I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qingdeng's five senses gradually returned to normal.

The "airflow" cannot be seen by the eyes.

The ears can hear the sounds around them again.

The feeling... is like suddenly surfacing from the deep sea, the water pressure enveloping you disappears, your eyes can see again, and your ears can hear the sounds of the outside world clearly.

Qingdeng lowered his head, looking at his palms in surprise.

—What's wrong with me?

How did I just instantly defeat Kawakami Gensai?

To be honest, even he himself wasn't quite sure...

He felt like he had just woken up.

I think I just had a wonderful dream.

But he couldn't remember any of the specific details of that beautiful dream.

Qingdeng was still immersed in "memories".

Suddenly, conversations that broke out not far away interrupted his thoughts.

"Mr. Yoshimura, what do we do now?"

Someone timidly asked Yoshimura Torataro:

"What do you mean, what to do? Do you even need to ask?"

Yoshimura Torataro said solemnly:

"Of course we'll fight to the end! We're all standing here prepared to die, aren't we?"

Yoshimura Torataro's words immediately had a calming effect on the morale of the troops.

The men around him swallowed hard, their expressions resolute as if they were facing certain death.

Immediately afterwards, they gripped their knives tightly, faced Qingdeng, and assumed a fighting stance.

"Tachibana Aoto, come here!"

Yoshimura Torataro, his face grim, raised his sword:

"Don't think we're afraid of you! We're ready to die!"

Even at this point, they still haven't surrendered and still want to fight back.

While their courage is commendable, they also know in their hearts that their resistance is futile and like a mantis trying to stop a chariot.

Even Kawakami Gensai, on whom they had placed high hopes, met a tragic end, his head severed from his body. With their mediocre skills, even if they pushed the power of "spiritual theory" to its limit, they could not possibly leave a single scar on Aoto.

Qing Deng raised his gaze, glanced at Yoshimura Torataro and the others without any emotion, and then looked away.

He's not in the mood to fight these people right now.

He wanted to seize the wonderful feeling he had just experienced when he killed Kawakami Gensai while his memory was still fresh!

Fortunately, at that moment, the voices of Souji and Kinoshita Mai rang out behind Aoto:

"Tachibana-kun! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"Qingdeng, are you alright?"

The two women arrived at Qingdeng's left and right sides, one after the other.

They were moving so fast that the members of the First Division were still below the castle tower and had not yet caught up.

Qing Deng glanced at the two women and immediately gave the order:

"Sōji, Ama, the man in the middle is Yoshimura Torataro. He's trying to keep him alive, but the rest are up to you."

Souji and Kinoshita Mai both nodded, then stepped forward without hesitation to attack.

Yoshimura Torataro and his men met the attack head-on without showing any weakness.

Despite their best efforts, the "spiritual theory" simply didn't work in the face of an absolute material disparity.

Kinoshita Mai kicked Yoshimura Torataro unconscious and captured him alive.

The rest were all executed.

Souji, carrying the still-bleeding Kaga Kiyomitsu, slowly walked back to Aoto's side.

"Tachibana-kun, it's all over..."

After saying that, she let out a long sigh of relief, her face showing a look of great relief.

Qingdeng nodded slightly, a complex expression flashing across his face.

"Hmm... this battle is finally over..."

Following the fall of the third and second castle towers, even the castle tower itself fell.

Takatori Castle has been completely recaptured!

Thus, the "Heavenly Punishment Group Rebellion," which lasted for more than half a month, has been completely quelled!

The bandit leader, Yoshimura Torataro, was captured, and all his accomplices were executed. The Tenchu ​​Group and the Totsugawa Goshi Army were completely wiped out.

Big win!

A resounding and exhilarating victory!

Another great achievement for Aoto and Shinsengumi!

On the night that Kawakami Gensai was killed and Takatori Castle was recaptured, the triumphant shouts of "Eh, eh, oh!" echoed throughout the entire castle, resounding through the sky.

It lasted for a long time.

Aoto, the commander-in-chief of the Shinsengumi, was naturally pleased with the resounding victory.

Despite his happiness, he remained troubled by the strange state he had entered during his match against Kawakami Gensai.

What exactly is that "airflow"?

*******

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The leopard has undergone a super evolution! Six thousand leopards! It almost evolved into a seven thousand leopard!

Today's chapter is over 6000 words! Please vote for this book with your monthly tickets, considering how hard I've worked! (Crying leopard head.jpg) Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

Chapter 748 ceding half of the Shogunate's arm to Aoto! [5300]

Kyoto, Kinkaikoji Temple (Aizu Military Main Formation), Matsudaira Yoshiho's room——

Matsudaira Katamori is handling official business.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached from outside the room:

"My lord! Good news has arrived from the Yamato front!"

Matsudaira Yongho was surprised:

"Come in!"

With a whoosh, a travel-worn messenger appeared before Matsudaira Katamori.

Before he could speak, the man spoke up loudly on his own initiative:

"My lord! The Shinsengumi has achieved a resounding victory!"

"The Tenchu ​​Clan has been wiped out! Takatori Castle has been liberated! Bandit leader Yoshimura Torataro has been captured!"

"The new formation will rest and reorganize in place for three days before officially returning to base!"

Upon hearing this, Matsudaira Katamori's face immediately showed a look of great surprise.

Out of sheer astonishment, he instinctively jumped to his feet and urgently asked:

"What? The Shinsengumi have recaptured Takatori Castle? Is the news accurate?"

The messenger, who came to deliver the message, replied neither humbly nor arrogantly:

"My lord, the information is accurate! I personally saw the sunflower flag and the honesty flag flying on the castle tower of Takatori Castle!"

Matsudaira Katamori stared wide-eyed, his expression blank, as if he had lost his soul.

After a moment, he sat back down in his original seat, expressionless and slow.

"So fast...! Wait a minute... didn't the Shinsengumi only arrive at the foot of Mount Takamori yesterday...?"

Matsudaira Katamori frowned, his mind racing with calculations.

As far as he knew, the entire Shinsengumi army did not reach the city walls until yesterday afternoon.

It is currently noon.

Subtracting the time it takes for messengers to travel back and forth... that means the Shinsengumi wiped out the Tenchugumi in just one night! And they recaptured Takatori Castle!

Thinking of this, Matsudaira Katamori couldn't help but gasp.

It wasn't that he didn't believe the Shinsengumi would recapture Takatori Castle.

He trusts Qing Deng a lot.

They also had great faith in the Shinsengumi's fighting strength.

But... he couldn't believe that the Shinsengumi had recaptured Takatori Castle in such a short time!

Although he had never seen Takatori Castle in person, he still had some understanding of the defenses of this famous mountain castle.

To put it bluntly—if he and Qing Deng were switched places, and he were to lead the Aizu army to attack Takatori Castle, he would only feel an immense headache! He wouldn't know where to begin!

Although the Aizu army had a world-renowned cavalry, it lacked firearms, especially heavy firearms such as cannons.

When they arrived in Luoyang, the entire army carried only a few antique-looking old cannons.

Using these broken cannons to bombard a fortified city like Takamori Castle would serve no purpose other than to boost morale, intimidate the enemy, and blast away some stones and clods of earth.

Therefore, when faced with Takamori Castle, which had been occupied by the Tenchugu group, the only way Matsudaira Katamori could think of to attack was to issue the order "All troops attack, and the first to scale the castle will be richly rewarded," gradually wearing down the enemy and achieving victory through brute force.

In conclusion, even with superior military strength, capturing Gaoqu City will be no easy task!