Chapter 3 3. Noisy and Chaotic Bow and Sword

The people of Hebian Village walked along the riverside street, which was not difficult to walk, and after about four miles, a castle built around the hills gradually showed its appearance.

An exquisite three-story castle tower is located on a small hillside 30 to 40 meters high, surrounded by layers of towers.

The closer you get, the clearer you can see. The limestone wall of the main wall on the hillside shines brightly under the midday sun, making people blink. The stone wall about three meters high is also meticulously maintained. The narrow arch and the gun holes of the second round are tricky at various angles, and the third round is wrapped with many houses and stables.

When Xiao Pingtai estimated what he would need to do if he came to attack the main city, a horse-riding warrior came to the side of the team, and everyone bowed their heads and saluted the warrior. The man obviously knew the village chief, then inspected the village chief's team, showed a relatively satisfied smile, and led the team to the camp under the city. The sound of people and horses was very lively.

As the saying goes, if there are more than ten thousand people and horses, there are boundless numbers. I guess there are at least eight thousand here. Xiao Pingtai thought so. The samurai who should be Ma Hui took the village chief back to the city to report.

Xiao Pingtai and the others built a fire, fed barley to the village chief's horse, set up a small tent, and fetched clean water. They used the firewood they brought with them to start a fire and boiled water in a cast pot. Sure enough, not long after, the village chief returned to the camp, followed by two people, one carrying a basket of rice and the other carrying a wooden barrel. Everyone showed eager eyes, and sure enough, a middle-aged samurai holding a document came over soon, checked the number of people in the village, kept the rice, and then took out salt, miso blocks, patent medicine, kelp, dried fish, and two large pickled radishes from the wooden barrel. After the village chief sent the samurai away, he cooked miso soup with everyone, and told everyone to make rice balls and fried rice. At the same time, he opened his luggage and took out another portion of salt and added it to the soup three times.

After eating the extremely salty food, Kobayata was ordered to go out and cut bamboo and wood as thick as his arm. At the same time, various small teams still rushed to the city, gathering into the camp one after another, and there was an endless stream of horse-carried warriors coming and going from the city. In the town in front of the shrine not far from the city, merchants and townspeople continued to transport cloth and medicinal materials to the city and pay the temporary town fees.

After nightfall, the camp gradually became quiet, and Kobayata also found out about various things. The main family, the Yamanouchi family, was the son of the previous shogun, and the young master still goes to Kyoto to serve every other year. The main family has a total of 23,000 kanwen, and can mobilize an army of 6,000 people on the military service account. The Shirakawa family, which is participating in the expedition to the lower reaches of the river, is also a powerful daimyo. However, in order to open up the estuary and obtain salt, the main family must fight.

There was no talk overnight, and the flags on the city were erected one after another the next day. The drums were beating one after another, and the army gathered in front of the Ote Gate. An old samurai with white hair stood on the steps holding a document and shouted.

First, the Imperial Horse Guards, with 50 horses and 120 foot soldiers, all in shining armor, responded loudly. Next came the Eleven Hatamotos, a team of about 500 people led by the family elder Harumiya Hosokawa. Others such as the Hachiman Shrine Bugyos, the Inami Senpa, the Sakute Sanjias, etc., each arranged their generals to gather into an army.

At this time, the voice of the Sixteen Renchuans came from the steps, and the village chief immediately ran forward. Kobayata was stunned at the time. The village chief, a wild little rich farmer in the mountain valley, was actually the second in the Sixteen Renchuans? What about the Four Heavenly Kings Eight Guns, the Blue God Red Demon, and the Kaido Ichi-no-bow, it's over, is the truth so cruel? Could it be that in the future, our village chief who is just over 1.5 meters tall will also be rumored to be the second best of the 16 spears in Lianchuan, who rode his horse to trample the enemy camp outside Fuzhong City, fought against 30 people with a long sword, defeated two famous generals with a long spear, and fought 42 battles in his life without any injury?

With a full mind of MMP, the more than 300 people in Lianchuan were organized into a team, led by the hatamoto general Hosokawa Saemon, and gathered into the 6,000-man army to the lower reaches of Lianchuan.