I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

However, since this was not her business and she knew nothing about forging swords, Elodie only knew about this matter and did not know what "Ten Thousand Refined Steel" was, nor did she understand why Qingdeng was so obsessed with it.

Taking advantage of her free time and opportunity today, she asked the commander:

"Miss Souji, I'm very curious, what exactly is 'Ten Thousand Refined Steel'?"

Souji tilted his head:

"Hmm... I'm not quite sure either."

"All I know is that 'Wanlian steel' is a very rare type of steel."

"Weapons forged from 'ten thousand-times-refined steel' will have a jet-black luster."

Upon hearing this, Elodie's eyes widened instantly, her expression dominated by intense astonishment.

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Chapter 879 Entrusting Dreams! Obtaining "Ten Thousand Refined Steel"! [4500]

"A jet-black sheen... Miss Souji, besides that, what other characteristics does 'Ten Thousand Refined Steel' have?"

Although Souji found Elodie's unusual behavior quite strange, she didn't think much of it and answered truthfully:

“Hmm, let me think… Qing Deng seems to have told me before that weapons forged from ‘Ten Thousand Refined Steel’ are incredibly tough and sharp, even the ‘Most Supreme Great Craftsman’ would be hard to match.”

"..."

Elodie remained silent, pursing her lips as if deep in thought.

Intrigued, Souji couldn't help but ask:

"Elodie, what's wrong? Are you interested in 'Ten Thousand Refined Steel'?"

"..."

Elodie remained silent, head bowed, still immersed in her own world.

Seeing this, the commander-in-chief knew it was inconvenient to say anything more and could only wait quietly.

Fortunately, the other party did not keep her waiting for too long.

Suddenly, Elodie raised her head, as if she had made up her mind, her eyes flashing with determination.

"...Excuse me, Ms. Souji, I must take my leave now!"

Before she finished speaking, she jumped up and ran towards the corridor, stomping her feet on the floor.

Souji sat frozen in place, staring blankly at the blonde girl who had sped away, muttering to himself:

"What's going on...?"

……

……

Orange Residence, Qingdeng's Office —

At this moment, apart from Qingdeng, there was no one else in or outside the room.

Behind the desk, Qing Deng casually sat cross-legged, leaning against the elbow rest beside him, looking down at the letter in his hand, his brows slightly furrowed.

Recently, he has been in frequent correspondence with Tokugawa Iemochi.

A while ago, they went to great lengths to reach a preliminary consensus on the issue of "military system reform".

Without even a moment's rest, they immediately moved on to the next important topic: "The Conquest of Changzhou"!

As the saying goes, "We should press on with our remaining strength to defeat the enemy, rather than seek fame like Xiang Yu."

After several major battles, Choshu's national strength has declined significantly.

If we don't seize this opportunity to launch an attack, when will we?

Although it has been decided that war will begin, the timing of the western expedition and the specific methods of the attack remain to be discussed.

Regarding the timing of the attack, Qing Deng's opinion is to wait until next spring to launch the offensive.

The reason is simple: the spring weather is neither too hot nor too cold, the logistical pressure is relatively low, and the soldiers are in relatively good physical condition.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi offered a completely different opinion from Aoto.

He advocated launching the western expedition in the following month... that is, at the end of November!

Frankly, Qing Deng does not agree with his opinion.

Winter warfare... the soldiers' winter clothing alone, and the terrible road conditions caused by snow and wind, constitute a considerable logistical burden.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi's considerations were not unfounded.

First of all, Changju is currently at its weakest point.

Since we've decided to strike while the iron is hot, the sooner we send troops, the better.

If the process drags on for too long, there's no guarantee that something unexpected might happen.

From this perspective, the best course of action is to send troops as soon as possible and achieve a swift victory.

Furthermore, if the expedition is to be launched again next spring, "spring plowing" is an influencing factor that must be considered.

As the saying goes, "The year's plan starts in spring."

Spring is the season when farmers plant new seedlings.

For this western expedition, the shogunate and various domains will mobilize a massive army of 200,000!

Therefore, it would be necessary to mobilize a lot of laborers to do logistical work.

These laborers, who were forcibly conscripted to transport grain, were subject to corvée labor and received no wages whatsoever.

Even if the shogunate and the various domains wanted to show some kindness and obediently pay the wages, their dilapidated finances would not be able to support such a terrifying expenditure.

With more people going to transport grain, there will definitely be fewer people farming in the fields.

As a result, next year's grain production will inevitably plummet.

In feudal times, a reduction in grain production was no small matter... it could easily lead to major chaos.

Although deploying troops in winter will increase the logistical burden, the pressure is limited.

Japan is not Russia, so "Winter General" isn't that scary. There's no waist-deep snow or terrifyingly low temperatures of tens of degrees below zero.

Therefore, launching an attack in winter was not a reckless move.

Throughout Japanese history, there are numerous precedents for sending troops out in winter.

In conclusion, both of their arguments have merit.

In the end, Aoto agreed to Tokugawa Iemochi's proposal—to begin the western expedition at the end of November of this year!

After deciding on the attack time, the two began discussing the next step: how to attack?

Such complex issues cannot be effectively communicated through simple letters alone.

Therefore, Tokugawa Iemochi extended an invitation to Aoto: "Tachibana-kun, come back to Edo! Let's talk face to face!"

The letter that Qing Deng is currently reading is Tokugawa Iemochi's "invitation".

This suited him perfectly—Aoto did indeed intend to return to Edo.

Firstly, such a significant military issue needs to be discussed in detail face-to-face.

It had been a long time since he last returned to Edo.

He could take this opportunity to go back and visit old friends such as Kondo Shusuke and Chiba Jutaro.

At that moment, for some reason, when the thought of "visiting an old friend" flashed through Qing Deng's mind, he suddenly recalled the graceful figure of a certain widow...

"—Your Highness Tenshōin… Thinking about it carefully, it's true that we've been apart for quite some time…"

Qingdeng wore a helpless smile while thinking to himself.

Then, he let out a long breath and put down the letter in his hand.

He then leaned most of his weight on his elbows to relax his entire body.

His mental state has indeed been poor lately.

The reason for this was that he was so busy with work that he didn't even have time to catch his breath.

Besides the "Changzhou Campaign," there was another matter that made him frown.

That was Elodie's father.

It was several days ago that Nitta Toranosuke was sent to track and monitor Mael.

Logically speaking, Nitta Toranosuke's "surveillance report" should have been sent over much earlier.

However... as of today, Qingdeng has not received its report.

The implications behind this are self-evident...

Nitta Toranosuke is one of the most elite ninjas in the Ninth Division, and ordinary people can't do anything to him.

Even he had an accident... Elodie was right, Mael was indeed suspicious!

According to Elodie, Mael was just an ordinary person with good physical fitness, not a highly skilled martial arts expert.

If that's the case, the person who killed Nitta Toranosuke was most likely a bodyguard or something similar.

Thinking about this, Qing Deng became increasingly concerned about Ma'er's true purpose in coming to Japan.

The loss of an outstanding elite ninja was regrettable, but Qing Deng had no time to grieve.

Now he's only thinking about how to make amends, how to find Mael, and how to uncover the truth behind it all.

Just as Qing Deng was pondering this in secret, a servant's voice suddenly came from outside the door:

"My lord, the chieftain requests an audience!"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

—Elodie? What's she doing here?