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

Chapter 53: The Ambush at Lucang Mountain
While sending people to escort the captured Asakura troops back to Kuniyoshi Castle, the Kuriya brothers led their troops to advance towards Asakurayama Fort without stopping.

At this time, Asakura Kagetaka had not learned of the news that Asakura Kagenori had been attacked. Instead, he headed eastward according to his original plan, intending to return to Echizen via Sekitoge and meet up with Asakura Keireun at Kanayama Castle.

However, the increasing snowfall slowed down Asakura Kagetaka's progress, which also bought time for Kumagata Takashi and Yamagata Morinobu to arrive at Asakura Fort first.

In the evening, a cavalry team led by Yamagata Morinobu arrived at the Asakura Mountain Fort first. At this time, there was no one in the fort, only a small amount of food and grass for the army. Yamagata Morinobu ordered his men to hide the horses, and the rest of the people hid on the mountainside, quietly waiting for the arrival of the Asakura army.

About half an hour later, when it was already dark, a messenger suddenly came to report that a large army was coming up from the back mountain. Yamagata Morinobu thought it was the vanguard of the Asakura army and thought something was wrong, so he quickly gathered people and returned to the Asakura Mountain Fort for defense.

Unexpectedly, when they got closer, they saw that it was the 300-odd horsemen led by Kumagai Takashige.

Yamagata Morinobu was both surprised and delighted. He did not expect Kumagai Takanao to be so fast that he could reach the position before the Asakura army.

Kumagai Ryuichi smiled and said, "I am more familiar with the roads in Mikata County than you are. I took shortcuts and marched quickly, and I was able to catch up with your cavalry."

"It's snowing so heavily today, and you're marching so quickly, you must have consumed a lot of energy. Why don't you go to the fort to rest for a while, eat something to replenish your strength. I'll take the lead in this battle later." said Yamagata Morinobu.

Kumagai Takashige declined, saying, "The soldiers all brought dry food with them, so they should just fill their stomachs where they are. If they light a fire in the fort to cook, the smoke would alert the enemy."

Yamagata Morinobu felt that what he said made sense, so he did not insist, but asked him to lead the Ma Hui people to attack behind him to reduce physical consumption.

Under the night sky with heavy snow, in the pitch-black valley, only the torches of the Asakura army emitted a bright light. Riding on a tall horse, surrounded by his personal guards, Asakura Kagetaka led his troops to slowly advance towards the valley from west to east.

"Gulu, Guru."

The soldiers' stomachs made such noises from time to time, and Asakura Kagetaka listened but was speechless.

After all, apart from the little dry food they carried with them, the soldiers had no other food to fill their stomachs before arriving at Jinshan City.

"Without any food to eat and still having to march in the snow, this is really not a life for human beings." A foot soldier rubbed his stomach and complained in a low voice.

The peasant soldier nearby also came up and muttered with a frown, "That's right. I also heard that the food in Jinshan Castle was burned by the Takeda army. There is nothing to eat if we go there."

"Really?! If that's the case, then we're doomed. We have to go back to Kanezaki Castle hungry to get something to eat?"

"What are you talking about?!" The leader of the foot soldiers walking in front turned around and shouted angrily, "If you continue to spread rumors and cause trouble, I will chop all of you off!"

Everyone was afraid to say anything, but silence did not mean inaction. As it was getting dark and the weather was getting worse, some soldiers of the Asakura army began to leave the team and fled in groups of three or five to nearby villages to beg or loot for food.

Seeing that the number of soldiers was decreasing, Asakura Kagetaka was helpless. Apart from repeatedly using "food and grass from Jinshan Castle" to appease everyone, he had no other choice. If he took tough measures, it might backfire and cause a larger-scale rout.

In the woods on the mountainside, Yamagata Morinobu's bright eyes were watching the movements below the mountain carefully. The samurai and the stable boys beside him were hunched over, breathing out hot air and rubbing their hands together to keep warm. Even in such a predicament, they did not complain or make any sound.

"Sir, look! The Asakura army is coming!" A samurai not far from Yamagata Morinobu said cautiously.

Shengxin Yamagata rubbed his eyes and looked towards the valley entrance, only to see two torches slowly entering the valley.

In the light of the fire, the samurai with good eyesight could see that the foot soldier in front of the team was holding the military flag of the Asakura family.

"Shigegoro! Here he comes!" Yamagata Morinobu called softly.

Kumagai Ryuunao had also noticed Taniguchi's movements at this time. He nodded to Yamagata Morinobu and said, "Everything will be arranged by you, sir."

"Just as we said just now, we will start the action after the vanguard passes the middle of the valley!" said Yamagata Shengxin.

It took the hungry and cold group of people longer than expected to enter the valley.

At around nine o'clock in the evening, seeing that the time had come, Yamagata Morinobu waved his hand and the foot soldiers behind him immediately beat the drums.

"Boom boom boom!"

"Boom boom boom!"

What followed was hundreds of arrows flying into the air towards the Asakura army at the foot of the mountain.

"what!"

"It hurts me so much!"

"Run! The Takeda army is coming!"

The tight drum beats and dense arrows threw the Asakura army in the valley into chaos. Asakura Kagetaka rode back and forth on his horse, shouting loudly: "Enemy attack! Don't panic, quickly form a formation!"

However, the Asakura army, which was already hungry and demoralized, was now like a frightened bird. They had no time to form a formation and began to flee towards the exit of the valley.

Seeing this, Yamagata Shengxin shouted: "My sons, let's make achievements today, follow me!"

"Hoohoo!"

In an instant, more than 400 Takeda troops rushed down from the southern hillside and directly rushed into the already chaotic Asakura army.

It was a dark, windy and snowy night. At this moment, the Asakura army was already on high alert and had no time to think about how many Takeda troops were involved in the battle. They were all fleeing frantically. Only Asakura Kagetaka, under the protection of the horsemen left behind by Asakura Muneshige, was struggling to maintain his formation.

"That man should be the enemy general!" Yamagata Morinobu noticed that behind Asakura Kagetaka, a foot soldier was holding a horse flag tightly, and called out loudly to Kumagai Takashige.

"Leave it to me! You take your men to the valley entrance. Tonight, no Asakura soldier can get out alive!" Kumagaya Takashige roared and led a group of men to charge towards Asakura Kagetaka!

Soon, the elite Makai representing the Takeda clan and the Asakura clan engaged in a fierce battle. The two armies were evenly matched, but in the end, the Takeda army, with its superior morale and physical strength, gained the upper hand. After breaking through the second line of defense organized by the Asakura army, more than a dozen Takeda Makai, armed with tachi and spears, rushed to Asakura Kagetaka.

"Ah!" The foot soldier who was guarding Ma Biao was stabbed in the throat, and the huge Ma Biao fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, more than ten horsemen launched an attack on Asakura Kagetaka.

After failing to break out and his mount tripping, Asakura Kagetaka had to fight on foot. But how could this general be a match for more than a dozen young samurai? After just a few rounds of fighting, his thighs, abdomen, and shoulders were severely injured by spears and swords.

"Pfft!"

Asakura Kagetaka spat out a mouthful of blood. He slowly lowered his head, looking at the spear that pierced his chest. He gritted his teeth in pain and raised his sword with difficulty, preparing to counterattack the samurai in front of him who was trying to assassinate him. Suddenly, a samurai behind him leaped up, raised his sword and slashed. The head of the thirty-year-old warrior rolled to the side and his body fell to the ground. He struggled twice and then became motionless.

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(End of this chapter)