Chapter 16 Chapter Sixteen
The army marched on, into the vast plain which the king called Musashino.The thatched grass stretches as far as the eye can see in this vast land, occasionally dotted with a few sparse forests.There are tens of thousands of huge herds of deer that even Dongyi hunters have never seen before. There are also animals like foxes and weasels running rampant.
The watchman erected a high pole, climbed up to the high platform, and watched the movement around him.I can see the north is hazy, and the mountains cannot be seen; the east is the lower reaches of the big river, and there are many mudflats of different depths, and I don't know where they extend.There are many hazy white things on the beach. At first I thought it was mist or clouds, but when I looked carefully, it was a flock of cranes and white birds.
"It's hard to handle such a big place."
Takahaya's complaints were not without reason.The army of Yamatai carried countless large equipment, and the supply team was extremely huge.But in such a place where there is no danger to defend, I really don't know how to defend.Takahaya was very worried, and frequently sent out scouts to find out what was going on around him.
But the number of ET is surprisingly small.Except for the red duck, the other monsters couldn't even see their shadows.The army marched in peace.It took about three days to arrive at a small promontory called Mount Atago surrounded by seashores, where they set up their positions.
On the night of camping, Yayo climbed Mount Atago.The king of "Envoy" who went up before never came down.He once opened his heart in Lake Hamana, and the two gradually became close, but since he entered Musashino, he seems to have regained his identity as a soldier, and even put on a solid armor for his feelings.Mi Yu was very upset about this.
"What's going on? Are there no monsters within a hundred miles?"
"It's an ominous sign."
The king of "Envoy" looked at the field in the dark night and said in a low voice.Yayo knew that even on a dark night without a single star, he could see to some extent.
"If it were me, I would definitely gather heavy troops to surround this plain. The supply line of the Yamatai army has been stretched too long, and winter will come soon. This is an excellent opportunity for the enemy to launch an attack. However, Why didn't it appear..."
"Maybe all the monsters are hiding in the mountains. Didn't your lord say that monsters like iron mines in the mountains?"
"There is a possibility, or it may be a detour from Zhongxiandao."
"Send the letter bee to have a look?"
"Already dispatched. From Kofu to here, there are a bit too many ETs, and the investigation is not going well."
"The red duck is also quite tricky..."
The enemy also has spies flying in the air, which they call red ducks.The red duck itself can rarely cause damage to the army, so ordinary soldiers don't pay much attention to it.However, when it fights against the king's Xinfeng, in three-on-two situations, the Xinfeng is basically defeated, so it is difficult for the king to let the Xinfeng go out as he likes.
The king, who was in deep thought, said word by word: "Let's build a city here."
"Winter here?"
Yayo asked in surprise.Wang nodded.
"Retiring troops is not the best policy. It is not a long-term solution to rely on the Western Kingdom to provide food and grass. There are enough wild animals here for hunting, and you can also cultivate fields if you want. Then recruit some women from Yamatai to let the soldiers live in peace of mind and save wood. Build cities."
"Will you be stationed here next year?"
"It doesn't matter if it's the next year or the next year. In short, if the monsters here are not wiped out, we can't withdraw our troops for a day."
Mi Yu widened his eyes.Wang's eyes suddenly softened.
"Do you miss Yamatai? It doesn't matter, you can go back."
"Is this not His Majesty's sincere words?"
Miyo glared.Wang smiled and said, "Don't be angry."
The next day, the Yamatai army began to prepare for the winter with great fanfare.Choose woodcutters and hunters, and send them out to cut wood and hunt around; those who are slightly wounded look for wild fruit trees; the rest erect fences, dig ditches, and build barns.When the soldiers learned that they could not go back, they all looked sullen at first, but they immediately became angry again after the woman came.All the remaining women from the Dongyi village with a radius of hundreds of miles were brought here, and the wives of those veterans also came from Yamatai not long after.Mount Atago became a city.
During this period, Wang continued to send letter bees out to inquire.The scope of investigation is not limited to Musashino, as far away as Hitachi, Shimono, and even Pancheng in the northeast, but there is no news of monsters everywhere, only wild deer, wild horses and other animals can be found.
"Is the monster dead? The reason why there are red ducks is because we don't usually fight it?"
Miyu conveyed Gan's naive speculation, and Katie also studied it carefully, and replied that there was insufficient information to judge.In short, this autumn has been very peaceful.
The ditches and palisades were completed three days after the first gushing snow had turned the fields into a silvery world.The last grain truck brought by Yamatai entered the city, and the gate of the fortress was closed.
That night, the monster appeared.
A violent explosion broke Yayu's deep sleep.Even the ground trembled.
"What's wrong?!"
Yayu jumped up, and couldn't wait to put on his clothes before rushing to the door.Wang also followed closely.The faces of the two people were flushed by the fire.The north gate of the city burst under the impact of fireballs, and fireballs continued to hit the fence.Gaodian was shaking incessantly amidst the explosion.Wang just glanced at it and groaned.
"Explosives... have they learned..."
"What do you mean? A monster?"
The king didn't answer, but turned back to get his sword.It was Gouyu who spoke instead of Wang.A series of messages like a cannonball: "Alarm: Firearms found, number fifty, large-caliber curved gun, burst warhead. ET found, 500 meters to the north, fifty, eighty, one hundred and twenty, thermal stealth material— — No, it’s cryogenic camouflage! ET is disguised as a wild animal!”
"What nonsense! How could that kind of method be able to deceive the letter bee. What about potential detection? Voiceprint analysis?"
"There are many open-pit mines in this area, so the metal reaction detection is turned off. Because the voiceprint analysis is affected by the sound of the bee's own wings, there is a lower limit of the detection threshold—"
"What is an open-pit mine?! How could there be such a thing on the flood plain?! It's all the camouflage of those guys!"
"If this is the case, it is a very serious situation. We have fallen into the enemy's well-laid trap—"
"It's useless to regret. Let's fight!"
Wang swung his big sword and rushed out while cursing.After a while, the sound of the bamboo conch on the observation deck rang out.The panicked soldiers rushed out in a hurry, and they couldn't even get their weapons.Miyo covered Katie's voice and shouted: "Soldiers are dispatched! Can we go north?"
"Spread out. Enemies can use explosions—"
The huge shock wave hit Yayo's body heavily, interrupting her thinking.Miyu felt that everything around him was spinning, just as he saw the ground, suddenly there was darkness in front of him again.
There was a buzzing in the bottom of my ears.The slaves cried like crazy.Katie's rapid speaking sound seemed to be coming through a thick curtain, she didn't know what to say or what to do.Someone was slapping her cheek, and Yayo finally woke up.
"Mi and Your Highness, Mi and Your Highness!"
"sweet?"
Yayo finally saw a boy looking at him with tears streaming down his face, and he was screaming at the top of his lungs.The feeling of the whole body slowly recovered, but it was completely occupied by pain.Mi Yu gasped and frowned.Gan asked anxiously, "Where does it hurt, leg? Arm?"
"It hurts all. Help me up."
Yayo was hugged.The whole body feels clearer.He tried hard on his hands and feet to see if he could still move, but he couldn't lift his right arm.Mi Yu glanced at his shoulder, as if the bone was broken and its shape changed.Yayo couldn't help but look away.
The vest also hurt like a fire.Yayo guessed that he was blown away by the shock wave of the explosion and hit the ground.She held Gan with her left hand.
"Don't touch my right shoulder. Said not to! What happened?"
Gan didn't answer, but looked behind her.Mi Yu looked back and saw that the high hall where he was just now was in ruins and was burning.
"Hitted by a fireball."
"Hayaya Taka-"
Just as Yayo was halfway through speaking, his voice was interrupted by an explosion from elsewhere.A desperate cry came from the watchtower: "The fence by the sea is down!"
That's the protruding part to the east of the camp.Mi and the surrounding screams came and went, and countless soldiers crowded and rushed like headless chickens.Yayo yelled loudly: "Where is Takahayaya?! Is there someone commanding the scorpion tail cannon in the north?!"
"I don't know, I rushed over as soon as the high hall collapsed—"
Three more explosions.The watchtower in the northeast creaked and fell like a tree felled by an axe, and then there were shouts and the sound of swords colliding, as if fighting had begun over there.The whining of Zhufa snails and the roar of the commander of the army were endless.Soldiers who didn't know what to do ran around.The Yamatai army was in disarray.
"Katie, tell me in one sentence, where is the main force of the enemy army?"
"All directions."
Miyo wondered if he heard it wrong.Katie continued in an unusually calm voice: "It's all around. It's all over the field."
"What about the number?"
"Three thousand eight hundred."
A burst of wailing suddenly came from the nearest Dong Guo.The soldiers scrambled and fled, leaving behind a river of blood.They shouted: "The sword is useless!"
"It's broken! It's all broken!"
Behind them came the sluggish monkeys.With the light of the torch, it can be seen that the luster on their bodies is obviously different from before, as if they have been coated with a layer of vermilion.Yayo thought of the stray monster he had seen in Mount Shiki—the monster with a hard body that deflected Kam's sword completely.
"They've reached Kamaishi."
"The King of the Order?"
Gouyu heard a voice.Mi and listen carefully.It seems that there is a fierce battle.Wang wheezed heavily.
"The monster is using the gunpowder produced by iron and iron catalyst, which is technically a thousand years ahead of schedule. It can't be done, we can't win today. Miyu, the whole army should retreat."
"Retreat now?"
"Hmm. Need more reinforcements. Call from abroad. Bastard!"
"The King of the Order!"
Gouyu's voice stopped, only heavy breathing.Yayo looked to the north.Farther north, beyond the burnt fence, came earth-shaking shouts and explosions.
"Queen!"
When I looked back, I saw the monkeys were close at hand.The strong soldiers holding the giant tree also rushed in front of them. They were the strongest Hayato team in the Yamatai army.The leading general, Takahaya, shouted at Yayo, "Run away!"
"After repelling this wave, rectify the army and retreat!"
Yayo yelled back at Takahaya, and then tried to stand up, but there was a sharp pain in his shoulder, and he couldn't help but fell down again.
Gan Fei quickly probed under Mi Yu's left rib, lifted her up, and whispered in a hoarse voice: "Your Highness Mi Yu, be careful! I'll carry you."
Yayo nodded, and then shouted to the surroundings: "Men and women of all countries, follow me Himiko to the west!"
Just at this moment, the sound of the explosion stopped. I wonder if the counterattack had an effect.Miyo ordered the people who came out of the barracks and huts to gather what they could, and gather together.Hayato opened the way first, beware of the monsters who are likely to guard the west.Mi and Xiang Gouyu said: "King of "Envoys", let's go out from Ximen."
"Someone needs to be in the rear. I'll stay."
"Orwell!"
The man responded with a laugh like summer wind.
"Don't look away. I'll catch up soon."
"Don't lie to me!"
A Hayato led a horse over.Gan Fei got on the horse, pulled Mi Yu up and sat behind him.Mi Yu asked in surprise, "Can you ride a horse?"
"Well, I have learned."
Gan whispered something and straightened up.Yayo suddenly realized that his voice had started to change.Gan raised his head and shouted, "Open the door!"
In the dark place where the light of the torch cannot reach, the shadows of monsters can be seen.They are setting fire to the door.
Hearing the roar of the hawks, Yayo put her body on the young man's back.
When they crossed Sasziling again, there were only 20,000 Yamatai troops left, and they kept this number until they retreated to the sea.In Toro, where the ruins of villages from the ancient times remained, the king of "Envoys" also rushed up to join the main force.
But ET also caught up.The shape and strength of the monsters are greatly different from before, and the offensive is extremely fierce.The Yamatai army lost consecutively.With no means of confrontation and tortured by cold and hunger, the army was like a leaky bottle, constantly reducing its personnel and routs along the way.With the enemy army armed with firearms, even the king's letter bees couldn't get close.The red duck is like the legendary Maya bird that feeds on carrion, hovering over the heads of the Yamatai army from time to time.
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