"Dad! That's way too dangerous to be called a plan!"
Rin said loudly in response to the battle strategy that Morohira suggested they underwent. It was generous to even call it a plan at all, as it was basically just charge forward, and deal with whatever came in their way.
"Hm? Nah, it'll be fine."
He consoled her, without being able to present a single reason why it would be fine. They would be surrounded by three sh.i.p.s, with upwards of one hundred and fifty men, and would be continually bombarded by matchlock fire.
"Just adding bows won't be enough. We don't even have the shields that Togashi suggested – there isn't enough time to make them."
"She's right, Morohira. We'll be in a rough spot, and I'd rather not get hit by one of those bastard balls again."
Togashi put in. It was his idea to use bows in the first place, but now that things were going the way they were, he realized that simply using those was unfeasible.
"Set them on fire, then!"
Morohira shouted, as though he didn't care. The only thing he needed was an enemy in front of them, and he was quite willing to charge forward and slaughter what stood in his way.
But to his surprise, his spontaneous idea was not immediately refuted as all the others had been, and in their little corner of the cove, a certain amount of silence reigned.
"If we get some oil pouches on the end of arrows, and follow them up with a bit of flame, I can see that working."
Rokkaku mused.
"Aye, it'll be enough to just do a couple of pouches per ship, and that'll create the panic we need as the flames spread."
Togashi agreed.
Even Rin could not protest here – she was not familiar with the effectiveness of flame and oil, but the others seemed to be in agreement.
"Still, we need some way of getting out of the way of the musket fire, so that we can get our chance at doing that."
"We've still got our trump card…"
Isabella suggested, since it seemed that no one else would.
"Ah… That's true. That's what Jikouji said, wasn't it? Just survive this one, and then the others will be easy?"
Rokkaku responded, as though he had only just realized that possibility.
"We keep our flags down, and approach them. When we've got the opportunity, we'll set each ship on fire before they can even react. And by the time they're ready to shoot us, we'll be below deck, waiting for the flames to spread."
Togashi exclaimed rather excitedly, thoroughly stating each step of the plan they would take.
"Sounds alright to me."
Morohira affirmed. There would be less fighting, but sometimes stealthy operations were just as exciting.
"Just in case you guys have forgotten – me and Akiko aren't any good with the bow."
"It's fine, I'll fire enough for the both of us!"
Ii said, seizing the chance to shoot her a slimy smile.
Her only response was a look of disgust as she turned to the more reliable members of their team.
"Don't worry about it, little lass. We'll teach you in future."
Sasaki said with a more genuine smile. He was a man that the young girls found themselves warming to. He was certainly the biggest on their team, but he was a warm man, like a giant teddy bear.
"Aye, it'll be fine. We just need to land a couple of shots each – but we'll definitely get you taught in the future. The boss is all about adaptability. The more weapons you know, the happier he is."
Togashi affirmed – he was all too familiar with Gengyo's standards.
"Mhm! We'll do our best."
Akiko responded enthusiastically.
"So that's the planning done then – we just get some oil pouches sorted, and then we'll be off in the morning?"
Came Morohira's question. Planning was the part he hated most.
"Yeah, that's good enough for me."
Togashi agreed.
"Me too."
Rokkaku nodded.
"Aye, that'll do."
But as they were turning away, Isabella raised her voice, once more attracting their attention as she offered a word of warning.
"You must be extremely careful. Your cargo is a dangerous one. If a stray shot hits one of the barrels, then that could be the end of you all. Or even just the smallest amount of flame. Please be mindful."
It was rather touching, for she seemed genuinely concerned for their safety, so there was no one who could simply brush off her concerns. Instead, they nodded, letting her know that they understood.
"What's this, then?"
Morohira wandered over to where Jikouji and Morojo were doing their planning. He was rather interested in the execution of new ideas as well, and with the complicated sketch that lay engraved in the sand, his curiosity was certainly peaked.
The others came over as well, having nothing else to do.
"A track."
Jikouji announced, pointing to a circular piece of track drawn underneath the cannon. He did so with a hint of weariness in his voice. They had concentrated intensely for almost an hour, and here they were, with what they hoped to be the finished product.
"And this here, is a second track, that the cannon will sit on, so when it is fired, it can recoil properly."
He pointed to another piece of track, that lay over the first one. This piece of track imitated the normal recoil distance that a cannon would need, and it allowed that. The circular track underneath it was so that it could turn as it needed to, without too much resistance.
Once fired, the only adjustment that they needed to make was to push the cannon back to its starting point, and then fire once more.
They had ended up abandoning Morojo's pole idea completely, and settled on something entirely different, but it was something that could certainly work. It enabled the cannon to be rotated through 360 degrees, as it was allowed to rotate all the way around the circle.
"Ohh, so the cannon sits there, then shoots, and gets pushed down to here? Cool!"
Rin confirmed, pointing to various parts of the diagram as she ill.u.s.trated her point. It certainly seemed workable to her.
"Hehe, definitely cool. And since I'm the captain it'll be me who gets to fire it."
Morohira put in, betraying his more childish side as he earned the scorn of the rest of the crew.
"Lots of people die at sea, don't they Sasaki?"
Rokkaku mused, stroking his chin.
"Eh? Oh, that they do."
He replied, understanding what Rokkaku was getting at.
"Is that a threat, Rokkaku?"
Morohira asked, staring at him viciously.
"Might be that it is."
Rokkaku responded, with a similar level of seriousness.
They held each other's gaze for a couple of seconds, before their serious countenances crumbled, and they burst into laughter.
"Ahaha! We'll play for who gets to shoot it first, then."
The captain relented as he chuckled wildly.
"That's fair to me."
Came the similarly amused response.
"Well, whilst you girls are deciding who gets to fire it first, it seems I'll have to go looking for a smith."
Jikouji said, with something close to a sigh.
"We appreciate your hard work, Jikouji-san!"
Morohira assured him, attempting to mimic a child's voice.
"Aye, I'm sure you do."
The old man replied, as he got to his feet, letting loose a second sigh as he stretched his back out.
"It's dark, but I'd better be getting back. Good luck everyone, I await good news."
He announced, before he began to walk toward the steps.
'I look forward to seeing this cannon in action, Jikouji.'
Morojo thought to himself as he watched him walk away. He was surprised by the versatility of Jikouji's ideas – it was him that came up with the concept of the track. At first he had not expected it to work, but it seemed it was a solid foundation, as they were able to add onto it what they wished, and it still functioned exactly as they intended.
"See you later, Jikouji-san!"
Akiko called out, and Rin copied her a second later, shouting the same.
"Ride safe, old man!"
Rokkaku shouted.
The old man in question simply waved a hand behind him, without turning back as he ascended the steps. They could not see it, but there was a smile on that old face of his.
Jikouji rode back, to catch a nights sleep in Toyone, before he would leave the next day in search of a smith. He had completed all the household tasks that needed his attention, and Shibata was proving herself to be quite capable of managing the house whilst he was away.
In the cove, it was a similar scene, as they ate around the fire together, before they retired indoors to catch some sleep before their big mission tomorrow.
There was no trace of anxiety to be found amongst them – not even from Akiko and Rin – even though this was undoubtedly their hardest mission yet. It was likely because in recent times they had been able to complete their raids without problem, and so there had been a confidence fostered within them.
Had Gengyo been there, he would no doubt have been pleased with the way they were moving forward. They were truly their own people now, and did not need to rely on him. Letting them move autonomously was definitely the right choice, as they were able to complete things that had usually been left to him to plan and to execute.
No doubt he was also in their minds, and they approached their tasks with enthusiasm, wishing to surprise him when he got home with all that they had achieved, but had they known what kind of situation had befallen him, they would not have been able to act so effectively.
…
…
Carrying out a pre-established routine, the Morojo's performed last minute assessments on the ship, making sure it was completely fit for the voyage ahead, whilst the rest gathered round the fire to share a large breakfast together.
The oil laden arrows were all prepared, whilst the rest of the arrows had been coated in a light layer of oil themselves, so they would be lit easily.
The reasoning behind such an idea was simple: the oil pouch arrows would be fired first, and would land on the ship, spreading a thin layer of oil everywhere, and then it would be followed up by a flaming arrow to set the entire thing on fire.
There were many other types of flaming arrows that might be used, but this was the type they were most familiar with.
The only downside was the extra weight that the oil carriers had, but being as experienced as were, it was not too difficult to compensate.
It was with a degree of nostalgia that they strung their bows, as they felt as though they hadn't done so for the longest of times. It had been a morning routine for a while, when they were in training, but they had not done so at all after the battle.
They performed a few practise shots to make sure their skill was of the level it ought to be, and to their surprise, it was exactly as they remembered it, barely having been reduced at all in their period of idleness.
And then, after being given the go-ahead by the Morojo's, they boarded their ship, and drifted out, away from the jetty. They found no problem in escaping the cove through the narrow gap – they had been accustomed to such a thing. But still, there was a different element to their ship, on that day.
Usually, as they left, they had done so with flags raised high, yet on that day, they were finally able to use the card Gengyo had long since prepared, and they came out, looking as an ordinary trading vessel might.