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Takeda's Civil War

March 26, 1837 – The town of Satsuma, Kyushu

The downpour began late in the evening. It was such a rain that Shimazu Ruan knew his downfall had come. His one hope since the young Ieyoshi became shogun was that he might die in bed. Now, it seemed certain he would not. All he wanted was for his son to succeed him. His son might be corrupt and insubordinate, but he was family. The daimyo were divided. The only time this had happened before was when the Tokugawa clan humbled the others, nearly five centuries ago.

Some daimyo supported Ieyoshi, but they had always supported the shogun as a substitute for the Emperor. Some daimyo supported Takeda to the hilt, but they were those anarchists who wanted to destroy the shogunate. The daimyo Date even supported an extremely powerful emperor. The majority, however, wanted to maintain the status quo that Ieyoshi threatened. They also were horrified that Takeda would whip the peasants into a frenzy.

Takeda was a fool. The worst way to build support among the daimyo was to incite rebellion. His so-called ‘protection’ was worthless. News had come that Takeda had barely evaded execution by his tools, the peasants. Ieyoshi was little better. The daimyo had not reacted well upon hearing that he had conscripted fifty thousand levies without consulting them. Shimazu understood why, but he still was not comfortable with it.

And now, the end was coming. He looked out of his palace window towards the north rampart, and watched the grey tide of rebels pour over the walls. The militia was fighting hard and desperately, but there were too few defenders. He decided to die as any warrior could hope. He would fight to the end.

A loud crash came from below, as the palace door was forced in. The clash of arms and cries of the wounded downstairs echoed up through the mostly empty palace. Shimazu unsheathed his ancestral sword, the symbol of the Shimazu clan’s power. He slowly walked towards the stairway. His bodyguards drew blades, and followed. A guardsman backed around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. A spear plunged from behind the wall, skewering the soldier.

Shimazu turned to a guardsman beside him. “Open the door to the roof. We make our stand there.” The guardsman bowed, turned and trotted off. The elderly daimyo watched dispassionately as more than twenty rebels poured up the stairs. When they reached the midway point, he said calmly, “Engage.” The guardsmen charged the rebels, their superior altitude driving them back.

The rebels gave way, the guardsmen pursuing down the stairs and around the corner. Less than ten seconds later, cries of ‘Ambush!’ and ‘Betrayal!’ sounded. At that moment, Shimazu knew that the fighting was almost over. He withdrew to the rooftop, meeting the guardsman he dispatched earlier. “Soldier, go to the top of the stairs, and kill any who try to pass. You have my eternal respect.”

“Honor to serve, my lord.”

Shimazu closed the secret passage to the roof, and sat on the edge, watching Satsuma burn. A loud thud accompanied the splintering of wood. An armored man stepped out of the secret passage. Shimazu instantly recognized him. “Takeda”, he growled, sword leaving sheath. Takeda drew his blade and spoke.

“Ruan, your son has already sworn fealty.”

As Shimazu embraced death, he realized that his fate would not make a difference, but Ieyoshi would take note. His lands would be treated well after Ieyoshi regained control of the country.
 
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lifeless and prussiablue: glad you like my writing. Do any of you feel that there's too much text, as I feel like pictures might break up the writing a little better.

As always, comments are appreciated. :)
 
Takeda's Civil War

April 3, 1837—The Palace of the Shogun

Ieyoshi growled a curse as he read the report on Satsuma. The corrupt lad had declared for Takeda. Now it would be a real civil war. Now Takeda had some sort of legitimacy. A knock sounded on the door. He had called his advisors in for a council of war. He began opening another sealed report.

“Come!”

Two old men filed in, both tutors of his youth. They sat before him. He finished opening it, and placed it on the table.

“Thank you for coming.”

The one to the left spoke. “Ieyoshi, I believe that you will be discussing the fall of Satsuma.”

“Indeed.” The other, a blademaster, said slowly. Both men were respected. The man on the left, a sage known only as Hakata, after his home town, had sworn fealty three days after his father’s death. The blademaster, a tall, tough, old man was the chief of the Tokugawa house guards. This great man had fought for the Tokugawa clan for three decades. His name was Hiroshi Reoniddo.

Hakata spoke. “The former Daimyo Shimazu was not happy with the more moderate regime. However, he was more opposed to Takeda’s raising the peasants. You have lost a piece in this game. It is too soon to tell if it will be fatal.”

Ieyoshi looked at Hiroshi. He looked back blankly. “Hakata said all that needed to be said.”

Ieyoshi nodded, then opened the report, his eyes growing wide in surprise. Hakata spoke quietly. “You find something interesting, yes?” The gross understatement irritated Ieyoshi, but he forced himself to calm. “Apparently, an agent has located Takeda at the head of an army outside Satsuma.”

Hakata’s eyes blazed. “We must hunt and put him down like the mangy cur he is!” This was the most angry Ieyoshi had ever seen the sage. In fact it was the only time he had seen Hakata’s emotions show. What don’t I know about him? He recalled his father’s teaching: ‘an unknown ally is much more dangerous than a known enemy’. He turned to Hiroshi.

“Ieyoshi, the only honorable way to fight is on the battlefield. Espionage is part of your duty, and often you must act on it, but assassination makes you just as dishonorable as Takeda. You have earned respect among your soldiers and people for fighting honorably. Do not throw it away.” That was the most Hiroshi had said ever. He was serious. In fact, he likely would retire if Ieyoshi ordered the assassination.

Hiroshi was right, though. His rule would effectively end if he killed Takeda. But was it worth it for Japan? He would need to think. He shook his head to get rid of an irritating buzzing sound. It was Hakata, frothing at the mouth about how killing Takeda was essential to the war effort. How had he managed to ignore his advisor? His father said that if you were able to tune out your advisors, you had already made a decision, the right one.

takedarootcause5ix.jpg


Hiroshi was merely looking calmly at Hakata. Ieyoshi opened his mouth. “Hakata, please. I have made my decision. I thank you both for your counsel.” As the two bowed and filed out, Ieyoshi wondered which decision he had made. He grabbed a piece of paper and began to write orders.
 
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FJ44,

This is magnificent! You certainly have the talent to be a professional writer. I hope you will consider that, especially as you've found a niche that can't be very well covered -- Japanese historical fiction.

How much research have you done, and/or how much of this sort of thing have you read? Where do you get your knowledge of the culture?

I'm no expert on Japanese culture or history, but you have been very close to what I do know -- enough that I can tell you know lots more than I!

The Japanese are one of my favorite cultures and countries. Never tried them in Vicky, but I find stories like this very interesting.

Thank you for the plug on Dr. Herz!

One suggestion I would make is that when you use screenies (and you should, when appropriate) you should reduce them to about 75-80% size to keep from being bigger than some peoples' (mine!) screens. The downside of this is that the text becomes harder to read. You could get around that with some simple editing -- grab the important text, resize the screenie, then paste the text (like your event) on top of the smaller screenie at full size.

The amount of text seems right. I like that you divided the one part. Your update rate is daunting for me, as I don't have a lot of time, but certainly not outside of reason.

Great job! I'm hooked.

Rensslaer
 
Takeda's Civil War

Dawn, April 22, 1837—The town square of Satsuma

Doneru was a soldier in the Daimyo Shimazu’s army. The new army, as opposed to the old army under General Watanabe fighting in Nagasaki. The new army sworn to Tokugawa Takeda. He had heard tales of how the old Daimyo had personally dueled Takeda in defense of his people. The Shogun in Edo had made a proclamation that any rebels who fought Takeda would be not only pardoned, but honored. These two things, combined with the strict discipline enforced by Takeda himself led him and his comrades to this day.

Of forty thousand of Takeda’s troops, only five hundred were in on this plot. Luckily for the conspirators, most were officers or bannermen. Doneru was one of the few senior conscripts among them. His job this morning was to force compliance of Bannerman Nakajima in the plot. If Nakajima even tried to escape, he was to cut him down and lead the revolt of the 4. Satsuma Militia.

A sentry on his way back to his tent walked close to him. “Mountain Blooms”, he muttered quietly, under his breath, and moved on. After hearing the signal, Doneru walked calmly towards Nakajima’s tent. The guard stiffened as he approached, and challenged him.

“Who goes there?”

“Doneru, second in command, 4. Satsuma Militia. Let me in, Terauchi, you lazy oaf.”

Terauchi laughed silently. “The bannerman is asleep. I’ll wake him for you.”

“Never mind. I have a dispatch from Commander Nakai. I’ll head on in for privacy’s sake. Terauchi, get some sleep. Your relief will be here in fifteen minutes. Nothing will happen until then.”

“Thank you, Doneru, my friend.”

Doneru smiled to himself as Terauchi lumbered away. He ducked under the tent flap, quietly drawing his sword. When his eyes readjusted to the low light, he was shocked to see a dagger slash at him. He tried to dodge, the dagger grazing his rib cage. He stabbed with the sword, killing the bannerman. He stepped back out of the tent. It was up to him now. He picked up the company bugle and sounded assembly.



4. Satsuma Militia stood ten ranks deep, as Doneru stood on the makeshift stage. He had thought on what he would say. In the end, he decided that an appeal to honor would be the only way. But, first an explanation for Nakajima’s demise. “Comrades!”

“Soldiers of the Fourth Company! I have grave news for you. But, first, I would like to know if you believe that your needs are being met by the officers.” Negative mutters broke out among the ranks. “Are your needs being met by your senior conscripts?” The mutters began to turn to praises.

“Doneru, you have stood up for the men!” That would be Terauchi.

“Comrades!” The commotion stopped. “Bannerman Nakajima tried to kill me this morning as I brought a dispatch from the Commander. I slew him, but before he died, he told me that he had been ordered to remove any humanitarians from the ranks. This order had come from the highest levels.” Angry murmurs broke out again.

“Doneru, we must fight for our lives, livelihoods, and our honor!” Not Terauchi this time.

“Comrades! I have heard that Tokugawa Ieyoshi has forbidden lashings except in extreme circumstances. He is rumored to be at work writing a manual for conduct of soldiers and officers. Officers who abuse their men will be judged by tribunal, and punished.”

“Soldiers, will you follow me? Will you follow my banner in freeing Japan from the yoke?”

“YES, SIR!” That was the first time the men of the Fourth had been enthusiastic for authority.

“Then comrades, we march on the North Gate. May our names be forever remembered with honor!”

“HURRAH!”
 
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Note on the last update:

This reflects a weird occurence whilst playing the game. I was training 3 irregular divisions based out of Satsuma. Satsuma fell before they were produced. These divisions could only be deployed in Satsuma itself, so I ended up fighting a battle, 30000 Japanese vs. 6500 rebels. :D

This is my way of reconciling it with the story.

For feedback:

Rensslaer: Wow, I don't consider myself even capable of professional writing. I may take it up as a hobby, though. I've done some research, especially on the Shogun succession tree. Takeda is a made up character, but Ieyoshi removed his older brother from the succession to become Shogun.

I also am treating the characters as much younger then they were in real life. By the time Ienari died, for instance, he was 84. It just makes it easier for me to write the characters.

In writing in a 'Japanese/Eastern' style, I just remember to write implying more than stating, and making the word choice of characters drive the story, such as Ienari's insult to Takeda in the first update. I also have the driving motivation for characters be honor, as it should be. :)

Sorry about the huge picture. I'm still working with the best size for pictures. The picture size should get a little smaller in the future. :p

Well, now that you're hooked, we're even. :D

I'm able to crank out the updates because I don't have any tests yet (that will change...soon :( ) and because I really like the world I'm creating.

To all: Thanks for reading. Lurkers, to read is mortal, to comment divine. :D Seriously, encouragement really helps with inspiration. I'm going to be busy through Wednesday, but I'll try to put an update together for those of you who are hooked. ;)
 
Takeda's Civil War

Noon, April 22, 1837—Satsuma

Takeda growled to himself as he dodged a peasant’s spear. His sword flicked out, drawing blood. The loyalist fell, grabbing at his slit throat, trying to stop his lifeblood from wetting the dry dirt of the alley. Takeda motioned for his guards to follow him. He looked around the corner, and ducked his head back. There was the gate. He would only be outnumbered three to one. The odds were tolerable.

He wasn’t being boastful, but realistic. His professionals were much better than this half-trained rabble. This mutiny had caught him by surprise. He didn’t think the upstart Ieyoshi would have the guts to try to kill him. He peeked around the corner again. Curses!

A commander of some sort walked towards the gate with ten guards. Now, he likely would not break out. His death would mean the end of resistance to Ieyoshi. Some resentment would remain, but the traditionalists’ cause would be done for.

In the depths of despair, Takeda’s eyes noticed something odd about the commander’s guards. They walked slower than guards in a dangerous town should. He realized where he had seen that pace before. His serfs had always walked as if they had all day. The ‘commander’ likely was a mutinous underofficer or charismatic conscript. The odds, though twice as bad, were acceptable. The dice rolling in his head told him that it was possible. He brought his head back to his men. He spoke in a whisper.

“Soldiers! There are forty men and a commander guarding that gate. We must go through it. They are peasants and scum, whilst you are professional soldiers worth ten times your number of rabble. We will rush the gate. Try to capture the commander if possible. If not, put him to the sword. On my command!”



Doneru had just returned from a meeting with the General, who had briefed him on their situation. He nodded at the gate guards. He moved to sit on a chair near the gate.

A great shout went up as a dozen rebels charged the gate. Doneru’s jaw dropped. Only an idiot would charge forty with twelve. His men were just as amazed. They fumbled with sheaths, trying to draw weapons. Only one of the men at the gate had a weapon ready when Takeda and his men engaged.

Fujiro didn’t watch the big man in front of him. He was amazed that none of the guards had weapons ready. The spear came up, and Fujiro screamed in pain as he was impaled on the large spear.

Apart from Fujiro, none of the attackers were injured. Fourteen defenders fled, the rest were slain. Doneru suddenly found both his arms broken, and was held by two soldiers. Takeda stepped forward, and Doneru recoiled in fear.

“Who did Ieyoshi send, peasant?” Doneru cried out as a soldier twisted his broken left arm. “I grow impatient.”

Doneru pleaded with him, offering all he knew. Takeda grunted to himself. So, Ieyoshi hadn’t tried to kill him. Interesting. Pure chance had brought him face to face with destruction. Well, rebel reinforcements would be here soon. He started to walk away. He raised a hand in signal to his men. They moved out, the last one cutting down Doneru, commander in the Army of the Shogun for six hours.
 
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Just a little humorous sidenote:

Takeda is a completely fictional character. However, look who I found commanding one of my armies: :D

takedaincommand7ll.jpg


lifeless, I'm afraid you may have misinterpreted Ieyoshi's decision. The last update should clarify things a bit. ;)
 
fj44 said:
Doneru’s jaw dropped. Only an idiot would charge forty with twelve. His men were just as amazed.
:rolleyes: Exactly why, in these daring moves, the idiots often win!

Nicely done!

So Takeda continues...

Rensslaer
 
fj44 said:
Just a little humorous sidenote:

Takeda is a completely fictional character. However, look who I found commanding one of my armies: :D

takedaincommand7ll.jpg
You know... I had that EXACT same thing happen with Gen. Schwedt!

Renss
 
I still think this is a great AAR. A fresh breath of air as you writing is quite niche. I do hope you don't mind that I have one tiny comment. It seems that you have a lot of character already in this story and you are introducing quite a few each time, it does get a bit confused, especially for first time reader. Anyway just my thought, keep up the good work. Sorry I been a way for a while but from what I read you have keep up the good work.
 
prussiablue said:
It seems that you have a lot of character already in this story and you are introducing quite a few each time, it does get a bit confused, especially for first time reader.
You can make it like Robert Jordan's books, where you have to keep an alphabetized concordance of all the characters to know what's going on! :rofl:

Renss
 
Takeda's Civil War

Excerpt from Fujiwara Hansu’s The Dawn of the Rising Sun: Japan in the XIXth Century

No part of the nation survived the troubles of the late 1830s intact. Even the shogun’s palace in Edo itself was threatened at one time by the adherents of Takeda. In the middle of 1837, Takeda was closer than he had ever thought possible to taking the shogunate for himself. The new levies that Ieyoshi recruited were unable to recuperate after a loss. Takeda exploited this advantage expertly, threatening a collapse of Ieyoshi’s government.

The revolts went on after Ieyoshi’s refusal to have Takeda assassinated. The counter revolt in Satsuma almost trapped Takeda, which would have made Ieyoshi’s job decidedly easier. Takeda countered this by getting General Iwazaki and his division of levies to defect to his cause. This reinforced Ieyoshi’s opinion that some form of elite troops were needed, because of the low reliability of the levies. It was this mode of thinking that prevailed among the shogun and advisors when Ieyoshi received the Kyoto ultimatum.

By the middle of September, 1837, the slightly more liberal Court faction issued demands for liberalization and transfer of power from the shogun to the emperor and the daimyo. Though his advisors were unanimous in recommending a public execution of the traitors. This had some validity, as Japan was in a state of civil war, and such demands would have been too much for the shogun’s government to handle. The government was already spiraling into debt, owing to large swaths of the countryside not paying taxes to Edo.

imperialguardforms0wh.jpg


imperialguarda8ga.jpg

imperialguardb6gx.jpg

imperialguardc1tf.jpg


Ieyoshi, realizing that his strongest backers were the liberals, knew that he could not imprison or execute the leaders of the one faction that supported him. He approached the more moderate leaders, and negotiated a compromise. He announced the formation of an elite military force, the Imperial Guard, which would operate as part of the army during war or rebellion, but would nominally be commanded by the emperor himself. Ieyoshi also promised some liberalization after the civil war. This satisfied the moderates, and though there was dissention from the extremists, it proved to be a beneficial agreement for both sides.

imperialguard4or.jpg


Later that day, Shogun Tokugawa Ieyoshi delivered a speech to the citizens of the empire about the civil war, the state of the government, and proposed decrees for the future. This was the first time a shogun had ever appealed directly to the people for their understanding and support. This move shocked Takeda, the daimyo, the emperor, and even the shogun’s own advisors. However, though opposition to the shogun increased among the landowners, Ieyoshi earned respect from the peasants, both liberal and conservative. This speech is now known as the State of the Empire Address, and is given annually by the head of the government. Before the Restoration, it was given by the shogun; now by the chancellor.

stateoftheempire91518378br.jpg


The state of the empire, September 15, 1837
 
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Rensslaer said:
You can make it like Robert Jordan's books, where you have to keep an alphabetized concordance of all the characters to know what's going on! :rofl:

Renss
:rofl:

I'll try to cut down the number of characters, but many of these characters just show up for one or two updates, and die. Maybe I should include a 'semi-permanent character list' at the very beginning...

BBBD: Are you a happy reader now? ;)

prussiablue: Yep, I'll try to throw more graphics-type stuff in.

To all: Thanks for reading. I realized while writing the last update that my custom events have really tweaked up the revolt rates. I feel like I'm playing USCA vanilla, or Mexico VIP. :D In case anyone was wondering, militancy for conservatives is around 8-9, and for liberals it's 2-3.

Many thanks again for your comments, encouragement, and critiques.