He shouted three times in a row.

No one answered…

Looking up, he saw neither his subordinates alive nor the enemy.

"Shanchuan-kun, you lead 100 people to search for survivors, and the rest follow me!"

With that said, Matsudaira Yongho got off his horse and walked quickly towards the Sakai Town Imperial Gate.

When the officers and soldiers of the Aizu Army saw this, they were immediately frightened.

"Lord! Be careful!"

"The enemy might not have left yet!"

"Why are you standing there? Why don't you go and protect the lord!"

The officers and soldiers of the Aizu Army rushed forward in a swarm, protecting Matsudaira Yoshiho in three circles inside and three outside.

The Sakai-cho Imperial Gate is intact... there are no signs of attack.

Matsudaira Yongho quickened his pace.

A certain general clearly ordered the soldiers to push open the royal gate in advance.

Squeak, squeak, squeak... Accompanied by a dry and harsh sound, the thick imperial door slowly opened.

It had just opened a gap that could barely accommodate one person, and Matsudaira Yongho couldn't wait to step inside.

As soon as he stepped into the imperial palace, he bumped into a young minister.

"Higo-sama! You are finally here!"

He spoke in a eunuch-like "gongqing accent" and cried until he was in tears, and the white powder on his face was stained with tears.

"Sorry for frightening you. Did the thief break into the imperial palace?"

The young minister wiped his tears and said hummingly:

"No, no..."

After learning that the thief did not break into the imperial palace, Matsudaira Yongho secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

——Fortunately...the worst case did not happen...

After thinking so secretly, Matsudaira Yongho asked:

"When will the thieves arrive?"

"Da, about half an hour ago, we suddenly heard brutal shouts of killing coming from outside the imperial palace..."

"How many thieves are here? Have you seen them?"

"This, this... we don't know... we were so scared at the time! We were so scared that we didn't dare to move! How could we have the leisure to count the number of intruders!"

The most critical information was missing... Although Matsudaira Yongho felt depressed, he was helpless.

At this time, Yamakawa Bie, who had just been sent by Matsudaira Yoho to search for survivors, returned.

"My lord! My lord!"

"Ah, Yamakawa-kun, you are finally back, how about it? Have you found any survivors?"

Yamakawa Bie swallowed hard:

"I, we...we walked through the 'Nine Gates of the Imperial Palace'...the more than 200 guards deployed here...were all killed! No one survived!"

As soon as these words came out, the temperature at the scene seemed to drop several degrees!

Everyone present - including Matsudaira Yongho - was shocked!

More than two hundred soldiers... were all killed...

Not only do we not know the identity of the invading enemies, we don’t even know their specific number...

Compared to the paucity of information, there was another thing that puzzled Matsudaira Yōho even more.

——The thieves clearly launched an attack on the Imperial Palace, but why did they only kill the first one and not attack the Imperial Palace?

——Could it be said that... their real purpose is not to capture the Imperial Palace?

As soon as he thought of this, Matsudaira Yongho seemed to realize something, his expression immediately changed, and his face darkened little by little.

"I see... surround Wei and save Zhao...!"

…

…

After Matsudaira Yoshiho took away 1,500 troops, Saigo Kinosuke took command of the remaining troops and continued to pursue the Choshu Army.

Being able to kill more than 200 fully armed soldiers in a short period of time... Such a terrifying killing speed can only mean two things -

First, the attackers were an army of staggering size.

Secondly, the attacker is a "one-person army" monster like Tachibana Aoden!

According to the currently known information, the latter is more likely!

If it were a large-scale army with such a conspicuous target maneuvering in the town of Kyoto, it would be impossible for it to escape the eyes and ears of the Huisa Allied Forces.

No matter what, never make the same mistake again!

If their home was really stolen, they would really be in tears.

Although the thieves who attacked the imperial palace have disappeared without a trace, no one can say whether they will fight back.

Therefore, Matsudaira Yongho had to personally lead the 1,500 soldiers he brought to the imperial palace.

Most of the troops that Matsudaira Yōho took away were soldiers of the Aizu Army.

Most of the men and horses left for Saigo Yoshinosuke were soldiers of the Satsuma Army.

Saigo Kinosuke is indeed a rare commander.

The Satsuma people also live up to the name "Satsuma Hayato".

[Note: Satsuma Hayato: Because Satsuma is a martial artist, Satsuma people like to call themselves "Satsuma Hayato"]

Under the command of Saigo Kinnosuke, they launched a fierce attack on the Choshu Army one after another.

It's just that...the number of troops has been reduced by half, and the impact it has is immediate.

The pressure on Katsura Kogoro and others was greatly reduced.

Relying on the weather (night) and location (forest), and with the full assistance of Su Nuo and Umibozhu, they resisted tenaciously and pinned the Sa coalition forces to the western suburbs of Kyoto.

During this period, the help of Su Nuo and Master Haifang were of great help.

Especially Su Nuo.

Su Nuo is very familiar with the forest.

He knows exactly where it is suitable to lay traps; where it cannot be defended; where it can effectively intercept the enemy.

At first, Katsura Kogoro's most optimistic estimate was that he could only stay in the woods for an hour.

As a result, due to the sharp decrease in the number of troops that could be put into battle by the Huisa Allied Forces and the two major foreign aids of Su Nuo and Haifangzhu, they were able to endure for two hours! They endured until dawn!

As the sky grew brighter, Katsura Kogoro and others slowly withdrew from the woods and headed west.

After Saigo Kinnosuke learned about the movements of the rear army, he did not order a pursuit, but instead issued an order to "retract troops" to the entire army.

Although he was unwilling to do so, reason finally defeated emotion - Saigo Kinosuke knew very well that it was meaningless to continue to pursue the Choshu Army.

The desperate fighting of Katsura Kogoro and others successfully bought a lot of time for the Choshu Army to evacuate.

At this point in time, the large forces of the Changzhou Army had already withdrawn a long distance.

Even if they chased at full speed, they could not catch up with each other.

In this way, this "Battle of Kyoto" that lasted for one night came to an end.

From a macro level, it was undoubtedly the Changzhou Army that won.

With only 300 troops, Katsura Kogoro was able to contain the Huisa coalition forces that were ten times their size and achieved the expected goal.

On the other hand, the Huisa Allied Forces failed to realize the strategic plan of "annihilating a large number of the effective forces of the Changzhou Army".

But... the price the Changzhou Army paid for this was not a heavy one!

The rear army of 300 people was almost wiped out! There were only 28 survivors, and all of them were injured!

Even Su Nuo and Haifangzhu, who were extremely skilled, had several wounds on their bodies.

As for Katsura Kogoro, who must climb first in every battle, there is no need to go into detail.

Judging from his appearance alone, he seemed to have only half a life left.

Katsura Kogoro and others evacuated to the Harima area west of Gyeonggi Province before stopping to rest.

"Huh... I finally caught up with you..."

A sudden familiar voice...
To be continued...