I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The shogunate only had so many resources in total.

If one person eats one more bite, the other person has to eat one less bite.

Will the shogunate reduce its investment in the "Sanbanzu" and instead pour resources into the Shinsengumi? Will the "Sanbanzu" be disbanded...? These questions are like the Sword of Damocles, hovering over the heads of the soldiers of the "Sanbanzu", making them unable to eat or sleep.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

As such, the soldiers of the "Third Division" naturally harbored great malice towards the Shinsengumi.

Faced with the "enthusiastic performance" of Yamaki Unro and others, Tokugawa Iemochi remained unmoved, only silently speaking:

"Yamaki-kun, it seems you have a lot of confidence in the combat capabilities of your troops."

Yamaki Yunro asserted without hesitation:

"That's natural!"

"General, it is not our fault that we are boasting!"

"In such a chaotic world, both my blood and Futaro's are burning!"

Futaro Sasaki – Captain of the Third Division of the Daibanku.

"From the imperial court to the common people, there are always people criticizing the 'Third Division,' saying that the 'Third Division' has become a weak and incompetent mob."

"Indeed, the long years of peace have caused many soldiers to lose their fighting spirit and degenerate into mindless zombies who only know how to eat, drink and have fun all day long."

"I, Yamaki Unro, have no other skills! My only loyalty to the shogunate is as clear as the sun and moon!"

"The rampant treasonous officials, the arrogance of the Western barbarians, and the ministers who presumptuously discuss state affairs—faced with all this chaos, my heart is already filled with indignation!"

"Futaro feels the same way I do!"

"I am filled with resentment, but have nowhere to vent it!"

"Therefore, after leading our troops to garrison the capital, we have never stopped striving to improve ourselves, working tirelessly day and night, and diligently intensifying our military training every single day!"

"Through our unremitting efforts, we have successfully eliminated numerous malpractices within the military! We have rebuilt morale! We have transformed the soldiers' former listless demeanor! We have greatly improved the army's combat effectiveness!"

"Today, my troops and Futaro's troops are completely transformed, and we will certainly live up to everyone's expectations!"

He had barely finished speaking when Sasaki Futaro loudly proclaimed:

"Yes! General, Yunlang and I will surely wipe out all invading enemies! As long as we are in Kyoto, Kyoto will remain an impregnable fortress!"

Then, as if they had agreed beforehand, Yamaki Unro and Sasaki Futaro both glanced sideways and cast provocative looks at Aoto.

In an instant, Tokugawa Iemochi, Matsudaira Katamori, Tenshōin, and the various shoguns of the koshigumi all showed expressions of astonishment.

Even Qing Deng was taken aback.

Judging from their expressions and tone, they did not seem to be bluffing.

Since they dare to say such things, it means they probably have something to rely on.

With this thought in mind, Qingdeng pondered:

—Could it be that... their troops do indeed possess some real skill?

Having long anticipated that he was destined to be at odds with the generals of the "Emperor's Personal Army," Qing Deng had not had any dealings with Yamaki Yunlang and others since arriving in Luoyang.

Therefore, he himself was not very clear about the actual situation of the other military forces stationed in Beijing.

To be honest, the series of bold statements made by Yamaki Yunlang and others just now may not be entirely untrue.

Regardless, the Daibanzu is still one of the "Emperor's personal guards".

The attention and resources they received were unmatched by any other Shogunate army.

If Yamamoto Unro and Sasaki Futaro were to really commit to military reform, their troops could indeed undergo a complete transformation in a very short period of time.

Thinking of this, Qing Deng felt a chill run down his spine.

—We really can't let our guard down... We still need to be more vigilant; there might actually be a few decent units in the "Third Division"...

……

……

Kyoto, Dabangu camp——

Upon entering the camp, the first thing that comes into view is a large earthen field large enough to accommodate thousands of soldiers galloping around.

This area has been used as a military camp for the Ōbangu (a large military unit) for a long time.

Over time, the once loose soil has been trampled and compacted by countless feet and hooves, becoming exceptionally hard.

Looking around, there was hardly a smooth area on the ground; it was covered with potholes and crisscrossing tracks of all sizes, and not even a single weed, the most resilient plant, could be seen.

Qing Deng and his men then inspected the soldiers of the Kyoto garrison's First and Third Divisions in this training ground.

Led by Tokugawa Iemochi, the group stood on the observation platform.

Qing Deng had already made up his mind that "we can no longer let our guard down" and "we must pay more attention to the 'Third Division'".

So he secretly braced himself, held his breath, squinted his eyes, and made sure not to miss a single scene or moment.

In the blink of an eye, Yamaki Kuro darted forward, stood on the edge of the observation deck, took a deep breath, and opened his mouth wide:

"start!!!"

With the help of the breeze, his voice spread far and wide in just a moment, filling every corner of the training ground.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump, thump...

First came a faint sound.

Immediately afterwards, the sound grew louder and closer—soldiers rushed out of the rear camp, ran into the training ground, and headed towards the watchtower.

Roughly speaking, there were about two hundred people.

Before long, they formed uneven, crooked rows below the observation deck, eventually combining into a square formation that could barely be considered to have any shape.

The distance between the camp and the training ground is at most 300 meters.

The soldiers of the large group ran the distance of more than 300 meters and formed a barely satisfactory square formation—total time: 4 minutes.

Their formation was already quite disorganized, and then it became even more "shaky," looking at it at first glance like a wheat field being blown by the wind.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out that the soldiers in the formation were moving around haphazardly.

They might wave their hands, swing their feet, shrug their shoulders, or stretch.

After a while, the entire formation looked even more messy and disorganized.

At this moment, Yamaki Yunro shouted again:

"Form a wild goose formation!"

Suddenly, the two large drums placed on either side of the observation platform began to beat simultaneously.

The continuous drumbeats, "dong dong," "dong dong," "dong dong," roared powerfully and passionately, much like muffled thunder, each beat louder than the last.

The drums were loud and powerful. However... the movements of the soldiers below the watchtower were subtly out of sync with the drumbeats.

They gradually unfolded their battle formation with unhurried movements.

The square formation splits into two neat halves in the middle, spreading out horizontally, with one half moving to the left and the other half moving to the right.

About one minute later, the square formation changed into a "V" shaped formation.

Judging from its shape, this is indeed a classic battle formation – the wild goose formation.

"Change formation! Form a pike formation!"

Still moving at a leisurely pace... The spearmen, each holding a three-pronged spear, stepped forward, inserted the base of the spear shaft into the ground, and pointed the spear tips diagonally towards the sky.

"Cavalry, charge!"

Clatter, clatter, clatter... The sound of rapid hoofbeats echoed from behind the watchtower.

About thirty cavalrymen burst into the training ground from the left and right flanks.

The battle formation they listed was a tried-and-true offensive formation: the wedge formation.

To be honest, Qing Deng almost didn't recognize it as a wedge formation...

Logically, a normal wedge formation should become tapered towards the head.

However, the wedge-shaped formations that Qingdeng saw were not like that. Their thickness was very uneven, and there was a strange phenomenon that the "wedge tip" and the "wedge body" were the same thickness.

Moreover, the cavalrymen had serious problems with maintaining distance between each other.

Some people were standing extremely close together, their thighs almost touching.

Some people were so far apart that a truck could pass through them.

However, their warhorses were quite good, large in size and with a good amount of fat on their bodies.

"Cavalry! Begin the attack!"

The cavalrymen galloped toward a corner of the training ground—where numerous targets had already been set up.

These targets are scarecrows.

To closely resemble real combat scenarios, these scarecrows were made to the height and shape of normal people, and their bodies were filled with dry grass to maximize the replication of human density.

The cavalrymen raised their swords high and charged menacingly towards the group of "scarecrows".

Before long, the outcome of the battle was decided.

Either they failed to properly gauge the distance between themselves and their target, striking too early or too late.

Or, although you hit the target, you drop the knife because you're not skilled enough.

Some people's knives fell to the ground.

Many more knives were embedded directly into the scarecrow's body, and couldn't be pulled out...

……

Thus, under the precise instructions of Yamaki Unro, the soldiers of the Daibangu displayed various military formations and tactics.

The entire review lasted for nearly an hour.

After the inspection concluded, Yamaki Unro, whose voice had become hoarse from shouting, wiped the sweat from his brow, turned around, knelt on one knee, and shouted to Tokugawa Iemochi, word by word:

"General! The inspection is complete!"