I formed the strongest swordsman group

The author made a small mistake in the last chapter.

"Huo Fu Zhi Tiger" is the captain of the fourth team Mizushima Ren Saburo, and Kanazawa is "Huo Fu Zhi Zong".

And Kanazawa's full name is "Kanazawa Chusuke", not "Kanazawa Katsuki", I confused his name with another character (Leopard Head Crying.jpg).

The author has revised the previous chapter, please be informed.

*****

*****

Strengthening reflexes... Qingdeng nodded slightly, very satisfied with his new talent.

It just makes up for Qingdeng's biggest shortcoming at present.

"Eagle Eye +1" greatly enhanced Qingdeng's eyesight, but this led to a new problem - sometimes, in the face of the enemy's attack, although the eyes kept up with the attack, the body did not.

Qingdeng has acquired many talents of all kinds, but the talent that enhances reflex nerves has not yet been replicated.

The reaction speed of the body does not match the eyesight... When fighting the man in black who is highly suspected to be Ogata Itsuki, Qingdeng has experienced this kind of "clearly seeing through the opponent's attack, but the body can't cooperate" The pain of the eye making an action".

Good luck, winning a big prize - this should be a very happy thing, but now Qingdeng has no time to savor the joy of this new powerful talent.

He and Tadashi Kanazawa exchanged glances, then turned around at the same time, and looked at the "Fire Dragon" who was walking towards them slowly with his hands behind his back, the captain of the first team: my grandson Chutaro.

I saw my grandson, who usually had a faint smile on his face, showed a rare serious expression at this moment.

"My grandson." Zhongsuke Kanazawa's mouth twitched slightly, "Didn't you already fall asleep?"

"It's true that I fell asleep, but I was woken up by the noise you made." My grandson sighed, "Aren't you tired of marching? You are still here when you don't sleep at night. Compete in martial arts."

After listening to Zhongsuke Kanazawa, he quickly defended himself: "We..."

His voice had just had time to start when my grandson interrupted him:

"No matter what your reasons are, it is neither appropriate nor desirable to waste your energy during the march. Tonight's martial arts competition will not be an example. Everyone, hurry up and go back to the hotel to sleep."

My grandson's tone was very calm, not high-pitched, nor yelling, but there was a strange coercion invisible, and the coach's aura was full.

It is rare to meet a martial arts master who is remarkable in both swordsmanship and actual combat experience. His body has just warmed up, and he is about to concentrate his body and mind and concentrate on a good fight. In the end, my grandson suddenly said something in the competition. stop.

This feeling of stopping... don't mention how uncomfortable it is.

Whether it was Qingdeng or Kanazawa Chusuke, they all had a depressed expression now - especially Qingdeng.

Because there is little communication between the various teams of Huofu Thief Kai on weekdays, so Qingdengben planned to take advantage of this great opportunity tonight to scoop up the talents of other teams.

However, Qingdeng and the others had to admit: my grandson was right.

They will continue to march tomorrow, and when they reach the front line, they will immediately start preparing for battle. The next series of military operations will be a great test for everyone's physical strength, and it is always right to reserve more physical strength.

--never mind.

Qingdeng thought to himself.

—Anyway, tonight has already gained something.

After thinking about it like this, Qing Deng took the initiative to put down the bamboo sword in his hand.

Seeing that Qingdeng took the lead in setting an example, Kanazawa Chusuke and other people stopped struggling and followed suit one after another. They put down their bamboo swords, bows and other things, and turned back to the hotel to sleep.

...

...

God for good.

From the start of the Crusade Army's departure from Edo, the weather was sunny and sunny throughout.

There was neither rainfall nor extreme weather such as sudden cold snaps.

Kai deserves its nickname of "mountain country".

Since entering the boundary of Kai, the surrounding scenery has undergone a very obvious change.

There are fewer plains and more mountains.

No matter which direction you look, there are endless mountains.

Mountains connect mountains, mountains hug mountains...

While looking at the layers of Kai mountains in the distance, Qingdeng suddenly realized that this seemed to be the first time he had left Edo so far since crossing.

After spending four days and three nights, the crusade army finally arrived at the forefront of the battle: a mountain village named "Daohe Village" on a bright afternoon.

Looking up, there is a forest at the end of the country road under your feet, and the forest stretches to the ridge. There are several smoke rising from the back of the ridge—that is the location of Daohe Village.

Over the ridge. In an instant, gusts of scorched wind rushed towards Qingdeng.

Before formally entering the village, Qingdeng already found scene after scene of unbearable tragedy on the outskirts of the village.

On the other side of the open land not far away, there was probably a farmland full of rice not long ago, but now it has been trampled beyond recognition by countless human feet.

The densely packed footprints are like seals, layered and criss-crossed, engraved on the muddy ground of the rice field.

Withered ears of rice, scattered rice seeds, broken agricultural tools, and all kinds of broken things that can no longer be discerned what they were originally, were scattered and scattered everywhere.

There are also many people among them, running back and forth in this "broken" rice field.

There are men and women, old and young—they must be the villagers of Daohe Village.

I saw villagers in Daohe Village either carrying shovels, hoes and other tools to rearrange the messy land; ; or doing nothing in a corner of the paddy field, staring blankly at the paddy field that has lost its former glory, speechless and choking.

Ga! Ga! Ga!

At this time, several crows suddenly passed and circled above the rice field.

Their piercing calls add a heavy desolation to the rice fields that have been ruined beyond recognition.

Seeing this, Qingdeng couldn't help secretly feeling emotional.

As one of the top military officers in this battle, he had already learned a lot of information about this Daohe village.

Daohe, Daohe... Dao Sui Feng He, what a beautiful name it implies—however, the villagers living in this village have been living a miserable life that would be worse than death.

The target of Qingdeng and others' western expedition this time is a group of bandits entrenched on Mount Xiangma.

Xiangma Mountain: Although it is named "mountain", it is actually just a small peak with an altitude of less than 150 meters. Although the living conditions are very bad, but because of the dangerous terrain, it is a natural fortress that is easy to defend but difficult to attack.

The gang of thieves who occupied Xiangma Mountain as their base called themselves "Xianmazhong" and were very powerful.

According to a conservative estimate, there are at least 200 bandits among the Soma Congregation, and many of them were samurai who had to become bandits because they couldn't survive.

Inaohe Village is located at the foot of Soma Mountain, so it is often bullied by Soma people—it is precisely because Inowa Village is very close to Soma people that Huofu Thief Gai chose the village as the host for this time. The forefront of the war.

According to Qingdeng's knowledge, Xiangma people would go down the mountain every now and then to demand "tribute" from the villagers of Daohe Village.

"Tribute" items include but are not limited to: food, wine, clothes, women...

The soma crowd is so powerful that with a wave of their hands, the entire village of Inawa Village can be physically disappeared.

In order not to end up in the tragic situation of "people die and the village is destroyed", the villagers of Daohe Village can only bear with it and bear the humiliation.

If the grain harvest is good and the situation is good, the villagers will still have a little bit of leftovers to make ends meet after paying tribute to the Xiangma people.

But if the crops fail and the situation is bad...

It just so happens that this year is a year of drought with unsatisfactory grain production.

This year, due to various reasons, the food harvest has been severe, and a large number of crops have broken out in various parts of Japan.

For a while, people panicked.

It took a lot of effort for the shogunate and the vassal states to finally suppress all Yikui.

一揆: Literally interpreted as "unity", it was extended to revolt for unity in ancient Japan. The vernacular is the people's upheaval, the people's chaos.

In ancient Japan, all actions against the rule of the lord were collectively referred to as "Ichikui".

I don't know who it is, who once made up a lame "Ten bandits are not to be snatched, seven are not to be snatched, and five are not to be allowed", such as not to snatch a wedding car or funeral car, not to snatch a girl to send a daughter-in-law, and what poor people No snatching... utter nonsense!

Throughout the ages, no matter which country or region, the crimes committed by the bandits who occupy the mountains as kings are too numerous to describe.

Some fools who don't know how to grow their brains even imagine that the bandits are a bunch of heroic and reckless heroes, and imagine themselves as other people's women in the village or something.

Don't grab ten shits, don't grab seven! The weaker you are, the more bandits will catch you and bully you!

There is a way to count on bandits to steal... The so-called wishful thinking is nothing more than that.

The actions of the Xiangma people have profoundly explained why so many people have hated bandits from ancient times to the present.

This year's situation is not good, and the life of the villagers in Daohe Village is already very difficult, but the Xiangma people still strongly demand that the villagers "pay tribute" on time and according to the number, not less than a grain of rice.

They even directly threatened with harsh words: Either give money or food, or give your heads!

The snow and frost bullying of the Xiangma crowd has long caused the villagers to simmer with anger.

This gang of hateful bandits is really too aggressive this time! This kind of behavior of forcing people to a dead end directly ignited the anger buried in the villagers for a long time!

The villagers took up hoes, shovels and other things that could be used as weapons, and launched an angry counterattack against the soma...and immediately suffered extremely severe revenge.

The Soma crowd, who had an absolute advantage in numbers, weapons, and combat effectiveness, easily defeated the simple armed forces formed by the villagers.

A large number of people were killed.

More than half of the houses were burned to coke.

The rice fields were trampled into a muddy mess.

The bandits snatched away all the young girls and the last remaining property in the village in one go.

The millet hidden in the cellar; the pickled radish placed on the beam of the house; the old cow that was supposed to "care for the rest of the world"...

A group of gangsters from Xiangmazhong took the screaming women with them, and returned home with a full load, laughing triumphantly.

This is the origin of what Qingdeng saw engraved...

Seeing the army of the shogunate coming, the villagers cleaning up the rice fields stopped their work one after another.

The crusading army happened to pass through the field ridge between the two rice fields.

The ridges are relatively high, so the villagers in the rice fields have to straighten their backs and raise their faces to see the faces of the soldiers clearly.

Sensing that many people were looking at his Qingdeng, he tilted his head and looked to his left side—coincidentally meeting the eyes of a little girl who should be under 8 years old.

I saw that almost no piece of flesh on this little girl was clean, either there was a piece of mud here, or there was a piece of dirt there. From head to toe, only a pair of black eyes are bright -- what a pity, this pair of very beautiful eyes is shining with half joy and half worry at this moment.

Qingdeng glanced around and found that all the villagers in Daohe Village looked the same without exception—they were covered in dirt, the clothes on their bodies were so filthy that they couldn't see the original color clearly, and their faces were covered with dirt that had been exposed to wind and rain for many years. Hitting the ravine with a dull expression, the eyes looking at Qingdeng and the others revealed complex emotions mixed with "joy" and "sorrow".

After meeting Qing Deng's eyes, some people's expressions immediately changed drastically, revealing an expression of fear, and hastily lowered their heads, not daring to even look at Qing Deng again.

In this closed age when information exchange was underdeveloped, for farmers in such small mountain villages, the samurai in the city... especially the samurai in Edo were basically no different from aliens from alien planets.

"Aliens" are coming... The villagers feel nervous and terrified about it, which is perfectly normal.

After crossing the rugged field ridges, Qingdeng soon saw the dirty road full of dust and excrement, low thatched huts, and charred ruins burned by the fire...

Looking up, a gray color...

It was as if a thick dark cloud had enveloped the village.

There is a river running across the center of the village, shining in the sunlight—this is the only bright color in Daohe Village nowadays.

The river connects the rice fields in the south with the mountains in the north, and divides Daohe Village into two halves, east and west. The “East Half Village” and the “West Half Village” are only connected by a few simple wooden bridges.

The villagers drooped their heads and shoulders, their faces were flat, and they acted like walking corpses. Their bodies exuded the same smell as the mud they stepped on: wet, muddy, dirty, weak... The river was also affected Affected by their temperament, they appear cold and chilly.

There are no lively streets and alleys that Qingdeng is familiar with here.

There is no scene of prosperity that Qing Deng is familiar with here.

This place and Edo... are like two worlds.

What I see right now is "real"...Qingdeng thought to himself.

Poverty, dirty, backward, often oppressed by bandits, ronin and other evil forces - this is the truest appearance of Japan in this era

The prosperous Edo is just a special case among special cases in this country.

At this time, a sudden gust of autumn wind swept across the distant mountains and forests. The weeds all over the village were neatly bent. A mass of astonishing stench mixed with the stench of feces, human sweat, and burnt ruins spread out under the influence of this autumn wind, reminding Qingdeng and all travelers passing through this place—this is an ancient city. A desolate place that has experienced countless bleak winds and rains, and experienced changes in the world.

...

...

That night--

My grandson gathered a group of generals and held a military meeting to discuss the next step in the house of the head of Daohe Village.

"The base of the Soma Clan is located at the highest point of Mount Soma."

Because there were no cushions in the village chief's house, the generals could only sit on the floor casually. With my grandson as the center, form an oval circle. On the floor in the center of the circle was a simple map drawn in charcoal.

"Although the terrain of Mt. Soma is not high, the terrain is very complicated. There are many valleys and rocks, and there are difficult-to-climb mountain walls or undeveloped virgin forests everywhere."

In Daohe Village, which is too poor to eat and drink, it is impossible to have such a luxury as candles. The only thing the villagers can provide for Qingdeng and others is some poor lighting effect.

Fortunately, the crusading army had prepared some candles themselves, so that they would not be caught in the dilemma of having a meeting in the dark.

In order for the generals to see the map more clearly, when my grandson was explaining to the map, he pointed to the lines drawn on the map with one hand, and held the candle in the other hand. Synchronized movement.

"If you want to go to the base of the Soma people, you can only go through a mountain road adjacent to Inawa Village."

As soon as my grandson finished speaking, Mizushima Rensaburo beside him immediately frowned.

"Is there no other way to climb the mountain?"

"Not anymore. I have consulted the villagers of Daowa Village who have lived here for generations. If you want to climb the mountain, this is the only way you can go."

While answering, my grandson stretched out his right index finger and poked a thick long black line drawn on the map.

In an instant, the atmosphere around the group of generals became slightly better.

There is only one way to climb the mountain... which means that when they launch an offensive against the base of Somazhong, they are not left with many attack options.

"Ha..." Nobuyoshi Kazama, the captain of the Eighth Division, smiled wryly, "It's really an excellent fortress..."

"The gangsters have been operating on Mount Soma for many years."

My grandson then continued.

"Not only did they build their camp to be impregnable, but they also set up two barriers on this only mountain climbing road. If they want to storm the base of the Soma people, they must first try to remove the two barriers. "

After speaking, my grandson raised his head.

"Do you have anything to ask, or anything to add?"

The group will look at each other.

The situation is clear—the number and equipment of the crusading army are superior to those of Soma. But the opposite side occupies the advantage of guarding the mountain.

"Tsk..." Zhongsuke Kanazawa folded his arms around his chest and murmured softly, "This battle is not easy to fight..."

"Master Samurai!"

At this time, an old man sitting in a corner of the room knelt down on the ground with a "plop", and while bowing to Qingdeng and the others, he said in a crying voice:

"You must eradicate those gangsters who killed thousands of knives!"

This old man is the head of Inawa Village: Togoro.

He may have felt flustered when he saw Qingdeng and the others looking serious, thinking that the crusading army would retreat or something.

Togoro's accent was very strong, and it took Qingdeng and others a lot of effort to understand what he was saying.

"Mr. Fujigoro." My grandson smiled slightly, "Don't worry. Since we've come, we don't plan to go back empty-handed. If we don't bring the heads of the gangsters back to Edo, we won't be able to do business with the superiors."

Hearing my grandson say that, Togoro immediately looked relieved and elated.

"Although the Somas are not easy to deal with, there is no need to be too afraid of them." My grandson said, "Next, I plan to organize scouts to scout the terrain of Mount Soma, and at the same time send people to contact the Somas. Try to persuade them to surrender."

"At the same time, actively prepare your troops for war. Once the negotiations break down...you will fight them to the death in the mountains and forests!"

"Do you have anything to add?"

Scouting the terrain, trying to persuade them to surrender, and actively preparing for battle, the three are carried out at the same time... Now, there is no better battle plan than this.

The generals looked at me and I at you, and then nodded vigorously.

...

...

In the next few days, the solemn atmosphere of the imminent war hung over Inahe Village.

Although the villagers of Daohe Village have firmly assured the crusade army that there is no other way to enter the mountain. But just to be on the safe side, my grandson still sent a large number of people to scout the topography of Mount Soma and whether there are other mountain paths that can be used.

During this period, my grandson sent several eloquent men with good eloquence to contact and communicate with the bandits on the mountain.

The leader of the Soma Clan is named Yokokura Keinosuke.

From the name, it is known that he is a ronin who has to become a bandit because of his poor life.

Facing the arrival of the crusading army, Xiangmazhong put on a posture of defending the mountain.

In the camp built on the top of the mountain, and the two checkpoints set up on the mountain road, the sound of soldiers and horses being drilled can be heard every day.

Every night, the torches are shaken, and the figures of countless bandits are shaking back and forth on the watchtower and sentry post.

It's just that - Yokokura Keinosuke's next performance showed that his current mentality was not so calm and would rather die than surrender.

On the surface, he put on a tough attitude of "we will fight to the end, and attack if you have the courage", but when the envoy sent by my grandson went up the mountain under the banner of "negotiation", Yokokura Keinosuke immediately opened the door. Greeting the arrival of the envoys, the attitude is extremely warm.

It can be seen that Yokokura Keinosuke has obviously heard of the great reputation of Huofu Bandit Kai, and he is not willing to go head-to-head with the outstanding military exploits Huofu Bandit Kai.

In the past few days, Yokokura Keinosuke actively exchanged views with the envoys. He boldly patted his chest and said: As long as you agree to the conditions I set out, I will immediately instruct my subordinates to put down their weapons!

It would be the best if all the horsemen could voluntarily surrender.

However... Yokokura Keinosuke's request for surrender is really ridiculous. I don't know whether to say that he is overconfident, or that he has no self-knowledge.

To put it simply, he wanted to be Song Jiang of Liangshanbo—he asked the Edo shogunate to recruit him and his subordinates as formal warriors.

Everyone, including Qingdeng, rejoiced when they received the surrender condition proposed by Yokokura Keinosuke.

The society under the rule of the Edo shogunate paid the most attention to hierarchy, dignity, and blood relationship.

You are a bandit, and you still want to be recruited as a formal warrior? Are you kidding me?

Without even thinking about it, my grandson directly refused.

There is only one surrender condition acceptable to the crusading army: all bandits lay down their arms, surrender unconditionally, and strive for leniency—Keinosuke Yokokura expressed that he could not accept this.

The messengers said: After Yokokura Keinosuke learned that the crusading army did not accept all demands other than "unconditional surrender", his entire face turned a strange dark red, his eyes were wide open, and his nostrils were wide open.

"You want us to surrender unconditionally? There is no way! I have more than 200 brothers under my command! All of them are good fighters! We need people! We need weapons and we have weapons! There is also Mount Soma as a barrier! The power of a battle! Why should I surrender unconditionally? Either accept my conditions! Or let the horse come! Let’s see if the iron cannons and bows and arrows modified by you Huofu thieves are sharper, or the blades and guns of our Xiangma people The blade is sharper!"

The opinions of the two parties were still unable to agree, and the negotiation broke down completely.

Now that the peace talks are hopeless...then the next thing to do is to fight to the death!

...

...

In the first year of Wanyan (1860), on November 24th, in the morning——

The clouds at dawn, like a rose-red flame, burn extremely brightly.

The red clouds in the sky in the east are as gorgeous as flowers. Clouds of white clouds are scattered among them, as if they are "officials" who are welcoming the sun.

"ha……"

The cold wind of late autumn passed by the side of Qingdeng who was fully armed, condensing his breath into a translucent white mist.

In order to keep the hand holding the knife from freezing, Qing Deng frequently stretched his palms to his lips, and sighed warm air to the palms and the back of his hands.

At this time, the sun showed its face from behind a dark mountain in the east.

The warmth of the morning sun dispelled the coolness of the night, and immediately brought a sense of refreshing to the surrounding air.

In the glow scattered by the rising sun, the clouds were engulfed into one piece after another.

Under the morning light, the mist in the mountains and fields turns into billowing silver waves.

The swords, guns, armor, iron cannons, bows and arrows of all the generals of the Crusade Army were shining brightly under the red clouds.

The morning light gradually expanded, and the silver waves composed of mountain mist quickly disappeared into the deepest part of the mountain and disappeared into the distance.

The sky gradually became brighter, and after the last bit of black veil covering the sky was removed, the murderous military formation was completely revealed.

The crusading army lined up in a neat square at the foot of Mount Soma, and their eyes were all focused on a wooden checkpoint on the mountain ahead.

The autumn wind is coming, and Lin Tao is blowing. The first checkpoint set by the soma crowd on the mountain road constantly changes shadows of different shades in the wind and light.

Countless figures of different heights can be seen from a distance, standing firmly on the checkpoint, ready to fight.

Chusuke Kanazawa, holding the knife at his waist, walked up to my grandson and said, "The second team is in place."

"Fan 4 is in place." Ren Saburo Mizushima said lightly.

"The eighth and eighth teams are in place." Nobuyoshi Kazama swallowed forcefully.

"The third team is in place." Qingdeng looked calm.

My grandson nodded slightly.

"Then... let's begin!"

He waved his hand vigorously to the one beside him who was holding a huge conch.

Woo--! Woo--! Woo--! Woo--!

The thick and loud sound of the horn resounded through the sky!

"Everyone! Follow me!"

Kanazawa Chusuke drew his sword in his hand, and rushed straight ahead!

Immediately afterwards, the second team, the third team...all the generals rushed towards the mountain road ahead like raging waves! Pounce on the level of the Soma crowd!

In an instant, the noisy shouting and killing became the only sound that dominated this world!

Zhongsuke Kanazawa: "Raise the gun!"

The soldiers rushing to the front stopped immediately, and with the sound of "click" and "click" iron objects collided, a matchlock gun with a metallic luster shining from the muzzle was raised horizontally.

Chusuke Kanazawa: "Shoot!"

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom……

The thick smoke from the gunpowder flooded the crusade army's gun array.

The roaring barrage flooded the checkpoints of the soma crowd.

The soldiers of the Crusade Army did not fire at the same time, but divided into three rows to fire in turn: when the first row fired, the second row was ready, and the third row was loaded with gunpowder and projectiles; Launching, three columns make up the position of the second column, so that the progressive firing cycle repeats to ensure that the barrage is endless-it is the classic musket tactic: three-stage strike!

Almost at the same time as the arquebus began to roar, the bowstring also began to clang.

"Zhang Gong!" Qing Deng raised the Ding Guishen in his hand high.

Squeak——The soldiers of the third and eighth teams held their bows like a full moon, and their arrows pointed obliquely at the sky.

"Let go!" Qingdeng swung down the Ding Guishen that was held high.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom...

A black swarm of locusts surged up from the rear of the crusading army, and swooped towards the checkpoint of the Soma crowd in an instant!

***********

***********

This chapter is a long-lost chapter of nearly 8,000 words. It is really unreasonable not to vote for the monthly ticket!

Ask for a monthly pass! Ask for a recommendation ticket! (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)