I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Keeping a low profile—this must be one of the survival philosophies of the Big Salt Party.

Since the other party has made such a request, Qingdeng will naturally respect their opinion and strictly keep the source of the intelligence confidential.

Ever since forming an alliance with the Calabash House, Qing Deng has gradually seen through its strengths and weaknesses.

Although the Gourd House possesses astonishing wealth, they also have a significant weakness: their intelligence capabilities are lacking.

Perhaps it's due to a lack of qualified personnel or systemic flaws.

In short, upon learning these astonishing pieces of information, especially the fact that Choshu and the Fazhu Party were in cahoots, Kiryu could not hide his surprise.

He then echoed Qing Deng's sentiment: "Trouble" and "tricky" combined are truly terrible.

……

……

During the time they waited for the army to assemble, Aoto, Kondo Isami, Yamanami Keisuke, and others repeatedly conducted war games in the command tent and formulated battle plans.

Finally... this evening, the last unit—the remnants of the Sixth Division—arrived at the front line!

At this point, all the Shinsengumi squads arrived at Sekigahara on time, without a single one being late!

On the night that all the generals gathered, Qingdeng immediately convened a military meeting to convey to everyone the results of his recent work—meticulous positional deployment and detailed battle plan!

……

……

Main camp, commander's tent—

The flickering candlelight cast long shadows of everyone present, making the tent space indistinct.

Qing Deng sat in the head seat with an imposing air.

The others sat on his left and right sides in order of their social status.

Kiryu, the owner representing the Gourd House faction, sat directly opposite Yamanami Keisuke—previously, this was Hijikata Toshizo's seat.

Sagawa Kanbei, representing the Aizu faction, sat directly opposite Kondo Isami.

Nervousness, trepidation, excitement, impatience... all sorts of emotions filled the air.

Although a few people turned pale and showed negative emotions, the vast majority of people looked excited and eager, as if they were itching to get started.

There aren't many new members in the new electoral group, but there are plenty of warmongers.

After a long and agonizing period of preparation, this great battle, destined to be etched in history, is finally about to begin... How could they not be excited? How could they not be filled with pride?

Seeing that all the generals had arrived, Qingdeng went straight to the point without any formalities:

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look at this picture!"

Upon hearing this, everyone leaned forward and looked at the Sekigahara map on the table in front of them.

Qingdeng points to the location of Tianmanshan on the map.

"Standing atop Mount Tenman and looking east—from this perspective, Mount Sasao to the north became our army's left flank, while Mount Matsuo to the south became our army's right flank."

"Our strategy is simple—deploy our main forces on the left and right flanks to launch a powerful pincer attack on Nangong Mountain!"

At this point, Qingdeng bent down, placing war pieces on the map as he slowly said:

"The Second Division, the Fourth Division, and the Sixth Division are deployed on the left flank at Mount Sasao."

"The First Division, the Third Division, the Fifth Division, the Eighth Division, and the reinforcements from the Karaoke House are deployed on the right flank at Mount Matsuo."

"The Seventh Division, the Tenth Division, and the Aizu Iron Cavalry will remain at the Tenmanyama Main Camp as reserve forces."

"The Ninth Division continues to serve as a liaison force, moving between various battlefields."

"The Eleventh Division is divided into two parts, commanded by Abe-kun (Abe Juro, captain of the Eleventh Division) and Nomura-kun (Nomura Risaburo, vice-captain of the Eleventh Division), respectively, and deployed on the left and right wings."

"Yonglai will serve as the commander of the left wing."

"The right-wing troops will be commanded by me and Keisuke."

"Once the battle begins, as always, the artillery will go first!"

"The Eleventh Division should not be stingy with ammunition and should bomb Nangong Mountain with all its might!"

"Do not cease shelling until I give you my signal!"

"The Nangong Mountain is covered with carefully arranged defensive fortifications by the enemy."

"No matter how sturdy their fences and watchtowers were, they couldn't withstand the cannonballs."

"The longer and more intense the 11th Division's bombardment lasts, the more it weakens the enemy's defenses."

"As you all know, Nangong Mountain is a very large mountain covering an area."

"With our limited forces, if we recklessly divide them up, we'll just be like a flattened pancake—full of holes."

"Therefore, when attacking, we must always keep our forces concentrated."

"Like a sharp needle, piercing through the enemy's defenses!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, please look at this mound."

At this point, Qing Deng gave a wink to Yamanami Keisuke beside him.

Yamanami Keisuke nodded knowingly, then bent down and brought out something from beside his feet—a mound of earth half a meter high.

At first glance, it seems to be just an ordinary big lump of earth.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover that this mound is covered with gullies of all sizes.

This thing is less like a big lump of earth and more like a model of a mountain!

While everyone's attention was drawn to this "miniature mountain," Qingdeng said calmly:

"This is the culmination of my hard work in recent days."

"Based on my observations and the descriptions from the villagers, I reconstructed the approximate shape of Nangong Mountain using soil—the mound in front of you is the carefully reconstructed 'Nangong Mountain'!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present looked surprised.

To recreate the approximate shape of Nangong Mountain with soil... how much work would that take?

Before everyone could recover from their shock, Qingdeng continued speaking on his own:

"Although it's still quite rough, there are markings on it to show the things you should pay attention to."

"Both the north and south sides of Nangong Mountain have gentle slopes that are easy to advance on."

"Yong, your left-wing army must attack along this route—"

Aoto patiently explained to Kondo the most advantageous attack route for the left flank.

Kondo listened attentively, nodding occasionally.

After explaining the attack route on the left wing, Qing Deng began to explain the attack route on the right wing.

The generals deployed on the right wing—Sōji, Saitō Hajime, and others—listened attentively, not daring to lose focus for even a moment.

With the blessing of talents such as "photographic memory" and "eagle eyes +5", Qing Deng can memorize all the features of Nangong Mountain that he can observe with his naked eyes.

The explanation of the shape of Nangong Mountain and the attack routes on the left and right wings lasted for about half an hour.

After the presentation, Qingdeng scanned the entire room with sharp eyes:

"After the shelling ends, all units on both flanks except the artillery will launch an attack!"

"The terrain on the mountain is too complicated, with old trees and huge rocks everywhere."

"In such complex terrain, it is difficult for the musketeers to form ranks, which greatly reduces their combat effectiveness."

"However, from another perspective, individual bravery can be given full play!"

"Now, it's time for the swords at our waists to make their appearance!"

At this point, Qing Deng deliberately raised his hand and lightly patted the Bizen Nagabune at his waist.

"The environment, filled with trees and rocks, where we could easily run into the enemy, is perfect for us to draw our swords and charge!"

"In other words, the effectiveness of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, and Fifth Divisions will largely determine the outcome and losses of this battle!"

"This concludes our army's operational plan!"

Do you have any questions?

After saying that, Qingdeng rolled his eyes again, his gaze sweeping across the faces of everyone present.

Within moments, someone raised a question.

Todo Heisuke stared intently at the Sekigahara map and the "Nangongshan model," pursing his lips:

"...Mr. Ju, Nangong Mountain is a large mountain. No matter how powerful our artillery is, it is impossible to accurately eliminate all the defensive fortifications on the mountain."

"Even if the artillery empties its stockpile of shells, it doesn't necessarily mean we can attack the mountain without worry."

"If that's the case, wouldn't forcibly attacking the mountain before the enemy's fortifications have been completely cleared... result in heavy casualties?"

No sooner had Heisuke Todo finished speaking than Aoto nodded vigorously without hesitation:

"That's right, exactly!"

"No matter how much the Eleventh Division fires, it is impossible to completely eliminate the enemy fortifications on Nangong Mountain."

"In other words... this was a truly bloody battle!"

"From the moment we begin the ascent, our companions will fall and die forever."

"Please be prepared mentally."

Instantly, the atmosphere at the scene became extremely heavy.

Even the warmongers who were eagerly anticipating the start of the fighting all wore serious and solemn expressions.

Qingdeng paused briefly, then adopted a deep tone:

"Despite the immense difficulty, we had no choice but to grit our teeth and persevere."

"This is a battle that can only be fought quickly, not slowly."

"Speaking of which, many of you probably don't know the current situation in Edo."

Qing Deng cleared his throat and then succinctly recounted the current situation in Edo.