I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 898 Snowy Night Attack on Ankou! Surprise Attack Begins! [4700]

Under the high pressure from Tokugawa Iemochi, even though they were extremely reluctant, they had no choice but to lead their troops to fight.

Being forced to fight a war that you don't want to fight, it is definitely impossible to expect them to have a good face.

Of course, Qing Deng would not have too high expectations on the combat effectiveness and enthusiasm of these guys.

Qingdeng had only one request for them: don't fall behind.

As long as they don't drag their feet, Qing Deng doesn't care whether they want to be the atmosphere group or just be a pure nobody.

After making a brief opening statement, Qing Deng glanced at Shannan Keisuke beside him.

The other party nodded slightly in understanding, then stood up suddenly.

"I am Yamanami Keisuke, the elder of the Qinjin clan and the chief of the Shinsengumi."

"Next, please allow me to preside over this meeting."

"Everyone, please take a look."

As he spoke, he pointed to the long table that stretched in front of everyone.

There was a three-dimensional map made of clay on the table.

Long time ago, Qing Deng mobilized a large number of elite ninjas headed by Yamazaki Jun, and ordered them to sneak into Choshu to spy on important information such as terrain, material supply, troop deployment, and personnel movement.

Although Choshu tried its best to prevent the infiltration of ninjas and spies, and even set up checkpoints at various checkpoints to strictly check every person entering the country, how easy was it to completely blockade a feudal state in this backward era without advanced technologies such as satellites and surveillance?

Despite the hardships and dangers, Yamazaki and others were no pushovers.

By using various means such as falsifying identities, blending into caravans, and crossing mountains, many of them successfully sneaked into Changzhou and conducted a carpet-style search of the entire territory of Changzhou.

The "staff group" headed by Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke finally succeeded in making this detailed 3D map based on the various intelligence they passed back.

The level of detail of this map is astonishing.

The direction of the river, the specific location of the city...all the key locations are clearly marked.

Under the guidance of Yamanami Keisuke, everyone at the scene turned their eyes to look at the three-dimensional map in front of them, which was the result of the hard work of countless people.

Immediately afterwards, many people frowned slightly, looking embarrassed.

The reason is simple - the terrain of Choshu is too rugged!

Nearly 80% of Japan's land is mountainous and hilly.

The only three large plains - the Osaka Plain, the Nobi Plain, and the Kanto Plain - are all located in Gyeonggi and Kanto.

On the other hand, it is not an exaggeration to describe the Western countries as "the land is not even three feet flat". There is almost no plain of a larger area.

From Gyeonggi Province to the Shimonoseki Strait to the west lies a huge mountain range called the "China Mountains", with only the narrow strip of land near the sea being slightly flat.

The Choshu Domain was located at the westernmost end of the Chugoku Mountains.

China's mountains are a natural fortress.

Choshu, located in the middle of it, is undoubtedly a "mountain country" that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

For this reason, Choshu's land transportation was quite isolated, and there were only a few roads connecting to the outside world that could be used by people and horses.

This will certainly have an impact on business exchanges and economic development, but if you consider it from another perspective, it is a huge benefit to the military!

It is only necessary to deploy a small number of troops and guard the most important locations to preserve the entire feudal state.

Therefore, Choshu took advantage of its geographical location and established five passes collectively known as the "Five Borders" at the five most critical transportation routes on the border: Geishuguchi, Sekishuguchi, Oshimaguchi, Kokuraguchi, and Hagiguchi.

Among them, Yizhoukou is the pass adjacent to Aki, which is the battlefield where Qing Deng and others are currently located!
The battle plan drafted by Qing Deng of "dividing the troops into three routes to attack Choshu from both sides" was to have the three armies advance from Yizhoukou, Shizhoukou and Kokurakou respectively.

"As you can see, Choshu is full of mountains, and it is truly a beautiful place."

"Although our army has an overwhelming advantage in manpower, it will not be easy to capture Choshu."

"Don't be careless."

Shannan Jingzhu slowly picked up the thin stick at hand and pointed to the "Five Realms" marked on the map one by one.

"According to the currently known intelligence, Changzhou has deployed a certain number of troops in the 'Five Realms'."

"They seem to have anticipated that Akiguchi would be the main battlefield, so they deployed the largest number of troops there."

"In recent days, we have sent out a large number of scouts to explore the details of the opposing positions."

"Unfortunately, to this day, we still don't know the exact number of troops and the identity of the general who led them."

"The only certain thing at the moment is that the total number of troops on the other side is no less than 2000."

Having said this, Shannan Keisuke paused and then changed his tone to a serious one.

"Strangely enough... the number of torches on the opposite side is far less than we expected."

"Whether Akiguchi falls or not largely determines the survival of Choshu."

"It's clearly a place of life and death, but the troops are so few... It's really puzzling."

As soon as Shannan Keisuke finished speaking, Nagakura Shinpachi asked tentatively:

"Could this be a trick by Changzhou to provoke an invasion?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he received a rebuttal from Hijikata Toshizo:
"'Fix the enemy'? Why would Choshu need to adopt this strategy?"

"Throughout history, there have been only two types of armies that have used the strategy of confusing the enemy with a false front."

"One is to pretend to have a large number of troops in order to bluff."

"The second is to pretend that the troops are very few in order to lure the enemy into pursuing them."

"As it stands, Choshu does not meet any of the above criteria."

Fujido Heisuke took over the conversation:

"Then...will they withdraw their main forces into the hinterland and plan to fight a decisive battle with us in the hinterland?"

Hijikata Toshizo's bland voice began again:

"If that's the case, then the commanders of the Choshu Army are really stupid, aren't they?"

"Geographical advantage is the only advantage they have."

"Abandoning such a good geographical advantage and fighting a decisive battle with us in the vast hinterland with slightly flat terrain? The commander of the Choshu Army is not so stupid, right?"

Hijikata Toshizo's words caused the scene to fall into silence.

Indeed. Every word and every sentence of what Hijikata Toshizo just said is true.

No matter from which angle you look at it, Choshu’s current actions are truly confusing.

No matter how incompetent you are or how little you know about military affairs, you should at least know the principle of "offsetting the difference in military strength with the advantage of geographical location", right?
Why not deploy the main forces at border passes to keep the enemy out of the country?
In this way, although victory cannot be guaranteed, it will definitely delay the shogunate army and cause them great trouble.

As to how Choshu could win this battle, Qing Deng, together with Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke and others, had a very detailed and thorough discussion.

After discussion, they all agreed that although the shogunate had an absolute advantage, Choshu had a chance to turn the tables.

The solution is to delay!
Try to drag it out, try to survive, and then actively contact Western powers to ask them to intervene and mediate.

In the past, due to the shogunate's "isolation order", Western powers knew very little about this Far Eastern island country.

Because of this, there was once a diplomatic incident where people mistakenly thought that the Shogun was the head of state. This incident once made the imperial court extremely indignant.

Today, the "Black Ship Incident" happened 11 years ago.

The Western powers are no longer completely ignorant of this Far Eastern island nation.

They knew that the island nation was in a state of division, with a nominal monarch, a shaky central government, and more than three hundred princes.

Compared with an integrated country or nation, a divided country or nation is definitely easier to control.

In other words, it is in the interests of the Western powers to keep Japan in a state of division and prevent it from forming a united force.

Especially Europe’s “super troublemaker” England.

In recent years, the shogunate has been very close to France. It not only bought French equipment but also invited French instructors, which made Britain very dissatisfied.

Therefore, Britain was very interested in finding trouble for the shogunate and causing trouble for it.

When it comes to how to mess up a country and how to torture a nation, the British are second. Who dares to claim to be first?

If you step on a stone on the road, you can safely suspect that it was placed there by the British - so goes the Arabic proverb.

As long as they could hold off the shogunate until the Western powers intervened and put pressure on them, they might be able to revive this dead end game.

Even if we take a step back, if Choshu really intended to fight a decisive battle with the shogunate army in the hinterland, they should have taken two steps.

The first step was to launch a thorough "scorched earth campaign" to increase the difficulty of supplying the shogunate.

The second step is to mobilize the entire domain, abandon all the passes and unimportant cities, gather all the troops in the hinterland, and achieve victory in one battle. The current Choshu is like choosing "or" in "1 or 2".

They haven't deployed heavy troops on the border, nor do they seem to be deliberately showing weakness or concentrating their forces in the hinterland... I don't understand what they are trying to do.

After about 5 seconds of silence, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu made a guess:
"Then... could it be because Choshu's military is already extremely weak?"

"Are the troops we have seen so far their full combat strength?"

"Even if they want to send more troops to the border, they are powerless."

As soon as these words were spoken, many people in the tent nodded in agreement.

This reason is very valid and convincing.

The entire country launched an attack, but was defeated and fled, with heavy casualties, and the foundation of the country was shaken. The Battle of Kyoto Summer, a battle that brought great humiliation to Choshu, happened only more than two months ago.

No matter how capable Choshu is, it is impossible for him to recover in such a short time.

With this in mind, it is not impossible that the various troops were sent to a clean Choshu outside Kyoto, with the army so weak that it would have difficulty even defending the border.

At this moment, Saito Ichi, who usually spoke little but always got to the point and got to the heart of the matter when he spoke, suddenly said softly:

"...Where is the Special Forces? Are they here?"

His words immediately reminded everyone - yes, where is the surprise team?

At this point, everyone knows that the Special Forces is the last elite force left in Choshu that can fight tough battles.

The Shinsengumi has always regarded this armed force, which is famous for its "total Westernization" and "not caring about background", as a strong rival and a key target of attention.

Once the special forces are destroyed, Choshu's last mobile force will be completely wiped out.

By then, Choshu, with no soldiers left, would surely perish; it was only a matter of time.

In other words - the day we encounter the special forces will be the day of the decisive battle of this expedition!
Hijikata Toshizo turned his head and looked at Yamanami Keisuke.

"Shannan, is there any news about the special forces?"

Shannan Jingsuke shook his head gently:
"Unfortunately, no. The soldiers of the 9th Squad have tried their best, but..."

Having said this, Shannan Jingsuke closed his mouth in time and stopped talking.

Just as he said, the soldiers of the 9th Division currently lurking in various places in Choshu are indeed doing their best.

But what can they do... As of today, they still haven't figured out the specific movements of the special forces team.

Not to mention the special forces, they also had no idea about the detailed movements of other troops in Choshu, such as the various "rebel armies" spontaneously formed by civilians.

They can't be blamed for this.

With so few clues, searching for the army in the vast jungle-covered mountains is a difficult task. Whether you can get anything depends entirely on luck.

Suddenly, Qing Deng, who had been silent since the meeting began, finally spoke:

"...Since we don't know where the special forces are, let's just break into the other side and take a look."

"If we encounter stubborn resistance, the special forces will be right in front of us."

"If coming and going are natural, then the special forces are somewhere else."

After saying this, he supported the Bizen Osafune at his waist and stood up slowly.

"Zanosuke, call in the cavalry!"

……

……

That day, late at night——

The thick clouds in the sky did not become thinner at all with the passage of time.

The cold wind was howling, making people tuck their clothes tightly and shiver.

The dark clouds and the oppressive cold made it seem like it would snow at any moment.

"Moo...moo...moo..."

The radish lay low and idly dug the soil with its hooves.

Not far away, Qing Deng put his hands into his sleeves and used his body temperature to warm his hands to prevent his palms from freezing, ensuring that he could enter combat status at any time.

Suddenly, Harada Sanosuke came out from the side, took two quick steps, and came to Qingdeng's side.

"Mr. Tachibana, all the soldiers are ready and can set off at any time."

Behind Qing Deng, there were 80 cavalrymen leading their horses, holding their swords, ready to go.

Whether they were humans or horses, they all kept their mouths tightly shut, with translucent mist coming out of their mouths and noses, emitting a terrifying and murderous aura.

These 80 cavalrymen were all brave men carefully selected by Harada Sanosuke from the th Division.

Not only are they extremely skilled in physical training and horse riding, but none of them suffer from night blindness.

In feudal times, night blindness was a common occurrence due to lack of nutrition.

"Mr. Ju, are you...really planning to attack the enemy camp at night?"

Harada Sanosuke asked tentatively.

Qing Deng smiled and asked half-jokingly:

"What? Are you scared?"

Before he finished speaking, Harada Sanosuke refuted impatiently:
"I'm not afraid!"

"who am I?"

"I am the 'Immortal Harada'! A man who can't die even if my belly is cut open!"

"I was just too excited, so I just wanted to confirm something with you!"

Harada Sanosuke's tone was full of strong confidence - and judging from his expression, he was not bragging.

He was indeed eager to take part in the upcoming night attack and had no fear at all.

Qing Deng chuckled a few times and said slowly:
"I have even assembled the troops, how can this be fake?"

At this point, he adopted a serious tone.

"If you want to find out the enemy's strengths and weaknesses, there is no more direct and accurate method than to break into the enemy camp yourself."

At this moment, Qing Deng suddenly felt his vision dim—something blocked the right corner of his eye.

I raised my hand and wiped it, then looked again - it turned out to be a small snowflake.

"Snowing……"

He looked up at the night sky, and saw countless snowflakes falling down, like thousands of grains of salt.

Harada Sanosuke shrank his neck and said:

"No wonder it's so cold tonight... Mr. Tachibana, the weather has changed. Do you want to cancel your plan? Based on my personal experience, the snow won't stop anytime soon, and it will only get heavier."

Qing Deng grinned and answered without thinking:
"Stop? Why stop?"

"This snow comes at the perfect time! God is helping me!"

"The thick snow can hide our footsteps, which is a perfect time to launch a night attack."

"Besides, the enemy probably never expected that we could launch an offensive in such a severe snowstorm!"

"In ancient times, there was 'the attack on Caizhou on a snowy night', and now there is 'the attack on Ankou on a snowy night'! Follow me to create new history!"

After saying that, he climbed onto the cow with his agile skills and tapped the cow's belly with his heels.

"let's go!"

"Moo!"

A man and a cow walked forward against the wind and snow, heading straight for the enemy camp filled with torches.

Harada Sanosuke and the other riders mounted their horses, whipped their horses, and followed closely behind.

In just a moment, they merged into the night...

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This month is already halfway over! If you have monthly tickets, please vote for this book! (crying leopard head.jpg)

I had a lot of personal things to do today, so I was too busy, so the number of words is a little less. I will try to get back to 6,000 leopards tomorrow! (豹嗨.jpg)

(End of this chapter)