After hearing the sound of cannon fire, Matsudaira Sadanobu's body immediately moved on its own. He quickly ran to the window next to him and looked .
But nothing was seen.
Because of the perspective, Matsudaira Sadanobu could only see a few faint wisps of smoke.
"Master Lao Zhong! Master Lao Zhong!"
At this time, the anxious shouts of Tachibana and Osaka Castle Lord Horita Masahiro were heard outside the room.
"Come in!"
As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu gave permission to enter the room, Tachibana and Horita Masao quickly opened the door and rushed into the room.
The two of them showed very similar expressions at this time.
Tachibana's face was filled with panic.
Horita Masahiro was slightly better, but he also looked flustered.
"Lord Elder!" Horita Masatsugu said quickly, "Osaka Castle has been attacked by unknown people!"
Matsudaira Sadanobu showed a completely different reaction from Tachibana and Horita Masahiro.
"How many enemies are there? Where are they attacking from?" Matsudaira Sadanobu asked in a calm tone.
"The enemy number is over 200! They are equipped with a large number of artillery and other firearms! They are currently surrounding all the entrances and exits of Osaka Castle! They are bombarding the city gates with artillery!"
Osaka Castle is surrounded by tall walls and a wide moat outside the walls.
If you want to enter Osaka Castle, you can only take the four bridges located in the southwest, southeast, northeast, and northwest of Osaka Castle.
After learning that the only four entrances and exits of Osaka Castle were surrounded by enemy troops, Matsudaira Sadanobu's originally calm expression finally showed a slight change - his face slightly sank.
"Lord Laozhong! The enemy's artillery is very powerful! It won't be long before the city gates are blown open! With the current military strength of Osaka Castle, it is impossible to stop the enemy! Please use the secret passage quickly and leave Osaka Castle!"
Matsudaira Sadanobu also knew how many garrisons Osaka Castle currently had - there were less than 50 people in total.
50 people are fighting against an enemy force conservatively estimated to be over 200 strong, and the enemy also has a large number of artillery... In such a battle, the outcome is definitely not in doubt.
After more than two hundred years of peaceful life, the military equipment in various parts of Japan had long been neglected, and Osaka Castle was not a particularly important place, so the defense force of Osaka Castle became increasingly weak.
The current garrison force of less than 50 people has been strengthened.
After the "Kyoto Nijo Castle Attack" incident last year, many places, including Osaka Castle, have stepped up security.
Previously, there were only 30 or so samurai responsible for defending Osaka Castle...
At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu slowly clenched his hands, which were originally hanging naturally, into fists.
"Last year, Nijo Castle was attacked... This year, Osaka Castle was attacked..." Matsudaira Sadanobu gritted his teeth, "What's wrong with this country..."
…
…
Osaka, Osaka Castle, the southwest gate -
boom!
Another shell flew out of the gun barrel and hit the city gate not far away.
Under the bombardment of artillery shells, the southwest gate of Osaka Castle was already shaking, and it would not be long before the gate was opened.
"Hmm..." A sturdy man with a large naginata in his right hand and his left hand resting on his eye socket, looking at the southwest gate of Osaka Castle from afar, smiled and nodded gently, "Not bad, not bad, these cannons bought from France are really powerful."
This sturdy man has an extremely strong physique, nearly 2 meters tall, and his clothes are bulging with muscles. His physique looks more like a bear than a human.
"Saemon Uemon Soemon-sama." A black-clad Iga ninja quickly walked up to the sturdy man and said, "The northeastern gate has been breached."
"Wow... the first to break into the city were from the northeast... but we're almost there too."
The sturdy man called Saemon Uemon Saemon stretched vigorously.
Then he said with emotion:
"Every time I see the roar of cannons, I can't help but feel sad - swords, spears, swords and halberds are really going to be eliminated."
boom!
A shell hit the southwest gate again.
The city gate was hit head-on by the shells again, making a crackling sound.
Then——
Boom!
With a loud bang, the originally extremely majestic city gate in the southwest turned into large and small pieces and collapsed to the ground.
Looking at the collapsed city gate, Zuoemon gave a sinister smile.
"Follow me!"
He didn't say too much unnecessary words.
After shouting "Follow me", he carried his big naginata and rushed towards the collapsed city gate.
…
…
Osaka, a busy commercial street——
Boom…Boom…Boom…
The rumbling sound of cannons reached Ogata's ears as he was now rushing back to the hotel.
——Is this... a cannon?
While continuing to run forward, Ogata turned his head to look in the direction where the rumbling cannon fire came from.
He was sure he had heard correctly.
Because on the commercial street where he was currently, many passers-by had stopped and were looking in the same direction as Ogata.
After living in peace for too long, ordinary people have long lost touch with war. Therefore, when many people heard the rumbling sound, they looked confused or puzzled because they did not recognize it as the sound of artillery fire.
——That direction... is it Osaka Castle...?
During this period of time, Ogata has been wandering around Osaka with Atachi and the others, so he has a general understanding of the locations of various important places in Osaka.
——What exactly is being bombarded? Are these people who are bombarding a certain place the same people who just attacked me?
——Ugh… Damn it… My head hurts so much that I can’t concentrate on thinking.
As time passed, Ogata's health not only did not improve, but gradually deteriorated.
Just now, I just felt pain all over my body.
And now, not only is my whole body still aching, but my temperature is also gradually rising.
Ogata felt that his body temperature was about 37.5 degrees. The air he exhaled gradually became hot, and his head began to swell and ache.
His head was already uncomfortable, and now it was adding fuel to the fire. All kinds of questions kept popping up in his mind, making Ogata feel his head was getting more and more swollen .
The physical discomfort naturally caused Ogata's current physical condition to deteriorate sharply.
——My feet feel so heavy... I'm already out of breath after running just this short distance...
Ogata raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and swallowed to moisten his dry throat.
Although he felt very uncomfortable, Ogata did not stop.
——In this state, I can’t fight anyone…
——I have to meet up with A-Ming and the others as soon as possible, then hide in a safe place until the "immortal poison" wears off...
laugh!
The sound of fireworks rising from behind Ogata interrupted his thoughts.
At the same moment when the sound of the fireworks rose, Ogata's expression suddenly changed.
He quickly stopped and looked behind him.
Behind him, a red flower was blooming in the sky.
People on the street looked at the fireworks in the sky in confusion, as they shouldn't have appeared at this time of year.
Below this "red flower" is a man in black standing on the roof, holding a small wooden tube pointing at the sky.
Looking at the attire of the man in black, a strong sense of familiarity surged in Ogata's heart.
In just a moment, Xu Fang remembered why he felt that the black-clad man's outfit was quite familiar.
The outfit of this man in black... has quite a lot of similarities in style with Azuki's Iga kunoichi uniform.
After setting off the fireworks, the man in black turned around and fled without any hesitation.
Ogata knew with his ass that the man in black was definitely not "a civilian who wanted to set off fireworks for entertainment on a whim."
——Has my declining state also weakened my perception? I didn’t even notice the man in black following me from beginning to end.
While Ogata was shouting in frustration in his heart, he was preparing to jump onto the roof of the shop next to him to chase after the suspicious man in black who was most likely following him.
If this guy is really following him, he can't let him go no matter what.
Ogata quickly ran to a nearby dessert shop selling Japanese confectionery, and just as he was about to jump onto the roof, he suddenly felt a strong dizziness in his head.
This intense dizziness made Ogata feel as if the heaven and the earth had turned upside down.
“Hmm…”
Ogata let out a low cry of pain, then covered his head and fell to one knee.
This intense dizziness came suddenly and went away quickly.
In just two breaths, the head returned to its original state of pain and swelling, but still bearable.
Before Ogata could feel thankful that the intense dizziness he had just felt was not permanent, waves of the sounds he least wanted to hear came into his ears from far away - waves of footsteps came from the intersection in front of Ogata.
Musketeers appeared from both sides of the intersection and then formed three neat squares in the center of the intersection.
And the one standing behind the gun array was Sakuma.
"How lucky! My troops and I are right next to us..." Sakuma murmured softly, then waved his hand and said, "Shoot!"
When these musketeers appeared within his field of vision, Ogata's body moved as if by reflex.
With nimble movements, he flipped over and leaped into a nearby tree whose trunk was thick enough to hide his entire body.
As soon as Ogata hid behind the big tree, rows of bullets whizzed towards him.
The bullet missed Ogata, who was hiding behind a tree trunk.
But it hit... the ordinary people on this street who were completely unresponsive...
“Aaaaaaaaa——!”
"My, my hand!"
“Woooaaaaaaaaa——!”
…
Bloody, ruthless, cruel... this is... the current scene of this once bustling and prosperous street.
This street is already very busy, and 70% of the space on the road is packed with people.
In such a densely populated area, being fired upon by flintlock rifles at such a close distance... one can imagine what the result would be.
A large number of people on the street fell down after the first round of shooting.
The civilians who did not fall to the ground fled in fear in the direction away from the musketeers.
There were already many people on the street, and everyone was fleeing in chaos, pushing each other, and the street became extremely congested.
Facing the people who were wailing in fear after suffering from the disaster for no reason—Sakuma didn't even frown.
He looked calm, as if those who died from his "shoot" order were not individuals but ants.
The musketeers in front of him also faithfully carried out the orders given by Sakuma. After the musketeers in the first row had used up all their guns, they immediately exchanged guns with the musketeers in the second row.
Ogata looked at the people who were suffering from an unexpected disaster just a stone's throw away from him with a dazed expression.
If he just kept hiding behind the tree trunk, under the protection of this thick tree, even if these musketeers had used up all their ammunition, they would not be able to hurt Ogata at all.
Only...these innocent people will suffer heavy casualties.
People are now fleeing in panic, the streets are congested, and God knows how long it will take for them all to leave this place.
It was obvious that those musketeers didn't care about the lives of ordinary people. They would still shoot at them even if there were a large number of innocent people ahead.
Continue to hide behind the tree trunks and you will be safe, otherwise many innocent people will be accidentally injured.
Actively exposing your body would be dangerous, but the people on the street would be much safer.
This is the multiple-choice question that Ogata faced.
But in reality...there was no choice question in Ogata's mind at all.
Because one of the options in this question never appeared in Ogata's mind from beginning to end.
As the first and second rows of musketeers were changing guns, Ogata jumped out from behind the tree trunk without thinking and jumped onto the roof of a teahouse nearby.
"Aren't you going to kill me?!" Ogata drew the katana from his waist, "I'm here! Come over here!"
After Ogata's figure appeared on the roof, the musketeers raised their guns in unison, aimed at Ogata standing on the roof of the teahouse, and pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
At the same moment the musketeers pulled the trigger, Ogata immediately jumped to the side, and the bullet whizzed and hit the place where Ogata had just stood.
Because the musketeers raised the muzzles of their guns, the people on the street were naturally out of the musketeers' attack range. In the musketeers' second round of shooting, no innocent people were accidentally injured.
Ogata tried his best to dodge the bullets fired by the musketeers while moving on the roof and approaching the gun array.
While fighting against the rows of flying bullets, perhaps because his attention was drawn to the battle in front of him, Ogata felt the pain and swelling in his head fade away a little, and his thinking gradually became agile and active.
——The man in black who was pulling the fireworks just now…was he specifically responsible for finding my whereabouts…
——Once they find me, they will immediately set off red fireworks. Then the musketeers who happen to be nearby will immediately follow the fireworks and rush over...
——It seems... these people really came prepared to kill me...
Every musketeer in the gun formation now followed Sakuma's order, took off the swords on their waists, and only held a flintlock rifle.
Ogata discovered this just now when he hid behind the tree trunk.
The enemies no longer carry swords - what this means is clear to Ogata, who now has no good sword.
But even so, he still rushed towards the gun array resolutely without any hesitation.
——20 meters...18 meters...16 meters...
Due to the climate, the roofs of houses in Osaka are mostly sloping roofs.
Every ridge on the sloping roof was a perfect obstacle for Ogata.
Ogata dodged bullets by moving between roof ridges.
——14 meters...12 meters...10 meters...
When he counted to 10 meters in his mind, Ogata tightened the katana in his hand.
At the same time, begin to slowly change your breathing rhythm to the breathing rhythm of Source Breathing.
Just get a little closer.
Once he was within eight meters, Ogata could leap into the enemy's formation in one breath, just like he had done in the previous battle.
——9 meters…!
Ogata placed his left hand on the hilt of the wakizashi and pulled out the wakizashi as well.
However, at this moment...
From the corner of Ogata's left eye, he saw a little light at the end of his left field of vision.
He turned his head and his pupils suddenly shrank - he saw five people crouching at the entrance of an alley not far to his left.
The five men pointed their guns at him.
The light he noticed just now was the cold light emitted by the moonlight hitting the barrels of their guns...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The five snipers pulled the trigger together.
On the roof, Ogata, who was rushing towards the gun array, suddenly stopped.
Then, like a withered yellow leaf in autumn, it fell backwards and fell into a dark alley between two shops.
"Do you think I'll make the mistake of letting you into the line of fire again?" Sakuma said to himself in a cold tone, "I know there's a high chance you'll come charging over from the rooftops again, so I specially arranged for a sniper to shoot you from behind."
After muttering to himself, Sakuma took out a flintlock pistol from his arms.
Apart from being easy to carry, the flintlock pistol has no other advantages. In terms of power, range, and accuracy, it is inferior to the rifle. There is no need to equip ordinary soldiers with it on a large scale. Therefore, in the Toyotomi army, only commander-level figures like Sakuma have flintlock pistols specifically for self-defense.
"Forward!" Sakuma raised his flintlock pistol.
The musketeers formed a neat line and slowly moved towards the alley where Ogata had just fallen.
This is a dark, deep and narrow alley, so narrow that only one person can enter and exit. Standing at the entrance and looking inside the alley, you can't see the end at a glance, only seemingly endless darkness.
Sakuma looked inside the alley several times, but could not see Ogata at all in the inky darkness.
Sakuma then ordered the four musketeers beside him, "You four go in and take a look. When you see that man, don't get close to him. Don't worry about whether he's dead or not. Shoot him a few more times in the vitals before getting close."
"Yes!"*4
The four musketeers, holding their flintlock rifles, formed a long line and filed into the alley, which was so narrow that even two people could not walk side by side.
After a while, the musketeer walking in front saw Ogata lying face down on the ground in the alley, his hands still tightly grasping the knife.
He was motionless and seemed to be dead.
The leading musketeer followed the order Sakuma had just given meticulously.
After seeing Ogata, he stopped in time and raised the flintlock in his hand.
However... just as he raised the flintlock, he felt dizzy.
Then, a heart-wrenching pain came from the neck.
He subconsciously wanted to open his mouth and scream.
But after opening his mouth, he found that he could not utter a single word. As soon as he opened his mouth, a large amount of blood flowed down his throat into his mouth, choking him so that his mouth was full of blood.
His throat was pierced by the sharp tip of the sword.
And the person holding the katana was none other than Ogata, who was still lying in front of him.
Ogata was still lying face down on the ground, but his right hand holding the katana was raised upwards.
The right hand grasps the bottom end of the handle - this is one of Ogata's old tricks.
Grip the bottom of the handle to greatly increase the sword's attack range.
Using this old trick and his arms, which were well above average for the era, he pierced the musketeer's throat.
[Ding! Use Sakakibara's sword style, Bird Thorn, to kill the enemy.]
[Gain 80 points of personal experience and 90 points of swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ittoryu" experience]
[Current personal level: Lv40 (3570/6400)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 14th stage (1135/14000)]
"You are within my attack range..." Ogata slowly raised his head from the ground.
His eyes flickered with the brilliant light that was unique to one who had entered the "state of no self".
The sound of fighting and the screams of subordinates were heard in the alley.
Sakuma's face changed outside the alley.
Before he could give a new order, he saw a black shadow leap out from the alley, and then like a meteor... smash down towards Sakuma.
The blood drained from his face and Sakuma quickly raised the pistol in his hand.
It’s a pity that he was still a step slow.
As soon as he raised his gun halfway into the air, Ogata's katana hit his forehead.
Sakuma's head was chopped off like a watermelon.
When Sakuma's brains were chopped out, Ogata's feet landed firmly on the ground.
Sakakibara Ittoryu: Water Falls!
Sakakibara Ittoryu·Toribashi!
Ogata used the bird-stab technique with the katana in his right hand and the water-fall technique with the wakizashi in his left hand, sending the two people beside him to death at the same time.
When using the bird thorn to pierce the throat of the enemy in front of him on the right, Ogata clearly felt that the katana in his right hand had become dull due to being covered with too much fat, blood and other strange liquids.
He subconsciously wanted to drop the knife.
But when he was about to let go of the katana in his right hand, he suddenly remembered that these musketeers did not carry swords.
Therefore, Ogata could only grit his teeth, pull out the sword, and continue to use this sword that was no longer very useful to kill the enemy...
…
…
Osaka, Senbei's home——
"Senbei, your wine is really good. I just drank a few sips and my cheeks are getting hot!"
Since arriving in Osaka, Fuma has often gone to the home of his old subordinate Senbei to eat and spend the night - tonight is no exception.
Fengma is now sitting face to face with Senbei, drinking cup after cup of the strong liquor that Senbei bought today.
Just when the two were drinking happily, the rumbling sound of cannons coming from Osaka Castle made the two of them pause at the same time.
"Is this... the sound of a cannon?" Senbei's eyes widened.
Listening to the bursts of artillery fire, Fengmo did not speak.
He just frowned slowly.
…
…
Osaka, the hotel where Ogata and his friends were staying——
"Master Ittosai is so slow..."
As soon as Azhu finished her soft murmur, her stomach growled.
In front of her and Ating, there was a piece of cooked hoe-roasted vegetables.
Dinner has already been cooked.
But Ogata has not returned yet.
At the beginning, the two could comfort themselves by saying, "Maybe there was a small accident along the way, so Ogata came back late."
The two of them kept waiting.
Even now, I still haven't seen Ogata at the door.
Both of them...especially Ating's face, showed obvious worry.
"...Ms. A-machi." A-tsuku asked cautiously, "Should we go outside to look for Master Ittosai?"
Ating looked thoughtful.
After thinking for a moment, Ating stood up.
"...You stay here. If you are hungry, you can eat first. You don't have to wait for us. I will go to Master Yu Er to see what is going on."
"If Ayi comes back when I'm out looking for him, you can tell him that I'm out looking for him and that he doesn't need to worry."
If both of them go out to look for Ogata, there might be an awkward situation where "they just went out and Ogata came back, and they passed each other by each other", so it is best to leave one person at the hotel.
Therefore, when A-Ming asked her to stay in the hotel alone, A-Zhu did not make any objection. She nodded obediently and said to A-Ming, "Be careful on the road."
A-machi hung her wakizashi around her waist, put her sockless white feet into flat wooden clogs that were very similar to flip-flops, then quickly left the hotel and headed towards Master Yuji's residence according to her memory.
Not long after she left the hotel, the rumbling sound of artillery fire from the attack on Osaka Castle reached her ears.
"Is this... a cannon shot...?"
A-Ming stopped and looked in the direction where the cannon sound came from with astonishment.
For some reason, after hearing the sound of the cannon, a sense of foreboding welled up in Atachi's heart...
She bit her lower lip, then quickened her pace and headed towards Master Yu Er's home.