I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1004: "Mito Expedition" Complete Victory! Continue to Advance Northward! Completely Stabilize the North! [4900]

Two minutes ago, both Tokugawa Yoshiaki and the ministers present had high expectations for the letter of surrender written by Qing Deng himself.

Two minutes later...they were furious, and "expectation" turned into "anger and grief".

As soon as the reading ended, someone shouted angrily:

"It's too much to bully others! It's really too much to bully others!"

With this person taking the lead, the others started to curse:

"We still have a strong city to defend! We still have thousands of soldiers available, why should we surrender?!"

"Who the hell is he! 'In the name of the Shogun'? Why does he represent the Shogun?"

"I would rather die than beg for mercy from Tachibana Aoto!"

Although this letter of surrender written by Qing Deng himself did not use complicated and difficult classical Chinese, it was precisely this simple and direct vernacular that gave Mito's monarch and his ministers a great stimulus!

This is both a tough persuasion to surrender and a naked humiliation!
It is no exaggeration to say that Qing Deng was just about to slap the words "Stop messing around, you have no chance of winning, just surrender quickly" into their faces.

His contempt for Mito was obvious.

Even the well-educated Tokugawa Keijun could not tolerate such blatant humiliation.

He stood up suddenly, his hair standing on end with anger, his cheeks flushed, and the blood vessels in his temples throbbing like earthworms:
"Defend Mito Castle to the death! Fight to the death with Tachibana Aoto!"

……

……

An hour later——

Outside Mito Castle, siege position——

"Qing Deng, everything is ready."

Kondo Isami spoke softly to Qing Deng.

Qing Deng asked back expressionlessly:
"Is there any response from the other side?"

Kondo Isami shook his head:
"No."

"Is that so... What a shame! My good intentions are wasted."

"Shall we start the attack?"

"Of course! Since the other side has shown its 'guts', we must respond. Send a message to the 11th Division! Blow up the walls of Mito Castle!"

"Yes! Eleventh Division, prepare for bombardment!"

As for how to capture Mito Castle, Qing Deng's plan was quite simple and did not require any conspiracy or trickery.

In the era of cold weapons when there was a lack of offensive capabilities - such as the Warring States period three hundred years ago - it was indeed extremely difficult to attack a strong city like Mito Castle.

If the number of troops is countless times greater than yours, you can only rely on "battle for food and military supplies" to wear down the enemy.

But now, with the rapid advancement of technology, these castles built of bricks, stones and wood are no longer a threat.

Can these backward castles withstand cannons?

As the order was delivered, the artillery positions of the 11th Squadron immediately became busy.

The muzzles of the guns were pointed obliquely at the sky, aimed at Mito Castle, ready to fire at any time.

After receiving the order to "start the attack", the artillerymen, who had been ready to go, immediately took action.

Instructions were issued one after another.

Fill it in with gunpowder.

Then--

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
One shell after another rushed out of the barrel, cutting through the atmosphere and falling towards Mito Castle like raindrops!
In an instant, flames and shock waves swept through Mito Castle!

Even Qing Deng and others who were far away in the main camp felt the ground shaking beneath their feet.

Mito Castle, which had just been peaceful, was now dominated by turmoil.

Of course, the Mito army was not without the ability to fight back.

Just a few minutes after the Shinsengumi began their attack, the enemy launched a counterattack.

One shell after another flew in an arc.

However, all these shells fell outside the siege positions and achieved nothing except stirring up countless clouds of dust.

The cannons used by the Mito army were still old-fashioned antiques.

The firing rate, accuracy, and range were all inferior to the new cannons used by the Shinsengumi.

Therefore, it is only natural that such a situation would occur.

Strangely enough, on the surface, the number of artillery on the opposite side was very considerable.

The walls and turrets of Mito Castle's San-no-maru are all covered with tiny black dots.

Although they are too far to see clearly, judging from their shapes, they should be cannons.

But these cannons did not fire, they were just placed there as decoration.

Seeing this, Kondo Isami looked confused and couldn't help but murmur:
"How strange... The enemy's counterattack is much weaker than we expected."

Qing Deng frowned slightly, thinking, and then he seemed to have thought of something and curled up the corners of his mouth:

"This is probably an old trick of the Mito Army, using a bronze bell to disguise it as a cannon."

When Kondo Isami heard this, he immediately understood.

After the "Black Ship Incident" (1853) broke out, the former lord of Mito Domain, Tokugawa Nariaki, who was still alive at the time, sent a large army to provide assistance.

Due to the lack of cannons, the Mito army moved a large number of bronze bells and placed them on the coast.

So, from a distance, these bronze bells look like cannons.

The original intention was to bluff and intimidate American warships - of course, it did not work at all.

Regardless of the truth, the strength of the Mito army's counterattack was indeed far less than what Qing Deng and others had expected.

The Shinsengumi's artillery shells covered the San-no-maru of Mito Castle, but the Mito army's artillery shells could not reach the siege positions...it was an extremely unequal war.

The soldiers of the Mito army felt extremely aggrieved.

On the other hand, the soldiers of the Shinsengumi were feeling quite comfortable.

Qing Deng sat leisurely on the mat, watching quietly and waiting silently.

The soldiers of the 11th Squadron kept firing, as if the shells were free.

It is true that the soldiers of the 11th Squadron could not hit the target every time.

If one out of ten shells hits the target, you're lucky.

Although the hit rate is mediocre, it can’t withstand the large number of shells and the large target area!

The walls of Sannomaru are very long and wide, making them perfect targets.

The strength of Japanese castles is their complex design, not their materials or wall thickness - they certainly couldn't withstand continuous bombardment from artillery shells anyway!
The first thing to be destroyed was the turret of Sannomaru.

Just now, a cannonball hit the oar of Sannomaru squarely, and it was cut in half like rice being cut by a sickle.

Immediately afterwards, the walls of Sannomaru gradually collapsed.

After being bombarded by countless shells, the walls of Sannomaru began to crumble.

Countless debris and fragments flew out...the cracks continued to lengthen and deepen.

Finally, with a loud bang, the wall of Mito Castle San-no-maru completely collapsed, revealing a huge gap!
Qing Deng issued further orders calmly:

"Prepare to suppress San-no-maru!"

His military order was quickly passed on to the positions of the second, third and sixth squads.

By the way, Qing Deng did not let Serizawa Kamo participate in the attack - this was mainly because Serizawa Kamo was from Mito Domain.

Letting people attack their hometown... this is too cruel.

Although Serizawa Kamo remained silent on the "Mito Expedition", due to various considerations, Aoto decided to let him and his 4th Division serve as a reserve force and stay behind.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime and Inoue Gensaburo each took their positions, ready to go.

Qing Deng did not immediately order them to advance.

He ordered the 11th Division to continue the bombardment and launch a saturation bombing on the interior of Sannomaru, which was called "bathing the ground with artillery fire."

After several rounds of bombardment, most of the defensive facilities inside Sannomaru were destroyed, and then Qing Deng allowed Nagakura Shinpachi and others to begin their advance.

"Second Squad! Follow me!"

"Team Three, forward."

"Squad 6! Attack!"

The three armies rushed towards the gap in the city wall like a tide and attacked the broken Sannomaru.

Honestly, this was a boring fight.

Had the soldiers of the Mito Army ever seen such a fierce rain of artillery fire?
The Shinsengumi destroyed the city they relied on so heavily without using a single soldier, using only a few artillery shells... The shock this brought to them was like a bolt from the blue!
Their morale was already low, and faced with the ferocious soldiers rushing towards them, they were defeated without even putting up a decent resistance.

In fact, even if we don't talk about the equipment gap, and only talk about personal bravery, the Mito army cannot defeat the Shinsengumi.

While the Shinsengumi was fighting bloody battles in Gyeonggi Province, successively taking on powerful enemies such as the Peasant Army, the Choshu Army, and the Hosabatsu Party, the soldiers of the Mito Army stayed in the comfortable Kanto and had never been baptized by the fire of war.

Their knowledge of war only stayed in the mouths of storytellers. A group of rookies met veterans who had fought many battles... the result was self-evident.

The offensive of Nagakura Shinpachi and others was as easy as taking candy from a sack. They encountered only sporadic resistance along the way and suffered only very minor casualties, while completely suppressing Sannomaru.

Immediately afterwards, the artillery positions extended forward and began bombarding the walls of Ninomaru.

The following process was just a replay of everything that had just happened.

Bombardment, collapse of city walls, artillery fire, advance of the army, fall of Ninomaru...

At this point, the San-no-maru and Nin-no-maru of Mito Castle had fallen one after another, and it took: 2 hours!
Only two hours have passed since the war started!

It only took 2 hours to destroy Mito Castle and leave only the lonely Honmaru... This is truly the best interpretation of the term "unstoppable"!
Qing Deng ordered coldly:
"Keep going! Don't be stingy with your shells! Blast Honmaru!"

He had already given the Mito monarch and his ministers a chance to surrender early so as not to waste time for both sides.

He wrote very clearly in the letter of surrender: If you want war, I will give you war!

Since the Mito monarch and his ministers are determined to oppose him, then he will do as they wish and use absolute force to make them face reality!

He will not send anyone to persuade them to surrender again.

Next, either they would wisely open the door and surrender, or we would bombard the main castle and drive them out like rats out of a hole, or simply dig out their bodies from the ruins.

……

……

Mito Castle, Honmaru——

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The muffled sound of artillery shells bombarding the city walls came one after another.

In between, there was the sound of broken bricks and tiles falling to the ground.

Tokugawa Keitoshi sat on the ground dejectedly, his eyes dull.

A group of ministers surrounded him with blank expressions.

Two hours ago, they were furious, glaring and shouting slogans like "Never surrender" and "Fight to the end" in a competitive manner.

And now... they are all depressed and listless.

This strong contrast is both funny and sad.

In just two hours, they deeply experienced the despair of "falling straight into hell".

The castle that they had placed high hopes on was on the verge of collapse in less than half a day!

At this point, they are helpless...

Unless they have the magical powers of "summoning meteorites" and "calling strong winds", it is impossible for them to break the impasse.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The muffled sound of artillery shells bombarding the city walls became heavier and closer.

The sound of broken bricks and tiles splashing on the ground became more and more frequent.

It seems that it will only take 20 minutes at most for their last stronghold to fall.

At this moment, a heavy and suffocating atmosphere was circulating between the Mito monarch and his ministers...

In this dead silence, Tokugawa Keito said softly:
"… Surrender… Surrender to Tachibana Aoto…!"

The last few syllables were squeezed out from between the teeth.

Surrender... If it was two hours ago, when the ministers heard this word, they would be outraged and angry.

Right now...

After Tokugawa Keitoshi finished speaking, no one at the scene spoke.

There was silence... no one objected.

Even if someone opened their mouth and prepared to say something, they quickly closed it.

Defeat was imminent, and no matter how unwilling or indignant they were, they could not use their spiritual strength to change this established fact.

"Woo...Woo..."

Someone shrugged his shoulders and let out a soft sob.

The others who had been holding back their tears could no longer hold back after seeing this scene and burst into tears.

The sobbing sounds became more and more frequent, and gradually became one and the same.

They all lowered their heads, looking at their toes, not daring to look at anyone around them, as if they would discover sin on each other's faces.

……

……

Mito Castle, outside the main castle——

Qing Deng looked calmly at Honmaru, which was on the verge of collapse.

The Mito Army's counterattack capability had been completely destroyed, and it was no longer able to fight against the Shinsengumi's artillery team.

Therefore, the soldiers of the 11th Division were able to set up cannons in front of the walls of Honmaru and bombard the Honmaru directly at close range.

By the way, just as Qing Deng had expected, the Mito army did use the old trick - they brought in bronze bells and piled them on the city walls as cannons to bluff.

After capturing Sannomaru, the Shinsengumi soldiers all laughed happily when they saw the bronze bells on the city wall.

This move not only failed to intimidate the Shinsengumi, but instead boosted their morale.

Looking at the Honmaru that was about to fall, Kondo Isami said calmly:

“It’s almost over.”

Qing Deng nodded slightly to show his agreement.

At this moment, he, with his sharp eyes, suddenly discovered something strange - he saw the main gate of the main gate slowly opening.

Then, a middle-aged man in white rushed out quickly:
"General Tachibana! We surrender! We surrender!"

He prostrated himself on the ground, trembling, and kept repeating "We surrender."

Seeing this, Qing Deng ordered:

"Stop the shelling."

Soon, the continuous gunfire stopped.

After sending someone to inquire about the situation, Kondo Isami sneered:
"Humph! If you surrender earlier, there won't be so many problems!"

Qing Deng didn't say a word - because Kondo Isami had already acted as his "mouthpiece" and said what he was thinking.

Although it is ridiculous that the Lord and his ministers of Mito would not shed tears until they saw the coffin, it is always a good thing to end the war as soon as possible.

So he readily accepted the surrender.

Suddenly, Tokugawa Keiatsu, dressed in white, led a group of ministers and slowly walked out of the Honmaru, looking like prisoners heading to the execution ground.

After a while, they knelt down in front of Qingdeng.

Tokugawa Keitoku assumed the posture of "sitting down from the ground", with his forehead an inch off the ground, and said in a trembling voice with great fear:
"General Ju, we are willing to surrender... I beg you to be lenient..."

When Qing Deng heard this, a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes:
"'Give me a lighter sentence'? You Mito have committed so many sins, and now you want to give me a lighter sentence just because our lips touched. Isn't that too unreasonable?"

In fact, if we only talk about "hatred value", Qing Deng's hatred for Mito is even greater than that for Choshu.

Choshu never pushed him into a corner.

However, Mito actually once pushed him and Tenshoin and others into a desperate situation, nearly killing them.

Faced with Qing Deng's rebuke, Tokugawa Keito was stunned for a moment, then opened his mouth and wanted to refute.

But he immediately remembered that he was already a prisoner, so he shut his mouth and dared not say anything more.

Qing Deng was too lazy to say more to Mito Jun and his ministers, so he waved his hand and ordered his men to take them all away and decide their fate another day.

The city has been captured, the emperor and his subjects have surrendered... At this point, the "Mito Conquest" that lasted only three days ended with the Shinsengumi's complete victory!
Although this battle took advantage of the fact that "Mito Domain was severely weakened", the achievement of capturing Mito Castle in just 2 hours is definitely worthy of the comment of "fierce"!

The battle is over, and the next moment is just a matter of cleaning up the battlefield and taking over the Mito Domain's treasury.

It is worth mentioning that when the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield, they found more than a dozen bodies of people who had committed suicide by seppuku in the Honmaru. After verifying their identities, they found that they were all retainers of the Mito domain.

It is not difficult to guess that they were definitely unwilling to surrender, so they committed suicide to express their determination.

Although they are enemies, Qing Deng has always had a certain respect for such a brave man who dares to use his own life to uphold his ideals.

Therefore, he specifically ordered that relatives be allowed to take back the body.

After finishing a series of follow-up tasks, the orange sunset was about to fall into the horizon.

Looking at the sky dyed red by the setting sun, Kondo Isami sighed half jokingly and half helplessly:
"Although I expected this, it's still a bit unpleasant that the battle ended so quickly."

This was said unintentionally.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Qing Deng beside him smiled slightly - there was an intriguing look in his smile.

"What a coincidence, I thought so too."

"It's a rare trip here. It would be a waste to just go back like this."

"So...keep pushing north! I want to stabilize the north in one fell swoop!"

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PS: The "Mito Conquest" ended after only one chapter... There was no other way, the Mito clan was too weak and could only be crushed.