“If only heavy rain would fall from the sky…” After deciding to fight the Zhejiang Army to the death, Xu Hai looked up at the heavens with deep regret.
If rain poured down, the Zhejiang Army’s firearms would be useless, their matchlocks unable to fire.
Unfortunately, the day was clear and cloudless.
“Xu-sang, we shall be their great rain! The Zhejiang Army has never tasted defeat since its formation. Today will be the day they suffer a crushing loss!”
Matsura Shigenobu radiated murderous intent, brimming with confidence.
“Exactly! We are their rain. From this day forward, we are their nemesis!” Xu Hai raised his head high as well.
“Before we fight the Zhejiang Army to the death, we must first cut down those cowards whose guts have turned to water. Only death and blood can awaken their courage. Otherwise, keeping them will only disrupt morale!” Ryūzōji Takakari pointed at the Japanese pirates retreating step by step in front of the Zhejiang Army formation.
“Kill!” Xu Hai nodded firmly and waved his hand. His personal guard turned into an enforcement squad, charging like wolves and tigers at the terrified, retreating pirates, chopping them down as easily as vegetables.
“Anyone who retreats again will end up just like this!”
Xu Hai bared his white teeth in a fierce grin, making an example to terrify the rest.
The effect was immediate. Under the lesson of death and blood, the pirates regained their courage.
Xu Hai, Matsura Shigenobu, and Ryūzōji Takakari each selected fifteen hundred men and stood ready.
“I will smash straight through the enemy front! May fortune favour you all!” Matsura Takanobu swung his Japanese sword, battle spirit overflowing. “Kill!”
With that, Matsura Takanobu led his fifteen hundred pirates and charged straight at the Zhejiang Army formation.
“I will swing around their front and strike straight at the dragon’s head from the flank!” Xu Hai drew his sword and rallied his men. “Lads, smash the Zhejiang Army and there will be no sealing of blades in Songjiang Prefecture city! Enjoy yourselves to the fullest!”
With that, Xu Hai led his fifteen hundred men in a wide flanking manoeuvre, preparing to hit the Zhejiang Army from the side.
“I will circle behind the enemy and strike hard from the rear!” Ryūzōji Takakari drew his sword and led his fifteen hundred men on a longer detour to the rear of the Zhejiang formation.
The remaining thousand-plus pirates continued their fierce assault on Songjiang city.
From the centre, Zhu Ping’an immediately noticed the pirates’ movements and saw through their plan to split and attack the Zhejiang Army from three directions.
Heh, perfect.
Zhu Ping’an could not help curling the corner of his mouth. No cavalry, no terrain advantage. Who gave you the courage to charge a firearm formation with nothing but cold steel?
“Change formation!”
At Zhu Ping’an’s command, his guards beat the drums and waved the signal flags. The Zhejiang troops, well drilled, swiftly shifted from an extended firing line into a hollow square.
This was a firearm defensive square, capable of withstanding even cavalry. Against infantry, it was overkill.
Bayonets were fixed to the matchlocks.
The hollow square bristled like a porcupine.
“Kill!”
Matsura Shigenobu’s detachment was the first to engage the Zhejiang hollow square, or rather, to engage at long range. Before they even reached thirty metres, they were met by a disciplined, thunderous volley of matchlock fire. They fell in swathes.
“Baka!”
In that volley, Matsura Shigenobu himself took a ball in the right arm. Even his heirloom treasure armour was no match for the matchlocks; the arm guard shattered, blood poured from the wound. Fortunately the ancestral armour was better than ordinary iron; his arm was in agony but still movable, not severed.
The injury ignited Matsura Shigenobu’s ferocity and bloodlust. He wanted to devour the Zhejiang commander flesh and bone.
In a frenzy, he roared, tore off his entire ancestral armour, and went bare-chested. With his Japanese sword he cut a strip from his clothing, used his left hand and teeth to bind the wound tightly, and knotted it hard. He swung the sword a few times; the right hand hurt terribly but could still move.
“Die!”
Gripping the sword with his wounded hand, Matsura Shigenobu viciously cut down a pirate who hesitated to advance.
“Kill!”
His eyes blood-red, heedless of his injury, he charged forward with his men. “Charge! Everyone charge! No one stops! Stop and you die! This general charges with you! If I am not afraid to die, what are you afraid of? Charge quickly! Slaughter the enemy! The mountains of gold and silver in Songjiang city, and the flower girls, are all waiting for us!”
Matsura Shigenobu’s bare-chested, blood-soaked fury infected his men. Howling, they swung their swords and charged again, fearless of death, their war cries shaking the heavens.
Of course, the Zhejiang matchlocks showed no mercy.
Boom, boom, boom!
Another disciplined volley rang out. The pirates fell in waves. The pirate directly in front of Matsura Shigenobu dropped to a ball. The instant he fell, Matsura grabbed him, dragged him upright, and used him as a human shield while continuing the charge.
Seeing this, other pirates copied him, seizing the man in front and using him as cover to press forward, regardless of whether the “shield” was already shot.
Better a dead comrade than a dead poor pirate. Naturally the chosen shields fought back fiercely. Some reversed positions, others were hit by Zhejiang fire and either lost the strength to resist or died outright, becoming proper meat shields.
And it actually worked far better than their armour. Armour could not stop Zhejiang matchlock balls, but a human shield could. When a ball struck the front shield square-on, the pirate behind shuddered, felt himself, and found not a scratch. Overjoyed, he pushed his “friend” forward and charged.
Closer, closer. The distance to the Zhejiang line shrank rapidly.
From the centre, Zhu Ping’an noticed Matsura Shigenobu. He summoned a guard, pointed him out, and ordered, “See that bare-chested man with the bandaged arm using a pirate as a shield? The others treat him with clear respect. He’s a big fish. Bring up five Tiger Crouching cannons. When he enters range, aim carefully and fire together.”
“Yes, sir!”
The guard nodded vigorously.
Soon five Tiger Crouching cannons were brought forward. To avoid alerting the enemy, they were spaced about three metres apart, but every muzzle was trained on Matsura Shigenobu.
Lost in the exhilaration of almost reaching the enemy line, Matsura never noticed the approaching doom.
When he was little more than ten metres away, still dragging his human shield, a roar far louder than the matchlocks suddenly erupted. Flames flashed across the Zhejiang formation. The earth shook. Five bowl-sized cannonballs screamed towards him.
“No…”
Matsura’s pupils contracted. Before he could finish the word, the world went black. His vision spun skyward.
Then, like a tattered rag, he crashed heavily to the ground in several pieces, dead beyond dead.
