I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Looking around, he saw neither his living subordinates nor any enemy figures.

"Yamakawa-kun, you lead 100 men to search for survivors, the rest of you follow me!"

With that, Matsudaira Katamori dismounted and strode towards the Sakai-machi Gate.

The Aizu soldiers were startled when they saw this.

"My lord! Be careful!"

"The enemy might not have left yet!"

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and protect our lord!"

The Aizu soldiers swarmed forward, surrounding Matsudaira Katamori in three or four circles.

Sakai-machi's gate is intact...without any signs of attack.

Matsudaira Katamori quickened his pace.

A certain general, quite astutely, ordered his soldiers to push open the imperial gate ahead of time.

With a dry, grating sound, the heavy imperial gate slowly opened.

It had barely opened a gap wide enough for one person to pass through when Matsudaira Katamori eagerly squeezed inside.

As soon as he stepped into the Imperial Palace, he bumped into a young nobleman.

"Lady Higo! You've finally arrived!"

He spoke in a high-sounding, eunuch-like voice, weeping uncontrollably, his white powder on his face smudged and ruined by the tears.

"I'm sorry to have startled you. Did the thieves break into the Imperial Palace?"

The young nobleman wiped away his tears and mumbled:

"N-nothing..."

Matsudaira Katamori secretly breathed a sigh of relief upon learning that the thieves had not broken into the Imperial Palace.

Thankfully... the worst-case scenario didn't happen...

After pondering this for a moment, Matsudaira Katamori pressed further:

When will the bandits arrive?

"About half an hour ago, we suddenly heard horrific shouts of battle coming from outside the Imperial Palace..."

"How many bandits came? Did you see what they looked like?"

"This...this...we don't know...we were terrified! Too scared to move! How could we have the leisure to count the number of attackers!"

The most crucial intelligence was missing... Matsudaira Katamori felt frustrated but helpless.

At this moment, Yamakawa Heibei, who had just been sent by Matsudaira Katamori to search for survivors, returned.

"My lord! My lord!"

"Ah, Yamakawa-kun, you're finally back! How did it go? Did you find any survivors?"

Yamakawa Bei swallowed hard.

“We…we searched all nine gates of the Imperial Palace…the more than two hundred guards stationed here…all of them were killed! Not a single one survived!”

Upon hearing this, the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees!

Everyone present—including Matsudaira Katamori—was utterly horrified!

More than two hundred soldiers... were all killed...

Not only did they not know the identity of the invading enemy, they didn't even know their exact number...

Compared to the severe lack of information, there was something else that puzzled Matsudaira Katamori even more.

—The bandits clearly launched an attack on the Imperial Palace, so why did they only kill the leader and not break into the Imperial Palace?

—Could it be that... their true objective is not to capture the Imperial Palace?

Upon realizing this, Matsudaira Katamori seemed to understand something, his expression immediately changed, and his face gradually darkened.

"So that's how it is... 'Besieging Wei to rescue Zhao'...!"

……

……

After Matsudaira Katamori took 1500 men with him, Saigo Kinosuke led the remaining troops to continue the pursuit of the Choshu army.

The ability to wipe out over two hundred fully armed soldiers in such a short time... such a terrifying speed of slaughter only proves two things—

First, the attackers were an astonishingly large army.

Secondly, the attackers were monsters like Tachibana Seiden, who were "one-man armies"!

Based on the information currently available, the latter is more likely!

If it were a large-scale army, such a conspicuous target moving within the town of Kyoto would not have escaped the notice of the Kyoto-Satsuma alliance.

In any case, we must never repeat the same mistake!

If their home is truly raided, they will be devastated.

Although the bandits who attacked the Imperial Palace have disappeared without a trace, no one can say for sure whether they might launch a surprise attack.

Therefore, Matsudaira Katamori had no choice but to personally lead the 1500 soldiers he brought to guard the palace.

The men that Matsudaira Katamori took with him were mostly soldiers of the Aizu Army.

The troops left for Saigo Kichinosuke were mostly soldiers from the Satsuma army.

Saigo Kichinosuke truly deserves to be called a peerless commander.

The Satsuma people truly live up to their name, "Satsuma Hayato".

[Note: Satsuma Hayato: Because Satsuma is known for its martial spirit, Satsuma people like to call themselves "Satsuma Hayato".]

Under the command of Saigo Kichinosuke, they launched a fierce attack on the Choshu army, one after another.

However... the number of troops was reduced by a full half, and the impact was immediate.

The pressure on Katsura Kogoro and others has been greatly reduced.

Taking advantage of the favorable weather (night) and terrain (forest), and with the full assistance of Sukuna and Umibozu, they put up a tenacious resistance, firmly pinning down the Satsuma alliance in the western suburbs of Kyoto.

During this time, the assistance of Sukuna and Umibozu was of great help.

Especially Su Nuo.

Su Nuo was very familiar with the forest.

He knew exactly where to set traps, where not to hold out, and where to effectively intercept the enemy.

At first, Katsura Kogoro's most optimistic estimate was that he could only hold out in this forest for one hour.

As a result, due to the sharp reduction in the fighting strength of the Hui-Sar-Zhu alliance, and with the help of Sukuna and Umibozu, they managed to hold out for two hours! They held out until dawn!

As dawn broke, Katsura Kogoro and the others slowly withdrew from the woods and headed west.

After learning of the rearguard's movements, Saigo Kinosuke did not order a pursuit, but instead issued a "withdrawal" order to the entire army.

Despite his reluctance, reason ultimately prevailed over emotion—Saigo Kichinosuke understood that continuing to pursue the Choshu army was pointless.

Katsura Kogoro and his men fought desperately, successfully buying a lot of time for the Choshu army to retreat.

At this point in time, the main force of the Choshu army had already withdrawn a considerable distance.

Even if they chased after them at full speed, they couldn't catch up.

Thus, the "Battle of Kyoto," which lasted all night, ended in a disappointing failure.

From a macro perspective, the Choshu army undoubtedly won.

With only 300 men, Katsura Kogoro managed to hold back the Hui-Sar coalition, which was ten times their size, and achieved his objective.

In contrast, the Hui-Sar coalition failed to achieve its strategic plan of "annihilating a large number of Choshu troops."

However... the price that the Changzhou army paid for this was undeniably heavy!

The rearguard of 300 men was almost completely wiped out! Only 28 survivors remained, and all of them were wounded!

Even the highly skilled Sukuna and Umibozu had several cuts on their bodies.

As for Katsura Kogoro, who was always the first to charge into battle, there's no need to go into details.

Judging from his appearance alone, he seemed to be on the verge of death.

Katsura Kogoro and his men retreated all the way to the Harima region west of the Kyoto region before stopping to rest.

"Phew... I finally caught up with you guys..."

A familiar voice suddenly appeared...

Katsura Kogoro raised an eyebrow, then looked in the direction of the sound—Shuten-dōji was riding a panting horse, slowly walking towards him.

Shuten-dōji's body was covered in layers of blood and grime... but he himself was completely unharmed.

"You...you're still alive?"

Shuten-dōji smiled slightly:

"For me, this level is nothing at all; it's just a warm-up."

"Alright, now that we're safe for the time being, we can finally calm down and have a proper talk."

As he spoke, Shuten-dōji dismounted and moved to Katsura Kogoro's side.

"Gui Jun, I'll get straight to the point."

"The reason why our Fazhu Party is extending a helping hand to you is to establish a long-term and solid cooperation with your Changzhou!"

Katsura Kogoro opened his eyes wide.

"Our...cooperation?"

*******

*******

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