STW War Story Part V
Furinkazan - The Ambition of Takeda
Forest (3)
Chapter 6 Confrontation
Autumn 1535
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With the major victory in Kaga,
Takeda now had more than expected soldiers to challenge Oda.
But Oda Nobuhide already gathered a large number of troops in Mino. The lord of the east finally confronts the ruler of Kinki! |
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Mino : With nearly 2000 men on the field, the battle of Mino was truly the largest so far. The scouts of Takeda cavalry archers soon reported that Oda's archers were climbing up the hill on the right. They almost reached the peak! Takeda Nobutora soon ordered all cavalry to charge - and all group troops run uphill as fast as they can! |
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The Oda archers almost got to the
top - but they fell back because of Takeda's cavalry attack.
Lord Takeda were not satisfied with only the gain of the hill. He ordered the cavalry to pursue until the enemy retreated into the forests (where the cavalry should be stopped and the enemy's arrows will not be so deadly). |
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Finally the entire Takeda army
has reached the top of the hill - but the Oda army kept backing off...
The enemy taisho was not Oda Nobuhide! Instead, an inexperienced general took the command of the elites of Oda... |
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The large battle ended with such
a surprise - only 12 men died.
Takeda almost got Mino free from Oda - with a bonus victory. Oda did have little chance to win as Takeda's cavalry already held the high ground - by the time Oda marched up the yari samurai or ashigaru, the massive Takeda army would also have made to the top. The best option for Oda was probably to march to the mountain of the opposite side. Yet the newbie general didn't think this much. |
Harvest of 1535: Normal, Tax rate = 75%. Budget = 3523 koku
Winter 1535
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Oda Nobuhide made another mistake
by retreating his men to Omi - now Owari is very susceptible to attack.
Takeda Nobuhide surely would not give up this excellent opportunity. With just enough troops to hold Mino, the elite army of Takeda attacked Owari! |
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Owari : The enemy was only consisted of 3 units - 1 YA and 2 SA. Nobuhide soon made the entire cavalry to charge over the left bridge, defended by only 1 group of SA. The yari samurais followed! |
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Although the archers made an effort to stop the cavalry, they soon collapsed before Takeda Nobutora. The Takeda yari cavalry was beaten to only one men left - but with the support of the daimyo, this guy didn't even waver! |
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The archers were on the run - but
they didn't survive because of their retreat -- 120 out of 120 left their corpses on
the field of Owari.
Seeing the Takeda army have already crossed the bridge, the rest two groups of Oda army retreated to the hill at the center. |
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With archers surrounding the hill in a half circle, the yari samurai of Takeda moved forward. The Takeda cavalry and yari ashigaru also flanked the sides - only a few seconds till the enemy broke into chaos. |
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With less than 100 died, Takeda had
pushed their front to Mino and Owari. On the other hand, more than 500 of
Oda's men ended in the castle of Mino and Owari.
Oda Nobuhide will probably plan an attack soon - and Takeda Nobutora soon increased the garrison of Mino and Owari - even if the Oda army comes, they might just lose more men. |
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The entire eastern Japan has
fallen to Takeda in 6 years. In the first three, Takeda destroyed Hojo,
Uesugi, and Imagawa. In the later three, Takeda successfully established
their roots on the east. In the west, Shimazu was still unable to step into northern Kyushu. Mori took Awaji and Sanuki on the south, but these poor provinces should not give Mori a large increase in power. Oda still haven't conquered the formidable ronins of Ise and Yamashiro - perhaps that will be a job left for Takeda. |
Spring 1536
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The year turned 1536.
Oda Nobuhide has come to Omi. With still a large number of troops remaining in the castles of Mino and Owari, Takeda might need to wait one season or more... |
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Kaga : There was still one thing left for Takeda - assault the castle of Kaga. The siege for only 19 high honored monks and archers had lasted for 1 entire year, while the Takeda troops were all busying moving here and there. Finally Takeda got a chance. With archers shooting down half of the few monks left, the yari cavalry promptly rushed in, taking the heads of the rest. |
Summer 1536
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Due to the large number of
soldiers sharing the limited food, the Mino castle surrendered much faster
than the Owari castle.
As the soldiers in Mino were partly freed, Takeda soon ordered an attack to Echizen, hoping the completely eliminate the threats from the third party, and concentrate their power on Oda. |
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Echizen : The mountains of Echizen are among the highest of Japan. While Takeda Nobutora had to stay in Owari supervising the siege, the general responsible for the assault was Yokota Yoshinobu. Yokota Yoshinobu was the leader of the 3rd wave of loyalists on the west. He gained a bitter victory in Bitchu, but occupied Hoki, Bingo, and Aki with no resistance. He was promoted to rank 3 because of these 4 victories. The enemy were led by an inexperienced ashigaru general, but the 120 H3 monks were among the most deadly in the nation... |
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The yari cavalry scout soon
reported that the enemy were sitting behind the highest mountain. If
Takeda can made to the mountain top before the ronins, then the charge
down can be very effective.
Indeed, the enemy general fled within seconds, but in the trees there emerged the monks! |
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The monks charged uphill! They
were handled by one groups of Takeda yari samurai plus one group of
ashigaru, one taking the front and one taking the flank - but they could
not stop the monks - soon these poor Takeda soldiers were losing badly.
General Yokota Yoshinobu could do nothing but to watch his men waver and flee - because there was still a valley in between the archers and the monks - before they could help, the yari samurai would have been wiped out. All the archers could hope was that the monks were ambitious enough to further challenge the archers over the valley... ¡@ |
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On the other hand, the yari
cavalry and another two groups of yari samurai was doing well taking the
enemy archers and fleeing ashigaru taisho.
And the enemy Taisho has been killed! However, the monks had completely defeated the Takeda yari troops. They showed no sign of waver...! |
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The monks split into two. One
group were charging uphill - towards the Takeda taisho.
The Takeda taisho ordered his men to hold the hilltop position at all cost, shooting down the monks as best as they can. The fleeing yari samurai rally themselves and flank the monks. |
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The second group of monks were rushing back, attempting to revenge for their ashigaru taisho. However, they were charged by the Takeda yari samurai and flanked by cavalry. The yari samurai certainly suffered very heavy losses... |
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The monks challenging the Takeda
taisho were about to reach the top! However, with brave Yokota Yoshinobu
did not ordered his men stop firing, but the other group of 100 archers
immediately charging downhill. The monks were finally routed!
On the other side, the yari samurai and cavalry also routed another group of monks - now their job is just to handle the first group that rout between them... |
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A very expensive victory of
Echizen. 86% of the enemy were dead, with the cost of 71% Takeda's men.
The monks of Echizen were horrible.
The yari cavalry did more than half of the kills - thanks to their mobility. |
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The enemy ninja has surely
infiltrated to the back of Takeda. With such a rapid expansion in the
early years, Takeda were not able to maintain enough shinobi for general's
security.
Fortunately the ninja failed - but for sure they will keep coming if the ports were not secured. |
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With the gain of Echizen, Takeda
Nobutora finally felt comfortable to launch a large attack to Omi.
However, Oda has taken their action at the same time. A large number troops were sent to Owari, attempting to break the siege. Takeda Nobutora was forced to retreat to Owari for the defense. Can Takeda defend the two bridges of Owari well? |
