Skulucci's tent -
Ogata gently shook the wine glass in his hand, which was half full of wine.
This was the drink that Sculucci had just given him.
According to Skuluch, this is a strong liquor that the Cossacks often use to ward off the cold. Drinking a glass can not only dispel the coldness of the body, but also slightly relieve physical fatigue.
Since leaving the Red Moon Fortress, Ogata has been traveling almost all the time, except for sleeping and necessary rest.
Sometimes, in order to save time, even meals are eaten immediately - chewing dry food while riding.
Because he had been living in the open air these days and had not had a good rest, Ogata was really a little tired now.
He raised his glass and took a few sips.
The hot and spicy drink reminded Ogata of Genichi's masterpiece - "Oolong Tea".
However, after this hot and spicy drink rolled down the esophagus into the stomach, it really did as Sculucci had just said - it not only dispelled the cold, but also relieved fatigue.
After taking a few sips of wine, Ogata became a little more energetic.
"What a messy tent..." After putting down the wine glass, Ogata looked around.
Skulucci's tent reminded Ogata of the garbage dump in his previous life - it was so messy that there were only a few places to step.
Now that the owner, Skulucci, was not here, Ogata felt too embarrassed to walk around or look through the books and could only continue to sit quietly.
Compared with ordinary people, Ogata has one more thing to do to kill time - checking his personal system interface.
[Current personal level: Lv38 (4780/6000)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 13th Stage (8515/12000)]
[My Two-Sword Style Level: 12th Stage (2860/14000)]
[Shiranui Style Ninjutsu Level: 8th Stage (6990/7500)]
[Remaining skill points: 4 points]
In recent times, fierce battles have been taking place one after another, first attacking the First Army's camp, and then breaking through the blockade of the Shogunate Army.
The overwhelming battles caused Ogata's experience points in each experience bar to increase rapidly.
The level of Muga's two-sword style was successfully upgraded to level 12, allowing Ogata to gain another 2 skill points.
Including the 2 skill points he originally had, Ogata now has a total of 4 skill points.
"It's getting harder and harder to upgrade..."
After whispering a sigh that he almost always makes every time he checks his personal system interface, Ogata quietly closed the interface.
Just as the interface was closed, the footsteps he had been waiting for finally sounded outside the tent:
"Sorry, sorry, I kept you waiting."
Skulucci carelessly lifted the curtain of the tent and walked into it.
"I just went to say goodbye to my superior. I didn't expect it to take a lot longer than expected..."
"Saying goodbye?" Ogata asked doubtfully.
"Before you came, I was chatting with my superior." Sculucci replied, "So before I slowly talk to you in detail, I have to tell my superior to put away the wine and snacks first, and then we can slowly eat together later."
"…I'm sorry." Ogata said in an apologetic tone, "My sudden visit has caused you trouble."
Skulucci waved his hand generously: "It's okay. I'm actually happier that you came to see me. This way, I have one more person to chat with."
"Okay, let's get to the point, Mashima-kun."
"You said you needed my help with something. What is it? If it's something I can do, I'd be happy to help."
After saying that, Skulucci sat down on a hammock in front of Ogata.
"What I'm going to say next... may scare you." Ogata said slowly, "So please be mentally prepared."
"I am a Cossack who has seen many storms." Skuluch smiled carefreely, "No matter what happens, nothing can scare me."
…
…
10 minutes later——
"…Excuse me, Mashima-kun, could you give me some time to relax?"
After saying this, without waiting for Ogata to reply, Skulucci raised his broad right hand, covered his entire face, and rubbed his temples on both sides with his thumb and middle finger.
Ogata remained silent, waiting for Skulucci to come to his senses.
After several minutes, Skuluchi finally put down his hands that were massaging his temples.
"I understand what you mean..."
"In short... do you want me to help you repel the Japanese army that is currently surrounding the Red Moon Fortress?"
Ogata nodded.
"The reward is half of the property in the Red Moon Fortress, and a favor between you and the Ainu people in the Red Moon Fortress."
Ogata nodded again.
After asking these two questions, Sculucci buried his hand in his right palm again and rubbed his temples with his thumb and middle finger.
"Japan actually sent troops to attack the Red Moon Fortress... Is that really the case..."
"Is that really the case?" Ogata asked back in a puzzled tone.
Skulucci lifted his face from his hands:
"Mashima-kun, after I parted with you and led my subordinates here to meet my superior, I heard from my superior that Japan had sent a large-scale army deep into Ezo."
“But we don’t know where the Japanese army will attack.”
"At that time, I guessed that the Japanese army's target was most likely the Red Moon Fortress."
Sculucci picked up the glass of wine next to him and took a big sip.
"The place where the fortress is located is a precious land."
"It is not only located in a strategic location, but also extremely rich in resources. There is water, wood, flat land, and game."
"We Cossacks learned through our intelligence network a year ago that Japan would vigorously develop Ezo."
"If we want to develop Ezo on a large scale, we cannot ignore the Red Moon Fortress, which has an extremely important geographical location."
"Besides - if they were just attacking the Ainu villages, or coming to deal with us Cossacks, there would be no need to mobilize such a large army."
"In the entire Ezo land, the only people worthy of Japan's dispatching such a large army are the Ainu people who own that fortress."
"So when I learned from my superior that Japan had sent a large-scale army northward, I guessed that the Japanese army's target was most likely the Red Moon Fortress."
"I didn't expect... that I guessed it right..."
Skulucci smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Really... it brings back some bad memories..."
A look of reminiscence came over Sculucci's face.
"Mashima-kun. This army whose purpose is to plunder and occupy is really annoying."
He said it calmly.
"My hometown... was destroyed by an army like this."
Before Ogata could respond to Skulucci's somewhat sad words, Skulucci raised his glass again and took another gulp of wine.
"Tsk... Now that I think about it, it would have been great if I had known earlier that the Japanese army was heading north."
"This way, we can prevent you, Mashima-kun, from going to that place in advance. And then there won't be any such troubles later."
"The past is the past." Ogata also took a sip of the wine in his hand, "It's useless to worry about things that have passed. Instead of wasting time worrying about the past, it's better to spend time thinking about the future."
"Your plan for the future is to ask me to help you repel the Japanese army that is currently surrounding the fortress?" Skulucci smiled and continued in a half-joking tone, "Use a small number of elite soldiers to attack the enemy... Mashima-kun, do you want to learn from the hero of your country named Oda Nobunaga?"
After that, Skulucci straightened his back and sang in a slightly weird voice:
"The fifty years of human life are like a dream, and there is no such thing as immortality."
Ogata raised his eyebrows in surprise:
"You actually know Oda Nobunaga, and you can even sing Atsumi."
"I have been exploring the Far East for so long, and I have more or less learned about your country's history." Sculucci shrugged. "As for 'Atsumi', I can only sing this one line."
"Atsumori": A famous piece of the "Kowaka Dance" in the traditional Japanese drama "Noh". This dance is well-known in Japan.
"Atsumi" once left a legendary mark in history because of someone - in the Warring States Period more than 200 years ago, there was a young prince who, not long after he ascended the throne of his family, a neighbor whose strength was several times that of his launched an army of tens of thousands and launched a full-scale attack on his territory.
There were tens of thousands of attacking enemies.
And that man had only a few thousand soldiers under his command.
Faced with this overwhelming difference in strength, the man did not surrender to the enemy, nor did he give up on himself. Instead, he mobilized all his elite troops and launched a surprise attack on the powerful enemy, risking everything.
Before attacking, the man danced a piece of "Dunsheng".
When the song and dance ended, the man mounted his warhorse and personally led his elite troops to attack the enemy.
This surprise attack miraculously destroyed the enemy's main camp.
The enemy's general and all his senior officers were killed in battle.
This war, which everyone thought was doomed to fail, was ultimately won by that man through this miraculous surprise attack.
And that person was Oda Nobunaga.
As for the man who was outnumbered but was killed by Oda Nobunaga, it was Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was known as the "No. 1 Archer in the East China Sea." He was confident that he could easily destroy the Oda family, but he died in a surprise attack by the "rat" he despised.
After this battle, the powerful Imagawa family weakened, and Oda Nobunaga began his hegemony with this battle.
"Mashima-kun. I still can't calm down for a long time..."
After taking another sip of wine, Sculucci continued in a half-joking tone:
"My team, including me, only has 86 people in total. Are you planning to rely on these 86 people and yourself to repel an army of 10,000?..."
"You are even crazier than that Oda Nobunaga..."
"If we can catch the enemy off guard, we are not without a chance of winning," Ogata said quietly. "Those 10,000 Japanese troops are not elite troops with extremely high morale who have fought many battles before."
"If we use a small number of elite cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the enemy, it would not be impossible for a few dozen people to defeat the 10,000 Japanese troops and put them to flight."
"...You're right." Skulucci smiled bitterly and shrugged. "It's true that we are not without a chance of winning. If we succeed, we can get half of the property of the Red Moon Fortress, as well as the favors you have with the Ainu people in the fortress. It's a huge profit."
"But——"
Skulucci suddenly changed the subject.
His sudden change of tone also made Ogata's heart skip a beat.
"No matter how generous the reward is, you have to be alive to spend it."
Skulucci gave Ogata a meaningful smile.
"It's impossible for all of my subordinates to be willing to risk their lives with you."
"So--Mashima-kun, I'm sorry."
…
…
4 days later——
…
…
Red Moon Fortress——
"Quick! Surround him! Stab him to death!"
Several Japanese soldiers held spears, formed a semicircular formation, and attacked Tang Shen.
Tang Shen snorted coldly, and instead of retreating, he advanced, avoiding their stabs, flashed in front of one of the soldiers, and then chopped his head off with a knife. Then he made an exaggerated horizontal slash, knocking down all the other soldiers around him.
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Tang Shen seized the time and took advantage of the fact that there were no other enemies around to adjust his already rapid breathing.
However, the battlefield had already become so intense that there was no time for Thompson to rest.
After a while, Tang Shen saw enemy soldiers appearing in front of his left and right sides - and there were quite a few of them.
How can Tang Shen fight? He only has a pair of hands and can only deal with enemy soldiers in one direction.
"Hey! Come here, a few people! Block the enemy soldiers on my right! I'll deal with the ones on the left!" Tang Shen shouted at the top of his voice.
However... there were few who responded...
Only five soldiers responded to Tang Shen, holding their weapons and heading towards the enemy soldiers on Tang Shen's right...
Looking at these five warriors, a rich and complex look flashed in Tang Shen's eyes.
Today is the 9th day of the "Red Moon Fortress Attack and Defense Battle".
At the same time - it was also the eleventh day since Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress.
Chanup and his men had withstood the fierce attacks of the shogunate army for nine days.
The outer city walls have now been dyed a strange color with blood.
The shogunate army had suffered countless casualties.
Meanwhile, in the Red Moon Fortress, countless people were killed and wounded in the same nine days.
Tang Shen had been at the frontline in person these days, so he felt more clearly than anyone else how their troops were being reduced at a terrifying rate...
"There are fewer and fewer people who can take up arms..." he murmured in a low voice.
Gritting his teeth and squeezing out these words, Tang Shen tightly grasped the Japanese sword in his hand and once again plunged into the bloody battle of death or destruction...
…
…
"Quick! Shoot at that place!" Chanup ordered several archers beside him, "We can't let those people climb up from that place!"
"Mr. Chanup!" A young soldier ran to Chanup's side, "The westernmost position is about to be lost! Please send some more reinforcements!"
"Didn't I already transfer people over there?" Lin Ziping, who was standing next to Chanup, asked on Chanup's behalf.
"Reinforcements have indeed arrived! But...the ones who came to help are not very good at fighting. Please send more reinforcements!"
"Tsk..." Lin Ziping's face darkened instantly, "Has the worst situation finally happened..."
Lin Ziping's face was gloomy - and in terms of ugliness, Chanup's face was not much better than Lin Ziping's.
…
…
Outside the city, the shogunate army, the main camp of the entire army——
Inamori folded his arms and looked expressionlessly at the fortress where he could still hear some shouts and screams even from a long distance away.
The weather today is not very good. Since this morning, the sky has been filled with thick dark clouds.
The bad weather also made it dark faster than usual.
Inamori raised his eyes and looked at the sky which was gradually getting dark.
"It's the 9th day..."
Inamori whispered.
"We haven't been able to take down the outer wall of Red Moon Fortress today..."
After mumbling this sentence with some indignation, Inamori turned his head and said to his confidant beside him:
"Send a message to the front line - withdraw the troops."
…
…
Aotongpuyi, holding a basin of hot water, looked at the scene in front of him in a daze.
As the battle to defend the city intensified, the number of wounded soldiers continued to increase, and more help was urgently needed to assist in treatment.
So, Otumpui was transferred to Kunoya today and became one of Kunoya's assistants.
As a man, Otunpui was originally a member of the "reserve army" ready to fight on the city walls at any time.
But - Otungpuyi's strength is really too poor.
Not only is he not very strong physically, but his poor archery skills were also exposed in the "Hunting Festival" that just ended not long ago .
If such a person goes up the city wall, he would probably just be seeking his death.
Therefore, when selecting which personnel to send to Kunoa's command to assist in treating the wounded, Otumpuyi was transferred from the "reserve army" to Kunoa's command with almost unanimous approval.
Now, it is Otunpuyi’s first time to “go to work”.
As soon as he arrived at the "treatment area" with hot water, Aotongpuyi was stunned by the bloody scene in front of him.
Looking around, wounded soldiers with various injuries were lying everywhere.
Some have lost limbs...
Some had horrific wounds on their bodies...
Some died at some unknown time...
How could Aotongpui, who had never tried hunting alone , have ever seen such a bloody scene?
This bloody scene and the bloody smell that went straight into his nostrils made Aotongpuyi's brain stop working, and he stood there in a daze...
"Hey! Boy! Stop being distracted! Hurry up and bring the hot water over!"
At this moment, Kunoa's shout suddenly rang out.
Hearing Kunoya's shout, Otumpui, who was originally in a trance, was immediately awakened.
"Yes, yes!" He responded loudly and hurriedly, holding a basin of hot water in his hand, and ran quickly towards Kunoya who was not far away.
After arriving beside Kunoya, Otunpui saw that she was treating a young man with a big cut in his stomach.
"Ku, Kunoya..." The man's face was extremely pale. He raised his hands and grabbed Kunoya's clothes tightly, and said in a tone that seemed like he would cry at any time, "I... can there be any hope..."
"You can be saved if you stop making a fuss here," said Kunoya. "You are lucky that your internal organs are not injured. You just need to sew up this incision."
"It will be painful when the wound is stitched, just bear with it."
"Hey, kid."
Kunoa turned her head and looked at Otungpui.
"Come over and help clean the skin around this person's wound."
Otunpuyi turned his stiff neck and looked at the young man's injured abdomen.
The young man's stomach must have been slashed by the knife, and the horrific cut spanned most of his abdomen.
Otumpuyi could see the movement of the man's small intestine through the wound.
Seeing this, Aotongpuyi could no longer bear it.
He turned around and started vomiting violently on the ground beside him.
"Vomit quickly." Kunoya said in a calm tone, "After vomiting once or twice, you will get used to it."
…
…
At this moment——
Red Moon Fortress, somewhere——
"Shendu, are you asleep?"
"I almost fell asleep." Tang Shen responded to Chanup and slowly opened his eyes.
At this moment when night has completely fallen, Tang Shen, holding his Japanese sword, sits in a remote corner where no one passes by.
In front of him stood Chanup, carrying a bag of dried meat and a bag of water.
"Here. I brought you dinner."
Chanup handed the dried meat and water in his hand to the soup god.
"Haha..." Tang Shen laughed softly, "Luckily you have plenty of food and drink here. You can have a full meal every day."
"It would be really hard if we couldn't even have enough food to eat..."
After that, Tang Shen took the dried meat and water handed to him by Chanup.
"Take your time to eat," Chanup said. "I have something else to do, so I'll leave first."
"... Chanup, wait a moment."
"What's wrong?"
"Six days ago...when I decided to help you, you told me that you had to hold out for at least another ten days."
"Now, six days have passed."
"There are only four days left until your '10-day deadline'. Can you tell me what you are up to?"
"…Sorry. I can't say yet." Chanup shook his head.
“Haha…” Tang Shen laughed again, “You kept it a secret… You’ve made me even more curious…”
"Have you prepared any tricks to defeat the shogunate troops outside the city in one fell swoop?"
"You can use your imagination freely." Chanup said softly.
"... Chanup, I think I need to remind you..." Tang Shen lowered his head and spoke in a low voice, "I can clearly feel that there are very few people who can take up weapons and fight."
"Let me be pessimistic - we may not be able to hold out for another four days..."
"...Don't think too much, Shendu." Chanup said softly, "You must be very tired now, so just rest up first."
"We'll slowly think of a solution for what happens next."
"...Yeah." Tang Shen nodded, "That's true..."
Having said this, Tang Shen paused as if he had thought about something.
Just as Chanup was about to turn around and leave, Tang Shen spoke again:
"... Chanup, please don't lie to me."
"If nothing happens after four days, I won't forgive you."
"...Yeah." Chanup gave Tang Shen a warm smile, "Don't worry. In four days, there will definitely be a scene that will surprise you."