Qingdeng looked up at the night sky, narrowing his eyes thoughtfully...

…

…

On the day when all the checkpoints set up by the Soma people on the mountain road were breached, my grandson sent an envoy to start a new round of peace negotiations with the thief chief: Yokokura Kinosuke.

With more than half of his subordinates casualties, morale in a state of collapse, and all negotiation capital lost, Keinosuke Yokokura no longer displays his former unruly demeanor.

He no longer had the sweet dream of "Liang Shanbo's Song Jiang", and no longer shamelessly asked the shogunate to recruit him and his men.

He made only one request - a pitiful and humble request: let him live.

Other than that, there are no other thoughts.

As long as he can be promised to let him live, he is willing to immediately lay down his weapons and surrender.

However, the order issued by the shogunate to reform the fire bandits was very clear: this group of bandits who have committed many evil deeds must be directly destroyed physically!

Therefore, even though the conditions proposed by Kinosuke Yokokura were so humble, they were still rejected by my grandson without hesitation.

The demands of the crusade remain unchanged - all members of the Soma clan must surrender unconditionally! There is no room for maneuver! As for how to arrange them after the surrender, it is entirely up to the government to decide.

"It's all up to the government to decide"... This sentence sounds nice, but all fools know that if a brutal gang like Xiangma Zhong, who has a lot of blood and debts, falls into the hands of the government, there is only one ending.

:Behead in public display!

In the Edo period, beheading in public was a very severe punishment. Only those who committed all kinds of evil and would not anger the common people without killing were eligible to receive this severe punishment.

The negotiations broke down once again - Aomori and others were not surprised at all. They did not think that Yokokura Keinosuke would just surrender.

During the second round of "peace negotiations" with the Sangma people, the expeditionary army actively prepared for war, recuperating their bodies and repairing their weapons.

Five days later, on November 29, the first year of Wanyan (1860), the war clouds reappeared!

…

On Xiangma Mountain, all troops formed a neat square formation in front of the Xiangma Zhong's village gate.

My grandson is riding a war horse, looking at the lifeless mountain village in the distance with high spirits.

Today is the decisive battle with the Soma people!

The main attacker in this decisive battle is my grandson's team.

The reason why a team was sent into battle was, on the one hand, because this team had not participated in the previous battles, so their numbers and combat strength were well preserved. It was perfect for them to serve as the "arrowheads" for the decisive battle. On the other hand, it was me

Sun Tzu deliberately leveled a bowl of water so that each team had a chance to make meritorious deeds.

Five days ago, the first team, which was listed as the general reserve team for emergencies by my grandson, did not perform in any way in the "Separation Operation", watched helplessly as the second team, fourth team and other other units

After doing meritorious service, I have been holding a breath of anger in my stomach for a long time.

After several long waits, they finally showed up, and they showed up at such a critical occasion as the "decisive battle"... The members of the first team were all full of expectations at this moment, and they were looking forward to starting the battle as soon as possible.

"My grandson." Kanazawa Tadatsuki walked towards my grandson with his sword in hand, "Every team is ready and can start fighting at any time."

My grandson smiled and nodded:

"Very good. Then - attack!"

"Woo——! Wu——! Wu——!"

The chirping of the conch resounded through the forests of Mt. Soma again after 5 days!

"Come on!"

"Follow me!"

"kill!"

It's still the same tactics - each unit moves forward, reaches the iron cannon, and after the bow and arrow can attack the stronghold, launch firepower preparations that seem to be free of charge!

Projectiles and arrows hit the huge mountain village that Xiangma Zhong had run for many years like a storm.

The village engulfed by barrages and arrows looked like a small boat floating on a stormy sea, as if it would be swallowed up by a sudden huge wave at any time!

*******

*******

Happy New Year’s Eve everyone~~!(Baoguai.jpg)
Chapter completed!