I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The severed half of the body, flying high into the air, instantly drew everyone's attention.

Countless eyes converged on one, staring in disbelief as Suzuki Toranosuke's severed body flew high into the air before crashing heavily into the distance...

Familiar faces, magnificent armor that they could never mistake... Even though it was hard to accept, the men of Mito present had no choice but to accept this cruel fact: their commander-in-chief had been killed!

Aoto's next words, "The commander of the Mito army has been killed by me, Tachibana Aoto!", became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

In an instant, the entire street and the entire battlefield were thrown into chaos!

"Lord Suzuki is dead!"

"Damn it! How could this happen!"

"Don't panic! As long as we kill Tachibana Aoto, we can still turn the tide!"

"Kill Tachibana Aoto?! You make it sound so easy! That's simply impossible!"

"Quickly retrieve Lord Suzuki! We can't let our commander's body be left to rot in the wilderness!"

"Where did Lord Suzuki fall?!"

Chaos, chaos, and more chaos... Everywhere you look, there is chaos.

The negative impact of the death of the commander-in-chief on feudal armies could be almost immeasurable!

In feudal times, it was not uncommon for an army to collapse immediately after its commander died.

Moreover, Suzuki Toranosuke's death was not an ordinary one.

Qingdeng did not resort to any tricks or schemes, but charged into the enemy ranks alone, single-handedly taking on a thousand men!

No matter how bravely the soldiers of the Mito army fought, they could not stop him. He charged all the way to Suzuki Toranosuke, cut him in two with a single stroke, and even sent half of his body flying into the air... The impact this had on the Mito soldiers was truly indescribable!

This situation overwhelmed them with a profound sense of powerlessness—their opponent was a true monster! Even with all their might, they couldn't defeat them! Did they even have a chance of winning?

From a certain perspective, it was quite remarkable that the Mito army did not immediately collapse and maintained a certain level of order.

If it were a less organized unit, they would probably have scattered like birds and beasts long ago.

Of course, their morale inevitably plummeted to rock bottom.

The "power vacuum" caused by Toranosuke Suzuki's death further exacerbated this chaos.

After his death, the Mito Army no longer had an absolute leader.

As a result, generals at all levels could only act independently.

Some generals ordered their troops to fight to the death and not retreat, killing Tachibana no Seido and turning the tide of battle.

Some generals demanded that Suzuki Toranosuke's body be retrieved first.

Some generals went even further, demanding that the army retreat under such complicated circumstances.

Some generals were complete idiots, utterly terrified, their expressions blank, their eyes glazed over, as if their souls had flown to the heavens.

With orders coming from multiple sources, the soldiers were at a loss as to whose orders to follow, and could only stand there blankly, unsure of what to do.

And this is the decisive opportunity that Qingdeng has been waiting for!

After killing Toranosuke Suzuki, he immediately changed his stance.

He held the knife horizontally at chest height, then spun his body like a windmill, using his left foot as a pivot.

Vairocana drew a clean, purplish-black circle in mid-air.

Before the glint of the blade had faded, blood had already seeped out.

In an instant, accompanied by a series of spurting blood arrows, all the enemy soldiers around Qing Deng were cut down to the ground, creating a "vacuum zone".

Before this "vacuum zone" was filled, Qingdeng swiftly bent down, picked up a katana from beside his feet, and then turned to stare intently at the commander's flag not far away.

When Toranosuke Suzuki fled, the soldier responsible for carrying the commander's flag was very dutiful and always followed closely behind Toranosuke Suzuki.

Therefore, the banner embroidered with the large "Mito Mitsuba" was located not far from Qingdeng at this time.

Qingdeng pinpointed the exact location of the banner and estimated the distance between them—his talent "Insight +4" was activated.

[Note: +4 Insight: Excellent spatial awareness]

In the next instant, he handed Vairocana to his left hand, gripped the katana he had just picked up with his right hand, lowered his waist, assumed a "throwing spear" posture, and then suddenly pushed off the ground with his left foot.

The force traveled from the ground to his calves, then to his waist, arms, and finally to the katana in his hand.

This force intensifies with each muscle it passes through.

“一马当先+4”、“熊之腰+5”、“虎之臂+4”、“象的核心+9”、“九牛二虎+4”——青登所拥有的跟“力量”相关的天赋，统统在这一刻发动！强悍无匹的力道已然蕴积在其右掌心！

In that instant, as he gathered his strength, he forcefully hurled the katana in his hand—

call out! !

With a sound like a heavy crossbow bolt, the katana shot out, leaving a series of blurry afterimages in mid-air, and struck the flagpole of the commander's flag squarely!

Then, with a "crack," the commander's flag, broken in two, slowly fell to the ground.

Qing Deng's move left many people present puzzled.

He has already successfully killed the commander-in-chief, throwing the Mito army into chaos. Why bother to break the commander's flag? Isn't that redundant?

Soon, they found out the answer.

Rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble rumble...

Shortly after Qingdeng broke the commander's flag, a muffled thunderous sound suddenly came from afar.

The strange noise grew closer and closer... In just a short while, it went from a "mosquito buzzing" to a "roaring sound that shook the roof tiles."

At first, no one paid attention—until someone let out a heart-wrenching scream:

"Cavalry! Cavalry attack!!"

Just ahead of the Mito army, at the other end of the street, hundreds of cavalrymen formed a tight formation and charged straight toward the Mito army!

The leader lowered his upper body and gripped his spear tightly—it was none other than Sagawa Kanbei, the chief retainer of the Aizu Domain and commander of the Aizu Iron Cavalry!

As he spurred his horse to its maximum speed, he turned to look at the soldiers behind him and shouted loudly:

"Hold your ground! Use all your strength! Support General Tachibana! Annihilate the Mito army!!"

Hundreds of cavalrymen charged through the narrow streets... their momentum was like a raging wave or a hurricane!

The troops that Aoto can currently mobilize are not only the 7th and 10th Divisions of the Shinsengumi—the troops that rushed to Kanto with him also include the Aizu Iron Cavalry that Matsudaira Katamori temporarily lent him!

He kept the Shiji cavalry hidden in the rear, preventing them from going to the front lines.

This is his only reserve team... He must never play this trump card unless absolutely necessary!

Qing Deng knew very well that even if he successfully killed the commander of the Mito army, he alone would still be unable to completely defeat the Mito army.

After all, no matter how powerful he is, he only has two hands, two legs, and a knife, so his efficiency in killing enemies is ultimately limited.

Therefore, while rushing to the pre-arranged battlefield, he secretly mobilized the Aizu Iron Cavalry and revealed this trump card!

Aoto's plan was simple: he would create the opportunity to win, and the Aizu cavalry would reap the rewards!

Using the breaking of the commander's flag as a signal, once the Mito army's commander's flag was broken, it meant that he had successfully killed the Mito army's commander. Sagawa Kanbei led all the Aizu cavalry in a fierce attack on the enemy formation with overwhelming force! Completely crushing the Mito army!

Although the Aizu Iron Cavalry was not his direct subordinate, Aoto never doubted the fighting strength of this elite force.

Qingdeng has successfully completed the mission of "killing the commander".

Now, it's the Aizu cavalry's turn to bring this battle to a close!

The sudden appearance of the Aizu cavalry unsurprisingly caused great panic among the Mito army soldiers!

The Mito army, already in deep chaos, is now even more fragmented.

All sorts of shouts rang out in a cacophony:

"Spears! Spears! Bring the spears over here quickly!"

"Don't just stand there! Anyone who doesn't want to be trampled, line up now!"

"You bastards! Don't run! Where do you think you can escape to?! Can two legs outrun four hooves?! Fight to the death and you'll have a chance to survive!"

"Follow me! No one is allowed to back down!"

As it turns out, even though it is now in decline, the Mito Domain still retains the foundation of a long-established military power.

They did not give up the fight despite the deteriorating situation.

They hurriedly carried over three-section spears, and the spearmen lined up in a straight line near the front of the Aizu cavalry, barely forming a crude spear formation.

When forming a formation, they used a classic trick—the butt of the spear was pressed against the ground, and the tip of the spear was pointed diagonally towards the sky—this maximized the effectiveness of the spear formation in combat.

In the era of cold weapons, "forming long spear formations" was always one of the most effective means for infantry to counter cavalry—but this was contingent on the spear formation being sufficiently solid and the spearmen being highly skilled!

Facing the charge of cavalry head-on... not everyone has the ability to withstand such intense psychological pressure.

As expected, the spearmen who were fine just a moment ago all showed fear when they saw the Aizu cavalry rapidly approaching. In the blink of an eye, their expressions were dominated by intense fear.

Soon, more and more people deserted their posts.

No matter how much the generals shouted or threatened, they could not get these deserters back to their fighting positions.

The already crude gun formation was now even more chaotic and nearly broken!

The cavalry's mobility was on full display at this moment.

The distance of several hundred meters was covered in the blink of an eye.

In that instant when everyone involuntarily held their breath, the two armies clashed heavily!

bump!!

clang!!

The terrifying sounds grew louder and louder.

"Magnificent, magnificent, magnificent—!!"

"Hold on! Hold on, all of you! Don't let go of your spears!"

"Ignore these pawns! Forward! Don't stop!"

The shouts of men and the neighing of horses echoed through the sky!

The clash of swords and the shadows of blades filled the air!