Big Chicken Coop Society.

Along a tributary of the Tamsui River, the terrain rises abruptly, after a rugged mountain road, the vision is broad, into the basin, standing at the mouth of the river, Matsushita Tomaki looked from afar, saw the high ground protruding in the small basin, and said with emotion: "Like a tomb." ”

However, that hill has a very peculiar name, which the Kaidagran people call Kuruhama, which translates into Chinese as the Holy Hill.

Matsushita Tomaki was followed by a small team, a total of more than twenty people, of which fifteen were Kirishitan samurai, and the soldiers under his command, each carrying a pick, one for food and water, the other for their equipment, and the other seven for the master, leading two mules and two oxen, carrying supplies for the garrison army of the Holy Hill.

Walking in the front was a young man, fourteen or fifteen years old, holding a black dog in his hand, and when he approached the holy hill, the dog lay on the ground, restlessly facing the grass in front of him, and whined, apparently discovering something.

"Who are you?" A voice came from behind the stones not far away.

"It's me, Tang Mu, I'm back." The young man replied loudly, he was the defender who was originally stationed here, and according to the rules, he went to Tamsui City to contact and ask for supplies.

Two armored soldiers walked out from behind the boulder and extinguished the lit firerope.

"Tang Mu, why are there so many people?" Zhao Dahe asked.

Tang Mu said: "These are the Kirichi Dan samurai, who, like Shichiro Yoshida, have recently defected to the Great Treasurer and have been sent by the Great Treasurer to support us. He is Panasonic Fuming, the leader, and the big shopkeeper said, everything here, or Brother Zhao, you are in charge. ”

Zhao Dahe stepped forward, nodded lightly at Matsushita Fuming, and then said, "Here, you have to abide by my rules and don't act without permission." ”

Under the leadership of Matsushita Tomaki, a group of Kishitan soldiers hurriedly agreed.

The road to the holy hill was very rugged and difficult, and all the way forward, Matsushita Fuming asked about the situation, and Zhao Dahe also answered.

The foot of the sacred hill was originally the Great Chicken Coop Society, a village community of 1,700 people, but four days ago, everyone and the cattle were evacuated, because in the outer mountains, Atayal Shengfan's soldiers were found, and the two sides clashed.

Atta, a Kedagran who was stationed here with him, led his team to retreat to a cliff in the side mountain and hid.

The people climbed up to the holy hill, and the top of the hill was very wide, and there was a huge cypress tree, which covered a large area of fortifications like an umbrella cover, and could not be seen at the bottom of the hill.

The fortifications at the top of the hill were newly built, using the original stone Church of the Holy Spirit, two boulders, and cypress wood from the original summit. This sacred hill was originally the territory of a clan, but this clan has been wiped out by the Atayal people, and the Kaida Gran people came here to occupy it and became the Great Chicken Coop Society.

Stones of different sizes enclose a wall, only less than one zhang high, seven or eight zhang in radius, there is a well-repaired cistern inside, the wall is full of firewood, and there are fortifications such as deer on the periphery, Matsushita Fuming knows that Zhao Dahe and his party have only been stationed here for fifteen days, and there is already such a large scale, he is quite admired.

Tang Mu beckoned people to unload the goods that had been transported, including cured meat, salted fish, dough cakes that were harder than stones, and things like dried plum vegetables.

"There are four sheep, which are fresh food bought by the big shopkeeper, and we say that we can decide how to eat them. And this bag, which contains salt, pepper, and chili peppers, all of which are condiments. These were personally prepared by the big shopkeeper and handed over to me by himself, and he has always been thinking about everyone. Tang Mu's mouth was very dexterous, and he said to everyone.

Like Zhao Dahe, Tang Mu was also from a military family, but he was brought by Zhao Dahe when he returned to his hometown to visit relatives, and he was his brother-in-law.

Panasonic Fuming listened to Tang Mu's words, and said in his heart that Li Zhaoji really lived up to his reputation.

Zhao Dahe said: "We can't relax because we have new supplies. Today's work is still to be done, and our fortifications must continue to be strengthened. ”

Everyone said yes, Zhao Dahe had already arranged it.

Matsushita Tomaki found Yoshida Shichiro, the only township party, although the two are not familiar with each other, but they are both Chezhi Dan, and they are naturally a little closer when they meet.

Shichiro Yoshida, pale and weak, was lying in a stone house, and when he saw Tomaki Matsushita, he immediately got up.

"Shichiro, are you hurt?" Tomaki Matsushita asked.

Shichiro Yoshida raised his left hand, which was tied with a white cloth, and blood was faintly oozing out, and he said, "My tail finger is broken, probably infected, so I have a fever." ”

"Did you fight Ikuban?" Matsushita Fuming couldn't help but be afraid in his heart, if there had been a battle a long time ago, wouldn't it be too risky to come all the way, fortunately, Shengban didn't know the art of war, and didn't carry out ambushes and other actions.

Shichiro Yoshida shook his head, and he said, "No, it's my own reason. ”

"Could it be that someone is bullying you, Shichiro? Was it that Ming officer who cut off your tail finger? Another Chechitan asked with concern.

Shichiro Yoshida nodded: "It's him, but I asked for it." ”

It turned out that the retreat of the people of the Big Chicken Coop Society was a matter of the last few days, and when the garrison first came, Yoshida Shichiro was thinking about trading with the local natives, exchanging salt, knives and other things for live chickens and other food, and was discovered by Zhao Dahe and cut off his little finger as a warning.

Matsushita Tomaki listened to him, just comforted him a few words, and walked out of the stone house.

"That Ming officer was so domineering that he actually cut off Qilang's little finger and bullied only one Chezhi Dan here." A Chezhidan said with a fist swing.

Matsushita Tomaki pushed him on the shoulder and said, "Lord Zhao is right, the army must have the discipline of the army, it is Shichiro's fault, he should do his duty as a soldier and a samurai, instead of playing his own cleverness in such a dangerous place." ”

Night fell again, Matsushita Tomaki slept on a mat under the cypress, the night deepened, there was no moon tonight, and Matsushita Tomaki was in a strange state.

Exhaustion caused him to fall asleep quickly, but he soon woke up, unable to fall asleep normally, and it was not mosquitoes and dry mats that stopped him from the water, but the fear of the unfamiliar land and unknown dangers.

Suddenly, a low howl came from the darkness, faint and short, as if the black dog was warning but was choked by the throat.

Matsushita Fuming immediately got up, his right hand was already holding the short knife, he lowered his body, looked at the door of the leashed dog, and found that there was a person there, holding the dog's head and preventing it from making a sound.

"It's me, Zhao Dahe." The man whispered.

Matsushita Fuming was relieved and walked over quietly, Zhao Dahe said: "You also heard it, right, there is a sound outside." ”

To be honest, Matsushita Fuming didn't hear it, but he was always upset, so he nodded.

"Do you want to go out with me to investigate?" Zhao Dahe asked.

Matsushita Tomaki pointed to the dark sky and said, "It's too dark, I'll go back on the fourth watch." ”

Zhao Dahe nodded and said, "I'll send someone to keep vigil." ”

Matsushita Tomaki said: "No, I personally keep vigil, at this time, I can't believe anyone." ”

In the dark night, Zhao Dahe held Matsushita Fuming's hand, broke his thumb and put it up, obviously this was an affirmation of him.

After waiting for another hour and a half, the sky faintly appeared fish belly white, Zhao Dahe appeared again, he recuperated, only wore leather armor, carried a small cage made of wire, and directly put the black dog's mouth on the door when he arrived, he said: "This dog is very alert, but the mouth is too restless, so it can be better." ”

They went out together, taking no one with them or torches, and groped their way through the woods by the faint light.

The huge trees stood there like giants, especially frightening in the dark night, and the two of them went on without saying a word, only the sound of leaves blowing in the wind, and the destination was the stream, where they found a large number of footprints by the stream, as well as food scraps and excrement from eating.

"Left." Pointing to the footprints on the ground, Zhao Dahe said.

At this time, the sky had begun to brighten, and Matsushita Fuming leaned over to observe carefully, nodded slightly, and agreed with Zhao Dahe's judgment, because the footprints on the ground were clearly toeded, and the people of the trading company would wear boots, and the people of Kaidagran would also wear straw sandals.

"Go back, or do you want to go back again?" Tomaki Matsushita asked.

Zhao Dahe said: "Go further, if a large group of men and horses come to attack, the camp will not be able to hide, if you can't find the camp, it will just be some guys who are out of the head or hunting." ”

The early morning stream was full of mist, and the two of them struggled to move forward, and they were amused among the bushes and trees, and there was a dead silence all around, except for the newborn sun that appeared and disappeared in the canopy, and whenever the black dog stopped, they would feel uneasy, and look around, as if there were eyes on them.

"Woo."

The black dog suddenly stopped and made a sound into the distance.

The two of them came out of the jungle, and in the fog that gradually dispersed, they saw the other side of the river, which was a camp that had just appeared, the fence had not yet been erected, and there were people everywhere, and there were people by the river and in the woods.

"At least fifteen hundred, maybe more." Matsushita Tomaki said.

Zhao Dahe estimated more: "Two thousand people, this is the least." ”

The reason is very simple, this is the army of Shengfan, not the Ming army, there will be livestock and war horses in the regular army, so the size of the army is much smaller than it seems, but there are only soldiers in the army of Shengfan, and there are not even logistics personnel, so the scale is much larger than it seems.

"That seems to be a scout." Zhao Dahe pointed to a bush, where there was a person squatting, but it was on his side.

Tomaki Matsushita said, "It's not a scout, it's a fishing guy." ”

"Looks like we're going to be able to grab a tongue." Zhao Dahe took off his boots, took off his coat and tied it to the hilt of the knife, and walked over slowly.

Shengfan on the other side of the river found Zhao Dahe, yelling at this side, fishing Shengfan didn't understand what he meant, and thought they were all greeting him, when he heard someone behind him, he was smashed in the back of the head by Zhao Dahe's scabbard, and fainted directly.

"Come and tie this guy up, and we'll go back." Zhao Dahe shouted at Matsushita Fuming.

Matsushita Fuming untied his belt and tied up the captive, while Zhao Dahe put his boots back on, and the two of them worked together to carry the captive and return to Shengqiu.

"Damn the Folk."

When Kalaw crossed the tributaries of the Tamsui River, all that was left for him was the discarded clothes and the cracked scabbard, and looking at the scabbard, Kalou was furious and said loudly: "Catch up, you must kill all the Fu Laos, and I will cut off all their heads and offer them to the Holy Spirit." ”

"Killing is coming, hurry up, get ready to fight." When he reached the top of the holy hill, Zhao Dahe shouted.

Tang Mu stood on the lookout on the top of the cypress, and when he saw that it was Zhao Dahe, he immediately called for help, Zhao Dahe threw the captive to the ground, and immediately said: "Call Yoshida Shichiro, I hope this student will speak the words of the Kaida Gran." ”

"I want to see what the difference is between raw and cooked." Tang Mu probed his brain and said.

slapped Tang Mu on the head, and Zhao Dahe scolded: "Bastard, don't call everyone to get up and prepare for the war, the Shengfan Brigade is coming." ”