"You and your men will take the left-wing – we will take the centre and right-wing."
Gengyo proposed.
"What? Are you sure? We have a similar number of men to you… If you spread yourselves on both the centre of the right-wing you'll be overwhelmed!"
The young boy raised his eyebrows, sharing a look with Jikouji and Nakatane.
"This man thinks we'll be overwhelmed? Hoho! Are we not being underestimated a little?"
They shook their heads at the boy's teasing, with light smiles on their faces.
"No, no! I don't mean that… It's just…"
The young smiled up at him, letting him know it was a joke.
He looked slightly embarrassed at the realization, but conceded to silence as he allowed an explanation to be made.
"We are handing you the most vital role in this battle, Gosankyo-san. With your superior numbers, you must crush their right-wing, and then flank the men that we will keep engaged."
He paused, his eyes widening. He had merely known them for ten minutes. They did not know what strength his men had, nor how competent they were, yet they were handing him the key to victory, placing their hopes on him.
He forced his fist into his hand, his blood boiling. The pressure was immense, but the excitement was far greater.
"I will not let you down!"
He said seriously.
In truth, his role in this battle would be the easiest. But Gengyo did not let him know that. The reason he had been handed the offence role, was not because he was confident in the man's strength, but the very opposite. He did not want him to engage the mass of 300-400 men - as they would have to - only to crumble, and his men to route. That would be direct route to defeat.
Instead, he had placed his own men upon the flanks, because he believed them to be the most powerful force on that field of battle, and he did not wish for their flanks to crumble. Nakatane's men would take the centre – which, in itself, was a crucial role, but he would have twice the men packed together, and the support of the Special Forces unit when required.
"Good."
Gengyo took up his stick, and drew an arrow from the three stones on the left-wing, straight forwards into the enemy forces.
"So, to summarise, you will engage the enemy's right-wing. Set some of your men further to the left, and you can envelop them. Victory should be swift."
Then he drew a curved arrow from the point of engagement, round toward the rear of the centre.
"Then, you will bring your men around, and cut apart their centre."
He sent the reinforcements toward the centre, because he believed – though they were superior in number – that Nakatane's men were likely to fall before his own.
"Understood?"
"Understood! I will bring us success!"
He said passionately, relishing his roll in the battle to come. He had not known what to make of the boy at first, but now he understood first hand why Nakatane had placed him within the role of strategist.
Jikouji and Nakatane realized that their end of the fighting would be the most bloody, and it would be a bitter grind for victory. But the strategy was sound, and they could not fault it.
"Miura-kun, what of this cavalry unit? That's bound to cause some trouble."
Jikouji asked, picking up the stone he knew to represent the hors.e.m.e.n, and toying with it.
"We will deal with them reactively. I have a plan in place for that, so do not worry."
"Mm."
They knew the planning to be all but concluded, and by some unspoken agreement, their eyes drifted towards the rows of men before them. They had stood completely still, in the same formation for at least 20 minutes. It was rather creepy, and had he not known better, Gengyo might have assumed that it was a dummy army made up of strawmen in armour.
Last-minute alterations were made to their armour, and the formations of the men were assumed. Morale amongst the Niwa forces was high, as it was amongst Gosankyo's men, who had heard of their importance in the battle to come, and were as excited as their commander.
They faced off against the enemy, weapons ready. Still the enemy did not react.
"ARCHERS, FORWARD!"
Gengyo called out, motioning forwards with his arm. The bow ashigaru moved out from behind the yari ashigaru – even the Gosankyo bowmen followed his command. They walked out steadily, stepping out almost one hundred paces away from the infantry. The entire Special Forces unit had marched forward as well, spears in hands and bows over shoulder, so that if the calavry wished to try anything sneaky, they would meet a rather grisly end.
They continued walking, reaching the 150 pace mark, and only then did the enemy respond.
"HOLD!"
He called out, taking the necessary precautions incase of a surprise attack.
But from the enemy ranks did not come bow ashigaru, nor even calvary. Instead, 50 men - apparently unarmed, apart from short blades strapped to their belts – walked forward.
They continued walking, steadily, completely in step with one another. It was creepy, and Gengyo felt a chill whisper down his spine. Something was wrong – very wrong.
The men paused 30 paces out of their bowman's range, as they stopped and stared emotionlessly.
In his throat the order to retreat caught, for he could not bring himself to speak. The men had looks of curiosity on their face too, but it seemed they were nowhere near as unsettled as he was.
Every instinct in his body warned him of danger, but like a fool, he listened to his brain that attempted to command rationality.
With one fluid movement, the men withdrew the daggers at their h.i.p.s, again, all in time with one another. He flinched at their sudden action, furious with himself for feeling so on edge.
More than anything, he wanted to give the order for his men to go forward and shoot them down. But if not a trap, what could this be? There was no army in the world insane enough to behave so oddly without meaning – it was far too dangerous.
They lifted their blades high, as one. Their gaze remained firmly pinned to the enemy, almost unblinking. And then, the sharp steel caught the evening sunlight, as they brought it to their throats and dragged it across the soft skin of their necks.
Blood gushed from the red gashes that convulsed like a pair of smiling lips. Through some immense force of will, they remained standing, all the while making eye contact, as the blood of their life decorated the floor.
FLOOP
Like the gentle sound of a stone falling into water, they collapsed to the ground, dead.
…
Silence. Even the most experienced veteran would not know how to react to such a thing. What kind of man could slit his own throat? A demon? An army of psychopaths?
They were not given due time to contemplate, as the enemy charged forward, roaring like death reaping banshees.
The men were frozen in fear. Who would not be? The enemy they were facing… They mustn't be human! How were they meant to win against such insane people? People who could unflinchingly slit their own throats. They didn't want to die… They didn't.
The Gosankyo bow ashigaru were the first to rout, sprinting back to their lines of spearmen, hiding behind them. It was in that moment, that they were glad to have been picked for the bow unit – they did not want to face such animals face to face.
Spurred on by the fleeing of the Gosankyo unit, Nakatane's bowmen soon followed. The Special Forces unit did not move, but they glanced around wildly, seeking direction. They knew staying would be a mistake, but fleeing would be dishonourable, and against orders. But by god, they wished to flee.
Gengyo watched the chaos of the battlefield, the dots connecting in his head.
"Oda Nobunaga… haha…"
He chuckled lightly, now truly seeing through what had been planned for them.
"Nobunaga… you're a f.u.c.k.i.n.g monster."
Their battlefield was meaningless, in essence. The outcome – even if they won – would be their loss. Nobunaga had known that from the start. The true meaning for this literal suicide squad became clear. It was never to slow Imagawa in the first place – though it would achieve that anyway. It was part of a much grander and much larger picture.
They were here, planning strategies to win the battle in front of them, whereas Nobunaga was already thinking of the future.
"We're f.u.c.k.i.n.g idiots…"
He lamented bitterly, more to himself than anyone else. He should not have stepped upon the field of battle so boldly. He should have afforded Nobunaga more credit. His evaluation of Imagawa had led him to think that the Okehazama victory had merely been from Imagawa's incompetence.
But what kind of fool would allow himself to think like that? Oda Nobunaga had gone on to unify all of Japan! How could he have himself allowed to underestimate such a man? How did he dare to see things at face value?
'Have I grown arrogant?'
He wondered. His easy victory at Washizu had perhaps started to sow those seeds. Even the most intelligent of men could not stand up to a monster if they did so with arrogance in their hearts.
'Is this it, then? The men will rout… They think we are dealing madmen.'
But he himself knew the true identity of those men that had sacrificed their lives. They were members of the Oda family guard. It should have been immediately obvious from the extraordinary discipline they displayed, simply from their initial movements. But he had been too slow, too confident.
For him to cast aside such loyal men, such highly capable soldiers, within a single movement... that was the height of callousness. But it was also the height of genius. With these seeds sown upon the battlefield today, his victory above Imagawa was a step closer. The morale of the men would fall, as word spread that the Oda forces were barely human – their minds were gone. They could slit their own throats without batting an eye.
'I wonder how many men we can save…'
'No… F.u.c.k.i.n.g hell. What am I thinking? Who the f.u.c.k am I?'
'…who am I? That's right! I'm f.u.c.k.i.n.g Kasai Gengyo! I've dealt with adversaries far cleverer than this. I climbed the mountain of the modern world, and perched my arse right on the top! For me to fail here… that'd be… that'd be a f.u.c.k.i.n.g embarrassment!'
'I'm Kasai Gengyo! No – Miura Tadakata! Even if it's Oda Nobunaga, the grand unifier of Japan, he will have to do better than cheap parlour tricks to best me.'
He clenched his fist, furious. He had been bested once by Nobunaga – but he would not allow that to pass. He would crush his plan, and reclaim his honour.
"I AM MIURA TADAKATA, AND BY MY NAME, THIS BATTLE WILL BE OURS! SPECIAL FORCES UNIT, FALL BACK AND REFORM LINES. WE'RE TAKING THIS VICTORY! IT'S OURS! DO YOU HEAR ME, THIS IS F.U.C.K.I.N.G OURS!?"
He shouted out, his sword raised high into the air as he sat upon his horse, and shouted, the anger evident in his voice.
Nakatane's blank face glanced in his direction, before colour returned, and he understood.
"I AM NIWA NAKATANE, AND BY MY NAME, AND BY MY HISTORY, I SWEAR THAT WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS UPON THIS FIELD OF BATTLE!"
He roared out, his voice even louder than Gengyo's.
//Author's Note
Alright, I anticipate there will be some confusion in regards to wings. I said the allied left wing must crush the enemy right wing. And that might seem to be a pretty contradictory statement, but it is correct. The wings are labelled according to that army's point of view. The left wing will engage with the right-wing, whilst the right-wing will engage with the left-wing. Hope that clears it up a little before any misunderstandings begin.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Two more are on their way!