The Spirit Fields: A Chokosabe Campaign Story/AAR

[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