The Self-Cultivation of Warring States Warriors

Page 96

A short while later, Ikeda Katsumasa caught up and, together with his men, killed several enemy soldiers. Suddenly, he saw Miyake Izuwa Morikunimura, who had charged out earlier, hurriedly leading his men back, seemingly with some injuries.

Upon meeting and being asked, Miyake Kunimura, clutching his wound, laughed nonchalantly and said, "The Asakura family has actually organized three or four hundred samurai into a team; they look formidable. While our Miyake family may not be afraid of death, there's no need for us to throw our lives away in vain."

Only then did Ikeda Katsumasa realize that Kubo Genban's description of this man as "half a righteous man" was not an exaggeration, and he nodded with a smile, saying, "That's right!"

Then they returned to the formation together.

181 The Surprise Attack

As the sun began to set in the west, the battle remained fierce. Asakura Kagekage grew increasingly impatient. He suddenly stood up, slammed his fan on the ground, and said angrily, "People say that the Miyoshi clan used the people of Settsu Province as their vanguard. It's true! Even if they only have two or three thousand men, they cannot be easily defeated."

Judging from the situation at the front, the Echizen soldiers were clearly less effective in combat. They had assembled six reserve units, with more than 50% more spears than their opponents, but after a fierce standoff, they gained no advantage in terms of physical strength and morale. They were even caught off guard and launched a surprise attack due to poor coordination between advances and retreats, requiring hundreds of elite warriors to be deployed to repel it.

The original backup plan is now gone.

There seems to be no hope of victory today.

Asakura Kagekage's younger brother, Asakura Kageji, had just gone out to deliver military orders. He returned to the main camp at that moment, quickly picked up the fan, knelt on one knee, and presented it without daring to say anything more.

Seeing this, Asakura Kagekage was satisfied and relaxed a little. He sat back down on his stool, took the fan again, shook his head and sighed, "I originally planned to concentrate my elite troops and launch a strong attack when the enemy was exhausted, but I was forced to launch it ahead of schedule. Alas, at that time, only a few dozen infantrymen attacked, and our formation was not really damaged. Was I too hasty?"

Seeing his elder brother's distress, Asakura Kageji dared not take the conversation seriously. Maintaining his half-kneeling posture, he said without hesitation, "Although the formation was not actually damaged at the time, it might have been different if we had been a moment later. Your decisive response, elder brother, was truly brilliant."

Hearing this, Asakura Kagekage's mood improved even more, and he finally smiled and nodded, saying, "Our army has the superior numbers. Even if we fail to repel the enemy in one fell swoop, we are still confident of victory after two more days. By the way, Tanba Zhong Kui's main force should be dealing with the Tsuruga forces, right? Any news?"

Asakura Keiji shook his head nervously and replied cautiously, "If the scouts return to Mikatako and then detour to the north, the distance is too far; and if they go to scout across the mountains, they may not be familiar with the terrain, so we don't know the situation on the Tsuruga side yet."

“We should still try to figure it out.” Asakura Kagekage frowned, looked to the north, and said, “Since the Settsu troops in the south are not easy to deal with, we can only hope that Tanba Zhong Kui has the fighting power to match his reputation and make the Tsuruga troops in the north run into some trouble.”

"Uh, elder brother..." Asakura Keiji stammered, "I have an idea, but I don't know if I should..."

“We’re brothers, so speak freely.” Generally speaking, Asakura Kagekage was a dictator who did not tolerate his subordinates’ questioning, but he always had some patience when it came to his own flesh and blood.

“Thank you for your permission, brother.” Asakura Kageji hesitated for a moment, then said in a low voice, “If Tanba Zhongkui is indeed brave and easily defeats Lord Saemon’s (Kagehira) Tsuruga troops, and then pursues the victory and defeats Lord Ubei’s (Kagetaka) garrison, while we are unable to break through the Settsu troops’ blockade for the time being…wouldn’t we be cut off from our retreat?”

"This... Surely the Tsuruga clan isn't that incompetent!" Asakura Kagekage rarely spoke up for his political rival, but he wasn't very confident and quickly fell into worry: "You're right. That guy Saemon keeps boasting, but we don't know if he's really good at fighting!"

Asakura Keiji remained kneeling, head bowed, and silent.

After a moment's thought, Asakura Kagekage instructed, "Send an urgent letter to Lord Ubei, who is stationed at Mikadoko, asking him to send someone to contact the two forces daily and exchange intelligence in a timely manner. Also, find some clever soldiers, divide them into small teams of ten, and send them into the northern mountains to scout ahead."

"Yes!" Asakura Keiji immediately carried out the order.

Asakura Kagekage watched his younger brother depart, lost in his own reverie, stroking his beard and smiling, muttering to himself, "Now everything is foolproof. This must be what it feels like to be a master strategist like Lord Munetsu."

……

Unlike the confident Asakura Kagekyo, Shinzaburo always harbored self-doubt.

The route for the surprise attack was determined after calculating the troop's marching speed, and it was unknown whether it was suitable.

If the enemy moves too slowly due to some unforeseen event, they might miss their target. Or, if the enemy breaks through the blockade of the garrison in a short time, the situation will be even worse.

Even if you successfully find your target, whether you can succeed in one fell swoop is still unknown.

However, Shinzaburo would never reveal his true feelings.

In front of everyone, he remained the same as before, calm and composed, confident and gentle in his words and actions, yet decisive when making decisions.

We set off at the crack of dawn and walked for several hours along mountain paths. Although we were surrounded by elite troops, we were still exhausted.

We arrived at a narrow valley, not too far from the planned ambush point.

Shinzaburo ordered a short rest to replenish their strength, aiming to launch a surprise attack before 4 PM.

It's currently the end of May in the lunar calendar, so the days are still quite long, and there's plenty of time to operate before sunset.

Unexpectedly—

About fifteen minutes later, while the soldiers were resting in the narrow valley, several uninvited guests suddenly appeared from the south.

Some of those people wore only casual clothes, while others wore light armor, most of which were decorated with the family crest of three quinces.

This means... the people on the other side are from the Asakura family!

Fortunately, sentries were deployed in advance.

Moreover, the person in charge, Harumi Shigao, was a man who never compromised on anything. After discovering the enemy's whereabouts, he immediately realized that he needed to eliminate them all. He tried to flank and intercept them while sending someone to notify the main force.

Unfortunately, the vegetation in the valley is not dense enough and is mainly shrubs, which is not enough to conceal a person's figure.

Moreover, among those who came were many with keen hearing and sharp eyesight.

Qinghai hurried away, but before she could get around to the back, she heard a furious roar: "Who goes there?"

Then came the sound of weapons being drawn.

It vaguely appears that someone is drawing a bow and nocking an arrow.

Seeing this, Qinghai had no choice but to abandon his hiding place, and led his men to leap up and fight their way out.

Friendly forces, having received the report, arrived one after another.

The Asakura family currently only has about ten members, which is clearly insufficient for combat. One of them, who seemed to be the leader, shouted, "Retreat immediately! Inform the general of Uemon-no-daifu!" Then, without saying another word, he turned and ran back.

The others were only a beat slower before fleeing.

Qinghai Shigao, along with several subordinates, only managed to kill three people.

By the time the main force arrived, the enemy had already run twenty or thirty paces away.

Despite the short distance, it's really hard to catch up on the mountain road.

Just then, Meng Peiyu from Tang decisively shouted, "We should use bows and arrows!" and immediately drew his own bow and arrows.

This man was not only skilled with firearms, but also with archery; he immediately shot one of them. Unfortunately, the shot lacked power and did not cause a fatal wound. The man who had been shot paused for a moment, then continued to stagger away.

The remaining samurai and soldiers, armed with bows and arrows, also began to fire.

Since they were carefully selected elite soldiers, there were naturally many who could shoot an arrow through a willow leaf from a hundred paces away. In an instant, a rain of arrows fell, resulting in several kills.

Unfortunately, the mission was not fully accomplished.

Judging from the appearance, there were two members of the Asakura family, who were injured, running to the corner.

That means you lose your field of vision.

Qinghai was not good at archery and did not carry a bow and arrows with him. He and his men were in hot pursuit, and it seemed that it would not be easy for him to succeed.

Although the two enemy soldiers were wounded, their injuries were probably not serious. Driven by their will to survive, they displayed astonishing speed.

……

Shinzaburo was quite shocked when he heard that they had encountered a small number of Asakura soldiers, thinking that the surprise attack was likely to fail.

But upon arriving at the scene, they saw two injured people running across the way, with one of their own squads in hot pursuit.

Seeing this, Shinzaburo laughed and said, "I was just worried about not being able to find the location of Asakura Uemon's army, but now I have no worries! These two wounded men can't run fast enough to send back messages in time, which has exposed our position!"

A sharp-eyed person noticed that the other side was also equipped with whistling arrows, but there was only one set. The person carrying it was cut down immediately and had no time to sound the alarm, so the others had no chance to pick it up.

182. The generals vied for the lead.

The two wounded Asakura soldiers ultimately couldn't escape by sheer willpower; after running a few hundred steps, they couldn't hold on any longer and were captured.

If you continue forward a bit, leaving the mountains and reaching the edge of the valley, you can see the enemy figures in the distance.

The location did indeed deviate somewhat from Shinzaburo's previous predictions.

Therefore, the place where we just rested was actually right under the enemy's nose. Even if we were accidentally discovered, as long as we launched an immediate attack without hesitation, we still wouldn't give the enemy much time to prepare.

Of course, it would be even better if no alarm was triggered at all.

Shinzaburo emerged from the narrow mountain pass and looked ahead, discovering several hundred members of the Xiaohe team resting nearby. Each carried an empty bamboo basket or cloth bag, but no weapons. Only a few guards and the leader were equipped, totaling no more than fifty.

This appears to be the rear of the enemy's position, and it must be very close to the supply depot.

It seemed that a few people on the other side had noticed something was wrong and were looking this way, but most of them were still in a state of confusion.

Then there's no need to hesitate. The raiding team should go all out without holding back!

……

"Hehe, you must be tired from your journey!"

Inato Shigenobu took the longbow from his attendant, glanced at it briefly, and found no scratches or wear, which pleased him greatly.

As a high-ranking samurai, even in a raiding party composed of only elite soldiers, he could bring two personal guards.

The journey over mountains and valleys was already physically demanding, and carrying a longbow that was taller than a person when standing upright was no easy task. Inatomi Shigenobu specifically instructed that his personal guards only needed to safeguard the weapons and not prioritize combat.

He believed it was worthwhile. He even kindly assigned someone to help his brother-in-law, Ooi Shigeie.

The two are in good spirits right now, patting each other on the shoulder, their faces full of confidence in achieving great things.

At that moment, they heard Kubo Genban's order: "Fire the cannons and arrows at close range, aim at the enemy's small cavalry, and then pursue them with melee!"

This means attacking the enemy's unarmed logistics personnel first, thus driving the fleeing troops to break their formation.

This is a very wise approach.

Then, dozens of friendly troops, led by Kubo Kumataro and Kubo Hashibei, carrying arquebuses, rushed out, some crouching and some standing, and opened fire on the unsuspecting Asakura family's Koho unit.

These two members of the Kubo family had always served as captains of arquebusiers during wartime, while the two highly skilled foreign retainers served as instructors.

Inatomi Shigenobu subconsciously muttered, "Samurai should still use bows."

"That's absolutely right!" Ooi Shigeie nodded sharply in agreement. "Let's teach them a lesson today!"

They quickly drew their bows and nocked their arrows, aimed at targets dozens of paces away, and fired simultaneously, killing all of them instantly.

The two exchanged a glance, both feeling very excited.

At this moment, although the Asakura army's Koho squad was attacked, they did not collapse immediately. Although most of them screamed, they lay down and hid on the spot, looking around for their commander.

This indicates that there is a relatively high level of trust between them and their superiors.

However, a moment later, a squad of thirty arquebuses fired almost simultaneously, with flames and smoke rising and the piercing sound echoing through the valley.

Immediately, many members of the Asakura family's Koho team exclaimed, "This is terrifying!" "What is this thing?" and fled in panic, covering their heads.

At that time, the Hokuriku Kokkyu uprising probably didn't have many firearms, so the farmers in Echizen were also unaware of them.

"Idiot! It's just a musket, nothing to be afraid of!"

The number of Xiaohe's team appeared to be no less than eight hundred, with about thirty or forty equipped samurai and armored soldiers beside them. Soon, someone attempted to fight back and used words to stop the rout.

The firing rate of the bows and arrows was naturally quite high. Inatomi Shigenobu and Ooi Shigeie quickly drew their heavy arrows and continued firing.

However, facing A's opponent, the two were unable to continue their success.

Inatomi Shigenobu shot one person on the head with a helmet, and Ooi Shigeie shot another person in the chest, both of which only caused the other person to stumble and did not cause any actual damage.

It seems that the Echizen soldiers are in good financial condition, and their armor is of high quality.

The enemy's samurai and armored soldiers still rushed forward.

Immediately afterward, another squad fired their thirty arquebuses.

Although the accuracy may not seem high, the person hit immediately falls down and has difficulty getting up again.

Kubo Kumataro and Kubo Hashibei ordered, "Don't charge blindly with the enemy soldiers. Let's fill up our medicine first before we go in!"

Ōi Shigeie coughed, tossed the bow to his attendant, and took a large spear in his hand, saying seriously, "A samurai should still use swords and spears!"

Upon hearing this, Inatomi Shigenobu nodded repeatedly: "That's absolutely right!" He immediately put down his bow and picked up his gun.

The two supported each other as they charged forward, while their followers packed up their equipment and followed behind.

Actually, it's quite difficult to break through a metal plate with a spear blade, but close combat doesn't require brute force. Modern armor isn't a perfectly sealed full-body plate armor; there are still quite a few weaknesses that can be exploited.

Inato Shigenobu faced a soldier who was not wearing a mask or armor. He aimed for the soldier's face with every move, forcing the soldier to keep up. Then he suddenly attacked the lower body, sweeping the soldier's calf and knocking him down. He then calmly stepped forward to finish him off.

Ooi Shigeie faced a fully armed samurai, maneuvering and retreating for a while. When the enemy's armor was disheveled, he forcefully thrust into the connection point of the collar fin, cutting the rope, and then delivered a heavy blow to the shoulder.

The thirty or forty combatants escorting Xiaohe's team were commendable in their courage and had decent equipment, but their martial arts skills were lacking, and most of them were killed or wounded in an instant.

Thus, the situation became one where Kubo's raiding party drove a large number of scattered laborers from east to west.

A moment later, they encountered a small fortified position, several dozen paces in length and width, with some sheds built inside for storing supplies, probably as temporary warehouses. Beside them were a small number of warriors and men with feet, leading several hundred unarmored soldiers.

The enemy troops here were not so brave. They did not make any combat response, and may not have even tried to investigate the cause of the incident. They simply followed suit and fled in confusion.

Shigenobu Inatomi charged forward in his armor, encountering no resistance except for killing one person at the beginning; he used most of his energy to move quickly.

But he was in a state of high spirits, feeling that he had inexhaustible energy and did not feel tired at all.

He even shouted and chased after her, making a series of incomprehensible noises, before saying to his brother-in-law, Ooi Shigeie, "Back then, I volunteered to be assigned to Kubo Genban's command precisely for battle formations like this! The campaigns against Harima, Kuwata, and Wakasa were exhilarating, but none of them were against truly formidable enemies!"