This time it’s Hachiro Qinghe who will answer:

"It's hard to say... Takatori Domain is a small domain with a height of only 25,000 koku."

"We need money but no money, we need soldiers but no soldiers, we need weapons but no weapons."

"Except for having a fortified city towering into the sky, there is nothing more to it."

"As far as I know, the military strength of Takatori Domain is extremely weak."

"There are only a handful of 200 vassal soldiers in the entire vassal who can be mobilized immediately."

200 people... When they heard this number, everyone present dropped their faces.

Everyone had no hope for Gao Qijun's overall quality.

With the army's meager combat effectiveness, and the size of the army being far smaller than that of the rebels... No matter how you look at it, Takatori Domain is now in a critical situation.

Toudo Heisuke pursed his lips slightly, thinking.

After a moment, he suggested to Qingdeng:

"Mr. Tachibana, in my opinion, Takatori Domain is in grave danger right now."

"If Gaochei City is captured, the consequences will be disastrous."

"How about... we send reinforcements to it immediately?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qingdeng shook his head without thinking.

"No, we can't send reinforcements now."

"Most of our soldiers are still on their way to Nara."

"At present, there are only a handful of 300 soldiers who have successfully arrived in Nara."

"With this small force alone, not to mention rescuing the high-ranking domain, we might even lose the troops who went to the rescue."

"What's more important is that the baggage has not yet been fully arrived."

"It is too risky to enter hastily."

"Once you fail to win quickly, you will be in a dilemma."

"I don't fight uncertain battles."

"Now... we can only hope that the monarchs and ministers of the Takatori Domain can withstand the onslaught of the rebels."

"At least it will last until we arrive."

I thought this battle was just to seal the imperial gate.

When fighting in the cities and towns of Kyoto, there is naturally no need to deploy supplies.

After expelling Changshu from Kyoto, he returned directly to the camp for dinner.

The result...the sudden rebellion fully illustrates what it means that plans cannot keep up with changes.

Yataro Iwasaki, who stayed in Kyoto, was working at full capacity to arrange the supplies.

Be prepared for war at any time - this is Aomori's only requirement for the Shinsengumi's material reserves.

Yataro Iwasaki and others have been stocking up on supplies based on Aoto's guiding ideology.

For this reason, the Shinsengumi's warehouses were always stocked with sufficient supplies of grain.

It was precisely thanks to Ayoto's precautions that even though the "Yamato Rebellion" came suddenly, the Shinsengumi's logistics system responded quickly and completed preparations for the advance in a few days.

Since the position of "head" of the Finance Office is still vacant, Yataro Iwasaki is basically serving as the head of the Shinsengumi now.

Under the orderly arrangements of Yataro Iwasaki, the appraisers in the Finance Office worked hard.

[Note: Appraisal: Grassroots staff in the Finance Office]

Looking back at the previous Iga offensive and defensive battles, the Shinsengumi at that time only had about a hundred people, so the logistical pressure was not heavy.

Now, the Shinsengumi has grown into an army of three thousand people.

An army of this size requires an equally large transportation team to ensure its supplies.

The people responsible for transporting baggage for the Shinsengumi this time were all "temporary workers" recruited temporarily.

Yataro Iwasaki posted a notice inside and outside Kyoto: Recruiting civilian men, vehicles and animal power!

The rich contribute money, the powerful contribute!

Anyone with enough energy will be rewarded with a reward of 1 tael for each trip of baggage sent to the front line!

People who lend vehicles and animal power will directly receive a rental fee of 2 taels to 10 taels of gold according to their quality! If something happens to the vehicle or animal power, compensation will be directly based on the price!

The recent years have been very bad. Even in Kyoto, one of the "three capitals", life has become difficult for many people.

Poor people are not afraid of hard work or death, they are afraid of not having money!

The Shinsengumi announced such generous conditions, so naturally there were many applicants.

In the blink of an eye, a large-scale transportation team with an ever-increasing number of people has taken shape.

There are supplies and people transporting goods, and everything is ready.

What happens next is easy to say.

Bags of rice, bales of hay, and bags of weapons were transported out of the warehouse in an orderly manner, lined up in long lines, and sent to Nara one after another.

In order to protect the supply line and prevent destruction by hostile forces - mainly to guard against Choshu who is still stationed in Kyoto - Seito sent the highly mobile 7th and 10th divisions, the cavalry, to escort the entire journey.

In addition, Nara's chief minister, Yamaoka Kagekyoshi, also spared no effort to provide support.

He mobilized supplies within the city to supply the Shinsengumi.

Nara has a longer history than Kyoto and was called Heijo Kyo in ancient times.

Although it cannot be compared with Edo, Kyoto and Osaka, it is also one of the largest cities in Japan.

For this reason, Nara's material reserves are quite abundant.

The more I look at Yamaoka Kagekyoshi and Aoden, the more I like them!

Ever since he became the governor of Gyeonggi Province, Qingdeng has suffered from an increasingly serious "craving for talents" syndrome.

Zhenfu Mansion has a huge talent gap.

If we use a vivid metaphor... Qingdeng's Zhenfu Mansion is like a lame man with one thick leg and one thin leg. The thick leg is a "strong general" and the thin leg is a "civilian".

Not to mention the fierce generals, Qingdeng himself is the most fierce one.

Looking at the entire Zhenfu Mansion, the only people with entrepreneurial and political talents are Shannan Keisuke, Toudo Heisuke and Sanako.

It is rare to find a civil servant like Yamaoka Keigong who is not afraid of danger and is calm in every situation.

Qingdeng secretly made up his mind:

——I have to think of a way to poach Yamaoka Keiyoshi later!

From Kyoto to Yamato, the combat distance is not long.

If measured by China's scale, such a short combat distance does not even leave the province!

Judging from the currently known intelligence, although the rebels are becoming increasingly powerful, they are ultimately a mob.

After the two armies are connected, there is a high probability that it will not turn into a war of attrition, and it will not take long for the winner to be decided.

But... who told Qingdeng not to fight uncertain battles!

With Li Shimin as his teacher, he profoundly implemented the combat philosophy of "become invincible first and wait for the enemy to be victorious".

Even if this is just a short war that "starts suddenly and ends quickly", he must be fully prepared to deal with any sudden situation that may occur.

According to his planned plan... if he wanted him to officially lead his army south to quell the rebellion, he would have to at least raise enough supplies for the entire Shinsengumi army to fight continuously for a month!

At this moment, an urgent cry suddenly came from outside the room:

"Nioh-sama! There is an urgent message from Higo-sama!"

Qingdeng immediately said loudly:

"Bring it in."

"yes!"

The messenger opened the door and stepped inside.

After seeing the oppressive meeting scene inside, his body suddenly shivered several times.

He swallowed hard, gritted his teeth, walked to Qingdeng's side in three steps at a time, and handed over a well-sealed letter.

Qingdeng took the letter and waved his hand, indicating that the messenger could leave.

After the messenger left, he opened the seal, took out the letter paper, spread it out, and read it quickly.

Immediately afterwards, his facial expression changed slightly.

About 10 seconds later, he put away the letter in his hand and said with a smile:

"...Everyone, let me tell you some good news."
To be continued...