I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 851: Boss Kiryu Comes to Say Goodbye [4500]

night--

Tenryuji battlefield, Aizu Army camp——

At this moment, just when the moon is rising.

The slender crescent moon unfolds a white silk thread gleaming with silver light.

Under the bright moonlight, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu led a group of generals of the Choshu army and waited outside the camp gate.

"Moo...moo..."

Before anyone arrives, the sound comes first.

From afar came the faint, tired sound of a cow neighing.

In a short moment, a group of cavalrymen stepped out of the night-stained skyline and slowly appeared in front of Matsudaira Yoshiyasu and others.

It was the cavalry team led by Qing Deng himself.

Looking at Qing Deng and his group who were getting closer and closer, many generals of the Aizu army swallowed their saliva subconsciously, with awe on their faces.

Although there was still a distance of several hundred meters between them, the strong smell of blood had already drifted over with the wind.

Qing Deng and his group looked like they had just been soaked in a pool of blood, with blood stains all over their bodies.

The hair was clumped together by the blood and sweat.

As for clothes, needless to say, they have reached the point where "there is no need to waste time washing them, they are impossible to wash clean."

The skin exposed outside the clothes was all red and black, and there was almost no clean area.

Although it is dirty, it is full of visual impact!

One can tell at first glance: this is an army that has fought its way out of a sea of ​​blood and corpses!
If a timid person sees this, he will tremble and won’t even be able to stand steadily.

Just like Choshu, there was no horse-producing land in Satsuma and no habit of breeding cavalry, so there was a severe shortage of cavalry.

Therefore, today's pursuit battle is led by the Shinsengumi's 7th and 10th squads.

After defeating the enemy on Tianwang Mountain, Qing Deng immediately led the cavalry and launched a lightning-fast attack on the remnants of the Choshu army.

At that time, the cavalry had just driven the remnants of Fushimi's troops to the Yamazaki area.

Before they had enough rest, they had to continue fighting, driving the remnants of the Fushimi and Yamazaki battlefields to the Tenryuji battlefield further north.

The task is heavy and is a great test of both physical strength and willpower.

Fortunately, the cavalry soldiers did not disappoint Qingdeng's expectations and careful training of them.

Following Qing Deng's order, the soldiers of the 7th and 10th squads immediately mounted their horses and attacked immediately!
Among them, Generals Harada Sanosuke, Koto Nakazawa and Tadashi Matsubara played a very good command role.

Although Harada Sanosuke's brain is not very bright, he has a strong intuition like a beast.

He can always subconsciously choose the most appropriate option, knowing when to attack, when to pursue, and when to temporarily avoid the attack.

Simply put, he is a man who fights and battles based on instinct.

Although it is simple and crude, it always achieves unexpected results.

With this ability, he gradually grew into an excellent cavalry general.

As for Koto Nakazawa and Tadashi Matsubara, there is no need to mention them.

As newcomers, they have always been eager to show their skills and highlight their value. The more difficult the task, the more it can arouse their fighting spirit.

The enemy troops were like frightened birds, with no order at all.

So the order Qing Deng issued was very simple: Don't worry about the formation! Just charge forward and attack the enemy as soon as you catch them!

In this way, under his personal leadership, the cavalry charged and attacked fiercely.

Along the way, many soldiers fell behind due to exhaustion of horsepower.

In response, Qing Deng ignored it and allowed the troops behind him to become increasingly sparse. He continued to pursue and never gave the Choshu army any chance to breathe.

There were only three possible outcomes for the Choshu soldiers who were chased:

First, they were driven to Tenryuji like lambs.

Second, he was lucky enough to escape the pursuit, flee outside the battlefield, and save his life.

Third, he was killed on the way.

Many people jumped into the Kamo River out of panic and ended up drowning.

In this way, Qing Deng and his group fought from Fushimi to Yamazaki, and then from Yamazaki all the way to Tenryuji.

It was not until now that they joined forces with the Aizu Army in charge of the Tenryuji battlefield that they finally stopped.

At this time, there were only about a hundred cavalrymen who were still able to follow Qingdeng closely without falling behind, and they were all exhausted.

Many of them were able to stay on the saddle only by sheer force of will.

After fighting for so long, even Qing Deng couldn't help but feel tired.

Unfortunately, Kusaka Genzui was not found until the very end.

Saito Hajime personally led a team to look for it, but returned empty-handed.

Qing Deng had no idea whether this guy was alive or dead, whether he had escaped to some unknown corner, or whether he had successfully escaped to Tianlong Temple.

Seeing that Qingdeng and his group had finally arrived, Matsudaira Yoshiyasu and others who came to greet them all bent down and bowed to Qingdeng.

Qing Deng handed the long spear in his hand to Nakazawa Qin beside him for temporary safekeeping, then turned over and got off the cow, striding towards Matsudaira Yoshiyasu.

Matsudaira Yoshinobu smiled:

"Master Aki, congratulations on your triumphant return!"

Qingdeng curled up his lips:

"This is all thanks to the soldiers' unity and brave fighting."

"Let's not talk about this for now."

"Is there any food? My men and I are starving."

"Also, is there any hot water? I'd like to take a bath before eating."

After saying that, Qing Deng smiled bitterly and showed Matsudaira Yoshiyasu his haori, which could squeeze out a lot of blood with a slight squeeze and was so smelly that it was enough to make others faint.

……

……

About an hour later——

The camp of the Tocho Corps (formerly the camp of the Aizu Army), the main camp——

Qing Deng sat upright in the first seat.

Matsudaira Yoshiyasu, Saigo Yoshinosuke and other generals gathered around a long table with Aoto at the center.

On the long table, there was a three-dimensional map of the Tianlong Temple battlefield made of clay.

Not long after Qing Deng and his party joined forces with the Aizu army, Hijikata Toshizo, Saigo Yoshinosuke and others arrived one after another.

When the main generals of the three armies (Shinsengumi, Aizu Army, and Satsuma Army) arrived, Qing Deng immediately gave an order: hold a military meeting!

Let’s work together to discuss strategies to defeat the enemy, eliminate the Choshu Army’s last stronghold in Gyeonggi Province, and drive these traitors out of Gyeonggi Province once and for all!
There is no doubt that this is the last battle of this campaign.

Thanks to the ability of the Hijikata-Satsuma coalition, the Choshu army on the Yamazaki side was defeated on the first day of the war, which greatly advanced the date of the decisive battle.

The task that Qing Deng assigned to the Aizu army was to delay the enemy troops in Tenryuji before the decisive battle, and to prevent them from getting close to Kyoto or supporting other battlefields.

The Aizu Army is indeed a world-famous powerful force.

Even though they were at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, they still fought back and forth with the Choshu army on the opposite side, leaving them no time to take care of other things.

Qing Deng tilted his head slightly and winked at Matsudaira Yoshinobu.

Matsudaira Yoshiyasu nodded, then turned to a general beside him and said:
"let's start."

The general immediately stood up and said loudly:

"I am the elder of the Aizu clan, the divine protector of the clan!"

"Please allow me to preside over today's meeting."

He skipped the unnecessary pleasantries and went straight to the point.

Throughout the day today, the Aizu clan was fighting with the Choshu army from Tenryuji.

Therefore, it would be most appropriate for the Aizu army to be responsible for introducing the other party's details to everyone.

Jimbo Kuransuke cleared his throat and then continued to tell the story.

He first gave a brief overview of today's battle process and results.

According to him, the Choshu army on the opposite side had its back to Arashiyama and used Tenryuji as its main camp.

Compared with the Choshu army in the other two battlefields (Fushimi and Yamazaki), there was no significant difference between the Choshu army here.

Although he had 3000 soldiers, the vast majority of his army were ronin and peasant soldiers who were temporarily conscripted.

The real combat-capable soldiers were only five or six hundred at most.

Under the continuous expulsion of Qing Deng and his group, there were about 2,000 remnants of the defeated army that fled to Tianlong Temple.

Although the number of people is not small, these new troops are just some defeated soldiers and are not to be feared.

How could the psychological trauma caused by a great defeat be easily recovered? It was certain that these defeated soldiers would not only be of no use in the next battle, but would also hinder the army.

And this is exactly Qing Deng’s purpose - to let these remaining soldiers spread fear and undermine morale.

After finishing his brief report, Jinbo Kuransuke turned to look at Matsudaira Yoshiyasu.

Matsudaira Yoshiyasu nodded slightly:

"Jinbao-kun, thank you for your hard work. Please sit down."

Jinbo Kuransuke responded and sat back down.

Qing Deng lowered his eyes, looked at the three-dimensional map in front of him, and said softly:
"The damn Choshu Army really knows how to choose a location. They actually set up their main camp at Tenryuji Temple... If possible, I really don't want to destroy this famous ancient temple."

Saga Tenryuji Temple - a Zen temple with a long history.

The original site of Tenryuji Temple was Danrin-ji Temple, which was founded by Empress Danrin of Emperor Saga of Japan in 14 during the Heian period.

In 3, Prince Kaneaki built a palace and a pond garden here.

In the Kamakura period, in 6, Emperor Saga built the imperial detached palace Ryusanden here and established Jokongoin as a Buddhist temple.

After Ashikaga Takauji conquered the world and established the Muromachi shogunate, he hired the national master Muso to build Tenryuji Temple here to pray for the soul of Emperor Go-Daigo.

From then on, Tenryu-ji Temple became a separate sect in its own right and became the head temple of the sect, ranking first among the five temples in Kyoto.

Since its establishment, Tianlong Temple has suffered many disasters and has been hit by fire 8 times.

If you think about it carefully, this should be the fate of historical buildings.

Any historical building cannot escape the fate of being destroyed by fire.

Shannan Jingzhu is very fond of these ancient buildings with a long history.

Then, he sighed deeply, his face showing sorrow, and expressed the same sentiment as Qing Deng:
"I really don't want this famous temple to suffer another disaster..."

Although they said so, everyone knew in their hearts: guns and cannons have no eyes, and once the fighting started, no one would care about what happened to Tianlong Temple.

Qing Deng really didn't want to see the famous temple destroyed.

But compared to the lives of his subordinates, these dead things are really not worth mentioning.

Not to mention Tenryuji Temple, Qing Deng could destroy all the historical buildings in Kyoto without hesitation as long as it could save the lives of his subordinates or help the war.

Compared to before the war, the atmosphere inside and outside the camp was unprecedentedly relaxed and harmonious.

The air is filled with the smell of joy.

Even the useless generals of the feudal army can see after taking a look at the map: We have the advantage! There is no possibility of defeat!

Two of the three armies of Choshu collapsed, and the remaining troops retreated to Tenryu-ji, struggling to hold on.

The Shinsengumi, the Aizu Army, and the Satsuma Army had joined forces, with a force of nearly 10,000, forming an overwhelming advantage in terms of military strength. Their morale was high, and they were well-equipped.

In comparison, the Choshu army on the opposite side had no advantage at all.

With such a huge difference in combat power, it would be difficult even if we wanted to lose!

From Qing Deng to ordinary generals, no one believed that the Choshu army on the opposite side could cause any trouble.

Therefore, this military meeting went very smoothly.

After a brief discussion, Qing Deng directly announced tomorrow's battle plan.

The plan is the same as today's battle at Tianwang Mountain: no feints or auxiliary attacks, just main attacks, direct frontal attack! Encircle and annihilate them!
I'm rubbing my hands in anticipation and can't wait for tomorrow to come.

At this moment, Matsudaira Yoshinobu suddenly said:
"Lord Aki, I have something to add."

Qing Deng raised his chin:
"Please say."

"Lord Amaki, just this evening, a spy from our army sent a report: Katsura Kogoro was spotted in Tenryuji Temple."

Katsura Kogoro - upon hearing this name, Qing Deng seemed to recall something and his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Is this information accurate?"

Matsudaira Yoshiyasu shook his head:

"No, I'm not sure yet."

Hijikata Toshizou on the side curled his lips:

"It's Katsura Kogoro again... Why is he everywhere?"

Saigo Yoshinosuke sneered:
"Isn't this just perfect? ​​I'm most happy to see these traitors gather together. It will be convenient for us to catch them all in one fell swoop."

Qing Deng ignored the gossip, lowered his eyelids and pretended to be thinking.

After a while, he asked Matsudaira Yoshinobu:

"Lord Higo, did your spies find a young samurai wearing a western hat and dressed strangely beside Katsura Kogoro?"

Matsudaira Yoshinobu was stunned when he heard this.

Although he didn't know why Qing Deng asked such a strange question, he still answered truthfully:
“No similar reports have been received so far.”

A hint of regret appeared on Qing Deng's cheeks, and he murmured, "Is that so..."

……

……

"Everyone go down and have a rest, don't delay the decisive battle tomorrow" - after saying this, Qing Deng announced the end of the meeting.

The generals attending the meeting filed out one after another, leaving the tent in twos and threes.

This camp is where Qing Deng lives and rests, so he naturally doesn't need to move.

After everyone had left and there were no outsiders in the tent, Qing Deng let out a long breath, leaned forward, leaned against the long table in front of him, and let his mind empty and his nerves relax.

Just at this moment, a report suddenly came from outside the tent:
"My lord, there is an old man outside the camp, and he wants to see you!"

Qing Deng frowned immediately:

"Old man? Did he give his name?"

"Yes! He calls himself 'Kiryu Kazuma'!"

——Boss Kiryu?!
Qing Deng raised his eyebrows suddenly and said without thinking:
"Bring him here!"

"Yes!"

Qing Deng straightened up again and straightened his appearance.

In a moment, the curtain was drawn open, and a familiar tall figure came into Qingdeng's sight.

"Good evening, Tachibana-kun."

Boss Kiryu put on a gentle smile and walked towards Qing Deng slowly.

Qing Deng stood up to greet him.

"Boss Kiryu, why are you here? What happened?"

Boss Kiryu shook his head slightly.

"Nothing, I just want to have some tea and talk with you, that's all. I hope I didn't disturb you?"

At that moment, Qing Deng seemed to realize something and his brows slowly frowned.

"I happen to be free now."

"What a coincidence. If that's the case, come and have a few drinks with me if you don't mind."

Mr. Kiryu said this as he placed the object in his left hand - a porcelain jar - on the table.

"If conditions permit, I actually want to drink with you."

"But you are at war now. Drinking during wartime is inappropriate."

"So we can only settle for the next best thing and replace wine with tea."

"This can of tea I brought is top-quality West Lake Longjing tea. It took me a lot of effort to get it. Come and have a taste."

Boss Kiryu talked freely.

Qing Deng said nothing, with no expression on his face.

"...Boss Kiryu, please don't be like this."

The sudden strong words interrupted Boss Kiryu's words and brought a brief silence back to the tent.

Qingden took a deep breath:

"I'll be frank. I...I don't like this atmosphere right now!"

Upon hearing this, Boss Kiryu paused for a moment, with a look of helplessness and self-mockery on his face.

After about 5 seconds, he adjusted his expression and put on a gentle smile again.

"Tachibana-kun, Katsumi... is right across the street at Tenryuuji Temple."

“This day has finally arrived.”

"It's time...I want to go see him!"

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If nothing unexpected happens, this volume will be finished by early October~~
Announcing the name of the new volume in advance, Volume 5 - "The World Divided into Two"!