Tang Shen looked expressionlessly at Chanup who was walking towards him. The soldiers blocking his way all consciously moved to both sides to make way for him.
The surrounding warriors all looked at Tang Shen, who had just helped them, with the same gaze as Reitanoe, Lin Ziping and others, but they had no idea his name.
"...If you have anything to say, let's talk after we get off the city wall." Tang Shen said softly, "Can you get me something to eat? I haven't been tossing my body like this for a long time, and I'm a little hungry."
…
…
Outside the city, the shogunate army——
Inamori looked gloomily at Kamo who was lying on the bed in front of him with his eyes closed and unconscious.
The other generals stood silently behind Inamori - knowing that Inamori was in a very bad mood, they kept silent and even slowed down their breathing.
"We have treated Lord Gamo's wound as best as we can." The doctor standing beside Inamori reported to him softly, "But Lord Gamo's head seems to have been hit hard. Although Lord Gamo didn't bleed from the nose or have any other abnormalities, we cannot rule out the possibility that Lord Gamo has suffered a head injury."
"So now we have to wait for Kasumi to wake up, and then check if he is conscious."
"And... although we have dealt with Gamo-sama's wound, this does not 100% prevent infection."
"So... please be mentally prepared for this, sir."
"...I understand." Inamori nodded, "Doctor, thank you for your hard work. I'll trouble you to take good care of Gamo-kun from now on."
After telling the doctor some things, Inamori turned around with a gloomy face and left the tent where Kamo was recuperating.
As soon as he left the tent, Inamori saw one of his trusted men walking towards him quickly.
"Lord Inamori." The confidant said to Inamori directly, "The Aizu army has been fully gathered and integrated. However... although we have widely publicized that Lord Gamo was not killed, their morale is still a little low..."
"...I really underestimated our opponent this time." Daosen turned his head, put on a sinister face, and looked at the Red Moon Fortress in the distance, "I didn't expect... that this fortress, which I thought was just occupied by a bunch of uncivilized barbarians, actually had so many masters lurking in it."
"First, a 'master' who knows how to fight a city defense battle appears."
"Then today, an old man with great skills appeared..."
Just now, while waiting for Gamo's treatment to be completed, Inamori was not idle.
He first personally supervised the gathering and reorganization of the Aizu army soldiers who had withdrawn from the city, and then, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he issued an order to the entire army: Gamo was not killed in the battle, but was only slightly injured.
The injury suffered by Gamo was actually not light, but in order to stabilize the morale of the troops, Inamori planned to tell a "white lie".
In addition, Gamo also found soldiers who had witnessed what had happened to Gamo and asked them in detail how Gamo was so seriously injured.
It would have been fine if I hadn't asked, but once I did, I was shocked - everyone said: Gamo was defeated by an old Japanese man holding a strange-looking katana, who used extremely sharp gun skills.
After learning that Gamo was defeated by such an unknown master, Gamo's face became terribly gloomy - he would rather hope that Gamo was injured by some barbarian due to carelessness, than to see Gamo being defeated by a master in a one-on-one situation.
The latter will be much more troublesome than the former...
"Lord Inamori," said the confidant in front of Inamori, "It's still nearly an hour and a half before dark. Do you want to launch a new attack on the fortress?"
Dao Sen pondered for a moment:
"…Forget about it today. We will launch a new attack tomorrow."
Having said this, the cold light in Inamori's eyes became even more captivating.
"I just don't believe it... Can a bunch of barbarians defeat us?"
While Inamori was gritting his teeth, the generals who followed closely behind him and had just come with Inamori to visit Gamo also showed indignant expressions towards the distant fortress.
However, there was a group of people who were different. Although they also showed indignant expressions, one could still detect a bit of joy and gloating in their eyes.
And this group of people are basically the generals of the First Army.
The gloating look in the eyes of generals such as Kuroda and Akizuki who were born in Sendai Domain was particularly obvious.
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Chanup's home——
In Chanup's house, only Tang Shen and Chanup are sitting opposite each other.
The soup god was sitting cross-legged casually on the ground, grabbing a piece of dried meat and chewing it in big mouthfuls.
Chanup, who was sitting in front of him, did not say anything and waited silently for Thompson to finish eating.
Tang Shen’s eating speed was not slow. After a while, the whole piece of dried meat was in his stomach.
"…There's no special reason why I suddenly changed my mind and chose to help you."
After finishing the piece of jerky, Tang Shen said slowly:
"I just suddenly felt that you are... probably my only friend now, so it would be unreasonable for me not to help you."
"...That means you are not going to tell me why you suddenly changed your mind and decided to help me." Chanup was not stupid enough to be fooled by Thompson's perfunctory words.
"Well... since you don't want to say more, I won't ask any more. Just tell me when you are willing to tell me."
Chanup raised his eyes and looked directly into the eyes of the God of Tang.
"...Shendu. Are you planning to help us all the way, or... are you just acting on impulse today?"
Tang Shen was silent for a while, then slowly said:
"... Chanup. Through today's battle, I clearly felt that the Japanese soldiers outside the city were not all lazy and weak."
"Even with my help, if you want to hold out until the enemy's supplies are cut off and then retreat... I'll put it bluntly - the chance of winning is probably not even 10%."
Tang Shen wanted to continue speaking, but Chanup suddenly interrupted him:
"I know."
"But at least... we have to hold on for another 10 days."
"10 days?" Tang Shen cast a puzzled look at Chanup. "What do you mean? Why do we have to last at least 10 days?"
"...I'm sorry, I can't go into too much detail about this." Chanup shook his head. "In short - starting from tomorrow, we have to hold on for at least another 10 days..."
"After 10 days, our slim chances of winning...may not seem so slim anymore."
Tang Shen stared at Chanup's face for a while, as if he wanted to pierce Chanup's face, and then smiled:
"...It seems...you are indeed planning something in secret..."
After the words fell, Tang Shen turned his laughter into a silent sigh.
"Then... I'll keep you company... Let me see what you're up to."
At this point, Tang Shen lowered his head slightly and whispered in a low voice that only he could hear clearly:
"Let me see if my sword swing this time is also valuable..."
…
…
The next day——
Six days after Ogata left the Red Moon Tournament—
"The war situation has changed so quickly... it's really beyond our expectations." Kuroda said to Akizuki beside him in a half-joking tone, "I never expected that Gamo, who was so arrogant yesterday and threatened to capture the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress within a day, would be lying on a sickbed today and still unconscious."
"Okay, Kuroda. Those people in Aizu are our allies after all, so please say less of this kind of thing." Although Akizuki said this, there was still a hint of mockery on his face.
After yesterday's battle, the morale of the Aizu army plummeted. Even after nearly half a day of rest yesterday, they still haven't recovered.
Therefore - the main attack today will be switched to the First Army where Kuroda, Akizuki and others are.
The soldiers of the First Army have already lined up, and are now waiting for the First Army's general Gui Yizheng to give the order to attack.
Kuroda and Akizuki chose to spend their free time chatting while waiting for Katsura Yoshimasa to give the order to attack.
"Mockery is fine, but what happened to the Aizu army yesterday is still worth our attention." Kuroda slowly put away the mockery on his face. "This is just a fortress occupied by a bunch of barbarians. I thought it would only take two days to capture it, but I didn't expect that we are still fighting hard until now..."
"First, there appeared an expert who knew how to fight a city defense battle, and yesterday there appeared an expert who could defeat Kasumi in a one-on-one situation."
"Although I don't like that Kasumi, I still have to admit that Kasumi's skills are amazing."
"I'm afraid our future battles will be much more difficult than we originally expected..."
"...It's a pity that my injuries haven't healed yet." Qiuyue raised her hand and touched the wound on her collarbone caused by Ogata, "Otherwise, I would like to climb the wall myself and fight with the person who injured Kamo."
"Then I have to thank you for your injuries, which prevented you from making trouble." Kuroda rolled his eyes at Akizuki.
As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, the rapid sound of conch shells suddenly pierced their ears.
"The attack has begun..." Kuroda turned his head and looked at the fortress in the distance, "Okay... let's continue... barbarians."
"Let me see if you guys collapse first, or we collapse first."
…
…
"The enemy is attacking us!", "Drive them all away!"...
The sound of the conch shell, representing an attack, turned the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress into a "meat grinder" with blood and flesh flying everywhere.
The soldiers, who had become increasingly skilled in defending the city, used various methods to push the Japanese soldiers who had climbed up back onto the city wall one by one.
At this time, a soldier with considerable skills successfully climbed up the ladder and climbed onto the city wall.
“Go to hell!”
As he roared this, he prepared to swing his sword at a young warrior in front of him.
But just as he raised his knife high, he suddenly saw a flash of knife coming towards him from the side out of the corner of his eye.
And then... nothing happened.
The next moment he saw the knife light, it slashed across his neck, and his head was chopped off and fell under the city wall.
The one who chopped off the soldier’s head was Yujin, now wearing an Ainu cloak.
After chopping off the soldier's head, Yushin shouted in fluent Ainu:
"Push back all those people climbing up!"
As soon as Tang Shen finished speaking, shouts of response rang out.
Just last night, Chanup introduced Tang Shen to everyone. Although he was a Japanese, he chose to help them just like Lin Ziping.
In order to better identify friend and foe, Tang Shen specially put on an Ainu coat.
Just as Gamo's skills and fighting spirit inspired the soldiers of the Aizu army yesterday, Yugami's skills and fighting spirit also inspired the soldiers of the Red Moon Fortress.
Since the beginning of the battle, Tang Shen has been roaming around, chopping down difficult enemy soldiers one after another, greatly reducing the defensive pressure on the outer city wall.
After knocking down another enemy soldier and wiping the sweat from his forehead with his hand, Tang Shen turned his head to look at Chanup who was standing on the inner city wall.
At this time, Chanup was keeping a close eye on the battlefield, and with the help of Lin Ziping, he was directing and dispatching battles in various places.
Because he was too focused, Chanup didn't notice that Tang Shen was looking at him.
"10th?" Tang Shen muttered, showing a helpless expression, "What a difficult goal..."
After saying this, Tang Shen once again clenched the knife in his hand and killed another soldier of the First Army who had climbed up the city wall.
…
…
Seven days after Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress——
In Ezo, on a certain plain——
This plain, which should have been full of natural atmosphere, now suddenly has the breath of "human civilization" mixed in the air.
On this not very wide plain located in the dense forest, there were countless densely packed tents.
If the Ainu or Japanese were here, they would probably feel a little unfamiliar when faced with this type of tent.
But for people in Europe... especially Eastern Europe, these tents should look very familiar - not only familiar, but also give people a chill after seeing these tents.
Because these tents are full of Cossack style.
This Cossack stronghold was surrounded by densely packed sentries and patrols.
The current time, converted into modern Earth units, is around 4 o'clock in the afternoon.
The weather was very good now, with no fog obstructing the view, and the sky was quite clear, illuminating the surroundings. Today's weather was undoubtedly a great help to the Cossacks who were responsible for the security outside the camp.
At this moment, a Cossack suddenly saw that there seemed to be a small black shadow swaying on the horizon just in front of him.
He squinted his eyes and looked carefully, and found that the tiny black shadow was a person.
A man on a horse.
The man was riding a horse, rushing straight towards him, slowly emerging from the horizon.
The Cossack had sharp eyes, so even though the distance was quite far, he could still see clearly - the person on the horse was a young Japanese.
This man, both he himself and the horse under him looked exhausted.
Before the Cossack could shout at the young Japanese to stop, he heard the young Japanese shout in slightly unstandard but clearly understandable Russian:
"Славагосударю! (Glory to His Majesty the Tsar!)"
"I am a friend of Skuluch!"
…
…
“Excellent!”
A middle-aged man with a big belly clapped his hands vigorously.
"Skulucci! This armor really suits you very well! With your heroic appearance now, even Gawain, the knight under the Knight King who is famous for his elegance and handsomeness, should not be able to compare with you!"
Sculucci stroked his red hair, which is quite common in Scotland:
"Boss Alexander, I didn't expect that you seem to know quite a bit about our Scottish Celtic mythology."
"I like Celtic music!" The middle-aged fat man put his legs on the long table in front of him in a very ungraceful manner and made a flute-playing gesture. "I like your Celtic bagpipes very much! Because I like your Celtic music, I also learned some of your Celtic myths by various coincidences."
"I am quite interested in the story of King Arthur in Celtic mythology."
"That's a fucking coincidence," Sculucci shrugged. "I know Celtic mythology all too well!"
"Especially the story of the knight King Arthur. I know it so well that I can recite it by heart."
"Boss Alexander, if you are interested in the future, we can have a good chat about mythology!"
After joking around with the middle-aged fat man named "Alexander" for a while, Skuluchi got back to the point:
"I originally thought that this armor might be some useless piece of scrap metal, but I didn't expect it to be a good thing that is both beautiful and practical."
"This steel is not ordinary steel... It's really a good armor."
After saying that, Skulucci raised his hand and patted his breastplate a few times.
At this moment, Skulucci was wearing a suit of armor - a blue and gold Nanban suit.
After parting with Ogata, Skuluch led his men to the residence of his superior, the pot-bellied middle-aged man sitting in front of Skuluch, Alexander Mikhailovich
After the meeting, in order to kill the boring time every day, Sculucci often drank and chatted with his superior.
Although Skulucci didn't like his boss very much, Alexander was the kind of person who he wouldn't feel bored talking to, so Skulucci still enjoyed chatting with him.
The two of them had been chatting since noon until now, and they didn't even know how many bottles of wine they had drunk.
Alexander, who was chatting with Skulucci with great interest, just now suddenly got inspired and took out the set of armor he bought a while ago to show off to Skulucci, and asked Skulucci, whose body shape matched the armor, to try on the armor.
Alexander had a strange hobby of collecting weapons, and he would often spend a staggering amount of money to buy the weapons that interested him. The set of armor that Skulucci was wearing now was bought by Alexander from a merchant for 10 precious Don horses after he came to the Far East for adventure.
The Don horse, a breed known as the "strongest war horse", is extremely expensive.
Trading 10 Don Hippocampus for a set of armor - most people would probably think this is extremely stupid.
Skulucci originally thought so too.
But now, after trying on this set of armor and personally feeling its performance , Skulucci realized that there is a reason why this set of armor is so expensive.
This set of armor not only looks great, but the steel used is not ordinary steel. It has excellent protective properties. Ordinary swords and arrows should not be able to break the defense of this set of armor.
"What a nice set of armor. I'm a little jealous."
After another round of praise, Skulucci began to take off the armor.
Alexander laughed heartily:
"It's a pity that this is not the era of armor anymore!"
"Armor is now useless on the European battlefield."
"From now on, armor will probably become a collectible for people."
After sighing, Alexander waved to Skulucci, who had already taken off his armor.
"Come on, let's continue drinking! I specially took out my treasured herrings today. If you don't eat them all, it will be wasted!"
"This is truly an epuloe epularum meal," Skulucci said half-jokingly as he sat down in front of Alexander again. "I almost forgot the last time I ate herring like this."
"Don't speak Latin, Sculucci," Alexander said unhappily. "You know I don't understand Latin."
Just then——
"Lord Dovnar! Lord Dovnar!"
Suddenly, a call for Skulucci was heard outside the tent.
"What's the matter?" Skulucci turned his head and looked outside the tent.
"Lord Dovnar! A Japanese man has come running up to us! He keeps shouting 'Glory to the Tsar' and 'I am a friend of Skuluch'."
"Is he your friend?"
"And others?" Skulucci raised his eyebrows vigorously, then stood up quickly.
…
…
Skulucci rushed to the northeast of the camp as fast as he could.
Soon, he saw from afar a young Japanese man who looked exhausted, leading a horse, standing silently and waiting under the guard of several sentries.
"Mr. Mashima!" Skulucci, with a look of deep doubt on his face, slightly quickened his pace.
Looking at Skulucci walking towards him, the young Kazuto - or rather Ogata, smiled faintly.
"Skulucci, long time no see."
"It's been a while since we last met." Skulucci walked up to Ogata and patted him on the chest. "Why are you here?"
"It's a long story..." Ogata said in a deep voice, "In short - I want to ask you for help with something."
Skulucci twitched his eyebrows and said, "Come in first. We can talk slowly in my tent."