Civilization Guardian Front

Arriving at the upper reaches of the river at noon, everyone had a brief rest for a while. After lunch, the whole army crossed the river and turned southeast, entering the large forest to the east of Mingzhongzhai.

All the way south through the forest, after two hours, Ikeda Hengxing and others finally saw the official road connecting Mingzhongzhai to Mosen City. They were located in the shaded area in the north of the road. It is the ideal location for the defenders to attack the Musen rebels, or to intercept the retreating enemy troops.

"The whole army rests here."

The order was passed down layer by layer, and a thousand Oda soldiers hid in the woods, where they could rest safely from the sun.The samurai just patted the moss off the stones and sat down, and he didn't pay much attention to the ashigaru, as long as there were no snakes, he could sit down on his buttocks. The soldiers who have been marching and fighting for many years, as long as they are safe, they can take the time to sleep at any time.

Soon, the snoring of soldiers sounded asleep in the forest, mixed with the chirping of insects and birds in the forest, it didn't seem too noisy.

The two girls, Hengxing and Chengzheng, both brought cloth mats for paving the floor and found a relatively flat and dry place to lay them on. They each took out their belongings to pass the time from their horse bags.

Perhaps influenced by her mother, what Hengxing took out from the pouch was a set of simple tea sets. While humming an out-of-key tune, the girl lit a fire to boil water, and at the same time placed the tea bowls, tea whisks, and bamboo spoons neatly.

Sasa Narumasa, who always makes people feel cold and serious, has unexpectedly feminine interests in her spare time. The dazzling needlework fabrics are placed on the cushions. Embroidery on the finished kerchief.

When the hot water boiled, Hengxing quickly ordered tea and put a bowl of matcha in front of his friend.

"Give..."

"thanks."

Cheng Zheng, who happened to embroider a section of bamboo on the towel, put down his work, took a sip from the tea bowl, and nodded slightly.

"After leaving the castle tower in the morning, Hengxing seems to be... particularly active?"

"Huh?" Hengxing, who thought Cheng Zheng would continue to embroider, was stunned.

"Why do you ask that?"

"Responsibility..." Naruma Sasao closed her eyes, put her hands holding the tea bowl on her knees in a kneeling position, and said the changes she observed from her friends:

"Hengxing is serious in its work, but it never took the initiative to take heavy responsibility in the past."

"Being under the command of Her Royal Highness, it is natural to go all out." Heng Xing's eyes were a little erratic, although the other party did not look at her with the signature cold gaze, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

"It's different." The girl with an indifferent expression shook her head and opened her eyes again.

"Hengxing doesn't need to rush to Guye City at full speed, there is no need to boost the morale of the whole army, and there is no need to force yourself to lead everyone. None of this is what the lord asked you to...so, why?"

(If you want to say why...) Ikeda Hengxing himself doesn't know the meaning of what he did, but...

"Lord Chios and His Highness the Princess, Nagahide-sama, Satsuki-sama, and Inuchiyo-sama are getting closer and closer. They are all outstanding women that I can't compare to."

Hengxing picked up his tea bowl, watched the bubbles on the surface of the matcha dissipate slowly, and couldn't help laughing at himself:

"I don't have any merits, I only have seriousness, so I can only put in all my efforts, otherwise..."

(My foothold will gradually disappear, like a bubble.)

"Hengxing, want to grab a man from the lord?"

Narumasa Sasao's eyes rarely fluctuated, and a sense of astonishment flashed across his friend's eyes.

"No, no, no! The happiness of Her Royal Highness is also my happiness, how dare I have such thoughts?"

Hengxing waved his hands in a panic, and the red glow spread from the neck up to the ears.

"otherwise?"

"I...I just hope...Master Chios...can occasionally look at me and say "Thank you", so..."

Having said this intermittently, the corners of Hengxing's eyes seemed a little sour, gently wiped the corners of his eyes, and said with a forced smile:

"I had the courage to stay by his side."

(Humble because of love, throwing fire because of deep love...)

Cheng Zheng looked at his comrades who had grown up together since childhood, and rarely sighed;

"It's as poignant as the unrequited love of falling cherry blossoms."

"Yeah... really can't argue with that."

"but..."

The handkerchief embroidered with the pattern of falling cherry blossoms under the moonlight was placed in front of Hengxing, and there was a little warmth in Cheng Zheng's cold voice:

"It's very similar to what Hengxing would do. Mr. Chios must be able to feel Hengxing's heart."

Chapter 51? Death

Sunset, Mingzhongzhai...

The setting sun slowly sank into the western edge, the afterglow seemed to light up the whole sky, and the clouds rendered a dark brown color, just like the smoke flying in the burning.The shadow stretched, and the woods on both sides were covered by the original greenery, blending with the darkness.

On the battlefield in front of Mingzhongzhai, more than a hundred corpses were piled up in the ditch under the wall of the village. The wall stacks composed of multiple layers of wood chips were covered with marks of stabbing with knives and guns, and a few of the wall stacks were broken due to the heavy impact.

It fully demonstrates the intensity of the battle to ascend the city.

From the beginning of the morning, the Suemori Oda Army, under the command of Lin Tonggu, divided 500 people into fifteen teams (formation), dispatched three teams for each attack, and sent another three teams to take turns in battle after half an hour. .

In this way, each group of soldiers ascending the village can rest, relying on the advantage of three times the number of people to consume the physical energy and will of the defenders of Mingzhongzhai.

From dawn to sunset, the Suemori Oda army's onslaught did not stop for a moment, and even eating and drinking were carried out during rest periods.

"Sakuma University...is this person crazy?"

In the main formation of the Mo Sen Army, Lin Tongju looked at the battle situation in Mingzhongzhai three hundred steps away, and his face with Chinese characters was full of confusion.

In siege battles, unless there is a huge gap in the strength of the two sides or tactics are used, it will be a tug-of-war on the wall until one side is unable to support it first.

The defenders usually have fewer people than the attacking side, so the most important responsibility of the defender is how to allocate manpower reasonably.

It was just enough to repel the enemy and give the soldiers a chance to rest, so that they would not collapse due to fatigue and tension.Even Hayashi Toko, the chief general of the Suemori Oda Army, made such an arrangement.

However, Mingzukazhai's defensive operations are not like this at all...

The wall of the stronghold is almost entirely occupied by defenders, leaving only space for each other to wield their weapons. Once someone climbs the top of the wall, several people will join forces to attack.And Morishige Sakuma, the garrison general of Mingzukazhai, also went into battle in person, beheading those who climbed the fortress.

Although doing so seems to be brave and powerful, the physical and willpower burden on each defender is very heavy, and it is impossible to persist in a fierce battle for several days.

At the end of the day, none of the Suemori Oda Army managed to occupy the wall for a long time, and they were all killed or forced to retreat quickly.Lin Tongju also tried to attack from other directions, but the defenders of Mingzhongzhai made up for it almost immediately, and the battle situation like the main gate was staged again.

"In order to show off the bravery of the moment, it is useless to waste the army. Tomorrow, we will attack for another three hours, and Mingzuo Village will surely fall... Sakuma University is really an exaggerated general."

With his hands crossed on his chest, Lin Tongju made a conclusion while shaking his head.

Looking up at the setting sun that was about to sink into the horizon, he ordered to the left and right:

"It's getting late, stop attacking!"

The banner was raised, and the soldiers of the Suemori Oda Army who were fighting on the wall quickly left the battle and retreated from the climbing ladder.

The defenders of Mingzuzhai also planned to kill a few people while the enemy was retreating, but Sakuma Shengzhong waved his hand to stop them.

"Let them go..."

Watching the Suemori Oda army forming a formation, they retreated back to the main formation in fear.From under the face of the cyan ghost came Sakuma Morishugi's slightly rapid breathing, and his tone was tired with a cold pleasure:

"It's just a bunch of bereaved dogs, they won't live long."

……

In order to guard against a sneak attack by the defenders of Mingzuozhai in the middle of the night, Suemori Oda's army retreated one kilometer to the east of Mingzukazhai, and set up a fence with wooden fences in the west as a simple camp for rest overnight.

They carry with them the food they need for three days, bundled into bundles and tied around their chests and waists, which contain black rice and roasted miso cubes.Use the ashigaru mat as a pot, and throw a meal's worth of black rice and miso into boiling water to complete a simple meal.

The diet of the samurai is not superior either. Two balls of white rice wrapped in prunes, and miso soup to quench thirst after eating, that's all.

Having said that, for people in troubled times who are precarious and will starve to death or be killed at any time, the meal time is the happiest moment in life.

The battle lasted for five or six hours, even though they took turns in battle, the soldiers of the Suemori Oda Army were still tired and sleepy. After eating, they took off part of the armor that prevented sleep, and fell asleep on the ground under the cover of the sky.

The campfires made for cooking were extinguished one after another, and the smoke dispersed...

All that remained were the braziers for lighting at the edge of the camp, and the torches held by the sentinels of the night watch.

Time quietly came to Haishi...

Ninety percent of the Mori Oda soldiers fell asleep, and the rest of them yawned again and again, completely unaware that a thousand troops from the east were gradually approaching.

……

On the outskirts of the forest 800 meters northeast of the Suemori military camp, Narumasa Sasao crawled among the long grass, pushing aside the grass blades that block his eyes, and observed the movement in the camp.

In the dark night, as long as there is no fire and the reflection of weapons is avoided, it is impossible for the night watch sentry to see anything from the darkness.

"There are few fires in the camp, so they should have fallen asleep."

"After all, we've been fighting all day, so it's reasonable to be tired." Ikeda Hengxing, who was also lying in the long grass, said in a low voice:

"It seems that the general of the rebel army is very confident that he can take down Mingzuo Village, and he didn't expect the enemy situation in the rear."

Hearing this, Narumasa Sasao nodded slightly, and they had been lying in ambush all afternoon on the path that Suemori Oda's army had to pass back through, but the other party had no intention of retreating at all, which shows that the news of the dispatch of troops from Furuno Castle had not yet reached the enemy's ears.

"They only sent troops to rebel against them early this morning. They probably didn't expect Her Royal Highness to respond so quickly."

"In that case, let us give the rebels a blow." Heng Xing stood up and gestured behind him after speaking.

After a rustling sound, thousands of Oda soldiers from Furuno City came out from the depths of the forest, with ashigaru's abdomen, hats, spears, samurai's carcass, tendon pockets, swords...all of them Neat straps are where they should be.

"The rebels of Mormorn City are just around the corner..."

Ikeda Hengxing and Sasa Naruma got on their horses, and twenty horsemen came to the front side by side.

"Raise the banner of Her Royal Highness, and let the rebels die."

The pointing flag was inserted into the wooden barrel behind the warrior, and for a while, hundreds of yellow and black Oda flags with papaya patterns fluttered in the night wind.

Hengxing drew out the knife at his waist, pointed the blade at the camp ahead, and ordered:

"The enemy is ahead, everyone, follow me to eliminate the rebellion!"

Oooo!

A thousand Oda soldiers raised their blades high and let out a terrifying battle cry. The next moment, they turned into a raging torrent, rushing out from the woods and heading towards the enemy camp not far away.

Suemori Oda Jun never dreamed that the god of death would strike in his dream.

The wooden fence that guarded against Mingzhongzhai's sneak attack did not help, because the god of death came from behind them.

"what sound?"

The sentinel holding the torch heard the roar from the east, turned his head to look at the source of the sound, but saw only darkness.

It wasn't until a figure appeared within a hundred meters of the camp, and the conspicuous yellow and black flag, that he realized that something was wrong. He raised his weapon in panic, and at the same time called out to his companions:

"Enemy attack!"

"There are enemies, get up, everyone!"

"It's the flag of Sosuke Oda, the army from Kiyosu Castle is coming!"

Their hoarse shouts did wake up some of their comrades who were sleeping lightly, but before they could put on their equipment and understand the situation, the first batch of enemies had already rushed in.

First, twenty horse-riding warriors charged into the camp, and their formation spread out like flowers in an instant, and the silver sword light swept past the sentry guards.

puff!

Blood spattered, and the ten foot guards of the night watch sentry fell to the ground suddenly, leaving behind flying heads and corpses with broken necks that twitched and fell to the ground.

Horsemen riding on war horses interspersed among the enemy camps, mercilessly wielding their knives to kill sleeping or awakening enemy soldiers.

"Ahhhh!"

Sumori Ashgaru, who had just woken up from his sleep, let out a scream before dying.

Then, a thousand Oda soldiers rushed into the camp with three guns, without even using the gun quilt, pointing the point of the gun at the enemy lying on the ground or stabbing them in a panic can easily end a life.

"Kill, destroy the rebels!"

The sound of horseshoes, running, shouting, mourning...

His ears were full of such chaotic and noisy sounds, the main general Lin Tongju opened his eyes in a state of distress, and the picture scroll of hell that came into his eyes made him sleepless in an instant.

"What's going on..." His head didn't react, but his past battle experience made him reflexively grab the spear beside him.

He fell asleep wearing his armor and only took off his helmet. Perhaps it was because there was no conspicuous decoration on the hood that Lin Tongju was lucky not to be killed in his sleep by the first batch of raids.

Now, he doesn't put his helmet on his head either...

After carefully checking the surrounding situation, he stood up slowly, not daring to stand up suddenly to attract the attention of the incoming enemy troops.

"Yellow background Oda family crest...it's impossible!" After seeing the enemy's flag clearly, Lin Tonggu couldn't believe what he saw.

(This is a banner that only belongs to Owari Daimyo, Oda Kami Sosuke's army. Why did it appear here, and even surprise us from the rear?)