I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Iga is located southeast of Kyoto, in the Ueno Basin area, surrounded by high ground and low in the middle.

To the southeast of Kyoto are layers upon layers of mountains and hills, one after another.

When talking about Iga, the "Iga ninja" is an unavoidable topic.

Iga and Koga are both among the birthplaces of Japanese ninjutsu.

During the Warring States period, when many warlords were vying for power, more than thirty ninja schools emerged, among which the Iga and Koga schools were the most famous.

The original Iga-ryu ninja were simply a separatist force that ruled over a mountain, commonly known as the "Iga Clan".

After Oda Nobunaga dominated the Kinai region, the Iga lords, who were practically independent kingdoms, naturally became a thorn in his side.

Finally, between 1578 and 79, Nobunaga issued an order to his second son, Oda Nobukatsu, to subdue Iga.

However... when faced with the Iga forces, whose territory was fortified and whose entire population was mobilized for war, Oda's first Iga campaign failed after paying a heavy price.

Enraged by this outcome, Nobunaga once again mobilized a large army in 1581, sending out all his elite troops to invade Iga from all sides.

After paying a heavy price, the resistance of the Iga people was finally put to an end.

Even the Oda army, which was invincible throughout the land, suffered a humiliating defeat in Iga when fighting on its home turf... This shows just how treacherous the geographical situation in this region is.

Located in a basin, Iga is one of the few relatively flat areas in this large mountainous region.

Such terrain inevitably leads to the convergence of numerous transportation routes here.

If the rebel army that started the uprising in Ise wanted to attack Kyoto, Iga was the only place they could pass through.

Once they occupy Iga, the rebel army will have a great deal of autonomy.

Between Iga and Kyoto lies a vast expanse of towering mountains.

Generally speaking, there are two routes to choose from: the southern route and the northern route, from Iga to Kyoto.

Both paths have their advantages and disadvantages.

They took the southern route to attack the Yagyu Domain, which had a mere 10,000 koku of rice and was very weak.

In front of the Yagyu Domain lies Nara, an ancient city known for its many deer.

After capturing Nara, we can then head north and proceed unimpeded to Kyoto.

The southern route is the shortest and requires fewer strategic strongholds to be captured. As long as the Yagyu Domain and Nara are in hand, the southern gate of Kyoto will be wide open.

However... Nara is an ancient city with a history even longer than Kyoto.

While Nara may not be as prosperous or as solid as the three major cities (Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka), it is by no means a piece of "tofu" that can be easily manipulated.

With such a newly formed bandit army, taking Nara would not be an easy task.

To take the northern route, we must first capture Koga, which is located above Iga.

After capturing Koga, they could enter the Tokai Road and advance westward along the easily accessible and well-supplied Tokai Road, successively capturing Kusatsu and Otsu, and then marching towards Kyoto.

The journey to the north is long, but the advantage is that the East Sea Road can be used as a base, which greatly reduces the pressure of marching and resupply.

Theoretically speaking, besides the southern and northern routes, there is another route to take, which is the central route—directly traversing the mountains between Kyoto and Iga.

However, just like the "troops marching out of the Ziwu Valley" strategy, this is a military concept that can only exist on paper.

The mountains that stretch between Kyoto and Iga are basically... no, they are practically an undeveloped area!

As far as the eye can see, there is only primeval forest everywhere, and not even a decent road.

Given the terrible road conditions and the bandit army's organizational capabilities, if they were to force their way through the middle route, their marching speed would inevitably be as slow as a tortoise.

Qing Deng doesn't need to do anything; he just needs to lead the Shinsengumi to block the way they come out of the mountains.

Once the bandit army emerged from the mountains in a sorry state, Qingdeng launched a mindless charge, wiping out the exhausted and weakened troops in one fell swoop.

Therefore, the Middle Way need not be considered.

Of course, the rebel army could also choose to bypass Iga.

But this would mean taking a very long detour.

Looking across the entire Kinki region, apart from the Osaka Plain and the Kyoto Basin, the rest of the area is mostly rugged mountainous terrain with very few traversable roads.

If the rebel army chooses to bypass Iga, they will have to cross most of the capital region to reach Kyoto.

This not only took a long time, but also resulted in the fatal mistake of "exposing one's own backside to the enemy's attack."

At that time, Qingdeng, with Iga as its base of attack, could take advantage of its well-connected terrain to directly cut off the enemy's supply lines, or even go further and launch a swift attack on the enemy's flanks and rear, thus inflicting a major defeat.

In short, this is exactly what is meant by a "strategic location that military strategists must contend for".

The key to victory or defeat for the shogunate forces... no, for Aoto and the rebels lies in "the fate of Iga".

With Iga under the control of the former, the initiative lies in Aoto's hands.

If Iga is lost, that would be a real problem.

After everyone's attention focused on the spot he pointed to, Qing Deng slowly said:

“Choosing Iga as the battlefield would not only allow us to effectively intercept the enemy forces, but also give us an overwhelming advantage in terrain to compensate for our lack of manpower.”

In professional terms, this is called "a very narrow battlefield".

In layman's terms, it's like "one man can hold the pass against ten thousand".

If the war were to break out in Iga, the rebel army, with tens of thousands of troops, would simply be unable to deploy in such a treacherous place.

At this point, Qing Deng slid his finger, moving his fingertip from "Iga" to "Kyoto".

"Use half a day to assemble the troops and prepare supplies, and march forward first thing tomorrow morning!"

"Take the shortest route, the Southern Route, through Nara and the Yagyu Domain, and head straight to Iga."

Qingdeng drew an "L" shape on the map with his fingertip.

"Build a castle in Iga, then wait for the enemy to tire themselves out!"

The Japanese word for "castle" (城) does not have the same meaning as the Chinese word for "city" (城).

The latter specifically refers to "city", while the former mainly refers to "castle".

In other words, the "building of the city" that Qingdeng mentioned, in modern vernacular terms, means "building field defensive bunkers".

During the Sengoku period, Toyotomi Hideyoshi made a significant military achievement, the authenticity of which is unknown—"Sunomata Castle in One Night"—which does not refer to Toyotomi Hideyoshi building a city overnight, but rather to him building a simple field fortress in one night.

"Our army has no shortage of brave warriors who dare to charge into battle, but it lacks cavalry that can be used to scout enemy positions and pursue and annihilate enemy troops, as well as archers and arquebusiers who can launch long-range attacks."

"Let me think... Lord Higo, if you could lend me 20 cavalrymen, 20 archers, and 20 arquebusiers, I would be extremely confident in completely crushing the enemy army."

"Sending only 60 soldiers can replenish the army's fighting strength and maintain the Aizu army's fighting strength to the greatest extent possible, achieving two goals at once."

Qing Deng explained his military concept in just a few words.

His proposed battle plan, while ensuring the Shinsengumi's chances of victory, can be said to have both echoed the "warlike" faction led by Sagawa Kanbei and taken into account the "blame-shifting" faction led by Saigo Yorimo's desire to avoid war.

Both the garrison and the Aizu government managed to save face.

As Qing Deng finished speaking, the atmosphere at the scene immediately shifted from "listening carefully" to "discussing animatedly."

Matsudaira Katamori pondered, appearing deep in thought.

After a moment, he asked:

"Fortification... Lord Tachibana, please forgive my bluntness—do you have any generals under your command who are skilled in fortification?"

In present-day Japan, where a systematic knowledge system of science and engineering has not yet been established, castle construction is an extremely rare skill.

If you ask someone who knows nothing about architecture to build a city, let alone fences, barricades, and watchtowers, they probably won't even be able to dig a proper trench.

The technical requirements for building a city are so high that only civil engineers can accomplish this!

Even when the scope of the study is broadened to include the entire history of Japan, there are still very few generals who are knowledgeable about castle construction.

Those who knew how to fight using field fortifications were even fewer—Toyotomi Hideyoshi of the Sengoku period was one of these rare individuals.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a master at building castles and knew how to use field fortifications to attack enemies.

Leaving aside the many mysteries surrounding the "Sunomata Castle," whose authenticity remains unknown, it was only after becoming a legion commander under Oda Nobunaga and taking charge of the western frontier that he truly brought his castle-building skills to their fullest potential.

The series of military achievements that Toyotomi Hideyoshi made in attacking the Mori clan were compiled into a popular saying: "Starved Miki, thirsted Tottori, and without a single soldier, flooded Takamatsu."

When attacking the Mori clan's Miki Castle and Tottori Castle, he built an insane number of fortresses around the castles, cutting off their supplies and dragging down the castle garrisons.

When attacking Bichu Takamatsu Castle, he displayed a new grand scheme—he built a dam nearly three kilometers long and more than seven meters high on the south side of the castle, and then breached the Asumori River to flood the castle.

It has been nearly 250 years since the Warring States period, a time of constant warfare.

Even today, does anyone still possess the skills to build fortifications in the wild? This is indeed a question worth questioning.

After listening to Matsudaira Katamori's question, Aoto smiled slightly.

"You don't need to worry about that."

"During my time as a servant and attendant to the Emperor, I didn't hone any other skills, but I'm very confident in my abilities to wield a hoe, build mounds of earth, and chop timber!"

"'Taking on a critical mission to dredge the Kanda irrigation system'—Lord Higo, you must have heard of this achievement of mine, right?"

After hearing this, Matsudaira Katamori fell silent and began to think again.

After a moment, he slowly and softly said:

"...Lord Tachibana, if we proceed with the deployment according to your plan, there is indeed hope of defeating the enemy army at the lowest possible cost."

Having said that, he suddenly raised his head and announced in a loud, clear voice:

"Very well! I hereby order—to dispatch 20 cavalrymen, 20 archers, and 20 arquebusiers to support Lord Tachibana!"

At this point, Matsudaira Katamori turned his head and looked at Sagawa Kanbei.

"Sagawa-kun! You shall command our soldiers. During the campaign, all orders shall be carried out under Lord Tachibana's command!"

Sagawa Kanbei lowered his head and respectfully responded in a loud voice:

"Yes!"

Looking at Matsudaira Katamori, who had already made his decision, Saigo Raiji's mother frowned slightly, a hint of hesitation flashing across her face.

He opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something... but in the end he stopped himself.

He knew in his heart that Matsudaira Katamori, who was wholeheartedly devoted to supporting the shogunate, would not possibly not help the garrison.

He only sent 60 soldiers to support Qingdeng... Although these 60 soldiers were highly valuable technical troops, this was the limit of what he could get.