Gengyo and his men skulked through the fields as the massive Uesugi army began to move once again. Their pace was that of a snail and it was easy for Gengyo to work his way into a position to ambush them.
"Here," Gengyo said, kneeling to a crouch, a few metres away from the road. It was close enough to afford a view, but like a set of blinds, they were invisible to the outsiders.
Rin and Akiko kneeled beside him, the butts of their rifles against their shoulders and their eyes squinted ready to shoot. Their secondary rifles hung loosely by their sides, held upright by a leather strap that wormed its way between their b.r.e.a.s.ts.
One slow step at a time the mammoth army came towards them. There was only one man that Gengyo truly saw worth in aiming for. A single bullet through his head, and they would end a war before the battles even begun.
He followed the lines of Rin and Akiko's barrels and it seemed they had much the same idea. Their men surrounded them in a crescent, delicately avoiding trampling too much of the grass.
Further down that same road, the Jikouji party had found a position for themselves as well. They had torn up some of the grass by the roots and threaded it between the cracks in their armour. It was a technique that he remembered Gengyo coming up with, when they had infiltrated an Oda castle all those moons ago.
As confidently as a surfacing whale, Kenshin placed himself within Gengyo's sights, with nothing to protect him. His head looked larger then and Gengyo squeezed his trigger, certain that the shot was to hit.
His bullets disturbed stalks of grass as it sliced through them, neatly aiming for Kenshin's head. But by the Gods own decree, a man had placed himself in that path. A mounted man, approaching his Lord with a question. The bullet tore through the man's skull and like a squeezed gr.a.p.e, his red juices ended up all over his Daimyo.
Gengyo's shot was the signal and the rest of the men began to release their bullets, all of them aiming for Kenshin. The bullets came from both sides of the road, from both near and far. It was chaos for both the attackers and the defenders. Words could barely be heard above the crackle of gunfire.
"PROTECT THE LORD!" A man screamed with all his heart, drawing his sword and putting himself between Kenshin and another bullet. His brown leather armour was sullied almost immediately. A hole opened its way up at the back leaving a horrific exit wound. To his credit, the man still stood strong on his horse, refusing to budge. He truly was a wall. Two more bullets collided with him before he finally keeled over in his saddle.
And yet there was another man to take his place. Kenshin's own bodyguard. Men that had sworn more than just their lives to their Lord. There was a solid minute of carnage, when Kenshin's horse bucked and nayed in fear, and the man himself was startled. He could not quickly locate the attackers, for they were everywhere. Nor could he run away to save himself, for the attackers were nearby and any man that got close would be filled with bullets.
When the shots finally ended, there were more than a hundred men dead at Kenshin's feet, surrounding him in a circle.
"FIND THEM!" Kenshin bellowed, seizing the opportunity. "INFANTRY, COMB THE FIELDS! ARCHERS, FIRE SHOTS AHEAD OF THEM! CAVALRY, TRAMPLE EVERY BLADE OF GRASS AND WASH THESE COWARDS OUT!"
The warlord was red with fury at the dishonourable attack and he was forced to give orders before he truly had chance to think up an optimal solution.
The men were about to move, but then they were returned to hell. Gengyo and his men switched to their second rifles and once more put their eyes down the sight and pulled back their hammers to unleash near six hundred bullets between them.
The infantry dove to the floor in fear. The shooters had begun to spread their loads throughout the entirety of the ranks and men that thought themselves safe were collapsing backwards, having been granted a glimpse of their own churned guts.
Even Kenshin dismounted his horse and flattened himself against the mud, seething with anger. Who were these men, to force a man like him to push his face in the dirt? There was no worse insult to his pride.
His own men collapsed backwards on top of him, giving their lives to take a bullet in his name. He was forced to soak up their blood, unable to move. It washed through the cracks of his armour and soaked through his clothes, warm and uncomfortable against his skin.
This time, when the bullets finally ended, the men did not dare move.
"Let's go," Gengyo said, taking Akiko by her hand, leading them back into the grass. He hoped that Jikouji and the rest would have the sense to do the same.
They attempted to reload as they ran, but it was a troublesome business and they lost a few bullets for it. It was an entire ten minutes before Kenshin regained control of his army. Even then, they had not fully lost their fear. They stared at the grass mistrustfully, flinching at the slightest of noises caused by the breeze.
The men had to dig their Daimyo out from beneath a pile of bodies and once he was finally free, they found themselves wishing they could put him back. They had never seen their Lord in such a foul mood.
The four parties were deep within the grassy fields by now, forever hidden. They moved in a crouch for miles until their backs ached from the position. But that achiness could not wash away the satisfaction. They had achieved their mission, as impossible as it was, and they knew the Uesugi army would not be moving for a time at least.