But the barbarians, who were looked down upon by all of them, actually blocked them for nine days.

This huge psychological gap and the fortress that could not be conquered for a long time also further dampened their fighting spirit and morale.

As far as Kuroda knows - it's not just their Sendai Army that's like this.

The same was true for the troops of other feudal states of the First Army who had accompanied them in the 9-day battle, as well as the troops of the Third Army (Aizu Army). The air in the camp was no longer filled with high fighting spirit.

"I didn't realize how degenerate our Sendai clan's samurai were before," Kuroda said with a wry smile, "but now after this battle, I deeply realize that our Sendai clan's samurai are also very corrupt..."

As soon as Kuroda finished speaking, Qiuyue on the side showed a bitter smile and answered:

"I understand more and more that after taking over the position of Lao Zhong, Mr. Lao Zhong will vigorously revitalize the martial arts disciplines and encourage the samurai to restore the ancient customs and practice martial arts." Qiuyue said with a wry smile, "Today's samurai... are indeed getting better and better.

It’s getting worse and worse.”

"It was just a nine-day siege, and it was so exhausted... Such an army was placed in the troubled times of the Warring States Period two hundred years ago. Facing the world-famous Oda Army and Toyotomi Army at that time,

The Takeda Army will probably collapse at the first touch."

"Fortunately, the opponents we are facing now are just a bunch of barbarians who are not good at defending the city." Kuroda turned around and said, "Let's go back."

The camps where the two of them lived were located in the same direction.

However, before they returned to their respective camps, they suddenly received an order from Inamori - all generals should immediately go to his camp to discuss matters.

Naturally, the two of them did not dare to neglect Daomori's military orders in the slightest. They rushed to Daumori's camp as quickly as possible.

When the two of them arrived at the coach's tent in Daomori, there were already many people there, so not long after Qiuyue and the others arrived, the military meeting began.

"Everyone, today...is another day where even the outer city wall of the barbarians was not captured."

As soon as Daomori's deep voice sounded, many generals in the tent lowered their heads for fear of meeting Daomori's eyes.

"The city fortress that was originally scheduled to be captured within 5 days has now taken a full 9 days... And in these 9 days, not even a single wall of the barbarians has been breached..."

"I'm going to tell you bluntly right now - we can't let this go on any longer."

"If we continue like this, even if we finally break through the fortress, this battle will become a shame for us."

"The world will not remember that we captured a Lucian fort held by Ezo."

"I will only remember that we, with an army of 10,000 people, faced a group of barbarians with no more than a thousand people, and it took us more than ten days to level them."

Inamori slapped the military equipment held in his right hand hard towards his left hand.

There was a loud "pop" sound, which startled some generals in the camp.

"tomorrow!"

Daomori said in a decisive tone while scanning the generals in front of him.

"We will break through this barbarian fortress within tomorrow!"

"at all costs!"

In Daomori's words, if you cut out every word, it would be like making a big hole in the ground.

All the generals in the camp were shocked by Inamori's decisive words.

As soon as Inamori finished speaking, a veteran who was a "direct descendant of the shogunate" immediately said loudly:

"Lord Inamori! Send out the second army!"

"Both the First Army and the Third Army have been exhausted after days of hard fighting."

"And the 5,000 men of our Second Army have remained uninjured and full of physical strength until now."

"Judging from the battle situation in the past few days, it is not difficult to judge that the barbarians are now exhausted from the hard fighting in recent days. The number of troops available to fight has dropped sharply."

"Use our uninjured second army to deal with the barbarians who are now exhausted and the number of soldiers has also dropped sharply. We will definitely win in one battle!"

The words of this veteran immediately made many generals of the First Army and Third Army present look dissatisfied.

But - before they could say anything, a calm male voice without any trace of sadness unceremoniously refuted the veteran's words.

"Deploy the second army? There is no way to guarantee that the city can be captured within one day tomorrow, right?"

As soon as this male voice sounded, no one dared to speak again.

Because the person who spoke was Matsudaira Sadanobu sitting next to Inamori.

Matsudaira Sadanobu didn't know much about the art of war. Matsudaira Sadanobu, who had always regarded the saying "professional people do professional things" as his guideline, rarely spoke in military meetings these days and rarely interfered with Inamori's command.

.

But no general dared to really regard Matsudaira Sadanobu as a mascot - after all, Matsudaira Sadanobu could yell at Inamori directly if he wanted to, but Inamori didn't even dare to fart.

After all, Inamori was originally promoted by Matsudaira Sadanobu. No matter how much courage he was given, he would never have the courage to confront Matsudaira Sadanobu.

Matsudaira Sadanobu's sudden voice immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the general camp.

Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was only wearing civilian clothes and no armor, put his hands on his legs, and then said slowly:

"Now that the war has reached this point, we must admit that those barbarians are far more capable than we imagined."

"It would not be a wise move to despise the barbarians because they are now exhausted and have fewer soldiers to fight with."

"Even if the Second Army, which has been unscathed so far, is dispatched, there is no guarantee that the city will be captured within one day tomorrow."

"Then..." At this time, a certain young general said in a cautious tone, "How about we slow down the time limit? Instead, we will capture the city within two days..."

"No way." Matsudaira Sadanobu said without hesitation, "We don't have that much time now."

Having said this, Matsudaira Sadanobu turned his head and looked at Inamori beside him.

"Inamori-kun, please tell me our current baggage situation."

"...Yes." Daomori nodded solemnly, "Everyone, our army's current baggage reserves are not enough to give us any margin to slowly attack this fortress."

"Lord Inamori, what happened to the baggage?" a certain general asked anxiously.

The army's baggage reserves - this is a top secret. Only Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu and a very few generals know the details.

Most of the generals did not know what the army's baggage reserves were.

"Our country has just emerged from the pain of 'famine at dawn'." Daomori said slowly, "There are not many grain and grass reserves across the country."

"So the food and grass that can be mobilized to support my 10,000-strong army in battle is extremely limited."

"I have obtained the current food and grass reserves of our army this afternoon."

"Excluding the food and fodder needed for the return journey, as well as the food and fodder that must be kept to prevent accidents, our army's current baggage is only enough for our army... to fight for another five days."

As soon as Inamori said this, everyone in the audience was shocked.

"Five days..." I don't know who it was, but it was someone who subconsciously groaned in astonishment.

"Originally, according to our expectations, we could capture the Red Moon Fortress in only 3 or 4 days. This baggage reserve is completely sufficient." Daomori added, "But we never expected that - this fortress

, much harder than we imagined.”

"So you all understand - we don't have enough time to take our time anymore."

The atmosphere in the camp became solemn at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At this time, Matsudaira Sadanobu said again abruptly:

"And—we can't forget Ogata Ittosai."

At this moment, not only the generals sitting in front of Matsudaira Sadanobu, but also Inamori, who was sitting next to Matsudaira Sadanobu, also cast a somewhat surprised look at Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"Don't tell me that you have forgotten: Ogata Ittosai had previously forcibly broken through our army's blockade of the Red Moon Fortress." Matsudaira Sadanobu glanced at everyone, "I still retain my original point of view - Ogata cannot be ruled out.

The possibility of Ittousai going to call for reinforcements."

"We have to prepare for the worst—assuming that Ogata Ittosai really goes to ask for reinforcements. And we have to capture the fortress before Ogata Ittosai comes with reinforcements."

After quietly listening to Matsudaira Sadanobu's speech, Inamori couldn't help but look at Matsudaira Sadanobu a few more times in astonishment.

He didn't know if it was his misunderstanding - he always felt that Matsudaira Sadanobu seemed to have a slightly unusual concern for Ogata.

As for Ogata Ittosai, Inamori, who was busy directing the battle, had forgotten about this person early in the morning.

Even if Ogata Ittousai really went to call for reinforcements as Matsudaira Sadanobu suspected, Inamori didn't care: he didn't think Ogata Ittousai could call in any reinforcements to defeat their 10,000-strong army.

But after all, it was impossible for Inamori to disgrace Lao Zhong in public, so as soon as Matsudaira Sadanobu finished speaking, Inamori immediately nodded in agreement and said:

"That's right. Lao Naka-sama is right, Ogata Ittosai must not be forgotten."

"In short - we have to do everything we can to end this battle as quickly as possible, which has taken us too much time."

After Inamori reported the status of their army's baggage reserves, the atmosphere in the camp was different from before.

The generals looked at each other and exchanged their opinions in low voices.

But before they could communicate with each other properly, Inamori's voice sounded again.

"As for how to capture the city within one day tomorrow - I actually already have an idea."

"The main reason why I summoned you here at this time is to announce the battle I have planned for tomorrow."

"tomorrow--"

When Daomori said this, he paused.
To be continued...