In a remote open space somewhere in Red Moon Fortress——
In this remote open space, Reitannoe, Lin Ziping and other "senior" personnel gathered together.
They wanted to hold a meeting to discuss the aftermath, but were forced to wait because of Chanup's long future.
Finally – Chanup is here.
"Chanoup, I've been waiting for you for a long time." Retannoe said in a unpleasant tone to Chanoup who was walking towards them quickly.
"Sorry." Chanup said, "I just brought food to Tang Shen and came to check on him."
"How is Mr. Tang Shen now?" asked Lin Ziping, who was standing next to Reitannoe.
"He is very tired now, and he has probably dozed off. As for his left leg that was accidentally scratched by a spear a few days ago, it has recovered well now, and there is no infection or suppuration."
Lin Ziping nodded: "Mr. Tang Shen...you really helped us a lot these days...Not only did you kill and injure a large number of Japanese soldiers, but you also greatly boosted our morale."
"Without Mr. Tang Shen, this struggle would be much more difficult..."
"Chanoup, when will you tell us where you made such a great friend?" Retannoy interrupted in a half-joking tone.
These days, when telling others about his relationship with Thompson, Thompson has been vague.
Chanup has always been very secretive about how he met Thompson and his personal information.
So until now, in the eyes of Reitannoe, Lin Ziping and others, Tang Shen is still a very mysterious person.
"I'll explain it to you in detail when we have a chance." After evading the topic as usual, Chanup's face slowly became serious, and he said in a serious tone, "Let's talk about business first. Let's... discuss how we should deal with the Japanese army outside the city tomorrow."
"You all should know this without me having to tell you... The battles over the past few days have reduced our combatants to a precarious position."
"Those who are fighting now are young people with less ability and those who are a little older." Reitannoe added solemnly, "These people are lacking in ability and strength, so they are having a hard time fighting."
"...our young and strong men are almost used up." At this time, a calm male voice that was out of tune with the serious atmosphere suddenly interrupted.
Chanup and others looked at the owner of the male voice - Upanu, the village chief of Kapasi village who had always opposed going to war with the Japanese and advocated surrender.
As everyone's eyes focused on Upanu, he folded his arms, lowered his head, and murmured:
"The young men in my village... are almost all dead..."
After rolling his eyes at Upanu, who seemed to be being sarcastic, Reitannoe turned his gaze to Lin Ziping.
"Mr. Lin, is there any solution in this situation?"
"...Let me say something unpleasant." Lin Ziping smiled bitterly, "No matter how skilled a cook is, she can't cook without rice."
"Without someone, no matter how great the strategies in your mind are, you can't fight a war."
"So... this problem is basically unsolvable."
Lin Ziping let out a long sigh.
"Now... we can only hope that our remaining warriors... can hold on a little longer."
"...Mr. Lin." Chanup suddenly said, "Based on our current combat power... can we hold out for another four days?"
"4 days?" Lin Ziping raised his eyes and cast a puzzled look at Lin Ziping.
After looking at Chanup deeply with an intriguing look, he slowly said:
"I can hold on for another four days... I think I can do it."
"As long as... nothing unexpected happens..."
…
…
Outside the city, the shogunate army, the main camp of the entire army——
"…The above is today's casualties."
"Thank you for your hard work." Inamori nodded to the general who had just reported the casualties.
The general returned the salute to Inamori and sat back on the stool.
"It seems that the barbarians in that fortress can no longer hold on." Inamori's face, which had been gloomy these days, finally brightened up a little.
"Yeah." The general of the First Army, Katsura Yoshi, who was sitting next to Inamori at the moment, echoed, "Those barbarians are finally going to wipe out all the people."
Since Gamo was injured, Inamori's anger was aroused by Chanup and his men's resistance.
These days, Daosen ordered the First Army and the Third Army to launch a violent attack on the Red Moon Fortress in turn.
Ever since a skilled master inexplicably appeared among the barbarians, their defensive strength instantly became a level stronger.
The successive attacks by the First and Third Armies were repelled time and time again.
Although we have not been able to take down the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress in these days.
But they haven’t been wasting time.
Their round after round of fierce attacks gradually consumed the limited military forces in the city.
Through today's battle situation and casualties, many generals led by Inamori have already realized that the number of soldiers on the walls of Red Moon Fortress is much less than before.
This is undoubtedly good and exciting news for Inamori and others.
After days of hard fighting, victory is finally within reach.
"Sir!" Gui Yi said loudly with a little excitement, "We are finally going to win!"
"As long as we continue our current fierce offensive and siege for another two or three days, we will definitely be able to capture the fortress!"
Inamori did not show any excitement at all because of Katsura Yoshimasa's passionate words just now.
He looked thoughtful and silent for a while before he said softly:
"...You're right. If we continue to attack like this for another two or three days, the city should fall."
“But we no longer have the time for that.”
"Eh?" Gui Yi was surprised. "Master Daosen, what happened? Why don't you have time?"
Inamori ignored Katsura Yoshimasa's question and turned to look at a close confidant beside him.
"Help me pass the message to all the generals: have them come to my camp immediately for a meeting!"
"yes!"
After this confidant quickly left the tent, Gui Yizheng immediately asked Inamori impatiently:
"Lord Inamori, do you want to discuss the next battle with the generals?"
"I guess so." Daosen gently stroked the military equipment in his hand, "I will tell all the generals about the tactics to capture the fortress within one day tomorrow!"
…
…
At this moment——
"...How miserable." Kuroda said suddenly.
"...Yeah." Qiuyue nodded, "It's really tragic..."
Now, Kuroda and Akizuki were walking side by side in the barracks of their Sendai Domain army.
They came to personally check the current situation of the troops under their command.
They looked around at the surrounding scene, and the more they looked, the tighter their brows frowned.
The air in the tent was filled with a sense of loss...
As far as the eye could see, there was hardly any general or soldier with a smile or any other positive emotion on their face.
Almost everyone had their heads down, looking dejected.
Some people didn't even notice Akizuki and Kuroda walking past them.
Kuroda let out a long sigh: "Everyone is tired..."
Their Sendai Domain's army has always been the main attacking force of the First Army.
During these 9 days, their First Army participated in nearly 60% of the battles.
A common saying accurately summarizes the normal situation on the battlefield: the first attack is strong, the second is weak, and the third is exhausted.
Days of hard fighting had made the generals and soldiers of the Sendai Army exhausted and their fighting spirit greatly reduced.
In addition, at the beginning, everyone thought that it would only take 3 or 4 days to capture the fortress.
But those barbarians, who were looked down upon by all of them, actually blocked them for nine days.
This huge psychological gap and the long-lasting difficulty in conquering the city further undermined their fighting spirit and morale.
As far as Kuroda knew, it was not just the Sendai army that was like this.
The same was true for the troops from other feudal states of the First Army, which had been fighting with them for nine consecutive days, as well as the troops of the Third Army (Aizu Army). The air in the camp was no longer filled with high morale.
"I didn't realize how corrupt our Sendai samurai were before," Kuroda said with a wry smile, "but after this battle, I've realized that our Sendai samurai are also very corrupt..."
As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, Qiuyue beside him smiled bitterly and continued:
"I understand more and more that after taking over the position of the Lord Elder, Lord Elder will vigorously promote the discipline of the samurai and encourage the samurai to restore the ancient customs and learn literature and martial arts." Qiuyue said with a wry smile, "Today's samurai... are indeed getting worse and worse."
"They were only fighting for nine days, but they were already so exhausted... If such an army was placed in the chaotic Warring States period 200 years ago, facing the powerful Oda, Toyotomi, and Takeda armies at that time, they would probably collapse at the first blow."
"Fortunately, the opponent we are facing now is just a group of barbarians who are not good at defending the city." Kuroda turned his body in another direction, "Let's go, let's go back."
The tents where the two of them lived were located in the same direction.
However, before they returned to their respective tents, they suddenly received an order from Inamori - all generals should go to his camp immediately to discuss matters.
The two naturally did not dare to neglect Inamori's military order. They rushed to Inamori's camp as fast as possible.
When the two arrived at Inamori's commander's tent, most people had already arrived, so the military meeting began not long after Qiuyue and the others arrived.
"Everyone, today... is another day when we haven't even conquered the outer walls of the barbarians."
As soon as Inamori's deep voice sounded, many generals in the tent lowered their heads, fearing that they would meet Inamori's eyes.
"It was originally planned that the fortress would be taken within 5 days, but it took a full 9 days... and in these 9 days, we didn't even break through a single wall of the barbarians..."
"I'm going to be blunt with you right now - we can't keep dragging this on any longer."
"If we continue like this, even if we finally capture the fortress, this battle will become a disgrace for us."
"The world will not remember that we broke through a Russian fortress held by the Ezo."
"They will only remember that we, with an army of 10,000, faced a group of barbarians with only a thousand men, and it took us more than ten days to defeat them."
Inamori slammed the military equipment in his right hand heavily towards his left hand.
A loud "bang" sound startled some generals in the tent.
"tomorrow!"
Inamori spoke in a decisive tone while glancing at the generals in front of him.
"We will take down this barbarian fortress tomorrow!"
"At any cost!"
Every word in Inamori's sentence seems to be able to dig a big hole in the ground.
All the generals in the camp were startled by Inamori's decisive words.
As soon as Inamori finished speaking, an old general from the "direct line of the shogunate" immediately said loudly:
"Lord Inamori! Send out the Second Army!"
"Both the First Army and the Third Army have been through days of hard fighting. They are already exhausted."
"And the 5,000 men of our Second Army have remained unharmed and in good health so far."
"From the battle situation in recent days, it is not difficult to judge that the barbarians are now exhausted after days of hard fighting. The number of soldiers available for fighting has been greatly reduced."
"Use our unharmed Second Army to deal with the now exhausted barbarians whose warriors have been drastically reduced in number. We will surely win in one battle!"
The veteran's words immediately made many generals from the First and Third Armies present express dissatisfaction.
However - before they could say anything, a calm male voice without any sadness or breath refuted the words of the veteran without any politeness.
"Send out the Second Army? Even if we send out the Second Army, there's no way we can guarantee that we can capture the fortress within one day tomorrow, right?"
As soon as this male voice sounded, no one dared to speak again.
Because the person who was speaking was Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting next to Inamori.
Matsudaira Sadanobu did not know much about military tactics. He always believed that "professionals should do professional things" and rarely spoke in military meetings during these days, and rarely interfered with the command of Inamori and others.
But no general dared to really treat Matsudaira Sadanobu as a mascot - after all, if Matsudaira Sadanobu wanted, he could just order Inamori around, and Inamori would not even dare to fart.
After all, Inamori was promoted by Matsudaira Sadanobu. No matter how brave he was, he would not have the courage to go against Matsudaira Sadanobu.
Matsudaira Sadanobu's sudden voice immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the camp.
Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was only wearing cloth and no armor, placed his hands on his legs and spoke slowly:
"Now that the war has reached this point, we have to admit that those barbarians are far more capable than we thought."
"It would not be wise to underestimate the barbarians just because they are tired and have fewer soldiers to fight with."
"Even if we dispatch the unscathed Second Army, there is no guarantee that we can capture the fortress tomorrow."
"Then..." At this time, a young general said in a cautious tone, "How about we slow down the time limit? Change it to capturing the fortress within two days..."
"No." Matsudaira Sadanobu said without hesitation, "We don't have that much time now."
Having said that, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his head and looked at Inamori beside him.
"Inamori-kun, please tell me about our current baggage situation."
"...Yes." Inamori nodded solemnly, "Everyone. Our army's current baggage reserves are not enough for us to have any spare room to slowly capture this fortress."
"Lord Inamori, what happened to the baggage?" a general asked anxiously.
The army's baggage reserves - this was a top secret, and only Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu, and a very small number of generals knew the details.
Most of the generals did not know the status of the army's baggage reserves.
"Our country has just emerged from the pain of the 'Tianming Famine'." Daosen said slowly, "The national food reserves are not much."
"So the food and fodder that can be transferred to supply my 10,000-man army for battle is extremely limited."
"I have learned about our army's current food and fodder reserves this afternoon."
"Excluding the food and fodder needed for the return journey and the food and fodder that must be kept in case of unexpected events, our army's current baggage is only enough for us to fight for another 5 days."
As soon as Inamori said this, everyone in the room was shocked.
"5 days..." Someone subconsciously groaned in surprise.
"Originally, according to our expectations, we would only need three or four days to capture the Red Moon Fortress, and the baggage reserves were completely sufficient." Daosen added, "But we never expected that this fortress was much stronger than we imagined."
"So you all know it now - we don't have enough time to dawdle anymore."
The atmosphere in the tent became solemn at a speed visible to the naked eye.
At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly spoke out again:
"And—we can't forget Ogata Ittosai either."
At this moment, not only the generals sitting in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, but even Inamori who was sitting next to Matsudaira Sadanobu, cast a somewhat surprised look at Matsudaira Sadanobu.
"Don't tell me you've all forgotten that Ogata Ittosai had previously forcibly broken through our army's blockade of the Red Moon Fortress." Matsudaira Sadanobu glanced at everyone, "I still hold the view from the beginning - we cannot rule out the possibility that Ogata Ittosai went to ask for reinforcements."
"We have to prepare for the worst - assuming that Ogata Ittosai really goes to ask for reinforcements. And we have to capture the fortress before Ogata Ittosai arrives with reinforcements."
After listening quietly to Matsudaira Sadanobu's speech, Inamori couldn't help but look at Matsudaira Sadanobu a few more times with a surprised look.
He didn't know if it was his illusion - he always felt that Matsudaira Sadanobu seemed to have a slightly unusual attention to Ogata.
As for Ogata Ittosai, Inamori was busy commanding the battle and had forgotten about him long ago.
Even if Ogata Ittosai really went to ask for reinforcements as Matsudaira Sadanobu guessed, Inamori didn't care: he didn't think Ogata Ittosai could ask for any reinforcements to defeat their 10,000-strong army.
But after all, Inamori couldn't afford to offend the elder in public, so as soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Inamori immediately nodded and said:
"That's right. Lord Rochu is right. We must not forget Ogata Ittosai."
"In short - we must now try every possible means to end this battle, which has already delayed us for too much time, as quickly as possible."
After Inamori reported the current status of their army's baggage reserves, the atmosphere in the camp was different from before.
The generals looked at each other and exchanged their opinions in low voices.
But before they could communicate with each other properly, Inamori's voice rang out again.
"As for how to capture the fortress within one day tomorrow - I actually already have an idea."
"The reason why I summoned you all here at this time is mainly to announce the battle I have planned for tomorrow."
"tomorrow--"
Inamori paused at this point.
After taking a deep breath, he said loudly:
"Use firearms to blow down the city wall!"
"Use our artillery and cannons to knock down the wooden city wall! The greatest reliance of those barbarians is the tall city wall. Once the city wall collapses, these barbarians will no longer be a threat."
As soon as Inamori finished speaking, he was immediately refuted by others.
The person who refuted him was Qiuyue.
Qiuyue frowned and said in a deep voice:
"Using firearms? This would damage the honor of us warriors..."
As soon as Qiuyue finished speaking, he was immediately echoed and agreed by several generals.
Even though firearms have been introduced to Japan for hundreds of years, there are still many samurai who hold the view that "firearms are just gimmicks" and "samurai should wield swords and guns, why use firearms" - Akizuki is one of them.
In addition to Qiuyue and others, there were also others who opposed the general's speech from different angles.
"Lord Inamori! Isn't it because we haven't used firearms these days that we don't want to blow up the city wall? If the city wall collapses, it will take a lot of manpower and material resources to repair it later!"
Some people oppose it, and naturally some people agree with it.
"I agree with the use of firearms! If we continue to send troops to attack, it will not only take a lot more time, but also result in more casualties!"
"Damage to the honor of a samurai? If we can't take this fortress as soon as possible, that would be a loss to the honor of a samurai."
The tent, which was originally somewhat quiet, gradually became noisy.
Generals from various factions holding different opinions argued with each other and refused to give in.
Inamori silently let the generals in front of him gradually argue until their faces turned red and their necks became thick. Then Inamori said in a tone that was neither light nor heavy:
"Okay, stop arguing!"
The tent suddenly became quiet because of Inamori's words.
Inamori raised his hand and rubbed his eyebrows.
"Using firearms to blow down the city wall will cause us to have to occupy the fortress and rebuild it in a very troublesome way. I am aware of this."
"That is why I have not used firearms in the past nine days."
“But times are different now.”
"We no longer have the luxury of thinking about 'post-war reconstruction'."
"You don't need to say anything more. I have made up my mind."
"Tomorrow - Blast down the city wall!"
…
…
Red Moon Fortress, Kunoa's clinic—
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Ating's soft breathing became the only sound in the clinic besides her breathing.
Still wrapped in a sackcloth, Ah-ting held onto the wall and moved forward little by little, circling the hall of the clinic.
She was practicing "walking", which she hadn't done since her injury.
She is trying to restore some vitality to her body which has become a little "rusty" due to lying in bed for a long time.
…
…
The next day——
Day 10 of the Battle of Red Moon Fortress
The 12th day after Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress——
Red Moon Fortress, inner wall——
"It's really cold today..." Lin Ziping rubbed his palms.
"...Today's weather is not very good." Chanup, who was standing next to Lin Ziping, looked up at the sky. "Look, there are layers of dark clouds. It is very likely that snow will fall."
"If it snows, it will be troublesome." Lin Ziping said with a wry smile, "Once it snows, our muskets will be useless."
As soon as the sky was getting light, they climbed up the inner city wall to observe the enemy troops outside the city - this has become the habit of Chanup, Lin Ziping and others these days.
At this moment, the sky was already bright - but it was a little gloomy because of the thick dark clouds.
On the inner and outer walls of the Red Moon Fortress, every soldier had taken his place in his respective position - however, the Japanese army outside the city had yet to launch an attack.
These days, the Japanese army's attack timing has been quite fixed.
But today, the attack time of the past has long passed, and the He army camp outside the city is still quiet.
All the soldiers on the inner and outer city walls were slightly agitated by the strange sight today.
Lin Ziping had already frowned and muttered softly:
"Something is wrong... Why haven't you launched an attack yet?"
Maybe it's a coincidence.
Just as Lin Ziping finished saying this, there was finally movement in the He army camp - but it was not like before with the deafening sound of conch shells and thousands of soldiers rushing out of the camp.
Only a small group of people walked out of the military camp slowly at a leisurely pace.
Lin Ziping's brows furrowed even more tightly at this time.
With excellent eyesight, he narrowed his eyes and looked carefully at the small group of people coming out of the military camp.
After taking a closer look, Lin Ziping saw that some people in this small group of people were pushing a large thing that made Lin Ziping's hair stand on end immediately...
What they were pushing—it was artillery.
"Mr. Chanup! Do you have any good archers here? Shoot those people back quickly!"
…
…
The entire army of Inamori had only 9 cannons and 52 large barrels of various types - under Inamori's order, they deployed all of their limited cannons and large barrels.
Under the protection of some soldiers, the artillerymen and cannonmen successfully came to the outside of the shooting range of the archers and musketeers in the fortress, while staying as close to the Red Moon Fortress as possible.
The main battle of the whole army——
"The weather today is not very good..." Inamori looked up and muttered at the dark sky above his head.
The sky above his head was covered with layers of dark clouds, which made Inamori feel extremely unhappy - he was just about to use the firearms troops today, but the weather was not good.
"Please don't let the snow fall..."
As soon as Inamori finished saying this in a prayerful tone, a messenger came running towards him.
"Lord Inamori!" the messenger said respectfully, "Everyone is in their positions!"
Inamori nodded: "Okay!"
He turned his head and looked at the fortress in the distance.
He took a deep breath, then waved his hand with great momentum:
"Open fire! Blow down the city walls!"
The order to fire was quickly conveyed to the artillerymen and barrel operators who were now standing at the front line.
With somewhat clumsy movements, they stuffed gunpowder and shells into the cannons and barrels they were responsible for, aimed at the fortress in the distance, and then -
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom…
9 cannons and 52 large barrels roared at almost the same time.
The accuracy of the artillery and cannons used by Japan at this time was extremely poor, so out of a row of shells fired, only 3 shells fired from the cannon and 1 shell fired from the cannon hit the outer wall of the Red Moon Fortress, and the remaining shells only hit the snow outside the wall.
Instantly—the earth shook.
The soldiers on the outer wall felt the wall beneath their feet shaking... they felt the world was shaking...
As for the snowfields that were targeted by the vast majority of the shells, the snow on the ground disappeared - they exploded, the snow was smashed, crushed, torn into pieces, and the snow fell like raindrops.
Inamori had made up his mind to capture the Red Moon Fortress within today, so he did not hesitate to use the army's artillery shells and gunpowder reserves. He gathered all the artillery shells and gunpowder in the army and let the artillerymen and barrel operators fire without restraint.
Round after round of artillery shells poured down on the outer walls of the Red Moon Fortress.
Although the accuracy was extremely poor and it was a long-range shot, there were only a handful of shells that hit the city walls - but with rounds of artillery fire, there were always some shells that could hit the city walls.
Every time the city wall was hit by a shell, the soldiers on the outer wall could clearly feel the wall shaking - and the shaking was getting more and more violent.
The Red Moon Fortress had already launched a counterattack before the Japanese army launched its artillery bombardment.
Chanup gathered the best archers and musketeers, had them stand on the outer city wall, and shoot at the artillerymen and cannonmen.
However - the distance was too far, and the archers' arrows could not reach such a long distance.
The musketeers' bullets could barely reach that place - but the accuracy was too poor. Shooting at such a long distance, whether it could hit the target or not was entirely up to fate. Until now, the musketeers had not hit even one enemy soldier.
The air was acrid and pungent with cannon smoke and heavy fog.
The smoke carries the smell of gunpowder, and every time you take a puff, you feel a bitter taste on your tongue.
The constant roar of artillery and big guns made the whole world seem to shake, and the rumbling echoes and continuous roar made the eardrums of everyone in the Red Moon Fortress hurt.
The air around was churning and roaring as if it was mad.
The sparks from the exploding shells illuminated the land that was darkened by the bad weather.
Three more large artillery shells hit the outer city wall.
Squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak——!
Ga ga ga ga ga…
An extremely ominous sound came from the outer city wall, which could be heard clearly even from those standing on the inner city wall.
Chanup looked at the outer city wall which seemed to be crumbling, and then looked at the archers and musketeers on the outer city wall who were firing desperately but were still unable to do anything to the gunners.
He seemed to have made up his mind, gritted his teeth, and then -
"Go tell the people on the outer wall!"
Chanup shouted to several young men beside him who were responsible for delivering his messages.
"Let them all retreat! Evacuate the outer city wall!"
"Mr. Chanup," Lin Ziping said anxiously, "Are you going to abandon the outer city wall?"
"We have to give up!" Chanup said in a deep voice, "The outer city wall may collapse at any time! If we retreat later, I don't know how many people will die!"
After Chanup's order to retreat was conveyed to the outer city wall, the soldiers, who had already been frightened by the dense rain of bullets, withdrew from the outer city wall and retreated behind the inner city wall as if fleeing for their lives.
After the last soldier evacuated the outer city wall, another four shells hit the outer city wall.
Ga gga gga gga gga——!
A shattering sound was heard, loud enough to cover the entire Red Moon Fortress .
The outer city wall...now looks like melting ice.
Chanup and the others saw that the outer city wall was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye...
First, many pieces of debris fell, and then the pieces that fell became more and more numerous and larger.
Finally - it seemed that it had completely lost its support, and the entire outer wall collapsed, leaving a huge gap...
Red Moon Fortress, outer wall - fallen.