John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

'Doorway! Doorway!' he called and Horace waved in acknowledgement. They'd practised to defend against a wedge of heavy lances. The rams were essentially the same thing, and they had a tactic they could use against them. Will continued to run to pass on the same message to Selethen.

Horace hurried to join his goju. He moved quickly behind the second rank, calling to his men.

'Use the doorway tactic when they get close!' he called and he saw section leaders in the front rank turn briefly and indicate that they understood.

The advancing Senshi were fifty metres away now, almost within effective javelin range.

'Second rank, open order!' Horace yelled and the rear rank responded as one man, stepping back three paces to give themselves throwing room.

'Javelins ready!'

Twenty-five arms went back, the javelins angled upwards.

'Aim for the rams!' Horace ordered. He watched the approaching army, judged they were in range. 'Throw!'

The javelins hissed away on their arcing flight. Several seconds later, he saw sections of the Senshi line collapse in confusion as the heavy missiles struck home. One of the battering rams crashed to the ground as half its bearers were hit and the others were forced to release their grip on the rope handles. The heavy rolling log caused more confusion among the attacking Senshi. But they reformed and came on. There were still two of the battering rams aimed at the Bear Goju.

The nearest ram broke from the Senshi front line as its bearers went from a steady tramp to a run. They lunged forward at the Kikori shield wall, their sudden increase in speed catching Horace by surprise. The heavy, sharpened log swung forward on its rope handles, bludgeoning into the front rank. Three of the Kikori went down and the men on the ram moved quickly to consolidate their position. The second rank had closed up again after throwing their javelins. Now they used their reserve weapons to stab over the heads of the front rank, at the ram and its bearers. The ram swung back, then forward to smash into the shields again. More Kikori went down and the waiting Senshi screamed in triumph as they saw the previously impregnable wall disintegrating. The ram went back again.

'Doorway! Doorway!' Horace yelled, his throat dry and his voice breaking.

This time, as the heavy log swung forward, the Kikori facing it stepped back and to the side, opening a gap in front of it. Without any resistance, the battering ram whipped forward through thin air, throwing the men wielding it off balance. The second line of men opened as well and some of the Kikori grabbed the ram and dragged it through their ranks. As the men on the rope handles staggered through the gap left for them, the deadly stabbing blades of the Kikori went to work. The surviving ram wielders found themselves in the clear behind the second rank, bewildered and isolated. As they realised their predicament, ten men from the front rank of the Shark Goju moved forward and quickly surrounded them. Within a few seconds, Arisaka's men lay still. But, in the more open style of fighting, they had taken a toll. Five Kikori lay dead beside them.

With a shout of rage, the Senshi line surged forward. But the doorway closed as quickly as it had opened and they found themselves facing that formidable line of shields. They cut and slashed ineffectually, denied the space they needed to wield their swords to best effect. The short swords of the Kikori flickered in and out between the shields, wounding, maiming, killing.

The Senshi backed away, moving out of range of the shorter weapons. Now some of them began a more careful attack, lunging at the small gaps between the shields with their longer katana. This time, however, forewarned of the Kikori tactic of jamming shields together, they withdrew their blades almost immediately. It was an effective technique. More Kikori fell, their places taken by men from the second rank.

Horace glanced down the line to see what had happened with the second ram. The men wielding it, having seen what happened to their companions, were more circumspect in their attack. They swung the ram in short, savage jabs at the wall. Shields split, men went down. Then the men on the ram drew their unwieldy weapon back and hurled it into the Kikori front line, immediately drawing swords and following it through the gap they had breached.

For a few minutes, they had the situation they wanted – a disjointed Kikori line, which gave them room to use their long swords. They took a dreadful toll on the defenders. Then the second rank joined in, using their javelins to stab at long range, moving forward as a unit to fill the gaps in the front rank. Horace came charging down the line from his vantage point, his sword swinging and thrusting into the Senshi, his shield deflecting their katana. His speed, and the power of his sword strokes, took Arisaka's men by surprise and they began to fall back before his one-man assault. Seeing this, Horace bellowed to his Kikori.

'Advance! Advance! Issho-ni! Issho-ni!'

The Bear Goju, discipline and formation restored, began to tramp steadily forward, crowding the enemy, buffeting them, shoving and stabbing. But even in retreat, the Senshi's katana were taking a toll of the advancing goju's ranks.

On the right flank, Selethen's Hawks were faring a little better. There had been two rams aimed at Selethen's formation and they were some metres behind the rams attacking Horace's section of the line. Selethen was able to order the doorway tactic when the first ram came forward. The Kikori peeled aside, letting the ram blunder through, while Selethen's men stabbed at them with javelins and short swords. Then the line closed again to face the following Senshi.

The second ram never made it to the Hawks' front line. Four of its six bearers were struck down by a salvo of black-shafted arrows. Halt, standing with Shigeru on a raised vantage point thirty metres to the rear, nodded in satisfaction as he saw the result of his shooting. The remaining two bearers, unable to control the heavy log by themselves, allowed it to fall to the ground. It bounced and rolled, knocking over four of the Senshi who were planning to follow it into the enemy's ranks.

Seizing on their confusion, Selethen echoed Horace's order.

'Forward! Issho-ni!'

The Kikori, their fighting blood roused, took up the chant as they moved forward like a tide.

'Issho-ni! Issho-ni!'

They slammed into the Senshi and the slaughter began. But, like the Senshi facing Horace's men, these warriors knew better than to allow the Kikori to get too close. They gave ground, all the while stabbing into the gaps and over the tops of the shields. Men died on both sides, although the close quarter fighting suited the Kikori better. Selethen, like Horace, patrolled the line, dashing in where necessary to lend support with his flashing curved blade, using his small hand shield to deflect the thrusts and cuts of the katana.

He glanced across at Horace's goju and saw that his men were moving ahead of Horace's, opening a dangerous gap. Instantly, he shouted an order.

'Hawks! Halt! Withdraw! Withdraw ten paces!'

Moving as one, the Hawk front line disengaged from the Senshi and moved backwards. As they had trained to do, the second rank seized the shoulders of men in the front rank. They turned to face the direction of the withdrawal, guiding the steps of the front rank so their comrades never had to turn away from the enemy. The goju simply moved backwards, formation still intact, any gaps in the shield wall closed by men from the second rank.

Selethen gauged the distance to the Senshi force and glanced back to the Shark Goju behind his men. He signalled their commander and the man turned and bellowed a series of orders.

Arisaka's men, their view obscured by the enemy directly in front of them, had no warning of the shower of javelins from the Shark Goju as they hurtled down over the heads of the Hawks. Senshi went down all along the line as the heavy weapons struck home. Selethen, seeing that the rams were all out of action, signalled for another volley and watched as great gaps were punched in the Senshi line.