I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"We went to great lengths and endured countless hardships to finally bring the Huitian Team to its current size."

"After this battle, who knows how many people will die... We might have to start all over again."

After hearing this, Ebina remained silent.

As a veteran member of the Ōshio Party and a close confidant of Ōshio Heihachirō, Ebina was responsible for the construction of the Kaiten-tai for a long time and experienced the entire process of the team's creation from scratch.

His feelings for the Huitian Team were second to none.

Right now, he is leading this invaluable team to a brutal battlefield soon to be drenched in blood and flesh... It would be impossible for him not to feel a pang of sorrow.

However, due to his duty, he did not show his feelings on his face.

In the blink of an eye, they had entered the town outside Otsu Castle.

We were too far away to see clearly just now.

Now that they were closer, they were astonished to see what they were witnessing.

"This is……!"

Akutsu muttered, his eyes widening in surprise as he scanned left and right. Ebina and the rest of the Kaiten-tai did the same.

It's no wonder they reacted this way, because the scene that met their eyes was indeed visually striking.

All the houses in Otsu Town had been completely demolished—literally completely demolished!

From the rows of longhouses to the quiet and secluded shrines and temples, and then to the magnificent and luxurious houses, everything was completely demolished!

The once bustling town, densely packed with buildings, is now barren, resembling a forest that has just been cut down.

Akutsu clicked his tongue repeatedly:

"What...what happened? Why is there not even a single outhouse left?"

Ebi, with a serious expression, responded in a deep voice:

"...a scorched earth policy. While gathering timber and bricks, we ensured that the enemy had no roofs to shelter them from the rain."

Bricks and wooden mallets are both powerful weapons in siege warfare, and they are also handy weapons with no usage barriers—throwing them down the city wall can easily knock down a large number of people without breaking a sweat.

Simply dismantle Otsu Town completely, and you can easily gather enough bricks, stones, and wooden pillars.

that's the truth.

After the houses in Otsu Town were leveled, the sheer volume of dismantled parts was so immense that describing it as "piled up like a mountain" would be an understatement!

Fortunately, Dajin City was large enough, and the warehouses that had just been emptied provided ample storage space, which barely allowed them to store this terrifying amount of bricks and wooden beams.

Besides defensive siege equipment, clearing out Otsu Town could also indirectly weaken the enemy's siege capabilities.

Leaving these houses behind is tantamount to providing comfortable accommodations for the enemy.

Such behavior of aiding the enemy is absolutely unacceptable.

Thus, under the orders of Aoto, the supervision of Saito Hajime, and the personal leadership of Serizawa Kamo and Harada Sanosuke, the newly mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians launched a massive "town demolition operation"!

To set an example, Qingdeng specifically instructed that his house—the Ju residence—be demolished first.

During the demolition of the town, Otsu's "fire brigade"—that is, Otsu's town fire brigade—came in great use.

The core members of the Otsu-cho fire brigade all come from the Edo-cho fire brigade.

As Edo's economy declined, even the once-popular town fire-lighting ceremonies lost their former glory, and life became increasingly difficult.

Before Aoto took over Otsu, Otsu was just an ordinary little town. Although a town was established, its level was so low that it would be an understatement to call it a shoddy job.

Therefore, as soon as Aoto had established himself in Otsu, he intended to reorganize the Otsu-cho Fire Brigade and transform it into a qualified and genuine fire brigade.

He had dealt with many firefighters in Edo town when he worked as a thief in the northern part of Edo, so he had a lot of connections.

So he extended an invitation to these old friends and immediately received enthusiastic replies.

And so, a large number of experienced and technically advanced firefighters arrived in Otsu.

Qing Deng then used these people as the core to reorganize the fire suppression in Otsu Town.

One of the specialties of the town fire extinguisher is demolition; they can demolish an entire row of houses in a very short time to stop the fire from spreading.

Since the end of the Genna era, Edo has been the most populous castle town in Japan, and therefore the most prone to fires, with a small fire every three days and a large fire every ten days.

Therefore, Edo (modern-day Tokyo) had the most extensive experience in demolishing houses.

Thanks to the meticulous guidance of these professionals, the entire process of "demolishing Otsu Town" went exceptionally smoothly.

Qing Deng made a promise: after the war, he would pay full compensation and restore Otsu to its former prosperity in the shortest possible time.

If he could defeat the Southern Court, Qing Deng would become the de facto ruler of the land, and all of Japan would be his.

At that time, rebuilding Otsu with the combined strength of all of Japan would be a piece of cake.

It is worth mentioning that there were some unexpected incidents during the complete demolition of Otsu-cho... The demolition team hesitated to start work on the shrines and temples.

The reason is not complicated: they are afraid of divine punishment or retribution.

Upon learning of this matter, Qingdeng personally issued a solemn announcement:

"I gave the order to demolish the town! If there is any guilt, it will be blamed on me! It has nothing to do with you! Now, you have only one task—not to leave a single intact building in Otsu Town!"

After witnessing the wonders of the "power of immortality" firsthand, Qingdeng realized that there were supernatural forces in this spacetime that could not be explained by science.

However, he still did not believe in heaven or hell, nor did he think that demolishing shrines and temples would bring any retribution, so he had no psychological burden at all.

With Qingdeng's endorsement, the "demolition team" no longer hesitated and quickly restored those shrines and temples to their "factory condition".

Anyway, the shrines and temples in Otsu-cho are not any famous historical sites, so it wouldn't be a pity if they were all demolished.

Accompanied by the resounding clang of hammers and continuous shouts, houses were torn down one after another, and cartloads of bricks, stones, and timber were transported into Dajin City.

With the concerted efforts of tens of thousands of people, in just over half a day, the once thriving town of Otsu was transformed into its current barren state.

After hearing Ebina's explanation, Akutsu couldn't help but swallow hard.

In order to defeat the enemy, they did not hesitate to demolish the base they had painstakingly built... Such courage is truly astonishing.

The rest of the Kaiten-tai shared the same thoughts as Akutsu.

They exchanged shocked glances as they traversed the vast, now open "former Otsu-cho," now completely destroyed by the collapse of its buildings, and approached the east gate of Otsu Castle.

Before they could announce their arrival, the gate slowly opened—on the other side, Aoto and Ooshio Heihachiro stood side by side, waiting.

"Teacher! The Zuo residence!"

Ebina shouted, then nimbly dismounted and ran two steps to Qing Deng and Ebina's side.

Heihachiro Ooshio raised his hand and brushed the dust off Ebina's clothes.

"Ebina, thank you for your hard work. The enemy's vanguard has reached the north of the city, and a major battle is imminent. Your arrival is just in time."

Ebina looked apologetic.

"Teacher, I'm so sorry, I was delayed by a heavy rain the other day."

"No need to apologize, it's good that you arrived on time."

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries with Ōshio Heihachirō, Ebina turned to Aoto and solemnly proclaimed:

"Master Zuo, it is our honor to fight alongside you on the battlefield! We may not be elite soldiers, but we are not cowards who fear death! At your command, we will charge into battle!"

Qingdeng smiled slightly:

"Mr. Ebina, it is my honor to fight alongside you on the battlefield. From this moment on, we are comrades-in-arms fighting side by side."

After saying that, Qing Deng patted Ebina's shoulder affectionately.

At this moment, Ōshio Heihachirō seemed to remember something and said to Aoto:

"Mr. Ju, do you have some free time right now? Would you allow me to introduce you to someone?"

This sudden question caught Qingdeng off guard and piqued his curiosity.

Who exactly is this person that made Ōshio Heihachirō take the initiative to introduce him to Niō?

With this thought in mind, he nodded slightly, driven by curiosity.

Seeing that Aoto nodded, Ōshio Heihachirō immediately said to Ebina:

"Lord Hai, go and summon Lord Xiang Le."

Haibin responded and then quickly returned to the Huitian Team.

—Xiang Le?

Upon hearing this familiar surname, Qing Deng subconsciously raised an eyebrow.

Before long, Haibina led a young man back to Qingdeng's side.

Looking at Qingdeng so close at hand, the young man's expression became complicated.

Despite his demeanor, his movements were not slow at all; he bowed respectfully to Qingdeng without being servile or arrogant.

"Master Zuo, I am Xiang Lezongsan. It is my great honor to meet you today."

Qing Deng's expression changed slightly, and he blurted out:

"Are you Sagara Sozo of the Red News Corps?"

Sagara Souzo made a lukewarm correction:

"Now there is no more 'Sagara Sozo of the Red News Team,' only 'Sagara Sozo of the Kaiten Team.'"

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

P.S.: Leopard has recently become obsessed with Kanna Seto... Damn it, I want to marry her! (Leopard Hi.jpg)

Speaking of which, did Leopard not tell you about the historical ending of Sozo Sagara?

In historical fact, Sozo Sagara died a terrible death.

The Meiji government went back on its word, first agreeing to issue the "Annual Tribute Halving Order," and then canceling it—because it wanted to win the support of wealthy merchants.

Sozo Sagara could not accept this and argued his case.

In an effort to silence him, the Meiji government, under the pretext of discussing military matters, lured Sagara Sozo and his entourage to the Governor-General's headquarters, where troops had been lying in ambush, and arrested them.