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Ch.04.05 Northern Storm, part one
Part One, the Campaign Begins. Spring of 1494.
Ainxiou had been gathering his forces for his planned invasion of the south since 1493, so he had very little left to do before he sent his forces out to begin the invasion. However, his nobles who had been caught flatfooted by his announced plans, would take significantly longer to get their fighting bands properly assembled. This would take until the very end of the fighting season.
The king had anticipated that however and included it into his plans. His own forces would spend the spring and summer months taking as much land as possible, aiming for the rich trade center of Arai, and once they were nearly exhausted then the nobles forces would be used to garrison the captured territory.
Ainxiou’s main forces were a mix of Tlingit and Japanese troops. Promised great wealth, land and power by the king many Japanese had gone over to his side. Many of these having been on the losing side of the Senso war and thus eager for revenge. At the time Japanese had not yet become the language of the Tlingit court, and thus few of Ainxiou’s native troops understood their Japanese counterparts. Making cooperation between the two elements difficult to impossible.
The campaign began with the kings forces assaulting the town of Jengessi, a fortified border town that Tlingit and Japanese troops had fought over in the past, but had been firmly held by Japanese forces since the 1430s.
Jengessi fell quickly, its lord and people putting up only token resistance before Ainxiou offered them favorable terms of surrender. He did not want to get his forces stuck into a lengthy siege of a relatively unimportant border town.
With the Jengessi mountain pass now in his control and the snow melting early, Ainxiou quickly split his forces off into several smaller groups and sent them out into the Pengai valley below him. As spring turned to summer his troops had captured several further settlements, though none were of any great size. And the Japanese were beginning to realize what was going on.
Ainxiou had been gathering his forces for his planned invasion of the south since 1493, so he had very little left to do before he sent his forces out to begin the invasion. However, his nobles who had been caught flatfooted by his announced plans, would take significantly longer to get their fighting bands properly assembled. This would take until the very end of the fighting season.
The king had anticipated that however and included it into his plans. His own forces would spend the spring and summer months taking as much land as possible, aiming for the rich trade center of Arai, and once they were nearly exhausted then the nobles forces would be used to garrison the captured territory.
Ainxiou’s main forces were a mix of Tlingit and Japanese troops. Promised great wealth, land and power by the king many Japanese had gone over to his side. Many of these having been on the losing side of the Senso war and thus eager for revenge. At the time Japanese had not yet become the language of the Tlingit court, and thus few of Ainxiou’s native troops understood their Japanese counterparts. Making cooperation between the two elements difficult to impossible.
The campaign began with the kings forces assaulting the town of Jengessi, a fortified border town that Tlingit and Japanese troops had fought over in the past, but had been firmly held by Japanese forces since the 1430s.
Jengessi fell quickly, its lord and people putting up only token resistance before Ainxiou offered them favorable terms of surrender. He did not want to get his forces stuck into a lengthy siege of a relatively unimportant border town.
With the Jengessi mountain pass now in his control and the snow melting early, Ainxiou quickly split his forces off into several smaller groups and sent them out into the Pengai valley below him. As spring turned to summer his troops had captured several further settlements, though none were of any great size. And the Japanese were beginning to realize what was going on.
- Count of Crisco
- Word Count: 350