Chapter 1301 The First Confrontation with Kazuto, Spear Tip to Spear Tip!

July is warm and bright in Ezo, and it is almost the best season of the year, with hope of greenery and vitality everywhere.

In the southernmost land of the Japanese, the winding canals slowly lead the cold mountain streams, and after being warmed by the sun, they are irrigated into the rice fields that have emerged. Rice is the staple food of the Japanese, and it is also the most cherished "rice god". Under the careful care of the Japanese farmers, the rice fields that have been hard-earned in the warm and narrow land in the southernmost island are the most important hope for all the Japanese. As long as they are not affected by the cold current from the south before the autumn harvest, they can achieve an "astonishing" yield of 130 to 150 kilograms per mu, almost three times that of millet fields!

"Buddha bless! This year must be warmer and rainier... If one mu of land can yield 150 kilograms, enough for one person to eat, it will be a real bumper year! We will definitely pay tribute to you..."

Yes, a yield of 130 to 150 kilograms per mu is the harvest of rice fields along the north and south coasts of the Tsugaru Strait. In Oshu, which is increasingly barren as it moves north, this is already an excellent number! Even in the fertile land of Omi along the shore of Lake Biwa, or the fertile land of Owari occupied by the Oda family, the yield of rice per mu per year is only more than 200 kilograms. The most planted crop in the entire country is millet, which is widely planted but thinly harvested, with an average yield of 50 to 60 kilograms per mu.

At present, in the southernmost part of Ezo, around the Japanese villages and houses, there are not many paddy fields, and most of them are dry millet fields. In this barren northern country, the yield of millet is very low, with only one plant, three harvests and four harvests per mu, and at most less than 50 kilograms. And this is still God's gift, without the climate being too cold, resulting in reduced production or no harvest...

Therefore, in the eyes of the powerful daimyo in Oshu, Ezo is really synonymous with poverty and barbarism! There are rebellions by the Ezo people from time to time, and after suppressing them, there is no oil to be scraped, and it is not even enough for the samurai to travel far and wide. Neither the Nanbu clan nor the Ando clan had much interest in the territory here, so they allowed the local Kakizaki clan to annex and control the Twelve Pavilions.

"Poor Ezo, even poorer Ezo people... It's cold and poor, even rice and corn can't grow there! Ezo people even eat weeds and unpalatable barnyard grass!..."

Continue northward from the Twelve Pavilions in the Wajin land, past the "Mount Fuji" in Ezo, and across the Shiribetsu River from east to west, you will reach the territory of the Ainu tribes.

The climate here is even colder, winter comes earlier, and rice is very easy to fail. The yield of corn is often reduced to planting one and harvesting two, and it often fails to recover the cost due to insect pests and bird damage. Before the introduction of cold-resistant crops from the New World, pure farming life could no longer support the tribes here. Therefore, all Ezo tribes hunted and fished while sowing some cold-resistant gathering plants, mainly "wild millet" and "barnyard grass".

Among them, the "barnyard grass" which is cold-resistant, flood-resistant and has a short growth period is the most important "staple food crop" for each tribe. This semi-domesticated wild crop is much more tenacious than fully domesticated grains. Of course, its yield is also terribly low, with only more than 20 kilograms per mu, all thanks to the protection of the guardian gods!

"Barnyard grass, Xifu Baile! It is the favorite tribute of the shamans, and it is also a gift from the forests and swamps to the Jurchen tribes! Without it, there would be no thousands of Jurchen tribes..."

At this moment, to the west of the same latitude, in the vast Outer Northeast, those numerous wild Jurchen tribes also planted barnyard grass! In this era, the Jurchen land of Outer Northeast was cold and humid, with frequent floods, and almost endless swamps and forests. The only crop that the Jurchen tribes could cultivate was "barnyard grass", which barely maintained a semi-nomadic and semi-agricultural life.

When the climate gets colder and colder, the Little Ice Age really arrives, and even barnyard grass can't grow, it's time for all the Jurchen tribes in the Outer Northeast to move south! From the end of the fifteenth century, waves of bitter and cold wild Jurchens began to migrate south, constantly triggering fighting and annexation among the Jurchen tribes. The loose Jurchen tribes gradually integrated, and the tribes gathered more and more, becoming stronger and hungrier...

In the end, these initial ripples will gather into an extremely powerful shock wave, surging southward, shocking the warmer Ming and Korea in the south! At this time, no one knows whether this original destiny of the times will be changed by anyone? In the future of cruel fighting, will there be a new direction that can survive to divert these bitter and cold Jurchen tribes? …

"Master Yoshihiro, this is the Ainu's 'field', a field planted with 'barnyard grass'! When these fields appear in large numbers, it proves that a large Ainu tribe is already in sight!..."

"Ah! The Ainu's chives and salmon are both delicious delicacies. But this weedy field full of barnyard grass is really speechless!... If the samurai are allowed to guard this place and eat barnyard grass as a meal every day, even the most loyal retainers will probably flee south!..."

"Yes! Master Yoshihiro. If you want to occupy these Ainu territories in the north, you must have enough surplus food, which must be continuously transported from the twelve pavilions in the south. And to maintain this occupation, you have to face the resistance of the Ainu tribes in the north and the guerrilla warfare of their tribes, which will inevitably cause huge losses... Therefore, this place is only suitable for collecting tribute regularly, and if you really want to occupy it, the price is something that our Kakizaki clan cannot afford!..."

Yoshihiro Kakizaki wore a domaru and rode a tall Jurchen horse, looking majestically ahead. Veteran general Shigeyasu Kudo rode a short Dewa horse, carrying a striking flag, and followed beside him. Around the two commanders were two hundred Kakizaki warriors lined up in a marching formation. Most of them carried two-meter-long spears, the poor wore wakizashi around their waists, and a few wealthy ones wore close-combat katana.

As for the ten precious cavalrymen, they all led their short war horses and walked behind the two commanders. Each of them had only one horse, and the horse's physical strength was very precious. Now riding for an extra quarter of an hour means feeding two more quarters of an hour of grass at night, and even consuming the beans that were not easy to transport, which was tiring and not cost-effective. Therefore, on weekdays, the cavalry still mainly walked.

Further out, there were three hundred Ishikari tribe warriors, who were in groups of dozens of people and were loose, serving as the eyes of the army and the scattered soldiers who entangled with the enemy. At the back, there were 100 men from the Uchiura tribe who were carrying food and responsible for logistics. Most of the Ainu tribes, whether Ishikari or Uchiura, were unarmored, and a few had simple leather armor. The weapons in their hands were mostly stone spears, stone hammers, and stone axes, with fewer iron spears and iron axes.

Of course, although the warriors of the Ishikari tribe were poorly equipped, their morale was very high. They had been hunting in the hunting grounds of the Kitayu clan for more than a month, and had almost hunted all the deer and rabbits. Similarly, they also plundered many loose small tribes of Kitayu, and even captured some women who did not have time to escape, and brought them back to the tribe for marriage. Therefore, even if they withdrew their troops and everyone returned to their tribes, they would have gained a lot and the trip was worthwhile!

"Master Yoshihiro, the area north of Mount Fuji in Ezo is bitterly cold. The territories of the four northern tribes of Ezo are all difficult for the main family to occupy. The only one that has the potential to develop rice fields, become a direct territory of the main family, and increase the main family's stone height is the Uchiura clan south of Mount Fuji in Ezo. This is also the focus of the main family's strategy! ... As for the four northern tribes of Kitayo, Ishikari, Nishihara, and Higashihara, the head of the family has repeatedly told me to let the Ezo clans fight each other... But they must not decide the winner, let the Ezo people integrate together, and a leading dog king emerge!..."

"Hmm? Kudo family elder, what do you mean? Beware of the Ishikari tribe becoming too big?..."

The old general Kudo Shigeyasu looked gloomy, looking at the excited Ishikari tribe warriors around him, like an experienced hunter, looking at the driven hunting dogs, no, the driven wolves. There was only three points of indifference in his eyes, and seven points of distrust, which were buried deep in his heart, from the time he landed on Ezo, until now.

"Yes! Young Master Yi Guang. We can't occupy the territory of the Kitayu clan, but the Ishikari clan can. They have eaten up half of the Kitayu clan and almost pushed the other side into the sea. They are already very powerful, and their strength ranks first among the four tribes. There are iron mines and coal for heating in their territory, which makes the head of the family very wary!... This time, they even wanted to ask the main family for iron smelting and ironworking craftsmen, but they were directly rejected by the head of the family!..."

"Young Master, when you inherit the position of head of the family, please be sure to beware of the Ishikari clan! The most The good result is that the main family can defeat the Kitayu clan this time and make them a vassal like the Uchiura clan. Then, bring the two Ezo clans to suppress and balance the Ishikari clan... In any case, there must not be a too powerful Ainu clan in this Ezo land that the main family is plotting! No matter whether they are allies with us or whether they look friendly... But in the final analysis, they are not of the same clan as us, and we absolutely cannot trust them in the end! ..."

The words of the veteran Kudo Shigeyasu expressed the voice of all the Ezo warriors. They regarded Ezo as the foundation of the clan and the Ainu as conquered aliens. They had no intention of integrating with the Ainu. All the superficial alliances were for long-term interests and for complete annexation and occupation.

It is precisely for this reason that the alliance between the Ishikari clan and the Kakizaki clan, seemingly a strong alliance, is actually a superficial unity, and sooner or later they will go their separate ways. The chieftains of the Ishikari tribes had tried many times to marry the direct line of the Kakizaki clan, but were rejected without a doubt by Takeda Nobuhiro. His heirs had already been arranged to marry important Japanese samurai families. These marriages can stabilize the retainers internally and attract strong support externally. As for marrying a woman from the Ezo tribe? What a joke, even the chief's daughter is not allowed! …

"Well! Elder Kudo, you are right!..."

Kakizaki Yoshihiro pondered for a moment and nodded on horseback. Not far away, the village of Kitayu Kanhama tribe appeared in the shadows, along with the northern coast. And when the "army" of 600 people approached, the shrill conch shells kept sounding, which was the warning signal of the Ainu people.

"Dingwu! Dingwu!... The brutal Japanese army appeared from the south!..."

"Quick! Mobilize the men in each village and inform the three chiefs!..."

"The three chiefs have spoken! The chiefs have given an order!... All archers and men, climb to the top of the village! And all the warriors of the Hanbin tribe, the Hanzawa tribe, and the armored Thousand Island warriors, lean against the village wall and line up at the entrance of the village!..."

"Blessed by the power of the guardian! We have a thousand warriors, an unprecedentedly powerful force, a guardian force sent down by the gods! We will definitely be able to defeat the Japanese and Ishikari armies and drive them out of the hunting grounds passed down by our ancestors!..."

The mobilization of the Beiyu clan was chaotic and noisy, and the expressions of hundreds of tribal warriors were also angry and fearful. Zuwaro looked at these Beiyu tribal allies with questionable combat power and ordinary morale, and shook his head secretly. Then, he raised the banner of the Lord God and shouted excitedly to the more than 100 kingdom and deer tribe warriors under his command.

"The Lord God's bloody eyes are watching us! He has been hungry for blood and sacrifice!... He protects us from the east thousands of miles away to this West Sea continent. And under His protection, we have been invincible and will surely defeat the enemy!..."

"The Lord God blesses us, the power of the ocean and thunder has descended from the sky! The thunder magic weapon He bestowed is with us!... All the Lord God's warriors! Go out and line up, raise your spears, and prepare to meet the enemy!..."

The deafening cheers rang out from the village of the Hanbin tribe, and the golden spears like a forest also poured out from the door of the village. Then, under the stunned gaze of the warriors and the uneasy retreat of the Ishikari clan, a group of tall and fierce armored warriors faced them head-on from hundreds of meters away, with their spears facing each other!

I was a bit busy yesterday, so the update was late. I will find time to update more on the weekend. Orz!