Bombardment at Dawn, Fish Food by Noon
Did he really have to put on such a pathetic show for it?
Then again, was the authority to decide whether he'd hold out or pay up even his to begin with?
“...”
“Stop agonizing and go ask, then send back a reply.”
“Yes, ma'am...”
Honestly, it would've been smarter for them to round up the nobles for one big gold-collecting drive and pay down the debt in a lump sum. Even this guy's fan, half-hidden in his sleeve, had gold fittings on it, I noticed.
“I made an exception and left out the fleet that went to burn Kamakura. You understand?”
“Gah...”
“You should be grateful. In monetary terms, that costs more than your entire debt.”
“Khh—gah...”
Daehan's labor costs are steep. Gold and silver tend to be undervalued, so framing it that way isn't exactly wrong, is it?
And so the poor fellow, shoulders sagging to his ankles, trudged back home to fetch the reply.
“What's with the pity act? Once he gets home, he'll be ordering his servants and slaves around like always.”
Hypocrites, the lot of them. Maybe I should stir people up into a revolution? Ah, wait, no, not now! I'd have to get paid for that.
* * *
Yeah, I knew you lot would pull this. Not so much as a reply — they didn't even have the decency to acknowledge the letter.
“Milady, preparations are complete.”
“Good. Let's go.”
And just like that, the ships had arrived and everything was ready.
We set sail immediately, and the next morning found us watching the sun rise over the waters off Kamakura.
“Wow, gorgeous weather.”
Destroying something is a job for spring, no question. That's when everything falls apart the most thoroughly. Farming especially.
“All preparations are complete.”
“Let's watch the sunrise a bit and rest first.”
It's only courteous to wait a moment, right? They might surrender on their own, after all.
Besides, sun-warmed air on a chilly morning feels wonderful — like lying under a blanket with the air conditioner running in summer.
“Breakfast first, then we start!”
“Yes, ma'am!”
There aren't many dishes you can realistically make on a ship. Stir-fries, mostly — and since everything gets rinsed in seawater anyway, no extra seasoning is needed. Very convenient.
Frying up the vegetables and meat they'd brought aboard yesterday, these absolute lunatics were having jeyuk stir-fry for breakfast like it was nothing.
“Wahaha! This is delicious!”
“Meat really is the best!”
“Eat your vegetables! Who raised you to eat nothing but meat?”
Ignorant barbarians, every one of them, incapable of grasping that meat tastes even better alongside vegetables.
Tap.
“Milady, please eat.”
“Thanks.”
Still — why is MY plate nothing but vegetables? Where's the other half of the meat?
Watching the crew bustle about over breakfast, I noticed they were busy preparing something too. But why weren't there any ships in the harbor at all?
Breakfast done, morning arrived.
「BOOM. CRASH-BOOM. BOOM」
The bombardment began from a considerable distance. The Horned Whales' cannons seemed to be mounted twenty to a side, spaced generously to match the ships' massive bulk. They'd probably add more if the need arose.
Even so, with ten ships firing in line, two hundred shells flew with every volley.
“Ack! The smoke!”
“Cough, cough.”
I swear I'm going to suffocate to death on this smoke. I'd heard that smokeless powder involves soaking cotton in sulfuric and nitric acid, but how on earth does that become gunpowder? No idea.
Well, someone's going to have to suffer through the research...
「CRUMP. THUD. THUD」
From far away came the faint but unmistakable sound of stone shattering and earth erupting. The enemy's gun batteries were evidently being torn apart.
“I knew it. Impressive stuff.”
They weren't high-explosive shells, but those iron balls packed with lead were terrifying in their own right.
The enemy had built their batteries by stacking up stone and earth, but they couldn't withstand the bombardment and began bursting apart one after another.
「KU-BOOM. BOOM-BOOM」
「WHIIIISH — SPLOOSH! CRUNCH」
The enemy returned fire, but their range fell short. Rifled cannons naturally have somewhat shorter range than smoothbores, and ours outdid even that standard — so I suspected they were diluting their gunpowder to economize on scarce saltpeter.
And since their ships were sturdy, the shells that made it to maximum range had lost so much force they simply bounced off.
“Ha. I felt it back when we were pulling bandit raids, but these kids really are far too weak.”
“A battalion-sized force could topple a nation at this point, milady.”
Thinking about supply lines, we'd need even more, wouldn't we? No, wait — we could probably finish everything off with axe work alone.
Not too much, not too little — what we're doing right now is exactly target practice.
“Enemy ships astern!”
“Huh?”
Oh! THAT'S why there wasn't a single ship in the harbor! Of course! Someone rides off with word of our arrival, and a force lying in wait in Tokyo Bay can strike us from behind!
“Unfurl the sails and begin turning!”
“Open the opposite gun ports!”
“Make haste!”
Measured from the tallest mast, our line of sight reaches about 126 fathoms, no? Closing that distance would take them a good hour!
“We have time. Since we can't get help from the shore, all we have to deal with is them!”
“We'll turn every last one into fish food!”
Come to think of it, encircling someone at sea is rather difficult unless it's a full-scale fleet action. It'd be nice to have some fast ships, wouldn't it?
The naval battle was fierce in its own way. The enemy, desperate to close for a boarding action, kept two or three guns mounted at their bows and rowed themselves half to death, firing as they came, while we rode the wind on a diagonal and poured shot down on them.
「BOOM. KU-BOOM」
“Muskets, fire as well!”
「BANG! BANG! RATATAT! BANG!」
Cannon roared from below deck while the gunners above raked anything that came into view with muskets — and both sides were fighting for their lives.
One side had to prevent the approach; the other had to close the distance no matter what. A clash of spear and shield.
「KU-GU-BOOM. CRACK」
As they drew nearer, some of their shots began striking home against our hulls. At first they simply ricocheted, but now there was a new sound — something splitting, straining.
「KU-GU-BOOM. THUNK!」
This time came the sound of something lodging into the ship itself. It hadn't punched through, but somewhere in our hull an enemy shell was now firmly embedded.
If they hit us point-blank, even our ships would break. But if their accuracy improved? Ours would improve faster!
「KWA-BOOOOM」
Each ship fired on its own rhythm, but every time twenty guns let loose together, two or three enemy vessels simply collapsed and sank.
Bringing fast, nimble boats for a boarding melee was a sound idea — except those boats carried few guns, and a single hit sent them on an express ticket straight to the Dragon King's palace.
What's more, on our side, the moment the smoke cleared and a target came into view, we could fire at will. The closer they came, the faster the Japanese ships dwindled.
“Huh. What are those?”
“Fishing boats, milady?”
You could really see them staking everything on this. Even tiny sailboats that couldn't mount a single cannon were rowing desperately toward us, clinging to life by a thread.
“What are the muskets for! Fire!”
「RATATAT. BANG」
Those boats were being turned into honeycombs by muskets far more accurate than any cannon. Some of them, riddled with enough holes, sank outright.
Considering lead poisoning, we probably shouldn't eat any fish caught in these waters for a good while.
“Ha... but why would they attack when they don't stand a chance?”
“People don't give up easily on what they've already held in their grasp, milady.”
“No, I mean — who said anything about taking everything away? They're welcome to repay the loan, principal and interest calculated to the last coin. Why they'd rather fight than simply hand it over, I'll never understand.”
That's why everyone raises armies and develops weapons, I suppose. Speak nicely, and not a soul listens.
And it's all because the politicians never feel a blade at their own throats. This way, only the little people die, like now.
If wars must be fought, I wish the men on top would march out first.
「KU-GU-BOOM. BOOM」
「CRUNCH」
“What's that... rocks?”
Stone shot, apparently? That's just too cruel... Tears are blurring my vision.
Our ships hadn't sunk a single vessel in a proper duel, yet the sixty-odd ships that had come at us were annihilated in the blink of an eye.
Amid the wreckage of the Japanese fleet — holed, sinking, splintered — a long line of survivors still clutched at floating wood scraps, swimming desperately for their lives.
“Let's mop up the remaining shore batteries.”
We decided to let the ones swimming for shore with scraps of driftwood live. With some coastal folk surviving to tell the tale, they'd be too frightened to charge in so recklessly next time — or so I figured.
What's the advantage of a shore battery supposed to be, exactly? Built on high ground, it should enjoy longer range and greater power — so what's with this wishy-washy mid-slope height?
If you're going to do that, shoot from level ground! Why bother building the batteries at all? They had no range advantage and weren't sturdy enough to survive bombardment, so they were all being blown to pieces as it was.
「KWA-BOOM-BOOM」
By the time nothing remained on the shore but the merciless thunder of our guns, the sun was already climbing past its zenith.
Some in the batteries clearly refused to give up to the very end — people were still being flung this way and that. What on earth were they trying to defend?
Once the bombardment wound down, we began the landing — but ferrying two thousand men across in little boats that fit barely a dozen at a time, making dozens of round trips, was eating up time.
“We can't exactly carry a harbor around with us.”
“Nothing for it, milady. Not until iron ships are built.”
“I'm sorry — WHAT?”
“Hm?”
What? Why the shock?
“How does IRON float on water! Wahahaha!”
“Are you an idiot? Ever put a rice bowl in the water while washing dishes? Does it float? Or doesn't it?”
“...Huh?”
You'd have seen it every night doing dishes at home, no?
“Whaaat!”
“Stop gawking. That's exactly why ships can be made of metal, you see.”
“Good heavens!”
Huh? Had none of them even imagined it? Do these kids genuinely not think about anything?
Brass bowls bobbing right there on the water — does that not spark a single idea about building ships?
They can lay railways, for goodness' sake; thick hull plating would be no trouble at all. The real problem is how you join the plates together.
Rivets would be an absolute maintenance nightmare, but surely they won't go that route.
“A ship — made of IRON!”
Start learning today, and it still won't happen in your lifetime, pal.
Still, having one such ship wouldn't be bad. The intimidation factor alone would be tremendous, no? A steel monster carving through the ocean, no sails, belching black smoke!
Honestly, if I saw that thing coming, I'd want to run too.
By the time the landing was complete, the sun was already sinking. The Horned Whale's minimum crew of about 220 had swelled enormously thanks to all the gun crews.
As for passengers, we simply loaded as many as we pleased? It wasn't a long voyage anyway, so we'd brought a veritable army.
Two hundred men off each of ten ships — a full two thousand Intelligence Bureau agents. Wait, no, we need to rename this outfit. What part of any of this says “intelligence”?
“Keep the ships standing off at sea, and begin sweeping the surrounding area.”
“Yes, ma'am!”
Anyone planning a night raid could be hiding in abandoned houses or up in the hills nearby. We'd watch our perimeter, but if enemies burst out from within our own lines, it would be a headache. Someone would get hurt coming out of it.
「BANG. RATATAT. BANG. BANG」
“Knew it — they were hiding, after all.”
Gunfire crackling from all directions meant the sweep had been the right call. If something had actually gone off in the middle of the night and caught us with our guard down, I don't even want to imagine it.
「TAP-TAP. TAP-TAP」
The seaside in early spring is colder than you'd think. The city visible in the distance must be their stronghold, yet for somewhere so close, it's awfully quiet. Suspicious.
“There's a hill just ahead, right? Send some of the kids up there.”
“They've already climbed partway. Shall we send more?”
“Yes. That bunch is being far too quiet.”
There's one low hill sitting there, and something about it is deeply wrong. There have to be at least a few cannons left hiding up there.
「BOOM! KWA-BOOM!」
“Where did that come from!”
“Looks like it's from the city, milady!”
“Get behind the hillside!”
If we tuck in behind the slope on that side, their guns won't have a line of fire!
Not that it matters — we weren't planning on a long campaign, so we're not carrying much baggage. The tents, if it came to it, we'd simply abandon on the spot.
Trouble is, night fighting is hard on our strengths...