"..."

Qingdeng pursed his lips and did not respond.

Build the plank road openly and cross the Chencang secretly - a tried and tested tactic.

If you want to capture this "rock wall" at the minimum cost, the only available strategy is to launch a surprise attack!

Send a death squad to act as "regular soldiers" to attract the enemy's attention from the front so that the enemy has no time to pay attention.

Then, an elite force is sent out to act as a "surprise force" to sneak around and attack the enemy.

In this way, you will have a chance to succeed in the battle!

In theory, this strategy is undoubtedly the most suitable for the current Shinsengumi.

But... leaving aside everything else, just how to form the "regular soldiers" responsible for attracting the enemy's attention is a big trouble.

The enemy's firepower was extremely fierce and they occupied an overwhelming geographical advantage.

The vegetation, trees and rocks in front of the "rock wall" have been completely cleared. If a frontal attack is carried out, it will be completely exposed to the enemy's guns.

To engage in a head-on confrontation with the enemy in an open space without any shelter, and to persist until the "surprise soldiers" completed their mission... Calling it a "narrow escape" seems to be too light and inappropriate.

No matter how brave, tenacious and well-trained the members of the Shinsengumi are, they are still mortal bodies.

If you force them to fight in such a life-or-death battle, they will feel guilty and scared.

Therefore, a strong man must be sent to lead these "serious soldiers" before they can muster the courage to fight!

First of all, this person must have high enough prestige to make the team members trust him wholeheartedly and follow him.

Secondly, he must have excellent talents and be able to make accurate decisions on an ever-changing battlefield.

Finally, he must have enough courage to face this severe challenge without fear of bullets.

To sum up, the best candidate is undoubtedly Qingteng himself.

If Qing Teng takes the lead, the members of the Shinsengumi will naturally move forward bravely, each of them treating one as ten and ten as a hundred.

However, letting Qing Deng command the "serious soldiers" is simply killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.

Regardless of the "real soldiers", the winner of this plan lies in the "surprise soldiers".

If the "surprise soldiers" fail to complete the task of "sneaking around and surprise-attacking the enemy", no matter how tenacious the "regular soldiers" are, it will be in vain.

Therefore, the best solution is to deploy elite soldiers and generals led by Aoto, Souji, and Saito Kazuo to form a "surprise force" to maximize the combat effectiveness of the "surprise force".

Besides... to put it bluntly, Qingdeng should stay away from this kind of passive fighting with extremely high casualty rate.

Compared with the "regular soldiers" who resist the enemy's offensive, the survival rate of the "surprise soldiers" who sneak around and attack is undoubtedly much higher.

If something unexpected happens to Qingdeng, then this battle will be over and there is no need to continue fighting.

Then, apart from Qingto himself, the only person around him who meets the above conditions... is Shannan Keisuke!

Shannan Keisuke is the commander-in-chief of the Shinsengumi and a senior official of Qinjin Clan.

Its prestige is so high that there is no need to go into details.

Because of his gentle personality and tolerant attitude towards others, he is very popular among the soldiers.

In terms of "appeal", both the director and Saito Kazuo are far behind him.

There is no doubt that he is the only one who can do this right here and now!

It's just... this would be like pushing Shannan Keisuke into the fire pit with his own hands...

Facing this hedgehog-like "rock wall" head-on... not even Qingto can guarantee his escape, let alone Shannan Keisuke?

When Qingdeng thought of this, he couldn't help but hesitated and remained silent for a long time.

Shannan Keisuke seemed to have read through his thoughts and smiled slightly:

"Mr. Ju, thousands of people in Guandong are waiting for your help. At this critical moment, you must not be merciful as a woman."

"...Well, I understand."

Qingdeng said in a hoarse voice.

After finishing speaking, he closed his eyes, turned his head to the sky, and took a deep breath.

After a while, he opened his eyes, faced Shannan Jingshu, his eyes were firm, and he said seriously:

"Jingsuke, please."

Shannan Keisuke smiled calmly:

"clear!"

Seeing the other party's appearance of accepting the order happily, Qingdeng's eyes flickered slightly, with a hint of "hesitancy" in his "firmness".

However, he quickly suppressed this "hesitation" and made it fleeting, returning to his firm and unwavering tough look.

He took out his pocket watch from his pocket and looked at the time:

"In half an hour, the attack will begin!"

"A tough battle is about to begin...Kingsuke, please go down and rest for a while."

Shannan Jingsuke nodded lightly:

"It's okay, I haven't had lunch yet, my chest is almost touching my back."

Qingdeng said casually:

"I haven't eaten either, let's go have something to eat together."

As soon as he finished speaking, Shannan Keisuke raised his eyebrows:

"Oh? That's really a coincidence."

As he spoke, he took out a clean cloth bag from his arms, and then gently opened the cloth - there were a dozen rice balls that were still warm.

Shannan Keisuke's appetite is not big.

There were so many rice balls, obviously enough for two or three people, and it was impossible for him to finish them all.

"Tachibana-kun, I happened to prepare some rice balls. This is a rare opportunity, let's have a meal here."

When he mentioned the word "just right", Shannan Keisuke emphasized his tone and cast a teasing look at Aoshito.

When Qingdeng saw this, he couldn't help but laugh, and expressed with his gestures, "I'll do whatever you want."

The two found a large, flat rock and sat side by side, gazing at the distant sky while nibbling rice balls in their hands.

At this moment, the atmosphere surrounding the two of them changed significantly.

It became quiet and peaceful...it seemed like even the flow of time slowed down.

Suddenly, after finishing the first rice ball in his hand, Shannan Keisuke suddenly started talking:

"Tachibana-kun, I once thought about leaving the Shinsengumi."

"..."

"Tachibana-kun, I once thought about leaving the Shinsengumi."

"I heard it, no need to repeat it."

Qingto slowly put down the rice ball in his hand - just now, the hand holding the rice ball paused in mid-air for a moment - turned to look at Shannan Keisuke beside him, with a serious expression:

"Keisuke, even if you are joking, don't make fun of this kind of thing."

Article 2 of the "New Sengumi Regulations": You are not allowed to leave the organization without permission.

Anyone who commits a crime will be beheaded in public display!

No matter when or where, "being a deserter" is a shameful thing and must not be tolerated.

Facing Aomori's serious warning, Shannan Keisuke showed a calm smile:

"Tachibana-kun, I'm not kidding. There was a time when I seriously considered whether to leave the Shinsengumi and become a ronin."

"...Can you let me hear the reason? Why do you want to leave the Shinsengumi? Do you hate the Shinsengumi? Or are you dissatisfied with me or someone else?"

"It's not that I hate the Shinsengumi, nor that I'm dissatisfied with anyone. If I have to say it... I'm probably confused."

"'Confused'? What kind of reason is that?"

"Since going to Luo, we have been marching south and north, fighting one battle after another, and defeating powerful enemies one after another, but I always feel like we are wandering around in a quagmire."

"You seem to have expressed similar emotions before."

"Yes, this is not the first time I have expressed such emotion to you. It was from then on that I began to have the idea of ​​'retiring from the Shinsengumi'."

Having said this, Shannan Keisuke paused, grinned, and had a strange look on his cheeks that was half a smile but not a smile.

"Although I am a swordsman, I am actually a very traditional Confucian scholar at heart."

"My greatest ideal in life is to 'cultivate oneself, manage one's family, govern the country, and bring peace to the world'."

"Use your own hands to create a peaceful and prosperous age - it is with this philosophy that I have been fighting until now."

"I firmly believed that the sword I wielded was a well-deserved 'Sword of Righteousness', until...one day, I looked at those lofty ideals who were killed by us, and a thought that I had never had before emerged in my mind: My
To be continued...