I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of the cannons turning rapidly filled the air.

Each gun crew adjusted the muzzle direction with practiced movements.

Before long, all the artillery groups fell silent.

The dark muzzles of every cannon were all aimed at the same target—the Changzhou army in the distance!

Abe Juro: "Release!"

Instantly, the cannons roared!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Streaks of red light spread out from one end to the other.

Immediately afterwards, one after another, the orbs of light rose high into the air, and after reaching their highest point, they drew beautiful parabolas before plummeting straight towards the Choshu army!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions, one after another, shook the heavens and the earth! They dominated all sounds in this space!

The explosion's fiery wave illuminated everything around it.

The terrifying commotion, like an earthquake, caught the unsuspecting Kurushima Matabei off guard, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground with a thud.

He blinked, his expression blank, like a sleepwalker unable to return to reality.

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

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to all my book lovers! On this auspicious day, it's raining heavily in Guangzhou tonight, so there's no moon to see! (Crying leopard head.jpg) On this Mid-Autumn Festival, I really want to see the moon, even though there's no one to miss.

Chapter 844 My Lord! Times have changed! The Shinsengumi Musketeers' stunning debut! [4600]

"Uh ah ah ah ah ah!"

"W-What happened?!"

"What's that sound?!"

"It's lightning! Lightning has fallen from the sky!"

"What thunder! That's a cannon!"

……

In the blink of an eye, the Changzhou army was thrown into chaos.

Due to their limited knowledge, many people—especially the conscripted ronin and peasant soldiers—had never seen a cannon before, nor did they recognize the sound of cannons. When they heard this terrifying "rumbling" sound, they were all terrified.

Some people even thought it was lightning striking, and were so terrified that they almost collapsed to the ground.

Screams, roars, screams, wails... "noise" and "chaos" dominated this space.

At first glance, the Changzhou army appeared to be on the verge of collapse.

At this moment, Kijima Matabei finally recovered from his shock.

As a veteran who participated in the Battle of Xiaguan and experienced the saturation bombardment by the American and French fleets, he was no stranger to cannons and the "rumbling" sound of cannons.

Thanks to this firsthand experience, he knew very well that while cannons were indeed a terrifying weapon, their accuracy was not high, and their deterrent power far outweighed their destructive power.

The shells themselves are not scary; it is the panic they generate that is terrifying!

After calming himself down, he gritted his teeth, quickly stood up, and shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Don't panic! Don't shout! Don't run around! These are just cannons! They're not some kind of thunderbolts! Those shells won't hit us that easily!"

The facts are just as he said.

Although the Shinsengumi's firepower was fierce, with dozens of cannons bombarding the area repeatedly, creating a deafening roar, the shells mostly landed outside the Choshu army's lines, or even further away.

So far, no shells have hit the Changzhou army positions directly; only a few dozen people have been slightly injured by the aftershocks of the explosions.

Kijima Matabei happened to be a very loud person.

As soon as he opened his mouth, all the soldiers in the army heard his voice.

Under the earnest persuasion of Kijima Matabei, the morale of the soldiers calmed down, and the screams and shouts gradually subsided.

As is well known, the management difficulty increases exponentially with each additional zero in the size of the military.

Moreover, the larger the military, the easier it is for panic to spread.

Fortunately, the Choshu army under Fushimi only had 3000 soldiers, which was not a large number and was relatively easy to manage.

If its size were to increase several times, then Kijima Mataibei would likely be unable to stabilize morale in a short period of time.

If so, then this single round of shelling would be enough to cause panic to spread rapidly, leading to the collapse and scattering of the army.

In addition, Matabei Kurushima's ace unit—his own guerrilla force—is also playing a significant role at this time.

The 600 guerrilla soldiers firmly guarded the perimeter of their main position.

Although they showed signs of panic after the barrage of artillery fire, they remained as calm as a mountain.

They neither shouted wildly nor moved around arbitrarily, but remained at their posts, effectively suppressing the spread of panic.

These elite soldiers are the backbone of an army.

They are there, the army is there.

If they were gone, the army would immediately scatter like birds and beasts.

Seeing that the guerrillas remained unmoved, those who had been in disarray felt a little relieved.

Thus, after a brief period of chaos, the Changzhou army managed to restore order and was temporarily out of danger of collapse.

Kijima Matabei breathed a slight sigh of relief—but soon, his face was clouded with worry again.

He turned his head and glared fiercely at the musketeers getting closer and closer to them.

The barrage of artillery fire is nothing to fear.

The musketeers who are slowly closing in on them are the biggest threat!

If they close the distance and get into their firing range, it's no laughing matter!

At this moment, Kijima Matabei finally understood Aoto's tactics:

—Hmph! Using cannons as cover, allowing the arquebusiers to get close and fire... What a clever scheme!

—Tachibana Aoto, you seriously underestimate us! Do you think we men of Choshu would be intimidated by mere cannonballs?!

Upon realizing this, Kurishima Matabei immediately issued a new military order:

"Archers and archers, advance! Rout the enemy!"

His forces consisted of 250 musketeers and archers.

The force consisted of 200 musketeers and 50 archers.

Despite the small number of people, Kijima Matabei did not feel troubled.

Ju Qingdeng was so ignorant of military affairs that he did not send infantry or cavalry to escort him, but instead sent musketeers to their deaths. How is this any different from "exposing one's chest to the enemy's sword tip"?

A few volleys would be enough to crush them!

Although the Choshu soldiers managed to suppress their panic under the persuasion and guidance of Kijima Matabei, the fear brought about by "shells flying overhead and repeated explosions all around them" would not dissipate so easily.

The musketeers and archers of the Changzhou army, trembling with fear, carried their matchlock guns and bows and arrows to the front of the formation, forming three long rows.

The musketeers were positioned in the first two rows, the first row crouching and the second row standing. The archers stood in the last row.

Based on the simple idea of ​​"striking first is the best policy," Kijima Matabei immediately gave the order:

"Prepare!"

The musketeers picked up their matchlock guns.

The archers nocked their arrows and drew their bows.

"put!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

One bullet after another pierced the atmosphere.

Arrows pierced the sky.

It whistled as it landed on the sixth and eighth divisions, which were still advancing.

At this point, the distance between the two sides was approximately 300 meters.

Because of the distance, only one unlucky person was hit in the thigh by a bullet, while the rest were unharmed.

After the unfortunate man fell to the ground injured, the person behind him immediately took two quick steps to fill the gap.

The troops continued to advance without the slightest sign of panic, as if nothing had happened.

Kijima Matabei continued to issue orders:

"Don't stop! Keep going! Keep going!"

The musketeers lowered their heads and focused on loading ammunition.

The archers could reload much faster than the musketeers.

After all, all they had to do was draw new arrows from the quiver.

Therefore, in just a short while, the archers fired a second volley of arrows.

As they moved forward a distance and the distance between them closed, many people were hit by arrows and fell to the ground.

"Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah!"

"I...I've been shot with an arrow...!"

"Tsk...! That damn Choshu dog!"

The screams and wails from the Sixth and Eighth Divisions suddenly increased.