"So what to do? Do we also take off all our masks and wear cloth clothes to fight them? Otherwise, you won't be able to catch up with others. Yoshioka Katsumasa listened to Shigeharu Takenaka's analysis and found that what he said was really like that, and said a little angrily.

"Nope." Without Shigeharu Takenaka opening his mouth, Yu Qiuping could also figure out the joints, "Gu Zu is only ineffective when facing the Red Leaf Army, but it is still essential when facing other armies." This is because except for some of the people of Kii who have iron cannons, the rest of the people are armed with backward weapons such as bows and arrows, machetes, knives, and bamboo guns. If well dressed, it can be effective against these attacks. But if you take it off, you will lose your combat effectiveness if you are slashed with a knife or shot by an arrow. ”

"So what's going on? Their weapons rot and they still earn it? The simple-minded Yoshioka Katsumasa thought about it, the more unpleasant it became, "Why is this?" Shall we also change some broken copper and iron to fight? ”

"No, in a sense, we still earn it." Yu Qiuping shook his head, he could figure it out in his heart, "It's just that they relied on such a clever way to chase back almost half of what we could earn." Since the equipment can't compare to us, we simply wear cloth clothes. ”

"There is no other way for the time being, what we can do is to first disrupt and reorganize the formation of the troops, and ensure that every unit has iron gunners." After thinking for a moment, Yu Qiuping gave his solution, "Due to the sufficient load, it is difficult for us to enter the mountains and forests to pursue the people of Kii. Then the tactics of all the troops in the case of guerrilla attacks after that were: avoid conflicts, suppress the enemy's guerrillas with iron gunners, and continue to advance without having to go into the mountains and forests to attack. ”

"Oh yes, is there any news from Hengxing and Zhongxiu?" Yu Qiuping deeply felt that the progress on his side was not smooth, and hoped that his Eastern Route Army could bring some good news.

"His Highness Ikeda and Mizensaki-sama don't seem to have encountered much resistance, but the road is long, and it is estimated that they are still far from being able to meet our teachers." Sanada Masayuki smiled bitterly and replied in a low voice.

·

On July 19, the Momiji Army, which had completed the regrouping, marched again. This time, the new queue with adjustments brought a lot of trouble to the guerrilla warfare of the Kii people. In each platoon, there were 10 or 20 iron gunners, enough to suppress the small force of the country.

"My lord, there is an enemy on the side." On a mountain road that was neither wide nor narrow, two platoons of the 1st Company of Tokiwabei were on the march, commanded by the higher-ranking captain, the platoon commander. Immediately after the sound of gunfire in the forest on the right front, the captain platoon commander was alerted.

"According to the plan ordered by His Highness, three squads of iron gunners will suppress that forest in turn." After the captain pointed to the woods where the smoke was rising, the three iron artillery squads under his command immediately went out in turn, and the pikemen continued to advance. The first squad quickly settled on the side of the road, and after reloading, fired a volley in the direction of the woods. Immediately after the salvo, they turned left in unison and ran briskly after the pikemen.

At this time, the second iron cannon squad also ran to its position, and after standing on the side of the road, it also fired a volley at the woods, and when it was finished, it still followed the pikemen who continued to move forward from the back of the line. The third iron artillery squad did the same, firing a salvo further ahead and then withdrawing from the rear of the team. At this time, it was the turn of the first iron artillery squad to shoot again.

Experienced veterans like Tokiwa knew that it was difficult to inflict effective damage by firing a salvo into the woods and bushes, and that enemy gunners and archers could simply hide behind cover. However, they didn't have the idea of killing or injuring the enemy with these attacks. According to Yu Qiuping's meaning, they only need to rely on the rotational forward shooting method similar to the three-stage attack to suppress the Kii people hiding in the mountains and forests, and prevent them from continuing to fire and interfere with the march of the troops.

·

"Yo, I've changed my tactics. When I fought yesterday morning, there were still lone pikemen. ”

In the woods, which were suppressed by the two companies of Tokiwabi, there were 50 miscellaneous people, including 20 elite iron gunners and 30 soldiers. And their leader, a young man dressed in blue and holding a pipe, named Masanaga Ba, was the best marksman in the entire Saga crowd - even Suzuki Shigei and his sister-in-law Suzuki Shigehide were willing to bow down. In the previous battle of Stone Mountain, Changchang of the field had already shined. Therefore, he was also entrusted with the important task of leading 50 elites to attack and harass the Red Leaf Army in Mingcao County.

"Boss, is there anything you can do?" A general of the ashigaru came from behind a tree in the distance, somewhat anxiously, not daring to show his head, for fear of being concentrated by the iron cannon that lasted almost all the time. When he climbed to the side of Changchang, who was hiding behind the rocks and watching the enemy's situation, he straightened up slightly and asked, "The Red Leaf Army is covering each other like this, and the brothers can't aim and fight back." Seeing that they were about to go around the corner in front of us, we couldn't hit them. ”

"Don't you see their tricks?" Changchang took a deep breath of his cigarette, then slowly exhaled the cigarette out of the cloud of smoke, and tapped the barrel of his gun with his finger with some appreciation, "Every team now has iron cannons, and there are no lone pikemen to bully." Moreover, they have completely given up encircling and attacking us in the woods, and they only want to hurry. ”

"What are you going to do, sir? Do you just let them go? The Ashigaru general spread his hands and said, "Or let the brothers risk probes to fight back?" ”

"Don't worry, I'll try it first." Changchang leisurely took the pipe out of his mouth, kicked it in his pocket, lit the arquebus for the iron cannon, and then turned over sharply, and shook his hand almost without aiming. After the roar and smoke of gunpowder rose, the bullet focused on the captain's platoon commander, who was commanding in the middle of the two platoons. The latter didn't even scream, and fell down without saying a word.

Seeing this, the congregations excitedly celebrated loudly and shouted hello to their leader's spear. However, to their surprise, the Momiji Army did not turn their heads and rush up the hill to attack the Saga people and avenge their commander in the frustration they had imagined. On the contrary, Momijijun's reaction was unexpectedly calm. The bullet was like a gravel thrown into the sea, and it disappeared without a trace without causing many ripples. Another platoon commander of the second highest rank of second lieutenant immediately took command and ordered the troops to continue the march.

"It seems that I have made up my mind not to fight back, and I refuse to enter the mountains and forests on both sides." Changchang thoughtfully took the pipe out of his arms and took two puffs silently.

"Do you want to go around and pursue? Or rush out? Another subordinate asked.

"No, neither." Chang Chang shook his head with a pipe in his mouth, and suddenly laughed evilly, "If the Red Leaf Army doesn't search the mountains and forests... I have a better idea. ”

·

Two hours later, on the mountain road where the Tokiwa Auxiliary Corps was located.

Thousands of auxiliaries lined up in a long line on the winding mountain roads, pushing carts and carrying burdens to transport the supplies needed by the Red Leaf Army. The rugged mountain road was a great challenge to physical strength and energy, and if you were not careful, you would fall on your head, so that no one cared about the movement in the woods on either side—Your Highness had commanded that even if there were real people, they should not be ignored.

A moment later, a whistle sounded like the cry of a lark. Immediately afterwards, there was a burst of gunfire in the woods on both sides, and the auxiliary team was in chaos in an instant. Taking advantage of this opportunity, a large number of Zaga people who were lying in ambush on both sides suddenly rushed out, and the number was estimated to be close to 300 - this was a huge force that the Red Leaf Army had never encountered in guerrilla warfare in the past few days, and the few soldiers guarding the baggage team were powerless to resist. The Sakaga people, under the leadership of Masaga Chang, slaughtered the auxiliaries wantonly, and soon routed the troops on a short section of the mountain road, and then drove them back to the sides, disrupting the larger auxiliaries. Food, gunpowder, tents and other supplies were scattered all over the place, and after some of them were looted by the Zaga people, the rest were burned.

By the time the water atoms arrived at the scene, the pair had long since disappeared into the woods like larks. Although their attack did not cause many casualties or heavy losses, it paralyzed the transportation of the official road and interrupted it for several hours.

"Brother, yes, we've done a big enough job." On the way to retreat, another general of the Zaga group was on the way to retreat, and the opposite Changchang sighed in admiration, "It's not in vain that as soon as I received your news, I came all the way to make peace with you." This Red Leaf Army is really indifferent to us in the mountains and forests on both sides. ”

"They must have given the order, ignore anyone in the mountains and forests on both sides, just march." Changchang replied with a smile while changing the tobacco leaves in his pipe, "Well, since you don't care, I will directly gather a lot of people to fight you, and I won't fight with you." ”

The more than 200 people gathered by the Saga group shuttled through the dense forest, and soon saw another convoy on the mountain road, and there were still not many escorts. So Changchang greeted him a few times and asked everyone to quietly lurk on the side of the road. When the convoy passed by, Changchang blew the iconic "lark whistle" again, and the Zaga crowd who heard the code swarmed out again and killed Shangguandao.

·

By the end of the evening, a total of five convoys had been attacked by the large group of people gathered by Changchang. Although it did not bring much loss, it paralyzed the transportation of many mountain roads and official roads, seriously lagged behind the transportation of grain and grass, and the cavalry team was blocked on the mountain road. By the evening, quite a number of front-line troops had even run out of food -- if the convoy could not come up tomorrow morning, there would be no breakfast.