The wind was freezing cold. Even the thick coat his wife had sent him didn’t keep the chill out. Hojo Ujitsuna sighed and watched his breath coming out of his mouth as clouds. He didn’t want to be here. He wanted to be home with his wife and his son. But neither father nor his son was at home.
Because of the War.
“War is a road to glory. Fighting is the purpose of a samurai and war gives a samurai a chance to excel. When used with prudence, war will make a clan great. Therefore, war is a honourable way of conduct for a clan”, Ujitsuna’s father always said. Truth be told, Hojo Soun was actually far from honourable himself, currying favour with the Shogun to gain a piece of land for himself and then using sneak attacks and unprovoked violence to get more land. Because of this, the Hojo clan was now one of the major powers in the land. The other clans expected such a powerful and rich clan to make its bid for the Shogunate. However, since the daimyo of those clans wanted to be shogun themselves, they distrusted the Hojo. And that is why Ujitsuna was sitting on his horse in a snowstorm, with his small army in front of him.
Suddenly he saw a movement a few yards away. The snow made it impossible to view the landscape further then a quarter mile away. “Get a grip on yourself”, Ujitsuna thought, “We are going to fight a battle. This is not the time for gloomy introspection”. His guards had noticed the movement and readied their swords, but it turned out to be one of Hojo’s own horsemen. “We have found the Shimazu” the man shouted above the noise of the storm. Ujitsuna motioned him to come closer. “My lord, we found them. They have taken up a defensive position above the cliff.”
“Where did you say?” asked Ujitsuna, who, despite the wind, could have heard him, but had been absorbed in trying to remember the man’s name.
“Above the cliff, sir. The large cliff at the left side of the valley, sir, which we reported after our reconnaissance.”
“But that is stupid, it would only work if we would march through the valley and then attack from under the cliff. We could pin them and slaughter them if we were to attack from the other side.” said Ujitsuna, surprised “Are you sure it is their entire army?”
The man looked slightly nervous “We have spotted nine units of enemy soldiers, my lord. Three units of yari samurai are standing on this side of the cliff, 4 units of ashigaru scum on the other side and…”
“What are the ashigaru armed with” snapped Ujitsuna. Although modesty was a virtue much prized by samurai, most of them were vain, especially about their fighting skills. They considered themselves to be invincible to ashigaru rabble, who admittedly came nowhere near the samurai when it came to fighting, but could still kill one if he was in a less than optimal position. For example when he was trudging up a cliff with snow pouring into his face. Anyway, their positioning would perhaps make more sense if the ashigaru were armed with crossbows. Crossbows had fallen out of favour for some time now, but perhaps a cunning general might reintroduce them. A general like Shimazu Takahisa.
“Spears, sir” answered the now thoroughly unnerved samurai, “And two units of archers are standing right above the cliff. The standard of the general is in front of one of them. The other archer unit is only at half strength”. He took a breath and carried on “Only one of the ashigaru units is at full strength. It is a bit difficult to see, but Tadatsune estimates that their number would be around 200 men.” Tadatsune was the commander of the unit of yari cavalry sent out as scouts. Ujitsuna was proud of his cavalry. They weren’t much good in a melee, but they were fast and excellent scouts and skirmishers.
“Thank you, you may go,” answered Ujitsuna curtly. He had given up trying to remember the man’s name.
But the samurai had something else on his mind. “Sir, Tadatsune asks permission to move his unit slightly closer to the enemy, so that they can hide in a group of trees”.
“Tell him to do whatever he thinks necessary”. The snow was both a curse and a blessing. He could not see or hear what was happening and if something went wrong, he would only notice it when enemy soldiers attacked his flanks. But the Shimazu general did not know what was happening either and Ujitsuna wanted to leave him ignorant as long as possible. This was the reason why he chose to attack in a snowstorm.
Ujitsuna made use of a lull in the storm to shout his orders: “Infantry, move up to the mountain ridge to the left of us and take position just out of sight of the cliff. Cavalry, move to the left of the infantry and search the heights for hidden troops. Take up position behind the cliff, out of sight. Wait for further instructions or the signal to attack. Terumoto, stay here to redirect runners from Tadatsune.”
Despite his resolve to focus on the battle, Ujitsuna found his mind wander to the events leading up to this frost bitten attack. The Great War had started ten years before he was born, when the Yamana and Hosokawa clans started to fight, formally about the succession of the current Shogun. The Shogun had done nothing to stop them and suddenly everyone realised that the office of the most powerful man in Japan, second to the Emperor, was up for grab.
Ujitsuna had known nothing but warfare or preparations for warfare during his entire life. As soon as he became Daimyo of the Hojo clan, he had worked to strengthen its borders and increase its wealth. Peace treaties had followed with the Takeda and the Imagawa. Neither Takeda Nobutora nor Imagawa Yoshimoto was known for his trustworthiness, but Ujitsuna had greater plans. War with either of his western neighbours would cost the Hojo much and gain them little. War with the Uesugi however, would be faster, easier and give the Hojo access to some very rich provinces, which, combined with the Hojo’s own, would make the clan wealthier than any of the other clans. This wealth would allow the clan to construct an infrastructure to fight off its untrustworthy neighbours and start expanding in the direction of Kyoto. Ujitsuna did not wish to be Shogun, but his heart was not untouched by ambition. And if he did not expand toward Kyoto, another clan would, and then try to wipe out the Hojo or ally with them. In the first case: the more powerful the Hojo were, the better, and in the second case, an Hojo army in the vicinity of Kyoto would be a pressing argument for this “ally” to be somewhat moderate in the claims made on the Hojo.
However, the plan to ally with the western neigbours and conquer the eastern neighbours didn’t quite work out the way it was supposed to. For some reason or other, Nobutora decided to attack the Hojo province Musashi. The whole idea of attacking was stupid since the crack troops of the Hojo army were stationed there in an excellent defensive position behind a bridge, along with the clan’s greatest general, Hojo Ujijasu, Ujitsuna’s son. The attack succeeded at a heavy cost, but before they could even begin assaulting Musashi castle, Ujitsuna’s army had come to rescue his son and push the Takeda back. Why the Takeda chose to make war on the Hojo remains a mystery. The Imagawa were far more likely to form a threat to the Takeda and the Imagawa provinces had been less easy to defend. The Takeda also had had problems in western Japan with the Mori clan. But the Takeda had always been known for their aggressive temper and general lack of a long-term strategy.
However, to make the disaster complete, the Imagawa declared their alliance with the Hojo annulled and started attacking. Despite these setbacks, the plan had paid off. The Uesugi were lured into leaving their defensive position in Echigo to invade Kozuke and were crushed on the highlands of Kozuke by the Ujitsuna’s army. Uesugi Tomooki died after having vainly tried to turn the tide of Hojo samurai that swept over his army. His son Tomosada ran to defend Echigo, but was killed in the attempt, while another Hojo taskforce invaded Mutsu. The Uesugi clan was destroyed.
Ujitsuna was shaken out of his reverie by the approach of a runner. “My lord, we have swept the highlands, but there is nothing to be seen. All the Shimazu troops are at the cliff. Either that, or they have some hidden troops on the other side of the valley.”
Are you certain, Ujitsuna wanted to ask, but he held it back, since a general must never be uncertain. Instead, he answered “Troops on the other side of the valley won’t help them. By the time they get here, their allies will all be killed and we will be using their precious cliff against them.”
His men grinned. I may not be a great general, Ujitsuna thought, but at least I know how to lead and inspire men. He was somewhat jealous of his son, who was a great leader. That, and the fact that he managed to defeat armies twice his size, had gained his son much respect.
Ujitsuna drifted back to his memories. On the day his samurai had been feasting their victory over the Uesugi, a messenger had arrived from Musashi. Making use of the absence of Ujitsuna, the Takeda and Imagawa clans had launched a joint attack on Musashi. This time there would be no reinforcement to rescue Ujijasu. However, the invaders got more than they bargained for. Expecting an attack, Ujitsuna had strengthened the already large garrison. This, in combination with the sloppy coordination between the two clans, lead to a massacre of Takeda and Imagawa samurai on the Musashi Bridge. This alone would have been enough to make Ujitsuna happy, but apparently Takeda Nobutora, in one of his famous tempers, had tried to rally his men by charging with his cavalry bodyguards over the bridge.
Right into the awaiting spearmen. According to the men, he tried to flee before they killed him. And because samurai prefer a hard-fought defeat to an easy victory, Ujitsuna believed them. Since Nobutora’s son Shingen had not yet come of age, the Takeda clan had ended on the bridge. Most of their territory went over to the Imagawa clan.
However, Ujitsuna’s luck had not yet ran out. Half a year later, Imagawa Yoshimoto was cornered on the island of Sado. Heaven knows what he thought to achieve on that forsaken isle north of Echigo. Apparently, he travelled through the land of “neutral” Kaga to attack former Uesugi lands in the back. However, this meant he invaded the territory of the Ikko-Ikki, or Single-Minded League. This was asking for trouble, since the monks of Kaga were known for their martial spirit and, as the name of their league implies, not likely to let others have it their own way. In other words, he crossed the path of the greatest soldiers of Japan. This resulted in him being cornered on a small island between a task force of Hojo warriors, who didn’t really like him, and a group of enraged sohei, who would settle for nothing less than having his head cut off and put upon a stake, instead of being buried. The Hojo samurai beat the monks to it and Yoshimoto was killed. His son Ujizane took over the Imagawa clan.
While Ujitsuna was reassembling the army in Kozuke, the Imagawa attacked Musashi again. Clearly, Ujizane had not learned from his father’s mistake. Again, Imagawa samurai were massacred on the bridge. Trying to ward of the defeat himself, Ujizane, too, charged the bridge, had his entire bodyguard killed, panicked, ran away, got a grip on himself, turned, and, trying to regain his honour, charged the bridge again.
Alone.
The depleted groups of Imagawa archers couldn’t even cover him out of fear of hitting their daimyo. Ujizane was run through with a spear, his head cut off and buried. Another clan that ended at the Musashi Bridge.
And so, while solving the Imagawa-problem, a new problem had been created. Most of the Imagawa lands, including most of the Takeda lands, reverted to Imagawa’s ally, the Shimazu. Therefore, the Shimazu became the largest clan in Japan. It was inevitable that the Hojo and the Shimazu would clash. Luckily, the Shimazu did not have any allies. Even more luckily, an uprising in Aki in western and Kai in eastern Japan brought back the Takeda clan, under the leadership of the now mature Takeda Shingen. To be honest, spies from the Hojo had played a major part in that uprising. The Takeda troops on Kai allowed the Hojo border a degree of protection, since Kai was the central province of the Shimazu provinces in eastern Japan and bordered Musashi too. Ujitsuna had quickly made an alliance with Shingen, even though he was as untrustworthy as his father was. Shimazu Yoshihisa would have to deal with Kai first, before he could threaten the Hojo.
And that was what Yoshishisa did. In autumn, he attacked and defeated the Takeda garrison in Kai and was now besieging their castle. Ujitsuna could not tolerate this. Kai was too important for the protection of his border and if it would fall, the Shimazu could more effectively defend their border. So, in the middle of the winter, a small task force under Ujitsuna’s command was sent to break the siege in Kai. Ujitsuna had counted on the Takeda Garrison to come out of the castle and assist him in the attack, but they did not. Well, at least the garrison would be in full strength for the next Shimazu attack, Ujitsuna thought.
Again Ujitsuna was shaken out of his reverie as a messenger approached. It was one of Tadatsune’s men. “Sir, they must have spotted us They are changing their position”
“Spotted us or spotted you?”, asked Ujitsuna, trying to keep his voice level.
“Us, I think, sir”
Ujitsuna wanted to ask how that was possible, but was stopped by the arrival of another messenger.
“Sir, they have completed their redeployment. The ashigaru and the yari samurai have switched position.”
“You mean that they have their weakest troops on this side?” asked Ujitsuna surprised.
“Apparently, sir”
“Who is this fool commanding them?”
Neither of the messengers answered this unanswerable question.
“All right, on the signal to attack, Tadatsune is to climb the mountain and attack the archers in the back. Evade the yari troops.”
“Yes, sir”, they both answered.
The Hojo army might be small, but it was the elite. Two units of yari cavalry, fast and good skirmishers, a unit of the newest addition to his army, mounted archers and, Ujitsuna’s trump card, two units of sohei, Buddhist warrior monks, fanatical warriors equipped with the best armour and weapons available.
Waiting a while for the snow to fall denser, Ujitsuna moved his sohei forward to the flank of the Shimazu ashigaru. When they finally were in sight, Ujitsuna had a horn blown. This was the signal for the other groups to attack and blow their horn as well. In this way, even though the sound did not reach far through the snowstorm, Tadatsune could hear the signals of the other cavalry units.
The Sohei were eager to fight and to shake off the cold. On hearing the signal, they stormed forward. A group of Shimazu archers spotted them and opened fire, but the snow had worn out their energy and weakened their bowstrings, so none of the arrows hit. The archers ran back to get out of the way, crashed into half formed unit of ashigaru, throwing them out of formation. Then the monks ran in and started to cut up the poorly trained ashigaru. The ashigaru didn’t stand a chance.
A second unit of ashigaru tried to flank the sohei, but was flanked in its turn by a second wave of monks. In moments it was over. Once the ashigaru saw that the samurai archers were fleeing, they didn’t think that staying there would have any purpose, so they ran. The sohei wanted to pursue them, but were called back by Ujitsuna. Two units of Shimazu’s yari samurai came running down the top of the cliff. The archers were apparently busy firing at the approaching cavalry. Though the yari samurai put up a longer fight than the ashigaru, they were no match for the sohei. Tadatsune’s yari cavalry had charged and cornered the Shimazu general and his archers.
It looked as if the battle was won.
However, Ujitsuna did not allow himself to grow overconfident. One of the Yari Samurai units was missing. He ordered the cavalry to kill the routers and prevent rallying, and his sohei to take position upon the top of the cliff. When he got to the top of the cliff, he saw what must have been the most stupid move in the already dim-witted strategy of his opponent. The missing unit of samurai had run down alongside the cliff. What they meant to achieve there was a mystery. To the leader of the Sohei, Ujitsuna said: “If they want to go home, they have to climb. Stay on top of the ridge and prevent them from climbing up” and went to pursue the routing Shimazu.
After pursuing until his men were exhausted (given they were already tired before the battle started, this didn’t take long), Ujitsuna returned to find that he himself was wrong.
The stupidest move in this battle was not to send the remaining yari samurai down the cliff. It was to send them up the cliff again with sohei waiting for them. This supreme idiocy was duly punished when the dog-tired samurai were charged by twice their number of warrior monks. None of them survived. The battle was over, the Hojo had won at minimal cost, due to stupidity on the side of their opponents.
Despite the victory, Ujitsuna found himself returning to his gloomy thoughts. Kyoto was still very far away. But he reprimanded himself. “We have won, we have secured our borders and delivered a stinging defeat to the Shimazu. We may be at war with them, but our position is strong while theirs is weak. We need to sweep through their provinces south of Kai, so that we can cut off their overseas reinforcements. Then we can mop up the rest and the Hojo will control eastern Japan.” The future was looking bright. With much pleasanter feelings, and to a general relieve of his men, Ujitsuna gave order to return home.
Back to his wife and his son.
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