After listening to Nozu Michikan's explanation, Zeng Youzhun understood, and a look of respect flashed in his eyes.

"Early tomorrow morning, the whole army will attack." Nozu Michikan looked at Kumamoto Castle standing majestically in the distance and said in a deep voice.

Zeng Youzhu listened to Nozu Michikani's order, and a trace of worry flashed in his eyes, but he hesitated for a while, but he still didn't say his worries.

In any case, this is the final battle, and victory is inevitable, just at what cost.

But Nozu Michikan doesn't know what price he will pay.

It had just rained heavily, and while the Satsuma samurai Toshiyoshi Ijiin and two other samurai were patrolling early in the morning, they noticed clear footprints on a pile of cow dung under a plum tree near the outskirts of the city. If you look closely, you can see that there are also very clear marks of military boots on the wetland. Although the footprints were messy, they were quite obvious, and the three of them felt suspicious, so they looked at them carefully for a while, and estimated that there were four or five people. Toshiyoshi Ijiin remembered that the dog barked badly last night, and knew that there was a situation, so he immediately called one of the samurai back to the city to report the situation, and he and the other samurai continued to follow the footprints. The two of them carefully chased for a kilometer with rifles, but the footprints disappeared and disappeared into the grass. It was quiet all around, and the fog rose in the valley, and when I looked back, there was no follow-up to arrive.

Both of them were a little scared, neither retreating nor advancing.

The captain of the "Broken Bamboo Team", Kono Shoichiro, was taken aback after receiving the report from the people sent back by Toshiyoshi Ijiin, thinking that it was so early in the morning, and there were no friendly troops last night, and the dog barked fiercely, so he judged that it must be someone infiltrated by the enemy army. The enemy situation is urgent. He didn't dare to slack off. Hurry up and organize a samurai procession. Follow the trail out.

When they came to a fork in the road, they saw a messy trail of footprints leading to a valley on the right, which were all clear footprints of non-slip shoes, so Kono Shoichiro ordered everyone to follow these footprints. After chasing for five or six hundred meters, the footprints also disappeared, and it was very difficult to judge in the grass.

"What should I do?" Deputy Captain Takajo Nanachi asked, and suddenly he slapped his thigh and was taken aback: "That's right." Toshiyoshi Ijiin: They're going that way - you guys go back with me and follow the footprints on the right side of the fork in the road! ”

Kono Juichiro also came to his senses and hurriedly said, "That's right! Go quickly, be careful. The others followed me, and we went over the hill to see. The footprints were clear, and it was estimated that the enemy must not have gone far and might be lurking. Everyone spread out in formation. Remember that there is a minefield ahead, so be careful! ”

The deputy captain of the team, Takashiro Nanachi, returned along the road with a small group of men, and when they reached the fork in the road, they carefully analyzed the characteristics of the footprints. Judging that in addition to the enemy, two people on his side, Toshiyoshi Ijiin and another samurai, were indeed tracked down. So he quickened his pace and caught up.

"Captain Takashiro, do you want to send someone back to the city's base camp to report and ask General Kirino to send reinforcements?" A samurai suggested.

Gao Cheng Qizhicheng nodded and said, "Well, that's right! We're a little less powerful. It is estimated that there are many enemies, and in the shadows, we may suffer losses in a fight. In this case, you hurry back and call people, and the troops must have at least two squads of men to support each other. Move fast! ”

The samurai said "yes" and ran back with his gun in hand.

"Let's go! Don't let Toshiyoshi Ijiin suffer them. Takashiro Nanachi told the troops to follow, and ran forward along the footprints. Although these people led by him were not elite samurai, most of them were from "ashigaru" background, but they also fought many battles, participated in a lot of large and small battles, and had a certain amount of combat experience, and their combat skills were still much stronger than the peasant soldiers who were supplemented later.

Takajo Nanachi led people along the fork in the road until they reached the foot of a small hill, and the footprints were gone, and no one could see them. He immediately ordered everyone to disperse and monitor the mountain.

Toshiyoshi Ijiin waited with the samurai in the valley for a while, but no one followed, and at dawn, it was quiet all around, and he was afraid that it would not be safe, so he went to the hill on the edge of the valley, trying to lurk and wait for the opportunity.

He believed that the enemy must be around here.

In fact, at this time, the infiltration force of the government army was hiding on the hill that Toshiyoshi Ijiin touched them, and the muzzle of the gun was always aimed at Toshiyoshi and Ijiin.

Of course, they don't want to shoot, and it doesn't do any good to kill people and expose themselves. That would only attract the Satsuma samurai and the Odd Soldiers to raid them, which would be detrimental to future operations. They didn't come in to kill one or two samurai who didn't have much value, they certainly had another important mission.

Not long after, they saw several samurai chasing after them, which was not good, and it was best to leave here. So they circled over the mountainside and went back to the mountain.

The captain of the "Pengyi Team", Fuchibe Qunhei, walked with a reinforced detachment in the valley shrouded in morning mist. It rained heavily last night, and everyone was soaking wet and quite tired. During the march, the Satsuma samurai Hyakumi Koji suddenly followed the Fuchibe Gunpei and asked, "Captain, the fog ahead is too big, and we are about to approach the enemy line, do you want me to go forward and take a look first?" ”

Everyone was originally in a search formation, but Yuanbian Qunping looked around and said, "Forget it, you go back and follow your team." Let's just take the lead, and pay attention to protecting the Yamazaki staff officer in the back. Hyaktake Hiroji said "yes" and was about to stop, when everyone suddenly heard gunshots at the foot of the mountain in front of them. In the mist, there were many people rushing down from the mountainside in front of them, and the distance between the two was very close, less than thirty meters.

"Spread out!" Under the command of Yuanbian Qunping, the detachment immediately deployed on the spot, dispersed and hidden, and carefully observed and monitored the target.

Staff Officer Yamazaki Dinghei quickly followed, lying next to Gunpei on the edge of the fuchibe. After a brief discussion between the two, Yuanbian Gunpei immediately ordered: "A small team will immediately occupy the small high ground in front." Two squads, two squads, left! Three squads, detour back to the flank, the three squads understand no, flank surrounding, fast, fast! Seeing that everyone acted in the first place, Yuanbian Gunpei breathed a sigh of relief, turned his head and said to Staff Officer Yamazaki: "Staff Officer Yamazaki, you stay here to command, and I will follow the team to the front." A small group of people led by him had moved several meters forward by this time, and reached the foot of a raised hill in front of them.

Kumamoto samurai Kawajoichiro led three small teams of people to run all the way down the mountain. Now it's time to rush. If you can't get back there. The encirclement creates a gap. This group of enemies must be annihilated, and whoever comes must be allowed to have no return, which is their duty as samurai.

After quickly following his team, Gunpei Fuchibe found that Hyakotake Koji was also there, and was moving towards a large rock under the hill. He looked back at the third squad, but they were no longer visible, and the third squad's men had already made a detour to the predetermined point of his command. It was impossible to tell him to catch up again.

"Sugimoto Gong, follow Captain Baiwu! The others move quickly and go to the top. He was worried that Hyakutake Hongji's position might not be able to be held by one person, and if the enemy moved down, he would not be able to shoot from above, and there might be an accident.

His command was issued, and the samurai Sugimoto Gong in front of him agreed: "Yes!" He rolled down and turned over at the command he heard, then half-crouched up and moved forward side by side with Hyaktake Koji.

The grass is deep and the sight is rather bad. It is not conducive to the observation of the enemy situation, he has to squat like this. The cat bends its waist and looks forward with its head stretched out in rapid movement.

Yuanbian Qunping bent down and ran to the foot of the mountain, and after issuing the password, he lay down on the spot, and quickly climbed up with the person in front. When they reached the top of the hill, everyone seized the shooting position, and when the Yuanbian Gunping looked down, in the mist, several government infiltrators bent over the open area at the foot of the mountain in front of them appeared in sight.

The men were careful and wanted to go into the valley to the north. The people who spread out on the flanks had not yet reached the predetermined position, and Yuanbian Qunping was in a hurry, and he couldn't wait to open his mouth and shout to urge.

The Satsuma samurai Naohiro Koyama and the second squad had already reached the left, ready to cut off the enemy's retreat. Ichiro Kawashiro and the three squads were still running quickly in the misty grass, and did not reach the roundabout position. Their path was indeed a little farther away, and there was still a gap of more than fifty meters.

The fog had lifted, and there seemed to be the sound of birds chirping around. In the open field, the enemy found the members of the three squads who were surrounded at the foot of the mountain in front of them, and they panicked for a while, and all of them screamed and opened fire.

"Lie down!" Ichiro Kawashiro shouted, pounced forward, lay down in the grass on the ground, and immediately dropped the muzzle of the gun, and estimated that he fired a few shots in the direction of the enemy he had just seen. His comrades-in-arms continued to crawl forward quickly, regardless of the danger.

The Yuanbian Qunping on the small high ground here shouted: "Fire!" Hold them down! ”

In the fierce gunshot, Hyakutake Hongji's ears were sharp, and he heard a commotion next to the big stone in front of him, and at a glance, he saw a foot in the grass retracted.

"Yaga! Enemy-" Hyakutake Hiroji was unequivocal, and immediately fired a single shot, the bullet hitting the rock and bursting into a spark. He fired another shot, and there was a scream from behind the rock.

Sugimoto shouted, "Captain, be careful below! There are enemies! ”

Hyaktake Koji was about to chase after him, when suddenly a human head appeared from behind the rock, and someone raised his gun and opened fire on them. Sugimoto and Hyakutake Koji spotted the enemy at about the same time, and they both opened fire at the same time. Without fighting, the enemy had already retracted his head.

Next to the boulder was a shallow cave, and the five infiltrators who had groped through it found that they had been surrounded by the Satsuma army, and quickly retreated into the cave, wanting to rely on this boulder to make a final stubborn resistance and break the net.

The people on the hill noticed that there was an enemy below, so they hurried down and threw thunder bombs. Several thunderbolts flew down from the grass in smoke and exploded next to the boulder. Unexpectedly, the smoke rose, and for a moment everyone blocked everyone's observation of the enemy in the open field, which was very unfavorable for suppressing the shooting. The remnants of the enemy, who had been suppressed by them, took the opportunity to get up and run north.

Ichiro Kawashiro, who had already arrived at the intended position, took a breath at this time and ordered to put the enemy closer before fighting, so as to completely annihilate him. He half-crouched under cover from a rock on the slope of the slope and saw the enemy clearly. Several samurai were half-crouched above the rocks behind him, and two remnants of the enemy were desperately rushing towards them in the grass.

It was only twenty meters, and Ichiro Kawashiro gave an order: "Fight!" ”

Several rifles spewed tongues of fire, and as the muzzles of the guns jumped, bullet casings crumbled into the grass on the rocks. The two enemies who were still running were hit in an instant, one turned his head up, and the other took him forward several steps by inertia, and both of them died on the spot, without snorting much.

Fighting and killing the enemy is what you want, even if the ammunition is not enough. Don't be afraid of waste at this time. The enemy misses or dies in the first place. Hit the counterattack. Instead, he took his life in vain.

"You stay here and observe, I'll go down and see!" Ichiro Kawashiro said, and without waiting for his subordinates to agree, he immediately took a gun in one hand, got up and rushed down the dirt slope. I saw him go down from the slope, jump over several ridges, his movements were crisp and neat, and he went down to the foot of the slope in an instant.

"Yaga! I told you to come and die! As he ran, he opened fire again at the enemy lying in the grass in the open field. Make sure nothing goes wrong.

"It's safe! Come down, and we'll go over there. After examining the corpses of the enemy, he turned and shouted to his men behind him. He then bent down to pick up the enemy's ammunition and put it in his trouser pocket.

"Be careful! Someone's coming over there! A samurai suddenly shouted, and Ichiro Kawashiro immediately lay down next to the enemy's corpse, used it as cover, and then turned around.

"Don't shoot! We are allies. I'm the deputy captain of the Bamboo Breaking Team, Nanachi Takajo, and we're here to track down the enemy infiltrators. We exchanged fire with the enemy and we killed one of them. How are you doing? ”

"Is it really Captain Takashihiro? Stand still. Don't come, you are responsible for guarding there. ”

"Good! We haven't seen you. Have you been notified of the reinforcements? ”

"We're on patrol, we've just arrived here and we've run into the enemy. There are five or six more here, don't come here. Stay where you are and prevent the enemy from escaping. ”

"Good!" I only heard the deputy captain of the samurai over there, Takajo Nanachi, dispatch: "Ijiin, Koi, you two go here." Tanabe, you go over there and occupy the high ground, and the others follow me to defend this place. ”

They surrounded the remaining remnants of the enemy.

"Shout first and ask them to surrender!" Staff Officer Yamazaki ordered.

"It's better to attack directly and destroy them." Fuchibe Gunpei disagrees with this pedantic battlefield situation.

"It's not yet time to carry out the official mission, and I don't want you to have any accidents and cause a reduction in the combat establishment. Here I am the Supreme Commander, and I will do what I say. Probably feeling that his words were inappropriate and hurtful, Staff Officer Yamazaki wanted to save face, and regardless of the danger, he climbed to the front and shouted at the stones below: "Surrender quickly!" Otherwise, you won't be killed! ”

As soon as his words fell, a vicious curse came from below: "Satsuma thief! Is there anything new about coming to this set when you are dying? If we want to surrender, we will surrender long ago, don't be verbose! If you have the guts, you will come down and die! Then there were three "pops", and one of the guys fired a series of shots with a pistol at the place where he was shouting. A bullet grazed the edge of Staff Officer Yamazaki's helmet, causing Staff Officer Yamazaki to scream and crawl back.

"Bastard! Dare to resist! Staff Officer Yamazaki wiped the sweat from his face, and his face turned pale.

Everyone looked at him coldly, and Staff Officer Yamazaki really couldn't get over it. "Bring the gun!" He shouted, took a rifle, and fired several shots forward. Due to the limited terrain, the bullets all hit the rocks and either burrowed down into the dirt, failing to destroy the enemy.

"Yaga! Take the Thunder Bomb! Staff Officer Yamazaki ran out of bullets from one of his rifles and shouted again. Staff Officer Yamazaki threw five thunder bombs at the enemy in succession, exploding clouds of smoke.

After the smoke cleared, there was no movement for a long time, and Staff Officer Yamazaki breathed a sigh of relief, and now the enemy should all return to the western sky. Those who are lucky not to die should also be afraid.

"Wait! Shout again to see how it goes! Staff Officer Yamazaki issued a password to Hyakutake Koji, who wanted to touch him in the lower left, to stop him.

"Smack!" Two more pistols in response.

"Bastard! If you throw me a thunder bomb again, I don't believe you can't kill them. "Staff Officer Yamazaki doesn't believe in evil, and he has a false fire and screams with himself.

Without saying a word, Toshiyoshi Ijiin got up on the ground and watched the enemy's movements with his gun in hand. I saw a guy come out, presumably looking for an escape route, he didn't say a word, and immediately shot him. Due to the close distance, within a range of less than ten meters, the bullet hit the guy in the back of the neck, causing the guy to scream and fall to the ground and die. The two guys behind him who wanted to follow him quickly retreated into the shallow cavern next to the boulder.

In Kumamoto Castle, the Satsuma Army Field Hospital.

It was raining lightly outside the window, and it was cold, so Nozu Natsumi added a coat when she got up. Although the gunfire outside was very far away, she still felt uneasy.

She was the only one in the room with the child in the cradle, and when she combed her hair, she carefully looked in the mirror and suddenly found a small pimple on her face, which was very annoying.

She squeezed her face with her hand in the mirror. I squeezed it twice but didn't break it, and gave up with a sigh.

The gunfire seemed to grow intense, and her mind became agitated.

Father, do you know where your daughter is now?

Your daughter has been separated from you for so long, have you ever missed her?

What would you think if you knew that your daughter married Yusaku Uehara, who once terrified the officials and soldiers, and gave birth to a son?

How should this war end, so that they can be reunited?

Natsumi suddenly felt thirsty and wanted to make a cup of tea to relieve the anxiety and longing in her heart.

When I went to get the kettle, it was very light, there was no water in it, and the other kettles were empty. At this moment, her stomach was also hungry, and she cooed. Only then did she remember that she had drunk all the water, and since she gave birth to her son Yukatsu Uehara, her milk was very strong, and her son had eaten a lot, because she always felt hungry and needed food from time to time, and drank a lot more water than usual. (To be continued......)

PS: The stock market has been very good recently, and I took out my mobile phone to look at stocks while eating chicken wings at noon. A beggar came in and stretched out his hand to beg, and I gave him a piece of chicken wings and continued to look at the stock, and the beggar gnawed on the chicken wings and did not leave, and also watched. After a while, the beggar whispered: the long-term moving average golden cross, the bottom of the KDJ value has been repeatedly passivated, the MACD bottom has diverged, and the energy tide has expanded, and this stock is about to rise. I was surprised and asked: You know this? The beggar said, "I don't know if I can have today?"

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