Inside the command centre was the ‘turret of arrival’, a place where the lead secretary – an important man – recorded the deeds, the dead, the injuries, and enemy heads in separate ledgers. Finally the signal was given for all to return to the command group. ![]() If the samurai were victorious, light skirmishes would ensue as teams of samurai hunted down those hiding. ![]() Eventually the lines blurred and it would become difficult to keep the forces coherent. The first kills were made and enemy heads were taken, the two sides would burst into each other, while the foot soldiers and archers flanked and lent aid, and the commander-in-chief sat with his command group relaying orders through flags and drums. The archers would let loose their volley, while the foot soldiers protected them upon command they would break left and right, allowing the fearsome samurai vanguard to charge forward, the bravest of which tried to gain the most prized of samurai honours: to be the ‘first spear’, which is to be the first into actual combat. Oaths were taken in which wives and households were forfeit for desertion, while ‘kill squads’ were formed as teams of three, to target single opponents. The signal drums were beaten, the flags waved their signals and the conch shells sounded out. Once settled, the forces arranged themselves on the battlefield – foot soldiers and archers to the front, with the samurai vanguard close up behind them. Now the samurai had to control their retainers as the “wave of fear” – as they called it – passed over their men. These were the days of peace, marked only by small conflicts.Īfter a prolonged shadowing, during which the samurai army and the enemy army each tried to gain the upper hand, the forces would meet. Following the battle of Sekigahara in 1600, which many believe to be the start of the lockdown of Japan by the Tokugawa family, warfare was studied mostly for its principles. Great phalanxes and spear divisions were added into the mix over the course of the Middle Ages, with a final concentration on guns in the latter half of the 16th century. Early battles were conducted predominantly on horseback. In the first stages of the samurai era, from the 12th century and up to the late 15th century, warfare was characterised by highly mobile cavalry-archer units. Although it’s a fascinating tale – a testimony to imperial devotion – it reveals little about the practicalities of samurai warfare. When Masashige asked his brother for his last wish, Masasue replied that he vowed to be reborn seven times over in service of the emperor Go-Daigo. ![]() ![]() One such example is the story of the double death of the 14th-century warriors Kusunoki Masashige and his brother Masasue – who committed suicide together following their defeat at the battle of Minato River. Little is known about the complex realities of their world with only a handful of samurai texts available in translation, the warriors have been mainly viewed through the foggy lenses of war chronicles and epic tales that describe their early battles. The samurai – technically servants of the empire but in reality the military ruling class – are highly romanticised figures.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |