I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Looking up, the vast Edo town, along with the scenery further away, can be seen in its entirety.

Tenshōin placed Tokugawa Iemochi on the main seat, quickly bandaged his wounds, and then moved gracefully to Elodie's side.

"Elodie, how are you? Is anything unusual?"

As she asked the question, she imitated Elodie, craning her neck to scan the area within her sight.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she abruptly stopped looking, gazing intently into the distance, staring straight west.

Elodie replied with concern:

"No findings. No enemy sightings detected..."

As she spoke, she seemed to see something terrifying, her eyes widened suddenly, her voice stopped abruptly, and she stared intently eastward.

At the edge of his line of sight, a young man dressed in heavy armor and carrying a blood-dripping katana sped like a whirlwind, heading straight for the castle tower along the main road.

At that moment, Shuten-dōji seemed to sense Elodie's gaze and raised his head—the two met eyes.

Elodie instinctively crouched down, trying to hide herself.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Shuten-dōji watched Elodie and Tenshōin from afar, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth revealing a pleased smile... In Elodie's eyes, this smile was utterly hideous!

"hateful……!"

As Shuten-dōji charged toward them, getting closer and closer, Elodie slammed her fist on the railing in frustration, tears welling in her eyes.

Only Shuten-dōji was seen, but Chiba Eijiro was nowhere to be seen... The implications of this are self-evident.

Elodie desperately tried to hold back her tears.

But the more she tried to hold back, the more large tears rolled down her cheeks.

Just as she was feeling sorrowful inwardly, Tenshōin suddenly spoke up:

“…Elodie, be thankful.”

"Ok?"

As she wiped away her tears, Elodie turned her head and cast a puzzled look at Tenshōin.

From the moment he left, Tenshōin had been staring intently at the west, without even blinking.

Meeting Elodie's confused gaze, she let out a long sigh of relief, her voice filled with barely suppressed excitement:

"A miracle really happened!"

……

……

West of Edo —

Splash splash splash splash splash...

The sound of horses' hooves striking the ground filled the air.

A touch of light green hue covered the mountains and fields.

Two large flags fluttered in the wind.

One side of the inscription reads, "There is honor in dying, but no shame in living."

The other side is painted with a large "诚" (sincerity) character.

The leader of this cavalry unit rode a black bull, carrying a long spear, looking very imposing!

******

******

It's almost the end of the month again! Readers with monthly passes, please be sure to vote for this book! (Crying leopard head.jpg) Requesting monthly passes! Requesting recommendation votes! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

P.S.: These past few days, many readers have been asking me: When will Qing Deng arrive to save the day? To avoid spoilers, I've been holding back. Now I can finally give you an answer: Qing Deng appears in this chapter!

Chapter 961 A Young Talent Ascends! The Battle Turns in Situation! [4900]

Harada Sanosuke looked up at Edo, his expression darkening.

Are we too late?

Qingdeng responded softly:

"No, it should be considered a close call. Listen, the battle cries have not yet ceased, and Edo has not yet fallen."

Just as Aoto and Harada Sanosuke were observing the current situation in Edo side by side, behind them, the 7th and 10th Divisions of the Shinsengumi and the Aizu Iron Cavalry were quickly deploying their ranks and arranging their formations!

The shouts of men and the neighing of horses were incessant.

Cavalrymen moved swiftly and efficiently to their designated positions, much like threads in a cloth weaving together a well-organized and tightly packed formation.

The formation they adopted was the most classic charging formation in cavalry tactics—the wedge formation!

Three days ago, after breaking through the blockade of the special forces and successfully occupying Sekigahara, Qing Deng immediately began to assemble the cavalry.

He handed over the exhausted infantry to Kondo Isami, ordering him to lead the infantry who were still able to move to pursue and wipe out the remnants of the Special Forces.

He himself led his cavalry eastward to reinforce Edo!

Horses have poor endurance; in long-distance races, they can't even outrun humans.

Therefore, before setting off, Qingdeng specially requisitioned all available horses to ensure that each cavalryman was equipped with "one person and two horses" or "one person and three horses".

For this reason, he even requisitioned packhorses from the logistics troops, which were used to transport supplies.

According to Aoto's plan, they will travel eastward along the Tokai Road, which has the most mature infrastructure, and arrive in Edo within 3 days!

Along the way, they truly exhausted both the men and horses.

They would eat dry rations on horseback.

Rest time is compressed to the extreme; if you can avoid resting, you won't.

If they need to rest, it must be because both the people and the horses have reached their limits. If they continue forward, there will definitely be non-combat casualties, so they have no choice but to slow down.

While this method of marching was undoubtedly daunting, the results were also remarkable—they successfully achieved Qingdeng's predetermined objective! They traversed the entire Tokaido region and arrived in Edo in just three days!

"My lord, the Seventh Division is ready!"

The vice-captain of the 7th Division, Nakazawa Koto, carrying her naginata, rode up behind Aoto.

Immediately afterwards, Matsubara Tadashi, the vice-captain of the 10th Division, also came up behind Aoto:

"My lord, the Tenth Division is also ready!"

Following these two, the third general—Sagawa Kanbei, a senior retainer of the Aizu Domain—also...

"General Tachibana, we, the iron cavalry of Aizu, await only your command!"

Because cavalry was not useful in mountain warfare, the Aizu cavalry, like the 7th and 10th Divisions, remained at their main camp during the Second Battle of Sekigahara and were not allowed to move out.

While other comrades are fighting and earning merit on the front lines, you are doing nothing in the rear... This feeling is a torment for anyone who longs for fame and fortune.

The Aizu cavalry, in particular, who came to assist the battle as guest troops, felt particularly frustrated.

During the "Iga Rebellion" a year ago, Sagawa Kanbei's reckless advance with light troops resulted in heavy losses for his Aizu cavalry, making him look utterly humiliated.

From then on, the Aizu cavalry, led by Sagawa Kanbei, were eager to redeem themselves on the battlefield and regain their honor.

After a long wait, the battle opportunity they had been waiting for finally presented itself... At this moment, their fighting spirit was boiling, and they couldn't wait to vent the nameless fire that had been building up in their hearts on the enemy!

It is worth mentioning that Sagawa Kanbei is no longer as arrogant as he used to be in front of Aoto.

Such a change is naturally to be expected.

Back then, Seito was not a daimyo, and his Shinsengumi only had about a hundred men. He even had to borrow troops from the Aizu Domain to quell the civil unrest.

But now, the situation is different.

Regardless of the size of his territory or the rank of his official position, Aoto was far superior to Matsudaira Katamori, the lord of Sagawa Kanbei.

Even Matsudaira Katamori, the lord of the Aizu Domain, couldn't act recklessly in front of Aoto, let alone Sagawa Kanbei.

No matter how arrogant he was, he dared not put on airs in front of Qingdeng again, nor did he dare disobey his orders.

At present, he is as obedient as a clingy kitten in front of Qingdeng, without the slightest rebellious behavior.

"..."

Qingdeng silently turned his head to look at the generals and soldiers behind him.

His gaze first swept across the faces of Harada Sanosuke, Aizawa Koto, Matsubara Tadashi, and Sagawa Kanbei, and then across the faces of the other soldiers.

All the soldiers stared at him in unison.

Excitement, anticipation, nervousness... a variety of gazes, each with its own distinct emotion, were focused on him.

Before long, Qingdeng spoke:

"Now that things have come to this, I only have one thing to say—"

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly tightened the reins in his hand.

The radish understood perfectly, raising its two front hooves and letting out a low growl.

"Stay close to me! Slaughter the enemy! Drive out all the enemies before us!"

After shouting, he kicked the cow's belly hard.

In the next instant, Radish took off running!

The moment the charge began, a strong headwind blew in, causing the sleeves of the haori to rustle.

"Follow my lord!"

Harada Sanosuke roared, then bent over the saddle, picked up his spear, and became the first soldier to catch up with Aoto.

Then came the second, the third, the fourth... The chilling array slowly activated! Gradually accelerating!

The large banner that read "Honor to die, no shame to live" and the banner with the character "Sincerity" written in huge characters followed closely to Qing Deng's left and right, fluttering in the wind!

Thousands of cavalry charged down the hillside with a force as powerful as thunder and as overwhelming as a tsunami!

……