Kill one person every ten steps, and leave no trace in a thousand miles.
——Li Bai, "The Knight-errant"
…
…
While Matsudaira Sadanobu and his men were still holding a meeting in the tent—
Outside the First Military Camp——
The falling snow still hasn't stopped.
The faint sunlight poured into the white snowfield from the gaps in the clouds. Under the slightly gloomy sky, everything was very quiet, with only a few snowflakes falling.
The snow was falling as if no one was around, and it mixed with the evening mist and spread out. Looking around, the view was gray.
“…Is that your military camp?”
"Yes, yes! That's our army's camp!"
Ogata lifted the bamboo hat on his head slightly and looked down the hillside.
Ogata is now standing on a hillside.
Although visibility was low due to the early morning mist that had not yet dispersed, one could still clearly see through the layers of mist - flags with various family crests painted on them fluttering in the wind at the foot of the hillside.
Luobo was now tied to a tree not far behind Ogata, snorting in boredom and paddling the ground with his hooves.
As Ogata looked expressionlessly at the military camp at the foot of the hill, Sakaguchi stood trembling behind him.
Last night, after getting him on his horse, Obana gave Sakaguchi a blunt order: "Show me the way. Lead me to your army's camp."
Facing Ogata, Sakaguchi, who had no longer any intention of resisting, silently brought Ogata to the camp of their First Army.
Looking at Ogata who was standing on the hillside in front of him and looking at the military camp below, Sakaguchi now felt shocked and astonished.
After hearing Ogata ask him to take him to their army's camp, Sakaguchi roughly guessed what Ogata was going to do.
Although he had a vague idea of ​​what Ogata was going to do, he couldn't believe that Ogata was really going to put it into practice...
It was not until Ogata followed his instructions without hesitation and arrived at the camp of the First Army that Sakaguchi was sure that the man in front of him really intended to do what he had imagined and made his hair stand on end...
——Is this guy... serious... Is he really planning to break into the military camp and kill Mogami-sama...
As Sakaguchi thought this in his heart, a few drops of cold sweat appeared on his forehead and then slowly dripped down...
Sakaguchi didn't dare to speak.
Ogata did not say anything either, but just looked at the military camp at the foot of the hill silently.
The air around him fell into a dead silence.
After a while, Ogata placed his hands on the hilt of Daishakuten and whispered to himself in a voice that only he could hear:
"…As expected of a military camp."
Although visibility was a bit poor, Ogata could still barely see that there were many soldiers standing guard and patrolling in the camp.
Different from the clumsy guarding and patrolling methods of the bandits he had dealt with before, even someone like Ogata who didn't know much about military law could see that the guarding and patrolling methods of these soldiers were completely different from those of the bandits he had dealt with before.
Sakaguchi, who was standing behind Ogata, had been looking at Ogata in front of him with a hesitant look from time to time.
Until this moment, the hesitation in Sakaguchi's eyes finally slowly dissipated and turned into determination.
“Well, then, then… please, please let me go…”
Sakaguchi, who finally mustered up the courage, stammered.
"I have brought you to the barracks..."
"Please have mercy on me... spare my life..."
After saying that, Sakaguchi knelt down on the ground and performed the most important ceremony in Japan towards Ogata in front of him - kneeling on both knees and placing his palms and forehead on the ground.
Sakaguchi no longer wanted the "dignity of a samurai", he just wanted to survive.
Ogata listened to Sakaguchi's begging for mercy silently without looking back at Sakaguchi.
After Sakaguchi finished speaking, Ogata said in a calm tone:
"If you help me do one last thing, I can spare your life."
“W-what’s the matter…?” Sakaguchi raised his head and asked in a cautious tone without even having time to wipe the snow off his forehead.
For some reason , Sakaguchi suddenly felt a bad premonition rising in his heart.
"I need you to help me get Mogami Yoshihisa's head."
"Are you asking me to help you assassinate Lord Mogami? No, no!" Sakaguchi said without hesitation, "I can't help you with this! I don't know where Lord Mogami is in the camp now, and I'm not good at stealth, so I can't help you assassinate Lord Mogami!"
"...You seem to have misunderstood what I just said."
"When did I say I wanted to assassinate that Mogami?"
As Ogata said this, a few snowflakes just happened to pass by the edge of his hat and fell on the handles of the two swords at his waist.
Ogata raised his right hand and brushed off the snow on the hilt of the knife bit by bit.
“…Huh?” Sakaguchi cast a puzzled look towards Ogata in front of him.
"There aren't many buildings in the camp, only tents. There's nowhere to hide. I'm afraid only ninjas who have reached the pinnacle of their skills can sneak into such a camp quietly without being discovered."
"Besides, it's still early morning, not at night when visibility is poor. This kind of weather is not suitable for infiltration or assassination."
After saying that, Ogata's right hand, which was originally brushing off the snow on the hilt of the sword, suddenly grasped the hilt of Daishikite and pulled the blade out of the sheath inch by inch.
The blade shone with a clear blue light under the light.
"There are no conditions for infiltration and assassination."
“So I decided to try another approach.”
Hearing this, Sakaguchi felt an ominous premonition that was extremely strong...
…
…
The First Army Camp, Xiyingkou——
"Ha..." A soldier standing guard at Xiyingkou with a spear in hand yawned loudly.
As he was in charge of the "morning shift", he had already gotten up before dawn. He was already lacking in sleep, and having to perform such a boring "standing guard" task made him even more sleepy.
In order to pass the boring sentry duty, he wanted to chat with his companions next to him, but the military regulations clearly stipulated that chatting was strictly prohibited while standing guard or patrolling, and severe punishment would be imposed once discovered. The soldier did not have the courage to violate the military regulations.
Just as the soldier was desperately fighting against sleep, he suddenly saw a black object at the end of the evening mist outside the camp...
The soldier frowned slightly and looked intently at the "black thing".
The evening mist has not yet dissipated, and looking around, the field of vision is still gray.
After looking at it carefully for a while, the soldier finally recognized that the black thing was a human figure.
Just as the soldier recognized the figure, it emerged from the evening mist - a young samurai wearing a conical hat and a thin kimono.
The young warrior, holding a katana in his right hand, walked slowly towards the west entrance of the camp through the evening mist.
After slowly emerging from the evening mist, the young warrior suddenly increased his speed.
He was just walking slowly.
Then walking turned into a brisk walk, which turned into a trot, and finally into a gallop.
When the young warrior changed from walking slowly to jogging, the soldier who first discovered the young warrior suddenly widened his eyes.
At this moment, the rest of the soldiers at Xiyingkou also discovered the young warrior, and all looked at him with shock.
The soldier who first spotted the young warrior opened his mouth wide:
"Enemy attack..."
Before the soldier could finish the last syllable of the word "enemy attack", he saw the young warrior, who had already run to a distance of 10 steps from Xiyingkou, leap up and fly towards him...
…
…
While standing on the hillside observing the camp, Ogata realized that he did not have the conditions to carry out "infiltration and assassination". His "advanced" Shiranui-style stealth technique was not enough to sneak into a camp guarded by 3,000 soldiers.
So Ogata decided to use another strategy.
This new strategy is quite simple and crude, without too many twists and turns. It can be described in four words - direct attack.
With a running start, Ogata leaped high into the air towards a soldier from Xiyingkou who was about 10 steps away from him.
Jumping over a distance of 10 steps in one breath - this kind of thing is just a piece of cake for Ogata, who now has 20 points of strength.
After accurately jumping over the soldier's head, Ogata clamped the soldier's head with his legs before he could react, and then used the Shiranui-ryu ninjutsu to throw him heavily to the ground.
[Ding! Use Shiranui Style Ninjutsu and Shiranui Style Jujutsu to defeat the enemy]
[Gain 45 personal experience points, and 40 experience points for the Ninjutsu "Shiranui Style Ninjutsu"]
[Current personal level: Lv38 (1650/6000)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 8th Stage (3190/7500)]
After subduing the soldier with the Shiranui-ryu ninjutsu, Ogata did not rush towards the other soldiers around him. Instead, he first cut off the torch tied to a long wooden stick that was stuck on the ground next to him , and then held the cut torch with his empty left hand.
Because visibility was poor this morning, torches for lighting were still lit in various places in the camp.
After getting the torch, Ogata threw it directly at a watchtower not far away.
As the flames touched the wooden watchtower, the flames immediately began to burn, spread, and roar on the watchtower as if they had life.
After setting the watchtower next to him on fire, Ogata rushed towards the soldiers next to him with a knife.
The light of the sword and the light of the fire complement each other.
Ogata was not charging forward aimlessly.
While he was struggling to defeat the garrison at Xiyingkou, he deliberately overturned the surrounding torches and threw them at the surrounding flammable materials to increase the chaos in the camp.
The more chaotic the camp is, the better it is for Ogata.
Japan has enjoyed peace for nearly 200 years, and the combat effectiveness and organization of its army are no longer comparable to those of the army in the Warring States period 200 years ago, or the army when the Edo Shogunate was first established.
Among the 10,000 troops now assembled in Ezo, most of them have never fought a war before.
As for those who had fought in wars, the battles they participated in were basically small-scale battles such as suppressing bandits and peasant rebellions.
The sound of drums and gongs had not been heard for too long, and as a result, all the soldiers in the army lacked experience in dealing with emergencies.
The soldiers didn't have time to sound the alarm until Ogata was about to rush into their camp.
It was not until Ogata rushed in that the soldiers finally realized what had happened. They quickly sounded the alarm and shot at Ogata with their guns.
After throwing another torch at the flammable material not far away, Ogata turned around and shouted outside Yingkou:
"Hurry up and catch up!"
"Yes, yes!" A panicked voice sounded from the depths of the evening mist.
Then, a very pale warrior with a topknot appeared from the depths of the evening mist and ran towards him quickly - this man was Sakaguchi.
The task that Ogata gave Sakaguchi was simple - to show Ogata the way.
Tell Ogata where their military doctors treat the wounded and where their soldiers live.
When Sakaguchi first received the task from Ogata, he naturally shook his head and refused.
"Please forgive me! I really can't do such a thing!" - These were Sakaguchi's exact words at the time.
When Ogata heard Sakaguchi's words, he didn't say much.
He only put the tip of Daishiten's sword against Sakaguchi's neck...
"I will fight to the death and risk my life!" - These are also Sakaguchi's original words.
Ogata also specifically "kindly" reminded him that if he found that Sakaguchi did not catch up with him in time, he would temporarily put aside the matter of taking Mogami's head and try his best to hunt him down.
After appearing from the evening mist and running to a distance behind Ogata, Sakaguchi cried out to Ogata with a sad face:
"Sir! You must keep me safe!"
Ogata ignored Sakaguchi - he was now concentrating all his attention on the attack on Xiyingkou.
Hearing the sound of dense footsteps coming from the right, Ogata looked in the direction of the sound - six soldiers with spears in hand were running towards Ogata in a slightly loose formation.
Ogata took off his hat and threw it at the six soldiers.
Ogata's hat was used to protect against snow, and the brim of the hat was very wide. After throwing it out, the snow accumulated on the hat splashed everywhere, interfering with the vision of the six soldiers, and the momentum of the six soldiers' forward charge could not help but pause.
Ogata seized the opportunity and his body and the sword in his hand turned into a stream of light that swept towards the six soldiers.
Six sword lights burst out at the same time.
The bamboo hat flew straight behind the six soldiers.
Ogata was clearly the one who threw out the hat first, but his hat arrived behind the six soldiers before his own.
Ogata raised his hand to catch the hat. The next moment after he caught his hat, the bodies of the six soldiers fell to the ground like noodles.
Ogata now only felt that the blood in his body was boiling and adrenaline was being secreted rapidly, but his mind was very clear.
He did not forget what he was here for.
Ogata did not hesitate to fight. After breaking through the encirclement of the Xiyingkou garrison, he led Sakaguchi and rushed deep into the camp...
…
…
Commander's Camp——
After receiving the news that the camp was attacked, the tent exploded instantly.
In terms of combat experience, most of the generals in the account are actually the same as most of the soldiers in the army - they have basically no experience.
The reason why they could wear mighty battle armor and gorgeous battle feather robes was simply because they were of noble birth and were high-ranking samurai in their respective fiefdoms, not because they had accomplished any amazing achievements.
Under this system of hereditary nobility, many of them might not even have read any military books.
The lack of experience made them lose their composure in an instant.
"Hey! Explain yourself! Is there really only one enemy attacking our camp?", "Could it be that Ogata Ittosai is here to kill us?", "Is there anything wrong with his brain? How dare he attack the army's camp?"...
After all, Sheng Tianmu was a veteran who had personally led troops and fought in many battles - although the battles he fought were just small battles to quell banditry and peasant uprisings.
However - even if they were just some small battles that were not worth writing about , they were enough to make Sheng Tianmu far superior to these "generals" who might not even have read "The Art of War" and "Jiayang Military Mirror".
Sheng Tianmu regained his composure and yelled, "Quiet!"
Sheng Tianmu's loud roar slowly quieted down the originally noisy tent.
"Who exactly is the attacking enemy? This matter is not important at all."
Sheng Tianmu said in a deep voice.
"No matter who the incoming enemy is, we will not do what we should do now."
"The most urgent task now is to stabilize the army. As long as it is stable, even if a thousand-man army attacks, there is nothing to be afraid of!"
Sheng Tianmu turned his head and looked at Bai Shi who had just threatened to conquer the "thief".
"Shiraishi, the place where your Yonezawa army is stationed is far away from the attacked Xiyingkou. You should immediately return to the residence of your Yonezawa generals and soldiers to calm the morale of the army."
"Haruhi, go organize the arquebusiers and archers and bring them to the commander's camp."
…
Sheng Tianmu calmly issued orders one after another.
Sheng Tianmu, who had experience in marching and fighting, naturally knew how terrible it was to "bomb the camp".
Therefore, the task that Sheng Tianmu issued to most of the generals was to return to the troops in their respective vassal states to stabilize the morale of the troops.
Sheng Tianmu's calm tone gradually calmed the originally panicked generals.
After Daisheng Tianmu gave the last order, he stood up and glanced at the generals in front of him with a serious face.
"Everyone, have you all heard your respective tasks clearly?"
The generals nodded vigorously.
"Then each of us should act!" Sheng Tianmu said loudly, "Let those who dare to attack our military camp never return!"
Generals: “Oh oh!”
The generals, who had calmed down, shouted in unison, then stood up and filed out of the camp.
In the blink of an eye, only a few people were left in the tent.
After issuing various military orders, Sheng Tianmu turned his head and looked at Matsudaira Sadanobu beside him:
"Master Lao Zhong, this place is not safe now. Please retreat to a safe place for the time being!"
Matsudaira Sadanobu thought for a moment and then nodded slowly.
"Hey!" At this time, a voice full of displeasure sounded, "Master Sheng Tianmu, why don't we have any missions?"
The master of this sentence is the Way of Heaven.
Just now, all the generals in the camp received their tasks.
Only three generals did not receive any missions.
These three people are Akizuki, Kuroda, and Tendao, who are also known as the "Seven Spears of Xianzhou" together with Sheng Tianmu.
At this time, the three people looked at Sheng Tianmu with puzzled eyes.
"I have other arrangements for you three." After responding coldly to Tiandao's question, Sheng Tianmu called in several guards who were guarding outside the tent.
"Take Mogami away!" Sheng Tianmu ordered the guard who had just entered.
…
…
It can be said that Ogata received help from God.
The evening mist was very heavy this morning and visibility was extremely low.
Not only did it allow Ogata to get rid of those generals and soldiers more smoothly, but it also further increased the level of chaos among the generals and soldiers in the camp.
Is there anything more panic-inducing than looking around in a vast expanse of gray and not being able to see where the enemy is?
Ogata had witnessed with his own eyes that many soldiers had injured their own people because they did not see clearly and were too nervous.
Moreover, Ogata chose the right time to attack. It was early in the morning, and many soldiers were just waking up and were half-conscious.
Many soldiers could not find Ogata due to poor visibility. There were noisy shouting from all directions, and they could not determine Ogata's location based on the sounds.
Some who finally found Ogata either didn't dare to approach him, or even if they did, they couldn't slow down Ogata's pace at all...
With the help of the evening mist, Ogata penetrated deeply into the military camp like a wedge.
As Ogata rushed around in the military camp, in order to increase the chaos in the camp so that he could fish in troubled waters more easily, he was always careful to cut down all the torches along the way and then throw them onto nearby flammable materials.
Under Ogata's series of destruction, the firelight gradually overwhelmed the flashing of swords and shadows.
The ever-expanding fire also made the organization of the soldiers in the camp even more chaotic.
The soldiers who were trying to put out the fire and those who were trying to hunt down Ogata interfered with each other, which only benefited Ogata.
"In front... ha... turn left... and that's... ha... the place where the wounded are treated...!" Sakaguchi, who was following closely behind Ogata, pointed the way to Ogata while supporting his side which was aching slightly from the intense running.
Ogata followed Sakaguchi's instructions and turned left, just in time to see a few bald guys who were looking panicked and preparing to run for their lives.
In Edo period Japan, doctors generally had bald heads, so when Ogata saw these bald heads, he immediately concluded that they must be military doctors.
Ogata pounced and caught the bald man who was closest to him. He held the Great Shitian across the bald man's neck and asked quickly:
"A general named Mogami Yoshihisa should have been sent back to the camp last night. Do you know where he is?"
Ogata was not charging forward aimlessly.
After breaking into the camp, Oba followed Sakaguchi's instructions and rushed straight to the area where the wounded were being treated - because the doctor here was the person most likely to know where Mogami was now.
Coincidentally, this doctor was the one who had just taken Zui Shang's pulse and confirmed his current condition.
This doctor was not a pedantic samurai who valued "reputation" more than "life". After hearing Ogata's question, the doctor immediately nodded hurriedly:
"I know! I know! He is in the commander-in-chief's camp now! In the commander-in-chief's camp!"
After obtaining the information he wanted, Osamu let go of the doctor, who posed no threat to him and whom there was no need to kill, and allowed the doctor to escape.
"Take me to the commander-in-chief's camp!" Ogata turned his head and looked at Sakaguchi.
Sakaguchi, who had no way out, said sadly, "Go straight along this road, turn right twice, and you will see a very conspicuous tent. That is the commander's tent!"
"Follow me!" After saying this coldly to Sakaguchi, Ogata ran in the direction Sakaguchi had just pointed.
"Found it! Kill! Kill!"
Dozens of generals and soldiers appeared in front.
The generals and soldiers who appeared in front of Ogata this time were somewhat different from the previous ones.
The leader of this team was wearing a mighty battle armor, a beautiful battle feather robe, and carrying a large sword.
Judging from his attire, he should be a general at the level of a military attendant.
"Thief! Stop!" The samurai general carrying a large sword who blocked Ogata's way shouted majestically, "I am the descendant of Obata Toramori, the 'Twenty-Four Divine Generals of Takeda'...Gu!"
Before this man had the time to finish his lengthy "self-introduction", he saw Ogata in front of him suddenly speed up and run in front of him.
Before he could remember to make a move, he felt a sharp pain in his throat, and then he saw with his own eyes a large stream of liquid spurting out from his throat.
After killing the samurai general who didn't even have time to introduce himself in one blow, Ogata directly broke through the encirclement of the samurai general who led dozens of soldiers in one breath and continued to rush straight towards the commander-in-chief's tent.
Those soldiers who had managed to avoid Ogata's blade looked at the general who had just introduced himself in a majestic manner and now fell to the ground and died, and then looked at Ogata's departing back - no one dared to step forward to stop Ogata.