I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Alright, Ah Wu, if you have nothing else to do, go back to your room and get some sleep. I should probably get back to dealing with my work."

Upon hearing this, Kinoshita Mai subconsciously turned her head to look at Aoto's desk.

"Speaking of which... Qingdeng, I've been seeing you writing and writing all this time. What exactly are you writing?"

"Oh, well..."

Qingdeng drawled out the last syllable, adding an intriguing touch to his tone.

"I'm preparing now so that I can challenge and confront anyone at will in the future."

After saying that, he turned to the side and gestured "please look" towards the desk in front of him.

Seeing this, Kinoshita Mai didn't stand on ceremony. She crawled to the table and began to read.

"Infantry...manual...?"

Kinoshita Mai frowned slightly, then continued reading.

"Standing at attention, marching in step, mandarin duck formation... Qingdeng, what are all these?"

Qingdeng smiled meaningfully:

"Based on my past experience and combined with the current situation, I have created a training method that can quickly transform the Shinsengumi!"

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Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Leopard tried his best, but still couldn't reach 6000+ words before 13 PM (crying leopard head.jpg). I'm very sorry! I'll try again tomorrow (silly leopard.jpg).

P.S.: It's time to design a ninja outfit in the style of Mai Shiranui for Kinoshita Mai. How can a female ninja not have an eye-catching ninja outfit? (shy leopard.jpg)

Chapter 589 Building a New Army! Training Begins! The Benevolent King Descends to My Side! [4300]

4 days later—

Wenjiu three years (1863), January 23th——

Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!

As dawn broke, a series of rapid bell tolls pierced the clouds and echoed above the Shinsengumi headquarters.

As soon as the bell rang, Shimada Kai suddenly opened his eyes and sat up abruptly.

"Hey! The wake-up call is here! Wake up! Wake up! Get up! Stop sleeping!"

He enthusiastically went to each of his roommates and woke them up one by one.

The wake-up clock—a clock that rings incessantly.

Just the day before yesterday, Qingdeng found a huge bronze bell from who-knows-where and erected it in the open space in the very center of the station.

Every day at 6:00 AM and 2:00 PM, someone will ring this bell on time. Whenever the bell rings, everyone must get up immediately and assemble at Training Ground A – this is a new rule that Qingdeng established yesterday.

The Shinsengumi's residence was originally the private residence of a wealthy landowner in Kyoto, boasting not only magnificent buildings but also an incredibly spacious and exquisite garden.

It is estimated that these courtyards cover an astonishing 3 ping (33100 square meters)! That is roughly equivalent to three modern 3-meter standard sports fields.

It's astonishing how extravagant the privileged class in feudal society was.

Because the mansion had been vacant for a long time, the flowers and plants in the courtyard had withered and died due to neglect.

After Qingdeng's organization and arrangements, the members of the newly formed squad did nothing but cut down trees, pull weeds, and push soil in the past few days!

The sounds of axes striking wood with a "thud" and hoes cutting through the soil with a "clang clang clang" echoed one after another.

The uprooted flowers, grasses, and trees were piled up into a small mountain.

Truckloads of mud, sand, and soil filled in the man-made creek, which had become a stinking ditch.

With the idea of ​​"making use of waste", Qingdeng did not waste these "garbage".

Those useless flowers and grasses can be buried in a hole in the ground, which will also help to fertilize the soil.

As for the trees that could be sold for money, they were all sold to timber merchants at the market price—a total of 6 taels of gold—although this amount was a drop in the ocean for an army, it was better than nothing.

After several days of tireless effort, the gaudy courtyard was finally transformed into a flat open space.

From now on, this will be the training ground for the Shinsengumi!

Qingdeng divided the training ground into two parts: Training Ground A and Training Ground B, which were almost equal in size.

Only the captains and higher-ranking officers of the Battō-zu (Sword-Drawing Squad) have the privilege of "single rooms," while ordinary squad members like Shimada Kai share a room in groups of five.

Under Shimada Kai's earnest calls, his roommates, who shared the same roof with him, had no choice but to leave their dreams, rub their sleepy eyes, and struggle to sit up and climb out of their warm beds.

"Ugh...it's so cold...!"

"It's freezing! If I remember correctly, Kyoto is further south than Edo, so it should be much warmer than Edo!"

"It stinks! Whose feet smell so bad?"

"I'm so sleepy... Let me sleep a little longer..."

Upon hearing this, Shimada Kai retorted irritably:

"Wake up! You'll be court-martialed!"

"Military law enforcement"—this phrase was like a magic spell. The guy who had just threatened to stay in bed instantly opened his eyes wide, all traces of drowsiness vanishing, and he became incredibly awake.

Immediately afterwards, he quickly got out of bed and dressed in no time.

Law originates from order, and order is built on violence.

Without the backing of law enforcement agencies, there is no stable order; without stable order, there is no inviolable and sacred law.

It's obvious—no one in the entire Shinsengumi is more violent than Aoto!

For the mere faction fighting, for the mere violation of the Shinsengumi Law, they were ruthlessly beheaded... those bloody heads, that horrific scene, that stern demeanor of "every violation must be investigated, and the law must be strictly enforced" were deeply etched into the minds of the soldiers.

After quickly getting dressed and tidying up their bedding, the group yawned and drifted leisurely toward Training Ground A.

Along the way, we kept encountering comrades from other dormitories who were heading in the same direction.

Like water droplets merging, they gradually converged into a noisy flow of people.

The tall man walking alongside Shimada Kai murmured:

"Starting today, we'll officially begin training..."

Just yesterday, Qingdeng announced to the entire army: Starting from February 23, that is, starting today, large-scale military training will officially begin!

"Training troops..."

Shimada Kai muttered to himself.

"What methods will Lord Niou use to train his troops?"

The man walking ahead of Shimada Kai shrugged and said in a nonchalant tone:

"What else can we do? It's nothing more than training our bodies, improving our martial arts skills, and teaching us how to form formations."

Someone picked up the conversation:

"What I'm more concerned about is: which school of military strategy will Lord Niou employ? If it were the Kaishu school, that would be wonderful, for there is no military strategy in the world more powerful than that!"

Another person joined the conversation:

"Hey, what are you saying! As the successor of the Yamaga-ryu School of Warfare, I cannot agree with that! While the Kaishu-ryu School of Warfare is strong, my Yamaga-ryu School of Warfare is no less formidable!"

In 1615, the first year of the Genna era, Tokugawa Ieyasu swept away all rival warlords, and Japan entered a period of peace and stability. People began to summarize and study the war experiences of the Sengoku period, and the military world saw a flourishing scene of a hundred schools of thought contending.

The variety of schools of thought is dazzling.

Among these many schools of thought, the most famous are the Koshu-ryu, Kitana-ryu, Echigo-ryu, Yamaga-ryu, Naganuma-ryu, Kazeyama-ryu, and Goden-ryu—these seven are the most well-known "Seven Great Schools of War".

Among them, the most widely circulated and highly regarded school is the Koshu School of Military Strategy.

Takeda Shingen, known as the "Tiger of Koshu" during the Warring States period, created the Koshu-ryu military strategy based on the ideas in "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu.

Tokugawa Ieyasu highly valued the Koshu School of military strategy, which was established as the official military doctrine and command philosophy of the Tokugawa army.

Legend has it that this was because Takeda Shingen had once inflicted psychological trauma on Tokugawa Ieyasu.

In the Battle of Mikatagahara in 1573, Takeda Shingen, who personally led the expedition, defeated Tokugawa Ieyasu to the point of excrement—in a truly meaningful way.

In his hasty escape after suffering a crushing defeat, Tokugawa Ieyasu was so frightened that he defecated on his saddle, soiling his pants, which became a source of amusement.

After the end of the Sengoku period, Obata Kageki, a famous military strategist and one of the founders of the Koshu school, compiled the book "Koyo Gunkan" based on the manuscripts left by Takeda clan retainers such as Kosaka Danjo, along with his own research and insights.

The book caused a great sensation upon its publication, and the Koshu School of Military Strategy was thus greatly promoted.

Subsequently, the Koyo Gunkan was hailed as "Japan's first military treatise," and the Koshu School of Military Strategy was also known as "Japan's first military science," a title it retains to this day.

At that moment, Shimada Kai grinned, revealing his healthy teeth.

"Whether it's the Koshu school or the Yamaga school, no matter which school of military strategy Lord Niou follows, we will just focus on training hard and improving ourselves without any slackening!"

He paused here, then his expression hardened with determination:

"Let everyone see how powerful our First Division is!"

This statement immediately drew a chorus of agreement.

Shimada Kai was born in 1828 and is 35 years old this year.

He was born into an ordinary samurai family in the Mino Ōgaki Domain. His original surname was Kondo, and he was the second son in the family.

The father committed seppuku to atone for his job-related mistakes, and the mother also passed away prematurely shortly afterward.

Having lost both parents, Shimada Kai was adopted by his mother's relatives, the Hansawa family and the Kawashima family, from a young age.

He displayed exceptional swordsmanship from a young age.

Later, in order to improve his swordsmanship, he went to Edo and became a student of Tsubouchi Shuma of the Heart-Shaped Sword Style, where his swordsmanship improved greatly.

Initially, he married into the family as the son-in-law of the merchant Tanba-ya Sadakata. However, because he was appreciated by Shimada Sai of the Ōgaki Domain when he competed in swordsmanship at the Imperial Tournament in Nagoya Castle, he was adopted by the Shimada family and succeeded to the Shimada family.

35 years old... In the Edo period, this was an age when it was not surprising to have grandchildren.

However, Shimada Kai is still unmarried.

Using the phrase "an old steed in its stall may still aspire to gallop a thousand miles" to describe him might be a slight exaggeration.