In his mind, there could only be one man. A man so highly praised but so restricted by the master that he severed. A man that made him pause before he considered ending his alliance with the Imagawa and overrunning the incompetent Daimyo. A man that was meant to be dead. Matsudaira Motoyasu.
There was a creaking sound as he clenched his gauntleted fist tightly. His whole body shook from excitement. This Miura Tadakata was even more brilliant than he had first thought. He did not waste a captured resource like Matsudaira, but supplied the conditions necessary to utilise him. It was well done, too well done.
His forces outnumbered the enemy, but the way he saw it now, it was he that was outnumbered. He had to fight two great minds at once. Forget Uesugi. This was the hardest battle he had ever fought. The slightest misstep and he would be clobbered.
"So that is the way it is… That is why you"ve marched out so confidently." The pieces fell into place and the ruse was revealed. The Extending Snake formation was not a reaction but a prediction. "Takeda s.h.i.+ngen will not fall so easily. Miura Tadakata, Matsudaira Motoyasu, let us have ourselves a battle!"
His warrior spirit was awoken and his mind was completely focused. A battle that had awoken his pa.s.sion. He would put his all into solving this puzzle. From the moment he had been born, this was his beautiful destiny. He would make the G.o.ds proud and strike down two individuals loved by them and demonstrate his superiority.
His war horses were thundering across the battlefield, along the flank of the enemy, not engaging, but moving so as to ensure that their movements would be limited, directing them straight into the abyss offered by the Crane"s Wing.
It was perfectly executed, as he would expect from his men. If it was any formation other than the Extending Snake, then he would have been proud.
"MOVE INTO THE HOUEN!" He shouted – though it was quite unnecessary – whilst signalling with his fan for them to change formation. Within seconds – even in the midst of a charge – his troops began to rearrange themselves. His soldiers were like his limbs and functioned as an extension of his brain, able to keep up with the evolving strategy of his mind.
The Crane"s Wing collapsed, and instead, the troops slowed to a halt. There was formed a circle with a slight opening, like a keyhole, offering an entry point for the approaching snake. By its side, there was a row of fresh soldiers and behind it cavalry, with the last of their bow samurai just behind them. A complex arrangement of both yari and katana samurai formed the infantry, with the yari forward to deal with the first charge and the swordsmen waiting behind to cause havoc when close-quarters combat ensued.
It was a formation that they could hold for hours with fresh soldiers to replace the circle constantly. The enemy were forced straight into them with their enthusiastic advance. It was not a perfect counter to the Extending Snake and was oddly defensive for the numerically superior force, but it was was a formation s.h.i.+ngen particularly loved for he knew the full extent of it"s potential.
Morohira"s men were leading the front charge and with the sudden change of formation, they could not justify slowing. Being the fierce man he was, he met the unusual obstacle with aggression, and pushed his horse even harder, diving headfirst in through the gap. There was an audible boom as he cleaved through a helmet and crushed the man"s skull, drawing first blood.
Rokkaku and the other elite soldiers sprinted in after their General on foot, showing no fear for the ominous hole. An encirclement of yari wielding soldiers jabbed at them as they ran the gauntlet, but those troops were ignored, as they moved to accomplish Morohira"s goal and blast through the other side of the encirclement, ruining their formation.
Their General"s horse was speared thrice, and sent rearing, pulling Morohira with them. A cheer erupted from the Takeda soldiers, thinking themselves to have put down a commander already. But how wrong they were. He landed lightly on his feet and drew himself a second katana, baring his teeth in a bloodthirsty grin.
With each slash of his sword, multiple men died and their corpses were sent flying back. A few stray thrusts found their way past his guard, but they just could not seem to put him down. Before long, a hole started to appear in the encirclement, just in time for the rest of his men to arrive.
They crashed in, like a hammer hitting an anvil, killing multiple men in only that single engagement. Now it was their turn to cheer. The hole widened, and they set forward, preparing to breach it entirely.
Matsudaira watched from the rear in dismay. The Takeda forces had been able to change formation impossibly quickly. Not only had their surprise not slowed him, but it seemed that it might have made his decision making faster. s.h.i.+ngen was truly a man to be reckoned with. But from the looks of it, brute force might just be able to overwhelm superior strategy. Their most aggressive soldiers had pryed open the door, completely disregarding how much of a disadvantage they were at.
If their own Grand General was shocked by their ferocity, then s.h.i.+ngen was far beyond it. Never before had he seen men fight with such destructive intent. They wielded their weapons with odd fluidity, using techniques that he had never seen before. An entirely new cla.s.s of soldier. Men that he had nurtured for years with daily training at the hands of masters, they were plunged through like paper walls.
They made his formation look childish. It seemed to accomplish nothing, with a hole torn through it so quickly. But it was far from over. He had forgotten – he was not the only man on this battlefield. He had his twenty Generals under him. They would not allow his plan to fail so quickly.