Many ancient people were night blind, so marching in the middle of the night was not an easy task.
Fortunately, most of the male troops were pampered and well-nourished. Those with good sightlines would go first, and those who followed would light more torches, so they were not afraid of getting separated.
Although this expedition was a midnight raid, the cavalry did not consider hiding their whereabouts. The fire dragon in the darkness went all the way to the west, quickly crossed the big stream, and arrived at Nanliu Mountain, close to the Edogawa River.
At this moment, in the Edogawa River area, there were also countless bonfires, blazing as bright as the day.
The farmers guarding the river embankment were looking at the Satake Army's ashigaru in horror, carrying hoes and other tools to dig up the embankment.
In the Guanyin Temple not far away, the ground servants from several local villages knelt in front of the Satake retainers who led the troops to dig the embankment, and kept kowtowing.
The leading ground servant begged.
"My lords, please spare my life!
People in rural areas are not very polite. If someone is offended, the villain is willing to compensate. The money, food and head will be whatever the adults want. All they ask is not to dig a dike!
The spring floods are stronger than the summer floods. The winter wheat planted in late autumn is about to bear fruit and cannot be flooded. The newly planted spring rice cannot withstand the impact of the flood.
With this flood, the entire harvest for the whole year is completely finished! I beg you all for mercy. No matter what your request is, we will agree to it! "
Seeing the floor servants lying on the ground whining like old dogs, a trace of unbearability flashed in the eyes of several Satake retainers.
Guanbazhou has been in turmoil for hundreds of years. Not only the people are poor, but the military class is also living unsatisfactorily.
Except for a few nobles, most of the Ji warriors had to work in the fields. When the farmers were busy, they would have to help out in the fields.
Several Satake retainers present knew what it meant to dig the dam at this time, but they had to do it.
The families in the East had different ideas. Satake Yoshige wanted to quickly attack Xiaojin Castle, so he had to use desperate tactics such as flooding, but others may not be willing to accept such an order.
Digging dikes during the spring floods is harmful to nature and is a matter of deadly enmity.
When the Gaocheng family found out later, they would go crazy. Although the Chiba family behind the Takagi family has been declining in recent years, after all, it has a deep foundation and still has a good network of connections in the lower country.
If you really want to stir up the common enemies of the samurai family of the Lower Sovereign Kingdom, the Lower Sovereign Terrace is connected to the Shimono Kingdom and the Hitachi Kingdom, and you can't prevent others from taking revenge even if you go back and forth in the plain area.
If you beasts dig up the embankment of our Xiazongwu family, then we will retaliate in kind and lead our troops to burn your villages and trample your seedlings.
When is the time to retaliate? Many blood feuds between generations of the Wu family were forged in this way, and no one benefited in the end.
Satake Yoshige has lost her sight and insists on going her own way, but others are unwilling to do the evil for her, so Satake's retainer can only do it himself.
The local villagers burst into tears outside the temple, several floor attendants had their heads smashed, and the adobe bricks in front of the temple were stained with blood.
Several Satake retainers looked at the leading general with some hesitation.
The name of the commander-in-chief of Satake is Xiaoba. Of course she knows that she is taking on a bullshit mission of giving birth to a daughter without vaginal eyes, but does she have any choice? Military orders are like mountains, and they can only be executed.
She frowned and said coldly.
"Noisy! Drive all these unruly people out!"
What are you still hesitating about on the other side of the river embankment? Start digging immediately! If we can't dig out the hole before dawn, and we can't see the water flowing over the mountains, I want their heads! "
The leading ground attendant was none other than the most prestigious Warrior Ji from several nearby villages. When she heard Xiaochang's order, her eyes widened with rage.
"Beasts! You beasts! I will fight with you!"
She overturned the ashigaru that was trying to take her away, pulled out the short sword from the shattered ashigaru, and put on a desperate stance.
But what's the use of a short sword? When they entered the yard as attendants, all their weapons were confiscated and they were only wearing civilian clothes.
Several spears were pressed against her and she couldn't get in. Within a moment, she was pierced with several holes, and her companions screamed in fright.
"Gutian, don't be impulsive!"
When Xiaochang came to accept such an order, she had been simmering with anger for a long time. At this moment, when she saw that the leading ground servant was ignorant, the evil fire in her heart was suddenly aroused.
He casually picked up the spear in the ashigaru hand next to him, and threw it fiercely at the ground attendant named Tanita.
It was difficult for Gu Tian to dodge the four or five spears in front of him at this moment. He didn't even notice the spear being thrown. It was directly pierced through the chest and stuck on the ground, limp and trembling.
The ground servant who was blocked in the distance howled and broke free from his restraints and rushed to Gu Tian.
"Gantian!"
The spear pierced Gu Tian's lungs. She couldn't breathe. Her mouth kept opening and closing, spitting out blood foam, as if to say, field, field, field. .
The ground attendant holding her burst into tears, picked up the short knife in her hand, and pierced her heart directly to help her end this painful struggle.
Afterwards, the local servant respectfully pulled out the dagger and long spear, placed them on the ground, kowtowed deeply to Xiaochang, and then walked out step by step with Gutian's still-blooded body in his arms.
A trace of compassion flashed through Xiaochang's heart, so he didn't stop him.
Several ground attendants surrounded the ground attendant who was holding Gu Tian's body, and walked out of the small Guanyin Temple together. The villagers waiting outside the door howled in despair when they saw Gu Tian's body.
Back among the villagers, a ground attendant looked back at Zuo Zhujun behind him, his eyes filled with hatred, and he choked with sobs.
"Sister Gutian was killed by them, and our fields are going to be flooded. Is that the end?"
The ground servant holding Gu Tian's body sneered.
"It's over? How can it be over like this! They killed Gu Tian, and they won't let us live, so don't let us live!
When we went back, people from each village went back to collect weapons and recruit people. We fought with them! "
Several local servants looked at each other. The total number of women in their villages was only a few hundred strong women. They were at best clumsy peasant soldiers. They were really not enough to kill these elite Satake soldiers in one round. Do they have to attack the stone with an egg?
The ground attendant holding Gu Tian, she could feel Gu Tian's body gradually getting colder and stiffer, said with red eyes.
"What? Can we survive without resistance? The fields have been flooded by them, what will we eat this year? Instead of starving to death, it is better to fight these beasts now!"
Several ground attendants were also angered by the desperate situation, and one of them took the lead.
"Okay! I'll go back and organize people to fight them hard!"
The other people nodded.
"Fight!"
The ground attendant holding Gu Tian's body showed a bloodthirsty smile and looked at the Guanyin Temple behind him.
Xiaochang shouldn't be soft-hearted and let them leave. Although the villagers are despicable, they are forced to have no way to survive. The untouchables can also organize themselves and go crazy.
———
The hateful eyes seemed to penetrate the thin walls of the temple and were fixed on Xiaochang, making her shiver.
She stood up from the horse, looking solemn as she listened to the distant crying.
someone asked.
"What's wrong?"
Xiaoba narrowed his eyes and said.
"We are digging the embankment to prevent the villagers from rioting. I shouldn't have felt sympathy just now and let these ground servants leave.
With these local Ji warriors coming forward to organize, it would be a bit troublesome if the villagers got into trouble. "
Several people suddenly became nervous.
"What to do now? Send someone to kill them?"
Xiaoba shook his head.
"It's too late, we..."
She was about to say some precautionary measures when suddenly there was noise and commotion outside.
"what happened!"
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! A large group of cavalry appears from the east!"
Xiaochang was shocked. She came to dig the embankment this time and only brought 800 people with her.
Except for the manpower digging on the river bank, most of them were on the side of Guanyin Temple. The lights were as bright as fireflies in the darkness, making them perfect targets for attracting enemies.
Are they from Little Golden City? There are only a few thousand troops in Xiaojincheng, how dare you send troops out to attack at night?
Xiaochang looked to the east, and sure enough he saw a fire dragon, which stretched for a long time, and ordered.
"Wada! You take a few people to the home to supervise our formation and report that there is an enemy raid on my side. I hope everyone will know."
"Hi!"
"Changcang! Take our team to have a look and find out who is coming."
"Hi!"
"The rest of you are waiting and preparing for battle!"
"Hi!"
———
The Guanyin Temple here is just a small temple worshiped by the local villagers. It is said to be a temple, but in fact it is just a courtyard and a Buddhist hall. The villagers may not be pious, but they must have a place where they can find peace of mind.
Satake's army came to dig a dike at night and wanted to have a base station, so the devil sat in front of the hall, and Guanyin closed his eyes and listened, unable to bear to look at the tragedy that was about to happen in the world.
Just when Xiaochang was killing people and driving away the villagers, the male army coming west from the south gate of Xiaojincheng had already arrived not far away.
The brightly lit Guanyin Temple is an obvious target. If not, where can we go?
When the sentries on the periphery saw the dark crowd of cavalry rushing towards them with torches, they couldn't resist at all, so they turned around and ran to report the news.
It wasn't until the men's army reached the creek about a mile away from Guanyin Temple that they really encountered the obstruction of Satake's troops.
Chang Cang was ordered to bring his own reserve team, but he did not expect that there were so many people on the other side. Pulling up the horse across the creek, I saw that there seemed to be hundreds of cavalry in front of me, and I was frightened.
She frowned and shouted across the stream.
"The general will be named!"
This was originally just a test. If Yiyin was here, he would have ordered the cavalry to rush in, ride the horse across the stream, cut off Changkura's head, and tell her who he was.
But Fanjun is a young man who has never been on the battlefield. How can he understand the intrigues on the battlefield? The rules of war in books will not tell you these rogue tactics in battle.
So Fanjun came out honestly and shouted.
"I am Mr. Fan, the son of Liang Chengfan. Please surrender immediately! I will spare your life!"
Nagakura was stunned, and the awe he had just felt suddenly disappeared, and he burst into laughter.
"It turns out it's a man. Is there no one in Xiaojin City? He actually sent a man out to fight?"
As the saying goes, good things don’t go out, but bad things spread thousands of miles.
The news of a man from a good family going into battle spread faster than any other military news, and the two sisters Yuryokuni Shige and their brother-in-law, the Narita clan leader, have become a common joke on both sides of the battlefield.
It is an anecdote for the ages that a woman can't take the blame, but a man comes out to carry a gun. Everyone is laughing at it, regardless of whether they are enemies or friends.
As soon as Nagakura heard that he was the son of the Yuryaka family, he knew that the other party was a male soldier from Xiaojin City. His fear disappeared and he became playful again.
She laughed and said.
"The Narita clan leader is so incompetent that he lets his husband go into battle. This male general, why don't you become my husband? I am much better than the Narita clan clan leader!"
Nagakura teased Shigeki-kun in front of the formation, and Satake and his team laughed together when they understood. The Ashigaru were vulgar and made endless obscenities.
Fanjun's face turned red with anger, and blood almost dripped from his face. The tip of the gun in his hand trembled slightly, and he was about to get angry.
But before he could give the order to attack, a war horse had already sprung out of his queue. The petite body sitting on the horse made the war horse look much bigger.
Just heard a sharp shout.
"Don't humiliate my parents! The thief looks at the arrow!"
Because he despises men, Nagakura unknowingly moved forward during the horse fight, right next to the stream.
The distance between the two sides was only more than 20 meters. One person and one horse rushed forward, setting up their bows and releasing arrows. The arrows fired at close range were like poisonous tongues spitting messages, and it was impossible to prevent them.
Nagakura was shocked, and it was too late to regret now. He could only hope that his body would be strong enough to block the arrow.
But the arrow was shot very cleverly and pierced her throat. She let out a cry, fell off her horse, and died on the spot.
The male samurai was so unreasonable that he boldly rode across the stream to Nagakura, dismounted, chopped off her head, and held it high in front of the enemy formation.
"The enemy general has been captured by me, Kai-kun!"
All this happened in the blink of an eye. In the blink of an eye, Fanjun's son had killed the enemy general.
Fanjun was so shocked that he didn't even bother to think about when his son had sneaked into his team. He was afraid that the enemy would attack his son, so he immediately gave the order.
"Charge! Crush them!"
In the blink of an eye, the enemy lost the head of the general in reserve. The ridicule they had just stirred up suddenly stopped, and their morale was severely damaged. They were immediately rushed by the swarming cavalry and retreated in embarrassment.
Kai-kun saw Shige-kun rushing in front of him, happily handed over Hasakura's head, and said with a smile.
"Father, I will kill the person who humiliated you and mother..."
Before Kai-kun could finish his words, Shigeki-kun slapped him in the face.
"Who asked you to follow me secretly! You don't want your life!"
Kai-kun was a little stunned by the whipping and looked at his father blankly.
"I...want to be with my father...to live and die together."
Fanjun was furious, but when he saw Kai-kun's cheek getting red and swollen after being slapped by him, he felt sorry for his son and secretly hated himself for being too harsh.
He raised his hand and touched his son's cheek, not knowing what to say.
"...Does it hurt...?"
Kai-kun smiled at his father.
"It doesn't hurt."
Fanjun's eyes slowly became moist.
"Silly boy...you stupid boy..."
