While Du Fei was recruiting troops in full swing, the Maori family of Anyi Country was also rebuilding its main army. In the last battle of the Four Kingdoms, more than 20,000 Maori troops came back and only less than 5,000 came back. The rest were not
He surrendered directly, only to be beheaded and rewarded by the peasants who captured the fallen warriors all over the countryside.
"His Highness Tajima, Ikeda Keizo, Mizuno Katsukuma and other generals have not come back. It is probably that they have encountered an accident and the generals who were separated from us on the battlefield that day. Only Ichikawa Yue, Mitsui Kari, Kiyono Itakai are back.
"Fukuhara Sadatoshi, in a hoarse voice, read out the list of the dead that he had finally compiled one by one to Terumoto Mori in a hoarse voice.
"Don't read it anymore." Maori Terumoto seemed to be tired. He closed his eyes. The scenes of the melee that day reappeared in front of his eyes. He saw the soldiers beside him falling down one by one, and the enemy's fire
The system tore them apart like a torrential rain, and each familiar face fell down like harvested rice.
"Your Highness! Your Highness!" At this time, Fukuhara Sadatoshi beside him woke him up from his chaotic thoughts, and he said softly: "That little guy Yoshikawa Kyouke actually captured Kinoshita Tokichiro's brother-in-law. This is really true.
It makes people laugh and cry, but now is the time when we need to repair our relationship with him. It’s really adding to the chaos!”
"Don't blame them." At this time, Maori Terumoto deeply buried the irritability in his heart: "These brats just want to do something to prove them. I saw the always careless Yoshikawa Keike and his gang of brats.
The brothers have begun to take the right path. I am really relieved. Don’t undermine the confidence they have built up with great difficulty. In fact, I know that they are very capable young people. Maybe they just lack a direction."
Suddenly, the door was opened, and standing in front of the door was Yoshikawa Kyouke, who was already in tears.
"Uncle! I" Yoshikawa Keike felt for the first time that his uncle, who had always been rigid and strict and always scolded him, was actually so meticulous and kind-hearted.
"My child, it seems that you are ready!" A glimmer of brilliance and vitality suddenly appeared on Maori Huiyuan's lifeless face: "I am going to make you a general and order you to form a new army. Do you think you can do it?
?”
"I will definitely do it with all my strength!" Yoshikawa Kyouke said word by word, patting his chest.
Then Yoshikawa Kyoue immediately took a few of his brothers and dozens of soldiers on the road. His mission was to recruit a thousand soldiers within a month.
"Let me tell you, brother." The unhappy Xiong Guli said angrily: "We have made such great contributions, but we only get such a false title? Look at the soldiers at the back, all of them are sallow and skinny, and they don't know how to fight in a battle.
What’s the use?”
"Stop talking nonsense!" Yoshikawa Keike's face looked very ugly. It was not because of the position given to him by his uncle Mouri Terumoto, but because he saw that the family's strength had declined greatly, and he felt a strong uneasiness.
The source of soldiers around Yoshida Gunyama Castle has long since dried up. There are almost no young and strong men in the villages there. Only old people and women are working in the fields. They walked westward along Yoshida Gunyama Castle and walked for a whole day.
We came to a place to stay——Yitian Town.
This should be one of the few large-scale towns in the territory of the Maori family. I saw people coming and going on the streets, and it did not become depressed at all due to the war. The streets were also patrolled by their own guards from time to time.
Order. So a few people began to lead soldiers to post notices in the town to recruit soldiers.
It's strange to say that there were many people coming and going on the street to watch the excitement, but no one came forward to sign up.
"I think it's hard to recruit soldiers in a place like this. People here are worried about food and clothing. Who would join the army for a little salary?" Xiong Guli said dejectedly.
Kobayakawa Hideaki also said: "Hey, if we are asked to do these small things, isn't it overkill? Sooner or later, we will inherit the family business of our fathers. If we are always busy with these trivial things, we will not learn anything."
"Kobayakawa, it's rare to see you so serious. To be honest, this is the first time I've seen you talk like a man since you came out of your mother's womb." Although Kumagai Toshiro is only a retainer, he has been playing with them since he was a child.
, so joking is also taboo.
"Hey." At this time, Yoshikawa Kyouke had no intention of listening to their nonsense. He suddenly thought of his elder brother Yoshikawa Motonaga.
The eldest brother, who is only one year older than me, is almost the same person as him. He has been studying various tactics and military techniques since he was a child. He has been fighting with his father since he was a teenager. He is very good at fighting and uses soldiers like a god. He seems to have a kind of life and death in him.
He has a natural fighting talent, but when he accompanied his father on an expedition to the Oda family, he was poisoned by some ninjas in tea. Although he was rescued by a famous doctor from Aki Province, his mind began to become confused from then on.
Sometimes he is sober and sometimes he bites people like a wild beast!
His father was heartbroken and locked him in a special cell in the city, and sent someone to take care of his food and daily life. However, when Yoshikawa Motocho went crazy, he often bit people and refused to let go. As a result, the person who took care of him ended up killing him.
They didn't dare to get close, so they could only carry the food to him from a distance using bamboo poles.
"It would be great if eldest brother was here." Only then did Yoshikawa Keike understand the reason why his uncle asked them to do these small things because they had never been on a real battlefield and did not understand the dangers and rapid changes on the battlefield.
That's why Mouri Terumoto asked them to start with recruiting soldiers. He believed that only by having a tacit understanding with the soldiers and convincing the soldiers that your coach is a competent coach.
Yoshikawa Keike and others thought that they would do a good job in such a simple matter. But what they did not expect was that due to many years of military use by the Maori family, the source of soldiers in their territory had already dried up. Many places were full of
Ten rooms and nine empty houses, and people in some places did not dare to join the army because they heard about the disastrous defeat of the Maori family in Shikoku.
"We should find another place. It's really difficult to recruit people in a place like this." After waiting for a whole morning, Yoshikawa Hiroka began to feel discouraged. When he saw his brother looking at him, he said hurriedly.
: "Okay, I admit that now I think what Xiong Gu has said makes sense. People here are worried about food and clothing. There is really no reason to be a soldier and suffer."
Yoshikawa Keike thinks about it, how can someone have a good life but have to run around in a job where the salary is not high and they may die at any time? The current war is in chaos, and everyone cares about their own, and in recent years, the Maori family has used soldiers
The defeat resulted in a large number of casualties among soldiers, which shattered several ordinary families, and people's hearts, which had been surging with enthusiasm at the beginning, had cooled down.
Everyone has gradually put aside the previous loyalty to the Mori family. There is no longer a situation like the ancestor of Yoshikawa Sutra, Mori Gen, who just waved his arms and greeted everyone.
At this moment, something suddenly came to his mind.
One time, his brother Yoshikawa Motocho yelled in the cage and bit off the arm of the person who went to feed him. He couldn't help but curious and secretly watched, but as soon as his brother saw him, he
Calm down, speak and behave differently than ordinary people.
He also said eloquently: "Those who command troops, those who lead them, those who control them, and those who recruit troops must be based on humanity."
"Humanity is the basis" Yoshikawa Keike felt that what the elder brother said seemed to be very reasonable, but also seemed to be nonsense.
What is humanity? The meaning of humanity is too broad for people to interpret.
Just as he was racking his brains to think of a solution, suddenly a thin young man came to them timidly with a bamboo knife in his hand.
The sleepy Toshinao Kumagai, Hiroyoshi Yoshikawa and Hideaki Kobayakawa who were chatting aside all opened their eyes wide: It’s finally open.
The first person to apply seemed to be only fifteen or sixteen years old. His short and thin appearance made Xiong Guli shake his head: "This one doesn't look like a soldier, but more like a waiter with a minor surname."
"Don't say that!" Kobayakawa Hideaki looked at the only applicant with affection, and said gently: "How old is my little brother this year? Does your family know that you are joining the army?"
I saw the young man holding the bamboo sword on his shoulder: "I am not a little brother, my name is Genshiro! You'd better remember it!"
"Oh!" Hiroyuki Yoshikawa on the side saw the boy's serious look and couldn't help but joked: "So you are the famous samurai, Genshiro-sama! What a blessing! Come, come! Everyone comes.
Meet Genshiro-sama"
The young man blushed in the laughter of everyone: "Don't look down on people! I am a swordsman!" After that, he picked up his bamboo sword in a serious manner and waved it in the air a few times. But he
The clumsy move only aroused more intense laughter from everyone.
"Okay! Stop making trouble!" Yoshikawa Keike, who had been thinking hard, suddenly became angry. He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a group of people who suddenly arrived.
"Genshiro! You little brat! Do you think you can get away from us like this?" I saw several burly men angrily coming to the crowd, all of them holding clubs and awls with murderous intent, and even carrying knives on their arms.
With tattoos, you are not a kind person at first glance!
When Genshiro saw those people, he was so frightened that he hid behind Yoshikawa Kyouke, huddled up and shivered.
At this time, those few people realized that the Yoshikawa Kyouke family were officials, and immediately hid their weapons behind their backs. A big man with a red bandana on his head forced an awkward smile on his face: "Haha, sir, we are chasing the store."
The boy here stole our money and came here. Will you not interfere with us catching the thief?"
"Shut up!" Kumagai Nobunao immediately slapped his mouth forcefully: "This is Yoshikawa-sama! He is the recruiting general sent by Mori Terumoto-sama! With him here, how can it be your turn to speak? Do you think
What are you?"
Yoshikawa Hiroie, who was very familiar with the people in the world, took a close look at the tattoo on the man's arm and said disdainfully: "Are you from the Vulture Party? How brave! You dare to hang out in broad daylight!"
Yoshikawa Kyouke dragged the young man over, pointed at the big men and asked: "Tell me honestly, who are they?"
"They, they," the young man seemed to want to speak, but when he saw the fierce eyes of those big men, he was immediately frightened and dared not speak.
At this time, Kobayakawa Hideaki touched his head and said: "Little brother, don't be afraid. We will take you away. Don't worry about these people retaliating against you again!"
Genshiro finally plucked up the courage and said: "They are a gang of thieves! We half-grown children who have returned home are being coerced by them to become thieves. We have to pay them a certain amount of money every day or we will be beaten."
"It's so abominable!" The hot-tempered Kumagai Toshio grabbed the leader and threw him to the ground: "A man who is a dignified man actually does such a thing!"
At this moment, Yoshikawa Keike, who had been thinking hard about the source of troops, suddenly got excited and jumped up: "Yes!"