Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 121 Jiayue Valley Ambush
The Oniwa clan originated from the Saito clan of the Fujiwara Kita family. According to legend, Saito Kira, a native of Yamashiro Province, moved to Moneta Village in Date County and first used Moneta as his surname, and later changed it to Oniwa clan. The Oniwa clan had been retainers of the Date clan since the time of the first head of the Date clan, Asamune, and because of their loyalty for generations, they became the heirs of the Date clan.

Onitsuka Masaaki was an orphan adopted by Onitsuka Motoshige, the former head of the Onitsuka clan and lord of Kokokan Castle, after the Battle of Kamiyama Castle in 1520. He was also the sworn brother of the current head of the Onitsuka clan, Onitsuka Yoshinao.

He followed Motoshi Kido to fight on the battlefield since he was young, and he made many military achievements, gradually becoming a brave general. However, what followed was the suspicion and alienation of Yoshinao Kido, especially after Motoshi Kido became seriously ill, Yoshinao Kido regarded him as a potential rival for the position of family heir, and frequently designed to suppress him.

For the unity and peace of the Oniwa clan, Oniwa Masaaki eventually chose to leave Oshu and began to travel around the world. During this period, he not only studied the spearmanship of the Hozoin, but also studied the archery and horseback archery of the Ogasawara clan. When passing through Ueno Province, he became a registered disciple of Ohgu Hidetsuna (Ueizumi Nobunaga). During this period, he participated in the suppression of bandits and many battles, and gradually accumulated some fame.

When passing through Shinano, he became a good friend of Sanada Yukitaka and was recommended by him to serve the Bitchu Date clan. Unfortunately, in 1533, due to their weak strength and outnumbered, the Bitchu Date clan was conquered by the powerful enemy Mimura clan, and Oniwa Masaaki was forced to wander again.

Fortunately, three years later, Shirai Mitsutane, who was the governor of Kasa County at the time, recruited him, was very impressed with his abilities, and recommended him as the governor of Tango Kahara Castle.

After the Takeda clan annexed Tango in 1539, Shirai Mitsutane was appointed as the guardian of Tango, and with his recommendation, Onitsu Masaaki was also transferred to become the castellan of Kayue Castle, an important town in Yosa County.

Kayetsu Castle is also known as Arayama Castle, named after its proximity to Kayetsu Valley or Arayama where the main castle is located. The main castle of this castle is located on the top of Arayama, which is 130 meters high. The curved moat and earth moat spread radially from the outside of the main castle to the bottom of the mountain along the ridge. Looking down from the air, it looks like an octopus.

This time, the Yamana army concentrated its forces and broke into Danhou from the direction of Jiayue City, which showed its great determination.

Before the formal expedition, according to Kakiya Tsunesari's idea, the troops should be divided into two groups. One group of 1,800 people would go through the streets under Jiayue Castle and attack Miyazu Castle directly, while the other group of 600 people would feint an attack on Yoshizawa Castle to disrupt the Takeda army's formation.

However, this suggestion was not adopted by Yamana Yutoyo. He believed that the Takeda army should not have fully assembled at this moment, and the Yamana army should take this opportunity to quickly break through the defense line set up by the Takeda army in Minamiyosa County, and rush to Miyazu Castle as quickly as possible, capturing the city before Isshiki Yoshiyuki and Itsumi Masatsune, so as to gain an advantage in the subsequent division of Tango.

At this time, Tanjie Shojiyoshi also stood up to support Yamana Takanari. He believed that the Tango Peninsula where Yoshizawa Castle was located had a rugged terrain and a general strategic location. The Takeda clan would most likely not divide its troops because of an attack there, especially when they had limited troops, and would more likely prioritize the safety of Miyazu Castle.

In this case, dividing the troops will not only fail to achieve the planned effect, but will weaken the troops in the main attack direction, which is not conducive to the rapid capture of Miyazu Castle.

The remaining two "kings", Yagi Toyonobu of Yagi Castle and Ohtagaki Asanobu of Takeda Castle, felt that both sides had their reasons, and since they themselves had not mobilized their forces to the utmost, they decided to keep a low profile and not express their opinions.

As a result, the situation on the field became "2 to 1". Seeing this, Kakiya Tsunari had no choice but to shake his head helplessly and follow the advice of Yamana Yufeng, concentrating all 2,400 troops to attack Tango from the direction of Kayue Castle.

On the morning of the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, just as the Yamana army marched into Tango Province in a mighty force, Onitsuka Masaaki stood on the mountainside and watched every move below the mountain.

"We must not let them enter Tango!" Onitsuka Masaaki was firm in his attitude. Seeing the vanguard of the Yamana army entering the Jiayue Valley, he immediately waved the Caipei in his hand, signaling the troops to start action.

In an instant, countless rocks and logs fell down the hillside into Jiayue Valley. The Yamana army, who heard the noise, panicked, especially the vanguard, which was in a certain degree of chaos. "Oh no, there's an ambush!" As the vanguard, Tian Jie Zhuangyi had been in battle for a long time and did not lose his composure because of the ambush. He immediately ordered the army to turn around, and the vanguard became the rear guard, and began to slowly withdraw from Jiayue Valley.

How could Onitsuka Masaaki let them go so easily? After all, this kind of ambush could only be used once in the same place, but not a second time. He seized the opportunity and ordered the archers to fire a volley, making sure to keep as many Yamana troops as possible in the valley.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!" In an instant, arrows rained down. Some Yamana soldiers whose retreat was blocked by rolling logs and falling rocks unfortunately became victims of this rain of arrows.

Arrows flew in arcs in the air, shooting densely into the valley. The Yamana army, which had barely maintained its formation under the command of Tanjie Sōji, was in obvious chaos in the face of the "baptism" of arrow rain. Especially the soldiers at the back, who ignored the military rules at this moment and rushed to the front of the team in a panic. After all, saving their lives was the most important thing compared to being punished.

"Stop!" Seeing that the Yamana army in the valley had fallen into widespread chaos, Onitsuka Masaaki immediately ordered to stop shooting arrows. At the same time, he raised the caipei in his hand and sent a signal to the special forces hidden in the mountain road that they could take action.

"Follow me!" The leading samurai shouted, and this special force of more than a hundred people immediately rushed out of the woods, with fierce eyes and murderous intent, roaring and slaughtering the Yamana soldiers in the valley who were too late or too injured to retreat.

"Damn it!" Seeing this, Tanjie Shojiro, who was about to retreat from the valley, became furious. He immediately turned his horse around and rushed back to the valley to have a good fight with the Takeda army.

"Sir, you must not do this!" The samurai beside him held the reins tightly and pleaded, "The Takeda army may be doing this to trick us back and launch a second ambush. Before we understand their intentions, please do not be impulsive!"

After hearing the samurai's words, the extremely angry Tanaka Shoji finally calmed down a little. He stared at the Takeda army in the valley with resentful eyes, gritted his teeth and swore fiercely: "Today's shame, I will return it tenfold one day!"

Upon hearing that the vanguard had been ambushed, Yamana Yufeng and the other three "kings" all showed varying degrees of surprise on their faces.

"Where is the envoy? Send him to investigate immediately. How many people are hiding on the mountain and how dare they ambush our army?!" Yamana Youfeng ordered solemnly.

"Ha! Please calm down, my lord. I will arrange it right away." Yagi Toyonobu responded.

"My lord, if the mountain is heavily guarded, should we take another route..." Yuanwu Xucheng asked tentatively.

"How many people can be hidden in this small Anliang Mountain and small Jiayue City? In my opinion, this should be a small-scale harassment and will not amount to much." Yamana Yufeng replied. He wanted to attack Miyazu Castle as soon as possible, and obviously did not want to take a detour because of a little setback. This would not only miss the opportunity to fight, but also affect his prestige.

"Although it is a small-scale harassment, it will be difficult for our family to pass through Jiayue Valley if we don't completely eliminate them." Ota Gaki Asanobu suggested, "The only plan now is to take down Jiayue Castle on the top of the mountain first, and then consider other things later."

(End of this chapter)