1595 -- The Seizure of Bungo

[Khan7]

Just was playing a great SP campaign (with STW2), and thought I'd come and share this with you all (supposedly the peeps here like war stories). So here goes.


It had been a good year for the Oda. With overwhelming armies making rapid gains pushing West through the mountainous former territories of the Mori, we now controlled two of Japan's 3 main islands.

But I, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was not jubilant yet. Holding conferences with my most trusted generals in my camp in Iyo, we meticulously planned out every plannable thing for the coming invasion of Kyushu. Supplies were arranged for and loaded on to boats, replacements, reinforcements and repairs were provided to the preparing regiments, and, finally, the finest mix of troops were hand-picked for the vanguard.

And so the massive operation gradually got under way. Despite the now overbearing dominance of the Oda, despite the smashing successes of recent years, despite the unwavering high spirits of my troops, I was not deluded. I was about to face the toughest challenge I had seen since I charged out of my one remaining castle, with my friek accident Hatamoto of 47 fierce warriors, and routed the Tokugawa out of Owari. I had visions of hundreds of fanatical Shimazu swordsmen, yelling, rushing downhill, flowing over and destroying my sturdy formations of Ashigaru spearmen. This would be a hard-fought contest.

It was now the winter, and the day to attack had come. Boarding the transports before dawn, we set out with over 1200 seasoned warriors of varied classes and types. Upon debarking, scouts sighted Shimazu banners in the distance.

I carefully formed my army into battle array. A dense hedge of Ashigaru spears was to be the anchor of this army, with a contingent of Heavy Infantry to guard each flank. Teppu and archer skirmishers were placed a couple dozen paces ahead, and to the rear I formed my feared warrior monks and cavalry. I heard my order to advance ring out a dozen more times like echos, as it was passed on down through my subordinates. The drums and bells were sounded, and, a light snow adding a hint of white to their banners and helmets, my great army advanced through the valley.


My army took a position facing a long steep hill, with a large forest close by on the right flank. The enemy host sat motionless at the top, waiting for my next move. "Forward!" rang out the cry, and soon my advancing troops came under fire from the primitive but effective Harquebuses which Shimazu had purchased from his Papist friends, shots falling among my spearmen and dropping them 3 and 4 at a time. I began galloping toward the front with my Hatamoto to execute a brief sortie against these nuisances. We swept up the hill and struck them without being hit by a single bullet.

As my army advanced no more than a third up the hill it halted to return missle fire. But before my superior gunnery could get off more than a single volley, groups of enemy began breaking their formations at the top and sweeping down, with such speed that my guns were thrown back with heavy casualties. In the meantime I and my Hatamoto made a clean getaway from the Shimazu guns, with a couple hundred enemy in hot pursuit.

At this point Shimazu unleased an intense charge upon my main line. "Hold your ground!" called out the captains as the enemy swept down the hill. With fear-striking war cries, Swordsmen and cavalry, at first a trickle and then a flood, dashed themselves in and around the right side of spears and Heavy Infantry. Warrior Monks, pulled back to avoid deadly archer fire, were now rushed into a desperate uphill melee against my Hatamoto's pursuers. Within a minute, as the attack intensified, Heavy Cavalry and Lancers were called up to plug up any possible breakthrough. Soon enough that breakthrough came, as a heavily pressured Ashigaru regiment lost heart and fled to the rear. Many of their comrades wavered, but stolidly held their ground under the onslaught.

For one, maybe even two minutes more, this intense battle for my right flank continued, spears snapping, horses whinnying their last breaths, and the ever present sound and sight of dead and dying men. With enemy skirmishers still raining fire down upon our heads, we took heavy losses. For a moment I worried, and then I saw the solution. For all of the intensity and near-success of their charge, the enemy now had their whole force bunched up against my right. The whole left half of my line, including its archers, were either lightly engaged or not engaged at all. I hastily ordered them to manuever toward the fray, rolling the Shimazu flank from their right to their left. They had barely begun their work when Lord Shimazu himself, having endured the hardships of my spear hedge for some time now, looked over his shoulder and fled in panic. Seeing the flight of their leader, the entire Shimazu host soon turned tail, and hundreds were cut down trying to reach the border.

When I and my cavalry caught up with the coward lord and his remaining bodyguard, we had a few things to say them them. These however involved fewer words than swords, and they soon found themselves without heads.


Later, sitting in my Honjin, I and my advisors would tabulate the reports and find that fully four hundred of my brave soldiers had fallen. The worst affected were the 80 men my right Heavy Infantry flank guard, who after being evidently surrounded and heavily drubbed throughout the main part of the battle, were left with 18.

As for my enemy, well over 600 Shimazu warriors would make their graves under a gentle blanket of snow, on that wintry day of 1595.

Toyotomi Hideyoshi

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Shogun 2 has arrived! Check it out here.

[This message has been edited by Khan7 (edited 05-14-2002).]

[oZoNeLaYeR]

I just cant get enuff of war stories... nice battle.. i once attacked a hill too.. i lost approx 1200 men while my enemy lost 400,

that's a very poor effort but the battle turned tide when my HC crushed their ashigaru and created massive rout

[Vanya]

Nicely done!

I can share a SP campaign here... I'll be brief.

Its amazing how sometimes an entire campaign can hinge on the outcome of a single battle. Such is the case of my latest campaign. I played as Mori on Expert, on the Normal campaign (Sengoku Jidai).

From the outset, I attacked the Takeda lands in my midst. Aki was the last to fall. Because I wanted to ensure my new provinces would not revolt, I took my time with them so that I could build up appropriate garrisons. When I finally took Aki, the province had a mine and nice dojo, armor and weapons upgrades. This would soon become my premier recruitment region.

I opted to not go after Shimazu and instead set my sights on central Japan and Shikoku. Interestingly, Oda, in his infinite wisdom, chose to accept my request for alliance. He then proceeded to attack the ronin provinces in the center. But he was an idiot. He left minute garrisons there. The population revolted and expelled his armies. In fact, the ronins were so aggressive, they invaded neighboring provinces and expelled Oda from there too! This left the ronin provinces in central Japan unguarded! My armies marched all the way to the Wakasa-Yamashiro-Kawachi line without a single battle being fought!

In the meantime, in Shikoku, I had managed to take Sanuki and Awaji from the rebels. But Shimazu was already on the island too. By this time, my armies were stretched very thin. With barely enough koku to produce a handful of units a year, defending my borders against a burgeoning Shimazu threat became the imperative. I renounced my alliance with Uesugi in order to maintain a peaceful arrangement with Oda. This would turn out to be pivotal in the years to come...

Shimazu soon sent a massive army into Nagato. With barely 5 units, mostly Ashigaru and archers guarding Iwami and Suo, I had to start mass-producing units from Aki. With the new temple complex just finished there, it soon began pumping out some monks to join the naginata it was pumping out. Shimazu was patient building his forces on Shikoku too. He waited for the right time to strike. From my central provinces, I reinforced my armies in Sanuki and Awaji.

Then the attack came. Shimazu attacked from Nagato into Suo and Iwami simultaneously. I withdrew from Suo and let Shimazu take it, for my force there was grossly inadequate to face the superior Shimazu army. In Iwami. though, the story was much different. There I had the core of my defensive wall in Honshu, with 5 steadfast naginata as the backbone of my force. The Shimazu army scaled the mountains under a hail of arrows. With barely any archers of their own, they were surely doomed, especially as the bulk of their force consisted of upgraded Ashigaru. The naginatas swept down and slaughtered the hapless peasants. It was a massacre. And Shimazu was driven from the hills of Iwami for good.

But the threat remained. In Shikoku, I timed a counterattack perfectly; Shimazu attacked Sanuki from Awa and Izu. I dispatched an army from Awaji to attack Awa. Awa fell with ease as my army overpowered the meek defenses they left behind. But Sanuki fell. My army was just overpowered; I had quickly stocked up its numbers with Ashigaru, but faced an onslaught of upgraded nodachis and archers. My army was driven from Sanuki, and they chose to retreat to Awa instead of Bizen. Now, my core provinces in Honshu were guarded by a single Yari Samurai in Bizen and faced the main Shimazu army in Sanuki!

Surely, here I thought it was over. I quickly cranked out every man, woman and child I could muster into Bizen. But the attack never came. Shimazu was too concerned that my armies in Amaji and Awa would sweep in behind him and destroy him if he ventured into Honshu. Before long, I had managed to place a respectable army in Bizen. Then, I focused my attention on Tosa. I seized it with ease from the small Shimazu garrison there. Tosa had some nice dojos, and soon, I was building no dachis from there to supplement my Shikoku defenses.

Up in Aki, preparations were underway to retake Suo and drive Shimazu into the sea. Slowly, i built up my forces in Aki and Iwami. Now, I could field full-sized armies with few Ashigaru and good numbers of naginata and monks, both with armor and weapon upgrades. But before I could launch my attack, Shimazu made a FATAL mistake... he attacked me in Aki.

The battle of Aki would change the course of the entire campaign. Before this battle, I was bottled up, with hardly enough koku to compete, and scurrying to beef up my own feeble border defenses. All this time, Oda and Uesugi were slugging it out. This meant I could keep minimal troops along my borders with Oda all the time this quagmire with Shimazu was unfolding.

Shimazu's army marched into Aki alone. Only a small garrison of 6 units remained in Nagato to safeguard against a counterattack. His army was utterly smashed in Aki. His large numbers of Yari samurai, despite their upgrades, were no match for the fanatical monks and the heavily armored naginata I fielded. I coaxed him into marching around my position and attack from rear. But, I veered my army to face his once he was committed. The monks sliced the enemy to bits. When they routed, the naginata wall was between them and their escape route. Their defeat was thus turned into a bloodbath.

With his army in shreds, Suo and Iwami fell to my counterattack with ease. Then, I found no defenders guarding the passes to Kyushu. My armies invaded the Shimazu home island. The entire north fell without a fight. By the time Shimazu was able to field a modest force in Kyushu, I had taken Chikugo. With the finest provinces in the north in my hands now, the koku started flowing freely into my coffers. I was thus able to crank out many fine monk units. The rest of Kyushu fell as Shimazu looked on in awe from his fortress in Sanuki.

Shimazu fell when I invaded Izu and Sanuki from a unified Mori Kyushu.

With my massive victorious armies celebrating our massive victory, I now knew Japan was mine for the taking.

Soon after the sake stopped flowing, my armies marched to central Japan and surprised a dumbfounded Oda. With almost no units guarding is border with me, the red tide of Mori swept over 6 of his provinces without a fight, and found themselves in command of Owari. Shocked, Oda was unable to react. By the third turn, Shinano was in Mori hands -- without a blow being struck. Oda had grossly outstretched his armies. His forces were busy in Dewa and Hitachi fighting Takeda, and he never anticipated my surprise attack.

Mikawa then fell, as Imagawa's last stronghold could muster only 6 units to defend this land against my horde. Then, my armies swept through the southern lands and reached the Takeda province of Musashi. There I stopped while I pursued Oda elsewhere to the north. Hida, Echizen... all fell before me. I let Uesugi stay in his enclave next to the impressive ronin stronghold of Kaga because I knew they were irrelevant.

Takeda attacked me out of desperation once Oda was put to sleep. But he too went the way of the dodo. Echigo fell without effort. Takeda then found himself cut in two when I seized Kozuke, Shimotsuke and Hitachi. I used my vast funds to bribe the ronin armies dwelling in Shimosa, and then seized Kazusa. Takeda fell soon thereafter... first Musashi, then Mutsu.

All that remained was Uesugi. I stormed his lands with 30,000 men. It was no contest. Game over. Mori wins.

The whole campaign was defined by the single battle in Aki. The rest was just a bliztkrieg, with hardly any battles being fought. A few strategic battles here and there raged. But, they were few and far between. The battle of Aki was the instrument of my victory... it was... an awesome display of heads...

[Khan7]

Wow! Quite a campaign, Vanya. I could probably tell some stories about the early portions of my campaign, too, when I had two small armies left bottled up in two castles in two provinces (the way I do my campaigns is I play on normal but edit the campaign so that I strategically start way behind. In this case I had started with a small castle, a spear and archery dojo and a Portugese Trading post in Owari with a smallish army, in 1580). I sallied both armies, and my Daimyo and his army were slaughtered while his heir escaped back to the castle. His 47 YA sprouted horses and turned into the vaunted 47-man Hatamoto, or Screaming Death, as it was forever after to be known, and the next turn they and their few companions sallied and routed the Tokugawa out of Owari.

After this, it was a long series of desperately fought river defenses, slowly but surely obliterating the foolish Ronin and Tokugawa armies who came forth to challenge my few but fanatical defenders, again and again. Before long I was able to march on the Tokugawa and take all of their easterly lands. There were plenty of hard-fought battles after that, but from this point on my clan was out of immediate danger.

BTW Vanya you might find campaigns to be even more interesting with the STW2.

Matt

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Shogun 2 has arrived! Check it out here.

[This message has been edited by Khan7 (edited 05-15-2002).]

[dagger]

Do you think your campaign would have turned out differnetly with STW2 mod?


Also how is your mod if played with 60 men units?

[This message has been edited by dagger (edited 05-14-2002).]

[Vanya]

Quote Originally posted by dagger:
Do you think your campaign would have turned out differnetly with STW2 mod?
...[/QUOTE]

Can't say as I haven't tried it. But, probably it would affect it in some capacity or another...

[Wavesword]

i knew something bothered me about these grand war stories- old peaceful Shimazu is the victim, the daimyo who wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm suddenly shocked by the brutality of it all. And jaded.