night--
Red Moon Fortress——
Now is dinner time.
The air in every part of Red Moon Fortress was filled with the aroma of food and a festive atmosphere.
Everyone is celebrating today's victory.
Just as Chanup had said to Reitannoe before - although today was only their first day of fighting with the Japanese army, it was also a great encouragement to them.
Because they successfully defended the city walls, making it difficult for the enemy to cross the line.
Of course - in addition to celebrating the victory, there were also many people discussing it.
Discuss the man who suddenly appeared this afternoon.
"Hey, have you heard? The reason why we were able to fight so smoothly this afternoon was all thanks to the command and deployment of a man."
"Kazuto? Which Kazuto? Is it that Majima Goro?"
"It doesn't seem so. He seems to be a very old Japanese man."
"By the way, where is that Majima Goro? Why haven't I seen him recently?"
"Who knows ?"
"No wonder it felt so much easier this afternoon... So someone else was in charge of commanding and deploying the troops..."
"He Ren... When did our He Ye Zhe have such an old He Ren?"
"have no idea."
"Then can Kazuto be trusted?"
"How should I know... But since Mr. Chanup has entrusted me with such an important task, I should be trustworthy."
"Then why would the old man help us? If he helps us, he is actually going against his own people, right?"
"He might have a grudge against the Edo Shogunate. No matter what his reason is for helping us, as long as he can help us!"
…
…
Reitannoebben stayed quietly in an inconspicuous corner and ate his dinner in silence.
But at this moment, he suddenly saw several familiar figures walking towards him.
"Retannoy, I finally found you."
"What for?" Retannoy asked.
These people all have high status in Heyezhe, and like him, they are the backbone of the "war faction".
"What's going on with the person who suddenly appeared this afternoon and is in charge of command and dispatch? Where did that person come from? Explain it to us."
Reitannoe: "That person has always been in our Heyezhe."
He explained in the simplest possible terms where Lin Ziping came from and why he decided to fight alongside them.
"...I asked Lin Ziping afterwards."
Retannoy added.
"I asked him if he had ever been a general in the Japanese army."
"He said he had never spent a day in the Japanese army. He just loved reading military books since he was young and learned the military strategies of the Europeans, so he knew how to defend in a fortress built by the Lucia people."
"Europa? What's that?"
"I heard from Lin Ziping that they seem to be a people living in the far west on the other side of the ocean. The Lucia people are a branch of the Europeans."
Someone heaved a sigh of relief: "Great... We just happen to be lacking people who know how to defend this kind of fortress... Lin Ziping's appearance is just in time..."
"... Retannoy." Another person suddenly said, "Is that Lin Ziping... trustworthy? After all, he is a Japanese..."
"Heh." As soon as the man finished speaking, Reitannoe sneered, "We can only trust him now. What else can we do? Throw him aside and continue to repeat the hectic battle of this morning?"
"We don't have the energy to be picky right now. We need to use everyone we can, whether they are Japanese or Lucia people."
"But don't worry. Chanup and I will keep an eye on him."
"If he does anything suspicious..."
Retannoy raised his hand and made an arrow-shooting motion toward his head.
…
…
Lin Ziping's residence——
In order to make it easier to rush to the inner city wall in various emergency situations, at Lin Ziping's request, Chanup allocated an empty house near the inner city wall to Lin Ziping for living.
At this moment, Lin Ziping was sitting cross-legged on the ground, leaning against the wall behind him, with his eyes closed.
At this moment, there was a sudden sound of someone walking in at the door.
Lin Ziping looked up and saw Chanup holding a handful of dried meat in each hand. He walked into the house and walked towards him quickly.
"Mr. Lin." Chanup handed the food in his hand to Lin Ziping in front of him, "Here, this is dinner."
"If it's convenient..." Chanup raised the dried meat in his other hand, "Can you have dinner with me?"
"...Please go ahead, Mr. Chanup." Lin Ziping nodded.
The two men sat opposite each other, holding their own pieces of dried meat, tearing and chewing them.
"Mr. Lin." Chanup had just put a small piece of dried meat into his mouth when he suddenly asked Lin Ziping, "After the command this afternoon... How long do you think we can hold this city?"
"Although I had expected that you had other purposes in inviting me to dinner..." Lin Ziping smiled bitterly, "But I didn't expect you to reveal your purpose so quickly..."
After tearing off another piece of dried meat and stuffing it into his mouth, Lin Ziping said slowly:
"You have many advantages, but also many disadvantages."
"In my eyes, your most fatal weaknesses are three in total - lack of sufficient weapons to defend the city, poor personal equipment, and the walls of the fortress are made of wood."
"I don't need to elaborate on the first two points."
"What I am most worried about now is the flaw in point 3 that I just mentioned."
A dark cloud appeared on Lin Ziping's face.
"Both your inner and outer walls are made of wood."
"I guess that the Lucia people who built this fortress probably considered the cost and did not have the ability to build a stone fortress in such a remote place, so they built this fortress into a wooden one."
"Although it is strong and can withstand collisions, arrows, and musket fire, it cannot withstand artillery fire..."
"Based on the intelligence we have so far, the army outside the city undoubtedly has artillery, but we don't know how many..."
Lin Ziping sighed heavily.
"Now we can only hope that their artillery is too few in number , of poor quality, and without sufficient ammunition."
"The artillery the shogunate is using now is still the outdated bronze cannon from the Warring States period 200 years ago. It has a short range and poor accuracy. Even if you fire 10 shots, not even one of them will hit the target."
"If the army outside the city carries fewer shells, then there is nothing to be afraid of. Otherwise..."
Lin Ziping did not continue talking and just let Chanup imagine on his own.
"...So, Mr. Lin," Chanup said slowly, "How long do you think we can hold out if the Japanese troops outside the city don't use firearms?"
"It's hard for me to say." Lin Ziping said, "The battlefield situation is ever-changing. I'm not some 'Kong Ming of today' who can make all the plans and win the battle from a distance. I can't guarantee you how long ."
"The only thing I can promise you is that I will do my best."
"I see... I understand." Chanup nodded solemnly.
"Although we have successfully defended this fortress today, we cannot let our guard down." Lin Ziping continued seriously, "After all, there are nearly 10,000 troops outside the city."
"They might have some hidden elite troops that haven't been dispatched yet..."
At this point, Lin Ziping's expression became serious at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he even forgot to put the dried meat in his hand into his mouth.
"According to my guess, the Edo Shogunate should have brought in all the feudal armies from the northeastern feudal domains to help out this time."
"So... I'm now worried that the troops from Aizu are coming as well."
"Aizu..." Chanup's expression also changed.
Lin Ziping raised his eyebrows when he noticed that Chanup's expression had also changed.
"Hmm? Mr. Chanup, do you know the Aizu Domain?"
Chanup nodded and said, "I heard about this vassal state when I traveled to the land of the people before. I only know that this vassal state is quite powerful, and I know nothing else."
"You've actually traveled to 'WaRenDi'."
"It was just a very short trip, and during that trip, I didn't go to any other 'Japanese lands' besides the Matsumae domain."
Lin Ziping tore off a piece of dried meat and stuffed it into his mouth.
"If the troops from Aizu arrive...it will be a huge problem."
"The Aizu Domain was the cornerstone of the shogunate."
"Mr. Chanup, do you know that our feudal states are divided into three levels according to their closeness to the shogunate? The daimyo of the close domain, the daimyo of the hereditary domain, and the daimyo of the outer domain."
"In our Japan... that is, in the northeastern region of our 'Wajin Land', most of the feudal states are ruled by outside daimyo."
"As one of the few daimyo in the northeast region, the Aizu domain shoulders the heavy responsibility of sitting in the north, guarding the northern gate for the shogunate, and deterring the northeastern domains."
"Under the influence of such heavy responsibility and the influence of local customs, the samurai of Aizu are both capable and loyal. Although the samurai of Sendai Domain always say that they are the 'strongest samurai in the Tohoku', anyone with a little vision and knowledge knows that the Aizu Army is undoubtedly the strongest force in the Tohoku."
"If the Aizu army comes...it will be a big trouble..."
Lin Ziping stuffed all the remaining dried meat in his hand into his mouth.
After chewing and swallowing the dried meat in his mouth, Lin Ziping suddenly asked Chanup:
"Mr. Chanup. Can I ask a question now?"
"Hmm? Please ask."
"Can you tell me where you got your muskets?"
Hearing Lin Ziping's question, Chanup's eyebrows raised slightly.
Although Lin Ziping noticed Chanup's reaction, he still chose to continue speaking:
"What you are using are flintlock rifles that are popular in Europe today."
"This kind of musket is not easy to get. I once thought about buying a flintlock rifle to study it, but after going through great pains to find a way to buy it, I found that I would have to go without food and drink for three years to buy one."
"You have 80 muskets that are so expensive and hard to buy, and you also have plenty of bullets and gunpowder..."
"How on earth did you get so many muskets?"
“……” Chanup remained silent.
Like thinking.
Seeing Chanup was silent, Lin Ziping added:
"If you don't want to say more, that's fine. I'm not someone who is so curious that I won't stop until I get to the bottom of it."
Chanup shook his head gently: "No. If you want to know, I can still tell you."
"We traded these muskets with someone from Japan."
"With people?" Lin Ziping frowned.
"I don't know the man's full name," Chanup said. "He only told me his last name - 'Kinoshita.'"
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Kunoa's clinic—
Kunoya, with a tired look on her face, held her pipe in her mouth and walked quickly back to her clinic.
Since the war resumed this afternoon, Kunoa has basically not had any rest.
Although the combat capability of the Red Moon Fortress had been greatly increased with Lin Ziping's command, the casualties could not be reduced to zero.
Kunoya has been busy until now, and finally she can take a break.
After finally being able to rest, the first thing Kunoya did was to go back to the clinic to see how the little girl named Atachi was doing.
Ever since Ogata left, Kunoya has completely become Atachi's doctor and nanny - but Kunoya has no complaints about this.
As a doctor, she has long been accustomed to the feeling of being both a doctor and a nanny.
Besides, Atachi has been very well behaved these days, so Kunoya doesn't have to worry too much.
"Little girl, I'm back..."
Kunoya stepped into the clinic, and before she could utter the last syllable of "I'm back", it was stuck in her throat.
Not only was Kunoya speechless, her eyes were also wide open.
"Little girl, what are you doing?"
She opened her eyes wide, looking at the scene in astonishment - in the clinic, which was neither big nor small, Ating was lying on her mat as usual.
But at this time, Ating crossed his hands and placed them between his armpits and the "southern hemisphere", rubbing them with moderate force.
"Ah, Kunoya, you're back." After these days of quiet rest, Ating finally regained some vitality when he spoke.
While she was talking to Kunoya, her hands continued to move and rub.
"The wounded are almost all healed, so I came back." Kunoya looked at Ating's hands, which were still rubbing, "What are you doing?"
"I'm doing what I can do. I'm massaging the acupuncture points."
"I suddenly remembered today - someone once told me that if the upper body is injured, massaging the acupuncture points in this area can help blood flow and promote wound healing."
"Where did you hear this nonsense..." Kunoya said helplessly, "Massaging the acupuncture points in that place will not help your wound heal."
"But you're not bad at all." Kunoya shrugged. "It's not good for your body to lie still on the floor all the time. Doing simple exercises like this in moderation will do some good for your body."
"Kunoya, when can I stand up and walk freely?" asked Atachi.
"Rest for a few more days." Kunoya replied, "You are recovering quite well now. After a few more days of rest, you should be able to stand up and walk."
"Why? Are you in a hurry to stand up? I advise you to just stay here quietly. It's not safe or peaceful outside now."
"...I want to get better as soon as possible." Ating said softly, "At least get well enough to stand up and walk under my own strength."
"I...want to do what I can as soon as possible."
After saying that, Ating glanced at a large cloth bag placed next to her bed.
There seemed to be something long and sticky under the big cloth bag, and it was wrapped so tightly that one couldn't see what was under the bag.
"Then you should continue to rest obediently, eat and sleep on time. If you want to get better quickly, there is no other way except resting." Kunoya took the pipe from her mouth, "Now just eat dinner obediently, and then I will change the dressing. I will see how your wound is recovering later."
"Hmm..." Ating nodded gently.
…
…
The next day——
4 days after Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress——
Today is like a replica of yesterday.
As soon as the day dawned, the soldiers of the First Army once again rushed towards the Red Moon Fortress like a tide.
After resting for a while at noon, they launched another attack in the afternoon and did not retreat until dark.
Not only was the pace of today's attack a replica of yesterday's, but even the results were not much different from yesterday - they failed to take down the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress. At the end of the day, they couldn't even establish a few strongholds on the outer wall to steadily transport troops.
Inamori's frown did not relax until today's battle was over and the sky was completely dark.
Under the night sky, he stood on a small hill, looking at the Red Moon Fortress in the distance.
"...It's much harder than I imagined..." Inamori murmured softly.
"Master Inamori... I'm so sorry..."
Inamori was not standing alone on this high slope.
The general of the First Army, Katsura Yoshimasa, was standing next to Inamori.
Inamori and Katsura Yoshimasa stood on this high slope, one in front of the other, with no third person accompanying them.
He was standing next to Inamori, with his head slightly lowered, his face full of apology.
"It's my incompetence. Facing a bunch of barbarians, I have achieved no results for two consecutive days..."
"No need to apologize." As soon as Katsura Yoshimasa finished speaking, Inamori immediately shook his head and said, "This is not your fault."
"Although the opponent is a barbarian, he owns such a tall fortress with two walls."
"It is naturally difficult to deal with an opponent who has the advantage of terrain."
"What's more, they have experts who are good at defending the city to help them."
"And your First Army is composed of the armies of the various vassal states in the northeast, and its combat effectiveness is not strong."
"It's not easy to achieve this result."
After hearing Inamori's comfort, Katsura Yoshimasa's face finally looked better.
"Although this fortress is much stronger than we imagined, it is actually not a big problem." Daosen turned his gaze back to the fortress in the distance. "No matter how strong their fortress is, no matter how powerful their 'master' is, it cannot change the fact that they are few in number and poorly equipped."
"The reason why we have been fighting so hard these past two days is largely because the strength of our First Army's generals and soldiers is too weak."
"If we replace them with stronger troops, the results will be very different."
"Lord Inamori..." Katsura Yoshimasa said tentatively, "Do you mean...wait for the Third Army...wait for the Aizu Army to arrive?"
Inamori smiled bitterly at this time:
"Although I am reluctant to face this fact...but I have to admit that the Aizu army is stronger than our shogunate army."
"I don't want to spend too much time on a bunch of barbarians. When Aizu arrives, let the Aizu Army take over your First Army."
"Let's take down this barbarian fortress in one fell swoop!"
"But..." Katsura Yoshimasa said softly, "The Aizu army won't arrive until tomorrow morning..."
"So let's just wait for now." Inamori nodded, "Wait for the Aizu army to join us..."
"Lord Inamori!"
At this time, a general ran towards Inamori with a happy look on his face.
"What's the matter?" Inamori asked.
"Here, Aizu is coming!" The general tried hard to suppress the ecstasy on his face, "General Gamo of the Third Army is waiting at Nanyingkou now!"
"He's coming to Aizu?" Even with Inamori's strong willpower, he couldn't help but show a look of shock after hearing the news. "Didn't he say before that he wouldn't arrive until tomorrow morning?"
Inamori held the sword at his waist and hurried towards the Nanyingkou of the camp, and Katsura Yoshimasa naturally followed closely behind him.
As soon as he arrived outside Nanyingkou, Inamori saw the young face of Gamo whom he had not seen for some time, and the Aizu army behind Gamo holding high a military flag embroidered with "The Three Aoi of Aizu".
"Gamumo-kun!" Inamori walked up to Gamo quickly and said, "You said in your letter that you would arrive here tomorrow morning. You are much earlier than what you said in your letter. Did you start a forced march?"
"I heard that the fighting situation on the front line was intense, and the barbarians were more resilient than expected." Pu Sheng said seriously, "So I led the troops to speed up the march a little bit."
"But please rest assured, Lord Inamori. We, the samurai of Aizu, are all strong men. Speeding up a little bit will not make us so tired that we cannot move for several days."
Inamori raised his eyes and glanced at the Aizu soldiers behind Gamo - although they all looked tired, their expressions were resolute.
"... Gamo-kun. You guys are just in time." Inamori raised his hand and patted Gamo's shoulder, "Come on, let's go to camp first."
…
…
The next day——
The fifth day after Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress—
The sun had just risen from the horizon when Lin Ziping, accompanied by Chanup, climbed up the inner city wall to observe the movements of the Japanese army outside the city.
After two days of fierce fighting, both the inner and outer city walls are now filled with a faint smell of blood.
"Mr. Lin, look," Chanup said, "the Japanese troops are starting to leave the camp and assemble."
Lin Ziping nodded gently: "Let everyone be prepared... Hmm? No. There is something wrong with the Japanese army outside the city..."
Before he could finish his words, Lin Ziping suddenly stopped talking, then narrowed his eyes and stared at the troops gathering on the open space between the Red Moon Fortress and the military camp outside the city.
"Something's wrong... It doesn't look like the army's flag...!"
After looking carefully, Lin Ziping suddenly realized what was wrong with the Hejun army that he had just noticed - the flag was different.
At this moment, the Japanese army outside the city no longer held up the various military flags of the northeastern feudal lords.
Instead, they held a unified flag - a unique "Sunflower Flag" that was slightly different from the "three-leaf sunflower" of the Edo Shogunate.
As a scholar who has traveled all over the world, Lin Ziping is naturally familiar with this sunflower-patterned flag.
"Aizu Miku..." Lin Ziping murmured palely, "What you fear will come true..."