nXian tai kto reached under his coat of mail and scratched. Ah! the satisfaction of catching those little bastards. He squinted and surveyed the field opposite him. A long line of wooded hills studded the back of the field, with a looming mass of them on the far left, but otherwise only a single gentle rise interrupted the open sweep of what must - in better times, to be sure - be profitable rice paddies. He pondered again the mad reasons why they were invading these poxy islands - something about a disagreement amongst the gods, to be sure.
xBing xro sbe turned in the saddle and called, "Hey, Tick Tock - what does Buddha advise us to do now?" nXian frowned at his nickname, and replied, "Consult the Holy Scrolls, Lord, they hold all the answers". His King duly fished out the scrolls from his saddlebags, adolescent fingers tearing at the bindings. He held up one scroll, cross-eyed with concentration, and asked, "But all this says is - Paul is Dead - what does that mean?" "My Lord, read it the other way around." "Oh. Then it just seems to be a sutra in praise of the unborn. What relevance could that have, Tick Tock?"
nXian sighed and took the scrolls, shuffling them adeptly, and drew one at random. "The Sage of the South(1) sayeth: keep back thy strike force and screen the enemy hordes, then let fly thy storm of mail in a single clenched fist - thus may tho be a great hero, and be portrayed by Richard Gere in the movie version."
The young King brightened, and said, "Well, that's simple then - let the Turks go forth, while the rest of us wait here to see what happens." nXian sighed, and lit a cigaret (2). "My Lord, look thou - the hills swarm with their crummy followers, and we could never dislodge them. See the brave banners of their nobles in the centre - Suzuki, Mitsubishi, and the rest. Their huge numbers may signify a flank march, but I'd expect them to put most of their horse on the field to face us. Let the Turks delay on the left, and throw the Turfan in through the centre, while our skirmishers delay the right. Our main force can thus sit back here, and look for the weak point(3)".
King xBing nodded vigorously, still looking around amongst his followers(4). "Well, then, let's do it!". The messengers flowed over theplain like honeywine (5) and the Tibetans whirled and danced on the field, arraying themselves (and bemusing their enemy, who thought they'd come here to fight, not dance).
As expected, the enemy centre was formed of a mass of cavalry, under the standard of the Lord Chairman of Suzuki. To the left, facing the Turks, was a smaller number of cavalry, accompanied by foot bowmen and a column banner of Lord Itoh. To the right was a long thin line of swordsmen, with some more archers interspersed, the standard of Lord Honda and another column of followers hidden behind them, while the hills at the back prickled black with yet more followers.
nXian trotted up beside Lord P`tang, commander of the Turfan auxiliaries. "Well, Tick Tock, it looks like we've got a long slog - their line is twice as deep, and every bit as long as my cavalry." nXian puffed in relaxed fashion on his cigaret, and smiled, "Well, if we could get some to dismount, your problems would be eased, I fancy. I'll bring my lads forward, and threaten to charge in beside you, I think. That should bring them tumbling from their horses - then it's just up to you". Lord P'tang looked dubious, and muttered "That is not what the sages of the list sayeth", but nXian snorted: "What do you want, everything handed to you on a salver?(6)"
Spurring his horse, nXian rode back to his cataphracts, pausing briefly to admire the lush interweave of cloud and sky, and the gentle wave of the rice seedlings in the wind (7), then spurred them forward.
With the opening moments of the battle, the Tibetans took control (8). While the Turks rushed forward to pin back the Japanese right, the Turfan advance guard hastening up to their right. Behind him, King xBing led his cataphracts off to the far right, singing en masse.
The Japanese advanced eagerly in the centre and the right, while their left struggled to reform into a deeper line, readying themselves to face the Royal charge. Once they drew to 300 paces, the Samurai facing nXian started dismounting, readying their bows. A small contingent of swordsmen hastened up behind these archers, while the rest of the centre girded their loins to charge the thin Turfan line.
However, nXian, displaying an agility unlikely in anyone wearing that
much armour, whirled his cataphracts into column, and spun them off to
the right, out of bowshot, then started sliding around the open flank
between these archers, and the Japanese left.
Meanwhile, the Turks, falling back, had been lured by an apparent opening. Two companies of them fell on the open flank of the pursuing archers, slaying twice their numbers, but were then enfolded front and rear, by cavalry and followers. The remaining Turks, trembling on the edge of flight, resumed their steady retreat notwithstanding.
While the Samurai thinned their cavalry line, sending some off to face nXian and seal the hole in their line, the Turfan edged closer, then delivered their charge. Their individual superiority told well against the superior quantity of enemy, and they butchered the archers caught afoot, in a single swoop. The rest of the Turfan started driving the mounted samurai back, taking advantage of their reduced numbers.
nXian, meanwhile, strained every nerve (9) to race away from the samurai cavalry pursuing him, and led his cataphracts off to the rear of the Japanese left wing, where King xBing was preparing to charge the swordsmen. With the blessing of Buddha, this charge was matched by nXian charging their rear (10).
Caught facing both ways, the swordsmen were wiped out in a flash. Their
supporters and followers took to their heels, hotly pursued by King xBing,
while nXian turned his own men to face the avenging wrath of the
Samurai. After suffering a brief & ineffective arrowstorm, the
cataphracts dismounted themselves, and advanced towards the archersafoot.
nXian, surveying the field, saw that the Turks had finally been caught
and broken, and were streaming off the field ot batte. Meantime, the main
body of Samurai cavalry, with their open flank being torn apart, and unable
to match the sturdy fighting quality of the Turfan, finally had enough,
and - after seeing their heathen CEO cut down - abandoned the field, at
which the remnants of the Japanese army fled also.
(1) the mystic master Mike Campbell :)
(2) The new world not having been discovered, this was obviously not
tobacco ...
(3) Tick Tock wasnt sure what the weak point of the Samurai army was,
but this seemed like a good way to avoid frontal charges on an infinitely
superior enemy. It also kept him closer to the baggage.
(4) Amongst the scholarly, it is believed that he was looking for a
suitable romantic lead to be played by Julia Roberts.
(5) That is to say, slowly and stickily
(6) Actually the Tibetan equivalent, namely a small rounded lump of
rock
(7) Too many of those funny cigarets ...
(8) Pip dice of 6,6,6,5!
(9) i.e. getting assigned all the high Pips
(10) He had to charge, or get shot in the rear by dismounting Bw(S)!
Comment:
I was lucky that there was no significant terrain in the middle of
the field - it stretched the Japanese front, and allowed me to create a
gap between their left & centre. The City States Cv(S) were an excellent
counter to the Samurai Cv(O), but it did need a few KnX to give them the
edge - as there were facing exactly twice their number to start with.
For the Chinese:
1. Put some LH in front of the mounted BwX, so they
dont get forced into dismounting too early (duh!)
For the Hungarians:
1. Irregular Kn manouevre like dead cows - don't
try to get fancy with them.
2. If you invest a lot of points in a foot command,
you need to use it forcefully to get the enemy to engage it -
otherwise a few skirmishers
can tie up a third of your army.
3. Dont try fancy manouevres with LH in the face
of approaching Cav!