Chapter 143: The Surprise Attack Squad
On the city wall of the Stone City, the Ninth Small Flag of the Wanjin Army was on shift.
Most of their ten-man squad sat under the Type A No. 3 arrow-sheltering bamboo shed, awaiting orders. Only the Small Flag Guo Tailang and Deputy Small Flag Shi Pusa occasionally leaned against the battlements, observing the dark, eerie outside the city for a moment. The previous Small Flag had been promoted, making Guo Tailang the new Small Flag. Shi Pusa, a non-commissioned officer, was temporarily acting as Deputy Small Flag; he would officially take the post as long as he could read enough characters.
Guo Tailang glanced at the outside of the city a few times, finding nothing. Estimating that enough time had passed, he said to Shi Pusa, “Shoot an arrow to see!”
Shi Pusa said nothing. He moved a bit further away, using the battlements for cover, drew his bow, and shot an arrow. The fire arrow flew far into the night sky, finally landing on the ground and illuminating a small area.
Guo Tailang quickly glanced at it by the firelight. He still saw no one, and Shi Pusa had not been ambushed by a stray arrow. It seemed to be a quiet night, and the enemy had no intention of harassing them tonight.
Guo Tailang felt a little relieved. If it were when he was still a rookie and ashigaru, he would have found a place to sneak a nap by now. But in the Wanjin Army, he dared not. Dozing off on watch was a serious crime under the “Eighty-Eight Slashes,” punishable by actual beheading. He could only continue to remain quiet with the other soldiers, listening for any movement outside the city.
After some more time passed, the Type A No. 2 shed in the middle section of the city wall, and the Type A No. 1 shed at another corner of the wall, also shot out a fire arrow, briefly illuminating the night sky. Guo Tailang quickly took the opportunity to observe the outside of the city, still finding no trace of the enemy.
They took turns shooting fire arrows like this. There was no moon tonight, and they had discovered enemy reinforcements had arrived, so they had raised the alert level and were being more cautious. Normally, they wouldn’t be this frequent. They continued this until late at night, nearing the time for the shift change, and it remained a quiet night.
Until another fire arrow flew far out, and in the flickering firelight, faint shadows appeared in layers.
Guo Tailang’s heart tightened. He quickly called out, ordering the watch post to fire a volley of fire arrows. The other watch posts also sensed something was wrong. Almost simultaneously, a volley of fire arrows flew from the city wall towards the distance. And by the light of these scattered fires, Guo Tailang saw clearly this time: a large group of enemy soldiers had begun to approach at an accelerated pace.
He didn’t hesitate. He immediately put the iron whistle hanging on his chest into his mouth and blew with all his might, while simultaneously ordering the Ninth Small Flag to launch an immediate attack, using arrows to prevent the enemy from getting closer.
As the piercing sound of the iron whistle rang out from the city wall, movement immediately began within the Stone City. Whistles and loud commands were heard one after another. A large number of sleepy but well-armored soldiers rushed out of their quarters to form ranks, and then, led by military officers, began to head towards the city wall.
A great battle was imminent.
…
Ishimochi Kenzaburo, Yuan Ji, lay in a mountain hollow on the north side of North Mountain, his armor neat. The only thing missing was his beloved “Golden Antler Helmet,” as the antlers were too tall and prone to reflection, making them unsuitable for infantry night raids. He had to reluctantly abandon it.
He was a veteran vassal of the Matsudaira Family and a small tactics instructor, a sword arts instructor. His martial arts skills were considered top-notch within the Matsudaira Family. Now, he was followed by a full five hundred elite followers of the Matsudaira Family, not a single conscript among them. This was a top-tier surprise attack force for this era. Their mission was to capture the enemy’s large rock fortress located at the summit of North Mountain.
This rock fortress was a nuisance. It was the highest point in this wilderness. Any movement they made during the day, even just sending out small units to harass, would be immediately spotted from here. The enemy’s city would be notified to prepare defenses in an instant, and it could also station a large number of soldiers to support the frontal battlefield at any time. It was a super major problem.
However, it could not be taken during the day. Pushing bamboo fences and wooden fences up the mountain was extremely difficult, and charging uphill in heavy armor was a disaster. Therefore, only a night raid was feasible.
This plan was proposed by Asahina Yasunaga of the Imagawa Family and assigned to the Matsudaira Family for execution. If they could capture the North Mountain Rock Fortress, they would have a clear view of everything happening within the Stone City. The disadvantage in vision would immediately turn into an advantage. Moreover, the North Mountain Rock Fortress overlooked and protected a watchtower at the northernmost end of the enemy’s sheep wall from attack. If they could take this place, they could then proceed to capture the northernmost end of the enemy’s sheep wall, preventing the enemy from using the sheep wall for defense.
This was definitely the critical core of the enemy’s defense, its importance no less than the Stone City blocking the front. It had to be taken in one fell swoop. However, Ishimochi Kenzaburo, after sneaking out of camp late at night and circling around to this small mountain hollow, made no move for a while, waiting only for the frontal battlefield to the south to begin.
According to Asahina Yasunaga’s previous observations of the enemy’s reactions, as soon as the Stone City to the south of the mountain was attacked, the enemy on the mountain would attempt to sortie to relieve the pressure on the Stone City. The attention of the enemy garrison in the rock fortress would also be focused to the south. This would be the opportunity for their surprise attack force to silently ascend from the north. Even if they couldn’t capture the rock fortress in one go, they could get very close. Otherwise, slowly climbing the mountain in armor, the enemy simply throwing rocks down would be enough to give them trouble.
Ishimochi Kenzaburo waited patiently after reaching the designated position. After nearly an hour, he heard a rumble from the south, followed by the sound of shouting.
The frontal battlefield had finally begun. Asahina Yasunaga was leading the Chita Local Lords in a fierce night assault on the enemy’s Stone City and sheep wall. Ishimochi Kenzaburo looked up at the rock fortress on the mountaintop and found that it had also become lively. Illumination fires were lit, and people could be vaguely seen running and shouting on the walls. The enemy was concentrating their forces to the south.
Now was the moment!
Ishimochi Kenzaburo quietly passed the order back. The low-ranking samurai relayed it from one to another, and soon the Matsudaira Family’s surprise attack force began to move. Each man held a wooden stick tightly in his mouth, emerged from the mountain hollow, and, using the noise of the frontal battlefield, began to climb towards the summit.
The ascent was smooth. The followers of the Yuan Ye Family had been very aggressive, clearing the entire mountain by cutting down trees and burning the undergrowth. This small mountain had little forest to begin with; the larger trees were cut down and dragged up the mountain for construction materials immediately. Shrubs and the like were simply burned in a mountain fire to maintain good lines of sight. But now, it benefited the ascending Matsudaira Family surprise attack force. Even in the dark, there were few obstacles. It took them only a little over ten minutes to reach the mountainside, and their formation gradually spread out, forming an attack front. After all, climbing to the summit in a single file line would likely result in a bottleneck, hindering the assault on the city.
By this time, the battle in the wilderness south of the mountain had become even more lively. From here, they could see fire arrows flying back and forth on the battlefield, rows of fire-spitting matchlock guns, burning bamboo and wooden fences, and city walls ignited by oil and firewood. This was also Asahina Yasunaga’s suggestion. He suspected the enemy used some kind of magic to turn mud into stone and wanted to see if fire could break the enemy’s magic, perhaps causing the enemy’s city walls to collapse with a simple burning.
Ishimochi Kenzaburo glanced at the frontal battlefield from afar, then led his team to continue their stealthy advance. However, not long after, he felt a sharp pain in his foot. It was only by sheer force of will that he managed not to cry out. He quickly sat down and fumbled to pull out the object that had pierced the sole of his foot. After a careful examination, he realized it was a caltrop.
He cursed the Yuan Ye Family for their treachery and quickly patted the people around him to warn them of the “sharp objects” on the ground. But it was somewhat late. More than a dozen people at his parallel position had already been hit. However, everyone knew that the closer they got, the higher the success rate of a surprise attack. Fortunately, no one cried out in pain.
The surprise attack force had to slow down, feeling their way along the ground, clearing these caltrops as they continued to advance upwards. After moving forward a few dozen more steps, they were almost past the mountainside when suddenly, a loud matchlock gun blast echoed from not far away. A plume of thick smoke erupted from a hidden pit, immediately knocking over two Matsudaira Family followers who were cautiously moving forward.
Immediately after, the piercing sound of the iron whistle began to ring out, and dark figures bolted towards the mountaintop to escape.
Ishimochi Kenzaburo’s heart sank. He hadn’t expected that even in the wilderness, the enemy’s hidden sentries could remain motionless on the mountainside, without even getting up to look around. No one had noticed him before.
Since they had been discovered, Ishimochi Kenzaburo, with his decisive nature, immediately stood up, drew his sword with a fierce roar, and ordered an assault. The attendant vassals beside him immediately blew their conch shell trumpets. The five hundred followers of the Matsudaira Family leaped up, shouting battle cries in unison. The men in front carried bamboo ladders and charged upwards, while those behind drew their bows and shot arrows, unleashing a rain of arrows for cover.
The reaction from the enemy’s rock fortress was also swift. Not all their men had been moved to the south as Ishimochi Kenzaburo had imagined. Before the arrows even reached the rock fortress, a flash of fire appeared on the fortress, and the sound of matchlock guns merged into one. A volley of lead balls instantly rained down. The followers who had just stood up carrying bamboo ladders and charging towards the mountaintop immediately fell in rows, crying out in pain.
They had advanced far enough, only tens of meters from the rock fortress. The accuracy of the matchlock guns had significantly increased. It seemed that every shot was taking a life.
However, Ishimochi Kenzaburo had no choice but to retreat now. Moreover, according to Asahina Yasunaga’s observations during this period, the rock fortress had at most two hundred defenders, and not all of them were necessarily armored followers. Even if they suffered heavy losses charging under fire, they could still win once they engaged in close combat.
He repeatedly shouted loudly, roaring with all his might, ordering his followers to accelerate forward during the enemy’s reloading time, to get as close to the rock fortress as possible. But then another volley of arrows rained down, instantly felling another group of them. Some of the followers who desperately charged forward suddenly found the ground empty beneath their feet and disappeared into thin air, falling into a large pit, where they were pierced through by sharp bamboo spears at the bottom, letting out extremely shrill screams.
After the enemy’s double attack of matchlock guns and arrows from the city wall, they were not finished. The wind howled in the night sky, and more clay jars emitting sparks were thrown from afar by some unknown means.
Some exploded in mid-air, erupting in dazzling flames. Others exploded upon landing, sending dirt flying and thick smoke billowing, their impact strong enough to blow people away.
Ishimochi Kenzaburo stumbled. Although he was lucky enough not to be directly hit by a clay jar, the night sky and the sudden bursts of bright flames around him nearly blinded him. He was disoriented and could not distinguish directions, but he still charged forward, rolling and crawling by instinct.
Victory or defeat hinges on this moment. No matter what, they had to take this rock fortress!
