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

Chapter 31: Rock out of the mountain fort
Iwadeyama Castle is the closest and strongest of the three castles built by Kuriya Katsuhisa east of Tsubaki Pass. The castle was guarded by Kuriya Katsuhisa's cousin, Kuriya Goroemon Katsuie, who led more than 100 troops.

This castle is different from the two castles of Karikurayama and Kamikurayama in that it is located on the hills at the northeast end of the Shiroyama Mountains where Kuniyoshi Castle is located. In a sense, it is a branch castle of Kuniyoshi Castle. Once this place is taken, the enemy army can attack Kuniyoshi Castle along the mountain ridge, forming a pincer attack with the army attacking Kuniyoshi Castle head-on.

It can be said that if the Asakura army wanted to reduce casualties in the attack on Kuniyoshi Castle, it was imperative to capture Iwadeyama Fort.

It was with the idea of ​​ending the battle quickly and minimizing casualties that at dawn on the ninth day of the first lunar month, Asakura Munetoshi ordered his troops to go out into the battle. Tsuruga Dosi, his adopted son Asakura Kageki, and Asakura Kageren, one of the Four Bugyo and the lord of Asakurayama Castle, served as the vanguard. Except for 500 soldiers who stayed behind to guard Kanayama Castle, the army rushed into Wakasa at full speed.

After quickly passing the pass on the border between Wakasa and Echizen, the army split into two groups. Asakura Kageki led 5,000 men to attack Karakurayama Fort, Asakura Kageren led 4,000 men to attack Karakurayama Fort, and Asakura Soteki led 3,500 of his personal guards to follow closely behind.

The two armies agreed that after Asakura Kageki captured Karikura Mountain Fort, he would continue to attack Iwade Mountain Fort and attack Kuniyoshi Castle from the side of the mountain ridge; after Asakura Kageren captured Karikura Mountain Fort, he would wait for the main force of Asakura Soteki to arrive, and then launch a strong attack on Kuniyoshi Castle from the front.

As mentioned before, the three fortresses east of Kuniyoshi City were built on relatively high hills or mountains, but they were relatively isolated from each other and could not be defended in a continuous system. Therefore, when they were first built, they were mainly used for reconnaissance and intelligence transmission, and the city defenses were relatively weak and could not withstand large-scale attacks.

Now, the Asakura army was out in full force, and the three cities were even more unable to resist. First, Karakura Mountain Fort was captured in less than half an hour, and then Karakura Mountain Fort was also captured by Asakura Kageren. The whole battle took less than an hour, and the Asakura army pushed the front line to the area around Yoshiharu Temple at the cost of 300 casualties.

On the other hand, the soldiers deployed by Kuriya Katsuhisa in the two castles of the Takeda army did not hold out to the death. Instead, they followed Kuriya Katsuhisa's instructions and abandoned the castles and fled westward when defeat was inevitable. Except for a few who were killed by the pursuing Asakura army, most of the remaining soldiers fled into Iwadeyama Castle or Kuniyoshi Castle.

"Captain Shinzaemon, look, that small hill not far away is Mt. Iwade. The castle on the hill was given the death order by my father, and we must take it today." Asakura Kageki had already arrived at Sada Town on the eastern foot of Mt. Iwade, only separated from the small hill by a river.

The new Saemon-no-jo he mentioned was the head of the Yamazaki clan, the Asakura clan's hereditary successor, Yamazaki Yoshiie. He was only in his twenties, but he had fought on the battlefield for nearly ten years and was a young general highly regarded by Asakura Muneshige. He was assigned to Asakura Kageki to ensure a smooth capture of Iwadeyama Castle.

"Your Highness, the higher mountain on the west side of the rocky mountain must be Shiroyama, right?" asked Yamazaki Yoshiie.

Asakura Kageki nodded and said, "That is the castle mountain where Kuniyoshi Castle is located. Our army's goal this time is to attack the castle mountain from the ridge on the side of Iwade Mountain and support the main force to complete the siege of Kuniyoshi Castle."

At this point, Asakura Kageki complained about Asakura Soteki's deployment: "Why did father let me be in charge of the auxiliary attack and give the responsibility of the main attack to Genbansuke (Asakura Kageren)? I am the Tsuruga County Chief in charge of the attack on Wakasa."

Yamazaki Yoshiie had no objection to Asakura Soteki's arrangement. After all, Asakura Kageren had been in the battlefield for a long time and was highly regarded by Asakura Takakage. In addition, he and Asakura Kageki had been partners for many years and had a good understanding. It was natural for him to take the lead. However, in order to appease Asakura Kageki's emotions and avoid affecting the next battle, Yamazaki Yoshiie had to comfort him:
"Your Highness is the governor of Tsuruga County and the successor of His Highness Munetsuki. Your ability is impeccable. However, you are still young. His Highness must have made such an arrangement for the purpose of protecting you. Please do not pay too much attention to this matter. As long as our army can capture Iwaideyama Castle and complete the task assigned by His Highness Munetsuki, will there be few opportunities for you to take the lead in the attack, or even become the general commander or military magistrate in the future?"

"What you said does make sense," Asakura Kageki thought for a moment, "Both father and son were in the same army. Even if we won, we would still be criticized. Now I lead an army on my own. Any victory I win will be mine. I want to let those guys who look down on me see clearly that I was able to become the governor of Tsuruga County not only because of my father's protection, but also because of my own ability!"

After hearing this, Yamazaki Yoshiie nodded repeatedly, but he felt unhappy in his heart: this "second-generation official" in front of him was far inferior to himself in both qualifications and abilities, but just because he was a member of the Asakura family, he was able to hold an important position. Even though he was highly regarded by Asakura Munetoki, he was only his deputy general. Thinking of this, he felt really unwilling.

But what can he do even if he is unwilling? The only way now is to help him capture Iwadeyama Castle, so that he can get some leftovers, slightly improve his status in the Asakura family, and win more honor and bargaining chips for the Yamazaki family.

Just as the two were looking forward to capturing Iwaideyama Castle and receiving praise from Asakura Soteki, Nobushige and others had already decided to send 500 troops to support Kuriya Katsuie in Iwaideyama.

Originally, facing the aggressive Asakura army, Nobushige was prepared to lay siege to Kuniyoshi Castle as planned, but Kuriya Katsuhisa saw through Asakura Soteki's strategic intentions and knew that he was not only planning to attack from the front, but also to attack from the flanks. As a result, the strategy for the decisive battle at Kuniyoshi Castle had to be changed, and the fortress of Iwadeyama must not be lost.

Therefore, under his strong suggestion, Nobushige agreed to lead his troops to Iwadeyama Fort, and the command of the Kuniyoshi Castle garrison was handed over to Muto Mitsuyoshi.

At 10:00 a.m., Asakura Kageki and Yamazaki Yoshiie decided to use their huge military advantage to storm Iwade Mountain Fortress, just as they had just captured Karakura Mountain Fortress. In this battle, Asakura Kageki insisted on personally commanding the battlefield, despite Yamazaki Yoshiie's persuasion, while the latter was asked to stay at the main camp in Sada Town to provide support.

"It's time to let these guys in Wakasa know how powerful I, Asakura Magokurō, am! Father, just wait for the good news of my victory!" After saying this, Asakura Kageki put on the indigo-colored military haori with the "Sanmori Papaya" family crest passed down to him by Asakura Munetoki, and under the protection of a group of kiku and yorikuni, he led 4,000 troops towards the Iwadeyama Fort not far away.

On Mt. Iwade, Katsuhisa Kuriya had already arrived with reinforcements. After joining forces with the defenders in the city, the total force reached 800 people.

"Is it Asakura Maguro? I, Kuriya Genbei, have been waiting for a long time!" Kuriya Katsuhisa raised the pendant and shouted loudly.

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(End of this chapter)