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

Chapter 54: Three-way meeting
"Asakura Ubeiwei has been captured by me, Yamaguchi Yabei Jiro!" The samurai who chopped off Asakura Kagetaka's head hurriedly picked up the head that rolled to the side, held it high above his head, and shouted at the top of his voice.

Seeing this, the Asakura clan's horsemen, who had been struggling to hold on just now, gave up hope of survival one by one and rushed into the enemy camp in the hope of a quick death.

As for the foot soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers, they became even more panicked when they learned that the general had died in the battle. They all fled towards the entrance and exit of the valley. Some even risked fleeing to the hillsides on both sides. For a moment, the mountains and plains were filled with panicked Asakura soldiers who had no choice but to flee, like an ant nest that had been poked open.

Seeing this, Morinobu Yamagata and Takanao Kumagaya, who were already at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, were overjoyed and began to command their elite troops to act separately and defeat the enemy one by one.

After the Asakura family's Umakai rushed into the battle and died one by one, the remaining foot soldiers and miscellaneous soldiers were like fish on a chopping board, left to be chased and killed by the Takeda army all over the mountains. In addition, the weather was freezing cold, and many soldiers would hardly live to see the next day's sunrise even if they hid in the mountains.

The massacre lasted for more than half an hour. Yamagata Morinobu said to Kumagai Takashinao: "Let's fight quickly and end it quickly. Don't worry about the miscellaneous soldiers for now."

Kumagai Ryuichi nodded and said, "We must hurry to Jinshan Castle to support Shigeyuki."

Then, the two men gathered their troops, still with the cavalry as the vanguard, and quickly marched along the valley towards Sekitoge, the border between Wakasa and Echizen.

At this time outside Jinshan City, Asakura Kageren, who had three thousand troops under his command, was also in a difficult situation.

In the evening, the Asakura army crossed the Sekitoge and entered Echizen. When they were about to walk out of the valley and reach the castle town of Kaneyama Castle, bursts of drums suddenly rang out on both sides of the valley, followed by a gust of arrows flying down, throwing the already exhausted Asakura army into chaos.

"Enemy attack!" Asakura Kageren hurriedly organized a defense, and the Takeda army pouring down from the mountains on both sides had already arrived in the valley. Their purpose was not to kill the Asakura army, but to find the right time to pour kerosene on the Asakura army's few food and grass, and then set them on fire.

"Sir, the food and fodder are gone!" The little porter who was in charge of escorting the food and fodder crawled to Asakura Keiren's horse and cried loudly.

"What are you panicking about?" Asakura Jingren shouted, "Burning food and grass means that they are short of troops and hope to use the strategy of cutting off food to force our army to withdraw. From this perspective, it is not a bad thing."

As expected, after burning the food and grass, the Takeda troops that launched the surprise attack immediately withdrew from the battlefield. This made Asakura Kageren more certain of his judgment - the Takeda troops in Jinshan Castle should be very insufficient in strength.

However, without food and rations, they could not build a fire to cook. In addition, it was freezing cold and snowing heavily. The morale of this army of 3,000 men fell to a low point. Deserters began to appear, and many generals suggested not to attack Kanazaki Castle, but to return to Kanazaki Castle to fill their stomachs before making any plans.

However, Asakura Kageren was unwilling to see Kanayama Castle, the gateway to Echizen, fall into the hands of the Takeda army. He was even more unwilling to see the food and fodder stored in the city be seized by the Takeda army. With an army of 3,000 at his command, he decided to give it one more try, betting that the defenders in the city could not withstand the Asakura army's fierce attack.

After arriving at the castle town of Kanayama Castle, Asakura Kageren ordered his soldiers to collect food from house to house. However, because of the arrival of the Takeda army, the people in the castle town had already fled to the mountains. Not to mention food, not even a single vegetable leaf was left.

In desperation, Asakura Kageren could only order a forced attack on Jinshan Castle.

Three hundred men against three thousand men was originally a one-sided situation, but because of the strong fortifications of Jinshan City and the bad weather, the war entered a stalemate.

At this moment, smoke rose from the Kanazawa Castle. After a while, Yamamoto Shigeyuki walked above the scull with a bowl of rice in his hand and said to the Asakura army outside the city: "Brothers of the Asakura family, thank you for your hospitality. The food in Kanazawa Castle is enough for our Takeda army to eat for more than half a year!" "Damn it!" Asakura Kageren at the foot of the mountain was furious. He said that he must take down Kanazawa Castle and he would kill the "one-eyed dragon" on the scull with his own hands.

After receiving the military order from Asakura Kageren, the Asakura army on the front line launched another fierce attack. However, facing the city that they had carefully built, the Asakura army found it difficult to advance. They frequently stopped in front of the densely packed vertical moats, allowing the arrows in the city to shoot at them through the narrow gaps.

"Sir, I'm afraid we can't take down Jinshan Castle in a short time!" The samurai who led the charge retreated down the mountain and reported to Asakura Kageren helplessly.

Asakura Kageren was also hesitant at this moment. If it were in the past, he would not stop until he captured the city. But now was different from the past. The soldiers were hungry and the weather was so bad. Multiple charges had already consumed a lot of physical strength and morale. If they continued fighting, there would be no result.

Seeing the snow getting heavier, Asakura Keiren finally ordered the entire army to retreat, leaving the castle town of Kanazawa Castle and heading east, setting up camp in the nearby Kurino area. After the snow subsided, they set out for Kanezaki Castle.

At around 1 a.m., Morinobu Yamagata and Takanao Kumagaya arrived at the castle town of Kanayama Castle with more than 400 troops. Yamamoto Shigeyuki was overjoyed and hurried down the mountain to greet them. After learning from them that Asakura Kagetaka had been defeated and the 3,000 troops in Nakayama Castle had been defeated, Yamamoto Shigeyuki gained confidence. He believed that the Asakura army stationed in Kurino would not be able to escape from his grasp.

At three o'clock in the morning, the Kuriya brothers led 800 Takeda troops and finally crossed the Sekitoge Pass and arrived at Kanayama Castle.

"Genbei, we've been waiting for you." Yamamoto Shigeyuki patted Katsuhisa Kuriya on the shoulder and smiled heartily.

"Although we are a step late, we bring good news." Katsuhisa Kuriya said with a smile.

"Oh? What good news?" everyone asked.

Kuriya Katsuhisa pointed at Asakura Kageki who was being guarded by the Takeda army not far away, and replied happily: "Look, I have invited the Tsuruga County Magistrate of the Asakura family. This should give us more confidence in advancing into Kanezaki Castle, right?"

Yamamoto Shigeyuki nodded slightly: "But as far as I know, this Kanezaki Castle is now an empty castle. As long as we can eliminate Kurino's Asakura Keiren, it will be a natural thing to capture Kanezaki Castle and even the entire Tsuruga County."

"Our family has now gathered 1,600 people. How do you plan to arrange them?" asked Shigeyuki Yamagata Morinobu.

"We can't be like the Asakura army and force an attack regardless of our hungry brothers. Let's let everyone fill their stomachs and have a good sleep tonight, and then we will set out to Kurino at dawn tomorrow," said Yamamoto Shigeyuki.

"How are we going to fight this time? The enemy's number is nearly twice that of ours." Although Kumagai Takanao was full of confidence, he was still worried, fearing that if he let these Asakura troops go, they would become a big threat in the future.

"Directly attack the enemy in Kurino! Please remember, what lies before us is not three thousand elite soldiers with high morale, but a group of hungry and cold soldiers with low morale. We must eat them all in one breath!" Yamamoto Shigeyuki said in a firm tone.

(End of this chapter)