A Pawn’s Passage

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.

With the Daoist Order's current technology, they could produce repeating firearms, but such weapons could not guarantee the necessary power to pierce armor, the physique of Martial Arts Practitioners, or protective talismans and qi shields. Thus, the Daoist Order's long rifles remained single-shot and required reload time. This made the three-stage volley tactic difficult to replace and still highly practical.

On this basis, the Daoist Order could only further simplify the process of loading firearms to speed up the rate of fire, aiming to inflict greater casualties before the cavalry reached their lines. They were also equipped with more guns that were pre-loaded with a single shot. In close combat, when fired face-to-face, they were almost guaranteed to hit. The only drawback was the enormous expense. Every battle consumed an astonishing quantity of ammunition.

After five full volleys from the rifles, the Sonno-joi cavalry had suffered heavy losses, but they finally drew close to the Daoist Order's frontline.

It was at this point that the rifle's greatest weakness became apparent. It was ineffective in close combat, being barely better than a wooden club.

The Black Robes gunmen began to fall back, while the Spirit Guard carrying adult-height shields advanced to the front, forming a wall. From the gaps between the shields, other Spirit Guards thrust long spears forward, creating a line of spearpoints.

The cavalry crashed into the shield wall, only to be pierced through by the long spears.

The two sides became entangled in close-quarters fighting, with the sounds of clashing metal and cries of slaughter echoing without pause.

The Sonno-joi cavalry was fierce and battle-hardened. The earlier volleys of gunfire had already made them realize that if they could not break the formation, they would be slowly worn down by the Daoist Order's firearms. Thus, they fought desperately, without the slightest thought of retreat.

The two forces were locked together, weapons clashing and blood spraying, bodies falling one after another. It was no exaggeration to call this scene a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

In novels, it was common to see scenes where the generals of two armies met in single combat before the battle began. In real warfare, however, commanders rarely dueled. They remained in place to direct the fight. That said, there were times when generals still took pride in personally leading the charge, both to inspire their troops and to demonstrate their own valor.

Normally, a general entering the fray was like an emperor personally leading an expedition. It was something subordinates would try to dissuade. But the Daoist Order's Spirit Guards were an exception.

By now, the Sonno-joi cavalry's initial charge had lost its momentum. If they failed to break the Daoist Order's formation, their cavalry advantage would vanish entirely. There would be no opportunity for a second charge, and they would be forced to fight on foot. But after enduring five volleys, their ranks were already devastated. It was becoming evident that breaking through the Daoist Order's ranks was nothing more than a fool's dream.

Spirit Guard Ding Wei put away her telescope, took out her warhammer, and prepared to enter the fray herself.

On the battlefield, the brave could not rush recklessly, nor could the timid retreat without cause. An army of tens of thousands had to move as one, advancing and retreating in unison. Only with perfect coordination could they achieve maximum combat power. Lone heroes, unless they were Heavenly Beings or Immortals, made little difference.

The Spirit Guard's formation was arranged in squads of eleven, with the larger formation being a triple-layered wave formation, similar in principle to the three-rank gunmen tactic. When the first rank fought to exhaustion, the drums would sound, slow briefly, then sound again as the second rank rushed past to engage, while the first fell back to recharge. When the drums slowed once more and beat again, the first rank surged forward past the second to re-engage, and the second rank fell back in turn. This constant cycle kept the front-line soldiers relatively fresh. This triple-layered formation seemed unimpressive at first, but its endurance and sustained force were formidable.

Spirit Guard Ding Wei leapt high into the air, clearing the range of the triple-layered formation and landing in the rear ranks of the Sonno-joi cavalry. She brought down a massive warhammer nearly the size of herself with a thunderous crash.

The impact carved a huge bowl-shaped crater into the ground, sending tremors through the earth. Massive shockwaves rippled outward in visible waves, killing every Sonno-joi horseman within the blast zone. Those with higher cultivation bled from their orifices, their internal organs shattered. Meanwhile, those with lower cultivation were simply reduced to clouds of blood mist.

Spirit Guard Ding Wei's direct entry into the fray caused immense chaos in the enemy ranks.

The Black Robes and Spirit Guards seized the moment to counterattack, and under Spirit Guard Ding Wei's lead, they began to push the enemy back in reverse momentum.

At the same time, the steady pounding of war drums came from the central command position. The sound of drums was a signal to advance, while the sound of gongs was for retreat.

The Daoist Order also had cavalry, but when the Sonno-joi horsemen charged earlier, they had made no move. Only now did they reveal their might.

The Daoist cavalry rode in tightly packed formations, the gaps between each rider minimal. They were armed with lances and heavy, thick-backed blades capable of cutting through heavy armor. Lighter blades, even with the momentum of a charge, could barely breach such defenses. They also carried handguns, ideal for shooting enemies at close range. When out of ammunition, they could double as maces or hammers, which were even more effective than edged weapons against armored opponents.

Amid the urgent beat of the war drums and the thunderous sound of hooves, the Daoist cavalry finally charged onto the battlefield.

The Great Xuan Dynasty revered the color black, so their army was known as the Black Robes.

The thousands of cavalrymen now charging forth were clad in black armor, riding on black steeds.

Though the Daoist Order placed great emphasis on firearms, they did not underestimate the cavalry.

With the advancement of firearms, voices had once risen within both the Daoist Order and the Imperial Court, arguing that cavalry was obsolete. They claimed that the flying ships and firearms had rendered mounted troops unnecessary.

However, the prevailing view was that cavalry would still play an important role in future warfare. Not only should it continue to exist, but its quality should be further strengthened. Cavalry possessed three core traits: exceptional speed, the ability to combine great mobility with mounted destructive charges, and unity among its members.

In the end, cavalry was retained and evolved into the Black Robes Heavy Cavalry, with both man and horse clad in armor, like chariots of steel.

The cavalry on the current Ise battlefield was not the Black Robes Heavy Cavalry, but their armor was of the latest design. The armor plates were sturdy and tightly interlocked. Ordinary bullets and arrows would simply bounce off, and even arrows shot from mounted bows at close range would only stick into the armor. It only looked alarming but did not cause any real hindrance to combat. Only the lances of the elite cavalry or heavy artillery could inflict effective damage.

Once the Black Robes Cavalry entered the battlefield, the Sonno-joi faction began a complete retreat. Their individual skill was not to be underestimated. Their decisive defeat stemmed from the Daoist army's tactical superiority and from the vast disparity in weaponry. It was a gap so great that no amount of human effort could bridge it. The difference was not only in craftsmanship but also in the sheer amount of silver spent.

Put plainly, the Daoist army was built upon piles of solid silver. Only with enough money could they afford to use firearms without regard for cost. Governing a nation or commanding an army ultimately came down to one question: where did the money come from, and where did it go?

Answering this question solved over 80% of all problems. This had been the greatest problem faced by every dynasty throughout history. No one ever truly knew where the money came from, nor where it ended up.