Jiro Iwai stared blankly at Sasuke Naoki, who was one meter away, and didn't know what to do for a while.

The coward, who had fallen to the ground and pretended to be dead during the attack, ran straight at him in a panic. For a moment, Iwai quickly recalled in his mind whether he had offended the eldest son of Naoki Hashimoto-sama.

Of course, it's useless to think about it now, and the first thing to solve is the trouble this damn coward has caused himself.

Iwai slowly pulled out an arrow from the quiver he was strapped to his back - Sasuke, who had been shot by a dart, fell in front of him, and the ninja who followed him to examine the corpse would surely find him.

Well, Iwai is confident that those killers who specialize in stealth will find him.

Sasuke Naoki, who had more than a dozen hidden weapons of different styles on his back, was not even dead, and his bloodied eyes were still looking at Iwai, who was close at hand, and his face was full of longing for life.

"Help, save me, Iwai-kun..."Sasuke opened and closed his mouth, trying to spit out a few words.

Iwai was no longer nervous at this point. He grinned bitterly and used his lips to make a pronunciation of the words: "You killed me, how can I save you?" ”

Sasuke looked at Iwai, who had never been noticed by him before, and seemed to want to speak, but after all, he didn't have the strength to speak.

His eyes were still open, but the color of life had been lost.

Iwai sighed, his right hand grasping the bow and arrow he had sharpened himself, his joints turning white from too much force. The tip of the iron arrow was pointed at the approaching ninja, and the owner of the bow and arrow had tensed up, ready to take away an enemy in his last stand.

However, since I can still hear Jiro Iwai dictate his thrilling encounter, this ronin from outside Fukuoka Castle certainly saved his life from the hands of this group of Iga ninjas.

Before the ninja was a few tenths of a second away from spotting Iwai, a buckshot had accurately hit him in the neck.

As a large mass of broken flesh turned into a mist and bloomed in front of Iwai, the man, who had already bounced, instantly realized that his allies had discovered the enemy, and that his heart had jumped out as if he had lost blood.

After the first gunshot, a continuous burst of seconds rang out again in the woods that had sounded ten minutes earlier. It's like a replay of history, with an elite ninja legion as vulnerable to bullets that can't be seen by the naked eye and a group of peasants who have just put down their hoes and picked up their swords.

The ninjas who had spent a lot of manpower and material resources to train were just like their previous prey, dancing and falling in the midst of flying bullets. The bloodstained grass and trees were generously irrigated again, and the blood beads that reflected in the sunlight hung on the blades of grass, swaying in the wind.

Iwai, who was the first to be exposed to the ninjas who carried the first salvo, undoubtedly became the first target of the ninjas who were filled with hatred.

Obviously, Iwai, who remained calm in the melee, was also aware of this. As soon as he landed, he turned backwards in a very indecent and embarrassed position, and threw himself on the grass as if he had tripped over. (This action is generally called "hitting the street" in Guangdong, Ming Kingdom)

The ninjas who had lost their targets had not yet decided whether to fight or stay, and a new round of strikes helped them make a choice.

The second blow came very quickly. It was a long-range projection of a mixture of buckshot and bow and arrow, mixed with several iron balls that were thrown out with ropes tied.

There was a loud bang, followed by another bang.

Two explosions separated by a short interval caused Iwai's ears to temporarily lose hearing. His brain "buzzed" to his feet, and he looked back at the battlefield that had been swept by the shockwave.

The battlefield, which had been covered with dozens of corpses before, was now a mess, and there were almost no people still standing. Oh, and there were a few ninjas standing motionless against the trees, hanging their heads as if they were scared silly.

Two shallow dirt pits appear in the center of the battlefield. The grass and trees around them hung in opposite directions, and even the corpses were blown and rolled several times.

"What's that?" Iwai subconsciously muttered a few words. Immediately, he realized that he couldn't hear the sound and that the world around him was silent.

The brave young man immediately panicked and shouted, only to realize that he could still hear the slightest movement.

"Stop yelling!" An unfamiliar voice sounded beside him.

Iwai immediately turned around and saw a tall Ao-Song man standing beside him with a gun. (Note 1)

Long-term worship and training instead of the brain conveyed instructions to Iwai's body. He immediately put his feet together and saluted the Ao Song people: "Report to the sir, Corporal Iwai reports to you!" ”

The Aosong man nodded, leaned his head close to him and shouted, "You're temporarily deaf!" Just wait a while! ”

Knowing that he would not be deaf forever, Iwai relented and respectfully stood in front of the Aosong people to defend him against possible surviving ninja attacks.

A group of Japanese vassals under the command of a few Ao-Song people emerged from the woods and quickly looted the corpses of the Iga ninjas, mending them by the way.

At this time, Iwai realized that the ninjas who had thought they were stunned had actually died. The vassals who came forward to search for them only touched them slightly, and the ninjas fell limply like worms without a spine, their eyes, noses, ears, and mouths dripping dark red blood.

"They were killed by bombs!" The Ao-Song people shouted at Iwai again. He suddenly saw something, asked Iwai not to move, pulled a dagger from his boot, pulled up Iwai's right shoulder clothes, and picked it with the dagger.

Iwai watched as the Ao-Song man picked a cross-shuriken out of his right shoulder and shook it in front of his eyes.

The Ao Song people looked at this exquisitely crafted shuriken and said with a smile: "It's stained with venom, and it's all over if you cut your skin." He glanced at Iwai's clothes and said, "You're fine, your clothes are very thick, and this shuriken is at the wrong angle, so it didn't hurt you." ”

Only then did Iwai realize that he had been hit with a shuriken. He touched his right shoulder, secretly glad that he had bought a shoulder pad, or he would have been poisoned to death.

"After the search, retreat, two platoons can't stop the shogunate army for long!" The Aosong people shouted to the people who went to search for the body. He turned back to Iwai and said, "Which part are you from?" Why are you the only one left? ”

Iwai replied (he spoke much louder than he felt due to his deafness): "Report, the subordinate is from the reconnaissance platoon of the 2nd Battalion of the Fukuoka Regiment of the vassal army, and is reconnoitring in the area around Yunoda. This morning, they were surrounded and suppressed by the shogunate army, and half of them died on Red Rock Mountain, and the rest retreated under the leadership of Ishihara platoon commander. I was just found by the Iga ninja and attacked, but I was the only one who survived. ”

At this time, Iwai subconsciously looked at Sasuke's corpse, which was still lying not far away, and thought that it was better to help the Naoki family save a little face, so he wouldn't tell Sasuke's shameful deeds.

The soldiers not far away all took it back, and a soldier led by the Ao Song Dynasty handed a wooden name tag to the person who had been staying by Iwai's side: "Your Excellency Second Lieutenant, this is the name tag of the commander of this team, called Ishihara Ming." ”

The second lieutenant took the name tag and glanced at it, and casually put it into the pocket on the side of his clothes: "Retreat now, send a signal for the second and third platoons to evacuate as planned." ”

The Song soldier agreed, took a special pistol from his waist, and fired a cloud of purple smoke into the sky.

"Now you have been drafted by the 1st Regiment of the Japanese Administration of the Republic of Australia, Corporal." The second lieutenant shouted to Iwai, "I am your commander, you can call me Second Lieutenant Sun, or Company Commander Sun!" ”

Iwai immediately saluted again. Being able to be led by Master Ao Song himself is much better than being led by the Japanese natives, at least many tasks that are dead and alive will not be their turn.

After seeing two other clusters of smoke in the sky, Second Lieutenant Sun ordered an evacuation.

Several sturdy soldiers were sent to the flanks to stand guard, and another squad of musketeers walked behind the broken line, and the whole team evacuated very orderly.

Yunoda was located on the main road leading to Higashi-Bijo Castle, and after the outbreak of the war, it was chosen as a key area by the Japanese administration, and the soldiers of the Saga Domain under the direction of an Au-Song engineer built a small fortress (which looks medium to large by Japanese standards).

Second Lieutenant Sun was sent yesterday by Captain Fang Wenhai, the commander of the Hard Earth Fortress, to pick up several guerrilla units that had withdrawn from the north, so he encountered the Iwaibu who was about to be wiped out early.

Jiro Iwai, who escaped death, replenished a little water and dried sweet potatoes on the way, and regained some strength a little. He followed Second Lieutenant Sun for a long way up the mountain, and met with the other two platoons responsible for pinning down the pursuers.

The troops, who fought in the mountainous forests, wore uniforms covered with green spots instead of the army's standard gray, which was clearly changed for fighting in the woods.

Iwai looked with some envy at the Japanese compatriots led by the Commander of the Song Dynasty, all of whom were wearing green military uniforms, which were obviously more difficult to spot in the woodland than the miscellaneous linen clothes of his previous team, and had a better chance of surviving the shootout.

"Sir, are we going to the Hard Soil Fortress?"

Iwai asked boldly.

Fortunately, the second lieutenant I met was a very amiable officer, and he did not have the condescending contempt for the Japanese like some of the Ao-Song people. He replied to Iwai with a smile: "Yes, except for a few cottages in the southeast of the Void Tibetan Mountain, there are also several fortresses built on the road where the troops will not be withdrawn, and the other scattered guerrilla troops will be withdrawn. ”

He smiled and looked north, a faint coldness in his eyes.

"The offensive and defensive momentum is easy."