The mist that spread in the afternoon was indeed a precursor to mountain rain as Narumi said. The sunshine hours that usually lengthened due to the arrival of summer were an exception today, but at 4 o'clock in the afternoon, the entire sky was completely dark.
In order to see the road clearly in the dimming light environment and set up camp, people wearing bamboo hats took off their veils. The remaining hat body, made of a bamboo frame filled with palm leaves, is rainproof and is still worn.
The efficiency of the group was impeccable. After quickly finding an open space suitable for camping, they quickly unfolded, erected, and secured each tent. Despite this, the rain caught up with them before the tents were even covered.
The coniferous forest plants in the cold zone do not have as strong a shielding ability as the rainforest. The rainwater that lacks protection falls loudly, hitting the hat and helmet directly, making a loud sound like a snare drum.
"Pap, tap," the Luoan girl who stretched out her hand to catch the rain felt a dull pain in her palm. This rain was not at all as reserved as the Japanese society upholds. It's more like Luo An's liquor, bold and direct, hitting anyone who dares to touch it without mercy.
"With a rain of this magnitude, I'm afraid there will be flash floods later." Henry's Moon Country language became more and more proficient and natural with this exchange. His somewhat outdated vocabulary and grammar made the warriors around him understand every time he spoke. Cast a strange look. Mira even heard privately that the warriors said that he was a storyteller - this was obviously a profession in the Moon Country similar to that of a bard, and also had obscure wording similar to poetry.
"Well, after setting up camp, do a general survey of the surrounding area to avoid any easily loosened mountains nearby." The sage's statement attracted Narumi's agreement. In the mountainous Moon Country, rains of this magnitude can cause flash floods and even Mudslides are common.
If you don't check to make sure there are no similar dangers around you, everyone may be engulfed by a sudden disaster while resting at night.
The forest glade they found temporarily seemed flat at first glance, but the thick fog made it difficult to see further. It may seem that there is flat ground nearby, but through the fog, you may find that there is a cliff or a hillside less than a few dozen meters away.
Although it is located in the middle of the road rather than in a residential area, the woods are relatively well preserved and have not been cut down, which reduces the chance of landslides to a certain extent. But no matter how subjectively you are willing to believe it, speculation will not turn into facts. Therefore, the best option is to send a small group of people out to explore after completing the camping work to ensure that they can spend the night safely.
Although from this perspective, it might be better not to set up camp for the time being. Because they might have to move away if the danger is detected, in which case the camp that the boss put up so much effort would be a complete waste of manpower and time.
But the rain was pouring down, and the young master of the Qingtian family and the noble senior warriors had to have a place to stay, and they couldn't just get wet like idiots.
Even if you don't use this kind of statement from the bottom perspective, the tone is a bit cynical. To be honest, under a heavy rain of this magnitude, personal rain gear cannot be fully effective. If the tent is not set up in time, many items such as daily necessities will be eroded by the rain and become ineffective.
Rice will become moldy if it gets wet, and if firewood gets wet and ignites, it will produce choking smoke. Weapons and armor will rust if soaked in water, and the wooden scabbard may swell and make it impossible to pull it out. In short, it is harmful.
In fact, despite their fast speed, after the tents were set up with difficulty and reinforced according to the intensity of the rain, and a large amount of supplies were transferred in, few of them were completely dry.
The wet clothes and hair were unbearable, and the armor had been removed and hung to dry on a frame at the inner edge of the tent. Candles and oil lamps were lit on the pillars in the center for lighting. Because of the heavy rain, the horses and pack oxen were also pulled into the ashigaru camp, leaving only the empty ox cart outside in the heavy rain. .
The space inside the tent was originally quite spacious, but it became overcrowded after the huge oxen and horses entered. The strong odor of livestock gradually filled the tent along with the temperature emitted by the lighting equipment. As a result, there was a rare fresh smell at the entrance of the camp where it was raining heavily. The ashigaru who were so busy that their sweat mixed with the rain were crowded in the entrance of the tent to breathe like fish out of water.
The experience was not very good, but tonight was no big exception for foreigners such as Henry and the senior samurai.
Although they were not cattle or horses, a large amount of materials were piled up in their tents. Because the replacement of the oxcart could carry more supplies more efficiently, it seemed a bit self-defeating at this time. They increased the supplies they carried, but their camp was still the same size. At this time, after everyone moved in to avoid the rain, there was almost no room for people to move inside.
Several of the samurai expressed concern that they might not be able to respond in time if they were attacked at night under such circumstances. Because there were too many supplies piled up in the camp, if Hei Hei got up and wanted to fight, he would probably stumble first.
But even though the supplies they carried were huge, they were all necessities. If they didn’t move them in when the rain was so heavy, they would be soaked in water. At present, the possibility of being attacked is relatively low, so Narumi finally made the decision to give priority to preserving supplies.
Teams with too much baggage and therefore lack of maneuverability are always good targets for attack. The rebel noble forces that the group imagined to be the most threatening have actually not been encountered so far. On the contrary, the bandits have already fought once before, and even within Xinjing's sphere of influence, there are often bandits and robbers near the national highway.
The most serious bandit invasion in the Moon Kingdom is in the coastal area. There are many scattered small islands walking around the long and narrow Crescent Continent. The pirates used this as a base and even claimed to have established their own kingdom, constantly invading and harassing the wealthy central and southern coasts.
Most of the rest are small-scale bandits.
Most of these people were originally mountain people. The land was barren and unsuitable for farming. In addition, due to factors such as bad years and poor harvests, they lived a life of robbing others.
Although according to the official definition of He people, they belong to the He ethnic group rather than an ethnic minority, their dialect and culture are very different from mainstream society. These people are hardworking and can travel on foot in the mountains with the same efficiency as horses. They are also organized in small groups. After plundering, they run into the deep mountains and dense forests. Therefore, Xinjing mostly turns a blind eye. Only one eye, a way to make the victim swallow his anger.
This kind of seemingly incompetence is actually just playing hard to get.
Small groups of scattered bandits cannot be easily captured. They are more familiar with the mountains and forests than samurai troops, and they will disperse once the army intervenes. At most, they can catch a few minions, but they can't really hit the critical point.
But the dispersion of these people was not intentional. If the government deliberately let it go, the bandits would become more and more arrogant. When their mentality expands to a certain level, they will begin to gather into a larger organization and occupy the most territory.
The bandit organization that I met in the encounter when I set out from Qingzhi was the result of such development. However, at this scale, even if I didn't happen to bump into their group, they wouldn't be able to run around for long. .
There is no point in attacking the minions. But when the organization develops to a large enough scale, has a stronghold, and knows who the backbone is, then it can launch a fatal blow and kill them all in one fell swoop, only then can the bandits' vitality be severely damaged.
– But let’s get back to where we started.
In short, through this combination of hard-to-get and hard-hitting, although the bandits were not completely exterminated, the bandit groups that existed along the Shinkyo National Highway never became a large-scale organization that dominated one area.
Small groups of bandits in groups of three or five can at most intimidate and rob a small group of traveling merchants. Facing a heavily armed samurai force like them, anyone with any brains will retreat.
It is essential to be vigilant, but there is no need to be overly neurotic.
After the previous battle with bandits and Yajiro's danger, the samurai have not yet fully digested this new experience.
The Knights of the Padrosi Empire, who have more actual combat experience than the warriors of the Kingdom of the Moon, have a motto, "There are never any advanced skills, only basic skills that can be performed perfectly under pressure."
As units born under the same powerful national training system, it is more appropriate to use them as a comparison object than to use mercenaries, who are more based on local methods and experience.
In Henry's time, when the main defensive method of knights was shields, they also had a saying that "more than 90% of shields have never been used on the battlefield."
The sweat and sweat on the training ground and the damaged props during practice do not lie. Rather than pursuing cool special moves, solid foundation is the key to victory. But training alone is not enough. You can feel this when you look at Yajiro and the other Qingtian samurai.
People's psychology will fluctuate when faced with dangerous, chaotic, and unknown situations. It is common for people's minds to go blank under pressure. How to adapt to it, how to overcome it and stay calm, everyone has their own set of methods, and this is also haste, waste in speed.
A considerable number of the Qingtian family's samurai suffered from so-called stress reactions. They began to become suspicious and neurotic. They often speculated about dangers and had trouble sleeping at night. This is an unavoidable situation. Even if you know that this is a peaceful area in theory, the psychological fear is not something that can be easily overcome. Fortunately, Kazuto's strict hierarchy concept has come into play. As long as Narumi and the others are clear-headed, the team will not have too many problems.
All in all, under one or another episode, a group of people settled in the camp began to inspect and try to dry the equipment.
After roughly solving these problems, the Ashigaru people moved a large stone outside in the rain as a platform, pulled up a tarpaulin and fixed it on the tree trunk high, and lit a fire underneath to cook a simple dinner.
The slightly angled shield caused a huge amount of rainwater to pour out from the inside to form a curtain. Despite the rapid movement, the still slightly damp firewood failed to burn even after being lit several times. Finally, one of the elderly and experienced Ashigaru took out the earthen pot with lard from the food, took a spoonful and spread it on the kindling as a combustion aid, and finally lit the firewood.
But the choking white smoke arrived as expected, making the cooks surrounding him cough.
Fortunately, they did it outside the camp, otherwise the smoke would have frightened the cattle and horses, destroying the camp and scattering supplies.
The burning lard gave off an unpleasant odor, but fortunately the gradual addition of firewood after the flames were officially lit eventually dissipated the smell. The conditions for making a fire are very difficult, but the dinner is still very nutritious because of the many ingredients available.
Since there is no time to cook it slowly, the washed rice is mashed and put into the pot. Add the dried fungi and rehydrated vegetables purchased in Taizhou. After the temperature rises some of the firewood is removed, leaving only a controlled pile of coals simmering and licking. Cover the pot with a wooden lid and wait patiently. When the pot is turned on, a burst of mist and an appetizing aroma will float throughout the camp.
Smoke rose from the assorted porridge that was poured into everyone's bowls in the air cooled by the heavy rain. Simple matas or big rocks became everyone's choice. In order to save firewood and the bonfire was not lit so brightly, some samurai casually pulled out their short swords and stuck them on the cedar trees as a temporary place to hang lanterns to increase the brightness.
HVAC's delicious food can always make people feel better. Like a big family, this group of people from different classes and regions all huddled together to enjoy their dinner with wooden bowls in hand.
The chopped rice grains are cooked to have a soft texture that is easy to eat, the rehydrated dried vegetables are crispy, and the fungi have a unique aroma and chewy texture similar to meat. The delicious flavor fills the mouth, and the rich texture and hot temperature make the body that was temporarily unhappy become energetic again.
Within a moment, the porridge in the big pot had reached the bottom. After traveling all day and doing a lot of hard work, many people in Ashigaru licked their spoons and looked at the dark bottom of the pot that could not be fully illuminated by the fire, looking like they were still unfinished. After noticing this, Lao Qiao said something to Yajiro. The young master nodded, and then the middle-aged country man went to get some dry food and distributed it to the Ashigaru.
The ox-cart can bring more supplies, so Yajiro, who is rich and wealthy, will naturally not save. What Lao Qiao distributed to the Ashigaru was jerky, which they rarely tasted. Although the amount for each person was not particularly large, it was enough to make them burst into tears of gratitude.
The Ashigaru people are always simple, and their morale will rise again after they have eaten and drank enough. With Lao Qiao, a lower-class country man who was close to them and understood their thoughts, there really wasn't much to worry about.
The Qingtian family's team is very well organized. There are people responsible for all levels. It is obvious that the members have been carefully selected.
Time passed bit by bit, and about 30 minutes after the early dinner, although the sky was completely dark, it was actually estimated to be only 6 pm. Seeing that the rain showed no signs of abating, Narumi picked out a few experienced ashigaru and some samurai as leaders, and divided them into several two-person teams to explore in several nearby directions.
The good news is that the dense fog has completely dissipated after several hours of heavy rain, so the wooden lanterns carried by the samurai and ashigaru can shine quite far away after adjusting the reflective bronze mirror behind them.
This kind of lantern made of a wooden shell painted with fire-resistant and waterproof paint can withstand rain falling from above, but because there is a round hole for lighting, if the wind blows the rainwater sideways, it will get wet.
The only thing that the Moon Country lost to Rigar in the vast land and resources was probably the invention of glass. Priest Alfonso keenly caught this point and used it as a topic to start a successful conversation with Narumi and others.
Jiang is still old and hot. He has been silent all this time observing and learning from the exchanges between Henry and others and the warriors. But now that he has found a breakthrough, he no longer hesitates.
It's easy to guess what this Padrosian man is thinking - if the missionaries have no direct contact with the samurai, he can only rely entirely on Henry as an intermediary. This situation is obviously insecure for him. .
Establish direct connections with local people. Many things can be carried out without going through sages. The less people know about things, the safer they are. This is the premise for some small calculations that are not on the table.
Henry saw this, but he didn't say anything or go up to stop it.
The Padrosi people have their own plans, and the people have their own plans. Narumi is not an idiot. The missionaries have a bad reputation in the Moon Country. Even if they accept these people to act together, it doesn't mean they will take them seriously.
Alfonso was treated coldly as a matter of course, and he wisely returned to the ranks of missionaries.
But this obviously won't be the last attempt.
Time continued to pass slowly, and after everything was done, most people found it difficult to fall asleep due to discomfort because their clothes were still not completely dry.
Long-distance field trips coupled with the sultry summer heat, and days of sweating have actually caused many people’s clothes to smell sour. At this time, coupled with the strange smell emitted by the natural drying of body temperature after rain falls on the body and hair, even if it is not the tent full of cattle and horses where the Ashigaru rest, the interior of other people's tents actually does not smell good. .
It was wet and sticky, and although it was raining, it was still not completely cool. When I lay down, my bare skin felt like it would stick together when it touched each other, which made me extremely irritated.
In this state of tossing and turning.
"Shua——"
Just as it came, the heavy rain suddenly stopped.
"At least the danger at night has been reduced." Many people breathed a sigh of relief, and at this time, the people who went to explore the surrounding area also came back one after another.
There is a slope to the south, and there is flat land without much undulations for a long distance to the north. That is to say, the place where we are located is considered a high ground, but fortunately it is not steep.
To the west is the auxiliary road. There is no need to explore the direction from which we came, but the most exciting thing is the news brought by people from the east.
"I discovered the hot spring!"
A pillow was delivered to the door just as I was dozing off, and many of the irritable people, mainly the women in the team, became excited.
The sky cleared quickly.
The brilliant starry sky sprinkled down from between the treetops, and then the silvery white moonlight also spread on the forest ground after the rain.
The remaining water droplets on the short grass and occasional low shrubs reflected the light of the stars and the moon. There was not even a sound of insects on the land that had just been washed by the heavy rain. It was so quiet that you could hear the friction between your trousers and the grass when you walked. "Rustling" sound.
As the pace progressed, the vegetation became sparser and sparse, and when we reached a place with a slight sulfur smell, a huge natural hot spring appeared in front of everyone.
"Let's take turns washing, the buckets are ready, the clothes have to be washed too!"
After the rain, the sky clears up, and the fatigue from the journey can also be washed away by the hot springs found through good luck.
