Generally speaking, everyone felt that Hijikata Suisan was a very scheming person. Since they were going to give up Tokyo, the Ming Army was likely to make full use of Tokyo as a base to attack the northeast region. Setting fire to Tokyo and turning it into a sea of fire was not an unimaginable method. However, Hijikata Suisan didn't even think about it and shouted to stop him. Liu Sheng's heart was filled with regret.
"Chief, if we allow the Meiji Army to occupy Tokyo …" Liu Sheng continued to try to persuade him.
"Since we were able to conquer Tokyo, we can definitely conquer it again. Moreover, our glorious national defense force is responsible for protecting the people, and we will never do anything that harms the people. "Hijikata Suisan said angrily. He was born a commoner and had experienced a lot in his youth. His feelings for the common people did not waver in the slightest after he became a big figure in the Hokkaido regime.
When the Republic of Prawn was first established, the Republic of Prawn believed that "the establishment of the Republic of Prawn is to show the determination to fight against the Meiji government, and there is no reason to let the people suffer." Ben Takeaki's proposal to collect a heavy tax in Hokkaido. The Hokkaido government was able to transform from a shogunate to a republic based on the people of Nihon, and the backbone of the civilian population led by Hijikata Suizo played a decisive role. If Hippo Suisan were to slaughter his enemies on the battlefield, he wouldn't even frown. However, he would not allow Tu Fang Sui San to harm the citizens of the opposing side.
Worried that people like Yanagi would act privately, Hijikata Suizo had Harada Zuozuke's division retreat from Tokyo. "Harada, you won't allow anyone to harm the commoners. Can you do that?"
Harada was 185 centimeters tall, which was rare among Japanese at this time. After listening to Hippo Suisan's order, he laughed heartily. "Chief, can I behead those who cause trouble?"
Tu Fang snorted, "Anyone who tries to start a fire will be killed without mercy!"
But remembering Harada's insistence on fighting the Meiji Army in Tokyo, he added, "You also have to retreat according to the plan."
"Don't worry, Chief. My stomach had already tasted metal, and I didn't want to do it again. Even if I have to do it again, I'll have to wait until I chop off Yamaguchi Youpeng's head. " He was tall and had a dignified appearance. However, this spear master, who had been publicly acknowledged as a handsome man since the beginning of the new group selection era, always had a frivolous feeling when he spoke.
Tu Fang only snorted. He was already used to Harada's frivolity. In a sense, this fellow was a bastard who didn't know the severity of the situation. Once, because of an argument with someone, he decided to commit seppuku. Although he was lucky enough to keep his life in the end, a horizontal scar was left on his stomach. The so-called "My stomach has already tasted the taste of metal" was referring to this scoundrel.
However, even though Harada had an impatient personality and spoke frivolously, he was surprisingly averse to bullying the weak. In the election, this guy was almost elected as the director of the important "Women's Department" of the Republic of Hokkaido with a large number of votes. It wasn't because someone was trying to mess with Harada, but because he sincerely agreed with the "gender equality" policy from the Min dynasty, and he publicly announced his support. As a result, the women hoped that this big shot could become the director of the women's department. If it wasn't for Harada personally pleading with the women's representatives and recommending his wife to be the director of the women's department, he probably would have been elected.
With such a person covering the rear, Tu Fang's only worry was that after this guy roared to the sky, he would lead his troops to fight the Meiji army. He wasn't worried about harming the people at all.
The retreat of hundreds of thousands of people was a big operation. Tu Fang needed to focus all his energy on commanding and dispatching the troops, so he left the security to Harada. Harada didn't fail his mission. Every time the troops retreated, he would send a small team to maintain the security and stabilize the mood of the local people. At the same time, he would suppress the restless forces. No matter how frivolous his words were, Harada didn't dare to slack off in the slightest. Everyone in the army had different thoughts, and the slightest slack would cause a big problem.
"Division commander, someone is trying to loot in Ginza!" Harada had just returned when his subordinate rushed into the division headquarters. Under Tu Fang Suizan's command, the troops chose to set out with light equipment, and abandoned all the useless supplies that weren't suitable for a long march. Harada simply sold these things at low prices in various areas, or gave them to the poor in Edo. It wasn't that he had any deep thoughts, Harada just felt that these things were better given to the poor than let the hooligans fight over them after the retreat.
Hearing that someone was looting Ginza, Harada was furious. At this time, his troops were scattered all over Tokyo, in addition to maintaining order, they also created the illusion that the Hokkaido army hadn't retreated. In fact, this group of people had already packed up, and as long as an order was given, they could all leave Tokyo within a few hours.
There was only one regiment left, so Harada simply led a battalion of troops to Ginza. Whether it was the soldiers of other troops or the restless hooligans, Harada was ready to kill them all.
At this time, all the houses in Ginza were closed, and there wasn't a single person on the empty streets. Just as the troops were trying to search for the looters, Harada became alert. He smelled a faint smell of blood, which wasn't the smell of the battlefield. The battlefield was more filled with the smell of smoke, blood, and the smell of human flesh that was difficult to cover. After a shell was fired, the corpses weren't complete, and even if they were killed, the blood loss wasn't that much. A large number of the dead died from internal bleeding. But at this time, the smell of blood was so strong, it was the smell caused by a large amount of blood spurting out after the blood vessels were cut. The empty streets, the smell of blood. The feeling of the reformers who played with Heaven's Retribution in Kyoto began to unconsciously recover. This made Harada instinctively high-spirited.
"Division commander, someone was killed, and our brothers were also injured." The soldier who ran in front shouted to Harada, and the soldier who had experienced the test of the battlefield had an ugly expression.
Harada didn't care so much, he quickly walked forward. Soon, he saw more than a dozen dead on the street, and seven or eight injured sitting against the door on the street. The injured soldiers had already finished bandaging, and when they saw the division commander coming, they hurriedly explained the situation. "These people seem to be our people with makeup, and they brought a few Tokyo hooligans. It looks like they want to set fire. We went up to stop them, and they immediately attacked us. "
Hearing this, he also understood, but most of Harada's attention was on the corpses. All the corpses were killed with one slash, and it was a clean move. At the moment when flintlocks occupied the absolute mainstream of the battlefield, there weren't many people who could swing such a slash. If they hadn't killed dozens or hundreds of people, they wouldn't be able to do such a thing. Even the so-called swordsman couldn't do it. This was a slash to kill, and it was a technique that was perfected by constantly killing humans.
"Who saved you?" Harada asked without turning his head.
"Short, red hair," the injured soldier recalled.
"Very fast, can't see clearly …"
"I think he had a cross scar on his face …" a soldier with better eyesight answered.
"Cross scar?" Harada suddenly turned around and asked.
The injured soldier was startled by Harada's action, and the division commander's face was filled with ecstasy that they had never seen before. At this moment, Harada seemed to have completely changed. Even though he usually spoke frivolously, as a division commander, he still had the dignity and demeanor of standing above others. But at this moment, Harada seemed to have turned into a beast that was happy to see its prey.
Subconsciously gulping, the soldier with sharp eyesight answered, "I think there is …"
Before Harada could say anything, the soldier who came with Harada already shouted, "There's someone over there!"
"Give me my spear," Harada shouted to the guard. Over the years, Harada had always let the guards carry his spear, which was similar to Hijikata's katana. The spear was also a gift from China to Harada. Whether it was the spear blade or the spear shaft, both were made of excellent materials.
Holding the spear, Harada opened the gun holster on his waist and shouted to his subordinates, "A few people come and follow me, the rest of you block the street."
A large amount of blood sprayed on the ground, and when people stepped on it, the soles of their feet would be stained with blood, and then more. Harada had accumulated a lot of experience in tracking after fighting with the reformers in Kyoto. In other people's eyes, it was an ordinary road, but he could see the difference.
Leading the guards all the way to follow the traces, Harada felt that his skill was rusty after not using it for a long time. His eyesight and judgment were not as sharp as when he was young. Just when he felt that there was no way to continue, Harada saw a familiar figure in the alley in front of him.
It was the figure that had fought with Saitou, who was now the Hokkaido police chief. It was the figure that had fought with Okita Soji, who died young. The man stood quietly in the alley, and although he was low-key, he gave off the feeling of a sharp blade being unsheathed.
"Stop, don't do anything." Harada ordered the guards to stop, and he walked step by step towards the figure with the spear in his hand. As if he was facing an old friend, Harada spoke first, "Long time no see, I thought you had died somewhere unknown."
"Are you guarding against someone burning Tokyo?" The man in the alley said in a deep voice.
"Yes, you killed those bastards, and I'm really grateful," Harada replied readily.
"I'm waiting for you here, not to fight you." The man continued to state his position.
"I've always wanted to fight you, and now that I have such an opportunity, I don't want to let it go." Harada didn't seem to realize his identity as a teacher, and spoke loudly with the attitude of the Shinsengumi leader.
As if he didn't hear Harada's provocation, the man in the alley continued to speak calmly. "Don't you want to know who leaked your information to Ming Zhijun?"
Harada finally stopped approaching. The Hokkaido army's final decision to retreat was not entirely because of the young man named Qi Rui's great persuasion, but because the Hokkaido army had encountered too many difficulties. One of them was that the Hokkaido army felt that there was someone inside who leaked information to the Meiji army. Before entering Tokyo, the intelligence of the Hokkaido army didn't have this problem. Therefore, the Hokkaido army had to suspect that someone inside colluded with some people in Tokyo.
The constant leakage of information was too great a threat to the army, and before the traitor was eliminated, Harada had to accept the order to retreat. No matter how much he wanted to fight with this old enemy from more than ten years ago, the responsibility of a teacher still restrained Harada's actions.
"Why are you telling us this?" Harada stopped completely and asked sternly. It seemed that the man in front of him was still working for the Meiji government, and in a completely different position, he didn't tell Harada about the reason for the spy.
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