John Flanagan: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

'And turn Arisaka's lie into the truth,' Shigeru said.

Halt shrugged uncomfortably. 'Not exactly. You'd be free to return once things were more settled here. You could even raise some of the southern clans against Arisaka.'

'And the Kikori?' Shigeru asked. 'What would happen to them if I were to abandon them?'

Halt made a dismissive gesture. 'You're using emotive terms here. You're not abandoning them…'

Shigeru snorted derisively. 'I'm leaving them on the eve of a battle they're fighting in my name,' he said. 'A battle that even you say is a risky one, with no guarantee of success. Wouldn't that count as abandoning them?'

'But they'd understand. They're fighting for you.' Halt had to keep trying, although he could see he would never convince the Emperor.

'Which is all the more reason for me to stay,' Shigeru told him. Then, after a pause, he continued, 'Tell me, Halto-san, if I were to escape, would you and your friends come with me?'

Halt hesitated. Then he replied, knowing that Shigeru deserved to hear the truth.

'No, your excellency, we wouldn't. We've trained these men to fight. It's up to us to stay here and lead them when they do.'

'Exactly. And I've asked these men to fight in my name. It's up to me to believe in them when they do. So, like you, I have to stay and take my chances.'

There was silence between them for some time. Then, with a barely perceptible lift of his shoulders, Halt capitulated.

'Well, I suppose we'd just better make sure we win,' he said.

Shigeru smiled. 'Which is precisely why I need to be here.'

The four gojus slipped through the palisade gate two hours before dawn. With each group of fifty formed up in three files, they set out down the pass.

Discipline was excellent, Halt noted approvingly. Aside from a few muted commands to march, there was no sound other than the jingling of their equipment and the rhythmic tramp of their boots on the rocky ground of the valley below Ran-Koshi. For the time being, at least, the walls of the valley should mask those sounds from the sentries at Arisaka's camp.

When they reached the mouth of the valley, the leading goju – the Bears – wheeled left in response to a hand signal from their leader and doubled round the bluff to their appointed position on the flat plain. The Bears, formed now into two ranks, would cover the left of the Emperor's battle line, with the obstructions assembled by Jito's workers protecting their left flank. Selethen's Hawks came behind them, taking position on the right.

The final two gojus – the Sharks and the Wolves – took position behind the others, in a slightly staggered formation that covered the gap between the two leading gojus.

Moka, with fifty of Shigeru's Senshi warriors, formed a mobile reserve behind the gojus, ready to react to any breach.

The battle line formed with a minimum of noise and confusion. Each man knew exactly where he was supposed to be and went to his place without hesitation. They were all in place before the first grey fingers of light started to streak the sky in the east. Will, Horace and Selethen moved among the Kikori, telling them quietly to rest and relax, saving their strength for the coming battle. The men sat in their ranks, laying their heavy shields aside. Some of the women, organised by Jito, moved among them with water, pickled rice and smoked fish.

Other members of Jito's work party were putting the finishing touches to the hedgehogs. Horace strolled over to inspect the devices at closer quarters. You had to hand it to Halt for ingenuity, he thought. First the false wall at the palisade during the first attack, now these.

Each hedgehog was constructed of six sharpened poles, two metres in length. The poles passed through a central rope yoke, with six closely spaced loops to hold them in place. The sharpened poles were thus formed into a shape that resembled three large X's bound together. They were light and easy to assemble. But once in place, they were difficult to push aside, as the wide-spread feet tended to dig into the ground. In addition, each set of four was linked together by stout poles and chains, making them even more difficult to displace. As a final touch, the array of hedgehogs was draped with rope, looped around the arms and trailing loosely between the individual units. The ropes were festooned with sharp iron hooks, Horace knew. They were small, so not easily seen. But they would snag an attacker's clothes or equipment and slow him down while he struggled to free himself.

Beyond the lines of hedgehogs was the drop-off – a small cliff some four metres high, which put an extra barrier in the path of a flanking force from the left.

He heard a slight noise behind him and turned to see that Will had joined him, inspecting the defences.

'All in all, not a bad job,' Horace said.

'I wouldn't care to be one of Arisaka's men tangled up in those hedgehogs,' Will said. 'Have you seen Mikeru and his dartmen practising?'

'I have. They're frighteningly good, aren't they? Another one of Halt's better ideas.'

Will was about to reply when they both heard the sound of distant shouts of alarm, followed by a strident bugle call ringing over the plain. They both looked in the direction of Arisaka's sprawling camp.

'Sounds as if someone's seen us,' Will said. He gripped Horace's hand. 'Good luck, Horace. Take care.'

'Good luck, Will. See you when we've sent Arisaka running.'

'He won't run,' Will answered. 'But if we can settle with him before Yamada's army turns up, we're in with a good chance.'

'And if we can't?' Horace said.

Will met his gaze in silence for a few seconds. 'I don't want to think about that,' he said eventually.

Horace nodded and unconsciously loosened his sword in its scabbard. 'I wonder where the girls are?'

Will's expression, already grim, grew a little more so.

'I'm guessing they didn't make it. If they'd managed to convince Nimatsu and his people to help us, they should have been here a week ago. I'm afraid we're on our own.'

Arisaka's army assembled in their usual loose formation – a large curved front, three or four men deep. They moved steadily across the plain towards the silent, waiting ranks of the four gojus. Unlike the Kikori, they didn't march in step, but simply moved in a loose gaggle. The Senshi preferred to fight as individuals and they moved the same way.

There was one change to their normal deployment. Arisaka had been told of the dangers of the Kikori shield wall and he knew he had to break that rigid formation. Will had surmised that he might use something similar to the Macedon Phalanx – a wedge formation armed with long, heavy lances, designed to smash through an enemy's line. His guess was a little off target. Arisaka knew nothing about the Phalanx.

But he knew about battering rams.

At intervals along the line were five young tree trunks, trimmed and sharpened, and borne by six warriors each, the men holding onto rope handles spaced along the logs' six-metre lengths. The sharpened logs, swung underhand at waist height by the long rope handles, would act as battering rams and smash great gaps in the enemy's defences before the Kikori could come to grips with their attackers. No shield bearer could withstand such a shattering impact. And once the integrity of the shield wall was breached, the Kikori lost their greatest advantage – their ability to fight as a team, with each man supporting and protecting his neighbour.

'So that's what he's got in mind,' Horace muttered to himself. He watched as the Senshi line advanced, overlapping the Kikori line at either end. As the space available closed down, those outer wings would have to fold back in behind Arisaka's front ranks. They'd be poised three and four deep behind the rams.

Will was running across the rear of the two leading gojus, shouting to attract Horace's attention.