The next morning,
The first military camp, the commander-in-chief’s tent.
After a night of wind and snow, the snow finally eased a little.
The wind has died down, leaving only a few snowflakes floating alone.
In the commander-in-chief's tent, Sheng Tianmu sat in the first seat with a tired look on his face.
Last night, he personally questioned the seven soldiers who escorted Mogami back to the camp until the early hours of the morning.
By questioning the seven surviving soldiers, Sheng Tianmu finally knew what had happened since Mogami led his troops to leave the camp.
It was known that Mogami had obtained a lot of information about the "mysterious swordsman" through torture in Sivasi Village.
Knowing this, Mogami led his troops northward to pursue the "mysterious swordsman" based on this intelligence.
After knowing that Mogami had been chasing all the way, he found a woman whose appearance completely matched that of the accomplice of the "mysterious swordsman" as revealed by the villagers of Siwasi Village. He then beat her up and prepared to take her back to torture her for information.
Then I also found out... When they were about to take the woman back, a very young samurai with an orthodox appearance suddenly appeared, and then used his extremely sharp swordsmanship to defeat Mogami and his men...
The young warrior not only possessed terrifying swordsmanship like the reincarnation of a martial god, but also possessed an extremely rare short gun.
Mogami was injured by the young samurai's short gun.
So far, the only people who have returned safely to the camp are Mogami and the seven soldiers who escorted him back to the camp safely...
The 50 soldiers led by Mogami, one of the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou", were defeated even though they were equipped with bows, arrows, cannons and other weapons. The strength of the "mysterious swordsman" was far beyond the imagination of Sheng Tianmu and others, and they had to hold a military meeting to discuss the matter.
So - as soon as dawn broke, Sheng Tianmu immediately issued a call to the entire camp, requiring all generals above the rank of attendant general to go to the commander-in-chief's tent for a meeting.
At this moment, the people on the left and right sides of Sheng Tianmu, as well as many generals who had arrived early, had already taken their seats.
Because there is still quite some time before the military meeting officially begins, about half of the generals have not arrived yet.
These generals who arrived at the commander-in-chief's camp in advance either closed their eyes to rest or sat there in a daze with expressionless faces.
All the generals in the commander-in-chief's tent were silent, waiting quietly for the military meeting to officially begin, when the curtain at the entrance of the tent was suddenly lifted.
Some of the generals in the tent looked up at the entrance - a look of surprise flashed across their faces, and then they hurriedly stood up and bowed to the man who lifted the curtain and walked into the tent, including Sheng Tianmu.
The generals who were originally doing their own things and did not pay attention to who entered the tent, after noticing that the people around them stood up one after another, also turned their attention to the tent entrance.
After seeing who was coming, these people showed the same surprised expressions as those who stood up and saluted first, and then they stood up and saluted together.
Throughout the entire army, only two people had the privilege of being able to make all the generals, including Namatenmu, stand up and salute - the commander-in-chief of the army, Inamori, and Matsudaira Sadanobu.
The person who just opened the curtain and entered was Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was still staying in the First Army's camp.
After waving his hands to the generals in the camp, indicating that there was no need for formalities, Matsudaira Sadanobu walked straight to the stool placed next to Sheng Tianmu and sat down.
"Lord, Mr. Ruchu." After Matsudaira Sadanobu sat down, Sheng Tianmu immediately began to greet and talk to him politely.
Matsudaira Sadanobu also smiled and responded to Shōtenmu's greeting without any flaws.
"Master Laozhong, have you been living comfortably these past two days?"
Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded gently and smiled, "Very comfortable. Thank you for taking care of me these past two days."
"I don't deserve it. I don't deserve it."
After he finished speaking, Sheng Tianmu couldn't help but secretly look at Matsudaira Sadanobu beside him - a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.
Everything that Matsudaira Sadanobu did in the past two days made Sheng Tianmu very confused.
Originally, after staying in their First Army camp for one night, Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to leave the next morning and go to the Second Army to meet up with Inamori.
But for some reason, after learning that some of the soldiers of their First Army were killed by a "mysterious swordsman", Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly changed his mind and decided to stay in the First Army for a while.
Although Sheng Tianmu was puzzled by Matsudaira Sadanobu's sudden statement that he wanted to continue staying in the First Army, he did not dare to ask more questions because of the gap in their status.
Anyway, it would not do any harm for Matsudaira Sadanobu to stay in the First Army for a while longer. On the contrary, it would give Sheng Tianmu more opportunities to get close to Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Therefore, Sheng Tianmu no longer wanted to, and at the same time, did not dare to, delve further into the question of "why Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted to stay in the First Military Camp for a while longer."
After Matsudaira Sadanobu decided to stay in their First Army for a while longer, something happened last night that made Sheng Tianmu very confused.
Yesterday evening, just after Namatemuro had questioned the seven soldiers who escorted Mogami back to the camp, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who learned of the incident, summoned Namatemuro directly to him and asked him to tell him everything he had learned.
Facing Matsudaira Sadanobu, Sheng Tianmu naturally did not dare to hide anything and told Matsudaira Sadanobu everything he knew so far.
At the same time, he also informed Matsudaira Sadanobu of his decision to hold a military meeting to discuss with the generals the matter of "the complete annihilation of Mogami's troops."
After learning that Shōtenmoku was planning to hold such a military meeting, Matsudaira Sadanobu directly informed Shōtenmoku in advance that he was planning to participate in the meeting.
Matsudaira Sadanobu's actions over the past two days gave Sheng Tianmu an illusion - he always felt that Matsudaira Sadanobu seemed to be very interested in that "mysterious swordsman"...
But he didn't dare to ask Matsudaira Sadanobu about this matter...so he could only bury his doubts deep in his heart.
After a few brief greetings, Sheng Tianmu and Matsudaira Sadanobu stopped talking.
Sheng Tianmu silently waited for the arrival of the other generals.
Matsudaira Sadanobu also placed his hands naturally on his legs, with his eyes on his nose and his nose on his heart.
The other generals who had not arrived entered the tents and sat down in their respective seats.
Finally - all the generals above the rank of samurai admiral of the First Army have arrived, filling the stools on the left and right sides of Matsudaira Sadanobu and Nakatenme.
Sheng Tianmu raised his eyes and glanced at the generals in front of him.
"It looks like everyone is here." Sheng Tianmu said softly, "Then - let's begin the military meeting."
…
…
In the First Army Camp, inside a tent——
"Doctor, how is Lord Mogami's pulse now?" A general who was sitting cross-legged next to Mogami couldn't wait to ask the military doctor after the military doctor released Mogami's wrist.
There were only three people in this rather spacious tent at this time - a military doctor, the general sent by Sheng Tianmu to look after Mogami, and Mogami who was still unconscious.
At this time, Zuishang had thick linen tied around his upper body, the thickness of which was enough to compete with a cotton coat.
Although his complexion still looked grim, it was obviously in much better condition than when he was sent back to the camp last night.
Last night, after Mogami was sent back, the military doctors in the camp immediately began to treat him with all their might.
The treatment lasted for several hours, until dawn.
After the treatment, Mogami was sent to this relatively quiet tent where he would not be disturbed to recuperate.
Sheng Tianmu sent a subordinate whom he trusted very much - the general who asked the doctor "How is Mogami's pulse now?" to look after Mogami.
While being responsible for looking after Mogami, this attendant general is also responsible for reporting to Sheng Tianmu as soon as Mogami wakes up.
Now the doctor who had just taken Zui Shang's pulse came to check on Zui Shang's current condition.
"Master Mogami's pulse is relatively stable." The military doctor with a shiny bald head said slowly, "At present, his condition is relatively good. But it will take a few more days to determine whether Master Mogami has lead poisoning."
"Lead poisoning..." General Shi twitched his lips, "Doctor, if I'm poisoned by lead, is there really no hope for me?"
This attendant general was a close confidant of Sheng Tianmu, and he was also very familiar with Mogami, who was Sheng Tianmu's nephew.
The military doctor sighed softly: "There is no medicine that can cure lead poisoning now, not even the Lanfang doctors who know the southern barbarian medicine. If you are poisoned by lead, you can only rely on yourself to get through it..."
After saying that, the military doctor grabbed his medicine box and said, "Well, I will leave first. If there is any abnormality in Lord Mogami's body, please come to us immediately."
"Yes." General Shi nodded vigorously, "Thank you for your help."
When the general was about to get up and send the military doctor away, he suddenly heard a low groan coming from his side.
Hearing the groan, the general was stunned for a moment, then quickly turned his head to look in the direction of the sound - Zui Shang made a low groan and slowly opened his eyes.
"Master Mogami!" The ecstatic general leaned over quickly, "You finally woke up!"
The military doctor who had picked up the medicine box and was about to leave now hurriedly put it down again.
"Master Mogami," the doctor asked, "how do you feel now? Are you feeling any discomfort?"
Mogami ignored the doctor's question.
Instead, he turned his head to look at the general, and asked him in a weak voice:
"Am I...returning to the camp...? Where is Lord Sheng Tianmu...now?"
"Lord Sheng Tianmu should be holding a military meeting in the commander-in-chief's camp now." The attendant general replied.
"Military meeting..." Mogami's eyes, which were originally half open, suddenly widened, "That's... just right... quickly... take me to Lord Sheng Tianmu... I have... important information to tell everyone..."
"Eh? But..." General Shi hesitated, "Your body..."
“Go quickly...!” Mogami suddenly raised his voice tone, but after raising his voice, he used too much force, which pulled the wound on his chest, causing Mogami's facial features to twist together.
…
…
The First Army Camp, the Commander-in-Chief's Camp——
Sheng Tianmu used words as concisely as possible to inform all the generals in the camp of what was currently known about Zuigami's experience.
After learning that Mogami's troops were completely wiped out by a young samurai, all the generals in the camp showed extremely shocked expressions.
"...It seems that this person should be the 'mysterious swordsman'." Tiandao, who usually always puts on a cynical look, showed a rare solemn expression at this time, "Master Sheng Tianmu, is the information...really correct? Was the Mogami army really defeated by the samurai alone?"
"That's what the seven soldiers who escorted Mogami back said," Sheng Tianmu replied, "The information should be credible."
"...In this desolate Ezo land, there is actually such a master..." Qiuyue said suddenly, "It's unbelievable..."
"Lord Sheng Tianmu, what should we do now?" Kuroda, who seldom spoke in military meetings, showed a serious expression at this time and asked Sheng Tianmu, "Should we continue to track down the 'mysterious swordsman'? Or should we just let this matter go?"
As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, a loud voice suddenly sounded:
"This matter must not be revealed!"
All the generals turned their heads towards the voice - the person who spoke was a young man with a rather fat figure.
"How many of us has that thief killed? Lord Mogami even fell directly at his hands!"
"If we just ignore this matter, wouldn't it be a laughing stock?"
Qiuyue looked at the general's face carefully, and after some recollection, she finally remembered his identity.
This man was from Yonezawa Domain, his name was Shiraishi Shin'emon, and he had always been quite active in military affairs.
Qiuyue doesn't have a good impression of Bai Shi.
Because Qiuyue always felt that Bai Shi's personality seemed a little too proud and arrogant, and he always said some extremely arrogant and ridiculous words. Qiuyue has always been indifferent to such people.
As soon as Bai Shi finished speaking, Tian Dao, who always loved to argue with others, sneered:
"Continue to track down the thief? Then may I ask - how should we deal with the thief?"
"No matter how powerful that thief is, he is still a mortal !" Bai Shi showed a confident smile, "Can that thief really defeat a hundred people alone?"
After saying that, Bai Shi turned his head and looked at Sheng Tianmu who was sitting on the main seat, and said seriously:
"Lord Sheng Tianmu! Please allow me to lead my Yonezawa clan's troops to pursue that thief! To avenge our compatriots who have died at his hands!"
"No matter how strong that thief is, he is no match for us, the Yonezawa warriors!"
Hearing Bai Shi's words, Qiu Yue couldn't help but curl her lips and reveal a hint of ridicule. She thought to herself: As expected...
Just now, when Qiuyue heard Bai Shi passionately expressing his determination to track down the thief to the end, she guessed it - Bai Shi didn't care about revenge or face at all, he only cared about whether he could gain credit.
Bai Shi just said so much, but in fact he was just laying the groundwork for his request to fight.
As soon as Bai Shi finished speaking, a voice that made Bai Shi's face change slightly sounded:
"I think we shouldn't waste any more manpower and material resources on that unidentified thief."
"Our most important task now should be to capture the Red Moon Fortress. Compared with this most important task, everything else is insignificant."
The person who said this was a middle-aged military commander from the Morioka Domain.
"You are being biased." Bai Shi frowned, "This incident is no small matter."
"That bandit killed so many of our soldiers. This is nothing short of a humiliation for us."
"Do you think being humiliated by others is a trivial matter?"
The values ​​of the samurai in the Edo period were to value honor, and "reputation" was far more important than "life".
So the big hat that Bai Shi was put on was quite big.
"I didn't say that." The general who had just opposed continuing to track down the "thief" immediately frowned.
The argument between Bai Shi and the general directly ignited the "fire of debate" in the tent.
All the generals expressed their opinions - they were mainly divided into two factions.
One group supported continuing to track down the thief who had killed so many of their soldiers and brought disgrace to their country.
The other group believes that we should ignore the extremely dangerous thief.
Of course - there were also a few centrist generals who did not express any opinions and only urged everyone to calm down, but their calls only added to the noise in the camp.
Looking at the noisy generals in front of him, Sheng Tianmu's brows slowly frowned.
Just when he was about to ask all the generals to be quiet, he suddenly saw a guard outside the camp hurriedly slip into the tent, then quickly ran towards Sheng Tianmu, then put his lips close to Sheng Tianmu's ear and whispered something to him.
After the guard finished speaking, Sheng Tianmu's expression changed slightly.
After a brief thought, he nodded slightly.
Seeing Sheng Tianmu nod, the guard immediately left Sheng Tianmu's side and ran back out of the camp.
Upon seeing this, the generals gradually quieted down due to confusion and looked at Sheng Tianmu.
"Mogami is awake." Sheng Tianmu said directly to the generals, "He said he has important information to tell us and asked to come in."
"I have promised to let him in."
As Sheng Tianmu finished speaking, the curtain at the entrance of the commander-in-chief's tent was pulled open.
Six strong soldiers walked quickly into the tent carrying a wooden board, on which lay a man - this man was Mogami who had just woken up.
Looking at Zuishang’s pale face, Shengtianmu couldn’t help but frown.
"Zuigami." Sheng Tianmu couldn't help but ask, "How do you feel now? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"
"I'm fine..." After answering weakly, Mogami signaled the six soldiers who carried him over to put him on the ground aside, and then let the six soldiers go out.
After the six soldiers left, Sheng Tianmu was the first to ask Mogami:
"Mogami, you said you had important information to report. What was it?"
As soon as Sheng Tianmu finished speaking, Zuigami immediately cast his anxious gaze towards Sheng Tianmu.
"Master Sheng Tianmu... the man who injured me... and annihilated my troops... is not an ordinary person..."
"I recognize... that man's face..."
Sheng Tianmu raised his eyebrows: "Do you recognize that person's face? Who is that person?"
Mogami swallowed hard.
Then...he spoke a sentence word by word.
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the camp's faces changed drastically.
Some people's faces were filled with horror and surprise.
Some people who didn't hear clearly what Mogami said, and some who suspected that they had heard it wrong, asked those around them whose faces changed drastically what Mogami had said.
Those whose faces turned pale repeated what Mogami had just said to those who had not heard clearly or suspected that they had heard it wrong.
After these people finally knew and confirmed what Mogami had just said, their faces changed immediately.
In just a moment, the tent, which was originally noisy, became silent.
It was because Mogami had just said this: "That person is Ogata Noriyoshi!"
"Lord Mogami, you didn't recognize the wrong person, did you?" a certain general asked Mogami stutteringly.
The man who spoke with a stutter was Bai Shi, who was the first to ask for a fight and expressed his determination to capture and kill the "thief".
"I didn't admit my mistake..." Mogami said slowly, trying to stay alert. "I have read the wanted poster of Ogata Issei many times... That person is indeed 'The Executioner Ittosai' Ogata Issei..."
As Ogata is the most wanted criminal of the shogunate, the number of wanted warrants for him is almost equal to the total number of wanted warrants for all other wanted criminals.
Mogami had seen Ogata's wanted poster by chance before. Ogata's overly young face left a deep impression on Mogami, so when he saw Ogata for the first time, Mogami immediately recognized him - this was the person on the wanted poster.
“Ogata Ittosai is actually here…?” Qiuyue’s face was now full of shock.
Qiuyue now had a sense of unreality as if he was dreaming - the "living legend" was now so close to him.
"...Heh, no wonder there has been no news of Ogata Ittosai since the 'Nijo Castle Incident'." Kuroda raised his hand to support his forehead, "So he has been living in seclusion here in Ezo..."
"In this case... it makes sense why the thief's skills are so strong..."
At this moment, no one claimed to conquer the thief.
The "war faction" headed by Shiraishi now looked at each other in embarrassment.
Sheng Tianmu, who was sitting in the chief seat, was also so frightened by this extremely shocking news that his face changed drastically.
As for Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting next to Nagatenmu, he was shocked at first after hearing what Mogami had just said.
Then the surprise turned into stupor.
Finally, the dazed look turned into a bitter expression as if he had figured something out.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Then, Matsudaira Sadanobu slowly opened his eyes.
As he opened his eyes, he slowly spoke the first words he had spoken since the military meeting began:
"...Shotenmoku, if the thief is Ogata Ittosai... then I think it is necessary to make the necessary preparations."
"Strengthen the defense of the camp, or... leave this place immediately."
Matsudaira Sadanobu's words directly attracted the puzzled gazes of many generals in the camp.
"Master Laozhong." A general couldn't help but ask, "Why is this?"
"From Ogata Ittosai's current deeds, it is not difficult to see that he is a man who takes pleasure in taking revenge." Matsudaira Sadanobu said calmly, "Back then, when the lord of Hirose Domain, Matsudaira Gennai, killed his master and fellow apprentices, he drew his sword against Matsudaira Gennai, who was guarded by a hundred samurai."
"According to Mogami-kun, before they encountered Ogata Ittosai, they injured a Japanese woman and planned to take her away for interrogation."
"We cannot rule out the possibility that the Japanese woman is a companion of Ogata Ittosai."
"And... maybe the woman Mogami-kun injured had a very special relationship with Ogata Ittosai."
"Come to us for revenge - we need to consider the possibility of this happening."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, a younger general couldn't help but smile: "Lord Rochu, this kind of thing is unlikely to happen, right?"
"Who would have the guts to attack a military camp with 3,000 soldiers?"
Hearing the general's remarks, Matsudaira Sadanobu shook his shoulders as if he was amused.
"You are right - according to common sense, no one would have the courage to attack a military camp with 3,000 soldiers stationed there."
"But Ogata Ittosai is exactly the kind of person who cannot be judged by common sense."
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, noisy footsteps suddenly sounded outside the tent, coming from far away.
As everyone in the camp turned their puzzled eyes towards the tent entrance, they saw a guard standing outside the tent lift the curtain and enter.
"Sir!" the guard shouted, "A general is asking to come in! He said he has something urgent to tell you!"
"Emergency?" Sheng Tianmu raised his eyebrows, "Let him in!"
"yes!"
As soon as the guards retreated outside the tent, a warrior dressed as a general rushed into the camp in a hurry.
As soon as he rushed into the camp, the general shouted loudly to everyone in the tent:
"Sir! Enemy attack! The camp has been attacked by foreign enemies!"
Sheng Tianmu's eyes suddenly widened, the other generals all showed horror, and Matsudaira Sadanobu's expression was also stunned at this moment.
"Where was the attack?" Sheng Tianmu immediately regained his composure, "How many enemies are there?"
"The west gate is under attack!" General Samurai stuttered due to his unstable emotions, "Come, come, there is only one enemy attacking...!"
"1 person?" Sheng Tianmu's face, which had just regained its composure, showed a look of horror again.
What shocked Sheng Tianmu even more was the second half of the sentence that the attendant general said:
"Sir! Please send reinforcements as soon as possible! The west gate is about to be captured!"