Chapter nine hundred and ninety seventh pre-war enemy formation
The period of three days passed by in a blink of an eye.
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight rises from the ground, the earth finally puts aside its false calmness. In the small plain in Sano District, there are a lot of people and smoke from the east and west ends.
Shiba Yiyin, who had just finished breakfast, welcomed visitors in the formation.
Uesugi Teruhora looked good today and seemed to have slept soundly. Yoshigan couldn't help but envy her confidence and calmness.
"Mr. Qianxin, are you not going to sit on the left wing today? Do you want to form our own formation with me and direct the war?"
Yiyin nodded and said.
"The left wing has been properly arranged, with two reserve teams from Sanada going first, four reserve teams from the Kanto shrine under Yamanaka Yukimori's second hand, and Shima Katsuo leading two reserve teams from Kanto Shiba to form the third hand.
I can’t see the overall situation by staying on the left wing, so why don’t I sit in the same formation with you to prevent emergencies? What do you think?”
Terutora Uesugi smiled and nodded.
"Of course I do."
This time, the Echigo army dispatched thirty reserve troops of more than 7,000 people. In addition to the horseback troops, bow and arrow troops, Monomiban, Shiban and other full-time warriors, there were a total of more than 8,000 soldiers.
In the early days of Japan's Warring States Period, both strategy, tactics and organizational mobilization were rudimentary. Therefore, the country was often used as a unit, and village fighting was mainly carried out domestically.
However, as the military dynasty gradually established an effective mobilization system during more than a hundred years of chaos, expanding to the territory of one country or even several countries, the number and organizational strength of the army also continued to increase.
For example, this time Sano leads the battle.
The Echigo army had 8,000 soldiers, and together with the logistics personnel, it was an army of 30,000 to 40,000 people. The Hojo family sent even more troops, 20,000 soldiers, including the logistics peasants, and a total of 80,000 to 90,000 horses.
If this were a village fight in the past, peasant soldiers would also have to go into battle. A reserve team would have forty or fifty warriors, two hundred ashigaru, plus five or six hundred peasant soldiers, which could expand to eight hundred people.
However, as the size of the samurai lords grew and the supply lines for overseas operations lengthened, peasant soldiers gradually withdrew from the ranks. Only local small samurai families would use peasant soldiers to assist in the battle when defending their territories.
As the martial arts lords become bigger and stronger, they often begin to form semi-full-time standing forces, and the division of military functions becomes more and more detailed and clear.
This time, the Echigo army was formed with Terutora Uesugi as the general. Yoshihiro Saba was the special envoy of the shogunate and ranked second as deputy general.
There are writers in this formation who are responsible for sending documents, collecting seals, and recording military orders.
The military officer is responsible for making plans for the general and managing the specific deployment of horses, bows and arrows, soldiers and food officers, etc.
The military director is in charge of supervising military discipline, conducting reconnaissance, and envoys to deliver messages, etc.
As the number of military personnel increases, the general will also divide independent legions and hand them over to the generals to manage, with relatively independent command authority.
Putting aside the complicated political relationship between the Kanto Service and the Uesugi family, in this battle, the Kanto Service belonged to the left-wing independent corps.
Now, Yoshigan Shiba hopes to enter the main formation and command together with Terutora Uesugi, which is equivalent to unifying the command authority of the army again.
Terutora Uesugi didn't know about Sanada Nobushige causing a disturbance in the military meeting at the Kanto Palace. She thought it was Yoshigan Shiba who took the initiative to unify command for the sake of the war situation, and of course she was very happy.
She wanted to step forward and hold Yiyin's hand, but he pulled away and got a look. She had no choice but to rub her hands and laugh.
Yiyin couldn't help but sigh when he saw her acting silly.
A battle is about to begin, and the surrounding warriors are busy. The two lords are the focus of everyone's attention. This bastard wants to touch him here, he is really ignorant.
Uesugi Teruhora doesn't care about this. As long as this battle is won, the Kanto strategy will be on the fast track. Then the matter of Uesugi-Shiba's merger should be brought up for discussion.
She knew that this was Shiba Yoshigan's main formation, and that she was surrounded by warriors from the Kanto Palace, so she deliberately expressed her intimacy.
The overall situation of the merger of the two families must not be shaken by the likes and dislikes of the samurai family of the Kanto Palace.
Seeing the confident yet dangerous brilliance in Uesugi Teruhora's eyes, Yoshigine's heart tightened and he didn't dare to let her make any more abrupt moves, so he quickly changed the subject.
"You came to me, are you ready to go down the mountain and start a war?"
Seeing him talking about business, Uesugi Teruhu could only hold back his impatience and said in a deep voice.
"The soldiers are having a meal. After another meal, the whole army will go down the mountain as planned.
There have been reports from the front, and there are a lot of smoke rising from the Hojo camp, so it will be time to move out soon."
Yiyin nodded and said.
"How do you think the Hojo Clan Council will organize their formation?"
Teru Uesugi smiled and said in a positive tone.
"It's probably the fish scale formation.
The Hojo army has a large number of soldiers, and the more the Hojo clan wants to win, the more cautious it will be. Spending attrition and fighting stupidly is the surest way to win."
Yiyin thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.
Terutora Uesugi took the initiative to issue a challenge, which will definitely make Hojo Ushimasa, who has the numerical advantage, be very happy and eager to become famous in one battle.
This is the first time she has led troops into battle after becoming the governor of the family. The victory in this battle will have a great impact on whether she can control the Hojo family business in the future. She is unlikely to take risks and will definitely choose the safest tactics.
The Hojo clan leader is also an elite force and will not doubt the combat power of her own army. The safest way to fight is to fight with numbers, and the fish scale formation is the most suitable for her current ideas.
Assemble the main force in the center, divide it into several small fish-scale formations, and advance the battle in stages. Use a small number of troops to consume the strength of the Echigo army first, and then gradually increase the intensity and number of people.
This method of attack by the Fish Scale Formation will amplify the Hojo family's numerical advantage. As long as Hojo Ujimasa is willing to bear losses and is not afraid of death, this flesh and blood millstone will sooner or later crush the Echigo army.
Yiyin couldn't help frowning.
"Then should we still use the Crane Wing Formation? Do we need to make some targeted changes?"
Terutora Uesugi shook his head firmly and said confidently.
"No need, I just want to make her proud, let her slowly look forward to victory with the advantage, and finally overwhelm the entire army.
I have ordered Irobe Katsumacho to take charge of the right wing, and place ten reserve troops of the Xiayue Army and the rest of the local tribes on the southern front to defend to the end.
When the Fish Scale Formation initially presses forward, there will not be too many of them, so Hojo Ujimasa must place his hope in a breakthrough in the center. The task of Hojo's left and right wings is to stabilize the front, and the pressure on the southern front will not be very great.
And I will gather the standing troops of the Kakizaki Kei family and Naoomi Hata Honshou under Saito Asanobu to guard the front line of the formation with the elite troops directly under them, waiting for her to attack.
In our Crane Wing Formation, the left and right wings can advance and retreat.
The right wing of the southern front is stubbornly holding on, and I, the center, are here to wear down her energy and patience. When Hojo Ushimasa's patience is exhausted and the entire army presses forward, it will be Kenshin-san's turn to exert force on the left wing.
As long as the left wing can quickly break in from the northern front and disrupt Hojo Ushimasa's formation, I will be sure to mobilize all my troops to counterattack and defeat Hojo Ushimasa's army."