…

Two days later, various units of the Shinsengumi arrived at the foot of the mountain one after another.

The same as before - continue to practice Qingdeng's combat strategy of "be invincible first and wait for the enemy to be victorious".

The old guys from the Shinsengumi show off their power again.

The four thousand auxiliary soldiers serving as logistics personnel also put down the carts in their hands and the rice bags on their shoulders, picked up hoes and shovels, and joined in the process of digging soil and building walls.

Under the guidance of professionals, trenches, fences, and wooden walls were built at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Shinsengumi surrounded every road down the mountain and reinforced the blockade with fortifications.

Unless the people in Gaotori City grew wings, they would never be able to escape such a tight siege.

On the night when the entire army arrived at the foot of the mountain, Qingto held a military meeting in which all cadres from the squad leader and above were present.

…

…

Shinsengumi camp, main formation——

Shannan Keisuke stood and reported the battlefield situation to everyone present.

"There are 5 key facilities in Takatori Castle."

"From north to south, they are the Kunomi Oar, Sannomaru, Ninomaru, Honmaru, and the castle tower."

Oar - a very classic defensive facility in Japanese cities.

It can be understood as a towering bunker, which can be used as a watchtower or an arrow tower.

"Yesterday, we sent out the fifth and eighth squadrons to launch a feint attack on Gaoche City to test the enemy's defensive strength."

"As a result, the soldiers of the 5th and 8th squadrons couldn't even climb over the city wall, and as many as they climbed up were killed and injured."

As soon as these words came out, Shinami Nishiki and Toudo Heisuke both buried their heads with shame on their faces.

Upon seeing this, Shannan Jingshu immediately said:

"Arimi-kun, Toudou-kun, please raise your heads, I'm not blaming you."

"Takatori Castle is a unique and famous city. Just climbing a mountain that is more than 5 towns high is not easy."

"It is natural that we will end up like this."

[Note: Town: 1 town = 109 meters]

Shannan Keisuke did not say "You will end up like this", but quietly changed the subject to "we".

Shannan Keisuke can always speak accurately and take care of everyone's emotions, which is one of the reasons why his popularity is so good.

"Let's get back to the topic - the enemy's resistance is much stronger than we expected."

"Judging from such a strong defense, the total number of enemy troops currently trapped in Gaotori City is at least three hundred."

Three hundred - upon hearing this number, everyone at the scene frowned.

Nagakura Shinpachi directly questioned:

"Why are there so many people? Didn't we kill them to pieces in the previous battle? Where did they get 300 men?"

Hijikata Toshizo answered for Shannan Keisuke:

"There are only two possibilities."

"First, the enemy has deployed a large number of defenders in Gaotori Castle."

"Second, the enemy has received foreign aid."

"Judging from the current situation, the only force that has the spare capacity to send reinforcements to Takatori Domain in a short period of time is Choshu."

Shannan Jingsuke nodded gently and answered:

"Why do the enemy still have so many troops? We can't figure it out."

"All in all, they have now adopted a stance of 'vowing to live or die with Gaoche City and fight to the bitter end'."

"The situation is very difficult."

"The hillsides on the south, east and west sides of Gaotori Castle are very steep."

"Only the northern slopes are a little gentler."

"If you want to storm Gaoche City, the only feasible attack route is to attack from the north."

"However, the construction idea of ​​Gaotori Castle originally revolved around 'the siege party can only attack from the north'."

"If we attack from the north, we must capture the Kunomi Oar, Sannomaru and Ninomaru before we can reach the Honmaru and the castle tower."

"In other words - we have to penetrate the entire Takatori Castle!"

"According to this method of fighting, we will have to leave behind at least three to four hundred corpses before we can even claim victory."

"Therefore, in my opinion, the wisest choice at the moment is to fight a war of troops and rations."

"The Changshu Army has been defeated and returned to the domain."

"The Tianzhu team currently does not have any foreign aid and can only be trapped in the isolated city."

"We only need to trap them to death and make it difficult for them to obtain supplies. Sooner or later, they will be cornered and the city of Gaotori can be recovered without spending a single soldier."

Japan is a mountainous country, with not much else but mountains and hills, so many cities are built on steep terrain.

And Japan happens to be a country with very underdeveloped productivity and lacks firearms, especially artillery.

In the absence of artillery, we can only rely on the sea of ​​​​people and fighting spirit to chew through these tortoise-shell fortified cities.

Even Oda Nobunaga, who was the most powerful and almost ended the Warring States Period, suffered repeated setbacks when he attacked Ishiyama Honganji Temple (today's Osaka).

It took him a full 10 years to finally conquer this fortified city.

Therefore, in ancient Japan, the most limited method of siege was the battle of soldiers and supplies.

"Taiko" Toyotomi Hideyoshi was an expert in fighting the battle of troops and food.

Because he was good at fighting for soldiers and supplies, he left behind the idiom "Kill Miki when thirsty, kill Tottori when hungry".

As soon as Shannan Keisuke finished speaking, a refutation came from behind:

"I object!"

Isamu Kondo raised his voice.

"A war for soldiers and rations? This will last until the end of the Year of the Monkey?"

"Gaochori City is adjacent to a river, so there is no way to cut off their water source."

"Without being able to cut off their water source, it would be impossible to force them to surrender just by relying on pure hunger for a year and a half!"

"A famous city like Gaotori Castle must have sufficient supplies."

"If there is a war for soldiers and rations, there is no telling who will run out of rations first!"

Anyone with a little common sense knows that if you don’t have anything to eat, there will be no problem for at least 1 or 2 months, but if you don’t have water to drink, you won’t be able to survive even 3 days.

Kondo Isamu’s words continued:

"In my opinion, we should go all out and launch a direct attack! Take back Gaotori City with brute force!"

Having said this, Kondo Isamu stood up and approached the map in the center.

"Everyone, please look!"

Hearing what he said, everyone at the scene leaned forward and looked at the detailed map on the central table.

Just the day before yesterday, Aoto and others found the escaped monarchs and ministers of Takatori Domain.

Naturally, the emperors and ministers of the Takatori domain burst into tears of gratitude for the Shinsengumi who came to liberate their territory.

In order to support them, they provided a detailed map of Takatori Castle.

Isamu Kondo stretched out his finger and pointed at the map:

"You see, the defense on the south side of the main pill is very empty."

"As long as you climb over the high wall on the south side, you can get directly to the main pill!"

"Therefore, I advocate dividing the troops into two groups."

"Attack all the way from the north to attract the enemy's attention."

"The other way is to sneak across to the south and attack Honmaru by surprise!"

The biggest feature of the chain-style castle is that the Honmaru, Ninomaru and other curved wheels are side by side, instead of being layered one above the other like Russian matryoshka dolls.

This will make the two sides of the pill become weak points.

In order to make up for this shortcoming, other subsidiary defense facilities are usually built next to the main pill.

However, Gaotori City is not like this.

The defense on the south side is very empty, directly adjacent to the city wall.
To be continued...