I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"What's this……?"

Yamanami Keisuke, standing to the side, responded calmly:

"This is Takatori Castle."

"I know this is Gaoqu City! What I mean is: is our next goal to attack this mountain?!"

To truly understand what it means to be "a castle built on a mountain peak 584 meters above sea level," one must see Takatori Castle in person!

Before Qingdeng and the others stood a winding, verdant mountain range, with a towering peak piercing the sky and several streams encircling it.

The cliffs are as if carved by a knife, and the mountains and forests are lush and green.

Perhaps because of the rain that had just fallen last night, the mountain peaks were shrouded in misty clouds, making the outlines of the mountains indistinct.

Takatori Castle is hidden in this mist.

Anyone with slightly better eyesight can see a majestic and imposing city standing proudly atop the mountain.

Hidden and reflected by the clouds and mist, it resembles a fairyland where gods reside.

Takatori Castle is an irregularly shaped, connected mountain castle.

The so-called "connected-carriage style" refers to the design where the main hall, the second hall, the third hall, and other curved wheels are arranged side by side.

[Note: Curved walls are different areas within a castle separated by moats, stone walls, or earthen ramparts, such as the Honmaru (the center of the castle), Ninomaru, Sanomaru (areas extending outwards from the Honmaru), Nishinomaru (the area west of the Honmaru), and Mizunote Curved Walls (curved walls with water sources such as wells).]

At first glance, Takatori Castle looks like a giant octopus clinging tightly to the mountain peak.

If one's eyesight were better, one could see a large number of flags flying over Takagi Castle.

The most conspicuous banner among them was the one planted on the castle tower, bearing the large characters "Seven Fiends Destroyed, Empress's Blessing".

Seeing this, Yamanami Keisuke said in a deep voice:

"King Ju, the worst-case scenario has occurred... The Heavenly Punishment Group has gathered its remaining forces and is preparing to fight us in a siege."

Qing Deng remained calm and said indifferently:

"There's no need to lament; this is something we expected long ago. In any case, let's take a closer look around now."

As he spoke, he tightened the reins, lightly tapped the ox's belly, and galloped toward the foot of the mountain not far away.

……

……

Two days later, the various units of the newly formed group arrived at the foot of the mountain one after another.

As usual—we will continue to implement Qingdeng's combat strategy of "first make ourselves invincible, then wait for the enemy to become vulnerable."

The old men of the Shinsengumi, known for their toughness, are showing their power once again.

The four thousand auxiliary soldiers who served as logistics personnel also put down their carts and rice bags, picked up hoes and shovels, and joined the ranks of digging and building walls.

Under the guidance of professionals, trenches, fences, and wooden walls were built at a visible speed.

The Shinsengumi surrounded every road leading down the mountain and reinforced the blockade with fortifications.

Unless the people in Gaoqu City grew wings, they would never be able to escape such a tight encirclement.

On the very night the entire army arrived at the foot of the mountain, Qingdeng convened a military meeting attended by officers of the rank of squad leader and above.

……

……

Shinsengumi camp, main camp—

Yamanami Keisuke stood and reported the battlefield situation to everyone present.

"There are five key facilities in Takagi Castle."

"From north to south, they are Kunimi-yagura, Sannomaru, Ninomaru, Honmaru, and Tenshukaku."

橹—a classic defensive structure in Japanese castles.

It can be understood as a towering fortress, which can be used as a watchtower or as an arrow tower.

"Yesterday, we dispatched the Fifth and Eighth Divisions to launch a feint attack on Takatori Castle to test the strength of the enemy's defenses."

"As a result, the members of the Fifth and Eighth Divisions couldn't even get over the city wall; as many as they went up, they were all killed or injured."

Upon hearing this, Niimi Nishiki and Todo Heisuke both lowered their heads, their faces showing shame.

Upon seeing this, Yamanami Keisuke immediately said:

“Niimi-kun, Toudou-kun, please raise your heads. I am not blaming you.”

"Takatori Castle is a world-renowned castle, and it is not easy to climb the mountain that is more than 5 cho high."

"It is only natural that we ended up like this."

[Note: Town: 1 town = 109 meters]

Instead of saying "You will end up like this," Keisuke Yamanami subtly changed the subject to "we."

Keisuke Yamanami always speaks tactfully and considerately, which is a major reason why he is so popular.

"Getting back to the main point—the enemy's resistance is far stronger than we anticipated."

"Judging from such a strong defense, the total number of enemy troops currently besieging Gaoqu City is at least three hundred."

Three hundred—upon hearing this number, everyone present frowned.

Nagakura Shinpachi directly raised questions:

"How can there be so many people? Didn't we already wipe them out in the previous battle? Where did they conjure up 300 men?"

Hijikata Toshizo replied to Yamanami Keisuke:

There are only two possibilities.

"Firstly, the enemy has deployed a considerable number of garrison troops in Gaoqu City."

"Secondly, the enemy received foreign aid."

"Judging from the current situation, the only force with the capacity to send reinforcements to the Takatori Domain in a short period of time is Choshu."

Yamanami Keisuke nodded slightly and picked up the conversation:

"We have no idea why the enemy still has so many troops."

"In short, they have now adopted a posture of 'swearing to live and die with Gaoqu City and fighting to the death'."

"The situation is very tricky."

“The hillsides on the south, east and west sides of Takatori Castle are very steep.”

"Only the northern slope is slightly gentler."

"If we want to take Gaocheng by force, the only feasible route of attack is to start from the north."

"However, the design of Takatori Castle was based on the premise that 'the attacking side can only attack from the north.'"

"If we attack from the north, we must first capture Kunimi-yagura, Sannomaru, and Ninomaru before we can reach Honmaru and Tenshukaku."

In other words—we're going to take over the entire Gaoqu City!

“At this rate, we would have to lose at least three or four hundred bodies before we could barely achieve victory.”

"Therefore, in my opinion, the wisest choice at present is to fight a war for food supplies."

"The Changzhou army has been defeated and retreated to its fiefdom."

"The Heavenly Punishment Group currently has no outside support and can only hold out in this isolated city."

"We only need to starve them out and make it difficult for them to get supplies. Sooner or later we will drive them to a dead end and we can take back Gaoqu City without losing a single soldier."

Japan is a mountainous country; it may not have much else, but it has plenty of mountains and hills, so many cities are built on steep terrain.

Japan happens to be a country with very underdeveloped productivity and lacks firearms, especially artillery.

Without artillery, they could only rely on sheer numbers and sheer willpower to break through these fortified, tortoise-shell-like cities.

Even Oda Nobunaga, the strongest of the three who almost ended the Warring States period, suffered repeated setbacks when attacking Ishiyama Honganji Temple (present-day Osaka).

It took him a full 10 years to finally conquer this formidable city.

Therefore, in ancient Japan, the most effective method of siege warfare was the war of supply.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the "Taiko," was a master of military and food supply warfare.

Because of their skill in fighting wars and securing supplies, the proverb "Miki died of thirst, and Totori died of hunger" came about.

No sooner had Yamanami Keisuke finished speaking than a rebuttal rang out:

"I object!"

Isamu Kondo raised his voice.

"A war for supplies? How long would that take?"

“Takatori Castle is adjacent to a river, so there’s no way to cut off their water supply.”

"Without being able to cut off their water supply, it would be impossible to force them to submit by simply starving them, which would take at least a year and a half!"

“A famous city like Takatori must have a sufficient amount of supplies.”

"If it's a war of supplies, it's hard to say who will run out of supplies first!"

Anyone with a little common sense knows that you can survive for one or two months without food, but you can't even last three days without water.

Kondo Isami continued speaking:

"In my opinion, we should press on and launch a full-scale attack! We should take back Gaoqu City by brute force!"

At this point, Kondo Isami stood up and moved closer to the map in the center.

"Look, everyone!"

Upon hearing his words, everyone in the room leaned forward to look at the detailed map on the central table.

Just the day before yesterday, Aoto and others found the fleeing lords and retainers of the Takatori Domain.

The rulers and retainers of the Takatori Domain were naturally moved to tears by the arrival of the Shinsengumi to liberate their territory.

In response, they provided a detailed map of Takagi Castle.