As Harada Sanosuke said, after a period of chaos, the Choshu Army has gradually restored order.
Although there are still many people running around and shouting, but gradually, more and more people are calming down, gradually stabilizing the order, leading the team, and trying to fight back.
Just looking at the equipment and posture of these guys, you can tell that they are well-trained military elites.
In addition to common weapons such as spears and knives, the shadow of muskets can be vaguely seen.
Qingdeng wanted to make another big fuss, but judging from the current situation, it was no longer suitable to stay here for a long time.
Anyway, I've seen everything I wanted to see, so I won't suffer any loss if I leave now.
Therefore, Qingdeng made a decisive decision and immediately ordered:
"Let's go, retreat!"
After saying that, he tightened the reins in his hands and turned the bull's head.
Harada Sanosuke and others responded one after another, adjusting the direction with uniform movements.
The wedge-shaped cavalry formation suddenly made a 180-degree turn, no longer attacking deep into the camp, but breaking out of the camp along the road it came from.
When the surrounding Changzhou generals saw this, they were all furious.
"Don't let them go!"
"Come on!"
"Damn it! How dare you look down on us! Do you think you can come and leave this place whenever you want?!"
Just a few dozen riders dared to charge directly into their camp, not only causing a scene, but also escaping unscathed... If word of this got out, the world would be ridiculed!
In order to save face and honor, countless Changzhou generals rushed up from all directions, trying to intercept Qingdeng and others.
Of course, a human's two legs cannot outrun a horse's (ox's) four hooves.
Those who hold long guns and shoot knives are destined to be an atmosphere group, shouting twice to increase the atmosphere.
The only ones who could effectively cause damage to Qingdeng and others were the archers holding bows, arrows and muskets.
However, as we all know, the crossbow is a very delicate weapon.
Once it encounters rain or snow, and the bowstring becomes wet, its elasticity will be greatly reduced, which will greatly reduce the range and power of the arrow.
The same goes for guns.
When the bowstring gets wet, the range and power are only affected.
Whether it is a matchlock gun or a flintlock gun, if these guns get wet, they will not even be used and will directly degrade into fire sticks.
The principle of shooting a matchlock gun is to use a burning match rope to ignite the gunpowder.
The shooting principle of a flintlock gun is to use flint to strike the fire door to generate sparks to ignite the gunpowder.
Therefore, when using matchlocks and flintlock guns, great efforts must be made to prevent moisture.
If you can't even shoot out sparks, then why launch one?
At this moment, the Changzhou generals were caught in this dilemma.
The heavy wind and snow destroyed most of their long-range weapons.
Bows and arrows cannot shoot far, and muskets cannot be used.
Although there are gunshots like "bang", "bang" and "bang" from time to time, these sporadic shootings... at best are better than nothing, at worst they are useless!
When breaking out of the encirclement, Qingdeng did not forget to cause chaos to the Changzhou Army.
He raised the Bizen Nagafune in his hand, bit it in his mouth, then took off the Isezawa Hiro from the saddle and turned half of his body.
While turning around, he took advantage of the situation and took advantage of the situation to nock an arrow and load the bow.
Nature never favors anyone.
Since this wind and snow can make Changzhou's archers suffer, it will naturally have a negative impact on Qingdeng's shooting.
However, he directly relied on the super high performance of the bow in his hand, as well as his outstanding archery skills and superior brute force to make up for the negative impact of the wind and snow!
The next moment after he drew the bow like a full moon, the power accumulated in his arms suddenly jumped out - Whoosh!
Arrows shot through the air.
The darkness swallowed up the arrow in an instant - and then there was the sound of something falling to the ground in the distance.
Immediately afterwards, shrill exclamations overwhelmed most of the sounds at the scene.
"The torch fell down! Put out the fire quickly!!"
In the Edo period, people's fear of fire was deeply rooted in their bones.
In an instant, invisible fear spread rapidly among the Changzhou army.
Qingdeng did not shoot anyone again, but drew his bow and shot at the torches!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
One arrow after another, Qingdeng drew the bow repeatedly, and the arrows were all fired.
These downed torches either fell into the snow and went out soon; or they fell onto the tent, turning it into a "fire tent."
In order to suppress the fire, the Changzhou Army had to dedicate part of its troops to put out the fire.
In this way, it will be more difficult to form a joint force to encircle Qingdeng and others.
Faced with this sparse and fragile encirclement network, Qingdeng and others were cutting melons and vegetables all the way, and they were overwhelmed.
In this way, Qingdeng and others broke through the blockades of Changzhou generals without any obstacles, stepped through the camp entrance, and walked away...
The Changzhou generals "hooked" and "hooked" to catch up.
When he couldn't run anymore, he stood there blankly, staring stupidly at the backs of Qingdeng and others that gradually became distant and disappeared in the blink of an eye.
In fact, it took less than 10 minutes from the time Qingden and others stormed the camp to the time they left in a swaggering manner.
But in this short period of 10 minutes, Qingdeng and others used an invincible and fierce offensive, which brought unspeakable shock to the Changzhou generals!
Not only did they kill countless people, but they also destroyed countless facilities.
The Changzhou camp, which was originally neat and orderly, has now become extremely chaotic.
There were broken bodies everywhere.
The ground was trampled and muddy everywhere.
There were cries and wails everywhere.
Compared with 10 minutes ago, the contrast between before and after is so huge that it is jaw-dropping!
The Changzhou generals looked at each other and looked at each other - they all found strong surprise, uneasiness and fear on each other's faces.
…
…
Yizhoukou, the shogunate camp——
After learning that Ayoto and others had returned safely, Hijikata Toshizo, Shannan Keisuke and others immediately led their generals to wait outside the camp.
After a while, the triumphant team appeared in front of them in the distance.
Even though they were still quite a distance apart, they could still smell the stench of blood.
The commotion caused by Seito and others was so great that it once spread to the shogunate camp several kilometers away.
Although they had expected it, many people at the scene couldn't help but be surprised when Qingdeng and others returned.
To put it simply, up and down the whole team, the sword will see blood and the horse (ox) will gasp!
Even the cavalry at the end of the queue, the least likely to encounter the enemy, had a lot of blood splattered on them.
Not to mention Ayoto and Harada Sanosuke who were always charging ahead - they scrapped another piece of clothing.
Such a large area of blood stains cannot be cleaned even if the fabric is damaged.
Because they had just left the battlefield, there was a faint translucent heat—the heat rising from their body temperature and their uncooled blood—wafting out from their bodies.
During this expedition, many "newcomers" came who had rarely or even never seen Qingdeng before.
For example, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, the lord of the Owari clan, and Shigeaaki Matsudaira, the lord of the Echizen clan, had little contact with Aoto before.
Witnessing with their own eyes the God of War who dared to charge straight into the enemy camp with only a few dozen cavalry, and returned safely after being covered in blood, they couldn't help but swallow, their heads lowered unconsciously, and they did not dare to look directly at Qingdeng.
As for those who had known Qingdeng's abilities for a long time, most of them looked at Qingdeng with admiration.
Hijikata Toshizo glanced at the team behind Qingden and grinned:
"It seems like no one is left behind. This surprise attack tonight will probably go down in history."
After rushing out of the enemy camp, Qingdeng had already counted the personnel - there were no casualties!
No one was injured, and no one died... Such a record is truly terrifying!
Therefore, Hijikata Toshizo is not exaggerating. Tonight's night attack is indeed enough to leave a name in the history of Huanghuang.
Although Qingdeng and others were impeccable to count the results of this battle, it is certain that they caused considerable damage to the Changzhou Building.
For the Changzhou Army, compared to the material losses, the damage to morale is more serious and fatal!
Before the war officially started, his camp was attacked. He suffered heavy casualties but was unable to stop the attackers... It was simply a concrete portrayal of the word "cowardly"!
It is not difficult to imagine that people in the Changzhou camp opposite must be in panic right now, and there is an atmosphere of uneasiness in the air.
After a hearty victory, Harada Sanosuke, who felt extremely happy in his heart, looked up to the sky and smiled:
"Hahahaha! It's so refreshing! Those dog thieves in Changshu, must you have seen the power of the 'Immortal Harada'!"
Strangely enough, the contrast between Harada Sanosuke and Aoto is striking.
He was laughing wildly, but looking at Qingdeng next to him... he did not show any smile or joy, but instead had a straight face, looking thoughtful.
Shannan Keisuke seemed to have read through his mind, stepped forward and asked in a deep voice:
"Tachibana-kun, how is the situation?"
Qingdeng shrugged and said calmly:
"The enemy's total strength is similar to what we expected, about 2,000 men, and the quality of the soldiers varies."
"The vast majority of people are like temporarily recruited peasant soldiers, and only a few are well-trained warriors."
"Unfortunately, the Raiders are not on the opposite side."
Hijikata Suisan on the side listened and said silently without sadness or joy:
"This is troublesome. The worst situation has occurred."
Qingdeng smiled helplessly and nodded gently:
"Yeah, this is the worst situation..."
Qingdeng is not afraid of encountering strong enemies, nor is he afraid of directly encountering the surprise team - rather, these situations are what he likes to see.
Encountering a strong enemy is not terrible.
The terrible thing is that there is no strong enemy!
Because they were afraid of the military power of the shogunate, the Kiibei Corps collapsed without a fight - Ayoto didn't think that this troop founded and trained by Takasugi Shinsaku would be so weak.
So, since the Raiders are not here, where will they be?
Deployed in the hinterland of Changzhou?
Would the commanders of Changzhou really be so stupid to give up a great geographical advantage and use their own shortcomings to attack the strengths of others?
Deployed in two other battlefields?
The troops in Shizhoukou and Xiaocangkou directions only made feint attacks. As long as Changzhou's attention was captured, the military force would be considered successful.
Even if Changzhou wins these two battlefields, it will not have any impact on the war situation.
After thinking this, Qingdeng turned his head expressionlessly and looked at the Changzhou Camp behind him.
The wind and snow have not stopped tonight, and there is no chance of the fire spreading.
Therefore, although Qingdeng shot down many torches when he left, causing the Changzhou camp to burst into flames, with the cooperation of the Changzhou generals, the fire gradually stopped and they did not have to worry about having no tents to live in tonight.
Looking at the gradually quiet camp, Qingdeng couldn't help but think to himself:
——Changzhou...what on earth is he doing?
…
…
The next day, early morning——
It snowed for a while, until the sky turned white, and then it gradually stopped.
Although it stopped snowing, the sky was still gray, as if it were filled with lead.
The sun struggled to penetrate the clouds, feebly, and spread over the earth like light dust, illuminating the armor and weapons of the soldiers of the two armies.
Woo——! Woo——! Woo——! Woo——! Woo——!
As soon as the sky dawned, the loud sound of trumpets came from the Tokugawa army positions.
Suddenly, the air in Yizhoukou was filled with a chilling atmosphere!
Along with this exciting horn sound, the sound of thunderous footsteps immediately sounded.
Groups of soldiers came out of the camp and lined up in the field.
The shogunate sent 200,000 troops to conquer Changzhou - in fact, if you think about it, these numbers are purely frightening.
The shogunate did indeed mobilize 36 feudal lords this time, with a total of 200,000 troops. These numbers are indeed real numbers.
But the problem is that it takes time to assemble an army.
Depending on the road conditions in the Edo period and the poor enthusiasm of the feudal lords, when all 200,000 troops are assembled, it will probably not be until spring next year.
Therefore, the number of troops currently arriving at the front line is far less than 200,000.
There were about 30,000 troops arriving at Shizhoukou, 20,000 at Xiaocangkou, and just over 40,000 at Yizhoukou. The rest of the troops were still on the way.
Although less than half of the troops have arrived at the front line, Qingteng no longer wants to wait any longer.
Now that the main Shinsengumi, Aizu Army and Satsuma Army have all arrived, there is no need to wait any longer!
Anyway, the other troops are just making up the numbers, just to build momentum, it doesn't matter whether they help or not.
Of course, although the troops were not all present, the scene of 40,000 troops arrayed in sequence was extremely spectacular!
Looking up, one can see large or small square military formations stretching across the wilderness, and the end of the formations cannot be seen at a glance!
The shogunate troops are forming up one after another and are eager to attack.
On the other hand, the Changzhou Army on the opposite side - they were very quiet and did not make any conspicuous movements. You could only vaguely see many soldiers climbing up the walls of the camp, looking nervous and ready for battle.
The facilities that Qingdeng and others destroyed last night have been largely repaired after a night of emergency repairs.
It seemed that they were planning to hold on to their camp.
Very smart choice.
If you abandon your strong camp and go out into the wild to fight a decisive battle with the superior troops, you will be facing death.
Although Yizhoukou is a narrow area with a mountain on one side and the sea on the other, no fortresses like Shanhaiguan and Hulao Pass were built here. They just built a large stockade out of wood - where the Changzhou Army is currently stationed.
, this camp that we hold fast to.
The reason for this is that the shogunate has been suppressing the vassals for hundreds of years.
In the first year of Yuanwa (1615), the newly established Edo shogunate issued the "One Country, One City Order".
That is, in a vassal state, only one city that is inhabited by a daimyo and serves as the seat of the government can be retained, and all other cities must be abolished.
Most of these abandoned castles were mountain castles built during the Kamakura shogunate period with military defense functions.
In this way, most of the cities were demolished and there were no longer many castles like during the Warring States Period, and the strength of the vassals was greatly weakened.
Therefore, although Choshu is large, it only has one city, Hagi Castle (the feudal hall of Choshu).
Because it was not possible to build a city, the Jinguan dangerous fortresses represented by the "Five Territories" within the Changzhou Territory were only large villages built with wood.
Although it has defensive functions, it is not much and can basically only play a role that is better than nothing.
Not to mention the iron walls of Shanhaiguan and Hulao Pass, even if Changzhou built an ordinary city with bricks and stones at Yizhoukou, it would still be a huge nightmare for the shogunate.
At this moment, the busiest unit in the shogunate was undoubtedly the 11th Division (artillery unit) of the Shinsengumi.
"Move quickly! Don't delay! Bring up all the cannons! Today's battle is the first battle of this expedition! Our 11th Squadron must show the majesty of the Shinsengumi!"
Risaburo Nomura (the deputy captain of the 11th Squadron) raised his voice and commanded the soldiers of the 11th Squadron in an orderly manner.
Cannons were rolled out one by one and carried to the firing position.
The black muzzle pointed diagonally at the sky, towards the Changzhou position on the opposite side.
While the 11th Squadron was preparing for the bombardment in full swing, Abe Juro (Captain of the 11th Squadron) was in the main formation, waiting for Aoto's order.
Qingdeng's majestic horse was sitting on the horse with a golden sword, looking at the enemy army opposite him with an expressionless face.
The generals sat on the left and right sides below him in order according to their status.
To be honest, even today, Qingdeng still doesn't understand what Changzhou is planning, let alone where the team of surprise soldiers who are Changzhou's hope are gone.
However, it is always right to try to defeat the Changzhou Army on the opposite side and occupy Yizhoukou.
Since forming the artillery team, Qingdeng has gradually become path-dependent in the use of tactics - no matter what, let's fire a few damn shots first!
Soon, after receiving the news that "Team 11 is ready", he gave the order to Juro Abe without sadness or joy:
"Fire! Break through Yizhoukou within half a day!"
Juro Abe responded loudly:
"yes!"
Then, he picked up the hem of his hakama and quickly returned to the artillery position.
As usual, let’s start with a baseline shot.
Juro Abe pulled open the lens barrel of the telescope, looked at the location of the Changshu camp, and quickly issued an order:
"Lift up 5 degrees! Turn right 13 degrees! Launch!"
boom!
The artillery team responsible for firing the benchmark bomb completed the shooting with smooth and smooth movements.
The flying artillery shells drew sharp parabolas in mid-air and hit heavily near the Changzhou camp.
With a bang, the explosion spread in all directions.
This shell and this explosion scared away countless birds! The silence of the scene was broken by this!
Juro Abe glanced at the impact point of the cannonball, and immediately issued a new, more accurate instruction:
"Move up 4 degrees, turn right 10 degrees! Prepare for salvo!"
This time, it's no longer a baseline shot, but a formal attack!
Gululululu...!
Turn the handle and adjust the muzzle, making a loud sound.
After each cannon pointed at the same target, Juro Abe shouted at the loudest volume he could:
"put!!"
In an instant, each artillery gun sprayed out dazzling tongues of flame!
The shells rose high one after another, and then fell like raindrops towards the Changzhou camp.
The air was filled with invisible roars and roars.
A moment later, the flames from the exploding shell lit up the sky.
The flames jumped up like a fountain, and the Changzhou camp was engulfed by the flames.
Cleaning the barrel, filling in new shells, and firing - all the actions and processes of the 11th Squadron are really orderly and well-trained.
Countless artillery shells streaked across the sky one after another, and the barrage continued.
Even Yōho Matsudaira and others, who had seen the power of the Shinsengumi Artillery Team before, could not help but feel a chill on the back of their necks and their faces changed color.
Even they were like this, let alone Tokugawa Keikatsu, Matsudaira Shigeaki and others who met the Shinsengumi for the first time and saw such a scene for the first time.
Every one of them was dumbfounded, and a few of them even had their jaws almost dropped to the ground.
Invisibly, Seito once again demonstrated the strength of the Shinsengumi and demonstrated his absolute dominance in Gyeonggi!
After a brief shock, the Lord of Owari Domain, Tokugawa Yoshikatsu, gradually came back to his senses.
Later, I saw him flattering Qingdeng with a flattering smile:
"General Tachibana, your new Sengumi... is really amazing..."
He hesitated for a long time before finally squeezing out the word "terrible".
There was nothing he could do about it. This unprecedented situation shocked him greatly.
After exhausting everything he had learned in his lifetime, he could not think of a more appropriate and accurate word.
Faced with Tokugawa Qingsheng's compliments, Qingden smiled slightly and greeted him casually.
Qingdeng originally thought that he would encounter a counterattack from the Changzhou Artillery Team next.
Unexpectedly...after waiting for a long time, the artillery shells from Changzhou never arrived.
Regarding this current situation, Toudo Heisuke expressed the questions in his heart for everyone:
"Changzhou...doesn't there be cannons?"
Although Changzhou has always practiced the political philosophy of "respecting and opposing foreigners", their army has a certain number of guns and artillery.
Although the guns and cannons they used were antiques, what is certain is that the Changzhou Army was not a purely feudal army.
In the Battle of Shimonoseki and the Summer Battle of Kyoto, there are records of Changshu generals using guns and artillery.
Why didn't the Changzhou Army fight back with artillery? It's unlikely that all the artillery was lost in previous wars - this question lingered in everyone's mind.
"..."
Qingdeng said nothing, frowning slightly while staring closely at the Changzhou Army who was knocked upside down by the hail of shells.
After the 11th Squadron launched more than ten rounds of shelling, Qingdeng slowly issued a new order:
"Team 8, go into battle!"
*******
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