The Spirit Fields: A Chokosabe Campaign Story/AAR

[Monk]

This is a story driven After Action Report of my Chokosabe Campaign attempting to blend the gameplay of Shogun 2 with a rather basic narrative.

Sorry about the map. When i decided to do this i realized I didn't have saved maps of the intervals I wanted to write about, so i had to retouch by hand. It demonstrates the extent of the powers in my game well. The Hattori are highlighted here in red to make them standout.

Enough of that: Hope you enjoy.

The Spirit Fields
A Chokosabe After Action Report




Japan
1570

After decades of warfare in the Japanese Islands, one man has risen above his peers. He has overcome the terrible divide plaguing his nation and established his family at the head of the Shogunate. With the Emperor's blessing and support, all warfare has ceased and it is a time of peace. A time for an exhausted nation to settle down and once more begin to live their lives at ease. That man is.. is Oda Nobuhide. Together with his ally, an aging Uesugi Kenshin, he consolidates his power in Kyoto, he declares his alliance to be the de facto seat of power in the islands.

But the land is hardly united.

Though much of Honshu falls beneath the command of the Oda alliance, another power has risen in the western half of Japan. Lead by the Chokosabe clan, Shikoku and Kyushu have flourished in peace since being united in 1565. The Chokosabe daimyo, Motochika, is celebrated throughout Japan as a true hero. The man who drove foreign influence from the shores of Kyushu, and put an end once and for all to the divide amongst the people's faith. You would need to be blind to have ignored his rise to power, and Nobuhide was wary.

In 1568 the two warlords announced a grand alliance. Between the powerful trio of Kenshin, Nobuhide and Motochika, Japan was indeed united, save for the independent territories in Eastern Honshu. Though they appear to be friends and make nice for public appearances, especially those before the Emperor, it is no secret Motochika and Nobuhide despise one another. It is rumored the attempt upon Motochika's life, perpetuated by a nameless assassin in 1569, was the work of the Shogun himself.

Regardless of their private feelings, neither man truly wished to wage full scale war upon the other. They were complete equals in power, if not in name or position, and any armed conflict would bring about the deaths of thousands... and so the realm sat, perched precariously upon a divide between east and west.

In the summer of 1570 Motochika launched an impressive three-pronged assault into the Hattori lands in western Honshu. Long since raiding trade routes to fund their insurgancy against the Shogunate, Motochika's goal was to pin down and eradicate the troublesome clan once and for all. His assault was made, however, without the approval of Nobuhide. As tales of the incredibly rough fighting in the Hattori territories made their way east, the Shogunate found his own accomplishments increasingly overshadowed by that of the Chokosabe Alliance.

By the time of his final victory in late December of 1570, Motochika had eradicated the hattori in western Honshu. But there came a request. Nobuhide demanded the won territories be handed over to the Shogunate, as a show of loyalty, and of respect. Motochika flatly refused. It would dishonor those who had died, he argued, but the Shogun refused compromise, as did Motochika.

In January of 1571 it came to war.

And so it was that the realm was divided between east and west. On one side: The western forces of the Chokosabe and their vassals, the Ouchi. On the other, the eastern armies of the Oda Shogunate and their vassals, the Yamana, as well as their stanch allies the Uesugi.

Despite a state of war persisting for nearly four years, no major battles took place in the period of 1571 to 1574. The engagements between the two sides were limited to minor skirmishes, cavalry raids, and quick naval strikes on trade. All of that would chang at Kurayoshi in 1575.

The Battle of Kurayoshi
Year: 1575
Belligerents: Clan Chokosabe v Oda Shogunate
Commanders: Chokosabe Motochika | Takigawa Tokinari

Gathering his forces in the western tip of Honshu, Motochika launched a quick strike into Hoki province in April of 1575. His sweep was knocked away the local defenders, securing the province little bloodshed. It proved to be an embarrassing loss for the Shogunate, the first true shots of the war fired, and the man from the west had beaten the legitimate government clean. Nobuhide himself had been putting down a rebellion near Kii province when the word reached him. Furious, he ordered Takigawa Tokinari from Osaka to march north and drive the Chokosabe out.

It wasn't until the following autumn that Tokinari could muster a march from Osaka castle. Many of the best troops in service to the Shogunate had been sent south to aid Nobuhide in putting down the Kii rebellions. More still had been sent to the east to fight the coalition of independent cities that had maintained their freedom around Dewa. With winter fast approaching and little choice other than to obey his directives, he marched, and arrived in Hoki during late September. Motochika had established a forward base just outside the town of Kurayoshi. Tokanari marched upon his position, only to find the Chokosabe Daimyo well dug in on a hill...

Supported on the right with archers, a veteran core of samurai at his center, and a fanatical group of religious monks at his left, Chokosabe was well prepared for an attack. For three days the two sides stood at odds. Chokosabe patiently waiting upon his favorable terrain, blocking the way forward, while Tokinari paced nervous in encampment. Should he attack? Should he wait? On September 28 he made his choice.

He would attack. The Oda cavalry pressed forward at the spearhead of a great host of samurai and ashigaru, well motivated and seasoned. They were the army of the Shogunate, no force had withstood their attack since Nobuhide had claimed power. The right was with them, surely, they would win... surely they marched to victory.

Motochika sent forward his cavalry and the two forces clashed at the base of the hill. Oda and Chokosabe horsemen met in a vicious fight as the Oda army moved into position. But Motochika waited, his archers on the ridge laying down a hail of arrows, but his men on the hill stood their ground. They would not move.

Chokosabe pulled his cavalry core back, just as the Oda infantry reached the bottem of the ridge. His archers laid continued to fire as his men retreated behind the mainline. The Oda's push was stronger than expected and his cavalry reserves paid for it in blood. The initial skirmish was over, a point to the Shogunate, and now the real game was about to begin. With a mighty horn came the signal to charge, and the two forces clashed against one another. A terrible sound as steel met flesh, Oda's war on the Chokosabe begun in earnest.

From the position on the hill, one could see the entire battle line. The sounds of battle, of steel, of screams, it all meshed into one as the archers continued to fire.

But slowly... the Oda push was stopped in its tracks, it ground to a halt.. and then, the Chokosabe pushed back. Step by bloody step they forced the army of the Shogunate backwards down the hill until they were tripping over the bodies of the horsemen they'd passed on the way up.

The Oda right flank was hit the hardest, subject to a devastating charge from the Chokosabe Warrior Monks. The furious attack ripped the samurai who had been entrusted to that flank apart, collapsing the line. Motochika seized upon the opportunity, and led his cavalry in a wide sweep around the lines. His charge against the Oda support troops and second wave of the assault cut the heart from the Shogun's powerful army. Without support the men on the hill were ground into submission. Those who did not flee were cut down where they stood. The battle had been ended and Chokosabe Motochika surveyed the field. He had defied the Shogun, and had won.

But he and his men had not escaped without a scratch. Many brave men of the Chokosabe had been felled alongside those of the Oda. Laying silent in death they were equals, no longer men of the Chokosabe, or men of the Shogunate, simply men. Upon seeing the carnage Motochika is said to have ordered those of both sides be given proper rites in death.

As for Takigawa Tokinari, commander of the failed assault on Kurayoshi, his body was never found. It is unknown whether he survived the battle.

The battle would see the complete annihilation of the Oda Shogunate's western army and pave the way for an attack to the south. Although having suffered so many losses, Motochika would need to wait in order to press his advantage. He wintered in Hoki, rebuilding his strength for the coming storm. Kurayoshi was the start of the greatest conflict in Japanese history, one that would decide the Sengoku era once and for all and bring about an end to the power of the samurai.

In the follwing year, 1576.. that war was far from over...

[Monk]

A year of Sorrow.

Japan
1576

Following the disasterous battle of Kurayoshi, Shogunate forces were scattered in the wake of the victorious Chokosabe Army. Chokosabe Motochika returned to the fortress, two miles north of the city itself, to winter and rebuild his strength for the coming season. Oda Nobuhide however, was not about to let this embarassment go unanswered. With his western army completely destroyed he sent the call to the North and East, to rally the Yamana and Uesugi clans for full scale war. He would need many more man than the Shogunate could muster if he was to best Motochika, it would seem.

But the Shogun was not a patient man, and after Tokinari's defeat and disappearance in the wake of Kurayoshi, Nobuhide himself decided to end the threat of the Chokosabe. With Kii firmly under the government's control he gathered his forces and trekked through the south, arriving near Kurayoshi in December of the following year, 1576.

Outnumbering the Chokosabe force nearly two to one, the Shogun had a decided advantage and established a siege line around the fortress of his enemy. Motochika could not believe the audacity of the shogun, to risk a winter siege after such a long march! Either Nobuhide was brave or a fool, or perhaps both..



As January dawned upon the Japanese Islands, and both sides began to gear up in earnest, Oda Nobuhide summoned his aids to his tent. It is believed that at this meeting he decided to attack the fortress after only three weeks. The reason for his haste is two fold, or so to be believed. His army was too large and simply could not support itself on the cold plains of Kurayoshi. A forced march from Kii province had nearly exhausted his supplies, and his men were getting hungry. If he waited any longer he may have had to contend with them instead of Motochika!

Secondly, it is believed Nobuhide wated to end the conflict before it escelated any further. Though Kurayoshi was incredibly brutal, it remained a conflict between Motochika and Nobuhide, or so the Shogun believed. If one could be removed.. perhaps further bloodshed would then be spared... And so with his target set, the Army of the Shogunate stormed the walls!



The Oda force was a largely volunteer army from the cities and farms near Kyoto, in contrast, the Chokosabe army was a tough, primarily samurai force. They were men who had survived the hell at Kurayoshi, some still had been present for the pacification of Kyushu, and the Christian rebellions of 1563. They were men apart, and yet as Oda's men stormed the castle, even the best amongst them fell. For when thrown against such odds, even the best can fall.



Motochika could feel the power of the shogun closing in around him. His men were being pushed backwards, slowly, but surely, the walls were being lost to the encroaching Oda army. It was rumored that Emura Moroyashi, a loyal retainer of the Chokosabe family, was on his way to reinforce Hoki province. However, as the hours slipped by and yet more Oda waves assaulted the walls, Motochika could feel as if reinforcements were not coming. In truth, Emura Moroyashi had been delayed by an ambushing force of Yamana. Though he and the rest of his men managed to fight through the ambush with limited casualties, he would not be able to reach the field in time...



His men were being pushed backward into the interior of the fortress. The seige had turned into a desperate fight. One that was measured in the yards gained and lost. Entire units of men died just to gain another step of ground from the determined Chokosabe defenders. In a last ditch attempt to tighten his defense perimiter, Motochika ordered all surviving men to fall back to the center and hold. In all directions they fought: Monks, Samurai, and even ashigaru stood shoulder to shoulder...



Until finally they fell, one by one. Chokosabe Motochika's body was found at the center of a circle of warriors. According to legend, when the Daimyo fell, his most trusted men gathered around the body, even as the battle raged in every direction around them, they fought to protect their fallen lord. Attempting to keep any of the Oda from taking his head as a trophy.

Nobuhide himself entered the fortress as the battle was coming to an end. He is said to have displayed true disbelief as to why any would follow a man like Motochika to their death. His own army, however, was in shambles. Even though he'd won the battle, his army was in far worse shape than Motochika's was after Kurayoshi. There'd be no way he could continue his campaign without reinforcements from the Yamana and Uesugi clans.

Two weeks later, Nobuhide would die of a terrible fever. A disease believed to have been contracted at the siege. The residents of the town of Kurayoshi still love to tell the legend of the battle, and how Nobuhide is said to have laughed on his death-bed. "I suppose I, too, shall follow Motochika to my death.." With both daimyo of the opposing sides now dead. It would fall to their heirs, Chokosabe Akiie and Oda Nobunaga to continue the war for control of Japan. It was also in the winter of 1576 that the aging Uesugi Kenshin, who had served Nobuhide faithfully since the latter's rise to power, passed away peacefully in Echigo.

In a way Nobuhide was right, the conflict until that point was simply between himself and his rival, Motochika. Upon their deaths it would instead spiral into something far greater. With the call to the Yamana and Uesugi clans answered in the spring of 1576, The Chokosabe clan called its own vassals, the Ouchi, and the soon to be emerging Matsuda, into the fight. The polarizing figures of the conflict had been removed, leaving only two sides: East and West. The sides were drawn, it was time for true war to begin.

[Populus Romanus]

Wow, this is good! You have some great screenshots!

[Gregoshi]

Riveting story Monk. It has lived up to the billing you've given it. Storytelling at its finest.

Is there more?

[Monk]

Wow, this is good! You have some great screenshots!

Thank you. I've recorded the pivital battles of the conflict and have to watch them 3 or 4 times to get screenshots I really like. Glad you like them.

Riveting story Monk. It has lived up to the billing you've given it. Storytelling at its finest.

Is there more?

Thank you Gregoshi

Yes there's much more. This AAR will run from 1570-1590 and covers the key battles of the war between the Shogunate and the Chokosabe alliance, as well as the build up around them and their strategic implications. The next update will likely be tomorrow.

[Monk]

The Coming Storm

To fully appreciate just how the deaths of Nobuhide and Motochika polarized Japan, one must only look to the successors of the different sides of the conflict. In the west Chokosabe Akiie took command of the Chokosabe Alliance: Which now consisted of his own forces, the Ouchi, and the Matsuda clan. Akiie was a young man, barely 17 when his father met his end on the cold plains of Kurayoshi. It was not a fate he himself was eager to rush into. In fact, given his general attitude and style of rule, one might make the case Motochilka's death opened the eyes of his son to the folly of leading the army himself.

"It is not the responsibility of the head of state.." Akiie would write decades afterward, "..to lead those loyal to him upon the field of battle. Instead, the Daimyo should concern himself with the affairs of economy and the happiness of the people." It was a position traditionally shunned by the daimyo of the Chokosabe. Always concerning themselves with the actions of the field. It was how glory was won, and honor proven! Akiie believed honor could be proven just as effectively in other ways. From his capitol in Tosa province, he expanded the road-ways. Increased subsidies to farmers throughout his realm, encouraging a much more aggressive agricultural initiative. Beneath Akiie's eye, the lands of the Chokosabe flourished with bountiful harvests, the size of which had not been seen since the conquest of Kyushu.

It was also Akiie who began to emphasize a greater unity with the other members of the "Chokosabe Alliance" Historians credit the shrewd politics of the Chokosabe daimyo to be the true reason why nearly all of western Japan, at this time, truly began to rally together. After Motochika's death, it was no longer simply about Chokosabe Vs Oda, or Motochika against Nobuhide. It was about much more than that. The importance of honor and the unity between the man working the farms and the man leading the nation. That's what this war was about, or so Akiie said. But more importantly.. that's what people believed. Gone was the Clan Chokosabe.. when the common man talked to his neighbor in the sake dens of Kyoto.. it was "The Western Force" or, "The Alliance of the West" that they called them. Later historians have also taken to calling the Alliance this name post 1576.

Akiie's counterpart was Oda Nobunaga, who succeeded his father as Shogun of all Japan nearly at the same time. His position could not have been any different when it came to how one should rule. To Nobunaga, who had spent the better part of his life fighting his father's wars, it was not only his duty to lead, but his right.

"What then could I say to him? The man from Kyoto, or Akashi, or Totorri, who answers the call of his Shogun to fight, but must do so in the knowledge the man who calls upon him, yet stays behind far from the fields? No. I would never ask a man to march where I would not stand beside him" ~Nobunaga in a conversation with one of his aids, Kyoto, March of 1577.

Beneath Oda Nobunaga, a conscription campaign like no other swept through the realm. Men from all walks of life, from all clans who called themselves loyal to the Shogunate, were called into service. No man would be permitted to refuse the call, but those that answered were handsomely compensated. Ashigaru were paid well for their battlefield service - even more should they die in the loyal service of the Shogunate, against those who would see it thrown down. It was the first step in his attempts to modernize and turn the conscripts, who had long served the Oda clan since their rise to power, into something more than hungry peasants from far-flung farms.



As the spring thaw came upon the fields around Kurayoshi, Shogunate forces found themselves incredibly outnumbered when Emura Moroyasu arrived. After having been delayed on the road to the citadel the previous season, he and his men attacked with a rightous anger - to avenge their daimyo and drive the Shogunate forces from Hoki province once and for all. Moroyashu's force was a tough and dedicated lot, with the majority of his combat power coming from the religious arm of the Buddhist temples of west Honshu. Ever since the liberation of Kyushu from Christian daimyo, men of the buddhist faith had flocked to the Chokosabe banner. As the forces of the Chokosabe began to turn more and more into a centralized "western" entity, this tradition continued. Hoki province fell easily to Moroyasu, but he and his men now had a bigger issue on their hands.

Spies had reported that the Yamana and Uesugi clans were massing for an attack on Hoki, coming sometime during the next year. Reports were sketchy at best, but it was believed at the time to be a two pronged assault. Kojima Tanemura of the Yamana would assault from Inaba in the east, while Amakusa Nakayori of the Uesugi would come up from Harima in the south. If the plan worked, it'd catch Moroyasu in a pincer and the entire Western force would be destroyed. In truth, while the Shogunate was moving forces into position, they were unwilling to risk another assault so soon after the terrible clashes at Kurayoshi. The Western forces beneath Emura Moroyasu, in turn, were just as content to wait.

It was not until late March of 1578 that Kuwana Michiyori, a talented commander of the West and long-time supporter of the Chokosabe, landed in Bichu with well over 5000 men. This is exactly what Emura Moroyasu was waiting for, and what lead to the worst defeat of the West's history to that point...

Michiyori would attack Harima and draw the Uesugi forces into a fight near Akashi, while Moroyasu attacked deep into Inaba and put an end to the Yamana. It was so clear in the young general's mind. He marched out in late May pushing into Inaba province. What he did not know was exactly how strong the Yamana proved to be. If he did, he likely never would have attacked. Emura Moroyasu broke into Inaba on the 1st of June, scattering an equally sized Yamana force with little difficulty, what would later be known as the First battle of Inaba Fields was a disaster for Shogunate forces, seeing the death of the Yamana daimyo and nearly a quarter of the standing Yamana army. This was, at the time, believed to be the entire army of the Shogunate's vassal. Forgoing further scouting, and convinced his victory was in grasp, Moroyasu pushed on toward Tottori castle.. only to be confronted by the man spies had warned the West of, Kojima Tanemura - at the head of an army numbering three times that of Moroyasu's...

Second at Inaba Fields
Year: 1578
Belligerents: Western Alliance v Yamana Clan ( Shogunate Vassal )
Commanders: Emura Moroyasu | Kojima Tanemura

A betting man would have seen the odds and fallen back. A smart man would have attempted an ambush. Moroyasu was so swelled by his easy victories, both in Hoki and again on the border, that he elected to attack the Yamana line on open ground. Emura Moroyasu was not an idiot, or is not the general consensus. He had proved himself a fine warrior in the irregular war against the Hattori, fought nearly 8 years ago, and had led men in small scale skirmishes before given his command. Rather, it is held that he simply lost sight of himself and his own limitations after the First at Inaba. The two sides met near a sleepy sea side village. The western force was primarily infantry based where as the Yamana forces was a very well balanced army, with many veterans of the First Engagement at Inaba eager for revenge.

Across the field, leading the Shogunate forces was Kojima Tanemura, the Lion of Omi. Called such after the Battle of Omi where, in 1570, he had led a cavalry charge against a well entrenched rebel force, attacking from Kii province. According to battlefield accounts his charge was broken, but he alone stood against the rebel army. Holding his position on the ridge while Shogunate forces maneuvered to assault the rebel emplacements. His fame was so great he had opened a dojo dedicated to the study of the Yari when he returned to Inaba.



And he was now leading the charge against the West, about to attempt to throw them from Yamana lands. The two sides collided just on the outskirts of the small village, where the ground opened up to fields just before the forest. A terrible clap of thunder sounded from the distance. A storm of a different sort, was on its way to the feild...



Led by the dedicated, and fanatical, warrior monks the Western forces proved incredibly stubborn. Even though far outnumbered they ripped through the first wave of Yamana troops sent against them, like the blade against cloth. Moroyasu was confident. To hell with numbers! But.. that is when the trap was sprung. From the right... Yamana troops sprang forth!



The banners raised high, getting taken to the wind and displaying proud the symbol of Yamana. And.. from the left! A cavalry brigade had swung around the village, and slammed into the archers and reserve line. Led by the Lion of Omi himself, Ashigaru crumpled beneath his attack and scattered. Moroyasu was surrounded...



The battle proved to be a complete disaster for the West, with nearly the entire army destroyed or otherwise unaccounted for in its aftermath. The worst hit were the warrior monks, who according to reports fought to the very last man, even as men of Ashigaru and Samurai status fled around them. Moroyasu is said to have been taken alive and allowed to commit seppukku before the survivors of the western force. Moroyasu had disgraced himself, them and his position by fleeing the field while his men still struggled for their own lives. When Chokosabe Akiie heard of this, it's reported he wrote a letter to Tanemura himself, expressing approval of this display, and allowing his commander to regain his honor before death. Sadly, no evidence of this letter exists.

The destruction of the western force in Inaba would have two main consequences. The first was the establishment of the Yamana as a true threat in the conflict, the second: Hoki province was now unguarded. Had it not been for Ouchi action the following season, the province would have once more been lost to the Shogunate...

While defeated in the north, the Western forces achieved success beneath Kuwana Michiyori, managing to wrest control of Harima from the Shogunate that same season. But the spy reports were correct, and marching toward his position near Akashi was an Uesugi force.. and they were determined to push the West back, just as the Yamana had done...

Japan
1578

[Gregoshi]

I'm on the edge of my seat.