Got it man!
And awesome new chapter! Fan of the development of the army and warfare tactics on this story
Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun
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And awesome new chapter! Fan of the development of the army and warfare tactics on this story
Interesting update there--seems quite realistic and the direction Japan easily could have went. Although would they really give up archery so easily? In Europe, the English with their old archery tradition kept reserve forces with longbows as late as the English Civil War, and both English and Americans (Benjamin Franklin at the very least) proposed equipping units with longbows as late as the Napoleonic Wars. I could see cavalry units in particular keeping their bows, or at the very least still told to train with them out of tradition (since militaries love their tradition after all and archery is one of the Confucian Six Arts). Maybe Tomoaki's rebellion would be the last war with serious horse archery (or archery in general) due to some unusual circumstance like a unit being out of gunpowder and the commander telling his men to grab their bows.
I could see the Shogunate requesting European horses on their overseas missions. Native Japanese horses are small and even if the cavalrymen (and the horse) won't wear as much armor as in previous centuries, their size would make them less effective as charge cavalry at best and tire easily at worst. And lest we forget logistics, bigger horses are better for towing artillery and supply wagons (although Japan does have oxen and maybe even water buffalo for that too). Although they probably captured some from the Spanish during the wars.
The latter could actually be a minor but interesting point, since OTL the Meiji era saw foreign horses imported to improve local breeds (especially for the IJA's use), but if the POD is centuries prior then there's a lot of time for these improved horses to filter down into general agricultural use. If the average Japanese horse is 1-2% more productive than OTL by say 1660, that's going to add up over the decades to a stronger economy, healthier/larger population, etc.
I could see the Shogunate requesting European horses on their overseas missions. Native Japanese horses are small and even if the cavalrymen (and the horse) won't wear as much armor as in previous centuries, their size would make them less effective as charge cavalry at best and tire easily at worst. And lest we forget logistics, bigger horses are better for towing artillery and supply wagons (although Japan does have oxen and maybe even water buffalo for that too). Although they probably captured some from the Spanish during the wars.
The latter could actually be a minor but interesting point, since OTL the Meiji era saw foreign horses imported to improve local breeds (especially for the IJA's use), but if the POD is centuries prior then there's a lot of time for these improved horses to filter down into general agricultural use. If the average Japanese horse is 1-2% more productive than OTL by say 1660, that's going to add up over the decades to a stronger economy, healthier/larger population, etc.
Archer units do completely disappear but under certain circumstances during a battle, bows are still used as a last resort. In terms of their relatively swift phaseout, a lot of it is due to the mindsets of daijo-daijin like Nobunaga and Nobutomo who are very much in favor of technological advancement and political reform and are personally fascinated by gunpowder technology and European tactics. Not to mention Oda Japan doesn't see the same favor Tokugawa Japan has towards neo-Confucianism as can be seen with the greater fluidity of the social order and religious tolerance policies of Oda Japan. In any case, archery on horseback has fallen out of use by this time IOTL and the transition towards long yari as the primary weaponry happened with the Sengoku Period.
What you say about horses is food for thought, I never thought of it that way. Some Spanish horses were definitely captured during the Iberian-Japanese War so that could have an impact.
Hello,
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Rain, Flintlocks Doom Rebel Attack at Mill Springs - Emerging Civil War
ECW welcomes guest author Stuart W. Sanders When the Battle of Mill Springs was fought near Somerset, Kentucky, on January 19, 1862, the Union troops routed the attacking Confederate army. Although the rebels outnumbered the federals, the southern assault was stifled by their use of flintlock...
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Rain is certainly a factor as was seen in the 1577 Battle of Tedorigawa, hence a shift not to a 100% musketeer-arquebusier infantry mass but a 50% mass with lines of yari ashigaru and samurai infantry mixed among the musketeers. Also, they still carried katanas and wakizashis so they were capable of switching. That being said, longbows are also less effective in the rain.Hello,
Outfitting an American Revolutionary Soldier | NCpedia
Rain, Flintlocks Doom Rebel Attack at Mill Springs - Emerging Civil War
ECW welcomes guest author Stuart W. Sanders When the Battle of Mill Springs was fought near Somerset, Kentucky, on January 19, 1862, the Union troops routed the attacking Confederate army. Although the rebels outnumbered the federals, the southern assault was stifled by their use of flintlock...
Chapter 84: Manji War Part III - Gifu Besieged Yet Again
Chapter 84: Manji War Part III - Gifu Besieged Yet Again
On July 4th, 1660, Tokugawa Noriyasu and his army of 13,000 began their siege of Gifu. Compared to Saito Keizan and the Furuwatari rebels who had besieged Gifu 23 years earlier at the outbreak of the Furuwatari War, the anti-Azuchi forces had more men and faced a weakened garrison that had been defeated earlier on the Mino-Owari border at the Battle of Kisogawa (木曾川の戦い). Tens of thousands of men were also already preoccupied fighting on other fronts against the rebels, principally against Ikeda Yoshinori in Settsu province and Kudō Kanemasa in Iga province, so a large army could not easily be deployed against the Tokugawa besiegers. Nevertheless, preparations were being made on two fronts to combat the Gifu besiegers: one from the north by the Maeda clan and the other from the west in Azuchi directly overseen by Konoe Toshishige himself. Forces would even be diverted away from Settsu province to be replaced by men levied from various daimyo in the Chugoku region. Eventually, an army of 16,000 would be gathered in Azuchi, which included the elite Konoe cavalry that had previously been fighting in Settsu province. In a somewhat controversial decision, the kōbu kanpaku would decline to take charge of the army, insisting his presence in Azuchi and Kyoto was necessary for political stability. Instead, Konoe cavalry commander Nijou Tomohira (二条朝平) would be appointed the general of this army. They would be assisted by the Maeda army which numbered 5,000 as well as a few thousand reinforcements from Mino province.
Early attacks from contingents of Mino samurai failed to dislodge the Tokugawa as they continued to assault Gifu Castle. These contingents would proceed to coalesce with the Maeda army, led by Maeda clan councilor Okumura Harukiyo (奥村栄清) which launched a full-scale attack upon the Tokugawa camp. Although Noriyasu’s men were initially caught by surprise, he was able to rebuff the numerically smaller force. It would take the arrival of Nijou Tomohira’s army for the Tokugawa to be driven out of the castle town but not before a fierce battle in the streets of Gifu itself. Although a talented cavalry commander and mounted warrior, Tomohira was ill-suited for the task of relieving the siege and leading engagements in very close quarters. As a result of this inadequate generalship, the Azuchi army would suffer unnecessary casualties against the Tokugawa in their efforts to push through the main gates and the street barricades constructed by the latter. Eventually, the sheer difficulty of fighting three separate forces and their numerical disadvantage forced Noriyasu to end the siege and retreat back across the Kiso River. Azuchi, however, had not achieved a clean victory. They had lost many men due to the inexperience of Nijou Tomohira as an army general. Furthermore, the prolonged fighting had laid waste to several tracts of Gifu and left the city in a weakened state of destruction significantly worse than how it was at the end of the 1637 siege. These factors prevented the pro-Azuchi forces from pursuing the rebels, allowing the Tokugawa to retreat to Kiyosu Castle in a wounded but orderly state and begin to fortify their position in Owari province.
Early attacks from contingents of Mino samurai failed to dislodge the Tokugawa as they continued to assault Gifu Castle. These contingents would proceed to coalesce with the Maeda army, led by Maeda clan councilor Okumura Harukiyo (奥村栄清) which launched a full-scale attack upon the Tokugawa camp. Although Noriyasu’s men were initially caught by surprise, he was able to rebuff the numerically smaller force. It would take the arrival of Nijou Tomohira’s army for the Tokugawa to be driven out of the castle town but not before a fierce battle in the streets of Gifu itself. Although a talented cavalry commander and mounted warrior, Tomohira was ill-suited for the task of relieving the siege and leading engagements in very close quarters. As a result of this inadequate generalship, the Azuchi army would suffer unnecessary casualties against the Tokugawa in their efforts to push through the main gates and the street barricades constructed by the latter. Eventually, the sheer difficulty of fighting three separate forces and their numerical disadvantage forced Noriyasu to end the siege and retreat back across the Kiso River. Azuchi, however, had not achieved a clean victory. They had lost many men due to the inexperience of Nijou Tomohira as an army general. Furthermore, the prolonged fighting had laid waste to several tracts of Gifu and left the city in a weakened state of destruction significantly worse than how it was at the end of the 1637 siege. These factors prevented the pro-Azuchi forces from pursuing the rebels, allowing the Tokugawa to retreat to Kiyosu Castle in a wounded but orderly state and begin to fortify their position in Owari province.
Blue= Pro-Azuchi forces, Salmon=Tokugawa forces
Meanwhile, intense fighting without any conclusive end in sight defined Settsu and Iga provinces throughout most of 1660. Akechi Mitsunori (明智光則) led the 35,000 or so troops ordered by Azuchi to defeat the Ikeda under clan head Yoshinori, who numbered 15,000 in Settsu. Although Mitsunori’s army easily outnumbered their foe and were assisted in the seas by Kuki Takasue and the Azuchi navy, the Ikeda used their vast wealth from their lands’ proximity to Sakai and trade connections with Bireitō through the junior branches of the clan to their advantage, equipping themselves with the latest muskets and artillery pieces and buying up large reserves of food provisions to be stored across the province’s strongholds, especially the main Ikeda castle of Hanakuma Castle (花熊城) in Hyogo. Yoshinori employed a strategy of protracted warfare, avoiding open battle whenever possible and focusing on hit and run attacks upon the Akechi-led forces. Meanwhile, checkpoints and main gates were reinforced with swivel guns, making every key point in Settsu province a bloody fight between the government and rebel forces. Finally, Yoshinori was successful in getting Takayama Tsugufusa (高山嗣房) of northern Izumi province to defect from Azuchi with the promise of ending the increasingly discriminatory treatment of the Church of Yamato in the realm [1]. Tsugufusa’s decision to join the rebellion also invigorated many of the Church’s followers to participate as volunteers in central Japan. As a result, the Azuchi forces as a result could only make moderate progress against the rebels and men from the western daimyo would be drawn to bolster Mitsunori’s army. Rebel resources in Settsu province, however, were strained due to the ongoing naval blockade and their continuous numerical disadvantage. Time and victory in the east was what the rebels in Settsu and now northern Izumi ultimately counted on.
Drawing of a 17th century swivel gun
Furthermore, Tsugufusa’s defection and the now clear sympathies of many Kirishitans towards the rebel cause would not be without its consequences. In June 1660, Konoe Toshishige ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the church’s Patriarch in Azuchi, Houjou (法縄), who also happened to be a distant relative of the Takayama lord. He then issued a decree that established the death penalty upon any congregational leader in the Yamato Church who “allowed” their members to assist the rebellion in any way. In practice, there was a loose interpretation of this decree and what counted as “allowing” participation in the rebellion and many priests would be executed as a result over minor infractions of the decree. Although this decree dampened enthusiasm and sympathy for the rebellion somewhat among Kirishitans, it mostly served to stir hatred against Azuchi among the church’s followers. Thus, the kōbu kanpaku had alienated yet another segment of the Japanese population.
Not far from Settsu, Kitabatake Takanaga was deploying an army of 16,000 against the Kudō clan in Iga province whose men numbered nearly 5,000. Much like the Settsu front, the Iga front was yet another stalemate. In a throwback to Oda Nobunaga’s own attempts at subjugating the province, Iga’s mountainous terrain and historical presence of shinobi and auxiliary militias would make defeating the Kudō rebels an arduous and difficult task, one whose outcome fated to not be decided for months. In one theater, however, Azuchi would see victory within the year. Shikoku tandai Miyoshi Yasunori would be successful at mobilizing the troops of his domain and the other daimyos in Shikoku against the Chosokabe clan in Tosa province. Unlike every other clan, the Miyoshi clan had veterans who had experience fighting in the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars from years earlier, giving Yasunori’s men a deadly advantage aside in addition to their numerical superiority. At the Battle of Motoyama Castle (本山城の戦い), the Chosokabe army of 10,000 was defeated by Yasunori’s army of 25,000, made up of the retinues of the Miyoshi, Kawano, and Sogo clans. After this defeat, Chosokabe Tadachika was driven to Urado Castle (浦戸城) while the rest of the province quickly fell to the pro-Azuchi forces. Finally, on August 18th Tadachika surrendered and would subsequently commit seppuku. As a consequence of their participation in the rebellion, the Chosokabe clan would be formally abolished and their fief confiscated. Yasunori would temporarily occupy Tosa province under the premise that it would be awarded to someone after the civil war ended. The defeat of the Chosokabe also meant that very soon, the Shikoku army would shift its focus towards the Ikeda in Settsu province and potentially hasten their defeat.
[1]: The Takayama clan was a traditionally Christian clan, with 70% of those living in its domain adhering to their lords’ faith.
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And so the latest Civil War drags on and on, while in the meantime, the Spanish and their allies are advancing in Luzon.
Seriously, two civil wars in the span of a generation has to get Oda political thinkers having to ponder whether something isn't right with their current political arrangement and that they have to do something to stop the country from tearing itself apart again during the next generation.
Seriously, two civil wars in the span of a generation has to get Oda political thinkers having to ponder whether something isn't right with their current political arrangement and that they have to do something to stop the country from tearing itself apart again during the next generation.
The samurai and kuge classes are really ought to unify one into another, else they will forever be locked on in power struggles like this.
An issue is that the current administration continues to straddle the line between samurai-centric governance and central imperial governance though it has trended towards a particular direction. Nevertheless, this wouldn’t be happening if the heir wasn’t 5 upon his ascension.
I hope for the latter, the time has come for the Yamato Dynasty to put an end to all this clan warfare before the Spaniards close in on the home islands because I’m betting Madrid won’t be satisfied with just reclaiming the Philippines in their entirety.
The last two chapters are very nice! Seeing the regency lose more and more support is defo making me think that Tomoaki is going to win this one. I wonder why Moritora is said to be able to fight the Russians and not the Spanish makes me think he's banished to the North and to not be able to return to the home islands.
PS I wonder why more ppl are using katana. Is it because more ppl are becoming unarmoured? What did the musketeers wear during war? Also do the elite line infantry samurai use tachi or katana?
PS I wonder why more ppl are using katana. Is it because more ppl are becoming unarmoured? What did the musketeers wear during war? Also do the elite line infantry samurai use tachi or katana?
Swords are not really a primary weapon for most infantry on the field anymore with exceptions in Bireitou and Luson (hence why they use tachi much more extensively). As a result, katanas are preferred because they can be more easily drawn in close quarters combat and are lighter in weight.
In terms of the armor, it hasn't lessened among the samurai. The same can be said with the elite musketeers although their armor is solidly blue.
As time progresses might I suggest this centre blue uniform in the picture below for Japanese ashigaru?
I just wonder since katana are related with being worn on the obi and that supposedly samurai armour (prob the kote?) restricted upwards arm movement (not super sure but perhaps?)
Would we see the cavalry use shorter tachis as time goes on? And would they have more protection for the hands? Something like a quillon that stretches down near the pommel would offer a lot of protection for example.
I could see infantry swords straighten and shorten as time goes on too, and would they gain a quillon for additional protection as they transition for sword bayonets?
I'm wondering what clothes and armour they'd wear in general. Like would they wear hakama for horseriding for most infantry since they're easier to move in?
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Chapter 85: Luzon War Part II - Tomoyoshi Triumphs Again
Chapter 85: Luzon War Part II - Tomoyoshi Triumphs Again
Throughout September, reinforcements from Bireitō and Kyushu landed in Luson province. First to arrive were 5,000 from Bireitō commanded by Wakamatsu Hisahide (若松尚秀), the eldest son of Wakamatsu Tomohide. Following them was the Iriebashi squadron of the Azuchi navy as well as Tagawa Seikou’s private fleet of Chinese junks. From Kyushu, a vanguard army of 10,000 commanded by Tachibana Tanenaga would arrive at the end of the month, with more men in the process of getting mobilized by Shimazu Norihisa. A further 8,000 men would arrive in Awari in October from the Mōri domain in the home islands in addition to those levied from Mōri possessions in Luson province. The arrival of such reinforcements significantly boosted the military strength of the Japanese. However, the Spanish would also see a boost in their military strength as well in late October, with a fleet of 17 warships led by Diego de Egues y Beaumont bringing both naval and land reinforcements. The land reinforcements included professional Spanish soldiers much more effective and experienced than the native companies that made up most of the Spanish army in the Philippines, as formidable as the latter were. The participation of the reinforcements in the war would thus shape late 1660 to be a particularly intense affair.
Meanwhile, after the Battle of Pantabangan, Kanbe Tomozane had retreated to the southern Cagayan Valley to regroup and levy more men from the region. They were tailed by Filipino-Spanish bands who not only repeatedly harassed the Japanese but also attempted to organize a Lusonese uprising against the Japanese in the region. The latter, however, surprisingly went nowhere for the most part. Ever since the acquisition of northern Luzon by the Japanese, a new social hierarchy had developed in the region with the samurai taking over as the new ruling class atop the native population, and many Lusonese natives did resent their new overlords. Crucially, however, Japanese rule contrasted with the old Spanish-Catholic regime through its policy of general religious tolerance and relative hands-off approach towards many cultural traditions of the Lusonese, particularly that of the highland tribes. As a result, whatever issues the natives had with the Japanese ruling class could not match memories of Spanish oppression and forced conversion to Roman Catholicism. This made recruitment of the Cagayan natives to the Spanish cause nearly nonexistent, and efforts towards that distracted from further attacks upon the Japanese army. Tomozane’s army successfully retained enough strength and cohesion to return to Carig [1].
In mid October, Kanbe Tomoyoshi would leave Awari at the head of an army of 14,000, composed of his personal retinue and the reinforcements from Bireitō and Kyushu. He left his 12 year old Tomomoto (神戸朝基), who had recently undergone his manhood rites, in the provincial capital under the guardianship of Tsuda Nobutaka (津田信高). Shortly afterwards, the Mōri troops under the command Kikkawa Hiroyoshi (吉川広嘉) began to march westwards, hugging the Lusonese coast with the ultimate destination being Pangasinan. Within a month, Tomoyoshi’s force would coalesce with Tomozane’s men and from there would march southwards, determined to lay waste upon any Filipino-Spanish army between Carig and Manila. Meanwhile, the main Spanish army led by governor general Juan Manuel de la Pena Bonifaz continued to gather more levied native troops from across the Philippines and would also incorporate 4,000 Spanish professionals brought from Madrid by the fleet. This main force would subsequently enter the southern Cagayan Valley as well. Several of his subordinates urged caution when confronting the Japanese as compared to the Filipino-Spanish troops, the former were better trained and more experienced being a mostly samurai army and this made fighting a field engagement very risky. Pena Bonifaz, however, was confident and decided to ignore his subordinates’ advice, concluding that the Japanese field army was too big of a threat to simply be ignored.
The Spanish army thus marched northwards on the eastern banks of the Magat River, maintaining supply lines through control of the river. In response, Tomoyoshi sent native archers on canoes to sail downstream and harass the enemy and their provisions. This grew into such a problem that Pena Bonifaz was forced to move away from the river, eventually encamping along a tributary, the Caliat River. This was exactly what Tomoyoshi had hoped for. As the Spanish settled in, the Japanese general moved based on the intelligence gathered by spies and the archers and managed to surround the Spanish army on two sides, from the western river plain and the northern hills. The Japanese numbered 21,000, with Lusonese auxiliaries, Bireitoan samurai and auxiliaries, Tomoyoshi’s elite retinue, and the Ryuzōji clan atop the hill under the command of Tomoyoshi himself and Tomozane leading the rest of the force on the river plain along with all the Japanese cannons. Realizing the position he was in, Pena Bonifaz immediately prepared his men for battle, fortifying his position with cannons and wagons to his north and west. He had 19,000 men with him.
The hasty Spanish defenses only delayed the inevitable Japanese victory. Tomoyoshi would deploy his 1,000 Bireitoan and Lusonese archers first, having their projectiles arc over the cannoneers and wagons and hitting the infantry. While this was going on, a formation of musketeers and Bireitoan heavy tachi swordsmen came down from the hills and slowly approached the Spanish formation, stopping intermittently to fire their muskets. These men proved to have a more difficult time, as Pena Bonifaz deployed his artillery and companies against them but the latter’s ranks were weakening from the arrow fire. On the river plain, meanwhile, the battle had begun with barrages of cannonfire followed by a traditional field engagement. The decisive moment came when the samurai cavalry on the hilltop finally decided to dismount and jumped into the fighting as heavy infantry. This broke the Spanish infantry on the north and they began a hasty retreat. The Japanese would begin to stream into the encampment, isolating those fighting the Japanese to the west. When the enemy realized their predicament, their morale and discipline plummeted for the most part, the professional Spanish soldiers being the only ones to stand their ground, and they retreated only to be caught by the Japanese already in the encampment. By the evening, Pena Bonifaz had left the battlefield and half of the Spanish army lay dead or injured and abandoned to be captured and executed by the Japanese, whereas Tomoyoshi’s force suffered 2,000 casualties.The Spanish were forced to retreat out of the Cagayan Valley.
Meanwhile, after the Battle of Pantabangan, Kanbe Tomozane had retreated to the southern Cagayan Valley to regroup and levy more men from the region. They were tailed by Filipino-Spanish bands who not only repeatedly harassed the Japanese but also attempted to organize a Lusonese uprising against the Japanese in the region. The latter, however, surprisingly went nowhere for the most part. Ever since the acquisition of northern Luzon by the Japanese, a new social hierarchy had developed in the region with the samurai taking over as the new ruling class atop the native population, and many Lusonese natives did resent their new overlords. Crucially, however, Japanese rule contrasted with the old Spanish-Catholic regime through its policy of general religious tolerance and relative hands-off approach towards many cultural traditions of the Lusonese, particularly that of the highland tribes. As a result, whatever issues the natives had with the Japanese ruling class could not match memories of Spanish oppression and forced conversion to Roman Catholicism. This made recruitment of the Cagayan natives to the Spanish cause nearly nonexistent, and efforts towards that distracted from further attacks upon the Japanese army. Tomozane’s army successfully retained enough strength and cohesion to return to Carig [1].
In mid October, Kanbe Tomoyoshi would leave Awari at the head of an army of 14,000, composed of his personal retinue and the reinforcements from Bireitō and Kyushu. He left his 12 year old Tomomoto (神戸朝基), who had recently undergone his manhood rites, in the provincial capital under the guardianship of Tsuda Nobutaka (津田信高). Shortly afterwards, the Mōri troops under the command Kikkawa Hiroyoshi (吉川広嘉) began to march westwards, hugging the Lusonese coast with the ultimate destination being Pangasinan. Within a month, Tomoyoshi’s force would coalesce with Tomozane’s men and from there would march southwards, determined to lay waste upon any Filipino-Spanish army between Carig and Manila. Meanwhile, the main Spanish army led by governor general Juan Manuel de la Pena Bonifaz continued to gather more levied native troops from across the Philippines and would also incorporate 4,000 Spanish professionals brought from Madrid by the fleet. This main force would subsequently enter the southern Cagayan Valley as well. Several of his subordinates urged caution when confronting the Japanese as compared to the Filipino-Spanish troops, the former were better trained and more experienced being a mostly samurai army and this made fighting a field engagement very risky. Pena Bonifaz, however, was confident and decided to ignore his subordinates’ advice, concluding that the Japanese field army was too big of a threat to simply be ignored.
The Spanish army thus marched northwards on the eastern banks of the Magat River, maintaining supply lines through control of the river. In response, Tomoyoshi sent native archers on canoes to sail downstream and harass the enemy and their provisions. This grew into such a problem that Pena Bonifaz was forced to move away from the river, eventually encamping along a tributary, the Caliat River. This was exactly what Tomoyoshi had hoped for. As the Spanish settled in, the Japanese general moved based on the intelligence gathered by spies and the archers and managed to surround the Spanish army on two sides, from the western river plain and the northern hills. The Japanese numbered 21,000, with Lusonese auxiliaries, Bireitoan samurai and auxiliaries, Tomoyoshi’s elite retinue, and the Ryuzōji clan atop the hill under the command of Tomoyoshi himself and Tomozane leading the rest of the force on the river plain along with all the Japanese cannons. Realizing the position he was in, Pena Bonifaz immediately prepared his men for battle, fortifying his position with cannons and wagons to his north and west. He had 19,000 men with him.
The hasty Spanish defenses only delayed the inevitable Japanese victory. Tomoyoshi would deploy his 1,000 Bireitoan and Lusonese archers first, having their projectiles arc over the cannoneers and wagons and hitting the infantry. While this was going on, a formation of musketeers and Bireitoan heavy tachi swordsmen came down from the hills and slowly approached the Spanish formation, stopping intermittently to fire their muskets. These men proved to have a more difficult time, as Pena Bonifaz deployed his artillery and companies against them but the latter’s ranks were weakening from the arrow fire. On the river plain, meanwhile, the battle had begun with barrages of cannonfire followed by a traditional field engagement. The decisive moment came when the samurai cavalry on the hilltop finally decided to dismount and jumped into the fighting as heavy infantry. This broke the Spanish infantry on the north and they began a hasty retreat. The Japanese would begin to stream into the encampment, isolating those fighting the Japanese to the west. When the enemy realized their predicament, their morale and discipline plummeted for the most part, the professional Spanish soldiers being the only ones to stand their ground, and they retreated only to be caught by the Japanese already in the encampment. By the evening, Pena Bonifaz had left the battlefield and half of the Spanish army lay dead or injured and abandoned to be captured and executed by the Japanese, whereas Tomoyoshi’s force suffered 2,000 casualties.The Spanish were forced to retreat out of the Cagayan Valley.
Salmon = Japanese, Yellow = Filipino-Spanish
A decisive battle also took place at sea between the Spanish and Japanese. Tagawa Seikou’s fleet sailed towards Manila on a mission to initiate a blockade upon the Philippine capital and conduct raids on the Visayas. On November 1st, his fleet of 34 ships met Beaumont’s Spanish-Philippine fleet of 27 ships at the Battle of the Dasol Bay. Whereas the entire Spanish fleet was entirely made up of European-style warships, 10 Chinese junks in the possession of Seikou himself composed part of the Japanese fleet, although these junks were specially outfitted with heavy guns. As a result, in terms of firepower, they were on par. Nevertheless, due to the greater mobility of the Japanese ships, Tagawa Seikou would achieve a minor victory, sinking 4 Spanish ships as opposed to losing only one of his own. However, it wasn’t enough to clear the way to Manila as the Spanish fleet sailed back to Manila damaged but in fighting shape. Seikou would subsequently request more naval support from the home islands.
Even with only a marginal victory in the seas, the Japanese had clearly retaken the upper hand in the Luzon War thanks to the leadership and experience of the great Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Because of the victory at the Caliat River, the Cagayan Valley would remain secure for the rest of the war and the Spanish would be thrown onto the defensive once again. Tomoyoshi’s competence and skills, attributes long noticed by the rest of the realm, however, would ultimately bring him away from the southern frontier of the Japanese realm and towards the fight for the heart, soul, and future of the Oda Chancellorate. In January 1661, this journey would begin when a merchant from Mikawa province reached him just before the general resumed his march upon Manila. The merchant, Chaya Nobumune (茶屋延宗), would hand Tomoyoshi a letter from Tokugawa Noriyasu containing shocking news about the situation in the home islands.
Portrait of an older Kanbe Tomoyoshi
[1]: The city of Santiago was renamed to its original native name of Carig.
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