Once more the cannonballs flew threw the air, though this time there were undoubtedly less of them. Feeling confident because of the ineffectuality of the last volley, many of the soldiers either took a single step back, or took refuge within the fortifications of the tunnel.
But Matsudaira squinted, and recognised the difference in the magnitude of these projectiles, and immediately gave the order. "CLEAR OUT FROM THE TUNNELS IMMEDIETELY!"
With the speed with which they were hurling towards the earth, they did not have much time to scramble up the dirt slope, and get in the clear. The unfortunate were trapped inside as the heavy ball slammed into the earth.
With the depth of the tunnel, and the measly foundations, the beams soon sported cracks due to the immense force that was sent coursing through them, and after a terrible groan, and a look of despair, they gave way, dropping tonnes of earth onto the defenceless soldiers underneath.
Without even needing the order, the Matsudaira men sprang forth with shovels in frantic attempt to free them from suffocation, but as they heard another cannon shot ring out, their destiny was sealed, and they were forced to sprint away.
The causalities were minimal, but it was still irritating, yet Matsudaira was unwilling to stop their tunnelling attempts completely. "ABANDON ALL CURRENT TUNNELS, AND BEGIN WORK ON NEW ONES – MAKE THEM THREE TIMES AS DEEP!" He barked, so that even the men underground could hear him.
With more dirt between the landing cannon shot and the foundations, the earth would have time to compact, and take away the majority of the impact before it reached the depths where the men were.
"Nice idea boss, but what are we gonna do now?" Rokkaku questioned, immediately realising that they wouldn’t be able to cause the same damage to deeper tunnels.
"There is likely nothing we can do. It will take them at least three days to complete the tunnels. We will prepare a reception for them when they peak their heads through, but for now, I wouldn’t worry too heavily about it. We have bigger problems." He pointed across the plains, to where the first set of horses were beginning their return, dragging heavy logs behind them.
"Siege weapons?" Morojo questioned, squinting with his old eyes, so he might see further, but still he could not spy the end of this logging train – there appeared to be an endless amount of wood.
"I would imagine so." The commander turned to look around, trying to locate an innovator of his own. "Takeshi?"
"Right here, Miura!" The little smith called out from behind him, peaking out from under a helmet that was far too big for him. It was difficult to find a set of armour that was suited to his frame, and this current set made him look even more childlike.
"Ah, good. We do not have long. I realize you have only just finished work on this current set of cannons – and they’re doing a grand job. But seeing the way things are going, we are going to need something more."
"Something more, sir?"
"Indeed. Something bigger, and more versatile. A hidden weapon to catch them off guard, and counter whatever they’re planning on building. It will need to fire twice the distance of these current ones, and be just as the cannon of our ship – capable of rotating. Is that possible to complete within the next couple of days?"
Takeshi frowned, running over the production in his head. Realistically, you would need about a week to attempt such a project, even if you had the maximum manpower available, but given that it was Gengyo asking him, he would make sure to do it in the time required. "It’s possible! I’ll gather the others and we’ll begin work right away."
"Good man." Gengyo affirmed, patting his shoulder. Takeshi nodded before trotting away. Really, he was likely just glad to be able to get out of his oversized armour.
"Could we not just stick more gunpowder in these to get it to fire further?" Morohira asked, struggling to see the utility in making something bigger when these were functioning just fine.
"Unfortunately not. Takeshi has tested this model extensively, and anything higher than this will have it explode in our faces." Gengyo informed him, recalling seeing such an incident during the experimentation process.
"Heh..."
Their gazes soon returned to across the plains, where the horses were only just pulling into camp with their massive logs – they were more trees than simple logs, there hadn’t been the time to delimb them – as unoccupied men descended on them like an army of ants, and began stripping the wood of its various branches, readying it for production.
The logs only continued to pile up, as more and more were dragged into camp. Most of which the tunnelling team took greedily for themselves in order to support their unground venture, but the rest of which was taken off elsewhere, hidden behind rows of tall tents, so that the Red Feather men were unable to see what they were producing.
For the rest of the day, they stood there, simply watching. Matsudaira was putting all his efforts into preparation, whilst Gengyo had only need order a single task, with his preparation having been completed days before hand.
"Stand down, men. They will not attack for the rest of the day." He decided. "If they do decide to take advantage of our absence, we’ll have the gong rung and be assembled within minutes, worry not."
They nodded, almost relieved. Merely standing for hours on end was incredibly boring, and placed quite the toll on the lower back.
As they filed away for the evening, Gengyo remained, watching the sun go down, and fire spring into life in the Matsudaira camp, with smoke drifting into the air.
It had not been the most eventful first day for a spectator, but for the two commanders it told them everything they needed to know about their enemy and how they operated. They had both come to the conclusion that this was a fight that demanded their utmost attention and respect – just a single failing to respond correctly would result in defeat.
"Come, Tadakata. You should get some rest too." Akiko told him gently, grasping his arm in an attempt to pull him away.
"Ah... yes, you’re quite right. I was just thinking."
"Thinking? Still? Are you unhappy with how the day went?" Hearing his tone, she pursued his feelings further.
"No. Well, perhaps a little. I feel our cannons should have had more of a significant effect, but in all, we only managed to snag about two hundred men."
"Tadakata..." She groaned, shaking her head. "You’re the only man capable of getting such a big army to take you seriously. We should already have lost on this first day! But we haven’t even had a single man injured. The men can see hope of victory now, I think, and I can too."
"Haha, I think you might be over evaluating me there, but aye, I will rest and keep my mind fresh, and pursue victory tomorrow." He nodded to the men who were keeping watch over the wall with torches in hand. "Keep a good eye out lads – we’ll cause some carnage tomorrow."
"Hah!" The men saluted as he went, keeping watch with added vigour after his words.
Matsudaira was not one to spend the night in rest, however. By the torch light, he oversaw the construction of some monstrous machines, tall and powerful, but built on their sides so that they would be concealed from enemy eyes until the morning.
Only the tunnelling team had rested that night, but he judged the others to not need it. With these weapons, he was sure they could nail the victory home.
Protected from bullets and protected from fire, these would allow them to get mightily close indeed. He shot it with a musket of his own, and not even the slightest hint of damage could be seen on the inside, and so he nodded with satisfaction.
"Two more of these, and then we will rest! Good work men!"
"Hah!"
The Matsudaira men were no strangers to hard work, nor did any of them feel resentment because of the lack of sleep. They knew their commander to be a good man, and an intelligent one, he took whatever actions were necessary in order to ensure their victory.
With the coming of dawn, the majority of the preparations were complete, and he eyed them with satisfaction, sitting back in his chair with a sigh.
"Now... Miura Tadakata. Let’s see how you respond to this." He asserted with a proud smile, holding his hands out towards the flames of the fire, enjoying its heat, as he pictured various strategies in his head, and imagined subjugating this commander. This commander who was of a calibre that he had rarely seen. No hate, no anger, merely raw excitement purely manifest.
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