I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 946: Mu Army vs. Faki Allied Forces! A life-or-death street battle!

Somewhere west of Edo—

Rows of cannons pointed diagonally into the sky.

Flames spewed from the dark muzzle of the cannon.

The cannonball shot out of the barrel, drawing a beautiful parabola in mid-air before crashing heavily into Edo town.

In an instant, explosions resounded throughout Edo and beyond.

For the Faki coalition, this was truly their last battle.

The surprise attack on Nagoya, the defeat of Sunpu, the siege of Hachioji... After this series of bloody battles, the current Edo siege is undoubtedly the last battle of the "Amano Spear"!

Choshu endured humiliation and hardship for this battle.

The Fazhu Party had been preparing for this battle for a long time.

All this hard work, all this sacrifice... it was all for this battle!

At this point, there is no longer any need to conserve ammunition.

Therefore, Shuten-dōji specifically ordered the artillery: Fire! Fire hard! Use up all the cannonballs!

……

……

The main camp of the Faki coalition—

Shuten-dōji stood with his hands behind his back, staring blankly ahead at the ravaged Edo.

Katsura Kogoro stood beside him, raised his binoculars, and carefully examined every street and corner of Edo.

After a moment, he put down the binoculars and slowly said:

"Edo has completely changed."

"The streets have been widened, and the densely packed houses have been demolished... It's a truly sweeping transformation."

"In this way, even if a fire starts in one place, it will be difficult for the fire to spread."

"The power of Zhurong... is probably out of the question."

How to capture Edo—the generals of the Faki Allied Forces held countless meetings on this issue, and together they came up with a large number of tactics.

Of course, the vast majority of these are delusions and wishful thinking, existing only in the mind and mouth, and impossible to realize.

However, some tactics have gained widespread acceptance—one of which is fire attack!

They planned to exploit Edo's fear of fire by launching a fire attack with a barrage of cannon fire.

In this way, they could destroy most of the garrison in Edo without losing a single soldier.

However... judging from the current situation, their plan has failed.

Despite the tight schedule, under the personal command of Katsura Rintaro, the major renovation of Edo was finally completed before the start of the war!

The reason why the renovation could be completed so quickly is largely due to the "ease of demolition" of Edo-era buildings.

Because the buildings were all made of wood, they were very easy to dismantle.

A few swings of the hammer and the pillar will break.

Hang a few ropes on the wall, and you can pull it down with a strong pull.

During this time, the members of the Edo town fire brigade (or "fire department") were of great help.

When it comes to demolishing houses, they're professionals!

And so, thanks to Katsura Rintaro's "Great Edo Renovation", Edo's fire resistance was greatly increased!

It was obvious that the Faki coalition's fire attack was no longer feasible.

At that moment, Katsura Kogoro suddenly noticed that Shuten-dōji beside him had a half-smile on his face, as if he was thinking about something.

When facing Shuten-dōji, Katsura Kogoro never bothered with the usual formalities of "politeness," "tact," or "reserve."

He asked directly:

"Shuten-dōji, what's wrong? Why do you have such a mysterious expression?"

Shuten-dōji shrugged.

"It's nothing. I'm just... a little sentimental."

He took a deep breath, a hint of pride appearing on his face.

"Katsura-kun, look! Edo is right before our eyes!"

"This castle town was not only the base of the Edo Shogunate, but also a symbol of the Tokugawa family!"

"And now, our cannons are ravaging this town!"

"In a moment, our soldiers will launch an attack and begin the battle to 'destroy the Shogunate'."

"The Toyotomi clan, Amakusa Shiro, Ōshio Heihachirō... the goal that countless forces and heroes could not achieve, we have actually accomplished."

"Just thinking about this makes me so excited!"

"Regardless of victory or defeat, this battle is destined to be recorded in history!"

As he finished speaking, his cheeks flushed with excitement, and his eyes shone brightly.

Compared to him, Katsura Kogoro's reaction was much more subdued.

He doesn't have that kind of romantic sentiment.

He had absolutely no interest in the so-called "recording in history".

Even after listening to Shuten-dōji's impassioned speech, he remained expressionless, showing no reaction whatsoever.

At this moment, he had only one thought: defeat the shogunate, save Choshu, and thus realize his ideal of "revere the emperor and expel the barbarians"!

Just then, a series of deafening explosions interrupted their conversation.

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

It was the sound of artillery shells exploding.

However, these shells did not fall on Edo, but rather right next to them!

The powerful shockwave stirred up dust and crashed towards Shuten-dōji and Katsura Kogoro like a giant wave.

The two reacted quickly, both lowering their bodies.

Soon, the shockwave dissipated, and the dust settled back onto the ground.

"Gui-jun, are you injured?"

"What did you say?!"

Are you hurt?!

"I'm fine! It's just that my ear hurts a lot!"

Although neither of them was injured, the loud bang of the shell explosion caused their ears to ache, and a buzzing sound, like the humming of mosquitoes, came from deep inside their ear canals.

Their hearing will not recover in the short term.

They had to shout at the top of their lungs just to barely hear each other.

Katsura Kogoro wiped his face, removing the dirt, raised his gaze, and stared intently at Edo in the distance, muttering to himself:

"They launched a counterattack...!"

……

……

Edo, a certain fortress—

"Quickly, bring some cannonballs!"

"Don't panic! Don't be nervous!"

"Do what you usually train for now!"

Young, agile figures moved among the cannons, skillfully manipulating them.

Cleaning the gun barrel, loading gunpowder, compacting the shells... every action and every procedure was performed with such skill.

Saito Yakuro, known as "Saito the Powerful," moved among his disciples, supervising their movements and procedures to ensure they were up to standard, while also boosting their morale.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Don't be stingy with shells! There are plenty!"

"Let the enemy army witness the power of our 'Saito-style artillery'!"

In no time, all the cannons were reloaded and ready—the second round of shelling was launched!

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

One shell after another rose high into the air.

The blinding flames spewing from the cannons briefly replaced the sun's brilliance.

Saito Yakuro looked up, his eyes fixed on the rain of cannon fire that flew over Edo, fell into the distance, and crashed into the enemy lines. Countless emotions were swirling in his eyes.

He himself didn't realize that at that moment he was grinning from ear to ear, his face full of wrinkles and creases, looking extremely happy.

At this moment, his eldest son—Shintaro Saito, the second head of the training hall—stepped forward and stood side by side with his father, both looking up at the sky.

"Father, this is wonderful. The artillery unit you have painstakingly trained has finally found a purpose."

Saito Yakuro did not reply, but nodded vigorously, his expression becoming increasingly emotional.

Among the many swordsmen of Edo, Saito Yakuro definitely deserves the title of "unconventional".

After the "Black Ships Incident" broke out, anyone with a sense of purpose could realize that the world had changed and that it was no longer the age of swords and spears.

However, not every swordsman can readily accept this sudden and dramatic change.

Either they are unwilling to admit that swords and knives are outdated, or they lack the willpower to engage with entirely new things.