Not far to the north of Anthony and others, 11 members of the anti-barbarian group were squatting on the snow, holding matchlock guns, and fired a volley at Anthony and others who were escaping.
In order for tonight's operation to end with the most satisfactory outcome, their anti-barbarian team specially obtained 12 matchlock guns that were said to be produced by the Mito Domain and capable of launching long-range attacks.
One of them was in Suehiro's hand and was used by Suehiro as a starting gun.
The other 11 guns were all handed over to the team members who had been conducting shooting training for a period of time.
The matchlock gun, an outdated weapon that has been out of date for more than two hundred years, naturally has extremely poor shooting accuracy and shooting speed.
When a gun is fired, whether the bullet hits the target depends entirely on luck.
If more than a hundred matchlocks can be gathered together, and the musketeers line up in a tight formation and fire together, the power and accuracy will be considerable.
But the anti-barbarian group only had 11 matchlock guns... Therefore, to be honest, Suehiro and the others did not expect that the batch of matchlock guns they had made great efforts to obtain would have any great effect.
It would be best to be able to hit Anthony and the others and kill them directly.
If you miss...that doesn't matter, it can be used to build momentum.
Eleven hot projectiles roared towards Anthony and his party who were running towards the horses.
The hit rate of the matchlock gun really lived up to expectations - most of the projectiles either stuck in the snow or flew to unknown places, without hitting anyone.
However - unintentionally planting willows to create shade.
One of the projectiles somehow flew and hit a horse that Xiaoshi's subordinates had worked hard to fetch!
Hui Hui Hui Hui Hui Hui——! !
The shot horse roared in agony.
The two guards who were dragging the horse were unprepared for the incident and were knocked to the ground by the mad horse.
The projectile hit the vital part of the horse. The horse screamed in pain and flapped its hooves. After a moment, it fell on its side and fell to the ground. Its hooves twitched. It won't take long to stop. Moved.
These horses are not war horses that have been on the battlefield.
They have never heard the sound of gunfire, and have not been baptized by the sound of gunfire.
The three horses dragged by Komuro's men were already in extremely unstable mental states. Now one of them collapsed, and the other two were also stimulated by the gunshots fired at close range. They were finally completely frightened at this time. .
The two horses that were still alive raised their front hooves high and sounded a shrill horn.
The guards who dragged the two horses held them tightly, trying to calm them down.
But in terms of strength, humans can't beat this kind of horse that can be used to pull a cart and is still in a state of madness.
The two horses successfully threw away the guards who were pulling them, spread their hooves and fled into the distance.
"What are you doing?!" Looking at the two horses that escaped, Xiao Shi roared angrily at the subordinates who failed to hold the horses.
The horses used to transport Anthony and the others to escape were gone... Xiao Shi could only feel that his fingertips and toes had become cold, and an even greater amount of sweat dripped from his face.
Anthony also felt like he had fallen into a cold lake.
The horses were gone... no one needed to explain to Anthony what this meant.
Compared with Anthony and others who were in an ice cave, the morale of the rebel group increased greatly after seeing that the horses that Anthony and others used to escape were gone.
Suehiro, who is solely responsible for tonight's operation, and Yamada, who serves as Suehiro's deputy, have a very clear division of labor.
After the operation began, Suehiro took a reserve team of 20 people and stayed in the "main formation", ready to lead the reserve team to take over if any emergency occurred.
Yamada was responsible for personally leading the attack and serving as the "frontline commander."
Yamada is now located not far to the south of Anthony and others.
After seeing one of the three horses dead and two running away, Yamada immediately waved the sword in his hand excitedly.
"The horses of the Yidis are gone! They are now unable to fly!"
"Come on! Yi Di is right there! Quickly take off the heads of Yi Di and these scum who work for Yi Di!"
The blood-red "ocean" becomes more energetic.
Komuro hurriedly turned his head and looked in all directions.
No matter which direction he glanced, he could only see blood-red feathers flying.
Xiaoshi gritted his teeth with a force that seemed to break his teeth, and then raised the knife in his hand high:
"Everyone! Come closer! Let's fight out!"
In the chaos of the barbarian group's invasion of the camp, many of Xiaoshi's subordinates had died in the chaos.
Currently, there are only 28 subordinates left with Komuro.
After hearing Xiao Shi's call, the remaining 28 people hurriedly gathered around Xiao Shi as if they had found a backbone.
Forcibly carving out a bloody path - this was the last resort Komuro could think of.
Xiao Shi commanded his subordinates to form a cone-shaped formation, protecting Anthony and Elodie in the center of the "cone". He himself served as the tip of the "cone", leading the "cone" towards Rush to the west where the number of enemies seems to be the smallest!
Saito also joined the fight.
Saito could see it clearly - he, Qingto, Anthony, Komuro and the others were now in a completely estranged relationship.
Working together with Komuro and the others, there is still a chance to break out of the siege and win a glimmer of hope!
The number of enemies approaching two hundred attacked fiercely... Saito had no way to distract himself from protecting Qingto's safety in this level of melee.
In order to concentrate on killing the enemy, Saito warned Aonto, Anthony, and Elodie in a very serious tone to stay in the center of the safest "cone", then he took the knife and joined the "cone peak" centered on the small room. "Among them.
Anthony and Osaka Jodai have a pretty good friendship. It is impossible for Osaka Jodai to send some useless wine bags and rice bags to protect his friends.
Regardless of their friendship with each other, Anthony and Elodie's French identity made Osaka Jodai dare not send some trash to escort Anthony and the others to Edo.
Komuro and others who were sent by Osaka Castle to serve as bodyguards for Anthony and the others were all top-notch elites in Osaka Prefecture.
Although Komuro looks fair and fat, he is actually from a famous family: a master of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu, and the winner of the Shinto Mu-Nen-ryu Futsutsuden.
Although he is fat, he is extremely agile.
Shinto Muken-ryu focuses on practicality in combat and overwhelming the opponent's momentum and power.
"Power" - this is the most striking feature of Shinto Muken-ryu.
Komuro was seen swinging his saber like a wheel.
Every time the sword flashes, an enemy will be killed.
Saito, who joined the "Conical Spire" and was the winner of the No-Left-Free All-in-One, also fought bravely against the enemy.
"Leroy!" Anthony, whose eyes were filled with red bloodshot eyes, suddenly shouted to Leroy, "Have you seen Kiryu?! Have you seen where he is?! As long as there is Kiryu We can win here! As long as Kiryu is here, we can win! Such a few enemies are nothing to that monster Kiryu! (French)"
After asking Leroy loudly, Anthony raised his head, looked around, and opened his eyes wide, looking for Kiryu.
Leroy: "Kiryu? (French)"
Can we win as long as Kiryu is here?
What use can that old guy, who is at least 90 years old and nearly 30 years older than her master, do?
Leroy didn't understand what Anthony meant by what he just said.
But she still quickly responded to Anthony honestly:
"No!" Leroy shook his head vigorously, "Neither the lady nor I saw that Kiryu Kazuma just now! (French)"
"Tsk! Damn it! Damn it! Where did he go?! (French)"
While Anthony was spewing out all kinds of swear words in his native language, he handed Elodie in his arms to Leroy beside him. After asking Leroy to protect Elodie, he hurriedly removed it from the middle of the clothes. He took out a brand new pistol with a shiny metallic luster.
Colt in the United States recently developed a new revolver: the 0.44-inch m1847 revolver.
Anthony always carries this pistol with him, specifically for self-defense.
Anthony held the pistol tightly with both hands and aimed at an opponent not far away who was taller and more suitable as a target.
Anthony tried his best to support Komuro and the others with his small pistol.
However... his marksmanship is really poor.
After firing 4 bullets in a row, he finally hit the most conspicuous enemy.
However, although Anthony's marksmanship is poor, the pistol in his hand can still build momentum for Komuro and the others, giving the enemy a considerable shock.
With Saito and Komuro taking the lead in fighting, the "Cone" broke through several lines of defense on the west side in one go.
However... the advancement of the "cone" only ends here...
Although the guards who were sent to escort Anthony and the others to Edo were all warriors who could equal ten...but they all had little fighting spirit now...
Most of them... no, it should be said that all of them secretly believed that this escort mission was just a "publicly-funded trip" that was not difficult or dangerous.
There has never been a precedent for the "anti-barbarians" to attack foreigners protected by a large number of warriors. The so-called "anti-barbarian patriots" are just a bunch of insignificant stragglers - this idea has long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
Because they all felt that this escort mission was absolutely safe, they did not make any relevant psychological preparations. Therefore, facing this unexpected enemy attack and the densely packed enemies in front of them, their fighting spirit and morale were greatly affected. ...can only be described as depressed.
He was in a panic, and he could only use 50% of his 100% strength.
Regardless of whether they are Saito or Komuro, no matter how capable they are of fighting, they only have one head, two hands, and two feet. Their strength is not strong enough to even out the huge numerical difference with their individual strength differences. .
After a while, under the intensive human sea offensive of the rebel group, the offensive of Saito and Komuro, who were unable to defeat the four-handed man with two fists, was gradually blocked.
Under the fierce attack of the rebel group, the original "cone-shaped" formation was gradually compressed into an oval.
Saito and Komuro, who could no longer make breakthroughs on offense, had to switch from offense to defense.
Their defense line... was frighteningly thin. After all, their numbers were at an absolute disadvantage.
Unable to break through this dense "blood-red sea", they had to turn from defense to offense, which made Komuro and his team's already sluggish fighting spirit and morale even more sluggish.
As for the anti-barbarian group...their morale and fighting spirit were waxing and waning.
They launched an attack even more frantically, compressing the already thin defense of Komuro and others.
Saito and Komuro relied on their superior skills to barely keep their part of the defense from retreating.
But others don’t have Saito and Komuro’s ability to keep the defense from retreating...
One after another, the guards were knocked down and killed because they were outnumbered.
The defense lines in other places retreated, and Saito and Komuro had to retreat with them...
The "oval" defensive formation was squeezed smaller and smaller...
The members of the anti-barbarian group are also getting closer and closer to Anthony, Elodie and others who are guarded by everyone in the center of the "oval".
Anthony and the others could even clearly see the ferocious facial features.
A certain guard's psychological defense seemed to have completely collapsed.
Facing the seemingly endless enemies in front of him, a guard whose lips were trembling slightly lowered the knife that was originally placed in front of him.
"wait for me……"
He wanted to beg for peace from the members of the resistance group in front of him.
He wanted to tell the people in front of him, all wearing blood-red feathers, that he was only ordered to protect Anthony and the others. He was not Yi Di. He wanted to ask the people in front of him to give him a way out.
However... He only had time to open his mouth, without even speaking a complete sentence. A member of the anti-barbarian team in front of him quickly hurriedly sent the knife forward.
The guard who lowered his sword had no time to defend or dodge.
So...his chest was stabbed right through.
The guard didn't even utter a complete sentence of begging for mercy, and the rest of his unspoken words turned into the sound of vomiting blood.
After vomiting a large amount of blood, the guard slowly fell to the ground, no longer alive...
The anti-barbarian group didn't think about taking any prisoners or sparing their lives tonight.
Because their original plan was to kill all these "national scum" who worked for the barbarians!
In order to be able to clearly see the movements of Anthony and the others, Yamada, who is in charge of the frontline command, is now standing on a large rock about 20 centimeters high, looking at Komuro's defense line that is being compressed.
Seeing the current battle situation in which their anti-barbarian group had the upper hand, Yamada proudly shouted excitedly in his heart:
Won!
Before the war started, Yamada was still worried about whether there would be any unexpected situations that were difficult to deal with.
For example: the barbarians headed by Anthony could not be found.
Another example: Anthony and the others successfully escaped on horseback, but they failed to catch up with them.
But now it seems that none of the unexpected situations that Yamada was worried about before the war has occurred.
The operation went so smoothly that Yamada couldn't help but smile with relief.
At this moment, the one who showed a relieved smile was Suehiro.
Suehiro remained on the high slope.
This high slope can be regarded as the "main formation" of their anti-barbarian group's operation tonight.
Under the high slope, there are 20 members of the anti-barbarian team who did not follow Yamada into the camp - these 20 people were specially left here by Suehiro and led by him personally, ready to deal with any emergencies. "reserve team".
Suehiro's eyesight has always been good. Standing on this high slope with a good view, Suehiro can barely see the current status of the frontline battlefield with the light of the torches in the camp.
After seeing that Anthony and others had been completely compressed into a ball, and it would probably not take long for their people to tear through the thin defense of Anthony and others, Suehiro also showed a pleasant smile.
Suehiro, who thought the victory was certain, placed the Kazakiri on the snow beside him and put his hands on his hips.
Suehiro could not help but imagine.
Imagine the scene where they successfully removed the heads of Anthony and others and returned home victorious.
Imagine that the name of their anti-barbarian group will successfully spread throughout the country after tonight! From then on, everyone in the country knew that they were a group of people with lofty ideals who served the country loyally and vowed to drive out all the barbarians and the scum working for the barbarians on behalf of the court and shogunate!
The snow...is falling even harder.
The sky is also darker than before.
Just now, there was still a faint moonlight shining through some gaps in the clouds, spreading like light dust on the white snowfield.
But now, the clouds have become thicker, completely blocking the moonlight from the sky.
The night wind that had been blowing from time to time also stopped at some point just now.
The wind died down and the air became "sticky".
The freely falling snowflakes fell quietly and "lifelessly" under the "viscous" air.
Under the dark night, the perpetrators led by Suehiro and Yamada smiled triumphantly.
Saito, Komuro and others, who were still fighting hard, had solemn expressions and struggled to hold on.
Some of the guards had almost lost their fighting spirit and looked distracted.
The maid Leroy held Elodie tightly in her arms, although her hands holding Elodie tightly in her arms declared her determination to protect the little master in her arms until the last moment. , but I have never seen her in such a big battle, and there is still a naked fear between her eyebrows.
Anthony, who had tried his best to support Komuro and others with his revolver, struggled to maintain his composure, but there was still a look of despair beating in the depths of his eyes...
Some people are happy, some are comfortable, some still have a glimmer of hope, and some are about to despair...
Between the sky and the earth, under the falling snowflakes, in this small square inch of land, various expressions are reflected.
Only... one person.
Since the start of this melee, he has been showing an expression that is completely different from everyone around him.
…
…
What on earth is this...?
…
…
Qingden, who was staying in the center of the safest "oval" with Anthony and others, his left and right arms hanging naturally, and the tip of the saber in his right palm hanging on the snow, looked around with a... blank expression.
it's wired……
Really...so strange...
Since just now, Qingdeng has felt that his mood and his... vision are very strange.
The "radical anti-barbarian faction", numbering close to 200, stormed into the camp with great force... They should feel scared and at a loss.
But Qingdeng didn't feel any of these emotions.
After seeing a large number of enemies rushing toward them, Qingden felt terrifyingly calm.
He was so calm that even Qingden found it incredible.
On the first night after traveling to this era, Qingdeng would feel panicked and fearful of the danger to his life when faced with a sneak attack by a handful of three "radical anti-foreigners".
But now, facing an attack by the "radical anti-barbarians" whose number of enemies was a hundred times greater than what he encountered that night, Qingdeng could not afford to panic at all.
Why can I be so calm now?
Qingdeng himself couldn't figure it out.
Compared with the strangeness in his current state of mind, it was the strangeness in his vision that made Qingdeng feel even more shocked.
I can see... so clearly...
Qingden turned his eyes blankly and looked to his left and right.
The location and movements of Saito, Komuro and others.
The location and movements of these enemies wearing blood-red feathers.
Qingdeng can see everything clearly!
Obviously I am not standing on any high ground.
Even though I don't have many eyes, my eyes are still the same as anyone else's. I can only see the scene within 180 degrees in front of me.
But he can see the changes on the battlefield clearly!
Aoto had just relied on this suddenly extremely "clear" vision to successfully warn Saito, allowing Saito to discover the three members of the anti-insurgency group who wanted to attack from his side and rear.
This perspective is like standing in the air... overlooking the battlefield...!
Thanks to Qingdeng's "overlooking" view, which he himself couldn't figure out what was going on, Qingdeng could clearly see all the chaos among the enemies in front of him.
Although the group that suddenly attacked was fierce and numerous...but they only had momentum and numbers!
They, a group of "anti-Barbarian patriots" who came together for the common cause of "repelling the foreigners", were, to put it harshly, just a bunch of stragglers and rabble-rousers.
Almost no one had undergone rigorous military training. With just a momentum, they rushed up in a swarm. There was no formation or coordination in the attack.
This prevented their numerical advantage from being utilized to the greatest extent.
Because the attack formation was not properly configured, only a small circle of people close to their defense line could engage Saito and Komuro, while most of the rest could only stand on the periphery and watch the fierce battle ahead. fight.
Because there was no reasonable arrangement of attack formations, the attacks of the anti-barbarian group were extremely chaotic. You squeezed me, I squeezed you, you interfered with me, I interfered with you.
Qingdeng even saw several people being accidentally knocked down by people around them, and then being trampled or even killed by people behind them.
In addition, Qingden also saw that the enemies in front of him were not all fierce and good at fighting.
Quite a few of the enemies looked like poor warriors with deeply sunken cheeks and skinny hands and feet.
These people couldn't even hold a knife steady, and their combat power was visibly weak.
There are only a few people who have normal physiques and appear to be relatively capable of fighting.
All the chaos of the invading enemy was covered up by their current high morale and surging momentum...
In a daze, Qingden suddenly saw invisible and colorless "air currents" emerging in front of his eyes.
Qingdeng felt as if he was the only one who could see this "air flow" right here and now.
He turned his head and moved his eyes, letting his eyes follow this "air flow".
These "air currents" seemed to have their own life, like a breeze, passing by everyone on the battlefield, swinging towards the unified goal on the battlefield.
Qingto followed the "air flow" moving inch by inch, and finally fixed his gaze on the place where the "air flow" finally converged - Yamada, who was still standing on the big rock, still smiling triumphantly. !
Every "air flow" on the battlefield is now concentrated on Yamada, making Yamada particularly conspicuous in Qingto's eyes.
…
…
Howl...!
A flying eagle flew from the distant sky at this time.
When it flew over this chaotic battlefield, it stopped suddenly, then circled and hovered directly above the battlefield.
It flapped its wings and slowly lowered its gaze.
Staring at the bloody battlefield below with an indifferent gaze without sadness or joy!
…
…
Can win.
…
Suddenly, Qingdeng felt a "voice" appear in his ears.
"Voice" shouted in Qingden's ear with an extremely passionate tone.
Can win!
Can turn the tide of battle!
As long as... everyone here can obey my command!
…
…
Komuro, who has almost lost count of how many people he has killed so far, only feels that his arms are sore.
After struggling to lift his arm up, he raised the tip of the knife again, letting the cold light on the tip of the knife take another life away, and Komuro gasped with difficulty.
But before he could rest for a while, the corner of his left eye suddenly caught a glimpse of a scene that made all the hair on his body stand on end.
An enemy with a short spear and a shiny bald head spotted a gap in the defense line far to his left. Taking advantage of the unpreparedness of the guards responsible for guarding this area, he used the short spear to forcefully break through the defense line! Rush straight to the back of the defense line, rushing towards Anthony and others who are being protected by them!
"Stop him!" Xiao Shi subconsciously screamed.
Komuro wanted to rush over and personally stop the bald man carrying a short gun.
But the densely packed and seemingly inexhaustible enemies in front of him made Xiaoshi not even able to turn around and intercept the bald man. He didn't even dare to distract himself too much.
The defense line was so thin that it could no longer be maintained, so naturally it was impossible to find anyone who still had the strength to defend and block this bald man.
This bald man's attack timing was really well chosen.
He happened to pick the moment when Anthony had just fired all the bullets in the gun chamber and was refilling the bullets.
Looking at the bald man who took advantage of the opportunity to penetrate behind the defense line and rush towards them as if he was in no one's land, Anthony was so shocked that his whole body trembled a few times, and then he quickly took out bullets from his pocket and prepared to load them. bomb.
The anxiety caused Anthony to make a fatal mistake at this critical moment of his life - in his rush to reload, he dropped the bullet in his hand on the ground.
The bald man who rushed in with the determination to die showed a ferocious smile on his face.
When Anthony accidentally dropped the bullet in his hand, Bald Head happened to be in a position where his short gun could hit Anthony.
He raised the tip of his musket and pointed it at Anthony's chest.
At this critical moment——
Buzz…
The white blade flashed.
An arc-shaped sword light came from the side and rear of the bald head, passing over the bald head's back and splashing out a cloud of blood mist.
The ferocious smile on the bald face quickly turned into shock.
He wanted to turn his head to see who wielded the knife.
However, the rapid loss of strength in the body caused the bald head to quickly lose control of his body.
After struggling for a while, he held his short gun and fell heavily to the ground.
With cold sweat dripping down his back, Anthony, who could only feel the aftermath of the disaster, raised his gaze and looked at the person who saved his life at that critical moment - Qing Deng, who was still maintaining his knife movement.
At this moment, Qingdeng, who had no expression on his face, swung his knife towards the ground and shook away the blood on the blade, while slowly standing up straight...
"Anyone who still wants to live, listen up!"
The clear and powerful shouts reached the ears of everyone present.
*******
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The previous chapter is 2,500 words, and this chapter is 7,500 words, a total of 10,000 words.
On the first day of release, please vote for me! Please vote for recommendation!
Starting tomorrow, we will resume the usual 10 a.m. update.
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