"Being able to acquire steam battleships and hire a large number of Slavs for their own use, I think the French Party must have quite a lot of contacts in Europe."

Faced with Qingdeng's inquiry, Miss Sumire was silent for a while, then shook her head:

"Sorry, we have not received relevant information yet."

"However, An Yi, I agree with your point of view."

"We not only purchased advanced steam warships, but also organized a 'Slavic Legion' with a size of more than 2,000 people. Without the help of capable people from Europe, it would have been impossible to accomplish these two things."

"According to my personal guess... the French Party is probably cooperating with a certain arms dealer in Europe."

"If this is the case, then everything will be easily explained."

After Qingdeng heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and muttered:

"Arms dealer..."

Somehow, when he heard the word "arms dealer", the figure of Elodie's biological father, Maher d'Orléans, emerged from his mind.

The reason why I suddenly thought of this person is because Elodie said that his father started out in the arms business!

Qingden clearly remembers Elodie's evaluation of Maher: If he risked his life to cross the ocean to come to Japan simply to recover his daughter, then this is really not something Maher would do.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng frowned subconsciously and thought to himself:

——It should...not be such a coincidence...

Just when his thoughts were wandering, Miss Sumire's voice came up again, bringing his thoughts back to reality:

"An Yi, our Great Salt Party only knows so much information at the moment."

"If we get new information in the future, I will ask Shintaro Tojo to tell you."

Qingdeng sat up slightly and responded solemnly:

"Ms. Sumire, thank you for your generous help. It really helped me a lot. I will never forget it."

Miss Sumire smiled:

"You're welcome, we're just doing what we need."

At this critical juncture, Qingdeng was naturally happy to see powerful helpers coming to help.

Qingdeng had no doubts about the intelligence gathering capabilities of the Great Salt Party.

The information Miss Sumire just provided is basically consistent with the information he currently has.

As early as before, there were reports that there were a large number of Westerners in the Changshu Army, which was marching directly to Kantung.

It seems that these Westerners should be the "Slavic Legion" that Miss Sumire just mentioned.

After Qingdeng thought for a moment, he said quietly:

"The Choshu Domain and the Hoshu Party are working together... what a troublesome combination."

"But...if you think about it from another angle, this might not be a precious opportunity once and for all."

The content of these words instantly attracted the attention of Miss Sumire and Shintaro Tojo.

Facing the doubtful looks cast by the two of them, Qingden explained calmly:

"The Qi soldiers are the last elite of Changzhou."

"As long as the Qi soldiers are eliminated, Changzhou will be completely reduced to a sick tiger without claws and claws."

"Similarly, that 'Slavic Army' should be... no, it must be the trump card of the French Execution Party!"

"No matter how well-connected and capable the Fanzhu Party is, it is still just an association."

"Even if there is support from arms dealers or other forces, the amount of money required to raise a mercenary army of 2,000 people is absolutely an astronomical sum."

"Such a large amount of money is definitely not something that an association can easily afford."

"I dare to conclude that the 'Slavic Army' is a valuable force that the French Communist Party spent countless time and energy to build up."

"Essentially, the reason why they were able to successfully attack Nongwei by surprise was simply because the timing of the attack was so good, and they cleverly took advantage of the window period of our Western Expedition, Tuesday Country."

"In order to conquer Changzhou, we mobilized the troops of the Gyeonggi and Nongwei vassals, leaving the two areas extremely empty of troops, which allowed them to take advantage of the loophole."

"This great opportunity comes only once in a lifetime!"

"For Choshu, this is a unique trick to bring the feudal state back to life."

"For the Punishment Party, this is the precious opportunity they have been waiting for for a long time to completely eliminate the shogunate."

"Therefore, from the moment they landed on the Nomi coast, Choshu and the Hōsū Party had no way out."

"Either win or die in defeat!"

"In such a battle where victory is guaranteed and defeat is not allowed, and if we miss it, we don't know how long we will have to wait, there is no reason for the Fa Zhu Party not to send out all its combat power!"

"In other words, in the next battle, I will most likely encounter important cadres such as Otakemaru and Shuten Doji of the Punishment Party, and even its leader Yamata no Orochi!"

"Therefore, this battle is not only a decisive battle between me and Changzhou, but also a decisive battle between me and the Fanzhu Party!"

"With this battle, we can defeat Changzhou in one fell swoop and punish the party!"

Listening to Qingdeng's heroic words, Miss Sumire blinked blankly, and then showed a slight smile:

"Destroy Changzhou in one fell swoop and punish the party... You have a huge appetite."

"However, from what you said, it doesn't seem impossible."

"Whatever happens to Changzhou, let's leave it alone."

"If you really succeed in wiping out the 'Slavic Legion' and successfully kill Yamata no Orochi, Otakemaru, Shuten Doji and others, it will indeed completely wipe out the Hōzoku Party."

"Haha, when I think of this, my heart beats a little faster."

At this point, she held her head high, stared straight at Qingdeng, and said in a tone that was half teasing, half serious:

"In that case, An Yi, I wish you a great victory! You must eliminate the Law and Punishment Party in one fell swoop!"

Qingden smiled and said:

"I will do my best!"

…

…

Hachioji area——

"Whoosh...! Whoosh...! Whoosh...!"

The horse is galloping, breathing heavily, sweat is splashing, and dust is flying.

Hijikata Toisho held the sincerity flag high with one hand and held the reins tightly with the other hand. No matter how strong the headwind was, he remained unmoved.

Without looking back, he said loudly:

"Tetsunosuke, hold on a little longer! We'll be there soon!"

Ichimura Tetsunosuke, who was half a body behind him, responded loudly:

"Mr. Hijikata, you are worrying too much! I am very well! Even if I ride to Matsumae Domain in one go, it won't be a problem!"

Matsumae Domain, the hometown of Nagakura Shinpachi, is located at the southernmost tip of Ezo Land (Hokkaido), which was essentially the northernmost part of Japan during the Edo period.

Hijikata Toizan squinted his eyes and looked at Tetsunosuke Ichimura, who was standing behind him.

Looking at the other person's slightly trembling back and legs, he couldn't help but feel secretly amused.

However, he did not expose the other party, silently withdrew his gaze and focused on the road ahead again.

After leaving Otsu, Hijikata Toshizo ran non-stop—non-stop in the physical sense—to the Hachioji area.

When one horse gets tired, he switches to another. Since the two of them brought a total of eight horses, they didn't need to worry about horsepower.

Although Hijikata Toshizo's physical fitness cannot be compared with Aoto, it is still far superior to ordinary people.

In his eyes, this hard work is really not worth mentioning.

On the other hand, Ichimura Tetsunosuke was not good at physical strength or force, so he was not so able.

However, he is indeed a good boy who was spotted by Hijikata Toshisan at a glance and promoted to his nickname.

No matter how hard and tiring he was, he never complained and kept persevering.

After three days and three nights of running wildly, Toshizo Hijikata felt that the surrounding scenery was becoming more and more familiar.

Hachioji is adjacent to Tama.

To put it bluntly, these two places are basically one!

As a son of a farmer from Tama, Hijikata has been visiting Hachioji since he was a child. This place is basically half of his hometown.

Therefore, looking at the increasingly familiar scenery around him, he concluded in his heart: We are almost at Hachioji!

The master and servant walked a long distance one after another, and after entering an unknown forest... suddenly, a sudden change occurred!

Da, da, da, da, da, da, da!

Suddenly, dense footsteps sounded in front of them.
To be continued...