Stories of the Japanese 01096 [Mid-Nanbokucho Period] The Battle of Chikugo River: The Utility of a Written Oath
It has finally begun. The Battle of Chikugo River. The strategy of "presenting a written oath" to the Shoni clan, who kept changing their stance, is quite interesting.
Well, today marks exactly three years since this series began. Thanks to everyone who accesses it, I have been able to maintain my motivation. I look forward to your continued support in the fourth year.
July, 1359 (14th year of Shohei / 4th year of Enbun). Having completed his preparations, Kikuchi Takemitsu set out with a massive army of 40,000 cavalry to defeat the Shoni and Otomo clans. The commander-in-chief was, of course, Prince Kaneyoshi. Meanwhile, Shoni Yorihisa also met them with a massive army of 60,000 cavalry. While the Shoni side had the advantage in numbers, their opponents were the brave and fearless Kikuchi army, so they could not afford to be careless.
July 16th. Kikuchi Takemitsu set up camp at Mt. Kora (Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture), and Shoni Yorihisa set up camp at Ajisaka (Ogori City, Fukuoka Prefecture). They were positioned facing each other across the Chikugo River. Kikuchi Takemitsu lightly provoked the Shoni army, but they were cautious and did not come out.
As the standoff continued, Kikuchi Takemitsu devised the following plan:
• A suicide squad of 5,000 led by Takemitsu would secretly cross the Chikugo River at night and launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp at Ajisaka before dawn.
• In coordination with the night attack by the suicide squad, the remaining army would cross the Chikugo River and charge.
On the night of July 19th, Takemitsu crossed the Chikugo River with his own force of about 5,000 cavalry and rushed toward the Shoni camp.
However, this strategy had been exposed to the Shoni side. Shoni Yorihisa immediately held a war council and decided on the conclusion: "It is better not to fight the Kikuchi forces with full strength suddenly, but to draw them in deep before fighting." As a result, the main body of the Shoni army fled north and retreated as far as Oho-baru (Ogori City, Fukuoka Prefecture). It was a rather cautious attitude.
Kikuchi Takemitsu, having crossed the Chikugo River, confirmed that the enemy had moved further north and was reforming their lines. To fight that enemy, he would have to cross the Homan River as well. In other words, the Shoni army was avoiding a battle on flat ground and trying to lure the enemy into a narrow area using swamps and rivers, and he could not fall for that trick.
Takemitsu was also unable to move his army easily, and the standoff continued for 16 days.
Even though both armies were at close range, they could not easily begin the battle. So, Kikuchi Takemitsu came up with a plan. He attached a written oath to the tip of a flag pole so that it could be seen by the enemy.
It was one that Shoni Yorihisa had written six years earlier when Kikuchi Takemitsu helped him when he was attacked by Isshiki Noriuji during the Battle of Harisurihara (see episode 01064).
It stated: "From now on, until the seventh generation of descendants, you must not draw a bow against the Kikuchi."
At the time, it was believed that breaking a vow written in a written oath would lead to falling into hell, so the agitation of the Shoni army upon seeing this must have been considerable.