The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Now the leadership group were reviewing the battle in Shigeru's cabin. Halt had just voiced the thought that was in most of their minds.

'Arisaka is no fool,' Shigeru agreed. 'He won't rush in blindly, the way Todoki did. He will look for ways to defeat these new tactics devised by Chocho.' He nodded at Will, who frowned slightly at the term but knew that now wasn't the time for a language lesson.

'What we have to do is put ourselves in Arisaka's place,' Halt said. 'Try to work out how we would counter the tactics used by the two gojus.'

'Four,' Will said, and when Halt's eyes swung to him he elaborated. 'We'll have at least two hundred men trained by the time the valley is open again.'

Selethen nodded in confirmation.

'Good,' said Halt. 'But we'll still be outnumbered and this time we won't have the advantage of surprise. Arisaka will know how we're going to fight. So if you were him, what would you do?'

Selethen cleared his throat and the others all looked at him.

'We discussed this in Toscana,' he pointed out. 'Heavy weapons or artillery could break up the goju's formed ranks. Once they lose their integrity, the Senshi can fight in their usual style – one on one.'

'Arisaka has no heavy weapons,' Halt replied. 'And no way of getting any up through the mountains.'

'True,' Selethen admitted. 'Then archers would be the next best thing.' He turned to Shigeru. 'How many archers do you think he could muster?'

The Emperor considered the question for a few seconds.

'Perhaps thirty,' he said. The rank and file Senshi didn't practise archery. It was a skill reserved for the nobility.

'Thirty archers can do a lot of damage,' Will put in.

Horace leaned forward. 'But the kame counters that effectively,' he said, referring to the tortoise formation Will had taught the Kikori.

'Not if they can flank us and then attack from the rear,' Selethen said. 'The second rank will have to turn and face the new attack – and that destroys the kame formation. They can't keep their shields up over their heads if they're facing a flank attack.'

Horace made a dismissive gesture. 'Then we choose a spot where they can't flank us. The valley below the palisade is narrow enough for that. Or we can simply wait behind the palisade itself.'

'We can't do that,' said Halt. 'We'll have to take the fight to Arisaka. He'll have reinforcements coming from the south. With enough men, he could take the palisade. But the problem is…' He tailed off, not wishing to voice the thought that was in his mind.

Shigeru looked at him. 'The problem, Halto-san?'

Reluctantly the Ranger answered. 'We can't afford to simply sit behind the palisade and fight a defensive battle indefinitely. If we do that, Arisaka will win. Ideally, he'd like to wipe us out. But if that's taking too much time, he'll simply leave enough men here to keep us bottled up, then march south and claim the throne. He can say you're dead and nobody will be any the wiser,' he told the Emperor.

Shigeru nodded thoughtfully. 'And once he has claimed the throne, it will be twice as hard to unseat him.'

'Exactly. So we need to force him to fight – to make him think it will be worth his while. And if we're to do that, we need to second-guess him, and work out how he'll counter our tactics.'

'In broad terms,' said Will slowly, 'he'll need to smash our shield wall – and outflank us at the same time. Correct?'

The others nodded agreement and he continued.

'We know he has the numbers to outflank us if we fight him on open ground. If he can attack us, but still keep us at a distance, he'll force us to advance. After all, our stabbing blades are only effective at close range. And if we advance from a prepared position to get to close quarters, we expose ourselves to a flanking movement.'

Horace was following his line of reasoning thoughtfully. What his friend said made sense. 'But how can he attack us and keep us at a distance at the same time?' he asked.

'I was thinking of something like the Macedon Phalanx,' Will said.

Shigeru noted the sudden, simultaneous intake of breath from Halt, Horace and Selethen. They all nodded thoughtfully.

'What is the Macedon Phalanx?' he asked.

'The Macedons were warriors who developed a highly effective formation called the Phalanx,' Halt explained to him. 'It consisted of warriors armed with long, heavy lances, up to four metres long. They could smash through the front rank of an army before the enemy could make any reply.'

'And you think Arisaka might know about this phalanx?'

'No,' Halt replied. 'But the idea of using spearmen or pikemen could well occur to him. I'd be surprised if it didn't – it's a logical idea. They could attack our front rank and they'd be safe from our short blades.'

'We'd have to close with them,' Horace said. 'We'd have to advance to fight them or our shield wall would be smashed to pieces.'

'And as soon as we advance, their comrades can outflank us,' Selethen said.

'We could use our javelins as lances,' Horace suggested. 'We could throw the first volley, then retain the javelins from the second and third rank as stabbing weapons.'

Halt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. 'That might work. The odds are that Arisaka won't have men who could handle anything as long as the Macedon lance. It takes years to develop the strength and skill necessary. My guess is they'll use normal spears, so we'd be fighting spears with spears. But at best, that'll be a stalemate. Eventually, we'll need to get to close quarters. That's where all the advantages lie with our men. So we need a way to stop any flanking movement.'

'Fifty or so archers would come in handy,' Will said.

'If we could train them. And if we had fifty bows,' Horace replied.

Will nodded despondently. But as he glanced up at his old mentor, he saw a light in Halt's eyes.

'I might have an idea,' the older Ranger said. 'Will, let's you and I go and find young Mikeru.'

Will, Halt and Mikeru stood on the parade ground where the Kikori gojus usually trained. The troops were resting at the moment so they had the ground to themselves.

'Mikeru,' Halt said, 'can you throw a spear?'

The young Kikori nodded enthusiastically. 'Of course, Halto-san. All Kikori learn to use a spear when they are very young.'

'Excellent.' Halt handed the young man a standard Kikori throwing spear and nodded to a pole some forty metres distant, on which he had placed one of the captured armour breastplates. 'Let me see you hit that breastplate.'

Mikeru tested the weight and balance of the spear, then strode forward until the target was thirty metres away. His right arm and body weight went back, his left leg extended and then he hurled the spear in a shallow arc. It smashed into the breastplate, piercing it and knocking it from the pole to clatter on the ground.

Halt noted the co-ordination of the throw, with right arm and shoulder, body and legs all combining to put maximum force behind the spear.

'Very good,' he said. 'Will, would you replace the target please?'

Will moved forward to replace the damaged breastplate on the pole, jerking the spear free as he did so. When he turned back, Halt had led Mikeru back to a point fifty metres from the target. Will rejoined them quickly and Halt took the spear from him, offering it to Mikeru.

'Let's see you do it from here,' he said. But Mikeru shook his head apologetically.

'It's too far. The spear is too heavy for me to throw so far.'

'Thought so,' Halt said. He now opened a rolled piece of canvas he had been carrying and produced a strange weapon, which he handed to Mikeru.