I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 900: Crush the Choshu Army! Break through the Yizhou Pass! [5900]

As Harada Sanosuke said, after a period of chaos, the Choshu army has gradually restored order.

Although there were still quite a few drunkards running around and shouting, gradually more and more people recovered, gradually stabilized the order, led the team, and tried to fight back.

Just by looking at the equipment and posture of these guys, you can tell that they are well-trained elite soldiers.

In addition to common weapons such as spears and swords, the shadow of muskets can be vaguely seen.

Qing Deng originally wanted to make some more noise, but judging from the current situation, it was no longer suitable to stay here for long.

Anyway, I have already seen everything I wanted to see, so I won’t suffer any loss if I withdraw now.

Therefore, Qing Deng made a prompt decision and immediately gave the order:
"Let's go, retreat!"

After saying this, he tightened the reins in his hands and turned the bull's head.

Harada Sanosuke and others responded one after another, adjusting their direction in unison.

The wedge-shaped cavalry formation suddenly made a 180-degree turn and no longer advanced deep into the camp, but instead broke out of the camp along the same route they came from.

The Choshu generals and soldiers around were all furious when they saw this.

"Don't let them go!"

"Go on!"

"Damn it! How dare you look down on us! You can't just come and go as you please here?!"

A mere few dozen riders dared to charge straight into their camp, not only causing a huge disturbance, but also escaping unscathed... If this matter were to get out, it would surely be laughed at by the whole world!

In order to save face and honor, countless Choshu soldiers rushed up from all directions, trying to intercept Qing Deng and others.

Of course, a person’s two legs can definitely not outrun a horse (cow)’s four hooves.

Those who hold spears and knives are destined to serve only as a group to create atmosphere, making a few noises and livening up the atmosphere.

The only ones who could cause effective damage to Qing Deng and others were the archers armed with bows and muskets.

However, as we all know, the crossbow is a very delicate weapon.

Once it rains or snows, the bowstring will get wet and its elasticity will be greatly reduced, which will greatly reduce the range and power of the arrow.

The same goes for guns.

When the bowstring gets wet, only the range and power are affected.

Whether it is a matchlock or a flintlock, if these guns get wet, they cannot be used at all and will directly degenerate into fire sticks.

The firing principle of a matchlock gun is to use a burning match to ignite gunpowder.

The firing principle of the flintlock rifle is to use the flint to hit the firing port to produce sparks which ignite the gunpowder.

Therefore, when using a matchlock or flintlock rifle, great effort is required to prevent moisture.

If you can't even produce sparks, what's the point of launching it?
At this moment, the Choshu generals and soldiers were in such a dilemma.

The heavy snow and wind destroyed most of their long-range weapons.

Bows and arrows can't shoot far, and muskets are useless.

Although there were occasional "bang", "bang", and "bang" gunshots, these sporadic shootings... to put it nicely, are better than nothing, but to put it bluntly, they are completely useless!
While breaking out, Qing Deng did not forget to cause more trouble for the Changzhou army.

He raised the Bizen Osafune in his hand and held it in his mouth, then took off the Isezha Fuhiro from the saddle and turned half his body.

As he turned around, he put an arrow on the bow.

Nature never favors anyone.

Since this snowstorm can cause great suffering to the archers of Choshu, it will naturally have a negative impact on Qingdeng's shooting.

However, he made up for the negative impact of the wind and snow by relying on the ultra-high performance of the bow in his palm, his outstanding archery skills and superb brute strength!

The next moment after he pulled the bow like a full moon, the power accumulated in his arms suddenly bounced out - whoosh!

The arrow flew through the air.

The darkness swallowed up the arrow in an instant—and then there was a sound of something falling to the ground in the distance.

Immediately afterwards, a shrill scream drowned out most of the other sounds at the scene.

"The torch has fallen! Put out the fire quickly!!"

In the Edo period, people's fear of fire was deep-rooted.

In an instant, invisible fear spread rapidly among the Choshu army.

Qing Deng did not shoot at anyone again, but instead drew his bow and shot at the torches!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Qing Deng shot arrow after arrow, pulling the bow repeatedly and never missing a target.

These torches that were shot down either fell into the snow and went out after a while, or fell on the tents, turning them into "fire tents".

In order to suppress the fire, the Choshu army had to allocate part of its forces to put out the fire.

In this way, it will be even more difficult to form a joint force to encircle and suppress Qing Deng and others.

Faced with this sparse and fragile encirclement, Qing Deng and his companions had no choice but to fight back.

In this way, Qing Deng and his companions broke through the layers of blockades of Changzhou soldiers without any danger, stepped through Yingkou, and left...

The Choshu generals and soldiers caught up with them with a huff and puff.

Until he could no longer run, he stood there in a daze, staring at the backs of Qing Deng and others that gradually became farther and farther away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

In fact, it took less than 10 minutes from the time Qing Deng and his men entered the camp to the time they left in a swagger.

But in just 10 minutes, Qing Deng and others brought indescribable shock to the Changzhou soldiers with their invincible and fierce offensive!

Not only did it kill and injure countless people, but it also destroyed countless facilities.

The Changzhou camp, which was originally neat and orderly, has now become extremely chaotic.

There were broken bodies everywhere.

The ground was trampled into mud everywhere.

There were cries of pain and wailing everywhere.

Compared with 10 minutes ago, the contrast is so huge that it is jaw-dropping!

The Choshu generals and soldiers looked at each other and saw strong surprise, uneasiness and fear on each other's faces.

……

……

Yizhoukou, the main camp of the shogunate——

After learning that Qing Deng and others had returned safely, Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke and others immediately led the generals to wait outside the camp.

In a moment, the triumphant team appeared before their eyes from afar.

Even though they were still at a considerable distance, they could still smell the foul and choking smell of blood.

The noise made by Qing Deng and others was so loud that it was heard at the Shogunate camp several kilometers away.

Although they had expected this, many people at the scene were still shocked when Qing Deng and others returned.

Simply put, throughout the team, swords will draw blood and horses (cows) will breathe hard!

Even the cavalrymen at the end of the column, least likely to encounter the enemy, had a lot of blood splashed on their bodies.

As for Qing Deng and Harada Sanosuke who were always charging at the forefront, it goes without saying that they had ruined another piece of clothing.

Such a large area of ​​blood stains cannot be washed away even if the cloth is damaged.

Because they had just left the battlefield, there was a faint translucent heat emanating from them - this was the heat rising from their body temperature and their still-hot blood.

This expedition brought many “newcomers” who had rarely or never seen Qingdeng before.

For example, the lord of Owari domain, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, and the lord of Echizen domain, Matsudaira Shigeaki, had almost no interactions with Aoto before.

Witnessing with their own eyes this god of war who led only a few dozen cavalrymen and charged straight into the enemy camp, killing people covered in blood but returning safely, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva, and lowered their heads unconsciously, not daring to look directly at Qing Deng.

As for those who already knew Qing Deng's abilities, most of them looked at him with admiration.

Hijikata Toshizo glanced at the team behind Qing Deng and grinned:
"It looks like no one has been left behind. This surprise attack tonight will probably go down in history."

After rushing out of the enemy camp, Qing Deng had already counted the personnel - no casualties!

No one was injured, and no one died... Such a record is truly terrifying!
Therefore, Hijikata Toshizo was not exaggerating, and tonight's night attack is indeed enough to go down in the glorious history.

Although Qing Deng and others had no time to count the results of this battle, it is certain that they caused considerable damage to the Changzhou camp.

For the Choshu army, the damage to morale was more serious and fatal than the material losses!
Before the war officially started, their own camp was attacked, with heavy casualties and no ability to stop the attackers... This was the very definition of "cowardly"!

It is not difficult to imagine that the people in the Changzhou camp opposite must be in a panic now, and there is an uneasy atmosphere in the air.

Having won a great victory, Harada Sanosuke, feeling extremely happy, laughed out loud:
"Hahahaha! How refreshing! Those bastards from Choshu, have you seen how powerful the 'Immortal Harada' is?"

Strangely enough, the portrayal of Harada Sanosuke forms a stark contrast with Aoto.

He was laughing wildly, but looking at Qing Deng beside him... he did not show any smile or joy, instead he had a stern face and looked thoughtful.

Shannan Jingsuke seemed to see through his thoughts, walked forward and asked in a deep voice:
"Tachibana-kun, what's the situation?"

Qing Deng shrugged and said calmly:

"The enemy's total strength is about what we expected, about 2,000 men, and their qualities vary."

"The vast majority of them seem to be temporary conscripted peasant soldiers, and only a small number are well-trained warriors."

"Unfortunately, the Raiders are not on the other side."

Hijikata Toshizo, who was standing by, heard this and said silently without any sadness or joy:
"This is troublesome. The worst situation has happened."

Qing Deng smiled helplessly and nodded slightly:

"Yeah, this is the worst situation..."

Qing Deng was not afraid of encountering strong enemies, nor was he afraid of directly confronting a special forces team - rather, he welcomed these situations.

It is not scary to encounter a strong enemy.

The scary thing is that there is no strong enemy! Because they were afraid of the military power of the shogunate, the special forces collapsed without fighting - Qing Deng did not think that this army built and trained by Takasugi Shinsaku would be so weak.

So, if the Raiders aren't here, where are they?
Deployed in the heart of Choshu?
Would the commanders of Choshu really be so stupid as to simply give up the great geographical advantage and use their own weakness to attack the enemy's strength?
Deployed in two other battlefields?
The troops in the two directions of Ishishuguchi and Kokuraguchi were only making a feint attack, and it would be considered a success as long as they could divert Choshu's attention and military strength.

Even if Choshu won on these two battlefields, it would not have any impact on the war situation.

Thinking of this, Qing Deng turned his head expressionlessly and looked at the Changzhou camp behind him.

The wind and snow have not stopped tonight, so there is no possibility of the fire spreading.

Therefore, although Qing Deng shot down a lot of torches when he left, causing fires everywhere in the Changzhou camp, with the concerted efforts of the Changzhou generals and soldiers, the fire gradually subsided, and they did not have to worry about having no tents to live in tonight.

Looking at the camp that was gradually returning to silence, Qing Deng couldn't help but think to himself:

——What on earth is Choshu doing?
……

……

The next morning,

The snow fell all night long, and only gradually stopped when the sky just turned pale.

Although the snow had stopped, the sky was still gray, as if it were filled with lead.

The sunlight struggled to penetrate the clouds, and scattered all over the earth like weak and light dust, illuminating the armor and weapons of the soldiers of both armies.

Woo——! Woo——! Woo——! Woo——! Woo——!
As soon as the sky brightened, loud trumpet sounds were heard from the Shogunate's position.

In an instant, the air in Yizhoukou was filled with a solemn atmosphere!
Along with the inspiring sound of the horn, footsteps like muffled thunder soon rang out.

Teams of soldiers left the camp and lined up in the wild.

The shogunate sent 20 troops to conquer Choshu - in fact, it is obvious that these numbers are purely for scare mongering.

This time, the shogunate did mobilize 36 domains, with a total of 20 troops, and these numbers are indeed real.

But the problem is that it takes time to assemble the army.

Given the road conditions during the Edo period and the poor enthusiasm of the various feudal domains, it would probably take until the beginning of next spring for the 20-strong army to be fully assembled.

Therefore, the number of troops currently arriving at the front line is far less than 20.

There were about 3 troops that arrived at Shizhoukou, 2 at Xiaocangkou, and just over 4 at Yizhoukou. The rest of the troops were still on the way.

Although less than half of the troops have arrived at the front line, Qing Deng no longer wants to wait.

Since the main forces, the Shinsengumi, Aizu Army and Satsuma Army have all arrived, there is no need to wait any longer!

Anyway, the other troops are just there to make up the numbers and to boost morale. It doesn't matter whether they help in the battle or not.

Of course, although the troops have not arrived yet, the scene of 4 troops lined up in order is already extremely spectacular!
Looking up, one could see square military formations of varying sizes stretching across the wilderness, with no end in sight!
The shogunate troops were lining up one after another, ready to attack.

On the other hand, the Choshu army on the opposite side were very quiet, without any conspicuous movements. One could only vaguely see many soldiers climbing up the walls of the camp, with nervous expressions, ready for battle.

The facilities destroyed by Qing Deng and others last night have been basically repaired after a night of emergency repairs.

It seems that they intend to defend the camp to the death.

Very smart choice.

If they abandoned the fortified camp and ran out into the field to fight a decisive battle with the Shogunate army which had superior military strength, that would be tantamount to seeking death.

Although Yizhoukou is a narrow area with a mountain on one side and the sea on the other, there is no fortress like Shanhaiguan and Hulaoguan built here. Instead, there is only a large wooden camp - the camp where the Choshu army is currently stationed and defending.

The reason for this is that the shogunate has been suppressing the various feudal domains for a hundred years.

In the first year of Genwa (1615), the Edo Shogunate, which had just been established, promulgated the "One Country, One Castle Order."

That is, in a feudal province, only one castle inhabited by the daimyo and serving as the government seat could be retained, and all other castles had to be abolished.

Most of these abandoned castles were mountain castles built during the Kamakura Shogunate period with military defense functions.

In this way, most of the cities were demolished, and there were no longer many castles like in the Warring States Period, and the power of the various feudal lords was greatly weakened.

Therefore, although Choshu was large, it only had one city, Hagi Castle (the headquarters of Choshu).

Due to the inability to build cities, the strategic passes in Choshu, represented by the "Five Borders", were simply built with large wooden forts.

Although it has defensive functions, they are not many and can basically only play a role that is better than nothing.

Not to mention the iron walls of Shanhaiguan and Hulaoguan, even if Choshu built an ordinary city with bricks and stones at Yizhoukou, it would be a huge nightmare for the shogunate.

At this moment, the busiest unit in the shogunate army was the Shinsengumi's 11th Division (artillery unit).

"Hurry up! Don't dawdle! Pull up all the cannons! Today's battle is the first battle of this expedition! Our 11th Division must show the might of the Shinsengumi!"

Nomura Risaburo (vice-captain of the 11th Division) shouted at the top of his voice, commanding the soldiers of the 11th Division in an orderly manner.

One cannon after another was pushed out and transported to the firing position.

The black muzzle of the gun pointed obliquely towards the sky, towards the Choshu position opposite.

While the 11th Division was busy preparing for the bombardment, Abe Juro (captain of the 11th Division) was at the main camp, waiting for Qing Deng's order.

Qingdeng sat on a stool with his horse and sword in his hands, looking at the enemy opposite with an expressionless face.

The generals sat on his left and right sides according to their status.

To be honest, even at this moment, Qing Deng still doesn't understand what Changzhou is up to, and he doesn't understand where the special forces that Changzhou hopes for have gone.

However, it would always be a good idea to try to defeat the opposing Choshu army and occupy Aishukou.

Since the artillery team was formed, Qingdeng gradually developed path dependence in the use of tactics - no matter what, let's fire a few damn shots first!

Soon, after receiving the news that "the 11th Division is ready", he gave orders to Abe Juro without any sadness or joy:
"Fire! Break through Yizhoukou within half a day!"

Abe Juro responded loudly:

"Yes!"

Then, holding up the hem of his hakama, he quickly returned to the artillery position.

As usual, let's start with a baseline shot.

Abe Juro pulled open the telescope, glanced at the location of the Choshu camp, and quickly issued an order:
"Lift up 5 degrees! Turn right 13 degrees! Fire!"

boom!
The artillery team responsible for firing the baseline bomb completed the shooting with smooth movements.

The flying shells drew a neat parabola in the air and slammed heavily near the Changzhou camp.

With a loud bang, the explosion spread in all directions.

This shell and this explosion startled countless birds and broke the silence of the scene!

Abe Juro glanced at where the shells landed, and immediately issued new, more accurate instructions:

"Up 4 degrees, turn right 10 degrees! Prepare to fire!"

This time, it is no longer a baseline shot, but a formal attack!
Rolling and rolling...!
The sounds of turning handles and adjusting the muzzles were heard everywhere.

After every cannon was pointed at the same target, Abe Juro shouted at the top of his voice:
"put!!"

In an instant, each cannon spewed out dazzling tongues of fire!

One by one, the shells rose high up and then fell towards the Changzhou camp like raindrops.

The air was filled with invisible roars and screams.

A moment later, the flames from the exploding shells lit up the sky.

The flames jumped up like a fountain, and the Changzhou camp was engulfed by the flames.

Cleaning the gun barrel, loading new shells, and firing - all the actions and processes of the 11th Squadron were truly orderly and well-trained.

Countless artillery shells streaked across the sky one after another, forming an endless barrage of bullets.

Even people like Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, who had already witnessed the power of the Shinsengumi artillery team before, couldn't help but feel a chill on the back of their necks and their faces changed color.

If even they were like this, let alone Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, Matsudaira Shigeaki and others who were meeting the Shinsengumi and seeing such a scene for the first time.

Every one of them was dumbfounded, and some even had their jaws almost dropped to the ground.

Invisibly, Qing Deng once again demonstrated the strength of the Shinsengumi and its absolute dominance in Gyeonggi!

After a brief shock, Owari Domain Lord Tokugawa Yoshikatsu gradually came to his senses.

Afterwards, he put on a flattering smile and flattered Qing Deng:
"General Tachibana, your Shinsengumi... is truly amazing..."

He hesitated for a long time before he finally squeezed out the word "incredible".

There was no way out. This unprecedented scene gave him a huge shock.

He exhausted all his life's knowledge, but could not think of a more appropriate and accurate word.

In response to Tokugawa Yoshikatsu's flattery, Qing Deng smiled slightly and made some casual remarks.

Qing Deng thought that he would face a counterattack from the Choshu artillery team next.

But I didn't expect... after waiting for a long time, the artillery shells from Choshu never arrived.

Regarding this situation, Fujido Heisuke expressed the doubts in everyone's mind:

"Choshu... doesn't have any cannons?"

Although Choshu always practiced the political philosophy of "respecting the barbarians and expelling the foreigners", their army was equipped with certain guns and artillery.

Although the guns and cannons they used were antiques, it is certain that the Choshu Army was not a purely feudal army.

There are records of Choshu soldiers using guns and cannons in the Battle of Shimonoseki and the Summer Campaign of Kyoto.

Why didn't the Choshu army fight back with cannons? It's not possible that all the cannons were worn out in the previous battle - this question lingered in everyone's mind.

"..."

Qing Deng said nothing, but frowned slightly as he stared at the Choshu army that was being blown to pieces by the rain of shells.

After the 11th Squadron launched more than a dozen rounds of artillery fire, Qing Deng slowly issued new instructions:
"Squad 8, march out!"

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