I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Gentlemen, please take a look."

As he spoke, he pointed to the long table that stretched out in front of everyone.

On the table was a three-dimensional map made of clay.

Long ago, Qingdeng mobilized a large number of elite ninjas led by Yamazaki Susumu, ordering them to infiltrate Choshu and gather important intelligence such as terrain, supply of materials, troop deployment, and personnel movement.

Although Choshu made great efforts to prevent the infiltration of ninjas and spies, and did not hesitate to set up outposts at various passes and strictly check every person entering the country, in this backward era without advanced technologies such as satellites and surveillance, how easy was it to completely blockade a domain?

Despite the hardships and dangers they faced, Yamazaki and his companions were no pushovers.

Through various means such as creating false identities, infiltrating caravans, and traversing mountains, many of them successfully infiltrated Changzhou and conducted a thorough investigation of the entire territory.

Based on the intelligence they relayed back, the "staff" led by Hijikata Toshizo and Yamanami Keisuke successfully created this detailed 3D map.

The level of detail in this map is truly stunning.

The course of the river, the exact location of the city... all the key locations were clearly marked.

Guided by Keisuke Yamanami, everyone turned their attention to the three-dimensional map in front of them, a testament to the hard work of countless people.

Immediately afterwards, many people frowned and looked troubled.

The reason is simple—the terrain of Changzhou is simply too treacherous!

Nearly 80% of Japan's land is mountainous or hilly.

The only three large plains—the Osaka Plain, the Nobi Plain, and the Kanto Plain—are all located in the Kinki and Kanto regions.

In contrast, the western country is so barren that it is no exaggeration to describe it as having "not three feet of flat land," with almost no plains of any significant size.

From the Gyeonggi region westward to the Shimonoseki Strait, a vast mountain range known as the "Chūgoku Mountains" stretches across the region, with only a narrow strip of land along the coast that is relatively flat.

Choshu Domain is located at the westernmost end of the Chugoku mountain range.

The towering mountains of China form a natural fortress.

Changzhou, nestled within this region, is undoubtedly a "mountainous country" that is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

For this reason, land transportation in Choshu was quite isolated, with only a handful of roads connecting it to the outside world that were accessible to pedestrians and horses.

While this certainly impacts business exchanges and economic development, from another perspective, it is a huge benefit to the military!

With only a small force deployed and the most important locations secured, the entire vassal state could be preserved.

Therefore, taking advantage of its geographical location, Changzhou established five passes, collectively known as the "Five Passes," at the five most crucial transportation routes along the border: Yizhou Pass, Shizhou Pass, Dadao Pass, Xiaocang Pass, and Qiu Pass.

Yizhou Pass is the pass adjacent to Anyi, which is the battlefield where Qingdeng and others are currently located!

Qing Deng's battle plan, "to divide the army into three routes and attack Changzhou from both sides," involved sending three armies to advance from Yizhoukou, Shizhoukou, and Xiaocangkou respectively.

"As you can see, Changju is a mountainous region, a truly strategic location."

"Despite our overwhelming numerical superiority, capturing Changzhou will be no easy task."

"Do not be careless."

Yamanami Keisuke slowly picked up the thin stick beside him and pointed to the "five realms" marked on the map one by one.

"According to the intelligence we have so far, Changzhou has deployed a certain number of troops in all five regions."

"They seem to have anticipated that Aki-guchi would be the main battlefield, so they deployed the most troops there."

"In recent days, we have sent out a large number of scouts to investigate the details of the opposite position."

"Unfortunately, to this day, we still do not know their specific troop strength or the identity of their commanding general."

"The only thing that is certain right now is that the total strength of the opposing force is no less than 2000."

At this point, Yamanami Keisuke paused, then adopted a serious tone.

"Strangely enough... the number of torches on the opposite side is far less than we expected."

"Whether or not Aki-guchi falls will largely determine the fate of Choshu."

"It's clearly a place of life and death, yet the military strength is so small... It's truly puzzling."

As soon as Yamanami Keisuke finished speaking, Nagakura Shinpachi, who was standing to the side, tentatively asked:

"Could this be a feint by Changzhou?"

He had barely finished speaking when he received a rebuttal from Hijikata Toshizo:

"A feint? Why would Changzhou need to use such a tactic?"

Throughout history, armies that employ feints have always fallen into one of two categories.

"One is to pretend that there are many troops, in order to create a show of force."

"Both sides are feigning a small number of troops in order to lure the enemy into a reckless pursuit."

"Judging from the current situation, Changzhou does not meet any of the above criteria."

Todo Heisuke picked up the conversation:

"Then... could it be that they've withdrawn their main forces into the interior, planning to fight a decisive battle with us there?"

Hijikata Toshizo's indifferent tone rose again:

"If that's the case, then aren't the commanders of the Changzhou army incredibly foolish?"

"The only advantage they have is their geographical location."

"Abandoning such a favorable location to fight a decisive battle with us in the vast, relatively flat hinterland? Surely the commander of the Choshu army isn't that stupid?"

Hijikata Toshizo's words brought the room to a silence.

Indeed. What Hijikata Toshizo said was absolutely true, every word and sentence was true.

From any perspective, Changzhou's current actions are truly perplexing.

No matter how incompetent or ignorant about military affairs one may be, one should at least understand the principle of "using terrain advantages to offset the disadvantage in troop strength."

Why not deploy the main force at border passes to keep the enemy out of the country?

In this way, although victory cannot be guaranteed, it will certainly delay the shogunate army and cause them great trouble.

Regarding how Choshu achieved victory in this battle, Aoto, along with Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke, and others, held extremely detailed discussions.

After discussion, they unanimously agreed that although the Shogunate forces held an absolute advantage, Choshu could still turn the tide.

Their method is simply to stall!

Try to stall for time, try to survive, and then actively contact the Western powers to get them involved and mediate.

In the past, due to the "isolation edict" implemented by the shogunate, Western powers knew very little about this Far Eastern island nation.

For this reason, a diplomatic incident once occurred where the emperor mistakenly believed that the Shogun was the head of state. This incident once greatly angered the court.

The "Black Ships Incident" is now 11 years old.

The Western powers were no longer completely ignorant of this Far Eastern island nation.

They knew that the island nation was in a state of division, with a nominal monarch, a crumbling central government, and more than three hundred vassal states.

Compared to a unified country or nation, a fragmented country or nation is definitely easier to control.

In other words, keeping Japan divided and unable to form a united force was in the interest of the Western powers.

Especially England, the "super troublemaker" in Europe.

In recent years, the shogunate has been getting closer to France, not only buying French equipment but also hiring French instructors, which has caused a lot of resentment in Britain.

Therefore, Britain was very interested in causing trouble for the Shogunate.

When it comes to how to destabilize a country and torment a nation, if the British are second to none, who dares to claim first place?

If you step on a stone on the road, you can absolutely suspect that the British put it there—as the Arabic proverb goes.

If they can hold off the Mongol army and hold out until the Western powers intervene and exert pressure, then this seemingly hopeless situation might actually be turned around for them.

Even if we take a step back and assume that Choshu really intends to fight a decisive battle with the Shogunate army in the heartland, they should take a two-pronged approach.

The first step was to launch a complete "scorched earth" operation to increase the difficulty of supplying the Shogunate army.

The second step was to launch a full-scale mobilization of the entire domain, abandoning all passes and unimportant cities, and gathering all troops in the heartland to achieve victory in one battle.

Changzhou at present is like choosing "or" from "1 or 2".

They haven't deployed heavy troops on the border, nor do they seem to be deliberately showing weakness or concentrating their forces in the hinterland... I don't understand what they're trying to do.

After a silence of about 5 seconds, Matsudaira Katamori offered a conjecture:

"Then... could it be because Choshu's military strength is already extremely weak?"

"Is the force we're seeing now their entire fighting capacity?"

"Even if they wanted to send more troops to the border, they would not have the strength to do so."

Upon hearing this, many people in the tent nodded in agreement.

This reason is very valid and convincing.

The entire nation mobilized to attack, yet they were utterly routed, suffering heavy casualties and their very foundations crumbling—the Battle of Kyoto, a battle that brought immense humiliation to Choshu, took place just over two months ago.

No matter how capable Changzhou is, it's impossible for him to recover his strength in such a short time.

Thinking about it this way, it's not impossible that the various troops were wiped out in Choshu outside Kyoto, leaving the military so weak that it would be difficult to even defend the border.

Just then, Saito Hajime, who was usually taciturn but always able to grasp the key points and get straight to the heart of the matter when he did speak, suddenly said softly:

"...Where is the Special Forces? Are they here?"

His words immediately reminded everyone—right, where is the surprise force?

Now everyone knows that the Special Forces are the last elite force in Changzhou capable of fighting tough battles.

The Shinsengumi has always regarded this armed force, which is known for its "complete Westernization" and "indiscriminate acceptance of background," as a formidable rival and a key target of attention.

Once the elite troops are destroyed, Choshu's last mobile force will be completely wiped out.

At that time, Changzhou, with no troops available, will surely perish; it's only a matter of time.

In other words, the day we encounter the surprise attack team will be the day of the final battle of this expedition!

Hijikata Toshizo turned to look at Yamanami Keisuke.

"Any news about the surprise attack team in Shannan?"