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).]
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