I formed the strongest swordsman group

"Being able to acquire steam battleships and hire a large number of Slavs for their own use, I think the French Party must have quite a lot of connections in Europe."

Faced with Qingdeng's inquiry, Miss Sumire was silent for a while, then shook her head:

"Sorry, we have not received relevant information yet."

"However, Aki, I agree with your point of view."

"It not only purchased advanced steam warships, but also established a 'Slavic Legion' with a size of more than 2,000 people. Without the help of capable people from Europe, it would be absolutely impossible to accomplish these two things."

"According to my personal guess... the French Party is probably cooperating with an arms dealer in Europe."

"If that's the case, then everything will be explained easily."

After Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and muttered:

"Arms dealer..."

Somehow, when he heard the word "arms dealer", the figure of Elodie's biological father, Maher d'Orléans, emerged in his mind.

The reason why I suddenly thought of this person is because Elodie said that his father started in the arms business!

Qingden clearly remembers Elodie's evaluation of Maher: If he risked his life to cross the ocean to come to Japan simply to recover his daughter, then this is really not something Maher would do.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng frowned subconsciously and thought to himself:

——It should...not be such a coincidence...

Just when his thoughts were wandering, Miss Sumire's voice spoke again, bringing his thoughts back to reality:

"An Yi, our Great Salt Party only knows so much information at the moment."

"If we get new information in the future, I will ask Shintaro Tojo to tell you."

Qingdeng sat up slightly and responded solemnly:

"Ms. Sumire, thank you for your generous help. It really helped me a lot. I will never forget it."

Miss Sumire smiled:

"You're welcome, we're just each taking what we need."

At this critical juncture, Qingdeng was naturally happy to see powerful helpers coming to help.

Qingdeng had no doubts about the intelligence gathering capabilities of the Great Salt Party.

The information Miss Sumire just provided is basically consistent with the information he currently has.

As early as before, there were reports that there were a large number of Westerners in the Changshu army that marched directly to Kantung.

It seems that these Westerners should be the "Slavic Legion" that Miss Sumire just mentioned.

After Qingdeng thought for a moment, he said quietly:

"The Choshu Domain and the Hoshu Party are working together... what a troublesome combination."

"But...if you think about it from another angle, this might not be a valuable opportunity once and for all."

The content of these words instantly attracted the attention of Miss Sumire and Tojo Shintaro.

Facing the doubtful looks cast by the two of them, Qingden explained calmly:

"The Qi soldiers are the last elite of Choshu."

"As long as the Qi soldiers are eliminated, Changzhou will be completely reduced to a sick tiger without claws and claws."

"In the same way, that 'Slavic Army' should be... no, it must be the trump card of the French Execution Party!"

“No matter how well-connected and capable the Fanzhu Party is, it is still just an association.”

"Even if there is support from arms dealers or other forces, the money required to raise a mercenary army of 2,000 people is absolutely an astronomical sum."

"Such a large amount of money is definitely not something that an association can easily afford."

"I dare to conclude that the 'Slavic Army' is a valuable force that the French Communist Party spent countless time and energy to build up."

"Essentially, the reason why they were able to successfully attack Nongwei by surprise was simply because the timing of the attack was so good, and they cleverly took advantage of the window period of our long westward march and Tuesday's country."

"In order to conquer Changzhou, we mobilized the troops of Gyeonggi and Nongwei vassals, leaving the two areas with extremely empty troops, which allowed them to take advantage of the loophole."

"This great opportunity only comes once in a lifetime!"

"For Choshu, this was a surefire way to bring the feudal state back to life."

"For the Hoshino Party, this is the precious opportunity they have been waiting for for a long time to completely eliminate the shogunate."

"Therefore, from the moment they landed on the Nobi coast, Choshu and the Hōsū Party had no way out."

"Either win or die!"

"In such a battle where victory is guaranteed and defeat is not allowed, and if we miss it, we don't know how long we will have to wait, there is no reason for the Fanzhu Party not to send out all its combat power!"

"In other words, in the next battle, I will most likely encounter important cadres such as Otakemaru and Shuten Doji of the Hōzoku Party, and even its leader Yamata no Orochi!"

"Therefore, this battle is not only a decisive battle between me and Changzhou, but also a decisive battle between me and the Fanzhu Party!"

"With just this battle, we can defeat Changzhou and the Dang in one fell swoop!"

Listening to Qingdeng's heroic words, Miss Sumire blinked blankly, then smiled lightly:

"Destroy Changzhou and punish the party in one fell swoop...you have a huge appetite."

"However, from what you said, it doesn't seem impossible."

"Whatever happens to Changzhou, let's not care."

"If you really succeed in wiping out the 'Slavic Legion' and successfully kill Yamata no Orochi, Otakemaru, Shuten Doji and others, it will indeed completely wipe out the Hōzoku Party."

"Haha, when I think of this, my heart beats a little faster."

At this point, she held her head high, stared at Qing Deng, and changed her tone to a half-teasing, half-serious one:

"In that case, An Yi, I wish you a successful start! You must wipe out the Fa Zhu Party in one fell swoop!"

Qing Deng smiled and said:

"I will do my best!"

...

...

Hachioji area——

"Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!"

The horse galloped, breathing heavily, sweat splashed, and dust flew.

Hijikata Toshizo held the flag of sincerity in one hand and tightly grasped the reins with the other hand. No matter how strong the headwind was, he remained unmoved.

Suddenly, he shouted without looking back:

"Tetsunosuke, hold on a little longer! We'll be there soon!"

Ichimura Tetsunosuke, who was half a body behind him, responded loudly:

"Mr. Hijikata, you worry too much! I'm fine! It's no problem to ride all the way to Matsumae Domain in one breath!"

Matsumae Domain, the hometown of Nagakura Shinpachi, is located at the southernmost tip of Ezo (Hokkaido) and was the actual northernmost part of Japan during the Edo period.

Hijikata Toshizo glanced at Ichimura Tetsunosuke who was looking at him.

He couldn't help but laugh secretly at the other's slightly trembling back and legs.

However, he did not expose the other, but silently retracted his sight and refocused on the road ahead.

After leaving Otsu, Hijikata Toshizo rode non-stop - in the physical sense - straight to the Hachioji area.

When one horse got tired, he would switch to another horse, because they had a total of eight horses, so there was no need to worry about horsepower.

Although Hijikata Toshizo's physical fitness cannot be compared with Qing Deng, it is also far superior to ordinary people.

In his eyes, this little bit of hard work is really not worth mentioning.

On the other hand, Ichimura Tetsunosuke is not good at physical strength and martial arts, so he is not so comfortable.

However, he is worthy of being chosen by Hijikata Toshizo and promoted as a good boy.

No matter how hard and tired he is, he never complains and always grits his teeth and persists.

After three days and three nights of running, Hijikata Toshizo feels that the surrounding scenery is becoming more and more familiar.

Hachioji is adjacent to Tama.

To be frank, these two places are basically one!

As a farmer's son from Tama, Hijikata Toshizo has been to Hachioji many times since he was a child. This place is basically equivalent to half of his hometown.

Therefore, looking at the increasingly familiar scenery around him, he concluded in his heart: I will soon arrive in Hachioji!

The master and servant walked a long distance, one after the other, and entered an unknown forest... Suddenly, something strange happened!

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da!

There was a sudden sound of dense footsteps in front of them.

One by one, militiamen holding muskets - about a dozen people - emerged from the bushes and stood on the road, blocking the way ahead of the two in an instant.

This group of militiamen did not run around in disorder.

After occupying the road, they quickly formed a team and formed two horizontal rows, the first row squatting and the second row standing up.

Then, they all raised their muskets in unison, and the black muzzles pointed directly at Hijikata Toshizo and Ichimura Tetsunosuke!

Hijikata Toshizo saw this and hurriedly tightened the reins in his hand and stopped the horse under his crotch, and Ichimura Tetsunosuke followed suit.

At the same time when the master and servant reined in their horses, someone in the militia loudly questioned:

"Who are you?!"

Faced with this sudden change and the terrifying muzzle of the gun at hand, Hijikata Toshizo was not afraid at all and was very calm.

He raised the flag of sincerity in his hand slowly and responded loudly:

"I am the deputy commander of the Shinsengumi, Hijikata Toshizo!"

"I am here to assist the Hachioji Thousand Hearts by order of the Army President General Tachibana!"

"May I ask if you are the soldiers of the Thousand Hearts?"

Although he used the sentence structure of a question, his tone was affirmative.

In fact, after this group of militia appeared, Hijikata Toshizo saw through their true identities at a glance.

When they heard that the visitor was the famous "Demon's Deputy Commander", there was a big commotion among the militia.

They looked at each other, looked at each other, and found surprise and surprise on each other's faces.

At this time, someone exclaimed:

"Hmm? Are you Hijikata?"

Hijikata Toshizo looked in the direction of the voice, staring at the other person's face, thinking for a moment and then showing a look of sudden enlightenment:

"Are you Ushi Saburo?"

"Yes! It's me! I didn't expect you to still remember me!"

"Of course I remember! After all, you and I are friends who participated in the "Zayu Bed" together!"

Zayu Bed - one of Hijikata Toshizo's favorite activities before.

In short, this is an activity that is widely found in rural Japan. The whole village, young and old, squeeze into the same room and sweat to their heart's content.

The young man called "Ushi Saburo" by Hijikata Toshizo put down his musket and called on his companions to quickly lower their guard.

"Quick! Put down your cannons! Don't hurt your own people! The other party is indeed Hijikata Toshizo, the deputy commander of the Shinsengumi!"

Looking at the huge flag with the word "成" in Hijikata Toshizo's hand, and after being personally authenticated by Ushi Saburo, the militiamen did not doubt it, and they all breathed a sigh of relief, put down their muskets, and lifted their guard .

In this way, the slightly tense atmosphere completely disappeared.

Ushizaburo took two steps at a time and ran to Hijikata Toshizo with a sad face:

“Toshizo… ah, no, Vice Commander! You are finally here! We have been waiting for General Tachibana’s reinforcements!”

Hijikata Toshizo said calmly:

"Sorry to keep you waiting. Who is currently responsible for commanding Thousands of People Together? Take me to see him quickly!"

The war situation was urgent, so Hijikata Toshizo flawlessly chatted with old friends and got to the point directly.

Although Ushisaburo is a peasant who cannot read a word, he still knows what he should and should not do now.

He nodded vigorously, then under Hijikata Tobizo's instructions, he got on his horse and sat behind him to guide him.

As for the other militiamen, they stayed here and continued to guard the place.

The horse that had just stopped for a short time moved its four hooves again and galloped away.

"Deputy Commander! After leaving this forest and running a short distance, you will find our large force of thousands of people working together!"

At this point, he paused for a moment, and then changed into a meaningful tone:

"Deputy chief, you might not believe it!"

"The person currently responsible for commanding our thousands of people is neither an elder in the village nor a high-ranking official sent by the shogunate."

"It's the blonde girl who came here to check the accounts a while ago!"

Hearing this, Hijikata Toshizo was stunned on the spot.

"Goldilocks?"

He tilted his head slightly and asked back, as if he wanted to confirm whether he heard correctly.

Ushisaburo nodded vigorously:

"That's right! It's her!"

"This girl is really amazing! She deserves to be General Tachibana's apprentice!"

"Thanks to her, we were able to stabilize the morale of the army!"

…

…

A few days ago——

Hachioji, a certain private house——

Click, click, click, click, click...

The monotonous sound of moving beads dominated the entire house.

Elodie bowed her head in front of the case, concentrating on her work. On the table were the account books compiled by thousands of people over the years. She was manipulating the abacus in one hand and scribbling with a brush in the other.

After working continuously for an unknown amount of time, she gradually felt tired and had a clear lack of concentration.

Therefore, she silently put down the brush in her hand, and then stretched hard, and immediately there was a crisp sound of "click", "click" as her bones stretched.

While relaxing her limbs, she turned to look at the sky outside the window - the bright sunshine covered the earth like silk.

——It’s a rest anyway, let’s go outside for a walk.

Just like that, she slowly stood up, moved her lotus steps with great interest, and walked towards the entrance hall.

As soon as she opened the door, she saw a majestic figure - Kui Shimada, who was standing outside the door, stood upright and said respectfully:

"Chief, have you finished your work?"

Elodie smiled bitterly and shook her head:

"Not yet. How can the account books accumulated by thousands of people over the years be checked so quickly?"

"It will take at least seven days to complete."

"I was a little tired, so I went for a walk to relax."

Shimada Kui nodded:

"I see. Then, Chief, please allow me to accompany you!"

Elodie smiled helplessly:

"Well, this is your job after all, let's go."

She said as she was about to take a step.

Suddenly, she seemed to remember something, turned her head and looked at Shimada Kui's left arm:

"By the way, is your arm okay?"

Shimada Kui chuckled and stretched his left arm in front of Elodie.

"It's no longer in the way!"

Seeing that the other party didn't seem to be trying to show off, Elodie smiled in relief:

"That's good! I'm so sorry for forcing you to do such a boring task. According to your ability, you should make contributions on the battlefield."

Hearing what Elodie said, Shimada Kui said hurriedly:

"Please don't say that! What an important task it is to 'protect the head of the room'! I feel honored to be able to take full charge of this task!"

As they talked, the two walked towards the fields not far away.

Judging from the actual results, Shimada Kui is indeed an excellent bodyguard. He did not disappoint Qingto's expectations. He carried out his duty of "protecting Elodie" to the extreme.

While Elodie was working in the room, he stayed outside the door the entire time, strictly prohibiting any unauthorized intrusion.

He was never far from Elodie when she went for a walk or anywhere else.

No matter when and where he is, his left hand always presses the sheath of the sword at his waist, and his right hand is slightly raised - an expert can tell at a glance that this person is always in a "state of preparation for war"! If something goes wrong, he will immediately draw his sword and fight!

For such a tough-minded person, anyone with a bit of discernment would walk away wisely and would never dare to come forward to cause trouble for Elodie.

In fact, Elodie was not treated unfairly after arriving at the Eighth Prince.

Most people only looked at her carefully with curious eyes.

To put it bluntly, Hachioji is a purely rural place, and most of the residents are country folk who have never left the village.

Therefore, they naturally have never seen Westerners.

They were full of curiosity about Elodie, who had high eyebrows and deep eyes, blond hair and blue eyes.

"Look, her hair is yellow."

"This is not yellow, this is gold."

"Her skin is so white, so white that it almost reflects light."

"She looks really weird, the bridge of her nose is so straight."

"She's obviously not tall, but her breasts and butt are quite plump."

When the villagers of Hachioji met Elodie for the first time, discussions similar to this could be heard endlessly.

Of course, there were not a few people who cast malicious glances at her.

Even if they have never met a Westerner, it does not prevent them from hearing negative news about Westerners.

Although they don't quite know what the "black ship incident", "dumping goods" and "destroying the small-scale peasant economy" are, they have a simple understanding: all the chaos in recent years is ultimately the fault of Westerners. !

However, as of today, Elodie has not encountered any accidents.

The actions taken by those who clearly harbored ill intentions towards Elodie were limited to "glaring" and "saying bad things".

Use a rocket to blow away the auditor's helicopter...ah, no! Such bastard things as "assassinating the auditors" have never happened.

This may be because Shimada Kui and others are well protected.

All in all, for Elodie, the audit work these days went very smoothly. Not only did she not feel bored or panicked, but she felt vaguely comfortable.

The pastoral scenery of Hachioji aroused her endless appreciation.

Whenever she was tired or had free time, she would always go for a walk nearby and enjoy the scenery with interest.

After chatting with Shimada Kui for a while, she headed straight out of the village.

Shimada Kui followed closely beside him, performing his "bodyguard" duties meticulously.

Along the way, they met many villagers.

Some glanced at her and walked away silently.

There are also some people who greet you very warmly:

"Good morning, Mr. Room Chief!"

"Mr. Room Chief, are you going for a walk?"

"Mr. Room Chief, you have worked hard!"

Elodie's friendly and cheerful demeanor and her unpretentious and gentle attitude have won the favor of many villagers.

Although she was ashamed of the prestigious title of "Room Chief," whenever a villager greeted her, she would respond positively and equally enthusiastically.

Shortly after leaving the village, a stretch of flat and endless fields came into view of Elodie.

The ridges extending in all directions cut the huge fields into neat pieces.

It is the slack time for farming, so no one is doing farm work here. There is no other sound except the wind, which makes it feel a bit lonely.

The Eight Princes and Thousands of People are united as a militia armed with half soldiers and half peasants. They work on farming during busy farming periods and train troops during slack farming periods.

Therefore, all adult male villagers are busy in military training at this time.

In a certain open space not far from this field, it can be said that it is in full swing——

"Come on!"

"Quick! Run!"

"Stop dawdling!"

The villagers are conducting various military trainings.

Either they are exercising their physical fitness, or they are practicing formations, how intense they are.

Even Elodie, who was far away in the fields, could faintly hear the sound of their exercises.

Just as Elodie was clasping her hands behind her back and admiring the mountain scenery in the distance with great interest...she suddenly saw a "little green bean dot" appear from the horizon in front of her, and then move straight towards her.

She blinked and took a closer look - this "mung bean dot" was a samurai wearing a light green haori!

He came galloping on a fast horse, covered in dust.

Wearing a light green haori - this characteristic of her outfit couldn't be more conspicuous.

Looking at the sudden appearance of the Shinsengumi team member, Elodie and Shimada Kui were stunned.

This man had very good eyesight. He spotted Elodie from a long distance and shouted excitedly:

"Chief! Are you the head of the room?!"

Hearing this, Elodie immediately cheered up and responded loudly:

"That's right! I am Elodie de Angouleme, the director of the Shinsengumi!"

As she finished speaking, the opponent who tightened the reins in his hands happened to stop in front of her:

"Chief, come with me! Something big has happened!"

…

…

This soldier was the messenger sent by Qingdeng to inform thousands of people to "prepare for defense immediately."

The Choshu Army made a surprise attack on Nomi, and Kanto was in danger - in the blink of an eye, the news spread throughout the village!

Suddenly, the air in the village was filled with tension and panic, and there was a lot of excitement.

"Nongwei has fallen? This, this, this is incredible!"

"Hurry up and prepare for war! The Changzhou Army is coming soon!"

"Preparing for war? Can we defeat the Changzhou Army?"

“It’s not a question of whether we can win the fight, but we must fight!”

…

Arguments, quarrels, conflicts... Looking at the chaos in front of her, Elodie frowned unconsciously.

"Please be quiet!"

she said.

Everyone at the scene ignored her and continued to argue with each other.

"Please be quiet!"

she repeated.

The quarrels remain, the conflicts remain.

"Quiet, everyone!"

At this moment, Elodie lost her patience, shouted angrily, pulled out the saber from her waist, and slashed at the big tree beside her.

Boom!

The huge sound of slashing instantly suppressed all the sounds at the scene. No one spoke anymore. They all turned their heads and looked at Elodie in shock.

"Really...don't let me be so rough..."

The new month has begun! Book friends who have monthly tickets on hand, please be sure to vote for this book! (Crying leopard head.jpg)

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

PS: Arranging for Elodie and Shimada Kui to go to Hachioji is to allow them to participate in this battle reasonably.