I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Each of the assassins possesses exceptional skills, with many having reached the "Catalogue" level in swordsmanship, and a very few even possessing the strength of "Master of All Skills".

Unlike Aoto and Souji, Harada Sanosuke couldn't easily and freely charge through enemy ranks as if he were strolling through his own atom.

After being besieged by the enemy, Harada Sanosuke immediately lost his composure and ease. He fought and retreated, and finally managed to escape the encirclement.

At that moment, the vice-captain of the 7th Division, Nakazawa Koto, suddenly shouted:

"Everyone in front, step back! Musketeers, advance!"

As Nakazawa Koto shouted, a cacophony of footsteps came from behind.

A short while later, a large group of musketeers—about thirty in total—rushed to the front of the battle line, splitting into two rows, with the front row half-crouching and the back row standing up.

These muskets were all brand new, taken from the armory, their gleaming barrels radiating a bright shine.

It's a pity... Qingdeng is currently in dire need of soldiers skilled in using firearms.

The members of the 7th and 10th Divisions have never received any related training.

It took him a lot of effort to barely manage to gather these thirty or so soldiers who knew how to use firearms.

Standing beside the musketeers, Nakazawa Koto loudly gave the order:

"Raise your guns! Fire!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

With such sparse barrage of comments, it's impossible to expect it to achieve any remarkable results.

After the barrage of bullets swept past, only three people were shot and fell to the ground.

Although the damage was minimal, the sheer force of the attack severely dampened the enemy's arrogance.

As the guns were being fired, archers behind the gun emplacements were also releasing arrows.

Bullets and arrows rained down, instantly throwing the "suicide squad" into disarray.

Although they lack sophisticated equipment, they have ways to make up for it.

"Throw stones! Quickly!"

Hundreds of assassins reached into their robes, pulled out simple but sturdy slings, and hurled a rain of stones at the Shinsengumi.

One by one, the pebbles flew into the air, tracing clean parabolas, and then fell like raindrops onto the newly selected group's array.

In terms of sheer sophistication, readily available pebbles cannot compare to arrows or bullets.

However, in terms of lethality, these seemingly ordinary stones should not be underestimated!

If they land on your head, you'll be seriously injured, if not killed.

Even wearing a helmet cannot completely protect against the impact of stones—that's the power of blunt weapons.

In an instant, many people were hit by the sudden rain of stones, throwing them into disarray.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the "Death Legion" advanced and launched a pursuit, attempting to push the battle line forward in one fell swoop.

Unexpectedly, as soon as they took a step, a new shout rang out:

"Spear formation! Advance!"

The musketeers and archers retreated, and the pikemen took their place.

More than forty soldiers, armed with proper three-barreled guns, joined the battle.

One room is approximately 1.818 meters, and three rooms would be 5.454 meters.

Just like the musket formation just now, these spearmen were also divided into two rows, with the back row interspersed with the front row. The spears of the back row probed through the gaps in the front row, and the two rows of spears were aimed directly at the enemy group that was about to rush forward.

Harada Sanosuke shouted:

"Charge!"

The next moment, the spear formation moved!

They resembled a tank slowly starting up.

First, they jogged slowly, then gradually accelerated! A chilling killing intent swept over them!

Before long, they plunged headlong into the enemy ranks, and in the blink of an eye, they plowed up countless beads of blood!

The "Death Legion" offensive was repelled before it could even begin.

Under normal circumstances, unless ranged weapons are used or spears are used to counterattack, one can only passively take a beating when facing such a charging spear formation.

A spear nearly 6 meters long... How can one possibly withstand it with just a katana in their hand?

The Japanese were generally short and underdeveloped, so they were completely powerless against spears of that length.

Even Qingdeng, facing this "three-bay spear formation" head-on, would have to temporarily avoid its sharp edge.

……

……

Qingdeng followed the doctor's order to "not fight".

After arriving at Akasaka Mikado, he stayed at the rear.

He and Shimada Kai stood on a high ground, quietly observing the battlefield and studying the battle situation.

At first, the two armies fought fiercely and were evenly matched.

However, as time goes by, the power of the spirit is ultimately no match for the gap in material resources.

Leaving aside the lethality of spears, bows and arrows, and muskets, the 100% armor coverage alone was enough to give the "Death Legion" a major headache.

Gradually, the balance of power on the battlefield began to tilt, tilting in favor of the Shinsengumi.

Upon seeing this, Shimada Kai, who was serving nearby, excitedly exclaimed:

"My lord, that's wonderful! Our army has gained the upper hand! We're about to win!"

Qing Deng glanced at him and said indifferently:

"Shimada-kun, don't be too happy yet."

"The battlefield is ever-changing."

"You can't think you've won until the outcome is completely decided."

Aoto's rebuke left Shimada Kai feeling extremely embarrassed.

He obediently lowered his head and apologized to Qingdeng:

"Yes, I was mistaken."

Qing Deng calmly rolled his eyes, scanned the battlefield once more, and then said:

“It’s not difficult to defeat this group of assassins from the Hitotsubashi faction. But… I’m afraid they might have reinforcements.”

Upon hearing this, Shimada Kai tilted his head, looking completely puzzled.

"Reinforcements? What kind of reinforcements could the 'One Bridge Faction' possibly have? They can't possibly pull out another thousand suicide soldiers, can they?"

Qing Deng lowered his eyelids, his gaze becoming deep:

"The Hitotsubashi faction certainly has no more assassins. However, they still have 'potential fighting power'."

Having said that, he gave the order to Shimada Kai:

"Go and relay the order to Zuo Zhisuke: intensify the offensive! Hold nothing back, crush the rebels as quickly as possible! Be fast!"

……

……

Edo Castle, a certain town/township—

"Honey! Grab all the luggage and come with me!"

"W-What's wrong?"

"War has broken out! A real civil war has erupted! Let's leave Edo before we get caught up in it!"

"This...this...how could this be..."

Families, along with their children, hurriedly fled Edo—similar scenes were common throughout Edo.

The festive atmosphere of the New Year vanished abruptly, and the tense atmosphere of war returned.

The people had no time to celebrate the festival; they just wanted to leave Edo as soon as possible and get away from the smoke of civil war.

It's a pity... Edo, which had finally regained some of its lively atmosphere, has become deserted again.

Strangely enough, while countless people want to escape Edo, countless others volunteer to stay in Edo.

……

……

Edo, a certain samurai family's residence—

"I've made up my mind! I'm going to join the war! I'm going to fight alongside Hitotsubashi!"

The samurai said this with a firm expression.

His words drew surprised glances from those around him.

"What? You want to join the war?"

The samurai nodded vigorously:

"That's right! I want to fight! I want to join the Hitotsubashi Army!"

He had barely finished speaking when he was immediately met with rebuttal:

"Are you crazy? Don't do anything reckless! This is none of our business! Don't get involved! Just stay out of it quietly!"

"Yes, the situation is still unclear. We don't know who the loyal ministers are and who the treacherous ministers are. We must not act rashly before the situation becomes clear."

The warrior's eyes widened, his face contorted with rage:

"What did you say? 'This has nothing to do with us'? You're mistaken! Today's battle is closely related to us!"

"The Great Tree Lord is acting perversely! He's introducing barbarian weapons and military tactics in an attempt to build a so-called 'new army'!"

"Ichihashi has criticized the old tree master's wrongdoing quite a bit!"