he was still unsuccessful.
Instead of making his 13th attempt, he put down his bow in frustration and walked off the field.
Looking at their brother who had given up, Aisuma and Chanup sighed at almost the same time...
After Otunpuyi gave up and left the field, the whispers in the "audience seats" became more frequent and louder.
There were also more mocking looks directed at Otunpui.
…
…
Ezo, Kanyedong——
Kanyedong is the name of the lake.
Taneton (タンネ·トン) means "long lake" in the Ainu language.
The local Ainu people named this lake "Kanyedun" because of its elongated shape.
Kanyedong is an ordinary lake that can be seen everywhere in Ezo. On weekdays, only animals would visit it. It is a quiet lake.
But Kanyedong has many more "guests" these days.
At this moment in Kanyedong, there were densely packed military camps around the lake.
These densely arranged tents remind people of the story of Liu Xuande's "Eight Hundred Lis of Camps" in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
These tents were set up by the soldiers of the First Army led by Sheng Tianmu.
The shore of Kanyedong Lake, which is usually visited only by animals, has changed from its usual tranquility because of the 3,000 soldiers of the First Army assembled here. The camps are endless and the atmosphere is as majestic as a rainbow.
Because the First Army was mainly composed of 1,800 soldiers from the Sendai Domain, the overwhelming majority of the military flags raised in the camp were embroidered with the Sendai Domain's "bamboo sparrow pattern."
"Drink! Drink! Drink! Drink!"
Akizuki, one of the "Seven Spears of Senshu" who had fought against Ogata once in Kinno Town, is currently practicing his spear skills in a corner of the camp with his upper body naked and only a clean white cloth around his neck for wiping sweat.
The heavy gun, with a barrel as thick as a bowl, was swung by Qiuyue as easily as with his arm.
His body, which was much taller than the others, with strong muscles and slightly dark skin, made him look like a black tower.
When Qiuyue was practicing with great concentration, a voice that was very familiar to Qiuyue suddenly came from behind her:
"Qiuyue, you are really hardworking. You started practicing shooting early in the morning."
It was the voice of Kuroda, who was also one of the "Seven Spears of Senju" and also Akizuki's good friend.
Qiuyue slowly put away the heavy gun in his hand, relaxed his stance, and turned to look at Kuroda who was slowly walking towards him from behind.
"There are no brothels and no drinking in the military camp." Qiu Yue responded to Kuroda in a half-joking tone, "Besides practicing shooting, what else can we do?"
"If I were you, I would use this time to sleep." Kuroda shrugged. "Practicing shooting is not as comfortable as sleeping."
"Kuroda, you should practice your spear skills properly." Qiuyue frowned, "I think you seem to be a little too lazy recently. If you continue like this, your spear will become dull."
Kuroda didn't care about Akizuki's words. He just smiled and shrugged, then put on a serious expression.
"Okay, enough of the small talk. Let's get down to business."
"Business?" Qiuyue took off the sweat towel hanging around her neck and wiped the sweat all over her body.
"I'm actually here to hand you a notice. Lord Sheng Tianmu has just issued a call for all generals in the army to come to the commander's camp."
"I guess some military action might be launched."
"After all, we are not far from the Red Moon Fortress now."
When Kuroda finished speaking, Qiuyue's pupils shrank slightly.
"Master Sheng Tianmu is summoning us? I see."
Qiuyue quickened the pace of wiping the sweat off his face, and while wiping the sweat off his face, he walked quickly towards the tent where he lived next to him, holding his gun.
…
…
Kanyedong, the first military camp, the commander-in-chief's tent——
The commander-in-chief's tent was located on a high slope with a good view.
Wearing only armor and no helmets, revealing their shiny shaved heads, Akizuki and Kuroda quickly climbed up the slope and entered the commander's tent one after the other.
In the middle of the commander-in-chief's camp, there is a huge sand table.
On the sand table, the terrain around the Red Moon Fortress was reproduced using mud, sand and gravel.
In the northwest corner of the sand table there is a small wooden box - it represents the Red Moon Fortress.
Not far to the south of this small wooden box, there are 10 white Go pieces, representing 10,000 shogunate troops.
Each chess piece represents 1,000 people, and the three chess pieces representing the First Army are now closest to the wooden box representing the Red Moon Fortress.
Behind the first army are 5 chess pieces representing the second army and 2 chess pieces representing the third army.
Sheng Tianmu, the commander-in-chief of the First Army, sat at the northernmost end of the sand table.
The generals who had arrived at the tent sat on the east and west sides of the sand table according to their status.
Seeing Qiuyue and Kuroda coming, Shengtianmu nodded to them.
Qiuyue and the other two nodded to Sheng Tianmu in response, and then sat down in the seat that had been prepared for them, closest to Sheng Tianmu.
Not long after Qiuyue and the other two sat down, the other generals who had not arrived yet also rushed to the commander-in-chief's tent one after another - including the other two "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
Looking at these two companions who were almost the last two to arrive, both Akizuki and Kuroda couldn't help but frown.
Sheng Tianmu glanced at the generals in front of him, and after confirming that the current senior officers of the First Army had arrived, he nodded gently:
"It looks like everyone is here, so let’s start the meeting."
This was a military meeting to discuss military strategies, so naturally there wouldn't be any overly lengthy opening remarks or too much boring nonsense.
After announcing the start, Sheng Tianmu cleared his throat and said loudly:
"The reason why I suddenly summoned you all is not because of anything else, but because Lord Inamori sent us the latest order."
After hearing the name "Inamori", most of the people present couldn't help but look stern.
Inamori is the commander-in-chief of their army and is fully responsible for the attack on the Red Moon Fortress.
The general commander sent the latest order, which forced them to cheer up.
"Our First Army is stationed here now."
Sheng Tianmu raised the round fan issued by the army in his right hand and pointed at the three chess pieces representing their first army on the sand table in front of him.
Military round fan: It can be roughly understood as a kind of baton in ancient Japan.
"There is an Ezo settlement in the mountains 2 miles (about 7.8 kilometers in modern times) northwest of our military base."
Sheng Tianmu moved his military fan toward the northwest to a pile of mud that symbolized a mountain range.
"This Ezo settlement is called 'Takedong Village'."
"It is a village that has a very good relationship with the Red Moon Fortress."
In preparation for this punitive campaign against the Red Moon Fortress, the shogunate had already thoroughly studied the Red Moon Fortress through various means.
The shogunate already knew everything about the terrain around Red Moon Fortress, such as which villages had good relations with Red Moon Fortress and were likely to provide assistance to Red Moon Fortress.
"This village is very likely to assist the Red Moon Fortress and become an enemy of our army."
"This village has a large population, and there are nearly a hundred men who can draw bows and fight in the battlefield."
"If this village chooses to help Red Moon Fortress, their numbers won't cause much damage to our army, but they will more or less cause us some trouble."
Hearing Sheng Tianmu's words, Qiuyue nodded in agreement.
If all the people in this village who could wield weapons relied on their familiarity with the nearby terrain to launch guerrilla warfare and harassment against them, it would not cause much damage to their army, but would make them feel very disgusted.
"Regarding how to deal with this village that is very likely to cause us trouble, the instructions given by Lord Inamori have just been successfully delivered to me."
As Sheng Tianmu spoke, he took out a neatly folded piece of letter paper from his arms, then unfolded it and showed the contents on the paper to all the generals in front of him.
There were only two simple Chinese characters written on the letter paper: Tucun.
“Ga ga ga ga ga ga!”
Sheng Tianmu had just shown everyone the letter with the two Chinese characters "Tucun" written on it when an unpleasant laugh like the quacking of a duck suddenly rang out.
Everyone focused their attention on the general who was making the unpleasant laugh.
This general wore the same style of black and red armor as Namatenmu, Akizuki, and Kuroda.
The same type of armor as Sheng Tianmu and the others - the identity of this general is already obvious.
"Heaven's way." Sheng Tianmu warned the general in a calm tone, "Remain serious in the military meeting."
The general who was making an extremely unpleasant laugh that sounded like the quacking of a duck was none other than Tiandao Xun, who was also one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
At first glance, the name "Xun" seems to be a name that only women would have, but in Japan it is a neutral name that can be chosen by both men and women.
After hearing Sheng Tianmu’s warning, Tiandao slowly put away his ugly “duck smile”.
"Please forgive me, Master Shengtianmu. I am just too happy."
Although he said "please forgive me", there was no trace of guilt in Tiandao's tone.
"These days, it's been so boring. I'm either on the road or picking my nose in the tent out of boredom."
"After enduring for so long, I can finally fight. I am so happy."
After saying this, Tiandao looked intoxicated, as if he had drunk some fine wine.
"And this battle is my favorite field battle... Lord Nagatamoku! Please give me the task of razing that village! I only need 200... no! 100 people to raze that village to the ground!"
As soon as Tiandao finished speaking, a general sitting not far from Tiandao immediately said in a hurry:
"Sir! Please leave this mission to our Yonezawa clan!"
"No! Sir! Please let our Morioka clan..."
"We, the Tsuruoka clan..."
"Kubota Domain..."
…
After Tiandao took this lead, the originally quiet coach's tent suddenly became noisy.
Almost every general asked Sheng Tianmu for help, asking him to give them the task of razing the village.
This task of "razing the villages" is actually a disguised "siege war".
In ancient wars, one of the main purposes of attacking a city was to ensure the smooth flow of logistics routes and to avoid attacks on the "buttocks".
If you bypass the city directly, the defenders in the city will most likely sneak out of the city, stick behind your army, and then kick you when you are not prepared.
Being attacked from the rear is an extremely dangerous thing, whether in ancient times or in modern times.
This is why Inamori asked the First Army to raze the village to the ground. Removing this "city" on the march route would prevent the army from being attacked later and ensure smooth logistics routes.
Although this mission is equivalent to a siege, its difficulty is undoubtedly much less than that of a siege.
The Ainu settlement had neither cities nor any powerful equipment - what merit could be easier to gain than this?
Such an easy-to-earn achievement is right in front of us, and no one wants to give it up.
But there were a few exceptions. A few people remained silent and did not, like the others, act like wild dogs snatching food and ask Sheng Tianmu to let them handle the task. Qiuyue and Kuroda happened to be some of these exceptions.
"Be quiet!" Sheng Tianmu frowned and roared with his loud voice.
After hearing Sheng Tianmu's roar, the noisy tent slowly returned to its original silence.
"What a disgrace to make so much noise!"
After loudly reprimanding the generals in the camp, Sheng Tianmu let out a long sigh, stroked his half-black and half-white beard on his chin, and thought.
After a while, Sheng Tianmu cast his gaze on a general who was sitting not far from him and was wearing red and black armor like him.
"Mogami. I'll leave this village to you."
Upon hearing Sheng Tianmu's calling of his name, the young general named "Mogami" was stunned at first, and then a look of joy appeared on his face at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Mogami Yoshihisa——the name of this general.
At the same time, he, like Sheng Tianmu, Qiuyue and others, holds the title of "Seven Spears of Xianzhou".
Nagatamoku, Akizuki, Kuroda, Tendō, and Mogami - the above five people are the five "Seven Spears of Senshu" who went north to participate in the "Red Moon Fortress Subjugation Campaign".
"I'll give you 180 infantrymen and 20 cavalrymen," Sheng Tianmu said, "razing that village beautifully for me."
"Yes!" Mogami said excitedly.
"I sent scouts to check the situation in the village last night." Sheng Tianmu said, "The people in that village live deep in the mountains, so they haven't noticed our army yet."
"So, we should take advantage of the fact that they haven't discovered our army yet and attack them by surprise. We will set out this afternoon!"
"Yes! Please rest assured, sir! I will definitely fulfill my mission! How can a mere barbarian stop our army? I only need to charge once to raze that village to the ground!"