Chapter 885: Lingering Cold
The Daoist Order’s main objective was to annihilate as many of the Sonno-joi faction’s active forces as possible, focusing especially on cutting off their reinforcements. But the Sonno-joi members were not fools either. Without sufficient pressure, their reinforcements would never attempt a direct assault on the Daoist Order’s forces.
In other words, the more critical the situation at Ise-jingu became, the more desperately the Sonno-joi reinforcements would fight to save it. Thus, the Daoist Order’s offensive on Ise Province’s main battlefield was not a feint. It was a genuine, all-out assault, without the slightest pretense or deception.
In the contest for victory on the battlefield, there were no formal duels between champions from each side. Every possible means was employed. On the Ise battlefield, the most effective force was not a single Heavenly Being but hundreds of cannons, first unleashing a storm of steel to bombard the enemy, then supplemented by the Diviner Corps during artillery lulls. Once the foe was crippled, the main army would advance, led by invulnerable heavy cavalry in black armor and supported by various infantry units.
Though the Sonno-joi ronin were powerful, if they could not even see where the enemy was, they had no chance to use their sharp blades. By the time they finally caught sight of their foes, their side had already suffered devastating losses, leaving them with no strength to fight on.
Fighting a war like this was simple. It placed little demand on battlefield commanders but a huge demand on resources, logistics, and above all, money. Only the Daoist Order could afford such an undertaking. By comparison, Fenglin was merely one link in the trade chain, while the Daoist Order controlled the entire chain.
On the other side, the Sonno-joi faction had assembled its largest reinforcement army, with nearly 20,000 elite cavalry and over 100 hatamoto, charging at full speed to relieve Ise Province.
The Daoist army was commanded by Spirit Guard Ding Wei, who led a force of 8,000 to intercept this elite Sonno-joi reinforcement.
The Sonno-joi cavalry launched a charge that was almost suicidal.
It was the last dying radiance of the cold-weapon era, a tragic elegy for an age gone by.
At Spirit Guard Ding Wei’s command, the orderly Black Robes began firing in sequence. In an instant, the charging Sonno-joi cavalry seemed to run headlong into an invisible wall. The frontmost riders were pierced clean through by bullets and toppled from their saddles. It was as if an unseen trip-line spanned the battlefield, and any horseman who tried to cross it would be struck down instantly. From above, the charging line looked like crops being harvested.
A bloody mist filled the air, and corpses lay strewn across the field.
The Daoist Black Robes wielded long rifles in three ranks. The foremost rank would fire first, then fall back; the second and third ranks would then fire in sequence. While the second and third ranks fired, the first rank reloaded their rifles. The three ranks rotated in continuous volleys, never allowing the fire to cease. This was an ancient tactic of arranging gunmen in three ranks.