Chapter 118 Bombardment of Kyoto
Chapter 118 Bombardment of Kyoto
The night had not yet completely faded, and a hint of bluish-gray appeared on the horizon.
Zhang Chang'an reined in his horse and stood still, his gaze sweeping across the open field and landing on the distant Nijo Castle.
The towering wall, built of massive stones, stretches for over 500 meters from east to west, completely obscuring the inner palaces and pavilions.
Below the wall were two double moats, one in front and one behind. The water surface shimmered with a dim light in the morning. Wooden bridges spanned the moats, but the planks had been removed, leaving only a few bare bridge piers standing in the middle of the water.
On the city wall, shadowy figures moved about.
The torchlight stretched out in a line, illuminating the entire city wall. Foot soldiers stood with their spears at the ready, their armor gleaming coldly in the firelight.
The silhouettes of archers can be vaguely seen behind the arrow stacks, arrows already nocked, awaiting only the command.
From the arrow tower in the southeast corner, the barrels of muskets protruded, their dark muzzles aimed at every inch of land below the city.
The main gate, the East Gate, was tightly closed, its iron-clad doors so thick they seemed capable of blocking everything.
Wearing an iron mask, Zhang Chang'an frowned slightly: "Although it's just as I remember, the area is only a few hundred meters in length and width, nothing more than a fortress, not a proper siege, and the number of the defending troops isn't that different from ours. But, if a real battle breaks out, it probably won't be particularly easy."
Behind him, Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo, Saito Hajime, Okita Souji, and dozens of Shinsengumi members who had finished their rest were also mostly on horseback, silently gazing at the majestic castle.
Everyone knew that this battle would not be easy, even though they had no shortage of resources due to the shogunate's strategy of abandoning the city, and had even managed to acquire a lot of horses in the city.
The sound of horses' hooves rang out softly, and a figure approached from the side.
Xiao Ju led the horse to Zhang Chang'an's horse. He didn't mount the horse, but instead tilted his head back and squinted at the distant city wall.
"This is quite a show of force," he muttered under his breath.
Zhang Chang'an didn't look at him, his gaze still fixed on Nijo Castle: "Have the other areas been prepared as well?"
Xiao Ju gestured westward with her chin: "Mr. Gui and the others went through the west gate. The defenses there are weaker than here, but only slightly. I heard that when the Emperor traveled there, he used the west gate, which is considered a side gate, but it's still a city gate, and the moat is still there."
He pointed north again: "Over there at Peking University, Mr. Longma is leading the anti-shogunate faction. Besides Mr. Gui, he has also urgently contacted many other people, about several hundred in total."
However, that place was originally a passageway connecting to the Kyoto Shojidai (a high-ranking official in Kyoto). The gate is large enough, and there are quite a few guards, so it probably won't be too easy.
"There's no way to get to the south side. It's all high walls, impossible to climb over. So they didn't send anyone."
"And our opponents—" Zhang Chang'an nodded, then paused briefly.
Kotachibana stated, "The Aizu and Kuwana domains have always been forced to take charge of their defense. The regulation stipulates a garrison of 1000 men, but because they also have their own domain territories, they generally don't have that many."
Even if they were too busy with their own plans to call for reinforcements, they were still prepared earlier than us. There should be at least a thousand men in Nijo Castle.
Hearing this answer, Zhang Chang'an shook his head helplessly, thinking, "Only in such an extraordinary world could this battle be won. If we, the leaders, each take down at least dozens, and that doesn't even take into account the fact that the other side also has high-level combatants."
He pondered for a moment, then looked at Ju Qinglan: "By the way, are you really going to charge with us? There's no need for that."
Xiao Ju paused for a moment, then calmly crossed her arms and said, "Anyway, I didn't leave with you in the first batch. The ones leading us were the ones who were injured earlier. By the time we enter, you should have already seen the outcome. There aren't many people left, so it's not that dangerous."
As he spoke, he looked towards the back of the group.
Since it was an abnormal timeline, the captains of the Shinsengumi were basically all extraordinary cultivators. Although the time was short, with strong medicine and treatment, they had all recovered to the point where they could barely return to the battlefield.
Mr. Yamanami, Captain Todo (Sixth Squadron), Captain Nagakura (Second Squadron), and even Harada, who had been riddled with holes by Hozoin, all returned to the group with bandages and their standard Shinsengumi chainmail hidden under their haori.
However, this does not fully explain Xiaoju's problem.
Tachibana Seiran understood this as well, and without much hesitation, she dropped her nonchalant expression: "Furthermore, as a friend, Mr. Tessū, I won't hide it from you, I want to go to Nijō Castle to do something."
Looking into his earnest eyes, Zhang Chang'an didn't ask any further questions or wait for him to continue. He suddenly turned his gaze back to the city.
Be careful!
Xiao Ju nodded without replying, decisively leading the horse to the back of the group.
Before they had even finished speaking, several streaks of fire pierced the morning mist on the horizon.
That was the same thing that had been used to bombard the Mibu village earlier.
From the direction of the small hill, from the hidden spot by the river, from the house where Katsura Kogoro and his men had been lying in wait for several days, the cannons that they had protected and were supposed to be used to bombard various parts of Kyoto were now all spewing flames towards Nijo Castle.
"boom--!"
The first cannonball landed on the left side of the city wall at the East Gate, sending debris flying and thick smoke billowing up. Several foot soldiers standing behind the crenellations were thrown into the air by the blast wave, screaming as they fell into the moat.
The firelight instantly illuminated a large area of land in front of the city gate, attracting the attention of almost everyone.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three more shots landed, one on each side of the city gate and the other near the arrow tower on the city wall. The southeast corner turret shook violently, tiles fell, and the muskets that had extended their muzzles went silent. Chaos erupted on the city wall.
"Chong Yi—"
Kondo Isami drew his Kotetsu sword, the blade pointing forward.
With thunderous hoofbeats, dozens of riders, along with a large number of soldiers who couldn't ride, galloped wildly toward the main gate of Nijo Castle.
West of the city.
Katsura Kogoro stood beside a cannon, gazing at the rising smoke and dust in the distance, his expression complex.
The gunners were cleaning the breech, preparing for the next shot. But Katsura Kogoro raised his hand, gesturing to them.
"A few more shots should be enough, or we should aim all the way into the heart of the city." He said, "There must be artillery inside Nijo Castle too. Our position has been exposed, we have to leave, and if we keep firing at the entrance, we'll just blow up our own men."
His message was relayed immediately, and the artillery everywhere promptly began to turn their cannons around.
-
At this moment, a young subordinate approached and said, "Sir, do we really want to get involved in this? We just suffered heavy losses after the incident with Ikedaya, and now these cannons have been exposed."
Moreover, this place is so chaotic, and almost all the garrison troops are here. Shouldn't we take this opportunity to go to the Kyoto Imperial Palace and seize His Majesty the Emperor—
Katsura Kogoro turned to look at him, and sighed helplessly: "You think I don't want to?"
As he spoke, he continued to observe the battlefield: "After the Ikedaya, how many people do we have left? One or two hundred? Even if we mobilize those young people from Kyoto to help, it won't be enough to take down the Kyoto Imperial Palace."
Moreover, Ryoma and his men are fighting desperately. The Shinsengumi are also fighting desperately. Regardless of whether they were enemies or friends before, let's look at the reality: they are currently holding back most of the shogunate, but how long can they hold out if we don't help them?
If we don't take this seriously and go off to do something else, once they've exhausted themselves, the shogunate's next target will be us.
The young subordinate then turned his head to look at the battlefield, which was beginning to descend into chaos: "So—this is gambling our chance on them?"
Katsura Kogoro nodded. "I'm betting they can succeed, and I'm betting we can also gain something here. Either way, at least we can weaken the shogunate's power together with these people. If this is truly successful enough, then we might be able to foresee a future prospect."
"Boom!" In the distance, another cannonball landed on the city wall. The firelight reflected on his face, his eyes showing worry, but also expectation: "I hope I made the right bet."
.