STW War Story Part V
Furinkazan - The Ambition of Takeda
Mountain (1)
Chapter 10 Siege
Winter 1541
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Winter 1541. Takeda Nobutora was
busy breaking through Mori's lands in Chugoku. Although he did not carry
enough troops, the fresh reinforcement stream had taken over the sieges.
The castle of Inaba, Mimasaka, Hizen, Hoki, and Awaji were about to fall
in the following year.
On the south, Takeda Shingen led the most elite troops of Takeda, preparing for the grand battle against Chosokabe in Tosa. It was winter - but Shingen did not want to wait any longer because probably no reinforcement is going to arrive in Shigoku in the coming year. |
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Tosa : The number of army between Takeda and Chosokabe was a perfect match. Under the light snow, Shingen discovered the massive Chosokabe army was rested on the mountain. What would be Shingen plan? Hold on.. the enemy had no archers! The entire Chosokabe Motochika's army was consisted of 360 yari samurai and 480 yari ashigaru... not a very bridge combination. Now Shingen knows what to do. |
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Shingen ordered the archers to
march ahead, shooting at the enemy on the mountain. Chosokabe Motochika
reluctantly pulled back his men to the mountain top.
Shingen then let the archers to stay near the base of the hill, but stop just before the lowest point. Looks like some ordinary moves for any mediocre general. In the meantime the left flank was about to made to the top... |
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Shingen's plot of a major
flanking from the left was discovered by smart Motochika. However, the
entire Chosokabe sent out only 1 group of ashigaru to handle the elite
yari samurai of Takeda...
The peasants were soon destroyed. |
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Chosokabe, frustrated, dispatched another
group of yari samurai over. Now the defense on the center is weak enough!
Shingen ordered all archers to climb uphill, while the yari samurai on
the right breaking into the high grounds at all cost...!
Chosokabe's ordered his whole army to charge forward - and the two army met on the top of the hill! With some numerical and height disadvantage, the very right flank of Takeda was about to waver... But Shingen has arrived with the huge left flank on time! |
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The big impact from the left soon destroyed the morale of Chosokabe. Chosokabe Motochika was killed in the chaos of peasants! |
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With another 642 (76%) of
opponents killed, Takeda Shingen had become the killer general of Japan.
He never let more than 1/4 of his opponents escape (wow). In this battle, Shingen also took 6 heads himself.
Tosa was undoubtedly conquered by Takeda! |
Spring 1542
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The army in Tosa castle was no longer a threat. Shingen left just enough army in Tosa to continue the siege - and himself attacked Iyo. |
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Iyo : With nearly twice the size of the enemy, the Takeda was very confident of their victory. Takeda Shingen led the charge himself, directly rushing into the enemy archers. However, the enemy had some hidden honor of 3... especially the ashigaru. |
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Shingen's men tasted the sharp spears of the elite ashigaru of Shigoku. His unit suffered a great loss, but not longer after his men were able to catch up! |
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With their numbers, Takeda were
still able to prevail at the end. However, the most elite yari cavalry of
Takeda were largely killed...
Still, the killer general didn't let more than 1/4 of his opponents keep their heads. |
Summer 1542
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Shigoku now completely falls to
Takeda.
Shimazu of Kyushu had gathered a large army in Bungo - maybe they were planning a large attack in Iyo. Takeda Shingen requested more reinforcement from the north - but since Shigoku was lack of ports, Shingen might have to invade Bungo for the port... On the north, Takeda Nobutora advanced into Hoki and Bingo. The general responsible for Bingo was Amari Torayasu (R4). Both army were not large, but they should be able to handle the minor resistance of Mori. |
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Bingo : Giving up Hoki, Mori dispatched extra reinforcement into Bingo. The three units of Takeda had to face 4 of Mori. Takeda had 1 yari cavalry, while Mori was purely ground troops. General Amari must think of a way to utilize his mobility... Amari first ordered the archers to camp on the small hill, backed up by the yari samurai. The yari cavalry was sent to far left.. waiting for the chance to strike! |
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Mori was aggressive probably due
to their numerical superiority. Two yari samurai marched forward, and they
faced the downhill charge of Takeda yari samurai plus the arrows above.
Now Mori is left with their taisho (archers) and yari ashigaru at the back... Yet the yari cavalry of Takeda suddenly moved! The fast charging cavalry successfully dodged the advance of Mori's ashigaru, and broke into Mori's taisho's troops from the BACK!! |
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Mori's taisho was inexperienced
in battle. In a panic, he ordered his man to back off. The ashigaru
were originally ordered to assault the back of Takeda's yari cavalry, but
now also broke apart before they really made a difference.
The entire Mori army collapsed! |
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An excellent attack by Amari Torayasu. Although Takeda was inferior in numbers, Amari has managed the victory with 71% of enemy killed! |
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The landslide of Takeda did not
stop. With still four castles under siege, Takeda Nobutora ordered a total
assault of Iwami, Aki, and Bungo right in the next season.
Can Takeda make their way west smoothly? |
