I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

As soon as Kurosawa finished speaking, Qing Deng couldn't help but let out a silent sneer in his heart.

Reconciling with Kazuma Kimura... that seems unlikely!

Despite his disdain for Kurosawa's earlier arguments, Aoto remained outwardly calm.

"Yes!"

As Qingdeng bowed, he proclaimed in a powerful voice:

"This humble official is determined to be the first tonight!"

She only mentioned that she would work hard, but never mentioned repairing her relationship with Kazuma Kimura.

……

……

That night--

Edo, outskirts, the Fifth Division's headquarters, the training ground—

"Are you all wearing protective gear?"

"Those who haven't put on their protective gear yet, hurry up! We'll be setting off in about two incense sticks' time!"

"Inspect the weapons! Are the bowstrings taut? Are the matchlocks on the arquebuses dry?"

……

All sorts of shouts echoed across the Fifth Division's headquarters.

Because the Fifth Division's headquarters was close to the wagashi shop located in Sumi-cho, which was used as a stronghold by the "One-Armed Party," it was designated as the assembly point for all units at the behest of Kurosawa and Okubo.

At this moment, soldiers from various units are orderly putting on their armor and taking out their weapons on the spacious training ground.

The equipment modified by the Fire Thief is much better than the "Three Returns" equipment from the Magistrate's Office.

Leaving aside the ability to freely use powerful weapons like bows and arrows and muskets, they were fully equipped with headbands, chainmail, breastplates, arm guards, and leg armor—truly armed to the teeth.

This was the first time in Qing Deng's life that he had possessed such luxurious weaponry.

"It's so heavy..."

Qingdeng, who was wearing a breastplate for the first time, took a deep breath and lifted the breastplate up with a motion similar to pulling up a bra.

At that moment, a member of the Fifth Division approached: "Lord Tachibana! Lord Kimura has summoned you to the main camp for a meeting!"

"Okay, I'll go right away." Qingdeng nodded gently.

The military meeting has begun... Qingdeng took three steps at a time and walked towards the main camp.

In fact, the so-called main camp was just in the shade of a big tree in the northeast corner of the training ground.

Currently, Kimura and Tsuchida have both arrived at the main camp.

Kimura glanced at Aoto as he strode over, remaining expressionless. He not only didn't greet Aoto, but also gave a cold snort.

Aoto ignored Kimura.

The two maintained a tacit understanding of "neither paying attention to the other".

"Alright," Kimura said calmly. "Everyone's here. Let's begin the meeting. I'll just go over the battle plan and your respective responsibilities once, so listen up."

The so-called "meeting at the main camp" was actually just Kimura issuing orders unilaterally, distributing tasks that had been decided long ago to Aoto and Tsuchida one by one.

Deploying three squads at once... such a large-scale operation cannot be conducted without a "frontline commander" in charge of coordinating the entire army.

Unfortunately for them, the person entrusted with the crucial task of "being fully responsible for tonight's operation" by Kurosawa and Okubo was... Kimura Kazuma.

That's not hard to understand.

Tsuchida's seniority and experience in carrying out tasks are inferior to Kimura's.

Needless to say, Qingdeng was a different story – what leader would entrust such an important task to a newcomer on his first day of work?

Therefore, it is reasonable and beyond reproach to appoint Kimura, a seasoned veteran, as the "frontline commander."

Kimura's status as the "frontline commander" gives him far greater authority than Aoto in tonight's operation.

Kimura made all the decisions, big and small.

Aoto only has the right to offer opinions, not the right to interfere with Kimura's decisions.

Therefore, no matter what arrangements Kimura made, Aoto could only accept them quietly and had no right to refute them.

"The wagashi shop where the traitors of the 'One-Armed Party' were entrenched was a longhouse."

Kimura crouched down and spread out a simple map of Sumi Town on the ground. Aoto and Tsuchida stood on either side of Kimura, staring at the map together.

The so-called "longhouse" is a very common type of house in the Edo period.

Simply put, it's a "terraced house"—your east wall is my west wall; your south wall is my north wall.

The walls of a whole row or even a whole circle of houses are all connected to each other.

The reason for this house layout is mainly because there are too many people.

Since the end of the Genwa era, more than two hundred years of peace have led to an explosive growth in Japan's population.

In terms of land area alone, Japan is not a small country. In the modern 21st century, Japan's land area is larger than that of most European countries.

The problem is that Japan has very little habitable land. Nearly 80% of the country is mountainous and hilly, with only a small number of areas, such as the Kanto Plain and the Nobi Plain, being suitable for habitation.

Therefore, in order to accommodate this explosive population, the authorities and the people had to make the most of the scarce land – and that's how longhouses came into being.

Houses placed close together free up more land to build new houses and accommodate more people.

This is why in large castle towns like Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, a single fire could destroy a large area of ​​houses.

"To the west of the wagashi shop is a tea shop, to the east is a grilled eel shop, to the south is a steamed bun shop, and only the north side faces the main street."

“We only need to block the north side of the confectionery shop to trap all the traitors of the ‘One-Armed Party’.”

"However, they might break through the wall and escape into the surrounding houses."

"Therefore, just to be on the safe side, I've decided to completely surround the entire row house where this wagashi shop is located!"

"This longhouse has a long, narrow structure with a total of 32 rooms. To surround it, we would need at least two squads of soldiers."

"The Third Division and my Fifth Division will be responsible for surrounding the longhouse; the Seventh Division will be responsible for the assault, storming into the house to arrest the traitors of the 'One-Armed Party.' Any objections?"

As soon as Kimura finished speaking, Tsuchida, with a fawning and excited expression, hurriedly said:

"No objections!"

Kimura nodded slightly, then turned to look at Aoto.

"Ju, why aren't you saying anything? What? You're not happy with my arrangements?"

"..." Qing Deng stared at the map silently, and even when Kimura asked him a question, it took him a long time to slowly raise his head.

"Sending only one team to attack... isn't that a bit too few people?"

Qing Deng spoke calmly.

"I have had quite a few dealings with the Extermination Group."

"Although they are all a bunch of crazy people with their heads broken, it is undeniable that many of them have a strong fighting spirit and excellent skills."

"I have suffered a lot because of this."

"According to past intelligence, the 'One-Armed Party' has a total of nearly 40 members. Their strength is similar to that of one of our squads."

"If we only send one squad to fight them head-on, we may not be able to gain the upper hand."

"Moreover, they also have the 'geographical advantage' of fighting from their stronghold."

"Excuse my bluntness, but at least two squads should be sent out to attack to be on the safe side."

Kimura and Tsuchida listened quietly to Aoto's opinion.

They exchanged a knowing glance.

Then--

"Hahahaha!" *2

They both looked up at the sky and burst into laughter.

After laughing to his heart's content, Kimura gave Aoto a wry look.

"Ju, it seems you have no idea about the combat strength of us Fire Thieves. But that's understandable, after all, you were just a mere 'Three-Times' Unity before, and you've never served in the Fire Thieves."

“I’ve dealt with the ‘One-Armed Gang’ many times. They’re nothing but a bunch of scum and stray dogs clinging to life. What’s there to fear? We can easily wipe them out with just one squad!”

*******

*******

After so many days of "sleeping for more than ten hours a day," the author feels that his body is almost fully recovered! The author suspects that he did not have the disease at all, but just a common cold, otherwise the symptoms would not be so mild!

In conclusion—congratulations! It was a false alarm; we didn't get a positive result.

It's that time of year again—the end of the month! Readers with monthly passes, please be sure to vote for this book! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please add this to your favorites!

Chapter 279 Choshu Domain, Takasugi Shinsaku, goes into battle! 【7200】

"Among all the thieves in the full-fire thief class, I've dealt with the 'One-Armed Gang' the most."

Kimura shook his head and spoke eloquently.

“I have participated in three operations to crack down on the ‘One-Armed Party’. Including tonight’s operation, that makes it four.”

"The 'one-armed gang' is nothing special except for being a little cunning and a little fast."

“Whenever we launch an attack on the ‘One-Armed Party,’ the traitors of the ‘One-Armed Party’ will collapse like snowflakes splashed with boiling water.”

Kimura chuckled dismissively.

As he let out that sneer, his eyes were fixed on Qing Deng—it was unclear whether he was mocking the weakness of the "One-Armed Party" or ridiculing Qing Deng's ignorance.

"You say the 'One-Armed Party' has the advantage of location? Well then, have you ever heard this old saying: 'The right time is not as important as the right place, and the right place is not as important as the right people'?"

"Indeed, I admit you are right. The 'One-Armed Party' fighting in their own stronghold does have the advantage of terrain."