Naturally, there was no need to mention how elite the Red Guards were. Kang Kamhara was well aware of this.
The Qin Army's tricks made the Red Guards lose 117 people without a battle. How humiliating was that?
"What should we do now?"
Kanbara Yasumasa asked Igai Naomasa's plan.
"First, clear the obstacles at the entrance of the mine and the traps in the mine. We have to resume mining no matter what. We have to mine as much as we can before the situation changes. Toyotomi may react soon. We have to speed up. As for the Qin Army …"
Ii Naomasa frowned. "If they had left everything behind, I would have been suspicious of their intentions. But they burned down their advantage, moved the population, blocked the way, and set up traps. I wonder if they thought they would never come back. That's why they decided to vent their anger at the last moment."
Kanbara Yasumasa said, "Are you suspecting that the Qin Army is really going to leave this time and won't come back?"
"Otherwise, why would they do it so ruthlessly? Isn't it strange? "
Igai Naomasa asked back.
Kanbara Yasumasa thought about it and agreed.
"That's right. If they want to come back, they won't do it so ruthlessly. That is to say, they really won't come back?"
Igai Naomasa said, "Let's explain this possibility to our master first and see what she thinks. Let's clean up what needs to be cleaned up and make preparations. As for the rest, I think we can totally wait for our master's orders."
Kanbara Yasumasa had no objection to this.
So, the two started to move. Kanbara Yasumasa led the soldiers to repair the defense, cut down trees to build the camp, and watch out for the possible attack of the Toyotomi clan. Meanwhile, Igai Naomasa led the soldiers and miners to carefully clean up the obstacles.
But after cleaning up, Igai Naomasa found that things weren't as simple as he thought. There were more than one trap. Some had two, some had three, and some even had more traps. But some didn't.
For example, in one of the mines, as soon as a stone blocking the door was removed, more than a dozen crossbow bolts instantly flew out and killed six miners in one go.
There was also a mine that did not have a trap at the entrance. After walking for a dozen meters, there was no trap either. However, when they went deeper into the cave, they triggered the crossbow trap. Three soldiers and five miners died inside, and the rest of the people ran out in a panic.
There was another mine that was even stranger. From the entrance to the depths of the mine, there was not a single mechanism. However, it took them an entire day to explore this tunnel. They had to be careful with every step they took, not daring to move forward.
And there are a lot of rats in the mine.
Many cats were released into the mine.
Some of the mines were even filled with snakes.
All in all, there were new surprises in every cave. Ii Naomasa almost had a nervous breakdown. He did not know what was in the next cave at all. The whole exploration team was so frightened that they would scream and scream at the slightest sign of trouble, as if they were grieving for their parents.
Obviously, this was the sinister intention of the Qin Army. Even if they obtained the silver mountain, they would not be able to mine it immediately. This feeling was too depressing.
In the end, Ii Naomasa had no choice but to get a horse from the army that could not be ridden. He rushed to the entrance of the cave and stabbed a sword into its butt. Then, it cursed and neighed as it ran madly inside. They used this method to solve the traps in the cave, and it was somewhat effective.
However, horses were too expensive, and he was reluctant to part with them. So, he had to ask people to find dogs or pigs, and have them solve the traps and die for the others.
On the other side, Yasumasa Kamihara's progress was not smooth either. Too many places were destroyed, and too many water sources and wells were polluted. His troops did not know where to get water, and they did not know if they would get sick from drinking dirty water.
Now, drinking water became a problem. Yasumasa Kamihara had no choice but to order a large number of troops to search for water in the Anyun Kingdom in the south. He stayed behind to lead the troops to build the fortifications.
Tokugawa Ieyasu had thought that he would be able to restore the silver mountain's production very soon. He wanted to obtain a large amount of silver mines and build the fortifications before the situation changed. However, after receiving Ii Naomasa's report, he realized that things were not so simple.
The Qin Army's calculations were far beyond his imagination.
He did not know how long it would take for the production to be restored. He had to urgently send reliable miners over to speed up the process. At the same time, the Qin Army's wanton destruction of the Ishimi Kingdom and pollution of water sources had severely limited the army's ability to survive.
Damn the Qin Army!
Tokugawa Ieyasu gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
As for Ii Naomasa's conjecture, Tokugawa Ieyasu began to lean towards it. Because his spies told him that after the Qin Army retreated, they divided into two groups. One group went to the direction of Zhejiang and Fujian, and the other group went to the direction of Tianjin and landed there.
However, the Qin Army's navy was too powerful and patrolled everywhere. He did not dare to get too close, or he would be discovered and then killed.
Tokugawa Ieyasu did not blame his spies. Instead, he further speculated about the Qin Army's purpose. After receiving Ii Naomasa's report, he found that the possibility was even higher.
He began to transfer part of the garrison troops to Zhou Fangguo, and secretly made his own calculations.
On the other side, after Toyotomi Hidetsugu got the complete information about the Qin Army's retreat, he could not hold back his temper. At the same time, he could not bear the demands of his generals. After discussing with Ishida Mitsunari, Ishida Mitsunari made a compromise.
So, Toyotomi Hidetsugu ordered that Asano Yukinaga was allowed to lead 20,000 troops to march to Bego, and he was always on guard against the changes in Ishijian and Anyun. If necessary, he could defend and counterattack, but without Toyotomi Hidetsugu's order, he could not take the initiative to attack.
Asano Yukinaga was very happy. After receiving the order, he gathered his troops and set off. On the way, he also learned about the Qin Army's retreat and the Tokugawa Army's occupation of Ishijian. He could not help but curse Ishida Mitsunari's weakness and worry too much. He ordered the army to speed up and head to Bego.
Obviously, the possibility of Asano Yukinaga obeying the order was not high. But Toyotomi Hidetsugu did not have a good way to restrain him. He could only prepare for the follow-up war.
Now that the possibility of the Qin Army's deceit was getting lower and lower, his desire to fight was getting higher and higher.
Ishida Mitsunari still remembered Maeda Toshiie's words before his death. He was very vigilant against the Qin Army, and suggested that Toyotomi Hidetsugu should have diplomacy with the Tokugawa Clan before the operation. It was better to act cautiously, in case of emergency.
Toyotomi Hidetsugu obviously felt that this was very unpleasant. Joining forces with an enemy who had a blood feud with him sounded ridiculous.
But Ishida Mitsunari repeatedly begged, so Toyotomi Hidetsugu simply sent Ishida Mitsunari as an envoy to have diplomacy with the Tokugawa Clan.
Ishida Mitsunari did not refuse. He knew that he was the only suitable candidate.
But he was still worried that he could not affect Toyotomi Hidetsugu when he was not in the central command. So he asked some civil servants who were on good terms to keep Toyotomi Hidetsugu calm when he was not there.
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