As soon as Genzaburo Inoue finished speaking, Serizawa Kamo suddenly lost his temper.

Although he looked displeased, there was still a hint of thoughtfulness between his brows.

However... before he could think of the reason, a series of loud explosions suddenly interrupted his thoughts, pulling his consciousness back to the cold reality.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The roar of the iron cannon resounded throughout the audience!

I saw a soldier holding a brand-new matchlock gun suddenly emerge from the gap in the enemy group.

Under the cover of their companions, they formed three horizontal lines and rained bullets on the soldiers of the 4th and 6th divisions with "three attacks"!

Although the first salvo did not cause substantial damage to Serizawa Kamo and others, it caused quite a bit of confusion among them.

In an instant, the pupils of Serizawa Kamo and Inoue Genzaburo suddenly shrank.

Immediately afterwards, with the speed of a conditioned reflex, they stepped out of the way and hid in a shallow pit not far away.

At the same moment, Serizawa Kamo shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Hidden! Hidden! Don't just stand there! Do you want to be a target?"

Even without Serizawa Kamo's instructions, the members of the Fourth and Sixth Squadrons were driven by the desire to survive and consciously spread out, looking for places where they could hide their bodies.

In order to facilitate the soldiers' counterattack, a large number of single-man bunkers similar to "foxholes" were dug on each front.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The invisible projectiles criss-crossed the battlefield, and the piercing whistling sound was like the death cry for life.

Suppressed by the hail of bullets and unable to raise his head, Serizawa duck could only bury his head deep in the air. He felt that several bullets hit him squarely near the shallow pit where he was hiding, knocking away a large amount of sand.

Compared with the battle against the Aizu cavalry a few days ago, the movements of these iron gunners have become more skillful.

Whether it is the loading of ammunition or the replacement of arrays, the smoothness is commendable.

In the blink of an eye, a milky white "thick fog" filled the entire place, making people's eyes hurt.

Under the stimulation of the gunpowder smoke, Serizawa felt that his throat was dry. He licked his lips...and vaguely tasted the dry and bitter taste of gunpowder.

He raised his gaze and observed the nearby subordinates - he saw that they all tightened their bodies, with more or less panic on their faces.

Even the most heroic soldiers can't hide their panic at this moment.

This is the scary thing about iron cannons.

Not only because it is easy to master and has terrible lethality, but also because it can bring dual stimulation to people's hearing and smell.

Huge roars, pungent smoke...these unusual sounds and strange smells that have nothing to do with daily life are enough to make people tremble in their hearts!

"Oh shit……!"

Serizawa Ya gritted his teeth and cursed:

"No wonder it's so quiet in other directions... It turns out that these bastards gathered all the iron gunners here!"

…

…

The Shinsengumi position, this formation——

From the very beginning, Aomori positioned Division 9 as a spy agency dedicated to gathering intelligence.

Therefore, at the beginning of the formation of the team, he deliberately incorporated those people with ordinary looks and good physiques into the ninth division.

In other words, the members of Division 9 are all a group of people who are not lacking in physical strength.

In addition to the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd divisions on standby in the main formation, all units are fighting desperately, and the 9th division, which is designated as the "communications unit", is not idle either.

They worked hard to travel around, on the one hand conveying the latest battle conditions on each front to the formation, and on the other hand conveying the formation's latest military orders to each front.

As the war intensified, the formation became more and more busy.

The soldiers of Division 9 were frequently in and out of the formation, in a hurry.

"Lord Nioh, the fifth and tenth divisions have repulsed the invading enemy!"

Qingdeng nodded lightly:

"Well, very good. Tell Sanosuke Harada: Don't pursue deeply, conserve your energy. Our main task at the moment is 'defense', don't waste your energy in unnecessary places."

"yes!"

…

"Lord Nioh, the situation on the southern front is excellent! The seventh and eighth divisions have gradually taken the initiative on the battlefield!"

Qingdeng: "Yes, I understand, please step back."

"yes!"

…

"Lord Nioh, there is no movement on the northern front. Captain Okita asked me to tell you something: I am so bored! How long do I want to sit in this barren place?"

Qingdeng said calmly:

"Tell her: Don't be impatient. The responsibility you shoulder is not light."

"Yes, yes!"

…

Good news, good news, good news...the news coming back to our formation is one good news after another.

The enemies in the east and south directions have been suppressed.

If nothing unexpected happens, there will be no need to worry about anything going wrong in these two places in a short period of time.

Faced with this gratifying result, the facial lines of many people such as Hijikata Toshizo, Kondo Isamu, Shannan Keisuke, etc. have gradually softened and become less tight.

In fact, facing this battle, not to mention that no one else was waiting, even Hijikata Toshizo and Shannan Keisuke, who had always been calm and calm, could not help but feel nervous.

After all, this is the first big battle fought by the Shinsengumi.

The previous "Crueling Phoebe Group" was just a small fight.

From top to bottom in the new team selection, no one paid attention to the Kusunoki team, which was just a bunch of Yakuza and could only bully the weak people.

In this huge game with the whole country as a chessboard and all the major forces participating in it, the mere Yakuza is really not able to stand out.

Even the Qingshui clan, which was once so powerful in Kanto, only gained such terrifying energy thanks to the hard work and support of the Fa Punishment Party.

At the same time, this was also Qingdeng's first battle after launching his "military reform."

The success or failure of this battle, and the record of this battle, directly determine the success or failure of Qingto's "military reform", as well as the world's evaluation of the Shinsengumi.

As the saying goes, "God cannot bleed."

The God who sheds blood will lose the respect of the world for Him.

It is no exaggeration to say that for all the soldiers of the Shinsengumi, this battle is a battle that cannot be lost.

Must win!

And be sure to win beautifully!

It is because of this idea that since the confrontation between the two armies, most of the people in this formation have kept a straight face and exuded a formidable aura.

It wasn't until this moment when good news came frequently that they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, at this moment, a red silhouette suddenly burst into everyone's sight - Kinoshita Mai ran straight towards Qingdeng like chasing the wind and lightning.

After all the Shinsengumi's military uniforms (light green haori) were in place, Aoshinobu made it clear that in formal occasions and public places, everyone must wear this uniform, regardless of the size of the job.

However, he did not impose mandatory regulations on the colors and styles of the soldiers' undergarments and hakama.

As a result, the soldiers of the Shinsengumi...especially the cadres, all dressed up according to their own preferences.

Take the three women of the Shinsengumi as an example - Souji's undershirt is purple, Sanako's undershirt is blue, and Kinoshita Mai's undershirt is red.

Fortunately, light onion is a very versatile color, so no matter what color the underwear is, it won’t look too ugly.

Kinoshita Mai is proficient in body movements, even on rugged mountainous terrain, she can still walk on flat ground, and has the fastest footwork in the new selection.

Therefore, Qingdeng specially entrusted her with an important task - to stay away from the battlefield alone and monitor the bandit camp.

Once you notice any strange movement from the rebel army, you should rush back immediately to report it.

As she returned suddenly, she must have something important to report to Qingdeng immediately.

Facts have proved that this is indeed the case.

As soon as she came to Qingdeng's side, she said in a low voice:

"Qingdeng, the current situation on the eastern front is very bad."

"I saw that the rebel army sent new troops to reinforce the east."

"If this continues, there is a risk that the eastern front will be lost."
To be continued...