STW War Story Part V
Furinkazan - The Ambition of Takeda
Fire (3)
Chapter 9 Fire and Water
Summer 1540
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The time has finally come for the
old rivals of Takeda and Mori - Fire and water collide into each other
eventually. Takeda Nobutora's first target was the flat land of Harima! |
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Despite the military success on
the front, the enemy ninja activity on the back was
truly annoying. However, their skill needs to be improved...
Our new general needs more protection. Two new tea house have been started in Shimosa and Kaga. However, it might take a while till the shinobi arrive Shinano. |
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Harima
: Mori Motonari left Harima to a mediocre general, Miyoshi Hideyasu. Although Mori is inferior in their honor, all of their fighters were fine samurai, and 120 of them were warrior monks! With Takeda steadily approaching the base of Mori, the monks rushed down - but they were soon surrounded by Takeda Nobutora and his yari samurai! p.s. if you remember my war story 3, Miyoshi Hideyasu made to rank 3 but was assassinated in Suruga. |
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The nasty fight began on the
bottom of the slope. Takeda's right flank was not doing too well, although
they were supported by the flanking of yari cavalry...
They were simply outnumbered there. Mori was concentrating on the right, while Takeda's main force is on the left... In order to quickly break through the enemy's formation, Takeda Nobutora rushed right and challenged Mori's taisho! |
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Mori's general Miyoshi Hideyasu did
not hold for long enough retreated in a hurry!
The low honor now makes a difference. |
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With nearly all yari cavalry
killed, Takeda was unable to perform a good chase. However, even so more
than 800 men had lost their life during the clash in the valley. Among the unit leaders who sacrificed their lives, Nobutora discovered the name of Hiraga Yoshichika. He was the man who prevailed in the duel of Hitachi 7 years ago. To this point, almost all generals that assisted Takeda in the early years have given their lives. Takeda is left with only Takeda Nobutora and Takeda Shingen - but for sure they are still many good generals not discovered... |
Autumn 1540
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With Harima in the grasp, Takeda
Nobutora left the defense to his heir, Takeda Shingen, and himself
immediately launched the total attack to Tajima.
He demanded a fine battle with Mori Motonari. |
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Looks like Mori's ninjas never
give up - but they failed again.
The shinobi of Kaga are now ready for action. Exactly who sent these men of shadow? |
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Mori Motonari did not even fight
in Tajima - with insufficient army, he retreated into the castle!
However, at the same time Mori attacked Harima using all the available troops from Inabi, Mimasaka, and Bizen. Can Takeda Shingen prevail on the field facing an army 1.5 times of its size? |
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Harima
: This time Mori sent a slightly better General, Amako Haruhisa. The warrior of Mori were still almost entirely Samurai! Takeda Shingen sit all of his men on the right, just on the edge of the valley. He anticipated that Mori would be too confident in their number to cross the valley in some distant point. Indeed, Mori's samurai approached head-to-head! Takeda sent its cavalry archers to cross the valley and shoot at the Mori soldiers. Lure them over! |
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The bait was successful. However, the 150 ashigaru of Mori
rushed forward and surrounded the cavalry archers! The bait could not retreat,
and soon wavered and fled in front of the large Mori army...!
Seeing the danger on the right, Takeda Shingen asked his archers to hold the valley top with all cost. If they are out of arrows, just charge down the enemy. At the same time, Shingen himself led the assault on the left - the cavalry of Kai emerged behind the village and flanks the archers of Mori. Mori's yari samurai were all concentrated on the right. A bloody massacre began! |
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With their right flank completely
destroyed by the cavalry of Takeda Shingen, general Amako lost his will to
fight and ordered his men to run!
Before the cavalry of Kai, he was doomed. |
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Nearly 800 Mori's men were dead!
Takeda Shingen's unit took a record-breaking 363 heads during the chase,
Shingen himself did 4.
Speed was the main reason why Takeda Shingen succeed. Shingen did not panic seeing the wavering of his cavalry archers. Instead, he made a fast decision to break from the left, where the enemy is poor in defense. Along with the archers charging down the valley, the morale of Mori were finally destroyed. |
Harvest of 1540: Good (25% up), Tax rate = 100%. Budget = 12391 koku
Winter 1540
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A good harvest - so many koku to
spend!
Takeda Shingen's formidable cavalry has completely crushed Mori. Now nearly Mori's whole east border has been neutralized - with Mori Motonari confined in the castle of Tajima. He had little chance to be rescued. But soon Takeda learned that Mori Motonari has got heirs. Takeda must be fast enough to capture Mori's heirs! However, they were short of soldiers at this moment - less than 2000 after the hard fights in Harima. Shingen volunteered himself to take charge of the campaign of Chugoku. Nobutora agreed. The defense of Harima was taken over by a new, yet fine genera called Amari Torayasu. |
Spring 1541
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The Harima castle fell in the
next season due to insufficient food stock.
As a result, Nobutora asked Amari Torayasu to invade Mimasaka. Mori's new recruits retreated into the castle! Mimasaka was taken without resistance. |
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Takeda Shingen did not encounter
any resistance in Awaji, either. Without stop he attacked Sanuki, the last
hold of Mori in Shigoku region.
Mori retreated to Bizen! |
Summer 1541
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The Tajima castle has fallen -
Mori Motonari was starved to death, and was succeeded by his younger
brother.
The fire of Takeda did not stop because of its lack of number. Takeda Shingen left just enough garrison and shinobi in Sanuki, and attacked the defenseless Awa. Takeda Nobutora also advanced into Inaba, and Amari Torayasu was made to attack Bizen. Three more provinces were added to Takeda's collection in one season. |
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In the castle of Bizen, an
inexperienced general called Mori Saigo Iezane (!) was taking charge of
the defense. This time bad luck for him.
This general was absent in the next season - perhaps he was among those who starved to death. |
Autumn 1541
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With sieges carrying on in Awaji,
Inabi, Mimasaka, and Hizen at the same time, Takeda could now spare less
and less troops for further invasion in Chugoku.
However, Nobutora still advanced into Hoki. The fire of Takeda burnt through eastern Chugoku in an astonishing speed - but it was about the time to solidify the gains. |
Harvest of 1541: Poor (25% down), Tax rate = 100%. Budget = 8000 koku
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The harvest of 1541 was poor, but
the massive shinobi that Takeda trained still allowed Nobutora to make a
normal tax rate for the year.
The income was still decent, much thanks to Takeda's rich roots on the north. With the main force of Mori totally crushed, the campaign of Chugoku went better than expected. However, Takeda also lost many soldiers. With roughly 2200 left, they'll need to face Shimazu of Kyushu and Chosokabe of Shigoku in a short time. Shingen's next mission, needless to say, is to challenge Chosokabe Motochika in Tosa! |
