I formed the strongest swordsman group

Gyeonggi, Nara, Nara Administrative Office, a certain room——

This room, provided by Yamaoka Keiyoshi and used as a "command room" for Qingto and others, was crowded with people.

Qingdeng's big horse was sitting on a small horse.

Behind him hung a flag with the character "Shengsheng" as the symbol of the Shinsengumi, and a flag with two lines of large characters as "Glory in death, disgrace in life".

In front of him, there was a long table.

A map of the Gyeonggi region is spread on the long table.

Toshizo Hijikata, Isamu Kondo, Keisuke Yamanan, Hachiro Kiyokawa, and the captains headed by Souji sat on the left and right sides of the long table in order according to their status and position.

Qingdeng lives in the north, the generals live in the east and west, and the door of the room is located on the south side.

If someone opens the door and walks in now, they will face the Shinsengumi's "all-star lineup" as if they were looking up at a mountain!

They are currently holding a military meeting to discuss the next actions of the troops and strategies for defeating the enemy.

There is no room for sloppiness or joking in a meeting of this level.

As a result, everyone present sat in solemn silence, holding their breath.

Even Souji and Harada Sanosuke, who were always smiling on weekdays, rarely had serious expressions on their faces at this time.

For this reason, there was a skin-tingling tension inside and outside the command room.

If an outsider comes here, they will definitely feel great pressure coming towards them!

Looking around, everyone was sitting, only Shannan Keisuke was standing.

He held a scroll in his hand and read out the latest rebel intelligence and frontline battle reports to the audience in a clear and loud voice.

"The thief chief Yoshimura Torataro persuaded Totsugawa's army of rural soldiers."

"It is reported that a total of 960 Totsukawa Goshi joined the rebels."

"As a result, the total strength of the rebels has expanded to more than a thousand people."

"In addition, people with lofty ideals from all over Yamato responded to the rebels' call and went to fight in a steady stream."

"As time goes by, more and more people will join the rebels."

"After integrating Totsugawa's country warriors, the rebels with greatly increased strength began to move eastward and rushed towards Takatori Castle with great force."

"If nothing else happens, early tomorrow morning, the rebels will be able to attack the city and capture the city."

After finishing speaking, Shannan Keisuke put away the scroll in his hand, turned to look at Qingden, and said "more than that".

Qingdeng gave him a "Thank you for your hard work" look.

Shannan Keisuke nodded slightly in response, then pulled the small horse behind him and sat down slowly.

As soon as he sat down on his front legs, Serizawa snorted coldly on his back legs:

"Isn't it the Totsugawa Roshi Corps?"

"What do you have to fear from a mere countryman?"

"Even if their strength increases five times, they are still no match for us!"

As soon as Serizawa Kamo finished speaking, Hijikata Toshizo, who was sitting not far from him, poured him a basin of cold water without hesitation:

"Don't underestimate the people of Totsu Township. They are by no means soft persimmons who can be manipulated by others."

"Not to mention anything else, their bravery and proficiency in fighting and their loyalty to the emperor cannot be underestimated."

Totsugo - located in the inland of the Kii Peninsula (south of the Yamato region), a mysterious place surrounded by nature.

The so-called "country scholar" is a type of warrior.

Samurai warriors during the Edo period usually lived in castle towns and were called "castle corporals".

In contrast, samurai who lived in the countryside were called "country warriors".

However, this is not the case for the villagers of Totsugo.

Although they are called "countryside scholars", the vast majority of them are just ordinary farmers.

The villagers of Totsugawa have made a living by hunting since ancient times, so they are good at bows and arrows. They also supported Emperor Tenmu during the Imshin Rebellion in 672.

According to local mythology, the villagers of Totsugawa once brought Emperor Jimmu to Yamato as the sacred bird Hachiku Crow.

When they go to distant places, they will wear samurai uniforms like samurai, with katana and wakizashi on their waists, which is full of style.

Logically speaking, if he is an ordinary citizen but imitates a samurai and wears a sword, he should be punished by the government.

However...the villagers of Totsugawa just have such privileges.

Since the Imshin Rebellion in the 7th century, the Totsu River has been a tax-free area for a long time because it has often cooperated with those in power to send troops, including the Heiji Rebellion in the 12th century, the Northern and Southern Dynasties era in the 14th century, and the Battle of Osaka in the 17th century. Semi-independent region.

Because it is located in a mountainous area with many mountains, it has been isolated from the outside world for a long time. It even has its own "Lingshiyin" flag, making it seem like a semi-independent vassal state!

Not only are they good at fighting and have numerous military exploits, but they also have a convenient location that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Neither the court nor the shogunate are willing to provoke them easily.

Therefore, the government has always adopted a negative attitude of turning a blind eye to their behavior of "pretending to be samurai".

Everyone in Totsugawa has a knife and a spear, and in an emergency everyone will join in a fight.

To put it simply, the villagers in this place are all a bunch of bloody fighting factions!

Over time, the villagers of Totsugawa became known as the "Totsugawa Country Soldiers Corps".

They were proud of their heroic deeds in fighting for the imperial court several times and respected the emperor.

In this way, it is not surprising that they would join forces with the Tenchu ​​team who had a slogan of "support the imperial court and annihilate the shogunate".

Hijikata Toshizo's retort made Serizawa Kamo change his face.

Although what the other party said is reasonable, but... who is Serizawa Kamo?

Hijikata Toshizo refuted him in public, how could he bear it?

He is the only one who refutes others, so no one else can refute his reasoning!

He leaned forward, supported his knees with his hands, and glared at Hijikata Toshizo viciously, like a tiger ready to pounce on its prey at any time.

"Ah? So what?"

He said.

"The so-called 'brave and good at fighting' you talk about is just that he is better at fighting than the average villager."

"A bunch of stupid people, how strong can their fighting power be?"

His ferocious and horrified look might make ordinary people tremble, but it would certainly not frighten Toshizo Hijikata.

Who is Hijikata Toshizo?

He is a dissolute "wicked boy of thorns"!

Faced with Serizawa Kamo's retaliation, he raised his upper body, raised his chin, crossed his arms over his chest, and stared back at the opponent without any sign of weakness, with a look of "What? Are you not convinced?"

"I'm just reminding you not to underestimate the enemy."

"If you are killed by a mere idiot because of your carelessness and underestimation of the enemy, then I will laugh in front of your grave."

When talking about the words "grass and wood fool" and "grave", Toshizo Hijikata emphasized his tone.

Hijikata Tobizo's tit-for-tat confrontation made Serizawa Kamo's face look even more ugly.

Just when he was about to have an attack, a male voice floated over softly:

"quiet."

Qingdeng continued expressionlessly:

"If you want to quarrel, go to a place where no one is around."

Serizawa Duck was suddenly startled.

He glanced at Qingdeng not far away with a complicated expression.

After a while, he smacked his lips vigorously, and then silently retracted his forward leaning body without saying a word.

Only Aonto could subdue the rebellious Serizawa Duck.

After calming Serizawa Duck, Aoto turned his head and looked at Kondo Isamu beside him.

"Yong, is there any news from the Takatori clan?"

Kondo Isamu shook his head gently.

"No news, just silence."

"However, I think no matter how slow and stupid they are, it is impossible not to know that a rebel army that is gaining momentum is attacking them."

At this time, the general manager suddenly interrupted:

"Tachibana-kun, can the Takatori clan stop the rebels?"

This time it’s Hachiro Qinghe who answers:

"It's hard to say... Takatori Domain is a small domain with only 25,000 koku in height."

"We need money but not money, we need soldiers but not soldiers, we need weapons but not weapons."

"There is nothing more to it than a fortified city towering into the sky."

"As far as I know, the military strength of Takatori Domain is extremely weak."

"There are only a handful of 200 vassal soldiers in the entire vassal who can be mobilized immediately."

200 people... When they heard this number, everyone present dropped their faces.

Everyone had no hope for Gao Qijun's overall quality.

With the army's lackluster combat effectiveness and the size of the army being far smaller than the rebels... No matter how you look at it, Takatori Fan is now in a desperate situation.

Toudo Heisuke pursed his lips slightly, thinking.

After a moment, he suggested to Qingdeng:

"Mr. Tachibana, in my opinion, Takatori Domain is in grave danger right now."

"If Gaotori City is captured, the consequences will be disastrous."

"How about... we send reinforcements to it immediately?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingden shook his head without thinking.

"No, we can't send reinforcements now."

"The vast majority of our soldiers are still on their way to Nara."

"At present, there are only a handful of 300 soldiers who have successfully arrived in Nara."

"With this small force alone, let alone the rescue mission, we might even lose the troops who went to the rescue."

"What's more important is that the baggage has not yet been fully arrived."

"It's too risky to rush into it hastily."

"Once you fail to win quickly, you will be in a dilemma."

"I don't fight uncertain battles."

"Now... we can only hope that the monarchs and ministers of the Takatori Domain can withstand the onslaught of the rebels."

"At least until we arrive."

I thought this battle was just to seal the imperial gate.

When fighting in the cities and towns of Kyoto, there is naturally no need to deploy supplies.

After expelling Changzhou from Kyoto, he returned directly to the camp for dinner.

As a result...the sudden rebellion fully explained what it means that plans cannot keep up with changes.

Yataro Iwasaki, who stayed in Kyoto, was working at full capacity to arrange the supplies.

Be prepared for war at any time - this is Aomori's only requirement for the Shinsengumi's material reserves.

Yataro Iwasaki and others have been stocking up on supplies based on Aoto's guiding ideology.

For this reason, the Shinsengumi's warehouses were always stocked with sufficient supplies of food and grass.

It was precisely thanks to Ayoto's precautions that even though the "Yamato Rebellion" came suddenly, the Shinsengumi's logistics system responded quickly and completed preparations for the march in a few days.

Since the position of "head" of the Finance Office is still vacant, Yataro Iwasaki is basically serving as the head of the Shinsengumi now.

Under the orderly arrangements of Yataro Iwasaki, the appraisers in the Finance Office worked hard.

[Note·Determination: Grassroots staff in the Finance Office]

Looking back at the previous Iga offensive and defensive battles, the Shinsengumi at that time only had about a hundred people, so the logistical pressure was not heavy.

Now, the Shinsengumi has grown into an army of three thousand people.

An army of this size requires an equally large transportation team to ensure its supplies.

The people responsible for transporting baggage for the Shinsengumi this time were all "temporary workers" recruited temporarily.

Yataro Iwasaki posted notices inside and outside Kyoto: Recruiting civilian men, vehicles and animal power!

The rich contribute money, the powerful contribute!

Anyone with enough energy will be rewarded with a reward of 1 tael for every time they send baggage to the front line!

People who lend vehicles and animal power will directly receive rental fees ranging from 2 taels to 10 taels of gold depending on their quality! If anything happens to the vehicle or animal power, we will directly compensate you according to the price!

The recent years have been very bad. Even in Kyoto, one of the "three capitals", life has become difficult for many people.

Poor people are not afraid of hard work or death, they are afraid of not having money!

The Shinsengumi announced such a generous offer, and naturally there were many applicants.

In the blink of an eye, a large-scale transportation team with an ever-increasing number of people took shape.

There are supplies, there are people transporting goods, everything is ready.

What happens next is easy to say.

Bags of rice, bales of hay, and bags of weapons were transported out of the warehouse in an orderly manner, lined up in long lines, and sent to Nara one after another.

In order to protect the supply line and prevent destruction by hostile forces - mainly to guard against Choshu who is still stationed in Kyoto - Seito sent the highly mobile 7th and 10th divisions, the cavalry, to escort the entire journey.

In addition, Yamaoka Kekyoshi, the Nara minister, also spared no effort to provide support.

He mobilized supplies within the city to supply the Shinsengumi.

Nara has a longer history than Kyoto and was called Heijo Kyo in ancient times.

Although it cannot be compared with Edo, Kyoto and Osaka, it is also one of the largest cities in Japan.

For this reason, Nara's material reserves are not lacking.

Regarding Yamaoka Keigong, Qingto is really more and more pleasing to the eye!

Since becoming the governor of Gyeonggi Province, Qingdeng has suffered from an increasingly serious "thirsty syndrome".

Zhenfu Mansion has a huge talent gap.

If we use a vivid metaphor... Qingdeng's Zhenfufu is like a cripple with one thick leg and one thin leg. The thick leg is a "strong general" and the thin leg is a "civilian".

Not to mention the fierce generals, Qingdeng himself is the most fierce one.

Looking at the entire Zhenfu Mansion, the only people with entrepreneurial and political talents are Shannan Keisuke, Toudo Heisuke and Sanako.

It is rare to find a civil servant like Yamaoka Keiki who is not afraid in the face of danger and unfazed by changes.

Qingdeng secretly made up his mind:

——I have to think of a way to poach Yamaoka Keiyoshi later!

The combat distance from Kyoto to Yamato is not long.

If measured by China's scale, such a short combat distance does not even leave the province!

Judging from the currently known intelligence, although the rebels are becoming more and more powerful, they are ultimately a mob.

After the two armies are connected, there is a high probability that it will not turn into a war of attrition, and it will not take long for the winner to be decided.

But... who told Qingdeng not to fight uncertain battles!

With Li Shimin as his teacher, he profoundly implemented the combat philosophy of "become invincible first and wait for the enemy to be victorious".

Even if this is just a short war that "starts suddenly and ends quickly", he must be fully prepared to deal with any sudden situation that may occur.

According to his planned plan... if he wanted him to officially lead his army south to quell the rebellion, he would have to at least raise enough baggage for the entire Shinsengumi army to fight for a month!

At this moment, an urgent cry suddenly came from outside the room:

"Nioh-sama! There is an urgent message from Higo-sama!"

Qingdeng immediately said loudly:

"Bring it in."

"yes!"

The messenger opened the door and stepped inside.

After seeing the oppressive meeting scene inside, his body suddenly shivered several times.

He swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, walked to Qingdeng's side in three steps at a time, and handed over a well-sealed letter.

Qingdeng took the letter and waved his hand, indicating that the messenger could leave.

After the messenger left, he opened the seal, took out the letter paper, spread it out, and read it quickly.

Immediately afterwards, his facial expression changed slightly.

About 10 seconds later, he put away the letter in his hand and said with a smile:

"...Everyone, let me tell you some good news."

"The blockade of the Imperial Palace by the Huisa Allied Forces was a complete success!"

"The Changzhou people and the ministers of the Zunbang faction were blocked from entering."

"The Emperor issued an edict to make it known to the world, revealing the wolfish ambitions of the Zunbang faction, and issued a triggering order, denounced the Tenchu ​​group as a rebel that caused chaos in Yamato, and asked all the princes of the world to attack them together!"

After listening to Qingdeng’s words, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly lifted!

Everyone looked at each other and saw excitement on each other's faces.

Anyone with a little bit of brains can understand that this series of political declarations by the emperor will be of great benefit to their subsequent counter-insurgency operations!

Qingdeng raised his head and chest, and continued:

"We have gained the right to destroy the Tenchu ​​Group!"

"How can we not win?"

"It won't be long before the rebels learn that the court they admire has dismissed them as rebels."

"By then, their military morale will definitely be shaken, and they will no longer have the vigor they have now."

"In other words, time is on our side!"

"The longer it goes on, the more uneasy and anxious they will feel."

"It won't be long before they collapse without a fight!"

Speaking of this, Qingdeng suddenly raised his voice.

"Everyone, listen up!"

When everyone present heard this, they knew that Qingdeng was about to give important instructions. They straightened their backs, looked at Qingdeng, and listened attentively.

"Next, we will spend the next five days gathering supplies."

"After 5 days, go south to attack the enemy!"

Qingden said this in a cadence.

Everyone present replied in unison:

"yes!"

…

…

Kyoto, Takashi Residence——

Sanjo Sanimi and others, who were unable to enter the imperial palace, were escorted by the Choshu Army and moved to Takashi's residence, which was closer to the imperial palace, to discuss strategies.

despair! despair! despair! despair! despair! despair! despair! despair! despair! despair!

A handsome man wearing a helmet and armor walked quickly down the corridor, making loud footsteps.

Take a closer look - it is none other than Gensui Kusaka who currently controls the actual power of the Choshu Domain.

After the disastrous defeat in the Shimonoseki War, Kusaka Genzui returned to Kyoto.

At this moment, Ying Si's residence was crowded with Changzhou soldiers who were either depressed, frightened or angry, like frightened birds.

Suddenly, a tall and thick man jumped out from the diagonal thorn, rushed to Kusaka Genrui, and grabbed his shoulders.

"Kusaka-kun, if this continues, we will..."

Before he finished speaking, he was rudely interrupted by Kusaka Genrui:

"I understand! So I'm trying to figure it out!"

After that, he pushed the strong man away and continued to move forward.

Within a moment, he came to the room where Sanjo Sanimi and others were.

"Sanjo-sama!"

He knelt down on one knee with a look of determination on his face.

"Please don't worry!"

"Although we have been defeated by the Huisa Alliance, we are not helpless!"

"Even if we are shattered to pieces, we will fight it out!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Sanjou Sanimi on the back waved his hands in a panic and said:

"No, no, no! Wait!"

"If you are an enemy of the Huisa Alliance, you are disobeying the order!"

"We will become traitors and enemies!"

After hearing this, Kusaka Xuanrui suddenly became anxious:

"Lord Sanjo! Having said that, as long as we defeat the Huisa Alliance and recapture the imperial palace, we will not be the ones to become the enemy, but them!"

"We will transform into heroes who defeat the traitors!"

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