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

Chapter 94 The Battle of Uehara Castle Against Tokugawa (Part 6)
Tadatsugu Sakai was having a meal when he received news of the battle situation at the front.

The Tokugawa family had good food; at least they had plenty of rice. Someone of Sakai Tadatsugu's status could even have dried fish and miso for breakfast.

"What did you say?"

"Sir, the Mizuno squad has been ambushed by the enemy and suffered heavy casualties."

"Lord Rokuzaemon is currently surrounded by enemy forces. Please come to his aid immediately." The speaker was a Mizuno samurai who had been routed from the front.

Tadatsugu Sakai suddenly found his breakfast tasteless.

"Aren't the enemy troops inside Uehara Castle fighting with Kiso? Where did this ambush come from?"

"I don't know. The mountains by the lake are full of enemy troops, numbering at least a thousand." Perhaps fearing punishment, the Mizuno samurai blurted out that there were more than a thousand enemy troops.

This seems to make it seem reasonable that Mizuno Katsunari was surrounded.

Sakai Tadatsugu put down his bowl and said to a Tokugawa samurai sitting next to him, "Lord Okudaira, go and rescue the Mizuno Corps immediately."

Nobumasa Okudaira nodded and immediately got up and left the main camp.

"Okudaira family, heed my command! Follow me into battle and rescue the Mizuno family!"

At his command, Nobumasa Okudaira's 2500 men slowly left their main camp.

Suganuma Sadatsumi led 500 men in the front, Okudaira Sadaharu led 1000 men in the middle, and Okudaira Nobumasa led 1000 men in the rear. The entire army was divided into three groups and advanced slowly.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, they could already hear the continuous sound of cannons ahead.

Immediately afterwards, fleeing soldiers kept coming.

Suganuma Sadahide casually stopped one of the Mizuno family foot soldiers and asked urgently, "How is the battle going at the front?"

"We've lost, we've lost."

"Lord Mizuno has also been captured by the enemy. It's all over!"

Suganuma Sadayoshi was startled, mistakenly believing that Mizuno Katsunari had died.

How many people are still surrounded?

"I don't know, there should still be four or five hundred people stuck there."

"Useless trash, get out of here!" Suganuma Sadahide was speechless at the questioner's complete ignorance and quickly waved to his foot soldiers to speed up.

As the lord of Noda Castle in Mikawa Kingdom and the head of the Noda Suganuma clan, Suganuma Sadei eagerly hoped to make great contributions and revive his family name.

Both the Okudaira and Suganuma clans were from Mikawa Province. The Okudaira clan, along with the Noda and Tamine Suganuma clans, were known as the "Three Families of the Mountain Clan." However, when the Takeda clan attacked the Tokugawa clan, the Okudaira clan followed the Tokugawa clan, while the Suganuma clan joined the Takeda clan.

With the fall of the Takeda clan, the fates of the Okuhira and Suganuma clans took two completely different paths.

Okudaira Nobumasa married Tokugawa Ieyasu's daughter and rose to become a senior retainer of the Tokugawa clan, while the Suganuma clan gradually declined, and now only the Noda Suganuma clan remains, with a mere 10,000 koku of rank, barely clinging to life.

Therefore, Suganuma Sadahide cherished this opportunity to attack Shinano, as he needed to prove the Suganuma clan's loyalty to Tokugawa Ieyasu once again.

"Speed ​​up, faster!"

Sadayoshi Suganuma anxiously directed his troops through the town in front of the lower shrine of Suwa Shrine, and around the corner was a small path on the east shore of Lake Suwa.

On the rock of the peephole, Sanada Nobuyuki saw another Tokugawa army force mobilize and immediately stood up.

Preliminary estimates suggest that the number of people is at least two thousand.

"My lord, enemy troops are approaching from the front!" Hirabayashi Masatane ran up from the mountainside.

"how many people?"

"Several hundred people."

Nobuyuki Sanada shook his head. "Never mind, let these people pass."

“The enemy does not yet know our location, but only the road ahead. In their eagerness to rescue us, they will definitely pass through our area.”

"Have everyone hide. No one is allowed to fire without my order."

"what!"

Soon, the 500-strong Suganuma Sadahiro team slowly passed under Sanada Nobuyuki's feet.

Immediately afterwards, the foot soldiers of the Okudaira family also began to pass through.

This time, Nobuyuki Sanada won't let you pass by again.

"Light the second beacon fire, and blow the conch shell!"

Along with the sound of the conch shell, more than thirty iron cannons also rang out.

Hirabayashi Masahiro, also armed with a bow and arrow, led his archers to seize the hillside on the left side of the path, and began to fire arrows from a high vantage point.

The sudden attack threw the Okudaira family's forces into chaos.

Seeing that the second unit was under attack from the rear, Nobumasa Okudaira quickly ordered his troops to go up and provide assistance.

"Wasn't it said that the Mizuno family was surrounded? How come there are enemy troops here too?"

"Quickly, all arquebusiers to the front, maintain formation, absolutely no chaos!" Although young, Okudaira Nobumasa was a man of experience. During the Battle of Nagashino, he had made a significant contribution to the victory by defending Nagashino Castle to the death, which led Tokugawa Ieyasu to take notice of him and marry his daughter to him.

Nobumasa Okudaira understood that as long as they maintained their formation, the foot soldiers would quickly recover from the shock of the attack.

A dozen or so Okudaira samurai fought desperately at the front, doing their utmost to maintain formation.

This move quickly proved effective; the Okudaira clan's foot soldiers stopped retreating and began to retaliate against Sanada Nobuyuki on the mountain using arquebuses and bows and arrows.

This time, Nobuyuki Sanada did not hide; he personally stood at the forefront to command the battle.

Given the enemy's overwhelming numbers, it would be a pipe dream to rely on these foot soldiers to hold the line if the general himself did not show up.

Fortunately, after news of Sanada Nobuyuki's recruitment of Hirabayashi Masatsune spread throughout northern Shinano, many local samurai from northern Shinano returned to their territories and began to serve the Sanada family again.

This allowed Nobuyuki Sanada's forces to maintain a certain level of combat effectiveness and cohesion.

Facing an enemy force several times larger, they could at least use the terrain advantage to engage in a firefight with the Tokugawa clan.

News of the attack on the Okudaira family quickly reached Suganuma Sadayuki, who was the first to receive it, and Suganuma Sadayuki panicked.

Should we save Mizuno Katsunari first, or Okudaira Nobumasa first?
After a brief hesitation, Sadayoshi Suganuma decided to turn back and rescue Nobumasa Okudaira.

Since Mizuno Katsunaga is already dead, there's no point in saving him.

Okudaira Nobumasa is Tokugawa Ieyasu's son-in-law, so of course he'd be saved first.

Without much thought, Suganuma Sadayoshi led his men to turn around.

This completely shattered the morale of the Mizuno clan's foot soldiers in front.

They were already struggling to hold on, and finally reinforcements arrived from the rear, but the reinforcements turned around and ran away.

The Mizuno family foot soldiers, who were already unable to fight, collapsed completely, and many of them dropped their weapons and began to flee.

Some people, blocked from their way, simply jumped into Lake Suwa.

The scene was very chaotic.

No matter how Mizuno Katsunari shouted, the foot soldiers, whose morale had already crumbled, didn't care what their samurai lord said.

Survival is always the first principle of combat.

I don't even get a monthly salary (some military personnel receive a daimyo's allowance) and I have to pay my own military rations. Why should I risk my life?
Suganuma Sadahide returned to reinforce the area, and just as he was about to deploy his troops, the fleeing Mizuno clan soldiers surging up from behind scattered Suganuma Sadahide's foot soldiers.

"Don't run!"

"Don't run!" Suganuma Sadahide cut down two or three deserters in a row, but it was all in vain, as more and more fleeing soldiers kept surging towards them.

Many of the Suganuma clan's foot soldiers were completely unaware of the situation and, seeing the Mizuno clan's foot soldiers fleeing frantically, joined the fleeing ranks.

Suganuma Sadayoshi was completely dumbfounded. He hadn't even seen where the enemy was yet, and all his men had already run away.

On this side of the battlefield, Okudaira Nobumasa and Okudaira Sadaharu were concentrating their forces to launch a counterattack, but the routed troops on the right flank soon rushed over as well.

Many foot soldiers who were still firing their guns were knocked to the ground, and the formation that the Okudaira family had managed to maintain was thrown into disarray again.

Seeing this, Nobuyuki Sanada on the mountain finally smiled.

"Now!" Sanada Nobuyuki drew his sword and shouted to the surrounding Sanada clan foot soldiers, "The enemy has begun to retreat! Charge with me!"

Before launching an attack, it is essential to convey the message that "the enemy is in retreat" to your foot soldiers, so that they know that "the advantage is in our hands."

Otherwise, it would be difficult to stir up the emotions of the foot soldiers.

Only in such favorable battles, when the enemy is down and out, will the foot soldiers truly fight with their lives on the line. Because chasing down fleeing enemies means military merit and spoils of war.

"Oh!"

Nobuyuki Sanada took the lead, with Kotaro Suzuki and Masahiro Hirabayashi close behind.

Apart from the thirty-odd arquebusiers who were still firing from the mountaintop, the remaining four hundred-plus men all followed Sanada Nobuyuki down the mountain.

The Okudaira family's foot soldiers and the retreating foot soldiers huddled together, trying to run and fight at the same time, creating a chaotic scene.

Sanada Nobuyuki charged into the enemy lines and encountered absolutely no effective resistance; it was a one-sided massacre.

At the same time, Ogasawara Sadakashi also led the Ogasawara clan's mounted troops to attack.

"Lord Genzaburo, the Ogasawara family joins the battle!"

"Lord Ogasawara, you've come at the perfect time! Follow me to slay the enemy!"

"Whoa!" The Ogasawara clan's mounted men, wielding their lances, quickly joined the battle.

The Okudaira family foot soldiers, who were already being pushed back, could no longer hold on, and more than two thousand of them were scattered and broken.

The army was defeated like a mountain.

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(End of this chapter)