… On January 25, year xxx, disaster struck the noodle nation. Suddenly and without warning, a massive uprising erupted in the cities of Sakon and Konoe, the latter being the nation's second-largest city and located on the main route connecting the capital with the Land of Fire.
The rebels, made up almost entirely of low-ranking nobles with little influence in the Daimyo's court, wreaked havoc on the nation as a whole, swiftly capturing the two aforementioned cities and beginning what would later become known as the 'Noodle War.'
The Beginning
Debate still exists as to how and who instigated the uprisings in the cities of Sakon and Konoe, but everyone agrees on the name Shinsuke Asakawa, a nobleman who had fallen into disgrace due to the Daimyo's intervention years earlier, as the de facto leader of the entire rebellion.
The use of a new type of weapon, nicknamed "hand cannon" by its first users, represented a surprising advance in the asymmetrical combat tactics of the time, resulting in an overwhelming advantage for the rebels, who, despite lacking high-ranking shinobi and samurai, immediately overwhelmed the poorly prepared garrisons in the cities.
The fighting was swift, and the rebels almost always prevailed thanks to their saturation fire tactics and extensive use of explosives. But what was most surprising was the attackers' strategy of engaging the ninjas with long-range fire, scattered formations, and the use of explosives, which each combatant carried and detonated when they lost their lives at the hands of the agile ninjas.
Such an almost suicidal strategy caused panic among the less experienced ninjas, the vast majority of whom belonged to Kumogakure, Konogakure, and Kirigakure. The former suffered the greatest losses in both cities once they fell into the hands of the rebels. Estimates range around one hundred ninja dead or missing, not counting the typical undercover agents that every large village tends to have around the world.
Of particular note was the fighting at the Kumogakure embassy in Konoe, where the ambassador, a veteran chunin of two major wars, was able to withstand the assault of hundreds of rebels on his residence for at least an hour, killing at least 40 attackers, including the commander of the operation. He was later killed by explosives along with his wife, two other ninjas, and a handful of nobles who had taken refuge.
Another significant incident was the assault by Shinsuke himself, along with nearly five hundred rebels, on the central building of the city of Konoe, defended by four retired chunin, six samurai of equal rank, and several dozen chakra-wielding warriors. The fighting was fierce, with the rebels' use of buildings as shields and their innovative tactics putting the defenders at a disadvantage from the start, as they were unable to use their most powerful tactics effectively, with the exception of one of the ninjas, a specialist in earth jutsus, who managed to wreak havoc on the rebels on more than one occasion. In the end, the defenders exhausted their chakra reserves and had no choice but to flee or surrender, resulting in the deaths of more than half of the ninjas and samurai, as well as more than a hundred rebels.
The Daimyo's Response
News of the fall of two cities quickly spread across the nation, but it wasn't until midday that Chikara, the Daimyo, finally had enough information to see the full picture. Chaos broke out in the court, where nobles blamed each other for the uprising, and it was not until the end of the day that the Daimyo managed to calm his subjects and begin planning a reaction, precious time wasted, which allowed the rebels to consolidate their positions and control the cities they had captured.
The Daimyo immediately ordered an armed response to the rebellion, quickly forming a first army of 5,000 men, under the command of General Fuyuto Ogawa, while requesting assistance from both Kumogakure and Konohagakure.
The first army, made up of half of the capital's garrison soldiers, as well as a multitude of warriors donated by the city's major clans and nobles, departed three days after the rebellion began, setting their primary objective the recapture of Konoe, a key hub for the nation's trade routes.
At 10:00 a.m. on January 28, Fuyuto's army approached within a couple of kilometers of the city of Konoe, but what no one expected was that Shinsuke was already waiting with a formation of at least 4,000 men, ready and willing to confront them in the open.
General Fuyuto didn't hesitate in response to Shinsuke's proposal and prepared his army to confront the rebels, convinced of his superiority in the quantity and quality of his warriors, including powerful samurai and even some retired ninjas from the larger villages.
The armies clashed in direct combat at 12 noon on the same day, with the sun high in the sky and the weather particularly warm for winter. The rebels demonstrated a lack of coordination between their different units, but they made up for it with the advantage of their weapons, and the range they possessed, using the hand cannons to wreak havoc on the front lines of the Fuyuto army, which could not help but hold and press frontally despite the losses.
The rebels demonstrated cunning by using their lighter equipment and began to retreat while the army loyal to the Daimyo could not reach their aggressors. The tactic lasted for several minutes, causing heavy losses to the army, but everything changed when the ninja jutsus came into action, striking hard at the center of the rebel formations, which were forced to retreat in two uneven halves. The smaller formation headed north in complete retreat, while the larger one fell directly toward the city entrance, closely pursued by the ninjas and the bulk of Fuyuto's army. But just as they approached within a hundred meters of the city walls, explosions occurred between all the formations of soldiers. The rebels had set a trap.
The result was catastrophic for the Fuyuto army, losing the vast majority of the ninjas leading the formations and a good portion of the samurai and regular forces. Shinsuke wasted no time in delivering the coup de grace, emerging from the city and then proceeding to surround the army along with the rebel forces that pretended to retreat to the north.
General Fuyuto had no choice but to surrender his army, and then commit suicide. The losses of the forces loyal to the Daimyo were around 3,000, dead and wounded, while the rebels lost nearly 500 combatants. Fewer than 800 soldiers from Fuyuto's defunct army managed to flee the battlefield, marking a total defeat for the Daimyo and the beginning of a war that shocked all nations of the world…
Excerpt from the book, "Anatomy of Modern Warfare," by Chikayoshi Koshikawa (historian), Konoha Library.
_____________________________
If you can, support me on Patreon and access chapters in advance.
patreon.com/Thor87