The Sengoku Festival (An Oda Nobuna No Yabou fanfic)

Chapter 37

The dead were laying strewn about like grains of sand over a road, clumped up in a few areas but mainly scattered to the fore winds. I glanced over how many we had lost from our 400 man army and was quite saddened to see only maybe 230 remaining between the two of us. Although I was able to salvage the equipment from the battle and loot the enemy for their own supplies and equipment, we still were down to half the number we had and we also still had to trap and block the roads to Naragata.

But that was soon quickly done as I watched both my men and his men quickly begin to set up blockades with trees and sharpened stakes, dig trenches and pits to cover with leaves, and generally make traversing the area more difficult than it would normally be.

By my side, the Winged Ronin was watching his men help out as he then said to me, "We better hurry... otherwise we'll be late to the joining up at Naragata."

"Agreed... but this was a battle that shouldn't have happened in truth..." I told him. "We merely got unlucky and ran into them sooner than later."

"At least we routed them and forced them to retreat so they didn't come back to attack our flank our rears." Said the Winged Ronin.

"That is true.. and with these blockades and traps we should slow them down further..." I told him. "Along with the ones further down the way to Naragata."

"Hopefully we don't run into problems that way." Muttered the Winged Ronin.

I nodded and then I told him, "We best get moving soon before the enemy comes back."

He nodded and as jinkai blew and various leaders began to gather themselves up, the combined Oda commander forces began to march to Naragata but along the way they also made and set more traps and barricades to slow their enemies down even more.

When nightfall came down upon the camps of both Ronin, we had probably set up about 70% if the road behind us with traps and pits and barricades to halt, hinder, and stagger the enemies that'll likely come down that road. Still, looking over the amount of troops we had currently, it wasn't a promising sight for when we would eventually arrive at Naragata to the Oda. But we still had a job to do and even if myself and the Winged Ronin were left alone, at least I would try and complete the mission.

The sound of marching feet coming down the road is probably what scattered the few villagers before us as they went anywhere but down the road. I marched at the front with the Winged Ronin, our weapons in hand and prepared for a fight against the Date as our troops were in columns and square formations behind us, bringing up supplies and the rearguard that was ever watchful of what was behind us at all times.

Judging off the map we were occasionally glancing at as we tried to stay on the road, we were just a few miles from Naragata and even from here we could see the notable smoke trails from what we assumed to be a siege or a intense battle. Still, we marched at a steady pace rather than an urgent one, in case another enemy formation popped into existence before us and began to engage us.

"What you think it's like right now?" Asked the Winged Ronin as he glanced to me.

"If we're lucky, we outnumber them and their walls and gates are being breached as we speak...." I told him as I took out my bow and got an arrow into my fist.

About a couple more minutes and once we had cleared another forest, we came upon the sunken outskirts of Naragata. The lands sunk a little into a valley as the main city castle rose up above the urban sprawl around it that was fenced in by a long wall of wood that was dotted by archer towers.

Currently, besieging one side of it in a tide of yellow and black, were the Oda as I watched riflemen, archers, and a few Rock thrower catapults used in siege warfare try and take down the archer towers and walls of the city as I could barely see a battering ram being used as well. At the same time, it didn't take much to see the many bodies of both the Date defenders and the Oda besiegers scattered around as I could see many dead Oda ashigaru and lower samurai lying dead in the fields and rice paddies around the city.