Rise of The Horse Lords

[mambaman]

Introduction

An inn somewhere in Kyoto Province somewhere around the turn of the 17th Century

A venerable blind minstrel (famed throughout Japan) is preparing to play his Opus Magnus to a rapt and expectant crowd. When he begins to strum his biwa, his voice, clear and sweet like a boy's, utterly belies his wizened appearance. It is easy to tell why he is so worshipped and easy to see why so many are straining to get into the now full building, with more huddled outside trying to protect themselves as well as they could against the biting winter winds. At least there was no rain or snow as yet on this bitter night-thank the Gods for that.

'Raise your ear weary travellers and hark to the tale I sing of many moons ago-one hundred and fifty years no less! I sing of battles, of a land divided and how a new Shogunate came to be from the dust and the blood of many conquests.

I sing of treachery, I sing of lust for battle, of love and of savage warfare that rent the land asunder. But above all, my friends, I sing of the proud Horse Lords of Takeda and their struggle for pre-eminence in this benighted land'

(Ed: guys I am glad to be back writing in this forum-the last time I did this was some 7 or 8 years ago for MTW. My game is being played as the Takeda Clan on Normal with the Long campaign Setting-enjoy!

[johnhughthom]

Are you actually going to set the AAR to song? I tried to write an EB AAR like that once, it was awful...

Best of luck with this, I'll be following.

[mambaman]

Hahaha no John I am not but thought that the device of the story being told by a minstrel was a good one and may allow me to do a few things as I progress it. Glad to have you on board-watch this space

[Kagemusha]

Great work! Keep it up!

[mambaman]

Thanks very much Kagemusha. Got more to post later. Good to be back and writing again!

[mambaman]

December 12^th 1567

Ise Plains, Owari Province

'You tell Captain Tadasue that he must hold at all costs-and he must prevent the Ashigaru from bolting-they will fight to the last man-all our lives depend on it! GO!' The General straightened up on his destrier as the courier hastened back to the carnage at the bridge. If Takeda Nobukado was nervous it did not show though there was a bead or two of moisture running down his face and this on one of the coldest days yet this winter.

The carnage was that of his own making for he had set his defence well. As well he must when he had learnt that the treacherous Oda had first declared war and then launched their most fearsome general, their Daimyo himself, and his famed veteran army towards Takeda lands. When news had reached them of the attack his own Captains had blanched with fear. Daimyo Oda Gozen was a legendary warlord and one credited with single-handedly wresting his clan from extinction at the hands of half a dozen enemies. His army had never been bested in the field, was composed almost entirely of samurai and until now had not been considered foe to the Takeda...until now. It was said that his son, Oda Hiri, also rode with the army of some two thousand spearmen, cavalry and archers. He was called the 'head-hunter' after his grisly habit of hanging the shrunken heads of his dead enemies around his neck when he entered the fray.

'My Lord' his Captain of Ashigaru had whispered, his face wan with fear, 'we cannot hope to stand against Gozen with the army we have-we must retreat...'

Many of the 'wise counsel' around the room: the best of his Captains, were nodding furiously in agreement.

In spite of the craven attitude of some, Nobukado did note proudly that some were diametrically opposed to any retreat, mainly his Chief of Staff, the cavalry captains and his Katana and Naginata Samurai leaders. The arguments raged back and forth and the hubbub grew to a crescendo when the General at last spoke. His words were so quiet that, at first, they were completely drowned out amongst the shouting. But then Tadasue shouted for silence,

'Hear the Taisho! Hear your General!' Eventually the din subsided,

'There will be no retreat.' The General repeated as all eyes turned to stare. Unperturbed the warrior approached the map and pointed with his ceremonial fan to a point on the map that depicted the Ise plains off to their northwest and the direction of the approaching threat. Separating their lands from that of the Oda was a single bridge. This was where his fan came to rest.

'This is where we will stop them. I do not doubt that the battle will be hard-many of us will not see the new year in but stop them we can and stop them we will if we do it here.'

The rest was persuasion and the unfurling of his plan. By the end he had them all convinced. If they timed things right and luck clung to their side then they might just have a chance. As things stood, if they tried to take on Gozen's forces on the open field they would be annihilated.

'You wonder if we can really do it my friend' the General had said to his factotum as they rode, in the driving snow, at the head of the column to the bridge. Advanced scouts had confirmed the approach of their enemy only a few hours previously. Tadasue had remained silent. It was not the Samurai way to display fear in the face of impending battle.

'There is much that rides on this battle I grant you but if the timing and divine Bishamonten smile on us then we can win today.'

'And the Cavalry and our reinforcements and the hope that their scouts do not know what we know about the ford my Lord. We risk much...'

'Such is war my friend such is war.' The General had shouted into the howling wind, wrapping his silk shawl ever tighter around his neck-such cold! Would his army be up to the job? He had reinforced it with several hundred Samurai in recent months and had a formidable heavy cavalry force of some three hundred Yari and Katana riders. They were to be the hammer to strike the Oda who would come up against the anvil of the rest of his infantry, a force of Ashigaru, Naginata Samurai and Katana Samurai. They would contest the bridge whilst his reserve cavalry, some two hundred Yari light horsemen would stand off to the left. Force-marching from their Daimyo in Mikawa were another two hundred cavalry and the same again in Yari Ashigaru: their arrival would also be crucial as Nobukado suspected that, if they still held, at the point that they arrived they would be hard pressed indeed. Their total numbers on the battlefield were just shy of two thousand so in numbers Oda had the advantage. He, however, had the advantage of the terrain, the river, the bridge and the plan...

Takeda Nobukade addresses his troops before the battle.

Battle had been joined one hour previously with a furious cavalry charge of the Daimyo's brother and his son themselves-utter folly! Even maddened warhorses must quail at the serried spears of his own veteran Ashigaru: both generals were dead before the battle was even ten minutes old. Following them came the massed ranks of Samurai retainers, spearmen and swordsmen. Takeda Nobukado countered with both squads of his Katana Samurai. The battle raged on but the enemy could not fight their way beyond the bridgehead. His Captain of bodyguards was going crazy because the General insisted on getting as close to the fighting as he could in order to see what was actually happening at the bridge. This of course brought him in range of the formidable bows of the enemy samurai archers who were raining down fire arrows on the Takeda second echelons, mainly the Naginata Samurai and his own archers.

'Move the Naginata forward and engage one and two squads to right and left!' His orders, unhurried, crisp and clear.

'Hai my lord!' And the signal was given using the battle fans. The one and half hour mark was approaching and the general's mind was now not on the battle before them but the Cavalry that he had sent to close by the ford, some kilometre and a half to their east. He had given them orders not to move too early whilst there were still Yari Samurai on the Oda side of the bridge or they would be easily countered and possibly destroyed. They must wait until all the Yari were committed and only bowmen remained-that would be the signal to launch and charge.

But for that to happen he would have to make sure that the Oda felt the critical place was the bridge. He also had to hope that their intelligence had not discovered the ford itself and that no stray squads of scouts were deployed to the Oda left. So far so good…

'Send in the remaining Naginata.....and when they falter the Light cavalry in wedge formation' he would commit everything he had at the enemy troops. At the bridge all he could see as he once again rode forward, was rank after rank of Yari Samurai fighting towards the bridgehead. At the moment his valiant troops were holding the enemy but the bulge pressing back from the imbroglio towards them looked as though it would burst at any moment.

As he was dragged away once again by his bodyguard, with a storm of fire arrows following, he gave the signal, for he could now see the dust of to his far right: the dust that is kicked up when three hundred heavy horse are on the charge.

'Send in the Yari Cavalry-both troops! Hit them with everything...and order in the archers when their arrows are spent!'

'Yes my lord!'

Nobukado stood in his stirrups and tried to see what was happening on the far side of the bridge to the right-that was now the critical point and there were only archers there to protect the Oda from his riders.

To the fore the situation was now balancing on a knife-edge. It was at this point that the breathless courier arrived, blood spattered, through the snow from Tadasue and when he was given the short response-hold at all costs or they would be finished. He could just about see the melee at the bridge and the bulge pressing ever more towards them and away from the bridgehead-if it burst the game was up. How long had they been fighting? Two hours? More?

And then several things happened all at once: a despairing cry went up from his own troops:

'The Daimyo is come! Daimyo Gozen is come!'

And he could see the enemy Daimyo and his bodyguard plunging into the morass in one final attempt to break the deadlock. He was on the point of signalling to his own bodyguard that the time was come to charge-they were almost out of time when suddenly to his left thundered two troops of Katana Cavalry fresh from their rear. The reinforcements had arrived! The General swivelled in his saddle to look behind. He could see some distance away almost five hundred more spearmen hastening up the Okazaki-OtsuRoad towards them-never in his life had he been so glad to see the much maligned Yari Ashigaru. 'Peasants' others may call them but under his tutelage he had welded them into a formidable fighting force.

And then at last he could see his Cavalry reach the bridge-in small pockets at first and then in increasing numbers as the riders won through the fiercely resisting Samurai Archers. At this point and even though there were probably less than fifty remaining Takeda horsemen the Oda knew that the game was up. The cry that attended the un-horsing of the enemy Daimyo and his subsequent butchering only hastened the rout and at this point Nobukado did give his pursuing bodyguard their head-his last orders on this bloody battle of the Ise Plains....

[mambaman]

Owari Province Spring 1564

The rider galloped through the falling cherry blossom as though the very furies themselves were hard on his heels, scattering any unfortunates who got in his way before him. Down winding and beaten tracks he sped, coming as he was to the last leg of his particular journey. The message from his Lord had come far and travelled with many riders over many weeks but he knew that he was now within sight of his goal. The paths in this province were basic-not like the stone roads they enjoyed in the core Takeda lands-he had often thought on nights when man and horse desperately required some rest from the constant jarring.

Dawn was breaking on his thirtieth day of riding when the town of Inazawa, once of the Saito Clan, finally loomed across the plains before him. The townsfolk seemed cowed, quiescent even-no doubt the squads of Yari Ashigaru stationed all around were 'helping' with this calmness. He had been able to ascertain from asking the farm folk on his approach that the town had surrendered peaceably after the three hundred or so retainers of their erstwhile Daimyo had issued from the gates and met their ends before the massed spears of Lord Takeda Nobukado's veteran army.

'Where is the General?' He demanded of the Guards as he reined in before the Keep, throwing the bridle to a stable boy,

'The Taisho is at his morning prayers-his orders were that he was not to be disturbed...'

'The Gods take your orders! See my Mon-it is gilded with the emblem of the Daimyo-YOUR Daimyo. I have a message from him for his uncle's ears only-you will take me to him....NOW!'

Though he nominally carried no formal rank, any messenger or herald was effectively to be afforded the same courtesies as the Lord from whom the missive had originated.

'Hai! I will take you to him immediately. Come with me please.'

They found Lord Nobukado kneeling before the old Shinto shrine in the keep gardens-here was one who followed the old Gods, the rider noted with some satisfaction, as he hastened forward and prostrated himself in the time-honoured fashion.

'Rise sir-you have words from my Lord I presume?' the warlord's voice and tone were surprisingly soft.

The rider straightened up and passed the paper parchment, wrapped in a waterproofing wooden tube to the other great power amongst the Takeda clan, the old Daimyo's youngest brother. The general had only passed thirty three summers and yet he looked older, his features careworn: there were whispers amongst some of the soldiers that he was lovelorn and missed his young wife, Kimoko, but the truth was likely to be somewhat more prosaic. He had worshipped his elder brother, Nobushige, another general of some renown but the old Daimyo, Shingen had always been jealous of his fame and his prowess on the battlefield and to the disbelief of many had accused his sibling of disloyalty in the bitter winter of 1560 and then demanded he commit seppuku. The General being the exact opposite of what he had been accused did just that even though he was then at the head of the Clan's largest army and could easily have used it to topple his older brother and leader as Daimyo. When he had heard the grim news It was said that this general had wept for two whole days, inconsolable, and when he emerged at last from his bivouac had aged ten years. No, this was the reason that he looked so worn-the grief of a lifetime. Still it would seem the fates had avenged him since Takeda Shingen had fallen besieging the rebellious Imagawa clan at Okazaki less than a year later. Just desserts maybe many had thought at the time but if Takeda Nobukado thought it he was keeping his own counsel.

'Rise...forgive me I do not know your name sir?' The Lord enquired gently-he seemed to possess a manner not at all in keeping with his martial exploits that were now beginning to rival that of his dead brother.

'I am called Hatoshi Sir, of the Buk-kon.'

'You are well met sir.' The General took the parchment from its case and studied it intently. What his feelings were to the young Daimyo no one really knew but the new master was not thought of with much affection anywhere and he had already brought wide-scale opprobrium upon the clan by ordering the looting and pillaging of two former Oda provinces. It was not the Bushido way...

'Come Hatoshi-we have a scale map of the area-I must go and study it-you are welcome to join me as I will have a return message for our Master.'

The weary rider turned to follow the general into the Keep and the great hall. It was warmer here with a great stone fire already ablaze in the hearth. Though spring was here the mornings were still sharp on these plains-it was going to be a beautiful cloudless day-hence the chill.

They entered a large room where a Samurai Captain was waiting.

'Hatoshi this is my Chief of Staff, Kosaka Tadasue-he will see that you are fed and housed after this. Gentlemen the map.'

Thank you my Lord Taisho-your generosity and patience does me a great service and all will be reported back in full to the Daimyo.'

All three gathered round the map-a massive effort of clay, earth and wire. Quite lifelike indeed-whoever the General had working on it knew his craft-no doubt he would also produce versions for whatever battlefields they fought on-no wonder his army and he were a force to be reckoned with. In the upper corner was a smaller parchment that depicted the islands and with the provinces divided under different colour cloth according to which clan held it. Their colour was red the rider noted, matching the clan colours of red and black.



'As you can see my friends we are now the pre-eminent power in central-east Japan. The Daimyo's message is that he has finally destroyed the Saito clan at Hamamatsu, though with heavy losses. He wants us to take stock and build up our reserves. He says that he may call on us to strike west at the Oda early next year but if not we will meet him at the turn of the year at the Shogatsu Festival. He feels that now is the time to concentrate on trade...'

The general pondered the scenario whilst moving a red coloured cloth to cover the recently conquered Totomi province.

'See here gentlemen the Oda provinces are now split: we sandwich Mikawa between us here with my lord to the south and us to the north-their only other province Kawachi is many miles to the west-beyond Asai lands and even Kyoto Province. Mikawa is effectively cut off. I think we may be ready to strike at them by this time next year.'

The Samurai Captain, a Katana swordsman by the looks of the weapon that hung by his side spoke up,

'My Lord Taisho it seems that our Daimyo's plan to break the power of the Oda is now coming to fruition-even risking the dishonour of the other clans by looting this province has filled our coffers with Koku.'

'It has certainly set us on the path to prosperity Kosaka-the trick will be maximising our trade revenues over the coming years and maybe taking the odd province whilst building up our monies and our armies for the inevitable push westwards towards Kyoto.'

'Whilst making sure that we aren’t food for the crows my Lords' added Hatoshi quickly, looking down at his feet and suddenly feeling rather bashful.

Both Samurai regarded the 'lesser' man with new found respect. The General spoke first,

'Yes Hatoshi of the Buk-kon-you have the right of it. There are many clans that would see our power broken, the Shogunate amongst them, maybe even also our staunch allies The Hojo to the east...we must see to it that their wishes are not granted heh?'

'Indeed Taisho-indeed. But the Hojo are steadfast friends and dependable-your niece, Hiroko, is married to one of their great lords-surely they will remain true?'

The General then surprised the other two by doing something completely out of character and let out a hearty guffaw, clapping Hatoshi on the back.

'Maybe my friend-maybe but who can say what their response will be when our true intentions become known and, look-you, our success has hemmed them in to the east side of the island-how long before their own ambitions win over our long-standing amity?'

The general spoke true, Hatoshi noticed studying the map-the Hojo were indeed closed in..

'It's why we keep a large garrison on our North-east border sir-worry you not. Kosaka we have many men to recruit and new armies to build-see to our guest here-I will see the other Captains at noon. Good morning gentlemen.'

And with that he was gone, taking with him a certain amount of the spirit and charisma that had infused the room whilst he was present. No wonder, Hatoshi thought, that his exploits were already talked about throughout the clan. But what would the future hold for the Horse Lords of the Takeda? Only the Gods really knew.....