Except for the samurai who tried to use his arms alone on the mountain path, the squadron led by Kenichi Numata climbed to the top of the Satori Mountains without any danger. There was not a single defender to be seen on the hill, except for some supplies left behind by the shogunate army in a hurry.

Numata Kanichi stood on the top of the mountain and looked east, and the Tokaido Road below the mountain was already in shambles, and the shogunate army, who could not run, simply gave up resistance, dropped their weapons and knelt on the edge of the road. The shogunate army, which still had some strength left, ran towards the east, but it was already out of formation.

His men finally stopped their pursuit and escorted the soldiers who were kneeling on both sides of the road. It's dusk, and Suruga Bay on the edge of Tokaido is a sight to behold.

Just when Numata Kenichi put aside his mind to fight and enjoy the rare scenery, his subordinates behind him finally sat down in the open space and rested after searching the surrounding mountains and forests.

After a long period of running and fighting, these soldiers, who had undergone nearly two years of rigorous training, also felt tired and hungry. As soon as they sat down on the ground, they began to take food out of their backpacks and ate it with the cold boiled water left in the kettle.

Whether it is backpacks, water bottles, or the clothes, shoes and socks on their bodies, they are all standard equipment provided by the army, of course, this is the Specified Army, not the Suruga Army. Although these additional standard equipment increased the burden on some soldiers, they greatly increased the radius of movement of this army.

As for the food they are now taking out of their backpacks, it is not very uniform. After capturing the camp of the shogunate, many soldiers felt that it would be a pity to burn all the food in the camp, so they replenished a batch of food for the shogunate army within the burden.

Due to the constraints of battlefield conditions, these soldiers who ate white rice in the Ming Kingdom had to accept brown rice as their staple food. And the staple food of the shogunate army is also rice balls made of brown rice, which is nothing to fault at all.

During the Warring States period, soldiers were required to bring their own weapons and armor and prepare their own food for the time they went out to fight, but in the late Warring States period, it became fashionable for daimyo to supply military rations in a unified manner, and the Tokugawa family was one of the first pioneers to adopt uniform production of military rations that were easy to carry and store.

To this day, the standard of military rations provided to each soldier by the various feudal domains in Japan is about the same, roughly per person per day: five spoonfuls of rice-**, one spoonful of salt, and two spoonfuls of miso. The rice would be made into rice balls or cooked and dried to make it easier for soldiers to carry.

As for the side dishes, salted plums and persimmons are mainly used as non-staple foods, and dried fish as part of the seaside feudal kingdoms. Because of their better family background, high-ranking samurai can bring some side dishes such as sugar, dried radish, and tofu.

Numata Kanichi's subordinates were naturally a little overwhelmed by this kind of light and tasteless food, especially the hard, firewood-like bonito, which tortured their teeth, so they quickly pulled out all kinds of cans that should be used as reserves.

Victorious Numata Kanichi did not scold his subordinates, and even he himself now had a hard time accepting the light taste of the Japanese style. The canned whale meat, canned pork, and sweet, somewhat greasy canned fruit developed by the Ming Kingdom have become the only pleasures for these soldiers on the battlefield.

Numata sometimes felt that perhaps these flavorful canned foods would improve the combat effectiveness of the army more than * and bayonets. However, the stubborn samurai around His Highness Tadacho accused them of being obsessed with appetite and causing the soldiers to degenerate and lose their combat effectiveness, and refused to include canned food in the military rations of the Suruga Army.

Naturally, these stubborn and conservative samurai did not get the favor of the entire Matsuno Shigegen Wing, and even the samurai who had been fighting with the civilian faction in the wing looked down on these high-ranking samurai who kept to the old traditions.

Under the mediation of Matsuno Shigemoto, the dispute between the two sides was finally ended with Matsuno Wing receiving the logistics of Akito alone, but this also made it more difficult for Matsuno Wing to integrate into Tadashiga's retainers. For the Suruga Army, Matsuno Wing was like an outlier.

Just when Numata Kenichi was silently thinking about his thoughts, Matsuura Nobumoto finally climbed to the top of the mountain, he waved his hand to let his own soldiers go to rest, and he walked to the edge of Numata Kanichi, and said to him happily: "The scenery of Suruga Bay is really beautiful, but it is a little less popular." ”

Numata Kaneki glanced at him and said, "We have made such a great effort, and we have not been able to catch one of Itakura Shigemasa and Yagyu Muneki, and the next time the shogunate army fights again, I am afraid it will not be so rash as this time." ”

Matsuura Nobumoto said disapprehantly: "Ha, you don't really think that we can block the shogunate's full attack, do you?" Being able to repel the first attack of the shogunate army, we are already worthy of the efforts of His Royal Highness Tadashi in the past two years, and it is time for us to think about it for ourselves. ”

"Think for yourself?" Numata Kanichi looked at Matsuura Nobumoto in confusion and asked, obviously not understanding the meaning of the other party's words.

Matsuura Nobumoto nodded vigorously and said, "Yes, for our own sake, although we won a great victory in this battle, nearly a quarter of my brigade was wounded, and almost a squad of soldiers could no longer go to the battlefield." I'm sure you're about the same on your side, how many of us will be left if the shogunate army makes a comeback? ”

Numata Kanichi was silent for a moment, and then replied loudly: "That's true, but Captain Matsuno is not here, and Chief Li hasn't given us any instructions, what can we do?" ”

Hearing Numata mention of Captain Matsuno, Nobumoto Matsuura instead became more serious and said: "The people around His Royal Highness Tadashi can't even tolerate Captain Matsuno, let alone us, even those ronin and samurai colleagues in the Wing are now extremely dissatisfied with His Highness Tadacho."

If His Royal Highness had not sent Captain Matsuno away, even with the strength of one of our wings, we would not have fought so hard with these shogunate troops. Fortunately, one of our wings has been broken up everywhere, and even if we have made a contribution, it is the leading samurai who have taken the lion's share, and we are just receiving some scraps.

Without the Matsuno Wing Captain in the middle, we were dismantled again, and I was worried that Chief Li would forget about us. Are you willing that we will live under those elm heads from now on? I didn't come here to fight the shogunate army just to have a plum rice ball. ”

Numata Kanichi took a heavy breath before making up his mind and said, "His Royal Highness Chungchang's kindness, we can be regarded as having finished repaying it this time." We can't let all our subordinates bury His Highness, tell me what you plan to do next. ”

Matsuura Nobumoto suddenly became a little happy, he looked left and right, and after making sure that no one on the side could hear their conversation, he whispered to Numata Kanichi: "After this battle, our ammunition and food are almost consumed, so we might as well ask to return to the Kuno Mountain station to recuperate and replenish."

You know, the vault on Mt. Kuno is now guarded by Kota Oda's men, and the last time I shipped gold and silver, I took a look, and at least half of the silver in the vault was still unshipped.

The supply ships of our wing arrived in about five or six days, and the shogunate army in the direction of Edo was repulsed by us this time, and the other two shogunate armies would definitely have to stop for a few days, but when Edo organized an army attack again, I am afraid that the line of the Kotsugawa River would not be able to be saved.

Xingjin River, there is nothing in front of Sunfu Castle to resist the terrain of the shogunate army, once the shogunate army arrives at Sunfu Castle, Mt. Kuno will definitely not be able to keep it. For a short time, the silver stored in the mountains could not be transported into the city.

Therefore, we smuggled the silver in the vault to the supply ships, and when the shogunate army occupied Mt. Kuno, no one would know where the silver would go. Chief Li received the silver we had brought back, and naturally knew that we were still loyal to His Majesty the Emperor, so he would not leave us alone. ”

Numata Kenichi thought about it for a moment, and felt that this was also a way to survive in death, and it was impossible for them to have a miracle just by holding on here. Even if the shogunate army captured Sunfu Castle, they would be able to escape from the castle, but they would only be savages in the deep mountains and old forests.

If you want to live well, you must have external assistance. As the commander of the Second Battalion of Haiphong, Li Chenfang's personality still won the trust of the officers and men, and he would never ignore them after receiving such a large sum of silver.

Numata Kanichi nodded silently, but asked again: "Will Kota Oda and Kawamoto's right one or two brigades approve?" After Captain Matsuno left, Kota Oda seems to have been surrounding Torii Hall, so are his subordinates really willing to act with us? ”

Matsuura Nobumoto pursed his lips and motioned to Numata Kaneto to take a look at the food enjoyed by the soldiers on the side, before he said, "In order to curry favor with the samurai around His Royal Highness Tadacho, Kota Oda even deducted most of the rations of his subordinates.

Of the three squadrons in his hands, two squadrons contacted me and said that they were willing to advance and retreat with us. As for Kawamoto Youyi, he was the Wing Captain's henchman, and after the Wing Captain was exiled in disguise, he was the first to contact me.

Now that we've repelled the shogunate, it's time to fight for ourselves..."

Shigemasa Itakura, who was frightened by the Suruga soldiers, and others ran to Kamohara-juku, more than 10 miles east of the Satri Ridge, before stopping. Although there were a few stars shining on the road, when Itakura Shigemasa arrived in Kambarajuku to count the men, he found that there were only fifty-six people left with him.

Itakura Shigemasa was speechless in shock for a moment, so he could only tell the innkeeper at his accommodation to prepare food and fill his own and his men's stomachs first, and then think about how to report the news of this fiasco to Edo.

Shigemasa Itakura, who was preoccupied, had just picked up the rice balls wrapped in seaweed, when he heard the noise of people coming from the street outside, and thinking that the pursuers had arrived, he quickly grabbed the rice balls and jumped off the ground barefoot, intending to escape from the town.

However, when he ran to the door of the inn, he realized that the subordinates who had fallen behind had arrived. During the period from midnight to dawn, Itakura Shigemasa was awakened several times, and finally did not hear the news he was most afraid to hear.

When it was about to dawn, Yagyu Zongju was also supported by his disciples and finally arrived at Kawararajuku. Hearing the news that Yagyu Zongju came back alive, Itakura Shigemasa ran out of the room barefoot, the two people who were originally not an ordinary relationship, after experiencing this upheaval, Itakura Shigemasa was much happier to see Yagyu Zongju than to see his father.

When the sun rose in mid-sky and there were no remnants on the road to the west for a long time, both Itakura Shigemasa and Yagyu knew in their hearts that no one would return. The two counted the soldiers who fled again, and there were only 396 people, which made both of them feel pressed against a big stone in their hearts.