Author's Games: Samurai

Task One Battle Task: Noaki Hojo verses Setsuka Matsunaga

Clan 9: Noaki Hojo

Matsunaga-jō was guarded well. It had huge walls of stone and a large moat surrounding it. It was situated at the bottom of the mountain, guarding a mountain pass that cut through several territories and exited in a forest close to Oda's lands. Its battlements were guarded by hundreds of warriors that patrolled constantly and a second wall encircled the inner palace, adding an extra barrier for invaders to get past.

However, it was a mountain that was surrounded by forest. If I could get an army into the forest without being spotted and then march them through the forest until they were near the edge, but not visible, that would mean that I could attack at any time and none of the soldiers at Matsunaga-jō would see it coming.

There was no way to accomplish this without splitting the army up, though, and taking different paths each time through the forest to avoid making a solid path. When the army met up, they would take the last, shorter part of the journey together and stop before anyone could see this. People were bound to notice, of course, but most of those who did were only peasants, and if we acted quickly enough those who did report back to Setsuga would be too late.

Sitting down on a tree stump, I began to lay out my plans in my mind. They had to be perfect or the generals wouldn't accept them. I could make them do it, but I didn't want to force them to do something they didn't want to do. A soldier who didn't want to fight was a soldier who was going to die when the battles came and I wasn't about to let that happen.

When I was done with my plan, I presented it to the other generals, who all agreed that, given the reasons for our attack, it would be a good plan.

Basically, at the end of two weeks, I would go up on the mountain with a small group of warriors and my zappās, or sappers. The warriors would go mainly as protection in case anyone tried to stop us. Once we found a good place, the zappās would use their excavation skills to cause an avalanche directed at and around the castle.

Once the avalanche began, the army would march out of the woods, everyone with their own shield, and march past the castle and into the mountain pass without much of a fight. If the zappās miscalculated something then the avalanche could potentially crush the army. If all went well, the Matsunaga clan would be sealed in their castle until their own zappās could dig them out. By then, we would already be preparing to attack Oda.

Takeo grinned. "This is quite the plan, Daimyo Naoki. It could backfire on us and destroy us instead of them," he commented.

"In which case, I really hope they think it was a natural disaster," I replied with a smile.

Ryo snorted and Takeo's grin widened. "So who will send?" one of the generals asked.

"I was thinking the two rōnin that Ryo-kun hired and some of our better samurai. And myself, of course."

Everyone as soon as I said it everyone began protesting. "You cannot go, Daimyo Naoki," Ryo said. "What if something were to happen to you?"

"If something goes wrong with the avalanche, would I not be safer up on the mountain where I couldn't be crushed?" I pointed out. "If I go up there, I can both protect the zappās and stay safer than if I were down on the ground. If I stay down here and something goes wrong then I'll be in the line of fire anyway."

They thought about that for a moment before nodding their agreement. "Two weeks then," Takeo said.

Everyone nodded and we got up, going off to our different responsibilities.

Ryo stood up in front of me before I left, blocking my way. "Daimyo Naoki, I think you should meet the rōnin I hired before you go off to fight with them, hai?"