I formed the strongest swordsman group

"...Captain Okita, when did you develop symptoms?"

"I can't remember clearly."

The general manager said calmly.

"At first it was just a cough. I just thought I had a cold, so I didn't pay much attention."

"I didn't realize something was wrong until...the saliva I coughed out was mixed with a faint trace of blood."

"Because I didn't want Tachibana-kun to worry, I secretly went to see the doctor behind his back."

"Then...I knew what was wrong with me."

"The doctor prescribed some medicine for me and asked me to take it with water every day. He said it could alleviate the condition."

Hearing this, Nanjo Akizaburo immediately asked:

"What medicine? Take it out and let me see!"

Souji obediently took out a paper bag from his arms and handed it over.

After Nanjo Akizaburo took it, he opened the paper bag and carefully looked at the medicinal powder inside:

"Well, not bad..."

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You are a very reliable doctor. You don't prescribe medicine randomly. This powder is indeed a good medicine to relieve coughs."

It's no wonder Nanjo Akisaburo is so nervous.

In the feudal era, there were quacks everywhere who were seeking money and killing people.

There are even some witch doctors who rely on chanting sutras and dancing to heal diseases.

If you take bad or wrong medicines prescribed by quack doctors, not only will you not be able to cure your disease, but you will also damage your body.

"Relying on this medicine, I persisted for a long time, trying hard to pretend that nothing was wrong. What a pity...I persisted until today, and I can no longer persist..."

Having said that, the Souji smiled wryly, as if he were self-deprecating.

Nanjo Akizaburo said solemnly:

"From the sound of your breathing, it sounds like your condition is already serious."

"If I guess correctly, you must have been coughing up blood a lot recently, right?"

The general manager nodded:

"Yes, that's right."

"Mr. Nanjo, now that the matter is over, I won't hide it from you anymore."

"The reason why I went out just now was to avoid everyone so I could have a good cough."

Nanjo Akizaburo stopped talking.

After a moment, he said quietly.

"...Anyway, I'll report it to the lord first and let you recuperate in the rear and don't go to the front line again."

He said, picking up the medicine box and leaving.

"Mr. Nanjo, please stay!"

Before he could take a step, Souji reached out his hand like lightning and grabbed the other person's arm tightly.

How can a doctor who has no power to restrain a chicken defy the grasp of the Heavenly Sword?

He only felt that his arm was clamped by an iron pliers, unable to move.

"Mr. Nanjo, don't tell Aoto about my true condition."

Nanjo Akizaburo was startled, with a puzzled look on his face:

"Why?"

The director-general said seriously:

"It's not time to rest yet."

"The current 'Sekigahara Battle' has not yet decided the winner."

"The rebel army is heading straight towards Kanto. Mr. Hijikata is struggling to hold on to Hachioji. Edo is in a hurry."

"I am the captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division, the 'Sky Sword' of the shogunate. If I retreat to the rear to recuperate, it will greatly affect the morale and combat effectiveness of the Shinsengumi."

"So, I can't rest yet...I want to fight!"

Although the words of the Souji were full of strong determination, Nanjo Akizaburo did not give in easily:

"Captain Okita, you can't do this! Your condition is very serious! You must have a good rest!"

"'have a good rest'?"

As if he heard some funny joke, Souji curled up the corners of his mouth, showing a strange expression that was half a smile but not a smile.

"What's the use of lying in bed and resting? Will I be cured as long as I rest quietly?"

Nanjo Akisaburo opened his mouth, subconsciously wanting to refute.

However... his lips opened and closed repeatedly, and he couldn't say a word.

Blood cough is an incurable disease. Even if you rest quietly, it will only mean you can live a little longer. Even ordinary people know this well, and Nanjo Akizaburo, a famous doctor, knows it even better.

Taking advantage of the other party's long silence, Souji continued:

"Mr. Nanjo, since 'blood cough' is a terminal disease that cannot be cured by any medicine, then I can't rest even more."

"While I can still move, while I can still wield the sword, I want to help Qingdeng more."

When she said this, she paused slightly, and a calm smile filled her cheeks.

"It's been a long time and the situation is volatile."

"God knows how many hard battles we will have to go through before we can usher in a peaceful world of Haiyan and Heqing."

"Unfortunately, Mr. Shannan was seriously injured. Even if he saved his life, he would not be able to return to the front line in a short time."

"At this juncture, if I take a back seat like Mr. Shannan, I'm afraid Qingdeng will scratch his head."

"Qingden needs my help."

"While I still have three inches of breath under my nose, I want to help Qingto! I want to help everyone in the Shinsengumi!"

"So, Mr. Nanjo, I'm begging you!"

The Souji raised his gaze and looked directly at Nanjo Akizaburo with a firm gaze.

"If the matter is exposed in the future and Qingdeng wants to blame you, I will try my best to protect you and will never let you be implicated, I promise you!"

"Qingdeng is a sensible person."

"After he learns that I coerced you, he will definitely not blame you, he will only scold me."

As her words fell, the only sound left in the tent was the soft sound of burning candles.

"..."

Nanjo Akizaburo lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

A strong look of hesitation swam in his eyes.

About half a minute later, his hoarse voice finally broke the silence:

"...Captain Okita, I'll prescribe you a medicine."

"This medicine is my unique secret recipe, which is very effective in relieving cough."

"You can eat more pears in the future. Pears have the effect of moistening the lungs and relieving cough."

"I will do my best to provide treatment and conceal it for you as much as I can."

"As for the good or bad luck in the future...it all depends on your luck."

Looking at it, Souji smiled gratefully and nodded vigorously:

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

...

...

Temman Mountain, the main camp, Qingdeng's tent--

"My lord! Medical chief Nanjo wants to see you!"

After hearing this, Qingdeng immediately said:

"Let him in!"

"Yes!"

The guards outside the tent lifted the curtain, and Nanjo Akizoburo took two steps at a time and flashed in.

Without waiting for the other party to greet him, Qing Deng asked impatiently:

"Mr. Nanjo, how is Koji's illness?"

Facing Qing Deng's gaze, Nanjo Aizaburo lowered his head slightly - seemingly showing respect, but actually avoiding Qing Deng's gaze - and said to his toes:

"Captain Okita suffers from a common throat disease."

"This disease is very stubborn, but fortunately it is not difficult to treat."

"I have prescribed a medicine for Captain Okita."

"As long as she takes the medicine on time every day and persists for a period of time, she will recover."

"It's just that this time will be longer, and it won't be so fast."

After learning that Soji was fine, Qing Deng breathed a sigh of relief.

"Is that so? That's good. Mr. Nanjo, you really worked hard tonight."

Nanjo Aizaburo shook his head:

"These are what I should do."

"Mr. Nanjo, if there is nothing else, you can go down and rest first."

"..."

"Hmm? Mr. Nanjo, what's wrong?"

Qing Deng cast a puzzled look at Nanjo Aizaburo who was standing still.

"No, nothing. My Lord, I will take my leave first."

After saying that, Nanjo Aizaburo turned and left - the shadow caused by the backlight quietly concealed a hint of darkness in his eyes.

After watching Nanjo Aizaburo leave, Qing Deng buried his head in front of the case again and read the blood-stained letter in his hand.

His eyes quickly swept over every line of the letter.

The more he read, the tighter his brows frowned.

Today is the first day of the "Second Battle of Sekigahara" - although it was only one day, it lasted longer than the "First Battle of Sekigahara" which only took half a day to decide the outcome.

The battle on Sekigahara officially started today.

But on the Hachioji side, blood and flesh have been flying everywhere since several days ago!

For the convenience of calling, Qing Deng privately referred to this army of the Law-killing Party and the Strange Army as the "Law-Strange Coalition".

Hijikata Toshizo, Elodie and Shimada Kai led thousands of people to fight against the French coalition army with the "Slavic Legion" as its main combat force...

Whether in terms of military strength or individual soldier quality, the former was absolutely at a disadvantage...

This was an extremely difficult battle, but it had to be fought.

Qing Deng was always concerned about Hachioji's battle situation.

Finally, just now, he finally received the battle report sent back by Hijikata Toshizo, which was the blood-stained letter he was reading now.

The content of the letter was not much.

The general meaning, in a word: Thousands of people fought bravely with one heart, and although they successfully delayed the enemy's attack, they suffered heavy casualties!

……

……

A few days ago——

Kanto, Hachioji——

Looking down from the sky, there were black lines across the vast plain.

Reading the error-free version! 6=9+Shu_Bar released this novel for the first time.

Look carefully, you can find that these black lines are trenches.

Thousands of soldiers with one heart and one mind squatted in these trenches, staring at the front, their expressions dominated by strong tension and anxiety.

Hijikata Toshizo held Izumi-no-kami Kanesada in his hand, stood in front of the battle, staring straight ahead with an expressionless face - the western skyline.

Elodie stood beside him, and the two stood side by side.

She tied the sleeves of the light green haori tightly with a cuff, holding Yamato-no-kami Yasudasa, and tied her light golden hair back into a neat high ponytail.

The breeze blew, lifting the hair hanging down from her temples and the tip of her braid.

Compared with Hijikata Toshizo, Elodie was not so calm.

Her facial lines were tense, her red lips were tightly pursed, and she was nervous to the naked eye.

Suddenly, Hijikata Toshizo said:

"Elody, you don't have to force yourself."

"You are different from me. You are not a samurai who 'live and die by the sword'."

"Besides, you are still a woman."

"Even if you retreat to the back, no one will blame you..."

Before the other party finished speaking, Elody interrupted bluntly:

"Mr. Hijikata, things have come to this point. Even if I am scared, I can't retreat."

"You are the vice-captain of the Shinsengumi, and I am the head of the Shinsengumi. As a member of the Shinsengumi, how can I escape from the battlefield?"

"If I run away with my tail between my legs, the reputation of the Shinsengumi will be damaged."

"Besides, I have declared to the thousands of people who are of the same mind that I will fight with them to the end."

"I don't want to be a woman who breaks her promise."

At this point, she raised the Yamato-no-mori Yasutani in her hand, which was very incompatible with her petite body, and raised a confident arc at the corner of her mouth.

"Don't underestimate me."

"No matter what, I am the disciple of 'Niou' Tachibana Aoto!"

"Having me here can boost morale to some extent."

The deputy chief and the chief of the Shinsengumi are sitting in Hachioji together... This is indeed something that can make the soldiers of thousands of people feel excited.

Looking at Elodie who was determined and not moved by his persuasion, Hijikata Toshizo laughed dumbly:

"Okay, I was too tactless just now, please forgive me."

At this time, Shimada Kai's shout came from a distance:

"Deputy chief!"

Hijikata Toshizo looked in the direction of the voice, and saw Shimada Kai leading several cavalrymen - they were elite knights who were ordered to serve as Elodie's guards - running towards him quickly.

In order to protect Elodie's personal safety, Qingdeng not only sent Shimada Kai, but also selected a group of elite soldiers from the cavalry team and ordered them to serve as Elodie's personal guards.

His unintentional move really helped Hijikata Toshizo.

This team of cavalry led by Shimada Kai became a very precious mobile force under his command!

If used well, it may become a decisive force on the battlefield!

Throughout the ages, scouts have always been a military unit that only the most elite soldiers can be competent for.

Apart from other things, just the point of "distinguishing directions in the wilderness" can eliminate more than 90% of the soldiers.

The training level of the thousand-man army of the same mind is quite limited, and few of them can ride horses.

In this case, it is nonsense to ask them to scout the enemy.

Therefore, Hijikata Toshizo can only let Shimada Kai take on this important task.

Shimada Kai rode in front of Hijikata Toshizo and said quickly:

"The enemy army has approached two miles to the west!"

[Note: 1 li in the Edo period = 3.924 kilometers, and two miles is 7.848 kilometers. 】

7.848 kilometers... Such a distance can almost be said to be "within a stone's throw"!

Hijikata Toshizo heard this and muttered:

"Finally here..."

After speaking, he slowly turned around and faced the thousand-man army of the same mind in the trench behind him.

Looking up, they all looked panicked.

There were many people whose cheeks had lost all color and whose legs were trembling.

Although the Thousand People Tongxin had the title of "Thousand People", their total strength was more than a thousand.

When Qing Deng took over the position of the head of the Thousand People Tongxin, the Thousand People Tongxin had a total of 2,000 young and strong men of the right age, that is, 2,000 troops.

In recent days, Hijikata Toshizo has been trying to find out the enemy's intelligence through various channels.

He lacked a skilled intelligence personnel, so he asked Edo for help.

Under the personal supervision of Tokugawa Iemochi, the shogunate burst out with rare efficiency, changing the previous administrative style of "repeatedly passing the buck".

Edo immediately responded to Hijikata Toshizo's request and quickly dispatched their ninja unit - Oniwaban - to send Hachioji to help.

Since the establishment of the Oniwaban, the shogunate has always relied on it and often sent the Oniwaban ninjas to various places to monitor the various fiefdoms.

For this reason, the Oniwaban ninjas have always been well trained.

Compared with the other troops such as the Oban group, the Shoin group, and the Kosei group, the Oniwaban is one of the few that has not been completely corrupted and still has some business capabilities.

However, as the saying goes, "If the upper beam is not straight, the lower beam will be crooked." Even the shogunate itself has become corrupted to this virtue, and the Oniwaban cannot be immune.

Compared with the beginning of its establishment, the intelligence capabilities of the Oniwaban have greatly regressed, and the internal is full of dandies who are lying on the merits of their ancestors and waiting to die.

Therefore, in addition to the Oniwaban, Tokugawa Iemochi also sent out the new Oniwaban directly under him.

In this way, Sae, Yae, and a large number of elite ninjas from the new Oniwaban went out one after another to explore the intelligence of the Faqi coalition from different directions and aspects.

Of course, the Shin-Oniwaban was a secretive unit with a high degree of confidentiality, and only a very few people knew of its existence.

In other words, Hijikata Toshizo was completely unaware of the Shin-Oniwaban's help.

In short, thanks to the unremitting efforts of the ninjas of the Oniwaban and Shin-Oniwaban, various intelligence was continuously sent to Hijikata Toshizo.

He learned that the Faqi coalition was divided into two routes, with 1,500 people from the western route going to Sekigahara to intercept the Shinsengumi, and 2,500 people from the eastern route continuing to march towards Kanto.

The enemy's strength was weakened... This was certainly a good thing for Hijikata Toshizo.

However, 2,000 to 2,500... his troops were still at a disadvantage.

There was no advantage in strength, terrain, or quality... nothing.

The soldiers with a common purpose were not stupid.

A force that quickly captured important towns such as Nagoya Castle and Sunpu Castle with a whirlwind of momentum could not be a good thing.

Next, they will stop this fierce army on the vast plain with no defenses.

It would be strange if the thousand men who have been farming for a lifetime and have never experienced actual combat did not feel scared.

Hijikata Toshizo saw the changes in the demeanor of the soldiers.

After a while, he cleared his throat.

"Everyone!"

He raised his head and shouted, attracting the attention of everyone on the scene.

"The enemy army has arrived!"

"It won't be long before the hideous faces of the enemy will come into our sight."

"As I said before, General Tachibana can't get here for a while, and Edo can't send reinforcements."

"That is to say, we can only rely on our own strength to survive this difficult time!"

Shortly after arriving in Hachioji, Hijikata Toshizo received a message from Edo.

Judging from the size of the land and the complexity of the terrain, Edo is an excellent battlefield for street fighting.

From another perspective, Edo is the most unsuitable place for street fighting.

The reason is its extremely high density of wooden houses.

A burning cut sleeve can turn two-thirds of Edo into white ground, not to mention a cannonball.

If a big fire breaks out, there is no need to fight this battle. The terrifying power of Zhurong alone is enough to defeat the defenders of Edo.

Therefore, if you want to defend Edo, it is imperative to make a major transformation of Edo!

Katsurintaro, who is fully responsible for the "Edo Siege War", quickly launched a large-scale "Edo Renovation Plan".

First, demolish those densely packed houses, widen the roads, and increase the number of Hirokoji.

[Note: Hirokoji: a wide road specially used for fire prevention. ]

Samurai and monks, who only account for 20% of the total population of Edo, own nearly 80% of the land in Edo.

Therefore, the buildings on samurai land and temple and shrine land are very sparse and do not need to be moved.

Only the civilian land is a big problem, which is the focus of the "Edo Reconstruction Plan".

For such a large town, it will take a lot of time and manpower to complete the complete transformation.

Therefore, the Edo defenders represented by the Kobu Army are now busy transforming Edo and arranging the battlefield, and cannot withdraw troops to support Hijikata Toshizo.

Not only can they not come to help, but the Edo side also requires thousands of people to unite and defend Hachioji to buy time for the transformation of Edo!

If the enemy army arrives at the gates of the city before the transformation of Edo is completed, the subsequent siege will become extremely difficult.

There are no reinforcements, and they have to undertake extremely heavy tasks... Although it is very fucked, it is really impossible to blame the shogunate.

After all, the shogunate did its best...

Please give me a monthly ticket! Please give me a recommendation ticket! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

I didn't sleep well last night... Leopard headache... (Leopard groaning.jpg) Because my physical condition is not very good, there are fewer words today, please forgive me (tearful leopard head.jpg)