I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1178 As long as the British launch an attack, everything will be alright.

"fire!"

With a command from Juro Abe (captain of the 11th Division), the counterattack began!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The combined sounds of artillery fire from both sides created a magnificent symphony unique to the battlefield, with thunderous explosions filling the air.

As soon as the cannons fired, the stockpile of shells immediately dwindled like melting snow.

Before long, each artillery group shouted to the rear:
"Don't just stand there! Quickly move the shells over here!"

"Don't be afraid! The enemy's artillery shells can't get through!"

"Quickly recall what you trained!"

A large number of militiamen who were unable to fight due to age, physical strength and other issues were added to the logistics forces, which greatly reduced the logistical pressure and allowed many soldiers in the logistics sequence to be transferred to the combat sequence.

Moving shells from the rear into the artillery position... it's just about moving things, there's no technical skill involved, it sounds very simple.

However... on the battlefield filled with the smoke of gunpowder, anything that would be very simple in ordinary times becomes incredibly difficult.

Although they had undergone some training and made corresponding mental preparations, most of the militiamen were terrified when the enemy's artillery roared in unison, and some even fell to the ground.

This is understandable. Even seasoned veterans find it difficult to remain calm amidst the continuous sounds of artillery fire, let alone militiamen who are new to the battlefield.
Seeing this, Nomura Risaburo (the vice-captain of the 11th Division) frowned and turned to Abe Juro beside him, calling out:

"Captain! No! The militiamen are terrified! Let our men go and transport the shells!"

Abe Juro murmured for a moment, then said in a deep voice:

"...Rizaburo, calm down. The battle has only just begun. The militia need some time to adapt to the battlefield."

At the very moment Abe Juro finished speaking, a boy who looked no more than ten years old gritted his teeth, resolutely stood up, pushed the handcart in his hand, and charged forward into the smoke, causing those around him to gasp in surprise.

Soon, he returned safely, pushing an empty cart.

"Don't be afraid, everyone!"

The boy took a deep breath and shouted.

"The sound of that artillery fire is terrifying! But the enemy's shells won't land on our side at all! Go ahead and deliver the shells without worry! We absolutely cannot let our cannons stop firing! We're standing here because we're determined to fight to the end, aren't we?!"

The boy's words, along with his actions, had an immediate effect.

Those who were terrified and pale gradually regained their composure; those who were paralyzed with fear began to get up one after another.

Suddenly, someone shouted, "Let's go!"—and the next moment, everyone rushed out like a flood! Following the training, they pushed their handcarts straight towards the artillery position!

Those who are strong should push more, and those who are weak should push less.

In this way, a large number of shells were delivered to the artillerymen in time.

Seeing the militiamen finally rally, Abe Juro breathed a silent sigh of relief, his previously tense facial features relaxing slightly.

However, he hadn't relaxed for long before his brow furrowed again, and he stared anxiously in the direction of the enemy.

Despite the desperate counterattacks of his artillerymen, who did their utmost, they were unable to suppress the barrage of British artillery fire!
The British artillery fire was incredibly accurate; the shells that fell straight down mostly landed around the city walls, sending bricks and stones flying everywhere!
In comparison, the accuracy of artillery fire here is much worse; many shells simply fly off into the unknown after leaving the barrel.

The battle had barely begun when they were already at a disadvantage due to poor artillery fire… Abe Juro felt worried and extremely guilty – if only our artillery fire were a little more accurate! Even if we couldn’t suppress the enemy, at least we could have dampened their arrogance…!
……

……

The British army's intentions were very clear—they wanted to bombard the walls of Otsut!

With the continuous development of cannon technology, "bombing down city walls" became the most mainstream method of siege warfare.

This is especially true when dealing with heavy fortresses like bastions.

The enemy only surrounded the north and east of Dajin City, clearly indicating that these were the main directions of their attack.

Therefore, at the moment the war began, Otsu City presented a stark contrast – the west and south were peaceful, while the east and north were engulfed in gunfire!
The soldiers, hiding in their bunkers, endured the trembling of their internal organs and the stinging pain in their eardrums.

At that moment, they felt as if they were on the sea, with rolling waves beneath their feet instead of flat ground! They were so dizzy that their vision blurred and their heads spun!

Just then, the enemy's artillery fire, which had been going on incessantly, suddenly stopped, leaving only our own artillery bombardment continuing.

Sensing the sudden silence, the soldiers inside the bunker raised their eyes, each with a different emotion, and looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Has the enemy artillery fire stopped?"

"Yes... the enemy's shelling has stopped, it's time for the real show to begin!"

"Get out of here! Get to the city wall! The enemy is coming!"

"Do exactly what you did during training, once you're on the city wall!"

The commanders waved their arms vigorously, instructing their men to leave their bunkers and prepare to engage the enemy.

The soldiers filed out of the bunker and hurried to the top of the wall.

Upon reaching the city wall, they were all shocked by the sight before them—the city wall was no longer as intact as before.

Looking up, the ground above the wall was pitted and uneven, with brick fragments scattered everywhere, leaving almost no place to step, and the air was filled with the acrid smell of gunpowder.

Because it was a bastion-style structure, the walls of Ōtsu Castle were low, thick, and sloping, which made it easy for cannonballs to be deflected or have their impact absorbed by the slope, greatly improving its defensive capabilities.

Even so, the walls of Otsu Castle were still bombed into this state...

This scene brought the same question to the minds of the soldiers: how many more times could our city walls withstand such a fierce bombardment?
While harboring doubts, they couldn't help but feel a bit of relief—fortunately, Lord Niou had the foresight to build Otsu Castle into an advanced fortress.

If Otsu Castle were a traditional castle like Edo Castle or Osaka Castle, it would absolutely not have been able to withstand the British artillery fire!
Shocked as they were, the soldiers paid no attention to the dilapidated city walls at the moment—looking out of the city, they saw countless enemy soldiers carrying long ladders, charging towards them in a massive wave!

The walls of Otsu Castle are about 8 meters high, and you can easily climb over them by simply setting up a long ladder.

The enemy soldiers attacking were not Westerners with high eyebrows and deep-set eyes, but all Asian faces—they were soldiers of the "Northern Army".

"Look! The enemy is coming to their deaths! Why don't we grant them their wish!"

Inoue Genzaburo's voice echoed across the wall.

Immediately afterwards, with a "whoosh," he drew his sword.

"Set up your guns!"

Click! Click! Click! Click! Click!

With the clanging of metal against metal, the members of the Sixth Division approached the ramparts, set up their muskets, and aimed the dark muzzles at the approaching enemy soldiers outside the city.

Suddenly—

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom boom!

The British artillery fire has started again!

Countless cannonballs slammed into the city walls, both inside and out.

Inoue Genzaburo instinctively covered his face with his hand to prevent dust and smoke from entering his mouth and nose.

He was lucky; no shells landed near him. Such lucky men only suffered a lot of smoke and dust.

As for the unfortunate souls who were hit by direct artillery fire... their mangled corpses flew into the air, leaving trails of blood droplets, before plummeting down in a parabolic arc.

The sudden return of British artillery fire caused chaos on the wall.

The Shinsengumi soldiers were relatively calm, as they were already accustomed to the battlefield. After a brief moment of panic, they regained their composure and remained steadfast in their positions. The militia, on the other hand, were completely thrown into disarray.

People were shouting, running around, and brandishing weapons... It was utter chaos.

Inoue Genzaburo hurriedly shouted:
"Calm down! Hold your weapons firmly! Holding the walls won't necessarily kill you, but abandoning them will certainly kill you! If we can't hold Dajin, none of us will survive!"

In the blink of an eye, with the support of British artillery fire, the soldiers of the "Northern Army" had closed the distance in one go and were almost at the foot of the wall.

Inoue Genzaburo kept a close eye on the enemy's movements.

Therefore, just as the enemy soldiers were about to raise the ladders, he immediately roared:
"put!"

The Sixth Division members, who were already prepared, immediately gripped the triggers:

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
From the enemy soldier's perspective, a barrage of bullets came from the front, left, and right, making it impossible to avoid.

No matter where you attack, you will be exposed to the crossfire of the defenders... Only by experiencing it firsthand can you know how terrifying the bastion's "elimination of blind spots" feature is!
After the first rank of musketeers on the wall ran out of bullets, they immediately retreated to the rear and reloaded.

The second rank of musketeers took over and began firing.

Musketeers from the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth platoons moved forward one after another, ready to take over firing positions at any time.

After accumulating rich practical experience, the Shinsengumi's musketeers have fully mastered the technique of "multi-stage firing," and can fire in perfect rhythm to keep the barrage going.

To maximize the density of firepower, Inoue Genzaburo went to extreme lengths and prepared a full six platoons of musketeers!

In this way, by sheer numbers, he managed to achieve a machine gun-like bullet density with his rifles!

And so, row after row, round after round... the enemy soldiers near the city wall fell like mowing grass.

However, despite facing such a fierce barrage of bullets, the other side showed no fear whatsoever.

They stared with bloodshot eyes, ignoring the barrage of comments, and charged forward one after another.

Seeing this all-too-familiar scene, Inoue Genzaburo gritted his teeth in resentment.

"Damn it... it's the final battle at Dian again...!"

Although he had anticipated that the "Northern Expeditionary Army" would likely also have a decisive battle at Yodo, Inoue Genzaburo still couldn't help but curse loudly after seeing this extremely familiar scene with his own eyes.

However, compared to the British artillery support, this secret medicine was nothing.

The British artillery bombardment was a significant threat that could not be ignored.

Even if the shells don't hit your head, the powerful shockwave is enough to knock you to the ground.

Moreover, the dust that rose from time to time often obscured visibility, causing considerable trouble for the musketeers' firing.

Of course, accidental injury is inevitable under such circumstances.

Inoue Genzaburo witnessed a British cannonball land in the besieging city, exploding into a cloud of dismembered limbs and blood mist.

British artillery support, coupled with the added advantage of the decisive battle, was able to halt the enemy's advance, but it was never able to completely repel them.

Soon, the first batch of enemy soldiers successfully approached the corner of the wall, quickly set up long ladders, and then climbed up the ladders.

However, the moment they stepped onto the wall, they were horrified by the sight before them, their faces turning pale and their limbs stiffening.

What came into their view were countless bamboo spears, each one sharpened to an incredibly fine point! Countless bamboo spears were pieced together to form a terrifying "bamboo forest" that exuded an aura of death!
And it was the militiamen who were in charge of managing this bamboo forest!

"prick!"

In a split second, all the bamboo spears shot out! In the blink of an eye, they riddled the enemy soldiers who had climbed the wall with holes, sending them tumbling back down to the ground!

Bamboo spears are inexpensive and lightweight. Once the tip is sharpened, their power is comparable to that of a regular spear, making them the most suitable weapon for militia.

Moreover, the length of the bamboo spear (3 meters) could effectively reduce the militiamen's fear—because they did not need to engage in close combat with the enemy soldiers.

In just two days, they couldn't learn anything of substance. So the militiamen responsible for wielding the bamboo spears only learned one thing during training: once they saw enemy soldiers, they should forcefully thrust out the bamboo spears in their hands!

In this way, even militiamen who had never learned martial arts were able to shine in the city defense battle.

Qingdeng constructed a total of three layers of defense on the city walls—

The first layer of defense consisted of musketeers who swept fire at enemy soldiers approaching the city walls.

The second layer of defense consisted of militiamen who used bamboo spears to repel enemy soldiers who attempted to scale the wall.

The third layer of defense consisted of swordsmen. If enemy soldiers broke through the lines of musketeers and militia, it would be the turn of the best swordsmen to step forward and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy soldiers.

Judging from the current situation, this design is very successful.

Before the swordsmen could even take the stage, the enemy soldiers who scaled the wall were all killed by bamboo spears.

The enemy soldiers, baring their teeth and brandishing their claws, didn't even have time to put up a decent resistance before being stabbed to death by a hail of bullets, becoming their victims... The militiamen were initially shocked, but then delighted.

"Self-confidence" is one of the most magical emotions in the world. If you can have self-confidence, you can be transformed, turning a coward into a warrior and a weakling into a strongman.

Although it was only a small and insignificant victory, it undoubtedly greatly boosted the morale of the militia.

But they all gripped their bamboo spears tightly, and their previous tension and panic greatly lessened.

Unfortunately... even though they could repel the enemy soldiers who climbed the wall, they still couldn't do anything about the endless barrage of British artillery fire.

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Suddenly, six shells landed precisely on the wall, and dozens of soldiers were directly covered by the flames of the explosion!
The musketeers, who had been firing in an orderly fashion, were immediately thrown off their firing rhythm.

The militiamen, who had just gained confidence, were once again brought back to the cold reality.

Before the swordsmen even had a chance to engage the enemy, a large number of them were killed or wounded.

Instantly, the smell of gunpowder mixed with the stench of blood filled our mouths and noses!
"Ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

"Heh...heh...heh...heh..."

"My...my hand...!"

"Save me...save me quickly..."

"Help! This guy is bleeding a lot!"

Inoue Genzaburo was once again fortunate enough to stay outside the blast radius, though he ended up getting a bit more dust on him.

He wiped his face, enduring the stinging pain in his eardrums, and said quickly:

"Quickly carry all the wounded downstairs! Clean up the bodies!"

Just then, he suddenly heard a very ominous sound—

Thump...

Inoue Genzaburo hurriedly looked in the direction of the sound—a large brick from a nearby city wall had collapsed due to severe damage!
Although the brick is not large, the obvious gap makes the vast wall no longer complete, and it looks particularly jarring.

Inoue Genzaburo's pupils contracted slightly, and he muttered to himself:
"hateful……!"

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
No sooner said than done, another round of British artillery bombardment arrived!

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PS: Bastions began to decline in effectiveness in the mid-19th century due to the advent of high-explosive shells and rifled guns. Subsequent versions featured a more dispersed and deeper trench fortification system. (All content is from AI)