Submission 6

Kawanakajima Tessen




Dawn crept up at a small pace, the orange ball of the sun rising over the mountains with considerable shyness as if afraid to let the rays bless the fields beside Chikumagawa. The flatlands were eerily silent, a faint wind brushing over the rice paddies drenched in water in the valley nestled between the high peaks. By now it was the fourth battle and there was still no result. Shingen guessed that Kenshin was marching down on his own army from Echigo and hoped that it was the case. From his protected position at the fortress in Kaizu he could not see much because of the morning mist, but he guessed and hoped Kenshin would stick to his plans.

The tessen of the Tiger of Kai signalled the advance of the army.

Shingen mounted his horse, barking out orders and signalling the group of henchmen to follow him. The Takeda daimyo led his black steed down the gentle slope of the green hill and towards the bridge over the Chikuma where his army was already marching at a slow walk towards the Kawanakajima plains. By now it was full dawn. Shingen guessed it would be somewhat around the time of the Hare, so he still had considerable time left to position his troops in an orderly manner. The daimyo galloped his horse over the bridge and into the fog covered flatland that concealed both his own army and possibly Kenshin's.

He fretted nervously as he stopped for a moment and scanned the flatland. There were no sounds apart from the sandals and hooves of his own men, none from far away, not even horse's hooves. Shingen turned towards his henchmen, his own expression darker than the lacquer on his helmet.

“Yozo, send word to Kosaka and Yamamoto to commence the attack if they can. The rest, follow me to the camp.”

In the middle of the Kawanakjima plains the black banner inscribed with Sun Tzu's words was the gather point of the Takeda army under Shingen's command. Gradually, the ashigaru arrived at the outpost, followed by the samurai and the Takeda cavalry on the left flank led by Shingen's brother Nobushige. Shingen came out of his outpost and watched with satisfaction as the troops deployed themselves in a kakuyoku formation, with Yamamoto Kansuke on the far right more than eager to drop in on the unsuspecting Uesugi lines. But he still did not like it. Something was amiss.

To his dismay all he could do now was wait.

They say the eagle strikes when he is in the most opportune of situations. As the clock ticked by, Shingen could hear the seconds pass from the time of the Hare and drift in a slow advance to the time of the Dragon. Behind him the sun rose is earnest, faster and faster with each minute passing by. He inspected his troops once more, lined up in a perfect formation. And yet his gut feeling was not where he wanted it to be. Shingen opened the strap of the kabuto helmet, allowing the cool mountain air to seep inside.

Blown away, the mist lifted.

A sudden, powerful gust of wind swept through the whole Kawanakajima plain. In the distance, the black-on-white Uesugi flags rose majestically as they descended from the base of the hill right in the path of the Takeda army. Shingen's dark eyes widened in horror, his jaw flexing at the sudden disparaging sight. With only half of the army under Shingen's command, Kenshin would waste no time in attacking and the Takeda daimyo knew that too well.

A sudden flurry of arrows whooshed towards the Takeda lines, barely missing Shingen as he rushed back into the protected command outpost. Shingen sighed. He barked at his henchmen to order a stand to the Takeda commanders. As they left the commander alone in the command tent, he collapsed on a makeshift tatami and ate his rice in silence, as if anticipating the storm after the quiet moments of his meal. The rage of the battle echoed inside his mind.

Shingen stood up nervously and took the tessen, exiting the post to mount his horse and lead his army.

But it was too late. The Takeda daimyo watched in unconcealed horror as the Uesugi forces smashed through the left flank of the army and were about to break behind the Takeda lines. There was no doubt in Shingen's mind why the break occured. Nobushige was dead.

With his palms sweating and his hands shaking uncontrollably, Shingen turned towards his tent and was about to enter when a messenger stopped his charging horse only a couple of feet away from the Takeda daimyo, shouting and waving his hands in mid air.

“My lord, Kosaka is being held by the Uesugi, he cannot come to help us in due time.”

Shingen swallowed nervously. “Is Uesugi Kenshin himself in the rearguard?”

“No my lord.”

Shingen's face turned to a deathly pallor, unable to come to terms with the grave situation. Another arrow swooshed a second later over his head and struck the messenger right in the arm, the young aide collapsing on the muddy field in complete agony. Less than a moment later Shingen rushed back into the tent to get the indications for the generals. A feeling of dread rose up inside him as raging sounds outside the tent grew louder and louder until he realised the grim truth.

The Dragon of Echigo was in the Takeda camp.

Shingen rushed outside the tent when he saw the first group of defenders collapse under the blows of Uesugi Kenshin's own hatamoto guards. A second wave of defenders rushed to protect their commander but by now the flood of attackers was impossible to stave off.

“Shingen!”

The voice did not startle him the least. He knew the voice. Shingen only smiled as he watched Kenshin rush through the group of Takeda samurai defending their commander. For many precious seconds Kenshin was pinned down in the fighting and unable to advance but Shingen made no gesture of leaving, watching from the distance with some satisfaction that his toughest opponent was kept in check by his men.

And yet Shingen's smile suddenly evaporated and turned to fear as he realised he was unarmed. The dead samurai were too far away from him and no one could spare any arms. Not even a wakizashi hung from his belt.

He only had the tessen.

Kenshin screamed once more at him and then broke free through the Takeda defenders. With his blood rushing and his face redder with fury than the banners of his army, Shingen took up the tessen and swished it in the air, opening the fan completely. Kenshin's horse charged towards him, the Dragon slicing the air in half with his katana as he aimed for Shingen's head. With a quick parry, Shingen rebounded from the blow and took a defensive position, deflecting two more of Kenshin's blows. The Dragon of Echigo raged with every single strike of the katana but there was nothing he could do more as Shingen blocked every avenue of attack.

Shingen was more than a match for him, even with something as small as the iron signalling fan. Kenshin continued his relentless attack, striking left and right in order to deal the decisive blow to his opponent. But nothing seemed to come to fruition, even after five successive blows. Shingen used the iron guard to block another set of blows and even managed to counter attack, aiming with the sharp iron ribs towards Kenshin's legs.

As the commanders kept fighting, Kenshin's hatamoto finally broke the last wave of defenders.

But by now it was too late for them. A large group of Takeda samurai closed in and cut most of them off as they tried to regroup from the casualties with the Takeda guards. Cut off from the main group, they were killed fast, leaving Kenshin alone to deal with Shingen and the rest of the Takeda army. But Kenshin did not even flinch, he kept his attack on Shingen who continued to deflect the blows with his war fan. But Shingen saw what Kenshin did not.

“Hara!”

The commander of the samurai group watched in horror the deadly duel between the two daimyo. Desperate, Hara rushed for Shingen's spear propped idly against the tent and charged towards Kenshin. Much too absorbed in the fight, the Dragon did not notice Hara race towards him from behind and when he finally caught a glimpse of the red warrior, the horse rocked under his the reins, nearly throwing him off guard. Seeing his whole group of hatamoto running away, Kenshin aimed one last blow and galloped away from the Takeda camp, leaving Shingen behind.

Gasping for air, Hara approached Shingen who mounted his own horse.

“My lord, Kosaka has struck from behind, the Uesugi are retreating.”

Shingen did not even reply even if the news gladdened him. He galloped away from the headquarters and guided his horse close to the front lines, watching the sweet scene of the Uesugi retreat. Most of the white banners were not burning or taken by the Takeda forces, the light cavalry units giving pursuit to the nearest routers.

Shingen sighed in relief. And yet a weight hung from his neck.

The Takeda daimyo turned his horse and watched the whole bloodied battlefield in ominous contempt, red liquid flowing in rivers over the fields were rice used to grow. Shingen looked at his war fan. Kawanakajima was the result of the tessen, but the same tessen won the battle.