Due to his emotional excitement, Tokugawa Qingsheng's voice was hoarse and almost broken.

When he mentioned the word "Matsuhira Higomori", he emphasized his tone specially.

Its intention is clear at a glance.

The Owari Domain is one of the "Three Imperial Households", and all feudal lords have inherited the position of Dainagon (secondary subordinate) hereditary.

In terms of the rank of daimyo, he is one of the "three imperial families"; in terms of official position in the imperial court, he is the powerful one.

On the other hand, Matsudaira Yoshiho... Although the Aizu Domain is also a direct clan, it is definitely not comparable to the Owari Domain. The difference between the two is like "adopted son" and "parent child".

As for the position of Higomori (from the top five), which has been hereditary for generations of the Aizu family, it cannot be compared with Gon Dainanagon.

Therefore, Tokugawa Qingsheng’s meaning is very simple: You, a low-ranking official, don’t refute your superior’s words!

Under normal circumstances, Matsudaira Yoho, who doesn't like to cause trouble, would probably just shut up and stop.

However...the current emergency situation caused him to lose his former composure.

Boom!

He stood up quickly.

Because he stood up too hard, the horse underneath him was directly ejected, and he landed heavily on the ground, making a loud noise.

"Tokugawa Daigan, I am by no means a cold-blooded person, let alone being generous to others!"

"Owari Clan was attacked, and I am equally anxious."

"But if we return to the division now, our recent achievements... no, our combat preparations over the past year will all be in vain!"

"Since the surprise troops are far away from Owari, it means that the current Choshu Domain is truly an 'empty country'."

"In this case, now is the best time to go all out to take Hagi City and eliminate Choshu!"

"In order to conquer Changzhou, we have been preparing and waiting for a long time. Is it possible to give up like this?"

"If we don't take advantage of this opportunity to bring peace and stability to the country in one fell swoop, the Tuesday Kingdom will have endless troubles in addition to this serious internal problem!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately received a huge number of echoes.

"That's right!"

"I hate Changzhou so much!"

"General Tachibana! We should continue the attack! Destroy Changzhou!"

At first glance, the momentum of the "war faction" is quite impressive.

However... the volume of "main withdrawal" is not weak either.

As soon as Matsudaira Yongho finished speaking, Tokugawa Qingsheng on the back snorted:

"Ha! What Matsudaira Higomori said is so impassioned!"

"I'm just short of being labeled a 'coward' and a 'treacherous traitor who delayed the fight'!"

"I do not deny that my advocacy of 'returning to school immediately' is out of selfishness."

"But, I am also thinking about the overall situation!"

Having said this, he imitated Matsudaira Yongho and stood up abruptly, scanning the audience with sharp eyes:

"Let me ask you, the Choshu Army spent all their efforts to cross the sea to surprise Owari. Is it just because they want Noo's wealth?"

"I also know that this kind of thing is absolutely impossible!"

"They must have other plans!"

"Open the map and take a good look!"

"What are the places on the east and west sides of Owari Clan?!"

"The west side is Gyeonggi and the east side is Kanto!"

"Let me ask you, if the Changshu Army marches to Kantung, what should we do?"

"Let me ask you again, if the Changzhou Army marches towards Gyeonggi, what should we do?"

Speaking of this, Tokugawa Qingsheng paused for a moment, then turned to look at Qingden not far away.

"General Tachibana, as far as I know, the two mistresses of your clan have just given birth."

"If the Changzhou Army marches towards the capital, the noble domain will be the first to bear the brunt."

"Can you bear to put your wife and children in danger?"

Suddenly, the atmosphere in the tent changed subtly.

Nagakura Shinpachi, Serizawa Kamo, Toudo Heisuke and other Shinsengumi generals all changed their expressions.

Tokugawa Yoshikatsu's words were so bold and straightforward that he even put Aintō on the fire.

Although what he said just now is very unpleasant, I have to admit that his point of view is correct.

Even Yōho Matsudaira, a die-hard "warrior", was unable to refute the opponent for a while.

The Choshu Army, which successfully captured Owari, has gained strategic initiative and has great potential both to the west and to the east.

Choshu was captured, but Edo or Gyeonggi were gone... So, could it still be considered a victory for them?

Neither of the two factions agrees with the other.

In this way, the tent fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, no one knew who could raise his head, and everyone at the scene turned to look at Qing Deng who was sitting on the main seat.

Confused, hesitant, annoyed, panic...all kinds of eyes fell on Qingdeng.

"..."

Since just now, Qingdeng has been silent and has no expression on his face.

If there is anyone who can stabilize the morale of the military at present, it is Renren.

No matter how fierce the quarrel between Matsudaira Yongho and Tokugawa Yoshikatsu was.

Frankly speaking, Qingdeng is not as calm as he appears on the surface.

There is a huge lack of information right now.

The little information we know so far all comes from that brave messenger.

This afternoon, the envoy, covered with bruises and dying, arrived at the rear army camp.

"This place...is the main camp of the Marching Army...? I have something urgent to tell you...take me to see...General Tachibana...!"

Isamu Kondo, who was in charge of commanding the rear army, rushed to the scene after hearing the news. After discovering that the messenger's clothes were embroidered with "Owari Mitsuha", he did not dare to neglect and hurriedly sent him to the Chinese army camp.

After meeting Aoshinobu, he told the truth about the "Owari attack" in detail, regardless of his fatigue and pain.

When he finished speaking, he finally completed his mission and couldn't bear it anymore. He rolled his eyes and passed out.

Overall, the Changzhou Army fought a very beautiful surprise attack.

After landing on a beach in Owari Domain by boat, the Choshu Army stepped up their march under the cover of night, quickly penetrated the hinterland of Owari Domain, and headed straight for Nagoya Castle.

The reason why their march was so smooth was thanks to the "One Country, One City Order".

The shogunate will never neglect to suppress you just because you are one of the "Royal Three Clan" or any other close vassal.

Therefore, the huge Owari Domain only has one city, Nagoya Castle, and there are neither castles nor passes in other places.

In fact, there are no barriers to build.

The entire territory of Owari Domain is an endless plain with no danger to defend.

One country, one city order... This law used by the shogunate to maintain its dominance ended up indirectly harming itself... The so-called "black humor" is roughly like this.

Nagoya Castle is not a mountain castle or flat mountain castle built in the mountains, it is just an ordinary flat castle.

Because the feudal lord Tokugawa Yoshikatsu took away most of the sergeants, only a minimum number of troops were left in the city.

Did anyone in the Owari Domain ever think that a hostile force would cross the sea to suddenly attack their domain?

What's more, it was still night at that time, when energy was least effective, carelessness was most likely to occur, and defense was weakest.

All of the above have put Nagoya Castle's defense capabilities at a rare low in history.

Although the Owari Domain is a large domain, its armaments are not significantly different from those of the smaller domains. They also have swords and guns in storage, horses are sent to Nanshan, and armaments are depleted. At most, the size of the troops is larger.

Modern armies can crush feudal armies.

Being prepared and unprepared turned this battle into a one-sided massacre.

The Choshu Army reached Nagoya Castle without any effort, and then broke through the city gate without any effort.

According to the messenger, the sudden rain of shells instantly enveloped the city gates and walls.

In just a few moments, the bricks and tiles of the city wall, which had been in disrepair for a long time, peeled off like snowflakes.

After a while, the city gate collapsed and was completely opened.

Immediately afterwards, groups of sergeants armed with advanced muskets climbed over the collapsed city walls and opened the city gates, and filed in - many of them had Western faces.
To be continued...