When Sanako and Awu hurried to the outskirts of Otsu, they happened to run into a dusty team.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

At the end of the road, amid the flying dust, the dull thunderous sound of hoofbeats gradually approached.

Looking closely, one person and one bull are sprinting ahead.

Riding a big black bull... With such distinctive features, there is no way anyone else could be there!

As if being pulled, Sanako and Awu moved their feet in unison, striding forward to meet each other.

After a while, the big black bull stopped steadily in front of the two women.

Then, a voice came from the cow's back that made the two women feel more at ease:

"Sanako, Awu, I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."

Sanako's beautiful eyes widened with disbelief on her face.

Ah Wu's reaction was even more exaggerated. She looked like she had seen a ghost, her eyes were dull, her cheeks were filled with shock, and she kept looking up and down at Qing Deng.

After a while, Sanazi asked stammeringly:

"Qingdeng, you, you are back...?"

"Huh? If I don't come back, who will appear in front of you now?"

"No, I mean, yes...why did you come back so fast?"

Regarding "how long it will take for Qingto to return", Sanako has done detailed research in private.

According to her expectation, no matter how fast Qingdeng went, it would take another 5 days to get back.

However... she never thought that she would be able to meet him again today!

Qingdeng smiled bitterly:

"How I got back is a long story."

After saying that, he stretched out his hand and caressed Carrot's neck:

"Carrot, thank you for your hard work..."

"Moo moo..."

Only then did the two girls notice Carrot's current situation.

It didn't matter, they were all frightened when they saw it.

I saw Carrot with his head drooped, his limbs trembling, white foam oozing out from the side of his mouth, sweating like rain, and big beads of sweat dripping out along his hair, but within a short time, a small amount of water accumulated under his body. beach.

You know, Carrot is a "sacred cow" with superior physical fitness. Both physical strength and explosive power are better than ordinary war horses.

The two girls had never seen this big black cow looking so tired...it was hard to imagine what it had gone through.

They slowly turned their eyes and looked towards the cavalry formation behind Qingdeng.

After a quick glance, they suddenly discovered that, comparatively speaking, Carrot was in pretty good shape!

"Xuxu...Xuxu..."

"Hey! Xiao Hui! Hold on! We have arrived in Dajin!"

"Come down! Your horse is going to fall!"

"Uu uh uh...!"

The huge cavalry team of over a thousand people, from the beginning to the end of the team, was filled with the moans, howls, and cries of pain from the horses.

In order to rush back to Otsu as quickly as possible, the "First Army" headed by Qingdeng really squeezed all the strength of their horses (oxen).

Although horses have powerful explosive power, their endurance is mediocre and they cannot run fast for a long time.

Throughout history, those cavalry teams that launched long-distance raids basically had one person and two horses, or even one person with three horses, four horses, or five horses. The riders took turns riding the horses, and when one horse was tired, he would switch to another horse.

What a pity... This kind of "rich man's game" can only be played by those "wealthy families" who have no shortage of horses - Qingdeng obviously does not belong to this category.

Most of the animal power in the expedition commander's army was used to carry baggage.

Therefore, even Qingdeng himself only has one carrot to ride.

If there is one person and one horse (ox), the animal power will be exhausted in a short time.

Even so, Qingdeng and others had no other choice but to ride hard...

Facts have proved that the Aizu Cavalry is indeed a world-famous force, and the Shinsengumi 7th and 10th divisions that Ayoto built with great effort did not disappoint him.

From the hinterland of Changzhou to Dajin, the distance was nearly 350 kilometers... They managed to finish it in only 9 days with one person and one horse (ox)! The average daily march was 39 kilometers!

To be honest, even Qingdeng couldn't help but feel horrified when faced with this astonishing result!

Although the achievements are outstanding, the price paid is also heavy!

At this moment, if you look around, almost all the horses are in a state of near coma due to extreme fatigue.

Foaming at the mouth, shaking limbs...it seemed like he would fall to the ground at any moment.

In fact, after the team stopped, many horses could no longer hold up due to the "sudden loosening of the tight strings" and kept wailing. Then they fell to the ground and could not get up again.

Not only did the mounts work hard, the riders also suffered a lot.

Anyone who has ever ridden a horse knows that the most torturous part of riding a horse is not the soreness of the lower back, but the pain in the inner thighs.

The saddle is very hard.

Repeated bumps during horseback riding will cause the inner thigh to keep rubbing against the saddle, and you will feel a pinprick-like pain after a while.

No matter how thick the cloth is, it can only provide relief.

Otherwise, why would Liu Bei burst into tears when he saw the fat on his inner thighs growing back, leaving behind the allusion of "the fat on his thighs regenerated"?

A person who often rides horses will not have fat on the inner thighs. If there is fat, it will be worn away by you.

In the past nine days, Qingdeng and others have almost lived in Anshang, with very little rest time.

In this way, on the second day of departure, many riders had blisters on their inner thighs.

Blisters are rubbed out, blisters are broken, blood bleeds out, blisters are rubbed out again... the cycle starts over and over again.

Even if the pain is excruciating, I can only grit my teeth and endure it...

After arriving at the destination...to this day, many riders' hakama were wet with blood, and even dripped out, mixing with the sweat of their mounts and dripping down together.

Looking at the exhausted and extremely embarrassed cavalry team, Sanazi bit her lower lip and turned to look at the ministers behind her.

"Quick! Call all the doctors in the town! Both human doctors and veterinarians!"

"yes!"

A courtier came forward and stretched out his hand to pull the reins of Carrot.

However, Qingdeng forced Carrot to stand aside and hid.

"There's no rush. Let's take those people and horses who are no longer alive for treatment first."

As he spoke, he turned his head and shouted to the knights:

"Anyone who can still move will follow me! Our mission is not completed yet!"

…

…

Qinjin Domain, Otsu, town——

"Huh? What's going on? Why is it so lively?"

"Don't you know, kid? His Highness Niou is back!"

"What? His Highness Niou is back? Where is he?"

"I don't know! Anyway, just follow the crowd and leave!"

"The lord is back! The lord is back!"

…

His Highness Nioh has returned with his army - this news seems to have been given a pair of wings, spreading throughout Otsu and beyond in the blink of an eye!

It is not an exaggeration to describe the current Dajin as empty streets.

For a time, both samurai and civilians put aside all matters at hand and rushed towards the same direction - the Biwahiro path in the center of Otsu.

Hirokokoji is a spacious avenue specially designed for fire prevention.

When the townspeople rushed to this place, they were surprised to find that many police officials were on guard here.

The officers stood in a row on both sides of the street, holding hardwood sticks in their hands and holding the sticks horizontally in front of them, connecting each stick end to end to form a tight wall of sticks and people, which limited the activities of the town residents.

It is limited to the streets on both sides to prevent irrelevant people from approaching the center of the street at will, and also to prevent stampedes, congestion and other vicious incidents.

In a short time, the streets on both sides of Pipaguang Path were surrounded by mountains and seas, with almost no place to stand.

Even so, there were still many people outside the street trying to squeeze in.
To be continued...