While shouting, this man fiercely pulled out the knife from his waist and pointed the tip of the knife at the Shinsengumi camp.

The Souji opened his eyes wide with disbelief on his face.

After about 5 seconds, she finally came to her senses and murmured:

"Ichiki begged...?!"

Yiqi Dao - to put it simply, it is a one-on-one challenge between generals in front of the battle array.

In ancient China, "military generals singled out to determine victory or defeat" basically only existed in romance novels, and no one did this in reality.

But in ancient Japan, this was a serious and classic method of warfare.

The Ikkidō was established during the Heian period (794-1192) and flourished during the Kamakura shogunate period (1185-1333).

Japan's Heian Period was just like China's Western Zhou Dynasty. It paid great attention to etiquette, and even wars required a variety of etiquette.

For example: before the war begins, the generals of both sides must report their families to each other, who are my ancestors, what is my name, and so on.

The emphasis on cumbersome etiquette, coupled with the beginning of the rise of samurai culture, led to the rise and popularity of the "Ikkidou" warfare method.

To put it bluntly - "Ikkidou" is a twisted product created by samurai to show off their family and their own martial arts.

If I didn't run majestically in front of the two armies and challenge them to a duel, how would the world know that I am the queen of a famous family with a prominent family background, extraordinary courage, and superb skills?

Therefore, in order to carry out the pretense to the extreme, these idle samurai just designed many complicated rules for Ikkidou.

Before the fight begins, you must declare your home status, it must be one-on-one, and no intrigues are allowed...the list goes on and on.

The specific content of the competition includes drawing swords to cut each other, and also taking out bows and arrows to test riding and shooting.

The essence of Yiqidou is to show off and perform.

If the rules are broken, how can everyone happily show off together in the future?

Therefore, both warring parties tacitly praised Yiqidou and abided by the rules of Yiqidou. Hello, I am hello, everyone... Then, the Yuan Dynasty army came.

At that time, many Japanese generals, under the influence of path dependence, foolishly ran to the formations of the two armies, hoping to challenge the Yuan generals in a duel.

Such behavior made the Yuan army officers happy - why did these guys rush to kill them?

Only a fool would challenge them in a duel! A wave of arrows immediately covered them, shooting the Japanese generals into sieves.

To this day, there are still ancient paintings of "Yuan army shooting Japanese generals".

In general, the Yuan Dynasty's Eastern Expedition improved Japan's war level in disguise.

After the Kamakura period, Ikkito gradually withdrew from the stage of history.

By the time of the Warring States Period, no one was stupid enough to engage in one-on-one battles anymore.

As for the "Ikkidō between Takeda Shingen and Uesugi Kenshin", it is purely a product made up by later generations. There were many such nonsense stories in Japan during the Warring States Period.

Now in the middle of the 19th century, we can still see people doing this kind of performance art... I have to say, this is really shocking, with a kind of beauty of "traveling through the Kamakura period".

Even Qingdeng couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

However, he soon felt relieved.

Although this thing is outrageous, it is normal for it to happen to people from Changzhou.

In recent years, in order to fight against the Western barbarians and demonstrate their irreconcilable stance with the Western barbarians, a "retro style" has gradually emerged among the Zunban faction.

To put it simply, they advocate that "the things of the ancestors are good!" and "whoever dares to touch the ancestors' charter will lose their head!".

Under the influence of this trend, many people with lofty ideals are keen on reading ancient books, learning ancient knowledge, and imitating the behavior of the ancients.

In short, it's just a matter of coaplaying the ancients. The more you make yourself look like the ancients, the better.

In this way, it is not difficult to understand the "19th century Ichido" and so on.

With sharp eyesight like a falcon, Qingden keenly discovered that when the guy who called himself "Yamamoto Satoshi" rode his horse out of the battle, there was a big commotion in the Changzhou camp.

Many generals in armor rushed to the entrance of the camp and looked angrily at Yamamoto Ceyuki who had already rushed to the front of the formation, shouting something.

Qingdeng looked at this scene and thought about it.

After a while, a look of clarity appeared on his face.

He probably guessed the cause and effect of the matter: This guy probably strongly requested a vigorous fight with the Shinsengumi, but his superiors refused, so he ignored the order and forcibly rode out into the battle, insisting on playing the role of a Kamakura

The generals of the era cannot.

This gave Qingdeng a good reminder - the Changzhou Army on the opposite side was less united than he expected, with many people who did not listen to orders and went their own way.

"Tachibana-kun, can I go there?"

The general manager turned to look at Qingden, and put his right hand on Dingguishen on his waist.

Qingden shook his head gently:

"There's no rush, let's get into formation first and then talk."

…

…

Woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-woo-

Following the Choshu Army Camp, the Shinsengumi Camp also sounded a louder trumpet.

Within a moment, the 3,300 soldiers in the camp stepped on the ground, "rumbling" and marched out of the camp, arraying themselves in the field.

Qingdeng adopts a very classic formation——

The 2,000 musketeers of the Sixth and Eighth Divisions are deployed in the middle.

The 300 infantrymen of the First Division were on the left flank.

The 800 cavalrymen of the Seventh and Tenth Divisions were on the right wing.

The 200 artillery pieces of the 11th Division were deployed in the rear.

Further behind the artillery is the main formation where Qingdeng and other generals are located.

As long as Qingdeng gives an order, the 2,000 musketeers can immediately move forward. They have infantry on the left and right wings, cavalry support, and artillery protection at the rear - it is a "one-size-fits-all" formation that can be attacked and defended.

At this moment, in this formation, the mats are arranged neatly.

Qingdeng sat on the main seat with his head held high.

The General Secretary, Genzaburo Inoue and other generals at all levels took their seats in order according to their status.

Judging from the scene, there is no doubt that Qingdeng’s side has an overwhelming advantage.

In addition to the 3,300 soldiers of the Shinsengumi, there are also a full 20,000 feudal troops! The total strength is nearly 8 times that of the Choshu Army opposite!

However, these 20,000 vassal troops were placed at the rear, acting as a backdrop.

Anyway, I don’t expect these guys to be of any help. Since they are mascots, where should I put them?

Therefore, Seito simply deployed most of the feudal soldiers on the Fushimi battlefield and put them under his nose for easy supervision.

The Changzhou Army on the opposite side also set up a military formation.

Right in the middle of the two formations, Yamamoto Sakuyuki showed no intention of retreating, raised his head and held his chest high, with a proud look on his face.

Just now, an interesting thing happened: a man from the Changzhou army came out on horseback, came to Yamamoto Sezhi and said something to him.

Qingdeng guessed that he was trying to persuade the other party to stop messing around and quickly return to the formation.

However, Yamamoto Sakuyuki's determination was very firm and he would not be swayed by it, and he was determined to defeat him.

Seeing that his persuasion was fruitless, the man shook his head and left, letting Yamamoto Satsuki continue to mess around.

Seeing that no one came forward to engage in the battle, Yamamoto Satoshi raised his chin and shouted in an arrogant tone:

"What? The Shinsengumi is so dignified, but there is no brave man?!"

Todo Heisuke smacked his lips with a displeased look on his face:

"Mr. Tachibana, my injury is no longer serious! Please let me go out into battle!"

The "Ikedaya Incident" only happened last month. The injury on Toudou Heisuke's forehead has not yet healed and is still wrapped in thick linen.

As soon as Toudo Heisuke finished speaking, Matsubara Chuji (deputy captain of the 10th Division) on the side took over the conversation hurriedly:

"My lord, I am willing to go! If I can guarantee it with my life, I will definitely behead that bandit!"

As a newcomer who had just joined the Shinsengumi, Matsubara Chuji was eager to prove himself by making military exploits.

Coincidentally, Qin Nakazawa (Vice Captain of the 7th Division) thought the same way.

"Lord, let me go!"

Nakazawa Qin patted her chest as she spoke, her voice loud and full of momentum.

For this roster spot, the Shinsengumi generals fought fiercely.

On the other hand, the generals of the vassal army... they competed one by one quietly.

Although they have no skills, they still have the most basic dignity.

Seeing that the generals of the Shinsengumi were all eagerly vying for the lead, even Nakazawa Qin, who was a woman, was far braver than them. In shame, they all lowered their heads and looked at their noses and hearts.
To be continued...