"I've dealt with thieves all the time. I've dealt with the 'one-armed gang' the most."
Kimura shook his head and talked eloquently.
"I have participated in a total of 3 operations to encircle and suppress the 'One-Armed Party'. Counting tonight, that's 4 times."
"Apart from the fact that the 'One-Armed Party' is a little cunning and can run a little, there's nothing special about it."
"Whenever we launch a siege against the One-Armed Party, the traitors of the One-Armed Party will collapse like snow poured into boiling water."
Kimura sneered "ha".
When he made this sneer, he looked directly at Qingdeng—it was unclear whether he was mocking the weakness of the "one-armed party" or ridiculing Qingdeng's ignorance.
"You said that the 'one-armed party' occupies the geographical advantage? Well, then have you heard this old saying: 'The weather is not as good as the right location, and the geographical convenience is not as good as the people'."
"Admittedly, I admit that what you said is right. The 'one-armed party' fighting in their own stronghold does have a geographical advantage."
"But we have the right time and the right harmony at the same time!"
Kimura raised his finger to the sky... to be precise, he pointed to the full moon above his head.
"Tonight is a moonlit night. Edo is as bright as day. Even if you don't carry a lantern, you can still walk on the streets as usual."
"Without the obstructive lantern that is extremely conspicuous at night, it will be difficult for the traitors of the 'One-Armed Party' to discover our traces."
"This will be of great benefit to us in completing the siege of the 'One-Armed Party' stronghold!"
"This is the right time."
"Each squad in our Huo Fu Thieves Reform is an elite division that has been well-trained and battle-hardened."
"Looking at the 'One-Armed Party' - I have just described their incompetence in detail. Any one of our squads is enough to defeat them!"
"What's more, we also have a series of sophisticated weapons such as armor, bows and arrows, and iron cannons."
"This is harmony."
"Besides, our battle tonight is still a surprise attack! Huh, those rebels must be sleeping now! They have no idea that their doom is approaching!"
"If I am prepared to attack the unprepared, with my elite troops possessing the right time, right people and people, how can we fight against the dead soldiers and crab generals at the end of the road? How can we not be sure of victory?"
As soon as Kimura finished speaking, Tsuchida on the side quickly echoed:
"That's right! Mr. Kimura is right! Just sending my seventh division is enough to defeat the traitors of the 'One-Armed Party'! There is no need to send two divisions!"
Speaking of this, Tsuchida paused as if he thought of something.
After a moment, he sneered and sneered "ha":
"Tachibana, you proposed to send out two divisions. Isn't it because you are greedy for the achievement of 'defeating the one-armed party', want a share of the pie, and want to ask Mr. Kimura to send your third division to join the attack?"
After finishing speaking, Tsuchida did not forget to show a smug expression - his pride in being able to monopolize the merits of destroying the "one-armed party" was beyond words.
In essence, anyone with a discerning eye can see the purpose of Kimura's battle plan of "the third and fifth divisions are responsible for encircling the enemy's stronghold, and the seventh division is responsible for the surprise attack."
To put it bluntly, he was giving the opportunity to make meritorious deeds to his lackey Tsuchida Masaichi.
Organizing his subordinates to surround a longhouse consisting of only more than thirty houses - such a task has basically no technical content, so naturally there is no merit to speak of, it is just a hard job with no benefits.
But rushing into the enemy stronghold and annihilating the bandits is completely different.
The "one-armed party" has caused headaches for the government for a long time. Otherwise, Kurosawa and Okubo would not have impatiently organized an encirclement and suppression operation on the same day after determining where the "One-Armed Party"'s base was, and sent out three squads at once.
If the "one-armed party" can be wiped out neatly, then the credit will definitely be considerable.
Moreover, the longhouse is not so big that it requires two squads to surround it. It is more than enough to allocate one squad or half a squad to participate in the attack on the "one-armed party".
Therefore, the purpose of Kimura's combat arrangement of "supporting the dog's legs and squeezing out Aoto" is obvious.
Qingden tilted his eyes indifferently and glanced at Tsuchida.
Tsuchida, who was caught by Qingto's eyes, suddenly felt his neck tighten.
The scene where Aonto directly drew his sword to threaten Kimura this morning flashed quickly in front of Tsuchida's eyes.
Tsuchida, who was so arrogant a second ago, now dies like a defeated rooster.
Although he tried his best to put on an expression of "I'm not afraid of you, I am not afraid of you" as if he still refused to admit defeat, but even though he thought so in his heart, his body was very honest - his head was buried low, and he did not dare to look at Qingdeng again.
"An achievement of the level of 'annihilating the remnants of the rebel group' is not big enough for me to fight for."
When Qingdeng read the words "remnant party", he deliberately slowed down and emphasized his tone.
Kimura and Tsuchida's expressions immediately became a little ugly.
How could they not hear the implication of Qingdeng's words - I once sought fame from the anti-barbarian group in its heyday! I haven’t paid any attention to the remnants of the anti-barbarian group!
As soon as Qingden said this, Tsuchida's situation immediately became embarrassing.
Tachibana Aoden has defeated the anti-barbarian group in its heyday more than once, and even the leader of the bandit Kamino was beheaded under his sword, but he is proud of his ability to monopolize the achievements of annihilating the "remnants" of the anti-barbarian group... …Compared between the two, Tsuchida looked like a clown who didn’t know the heights of the world.
Kimura stood up and broke the deadlock in the argument with an unquestionable strong word.
"Okay, let's stop the unnecessary discussion! In short - there will be no changes to the plan! Let's all go down and go to your places!"
After saying that, Kimura turned around and left without any hesitation or pause.
As soon as Kimura left, Tsuchida glanced at Qingto with a resentful look, and then left angrily.
Qingden glanced around the formation where he was the only one left, and raised his hand to scratch his hair.
——Forget it, since Kimura insists on giving Tsuchida the opportunity to make meritorious deeds and will not give me any merit, then let him go.
Kimura is the "frontline commander-in-chief", and military orders come from him. He has absolute power to do what he says and everyone else must obey his orders unconditionally.
Kimura had already given up on the harsh words of "the plan will not change", so Qingto could no longer persuade him.
What's more, based on the current relationship between Qingto and Kimura, Kimura would only listen to Qingno's words.
Moreover, from the perspective of "making the best use of people", there is no problem with Kimura's plan.
Qingteng is a newcomer who is not even familiar with the series of operational affairs of Hufu Thief Kai, so it is very reasonable to send Qingteng to engage in simpler tasks, and there is no way to criticize him.
Even if Aoto appeals to the superiors and accuses Kimura of not leveling the bowl of water and favoring Tsuchida, Kurosawa and Okubo will definitely not pay attention to Aoto's request.
Anyway, it's not an important task that is so great that it cannot be compromised. If it is given to Tsuchida, it will be given to Tsuchida.
After briefly calming down, Qingdeng turned back the same way and met up with his subordinates.
About 20 minutes later, Kimura stood on a simple high platform made of wooden boxes and announced the gathering of the entire army.
The three divisions, with a total of 180 people, plus the two division captains Aoto and Tsuchida, formed a neat square formation in front of Kimura.
"Everyone! You must also know what we are going to do tonight!"
Kimura's pre-war mobilization was quite impassioned.
After listening to Kimura's speech, many people felt refreshed and in high spirits.
After the simple mobilization speech ended, with Kimura's words "Attack!", the three squads were divided into six groups, heading towards Cheng Town and the base of the "One-Armed Party" along different directions and streets.
When Qingteng led the generals of the Third Division out of the camp, the pointer of his pocket watch happened to point to 10:30.
At this time, Edo, except for the "city that never sleeps" Yoshiwara, has long been as quiet as if it had sunk into the dark sea.
Every street has a similar scene: it is quiet and quiet, and the low whistling brought by the autumn wind that blows from time to time becomes the only sound on the street. The streets of every street were covered with bright moonlight that looked like hoarfrost.
Under Xiaohui's guidance, Qingto and others were galloping. Their rapidly shaking figures projected on the ground added a shadowy scene to the silent Edo.
In a short time, the three squadrons successfully arrived at their destination.
The soldiers of the Third Division and the Fifth Division advanced from the east and west directions respectively. In less than 5 minutes, they worked together to completely surround the entire long house.
As for the members of Division 7, they gathered in front of the wagashi shop, ready to attack at any time.
Tonight's battle focuses on the word "quick".
With a sharp and fast attack like a raging wind, the enemies have no time to react, they are stunned, and they are taken away in one go.
Therefore, after all the teams were in their respective positions and ready for battle, Kimura nodded slightly to Tsuchida beside him.
Tsuchida, who understood the situation, nodded to Kimura, took a step forward and drew the sword from his waist.
He raised the saber high above his head and swung it forward vigorously, shouting vigorously:
"Break the door! Open it to me!"
As soon as Tsuchida finished speaking, the members of Division 7, who had already been prepared at their respective battle positions, immediately took action.
The two team members closest to the wagashi shop, who were holding knives, suddenly took a lunge, and after a simple run-up, they used their thick shoulders as "hammer heads" and flew into the shop door.
The wooden store door is old, and the facade is covered with mottled signs of decay.
How could such a rotten door that could easily be kicked open with a single kick be able to withstand the "meat bomb impact" of two adult men?
With a loud bang, the door was knocked away. The two team members who hit the door fell into the house together with the door panel.
At the same time, the following team members stepped over their bodies and followed closely.
Six soldiers carried life-sized wooden shields and rushed in first.
Immediately afterwards, musketeers armed with matchlocks filed in.
The 7th Division is a unit composed of the 5th Division of the Advanced Iron Cannon Division, so the matchlock is their standard weapon.
The already lit match rope looked like a dreamy firefly in the dark room.
The shield soldiers raised huge shields and worked together to form a solid "spherical protective cover" to protect the musketeers within the "ball" to ensure the personal safety and shooting space of the musketeers.
The musketeers hiding behind the shield soldiers poked out their matchlocks from the gaps in the shields, pointing the black and cold muzzles in all directions.
The two soldiers who had knocked on the door had already stood up, holding their knives tightly, guarding the open door to prevent anyone from approaching.
The Japanese confectionery shop where the "One-Armed Party" hides is a very typical "two-story structure."
At this time, a noisy sound sounded from the second floor:
"Hey! What's going on!"
"Let's go! Go take a look!"
"Brothers! Don't sleep! Don't sleep! There is a strange movement downstairs!"
…
The sound of rapid footsteps made the wooden floor bang.
Two young samurai wearing white pajamas with disheveled hair appeared at the top of the stairs carrying knives.
When the musketeers hiding behind the shield formation saw this, they raised their guns and shot without explanation.
boom! boom! boom! boom! boom!
Although the accuracy of the matchlocks was very poor, the straight-line distance between the arquebuses and the two young warriors was only about 5 meters.
At such a distance, the accuracy of the matchlock gun is still very guaranteed.
After five gunshots, the two warriors who had just descended to the stairs and had not even had time to see the scene in front of them fell in a pool of blood with "two more holes in their bodies each".
The soldier who had emptied the chamber of his gun reloaded new ammunition with movements that were not very skilled but were not unfamiliar either.
In order to cover the reloading of their companions, the progress of their "ball" group was temporarily stopped.
The remaining "balls" behind them took their place and pushed deeper into the room.
The movement and fighting of the members of the 7th Division are carried out in "groups". Each group is a "round hedgehog" composed of a shield and a matchlock.
Another new samurai came down with swords - this time three of them came down at once.
The next moment the three people saw the matchlock guns with beautiful metallic luster and the iconic black clothes, they took in a breath of cold air.
"Ah! It's Huo Fu Rogue Kai! The officers and soldiers of Huo Fu Rogue Kai are here!"
"Go back quickly! Go back quickly! It's fire to pay for the thieves! There are iron cannons! Lots of iron cannons!"
"Damn it! Why are the officers and soldiers who changed into thieves and thieves here?!"
The three people yelled and cursed while scrambling to escape upstairs along the original path.
boom! boom! boom! boom! boom……
The sound of gunfire started again.
Because he was running fast enough, the dense rain of bullets from the swarms only hit the position where the three samurai were standing just now. Only one unlucky guy's movements were half a beat slower, and his calf was accidentally hit by a stray bullet. However, this man still relied on his tenacity to jump back to the second floor on one foot.
There was not a single soul on the first floor of the house, so the members of Division 7, who did not encounter any resistance, captured the entire first floor in less than 3 minutes.
The team members guarding the stairs looked at each other and began to advance upstairs in an orderly manner.
At this time, this voice came from the second floor:
"The first floor is full of officers and soldiers who have been transformed into thieves! If we stay here stupidly, we will be captured sooner or later! Let's jump out of the window and leave!"
"Hey! Wait! Let's take a look at what's going on outside the house first!"
After all, this intersection of dissuasion was half a step too late.
A young man with a childish face, who must not have been more than 10 years old, regardless of his hair being disheveled and wearing pajamas, hurriedly opened a window on the second floor and jumped to the eaves outside the window.
The next moment his feet just stood on the sloping eaves——
boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom! boom……
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...
The sound of projectiles coming out of the barrel and the vibration of bowstrings covered the young man from all directions.
The fifth division under Kimura is also a unit served by the advanced iron artillery group.
The third and fifth teams responsible for the "siege" had been bored for a long time because they had nothing to do.
Finally, I found a fool who jumped out of the window without even looking at what was going on. All the soldiers of the Third Division and the Fifth Division who could see this young man jumped out of the window without saying a word. Pick up bows and arrows and iron cannons, raise the bow and shoot, and raise the gun to shoot.
As a result, this young man became the person who died in the worst condition since the war started tonight - 6 arrows were inserted into his body and 4 more holes were opened in his body.
He didn't even have time to scream. After his body swayed lightly for a few times, his eyes rolled up - he fell to the ground, and then fell to the ground along the sloping eaves, stirring up a cloud of dust.
"What's the noise? What happened?"
"Where is the noise coming from? Is this the sound of iron cannon firing?"
"Ah——! Someone is dead! Someone is dead!"
…
One after another, nearby residents began to be awakened by the thunderous sound of gunfire.
They opened the windows and walked out of the house to see what was going on outside.
Then, as expected, they were intimidated by the soldiers of the Third Division and the Fifth Division who were responsible for the "siege":
"What are you looking at?! It's all gone! It's all gone!"
"Let me do whatever I have to do!"
"The thief is now in charge of the case! The rest of the gang will leave quickly!"
Fire pays off thieves - this word is like a magic spell. Everyone who heard this word changed their expressions and left in a hurry.
"Hey! Yes, it's fire that pays off the thieves!"
"Close the window! Close the window!"
"Mom, what is Huo Fu Thief Kai?"
"I'll explain to you later! Now close the windows tightly!"
…
In the blink of an eye, all the open windows and doors were closed.
Those chattering voices disappeared completely.
When Qingdeng saw this, he was dumbfounded and thought:
——Although the functions of the "Three Chapters" of the Huo Fu Thief Kai and the Enforcement Office are to catch thieves, the working environment of the two is really very different...
Due to the small number of people in the "Three Chapters" of the Enforcement Office, only a few people who can investigate the case come and go. In addition, there are more opportunities for direct contact with the people. Therefore, compared to paying the thieves with fire, the people will undoubtedly have to It is closer to the Sanchai Sanchai.
The privileges that the Huofu thieves changed to "can freely enter and exit samurai lands, townspeople's lands, and temples, and can arrest people at will and interrogate at will" are really terrible and frightening.
Since the establishment of the army, countless innocent people have been mistakenly arrested by thieves and beaten, and countless poor people have been beaten into submission.
On the one hand, the people respect the Huofu thieves who have been fighting all kinds of vicious criminals all year round, but on the other hand, they are afraid of the power of life and death at their hands.
This makes Huofu Thieves' reputation among the common people not very high.
The Fire Thief Kai is only popular among the people in certain special periods - for example, 70 years ago, under the leadership of the legendary samurai Hasegawa Heizo, known as "Onhira", the Fire Thief Kai entered the An unprecedented heyday.
Except for these few rare periods, when people see the "men in black", they will basically walk around, for fear of having anything to do with these guys who are all dressed in black.
At the same time that the onlookers were being shouted back, a team member ran out of the house and reported the battle situation to Kimura, Tsuchida and others outside the house.
After learning that the battle situation in the house was going smoothly, Kimura and Tsuchida both showed comfortable and relaxed expressions.
Being caught off guard and panicked, and being defeated by the power of the matchlock gun... This series of performances of the "One-Armed Party" was not at all what Kimura and Tsuchida expected.
"Lord Kimura!"
Tsuchida said to Kimura proudly.
"At this rate, we can wipe out all the traitors in this room in less than a stick of incense!"
Kimura nodded slightly, then smiled happily and turned to look at Qingden not far away.
There was a hint of disdain and provocation in the gaze that glanced at Qingdeng and then quickly withdrew.
On the one hand, Kimura was proud of his accurate judgment, but on the other hand, he felt deep contempt for Qingto who made the wrong judgment.
His eyes conveyed this message: Humph! how? Am I right? The "One-Armed Party" is just a bunch of rabble! Just sending one seventh division team is enough to defeat them, so there is no need to send two divisions at the same time!
——When it comes to commanding troops, I am the professional! That guy didn't even have a detailed understanding of our combat power, so he made random judgments!
Thinking of this, a different kind of sense of superiority filled Kimura's heart. He couldn't help but raise his head and put his hands behind his back subconsciously.
Of course Qingteng didn't know these little things in Kimura's heart.
At this moment, he was staring attentively at the wagashi shop in front of him, where gunshots would be heard from time to time.
The brows that were originally relaxed now slowly wrinkled.
——Something... not quite right...
The battle is going very well, and it won't take long for all the thieves in the house to be wiped out - judging from the intelligence and battle situation received so far, it should be... no, this must be the case!
However……
Qingdeng himself couldn't explain why.
He felt his heart beating faster now.
There is a strange foreboding feeling...
This ominous premonition caused Qingdeng's nerves and muscles to tighten unconsciously. His right hand unconsciously reached to his left waist and pressed down on the handle of Dingguishen's knife.
…
…
At this moment——
In the eyes of Kimura and Tsuchida, this wagashi shop can be taken down immediately——
The "one-armed party" who was caught off guard is now a literal rabble.
Most of them, up to now, had been swimming in sweet sleep.
They were awakened by the sound of broken doors, footsteps, and gunshots made by the thieves. All of them were wearing pajamas and all of them were in a state of confusion.
The officers and soldiers who were approaching the thieves were much more ruthless in killing people than the "Sanchai" and the Eighth Province Directors of the Enforcement Office.
The outside of the house was surrounded like an iron barrel, making it difficult to fly.
These people were so stunned by the fast punches modified by Huo Fu Thief that they couldn't even tell the difference between east, west and north.
Or trapped in the room blankly.
Or he gritted his teeth and rushed out of the room, preparing to fight to the death with the officers and soldiers.
Or running around in a panic.
Those who wanted to die together with the officers and soldiers, and those who ran around like headless flies, were shot to death one by one by the soldiers of the seventh division like hunting turkeys.
Team 7, which had the advantage of surprise attacks and equipment, had so far remained unscathed.
The "one-armed party" was uninjured, causing all the members of the seventh team to smile as if they were relieved.
The battle will be over soon - most of the members of Division 7 thought so.
…
…
At the same time, in a certain room——
"Ah! Damn it! Damn it!"
A warrior with only one arm was pacing anxiously in a room on the second floor.
"How could the officers and soldiers who were reformed as thieves know that we are hiding here! Damn it! Damn it!"
The one-armed warrior used his only arm to hammer the wall hard, his face full of resentment and unwillingness, and his face was ashen...
"It's over... everything is over... Surrounded by so many thieves and thieves, how can we possibly break out..."
Just as the one-armed warrior was doing this desperate monologue——
"Gao Long, you are the leader of your team, how can you be so panicked? How can you control your men like this?"
The One-Armed Warrior is not alone.
In a corner of the room, there was a young man sitting cross-legged with a shamisen in his arms, a pair of samurai swords on his left waist, and a Choshu clan accent. He was stroking the strings of the shamisen with his head lowered.
"Takasugi-kun!" the one-armed samurai said urgently, "How do you want me to calm down in such a situation?! The official officer of Huo Fu Thief Kai is here!"
The long-faced young man stopped playing the piano and raised his head to look at the one-armed warrior.
"Fire pays for thieves... so what?" The long-faced young man smiled, "There is nothing we can do... Seeing that we are all anti-foreigners, I will help you this time."
After saying that, the long-faced young man put down the shamisen in his arms, stood up leisurely, and walked unhurriedly to a closet next to him.
After confirming that the wardrobe cabinet was fairly thick, the long-faced young man used all his strength to remove it, and then slowly walked out of the room with it.
Outside the room is a corridor that is neither long nor short.
When the long-faced young man walked out of the room, he happened to bump into a group of soldiers from the seventh division appearing at one end of the corridor.
Due to the dim light and blocked viewing angle, this group of soldiers did not spot the long-faced young man.
Ever since, the long-faced young man stood carelessly in the middle of the corridor, holding the counter in one hand and slowly pulling out the saber from his waist with the other hand.
The silver-white sword surface, which reflects the only light around, has become the only "light source" in this space.
The sudden appearance of this "light source" finally made the soldiers not far away realize that there was someone here. They hurriedly raised their guns and pointed the black muzzles at the long-faced young man.
At the same moment when the soldiers raised their guns, the long-faced man calmly and calmly took a stance, holding up a shield with one hand and a knife with the other——
"Choshu Domain, Yagyu Shininryu, Takasugi Shinsaku... go out into battle!"
*******
*******
On the first day of physical recovery, a 7,200-word chapter came out for the first time in a long time... This is really unreasonable for not voting for the monthly vote! (Leopard head crying.jpg)
It just so happens that it’s the end of the month again. For those who still have monthly votes on hand, please be sure to vote for this book!
Asking for a monthly ticket! Please vote for recommendation!
The author misremembered Tsuchida Masaichi's serial number in the previous chapter. Tsuchida Masaichi is the captain of the seventh division, and the sixth division captain is the "red-eyed monster" Hosaka Genzo. (leopard death.jpg)
This chapter also reveals for the first time the strength of the Huofu Thief Kai, the only remaining armed force with a little combat effectiveness.
As a unit that has been logically reminded numerous times in this book that "this is the last remaining bit of the Edo Shogunate that still has some combat effectiveness", it still needs a little bit of credit.
(End of chapter)
