I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Since the Battle of Sekigahara, this has been another 'war that will decide the fate of the nation'."

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Nagakura Shinpachi grinned:

"We never imagined that we would be able to participate in a war of this magnitude in our lifetime! Even if we die here, we will have no regrets!"

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Iwakura's visual gazing channel:

"Be careful, the Orange Thief's henchmen may be nearby."

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Saito Hajime said softly:

“Enemy scouts have surely penetrated deep into the capital region; be on high alert.”

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Saigo Kinosuke said calmly:

"Next, it will be a pure clash of strength."

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Qing Deng said calmly:

"From now on, there will be no place for the weak; it's either victory or death."

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Aoto / Saigo Yoshinosuke:

"The world... is destined to be in our hands!"

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It's already the beginning of the month again! Readers with monthly passes, please be sure to vote for this book! (Crying leopard head)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

PS: The transition is finally over! Time to start the fight! (Leopard High.jpg)

Chapter 1140 The decisive battle for the world, the Battle of Toba-Fushimi, begins! [4400]

May 5, 1866 (the second year of the Meiji era)

Gyeonggi Province, Toba Street —

With Toba Street as the dividing line, the east and west sides present completely different landscapes.

The flags on the east side were of very limited variety; they were either the Shinsengumi's Seishun flag, the Hatatsu Domain's Gentian leaf flag, or the Edo Shogunate's Mitsuba flag.

On the other hand, the flags on the west side are much more varied and diverse.

Among them, the one that has the most overwhelming presence is the "Maru Cross" representing the Satsuma Domain.

The Satsuma Domain's dominance in the Southern Court was not due to the manipulation of power by figures like Saigo Kichinosuke, but purely to its strength.

In order to find out the exact strength of the "Southern Army", the ninjas of the Ninth Division carried out reconnaissance work day and night.

The specific investigation process involved following the "Southern Army" and calculating the quantity of their cooking stoves and excrement.

A person can easily utter ten thousand lies by simply moving their tongue around and lightly touching their teeth.

One hundred thousand troops, two hundred thousand troops... these numbers can be easily uttered.

But what you eat and what you excrete don't lie.

In short, by simply counting the number of cooking stoves and excrement, one can roughly determine the size of the army.

The excrement left behind by the army during their march was traceable; it was definitely buried far from water sources and downwind of the camp.

Although digging up those filled-in latrines was a painful process, the heavy responsibility left no room for fussiness.

The ninjas of the Ninth Division could only grit their teeth and endure the repeated torment of "finding poop," "digging up poop," "smelling poop," and "counting poop."

Who will count the excrement today, and who will count the cooking stoves—these are the questions they argue about every day.

Of course, we cannot rule out the possibility that the "Southern Army" followed Sun Bin's example and used the "reduction of cooking stoves" strategy to mislead Qing Deng.

Back then, Sun Bin successfully misled Pang Juan, the general of Wei, by using the strategy of "reducing the number of cooking stoves every day." This caused Pang Juan to underestimate the strength of the Qi army and advance recklessly, ultimately leading to his death by a hail of arrows from Sun Bin.

In conclusion, the estimation of the size of the "Southern Army" must be made with utmost care.

In this mission, the Great Salt Party once again played a significant role.

As it turns out, the alliance between Qingdeng and the Great Salt Party was the right choice.

Under Ziyang's leadership, the Great Salt Party's "intelligence network" was operating at full speed.

Incidentally, fearing the ravages of war, most of the big bosses in Kyoto's Gion district—those wealthy merchants who ran "geisha houses"—fled.

Since all the wealthy people in Kyoto had left, business in Gion plummeted, and there was no point in continuing to operate, so they simply closed down.

With nothing to do, the geishas naturally had no choice but to return to their own homes.

Compared to courtesans, geisha were much freer, having a great deal of autonomy over whether they wanted to stay in Kyoto or flee like others.

Ziyang left Gion a few days ago, citing the reason that he wanted to "go back to his hometown to avoid trouble".

She had barely left Kyoto when she immediately headed to Otsu and stayed at the temporary accommodation provided by Aoto.

It must be said that her character is truly admirable.

Before leaving the capital, she used her personal wealth to help those powerless and helpless geishas who had nowhere to escape, enabling them to leave this "smoke-filled land".

No longer needing to play the role of a geisha, she was able to fully mobilize and command the Ōshio Party's "intelligence network."

It wasn't until Ziyang exerted his power that Qingdeng belatedly realized that some of the soldiers of the "Southern Army" were informants of the "Great Salt Party"!

While these informants couldn't be expected to do anything earth-shattering like burning grain supplies or assassinating their commanders—after all, they were just rank-and-file soldiers with very limited abilities—they were more than capable of reporting what they saw and heard to the Great Salt Party.

Information such as the number of people in one's unit and the number of military flags seen today is extremely valuable and useful.

Thus, after comprehensively analyzing intelligence from various sources, Qing Deng made a rough estimate of the "Southern Army's" troop strength—

Satsumo Army: 13000 men

Choshu Army: 2000 men

Tosa Army: 7000 men

Hizen Army: 8000 men

The armies of other vassal states: 5000 men

Total troop strength: 35000

Excluding the Ninth Division (a ninja unit that also serves as a messenger unit) and clerical staff such as the General Affairs Department and the Finance Department, the Shinsengumi's troop deployment on the two lines of defense is as follows—

"Toba Defense Line"

Second Squad (Elite Infantry), 250 men

Fourth Division (Infantry), 550 men

Fifth Division (Infantry Division), 450 men

Sixth Division (Musketeer Squad), 1150 men

The 10th Division (Cavalry), 600 men

Eleventh Division (Artillery Unit), 680 men

The 12th Division (Musketeer Squad), 1150 men

The 13th Division (Musketeer Squad), 1150 men

Total troop strength: 5900.

"Fushimi Defense Line"

"Zero Squad" (Royal Guard), 60 members

First Squad (Elite Infantry Squad), 300 men

The Third Division (elite infantry unit), 250 men

7th Division (Cavalry) 600 men

Eighth Division (Musketeer Squad), 1150 men

Total troop strength: 2360.

With fewer than 1 troops facing 3.5... In terms of troop size, the "Southern Army" held a significant advantage! They clearly possessed the capability to rival the Shinsengumi!

After the "Southern Army" entered the Gyeonggi region, various forces, led by the Satsuma Army, began to set up camps west of the Toba Road.

When the number of people exceeds 10,000, it can basically fill your field of vision, let alone an army of more than 30,000.

Looking west from Toba Street, a black line connects north and south in the distance, near the horizon—that is the "Southern Army's" camp!

Looking down from above, you can get a much more direct sense of the grandeur of this camp! It stretches as far as the eye can see!

Countless military flags of different colors and styles fluttered in the spring breeze... This scene alone is enough to convey an unparalleled sense of oppression!

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