In the telescope, the warring sides are fighting fiercely. Because the Satsuma army is mainly composed of samurai, they all use samurai long knives in close combat, and chop with the sword technique of "Satsuma Show", and the government soldiers are mostly peasant soldiers, who meet the battle with bayonets and rifles, and a small number of eastern samurai also use katanas, and for a time the white blades are like a forest, and the sword is dazzling, so that the sun in the sky has lost a lot of color.

Because the Satsuma samurai are sharp and skillful, a knife down, the government soldiers are often difficult to resist, as a result of four or five government soldiers together can not fight a Satsuma samurai, after a fight, the government army gradually exhausted, began to retreat while re-firing with rifles, and the Satsuma samurai did not chase, but put away their knives and guns, and the government army fired, the distance between the two sides gradually widened again, like the tide receding from the beach to the sea, leaving behind the corpses of the scarred war dead who fell to the ground.

Seeing this scene, Saigo Takamori let out a heavy sigh and put down the telescope in his hand.

For the first time since the incident, the Satsuma army met with strong resistance from Kyoto Castle.

Kyoto is the old capital of Japan, a thousand-year-old city, is the economic and cultural center of Japan, after conquering Osaka, Saigo Takamori originally thought that the government army had lost heart, Kyoto can go down with a drum, in order to reduce the damage to the city in siege operations, this time did not let Uehara Yusaku lead the combat engineers to blast the city wall, but hoped to take Kyoto in a normal way of combat, because in his heart, there is a plan to take Kyoto as the capital.

Although the Satsuma army was raised in the name of "King Qin's new policy" and "Kiyojun's side", he still had in his heart that the Meiji government would not give in, and once he was forced to do so. When self-government is required. Kyoto is undoubtedly a good location as the capital city.

But now. He witnessed the fierce resistance of the soldiers and civilians in Kyoto and the heavy casualties of his subordinates, and he couldn't help but hesitate in his heart.

"Now the children's casualties are so heavy, I'm afraid there will be more casualties when the soldiers come to the city of Tokyo, right? ......," Takamori Saigo sighed.

"General, today's casualties are actually very small." The samurai beside him replied, "Our army's attack is to relieve the siege of the enemy's forward troops who have strayed into the enemy's formation. To contain the enemy is to attack without all their might, and if it were a formal attack, the enemy's main force would have fought here with all its might, and the casualties would have been much greater than now. ”

"I see," said Saigo Takamori, with a long sigh, "the determination of the people of Kyoto to defend the land is indeed unmatched by Osaka." This Nozu Daoguan, although defeated by our army. But he has been defeated and fought repeatedly, and the more frustrated he becomes, the more courageous he becomes. What a talent! ”

"Don't worry, general, Kyoto is insufficient, although our army has casualties, but the enemy army is exhausted after days of fighting, and there is a serious shortage of ammunition, and our army has broken the city in these few days." The samurai thought that Saigo Takamori was worried that Kyoto would not be able to be attacked for a long time, and comforted him.

Saigo Takamori nodded, did not say anything more, but continued to observe the battle.

The two sides fought fiercely until dusk, and Saigo Takamori heard the sound of the horn, knew that this was a signal to withdraw his troops, and was about to ask, when a samurai came to report that the besieged forward troops had successfully escaped, and the troops acting as a containment had also retreated.

Hearing that today's war was over, Saigo Takamori let out a long breath of relief.

"In addition, General Shinohara, when he heard that the general had personally visited the former enemy to inspect the enemy's situation, he was worried about the general's safety, so he asked the general to return to the base camp as soon as possible." The samurai said again.

Saigo Takamori looked at the bloody sun in the distance, sighed, got back on his horse, and ran in the direction of the base camp with the samurai.

In the middle of the night, the ranks of government troops dispersed in positions and turned into a hidden and standby posture. Michikan Nozu and his guards in a pine forest. In accordance with the general requirements of the battle doctrine, Nozu Michikan ordered all of them to immediately start constructing a place of concealment. He first supervised and inspected it himself for a while, and then returned to a site he had chosen that was sparsely wooded, and dug up like the soldiers.

After a while, Yasumun Oji, who hastily settled down in the forest not far to the south, said to his subordinates: "Hurry up and rest!" Check your combat readiness again before going to bed. If you want to look at it one gun at a time, all bullets are not allowed to be loaded, and it is absolutely forbidden to go fire! Which squad has a problem and exposes the position of our army, whoever is responsible! ”

After the inspection, he was most worried about the safety of Nozu Michikan, so he went to the place where Nozu Michikan was located first. Seeing that Nozu Michikan was leading his subordinates to dig a ditch with all his might, he couldn't help but be angry and funny, and it was inconvenient for him to reprimand the commander, so he blamed the captain of the guard: "What are you doing so seriously when you break a ditch!" And I won't let you garrison here! …… Don't hurry up and go to bed yet! There are only a few hours left until dawn, so why don't you take a good rest, how will you fight tomorrow! ”

He felt that they should not dig the trenches seriously because he vaguely remembered a clause that had been somewhat forgotten in imitation of the Prussian army's battle doctrine: the task of the troops in the first phase of the battle was to be concealed and to preserve their strength, mainly to guard against enemy artillery attacks. And tomorrow at dawn, when the battle begins, the enemy's support artillery fire will first be used to hit the attacking troops of our own army and stop the follow-up troops, and then the shells may fall here.

"Go back! I'll do the rest myself! Although this was not the first time that Nozu Michikan had said such blunt words in front of him, Oji Yasujun couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and looked at the commander seriously, he always felt that during this period of time, he seemed to have become a different person.

After Oji Yasumi left, Nozu Michikan carefully checked his weapon again, and gathered his subordinates to carefully inspect it, and after finding no more problems, he disbanded the team. He checked the sentry and curled up in the dug pit. It was two o'clock in the morning, and the battle was going on in a few hours, and he thought he wouldn't sleep tonight anyway. He still has some extremely important things to think about in his mind, and if he doesn't think about it now, he won't have a chance in these few hours.

Although he is still alive, he clearly understands in his heart that he may die at any time.

That's right, these days his troops are still insisting on fighting the Satsuma army, which is several times their strength, and has dealt a hard blow to the Satsuma army, but. The casualties of the government forces themselves were not small.

The number of people who are able to fight in government troops. There are already fewer and fewer of them. And although the Satsuma army was dealt a heavy blow, it grew in number.

Moreover, the artillery fire of the Satsuma army is becoming more and more powerful.

He had seen the Satsuma artillery artillery that had been attacked and destroyed by the government army, and the Satsuma army used the most advanced Krupp breech gun in the world, this 75 mm caliber camp gun was advanced in design and easy to operate. Suitable for fighting in all terrains, the Satsuma Army used them to inflict heavy casualties on the government forces.

Although the government forces fought back with all their might, destroying the Satsuma artillery positions several times and capturing two of these cannons and a number of shells, the artillery fire of the Satsuma Army did not diminish as a result.

They seem to have more artillery, and good gunners.

The shells fired by the gunners of the Satsuma Army were not only extremely violent, but also extremely accurate, even to the point of being incredible.

As soon as the government artillery goes off, the shells of the Satsuma army will soon fly. Smashed the artillery positions of government troops to pieces. The government army was often shelled by the Satsuma Army during the march.

Remembering the white-knuckle battle between the Satsuma army and the government army today. Nozu Michikan actually fought a cold war.

He witnessed the battle between the Satsuma samurai and the Prussian-style assassination trained Japanese peasant soldiers, and the scenes were bloody and brutal beyond his imagination.

And the outcome of the battle, without exception, was the defeat of the government army.

When facing ordinary government soldiers, the Satsuma samurai can do one to ten, and the government soldiers, often three or four people, can't fight a single Satsuma samurai!

What's more, the number of the Satsuma army is even greater than that of the defenders of Kyoto......

Nozu Michikani let out a heavy sigh.

As for the outcome of the battle after dawn, he didn't dare to think about it anymore.

A feeling of despair surrounded him again.

Although he had repeatedly assured his soldiers that the emperor would not abandon them and that reinforcements would soon arrive, he himself did not believe it very much.

He believed that Youpeng in Shanxian would not abandon him, but now, the reinforcements of the brigade did not come along the railway and by train as he thought......

What are Okubo Ritsu and Yamaprefecture Aritomo doing now?

At this time, Second Lieutenant Katsuka Tsukamoto came with two soldiers, one of whom was still sobbing, and his thin shoulders shrugged.

Seeing this soldier crying, Nozu Michikan would have been furious, but this time, he was surprisingly not angry.

Second Lieutenant Katsuka Tsukamoto first saluted Nozu Michikan, and then said with some embarrassment: "General, that's the case, you see-" He turned back and pointed at the crying recruit, "Matsushita Heiji of the second squadron has to be transferred to our first squadron!" ”

"Why?" Nozu Michikani looked at them a little strangely. There is a war coming soon, and there are still people asking for a change of troops!

He looked at the two recruits brought by Second Lieutenant Tsukamoto, and realized that the two of them looked very similar.

"General, our brother begs you to fulfill our wishes!" The soldier who was not crying, who was obviously the elder brother, grabbed ahead of the younger brother and said, "My brother just wants to stay with me......"

"This is Heiichi Matsushita, his older brother, in our squadron." Second Lieutenant Tsukamoto said.

Matsushita Heiichi is similar to his younger brother Matsushita Heiji in terms of figure and appearance, but he has a little more shrewdness in his eyes. Nozu Michikan thought: This person is the soul of the brothers, and the idea of changing troops may be his.

Somehow, the moment he saw the two brothers, he thought of his brother Nozu Zheno again.

There are too many differences between myself and my brother......

"Why did you two move together?" Nozu Michikan asked Heiichi Matsushita.

"We are brothers, generals," Matsushita said boldly, his eyes flashed, and it looked like he was about to cry, "We grew up together, we were only eight years old when my mother died, and she told me before she died, no matter where I go, I must be with my brother......"

The battle was about to start at dawn, and the two brothers still wanted to be together. At this time, Nozu Michikani still didn't understand why they had to be transferred to a squadron. At this time, Second Lieutenant Tsukamoto interjected and said, "General, you can promise them, this is not a big deal." Anyway, they're fighting everywhere. ”

…… If the two of them are together, maybe their hearts will feel more steady, right?

"Okay." Michikani Nozu agreed.

Second Lieutenant Tsukamoto took the Matsushita brothers away. Nozu Michikani was half-lying down again. The forest was completely silent.

A jumble of footsteps sounded from the edge of the forest to the south, and he could hear the return of the troops who had gone to reconnoitre. They didn't come to him. Instead, they walked straight back to their campsite. Soon after, there was the sound of digging earth.

Eventually, even the movement faded away. The night fell silent. He thought the soldiers might all be asleep...... Presently. Another man's footsteps sounded hoarse in the woods. Straight up to him. With the help of the wisps of moonlight that leaked into the trunks of the trees, Nozu Michikan saw clearly that it was Oji Yasumun.

"General, you haven't fallen asleep yet?"

"Nope." Nozu replied as he sat up straight from the grass.

"Why don't you sleep at such a late hour?" Nozu Michikani said to Oji Yasumi,

"I can't sleep, plus I'm worried about the enemy's night attack. So walk around. Oji Yasumi replied.

"Today's battle, hard work!" Nozu Michikan looked at Oji Yasumun, who was covered with the smell of gunpowder and still had blood stains on his face, and said with emotion.

"General, do you know when reinforcements will arrive?" Oji Yasumi asked, "The soldiers are tired now, and there is a serious shortage of guns and ammunition, if the reinforcements don't come, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to hold on!" ”

"Maybe Your Excellency Okubo and Your Excellency Yamaguchi are in trouble!" Nozu Michikani sighed and replied, though he was worried that it would discourage Yasumi Oji to continue fighting. He quickly added, "But." I think reinforcements will come! We're going to have to keep going. ”

The two were talking, but they heard a muffled thunderous sound coming from the direction of Kyoto Castle.

Nozu Michikan and Oji Yasumi jumped up in unison, followed the reputation, and immediately saw the rising flames.

"Not good! The ammunition depot was attacked! Oji Yasujun was the first to react to what had happened, and his face suddenly turned pale.

"This sucks!" Hearing the words of Oji Yasumun, Nozu Michikani was also shocked.

Many government officers and soldiers were awakened by the sound of the explosion, and after the first explosion, the light of the fire had dimmed, but there were still a few sporadic small explosions.

"Did the enemy attack the city?" Someone asked.

"It's the ammunition depot that has been blown up!" Someone said in horror.

"It's just a makeshift ammunition storage facility! Don't panic, everyone! The destruction of the enemy will soon be stopped! Oji Yasumi sensed the panic spreading among the soldiers, and immediately shouted loudly.

The soldiers no longer spoke, but looked uneasily in the direction of the fire, as if to confirm the words of the great temple Yasujun, and after a messy burst of gunfire, it was quiet, no more explosions occurred, and the light of the fire gradually dimmed, and in a short time it disappeared, leaving only a high column of smoke in the moonlight.

"It's all right! Everyone, hurry up and rest! We have to fight tomorrow morning! Oji Yasumi said loudly, and the soldiers hesitated for a while, and then returned to their positions one after another, and fell asleep.

Yasumi Oji and Michikani Nozu glanced at each other, each seeing a look of unease in the other's eyes. The two of them didn't say anything more, but sat down silently and waited for dawn.

The sky gradually turned slightly whiter, and the fog became thicker and thicker, but all the nearby mountains did not know whether they were reflected by the flames or the rising sun, and they shone with the color of roses, showing a strange beauty.

Yasumi Oji was the first to notice this strange sight, he stood up and took a few steps forward, trying to see what caused the anomaly, but he couldn't see clearly because of the obscuration of the trees.

Nozu Michikan also noticed this strange phenomenon, he stood up and walked quickly towards the outside of the forest, Oji Yasujun wanted to stop him, but he hesitated for a moment, did not speak, but called a few guards, and chased Nozu Michikani with him.

Nozu Michikani walked briskly to a small hill nearby, and Oji Yasujun and several guards caught up with him, but Nozu Michikan didn't seem to notice their presence and strode towards the top of the mountain.

Finally, Nozu Michikani reached the top of the mountain, and the terrible scene immediately unfolded before his eyes.

The whole lowlands were completely covered with smoke, just as a huge cloud covered the ground, and the smoke engulfed the streets, and the houses, pavilions and villas, and all the trees, were enveloped in this miserable gray curtain.

On the other side of the plains, the market is burning!

If only a house were on fire, no matter how great the fire was, it would have taken the shape of a pillar of fire when it burned, but this terrible fire was completely different, and it appeared like a thick cloud in the dawn sky! And above the thick clouds, the waves of fireworks are rushing!

The waves were black in some places, red in others, and distinctly blood-colored in other places, some of them were shrinking, some were expanding, and some were writhing wildly like a stretching python, and this huge wave of smoke was sometimes slender and narrow like a rope, but in an instant, smoke would rise from under the rope, and the red light below would suddenly turn into flames, and the flames and smoke swayed and spread endlessly in the air, like a vast forest covering the horizon, covering the lower part of the air. Even the bulging hills were completely out of sight.

Michikan Nozu almost thought that it was not Kyoto, but the whole world that was attacked by fire! (To be continued......)

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