I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 931 Take out [Decisive Battle Yodo]! A decisive battle with the Shinsengumi! [5600]

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
The flashing of swords, the endless exchanges of attack and defense... In just a blink of an eye, the battle between Hijikata Toshizo and Sukuna has lasted for dozens of rounds, and the winner has not yet been determined.

Suddenly, Sukuna changed his posture, lowered the two swords in his hands, and adopted the lower posture.

At the same time, his sharp gaze was directed directly at Hijikata Toshizo.

It was not difficult to see that he was estimating the distance between himself and Hijikata Toshizo.

When Hijikata Toshizo saw this, he immediately made a conclusion: the opponent was planning to use a killing move!

Sure enough - in a split second, Sukuna stepped forward quickly, and using the momentum to lift the two swords in his hands upwards, biting towards Hijikata Toshizo's waist and abdomen like a poisonous snake.

Hijikata Toshizo had no time to defend himself, so he could only hold Izumi-no-kami Kanesada diagonally in front of his chest and adopt a passive defensive posture.

The next moment, the steel knives collided, and an eardrum-numbing clanging sound was heard.

Although he barely blocked Sukuna's killing move, the powerful force transmitted along the blade made Hijikata Sōzō feel numbness in his palms, and his body posture became disordered for a moment.

For an expert, exposing a flaw - even just for a moment - can be fatal!

In a flash, a huge figure appeared in the corner of Hijikata Toshizo's eyes. Umibozu, who had been waiting for the best opportunity to attack, rushed over without saying a word and stabbed Hijikata Toshizo's head!

There was no time for the blades to collide - even if he had the chance to use his sword to defend himself, Hijikata Toshizo did not dare to take Kaibouzu's heavy blow head-on, for fear that his sword would be deflected or cut off directly.

As a last resort, Hijikata Toshizo could only change his steps and lean to the side, barely avoiding the opponent's blade.

His life was saved, but the blade was less than half an inch away from his forehead...it was truly a close call!
Sukuna alone is enough to maintain a slight advantage over Hijikata Toshizo, let alone Sukuna, Umibozu, and Ushioki together?

Fighting one against three, not only did he not get defeated immediately, but he managed to hold on for so long... Such a record is fully worthy of the title of "Deputy Captain of Demons".

It's a pity...his struggling has already reached his limit.

He had just dodged Umibozu's heavy blow when Ushioki's big naginata slashed at him from the side!
Just like Umibozu, Ushio-oni was also waiting for the best time to attack, ready to kill Hijikata Toshizo at any time.

He first took Sukuna's attack head-on, and then dodged Umibozu's slashing blow - as a result, his body posture was completely disordered and he couldn't even keep up with his breathing.

The battle was so intense that he forgot to breathe... or to be more precise, he didn't have time to breathe.

His lungs had already been protesting in pain, but he had no time to pay attention.

At this moment, anyone can see that unless Hachiman Daimyojin temporarily possesses him, Hijikata Toshizo will have no chance of dodge the Ushi-oni's attack!
Just when the blade of the great naginata was about to cut Hijikata Toshizo in two, a gust of wind blew - and a tall figure rushed in between Hijikata Toshizo and the Ushioki.

It was the first squadron's vice-captain, Shimada Kai!

The Ushi-gui is very powerful - coincidentally, the sturdy Shimada Kai is also a strong man with no shortage of strength!

He planted his feet firmly, gritted his teeth, and swung the knife upwards.

The katana and the naginata collided in the air.

The huge noise made people wonder if it was a collision between two giant beasts.

The collision of the two weapons lasted only a moment.

A moment later, they seemed to be scalded by boiling water, and both they and their weapons bounced back, keeping a distance between them.

At the same time when Shimada Kai arrived, Hijikata Toshizo caught a glimpse of a familiar petite figure out of the corner of his left eye - Elodie was holding her Yamato-kami Yasunari and standing beside her, staring at Sukuna and Umibozu in front of her as if they were facing a formidable enemy.

After neutralizing the attack of the Ushiki, Shimada Kai moved to the right side of Hijikata Toshizo in two steps and said in a deep voice:
"Sorry, Deputy Commander, we are late."

Hijikata Toshizo panted heavily, greedily swallowed the fresh air, adjusted his breath, and said lightly:

"No, you came at the perfect time."

With the arrival of Elodie and Shimada Kai, "one against three" turned into "three against three".

Sukuna calmly moved his gaze and glanced at the faces of Elodie and Shimada Kai with an indifferent expression:

"Have reinforcements arrived?"

The cow ghost said softly with a guilty look on his face:

"I'm sorry, it's my incompetence... If I had acted a little faster, I would have been able to take off Hijikata Toshizo's head..."

Sukuna said calmly:
"No need to apologize."

"Everything in the world is changeable."

"To simply pray for everything to go well is a sign of arrogance."

Umibozu twitched the corners of his mouth and chuckled a few times:

"As expected of a former private school teacher, every word he says is full of philosophical sayings."

Sukuna frowned slightly:

"Don't make such boring jokes."

He raised the two swords in his hands again, and kept talking:
"It's a pity that we were unable to take down the head of the 'Demon's Vice-Captain'."

"But if we keep the enemy's swordsmen here, we will also benefit greatly."

Seeing Sukuna holding a sword, Umibozu and Ushioki also grasped their weapons tightly.

Although there was no prior agreement, the three of them rushed towards the opposite side at the same time!
Hijikata Toshizo and others attacked without giving in!

In the blink of an eye, three pairs of people were fighting each other.

Hijikata Toshizo versus Sukuna.

Shimada Kai versus Umibozu.

Elodie versus the Ushigami.

Through the fight just now, Hijikata Toshizo has roughly figured out the strength ranking of these three people.

Among these three, Sukuna is the strongest, followed by Umibozu, and then Ushioki.

Hijikata Toshizo intentionally adopted the classic tactic "Tian Ji's Horse Racing", that is, the lower horse against the upper horse, the middle horse against the lower horse, and the upper horse against the middle horse, to defeat Sukuna and others one by one.

However... Sukuna is very powerful, far beyond what Elodie and Shimada Kai can handle.

Let the two of them deal with Sukuna... I'm afraid they won't even last 10 rounds and will be killed.

In desperation, he could only give up the idea and adopt the traditional strategy of "general against general, soldier against soldier".

Shimada Kai's strength is more than enough to deal with Umibozu.

The Niu Gui only has brute strength but lacks agility and skills - the extremely agile Elodie is just the right person to restrain this clumsy guy.

Although it was difficult for her to defeat him, it was more than enough for her to hold him back.

Therefore, Hijikata Toshizo confidently left Umibozu and Ushioki to Shimada Kai and Elodie to deal with, and he devoted himself to fighting Sukuna in front of him.

Although Sukuna is slightly stronger than Hijikata Toshizo, this advantage is not enough to turn it into victory, and it is not easy to defeat Hijikata Toshizo.

Shimada Kai and Umibozu were evenly matched. The two fought fiercely and neither could do anything to the other.

Elodi held the Yamato-mori Yasutsu in her palm tightly, using the middle configuration, staring closely at the Ushio-ki in front of her, watching his every move.

Although his opponent was a young girl, Niu Gui did not show any carelessness and was ready for battle.

Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, raised his eyebrows, and asked in a half-confused, half-determined tone:

"Hmm? Are you... Alice d'Orleans?"

Elodie's expression changed slightly when she heard this.

However, she quickly adjusted herself and said in a deep voice:
"You got the wrong person."

The moment she finished speaking, she rushed forward with the knife.

……

……

What Sukuna said is absolutely right.

Even if we can't kill Hijikata Toshizo, keeping these swordsmanship masters here can still generate huge benefits.

Thousands of people working together are extremely lacking in high-end combat power.

Hijikata Toshizo, Shimada Kai and Elodie are the only masters of swordsmanship.

The three of them were held back, as if they had lost three of their sharpest spears, and the attacking capability of thousands of people working together was greatly reduced.

Although Shuten-doji, who was in charge of the main camp, did not go to the front line in person, he was like a hound with a keen sense of smell and could sniff out the opportunity for battle immediately!
He immediately dispatched the reserve force - 500 special forces soldiers led by Katsura Kogoro!

The addition of this new force immediately broke the balance on the front line!

Thousands of people were united in strength and equal to the "Slavic Legion", so they were evenly matched and the battle was difficult to determine.

Suddenly, there are 500 elite soldiers who are as fierce as wolves and tigers on the opposite side... Thousands of people are united and immediately fall into a disadvantage!
Secondly, the appearance of the swordsman Katsura Kogoro instantly unbalanced the high-end combat power comparison between the two sides!
In this situation where Hijikata Toshizo and others were tightly entangled by Sukuna and others, no one could fight against Katsura Kogoro!
There is no doubt about Katsura Kogoro's strength.

Long before Qing Deng's rise, he was already a famous swordsman in Edo.

He seemed to be in an empty space, unstoppable and unstoppable!
It is necessary to send a large force of twenty people or more to stop him at all costs in order to slow down his offensive.

Although the battle situation was unfavorable, the fighting spirit of thousands of people was not frustrated, but became even higher!
The speech delivered by Hijikata Toshizo before the war played a big role.

The fighting spirit of thousands of people was fully aroused, and even if they were at a disadvantage, they were unwilling to give in!
The two armies fought for every foot and every inch of land.

A bloody battle... a real bloody battle!
Any place, any position may become a battlefield and be repeatedly fought over!
Shuten-doji picked up the telescope and carefully checked every angle of the front line.

The face that was originally full of confidence now had a solemn look.

……

……

That night--

The Farge Alliance, main camp——"What? Maher's only daughter is here?"

Shuten-doji cast a surprised look at the Ushio-ki.

The cow ghost nodded solemnly.

Shuten-doji asked:
"Niu Gui, are you sure?"

Niu Gui nodded again and changed his tone to a decisive one:
"I am very sure!"

"It was me and Nunu who served as Maer's guards, accompanying him to Otsu to meet his only daughter."

"So I am certain that the blonde girl I am fighting today is Alice de Orleans, Mahel's only daughter!"

Today's battle lasted until nightfall.

Although the performance of thousands of people on the battlefield was very impressive and they fought bravely and tenaciously, the power of spirit could not make up for the material gap after all.

Under the fierce attack of the French and Qi coalition forces, the battle line continued to advance eastwards, and thousands of people retreated together...

Finally...the French and Qi coalition forces succeeded in completely occupying the first trench with thousands of people working together before dark!
It is true that the French and Qi coalition forces achieved considerable results, but from the overall perspective, they are far from victorious.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

In order to stop the Fachhochschule coalition, Hijikata Toshizo dug many trenches and laid out multi-layered defense lines before the battle.

Even if they lost the first trench, they still had the second, third, and fourth trenches... In this way, they could launch layers of resistance.

After losing the first trench, Hijikata Toshizo immediately led his soldiers to retreat to the second trench.

In other words, the Fachi coalition is still a long way from completely defeating the Thousands of United and completely occupying Hachioji!
By the way - until the end of today's battle, Sukuna and others were unable to defeat Hijikata Toshizo and others.

In contrast, Hijikata Toshizo and others were helpless against Sukuna and others.

Sukuna and Hijikata Toshizo, Umibozu and Shimada Kai, these two pairs of opponents both wanted to kill each other and tried their best, but the difference in strength between them was almost the same and it was impossible to determine the winner.

As for Elodie, she knew very well that she was no match for Niu Gui with her own strength, so she kept dodging, trying not to defeat her opponent or let him defeat her.

With her petite body and agile skills, she was as light as a butterfly. No matter how hard Niu Gui tried, he couldn't touch even a corner of her clothes, which made him feel very frustrated.

Of course, there is another reason why Niu Gui couldn't do anything to Elodi, which was that he was concerned about her identity and didn't dare to kill her.

After listening to the report from the Ushi-ki, Shuten-doji couldn't help but frown and smacked his lips a few times.

"Mael's only daughter is here... This is troublesome..."

Su Nuo interjected:

"Master Shuten-doji, do you want to capture Alice alive?"

Shuten-doji answered without hesitation:

"Need I ask? Of course!"

Sukuna's face darkened:

"To capture a person alive in the dark battlefield... Please forgive me for being blunt, but this is really a difficult task."

Umibozu curled his lips:
“Even if she is Maer’s only daughter, she should not be treated with leniency. She is now in the enemy camp. We should simply ignore her relationship with Maer and treat her as an enemy general and kill her.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he received a sharp gaze from Shuten-doji.

"That won't do. Maher is our ally. We killed his only daughter. How are we going to explain this to Maher when we face him in the future?"

Seeing that Shuten-doji had said this, no one dared to have any other opinions and they all remained silent to show their obedience.

Shuten-doji glanced at everyone present, then sat up straight.

"Everyone, just now, the Kappa lurking in Edo reported that Tokugawa Iemochi did not abandon the city and flee. It was the exact opposite - he ordered the defense of Edo to the death and personally took charge of the Edo Castle!"

After hearing this, everyone looked shocked and astonished.

Katsura Kogoro murmured:

"'Siege War'?"

Sukuna pulled the corner of his mouth, as if smiling:

"Although I hate the shogunate, I have to admit that Tokugawa Iemochi is a real man."

Shuten-doji raised his right palm and pressed it several times in the air, signaling everyone to be quiet.

After everyone shut up and focused their attention on him again, Shuten-doji spoke in a half-joking tone:

"Thinking carefully, since we landed in Nobi, except for the surprise attack on Nagoya Castle and the attack on Sunpu Castle, everything else has been very unsuccessful."

"First, the King of Ren rushed back to the capital at a speed beyond our expectations."

"And the thousand men defending Hachioji are much more tenacious than we thought."

"Then the young Shogun actually behaved like a 'shogun'. Instead of fleeing in panic, he bravely held the city."

"It looks like we won't be able to capture Edo easily."

"But now that things have come to this, we can no longer retreat."

Having said this, Shuten-doji suddenly lowered his voice and his tone became serious.

"We were prepared when we decided to launch the Amanuma Spear."

"Victory or death!"

“Even if there are thorns ahead, we will get through it!”

Along with Shuten-doji's passionate words, the temperature at the scene seemed to rise several degrees.

Everyone at the scene - including Katsura Kogoro, who had always been on guard against Shuten-doji - was infected by his words, their eyes became firm and their expressions became high-spirited.

Suddenly, Shuten-doji stood up, his voice rising as he stood up straight, and he shouted in a commanding tone:
"From today on, within five days, break through the Eighth Prince!"

……

……

Time returns to the present——

Sekigahara, Nangong Mountain, the main camp of the special forces——

Takasugi Shinsaku lowered his head and read the letter in his hand.

The more he read the letter, the deeper his frown deepened.

This letter was written by Shuten-doji.

On the first night of the Battle of Hachioji, Shuten-doji wrote this letter himself, sealed it before the ink had dried, and sent it to Sekigahara on a fast horse.

Until today, this letter finally reached Takasugi Shinsaku's hands.

The letter first gave a general description of the first day's battle at Hachioji, and then at the end put forward a request to Takasugi Shinsaku - the resistance of a thousand people was very strong, and the Fachi coalition would take much longer than expected to completely break through Hachioji, so he hoped that Takasugi Shinsaku could delay the Shinsengumi for a few more days.

After reading Shuten-doji's letter, Takasugi Shinsaku threw the letter into the fire pit next to him with a dark face, and then concisely relayed to everyone in the tent the latest situation of the Hachioji attack and defense, as well as Shuten-doji's orders.

After hearing this, everyone was filled with indignation:

"This is really unreasonable!"

"That Shuten-doji always looked so confident, I thought he was very capable! But this is the result? He was stopped by a mere thousand people!"

"Alright! They are our allies after all! Stop criticizing them! Let's focus on the war at hand!"

"You want us to hold back the Shinsengumi for a few more days? What a joke! Judging from the current situation, it's even a question whether we can survive until tomorrow!"

Confusion, tension, fear...all kinds of negative emotions filled the scene.

Their attitude towards Shuten-doji's order to "delay the Shinsengumi for a few more days" was surprisingly unanimous - this was an impossible task!
Just like the Fauchi coalition underestimated the unity of thousands of people, everyone here also underestimated the Shinsengumi!

They fully believed that with the combat capability of the Special Forces and the geographical advantages of Mount Nangong, it would be more than enough to hold off the Shinsengumi for 3 to 5 days.

They never expected that the Shinsengumi would push the front line past the halfway point of Mount Nangong in just one day!
The rapid fall of the "high wall" on the southern battlefield dealt them a heavy blow.

Judging from the speed of the Shinsengumi's advance, they will be able to reach the top of the mountain tomorrow! Attack the main camp!

As someone just said, it's already a question whether we can survive tomorrow, so how can we talk about "delaying the Shinsengumi for a few more days"?
Anxiety leads to panic, and panic leads to blame-shifting.

I don't know who started it, but the voices of rebuke gradually rang out at the scene:

"Damn it! What's going on with that 'high wall'? Wasn't it said to hold off the Shinsengumi for at least two days? How come it only lasted two hours?!"

"We have too few troops!"

"Too few troops? We have deployed 300 men at the 'High Wall', accounting for one fifth of the total force. It's more than enough!"

"If even 300 people are not enough, then what are the 40 people under my command?"

"We have tried our best! It's all because of that Niou, he is not a human being at all!"

"You're so scared by Tachibana Aoto? Then let's not fight anymore! Just surrender to Tachibana Aoto!"

"You haven't even met Ju Qingdeng, stop making sarcastic remarks!"

The war-fighting meeting gradually turned into a quarrel meeting and a blame-shifting meeting...

Seeing this, military advisor Omura Masujiro gradually frowned and looked impatient.

Just as he opened his mouth to stop everyone, Takasugi Shinsaku beside him spoke first:
"Everyone be quiet!"

Suddenly, the scene became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.

"…Omura-kun, take out the 'Decisive Battle Yodo'! Let's fight the Shinsengumi!"

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