After the entire army was wiped out in Edo Castle and Tokugawa Kosuke and others escaped, Edo Castle, now a pile of ruins, fell into the hands of the Da Gan army.

Although Edo Castle is now a pile of ruins, its geographical location remains extremely important.

Therefore, to completely control Edo Castle, it is still necessary to build a magnificent castle on the original site.

The newly built city will naturally not be constructed of wood, but rather will be built with reinforced concrete.

After the fire at Edo Castle was completely extinguished, the soldiers of the 41st Infantry Division of the Da Gan Army, along with the surrendered Japanese prisoners of war, began clearing away the ruins and broken bricks within Edo Castle.

Meanwhile, the accompanying militia and craftsmen also searched for limestone around Edo Castle and began building cement kilns.

Construction work is a long-term endeavor!

However, the conquest operation is imminent!

In the Battle of Edo Castle, the Edo Shogunate concentrated the vast majority of its loyal forces on the Edo side. As a result, the majority of the Edo Shogunate's loyal forces were wiped out in this battle.

As a result, the entire area surrounding Edo Castle became a ghost town.

Faced with this situation, the large army naturally wouldn't let such an excellent opportunity slip by.

Immediately, the commanders of the four infantry divisions of the Eastern Navy convened a military conference.

The meeting decided to deploy the 16th, 17th and 18th Infantry Divisions in three columns, advancing towards the north, east and west respectively, to seize territory.

Meanwhile, the 41st Infantry Division remained in Edo Castle and was responsible for taking over the newly conquered territories.

After the order was given, the three divisions began to move out.

Under the command of Division Commander Shi Anguo, the 16th Infantry Division advanced northward. They successively captured Kokufudai Castle, Iwafu Castle, Kawagoe Castle, Matsuyama Castle, and Shimotsu Castle, with their advance pointing directly at Utsunomiya Castle.

Despite having only one regiment, they arrived at Utsunomiya Castle.

However, at present, only a little over a thousand people are defending Utsunomiya Castle.

Under the heavy bombardment of the regimental artillery, the walls of Utsunomiya Castle quickly cracked and collapsed. The soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division launched a fierce charge, and the fully armed soldiers rushed directly into the castle along the broken walls.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Under the barrage of bullets, they relentlessly reaped the lives of the remaining Japanese soldiers within the city.

In a short period of time, the soldiers of the 2nd Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division had already seized Utsunomiya and completely occupied the entire Utsunomiya Castle.

The commander of Utsunomiya Castle also committed seppuku.

While the soldiers of the 2nd Regiment were seizing Utsunomiya Castle, the soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division also advanced westward to Takasaki Castle and Umayashi Castle.

Both of these cities were small, weak feudal domains. The original domain army numbered only a little over a thousand men, and all of them had been transferred away by the Edo Shogunate and died in Edo Castle.

Today, Takasaki Castle and Masahashi Castle are practically ghost towns.

When the soldiers of the 1st Regiment of the 16th Infantry Division were advancing directly towards Oyabashi Castle and Takasaki Castle, the feudal lords in these two castles abandoned their castles and fled.

After a regiment of soldiers arrived, they captured the two cities without bloodshed.

While the 16th Infantry Division swept across the north of Edo Castle, the 17th Infantry Division also successively captured Chiba Castle, Tsuchiura Castle, Mito Castle, Ota Castle, and Kashima Castle.

At the end of March, the main force of the 17th Infantry Division moved south and entered the Western Regions.

Although the Western Domain is located in the mountains, it still wants to block the attack of the large army by taking advantage of its terrain.

However, it is clear that after the successive falls of Edo Castle and the surrounding area, the entire Sai Domain became an isolated city.

Faced with the fierce attack of the Da Gan Army, the castles of Taiki, Kururi, and Okamoto fell one after another.

The 17th Infantry Division of the Dagan Army also arrived at the outskirts of Guanshan City.

Guanshan City is situated between mountains and the sea, in a strategically important location.

With its strong city walls, it has always been a formidable city.

However, even such a formidable city was vulnerable and easily defeated when faced with a large army.

Especially at sea, the assistance of more than a dozen ships from the Eastern Fleet made Tateyama Castle appear even more vulnerable!

Under the fierce bombardment of naval guns from more than a dozen ships, the walls of Guanshan Castle cracked and collapsed one after another.

No matter how fortified Tateyama Castle was, it was not as fortified as Edo Castle, which had been managed by the Edo Shogunate for generations.

Even Edo Castle was reduced to ruins and turned into a sea of ​​fire by artillery bombardment, let alone Tateyama Castle?

After half an hour of intense bombardment by naval guns, the walls of Guanshan Castle completely collapsed.

At the same time, soldiers from the 17th Infantry Division, who had been waiting outside the city, also took the opportunity to storm into Guanshan Castle.

After another hour of pursuit, the soldiers of the 17th Infantry Division killed all the remaining Japanese soldiers who were stubbornly resisting in the city.

A huge national dragon flag flies high above Guanshan City.

Thus, Guanshan City fell into the hands of the Daqian Kingdom.

The entire eastern part of Edo Castle was also completely cleared out!

Meanwhile, the battle west of Edo Castle was progressing exceptionally smoothly.

The many castles west of Edo Castle were mostly under the direct control of the Edo Shogunate. The garrisons of these castles had long since responded to the Edo Shogunate's call and had all come to Edo Castle.

As a result, the garrison troops of these cities had long suffered heavy casualties, turning them into ghost towns.

Before the arrival of the 18th Infantry Division, the remaining garrison in the city, along with the Shogun Tokugawa Yasuke, withdrew westward.

Therefore, the 18th Infantry Division captured Shinagawa, Takiyama Castle, Hachioji Castle, Tsukui Castle, Misaki Castle, Kamakura Castle, Hakoneyama Castle, and Odawara Castle without bloodshed.

The vast plains and hilly areas in the western part of Edo Castle also fell into the hands of the Da Gan Army.

After capturing Odawara Castle, the 18th Infantry Division did not rest, but instead pursued the enemy, crossing the hills and mountains to reach Kōkokuji Castle and Ōmiya Castle.

Their troops are poised to strike Junfu Castle!

Although there were many soldiers guarding Sunpu Castle, they followed Tokugawa Kosuke and left the castle.

Therefore, Junpu Castle became a ghost town.

After the arrival of the 18th Infantry Division, they captured Sunpu Castle without much fighting.

After capturing Sunpu Castle, the 18th Infantry Division did not continue westward but remained stationed there to replenish its logistics, supplies, weapons, and ammunition.

After all, not far to their west was an important domain castle—Nagoya Castle!

With the 18th Infantry Division occupying Sunpu Castle, the entire area surrounding Edo Castle fell completely into the hands of the Daigan Army.

The area surrounding Edo Castle was the most central region of the entire Edo Shogunate. This was not only because Edo Castle was located there, but also because the area surrounding Edo Castle was the most prosperous Kanto Plain in all of Japan!

With the fall of the Kanto Plain, the foundation of the Edo Shogunate's rule was completely destroyed!