Alas, they were all on the same side, so it was hard for them to refuse the loan. Mainly because the hand-cranked telegraph machines worked only intermittently. More often, they were used by Kyushu Island's merchant caravans to communicate with one another, and only occasionally could they reach ships at sea. Their range was limited; if they wished to contact the mainland, they had to borrow the Imperial Court's large telegraph machine.
They helped each other out. Since Kuang Ping had personally asked, they could hardly refuse.
Thus, Kuang Ping set out with a state letter and a hand-cranked telegraph machine. Should anything happen, Omori village's large radio station could receive their message and relay it back to the Capital City.
Just as Kuang Ping and his party arrived in Heian-kyō, Pan Yu's vanguard recaptured three cities in Pyeongan Province. Ouchi Juichi discovered that the Ming Dynasty reinforcements had not only seen through his ruse, but had turned the tables on him. He had no choice but to redeploy—continuing northward to attack Kaesong while rebuilding the defense line Pan Yu had torn open and retaking the lost cities.
He was certain that Pan Yu's great army could not return to Kaesong in time. Personally leading his troops, he made a detour toward Kaesong, intending to encircle it.
Naturally, before the encirclement, every city standing in his way had to be crushed flat.
When he learned that the rōnin in several cities had been captured and even killed, rage surged into his head. Those men could have served as their eyes and internal agents, yet now they were all gone.
The defeats on the battlefield only stoked his fury further. During his pre-battle mobilization, he promised his soldiers that once they took a city—any city—the beauties and treasures within would be