Re: The Spirit Fields: A Chokosabe Campaign Story/AAR
After being repulsed from Hoki province, Kojima Tanemura returned to Inaba to rebuild and coordinate with the coming reinforcements from Echigo. The first chill of autumn was already setting in by the time Amakusa Nakayori, the Uesugi commander, arrived in western Honshu. Not willin to risk a winter march, Tanemura thought it best to return to Tottori Castle and winter in peace. On August 15th, Tanemura recieved a letter from the shogun himself. Demanding that he attack. The Chokosabe were reeling, and only the Ouchi stood between the Yamana and rolling up the northern flank of the West. Tanemura's reply was quick, and quite amusing, since it consisted of just one word: "Exhaustion."
In three years of war both sides had seen thousands of deaths, the Yamana's standing army had suffered terrible loses after the two battles of Inaba fields, and their assault on Hoki province that ended in a bloody stalemate. Tanemura could not have attacked if he wanted to. The Shogun was not pleased with this news, but what could he do? He was still in the process of rebuilding the government forces after the battles at Kurayoshi. He ordered the Uesugi, under the command of Amakusa Nakayori, to maintain their positions near Osaka and not march until the following Spring.
Despite their defeat near Inaba, the Western Alliance was in much better shape than that of the Shogunate. It was only now that Chokosabe Akiie fully comitted the Chokosabe reserve forces, who had been placed in Shikoku should they be needed in this conflict. Season after season, fresh troops arrived near the front. By the time March came upon the islands, washing away the icy grip of winter, the West was ready for war once more.
Akashi was a city, the trade hub of Harima province and where Kuwana Michiyori had established his camp when he took the province away from the Shogunate nearly a year before. It was famed for the legendary No-Dachi dojos and the skill of any who studied there, as well as owning particularly dedicated farmers. It shouldn't, then, come as any surprise that when the West took it over the people rallied around their new overlords. The Shogunate's increased conscription campaign had been taking a toll on the people. With the brutality of Inaba Fields and Kurayoshi well known (and increasingly exaggerated) the hard campaign for new troops by Nobunaga began to cause unrest. In contrast, Akiie's focus on finances and building presented a comfortable alternative.
Battle of Akashi
Year: 1579
Belligerents: Western Alliance | Uesugi Clan (Shogunate Ally)
Commanders: Kuwana Michiyori Amakusa Nakayori
When the Uesugi pushed into Harima they expected to be greeted as the liberating force. They represented the shogun and the legitimate government, the arm of the Emperor. Why should they not be? Instead, memories of brothers and husbands and sons, who had marched to Kurayoshi and never returned ensured a cold greeting. To say the common-folk were hostile would be much to far, but there was little in the way of kindness shown. The commander of the Uesugi force, Nakayori, was put at ill by the reception he and his men received as they marched through the lands. His men began to whisper of bad omens, though he tried to quell such talk.
When his men arrived at the field near Akashi, a terrible storm had settled upon the land. It was cold. It was wet, it was miserable. The ground was turning into a mud-pit as the rain came down harder. In truth, it's believed that Amakusa Nakayori had intended to continue marching north and take the village of Tsuyama. Kojima Tanemura, at that very moment, was leading a force of men through the backwoods of Hoki province, attempting to slip by the combined Ouchi and Chokosabe force and steal into south.
What Nakayori didn't realize, and what no one would have forseen, was that Kojima Tanemura would walk into an ambush in the north and see his entire force wiped out. Tanemura himself would be killed as he fled the field, an end unfitting a man of his calibre and skill. The Uesugi were indeed alone at Harima Fields, but they believed if they could simply break through - reinforcements would be waiting...
The Uesugi came charging over the hill, their spears glittering in the rain and crackles of thunder. At their head was an impressive cavalry division who had seen action against the independent cities of Dewa. It was said when they charged, the entire world shook. And charge they did...
They came like a tidal wave, crashing hard against the western forces and shaking the very earth beneath their hooves. But these were not simply peasants. These were men of the West, fighting for a cause far above simply retaking a province, or being loyal to a Shogun. They fought to right a wrong done years before, to a man fast becoming a legend.
The lines quickly degenerated into a confusing and terrible melee, as thunder boomed and lightning struck in the skies above, men seperated only by their ideal of who should lead a nation slew one another.
Not since Inaba fields had there been carnage of this scale, even the Ambush at Tsyuama that had seen the end of the Lion of Omi himself could not compare.
A desperate struggle developed in the center where Kuwana Michiyori held the line against the heaviest charge of the Uesugi cavalry. Back and forth the two sides pushed, covering the same stretch of five or size yards what seemed like hundreds of times. Slowly, Michiyori was getting pushed back, but there was a plan within his desperation. He had intentionally thinned his center, leaving only his finest men and his own body guard to hold it, while the flanks had been bolstered heavily with the Ashigaru accompanying the army. When the Uesugi line collided with his, he and his men held on for dear life while his loyal forces easily overwhelmed and flanked the entire army.
By late afternoon it was all over... His plan had worked incredibly well, and the Uesugi force was routed. Nakayori forced to flee back to Osaka to regroup. There was a price, however. Michiyori's samurai took heavy losses, the nagitana divisions particularly hard hit. Though he'd won the day he felt uneasy having lost so many fine troops. But the reality of the situation spurred his actions. The way to Osaka was open for the first time in the war.
Osaka had been the military and de facto seat of Shogunate power ever since the Oda had claimed it. It had served as the base and main supply point for every major army that had attacked the West. Michiyori could not let this opportunity pass him by. He sent a call to the Matsuda clan, Vassals of the Chokosabe and members of the Western alliance. And then.. he marched toward Osaka.
When we make dicisions, we never know how they may end up before hand. Its part of life, to struggle with the unknown and trust that your first foot forward is your best. Michiyori's decision to march on Osaka was made in haste without seeking counsel from his aids. But even if he had, it's unlikely his actions would have been any different. How could he have known.. he marched to a place that in five years time would be called: The Spirit Fields?
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Originally Posted by DaVinci
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