I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 1181 "It's actually too much trouble for me, the captain, to go into battle."

"Do not be afraid! Whether on the city walls or on flat ground, what we must do remains the same—take up arms and fight the invading enemy to the bitter end!"

Inoue Genzaburo appeared just in time, carrying a sword, which boosted morale.

Sixth Division! Line up!

At his command, the musketeers of the Sixth Division rushed out from all directions, gathered together, and quickly formed two tight long lines.

At the same time, under the command of other officers, the militiamen and swordsmen also quickly lined up.

In no time, a tight, thick wall of people—musketeers in front, militiamen in the middle, and swordsmen at the rear—filled the gap!

The soldiers stared at the approaching British troops as if facing a formidable enemy... and the stirring music that reached their ears became clearer and louder.

At this moment, Sozo Sagara finally remembered the piece of music—it was the military music of the British army.

It was with this stirring music that the British soldiers defeated one powerful army after another and expanded their territory by one piece!
Thump...thump...thump...thump...thump...

The sound of military boots stomping the ground, in harmony with the drumbeats, imbues the piece with a strong sense of solemnity and death.

"Don't panic! Stay calm!"

Inoue Genzaburo frequently spoke to reassure the troops—mainly the militia.

Now that the city walls are no longer protecting them, they have to face the enemy's attack head-on on the flat ground... Many militiamen looked terrified, their hands trembling as they gripped their bamboo spears.

In fact, Sozo Sagara is also feeling uneasy.

However, he was not afraid of death, but worried that his side's fighting strength was not enough to hold the breach!

After the Battle of Toba-Fushimi began, the Shinsengumi's musketeers were tasked with "charging ahead and providing firepower," resulting in significant casualties.

Excluding the wounded and the troops that had to stay behind in Toba, Aoto was able to bring back only about two thousand musketeers from Ōtsu.

A mere two thousand musketeers were scattered throughout the castle, just in case—no one knew which section of the wall would collapse first, nor did they know if the enemy would suddenly launch a surprise attack on a particular section of the wall.

Even if it violates the military taboo of "being well-prepared everywhere, yet lacking resources everywhere," it is still a helpless move that one has no choice but to take.

Currently, the musketeers directly under the command of Inoue Genzaburo number only about two hundred.

In contrast, the British troops outside the breach numbered at least five hundred, each carrying a musket!

A difference of more than three hundred muskets... that can't be bridged by fighting spirit alone!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The British army did not keep them waiting for long.

In the blink of an eye, the sound of military boots hitting the ground reached their ears as loud as muffled thunder!
The two sides were so close that they could even see each other's faces and expressions!
Seeing that the British troops had entered their optimal firing range, Inoue Genzaburo no longer hesitated, and while heavily swinging his katana, he shouted loudly:

"put!"

The musketeers of the Sixth Division, who were already prepared, immediately gripped their triggers—

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
More than two hundred muskets simultaneously spewed flames and smoke.

As the barrage of comments swept across the screen, cries of agony and screams erupted as those shot fell to the ground one after another.

This single volley felled nearly twenty British soldiers, and the previously tight formation began to loosen slightly... but that was all.

The British soldiers in the first row kept their faces expressionless and their eyes fixed straight ahead. Even when their comrades were shot and blood splattered on their faces, they did not panic.

Seeing that the positions in front were empty, the soldiers in the back row took a few quick steps to fill the vacancies.

They neither looked at nor asked about their fallen comrades, but continued marching, continuing to step in unison.

In this way, the queue quickly returned to stability, as if nothing had happened.

They withstood a volley of over two hundred muskets without flinching... Despite being mentally prepared, the British troops' combat prowess still surprised Inoue Genzaburo and his men.

In the blink of an eye, the British counterattack began!

While the musketeers of the Sixth Division were busy loading ammunition, the British soldiers quickened their pace, bringing the two sides closer together.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man dressed as an officer, positioned at the rear of the British troops' ranks, raised his sword and shouted:
"Halt!"

The British soldiers immediately stopped in their tracks, coming to a steady halt.

The officer shouted again:

"Make Ready!"

The clanging sound of guns being raised echoed throughout the room.

"Present! (Raises gun)"

The gun barrels, laid flat one by one, revealed their dark muzzles.

"Fire!"

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Larger and denser barrages tore through the air.

Due to the closer distance and more intense firepower, the musketeers of the Sixth Division suffered significantly more damage! They fell one after another like mowing grass!

As empty spaces appeared one by one, the queue became riddled with holes.

The musketeers of the Sixth Division truly lived up to their reputation as seasoned veterans.

Instead of collapsing, they consciously tightened their ranks and filled the gaps without receiving any instructions.

Meanwhile, they methodically loaded their weapons, preparing to fire the second wave of barrage.

Upon seeing this, the British soldiers all showed expressions of surprise... Judging from the changes in their expressions, they clearly did not expect that the other side would have such a tenacious fighting spirit.

So many people died or were injured, yet they didn't retreat an inch... This truly took them by surprise.

Despite their surprise, they moved with remarkable speed, quickly loading gunpowder into the muzzle after firing the empty bullet.

Next, the two sides took turns firing their guns, almost like in a competition.

"put!"

"Fire!"

"put!"

"Fire!"

"put!"

"Fire!"

……

Inoue Genzaburo and the middle-aged officer's orders rang out again and again.

Two waves of bullets tore through the air, and the ever-accumulating smoke filled the surroundings.

As it turns out, the gap in firepower between the two sides is not so easily bridged.

After several rounds of exchange of fire, the musketeers of the Sixth Division had suffered heavy casualties and were barely holding on by sheer willpower to keep their formation from collapsing.

Seeing this, a swordsman behind could no longer restrain himself and made a move to go forward and provide support.

Sagara Sozo, who was standing nearby, quickly raised his hand and pressed down on his shoulder, preventing him from moving.

"Wait! Going up now will only make you a target!"

The swordsman said anxiously:

"So what should we do now? Just wait around?"

Sagara Sozo said solemnly:
"That's right, just wait! Don't rush, it won't be long before the enemy takes the initiative to attack!"

As Sozo Sagara said, the British offensive was both sudden and swift.

A few seconds later, the middle-aged officer opposite suddenly opened his mouth wide and issued a loud new command.

Immediately afterwards, the British soldiers dispersed, broke formation, brandished their bayonets, and charged forward with shouts and menacing momentum!

This is the moment when Sagara Sousan is about to be crowned!
"Return to Heaven Team! Follow me and kill!" The moment he finished shouting, he took the lead and charged forward.

The militia and the melee fighters (swordsmen) were a beat slow in raising their weapons to meet the attack.
In the blink of an eye, the distance between the two sides shrank to zero, and they collided heavily, engaging in a fierce battle!
As everyone knows, the gun is the king of weapons.

The musket, fitted with a bayonet, was nearly two meters long and could be used as both a firearm and a spear.

Ultimately, only the most skilled swordsmen can disregard attack range and swiftly kill spearmen.

Most swordsmen are simply outmatched when facing spearmen.

Therefore, the White Blade Team was at a disadvantage as soon as the battle began.

In comparison, the militia performed better.

Their bamboo spears were longer than the British soldiers' muskets. Just by holding the bamboo spears in front of them, the British soldiers would hesitate to approach, making them more than capable of killing the enemy but more than enough to protect themselves.

However, therein lies the problem—many militiamen were terrified and just stood there dumbfounded, holding their bamboo spears to their chests, only thinking of self-defense and completely unwilling to fight the enemy.

Sozo Sagara is not skilled in martial arts; he is brave but lacks strength.

Despite his valiant efforts, the knife in his hand remained clean, without a speck of blood.

In contrast, Inoue Genzaburo, who was not far away, silently raised his sword and assumed a fighting stance when the British troops launched their massive attack.

In terms of command skills, Inoue Genzaburo was probably far inferior to the middle-aged officer opposite him.

But when it comes to close combat, that's exactly where he excels!

At the same instant that all the enemies rushed into his slashing range, Inoue Genzaburo swiftly swung his arm, drawing out streaks of sword light.

First, he slashed diagonally, cutting down the enemy in front of him. Then, he swung several more times, killing all the enemies on his right. Finally, he thrust the tip of his blade into the chest of the enemy on his left, his movements fluid and graceful.

The surrounding British soldiers quickly noticed the exceptionally skilled swordsman.

A British soldier shouted a warning:
"Don't go near this guy! Shoot him!" (English)

Another British soldier responded:
"Make way! I'll handle this!" (in English)

He shouted as he raised the muzzle of his gun, aiming it at Inoue Genzaburo's back.

Inoue Genzaburo was busy dealing with the enemies in front of him and was completely unaware of the threat from behind.

However, Sozo Sagara discovered it.

He gritted his teeth and lunged forward reflexively, ramming his knife into the opponent's side.

As the saying goes, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind"—just as Inoue Genzaburo did not notice the sneak attack, his opponent also did not notice Sagara Sozo's approach and was violently pinned to the ground, his side abdomen pierced through.

Just before he fell to the ground, he pulled the trigger... The bullet naturally went astray, grazing Inoue Genzaburo's scalp.

Only then did Inoue Genzaburo realize that an enemy was firing sniper shots, and he quickly turned around to look.

Then he saw Sagara Sozo get up and pull the knife back into his hand.

Looking at the blood-stained blade, Sagara Sozo took a deep breath—although the process wasn't exactly glorious, he had at least achieved the first kill of the battle!

Inoue Genzaburo glanced around and, having grasped the general outline of what had happened, nodded to Sagara Sozo.

"Grateful!"

Sagara nodded in response.

Just then, a loud shout came from afar:

"I'm sorry, Captain Inoue, I'm late!"

Inoue Genzaburo followed the sound and saw Nakajima Noboru (second division vice-captain) leading a group of reinforcements, rushing over as fast as a shooting star.

At the same time, Sozo Sagara turned to look at Noboru Nakajima.

"Vice Captain Nakajima..."

Souzo Sagara had long admired this legendary figure who held the position of "vice-captain" in the Second Division, a unit filled with powerful individuals.

Seeing Nakajima Noboru arrive late, Inoue Genzaburo frowned and said sternly:
"You've finally arrived! Why were you so slow?!"

While dispersing his troops to the north and east, Qingdeng also kept a portion of his forces as reserves.

If a battlefield becomes critical, the reserve force will rush to its aid.

After the large breach appeared in the northern city wall, Inoue Genzaburo immediately reported the battle situation to the rear and requested reinforcements.

However, reinforcements were slow to arrive...

If reinforcements had arrived sooner, the fighting wouldn't have been so arduous.

Therefore, it's no wonder that Inoue Genzaburo, who is usually good-tempered, would get so angry.

Nakajima Noboru wore an expression that was half guilty and half solemn.

"I'm very sorry, but a large area of ​​the eastern city wall has also collapsed! All units are currently in a state of chaos!"

Upon hearing this, Inoue Genzaburo forgot all about scolding and subconsciously turned his head to look east.

"Even the east side..."

Before he could finish speaking, a faint rumbling sound of bricks and stones collapsing could be heard coming from the east...

……

……

Otsu Castle, the eastern wall—

"Ten more people, please!"

As he shouted, Kondo Isami nimbly twisted his body to dodge the British soldier's thrust, then swung his sword backhand and decapitated the soldier.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around to bother him, Kondo Isami quickly adjusted his breathing and observed the battlefield.

Blood, shattered bones, blades, gun barrels, fierce fighting, death... The tug-of-war between the two sides around the breach in the city wall gradually intensified!

Under the intense bombardment of the British army, the eastern wall of Otsu Castle also succumbed to the pressure, with bricks and stones breaking and the wall collapsing.

Compared to the gap in the north, the gap in the east is much larger! It is a full 170 feet wide (about 50 meters)!

Because of the large gap, the enemy deployed more troops here—more than 600 British soldiers and more than 700 Northern soldiers.

As expected, the northern soldiers took the decisive battle pills again.

It is worth mentioning, however, that the British soldiers did not take this secret medicine.

That being said, the British soldiers, with their superior combat skills, posed a greater threat than the Northern soldiers!

Kondo Isami and his men fought valiantly, but they were unable to push the enemy back.

At this very moment, a young soldier who had recently joined the Shinsengumi was locked in a fierce battle with a Northern soldier.

This player has decent skills, but lacks experience.

The opponent merely feigned an opening and foolishly took the bait—the knife in his hand was deflected, leaving his body wide open.

The opponent was clearly no ordinary person; he keenly seized the opportunity, swiftly raised the tip of his blade, and swiftly slashed down.

Seeing the blade about to fall on his head, the soldier turned pale with fright, instinctively closing his eyes and shrinking his shoulders and neck.

clang!
The imagined excruciating pain did not come... The soldier slowly opened his eyes and saw a tall figure blocking his way, taking the blow for him.

"You soldiers really need a lot of training to go into battle, since you have to trouble me, the captain, to go into battle."

The moment Qing Deng finished speaking, a strong gust of wind blew, lifting the hem of his haori and making a rustling sound.

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P.S.: Leopard spent the whole day shopping for supplies and putting up rice-shaped stickers on the windows. The nearby supermarket was bustling with people, a sight not seen in a long time, just like six years ago when "Mangkhut" struck (Leopard is tired.jpg).

Leopard's home is near the port, right next to the Pearl River, so it's quite scary... If seawater floods in, that would be a real problem.