One hour after the attack on the 1st Army camp—
"Sir! Sir! What should we do now?", "Sir! Please give an order!", "Sir! How should we deal with the bodies of Lord Sheng Tianmu and the others?", "Sir..."...
Kuroda's hands, whose skin had been torn off by Ogata, have now been simply treated. Both palms have been applied with medicine and wrapped with layers of thick linen.
There were no painkillers in this era. Kuroda now felt as if his hands were holding a handful of thorns, and the pain made him grimace.
But compared to the pain in his palms, what troubled Kuroda more now was the "pain" in his head.
Looking at the generals and officers surrounding him, chattering and asking him for instructions, Kuroda felt like his head was about to explode.
The camp was attacked by Ogata Ittosai——this happened an hour ago.
Kuroda dared to guarantee that this was definitely the longest hour he had ever spent in his life... Although only an hour had passed, it felt like a whole day.
Just thinking back on the many things that happened during this hour, Kuroda felt cold sweats all over his body...
During this short period of one hour, Kuroda experienced three states: "blank mind", "fighting spirit", and "exhaustion".
Let’s talk about the blank mind first - after seeing Nagatenmu and Tendo being killed by Ogata like cutting melons and vegetables, Kuroda’s mind just buzzed and became blank.
It is difficult to comprehend the situation and to think.
At that time, he only made the most instinctive reaction as a living being - to survive.
He dragged his seriously injured best friend Akizuki and tried desperately to get away from Ogata and escape, and loudly ordered the guards who were originally responsible for guarding the commander-in-chief's tent to stop Ogata and buy him and Akizuki some time and opportunity to escape.
Fortunately, General Kasuga, who was sent by Sheng Tianmu to mobilize the troops, finally arrived at the battlefield with archers and arquebusiers.
And Ogata Ittosai seemed to have no intention of fighting with Akizuki who had lost his will and fighting ability. After seeing the archers and arquebusiers appear, he withdrew and was never seen again.
Sheng Tianmu was the general of their First Army. The killing of Sheng Tianmu was like the brain of their First Army being chopped off.
So after Sheng Tianmu was killed, their First Army was equivalent to losing a brain responsible for coordination and command.
Sheng Tianmu and Tiandao died in the battle, Akizuki was seriously injured, and Kuroda directly became the highest-ranking general of the First Army.
Faced with the situation of being leaderless after Sheng Tianmu's death in battle, Kuroda decided, after an extremely fierce ideological struggle, to bite the bullet, muster his fighting spirit, sit in the commander-in-chief's tent, and take on the important responsibility of "temporarily commanding the First Army."
After temporarily taking over the position of Sheng Tianmu, Kuroda immediately issued two orders - to send people to rush to Mogami's hiding place, and to organize people to search everywhere.
It is not difficult to guess why Ogata Ittosai broke into the camp so suddenly - most likely he came for Mogami.
Unfortunately, Kuroda was still a step too late.
When the men he sent arrived at Zui Shang's hiding place, they saw only corpses all over the ground, and Zui Shang's corpse happened to be one of them...
The bad news was not over yet - not long after Kuroda received the news that Mogami was dead, he received another piece of bad news: a foot soldier with strange behavior appeared in the "Minami Stable".
After stealing a horse from the "South Stable", the foot soldier rode his horse directly out of the camp.
The foot soldier's strange behavior, horse theft, and escape from the camp - these three factors combined made it difficult for Kuroda not to be alert to this foot soldier.
Realizing that this "Ashigaru" was most likely Ogata in disguise as Kuroda, he immediately issued an order: Stop the "Ashigaru" who was riding away from the camp.
What a pity - Kuroda is one step too late again...
At that time, order in the camp had not yet been restored, so the transmission of information was extremely inefficient.
When the news that "a strange 'foot soldier' ​​stole horses and left the camp" reached Kuroda, Ogata was about to leave the camp.
By the time Kuroda gave the order to intercept, Ogata had already left the camp with his men and horses...
After learning that he was too late and the "foot soldier" had already left the camp, Kuroda's mood... is difficult to describe in words.
When he thought that this "foot soldier" was most likely Ogata Ittosai in disguise, and that this "foot soldier" had already escaped from the camp, Kuroda felt that the blood in his body was rushing to his head...
Things have come to this point, and there is nothing that can be done... Kuroda can only suppress his fatigue, force himself to be alert, and continue to preside over his work.
Afterwards, Kuroda restored order in the camp bit by bit, and searched the camp inch by inch, looking for Ogata Ittosai.
However... after searching the entire camp inside and out several times, almost turning the entire camp upside down, they still couldn't find Ogata Ittosai.
Kuroda had to admit the fact - Ogata Ittosai should have left here...
At this moment, order in the camp has been basically restored.
At this moment, most of the senior generals in the camp gathered in the commander-in-chief's tent, asking Kuroda what to do like headless flies.
At this moment, facing the anxious faces in front of him, Kuroda felt exhausted.
In the past, Kuroda had only commanded 1,000 people at most.
Leading an army of 3,000 and dealing with such a mess - this was beyond Kuroda's ability.
Kuroda, who was slumped on a small stool, listened silently to the "instructions and requests" of the generals in front of him for a long time like a man who had lost his soul. With his brain almost shutting down, he stammered, "Anyway, now... let's count the casualties and calculate the losses..."
Before Kuroda could finish his words, a male voice with a neutral tone suddenly sounded from outside the tent:
"Counting the casualties - that's really the first thing to do right now."
"But in addition to counting casualties, we must also not forget to strengthen vigilance."
"'The Executioner Itosai' has always acted irrationally and incomprehensibly."
"The possibility that he might suddenly come back cannot be ignored."
As soon as this male voice sounded, everyone in the camp showed surprise on their faces, then turned their heads and looked towards the entrance of the tent.
"Lord Elder!" Kuroda was the first to exclaim.
Matsudaira Sadanobu put his hands behind his back, lifted the curtain at the entrance of the tent, and walked slowly into the tent.
All the generals in the camp stood up and saluted Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Matsudaira Sadanobu waved his hand, signaling everyone to excuse themselves.
"I already know exactly what happened." Matsudaira Sadanobu slowly lowered his hand to signal the generals in the camp to stop bowing.
Just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu had learned from others everything that had happened in the camp in the past hour.
Learned that Sheng Tianmu died in battle.
I learned that I couldn't find Ogata Ittosai anywhere in the camp.
Listening to the bad news one after another, Matsudaira Sadanobu's reaction was - very calm.
He didn't even frown, as if the death of Namatsutenmu and the escape of Ogata Ittosai were not big things worth mentioning.
After learning that most of the senior generals in the army had gathered in the commander-in-chief's camp to discuss the aftermath, Matsudaira Sadanobu quietly took Tachibana to the commander-in-chief's camp.
Because Tachibana was not qualified to enter the commander-in-chief's tent, he was waiting quietly outside the tent at this time.
"Calm down, Kuroda-kun." Matsudaira Sadanobu looked at Kuroda calmly, "Don't panic over such a small matter."
"You look so unpresentable now."
Hearing the rebuke from Matsudaira Sadanobu in a calm tone, a look of embarrassment immediately appeared on Kuroda's face at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"I'm so sorry..." Kuroda whispered, "I'm sorry to have embarrassed you..."
"Forget about apologizing to me." Matsudaira Sadanobu continued in a tone that seemed to be neither salty nor bland, as if it contained no emotion or color, "Instead of apologizing to me, you might as well focus on reorganizing the army."
"Cheer up and show the spirit of the Sendai samurai."
As for Matsudaira Sadanobu... no, it should be said that he seemed to be possessed by magic.
When the generals in the camp saw Matsudaira Sadanobu walking into the tent with his hands folded and a calm face, they felt their originally panicked hearts calm down a little.
There is a feeling of having a backbone.
After hearing Matsudaira Sadanobu's mild rebuke, Kuroda first felt ashamed, and then - he regained his fighting spirit.
The rationality in my mind, which had originally turned into a "tangled ball of wool", was straightened out one by one and arranged into clear parallel lines.
Under Matsudaira Sadanobu's rebuke and encouragement, Kuroda Ren quickly recovered and took several deep breaths.
"Haruhi, I'll leave the job of counting the casualties to you. I not only want to know how many people were killed or injured, but also how much supplies were lost."
"Yokoyama, go to the Second Army in person and tell Lord Inamori everything that happened here."
"Tani Village, you will continue to lead the search in the camp..."
…
Kuroda issued military orders one after another in an orderly manner.
The panic and anxiety on the faces of the generals in the camp gradually disappeared as Kuroda issued military orders one by one.
The heavy atmosphere that originally filled the air in the tent slowly faded away.
A major feature of an "organization" is that "as long as there is no problem with the leader, many problems can be easily solved."
This characteristic is particularly evident in the military, which is why there is a saying in ancient China that "If one soldier is incompetent, the whole army will be incompetent too."
Matsudaira Sadanobu looked quietly at the generals in front of him.
Nodding gently.
…
…
The camp where Ating and his men were hiding——
Gulp gulp…
A large pot was placed next to the hunting lodge, with clear water bubbling in it.
Ayizan sat next to the big pot and adjusted the heat.
At this moment, Yashili suddenly emerged from the hunting lodge next to him.
As soon as Yashili came out, Ai Zan immediately stopped controlling the temperature and asked Yashili urgently:
"How is it? How is Ms. Atachi now?"
"Except that my body is still a little hot, everything is fine..." Yashili sighed softly.
"It's normal to have a fever," Ai Zan said comfortingly. "Based on my experience, it's normal to have a slight fever after such a serious injury. As long as the wound doesn't become inflamed or festered, it's fine."
Ever since Ogata suddenly left last night, Ayizan and Yashili have been taking care of Ating according to Ogata's instructions.
Although it was called care, the two of them actually did nothing.
Ating had been sleeping and had not woken up for a long time, so all Ayizan and Yashili could do was to wipe off the sweat on Ating's body.
In order to avoid suspicion, the job of wiping A-Ting's sweat was done by Yashili, while Ayizan was only responsible for rough work such as carrying water and cooking.
Yashili looked up at the sky, a look of worry on his face: "It's almost noon... Why hasn't Mr. Majima come back yet... He shouldn't... have any accidents... Where on earth did he go..."
"...Don't think too much." Ai Zan said softly, "Mr. Majima might be back soon. It's almost noon now, it's time to prepare lunch."
After saying that, Ayizan stood up.
"Yashili, the pot of hot water is almost ready, please turn off the fire."
"Yeah." Yashili nodded, "Be careful on the road."
Aizan picked up his bow and arrow and went into the woods nearby.
After Aizan left, Yashili followed Aizan's instructions, moved the firewood under the pot away and extinguished it, then sat beside the pot, staring at the boiling water in the pot in a daze.
Last night, Yashili hardly slept all night and took close care of Ating.
Now that he was free, Yashili felt fatigue rising like a tide...his eyelids began to get heavier...
Just as Yashili was about to doze off, a strange noise suddenly sounded from behind her.
Yashili was not unfamiliar with this strange sound, she heard it every day during this period - it was the sound of horse hooves.
As soon as the sound of horse hooves reached Yashili's ears, the sleepiness that was about to take over his body immediately disappeared.
She jumped up from the ground as if her butt was equipped with springs, grabbed her bow and arrow beside her, and then pretended to confront a bear or a wolf. She turned her head to look in the direction where the sound of horse hooves came from - at the end of her sight, there was a man and a horse.
The man on horseback half-lay on the horse's back, controlling the horse under him and slowly moving towards Yashili.
Looking at the man and the horse, the expression on Yashili's face changed drastically.
The expression on her face froze at first.
Then, the frozen expression quickly turned into a look of surprise.
As a look of surprise appeared on her face, Yashili immediately relaxed her guard.
"Mashima-san! (Ainu)"
The man and the horse were none other than Ogata and Radish, whom Yashili was familiar with.
Yashili threw away the bow and arrow in his hand and quickly walked towards Ogata.
"Mashima-san! You're finally back! Really, where have you been...Ah! Mashima-san! What's with the blood on your body? (Ainu language)"
The distance was quite far just now and Yashili couldn't see clearly.
After getting closer, Yashili realized that Ogata looked quite scary.
The clothes were splattered with blood and stains of various colors - these blood and stains occupied nearly 50% of Ogata's clothes .
"Mashima-san, your clothes... how did they become like this...? Are you okay? You look very tired... (Ainu language)"
Of course, Ogata couldn't understand the Ainu language that Yashili was speaking.
But based on Yashili's expression and tone, he could roughly guess that Yashili was concerned about him.
Ogata smiled at Ashiri, and then said incoherently in the only Ainu words he knew: "I'm fine. (Ainu)"
"How is A-Ting now? Is she sleeping? Where's A-Yizan? Why can't I see him?"
Yashili didn't understand Ogata's Japanese, but she heard the two names "A-machi" and "Ai-zan" from what Ogata just said.
Yashili pointed to the hunting lodge not far away, then closed his eyes, folded his hands behind his head, and pretended to sleep.
Then Yashili pointed to the woods next to him and made the motion of drawing a bow and shooting an arrow.
After understanding Yashili's "sign language", Ogata seemed to be relieved and let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you still sleeping? That's good. If she saw me in this bloody 'human-killing' state, I would definitely be scolded..."
After saying that, Ogata looked down at the blood-stained and dirty clothes on his body, and subconsciously revealed a helpless expression.
…
…
"Good! Got it!"
Ayizan lifted a rabbit upside down by its hind legs.
As soon as the rabbit started to struggle, Ayizan quickly grabbed its head with one hand and crushed it.
Looking at the fat rabbit in his hand, Ayizan showed a satisfied expression and looked it up and down.
But - very suddenly, Ayizan frowned.
Then, Ayizan threw away the fat rabbit in his hand at a very fast speed, rolled on the ground, and rolled behind a large rock not far away. Then he pulled the bow string and aimed the arrow at a large patch of dense bushes that were nearly half a person's height not far away.
"Come out." Ayi Zan said in a deep voice, "If you don't come out, I will shoot you."
As an "old hunter", although Ayizan's physical strength is not as good as before, his eyesight, hearing and other abilities honed through decades of hunting career will not deteriorate so easily.
Just now, Ayizan heard a strange noise in the bushes not far away.
As a man with rich hunting experience, he recognized immediately that this was not a sound that could be made by any animal.
Upon hearing Ai Zan's naked threat, the bush fell silent at first.
Then there was a rustling sound.
Two figures slowly stood up from the bushes.
Looking at the two people emerging from the bushes, Ai Zan's pupils shrank slightly: "Who are you——?!"
…
…
Red Moon Fortress——
There are always people standing guard on the wooden walls of the Red Moon Fortress.
They were wary of strangers - especially curious children - climbing up the city walls, and were also wary of outsiders approaching their homes.
In a corner of the outer wall of Red Moon Fortress, several young men holding bows were meticulously scanning the outside, paying close attention to whether there were outsiders approaching.
At this moment, a young man suddenly pointed outside and shouted:
"Look! Someone is coming this way on a dog sled!"
As soon as the young man shouted, the people around him looked in the direction he pointed - they saw a dog sled approaching them at a very fast speed.
Unknown men were approaching on a dogsled - the news spread quickly through the city walls.
All the people on the city wall were waiting quietly for the sled to approach. While trying to see who was coming, they were also silently ready to fight at any time.
The sled is moving very fast.
Soon, everyone on the city wall could see the face of the person riding on the sled - it was a Japanese man.
A very old man with gray hair and beard.
Just as everyone on the city wall was wondering "Why would such an old Japanese come here on a sled?", they heard the old Japanese on the sled shouting to them in standard Ainu language:
"Please rest assured! I have no ill intentions!"
"Please tell Chanup! Just tell him: God of Tang is here!"
This old He man had a very loud voice. Even though they were about 200 meters away, the people on the city wall could still clearly hear his shouting.
Hearing the old man's shouting, everyone on the city wall looked at each other in confusion.
…
…
"This is really difficult..."
Chanup sat cross-legged in his home, smoking a cigarette with his eyes closed, thinking hard.
As the manager of the Red Moon Fortress, Chanup has to deal with many trivial matters every day.
Just like now - now a very troublesome trivial matter has befallen Chanup.
A young man married a wife 4 years ago and successfully gave birth to a son. However, when the son grew up, the young man found that the son did not look like him...
The young man had numerous heated arguments with his wife and her family over the question of "Is this my biological son?"
Because the quarrel was so intense and had such a great impact, Chanup had to step in to resolve the matter.
Now Chanup is thinking hard about how to deal with this matter.
But at this moment, a burly man lifted the door curtain and quickly entered Chanup's home.
As soon as he entered Chanup's house, the burly man immediately said to Chanup:
"Chaanup. Something happened... which should be considered an emergency."
"What's the matter?" Chanup put down the pipe in his hand and looked at the burly man in front of him.
"There's an elderly Japanese man who just approached us on a dog sled."
"A very old Japanese?" Chanup frowned slightly.
"Yes, that's right. When the old man approached, he said to the people guarding the city wall: 'Please tell Chanupu that the god of soup is coming.'"
It's like magic.
After hearing the name "Tang Shen", the expression on Chanup's face suddenly changed like magic.
His brows were originally just slightly wrinkled, but after hearing the name "Tang Shen", the slightly wrinkled brows instantly turned into tight frowns. Because his brows were wrinkled too tightly, his eyes narrowed and seemed to disappear.
"Lord Chanup, who is that man? Is he your friend?" the burly man asked.
Chanup did not immediately answer the burly man's question.
He just picked up the pipe, took another puff of the cigarette silently, and then said slowly:
"…Let him in, bring him to me."
"Huh?"
"I said: Let him in, bring him to me."