These were all performances that Gui Yizheng had arranged in advance.
The purpose is to intimidate the barbarians in the Red Moon Fortress, let these barbarians see their military strength, and see the difference in military strength between them.
Before starting a battle, persuading the enemy to surrender is basically a common practice in every country.
To measure whether a battle is "fought beautifully", it is not just about whether it is won - it is also about how much the total cost is.
A tragic victory and a defeat - there is no distinction between the two.
Inamori was not a reckless man who did not know the art of war. He had previously specially ordered the First Army, which was the vanguard, to persuade these barbarians to surrender after arriving at the Red Moon Fortress.
If these barbarians were frightened into surrendering after seeing such a large-scale army, and they could capture the Red Moon Fortress without firing a single arrow - that would naturally be the best.
If these barbarians are unwilling to surrender, the First Army will hold its ground and wait for the Second and Third Armies to follow. After the 10,000-strong army has gathered, they will slowly deal with these barbarians.
The "shouting in unison" and other performances that the First Army is currently performing were all designed by Gui Yizheng.
If they just shouted at the barbarians "surrender", these uncivilized barbarians would most likely ignore their persuasion.
Therefore, after being parachuted into the First Army, Katsura Yizheng, who was still ambitious and wanted to take this opportunity to show his skills, carefully designed these performances with the purpose of "intimidate the barbarians".
All of these performances had previously been approved by Inamori - and even praised by Inamori. Inamori praised the performances designed by Katsura Yoshimasa as good and would definitely have a significant deterrent effect on those barbarians.
The performance designed by Katsura Yi-Masa is much more than just "shouting in unison".
Before the generals and soldiers could finish their shouts, two thunderous roars suddenly rang out.
Afterwards, huge explosions suddenly occurred for no apparent reason in two open spaces between the Red Moon Fortress and the military formation. A large amount of snow on the ground was blown into the sky, and then fell down like fine snow.
These two thunderous roars and the two explosions that followed scared many people on the city wall.
"What's going on?!"
"What happened?!"
"Why did those two places suddenly explode?"
"Is this a new type of weapon?"
…
Most of the people in Red Moon Fortress... to put it nicely, have lived in isolation for too long and therefore have no idea of ​​the world.
To put it bluntly, they are just a bunch of country bumpkins who have never seen the world.
Therefore, many people in the Red Moon Fortress did not recognize that it was the roar of artillery, and the two explosions were also caused by this artillery.
The oldest and strongest human emotion is fear; the oldest and strongest fear is of the unknown.
These people, who had no idea what a cannon was, even thought it was the power of God and were so frightened that they almost collapsed to the ground.
For example, Otungpui was so frightened by the huge explosion that he collapsed to the ground.
Aotongpuyi could be said to be the first group of people who were attracted by the sound of the conch shell and climbed up the city wall.
When the conch horn was blown, Aotongpui was near the southern wall. After hearing the sound of the conch horn, Aotongpui was frightened by the sound and immediately climbed up the southern wall.
Ever since he climbed onto the city wall, Aotongpuyi's eyes had remained in the same state—wide open as if his eyeballs were about to fall out.
This was the first time he saw the Japanese army.
Before this, Kazuto's army had only existed in his imagination.
At this moment, after truly witnessing the majesty of the Japanese army, Otonpui could no longer hide the shock in his heart.
After seeing the Japanese army outside the city, the first thought that popped into Aotongpuyi's mind was - too powerful... their Heyezhe warriors can't compare with them at all...
Boom! Boom!
Two cannon shots rang out.
Otunpuyi was caught off guard and screamed in fear. His legs went limp and he accidentally fell to the ground.
His buttocks hit the ground hard, and the pain was so severe that Aotongpuyi felt like his buttocks were going to break apart.
But after his butt touched the ground, Otunpui didn't care about the pain, and hurriedly got up from the ground, staring blankly at the two places where the snow was splashed and turned into small pits due to the bombardment of artillery - looking at this scene, Otunpui's jaw seemed to have lost the pull of muscles and fell straight to the ground.
"This is..." Aotongpui murmured, "The army of the people..."
Aotongpuyi himself did not realize that his naturally hanging hands were slowly clenched without him noticing...
…
…
For the campaign to conquer the Red Moon Fortress, the shogunate mobilized a total of more than 400 muskets, 9 cannons, and 52 large barrels of various types.
Most of the firearms were concentrated in the Second Army, which was mainly composed of the shogunate's direct troops, while the First Army had only two artillery pieces.
For this purpose, Gui Yizheng specially pulled out the only two cannons of their First Army.
At this moment, Guiyi was feeling a little regretful - he should have brought his telescope with him.
Because he really wanted to see the expressions of these inexperienced country bumpkins on the city wall after seeing the power of artillery.
With a smug smile on his face, Gui Yizheng pulled the reins and drove his horse back to the army formation.
As soon as he returned to the army, Katsura Yoshimasa saw Kuroda walking towards him.
"I really want to know what expressions those Ainu will have when they hear the roar of our artillery." Katsura Yoshimasa, who had dismounted from his horse, was the first to speak to Kuroda in a joyful tone.
Unlike Katsura Yoshimasa who was full of joy, Kuroda had only a bitter smile on his face.
"Master Gui, the cost of this performance is really too high... Two shells were used directly..."
After nearly 200 years of peace, the shogunate's military situation was in such a state that it could be simply described as "terrible".
Firearms are the worst hit. Because of the neglect of the development of firearms, not only has the technical level of firearms not been improved in the past 200 years, but even the daily maintenance can hardly be called "ideal"...
Their entire army of 10,000 had only 9 cannons - the number of cannons was so scarce, let alone the number of artillery shells.
The number of shells for their artillery was not sufficient to allow them to fire freely.
For the performance just now, they used up two shells directly - this made Kuroda feel a little distressed...
As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, Katsura Yoshimasa raised his hand and patted Kuroda on the shoulder:
“These are necessary sacrifices.”
"The Art of War by Sun Tzu says: 'To win every battle is not the best of all skills; to defeat the enemy without fighting is the best of all skills.'"
"Although these barbarians are nothing to be feared, if we fight them, we will have to make some sacrifices."
"If these two cannon shots can make these barbarians surrender and open the city walls, then these two cannon shots will be nothing more than a small amount of money."
At this point, Gui Yizheng turned around and looked at the Red Moon Fortress in the distance, sneering:
"Alright... let's just wait and see how these barbarians will react."
"I guess..." Kuroda also sneered at this time, "These barbarians might cause internal strife."
"There will definitely be some people who cannot see the situation clearly and will choose to fight stubbornly."
"Those who want to fight to the bitter end and those who know the situation may end up fighting directly."
Gui Yizheng laughed loudly towards the sky:
"If these barbarians start a civil war, then we the 'fishermen' will just sit back and reap the benefits!"
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Kunoa's clinic—
Atachi, who had been anxiously waiting for Ogata's return, finally saw Ogata's returning figure.
After seeing Ogata walk through the clinic door with a knife in hand and return to her side, O-Machi immediately asked in a hurry:
"Ayi, I seemed to hear the sound of artillery just now! Is it the shogunate army outside the city bombarding the city wall?"
The sound of artillery bombardment covered the entire Red Moon Fortress.
So Ating, who had been lying in the clinic, heard very clearly the roar of the two artillery fire and the two explosions just now.
The sounds of gunfire and explosions naturally made Ating, who was unable to get up and go out, even more anxious and eager to know what was happening outside.
Ogata did not immediately answer the question that Atachi asked urgently.
He walked to Ating with the knife in hand, and after sitting down beside Ating, he said calmly:
"The shogunate army did fire cannons, but they were not used to bombard the city walls. Instead, they were fired on the ground outside the fortress. They were probably only used to scare the residents of Red Moon Fortress."
Ogata described as briefly as possible everything he had just witnessed on the city wall.
After learning about the current situation outside from Ogata, Atachi asked:
"So...how are the residents of Red Moon Fortress doing now?"
"Now..." Ogata smiled helplessly, "It's very chaotic outside..."
…
…
"Hey! Asuma!"
Asuma was busy, she suddenly heard someone calling her.
Following the sound, she looked and saw a dozen teenagers, probably only about ten years old, running towards her with fear and anxiety on their faces.
"Aisuma! I heard that if we don't open the city, the Japanese outside the city will kill us all. Is this true?" One of the dozen or so young men asked Aisuma anxiously.
"Where did you hear these rumors?" Asuma retorted without hesitation, "Of course it's false!"
“But…but…”
When the young man wanted to say something else, Asuma spoke first:
"Don't worry! Our bows are not for show! Even if those Japanese outside the city want to attack us, they may not be our opponents!"
Asuma gave a confident smile and patted the bow on his back.
"And father...ah, no, Chanup and the others have already started discussing countermeasures!"
"They will definitely be able to figure out a way to drive the Japanese out of the city!"
"You should go home now and stop listening to rumors that come from nowhere."
The dozen or so teenagers looked at each other.
What Asuma said just now did have some effect - the anxiety on the faces of many of the teenagers faded a little.
Finally, they left Asuma with different expressions and looks.
As Aisuma watched the dozen or so young men leave, he let out a long sigh.
Then, the expression on her face changed extremely quickly.
The confident smile was gone, leaving only weariness.
After Gui Yizheng's "persuading surrender performance" ended, Chanup, who was standing on the city wall and witnessed the whole process, immediately took action - he organized a small group of people and asked them to maintain order in the Red Moon Fortress.
Asuma was one of the small group of people chosen.
From the beginning, Asuma was running around to maintain order.
Asuma hadn't rested since just now.
From the beginning, Aisuma saw all kinds of strange and chaotic phenomena...
These uninvited guests outside the city completely destroyed the original stability and tranquility of the Red Moon Fortress.
Now, no matter where you are in the Red Moon Fortress, all you can see is "chaos".
Some were so frightened that they looked panic-stricken or cried loudly.
Some people asked Asuma what happened.
Some were so excited that they raised their spears and bows and arrows, shouting that they wanted to fight to the death with the people outside the city.
But the largest number of people were like the group of teenagers just now, looking anxious and asking Asuma what they should do next, or verifying whether some rumors they heard from somewhere were correct.
In order to appease these people, Asuma had to tell some white lies.
For example, what Asuma just said to these Japanese people, "Our bows are not inferior to those of the Japanese", is a white lie...
Thanks to the efforts of Aisuma and other people who are responsible for maintaining order, although the Red Moon Fortress is now filled with panic, no vicious incidents have occurred so far and order has not completely collapsed.
Aisuma raised his hands, rubbed his cheeks vigorously, and after forcing himself to be strong, he prepared to continue to devote himself to the work of maintaining order.
But at this moment, she suddenly saw out of the corner of her eye - a very familiar figure sitting in an inconspicuous corner not far away.
"Otunpui? What are you doing here?"
Asuma walked quickly towards the familiar figure - her brother.
At this time, Aotongpuyi was sitting in that inconspicuous corner with a dull look on his face.
It was not until he heard his sister's voice that Aotongpuyi finally seemed to wake up. He raised his head belatedly and looked at his sister.
"elder sister……"
Just now, when the crowd gathered on the city wall dispersed, Aotongpuyi walked down the city wall with the crowd.
However, Otunpuyi had no memory of walking down the city wall, coming here, and then sitting in this inconspicuous corner.
At that time, he was completely immersed in shock... He had no time to care about his belongings...
"Don't sit here like an idiot," Asuma said. "Go home now."
After saying that, Asuma raised his hand to pull Otunpui's arm - but did not pull Otunpui up.
Otunpui was resisting her pull.
“Sister…” Otungpui murmured in a low voice, “The army of Kazuto… turned out to be so powerful… It’s even more powerful than I imagined… They even have weapons like that… If a person is hit by such weapons, the whole body will be shattered directly…”
After listening to what Aotongpuyi said, Aisuma frowned.
"Don't say such nonsense!" Asuma shouted, "Go home quickly!"
…
…
"Rétannoë! It's you guys who are obstructing us! That's why we missed the chance to escape from here!" The middle-aged man, who had always been a staunch "escape advocate", blushed and cursed at the "war advocates" headed by Retannoë.
After Gui Yizheng's self-directed and self-acted "deterrent performance" ended, the senior officials of the Red Moon Fortress, led by Chanup, naturally gathered together to discuss countermeasures.
As soon as the meeting began, the "escape faction" launched fierce criticism at the "war faction".
The "escape faction" believed that it was because the "war faction" was stubborn and obstructed them that they encountered the bad situation of "not deciding on a final countermeasure until the moment when the enemy was at the gates" and missed the best opportunity to escape.
The "war faction" headed by Reitannoë will naturally not sit there and be scolded.
"Humph!" Retannoy snorted coldly, "I haven't even gotten over you for obstructing us, but you're the first to start blaming us!"
After Reitannoë took the lead, other "war hawks" joined in the war of words.
In the room, which was neither too big nor too small, three factions were immediately divided - the pro-war faction, the pro-escape faction, and the "neutral faction" that did not participate in the verbal battle between the two factions and remained silent.
And Chanup is a member of the "neutral faction".
Chanup was like every other meeting he attended before - smoking silently without saying a word. His expressionless face made it hard to guess what he was thinking.
When the "war of words" between the two groups reached a fever pitch, a voice, neither hurried nor slow, suddenly sounded and interrupted the "war of words".
"Alright, stop arguing. Everyone, can you please... listen to what I, the head of Kapasi Village, have to say?"
As soon as these words fell, the two groups that were originally cursing at each other fell silent and turned to look at the owner of the words - a middle-aged man with a hideous scar on his face.
The face of this middle-aged man was extremely terrifying, with a scar running from his left forehead all the way to the right corner of his mouth.
Everyone who had fallen silent - including Chanup, who had been smoking with his head down - raised their heads and looked at the middle-aged man.
Looking at the chief of Kapasi village.
This middle-aged man's name is Upanu.
It was the village chief of Kapasi village who participated in the "Battle of Kunasilimenasi".
"...Upanu." Retannoe said first, "It's rare that you actually want to talk."
Chanup wasn’t lonely—he wasn’t the only one who remained silent during every meeting.
Like Chanup, Upanu rarely spoke in every meeting, smoking and remaining silent, neither talking about fighting nor fleeing.
Seeing Upanu speak up, many people couldn't help but feel curious and wanted to hear what Upanu had to say.
After everyone's eyes were focused on Upanu, Upanu silently picked up the pipe in his hand, took a deep puff, and then said quietly:
"You can't escape now."
"The Japanese army has reached our doorstep. There is no way to escape."
"But actually - even if we escape in advance, we definitely won't be able to escape."
"The Japanese have cavalry, they can easily catch up with us."
"There is no chance of winning a head-on confrontation with Japanese cavalry in the wild."
After hearing Upanu's words, the pro-escape faction members looked as ugly as if they had eaten shit.
As for the "war faction" headed by Reitannou, they all nodded.
However, just as Retannoe and the others nodded, Upanu's next words made their expressions freeze instantly.
"But if we fight to the death with someone, that will also lead to our death."
Retannoe and others looked at Upanu in surprise.
Upanu ignored the gazes from Retannoe and the others and continued to speak to himself:
"Rentanoe, you guys have never fought anyone before."
"You...have no idea how powerful fighting with humans is."
Although Upanu's face looked normal, the fingers that were holding his pipe slowly tightened.
He raised his left hand that was not holding the pipe and gently touched the hideous big scar on his face.
"Have you ever seen the might of Japanese people in armor lined up in battle formation?"
"Have you ever seen what it's like to charge against human cavalry?"
"Have you ever seen how terrible it is when the Japanese artillery fires?"
"You...have no idea how terrifying the Japanese army is."
“And the host of a man is as the swiftness of a blaze, as the height of a mountain.”
"Even if we have this fortress, we still have no chance of winning."
"Faced with the onslaught of tens of thousands of Japanese troops, I'm afraid we can only hold out for a few days."
"Then what should we do?" At this time, someone screamed, "We can't escape, and we can't fight... What should we do?"
"...In addition to fighting and fleeing, we actually still have a third way to choose." Upanu said dimly.
He raised his pipe, took another deep puff of the cigarette, and said:
"The Japanese who rode out of the city just now...has pointed out another way for us to survive."
"Let's... surrender."