I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

The children surrounded by Aiyaka, when they were reporting something to Aiyaka, they kept looking at Ogata and Acho, the two strange Kazutos with curious eyes, as well as those who were surrounded by Aiyaka and Aiyaka. Nekushi and Nusa with Ogata behind their backs.

"Lucia people?" Ogata frowned, "What happened? Is...are there any Lucia people planning to rob your village?"

"No, it's not." Aiyaka, whose helplessness still remained on his face, shook his head, "Mashima, do you still remember what I told you before?"

"A group of Lucians once lived in our village temporarily."

Ogata began to remember.

Then I quickly recalled—Aiyaka had indeed said something similar.

On the night when the cannibal bear was killed, Aiyaka told Ogata and the others what weapons Su Ying and Kasumi Nagi were. The Lucian who lived there for a while had seen short guns.

"The group of Lucia people who lived in our village before came again." Aiyaka said, "They just left two months ago, why are they back..."

While muttering, Aiyaka led Ogata towards the village where he lived.

The village where Aiyaka lives is called "Kuma".

When I was far away just now, I couldn't see clearly.

Now, after approaching the village, Ogata also gradually saw the whole picture of the village.

The architectural style of the villages in Ezo is quite different from that of Japanese villages.

The houses in Ezo are all made of withered yellow hay and wood that Ogata can't name.

Although the architectural styles are quite different, the rural atmosphere that permeates the air is the same between the two.

Immediately after Aiyaka led Ogata and the others into the village, curious and doubtful eyes came to Ogata and the others.

Perhaps it was the news that "Aiyaka brought 2 Kazutos back to the village" spread, more and more people showed up and gathered around, looking at Ogata and Atachi with curious eyes.

Aiyaka babbled something in the Ainu language to the people who came closer.

Ogata guessed—probably trying to explain to everyone who Ogata and Atachi are.

Just as Ogata stood silently behind Aiyaka,

When Aiyaka was allowed to explain slowly to the people around him, a Japanese with a strange accent suddenly entered Ogata's ears.

"Aiyaka! It's been a long time!"

"Ah." Aiyaka followed the prestige, "Vassili, it's you. It's been a long time."

When the Japanese with a strange accent sounded, Ogata followed suit.

After seeing the appearance of the owner of the voice, Ogata couldn't help raising his eyebrows.

Facial features deeper than Ezo, fair skin, and very Western-style clothes.

"Lucia people..." Ogata whispered in a low voice that only he could hear clearly.

A total of three Lucians were walking towards Ogata and the others at a neither fast nor slow speed.

The height of the three people is about the same as that of Ogata, about 1.7 meters.

The one who greeted Aiyaka in Japanese just now and was called "Vashiri" by Aiyaka was the one who walked in front of the three people-a young man with curly brown hair and green eyes.

None of these three people were carrying any weapons, so they walked up to Aiyaka's body empty-handed.

"Vassili." Aiyaka asked Vahili first, "Why do you come to stay with us again?"

"In the map drawn last time, many places were drawn wrong." The young man who was called Vahili by Aiyaka said with a wry smile, "So our boss can only lead us back and redraw A map."

"Where's your boss?" Aiyaka continued to ask.

"He led some people to do the drawing yesterday." Vasily shrugged, "I'm not here for the time being, but—he should be back soon."

After all, Vahili looked up and down Aiyaka and Ogata and others standing beside Aiyaka.

Looking at Ogata and Ating, Vasily could not hide the surprise in his eyes.

After looking at Ogata and Atachi several times, Vahili withdrew his gaze, and then cast his gaze on Aiyaka again.

"Aiyaka, I've heard about it." Vahili said, "You went to hunt the man-eating bears. How? Did you successfully kill the pair of man-eating bears? Also, who are these two?"

The "these two" that Vasili refers to are, of course, Ogata and Atachi.

"These two are my guests."

Aiyaka replied without thinking.

"Thanks to the assistance of these two guests, the two man-eating bears are dead.

"The two man-eating bears were killed by these two people, and I basically did nothing."

"Oh?" Vasili raised his eyebrows, then looked at Ogata and the two again, the surprise in his eyes was much stronger than before, "Both man-eating bears were killed by these two?"

Vasily grinned.

"It seems that Aiyaka has invited quite powerful guests back."

"Speaking of which, I haven't seen a Japanese in a long time."

"Hello. My name is Vasili. My full name is very long, so you can just call me Vasili."

After finishing speaking, Vasili bowed lightly to Ogata and A-Machi, following Japanese etiquette.

"Hello." Ogata returned the salute, "My name is Goro Mashima."

A-cho: "My name is A-cho."

After greeting the two of Ogata, Vahili waved at Aiyaka.

"Aiyaka, I still have something to do, so I'm leaving first. If you have time, come and drink with us."

"Oh? Are you busy?" Aiyaka asked.

"I've been busy keeping accounts today." Vasili shrugged with a wry smile, "You know, I've always been in charge of our group's finances."

"According to my current speed, I will definitely not be able to finish counting until late at night."

"I just heard that you were back, so I sneaked out to see you."

"That's it. I'll go back and continue keeping my account. See you later."

After finishing speaking, Vahili waved his hand at Aiyaka again.

This time he waved not only with Aiyaka, but also with Ogata and A-Ming.

While waving his hands, he led the two Lucians behind him away.

...

...

at the same time--

Matsumae Castle, the residence of Matsudaira Sadanobu——

"My lord."

Tachibana knelt on one knee in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu and announced respectfully.

"My lords, you are all here."

Matsudaira Sadanobu was sitting behind a table at this time, writing vigorously.

After Tachibana's voice fell, Matsudaira Sadanobu said in a flat tone:

"Oh, I see."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu put down the brush in his hand and stood up from behind the table.

At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu did not dress leisurely.

Instead, he was wearing the most formal attire among shogunate officials—裃.

The white undershirt, dark green shoulder jacket and hakama are all as clean as new without exception.

The scapular is embroidered with the family crest of the Tokugawa family, the family that ruled the entire Edo shogunate: the three-leaf sunflower pattern.

Like Matsudaira Sadanobu, Tachibana was wearing the most formal clean dress. The same shamrocks were embroidered on the clothes.

"Tachibana, let's go."

After leaving these words indifferently, Matsudaira Sadanobu supported Wakizawa who was stuck in his left waist, and then strode out of the room.

After Tachibana answered "Yes" loudly, he walked quickly to the knife rack placed in a corner of the room, and took off the sword of Matsudaira Sadanobu - Nagaso Ni Kotoru that hung on the knife rack.

Then he hugged Matsudaira Sadanobu's long soni tiger in his arms, and followed behind him at a slow pace of a few steps.

After leaving the room, Matsudaira Dingxin asked Tachibana who was walking behind him without looking back:

"How are the dishes prepared?"

"It's all ready." Tachibana said immediately, "The food can be served at any time."

"Very good." Matsudaira Sadanobu nodded.

...

...

Tonight, in this Songqian city, a very grand banquet will be held.

A banquet for Matsudaira Sadanobu, Inamori, the commander-in-chief of the shogunate army, and the generals of the various troops sent by the Ou domains.

There are a total of 31 vassal states in the Ou region. At the request of the shogunate, these 31 vassal states must send their troops north to the Ezo region to assist the shogunate in attacking the Ezos entrenched in the Red Moon Fortress.

31 vassal states, 31 armies——yesterday, all of these 31 armies finally arrived at Matsumae Domain.

Because Matsumae Castle is only a small town, so many troops cannot be accommodated, so all the troops are currently scattered in various places in Matsumae Domain.

After receiving the news yesterday that all the troops had successfully landed in the Matsumae Domain, Matsudaira Sadanobu immediately issued an order to the troops:

The generals of the various feudal armies came to Songqian City immediately, and he, Songping Dingxin, was going to hold a banquet in which the generals of the various feudal states' troops would participate.

This banquet can also be regarded as a reception banquet.

On behalf of the shogunate, Matsudaira Sadanobu welcomed and thanked the Ou feudal clans for their assistance.

For this conquest of the Red Moon Fortress, the shogunate planned to send 10,000 troops—the 5,000 shogunate troops stationed in the north early in the morning, plus the 5,000 vassal army composed of troops from the Ou vassals.

At present, the shogunate's goal of "sending 10,000 troops" has been successfully achieved-the actual number of troops dispatched has slightly exceeded the planned target.

A total of about 5,300 troops were dispatched by the Ou feudal clans, so the shogunate currently has a total strength of more than 10,300 troops gathered in the north.

Among them, Aizu Domain sent the most troops.

The public generally believes that in terms of military power, the Aizu Domain is undoubtedly the number one in Ou.

Regarding the recruitment of the shogunate this time, the Aizu Fan did not fall into their title of "Ou's No. 1 Military Power"-they sent a total of 2,000 troops.

He also brought 90 iron cannons, 2 Guobeng, and 13 large canisters of various types.

Sendai Fan was the second most sent troops.

The Sendai Domain sent 1,800 troops.

In addition to having slightly fewer troops than the Aizu Fan, they also brought slightly less firearms than the Aizu Fan—they only brought 75 iron cannons, 1 Guobeng, and 8 large cylinders.

Aizu Domain and Sendai Domain have a combined force of 3,800 troops, accounting for more than half of the total number of about 5,500.

Troops from another 29 feudal states made up the remaining 1,500 men.

In fact, it is not surprising that there is such a situation that the number of troops dispatched by each domain varies from day to day.

Due to the differences in various factors such as territory, grain production situation, and industrial situation, the strength of each feudal clan is also very different.

Although there are 31 feudal kingdoms in the Ou area, only the Aizu and Sendai feudal clans can be called "majestic feudal clans".

Of the 31 feudal states in the Ou region, there are 16 feudal states with a total of only 10,000 to 20,000 shi—accounting for more than half of the Ou feudal states.

The one who sent the fewest troops was the "Yonezawa Nitta Fan", which is famous all over the country in the name of poverty, and people all over the country know that the clan is poor. He only sent 20 soldiers.

Among the 31 vassal armies sent to the north, only 7 troops headed by Aizu and Xianzhou were equipped with firearms.

The firearms of these 7 vassal armies plus the firearms of the shogunate army-there are currently 720 iron cannons in the entire army, 12 national collapses, and 81 large cylinders of various types.

Among the feudal clans of Ou, only Aizu and Sendai possessed Kunobeng.

Matsudaira Sadanobu learned 5 days ago that all the firearms of the shogunate and the vassal armies add up, and there are only so few in total.

When receiving this data, Matsudaira Sadanobu felt very heavy.

Because this kind of firepower is completely incomparable with the firepower possessed by the shogunate when the Edo shogunate first opened.

In terms of firepower, it may not be as good as the top princes of the Warring States Period two hundred years ago.

In the Warring States Period two hundred years ago, Oda Nobunaga, who almost unified the whole world, mobilized more than 3,000 iron cannons when he launched the famous decisive battle with the Takeda family - the Battle of Changlong .

Matsudaira Sadanobu deeply felt how seriously the power of the shogunate had declined.

At the same time, I also deeply felt that as the shogunate, I have a heavy burden on my shoulders.

...

...

After walking through a series of corridors, Matsudaira Sadanobu finally listened in front of two elegant paper sliding doors.

Standing in front of the door, after making final adjustments to his clothes and the wakizashi stuck in his left waist, Sadanobu Matsudaira winked at Tachibana behind him.

Tachibana nodded lightly, and then, holding Matsudaira Sadanobu's long sone Kotoru, he stepped forward quickly, and opened the two paper sliding doors for Matsudaira Sadanobu.

With the opening of the paper sliding door, the scene behind the paper sliding door gradually unfolded in Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes.

Behind the paper sliding door is a huge room.

The floor is covered with clean tatami mats.

The position facing the door is the most honorable chief seat.

So looking in through the paper sliding door, you can see the main seat of the room.

There were two seats on the main seat - one of which was already occupied by Inamori.

The other seat was still vacant—the seat that was still vacant was that of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

The 31 generals of each vassal army sat on the left and right sides under the main seat in order of status.

After Tachibana opened the sliding paper door and Matsudaira Sadanobu appeared in front of everyone in the room, whether it was Inamori sitting on the main seat or the generals of the 31 vassal armies, they all lowered their heads and respectfully paid respects. Matsudaira Takanobu saluted.

Matsudaira Sadanobu strode into the room, and then sat down in the seat prepared for him early in the morning.

According to the appointment of the shogunate, Inamori will serve as the general of the 10,000 army composed of the shogunate and Ou feudal clans.

Inamori was promoted again.

From the original general who was stationed in the north and commanded the 5,000 shogunate army in the north, he was promoted to the general of the entire army who commanded the 10,000 allied forces of the shogunate and Ou domains.

And Matsudaira Sadanobu only has the right to supervise this army, and does not have any command power.

But—that's all I said, but no one, not even Inamori, dared to underestimate Matsudaira Sadanobu, dared not listen to Matsudaira Sadanobu's words.

Who would have the courage not to listen to the words of Matsudaira Sadanobu, the second in command of the shogunate?

Inamori is the main force of the whole army, and although Matsudaira Sadanobu has no command, it is impossible for Matsudaira Sadanobu to sit in a position other than the chief seat.

Therefore, Matsudaira Sadanobu simply instructed directly - let his seat and Inamori's seat be placed side by side on the main seat.

"Masters." Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting on the main seat, said loudly to the people in front of him with a smile on his face, "Thank you for coming."

"On behalf of the shogunate, I would like to thank you."

After saying some routine scenes, Matsudaira Sadanobu asked the attendants to bring up the food and announced the start of the banquet.

Plates of delicacies were brought up and placed on the table in front of everyone.

Matsudaira Sadanobu has been vigorously encouraging the officials of the shogunate and vassal government to be diligent and thrifty since he took office as the new and old middle school of the shogunate.

Therefore, in this banquet hosted by Matsudaira Sadanobu, the dishes served are naturally not luxurious, and they are just some local delicacies that are very common in Matsumae.

To add to the fun, Matsudaira Sadanobu also invited some kabuki and maiko to sing and dance.

Amidst the singing and dancing of kabuki and maiko, the banquet scene gradually became lively.

The serious atmosphere that permeated the air slowly dissipated, and it was replaced by joy.

Matsudaira Sadanobu was also smiling at this time, chatting with familiar people.

...

...

"Master Gamo." Matsudaira Sadanobu said with a smile to a young man who was sitting not far from him, "How is Master Huizhou's neck recently? Does it still hurt?"

As soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu's words fell, the young man he called "Master Gamo" quickly put down the bowls and chopsticks in his hand, and responded neither humble nor overbearing:

"Thank you for your concern, my lord. My lord recently invited a famous doctor. Under the treatment of that famous doctor, his neck has been much better recently."

The "Lord Aizhou" that Matsudaira Sadanobu just said was naturally referring to the current lord of the Aizu Domain.

Matsudaira Sadanobu had a good personal relationship with the lord of the Aizu Domain when he was still the lord of the Shirakawa Domain in the Ou area, a senior middle school who had not yet become the shogunate.

And the young man sitting not far from Matsudaira Joshinobu is the well-known fierce general in the Aizu Domain - Gamo Gamoyuki. 26 years old this year.

Matsudaira Sadanobu has often heard about Gamo's bravery.

Although his height is not particularly tall, only about six feet three inches (161cm), he has extremely high attainments in the use of Taisao.

The total length of the Taidao is generally slightly longer than that of the Taidao, and it is a sword suitable for wielding on horseback.

In terms of the ability to wield a sword, Gamo has no rival in Ou - Matsudaira Sadanobu has heard such rumors a long time ago.

And Gamo is not someone who has earned his reputation.

As far as Matsudaira Sadanobu knows, Gamo's "Tachijutsu" is a skill created by himself that can explode powerful power on horseback.

Gamo once demonstrated his martial arts in front of the feudal lord of Aizu: with just one horse and one sword, he defeated a 30-man elite cavalry team and became famous in the first battle.

The lord of the Aizu domain not only sent 2,000 troops to help out, but also let his famous warrior lead the team—the loyalty of the Aizu domain to the shogunate, and the positive response to the shogunate's call-up, can be seen.

2,000 troops—this is already more than half of the military strength of the Aizu Domain.

After talking enthusiastically with Gamo, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his attention to the middle-aged man sitting beside Gamo.

"Master Shengtianmu, what's the matter? Why do you look like you have no appetite?"

"I am laughing at you, my lord." The middle-aged man who was called "Sheng Tianmu" by the old man smiled awkwardly, "As you get older, your appetite gradually decreases, and you can't eat as much as before."

After all, the middle-aged man sighed softly.

"I really miss the days when I was young, when I could eat a big bowl of rice with one fish."

Although this middle-aged man is old, even his beard and hair are slightly gray, but he is actually a famous fighter like Gamo.

However, he is not a fierce general of the Aizu domain, but a fierce general of the Sendai domain-the head of the "Seven Guns of Xianzhou", Naotenmu Zaemon.

The current lord of the Sendai Domain is a person who loves the art of war and martial arts.

He is fond of military art and martial arts, imitating the famous "Qianyue Seven Guns" in the Warring States Period two hundred years ago, and set up the honorary title of "Xianzhou Seven Guns".

Award this honorary title to the 7 bravest warriors in the army.

Sheng Tianmu is one of these seven people - and he is also the bravest one.

Sheng Tianmu, who is 43 years old this year, in terms of strength alone, his huge body nearly 6 feet (1.8 meters) high contains strength that does not seem to be possessed by a middle-aged person.

Learned from the ancient style of spear-farming style. He is good at using three guns.

The so-called Sanjian Gun, as the name implies, is a gun as long as 3 rooms (1 room: 1.818 meters).

Although Matsudaira Sadanobu has not actually seen the appearance of Shengtianmu in battle, but he has heard of it - the appearance of Shengtianmu riding on a horse, brandishing three guns, and roaring loudly, is enough to remind people of the famous warrior in history: Honda Tadashi Sheng, so some people call Sheng Tianmu as "Honta Tadashi is alive".

Honda Tadakatsu was the first general of the Edo shogunate more than two hundred years ago, a fierce general under the command of Tokugawa Ieyasu. He followed Tokugawa Ieyasu in the southern and northern wars and made great contributions to the establishment of the Edo shogunate.

Because of his bravery in battle, Honda Tadakatsu was crowned as the Three Heroes of Tokugawa, the Four Heavenly Kings of Tokugawa, the Sixteen Gods of Tokugawa, "Japan's No. Fei, the number one general of the Warring States Period... and many other titles.

Sheng Tianmu is called "Honta Tadashi is alive" - ​​it can be seen that his martial arts must be quite extraordinary.

However, although Sheng Tianmu's martial arts skills are extraordinary, Matsudaira Sadanobu has heard that he is relatively arrogant and likes to brag about his martial arts skills-although he does have the capital to brag.

The Sendai Domain responded very positively to the shogunate's call-up.

In addition to sending 1,800 troops, five of the "Seven Guns of Xianzhou" were also sent to lead the team.

Sheng Tianmu, who is the head of the seven guns, is one of these five people.

Matsudaira Sadanobu was a little surprised by the arrogance of sending five of the "Seven Guns of Xianzhou" - the lord of the Sendai Domain.

Matsudaira Sadanobu knew that a large part of the reason why the lord of the Sendai domain was so arrogant was to compete with the Aizu domain.

Matsudaira Sadanobu knew it—the Sendai samurai had always wanted to prove that they would not lose to the Aizu samurai.

This unwillingness to lose to the Aizu Domain made all the samurai of the Sendai Domain highly motivated.

Matsudaira Sadanobu is also happy to see the fierce competition between the feudal clans.

After all, the competition between vassals can also prompt them to work hard to perform better on the battlefield.

Looking at Gamo and Sheng Tianmu next to each other, the smile on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face involuntarily became stronger.

The lineup of strong generals in the army is much more luxurious than he expected.

Inamori, who was sitting next to him right now, was also considered a brave general who could be called one out of ten thousand.

At present, the supplies, troops, and generals are all in place.

——The full-scale attack on the Red Moon Fortress... is about to start.

Matsudaira Sadanobu said quietly in his heart.

...

...

at the same time--

Ezodi, Kuma Village——

gurgling gurgling...

In the cauldron in front of Ogata and A-Machi, the soup inside had been boiled and was bubbling continuously.

Inside the soup, there are 2 bear paws that are now red.

"...It looks so weird..." A-Ming muttered, "This bear's paw is like a human's foot..."

3 days ago, Ogata listened to Aiyaka's suggestion and took the paw of the cannibal bear in addition to the bear skin and bile.

Because the paws of that cannibal bear were too big, bigger than a football, if you took all 4 bear paws, you couldn't move them at all, so Ogata and the others only took 2 bear paws.

When Ogata and the others arrived at Kuma Village, where Aiyaka lived, it was almost evening.

At this moment, the sky has darkened.

Currently, Ogata and Acho are at Aiyaka's home.

Aiyaka's home is one big family.

Aiyaka himself, his wife, Aiyaka's parents, and his grandmother who is still alive, a total of 5 people live under the same roof.

Although there are many family members, but because Aiyaka's house is very big, it doesn't feel crowded.

Aiyaka's house can accommodate 2 more people, so Aiyaka invited Ogata and A-cho to live in his house directly during this period.

Ogata and the others had no reason to refuse Aiyaka's invitation, so Ogata accepted, carried their luggage with Ah-ding, and moved into Aiyaka's house.

3 days ago, Aiyaka, who encouraged Ogata and the others to remove bear paws, promised Ogata and Acho that his grandma, who is very good at cooking bear paws, would cook them a delicious bear paw meal. .

And now, Aiyaka has kept her word.

The two bear paws boiled in that pot are the bear paws that Ogata and the others took from the cannibal bear.

The first dinner that Ogata and the others ate in this Kuma village was the bear paw dish of Aiyaka's grandma.

Aiyaka's grandma was sitting by the pot right now, carefully checking the heat.

When Ogata and Atachi were first brought into the home by Aiyaka, the family members of Aiyaka were surprised at first.

But after hearing Aiyaka say that the two of them were "bear fighting warriors" who hunted and killed the two man-eating bears, the attitude of Aiyaka's family members towards them immediately softened.

Aiyaka's grandmother sat by the pot, concentrating on cooking the bear's paw.

Aiyaka sat in front of Ogata and the others.

His parents and wife sat behind Aiyaka.

After hearing Ah-Machi's muttering of "bear paws are like human feet", Aiyaka laughed a few times.

"When I first started eating bear paws, I also felt the same way." Aiyaka said, "The bear paws that have been skinned really look like human feet."

"But don't worry."

"Although the appearance is a bit ugly, the taste will definitely not let you down."

"How long will this bear's paw be made?" Ogata asked.

"Soon. It'll be ready in a little while."

There is nothing to do while waiting for the bear's paw to be cooked.

So Xubian simply asked Aiyaka who the Lucian named Vahili he just met was.

After hearing this question from Ogata, Aiyaka slowly replied:

"The Lucians are here to draw."

"According to them, they're just here to map the surrounding terrain."

"I lived in our village temporarily more than two months ago."

"Although they are temporarily staying, they are actually just camping next to our village."

"Our village is near the river, which is the best place to camp."

"More than two months ago, after they finished mapping the terrain near our village, they left directly."

"I didn't expect that after more than two months, they came back again."

"According to what Vahili said just now, they made a mistake in the drawing, so they had to come back again."

"Is that Vahiri the leader of that group?" A-cho asked, "You can speak Japanese really well."

"No." Aiyaka shook her head.

"That Vasili is just the second in command of their group."

"Their real boss is a man with red hair. Their boss can speak Japanese well."

"I wonder if their eldest has learned Japanese since he was a child. He speaks Japanese like a Japanese."

"Although their behavior is rough. But their discipline is not bad."

"More than two months ago, when I temporarily lived near our village, I never did anything inappropriate."

"So we let them stay here temporarily and draw pictures."