Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 137 The Great Battle of Higashimino, Sasa no Saizo!

Sadari Suganuma is the head of the Tamine Suganuma clan.

The Suganuma clan is a powerful national clan in the eastern Mikawa area, and is divided into five families: the Shimada Suganuma clan, the Noda Suganuma clan, the Tamine Suganuma clan, the Nagashino Suganuma clan, and the Miyako Suganuma clan.

In order to coordinate with the Komakiyama battlefield in Owari, Tokugawa Ieyasu ordered the Suzuki and Suganuma clans of Higashi-Mikawa to send troops into Mino to assist the Toyama Ikki.

The deployment was overseen by Ishikawa Kazumasa, a senior retainer of the Tokugawa clan. Suganuma Sadatoshi and Suzuki Shigetsugu were the first troops to enter Mino for the operation because they were closer to the city. Okudaira Nobumasa, as part of the second batch of troops, was still preparing at Okazaki Castle.

Currently in the Mino region, Sadaotoshi Suganuma and Shigeji Suzuki are the chief commanders of the Tokugawa army.

"Lord Suganuma, Lord Suzuki, the Sanada clan's forces are currently besieging Osato Castle, and the Osato clan is requesting our reinforcements."

"I wonder if they will send troops?"

Toyama Tomotada and others have already pledged allegiance to the Tokugawa clan, hoping to regain their former territory with the help of the Tokugawa clan.

If it weren't for the Sanada family's interference, they probably would have succeeded already.

"Lord Ishikawa ordered us to capture Iwamura Castle, but unfortunately, Iwamura Castle is supported by the Sanada family, and we have made no progress for a long time."

"If this continues, it might be disadvantageous for us in Mikawa," Suzuki Shigeji said with some concern.

Suganuma Tadari knew it in his heart.

Since the Matsudaira Nobuyasu incident, Mikawa's standing in Tokugawa Ieyasu's eyes had plummeted.

Tokugawa Ieyasu preferred to move his residence to Hamamatsu Castle in Tōtōmi Province and Suruga Province rather than return to Mikawa Province, which put great pressure on the people of Mikawa Province.

In addition, Sakai Tadatsugu's previous defeat in the Battle of Shinano, and Ishikawa Kazumasa's unsuccessful attempts to pacify the people of Shinano, led to Ishikawa Kazumasa and others being punished by Tokugawa Ieyasu.

Ishikawa Kazumasa's status and influence at home have plummeted, which is bad news for all the samurai in Mikawa.

"Lord Ishikawa is also under great pressure, but our forces do not have an absolute advantage."

"If we leave the castle and fight the Sanada family in the open, I'm afraid..." Suganuma Sadatoshi hesitated.

Since the Battle of Uehara Castle, the Tokugawa clan had gained a preliminary understanding of the Sanada clan's military strength. In particular, the fact that Suganuma Sadahide of the Noda Suganuma clan had also fought alongside Sakai Tadatsugu in that battle, and that the Mikawa people had suffered heavy losses, had truly frightened them.

Just as Suganuma Sadatoshi was hesitating, a messenger strode in.

"Lord Suganuma, orders have come from Mikawa urging us to advance as soon as possible."

Hearing this, Suganuma Sadaotoshi was even more caught in a dilemma.

His intuition told him that the Sanada family was not to be trifled with, but orders had been issued from the Mikawa side.

After Mori Nagayoshi's death, Higashi Mino was extremely vulnerable, and according to the Tokugawa family's plan, they should have been able to quickly take over this area.

But now the battle in Mino has reached a stalemate, Tokugawa Ieyasu is very anxious, and Ishikawa Kazumasa is even more anxious.

If he couldn't complete the task assigned by Tokugawa Ieyasu, Ishikawa Kazumasa himself would have to consider whether his position within the household could remain secure.

"Lord Suganuma, according to news from the Kosato family, it seems that the Sanada family is carrying out a large-scale raid on Kosato Castle."

"The military situation was extremely chaotic, with Sanada clan foot soldiers everywhere."

“The enemy’s formation is scattered. If we can advance quickly, we might be able to crush them in one fell swoop,” suggested Tomotada Toyama.

Sadao Suganuma fell into deep thought.

After much hesitation, Suganuma Sadatoshi finally issued the order to send troops and sent messengers to Toshikage Toyama of Meichi Castle and Tsunekage Toyama of Kushihara Castle, requesting that the two bring their troops to join him.

As Tomotada Toyama said, the Sanada clan's large-scale raids were indeed a good opportunity to launch an attack.

With the Mikawa side constantly urging him to advance, Suganuma Sadatoshi knew he could no longer delay.

Otherwise, if they were held accountable afterward, the Suganuma clan could not withstand Tokugawa Ieyasu's second wrath. When the Takeda clan attacked the Tokugawa clan, the Suganuma clan surrendered to the Takeda clan and was severely punished afterwards, with their territory being significantly reduced.

As soon as there was any movement at Naegi Castle, Sasuke reported the enemy's movements to Sanada Nobuyuki.

Nobuyuki Sanada breathed a sigh of relief; he had finally lured the enemy out.

Since the fall of the Takeda clan, the Sanada clan has always attached great importance to battlefield intelligence gathering, and the intelligence ninjas of the Mochizuki and Izuura clans have been given important roles.

The defeat at Nagakute was due to the Tokugawa clan's absolute advantage in intelligence, as every move of the Hashiba army was exposed to Tokugawa Ieyasu.

In contrast, the Hashiba army was completely unaware of the Tokugawa clan's troop movements, only learning that Tokugawa Ieyasu had left Komakiyama Castle after the Nagakute campaign was over.

Sanada Nobuyuki naturally learned his lesson and had Sasuke and his intelligence agents keep a close watch on Naegi Castle.

April 24th, the twelfth year of the Tianzheng era.

Under pressure from the Sanada family, Toyama Ikki began his march towards Kosato Castle.

The army, led by General Sadao Suganuma, marched out from Naegi Castle. Halfway there, Toshikage Toyama of Akichi Castle arrived. The two armies joined forces, and a total of 7,000 troops marched towards Kozato Castle.

The previous day, Toyama Tomomasa and Toyama Tomotada encountered Sanada Nobushige's army from the Sanada family when they were traveling to Teragawa Township. After a fierce battle, they defeated Sanada Nobushige.

Immediately afterwards, the foot soldiers of the Ogasawara and Kiso families who were arbitrarily taking things nearby also fled in panic.

Seeing this, Suganuma Sadatoshi ordered the entire army to pursue them, and they chased them all the way to the banks of the Terakawa River, where they met Sanada Nobuyuki's main force head-on.

Subsequently, the two sides engaged in a standoff along the Sihe River.

Across the Teraka River, five miles northwest of Kosato Castle, lies Oda Village, which was Sanada Nobuyuki's main camp.

Sanada Nobushige strode into the main camp. "Brother, the enemy has already caught up to the banks of the Terakawa River. The vanguard is led by Toyama Tomotada and his son Toyama Tomomasa."

"Well done, Genjiro." Sanada Nobuyuki praised his younger brother. Sanada Nobushige had done a great job in successfully luring the enemy to Kosato Castle.

"The enemy has won two battles and will definitely take advantage of the momentum to continue their attack."

"The Daoji and the various officials are surrounding Xiaoli City, and the threat from the east has been temporarily eliminated."

"Now we must focus all our efforts on dealing with the enemy on the other side of the Sihe River."

"Kumachiyo!" Sanada Nobuyuki looked at Obata Kumachiyo behind him. "Make a note of this. I'm making the following arrangements!"

"what!"

"Order the two teams, the one in charge of the city and the one on the mountain, to continue to maintain the siege of Xiaoli City. They are not allowed to attack the city or retreat without orders."

"The Ogasawara unit, with 2000 men on the left wing, and the Kiso clan's Senmura unit, with 1500 men on the right wing, are deployed in a crane-wing formation."

"Ke'er has hidden 300 men as a secondary force to the right of the main force, ready to meet the enemy attack immediately."

"Sanada Genjiro led 200 mounted men as a guerrilla force, following the main camp."

"Did you write it down?"

Obata Kumachiyo quickly took notes, nodding as she wrote.

After finishing writing, Suzuki Kotaro immediately took over the order and began to relay it to each unit.

Soon, Ogasawara Sadayoshi, Chimura Yoshishige, and others, having received their orders, began their advance. Ogasawara Sadayoshi's subordinates, Futaki Shigekichi, Inugami Hisachi, and Mizoguchi Sadayasu, divided into three columns and marched to the banks of the Terakawa River to set up their defensive formations.

Yoshishige Senmura also led his troops to move to the right to protect the right flank of the main camp, ensuring that the enemy could not cross the Tera River upstream to threaten the main camp or advance towards Kosato Castle.

At the same time, Suganuma Sadatoshi's main camp also caught up with Teragawa.

Toyama Tomotada immediately came to report the good news, "Lord Suganuma, the enemy has retreated to the opposite bank of the Teraka River and set up their forces. Our army has already won two battles, and now is the perfect opportunity to cross the river and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop."

Instead of answering immediately, Suganuma Sadatoshi went to the Teragawa River. Although called a river, the Teragawa was actually just a small stream with water that barely reached his ankles.

After assessing the situation in Teragawa, Suganuma Sadatoshi immediately issued the order to attack.

远山友忠、远山友政父子二人各500人为前阵，远山利景800人、远山经景200人、铃木重次2000人加上菅沼定利本阵3000人呈鱼鳞阵缓缓渡过了寺河。

Ke'er stood hidden in front of the formation, with a bamboo stick stuck in her back, dressed in a very unusual way.

Behind them, 200 armed foot soldiers and 100 arquebusiers stood ready.

Once the enemy appeared within firing range, Ke'er Caizang immediately ordered, "Fire!"

Bang bang bang!
One hundred arquebusiers lined up in three rows, and more than 30 arquebuses fired at the same time. Seven or eight men from the Toyama Tomasa unit, which was at the forefront, fell instantly.

After the first volley of arquebuses was fired, the second row of foot soldiers immediately handed the reloaded arquebuses to the first row of foot soldiers, and then the third row of foot soldiers handed the reloaded arquebuses to the second row.

It features a standard three-stage firing mode with an extremely high rate of fire.

In an instant, three rounds of shots were fired, and the formation of the Toyama Tomomasa team began to become unstable.

"Don't panic, charge forward and engage the enemy in close combat!"

"Fuck them all!"

Toyama Tomotada also began to move closer to Toyama Tomomasa, and a thousand men charged straight at Kazuya Saizo.

"Spears forward!"

"Archers, cover the arquebusiers as they retreat!" Ke'er Caizang calmly gave the order, and the Sanada clan's formation began to rotate.

Thanks to the intensive training during this period, the various units cooperated extremely well.

Although Shinano Province was not yet able to implement large-scale separation of soldiers and farmers, the foot soldiers under Sanada Nobuyuki's command were already showing a trend toward this.

Of the 1500 people dispatched this time, apart from the small pack animals and the guards, the remaining 1000 were basically well-equipped military personnel.

A lower-ranking samurai was assigned 5 to 10 foot soldiers and served under Kōji Saizō as a "kidō" (adopted son), who was in charge of unified command.

The Sanada clan changed their formation methodically, and soon 200 spear-wielding foot soldiers lined up in two rows to meet them.

The foot soldiers raised their spears high and quickly engaged in a melee with Toyama Tomomasa and his son.

Ke'er Caizang also charged into the formation, wielding his cross-shaped spear.

"Ke'er is hiding here! Enemy soldiers, prepare to die!"

Ke'er's hidden cross-shaped spear moved like a dragon, each strike and thrust almost instantly killing the target.

In battles during Japan's Sengoku period, the side with inferior troop strength would typically deploy the "Crane Wing Formation".

The advantage is that the formation is lined up in a row, making it less likely to be surrounded by the enemy, and if the battle goes badly, the various units can retreat from different directions.

However, there is a key to the Crane Wing Formation: the unit positioned in the center and in front of the main formation must be an absolutely elite force, which can be regarded as the front-line force.

No matter how the battle unfolds, this force must not be easily defeated, otherwise their main camp will be directly exposed to the enemy.

From the enemy's perspective, they would naturally launch a full-scale attack on this "frontline force," as defeating it would allow them to directly attack their own position.

Sanada Nobuyuki's decision to place Kana Saizo here naturally reflects his great trust in Saizo's fighting abilities.

Taking advantage of his superior numbers, Suganuma Sadatoshi deployed a dense formation and launched a direct attack through the center. Just as Toyama Tomomasa and his son were engaged in battle with Kazusa, Suganuma Sadatoshi immediately ordered Suzuki Shigeji and others to advance from the second line.

Sanada Nobuyuki sat upright in the main camp, closely observing the situation on the battlefield.

Upon seeing the enemy's second wave begin to move, Sanada Nobuyuki immediately shouted, "Let Ogasawara go up and protect Saizo's left flank, and block Toyama Toshikage."

"Send all the arquebusiers from the main camp to the mountain on the right side, and have Chimura Yoshishige cover the arquebus troops and provide support to Saizo."

"what!"

There is a small hill on the right side of the battlefield, from which the arquebusiers can fire down.

The opposing commander, Suganuma Sadatoshi, also sensed something was wrong and immediately ordered Suzuki Shigeji to join the battle on the right wing. Chimura Yoshishige, who received the order, quickly stepped up to take over.

The left-wing forces of Ogasawara Sadakashi also clashed with Toshikage Toyama and others.

Of the three fronts, Ke'er Caizang faces the greatest pressure.

The forces of Tomotada Toyama and his son, who already had the advantage in numbers, were gradually becoming overwhelmed with the support of Shigeji Suzuki and Nobukage Toyama.

Many foot soldiers have already begun to retreat, and the battle line is about to retreat to the edge of the main camp.

"Big brother, let me go!"

Sanada Nobushige was getting anxious, especially when Kana was at a disadvantage; he couldn't sit still any longer.

"Not urgent!"

"Stay calm." Nobuyuki Sanada remained completely unperturbed.

The situation on the battlefield has not yet reached the point of deploying cavalry. Our own forces are outnumbered, and apart from Sanada Nobushige and Hatsushika Masaji in the main camp, all other units are embroiled in a chaotic melee.

If no reserves are left, the situation will get out of control once the enemy's main force engages in battle.

On the battlefield, Ke'er was also in a hurry to hide.

His troops were facing attacks from three directions simultaneously, and were squeezed into a single mass.

Fortunately, although there were only 200 spearmen, more than 20 of them were samurai who stood in front of him, preventing a complete collapse.

Ogasawara Sadakae, from the left wing, also noticed Kazuya's predicament and immediately summoned Mizoguchi Teitaro.

“Mimasaka, lead your clan on horseback across the river and attack from behind.”

"Attack the connection point between the enemy's left flank and central forces."

"understand!"

Mizoguchi Teitai immediately took action, and 300 mounted men crossed the Tera River and began to maneuver behind Toyama Keikage.

The crossing of the river was quite a commotion, and Suganuma Sadatoshi, seeing this, quickly dispatched his mounted troops to provide support.

However, Sadayoshi Mizoguchi was faster and arrived at the combat zone first.

A single charge scatters Yuanshan Jingjing's team, and then 300 mounted soldiers dismount and engage in foot combat, successfully drawing Yuanshan Jingjing's attention.

With the pressure on the left flank gone, Ke'er Caizang immediately sensed an opportunity.

"Kanemon, Shinkuro, come with me!"

As Yuanshan Jingjing's troops retreated, a large gap was exposed on their left.

Ke'er Caizang immediately led 30 people to cut into this vacuum area and rushed directly in front of Toyama Tomotada.

Toyama Tomotada was commanding the foot soldiers when he was startled by the sudden appearance of Kana Saizo.

"Father, be careful!"

　Thank you to "Maybe I'm Lazy" for the 5000 Qidian Coins reward.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)