I formed the strongest swordsman group

Looking at Takasugi Shinsaku who knew he would die but still fought until the last moment, Aomori didn't say anything.

He took a deep look at the other party's body, then silently pulled off the light green feather fabric on his body and lightly covered it.

In terms of stance, he is at odds with his opponent.

In terms of friendship, they were completely unfamiliar with each other and had only seen each other a few times.

Despite this, Qingdeng does not hate this powerful enemy - he deserves Qingdeng's courtesy.

At this time, rapid footsteps came from behind Qingdeng.

Suddenly, Todohei, who was covered in blood, pushed aside the bushes and stepped into the open space full of traces of battle.

After discovering Qingdeng, he hurriedly shouted:

"Mr. Tachibana, you are here!"

Qingdeng turned to look at him, skipping the pleasantries and asked directly:

"Heisuke, how is the battle going?"

Toudo Heisuke said quickly without thinking:

"Our army has an overwhelming upper hand! But... the enemy's resistance is very tenacious! They are fighting and retreating! Every time we take a step forward, we have to make a certain sacrifice!"

Qingdeng nodded calmly and seemed not surprised by this situation.

He walked aside, picked up the broken blade of Ding Guishen, put it away solemnly, and then turned around and headed east.

"Heisuke, let's go, let's give the enemy the final blow!"

"yes!"

…

…

The air was filled with the fishy smell of blood and the burning smell of gunpowder.

These smells are mixed with snow mist and billowing smoke, filling the foothills and making it difficult to breathe.

The piercing shouts of killing lasted for a long time, almost paralyzing the eardrums.

In terms of the size of the troops, this battle...the Second Sekigahara Battle was far from being a grand battle.

The total strength of both sides was less than 8,000, which could not be compared with the first Sekigahara battle in which the total strength of both sides exceeded 150,000.

But in terms of intensity, the former is worse than the latter!

The cold light of the sword flickered.

The guns were spitting fire.

The fighting continued.

Death continues!

Each foot stepped violently on the snow and the hard ground.

One person fell, and more came forward!

This is a battle in which neither side is allowed to retreat. This is a truly bloody battle.

In the lush woods, there are chopping, shooting, chasing, and retreating everywhere.

The pure white snow is covered with red blood here and black with gunpowder there.

The swordsmen cut down the spear array.

The gunmen pulled the triggers and shot down the oncoming swordsmen.

Before the gunners could reload, the swordsmen rushed up and killed them.

On the snow-covered foothills, dripping blood like red waves became a dazzling embellishment.

The soldiers of the two armies hugged each other tightly, inseparable, and repeatedly fought for every piece of land under their feet, sometimes moving forward, sometimes backward; sometimes spreading apart, sometimes gathering... The ever-changing battlefield situation was dizzying.

Although the Qi soldiers were brave, their huge disadvantage in strength gradually put them at a disadvantage.

Under the repeated attacks of the Shinsengumi, the team's frontline gradually weakened, and more and more loopholes appeared.

In the midst of this continuous fierce battle, the person who won the "Capture the Flag" victory was Isamu Kondo!

"Ooooooooh!"

Isamu Kondo spread his arms and waved Nagasone Kotetsu in his hands like a windmill.

Wherever the blade passed, handfuls of blood mist were splashed out, and the remaining limbs were dancing wildly.

Group after group of enemy soldiers came from all directions, but no one could stop him!

Kondo Yong became more and more courageous as he fought, screaming like a beast.

He is like splitting into three or five people. He rushes right, runs left, rushes forward, and retreats. He flexibly changes his footsteps and postures, making the siege of the enemy soldiers invisible.

While dodging and defending, he saw the right moment and continuously delivered fatal blows.

Every time Nagaso Nie Kotetsu swings out, one or even multiple enemy soldiers will fall!

After a while, the enemy soldiers who came forward fell down like weeds.

The lights of Ayoto, Souji and others are so dazzling that many people have forgotten: Kondo Isamu is the fourth generation head of the Tengen Rishin-ryu clan!

In terms of personal strength alone, he is undoubtedly one of the strongest swordsmen in the Shinsengumi!

Kondo Isamu is extraordinarily brave today - the "unwillingness" in his heart greatly stimulates his fighting power!

Toshizo Hijikata personally went to Hachioji and commanded thousands of people to resist the French and Qi coalition forces.

The General Division was exhausted in yesterday's battle.

His two closest family members both made great contributions in this battle and made considerable sacrifices.

And what about yourself?

At the thought of this, Isamu Kondo couldn't help but feel his cheeks heat up.

Although he is not related by blood, he has always been considered the elder brother of Hijikata Tozozo and Souji.

As their eldest brother, how could he lag behind his younger brothers and sisters?

Driven by this "unwillingness", he wielded Nagasone Kotetsu tirelessly and regardless of pain.

At this moment, just as he was cutting down another group of enemy soldiers, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a large Ichimonji three-star flag.

Looking at this extremely conspicuous flag and the tents scattered around, he realized belatedly: he had already broken into the team's main formation!

He immediately cheered up and shouted without looking back:

"This is the enemy's main position! Victory is close at hand! Follow me! Clear all obstacles in front of you! Cut down their flags!"

The soldiers immediately behind him shouted in unison in response.

Under the leadership of Kondo Isamu, they were unstoppable.

Although they became the first unit to attack the Qi Bing team's main formation, they paid a heavy price for it.

Their number has dropped from hundreds to the current forty or fifty.

Since this is the enemy's main formation, its defensive strength cannot be underestimated!

In the blink of an eye, like ants disturbed in an ant nest, groups of enemy soldiers emerged from different places and corners, rushing towards Kondo Isamu and others!

Kondo Isamu and the others are like a small boat in the vast ocean, facing the surging waves in all directions alone!

To defeat the masses with a small number... this is a huge crisis for ordinary people. But for Kondo Isamu, the stronger and more numerous the enemies are, the more they can stimulate his fighting spirit!

The talent "Lonely" is activated!

Soon enough, Kondo Isamu gave a short shout, galloped forward like a furious wave, and quickly slashed Nagasone Kotetsu in his hand. In the blink of an eye, three people fell under his sword.

When he slashed again, two more people were chopped to the ground.

With the help of his superb skills, he effectively uses the action of sheathing the knife to turn it into a fierce attack.

When he pulled Nagasone Kotetsu back to his hand, he took advantage of the situation and chopped down an enemy soldier on his side.

He lowered his upper body, immersed himself in the charge, and repeatedly released his offensive, cutting down every enemy soldier that appeared within his field of vision.

Even though his eyes were blurred by the splatter of blood, he never stopped moving his feet or holding the knife in his hand.

He uses all the moves of Natural Rishin-ryu to the extreme and is invincible.

Finally, he succeeded in reaching the one-monji three-star flag!

At the same moment when the thick-mouthed flagpole entered his slashing range, he raised the blade, raised the upper right section of the sword, and slashed down diagonally!

With a snap, he made a smooth incision.

The several-meter-high flag swayed a few times and then slowly fell down.

While Kondo Isamu suppressed his excitement and excitement, he raised the Nagasone Kotetsu in his hand high, pointed the tip of the sword to the sky, and shouted loudly:

"The enemy's formation has been broken!"

Seeing the Ichimonji three-star flag that crashed to the ground, the soldiers around Kondo Yuu and those a little further away let out loud cheers and spontaneously shouted "Eh! Eh! Oh!" The winning coax.

The flag of the Raiders fell down, but the members of the Raiders here showed no intention of retreating.

They seemed determined to fight to the death and attacked Kondo Isamu and others without fear of death. They had the spirit of "I will support you even if I die".

Facts have proved that momentum is indeed the most important fighting quality.

After cutting down the flag of the Raiders, Isamu Kondo couldn't help but feel happy. His tense nerves relaxed, and fatigue and pain surged through his body like a tide.

And this caused him to lose more than half of his own momentum, and he could not return to his heroic state in a short period of time.

Facing the fierce attack of the enemy soldiers, his response became difficult and he was overwhelmed.

"Drink ah ah ah ah ah!"

Suddenly, a hoarse shout came from behind Kondo Isamu - an enemy soldier came in with a sword, and with a powerful momentum, he slashed Kondo Isamu's back like a mountain.

Isamu Kondo had no time to turn around and could only retreat to the right driven by his instinctive reaction.

His dodge speed is indistinguishable from the opponent's slashing speed.

It was hard to tell whether he ducked first or whether the opponent's knife struck him first.

At this critical moment, a knife stretched out from the diagonal stab, blocking the slash for Kondo Isamu, and then drew a graceful arc in mid-air, cutting down the enemy soldier.

"Yong, I kept you waiting for a long time."

Kondo Isamu turned his head, and after seeing the person clearly, he twitched the corner of his mouth and showed a half-helpless, half-joking smile:

"Ju-kun, I have discovered that you are very good at 'appearing on time', always appearing at the most timely and clever moment."

Qingden smiled slightly, turned his right wrist, held a sword in his hand, and wiped away the remaining blood on the sword, then moved to Kondo Isamu and stood side by side with him.

The enemy soldiers formed a half-moon formation and surrounded them both.

"Yong, can you still fight?"

"No problem!"

In the next breath, the two great swordsmen of the Natural Rise and Shinryu style strode toward the enemy group in front of them.

…

…

The wind and snow gradually stopped, and the clouds became thinner.

The sun slowly climbed to its highest point in the sky.

The warm warmth penetrates the gaps in the clouds and spreads to the world.

The road from the top of the mountain to the east foot was covered with mutilated corpses!

There are the remains of members of the Shinsengumi team wearing light green haori, as well as the remains of members of the Raid team.

Today, there are still many members of the Kaiju Team who resolutely surrendered to the "Decisive Battle of Yodo" in order to fight against the Shinsengumi.

There are even many people like Takasugi Shinsaku who, even though they had taken "Decisive Battle" yesterday, today they swallowed the red pill without hesitation and were determined to face death.

With the blessing of "Decisive Battle Yodo", they made up for the deficiencies in strength, morale and other aspects, causing great damage to the Shinsengumi.

Therefore, at first glance, it is impossible to tell which side has more corpses!

It can be said to be a road forged with blood!

Although it was extremely difficult and there were countless casualties, as if the entire Nangong Mountain was dyed scarlet with blood, such a huge sacrifice was not without reward.

The various fronts of the team were finally unable to withstand the onslaught of the Shinsengumi.

At this moment, looking across the entire Nangong Mountain, there is no trace of a member of the Qi Corps!

They were expelled from the territory of Nangong Mountain by the Shinsengumi team members!

Although there are still a lot of remnant soldiers, and if they really want to fight to the end, they will bring a lot of trouble to the Shinsengumi, but perhaps they have received the order to "retreat". They no longer love to fight and never look back. Withdrew.

Qingto speculated: Now that Takasugi Shinsaku is dead, the person in charge of commanding the team should be their military advisor Omura Masujiro.

After the entire army was driven out of Nangong Mountain, he had no enthusiasm and immediately calmly ordered a retreat to preserve the last remaining strength... Qingdeng had to give high praise to this decisive and wise decision.

The vast Nangong Mountain is the team's biggest support against the Shinsengumi.

There was no way to stop the Shinsengumi's offensive on the vast plains.

If the battle starts on the plains, the two ace units of the Shinsengumi - the Artillery Corps (11th Division) and the Cavalry (7th and 10th Divisions) - will have a chance to show off their power.

What's more, the current Shinsengumi is also assisted by a guest army called the Aizu Cavalry.

Plains are no different from mountains, and there are no complex terrains for avoiding artillery fire.

Putting aside the assaults of the 7th and 10th divisions, the saturation bombing of the 11th division alone was enough to make the team of surprise troops fall off their feet.

Therefore, for the Qi soldiers, without the barrier of Nangong Mountain, there is no point in continuing this battle.

Even if they continue to fight, they won't last long and will only increase casualties.

Qingdeng had a clear order: There is no need to pursue the enemy troops. If they leave Nangong Mountain, just let them go and ignore them.

As a result, the soldiers of each division of the Shinsengumi stood at the foot of the east side of Nangong Mountain, staring blankly at the fleeing enemy troops.

The Qi soldiers left Nangong Mountain and Sekigahara... What this meant was difficult for the team members to realize in a short time.

After experiencing a brief daze, I don't know who started it, and suddenly shouted "Changzhou has withdrawn its troops!".

Immediately afterwards, cheers rang out one after another throughout all the teams and throughout Nangong Mountain!

"We've captured Sekigahara!"

"We win! We win!"

"Long live the Shinsengumi!"

"Long live Tachibana Aoden!"

Check out the 16-9 book bar to see the correct version!

"Eh! Eh! Oh!"

"Eh! Eh! Oh!"

"Eh! Eh! Oh!"

…

The noisy cheers gradually merged into a uniform, louder and louder cheer.

Compared to this increasingly heated and high-spirited atmosphere, Qingden's immediate reaction was very calm.

He threw away the unmarked knife he picked up casually in his palm, and stared expressionlessly in the direction in which the team was escaping, without much joy on his face.

After a while, he raised his gaze slightly and looked at the distant eastern sky.

Kondo Isamu standing next to him said calmly:

"What a difficult victory..."

Qingdeng nodded lightly:

"Well, yeah."

The specific casualties today have not yet been counted.

However, just by looking at the corpses on the ground, you can tell that this number is definitely not that small!

Whether it was the overall combat power of the Qi Bing team or the terrifying "Decisive Battle of Lake", it was beyond the expectations of Qingteng and others.

Not only were there heavy casualties, but the time it took to capture Sekigahara also exceeded their expectations.

Before the war began, Qingto and others planned to break through Sekigahara within two days.

On the opposite side, Takasugi Shinsaku and others planned to block the Shinsengumi in Sekigahara for at least three days.

In the end, this battle that was destined to go down in history lasted for two and a half days... Judging from the length of time, the two sides were able to draw a tie, with no one getting any favors.

Although it cannot be regarded as a tragic victory, it is indeed as Kondo Isamu said: This is a difficult victory.

At this time, Isamu Kondo suddenly opened his mouth big enough to fit his entire fist and grinned:

"Tangerine-kun, let's have some fun now."

"No matter what, we won this second Sekigahara battle that lasted two and a half days!"

"In the first battle of Sekigahara 300 years ago, the Eastern and Western armies fought for only half a day to decide the winner, but we fought for two and a half days."

"In terms of days, our Sekigahara battle this time is much more intense!"

Hearing this, Qingdeng chuckled a few times, and the tense facial lines relaxed.

Suddenly, he let out a long breath, and an obvious look of tiredness appeared on his cheeks.

After the entire battle, he not only fought the entire battle, but also charged forward in every battle.

If Qingdeng was a small soldier, his performance and military exploits in this battle alone would be enough to be promoted to a general!

The fierce battle lasted for two and a half days, even Qingdeng couldn't help but feel tired.

If there was a bed now...no! Don't call it a bed! Even if it was just a flat pit dug for Qingdeng, he would crawl into it like a seal and sleep.

Although he really wanted to rest now and had an extremely urgent desire for a warm and soft bed, he knew very well: now is not the time to rest!

He took a deep breath, braced himself, his relaxed expression tightened again, and said to Kondo Isamu sonorously:

"Yong, help me send an order to the cavalry in the rear - assemble immediately and prepare to attack!"

Isamu Kondo raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth subconsciously, wanting to say something.

But he quickly recovered, closed his newly opened mouth, and said solemnly:

"Well, I understand."

The victory in the Second Sekigahara War was certainly exciting.

However... this is just the beginning.

The life-and-death bloody battle with the Qi soldiers in Sekigahara is just a "process", not a "goal".

The ultimate goal of Qingdeng and the others has always remained the same, which is to rush to Kanto to stop the French and Qi coalition forces! Save Edo!

Suppose we win Sekigahara but lose Edo... it means the failure of the strategy! All the blood shed in the past two and a half days was in vain!

Therefore, from the very beginning, Qingto was preparing for "rushing to aid Kanto" after taking Sekigahara.

He deployed all the cavalry, including the Aizu cavalry, in the rear as a reserve force.

Even when the battle was the most tense and intense, they were never sent to help.

Firstly, it’s because sending cavalry to fight in mountain warfare is like asking a rooster to lay eggs—it’s not its job, so don’t let it do it.

Secondly, if you want to save Edo, you can only rely on the high mobility of the cavalry!

As far as the current situation is concerned, there is no doubt that the infantry are no longer able to participate in the subsequent "rush to the aid of Kanto".

First came the "Second Great Revolution of China", rushing back to Gyeonggi from Changzhou at an abnormal speed.

After a short rest, he rushed to Sekigahara and started a life-and-death bloody battle with the strongest troops of the Choshu clan.

The continuous high pressure has made the infantry of the Shinsengumi exhausted and overwhelmed.

Let them reenact the "Second Great Revolution of China" and cross the entire East China Sea street at that exaggerated speed to Kanto... This is undoubtedly a fantasy!

No matter how elite the infantrymen of the Shinsengumi are, they are still mortal bodies.

Since the infantry can no longer run...all hope of rescuing Edo can only be pinned on the cavalry!

Qingdeng tried his best to preserve the strength of the cavalrymen for this moment.

The immediate obstacles have been cleared, and it’s time to lead all the cavalry to Kanto!

It's not time to rest yet...the real battle comes next!

Just when Isamu Kondo turned back and prepared to convey the military order, a messenger from the Ninth Division hurriedly pushed aside the bushes and ran towards Qingto in mourning.

"Lord, lord! I finally found you! The eighth prince came with news! The eighth prince came with news!"

Hearing this, Qingto and Isamu Kondo were both stunned.

News of the Eighth Prince came... Coupled with the sad expression on the commander's command... a very strong sense of foreboding suddenly surged into Qingden's heart.

He asked hurriedly:

"What's wrong with the Eighth Prince?"

The messenger said in a trembling voice:

"The Eighth, Eighth Prince was lost and lost two days ago!"

…

…

2 days ago——

Eight Princes, somewhere——

boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!

The continuous sound of explosions was the only sound here and now, and all other movements were covered up by it.

The artillery shells of the French-Qich coalition seemed to be endless.

Every morning, they would wash the ground with artillery shells and repeatedly bomb the position where thousands of people were united. Only after it was blown to the surface of the moon, would they send infantry forward to fight.

At this moment, the soldiers who were united by a thousand people...corrected, it should be said that the defeated soldiers who were united by a thousand people were hiding in the bomb shelters, waiting numbly for the bombing to end.

No matter how you judge it, the combat power and achievements of thousands of people working together are amazing!

As a militiaman, he was able to withstand the fierce attack of the tiger and wolf troops on the undefeable plains for five days!

Such an achievement was beyond the expectations of both the enemy and our own people.

No matter Hijikata Toshizo, Elodie and others, or Shuten Doji, Katsura Kogoro and others on the opposite side, they never expected that this "Hachioji Offensive and Defense Battle" would last for such a long time!

However... no matter how brave the thousands of soldiers are, they still cannot cover up this huge gap in combat power.

So far in the war, the casualties of thousands of soldiers working together... are unbearable to watch.

In a word, there are only about a thousand soldiers who can still move and have not escaped.

Reducing the number of employees by nearly half but not collapsing... To be honest, this is already an amazing achievement.

However, it has reached its limit.

Although no one said it clearly, everyone could feel it: today is the "last day"!

At this moment, Toshizo Hijikata was sitting alone in a bullet shelter.

The fierce fighting for days and the heavy pressure made him look extremely embarrassed.

His face was red and black, his long black trench coat and black suit were stained with blood, and there was thick mud stuck to the soles of his boots.

Although his body was full of filth, the looming arrogance on his face never dissipated.

At this moment, he was silently looking through the photos in his hand.

These photos were the ones he had previously asked photographer Kenzo Tamoto to take for the Shinsengumi generals.

There is a group photo of the Shinsengumi generals, a group photo of the "Tsueikan faction", and a photo of him with Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke (the three major prostitutes of the Shinsengumi)...

Among these many photos, his eyes stayed on two photos for a long time.

One is a photo of him with Isamu Kondo and Souji.

Kondo Isamu crossed his arms, grinned widely, and had a refreshing look on his face.

Souji stood between Kondo Isamu and Hijikata Toshizo, with a bright smile and his eyes bent into beautiful crescents.

Perhaps due to the influence of these two people, Toshizo Hijikata, who usually has a straight face, shows a calm and warm smile in this photo.

As for the other photo, it is a photo of him and Qingdeng.

Compared to the photo of him with Isamu Kondo and Souji, the photo of him and his brother-in-law Aoto is much more serious.

The two of them sat upright on two horse harnesses placed side by side, with their hands on the sabers around their waists and their expressions solemn.

Hijikata Toshizo's eyes glanced back and forth between the two photos, and emotions slowly appeared on his originally expressionless face - the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and a smile appeared.

Suddenly, the explosions outside suddenly stopped.

The extremely noisy world suddenly became quiet.

The only sound around was the "buzzing" sound deep in the ears.

The shelling stopped, which was both a good thing and a bad thing.

The good thing is that you no longer have to listen to this constant, maddening explosion.

The bad thing is... after these five days of fierce fighting, the soldiers with thousands of people all understand what the end of the bombardment means - the infantry of the French-Qich coalition are about to come over!

At this time, a childish voice came into Hijikata Touzan's ears:

"Mr. Hijikata, are you looking for me?"

A short figure got into the bullet hole where Toshizo Hijikata was hiding - it was Tetsunosuke Ichimura, the nickname of Toshizo Hijikata.

Looking at Tetsunosuke Ichimura who was ducking in front of him, Toshizo Hijikata quickly put away the photo in his hand.

"Tetsunosuke, I have a very important task for you."

A very important task - upon hearing this set of words, Ichimura Tetsunosuke immediately cheered up and held his chest high:

"Mr. Hijikata, please do as you please! No matter what kind of mission it is, I will not let you down!"

Hijikata Toshizo smiled slightly:

"Well said."

After that, he took out a piece of dirty cloth from his waist, and then took out a photo from his arms - this was a solo photo of him, with his hair slicked back, wearing a handsome long black windbreaker, Wearing a crisp black suit and big shiny leather boots, Izumi Mamoru Kanesada held his hands on his waist and looked diagonally towards the camera lens.

He solemnly placed his single photo in the center of the piece of cloth, then took out a small section of hair - this was the hair he had just cut off - and placed it next to the photo, then wrapped it tightly , and handed it over to Ichimura Tetsunosuke.

"Get out of here and help me deliver this to my family in Tama Hino."

For a moment, Ichimura Tetsunosuke was stunned on the spot.

The first chapter of the new year! In order to seek good fortune, Leopard and Leopard must work hard this month! Want more updates! For the sake of the 7200 updated chapters, please be sure to vote for this book monthly! (Crying leopard head.jpg)

Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

PS: Hijikata Toizo asked Ichimura Tetsunosuke to take his photos and hair, escape from the battlefield, go to Hino, and give them to his family - this is actually a historical fact. This is how the real photo of Hijikata Toshizo has been handed down.