A topic from AEG's L5R CCG Rules forum, copied for Oracle of the Void from a copy of the forum saved in October 2015, so pages it didn't save are missing. Players' names are left out; the rules officials are named. Rulings are as they stood on these dates; later rulings, the rulebooks and the Rules Archive may differ.
A player, 30 October 2007
Battle: Even if this Stronghold is bowed, target one of your Crane Clan Samurai at the current battlefield: Ranged 3 Attack. Move him home or to another battlefield.
If there is no legal target for a ranged attack at the current battlefield, can they take this action? I would think not, such as in the case of Rapid Deployment, as the rulebook states about a ranged attack: In an effect, “Ranged X Attack” (where X is a number known as the strength of the ranged attack) is shorthand for “Target a Follower or a Personality without Followers in the current enemy army. If its Force is equal to or less than X, destroy it.” A ranged attack’s strength is treated as a stat with regard to bonuses, penalties, and minimums.
Chris Fuchs (rules official), 30 October 2007
Battle: Even if this Stronghold is bowed, target one of your Crane Clan Samurai at the current battlefield: Ranged 3 Attack. Move him home or to another battlefield.
If there is no legal target for a ranged attack at the current battlefield, can they take this action? I would think not, such as in the case of Rapid Deployment, as the rulebook states about a ranged attack: In an effect, “Ranged X Attack” (where X is a number known as the strength of the ranged attack) is shorthand for “Target a Follower or a Personality without Followers in the current enemy army. If its Force is equal to or less than X, destroy it.” A ranged attack’s strength is treated as a stat with regard to bonuses, penalties, and minimums.
No. This has always been the case for Mountain's Shadow Dojo, even pre-errata.