Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 43: Lightning Attack on Ichijo Valley (Seeking Follow-up Reading)

Unable to bear Sato Yoshibei's repeated persuasion, Maemaya Kagesada had to order his generals to rest outside the city for a while, while he led more than ten generals into Mitsumine Castle.

After three rounds of wine and five dishes, Qianbo Jingding, who was in high spirits and toasting each other just a moment ago, gradually felt sleepy. His shoulders drooped involuntarily and his eyelids seemed to weigh a thousand pounds. Then, everything around him became blurry and his breath became heavy. Finally, he closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.

Most of the other generals around him also fell into coma like him. There were a few strong-willed ones who realized something was wrong and barely supported themselves and tried to walk out of the room. However, they were knocked down directly by the hilts of their swords by the samurai waiting at the door. In this way, more than a dozen people became prisoners of Asakura Kagetaka.

A moment later, Maemaya Kagetada came to the room where the generals of the Foot Army were imprisoned with a calm expression.

"My lord, you are still too merciful." While carefully checking the appearance of everyone to see if there were any acquaintances who could be used to rebel, he sighed to himself that Asakura Kagetaka was unwilling to follow his advice and kill these generals, and he was afraid that it would cause trouble in the future.

"Sir, this person seems to be your brother... Lord Maeba Kagesada." Sato Yoshibei pointed at Maeba Kagesada who was tied up and spoke softly to Maeba Kagetada.

Maebashi Jingzhong frowned slightly, walked to Maebashi Jingding, bowed and looked at him carefully for a moment, and a strange smile appeared on his face: "I really didn't expect it. I thought I would fight him in the attack on Ichijodani, but I didn't expect to capture him here without any effort. It's really God's will."

"Sir, what should we do with these people?" asked Sato Yoshibei.

"Send him back to Kawashima Castle first, and wait until our army takes over Ichijodani, then hand it over to the lord for the decision." After saying that, Maemaya Kagetada turned around and strode out of the room.

Compared to the dozen or so Zuyu army generals who were still asleep, the soldiers outside the city were not so lucky.

After taking the food mixed with sleeping pills, most of the more than 3,000 soldiers fell asleep like babies. The few soldiers who were not hit sensed something was wrong and tried to fight their way back to Ichijodani.

At this moment, the Ono army, which was ambushed in the woods on both sides of the garrison, rushed out roaring. The unprepared Zuyu army was like fish on a chopping board, and was wantonly hacked and killed by the Ono army who came from all directions. In an instant, the entire field was filled with broken arms and limbs, and wailing and begging for mercy were everywhere. The nearby river was dyed red with blood.

After cleaning up the Asuwa troops who tried to resist, the Ono army began to attack the unconscious soldiers. They carefully searched among the corpses on the ground, and when they found unconscious people, they disarmed them and tied their hands behind their backs. Due to the large number of people, according to Asakura Kagetaka's request, some were escorted to Kawashima Castle for imprisonment, while the other part was directly taken back to Ono County and dispersed to several cities for imprisonment.

"Hurry, go and report to the lord. Now that things here have been dealt with, please ask him to move to Sanfeng City." Qianbo Jingzhong said to the envoy.

At night, Asakura Kagetaka rode a tall horse on the street outside Sanfeng Castle, surrounded by a group of stables. Looking at the corpses piled on both sides of the road and the blood flowing in the gullies, he felt very uncomfortable. But who would be merciful if he achieved great things? Besides, he had already taken a step back and did not execute all the soldiers who were loyal to Asakura Takakage. He was also very kind.

When the team arrived at the main gate of Sanfeng City, Qianbo Jingzhong had been waiting for a long time.

"Yuzaemon, I heard that you captured your own brothers this time?" Asakura Kagetaka dismounted from his horse, walked up to Maeba Kagetada, and asked with a strange expression.

Maematsugu nodded: "That's right, brother is responsible for leading reinforcements and food to support the Wakasa front. If he is not captured, how can the other generals be willing to surrender." "You have worked so hard." Asakura Kagetaka looked up and down at this important minister under his command with strange eyes, and a strange and complicated emotion surged in his heart.

"My lord, do you want to rest in Sanfeng City tonight and then march to Ichichengdani City tomorrow?" Qianbo Jingzhong asked respectfully.

"The night is long and dreams are many. Let the army rest for a while, and then send troops directly to Ichijodani in half an hour." Asakura Kagetaka had no way back, and his attitude at this moment became extremely decisive.

Ichijodani is a valley running from north to south, surrounded by valleys on the east, west and south. The Asuza River in the north is a natural barrier. The Ichijodani River, a tributary of the Asuza River, flows through the valley. Asakura Takakage built the Asakura Clan House in the valley as a place for daily government affairs and residence. There are densely packed castle towns around the house, which shows the prosperity of Echizen at that time.

To strengthen the defense, the Asakura clan also set up upper and lower gates at the north and south entrances of the valley, and built Ichijodani Castle, also known as Tsuno Castle, on Ichijodani Castle Mountain in the southeast of the valley.

It can be said that Ichijodani Castle is difficult to attack due to its steep terrain, but Asakura Clan House is easy to attack due to its convenient transportation. As it is located in the hinterland of Echizen and there has been no war for a long time, Asakura Takakage basically worked and lived in the prosperous valley during his reign, and Ichijodani Castle far away in the mountains was almost a decoration, which gave Asakura Kagetaka an opportunity to take advantage of.

That night, Asakura Kagetaka led an army of 3,000 troops, set out from Mitsumine Castle, passed through Kanmata Town, and headed north along the valley of the Ichijodani River. In less than two hours, he arrived at Kokyo-ji Temple not far from the southern outskirts of the upper castle gate.

In order to minimize casualties, Asakura Kagetaka sent more than 30 people to disguise themselves as envoys of the Ashikaga Army, falsely claiming to have urgent military information to report, and successfully opened the upper gate without any soldiers. After entering the city, the Ono Army took advantage of their unpreparedness, immediately killed the defenders, and led the Ono Army outside the city to quickly enter the city.

At this time, the garrison on the Ichijodani Mountain noticed something was wrong and immediately sent people down the mountain to check. However, as soon as they got down the mountain, they were caught by the Ono army who were preparing to go up the mountain to seize the city.

The defenders in Ichijodani Castle realized something was wrong when they found out that there was no news from the envoys they had sent out. They immediately sounded the alarm. The harsh sound of metal knocking disturbed the tranquility of the winter night. It was not until then that the defenders near the Asakura clan's mansion were awakened and immediately went into a state of combat readiness.

However, at this moment, the Oono army had already passed through the dense castle town and arrived at the garden called "Yuden" built by Asakura Takakage not far south of the Asakura clan's mansion.

The defenders who came from the Asakura clan's mansion engaged in a fierce battle with the Ono army near the garden, but due to being outnumbered, the defenders were quickly defeated. Two thousand Asakura troops then arrived outside the Asakura clan's mansion and divided into two groups, one from the east and one from the west, and surrounded the entire mansion.

Ichijodani Castle, which was the first to discover the enemy, quickly fell under the fierce attack of the 1,000-man Ōno army. The general defending the castle committed suicide by seppuku, and the remaining sixty or so samurai and peasant soldiers also surrendered.

At this point, the entire Ichijodani was under the control of Asakura Kagetaka.

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(End of this chapter)