Mori Motoharu's Finest Hour

"Tell me...how did he die?" Mori Sanemune asked.

"It was an impossible fight," said the soot besmirched, battle scarred survivor of the Battle of Akashi. His eyes were wide and bright and starred into space as he began to tell his tale, as though he was seeing the whole battle unfold once more before his eyes.

"They come at us with five armies but we have many samurai at Akashi and we are determined to give them a good fight. The Hatakeyama and Yamana lead the attack with two armies. The general faces the approaching enemy, calm and impassive like a mountain...

"The general orders the cavalry out to harass and divert part of the Yamana force. It works. So the Hatakeyama do not have the support of the Yamana when they attack the walls. When they come within range of the archers, they are met by a shower of arrows. Many are cut down...

"Then they scale the walls, the general orders the archers to fall back and the melee troops advance to the walls to repel attackers. The attackers are broken and retreat. Next comes the Yamana who have already lost many men to our cavalry. They too are beaten back...

"We cheer and taunt the enemy as they retreat in flight. From our army of nearly one thousand five hundred men, only six hundred are left, but the enemy have lost many more. We scan the horizon for enemies, no more are forthcoming, this is the first day.

"The next day, the rising sun reveals the banners of the Hatakeyama surrounding Akashi Castle on everyside. We are left with only six hundred tired and wounded men. Everyman knows that this battle will be his last. But many Hatakeyama will go to the underworld before this day is done. It will cost the Hatakeyama much more than six hundred men to vanquish our six hundred...

"My lord, out of our entire army, I am the only one left, not because I was cowardly or lacked spirit...I fought till my arms were weak and could no longer lift up my sword. As I collapsed on the ground, I saw the general surrounded by a forest of spears, his bodyguard, all killed. He hacks away at the arms reaching out to grab him, he refuses to be taken alive. Ha Ha! Many Hatakeyama go armless and handless today who tried to capture the general! But eventually he falls, felled like a great tree..

Mori Motoharu's last stand

"The exhausted Hatakeyama could hardly raise a cheer, so dismayed were they by their losses. They killed all the survivors but left me alive to bring you this message."

Mori Sanemune reads:

So, now all the sons of Mori Motohari - Takamoto, Takakage and Motoharu - have been slain in battle. In defeat their bodies lie unburied and headless. Submit to the Shogun you Mori dog or the same fate will befall you!

"With his single army the general destroyed more than two and a half armies of the Shogun," the veteran of Akashi said. "Search the chronicles, my lord, and see if there has ever been an army that made such a stand!"

"No, I know of no army that has made such as stand." Mori Sanemune replied.

"And now, if you will so honour me," said the veteran of Akashi with tears in his eyes, "Behead me ...for I do not wish to keep the general and my comrades waiting any longer in the underworld...