It was a local dog, wagging its drooping ears and squinting fiercely upwards from time to time, its big nose sniffing along the trail of the mountain road, as if rolling a ball. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 info This is a big fat dog, not a good breed. The dog's left eye was surrounded by a circle of dark, dark patches, giving the dog a drunken look. The hound may not have been at ease all the time, and the pale yellow fur on its neck fell down, indicating that it was still on a leash not long ago.

The hound glanced in Yasuzuni's direction and ignored him. It sniffed the road, spread its four long legs, and followed the deer's trail. An Tsunayuki waited for a while to see if the hunter would show up, but it seemed that the hunter should be hiding somewhere at the fork in the road waiting for the deer. He knew that if the dog wasn't chasing its prey on its own, there would be a hunter.

An Gangli watched with bated breath, and for a long time, the hunter did not appear.

The rich smell of grass and trees in the forest once again penetrated his nose, making him feel a deep sleepiness again, and he suddenly remembered something, and his heart could not help but tighten.

Before coming here, the report on Taiwan provided by the Americans specifically mentioned that there is a terrible miasma in the jungle of Taiwan. If a person breathes in this miasma, he will get all kinds of terrible diseases!

Although the report did not attract enough attention from the Japanese government and military (the consequences of this lack of attention will soon manifest themselves in the future), Yasutsuna Toshiyuki read the report with caution.

An Tsunade shook his head, trying to keep himself awake, he turned his head and looked around, trying to find a stream, and covered his mouth with a wet towel. But just as he was looking around, a series of gunshots suddenly rang out in the distance, and there were bursts of screams!

An Gang was startled, and before he could understand what was happening, he only heard a "bang" gunshot, and he only felt that his chest was like a heavy hammer slamming, and his body instantly lost its strength and fell backwards to the ground.

His head hit the stones on the ground heavily, and An Tsuna's eyes were full of flying Venus, and he felt that his surroundings seemed to become dark all of a sudden, and the rifle in his hand fell off and fell to the side.

An Gang Lizhi tilted his head and stretched out his hand to grab his rifle, when he suddenly found that not far away, there was a barefoot hunter.

The hunter in front of him was wearing a white cloth suit, a black and thin face, and a pair of eyes that were burning and shining. He was barefoot, with his shirt open on his chest, and a scimitar with a tassel pinned to his waist, but in his hand, he held a French rifle!

Seeing that the muzzle of the gun was still smoking, An Ganglizhi realized that it was he who hit him.

The deer and hounds just now, maybe bait!

An Ganglizhi desperately stretched out his hand and hooked the rifle that fell beside him, although the rifle was very close to him, no matter how his hand was extended, he still couldn't touch the rifle in the slightest!

An Tsunayuki remembered his pistol, and he struggled to move his arm, touched his waist, and found his revolver.

He tried to pull out the pistol, but it seemed to be frozen in the holster, and he couldn't pull it out.

The hunter strode over and kicked his rifle to the side. He squatted down beside An Tsuna, and put his face in front of An Tsuna.

Seeing the tattoo on his face, An Tsunayuki was even more frightened, and he pulled out the revolver suddenly, but what he didn't expect was that without waiting for him to pull the trigger, the other handsome splitter snatched the pistol away!

The hunter sneered, reached out and began to untie Yasutsuna's belt and the holster on it, apparently, he understood what a revolver was all about.

An Tsunayuki felt that his chest was gurgling with blood, the strength in his body was disappearing sharply, and he suddenly felt an inexplicable cold.

It turned out that this Ikuban took off his clothes!

He only now understands how wrong it was to come to Taiwan to take risks this time.

An Tsunayuki wanted to stop him, but at this time, he saw that the other party pulled out his scimitar, and he couldn't help but open his mouth in horror.

Before he could shout, the other party had already swung out a knife and cut off his head neatly.

An Tsuna's frightened expression was forever frozen on his face.

The hunter put Yasusuna Tachiyuki's head in his crotch cloth, tied it into a pocket, hung it around his waist, stuck the revolver into the holster and tied it to his body, then put Yasuna Toshiyuki's rifle on his back, picked up his clothes and left. Only the headless naked body of An Gangli was left on the ground.

In the distance, the sound of gunfire continued.

Saigo got up from his chair uneasily and looked out at the jungle in the distance, and Li Xiande, Gu Gancheng, Mizuno Zun and others also stood up.

"The scout team may be in trouble." Gu Gancheng said in a deep voice.

At this moment, I saw a group of about 40 Japanese Army soldiers rushing out of the woods in a swarm, and they shouted like crazy one by one, turning around and shooting into the woods as they ran.

Gu Gancheng waved his hand, and Captain Nishikuan Erlang shouted, leading his subordinates to rush up to respond.

After letting this small group of Japanese soldiers not possess their bodies, Nishikanjiro led his subordinates to set up a formation, and with his order, the Japanese soldiers lined up their guns and fired into the woods.

Saigo Congdao, Gu Gancheng, Li Xiande and others raised their binoculars one after another and looked towards the woods. As more and more people were being shot by the Japanese army, the forest was shrouded in a large amount of white smoke, and it was impossible to see if there were people inside. After firing for about ten minutes, the enemy never appeared, and Saigo realized that something was wrong and immediately ordered to stop shooting.

Since there was no order to speak of this battle, the Japanese fired indiscriminately for about five minutes before they stopped one after another.

"What do you see?" Gu Gancheng called the Japanese soldiers who had just escaped from the woods and asked loudly.

These peasants-born soldiers were all pale and stammered, obviously frightened, and did not utter a word for a long time. Gu Gancheng was furious, and after slapping a few people and scolding "Baga" a few times, someone opened his mouth and said that he had met Shengfan.

"They...... There are also rifles like ours...... Killed a lot of us...... Captain Fukushima...... Killed ......"

Hearing that Shengfan actually used a rifle, Gu Gancheng's face changed suddenly.

"How is this possible?" Li Xiande frowned and said, "The last time I came, I saw that the main weapons used by Shengfan were bows and arrows, and they only had a few backward old-fashioned muskets, what you saw couldn't be the kind of primitive muskets with long tubes, right?" ”

After listening to Li Xiande's questioning, the heads of several Japanese soldiers immediately shook like rattles.

"No, we can see very clearly, it's rifles," replied one of the Japanese soldiers, "some of them still have bayonets on them, and several of our companions have been stabbed to death by them with their rifles at close range." ”

Hearing such an answer, Saigo Congdao, Li Xiande and others also changed their faces.

More than half of the reconnaissance unit of more than 100 people was killed, and how could they not be surprised that the Fanmin, whom they had disdained, was equipped with a new type of rifle!

"If that's the case, I suggest that we readjust our battle plan." Li Xiande said.

Several people returned to the map table, Li Xiande pointed to the map and said: "There are three roads leading to the Shengfan tribe, these two are small roads, which are not conducive to the passage of large troops, and are easy to be ambushed, I think they will definitely set up an ambush here now, so I suggest that we take the big road in the middle." The road is rough and involves passing through miasma-filled jungle and wooden bridges over two rivers. ”

"Let's take all three paths." Saigo thought for a moment and said, "We have an absolutely superior force, so we should make full use of it!" Let the brave samurai of my hometown of Kagoshima be the vanguard of the main force, and take the middle road to the lair of Izuban! Send two more troops to take these two paths, go around behind the ambush of Shengban, and destroy them! ”

Hearing that Xixiang Congdao actually arranged it like this, Li Xiande and Gu Gancheng were a little surprised, Li Xiande thought about it, and did not oppose Xixiang Congdao's opinion, but cautiously put forward his own thoughts: "General, to implement such a battle plan, it is best to have a local person who is familiar with the situation as a guide. Should we send people to get in touch with the Shengfan tribes who have become naturalized in the Japanese Empire? ”

"You're right, my friend." Saigo remembered that the people of the Lion's Head Society, who had been secretly helped and supported by the Japanese side, immediately issued an order to send someone to contact the Lion's Head Society.

"It's better to send another reconnaissance unit, and when the second group of troops arrives, it's better to act together." Gu Gancheng put forward his opinion, "Our artillery has not yet arrived, and if we have artillery, we have a better chance of victory." ”

"Do you still need a cannon to deal with Shengfan?" Saigo glared at Gu Gancheng from the road, as if he was dissatisfied with his "cowardice" performance, "We don't need to wait for reinforcements to arrive, we can eliminate them!" ”

Seeing that Xixiang was resolute in his will, Gu Gancheng didn't dare to say more.

After the discussion, Saigo ordered the whole army to start moving. This time, an infantry reconnaissance unit consisting of 350 samurai from the Satsuma Domain led by Captain Nishikanjiro was the vanguard.

According to the map drawn by Li Xiande, Nishikuan Jiro led the troops to the middle road.

The pine forest that sandwiched the mountain road from both sides seemed to change after the Japanese army entered. Although the day was high, this pine forest looked gloomy and black; Since the Japanese arrived, the nature of the pine forest seems to have changed.

Japanese soldiers descended a steep slope to the valley of a river. Here the pine forest is gone, replaced by an aspen forest. The aspen forests are so colorful that it seems that someone has tried a different color on each leaf. The leaves of the aspen forest are thick and hard, and the colors change instantly, as if they are constantly winking at you. The Japanese did not like the poplar tree, and in their opinion, it was of little use: it could not be used as wood or firewood. But Nishikanjiro has always liked the poplar forest. Without it, many forests would look monotonous and boring with this vigorous tree. The poplar tree is chattering, swaying its leaves and buzzing even on windless days. It makes me feel happy to have it by my side......

Born in 1846, Nishikanjiro was the eldest son of Nishitaro Guard, a native of Kagoshima and a Satsuma clan. During the Boshin War in 1868, he served as a guerrilla leader of the feudal army. On July 25, 1871, he was first appointed lieutenant of the army, and was attached to the 2nd Brigade of the Imperial Soldiers. This time, he was promoted to a lieutenant and participated in the expedition to Taiwan in the capacity of a "conscription staff officer."

At this moment, Nishikanjiro pricked up his ears and listened to the rustle of the poplar trees. In his hometown, the "babbling" sound of the big wheels, the heavy "tuk, tuk" sound of the horses' hooves, nor can drown out the whispered conversation of the trees, and their melodious whispers: "rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle...... Ahead was a swampy area with the smell of dampness and rotting grass. Slender puffy clouds float high above the heads of the Japanese, shining in the small glare of the sun. The soldiers walked up a tattered sidewalk made of logs. The Japanese made a clattering sound with their boots on the logs, and their bodies leaned east and west, twisting and twisting, straight in the direction of the other side of the river.

The sidewalks on the river were like a rotten yarn that broke in the middle, and Nishikanjiro realized that none of the artillery carriages could cross the river, because the few paths leading to the riverbank had also become swamps.

After passing the road, the Japanese followed the rocky bank that was not too steep to the river. At this time, a thick layer of white foam floated on the surface of the river. In this way, the Japanese celebrated the grand crossing of the river surrounded by white foam. Unbeknownst to him, Nishikanjiro had crossed a line that was unmarked, but very important. After crossing the river, they will no longer be able to count on anyone's help. There is neither a flag nor a decent road.

Tired as they were, the Satsuma samurai mustered up their strength and made their way to the muddy right bank of the river. Further on, the road branched off, and the flatter one, skirted a hill, and went to the left, leading to a large village that could not be named. On the hills, with small aspen and pine trees with wilted hair, Nishikanjiro realized that this was the ideal place to set up an observation post. The training of Prussian machinery had given him the habit of finding and discovering observation posts in a natural way.

"Set up an observation post here." Nishikanjiro ordered.

After the observation post was set up, Nishikanjiro led everyone to move forward,

In front of it is a centuries-old primeval jungle. Nishikuan Jiro glanced back and found that there was a fog behind him, and he couldn't help frowning.

I wonder if it's a coincidence, or is there some kind of omen?

Nishikanjiro walked into the woods with some discomfort and ordered the troops to stop and rest. At this time, he didn't care about thinking about anything else, so he threw his rifle and backpack to the ground and lay on the ground upside down. This was because his intestines began to ache. The pain was so unbearable that it was as if there was a heavy grinding disc wrapped in iron sheets grinding the new tender flesh.

"Those damn gnacinted rice balls!" Nishikuan Jiro secretly scolded in his heart, but he was helpless.

Since the rice balls are all made in China and shipped, after a long journey, many of them are spoiled. When they came to such a primeval jungle, the Japanese had nowhere to eat, so they had to eat it, and many people began to have bad stomachs. For this reason, the samurai of the Satsuma Domain were furious and wanted to kill the quartermaster, and one quartermaster, Katsuda Heiji (also a low-ranking samurai of the Satsuma Domain), committed suicide by seppuku because he felt ashamed of his comrades, and the anger of the samurai subsided slightly.

Nishikanjiro lay on the ground, and he felt the grinding disc in his stomach gradually slow down, like the wheels on the windmill of the dustpan in the evening wind. He began to observe everything around him. There seems to be a winding path in the woods, with large jagged trees growing on either side. The leaves of the big tree grow firmly, just a little yellow. Unknown fruits fell all over the ground and spread a thick layer. The afterglow of the setting sun is almost gone. The hairspring, which had been carried high by the warm current of the air, fell to the ground again. He wiped a few sticky soft spider silks off his face.

A fruit that seemed to be a late ripening fruit fell from the branch on his head, and with a "snap" it hit the barrel of the rifle, and immediately bounced to the side. The insects of May mistake the warm early autumn for summer, and all at once climb the leaves. The sounds made him wary again. The voices seemed to contain a warning, waking him up to remember something significant.

Was it the frightened eyes of those peasant soldiers just now? Or the missing soldiers? Are they all dead? Why haven't their bodies been seen yet? Is it the wrong way?

No, it's not...... Nishikanjiro got up and looked at the leafy trees around him, which hung over his head like a mountain. The treetops were still stained with an orange glow, but the thick, heavy branches that crisscrossed them below were already dark. The evening humidity and the musty smell of rotting leaves hit him in bursts, and a fruit on the branch fell with a "snap".

Nishikanjiro looked up and saw a large, black, charred branch on his head. It seems that the tree had been struck by lightning, but it had come back to life, and the green shoots had covered the black burns. Only this crooked branch, like the claws of a bird of prey, sticks out of the branches.

Slow down...... What is that?

After seeing what was hanging from the tree, Nishikanjiro's eyes widened in surprise, and his mouth opened wide.

He saw a headless corpse hanging upside down!