Chapter 69: So It’s Fixed Thinking?
The ox cart moved incredibly slowly, making their marching speed the absolute slowest in the world. Yuan Ye was overtaken by everyone he encountered. By the time he arrived at Inaba Land after more than an hour, Oda Nobunaga had already finished resting and led his army away, not waiting for him at all.
He asked a samurai who was left guarding the temporary camp. Oda Nobunaga had left no orders for him. Upon further inquiry about the Nobunaga Army’s movements, he discovered that the Nobunaga Army had split into three routes: two flanking forces were sent to destroy the newly constructed Matsuba Fort and Sanbonmoku Fort, while Oda Nobunaga and the Lord of Moriyama Castle, Oda Nobumitsu, led the main force towards Kaizu, seeking to engage the main Kiyosu Army.
Yuan Ye hesitated for a moment and ordered Maeshima Shichiro to set up the “Field Hospital” on the spot. After eating a rice ball, he was to prepare to receive the wounded. He himself would take A Man and A Qing to scout ahead. After his previous minor skirmish, he found that as long as he maintained a good distance in the wilderness, even a small group of enemies couldn’t do anything to him. His courage grew, and he felt that as a person from the modern era, he could even charge across the battlefield.
emboldened, he went to watch the excitement again. On the way, he asked A Man, “What’s the strength of the Kiyosu Oda Family like?”
“It’s passable. After all, they are the main family of the Oda in the lower four counties, and Kiyosu Castle is a major castle with many large manors left from before. If they were to fight with all their might, they could probably field over three thousand troops. However, most of them are rookie ashigaru, with only about five to six hundred samurai and followers.”
Yuan Ye nodded slightly, feeling that the overall strength of the Kiyosu Oda Family was inferior to that of the Oda Danjō no Chū family. No wonder “Tiger of Owari” didn’t dare to make a sound when he was alive. However, now that the Danjō no Chū family was disunited and on the verge of collapse, with most vassals unwilling to obey orders, it was hard to say what the outcome would be relying solely on Nagoya Castle. Oda Nobunaga had just suffered a defeat at Dongjin Ye, which made things even more precarious.
If Oda Nobunaga lost again, it would be difficult for him to continue as head of the family.
He thought to himself and, with A Man and A Qing, they spurred their horses on—Yuan Ye rode a large horse, while the two women shared a three-flower horse. The three of them and two horses soon arrived near Kaizu. From a distance, they could hear the sounds of conch shells, taiko drums, and shouts of “Heiheio.” It seemed the main forces had already met, and the Kiyosu Army had not chosen to avoid battle and defend the castle, but had directly engaged, intending to decide the outcome in one battle.
A Man took a look from afar, then stood on her horse to observe the terrain. She pointed to a spot and shouted, “Let’s go over there!”
At this moment, her word was law. Yuan Ye followed behind them, circling around and appearing on one side of the battlefield. Similar to Dongjin Ye, he found a high vantage point to watch the spectacle. However, this was no longer a battle of counter-raid and expulsion like at Dongjin Ye. Both sides had mobilized, dragging farmers from their fields, which greatly increased the number of people on the battlefield.
A rough estimate showed that the Kiyosu Army had about five hundred armored soldiers, with a total force of nearly two thousand. The Nobunaga Army also had about five hundred armored soldiers, with a total force of about thirteen to fourteen hundred.
The main fighting force on both sides still consisted primarily of spearmen ashigaru. However, with more participants this time, Oda Nobunaga’s side deployed three rectangular spear formations, while the Kiyosu Army, trying to leverage their numerical advantage, formed a large horizontal formation, with equally strong flanks and center.
A Man leaned next to Yuan Ye and began to pontificate, “The Big Fool is using a crescent formation, and the Kiyosu Army is using a yoke formation. One aims to actively launch an attack and break through the flanks, while the other intends to counterattack diagonally in the gaps after the flanks are breached. Their responses are quite methodical.”
Yuan Ye looked closely. He noticed that the three spear formations of the Nobunaga Army were slightly separated, with the flanks parallel and the center slightly behind, indeed resembling a crescent moon. The Kiyosu Army’s spear formations were closely connected, like a wall of uneven thickness. This was how infantry clashed in ancient times; with more people, formations were even necessary.
He watched intently, and A Man, eager to show off, spoke incessantly, listing the advantages and disadvantages of common formations like fish scale, crane wing, goose formation, and square. She also recounted several classic examples where formations were changed mid-battle to trick opponents. As she spoke, she suddenly exclaimed, “Wait, look at the Nobunaga Army’s flanks. They seem to be entirely composed of his followers, the same group from Dongjin Ye…”
Yuan Ye quickly focused his gaze, regretting not having time to craft a telescope. However, after observing carefully for a while, he could vaguely discern something amiss. The flanks did indeed seem to be composed of Oda Nobunaga’s young followers. Judging by the small flags on their backs, the armored soldiers in the front ranks of the flank formations all bore “Eiraku Copper Coin flags.” The spear formation in the center, slightly behind, mostly had “Square Mallow flags,” likely composed mainly of Oda Nobumitsu’s armored followers, supplemented by some rookie ashigaru.
A Man confirmed it at this point, incredulously saying, “Did the Big Fool send all his other retainers to the flanking forces, and he’s relying on these greenhorns to decide the battle? Doesn’t he understand how he lost last time?”
Yuan Ye was also somewhat surprised, but he felt that even with a tough head, one shouldn’t be this reckless. He fell into a thoughtful silence.
At this moment, the two armies had entered each other’s range, and arrows began to fly. This time, it was Oda Nobunaga’s side that suffered. The Kiyosu Army had significantly more archer ashigaru, and their commander was quite capable. In a short while, they had suppressed Oda Nobunaga’s archers, causing a noticeably higher casualty rate on Oda Nobunaga’s side.
Of course, the Kiyosu Army also suffered casualties. This time, the rear few ranks of both sides’ spearmen ashigaru were mostly rookie ashigaru with only iron-sharded conical hats. Their armor was varied and lacking. Compared to last time, the arrows were much more effective, taking many lives wave after wave.
Under the barrage of arrows, people in the spearmen ashigaru ranks on both sides continuously screamed and fell. The Kiyosu Army fared better, but Oda Nobunaga’s spear formations showed slight unrest. It seemed they were less resilient than last time after a battle. However, they only scattered for a moment before reforming tightly under the kicks of their ashigaru leaders and continuing their advance.
At this point, they could no longer stop; they could only close in on the enemy as quickly as possible.
Soon, the flanks of both formations met first. The next stage should be fierce close combat, with spears thrusting at each other, and whoever couldn’t withstand the bloody attrition first would lose.
At least, that’s what Yuan Ye thought. But to his surprise, from a distance, he only saw forests of spears rising and falling. Then, the Kiyosu Army unexpectedly lost the initiative, being the first to be pierced and letting out a series of screams. The subsequent rounds were weaker than the previous ones, even worse than the Nobunaga Army at Dongjin Ye. It was as if they had been kicked forcefully by a giant, with a large section of the front ranks instantly falling.
The same group of people, separated by only ten-odd days, had changed so much?
A Man was stunned. The more she watched, the more something felt wrong. From afar, the Nobunaga Army’s spears seemed to have suddenly lengthened. She rubbed her eyes, threw down a sentence, “I’m going to take a look up front,” and then ran off. Yuan Ye was also anxious. Their observation point this time was a bit far, and the people looked as small as fingertips, making many details unclear.
Fortunately, A Man returned quickly, her face full of disbelief. “Big Fool… no, Oda Nobunaga has come up with a new trick again. He… he modified the spears, changing them from three-ken spears to five-ken spears, making them a whole ken longer. And he’s also incorporated the river pirates and mountain bandits from the Kawana Group and Hachisuka Party, mixing them in with his followers as spear ashigaru leaders!”
Her eyesight was excellent, far better than Yuan Ye’s. From a distance, she noticed something was amiss. Upon closer inspection, it was indeed true. Oda Nobunaga had not only mixed a group of battle-hardened old men among his followers but had also secretly lengthened the spears by two meters. These extra two meters had been hidden. During the march, the ashigaru held the spears in the middle section, with the extra two meters of spear shaft concealed behind them. Only when they got close to the enemy did they suddenly reveal their fangs. Leveraging the advantage of having spears two meters longer than the enemy’s, they thrust with the front ranks and struck with the rear, completely stunning the Kiyosu Army with their shorter spears. They couldn’t hold their ground in the first round and collapsed upon contact.
Hearing A Man’s words, Yuan Ye could no longer stay put. Moreover, Oda Nobunaga now held a significant advantage, greatly reducing the battlefield’s danger. He quickly moved forward a considerable distance to personally observe the engagement details. Oda Nobunaga had indeed modified his spears, changing them from the previous four-meter-plus spears to over six meters. Now, longer was stronger, and the Kiyosu Army couldn’t stand their ground. Their flanks had already retreated to the rear of the center formation, causing the center formation to suffer greatly from the staggered thrusts from the sides. It also began to lose formation, becoming somewhat disorganized.
At the same time, among Oda Nobunaga’s originally uniformly young followers, there were indeed dozens of middle-aged men with ferocious and sinister faces, constantly shouting encouragement for the battle. Under their shouts and even kicks, the young followers all yelled loudly and chased after the Kiyosu Army, stabbing them fiercely. These young followers still seemed a bit overly nervous, but with the advantage from the start and people constantly kicking their butts and directing them where to attack, they only needed to execute mechanically. The impact was not significant.
After fighting for a while like this, the Kiyosu Army’s flanks suffered heavy casualties, and the center fell into chaos. The Commander-in-Chief of the Kiyosu Army repeatedly blew his conch shell, seemingly trying to adjust the formation or order his subordinates to hold firm. However, not only was the effect minimal, but it also caused further confusion among his own troops.
At this moment, the central spearmen ashigaru formation of Oda Nobunaga’s side suddenly parted. The mounted samurai unit, composed of Oda Nobunaga’s Guard Unit and a large number of low-ranking samurai retainers, launched a fierce charge, roaring as they directly crashed into the Kiyosu Army’s central formation, immediately scattering them. Normally, this would be difficult, as the Kiyosu Army could immediately raise their high-low spears to forcefully resist the cavalry charge. However, their flanks had been constantly retreating, causing the central part to be almost surrounded from three sides. They were already in disarray from the staggered thrusts from the sides, disoriented and unable to react to the charge.
The Kiyosu Army finally couldn’t withstand this final blow. Amidst widespread screams, they completely collapsed. Large groups of ashigaru threw down their weapons and fled backward, shouting. Even when caught and cut down by mounted samurai, they didn’t turn back. With the center broken and the flanks already suffering heavy casualties and constantly retreating, they were on the verge of collapse. Without hesitation, they threw away their cumbersome spears and scrambled to escape the battlefield.
The archer ashigaru and rookie ashigaru in the rear were even worse. As soon as the front started running, they were already running. In fact, thanks to their lack of armor, they ran even faster, being in a position of survival advantage.
In just a minute or two, the defeat was like a mountain collapsing. The entire Kiyosu Army collapsed. Large groups of ashigaru scattered everywhere, ignoring the samurai’s attempts to stop them. Everyone wished their parents had given them two more legs. A Man also became excited. She loved fighting on the winning side the most. She excitedly said to Yuan Ye, “Since we’re here, let’s go chop off a few heads too. Maybe we can even earn some merit for routing the enemy!”
At this moment, participating in the battle was the most advantageous. The enemy had no will to resist and only wanted to run home. Chasing after them and killing them one by one carried no risk at all. It was truly a freebie. Sometimes, they didn’t even need to kill them; just by continuously pursuing the enemy, the enemy’s mental breakdown might cause them to run themselves to death from exhaustion.
A Man really wanted to take this opportunity to gain some benefits, even if it was just to exchange these heads for some money instead of war merits. However, Yuan Ye was not interested in such things. Instead, he mused, “They won just like that? Has no one ever thought of making the spears longer before?”
A Man looked regretfully at the scattered enemies all over the mountain and fields. But if Yuan Ye didn’t want to pursue, she couldn’t do anything. After thinking for a moment, she hesitated and said, “My old man said that spear ashigaru formations were first used by the Miyoshi Family, and they initially used two-ken spears. So many years have passed, and everyone has gotten used to it. After all, two-ken spears are long enough to prevent mounted samurai from getting close, rendering their strength useless. I’ve never heard of them being changed to three-ken spears…”
So it was just rigid thinking?
Samurai trained in martial arts from a young age and were fully armored. Ashigaru, composed of commoners, found it difficult to confront them and often broke formation upon being charged. Then, the Miyoshi Family devised a tactic to counter samurai charges using massed spear formations. After all, no matter how brave a samurai was or how skilled their martial arts, they couldn’t withstand the continuous thrusts of several or even a dozen four-meter spears and couldn’t utilize their advantages.
As a result, as battles continued, samurai were sidelined, and spear ashigaru became the new main force in warfare. Everyone followed the Miyoshi Family’s example, poking each other with two-ken spears. Then, after Oda Nobunaga’s great defeat last time, he reflected deeply and devised a new tactic against spear ashigaru?
Use longer spears to poke them?
Oda Nobunaga truly lived up to his title of “Eccentric”; he had indeed come up with something new.
Yuan Ye nodded slightly, and then he felt that he had merely transmigrated through time, and history seemed to be on track. Oda Nobunaga did have some skills, and it seemed he would soon be able to end the chaotic situation in Owari.
