I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

What Chanup said just now did not yell hoarsely like Upanu, but only in a very calm tone.

But these words spoken in a calm tone are far more powerful than every roar of Upanu just now.

Upanu originally wanted to yell out thousands of words to Chanup who bewitched the young children in his village with "monster words", but all the words he had prepared are now all because of Chanup's words just now. stuck in the throat.

"...What are you doing here?" Upanu said in a deep voice, "Do you want to persuade me to go crazy with you?"

"No." Chanup shook his head, "I just heard that you are about to fight with young people in your village, so I came here to see how you are doing."

"It seems that you still insist on surrendering to Heren..."

"Oh." Upanu sneered, "I'm not as fickle as you."

"I'm curious—how do you manage to be so fickle?"

"Before today, you have always looked hesitant and kept silent in every meeting."

Rarely, Upanu became curious about the change of mood of the same-age person in front of him who just hated his "monster words" to confuse everyone.

"There is no complicated reason." Chanup said slowly, "I just figured it out, and I no longer hesitate and be confused."

"I figured it out - there really is no way for me to just surrender this new home built with countless sacrifices to Kazuto."

"There is no way to just make our descendants become 'Ainu'."

"...But we are too far behind Kazuto in combat power." Upanu gritted his teeth.

"Well, you're right."

Chanup smiled.

Even though they were chatting with the man in front of them in a tense atmosphere, Chanup smiled easily.

"It's a battle of disparity."

"Our odds are terribly low."

"Our bloody and epic battles may not be recorded and passed on to future generations.

"

"But ah - Upanu."

"'Can it be done' and 'should it be done'—don't you think the latter is far more important than the former?"

After finishing speaking, Chanup said no more, turned and left.

Upanu said nothing.

He was silent.

Nor did he go after Chanup, or watch Chanup leave.

He just lowered his head slightly and remained silent.

Retannoe, who had just informed Chanupu and informed Chanupu that Upanu was about to fight with his people, stood not far away the whole time just now.

Before and after Chanup walked back to him slowly, Retannoe asked in a low voice:

"I thought you would spend a lot of time trying to persuade Upanu to stop being stubborn and stop thinking about being a dog with people."

Regarding Retannoe's words, Chanup did not respond, just smiled, and then said seriously to Retannoe:

"Raitannoe, help me call all the 'old guys' now. Just call them to my house."

Old guy - a common phrase from Chanup and the others. They used to refer to all the "big shots" in their Red Moon Fortress who were qualified to attend high-level meetings as "old guys".

"What are you going to do?" Retannoe asked.

"What else can we do? Of course we are discussing how to protect our homeland." Chanup said, "In short--please. I have to go to a place now, and I will join you soon."

...

...

Red Moon Fortress, somewhere——

"Hey! What happened? Can't you tell me? I heard 2 loud cannons during the day today! What's the matter with the cannons? Did someone attack here? "

Lin Ziping pressed his face against the window, and shouted to the young man who was guarding him outside the window.

As of this afternoon, Lin Ziping was still living a life as usual—staying in this prison transformed from an uninhabited residential building, doing nothing.

Until—there was an extremely noisy noise outside, and two artillery shots.

Lin Ziping was no stranger to the sound of artillery, and he immediately recognized that it was the unique bombing sound of artillery.

Why is there the sound of artillery here in Ezodi?

Lin Ziping, who was startled by the sound of the two cannons, hurriedly asked the guards outside the house what happened—but the guards outside ignored him at all.

Because the guards didn't know what happened outside.

During the period, there were several waves of guards, but in the face of Lin Ziping's inquiries, they were either vague or ignored Lin Ziping.

"Stop arguing." The guard's impatient voice came from outside the door, "You have been arguing there since just now, I have no obligation to tell you who is in prison... Ah! Mr. Chanup? You How did you come here?"

"I have something to do with the man in the cage. Open the door."

--Ok? Is there anyone here?

Just as Lin Ziping cast doubtful eyes towards the prison gate, he saw the prison gate being slowly opened, and an Ainu of his age slowly walked into the prison.

As soon as the middle-aged man entered, he closed the prison door by himself and put himself and Lin Ziping in the same cell.

Before Lin Ziping had time to ask who the middle-aged man was, the middle-aged man took the lead in saying in fluent Japanese:

"Mr. Lin, although this is not the first time we have met, but in terms of 'official meeting', this is indeed our first time."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Chanup."

"Chanup?" Lin Ziping raised his eyebrows.

Since the middle-aged man in front of him can speak fluent Japanese, Lin Ziping is also willing to spend his time communicating with him.

"Why did He Yezhe's leader suddenly come looking for me, a prisoner?"

As a scholar who has studied Ezo for many years, Lin Ziping naturally has a lot of understanding of He Yezhe who is very famous in Ezo.

It's no secret that Heyezhe's number one is named Chanup. Lin Ziping naturally knew about it a few years ago.

When Lin Ziping looked at Qianup up and down, Qianup also looked at Lin Ziping.

This time, the two of them met for the second time.

The last time they met, it was rather embarrassing—the young clansmen took Lin Ziping, who was sneaking outside the city and suspected of being a spy, back to Chanup for a look.

At that time, after looking at Lin Ziping hastily for a few times, Chanup ordered Lin Ziping to be put in prison and carefully checked his identity.

"I'm here just to speak for Mashima-san," Chanup said.

"Mr. Mashima?" Lin Ziping frowned slightly, "Although I am very concerned about what Mr. Mashima wants you to bring to me, but before that, can you tell me what happened today? What happened to the cannon fire today? thing?"

"Don't you know what's going on?" Chanup asked.

"I have been asking the people in charge of guarding me what happened." Lin Ziping said, "But they didn't tell me at all."

"That's it..." Chanup said slowly, "What exactly happened... In a word, it's an army of Heren coming."

Chanup briefly described what happened today in as few words as possible.

After Chanup finished his brief introduction, Lin Ziping widened his eyes: "The shogunate...is calling...?"

"Mr. Mashima has left here for some reason." After briefly telling Lin Ziping what happened today, he switched the topic back to the main topic that he came to find Lin Ziping this time and wanted to tell Lin Ziping. "Before he leaves, let me bring you a word for him."

Before Ogata was about to leave Red Moon Fortress on his radish, he mentioned Lin Ziping to Chanup who came to see him off - he asked Chanup to bring him a word to Lin Ziping.

"Mr. Mashima left?" Lin Ziping hurriedly put away the astonishment and shock on his face, "What did he do?"

After Ogata came back with the injured Ah Ding, he met Lin Ziping once, but the two of them didn't talk too much during that meeting—Ogata only reported to Lin Ziping Ping An, and told Lin Ziping that due to some accidents, he did not bring back books that might prove his identity as a scholar, and said that he would find another way to get him out of the cell later.

Since that meeting, Lin Ziping has never seen Ogata again.

"Sorry. Please allow me to keep it a secret as to what Mr. Mashima is doing." Chanup shook his head.

"Then what did Mr. Mashima ask you to bring?" Seeing that Chanup kept it a secret from him, Lin Ziping was not annoyed, and only changed the topic quickly.

"It's just a simple sentence."

Chanup cleared his throat, then imitated Ogata's tone, and said:

"'Mr. Lin, for some reason, I will be missing for a short period of time. When I come back, the difficulty of getting you out of the cell should be eased a lot. I hope you wait patiently for my return, and remember that you and I A promise made.'"

"Just this sentence?" Lin Ziping asked.

What is the "promise" that Ogata said, Lin Ziping naturally knows - he and Ogata have agreed that if Ogata can help him regain his freedom, Lin Ziping will take Ogata and the others to the house with the strange doctor village.

"That's right." Chanup nodded, "I still have a lot of important things to do, and I can't stay here for too long."

"Now that the words have been brought, it is almost time for me to leave."

"Wait a minute!" Lin Ziping said urgently, "Before I leave, can I ask a question?"

Lin Ziping put on a serious face.

"How are you going to deal with the Japanese army outside the city?"

Chanup raised his eyebrows at Lin Ziping's sudden question, and then smiled:

"We must defend our homeland to the death, and fight until our troops retreat, or our fortress is breached."

After all, Chanup said no more, and quickly left Lin Ziping's prison.

Lin Ziping stood there in a daze, watching Chanup's leaving back.

After Chanup had left for a long time, Lin Ziping still stood there, motionless.

After a while, Lin Ziping gritted his teeth, ran quickly to the wall next to him, and kicked the wall resentfully.

"What the hell are Matsudaira Sadanobu and Kitagawa Toshiki thinking... why did they send troops to the Ainu...!"

"damn it……!"

He kicked the wall resentfully while growling in a low voice.

...

...

Red Moon Fortress, Chanup's home——

"Is everyone here?" Chanup looked around at the people sitting around him.

"Upanu hasn't come yet," Retannoe, who was sitting next to Chanup, replied, "Upanu is the only one left."

Upanu is also one of those qualified to participate in such a high-level meeting-however, Upanu has not been seen until now.

"...then don't wait for him," Chanup said, "let's get started."

Chanup once again looked around at the crowd in front of him.

"I have decided to guard my home until the last moment," Chanup said bluntly. "Anyone else have any objections?"

The eyes of the "main combat faction" headed by Lei Tannoe focused on those "main surrender faction" who were very active before.

At this moment, these vassalists either bowed their heads in silence, or sang Chanup loudly, expressing that they were connected, and they really could not bow down to others.

Chanup's speech just now made the "battle faction" completely overwhelm the "surrender faction".

Residents who accounted for the vast majority of the population of the Red Moon Fortress and experienced the pain of "south migration" 10 years ago-almost all of them were aroused by Chanup's speech to defend this hard-won The fighting spirit of the homeland.

And those residents who did not experience the "south migration" 10 years ago were also motivated by Chanup's speech just now.

These residents who have not experienced the "south migration" 10 years ago basically have to abandon their original homes for various reasons and move into Heye Zhezhong.

Their affection for Heyezhe is not shallower than those of the "aboriginal people" who have experienced "south migration".

Now in the entire Red Moon Fortress, the temperature seems to have risen several degrees due to the high fighting spirit and enthusiasm of the residents.

These "surrender faction" people are not blind people, they can see it naturally - if there is any mention of surrender now, no one will respond to them.

However, some of the "Maintenance Faction" were indeed moved by Chanup's speech just now, and they completely defected to the "Maintenance Faction".

Seeing that no one spoke, Chanup nodded.

Just when he was about to say something, the curtain at the door was suddenly thrown open.

Everyone, including Chanup, immediately focused their attention on it.

I saw a middle-aged man, with an expression that made it difficult to understand his specific emotions, walked slowly across from Chanup, and then sat down cross-legged.

"Upanu..." Chanup whispered, "I thought you weren't coming..."

"You came just in time, the meeting has just begun."

"If you have something to say, just say it at this time."

Upanu's departure changed the expressions of everyone present.

People from the "battle faction" like Lei Tannoe turned ugly.

Some of the "surrender faction" who are still concerned about "surrender" cast a hopeful look at Upanu.

Upanu deserves to be the focal point.

Not only did he just show up, he made almost everyone's expressions change.

After he sat down, he only said a word, and the expressions of everyone changed again.

"...Chanup. Tell me." Upanu said softly, "Tell me how you plan to deploy your defenses."

Upanu's simple sentence made Chanup's pupils shrink involuntarily in surprise—and the rest of the people reacted similarly.

After showing a faint smile at Upanu, Chanup looked serious and said loudly:

"Since no one has any objections, we will prepare for the battle with all our strength."

"To deal with Heren outside the city, we must first increase the number of guard posts on the city wall and strengthen our guard."

...

A large number of young and strong men with bows, arrows and spears rushed up the inner and outer city walls, and the number of guard posts on the city walls doubled.

All the people standing guard on the city wall are waiting in full battle, with their eyes wide open, carefully observing every move of the army outside the city.

...

"Open all warehouses, check and count all food and drinking water in stock. Medicines are also counted uniformly."

...

The doors of the several warehouses dedicated to storing food and drinking water were wide open. The clansmen who were ordered to come to inspect and count, shuttled back and forth in the warehouse.

In Kunoya's clinic, while smoking a cigarette, Kunoya said to the young people in front of him in a lazy tone: "Are you the ones sent by Chanup to help me count the medicines? Then start Let's work."

...

"In addition to food and drinking water, weapons must also be thoroughly inspected and counted, and the weapons will be distributed."

...

Bundles of arrows and spears were taken out, and they were distributed one by one while counting.

The sound of sharpening arrows and spear points echoed throughout the Red Moon Fortress.

...

"This battle is about the survival of our homeland, so we can't hold anything back... Take out all the muskets."

...

Inside the Red Moon Fortress, a group of people hurried towards an inconspicuous warehouse.

In this warehouse, there is only one thing - a row of neatly arranged flintlock guns with a red moon engraved on the handle...

And such muskets—they had eighty of them.

...

The Red Moon Fortress is like a machine running at full speed. Under the scheduling and arrangement of Chanup, everyone is doing their work in an orderly manner.

Counting and sorting out food and medicine in stock...

Standing on the wall, on guard and human...

It's just that this kind of busyness of preparing for the battle only lasted for 3 days.

Because 3 days later, just 3 days after Ogata left the Red Moon Fortress——

The 5,000 main force led by Inamori is here!

_