A Time Traveller's Guide To Feudal Japan

It never took Kenshin long to come up with his decisions on the battlefield. He would pause for minutes at a time to think, and to come up with certain ideas after placing himself in his opponent’s shoes, so that he would be prepared no matter what that reaction might be. In that preparation, he would quickly overwhelm the opponent, having already considered his response before he began his movements in the first place.

Kenshin knew his advantages well and he knew his men and now he knew Gengyo’s. To the untrained man, the Uesugi bowman might have been considered useless, for they were hopelessly outranged, and at the point that they did indeed try to get closer, they would be massacred. But in their presence, they controlled space, they limited the opponent’s movements even if they could not attack him directly, all of that pointed towards an advantage.

He motioned with his hand and swept a dispatchment of a thousand cavalrymen over to the left-wing, still leaving a few thousand to retain an iron grip on the right flank. This time, when he sent his bowmen forward – cautiously still – he had a distinct threat behind it.

The bow samurai walked forward with measured steps whilst the cavalry left the battlefield in a wide loop, circling entirely out of the Miura soldier’s range. They could have charged in there and then, but they paused just in line with the Miura left flank, a few hundred metres to the side of the soldiers, whilst the Uesugi bowmen stood to the front, right on the edge of their range, pinning them down to that position.

Jikouji and Morohira began to bristle, thoroughly uncomfortable with their positioning. There were enemies from too many angles and there were still plenty more to come. It was a psychological warfare as well as a practical one.

"Venomous," Gengyo proclaimed, watching it. It was difficult to remain cool when he was so utterly helpless. All he could hope was that he did not lose too much of the advantage before the first engagement when his superior soldiers would be put to work.

"Indeed," Yamagata said softly, his fingers quivering from nervousness. "This is far harder with so few men. I can not handle our pieces until he makes a mistake."

"Remain calm, general. Once he stops with his flirting, we will cast all the pieces into the air and destroy order. We will plunge this battlefield into chaos where my men thrive," Gengyo said, nearly confident.

Yamagata looked at him and nodded slowly. "Aye... I’ll aim for that."

With the left-wing units in their optimal positions, Kenshin paid his infantry more attention. He marched them up into the centre until they were only ten paces out from the rifle’s range. There they stood bearing down on their enemy, ready to close the distance between them at a moments notice.

The right-wing bow units went forward too, and then it was the turn of the final unit – the several thousand strong cavalry of the right-wing. It looped around the edge of the battlefield, just as its twin had done on the other side, and it aligned itself with the right flank. This one did not pause once it had met with that perfect position though, it continued past it, until it was behind the Miura lines and then it finally turned with an absurd amount of momentum and prepared to smash into the rear of the Miura infantry.

Kenshin’s hand swung down and all his perfectly placed pieces activated at once. The cavalry on the left-wing charged into the left flank. The bowmen finally stepped into their own range and they began to knock and draw their arrows. The infantry lowered their spears and held tight their swords and the Uesugi flags swept forward as they roared their battle cries and sprinted forwards without a shred of mercy.

From all angles, the Uesugi units closed in, targeting weak points and throwing their extreme numbers where it truly mattered, not allowing the Miura men to deal with a single threat before they moved onto the other.

Kenshin himself began forward with that, moving his command centre closer to the action, confident enough to wield his own sword if it meant a deceive blow that would lead to victory.

Finally, Yamagata was allowed to spit orders of his own.

"Right-wing, right turn! Aim and fire!" He shouted. The right-wing did just that, their morale still high, somehow, despite all the claustrophobic movements of their enemy. They turned on their heels and stamped their feet down together, the front rank kneeling so that the second rank could shoot over the time of them. They stepped out of exact lines just well enough to use the full brunt of their firepower. And then, against the raging heat of a few thousand cavalrymen, they sent their bullets. One pull of the trigger shattered the front charge and sent men and horses collapsing. The hammer was pulled back and the trigger was tugged again and hundreds more died. Their fingers moved with a speed that could only be attained as the result of extensive practice and by the time the cavalrymen closed the distance between them, only a few hundred were still yet alive.

It was a victory no doubt to kill so many men so quickly, but they had no time to celebrate. Arrows had been launched into the sky and were reigning down on them without mercy. They were still faced off to the side, dealing with the remnants of the calvary when the infantry were about to charge them by the front.

From every viewpoint of the battlefield, the advantage lay overwhelmingly with the Uesugi army. The snake had managed to coil itself tightly and there was truly no room to breathe. The men fought on several fronts at once and were split up from the rest of their comrades, unable to group and force their way through. It was a grim scene for the Miura men.

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