I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

However... a mere 2000-strong force is indeed somewhat outmatched in terms of troop size when facing an army of 20 that is about to charge straight at them...

The nation is in dire straits and on the verge of collapse—this phrase perfectly describes the current state of Changzhou.

……

……

Changzhou, the training ground for the elite troops—

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"That's right! That's the kind of momentum we need! Strive to maintain that momentum!"

"Hey! Who told you to rest?! When it really comes to war, do you think the Shogunate will let you lie down and rest?"

"Hurry up! Be faster!"

"Weak sword swings! Inaccurate shooting! Sloppy footwork! Slow reactions! You think you can defeat Tachibana Aoto?!"

……

The training ground of the elite troops—a flat, large earthen field without even a weed—is where soldiers can be seen diligently practicing.

Running, forming ranks, practicing with muskets... a scene of bustling activity.

Interestingly, they would deliberately increase the force when stomping on the ground.

The reason for this is that the soles of their shoes are inscribed with the words "Qin Demon", "Hui Traitor", "Sa Thief", "Ju Qing Deng", and "Ju Dog".

Every time they stomped on the soles of their shoes, they felt a sense of exhilaration, as if they had gotten their revenge.

……

……

In a corner of the drill ground—

Katsura Kogoro stood with his hands behind his back, watching the soldiers who were intensifying their training with a blank expression.

Beside him, Takasugi Shinsaku, carrying his ever-present shamisen, grinned and said:

"Gui, how's it going? The training results are quite impressive, aren't they?"

"To be fair, even someone as picky as me can't find any flaws."

Katsura Kogoro nodded slightly in agreement.

The members of the Special Forces are mostly patriots who are concerned about their country and its people and are full of passion.

Faced with the impending war and the overwhelming disadvantage of being outnumbered, they were not afraid at all, but instead were full of fighting spirit.

Therefore, they trained even harder, even taking the initiative to do extra training, and the whole team showed amazing morale.

Just as Katsura and Takasugi were silently watching the training—

"Wow! What a formidable team! Their training results are truly impressive!"

A cheerful, middle-aged male voice suddenly came from behind them:

Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku both turned their heads to look—

My stomach arrived before I did.

The Yamata no Orochi, with its enormous belly, swaggered toward them.

Upon seeing the suddenly appearing Yamata no Orochi, both Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku wore complex expressions.

In the previous debate to persuade the conservatives, they said many nice things, as if they could turn the tide as long as they kept fighting.

But in fact, Katsura Kogoro and his men knew better than anyone that Choshu alone could never defeat the Shogunate army without the help of external forces!

No matter how hard the elite troops tried or how much they trained, it was impossible for a mere two thousand soldiers to stop the massive attack of two hundred thousand troops.

Today, Changzhou has become a pariah, hated by everyone.

Almost all the vassal states avoided them and were unwilling to lend them a helping hand.

Even the merchants in Osaka were unwilling to lend them money anymore.

Therefore, the only force that can and is willing to help them right now is the Fazhu Party.

To be honest, neither Katsura Kogoro nor Takasugi Shinsaku wanted to deal with the Hoju Party.

But in order to protect Changzhou, they gritted their teeth and accepted it, even if it meant making a deal with the devil.

Ever since forming an alliance with the Fazhu Party, Orochi has frequently come to "visit," sometimes alone, and sometimes accompanied by several companions such as Ōtakemaru and Tamamo-no-Mae.

Today, two men and a woman followed closely beside him.

Katsura Kogoro looked up and found that all three people were faces he had never seen before.

The woman was very young; she could only be described as a "teenager" at best.

She had fair skin, a beautiful face, a slender figure, and well-proportioned limbs; she was quite a beauty.

It is worth mentioning that their attire is quite distinctive.

She was wearing a kimono with the sleeves cut off and the hem specially shortened to mid-thigh. Her small feet were barefoot, covered only by thick tabi socks.

This outfit is not only cool and comfortable, but also exudes a sense of competence from head to toe.

It's obvious that this outfit was specially modified to facilitate movement.

With such attire, coupled with the woman's steady and powerful gait and light waist... Katsura Kogoro concluded that she must be a female ninja who is proficient in movement techniques and has swift and agile hands and feet.

As for the two men who were also following Orochi, they were also quite distinctive.

One of them was a burly man with long hair casually draped over his back.

During the Edo period, it was quite rare to see men with waist-length hair.

In contrast, another man surprised Katsura Kogoro—this man was actually a Westerner!

With golden hair, sky-blue eyes, and striking features unlike those of typical Japanese people, he was around 40 years old, handsome, and sported a short beard.

The moment this Westerner appeared, he immediately caught the attention of Katsura and Takasugi.

At this moment, they all have the same question:

—Are there Westerners among the members of the Fazhu Party?

Just as they were secretly puzzled, the Yamata no Orochi spoke up at the opportune moment:

"Katsura-kun, Takasugi-kun, please allow me to introduce you."

He said this by slightly turning his body to give way to the view.

Then, he first pointed to the burly man and the girl.

"These two are my trusted and beloved generals, Ushioni and Nurena!"

As soon as Orochi finished speaking, the burly man and the young girl... namely, Ushioni and Nurome, nodded in acknowledgment.

Katsura and Takasugi both nodded in response.

As a talented man skilled in both literature and martial arts, Katsura Kogoro naturally knew the stories related to the Ushioni and the Wet Woman.

Ushioni and Nurena – a legendary pair of yokai (supernatural beings).

The Ox-Demon is a vicious sea monster with a bull-shaped head and a body resembling a giant spider or crab. It is skilled in using poison and often attacks by spitting venom from its mouth.

When talking about Ushioni, it is usually mentioned together with another type of yokai that is similar to it—that is, Nurena.

The term "Nuruma" refers to a monster with a woman's head and a snake's body.

The Ushi-oni often acted with the Wet Woman. The Wet Woman would disguise herself as a woman with wet hair to deceive passersby, offering them to the Ushi-oni as food.

Since they can use demons and ghosts as their names, these two must be cadres who are qualified to get tattoos.

As far as Katsura Kogoro knew, the tattoos on the cadres of the Fazhu Party were not random; they all had profound and intriguing meanings.

As Katsura Kogoro observed the man and woman, he recalled the legend that "the Ushi-oni and the Wet Woman often act together"... He couldn't help but wonder: what was the reason that they were given the names "Ushi-oni" and "Wet Woman"?

At that moment, the voice of Yamata no Orochi pulled his consciousness back to reality.

Then the eight-headed serpent moved its finger and pointed it at the Westerner.

"This is my important partner! Mael de Orléans! From France, across the ocean!"

Mael gave a slight bow, performing a flawless bow to Katsura and Takasugi, and said in Japanese:

"Nice to meet you. I am Mael de Orléans. Please take care of me."

Although he had a slight accent, he was exceptionally fluent.

Katsura Kogoro and Takasugi Shinsaku were slightly taken aback when they first met a Westerner who could speak Japanese so well and in such a refined manner.

Shinsaku Takasugi frowned slightly and asked in return:

“'De Orléans'? As far as I know, that seems to be the surname of French nobles.”

Mael smiled slightly:

“Indeed, that is true. I am a descendant of the Orléans family of France.”

He had barely finished speaking when Orochi chuckled and picked up the conversation:

“Katsura-kun, Takasugi-kun, Mr. Orleans is not a member of our Law Extermination Party.”

"Simply put, he is an important ally of our Law Enforcement Party."

"He is the key figure in whether we can successfully throw the 'Heavenly Swamp Spear'!"

"The reason I came to see you today is to introduce him to you."

Upon hearing this, Katsura and Takasugi's expressions changed slightly.

Throwing out the "Amanuma Spear"—a code name within the Hoshoku Party. It signifies launching a military operation codenamed "Amanuma Spear," with the ultimate goal of destroying the Edo Shogunate.

After forming an alliance with the Fazhu Party, Orochi succinctly explained the general outline of the "Ama-no-Numa Spear's" operations to Katsura and Takasugi.

After hearing this, they were immediately terrified and broke out in a cold sweat! It took them a while to recover.

How should we describe the "Heavenly Marsh Spear"?

In short: Bold! Absolutely too bold! So bold it's astonishing!

While Katsura and Takasugi were shocked, they finally understood why the Hoju Party was desperately trying to win over Choshu—they needed Choshu's assistance to successfully throw the "Amanuma Spear".