STW War Story Part III - Western Uprise
Chapter 13 Total War
1548 Winter
With the gain of Echigo, the defense of the northern lands is truly solidified. Mori Motonari did not hesitate to sail his army to Sado - hopefully to destroy Uesugi's fine armoury before the reinforcement of Uesugi arrived.
On the other hand, the second son of Mori Motonari, Kikkawa Motoharu, has arrived in Shinano. His first mission was to attack Kozuke. The time has come for Mori to strike back!
Kozuke: Mori (753) vs. Uesugi (905)
By the time Kikkawa Motoharu invaded Kozuke's territory, half of the defending army was gone -- must be to Musashi again.
The Uesugi army was camped on the plateau on the right. Kikkawa Motoharu ordered his men to climb up well in advance, so when the two armies clash, Mori will not suffer from a height disadvantage.
The enemy's archer was no match of the fine army of Mori. Warrior monks following the wall of yari samurai soon broke the morale of the enemy archers.
The first battle of Kikkawa Motoharu ended up in a swift victory, both sides did not suffer a great loss - which was good for the numerically inferior Mori.
Musashi: Ronin (D6): (8721) vs. Mori (921)
With even a larger number, the Uesugi returned to Musashi, the sixth season in a row. After a few faileds trail of ashigaru rush, the enemy Taisho, only himself forming a unit, bravely came across the bridge! Our archers had quite a difficult time aiming at such a short target - yet finally we got him!
The enemy Taisho was killed by our arrow, the first time in Mori's war history.
This time, Mori Saigo Iezane deliberately waited till the end of the day. Since the winter daytime is shorter, Iezane was almost guaranteed to have enough arrows till the end. The archers did have more kills than before - quite a good shooting exercise. Indeed the archers' skills had greatly improved during these 6 seasons - from H3 to H4, even H5!
Sado: Mori (596) vs. Uesugi (612)
Uesugi did send some reinforcement from Dewa. Thhe enemy was camping in the forest on the left, but not necessarily the highest place. So Mori Motonari decided to take the hill before the enemy came forward and defend it.
Just when the bloody fight took place on the forest edge,s uddenly the enemy Taisho showed up on the distant north. Mori's ashigaru, oringinally waited on the right for a flanking assault, was assigned to surround the enemy taisho. With almost 1 fighting to 3, the enemy Taisho routed.
On the south, under the coverage of our archers, the yari samurai of Mori were slowly wining. The victory was assigned by the death of the enemy taisho. The entire enemy routed!
The ashigaru who defeated enemy's taisho was right on the enemy's routing path. A great chance to intercept -- enemies were slained everywhere near the forest exit; corpses lied all the way to the battlefield exit. Mori Motonari even ordered the monks to form a single line near the forest exit and hold formation / hold position. The outcome was not that good as the fleeing enemy pushed back the monks, and even killed one of them!
1549 Spring
Our watch tower in Echigo had reported the construction of buddist shrines in Dewa. Of course we cannot let the Uesugi horde to train monks, which was patented to Mori supposedly. Lord Mori Motonari immediately marched his entired army that's left from the Sado invasion battle into Dewa.
Besides, general Kikkawa Motoharu and Mori Saigo Iezane were ordered to defend Musashi and Kozuke - soon the horde comes!
Kozuke: Uesugi (2911) vs. Mori (790)
The horde of Uesugi arrived in Kozuke as expected. General Kikkawa Motoharu ordered the archers to spread in a long line, and the yari cavalry waiting on the two distant sides. Monks and yari samurai will be responsible for the center.
The enemy was concentrated on the center. When the moment comes, Kikkawa Motoharu ordered a total assault downhill from all directions -- the enemy was soon surrounded in front of the forests!
The other graet battle of Kikkawa Motoharu. Although the entire enemy archers were targeting his fellow monks, the Kikkawa army did not stop for any moment. One yari cavalry group killed 241!
Musashi (D7): Uesugi (10331) vs. Mori (855)
The seventh defense of Musashi - finally the Uesugi troop numbered more than 10,000, led by their daimyo, Uesugi Tomooki!
With seems endless supplies of arrows, Iezane waited till the enemy daimyo himself came across the bridge - and soon he ordered a total charge. The cavalry were the first to arrive at the front -- but they suffered heavy losses from enemy archers. However, these Shinano riders did not waver nor stop fighting - because hundreds of Mori soldiers soon rushed up and overwhelmed the enemy in a few minutes!
The enemy daimyo was killed! The entire Uesugi army broke into chaos. Iezane wouldn't give away the chance to chase the defenseless enemy on the bridge!
Now the Uesugi soldiers were packed up on the bridge, offering their heads. Iezane was among the first group who charged over - himself took three heads from the enemy as well.
The daimyo of Uesugi has been killed - the fifth daimyo who lost his life to Mori Saigo Iezane. Iezane was now known as the daimyo terminator - and his fame had spread all across Japan. Hm... maybe it is the time to stress his loyalty to Mori Motonari? In Sengoku nobody will trust a famous taisho even if he is your own son - and Iezane was only a distant nephew of Motonari.
Dewa: Mori (426) vs. Uesugi (306)
The intense battle on the north had reduced the sizes of both Mori and Uesugi. The invasion of Dewa only involved a total of 700 from both sides, with Mori having 100 more. Fearing the fame of Mori Motonari, the enemy retreated in a hurry, but were soon caught up by the Mori yrai cavalry...! Now they run even faster.
Killing 20 of enemy ashigaru, unfortunately one cavalry soldier ran too fast and stumbled himself. He then became only casaulty in this battle.
Uesugi Tomooki is dead - and so did Uesugi Kenshin. The only other legitimate heir of Uesugi, Uesugi Tomodasa, however, was not present in the Uesugi clan at this moment. Maybe he was killed in the battle against Kaga monks.
The Uesugi clan is now perished, ended in the seventh failed attack of Musashi. Their soldiers, numbered about 14000 now, were left largely in Shomozuke. Although their size is three time as large as Mori - they seems have little chance to prevail on the battlefield.
So what is in the mind of Mori Motonari; how would he finish the remnants of Uesugi as soon as possible?
