For Honor or For Glory? A Tokugawa (Matsudaira) AAR Updated Jan 8th

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

Another nice chapter.

I like the screenshot with arrows showing who went where - I think that's a great way of showing troop movements and so on when things get complicated.

[Merchant of Venice]

This is by far your best AAR to date. Gripping story telling, detailed descriptions and beautiful screenshots have all made the story come alive. Eagerly awaiting more of this. It truly is great to see the Shogun 2 section being represented by such great writers as yourself.

[waveman]

6. Building

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

For the Tokugawa 1546 also passed without incident or excitement. The new revenues from the former Oda lands were used to repair and rebuild the ravages of war, and Okazaki-jo in Mikawa was expanded. Roads were repaired and the southern portion of Chubu knew a prosperity and sense of hope and unity that had been missed since the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai. Imagawa Yoshimoto watched, and waited.


Events afar were not so stagnant. Takeda Shingen and Uesegi Kenshin met in several indecisive skirmishes and three great battles. The first was indecisive. The second allowed Kenshin to push into Shinano, but in the third Shingen counterattacked and broke the Uesegi armies. Shingen and his brothers Nobushige and Nobukado advanced north, rapidly besieging Uesegi holdings, while his vassals the Sanada marched east. The Takeda seemed to explode outwards, rapidly matching the recent Imagawa expansion.


But in the twilight of 1546, the kanbe moved. They siezed Kuwano, an expansion that put them in position to strike at the Tokugawa across the Yahagi. And so as the Kanbe consolidated their gains, Tokugawa Hirotada ordered his retainers to gather their armies for an invasion across the river. After a year of peace, they were more than ready.

Thank you both very much

[waveman]

0007. Kanbe campaign
February 14, 1547

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Abe Sadayoshi surveyed the camp. Tokugawa Hirotada could call seven thousands to his banners, and six of them were assembled here; a thousand were to be left as a defensive force in Owari and Kaito. "Two years ago, we could barely field a sixth of this number," he murmured.


Okubo Moritoki and Matsudaira Moriakiri smiled and nodded. The great improvement in their master's fortunes had seen them all rise as well. Sadayoshi was now a joshu and Moritoki had been given the honor of leading the Tokugawa vanguard into the Kanbe lands. He was to depart soon, and the rest of the army would follow. Even now more men were being raised, although their training would not be complete for several months. These reinforcements would be overseen by Moriakiri, a man from a minor branch of the Matsudaira. "May Bishamon and the Heavens favor you," he said to them as he rode away, back to Owari.


That night Sadayoshi and Okubo Moritoki attended a last war council with their lord. "The plan is simple," Hirotada said. Okubo Moritoki will lead seven hundred men, a mix of yari and yumi, into the Kansai. He will engage any smaller forces the Kanbe have stationed in his path. Then we will follow and besiege Nagashima-jo in Suwano.

Just before dawn the next day, Moritoki marched out of the camp. He brushed aside the small Kanbe force guarding the Willow Bridge, the bridge between Kuwano and Kaito, and by midday the rest of the Tokugawa forces had entered the Kansai. Soon after the Tokugawa forces were laying siege to Nagashima-jo. They had marched easily past the blossoming trees, and in Kaito the farmers were preparing their fields as they did every spring, disregarding the warriors marching past them. In Kuwano, however, the people stopped their work, watching with guarded eyes as the foreign warriors marched past them.

Sadayoshi and Moritoki dispatched scouts to the surrounding areas in search of the Kanbe armies. 5oo men were discovered on the border of Asake, to the north, with and additional 4000 gathered around its castle, so a rapid assault on Nagashima-jo was advised.


They observed the assault with their lord, watching as the Tokugawa banners crept towards the walls, as the gates were battered and burned, as the walls were scaled. It was only a matter of time before the castle's defenders, brave though they were, fell.


Sadayoshi turned to his lord. "Hopefully this will spur Yoshimoto into action."


Hirotada sighed. "I would hope so, but the defeats of last year seem to have paralyzed him. He deflects all of my messages, my requests for reinforcements."


"But surely my lord he can spare men?" asked Moritoki.


Hirotada's face twisted, as if he had eaten a particularly sour umeboshi*. "He has at his call over 12ooo men and sends not one of them westward. His Imagawa forces are kept in Suruga, the Ii in Totomi and the Udono in Gamagori."


"Recently," added Sadayoshi," he seems to have grown paranoid that Takeda Shingen might attack him. Pfah, it just shows his low character. The lord of Kai is not so dishonorable."


They sat quietly for a time, watching a struggle at the southern gatehouse of Nagashima, until the Tokugawa banners were raised on it.


"The Tiger of Kai, Takeda Shingen the Long-Legged," Moritoki mused to himself. "What a man, what a samurai."


"Why is he called the 'long-legged' ?" asked Hirotada, still absorbed in watching the attack. The castle must surely fall soon.


"It is because if he was fighting in Shinano in the north one day, then the next he would be at the southern border of Kai to fight the Hojo or Hitachi-Oda. Those days are past now, for the Takeda seem to be rising as the days grow longer. They hold a large portion of Chubu."


"Interesting," was all Hirotada said for some time. Finally, as the last of the defenders were dispatched and they made ready to enter the castle, he said, "We must find a way to stir Yoshimoto to battle. Think of a way, or all of our recent successes could very well be undone."

umeboshi - sour, pickled plum

Apologies to anyone who was reading parts of this as I posted it, I had some troubles with the site and had to manually type some and copy-paste sections of it (I usually just copy-paste a pre-written passage in its entirety). If I have left any mistakes don't hesitate to let me know

[Alwyn]

I enjoyed the reactions of the farmers and the ordinary people to the warriors marching past and the conversation between the men as they watched the battle. So often, battles are written from the perspectives of soldiers in the middle of the hardest fighting, or a general directing the troops - I liked reading the wry comments of Sadayoshi, Moritoki and Hirotada as they watched the attack.

[waveman]

8. Plans

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

The columns wound their way northward. Spring was now easing its way into summer, and Tokugawa Hirotada had decided that it was time to press the final attack on the Kanbe. Matsudaira Moriakiri had arrived with some 15oo men to bolster their forces, and an idea.


He proposed that Hirotada try to persuade Yoshimoto to break his alliance with the Takeda, assuming that this would either spur Yoshimoto into action or cause him to attack the Takeda directly - or even be attacked. Anything was better than the current situation.


It was an intriguing idea.


Now, however, the focus was on the Kanbe, a clan who had been hostile to the Tokugawa for almost as long as the Oda had. With Imagawa Yoshimoto and his son Ujitane relaxing in Kaito, Mikawa and Gamagori, the Tokugawa had taken it upon themselves to invade the Kanbe.


Matsudaira Moriakiri was again in charge of the vanguard, a few yaru-shu and a yumi-shu, while Sadayoshi and Okubo Moritoki marched with 35oo more men. Another 3ooo men were following them more slowly through the forests to conceal their approach under Hirotada himself and Matsudaira Hidenaga. Sadayoshi had been honored with the advance force, the difficult job of being bait.


The Kansai was politically unstable. In the south the Saika and Negoro-gumi were at war, but the Saika were gaining the upper hand. Towards the west the Rokkaku, Ikko Ikki, and Ishida were embroiled in a chaotic conflict, and no one could say who the Rokkaku would choose between the Tokugawa and Kanbe or even the distant Saika to support, and the ambitious Asano were to the north. As such a protracted siege would not favor the Tokugawa, yet a single battle was not advantageous to the Kanbe. Unless the Tokugawa forces could be destroyed piecemeal.


Matsudaira Moriakiri had been spotted by the enemy, who had persued his men to a small hill and a forest. He rode back to Sadayoshi, gasping as he made his report. "The... Kanbe have followed us.... we are on a hill.... there is a forest for our lord to advance through... I recommend having the battle... here." Sadayoshi acknowledged his man's assessment and sent him to the rear to recover, then gave the order for a quick advance.


They were just in time, As Sadayoshi deployed men, the Kanbe were advancing confidently forward. He arranged his yari-shu in a single line to match the length of the Kanbe line with his yumi-shu just in front of them. His men just had to hold until Hirotada arrived with the rest of the Tokugawa forces. Fate would decree what would happen this day, he thought.


He did not have long to wait. Seeing that the Tokugawa had brought more archers than he had, Kanbe Tomomori ordered his men into an all-out assault. Thousands of men hurled themselves at the Tokugawa yari, throught a hail of arrows. If a man was impaled during the charge, well, at least he saved some of his comrades by blocking a few of the Tokugawa spears.





On the Tokugawa right flank the fighting was fierce. Several detatchments of mounted samurai had attacked, one leading his samurai retinue against Okubo Moritoki, the other leading his men against the yari-wall formed on the hill. When the yari-shu broke formation to aid Moritoki's men, more Kanbe soldiers joined the assault, wrapping around the end of the thinning Tokugawa line.




Meanwhile, in the center the weight of the Kanbe assault was wearing down the Tokugawa spearmen. Even the samurai were finding themselves hard-pressed. It was at this moment that Moriakiri arrived, bearing news that Hirotada had almost arrived. Hearing this, and seeing his soldiers struggling to maintain their formation, Sadoayoshi forced his horse into the press of men, knowing that his guard would follow him. It was just enough to hold back the now frenzied attacks of the Kanbe, who could see the Tokugawa reinforcements arriving through the forest, and with them the death of the Kanbe.






Kanbe Tomomori charged as well, determined to die in battle rather than in a castle. He fell at the hands of Ii Noguchi, an older man in Sadayoshi's retinue. The Kanbe lines could not hold after the arrival of Hirotada's reinforcing army. Those who were not surrounded broke away, desperately trying to escape to the safety of Kanbe-jo. Few made it. The mounted Tokugawa men made short work of hundreds of the routing Kanbe soldiers. Of those who were surrounded, over half surrendered in a disgusting display of cowardice and disloyalty.


The Kanbe flee; Kanbe-jo can be seen in the background

Sadayoshi went on to take the castle; barely 200 men were defending it. So ended the brief rise of the Kanbe.

map for references to castles

Thank you Alwyn. I was trying to find some sort of balance with the battle, for it was of moderate importance, yet nothing particularly interesting happened. It seemed like a good time for the conversation.

This one's a bit pic-heavy - I recently bought a new computer, and I can't get over how good Shogun looks

However, school is once again starting up for me, and with it a host of other responsibilities. This means that my updates may come a little slower, but fear not: both of my AARs will continue

[Alwyn]

A glorious victory! Your screenshots make great use of what Shogun II has to offer, showing how the units clash from a distance and with stunning close-up views of the melee as well.

It's great news that your AARs will continue, the updates may come more slowly but they will be worth waiting for.

[Merchant of Venice]

Shogun 2 is really a beautiful game, I simply love the graphics and personally I find them better than Rome 2 or even Attila. Great battle writing as well, I wonder what's going on with Yoshimoto though.

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

This is great stuff, waveman. And I can see why you wanted to include those screenshots - they're fantastic. I particularly like the first two. Somehow, the symmetry of the white and the red - and the huge long line of troops - really appeals to me. The close-ups are a great illustration of the battle, too, but for some irrational reason it's the first two that really draw me in.

[waveman]

Thank you all. I do like that first one a lot. Merchant, I'd have to agree with you there. The S2 world just feels richer to me

[waveman]

10. Deception

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

"Enough!" roared Tokugawa Hirotada. "I will NOT hear this talk of treachery!"


His vassals looked at the floor, shamefaced. None of them would speak.


Okubo Moritoki finally broke the silence. "I would not normally condone such an act, tono, but -"


"But nothing!" Matsudaira Hidenaga cut him off. "Our lord has spoken."


Moritoki and Matsudaira Moriakiri tried several more times to argue, but each time Hidenaga cut them off. After several more attempts they stopped, shamefaced.


This had been the way of the council the last few days, in meetings of Hirotada's closest vassals and retainers. The debates were beginning to weigh him down, he looked as if hidden weights were bound to his shoulders. "Enough," he said again, more softly this time. "We owe our very existence to Imagawa Yoshimoto. The Imagawa sheltered us when my grandfather fell in battle and when my father was assassinated. Yoshimoto protected our flank so we could finally end the Oda. We owe the entirety of our good fortunes to him, our liege."


His impassioned speech stopped the protests, where reasoning had failed. "While you two and some of the elders may disagree, these two," gesturing at Hidenaga and Sadayoshi, "are fully in agreement. We should put our efforts into trying to shake Yoshimoto out of his paralysis."


Sadayoshi gently cleared his throat. "With respect, tono, I do not believe that is the correct course of action. The Imagawa have failed to honor us, their vassals, and in these times we must look to the survival of the clan."


Hidenaga looked at his fudai, aghast. "Even you would advocate rebellion? What of our honor and reputation?"


Sadayoshi did not immediately reply, but all eyes were on him now. "A successful rebellion can cleanse the stain of dishonor. And it is the Imagawa who dishonor us. Our warriors die to further their ambitions and Yoshimoto sits in luxury." This first was said with an expression of faint distaste, but Sadayoshi's second statement was accompanied by a return ot his conviction and contempt for Yoshimoto.


"A samurai's duty is loyalty unto death!" hissed Hidenaga, and Hirotada nodded with him.


Now Moriakiri rejoined the conversation. "The Imagawa do nothing but insult and mock us. We are 'that Mikawa clan,' 'those rustic Mikawa samurai.' We hold half of their territory!"


Hirotada nodded reluctantly. "It is true these slights are not unnoticed by me," he said slowly, "but open rebellion..." He trailed off with a frown.


Sadayoshi could feel his resistance to the idea beginning to break. It was no great change, the slightest quiver in his stance. He would need to tread carefully, use all of his powers of persuasion - and his great knowledge.


"Yoshimoto has recently shown favor to the idea of breaking his alliance with the Takeda?"


Hirotada nodded, almost imperceptibly.


"My lord. We cannot take these insults, or perhaps we could if Imagawa Yoshimoto was a good lord. Your grandfather and father served the Imagawa out of necessity for the survival of the Matsudaira! We have enough power to change that!" He leaned forward, talking more quietly now. "We cannot afford this any more. Yoshimoto sits in our lands, hawking and feasting and his son is the same. Meanwhile other clans are growing ever more powerful. On our western border, the Saika grow rapidly. Saika Fuyuyasu was unheard of five years ago; now he commands nearly the same respect as Takeda Shingen. Shingen himself is tearing through the Chubu! Kenshin is fallen, and the Hitachi-Oda and others must soon follow.


"Takeda Shingen and his brothers and vassals, Nobushige and Nobukado, and then the Sanadas and Babas, seem unstoppable. Kenshin is dead and the never before has there been a commander under Heaven like Shingen, at least not since the Gempei War. Have you not heard of Hidagahara-no-tatakai? With only 12,ooo men Shingen utterly crushed 25,ooo Anegakoji; I've heard that scarcely one in four of them returned to their capital in northern Hida.


" In the West several powers will soon be vying for supremacy: the Mori, the Asano, Naito, the Negoro and Saika of the Kansai; the Ichijo of Shikoku, the Noto Hatekayama. As for Kyushu and the North, well, we simply do not know. This, I think, is the pivitol moment for the clan. Whether we break our ties to the Imagawa or not, whether we serve no masters but ourselves or find more worthy lord, the decisions made in the next months will see the rise or fall of the Tokugawa." He paused briefly. "Heaven's net is wide, tono, but its mesh is fine. All will fall where it should, and it would be a favored, a just cause," he almost whispered.


The room was silent for a time. It was a tense silence. Its occupants sat frozen, trying to comprehend this information and wondering how Sadayoshi had acquired it, and wondering what Hirotada would make of it. Certainly men had rebelled for far lesser reasons, but then those were lesser men, and Hirotada had a deep sense of honor and duty.


For some minutes Hirotada looked much older than his 22 years. He whispered something to himself or to the gods, they could not hear it.


Then he spoke to them. "Hidenaga."


"Hai, tono?"


"How many men can we call upon from Mikawa?"


Matsudaira Hidenaga gulped. "Three thousand, perhaps a few hundred more."

Again the room was silent.


Sadayoshi wanted to cry in delight. Finally his lord would be free of the shackles of the Imagawa. "I have brought another thousand from Kaito and Owari," he said proudley, struggling to speak over the surge of emotion.


Where is Yoshimoto now? Can we take him unawares? How many men does he have with him. Is his son there? These questions, and many others besides, erupted from Hirotada and his other retainers. The coast of Mikawa or Kaito, yes, a few hundred, yes.

Ironically, where "Takeda" is written there are a few Uesegi vassals

[Merchant of Venice]

Ooooh rebellion....

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I like the map - that's helpful, thank you!

I also like the way you've written the conversation - you've managed to make Hirotada, Sadayoshi and Hidenaga all sound like men who want to be honourable, but who have slightly different views about what the most honourable course of action is.

Looking forward to finding out how hard it will be for them to hang on to their honour...

[Tigellinus]

Open Rebellion is here!

I love this, it is utterly fantastic! The previous chapter was one of my favourite. The political tension at having to make the decision, the fact that it wasn't made in three seconds. It was a brilliant chapter!

Thanks, please continue this excellent work!

Tigellinus

[waveman]

11. Diplomacy - an extension of war

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

If any one thing can be said about my youth, it is that I owe who I am, who I became, to my father's western commanders. Abe Nagehisu was as an older brother to me, Sadayoshi as a father, Moritoki and Moriakiri as uncles. In fact, I did not see my father, Tokugawa Hirotada, for years at a time due to his campaigns and travels. My mother and brother Sukeyasu I saw, but only because father sent them west when he took a new wife.




March, 1548


Not even a week later news arrived that the Imagawa-Takeda alliance was at an end, end both sides were seething with anger and resentment. Hirotada paused for this, but when no major moves were made and only a few hundred more men raised in Suruga, it only hardened his resolve.


The time had finally come, and it was a somber time, a black shadow-cloud laced with flashes of lightning that were pure excitement and joy. The Tokugawa senior retainers were divided between a shared grief with their lord and a fierce longing for the greatness of the clan.


On the 12th, Hirotada led several thousand men north on training excersizes, where they were made to form spear walls and practice hard marches. Among them were several hundred former Oda warriors, who grumbled as they marched, half-heartedly weilding their yari and sendging their arrows far wide of their targets.


"I don't know why you bothered to bring them," said Hirotada to Sadayoshi. "They are a sorry lot to be sure, and still resent us." Of the nearly 45oo men training in the fields and hills of Mikawa, they were by far the worst.


"Apologies, tono," Sadayoshi said, bowing. "If it pleases you I will move them to my own regiments so their poor performance does not shame you."


"See that it is done."


They returned to the camp, obtained a pair of horses, and rode north. Hirotada had claimed he needed the fresh air, and Sadayoshi could certainly not let him ride off by himself.


At first they rode in thoughtful silence, but there was simply too much to do for that to last too long. As they brought their horses to a stop next to a small stream, Sadayoshi brought up a topic that had long been on his mind. "Your son has grown quite tall, tono," he said.


Horotada looked at him as his horse drank. "Truly? That is good news indeed."


Sadayoshi smiled and continued. "He shows great interest for a boy his age in the sword and the arts. And he is as adventuresome and strong as any boy. He claimed to have seen a fox in the woods a few weeks past."


"A fox, you say?"


"Yes," Sadayoshi. "A kitsune with many tails, by the northeastern walls of Kanbe-jo. It is auspicious, neh?" He sobered. "Still, he would like to see his father."


"Enough, Sadayoshi. I have too much to do, especially along this dangerous path you have set me on. Come, we must meet someone."


They meandered through a narrow path, past a group of lost-looking merchants and some scruffy peasants and blackened charcoal burners. THe entire time Hitotada appeared to be searching for someone, or something. When at last they arrived at a small bend in the road - which was nearly overgrown this far from cities - they spotted a man hunched over on the ground. When he saw them he straightened and it became immediately clear that he was no mere vagabond.


Hirotada dismounted and motioned for Sadayoshi to do so as well. He bowed. "Nobushige-sama, it is good to see you here. Has your brother come to a decision?"


Nobushige, Takeda Nobushige, nodded. "He has. He will accept your fealty and will entrust you to defend the western flank of the Takeda as we move into Musashi. We will expect your attack within the month."


Sadayoshi was impressed. They were to serve the Takeda! The Tiger of Kai was a man who HIrotada could serve with honor and loyalty, and Nobushige himself was reputed to be a man of great honor. He sat and enjoyed himself while the two discussed the details of the new alliance. Many new wars would be opened under the their allegiance to Shingen, but with Uesegi Kenshin, the other great general of central Japan, dead, he was not overly worried.


As they rode back to the camp Hirotada talked of the process, the many secret messages sent, to secure this turn of events. "See," he said, "we have not just been sitting idly by this last month. I have been working hard for this, for you were correct - the balance of power is changing rapidly, and we must do what we can so as to not be swallowed by the ambitions of others. We will march tomorrow."

Thank you all!

This decision was actually quite difficult to come to - like I said in the beginning I was aiming to be a successful vassal - but the Imagawa had done nothing for so, so long.... but hey, at least Alwyn will be happy

[Merchant of Venice]

Ahhh Takeda territory now. I love all the intrigue and political manoeuvring. This is progressing very nicely waveman, keep it up.

[Tigellinus]

Long live Shingen!

I am interested to see how this turn of events plays out! I hope the Imagawa fall in bloody and decisive battle

Great chapter!

Thanks

Tigellinus

[Alwyn]

Good map and excellent dialogue and intrigue! I like the way that the described the grumbling Oda warriors and how you create mystery around Hirotada's mission to meet a mysterious 'someone.'

Did someone say 'rebellion' ? This is going to be good!

[Caillagh de Bodemloze]

I agree with everybody!

The intrigue, the manoevring, the careful choosing of sides, it's all good stuff. I also liked the training. It's nice to have the boring-but-necessary bits of life - and people grumbling about them - mentioned now and then. It adds a layer of realism to the story, I think. I hope Sadayoshi won't suffer too badly from having the least competent troops in his regiments.

[Lugotorix]

Brilliant piece of work I've discovered with this. It's my kind of AAR because it employs screenshots of a lot of the action. I like how you're acting as Imagawa's vassal and showing the strategic movements of the clans on the range of maps you're using. I'll be following this one with interest. Also I think this is the first time we have Korea in an AAR if I'm not mistaken.