I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 940: Great victory at Sekigahara! Hijikata Toshizo entrusted his son to his care! [Leopard update 7K2!]

Looking at Takasugi Shinsaku who fought to the last moment despite knowing he was going to die, Qing Deng said nothing.

He took a deep look at the other's body, then silently tore off the light green haori on his body and lightly covered it.

In terms of stance, he and the other party are irreconcilable.

In terms of friendship, they were not familiar with each other at all and had only met a few times from beginning to end.

Despite this, Qing Deng did not hate this powerful enemy - he deserved Qing Deng's courtesy.

At this time, hurried footsteps were heard behind Qing Deng.

Suddenly, Fujido Heisuke, covered in blood, pushed aside the bushes and flashed into the open space full of traces of battle.

After discovering Qing Deng, he hurriedly shouted:
"Mr. Tachibana, you are here!"

Qing Deng turned his head to look at him, skipped the small talk, and asked directly:
"Heisuke, how's the battle going?"

Todo Heisuke said quickly without thinking:

"Our army has gained an overwhelming advantage! However... the enemy's resistance is very tenacious! They keep fighting and retreating! Every step forward we take requires sacrifice!"

Qing Deng nodded calmly, and he didn't seem surprised by the situation.

He walked to the side, picked up the broken blade of Ding Guishen, put it away solemnly, then turned and headed east.

"Heisuke, let's go and give the enemy the final blow!"

"Yes!"

……

……

The air was filled with the stench of blood and the burnt odor of gunpowder.

These smells mixed with snow fog and rolling smoke and dust filled the foothills, making it difficult to breathe.

The piercing shouts and cries of killing continued for a long time, almost paralyzing one's eardrums.

In terms of the size of the forces, this battle... the Second Battle of Sekigahara, was far from a grand battle.

The total strength of both sides was less than 8,000, which could not be compared with the first Battle of Sekigahara where the total strength of both sides exceeded 150,000.

But in terms of intensity, the former is even more intense than the latter!

The cold light of the sword is flashing.

The guns were blazing with fire.

The fighting continued.

The death continues!
Feet stomped violently on the snow and the hard ground.

One person fell, and more came forward!
This is a battle where neither side is allowed to retreat, this is a real bloody battle.

In the dense woods, there were hacking, shooting, chasing and retreating everywhere.

On the white snow, there was the red of blood here and the black of gunpowder there.

The swordsmen hacked away at the spear array.

The gunmen pulled the trigger and shot down the swordsmen who rushed towards them.

Before the gunmen could reload their guns, the swordsmen who rushed over killed them.

On the snow-covered mountainside, the blood-stained waves became an eye-catching embellishment.

The soldiers of the two armies were tightly huddled together, inseparable, and repeatedly fought for every piece of land under their feet, sometimes moving forward, sometimes moving backward; sometimes spreading out, sometimes gathering together... The ever-changing battlefield situation was a feast for the eyes.

Although the special forces were brave, their huge disadvantage in terms of manpower caused them to gradually fall into a disadvantage.

Under the repeated attacks of the Shinsengumi, the Kiheitai's front line gradually collapsed and more and more loopholes appeared.

In this series of fierce battles, the person who took the credit for "capturing the flag" was Kondo Isami!

"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Kondo Isami stretched out his arms and swung the long Sone Kotetsu in his hands like a windmill.

Wherever the blade passed, handfuls of blood mist were splashed out and broken limbs flew around.

Team after team of enemy soldiers came forward from all directions, but no one could stop him!

Kondo Isami became more and more courageous as the battle went on, and he kept roaring like a ferocious beast.

He seemed to split into three or five persons, rushing right, running left, advancing forward, and retreating backward, changing his steps and postures flexibly, thus dissolving the enemy soldiers' siege into nothingness.

While dodging and defending, he seized the opportunity and continuously delivered fatal blows.

Every time Nagazone Kotetsu swings his sword, one or more enemy soldiers will fall down!

After a while, the enemy soldiers who rushed forward fell down one after another like weeds.

The brilliance of Aoto, Souji and others is so dazzling that many people forget that Kondo Isami is the fourth generation head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu family!
In terms of personal strength alone, he is undoubtedly one of the strongest swordsmen in the Shinsengumi!

Today, Kondo Isami is exceptionally brave - the "reluctance" in his heart greatly stimulates his fighting power!

Hijikata Toshizo personally went to Hachioji and commanded a thousand people to resist the Hochi coalition forces.

Souji was exhausted from yesterday's battle.

His two closest family members both made great contributions in this battle and paid a lot of sacrifice.

And what about yourself?

When he thought of this, Kondo Isami couldn't help but feel his cheeks getting hot.

Although they are not related by blood, he has always been considered the older brother of Hijikata Toshizo and Souji.

As their eldest brother, how could he lag behind his younger brothers and sisters?
Driven by this "reluctance", he wielded Naga Sone Kotetsu tirelessly and regardless of the pain.

At this moment, when he was about to chop down another group of enemy soldiers, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a huge one-character three-star flag.

Looking at this extremely conspicuous flag and the tents scattered around, he realized belatedly that he had already entered the main camp of the special forces!
He immediately perked up and shouted without turning his head:

"This is the enemy's main camp! Victory is just around the corner! Follow me! Clear all obstacles in front of you! Cut down their flags!"

The soldiers following closely behind him shouted in unison in response.

Under the leadership of Kondo Isami, they made great progress.

Although they became the first troop to break into the main camp of the Special Forces, they paid a heavy price for it.

Their number has dropped from hundreds to forty or fifty now.

Since it is the enemy's main camp, its defensive strength should not be underestimated!
In a blink of an eye, like ants startled in an ant nest, teams of enemy soldiers emerged from different places and corners and rushed towards Kondo Isami and others!
Kondo Isami and his companions are like a small boat in the vast ocean, alone facing the surging waves from all directions!
Using a small number to defeat a large number... For ordinary people, this is a huge crisis. But for Kondo Isami, the stronger and more numerous the enemy is, the more it can inspire his fighting spirit!
The talent "Lonely" is activated!
It happened in a flash. Kondo Isami gave a short shout and rushed forward like a raging wave, quickly slashing with the Naga Sone Kotetsu in his hand. In the blink of an eye, three people fell under his sword.

When he swung his sword again, two more people were knocked to the ground.

With the help of his superb skills, he effectively used the movement of sheathing the knife, turning it into a fierce attack.

While pulling the general Sone Kotetsu back to his side, he took the opportunity to chop down an enemy soldier on his side.

He lowered his upper body, lowered his head and rushed forward, launching attacks repeatedly, chopping down every enemy soldier that appeared in his field of vision.

Even though the splattering blood blurred his eyes, he never stopped walking or holding the knife.

He used all the techniques of the Tennen Rishin-ryu to the fullest extent and was invincible.

Finally, he successfully reached the front of the Ichimonji Three Stars flag!

At the same moment when the flagpole as thick as a bowl entered his chopping range, he raised the blade, raised it to the upper right part, and chopped down diagonally!

With a snap, he made a smooth cut.

The flag, several meters high, shook a few times and then slowly fell down.

Kondo Isami suppressed his excitement and held up the Nagasone Kotetsu in his hand, pointed the tip of the blade to the sky, and shouted:

"The enemy's main formation has been broken!"

Looking at the three stars in the Ichimonji flag falling to the ground, the soldiers around Kondo Isami, as well as the soldiers who were a little further away, all cheered thunderously and shouted "Eh! Eh! Oh!" spontaneously.

The flag of the Special Forces fell, but the soldiers here had no intention of retreating.

They seemed to have made up their minds to die in battle, and they attacked Kondo Isami and others fearlessly, with an attitude of "even if I die, I will drag you down with me."

Facts have proved that momentum is indeed the most important combat quality.

After cutting down the flag of the special forces, Kondo Isami couldn't help but feel happy. His tense nerves relaxed and fatigue and pain surged through his body like a tide.

This caused his own momentum to be depleted by more than half, and he was unable to recover to his previous heroic state in a short period of time.

Faced with the fierce attack of the enemy soldiers, he found it difficult to respond and was caught in a dilemma.

"Drink ah ah ah ah ah!"

Suddenly, a hoarse shout was heard behind Kondo Isami - an enemy soldier came forward with a sword, with great momentum, and chopped Kondo Isami's back like a mountain falling down.

Kondo Isami had no time to look back and could only retreat to the right driven by instinct.

It was difficult to tell which was faster, his dodging speed or his opponent's slashing speed.

It was difficult to tell whether he dodged first or the opponent's knife hit him first.

At this critical moment, a knife stretched out from the side, blocked the attack for Kondo Isami, then drew a graceful arc in the air and knocked down the enemy soldier.

"Yong, sorry to have kept you waiting."

Kondo Isami turned his head and after seeing who was coming, he pulled the corner of his mouth and revealed a half-helpless, half-joking smile:

"Ju-kun, I have discovered that you are very good at 'making an appearance at the right time'. You always make an appearance at the most timely and clever moment."

Qing Deng smiled slightly, turned his right wrist, made a knife flower, shook off the blood remaining on the blade, then moved to Kondo Isami and stood side by side with him.

The enemy soldiers formed a half-moon formation and surrounded the two of them.

"Yong, can you still fight?"

"No problem!"

The next moment, the two great swordsmen of the Tennen Rishin-ryu strode towards the enemy group in front of them.

……

……

The wind and snow gradually stopped and the clouds became thinner.

The sun slowly climbed to its highest point in the sky.

The gentle warmth penetrates the gaps in the clouds and spreads to the world.

The road from the top of the mountain to the east slope was littered with mutilated corpses!
There are the remains of both the Shinsengumi soldiers wearing light green haori and the Kiheitai soldiers.

Today, there are still many members of the Kiheitai who resolutely take the "Decisive Battle Yodok" in order to fight the Shinsengumi.

There are even many people like Takasugi Shinsaku, who, even though they had taken "Jueshen Yodo" yesterday, swallowed the red pill without hesitation today, determined to face death.

With the help of the "Decisive Battle of Yodo", they made up for the deficiencies in manpower and morale, and caused great damage to the Shinsengumi.

Therefore, at first glance, it is impossible to tell which side has more corpses!

It can truly be said to be a road built with blood!
Despite the extreme hardships and countless casualties, it seemed as if the entire Nangong Mountain was dyed scarlet with blood, but such a huge sacrifice was not without reward.

The various fronts of the Kiheitai were finally unable to withstand the fierce attack of the Shinsengumi.

At this moment, looking throughout the entire Nangong Mountain, there is no trace of a single soldier from the Special Forces!
They were driven out of the territory of Nangong Mountain by the Shinsengumi soldiers!

Although there were still a large number of remnants who could cause considerable trouble to the Shinsengumi if they really fought to the end, perhaps they had received the order to "retreat", so they no longer wanted to fight and withdrew without looking back.

Qing Deng speculated: Now that Takasugi Shinsaku is dead, the person in charge of commanding the special forces should be their military advisor Omura Masujiro.

After the entire army was driven out of Nangong Mountain, he did not lose his temper, but immediately and calmly ordered a retreat to preserve the last bit of strength left... Qing Deng had to give high praise for this decisive and wise decision.

The vast Nangong Mountain is the biggest reliance of the Special Forces in stopping the Shinsengumi.

There was no way to stop the Shinsengumi's offensive on the vast plains.

If the battle were to take place on the plains, the Shinsengumi's two trump cards - the artillery (the 11th Division) and the cavalry (the 7th and 10th Divisions) - would have the opportunity to show their power.

What's more, the current Shinsengumi also has the Aizu Iron Cavalry as a guest army to help them.

Plains are not like mountains, and there is no complex terrain to avoid artillery fire.

Putting aside the assaults of the 7th and 10th squads, the saturation bombing of the 11th squad alone was enough to turn the Special Forces upside down. Therefore, for the Special Forces, without the barrier of Nangong Mountain, there was no point in continuing the battle.

Even if we continue to fight, we won't be able to hold out for long, and it will only increase casualties.

Qing Deng gave clear orders: There is no need to pursue the enemy. If they leave Nangong Mountain, let them go and don't worry about them.

So, the soldiers of each Shinsengumi squad stood at the foot of the mountain east of Nangong Mountain, staring blankly at the fleeing enemy troops.

The special forces team left Nangong Mountain and left Sekigahara... What does this mean? The soldiers found it difficult to react in such a short time.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, someone suddenly shouted, "Choshu has retreated!".

Immediately afterwards, cheers rose one after another from all the teams and throughout the entire Nangong Mountain!
"We've captured Sekigahara!"

"We win! We win!"

"Long live the Shinsengumi!"

"Long live Tachibana Aoto!"

“Hey! Hey! Oh!”

“Hey! Hey! Oh!”

“Hey! Hey! Oh!”

……

The noisy cheers gradually merged into a uniform, louder and louder roar.

Compared to this increasingly heated and high-spirited atmosphere, Qing Deng's immediate reaction was very calm.

He casually threw away the unnamed knife he had picked up at random, and stared expressionlessly at the direction where the special forces team fled, without much joy on his face.

After a while, he raised his eyes slightly and looked at the distant eastern sky.

Kondo Isami, who was standing beside him, said calmly:

"What a hard-fought victory..."

Qingdeng nodded lightly:

"Oh, yes."

The specific casualties today have not yet been counted.

However, just by looking at the corpses all over the ground, you can tell that the number is definitely not small!

Both the comprehensive combat capability of the special forces team and the terrifying "Decisive Battle" were beyond the expectations of Qing Deng and others.

Not only were there heavy casualties, but the time it took to capture Sekigahara also exceeded their expectations.

Before the war, Qing Deng and others planned to break through Sekigahara within two days.

On the other side, Takasugi Shinsaku and others planned to block the Shinsengumi at Sekigahara for at least three days.

In the end, this battle that was destined to go down in history lasted for two and a half days... In terms of the length of time, the two sides ended up in a draw, and no one got anything out of it.

Although it cannot be considered a tragic victory, it is indeed as Kondo Isami said: it was a hard-fought victory.

At this moment, Kondo Isami suddenly opened his mouth wide enough to fit a fist and smiled:
"Jujun, please be happy for now."

"No matter what, we won the Second Battle of Sekigahara which lasted for two and a half days!"

"In the first Battle of Sekigahara 300 years ago, the Eastern and Western armies fought for only half a day before the victory was decided, but we fought for two and a half days."

"In terms of the number of days, our Sekigahara battle this time will be much more intense!"

Qing Deng chuckled a few times when he heard this, and his originally tense facial lines relaxed.

Then, he let out a long breath, and a clear look of fatigue appeared on his cheeks.

Throughout the entire battle, he not only fought in the entire battlefield, but also charged to the front in every battle.

If Qing Deng was a soldier, his performance and achievements in this battle alone would be enough to make him a general!

The fierce battle lasted for two and a half days, and even Qing Deng couldn't help feeling tired.

If there was a bed now... No! Not to mention a bed! Even if there was just a flat earth pit dug for Qing Deng, he would crawl into it and sleep like a seal.

Although he wanted to rest very much and had an urgent desire for a warm and soft bed, he knew very well in his heart: now is not the time to rest!
He took a deep breath, pulled himself together, and tightened his relaxed expression again, and spoke to Kondo Isami in a sonorous and powerful voice:
"Yong, help me pass the message to the cavalry in the rear - assemble immediately and prepare to attack!"

Kondo Isami raised his eyebrows and subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to say something.

But he quickly recovered, closed his mouth, and said solemnly:

"Well, I see."

The victory in the Second Battle of Sekigahara was certainly exciting.

However... this is just the beginning.

The life-and-death bloody battle with the Special Forces at Sekigahara was just a "process" rather than a "goal".

Qing Deng and his team's ultimate goal remains unchanged, which is to rush to Kanto to stop the Fachi coalition and save Edo!
If we win Sekigahara but lose Edo... it means a strategic failure! All the blood shed in the past two and a half days will be in vain!
Therefore, from the very beginning, Qing Deng was preparing to "rush to Kanto" after taking Sekigahara.

He deployed all the cavalry, including the Aizu cavalry, in the rear as a reserve.

Even when the battle was most tense and fierce, they were never sent to help.

One reason is that sending cavalry to fight in mountain warfare is like asking a rooster to lay eggs - don't let it do something that is not its job.

Secondly, if we want to rescue Edo, we can only rely on the high mobility of the cavalry!
As far as the current situation is concerned, there is no doubt that the infantry are no longer able to participate in the subsequent "rushing to Guandong".

First came the "Second Great Turn of China", rushing back to Gyeonggi from Choshu at an abnormal speed.

After a short rest, they quickly headed for Sekigahara and engaged in a life-and-death battle with the strongest troops of the Choshu clan.

The continuous high pressure has exhausted the Shinsengumi's infantry and they are overwhelmed.

Asking them to replicate the "Second Great Turn of China" again, crossing the entire Tokai Street at such an exaggerated speed and rushing to Kanto... this is undoubtedly a fantasy!
No matter how elite the Shinsengumi's infantrymen are, they are still mortal after all.

Since the infantry can no longer run... all hope of rescuing Edo can only be placed on the cavalry!

Qingdeng preserved the cavalrymen's physical strength to the greatest extent possible for this moment.

The obstacles in front of us have been cleared, and it's time to lead all the cavalry to Kanto!
It’s not time to rest yet...the real battle is coming!
Just as Kondo Isami turned around and was about to go and convey the military order, a messenger from the 9th Squad hurriedly pushed aside the bushes and ran towards Qingdeng crying.

"My Lord! I finally found you! There's news from the Eighth Prince! There's news from the Eighth Prince!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng and Kondo Isami were both stunned.

The news from the Eighth Prince... coupled with the grief-stricken expression of the messenger... an extremely strong ominous premonition immediately surged into Qing Deng's heart.

He asked hurriedly:
"What happened to Hachioji?"

The messenger said in a trembling voice:

"Hachi, Hachioji was lost two days ago!"

……

……

2 days ago——

Somewhere in Hachioji——

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The continuous explosions were the only sound at this time and place, and all other movements were covered by it.

The artillery shells of the French and Qi coalition forces seemed endless.

Every morning, they would shower the ground with artillery shells, repeatedly bombarding the positions of thousands of people until they had blown them into the surface of the moon, and then they would send their infantry forward to fight.

At this moment, the soldiers who were united as one...or rather, the defeated soldiers who were united as one were hiding in the bomb shelters, waiting for the bombing to end with numb expressions.

No matter from which angle you judge it, the fighting power and achievements of thousands of people working together are amazing!

Although he was just a militiaman, he was able to hold out against the fierce attack of a powerful army on the vast plain with no strategic location to defend for 5 whole days!
Such a record was unexpected not only to the enemy but also to our own people.

Be it Hijikata Toshizo, Elodie and others, or Shuten Douji, Katsura Kogoro and others on the opposite side, no one expected that this "Hachioji Offensive and Defense Battle" would last so long!
However... no matter how brave the thousands of soldiers were, they could not hide the huge gap in combat power.

The battle has continued until now, and the casualties of thousands of united soldiers... are unbearable to watch.

In a nutshell, there were only about a thousand soldiers who could still move and did not flee.

The team lost nearly half of its personnel but did not collapse... To be honest, this is already a remarkable achievement.

However, it has reached its limit.

Although no one said it explicitly, everyone could feel it: today is the "last day"!
At this moment, Hijikata Toshizo was sitting alone in a bomb shelter.

Days of fierce fighting and overwhelming pressure had left him in an extremely miserable state.

His face was covered in red and black, his black trench coat and black suit were stained with blood, and there was thick mud on the soles of his boots.

Although he was covered in filth, the hint of arrogance on his face never disappeared.

At this moment, he was silently looking through the photos in his hands.

These photos were the ones he had previously asked photographer Kenzo Tamoto to take of the Shinsengumi generals.

There are group photos of the Shinsengumi generals, group photos of the "Shieikan faction", and group photos of him with Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke (the three biggest clients of the Shinsengumi)...

Among these many photos, his eyes lingered on two photos for a long time.

One is a photo of him with Kondo Isami and Souji.

Kondo Isami crossed his arms, grinned, and looked refreshed.

Souji stood between Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo, smiling particularly brightly, with his eyes curved into beautiful crescents.

Perhaps influenced by these two people, Hijikata Toshizo, who usually has a stern face, shows a calm and warm smile in this photo.

As for the other photo, it was a photo of him and Qing Deng.

Compared to his photo with Kondo Isami and Souji, this photo of him and his brother-in-law Aoto is much more serious.

The two of them sat on two stools placed side by side, their hands on the swords at their waists, with solemn expressions.

Hijikata Toshizo's eyes scanned back and forth between the two photos, and his face, which had originally been expressionless, slowly showed some emotion - the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and a smile appeared.

Suddenly, the explosions outside stopped.

The extremely noisy world suddenly became quiet.

The only sound around was the "buzzing" sound deep in my ears.

The shelling stopped, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that you don't have to listen to the incessant, maddening explosions anymore.

The bad thing is... after five days of fierce fighting, the thousands of soldiers who were united in purpose all knew what the end of the bombardment meant - the infantry of the French and Qi coalition forces were about to attack!
At this time, a young voice came into Hijikata Toshizo's ears:

"Mr. Hijikata, you're looking for me?"

A short figure crawled into the bullet shelter where Hijikata Toshizo was hiding - it was Hijikata Toshizo's nickname, Ichimura Tetsunosuke.

Looking at Ichimura Tetsunosuke who flashed in front of him, Hijikata Toshizo quickly put away the photo in his hand.

"Tetsunosuke, I have an important mission for you."

Very important mission——Hearing this set of words, Ichimura Tetsunosuke immediately perked up and puffed out his chest:

"Mr. Hijikata, please give me your orders! No matter what the mission is, I will not let you down!"

Hijikata Toshizo smiled slightly:
"well said."

After saying this, he pulled out a dirty piece of cloth from his waist, and then took out a photo from his arms - this was a solo photo of him, with his hair combed back, wearing a handsome black trench coat, a straight black suit, and shiny leather boots. Izumi-no-kami Kanesada was holding his hand on his waist, facing the camera lens at an angle.

He solemnly placed his solo photo in the center of the cloth, then took out a small piece of hair - this was the hair he had just shaved off - and placed it next to the photo, then wrapped it up tightly and handed it to Ichimura Tetsunosuke.

"You get out of here and help me deliver this to my family in Tama Hino."

For a moment, Ichimura Tetsunosuke stood there in a daze.

*******
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The first chapter of the new year! To bring good luck, Leopard will work hard this month! Please vote for this book because this chapter has 7200 words! (crying leopard head.jpg)

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

PS: Hijikata Toshizo asked Ichimura Tetsunosuke to take his photo and hair and flee the battlefield to Hino to give them to his family - this is actually a historical fact. This is how the real photo of Hijikata Toshizo was passed down.

(End of this chapter)