Yet he stood there, and on they came. Shibusawa gave the command, and the roar and boom of the cannon warned the mighty shogun to halt his march. Again and again the destructive thing belched its angry fire in the face of an unfaltering foe: they came on, and Tetsutaisho's voice rang out on the still cool air of morning: "Down with the gates; on with the march!" The blunt sound of the battering ram bespoke the hopeless force which lingered in their hands. The proud commander, with giant stride and thundering voice, ran down the lines, urging the last onward rush of a hitherto victorious host. The samurai broke file and quickly ranked in line after; Tetsutaisho had presaged the havoc awaiting a close formation, and scattering his men sought to scale the walls as well as batter down the gates. Within the huge walls all was silence; after the first notes of warning had been sounded Shibusawa ceased firing, and did not again give the order until the gates had been driven loose and begun to fall. Then a hundred guns poured shot and shell into the face of the onrushing spearsmen, and the carnage wrought at that gate was frightful. The dead piled high in the roadway, though again and again dragged from the path of the undaunted oncomers. Nor were the swordsmen less valiant, for everywhere they scaled the ramparts and rushed upon the infantry. Thus before long, Shibusawa had called out his last reserve, and more feebly repulsed the terrible onsets that came swifter and faster. Column after column of his advance had been wiped out, and one position after another yielded to the enraged enemy; yet his rear lines and the artillery kept up an incessant fire. Tetsutaisho's men fell thick and fast about the gate and around the walls; the defender's fire was deadly, and the cost of each advance appalling. Thus the battle raged and as yet neither had gained a victory. The ranks on the mikado's side were thinning, and Shibusawa could not determine the reserve strength of the enemy. The shogun's advance had become maddened at the sight of such havoc, while the rear grew eager with expectation. Everywhere they scaled the walls, and a constant stream, though thinned and scarred, now poured through the battered gates. Tetsutaisho shouted a last advance, and the valley below swarmed with his mighty reserve. They did not halt, nor did they rush; but came determined and invincible. Shibusawa groaned as the tremendous odds revealed themselves. He looked at his scattering few, then concentrated them, and cheered them for a last heroic stand. He had withstood a terrific advance, and now would resist a final onslaught, even to the last man. They were there to fight, and did not know the meaning of surrender; nor would they deign to retreat.