Chapter 1499: Capturing and Sacrificing Before the Winter Snow Arrives

Chapter 1499: Capture and sacrifice, before the winter snow comes...

"Praise the Lord God! The fleet has docked!..."

"Come on board, samurai, and bring down all the prisoners!..."

The fighting on the beach gradually disappeared, and the long snake fleet docked on the shore. Kazuto's sailors came ashore in fear, and the kingdom's samurai took control of the ship. After a carefully prepared roundup, it's time to harvest the prey to your heart's content.

"Tap...tap!"

"The chief has given an order for the cavalry to move sixty miles south along the river, keeping an eye on the river bank pass to the south!"

"Ouch!"

"Hunters are searching with dogs! Catch all the escaped bald heads and human warriors one by one!..."

"Yes! Blessed by the great gods!"

The bloody residual clouds dispersed into the cold sea, and the dark night enveloped the Ezo wilderness. The sound of galloping horses and barking dogs went from night to day, and the search by tribal hunters lasted for two full days.

"Da da da!..."

At noon on the third day, the Harman chief Ali returned with twenty Jurchen cavalry and seven or eight of the last monk captives. The traces of fighting and fire a few days ago have completely disappeared in the camp. Animal skin tents, large and small, were set up again. However, the dark red blood stains seeping into the grass roots and soil, as well as the graves piled up outside the camp, still hint at the cruelty and tragedy of that fight.

"String these newly captured prisoners together with ropes and tie them up! The ends of the ropes are tied to the branches, yes, just like the two hundred prisoners!..."

Under the big tree in the center of the camp, the bald and human prisoners squatted or sat in a nest. Ali counted a little and figured out two hundred, thirty or forty. At present, these captured monk soldiers have been stripped of their armor and weapons, and are strung together with hemp ropes, like a herd of captured deer. Looking carefully, the enthusiasm and ferocity on their faces have disappeared. All that was left was a face full of numbness, hunger and despair.

"Buddha...hometown...Buddhist temple of Tiantai Sect..."

Many monks and soldiers remained motionless, staring blankly at the former golden tree, as if they were looking at the vanished Buddha's light. The "golden talisman" on the treasure tree had disappeared and turned into a pile of gold trophies piled on the coast.

The general of the monk soldiers, Shibaboguan, who was in charge of the command, had now become a comatose and seriously injured person. Although Official Shibafang was successfully treated by the Shantao priests, whether he will live or die later still depends on God's arrangement. As for Master Juehui, who was illuminated by the Buddha's light, he surrendered directly to the Shantao tribe with his whole body intact. He even came forward in person, as the monk of the Tiantai Sect, to ask the monks and soldiers to "be obedient, not to disobey Shantao, and not to flee!"...

"Santa...Ezo...what will happen from now on?..."

At this moment, the more than two hundred captured Tiantai monk soldiers did not know their future destiny, and they also lost the courage to imagine the future. They went from fanatical belief to collapse in just a few days. Fortunately, the injured monk soldiers were carefully treated and bandaged by Shanta priests, and they even had thatched tents where they could drink hot water. Looking at this kind of treatment, it seems that the Shantao people are not going to kill them all directly? …

"Ha! These captives from the south are really intolerant! After only three days of starvation, they have become as stupid as a roe deer!"

"That's right! With such good equipment, he is quite brave in fighting! I didn't expect that I couldn't bear the hunger so much that I didn't run far at all during the search. It was in vain that we traveled sixty miles south to block..."

The female cavalrymen laughed loudly and pointed at the captured Kazuto. According to the tribal tradition of catching ding, these prisoners will be starved for three days, and then they will be fed and hung every day, as long as they do not starve to death. After this treatment, except for a few who were particularly strong, most of the prisoners did not even have the strength to stand up, let alone run away.

"The shaman said that after a while, he would carve talismans for them and convert them to the great spirit! I look at it, it should be almost done..."

"Blessed by the great gods! Xiongkuluaro, should these Dingkou be allocated to us as auxiliary Dingding in the war? Or should we form another team and arrange a separate leader?..."

"The Shaman Chief didn't say anything. You guys really have your own ideas! Let's go and hand in the gold talisman first and get the good equipment! When your boys grow up and put on this armor, they can also serve as the Shaman Chief. Keep fighting!…"

The leading female cavalryman was wearing iron armor, with a hummingbird carved on his forehead and a seaweed feather inserted into it. He is obviously the captain of this group of virgin cavalry, and is called "Male Kuruaro".

The so-called "Male Kulu" is "Haidongqing" in Tungus language, and it is also the name of the "Big Bird Tribe" that these female cavalrymen recognize. As for "Aro", it was "Shaman Chief" Zuvalo who took it from his own name and personally gave it to the name of the true cavalry captain who gave birth to a girl. The "Ezhen" arrow master in his mouth is several leaders of the kingdom, including warrior captain Tamicao, chief priest Luosanda, vanguard captain Ax Shan...

Yes! As one of the first batch of captives to be converted and join the kingdom, the male Kuruaro is known for his bravery and loyalty, second only to the bravest Hunuhu Pioneer. This group of Jurchen cavalry under his command has been accepted by the kingdom's warriors and has the best equipment and supplies. They are regarded as the "kingdom headquarters" as reliable as the mountain tarr hunters.

As the privileges of the warriors of the kingdom, they can receive military merit rewards, have their own equipment and private property, and are even allowed to have auxiliary soldiers. This kind of treatment was completely unimaginable when they were migrating and struggling in the forest...

"It's really blessed by the great gods! Such good equipment, when I was migrating in the woods in the north, I couldn't even think about it! Even the arrows are made of iron..."

"Yes! Under the leadership of the shaman chief, our Xiongkuru Bird tribe is becoming more and more prosperous! I really hope to recruit more forest tribes from the forest... Compared with these strange Japanese people in the south, the simple warriors in the forest are more likable..."

During the conversation, a dozen Jurchen cavalrymen had already galloped to the coast. They jumped off their horses and took out the shining golden charms from their arms without hesitation, asking the kingdom's priests to count them.

"May the Lord bless you! Over there, the reward equipment!"

The priests counted the golden charms and threw them into the pile of gold for recycling spoils, and then pointed to the monks' equipment piled up next to them. The Jurchen cavalrymen smiled instantly, went over to pick and choose, and took a few Japanese iron helmets, iron armor, and a few iron arrows according to the number of golden charms seized.

Although these armors are a little small, as long as they are brought back to the sacred Karafuto Port and modified by the craftsmen, they will be heirlooms. Of course, the most popular ones are the iron arrows made by He Ren. This tube of iron arrows, from the arrowhead to the arrow shaft, and then to the quiver for the arrows, are all of high quality. If you really want to make it yourself, I don’t know how much effort it will take!

"Lord God bless you! Go over! Hand over the golden talisman and exchange it for your own equipment! What are you still standing there for, go?..."

Herman Chief Ali raised his eyebrows and glared at the mature female cavalrymen who followed him. Several confidants from the Harman tribe hesitated for a long time before they dragged their feet to take out the golden talisman and walked towards the gold pile of spoils. Just looking at the reluctant look, it is really hard to say whether there is any private gold.

"Hey! Look at this useless look! It's just a little gold... a little gold..."

Herman Chief Ali sighed and dropped the seized gold. But seeing the pile of shining golden talismans in front of him, his heartbeat also accelerated and his eyes were blurred. After all, this is nearly a thousand kilograms of gold, a thousand kilograms!

If it can be transported to Kaiyuan, it will be 100,000 taels of silver! With so much silver in the Kaiyuan market, how many Ming border soldiers will be blinded, and how many good things can be bought? That is really... uh... a dead end! …

"Lord God bless you! How much of the 1,000 kilograms of gold hanging on the tree has been recovered now?"

"Priest Ali, there are 892 gold talismans at the moment. If there are no new captures, there are 108 gold talismans, which can't be found after the battle..."

"! 108 pieces are missing? So many?... Well, they may be scattered in the bushes or dropped into the river. It is also possible that some monks and soldiers escaped with the gold talismans. There is nothing we can do about it..."

Hearing this, Ali, the chieftain of Harman, was stunned and felt guilty. Among the various teams in the kingdom, who is most likely to hide the gold? It must not be the pious warriors of the kingdom, the simple Shan Tatar hunters, the brave Shengnu warriors, or even the simple sailors of the Ainu people, but the dozens of experienced Jurchen infantrymen of his Harman tribe...

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"Hey! What did the ancestor priest say? Do you want to search carefully?..."

"Oh! The chief priest said that as much as you can get back is as much as you can. Those who are willing to return it will get a reward of equipment, and those who are unwilling to return it can keep it for themselves. The kingdom values ​​warriors, as long as they fight well, these little golds will be gone, and they will be regarded as rewards for warriors..."

"Ah, praise the Lord God! The ancestor priest is so generous! Tsk tsk, as a shaman chief, you should have such a heroic demeanor!..."

Ali smiled and said a few words, then led the horse to find Zuwaro. He walked along the edge of the camp for a while and saw a long row of large ships parked in the harbor outside the camp. There were not only ten newly captured Japanese ships, but also six large ships that were towed ashore, which were dragged into the water again.

"Crack... crack... click..."

A dozen Japanese craftsmen were busy in the fleet on the coast, repairing the damaged Kingdom ships. They repaired the side of the ship that was shot by the crossbow, cleaned the smoke-smoked deck, and repaired the damaged rudder and some ship parts that Ali couldn't name. The larger number of Japanese sailors, under the supervision of the Kingdom warriors, helped the craftsmen. They seemed very obedient and accepted reality quickly.

"Ten, twenty, thirty... one hundred... two hundred..."

Ali squinted his eyes and counted on the ship. He counted more than two hundred Japanese sailors and more than one hundred Kingdom warriors. These sixteen large ships alone occupied most of the Kingdom warriors. The monks in the camp and the sailors on the ship, the number of captured Japanese people is nearly 500, almost equal to the total number of warriors dispatched by the kingdom. Should all these Japanese captives be brought back to Karafuto Port? And those Japanese craftsmen who were bought should also be brought back? …

"Lord God! These Japanese tribes are really numerous, even more than the Ainu! With so many of them, will there be a Japanese tribe among the various factions in the future of the kingdom's port?..."

Ali frowned and thought secretly for a while. The recognition of different tribal origins and non-my kind has always lingered in his heart. It is the Confucian imprint that the Ming Dynasty has passed on to the various tribes of the Jurchens for more than a hundred years. However, this kind of gap in identifying identity does not seem to exist in the kingdom, or it is not very obvious. The recognition of the unity of Jiao people, the belief in the Lord of Hummingbirds, and the generous rewards for warriors with military merits are the foundation of the kingdom's own identity.

"Ali! You're back!"

"Yes! Ancestor priest, I'm back!"

"Lord God bless you! You're here just in time! I have a mission that I need you to run, or cavalry is faster..."

In front of the campfire, Zuwaro smiled and stretched out his hand, throwing Ali a wine bag filled with tequila. Then, he patted Ali's shoulder, pointed to the northeast, and ordered.

"Go to the Beiyu Hanbin tribe, 80 miles away, and invite the chief and the headman, and come here on your horses..."

"Invite them to participate in the victory sacrifice after this battle! It will be scheduled in three days..."

"We must preside over the conversion ceremony of the captives as soon as possible, let them convert to the main god, and screen out the unreliable and devout monks..."

"Then, the fleet must set off quickly and return to the sacred Karafuto Port before the November freeze! The long winter is coming..."

Speaking of this, Zuwaro looked southeast, and the white snow-capped top of Mount Yotei also looked at him quietly, looking at the deep white seashore. The snowflakes of early winter seemed to be there and not there, floating in the open Ezo land. I don't know how cold this winter will be. But with the blessing of the Lord God, the little bear raised two years ago has grown up, and the Ainu people's Bear Spirit Festival is coming soon~~