Inamori is no stranger to Ogata.
Less than a year ago, when Ogata was about to board Choujima Island, he had met this general nicknamed "Tiger Inamori".
As soon as he broke into the main camp of the Shogunate army, he saw the famous "Tiger Inamori". Ogata instinctively concluded that this man should be the general-in-chief of the Shogunate army!
Then he subconsciously swung the knife and chopped at Inamori's head, cutting through Inamori's helmet and splitting open Inamori's crown.
Because of the helmet's blocking, the force of Ogata's slash was offset a lot. The huge cut only went from the forehead to the bridge of the nose - in fact, if the sword hit the forehead, it didn't matter whether the cut went to the bridge of the nose or the lips.
After retrieving Daishiten from Inamori's head, which was only half flesh and bones left, Inamori's body was like a soft noodle. After staggering a few steps, he fell heavily to the ground.
His eyes were fixed on the blood-soaked Ogata, with malice, reluctance, malice, and fear in them...
He had collapsed to the ground, his body still twitching slightly. His mouth was slightly open, as if he wanted to shout something at Ogata, but all the strength in his body had faded away with the dilation of his pupils, and he no longer had the chance to say or shout anything.
Finally - the life in his eyes was completely gone, and he stared blankly at the sky where the dark clouds had all dispersed and the sun was shining brightly.
A general who was busy stabilizing the order of the troops witnessed the whole process of how Inamori was killed instantly by one blow and collapsed in a pool of blood. He was so shocked that he completely forgot that he was in the fierce battlefield. He was not even aware that Ogata and others were very close to him.
He shouted hoarsely, "Lord Inamori! No—no!"
There were far more people who witnessed the death of their own general than just this general - most of the generals and soldiers of the shogunate army around him saw the whole process of Inamori's death.
Ogata had been paying attention to the reactions of the shogunate soldiers around him. After seeing their stunned expressions, Ogata knew: he had just killed the right person.
"Skulucci!" Ogata shouted to Skulucci behind him without turning his head, "Cut off the head of the general I just beheaded, and then pick it up with a spear! Remember not to take off his helmet!"
"Got it!" Although Skulucci's tone was filled with fatigue, his voice was still as loud as a bell.
After giving Skulucci this order, Ogata tapped the horse's belly with his heel again, making Radish run again.
Ogata's attack is not over yet.
There is another more important target waiting for him to kill.
Although the target is not a person.
Ogata and Radish rode their horses straight towards the tall commander's flag not far from Inamori.
No one can stop him anymore... To be more precise, no one can stop Ogata anymore.
When Ogata rushed towards the general's flag, all the generals and soldiers along the way moved to the left and right out of fear, leaving a clear path for him.
Ogata rushed along this avenue to the commander's flag, and almost all the soldiers who were originally guarding the commander's flag ran away.
The blade flashed horizontally, and the flagpole, which was as thick as an adult man's arm, was cut in half. The flag with the "three-leaf sunflower" painted on it, representing the Tokugawa shogunate, shook twice and fell heavily to the ground.
After the flag fell to the ground, Ogata swung Daishiten downward violently, shaking off all the blood on the blade, and then raised the sword in his hand high.
"I have captured your general! I have defeated your army! You have already lost--!"
At the same time Ogata shouted this sentence loudly, Skulucci just raised the spear with Inamori's head stuck in it high up, and Skulucci also obediently followed Ogata's instructions and did not remove Inamori's helmet.
In ancient Japan, the higher the rank of a general, the more and more complex the decorations on his helmet. The reason for this was to allow his soldiers to quickly find the general on a battlefield where the situation was complex and changing rapidly.
This is why Ogata did not let Skulucci take off Inamori's helmet - as soon as everyone saw the helmet, they knew that the head held by the spear was Inamori's head.
The head of Inamori, which was held up by a spear, and the severed flag were like two hammers, hitting the heads of the surrounding generals and soldiers hard.
Finally, some soldiers screamed and turned to flee. Some of them ran into several troops rushing to support them after running a few steps. After these troops who wanted to support them cursed at the deserters who ran into them, they also saw the head of Inamori that was lifted high and the general's flag that had disappeared.
"Our main camp has been breached! The general is dead!" A terrified shout echoed all around.
With this shout, more and more people discovered the situation at our camp.
The person who made this loud shout was Skulucci.
After a good performance, Sculucci, like a little boy who had successfully played a prank, suppressed the corners of his mouth that were trying hard to turn up.
Skulucci's shout was like a flame dropped into a powder keg. Many soldiers who had not yet noticed what was happening stopped what they were doing, stretched their necks to check the movements of their main camp, and then their faces suddenly turned pale.
The sad news of "the main camp was breached" and "General Inamori was killed" spread like a strong wind, with the main camp as the center, sweeping in all directions.
Some generals and soldiers who were farther away also saw the commander's flag that had disappeared - for example, Kuroda who was still slowly "gathering troops" in the 6th formation.
"No way..." Kuroda stared blankly at the main camp in the distance where there was no longer any flag flying.
While Kuroda was still immersed in shock, he heard some of the soldiers he was narrating screaming: " Look ! The general's flag has fallen!"
These wailings brought Kuroda back to his senses.
Kuroda knew very well what the fall of the general's flag meant to an army, especially an army that was already on the brink of collapse.
He wanted to do something to save the situation, but found out sadly that he could do nothing now.
The first formation to collapse was the first formation closest to Ogata.
Facing Ogata who broke through their formation seven times in a row, their morale had already dropped to the freezing point. The head of Inamori held high and the fallen commander's flag completely tore apart their last psychological defense.
They screamed and ran away in a panic.
The consequences of the death of Inamori, the supreme commander, have come to light - the command system of the shogunate army has now completely collapsed.
Each general now acts independently and there is no unified command.
There are those who strive to maintain order.
Some shouted that they wanted to fight to the death with Ogata and make a last stand.
Some secretly mixed in with the fleeing troops, intending to escape.
Their chaotic command only exacerbated the chaos in the troops.
The collapse of the first round gradually affected the second and third rounds...
As for the siege troops who were tasked with the siege - they had witnessed the entire process of their army being defeated, and now they were all stunned.
Chanup, who had been paying attention to the bloody battle in Ogata outside the city, was the first to see the conspicuous general's flag fall.
While feeling ecstatic about Ogata's successful surprise attack, Chanup raised the spear in his hand high and concentrated all the remaining strength in his body into his throat:
"The general of the Japanese army has been defeated! The Japanese army has collapsed! Push back all the Japanese on the city wall!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Chanup took the lead and rushed towards the Japanese in front of him.
The remaining warriors roared, responding to Chanup with roars and the subsequent pounces and people's actions.
The soldiers of the siege force have now lost all their fighting spirit.
Although their numbers far outnumbered the remaining Ainu on the city wall, they had no intention of fighting anymore and were defeated. Their battle line was almost pushed to the steps of the inner city wall and they were rapidly retreating.
These shogunate army generals and soldiers who were just showing their fangs and claws; these shogunate army generals and soldiers who were just showing their high spirits; these shogunate army generals and soldiers who originally planned to break through the Red Moon Fortress within today, now they are fleeing in panic like headless flies.
They are no longer aggressive invaders, but just a group of stray dogs eager to save their lives.
The "Bushido" education they received since childhood has now been completely forgotten by them.
They no longer cared about honor or the fact that they should not flee from the battlefield.
They just want to save their lives now.
…
…
"Lord Kuroda! Where are we going?" A general who was riding a horse closely behind Kuroda asked Kuroda in front of him in an anxious tone.
"Go to the camp!" Kuroda responded, "The army is finished. We lost this battle. There are still many wounded soldiers and some troops protecting the wounded in the camp, as well as a lot of baggage. We must take them all away!"
"Lose, lose?!" The general blushed, "Lord Kuroda! We didn't lose..."
The general wanted to refute Kuroda, but then he spoke in a lower and lower voice because he did not believe his own words.
Kuroda ignored the general behind him whom he had not yet recognized, and concentrated on riding his horse to the camp in the rear.
…
…
Matsudaira Sadanobu he did not run far.
After escaping to a position far away from the battlefield but still able to barely see it, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked to stop.
From the beginning, he has been using a telescope to observe the battlefield in the distance.
Although the camera was far away and we were unable to see the scene of General Ogata chopping down the flag, we could clearly see the shogunate army fleeing like an avalanche.
Even though he didn't understand military affairs, after seeing their army collapse, Matsudaira Sadanobu could roughly infer what had happened.
Matsudaira Sadanobu silently put down the telescope in his hand.
There was no expression on his face, making it difficult for others to see what Matsudaira Sadanobu was thinking at the moment.
For some reason, Matsudaira Sadanobu recalled the information he had heard from the report just before leaving the main camp - Ogata Ittosai had tied a large flag with the words "Ogata Issei, the Unrivaled Sword in the World" tied to his saddle.
"...The unrivaled sword in the world..."
Matsudaira Sadanobu murmured.
After the murmur, a smile containing complex emotions appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face as the corners of his mouth slightly turned up.
"You are already... truly unrivaled in the world..."
…
…
The flow of people carried the flow of people, and Ogata and his friends felt that in just a blink of an eye, the dense group of enemies that originally surrounded them had now dispersed completely.
Ogata and his men had been staying at the place where they had just killed the general and cut off the flag, silently allowing the shogunate army to flee, without pursuing them and inflicting more casualties on them - because they were almost unable to fight anymore.
On such a winter day, everyone was sweating profusely, their chests heaving violently, and the hooves of their horses trembling.
After watching the last group of shogunate troops run away, Ogata finally let out a sigh of relief, and released his "selfless state".
After the "state of no self" was released, intense fatigue immediately filled every corner of Ogata's body like heavy lead.
As fatigue surged up in his face, Ogata swayed a few times on horseback - and at this moment, Skulucci rode up and raised his hand to support Ogata.
"Ogata-kun, cheer up." Skulucci smiled and pointed to the Red Moon Fortress not far away. "Before you have a good sleep, at least enjoy the cheers and thanks from others, right?"
Ogata smiled at Skulucci's joke, then shook his head vigorously. After barely mustering some spirit, he sheathed his sword and led Skulucci and others on horseback, slowly walking towards the Red Moon Fortress.
Crack, crack, crack, crack…
The gate of the inner wall of Red Moon Fortress was slowly opened at this time.
Ogata saw from afar that at the city gate, there were many residents of the Red Moon Fortress standing.
There were many acquaintances standing in the crowd.
Chanup, Lin Ziping, Tang Shen, and... Ating.
Looking at Atachi, who was now able to stand up and was waiting with the others at the city gate to greet him, Ogata was surprised at first, and then the surprise turned into a faint smile.
Chanup was also seriously injured, but he had no intention of leaving. With the help of a young man, he led everyone to meet Ogata who was about to pass through the city gate and enter the fortress.
When Ogata saw Chanup and others coming towards him, he immediately dismounted and walked towards them, and Skulucci immediately signaled his subordinates to dismount as well.
"Mashima-san...your face?" Chanup looked at Ogata, whose appearance had changed drastically, with surprise.
"We'll talk about my face later." Ogata smiled, "I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It must have been difficult to hold on until now, right?"
Chanup's eyes turned .
Chanup broke free from the support of the young man beside him, stretched out his trembling hands and tightly held Ogata's hands.
"Thank you..." Chanup's voice trembled with tears, "You really... saved us... Thank you..."
Looking at Chanup crying with joy, Ogata was briefly surprised, then smiled and held Chanup's hands, which were holding his.
"This is our common victory," Ogata said.
Standing behind Ogata and watching all this silently, Skulucci smiled, then turned his head, looked at his subordinates behind him, and raised his right fist high:
"We won!"
"Ura——! Ura——!" Skuluch's subordinates waved their fists towards the sky and cheered in ecstasy.
The Ainu people who followed Chanup to greet Ogata and others were stunned at first when they heard Skulucci and others cheering, and then they joined in the cheering.
“Oooooohh ...
"We won—! We won—!"
"We saved our home!"
At this moment, Ogata caught a glimpse of Atachi walking slowly towards him.
Chanup, who was originally holding Ogata's hands tightly , let go of Ogata's hands at the right time.
"You are amazing." Atachi, who spoke first, had red eyes but smiled, "You have accomplished a feat that even Yukimura Sanada has not done."
"Have you finally admitted that Sanada Yukimura is not as good as me? Then can you praise me more from now on and stop praising Sanada Yukimura?"
As soon as Ogata said this joke, Atachi threw herself into Ogata's arms, and with such force that she almost pushed Ogata to the ground in the snow.
"What do you mean you finally admit that Sanada Yukimura is not as good as you? You have always been the unrivaled man in the world!"
Ah Ting said this while crying and laughing.
…
…
In later times, the Dai Nihonshi, a classical Chinese historical book compiled by the Mito Domain during the Edo period, summarized this unprecedented battle in one sentence:
"In the third year of Kansei, Shirakawa led 10,000 troops to attack Emishi in Chitose. Ogata led 60 cavalrymen to attack them, crushing the enemy and defeating them wherever they went.
Break seven formations and kill nine generals.
Unparalleled in the world! "