The Far Eastern Army also did not expect that the shogunate defenders in Edo would be so tenacious. There are many streets and alleys in the outer city, the houses are dense, and most of them are small streets and alleys, even if they advance quickly to the city, in such a complex environment, they will inevitably be harassed by the defenders of the outer city.

It was the first time since the launch of the Japanese campaign that the Far Eastern Army had encountered such strong resistance, so it had to adjust its battle plan, first concentrating its forces to clear the shogunate army and civilian forces in the outer city of the river as soon as possible, and then attacking the inner city.

The Far Eastern Army, which changed its plan, began to slow down its offensive and transferred the field brigades, overseas brigades, and indigenous cavalry divisions outside the city to Edo Castle for a large-scale sweep of the outer city.

As the residence of the shogunate, Edo was also the center of the shogunate in the country, so the Tokugawa shogunate developed Edo with the power of the whole of Japan, and Edo Castle attracted more and more people, and gradually developed into the central city of the time. A large number of non-productive samurai families multiplied here, and merchants, craftsmen, and envoys who served the samurai class also poured in, and Edo Castle gradually caught up with Kyoto and became extremely prosperous.

At this time, Edo was like a hell on earth, full of ruins and ruins caused by the bombardment of the Far Eastern Army, houses were ablaze, and corpses were piled up in the alleys and alleys.

The Far Eastern Army changed its tactics, using platoons as units, and then reinforcing some firepower units, sweeping street by street. The troops were already red-eyed, and regardless of the attack, they didn't care whether the opposite side appeared or not, and opened fire as long as they saw people.

The troops swept from house to house in the outer city, and many times they shot civilians, even women and children. But there was no way, almost all of the young and strong civilian men and women in Edo Castle were forcibly recruited as the marching force, even young women and half-grown children. All joined the battle, and the Far Eastern Army simply could not distinguish whether the other side was armed or not.

Moreover, the samurai of the shogunate army and Ashigaru who remained in the outer city hid in the dense wooden houses of the outer city, mixed in with the crowd of civilians, and attacked the Far Eastern Army at the slightest opportunity, and they frequently succeeded. Fortunately, the officers and men of the Far Eastern Army were very well equipped. The vast majority of the wounded suffered minor injuries.

Hikten made another cameo appearance as an infantryman, participating in the attack on the city outside the river. With a double-barreled shotgun in his hand, he closely followed two comrades with bulletproof shields, carefully searching an alley.

With a "......bang", Hikten kicked open a wooden door, and his comrades behind him threw a grenade into the house, and Hikten dodged and hid by the door.

There was a loud "boom".

Hikten was the first to rush into the house, and a figure suddenly rushed out of the house, and he raised his hand to shoot it. A powerful one-headed bullet. Directly beat that person upside down and flew out.

He cautiously walked over with his gun in hand, only to find that it was a little girl who had fallen to the ground, about the same age as his sister. The girl's chest was beaten to a bloody blur, and a pair of clogs on her feet were also thrown out, revealing a pair of immature little feet. In one corner of the room, there were two bodies, one of which was a middle-aged woman. There was a baby in his arms, and he was killed by that grenade.

Hickten tugged at himself. It was very uncomfortable. But after all, this is a war, and as a qualified fighter, he just reacted instinctively. It's not regretful, it's just a little panicked.

He walked out of the house with mixed feelings, and continued to search room by room as the troops continued. When they reached the intersection at the end of the alley, they were suddenly ambushed by the shogunate army hiding on the opposite corner. More than a dozen iron cannons opened fire almost simultaneously, knocking the shield-bearers in front of the team to the ground, and Hickten felt a bullet "whoosh" and flew past him in the face, scaring him to the core. The urine is coming down.

The bullet pierced the neck of a comrade behind him, and blood sprayed all over him. He lifted the shield hand in front of him and helped him re-erect the bulletproof shield. Then he turned around and shouted, "Hygienist...... Hygienist ...... Someone was injured ......"

"Boom ......"

In the opposite room, there was a sudden burst of smoke, and with a "boom", a solid cannonball swept over their heads, and everyone subconsciously squatted down at the same time.

The platoon commander ran over, and several squad leaders operated the 40mm grenade launchers in their hands, and fired a few 40mm grenades into the opposite house, but the environment on the opposite side was more complicated, and a few grenades did not work, but were counterattacked more by the other side.

There was another dense roar, crackling at the corner of the alley. Then there was a loud bang, and a live bullet smashed into a nearby wooden house, knocking it to the ground.

The platoon commander hurriedly shouted: "Withdraw...... Withdraw to ...... There is artillery on the opposite side ......"

Hikten and another comrade dragged the wounded and retreated into the alley to hide. He placed the seriously wounded comrade by the wall and sat down, and then he sat on the ground, panting for breath and staring at the wounded comrade with his eyes.

The hygienist arrived, he took out his first aid kit, took out gauze and pressed it vigorously on his wound, but the blood was still spurting out. After some treatment, the wounded man's wound was finally bandaged.

Hickten hurriedly asked, "How is he?" ”

The hygienist said in a deep voice, "Luckily, the bullet passed through and avoided the artery leading to the head." I've helped him stop the bleeding for the time being, and if he had been treated in time, he should have saved his life, but he would have to lie in bed for a while. ”

After he finished speaking, he and several comrades carried the wounded man away. Hickten exhaled heavily, and the heart that had been hanging was finally let go. As long as the life is still there, the medical level of the Far Eastern Army is very high, and many seriously injured comrades-in-arms in the past can save a life.

Not far behind them, there was a field clinic, which was extremely well equipped with all kinds of medical equipment, and if it was seriously wounded, it would be picked up by airship in the air and sent to the regimental field hospital on the coast for treatment.

At this time, the platoon commander's loud voice came from behind him: "Du Te, dodge ...... out"

Hikten looked back and saw that a 70-mm infantry gun had been dragged over by several artillerymen. There was also a man carrying a tin can on his back, so that everyone didn't know what this guy was about.

The platoon commander came to the corner to observe the situation on the other side, but as soon as he showed his head, there was another burst of gunfire on the opposite side, but fortunately the platoon commander flashed quickly and was not injured. The platoon commander cursed angrily, then turned around and shouted: "Go and attract enemy fire personally, others take cover." ”

Hikten quickly stood up and ran to the corner to get ready, the platoon leader waved his arm sharply, and Hikten quickly rushed to the other side of the corner. A dense burst of gunfire came, and the wooden house next to Hikten was beaten to pieces, but fortunately he moved quickly and dodged the other party's volley.

But as soon as he ran to the side of a wooden house and hid himself, he heard a "boom". Hikten was suddenly shocked in his heart, it was over, the other party's cannon was aimed at him. (To be continued......)

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