The area where Hot Spring Village is located is considered to have a higher altitude in Zhangzhou, so it was only possible to build a village. Going northwest, the terrain becomes lower and there are a large number of continuous swamps and waters. These waters are connected to the Great Rift Valley that Henry and his party passed through. To the south, they can lead to Xinjing through various diversions, and to the north, they can directly reach the feudal territory. It's just that this swamp and nearby river tributaries are overgrown with reeds and infested with pests. Even locals who are familiar with waterways are reluctant to go deep, so most of the time people come and go by land.
Even shrubs can't grow in the pulpy mud. The reeds everywhere have become the most common building materials here - the coarse paper used by civilians can be made from it, and the straw mats and straw hats that Kazuto likes to use in summer can be made from reeds. Weaving; it can be used to cover roofs, and the spikes can also be made into brooms; folk children also often use hollow reed poles to make reed flutes, which is one of the rare entertainments for farm children.
In addition, these reeds that grow everywhere are also high-quality rations for the horses of the Crescent Continent warriors. Its young stems and leaves are very popular with cattle and horses. It is precisely because of this value that the people of Hot Spring Village were the first to settle. around here. To this day, there are still villagers who regularly harvest reeds to make forage. In addition to supplying cattle and hotel stables, some of them are also provided to the samurai in Pingshan County as horse grass.
There are fodder everywhere, which provides convenience to the samurai troops under Ryunosuke who are currently stationed here. At least they don't have to worry too much about the problem of horse grass - although this does not mean that it is simple. Lacking the ability to chew cud like cattle, horses need to eat more forage every day. Most of the Crescent Island war horses used by warriors have a shoulder height of about 140 centimeters, making them relatively short. However, such a physique still requires at least 3 to 4 kilograms of fodder every day.
Although the need for fodder can be reduced by adding relatively nutritious vegetables, berries and grains, the maintenance feed required by dozens of war horses is still considerable.
What makes Ryunosuke's team different from ordinary samurai is that the remaining people under his command don't mind rolling up their sleeves and working. They have long since put aside the reserve of samurai, and prioritize pragmatism in everything.
This is more or less like the Rigal mercenaries. Although there are still some people in leadership positions who don't often take action, they are just responsible for different directions. Unlike most ronin, they have always maintained the reserve of samurai. They believe that "this situation of being without a master is only temporary" and are unwilling to engage in work other than sword fighting, even if it is not the battle itself, construction fortifications and other tasks. They were happy to take care of the logistics.
Efficient yet precise, cruel yet restrained. This was the evaluation given by Narumi after witnessing the battle between Ryunosuke and his party. They were well-trained and more experienced than the Qingtian family. A series of actions such as setting up camp, maintaining equipment, setting up defense lines, inspecting the wounded and taking care of the horses were all carried out almost at the same time. And in an orderly manner, without interfering with each other.
With such a high quality on display, Ryunosuke's brows were still furrowed.
Because this place is really too rural.
The swamp is the most unsuitable place for the heavily armed troops under his command, because the terrain here is complex and the field of vision is narrow, making it easy for lighter and more flexible troops to sneak attack from the flanks or rear. And the swamp area lacks building materials that can build permanent defenses - the nearest forest requires seven or eight hours of cutting reeds and then finding a hard road to cross. There is not enough wood or even the bamboo that grows everywhere in Crescent Continent. There is no way to even build a decent wall.
The rogue detachment that had been annihilated on the island in the center of the lake had kept their camps undefended for a reason other than their own lax defenses. Apart from the slender and soft reeds, there were no suitable building materials here. Even if there is some hard ground where you think you might be able to dig out mud and build a wall, this is lowland after all. The soil layer on the surface that has been dried by high temperatures is only half a hand thick, and water will seep out of the holes as soon as you shovel it down. The excavated silt is also very pulpy due to the high water content, and the piled earth wall will collapse directly before it is half a meter high.
This is why most of the building materials in the hot spring village come from the mountains rather than the swamps.
The rogue leaders took quite conservative measures, but the building materials in the baggage they brought were limited. Even if they took the camp frames of the rogues, they could only piece together the most important simple sentry tower. The other fortifications were not so much walls as just a few sheltered points from ranged attacks.
Taking various factors into consideration, they finally pulled the boat ashore with the bandits tied together. These ships were smashed open with hammers, and the keels were sawed, sharpened, and driven into the ground. Ready-made flat wooden boards were nailed on top to make a wall about one and a half meters high.
This is not the end. Ryunosuke's arrangement of these fortifications is not to pull out an oval or straight-shaped wall, but to the left and right, staggered a few meters away from the front and back - Henry can see this at a glance The method was the classical Lamanite infantry anti-cavalry fortifications - they are still recorded in the Padrosi Empire's "Book of War". Obviously, this rogue leader who loves tobacco got more than just a four-wheeled carriage with a strong load capacity from the Rigar merchants.
But having said that, his approach was not to deal with the cavalry. There are two main reasons: the first is that even if part of the ship is dismantled, the building materials are still limited; the second is the size of the rogue band in Huxin Island and its average quality.
Ryunosuke's troops are all elite, but they only number a hundred people. Even including Henry and his entourage and the Qingtian family warriors, their number is just a reconnaissance team according to the concept of Moon Kingdom. Many of them are so powerful that they can fight one against ten. Considering the rogues' sophisticated armor and weapons, it is not difficult for most of them to deal with several people at the same time. But just like any small but elite army, precisely because of its small number, even with extremely high combat effectiveness, he could not accept sacrifices.
When one fights against ten elites, one person will die and one less person will die, while using the "Human Sea" tactic of exchanging ten cannon fodders for one person, often ten people will die but still one hundred people will die.
A small band of rogue bandits has a size of 80 people, but what about the main force?
A conservative estimate is that there are probably hundreds of people - with his understanding of the snake-like man's ability to incite people's hearts, when there is turmoil in the north, there will definitely not be a shortage of people who follow him to Zhangzhou for a bite of food.
Since these people have no professional training, in all likelihood their approach is to swarm up and rely on their numerical advantage to carry out a group charge in an attempt to overwhelm their own side.
In this case, the temporary wooden fence has a worrying effect. If there was an unobstructed road, a mob of several hundred people could rush up and knock down the wall just by pushing. So he chose the Southern Barbarian tactics he learned from books. By staggering the arrangement of bunkers to the left and right and deploying a small group of lightly armed archers in the rear, he forced the opponent's charge from a straight line to an S-shaped one.
In this way, the enemy's charging speed will be slowed down, which in disguise increases the time it takes for them to reach their own front, giving the archers deployed at the rear sufficient time to strike.
This temporary obstruction combined with poor combat literacy will only cause greater chaos - at that time, someone will definitely try to get into the reeds and move around the walled area, and there may be others trying to climb the wall. But no matter how they choose the aggressive forward troops, they will inevitably be hindered, and the central and rear troops, which are crowded with people and rush forward in one breath, cannot see clearly what is happening in front, cannot communicate, and lack command, are very likely to continue Squeezing forward, causing them to lose their formation and fail to charge.
A simple move, but it revealed that Ryunosuke had seen through the nature of these bandits after a brief observation, and that he had rich experience in dealing with such enemies.
In the eyes of an expert, Narumi, who got answers from Henry after consultation, made the former magistrate of Pingshan County even more unfathomable.
The camp was set up and a fire was built for cooking. The bandit camp was knocked out and there were fewer people on the boat, so they could row at full speed. By the evening, more than half of the strong men in the hot spring village had returned. These honest-looking farmers and hunters came over with plump fresh fish, various ingredients and pots, as if they wanted to thank the Qingtian family warriors for the reward. However, a few of them looked away at the bandits' belongings placed beside them, and felt sad in their hearts. The little ninety-nine is clear at a glance.
Neither Narumi nor Yajiro were the ones who wanted to withhold money. After discussing with Ryunosuke, they also allowed these farmers to take some more clothes and other supplies. Although the failure to obtain gold and silver made these people look a little sad, but when they saw the luxurious clothes, especially women's clothes, that they could never afford, several young men who already had sweethearts laughed again. .
Even though the fat fish raised in the rice fields of the hot spring village is just river fish that common people eat instead of high-quality sea fish, it can become a rough delicacy after being cut into pieces, stewed, seasoned and grilled.
Wenquan Village is one of the villages with abundant non-staple food in Zhangzhou. Farmers always stock fish, shrimps and crabs in the rice fields. They can eat pests, and some parts that people don’t like to eat can also be used to feed ducks and geese. It is relatively rare to kill fish and eat shrimp, so duck eggs, goose eggs and tofu, which are commonly found in Xinyuezhou, have become the main non-staple food.
According to the Ligar people's concept, these people can be regarded as rich farmers. In addition, the hunters in the village occasionally go hunting in the mountains. The furs can be sold to make waterproof scabbards, armor decorations and clothing, and the meat can also be used to supplement food.
Although not all villagers in Hot Spring Village live such a life, in general it is better than in poorer places where only grains and potatoes can be eaten.
July, which Kazu people call "Bunzuki", is in the middle of summer, so the sky is still bright until 7 o'clock in the evening. Even so, the group still lit a bonfire, just to use the smoke to drive away the swarms of mosquitoes flying in the swamp. .
The smell of dead bodies and blood attracted these huge blood-sucking insects, which were as long as a fingernail. Because the mosquito infestation was too serious, after catching three crocodiles and shooting them with heavy arrows, Ryunosuke ordered those crocodiles to be killed. The devoured and mutilated corpses were tied up with stones and carried in a small boat to the waters a little further away. Wenbi Book Bar
The task of cooking food is still carried out by the ashigaru cooks of the Qingtian family. Ayong and the other three samurai, who can finally eat big fish and meat after such a long rest and medication, have a great appetite after consuming a lot today. However, after bringing the food to the samurai and ronin, even though it was almost evening, these hunters had no intention of staying and eating together. They immediately left with the clothes and the shot crocodile.
Judging from the way they were walking in a hurry, they were obviously worried that the samurai masters would regret it and take back the stolen goods from the bandits.
They planned to take the crocodile that ate human corpses back for meat. Mira was a little shocked by this incident, but at the same time, she was not incomprehensible when she recalled her life before meeting her teacher.
"Just clean the internal organs! The dragon meat tastes delicious!" One of the hunters replied when asked, and as soon as he finished speaking, he was glared at by another person next to him - which obviously meant 'with the samurai' The master said this, aren't you afraid that they will suddenly want to try it?
The hunter, who also realized this, hurriedly turned around to say goodbye and boarded the boat with some embarrassment. After that, these people paddled vigorously and disappeared on the other side of the reeds.
"It's estimated that they will have to go back early in the morning." Lao Qiao sighed.
"Why is it like this? Are we so untrustworthy?" One of the three warriors said, and A Yong next to him was also a little angry: "These unscrupulous people are ungrateful."
"It is impossible to establish a true relationship of trust between unequal partners, because they will not have any countermeasures once you regret it." Henry said this in a calm tone. Ayong glanced at him, but in the end he didn't say anything.
After eating, the Ashigaru took the remaining fish guts aside and put them in an iron pot that was deformed during the battle in the rogue camp.
"This is this?" The curious Luoan girl approached, and the Ashigaru poured the smelly internal organs in one by one.
"This is to make lamp oil, Miss." Because she is a distinguished guest of the Qingtian family, the Ashigaru people have always called her this. It is rare for the Luoan girl to experience a noble family.
“Every inch of everything must be put to good use.”
"The offal of the fish is too fishy and bitter to be eaten, but it can be used to boil fish oil, which can be used with a wick." Because the smell was too strong, after finishing processing, the two ashigaru walked to the side and set up another one downwind. The fire began to simmer for a long time. They also used torn cloth to make a simple filter. After boiling the offal for the first time, they filtered it and boiled it again to improve the purity. Finally, they canned it and waited for precipitation.
The Ashigaru people have always lived separately from Rigar and his party and the samurai, so the Luoan girls don't actually know what kind of lighting devices they occasionally use at night.
This is the first time I see them making homemade lamp oil like this.
Obviously, apart from ensuring basic survival, the samurai masters of Crescent Continent will not provide any more benefits to the Ashigaru under their command. You have to do a lot of things with a low salary. If there is a need like this, you can only use your own intelligence.
But that wasn't something she, or even Henry, could get involved in. They are just guests after all.
I was thinking wildly, thinking about how to spend the night, when Joshua came over from the Ronin camp, which was also brightly lit in front of me.
He came to send a message, and Ryunosuke hoped that Henry and his party would go there.
"The interrogation has concluded." The red-haired swordsman said.
The torture lasted for the whole afternoon, and the young bandit who had the vision to recognize that Ryunosuke was building fortifications was an unexpectedly tough guy. But after the torture results came out, this became a matter of course - he was a ninja.
The troops located deeper in the Zhangzhou swamp were undoubtedly Saburo and his followers in the swamp village.
The ninja force led by Qingshi, whom Henry and his party had met in the past, were Saburo's elite confidants. And this young ninja is stationed in the rogue camp and is responsible for informing people - as Henry expected, this is indeed a guard unit, deployed closer to the village. And the person Saburo was guarding against.
It was Ryuunosuke who he knew was still alive and still hunting him.
He returned to Zhangzhou for unknown reasons, and knowing that Ryunosuke was still active here, he sent some of the bandits who followed him here. Essentially these people are all outcasts. He gave them a certain amount of property and abundant supplies, but only asked these people to die willingly in case of emergency, so as to buy time for the ninjas hiding among them to escape and notify the main force.
The sage's plan did work, and they were outflanked by land and water to prevent their escape. If they only attack from one side, then if the ninja escapes and reports, either the large force led by Saburo will catch them by surprise, or he will have fled.
After confirming the news, Ryunosuke looked a little complicated and smoked one after another without speaking for a long time.
After so many years, he finally came to this day.
The reason why he invited Henry and his party to come for discussion was to use the sage's idea to speculate whether Saburo would escape or attack if he learned the news.
"What on earth is he looking for here?" Henry got to the point directly - knowing that his hometown like Zhangzhou was in danger but still escaping back, there must be some profound reason for this.
If you can understand this reason, you can formulate a battle plan based on the opponent's purpose.
"I don't know why. It's a pity that the ninja took the opportunity to bite the poison hidden in his mouth and committed suicide." Long Zhijie puffed away expressionlessly: "So I just listened to what he said about magical secret treasures. If you can get it, it is not difficult to transform into a dragon and ascend to the sky and shine with the bright moon, just like guessing a riddle."
"If Zhangzhou really had such a secret treasure, would it look like this?" He tapped the corner of the table and let the cigarette ashes fall to the ground.
"His reason has probably been replaced by madness."
