"Who is your brother?" The old man asked.

"Eto's new work." Haruko Eto hesitated, but still said her brother's name.

"Eto's new work? So, you are the daughter of Mr. Shinpei Eto? The old man's eyes flashed.

Haruko Eto nodded.

"Eto Shinpei is someone I respect very much, and I am very honored to be here today to meet his daughter." The old man actually stood up and bowed to Haruko Eto.

Haruko Eto bowed to the old man on her horse and returned the salute.

Although Eto Shinpei was executed by the Meiji government for the Saga Uprising, he was a pioneer of the Japanese Liberal Civil Rights Movement and a famous civil rights thinker, and he had a high prestige among the Japanese people. Eto Shinpei presided over judicial work as secretary of justice and made great achievements in reforming Japan's judiciary, and he had a special fondness for the French Civil Code, which was full of the spirit of freedom, equality, and fraternity, and advocated the establishment of an elected parliament, and the Japanese people admired and loved him very much.

"Your brother, Mr. Shinsaku Eto, is he okay?" The old man asked again.

Hearing the old man ask about the whereabouts of her brother Eto's new work, Eto Haruko couldn't help but feel sad in her heart and couldn't help but shed tears.

"Brother...... Everyone...... All...... Burned to death...... I'm the only ...... left."

The old man was startled at first, then understood, and let out a heavy sigh.

"We're also going to Kumamoto Castle, so leave Miss Haruko's safety to us!" The old man said.

Haruko Eto only found out at this time. Everything around me has changed. The original vision is gone. She and the others were still in the forest, but they had all fallen asleep just now, and were waking up in a daze.

Haruko Eto breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did she realize that not all the legends she had seen in the books before were made up.

The ninjas awaken the Saga samurai and take them as they stagger through the forest.

When the group arrived at Kumamoto Castle, it was already late. After learning their identities and the purpose of their trip, the Satsuma officer who received them made proper arrangements for them, and Eto Haruko's letter was also forwarded to Lin Yiqing, who had not rested late at night, and she received the reply that she had a good rest tonight, and Lin Yiqing would find time to meet her tomorrow.

Haruko Eto didn't know what her brother had written in the letter, and she fell asleep with sadness.

"Why don't you sleep yet? ......" Iwasaki Yuka looked at and sat upright at the map table

"I didn't expect Lucia to come so quickly...... Saga originally said that the food, grass and ordnance were sufficient, and it could last at least two years, but in less than ten days, the whole territory of Saga fell......" Lin Yiqing sat at the map table. Looking at the large map on the table, he sighed.

Iwasaki Yuka sighed. came to Lin Yiqing's side and gently rubbed his shoulders for him.

Although Saigo Takamori did not accuse him of ineffective command of the operation, Lin Yiqing also knew that the elite of the Satsuma Army had been greatly consumed in the previous fierce battles with the Russian army, coupled with the lack of weapons and ammunition, the combat effectiveness had dropped to a terrible level, and now it was difficult to resist in the face of the superior Russian army and the Japanese government army.

Perhaps, it's time to implement his next plan......

"You've lost a lot of weight......" Iwasaki Yuka's slightly choked voice pulled Lin Yiqing's thoughts back.

"What do you think of again?" Lin Yiqing smiled and stretched out her hand to her shoulder and held her slender and soft fingers.

A tear fell, wetting Lin Yiqing's hand, Lin Yiqing raised his head in surprise, saw Iwasaki Youjia in tears, and immediately got up and hugged her into his arms.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly.

"I ...... That...... I'm afraid you won't be able to come back......" Iwasaki Yuka said as she wiped away her tears lightly.

Lin Yiqing remembered the scene when he led 700 warriors to meet her receiving fleet in Ube that day, and his heart was warm, and he couldn't help but kiss her lightly on the forehead.

"Am I not back...... What else are you worried about......"

"I'm just worried...... Do you know? How dangerous were you that day......" Iwasaki Yuka said, sobbing.

Lin Yiqing heard that her words seemed to mean something, he carefully recalled the scene of the day, and asked, "You Jia, did you find something?" There's no one now, so you can tell me. ”

Iwasaki Yujia's body trembled, she calmed down, raised her head, looked at Lin Yiqing, hesitated for a while, and then said, "I want to tell you one thing, you must not tell anyone." Because...... This thing could ...... It's hard for you......"

"Don't worry. You just say it, I won't tell anyone, it's a little secret between the two of us. Lin Yiqing said with a smile.

Iwasaki Yuka looked around and made sure that there was no one else, she calmed down and said, "Hanpeng, don't you think that Dongxiang-kun seems to be a little ...... Is it abnormal? ”

"What do you think is wrong with him?" Lin Yiqing heard that Iwasaki Yujia actually mentioned Togo Heihachiro, his heart moved, and he asked quietly.

"I think...... He...... It doesn't seem that I want you to come back from Honshu......" Iwasaki Yuka observed the expression on Lin Yiqing's face, carefully worded his words, and said.

Although she and Lin Yiqing are a loving husband and wife and have nothing to talk about, this time the conversation between the two involved the Admiral (Commander) of the Satsuma Navy, and she still didn't dare to make a mistake easily.

In fact, it takes a lot of courage for her and Lin Yiqing to say this today.

"Oh? How can you tell? Youjia? Tell me what you think. Lin Yiqing remembered that when he retreated from Ukoku that day, the fleet led by Iwasaki Yuka was only escorted by a warship of Uemura Hikonojo's "Hiei" ironclad ship, and he already understood eight or nine points in his heart, but he still encouraged Iwasaki Yuka to continue.

"I was worried that something would happen to you, so I went to him several times to find him, asking him to send warships to act with my fleet to search for you, but he rejected them for various reasons." Iwasaki replied, "Later, he was afraid that I would always come to him, so he simply said that he was sick and that he was no longer there." ”

"Oh." Lin Yiqing sneered in his heart. On the surface, it is still very calm. "Among the Navy. Isn't there anyone else who wants to come to me with you? ”

"No, it's not." Iwasaki Yuka hurriedly shook his head and said, "Everyone is just like me, they are all worried about you, Captain Uemura and Captain Takagi have also gone to Togo-kun many times and asked Togo-kun to lead everyone to pick you up, but Togo-kun said that he was afraid of encountering Lucia's fleet. He said that our army was short of coal and ammunition, but he did not agree, and I heard that Captain Uemura had a big quarrel with him. ”

"I see." Lin Yiqing nodded.

"Then Captain Uemura came to me and said that he was willing to take the 'Hiei' to the sea to escort our fleet to meet you, and Captain Takagi and several other captains were also willing to go with him, but just after we agreed on the time for the operation, Togo-kun suddenly ordered each warship to go to sea separately and patrol the waters south of Nagasaki." Yuka Iwasaki continued, "That's it. I can't keep my promise. Captain Uemura thinks that Togo-kun is deliberate, so he makes an agreement with me. He pretended to obey the order, and set out with the Hiei, and waited for us on the sea, and after meeting us, he went together to meet you. ”

"No wonder only Uemura-kun's 'Hiei' came with you, and everyone was deliberately branched out by him." Lin Yiqing's brows furrowed, "If you have to patrol, it should be a collective dispatch of the brigade, our warships are already small, so if you disperse your actions like this, aren't you afraid of being broken by the Lu fleet?" His behavior is very suspicious......"

"Yes......" Iwasaki Yujia heard Lin Yiqing's words, and a hanging heart finally let go.

"I'll take care of this." Lin Yiqing hugged Youjia Iwasaki and gave her a warm kiss, "It's not too early, let's rest." ”

Hearing that Lin Yiqing was going to reward himself in such a way, Iwasaki Yuka's face suddenly burned, and his body became weak......

But she didn't know that at this moment, there were many people like her, who had not fallen asleep.

In the position outside Kumamoto Castle, Takamori Saigo, dressed in civilian clothes, was slowly paraded, listening to the conversation of the soldiers.

"Yamada-kun, where are you from?"

"What about you, Bear himself? Hayakawa-kun? ”

"I'm a Tanegashima man, the back band of the pirates, you know?"

"Pirates? Hehe, I've read some books about pirates, and I can memorize a lot of stories. You pirates are really brave, as pirates, fighting with the official army, but still not the opponent of the official army. However, on the battlefield, General Kirino likes you who have been pirates to be soldiers, and you don't want to die in battle. ”

"Hehe, how do you know this? My father used to be a pirate, but later General Saigo treated him leniently, and when the Qinwang Division was in the early days, when there was a shortage of soldiers, General Hachiro Miyazaki came to our hometown to recruit people on the order of General Saigo, and named him to be a pirate. My father thanked General Saigo for his kindness and went. He was on the battlefield, because of his good marksmanship, the general asked him to take a few people to fight snipers and go to the front line. Listen to him, at that time, how many people were proud of their good marksmanship and being selected to snipe. When I saw your gun, I thought of my father. My father specialized in fighting high-hat guys on the battlefield, and he didn't fight soldiers, leaving them to his subordinates. Guess how many enemy soldiers my father killed? 42 pcs. My father was very good at marksmanship, and he became a pirate at the age of fifteen, and at that time the birds in the sky and the fish in the water could be shot with one shot. ”

"Hehe, awesome, is your father still there?"

"I'm gone, and when I was fighting in Osaka, I was caught and killed by the Lu army. When he was a pirate, he fell ill with rheumatism, and the Lucia barbarians locked him in the water, and it was winter. ”

"Many of our people have been tortured to death by Lucia's ghost animals, samurai, not to mention people like your father who have been pirates? Are you here to avenge your father? ”

"Of course. I came to the army because I admired my father, but I'm afraid I don't have as much as my father. Because I have a snoring throat disease, but fortunately, I am young and can run and get tired. But the doctor said that if you don't pay attention when you're young, you won't be able to do it after you're thirty. The commander didn't let me go to the battlefield before, because I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to do it, and I was in a hurry and threatened him to get it. ”

"Hey, what's the threat?"

"I said, he won't let me go to war, so I'll commit suicide by seppuku."

"Anyway, you want to die or live, he can't help it?"

"Yes, if you don't threaten, how can you go to war? As a samurai, you can't go to the battlefield, so you can leave the army and go back in the future. You can't close your eyes even when you're dead. What are you hey. Isn't it? What kind of horse leather shroud is that? It is mentioned in the texts of the military academy. I didn't study well. I always doze off in class. But now I understand, that's a good thing to say, admire! I know your gun can hit very far, French original. Now Japan can make such guns, but the quality is not good, the French guns have always been good, and the American ones are also good, but I think Lucia's guns are also good. You French gun. I like it, can you give it to me? In the past, my father used a very ordinary Western gun, and it was good to be able to shoot three or four hundred feet. There is no such scope, General Lin is really smart, he just thinks of it, with a telescope on this, absolutely amazing! I've heard that the Lucians also put binoculars on their rifles, but how can they copy them as well as ours? But if only I could get a Russian gun like this on the battlefield. ”

"It's a matter of luck. Hehe. ”

"Oh, it depends on luck. You're a good thing. Can you bring me a touch? ”

"Okay, you can play with it."

"Really. It's a really good gun. ”

"It's a good gun...... Wait, you see, somebody's coming over there...... How do I think it's an enemy? Observe it again, see the situation, and then tell the people behind you......"

Hearing the words of the soldiers, Saigo Takamori was shocked, and immediately turned his head to look over there, and he saw a few figures who were vague, and after walking around the ridge on that side, they went back again.

"Give you back the gun, Yamada-kun, you're young, I'm twenty-one, what about you?"

"A little over seventeen."

"Seventeen? I'm nineteen years old, older than you. Someone said.

"Ushijima-kun, listen to you, don't be great, there are mountains outside the mountain, can it be bigger than me? You were still nursing when I started serving the bowl. It's getting darker, and it may rain in the second half of the night, and it's going to be cold, so everyone takes turns on duty, Yamada-kun, you're a guest, so let's sleep for a while. ”

"I just slept. So be it, this ...... This Ushijima-kun, you sleep first and take a rest. I expect the enemy to come in the second half of the night, and the Lucian army now likes to fight at night and engage in sneak attacks. ”

"Yes. Ushijima-kun, then you can sleep for a while. ”

In order not to disturb the resting people, the voice of speech was gone, and it disappeared as the night engulfed everything.

Thinking of the future fate of these soldiers who followed him, Saigo Takamori couldn't help but let out a deep sigh in his heart.

Sure enough, it rained again, not much, but dripping, wetting the leaves, the blades of grass, and the earth that had been blown off by the shells...... Saigo Takamori is now in the front of the commanding heights with several soldiers. After a few rounds of rest, Yamada was still on the alert, and Hayakawa and Ushijima were huddled under cover with guns in their hands, covered only with branches and blades, half-asleep.

The night was dark, and I couldn't see my fingers.

What was that? There was also the slightest touch of grass blades in the drizzle. It's people, it's the footsteps of people. Footsteps came from the ridge ahead.

The enemy has come to sneak attack.

Saigo Takamori saw Yamada quickly kick back with his legs to wake up the two and call them up. The two gently uncovered the branches and grass on their bodies and entered the firing position. Yamada heard Ushijima, the soldier beside him, breathe nervously, and he whispered, "Don't be nervous, you can fire again after I fire." ”

※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※※

Halleym? Stevens? Sir Maxim, a great name that can never be erased from the history of light arms. His auto-gun dynasty began in London, but reached its peak on the other side of the world, in Fuzhou.

In 1884, Sir Maxim built the first Maxim automatic machine gun in a small workshop-style factory in Hatton Garden, London, and the attention and buzz he received was not commensurate with the benefits he received. For the first four or five years, Maxim traveled all over Europe, presenting his inventions to the defense chiefs and generals of every European country. But only a few orders were won. At times, he found that the display of the machine gun was unexpectedly thwarted, and he missed the government order. Those obstructions were mostly his competitors: deliberately made by the Nordenfeld company, which produced manual multi-barreled machine guns, and Bashir, the young and capable sales representative of the Nordenfeld company? Zakharov played an important role in this, and the Turkish-born Greek broker succeeded in inducing many princes and bureaucrats to abandon the more advanced Maxim machine gun in favor of the technologically outdated Nordenfeld-style multi-barreled machine gun for his own army.

When Sir Maxim was in despair and troubled by economic problems, an unexpected surprise awaited him. On Bastille Day in 1887, Sir Maxim arranged a machine-gun shooting show at the Sartori barracks in Paris. Parisians generally treat the show as a form of public entertainment. Among the visitors, however, was Hong Jun, the Chinese Empire's minister to France, who was shocked by the shooting performance and immediately telegraphed Beijing to report what he had seen. A week later, Sir Maxim was invited to the Chinese Legation with a contract for the purchase of machine guns worth more than £2,000. He was also told that this was just the beginning of a series of orders. When the first batch of 100 machine guns arrived in Fuzhou, one of the inventors of the Lin-Gatling gun, Minister of the Imperial Navy Hayashi Yoshizhe, personally supervised the firing tests of them. These early Maxim machine guns were designed to fire the Imperial Navy and Army's .50-140 machine gun rounds, and the high-pressure gas produced by the burning of 140 grains of black powder propelled the machine gun to a high rate of fire of 780 rounds per minute. (To be continued......)