"Lady Sangonomiya, we finally managed to surround the shogunate army. Why are we letting them leave?"
Watching the shogunate army withdraw, a Resistance squad captain could not understand. He turned to Sangonomiya Kokomi in confusion. They clearly could have wiped out the shogunate forces in one stroke, even Kujou Sara, the Tenryou Commission's active general.
Yet they had simply let them go, ending things so anticlimactically...
"We couldn't have held them. The shogunate army is far stronger than us. It may have looked like we had the upper hand just now, but if they fought with the resolve to die, we would suffer devastating losses instead."
Sangonomiya Kokomi shook her head. The gap between the Resistance and the shogunate was still too great. Especially against an army led by Kujou Sara—if they truly fought to the end, not only would they fail to keep Kujou Sara behind...
More than half of the Resistance would be killed or wounded. They could not afford that.
The sudden encirclement had created momentum... and frightened the shogunate troops. Without Kujou Sara, they might still have had a chance. But with that general present, it was best to forget it.
With her there, their morale would not drop too much.
Even if their numbers were no fewer than the shogunate's and they held the terrain advantage, the combat strength of the shogunate samurai was plainly superior to that of the Resistance.
The moment Sangonomiya Kokomi learned that Kujou Sara was leading the force, she had abandoned the idea of swallowing this entire shogunate army in one bite. Her main objective was to frighten them into retreating.
She had to admit that Miss Kujou Sara was a troublesome opponent.
Sangonomiya Kokomi did not approve of her position, but her loyalty and sincere heart were truly admirable...