I formed the strongest swordsman group

"No, no! Absolutely not!"

Shannan Keisuke shouted.

"Junior Orange, what kind of battle plan is this?"

"Gaotori City is no better than Qingshui Residence, it is a genuine city!"

"The battlefield is changing rapidly."

"Let alone a city with a more complex environment."

"I don't doubt your strength."

"But... if you break into Gaotori Castle alone, no matter what kind of accident you encounter, it won't be surprising."

"Mr. Ju, you are no longer the same as before. You can no longer do whatever you want with your bravery like before."

"Let me put it more bluntly...your life is very valuable now!"

"More valuable than us here and every member of the Shinsengumi team."

"If something happens to you, what should we do? What should we do if we call the Shinsengumi?"

Shannan Keisuke's words won the approval of many people present.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Toudo Heisuke and others all echoed in support of Shannan Keisuke and advised Aonto to think twice.

However, the strange thing is that the three people closest to Aoto - Sanako, Mai Kinoshita and Souji - remained silent and did not urge Aoto not to take risks like the others.

Qingdeng sat down peacefully and listened silently.

After everyone had finished speaking, he said calmly:

"Keisuke, I understand everything you said."

"But--"

As expected, his conversation suddenly changed.

"If my battle plan can be realized, it will minimize the casualty rate of our army, won't it?"

Shannan Jingzhu listened and said anxiously:

"That's true, but..."

Before he finished speaking, Qingdeng interrupted him and said:

"Okay, you don't need to say more."

"Just do as I say!"

"Tonight at 9 o'clock in the evening (12 o'clock in the evening), Kinoshita Mai and I will look for a weak spot in the wall between Sannomaru and Kunimilu."

"The troops are waiting at the foot of the mountain."

"Ah Wu Dan will open the gates in the northern part of the city for everyone."

"Take fire as a sign."

"Once the fire is seen, all troops must move forward with indomitable momentum and launch a general attack on Gaotori Castle without risking their own lives!"

"That's it, let's break up the meeting!"

Everyone present, look at me, I look at you...

Although Shannan Keisuke, Nagakura Shinpachi and others still looked like they had something to say, Aomori had already given the order to "dismiss the meeting", so they had no choice but to comply.

They stood up in twos and threes and filed out.

As soon as the front foot came out of the formation, Shannan Keisuke, the back foot, could not help but mutter to himself:

"Sure enough, it still doesn't work!"

"We still need to persuade Mr. Tachibana!"

"Anyway, he is now the general of the Shinsengumi."

"His personal safety is closely related to the Shinsengumi... no, to the entire Gyeonggi Province!"

"How can he be an ashiya like an ashigaru again?"

After saying that, Shannan Keisuke stopped and turned back, trying to return to the main formation.

However, he had just taken a few steps when he was stopped by Hijikata Toshizo on the side:

"Okay, Shannan, there's no need to persuade him, you can't persuade him."

Shannan Keisuke turned his head and cast a puzzled look at Hijikata Toshizo.

Hijikata Tossan continued the words quietly:

"You're right. Based on Tachibana's current status, he really needs to act cautiously and shouldn't act recklessly."

"But... before he became the governor of Gyeonggi Province and the general of the Shinsengumi, he was first a 'swordsman'."

Having said this, Hijikata Toshizo raised his hand and gently touched the sword on his waist.

"In my opinion...the reason why Tachibana drew up such a battle plan, such as 'reducing the casualties of the troops' and 'quick victory', are all secondary reasons."

"He just simply wants to fight!"

…

…

As the military order to "prepare to attack the city" was issued, each team deployed intensively.

It was just evening, and the various units of the Shinsengumi had already completed preparations for the siege.

There are 8 gates in Kotori Castle, which are -

The Tsubasakaguchi Gate directly to the west.

The black gate to the north.

Okaguchi Gate in the northeast.

To the east are Yabamon, Matsunomon, Udamon, Chihayamon and Naodamon.

As for the main attack on the north, Kinoshita Mai's goal is to open the black gate to the north.

Therefore, the main force of the Shinsengumi was deployed to the north.

The 1st, 3rd, and 6th Divisions are responsible for attacking the Black Gate due north.

The second and fourth divisions were responsible for attacking the Okaguchi Gate in the northeast.

The fifth and eighth divisions were responsible for attacking the Husakaguchi Gate in the west.

Although there are many gates in the east, including five gates, because this area is adjacent to dense woods and the terrain is rugged, it is difficult to deploy troops, so it is not used as an attack direction, and only seven or ten troops who are not involved in the siege are deployed. The squadron conducts surveillance.

Kinoshita Mai will open the black gate to the north for the whole army from the inside.

The 1st, 3rd, and 6th squadrons took this opportunity to attack the city in one go, and successively opened the Okaguchi Gate in the northeast and the Tsubosakaguchi Gate in the west, paving the way for the rest of the troops.

During this period, Qingto will continue to attack Honmaru, disrupting the enemy's deployment and attracting the enemy's attention.

At this moment, everything is ready, all we need is the east wind.

The entire Shinsengumi army is ready to go.

Now...all that's left is for Aoto and Mai Kinoshita to infiltrate!

…

…

That night--

Gaotori Castle, somewhere in the northeast——

The night wind blows, and Lin Tao bursts.

The sky was covered with clouds and was as dark as thick ink. Only a crack in the clouds in the northern sky revealed the bright first quarter moon, shedding a little light.

Qingden tightened the sleeves of the light green haori with sleeve belts.

Although he was wearing a full set of equipment such as chain mail, arm armor, and leg armor, this weight was nothing to Qing Deng whose physical strength was far superior to ordinary people.

Even if he is wearing heavy armor and equipment, he can still run through the mountains and forests like flying.

As for Kinoshita Mai next to him, he does not have such abnormal physical fitness.

Therefore, her equipment is kept as lightweight as possible.

In order to facilitate movement, she directly put on the classic skin - a black ninja uniform, with only a pair of beautiful eyes exposed.

Because it had been a long time since he had seen Kinoshita Mai's outfit, Qingto couldn't help but feel strange.

The ruggedness of this mountain range cannot be underestimated.

The angle of the cliffs in several places is approaching 90 degrees.

Even Qingdeng and Kinoshita Mai, who had extraordinary physical skills, had to hold their breath and concentrate, not daring to relax.

Finally... after climbing over a cliff, the terrain became a little smoother, and I was able to walk on two legs without having to climb up and down.

Thanks to this, Qingto finally had the opportunity to talk to Kinoshita Mai:

"...What a surprise."

Kinoshita Mai blinked in confusion:

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Qingden turned his head and looked at Kinoshita Mai with a smile on his lips.

"I thought you, Xiaoji, and Sanako would try to persuade me not to mess around."

After hearing this, Kinoshita Wu slightly curved the corners of her mouth and laughed dumbly.

"Because we know you very well."

"Even if I advise you not to mess around, you won't listen, right?"

Speaking of this, Kinoshita Mai raised her eyes and cast a look that was half reproachful and half helpless towards Qingden.

Qingdeng laughed and did not refute.

Because it is.

Even if Sanako, Kinoshita Mai and Souji join forces to dissuade Aoto, he will not change his mind.

No matter what, he wants to break into Gaotori Castle alone!

There is no reason.

Just pure desire!

"I'm not going to advise you to 'stay in camp.'"

Kinoshita Mai continued.

"But... you have to come back safely!"

After saying that, she stretched out her little fist towards Qingden.

Qingdeng saw this and stretched out his fist.

Two fists, one big and one small, faced each other in the air.

"It's over!"

…

…

Just when the time was about to reach 1 o'clock in the morning, the two finally arrived under the wall of Takatori Castle!

The location they were currently in was the area between Sannomaru and Kunimizura.

According to the map, this is the weakest part of Kotori Castle.

This place is like a delicate neck, connecting Sannomaru and Kunimizura. If an attack can be launched here, Takatori Castle can be cut into two parts that are not connected to each other. It is actually the best attack position.

The strength of the Tenchu ​​Group is too weak. Guarding a large city of this size with only 300 troops is like asking a child to wear adult clothes. It is impossible to achieve "one post at three steps, one sentry at five steps". , so they can only focus on key areas.

And this gave Qingto and Kinoshita Mai an opportunity to take advantage of.

Qingden raised his ears and listened carefully to the sounds around him.

After confirming that there were no enemies behind the city wall, he raised his eyes and gave Kinoshita Mai a look.

Kinoshita Mai nodded lightly, and then rustled out of the bush where she was hiding.

The city wall is about 5 meters high... for ordinary people, this is an insurmountable obstacle.

However, to Kinoshita Mai, a city wall of this height is nothing at all.

After all...she is an expert at circumventing firewalls!

After getting out of the bush where she was hiding, she was seen running at a trot and then accelerating!

When she was only three steps away from the city wall, she jumped up like a green onion on dry land and flew towards the city wall like a spring.

As she rose into the air, she pulled out the wakizashi from her lower back - the Echizen Yasutsugi given to her by Aoto - and held it behind her back with both hands, raising it above her head.

The tip of the knife pointed directly at the gap between the stone bricks of the city wall!

With a crack, the wakizashi plunged into the crack of the stone! Most of the blade was submerged in it!

It was like she was playing on a horizontal bar, hanging on the knife.

Next, she took a deep breath, shook her body a few times, gathered strength in her waist and abdomen, and then turned it up like origami, standing firmly on the handle of the knife.

This knife is inserted at a height of 3 meters... In this way, Kinoshita Mai is only less than 2 meters away from the top of the wall!

For Kinoshita Mai, this distance is nothing to worry about! She can easily climb over by just tiptoing!

Before she jumped further, however, she untied the tough rope from the hilt of the knife.

After receiving this good sword from Qingto, Kinoshita Mai made certain modifications to the sword.

First, she painted the blade black with special black ink.

In this way, you can hide the luster of the blade and better conceal yourself.

Next, she hollowed out the inside of the knife handle and filled it with a hemostatic paste.

Just open the bottom of the knife handle and you can take out the hemostatic medicine inside for use.

Finally, she replaced the roll of the knife's hilt with a specially made tough rope strap.

The so-called handle roll is the circle of rope wrapped around the handle of the knife. It not only plays a beautiful role, but also enhances the friction between the palm and the handle of the knife.

First, it can be used to wrap wounds in an emergency.

Secondly, it can be used as a climbing rope like this.

According to Kinoshita Mai, this "multifunctional sword" is one of the classic weapons of ninjas in the Warring States Period.

After untying the rope on the handle and letting it fall to the ground, she used the handle as a foothold and jumped up.

As expected - she jumped up casually and climbed the top of the wall effortlessly.

And Qing Deng climbed up quickly along the hanging rope.

After climbing up the handle, he also jumped to the top of the wall like Kinoshita Mai.

At the same time, he held the rope in his hand.

After landing steadily on the top of the wall, Kinoshita Mai took the rope back from Qing Deng's hand, and then used a fierce force to pull the rope up - snap - the wakizashi fell off the crack in the stone and returned to her hand.

Then, the two left the top of the wall one after the other, jumped into the wall, and fell back to the ground.

"Okay... let's say it's a good start."

As he said that, Kinoshita Mai let out a long breath.

Suddenly, Qing Deng's ears trembled a few times.

"... Ah Wu, be careful, there are enemies coming."

At the same time that Qing Deng finished speaking, two flickering candlelights appeared not far away.

Looking carefully - two samurai with lanterns were patrolling.

Soon, they found Qing Deng and Kinoshita Mai standing in the darkness.

"Who are you?!"

Although there was no prior agreement, Qing Deng and Kinoshita Mai started at the same time! They rushed towards the two samurai like a whirlwind!

The other party didn't even have time to react, and the two had already approached them!

Vairocana drew a purple arc of light.

Echizen Yasuji drew a straight line.

Two puffs of blood mist merged into the night.

Takatori Castle is indeed a famous city with extremely complete defense facilities, including watchtowers, high turrets and other reconnaissance fortifications.

The movement here soon attracted the attention of the sentinels not far away.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Enemies have sneaked in!"

Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!

The rapid sound of the gong broke the tranquility of the city and opened the prelude to a bloody battle!

Qing Deng handed Vairocana to his left hand, while murmured indifferently:

"Oh, it's time to get busy so soon."

In a short while, dozens of enemy soldiers holding various weapons came out from everywhere and surrounded Qing Deng and Kinoshita Mai.

Seeing this, the two changed their positions very tacitly - they stood back to back, trusting each other's greatest weakness to each other.

Feeling the heat coming from her back, Kinoshita Mai smiled:

"This feeling... is really long gone."

The last time the two fought back to back like this... was the decisive battle with the Anti-Israel Group three years ago.

At that time, Kinoshita Mai was still a 15-year-old girl.

In the blink of an eye, she has become an 18-year-old girl.

"Awu, you don't seem to have grown much taller?"

Kinoshita Mai, who was instantly furious, retorted unhappily:

"Don't say such annoying words at this time! Although I haven't grown taller, other parts are developing very well!"

Qing Deng, who succeeded in teasing, chuckled a few times, and then steadily raised the Vairocana in his hand.

"Awu, don't worry, do your best, and leave a shocking reputation tonight."

After saying that, he suddenly pulled up his body! Like a flying swallow, he flew high over the heads of the two people in front.

In just a blink of an eye, the two people's heads flew into the sky.

Almost at the same time, Kinoshita Mai put away the resentment that overflowed from Qing Deng's teasing, and cooperated with Qing Deng's actions to launch a fierce attack.

She rushed to the enemy in front of her and shoved the wakizashi into his chest.

The enemy she stabbed fell to the ground softly as if it had slipped from her hand.

The next moment, she seemed to have eyes on her back, and she swung a sword with her backhand, knocking the other person who was chasing her to the ground - while swinging the sword, she freed her left hand and reached over her head.

There was a muffled "pop" sound, and she used her left hand to firmly grasp the spear shaft that was smashing towards his head.

In a flash, Echizen Yasuji, who was originally held in her right hand, flew out of her palm and hit the gunman's chest without bias.

Although she had no weapons, it was not a big deal for Kinoshita Mai.

Compared with weapons, she was better at using fists and feet!

With a flash, she moved to the side of an enemy.

Before he could react, he saw the world in front of him turned 180 degrees - Kinoshita Mai grabbed his shoulders and waist, and threw him with a shoulder throw, causing his back to come into close contact with the ground, and he fell on his back.

"Damn it! Go to hell! Shorty!"

A tall man raised the katana in his hand, aimed at Kinoshita Mai's head, and chopped it down with force.

Shorty - hearing this name, Kinoshita Mai's expression suddenly froze, like a robot that suddenly lost power.

Of course, "power failure" only lasted for a moment.

The next moment, she took a step forward with her right foot.

While taking a step, she stretched out her arms and held the tall man's arms, stopping his slashing.

In another moment, she used her right foot as a fulcrum, and her left foot swept forward like a battle axe, rolling up clouds of dust and air.

This kick hit the tall man's right knee.

His right leg was bent down - but it was bent in the opposite direction.

It's the end of the month! Book friends who have monthly tickets, please vote for this book! (Baotou crying.jpg)

Kinoshita Mai is so cute~ She is worthy of being the first heroine of this book!

This month is almost over, and Baobaozi still has the last monthly ticket in his hand.

So Baobaozi wants to take a day off tomorrow and take a rest~~

A while ago, a book friend suggested to Baobaozi: When you take a leave, you can put some small extras, novel settings, etc. in the leave application, so that you don't have to delete the leave application frequently, and readers can also have something to read.

I think this is a good idea, so tomorrow Baobaozi will release the settings related to Sanako that cannot be presented in the main text.

Stay tuned~~