Swordsmen in a rowdy crowd
The master's horse is being urged on.
How quickly the horse flew by!
Mukai Kyorai (1651 - 1704). Translation by V. Markova
One of the topics that aroused interest among TOPWAR visitors some time ago was the topic of military art and samurai weapons. A number of articles were published on it, some of which later formed the basis for my book "Samurai - Knights of Japan", which received a grant from the Russian Humanitarian Science Foundation this year and will be out of print very soon. It would seem that all the topics of the samurai wars had already been covered, but … looking through the recently published list of materials, I was saddened to make sure that one of them remained, so to speak, outside the "field of attention". This is the story of the relationship between the samurai and ashigaru and, accordingly, the weapons of the latter. Meanwhile, their story deserves to get acquainted with it in more detail.
Modern ashigaru in tatami-do armor at one of the local holidays.
Let's start with the fact that ashigaru in Japanese means "light-footed". That is, already in this very name there is a hint that they fought either barefoot or with a minimum of shoes on their feet, and this is what, in the first place, they differed from the samurai who wore traditional hakama pants, socks and, at least, sandals.
And we were very lucky with the ashigaru. The fact is that we can absolutely learn everything about how they fought from the book of the samurai Matsudaira Izu-no-kami Nabuoka, which he wrote in 1650, that is, half a century after the Battle of Sekigahara and which has the most but there is a "self-explanatory name": "Dzhohyo monogotari" or "The story of a soldier." According to modern historians, this is one of the most remarkable historical documents ever published in Japan, since it was written by an eyewitness to many battles (his father was, for example, the commander of the army in the battle of Shimobar in 1638), the book is exclusively true, which cannot be said about other chronicles of those times. Yes, and they talked mainly about samurai, and "Dzhohyo Monogotari" is the only book that tells about ordinary Japanese infantrymen.
The original edition of "Dzhohyo Monogotari" is kept in the National Museum of Tokyo, and in addition to the text, which is interesting in itself, it also contains completely unique drawings of ashigaru warriors wearing clothes of the color of the Matsudaira clan. The book has a wooden binding, and it was published in 1854. It summarizes the experience of military operations with the participation of three units of ashigaru infantrymen: arquebusiers, archers and spearmen. In fact, this book sheds light on the previously little-known side of Japanese military affairs in the 16th-17th centuries.
Teppo ko-gashira is an officer of the arquebusiers. Miniature from Dzhohyo Monogotari. He has a bamboo ramrod case in his hands! The brown "balls" in a bundle around the neck are rice rations: steamed rice, which is then dried and placed in such a bundle. One "ball" - one meal, and it was very easy to cook this rice, as we cook today's "doshirak" - poured it with hot water and eat it!
We will begin our story by showing that the author reports on the duties of a junior officer teppo ko-gashiru (commander of the arquebusiers), who at that time could well have been a completely ordinary person. While the enemy was still far away, he had to distribute the cartridges to his soldiers, and they put them in the cartridge belts, which had to be carried so that it was convenient to remove them from there. That is, the equipment had to be well-fitted. When the enemy approached a distance of 100 meters, it was necessary to give the command to insert lighted wicks into the locks of the teppo arquebus. Moreover, it was necessary to ensure that everything was inserted correctly, otherwise the fuse could go out. For this misfortune, it was required to have several spare wicks and quickly light them at their comrades.
Teppo ashigaru. Miniature from Dzhohyo Monogotari.
Matsudaira writes that ammo is consumed very quickly in battle (the same problem at all times!). Therefore it is necessary that the servants - vacato - offer them continuously. Otherwise, the fire will be conducted intermittently, which should not be allowed. An important rule is an arquebus in a leather case, but on the other hand, there are two or even five ramrods on the right side, on the side. That is, the fact that they were wooden, these ramrods are obvious. And it is also obvious that they broke very often, so that even five spare ramrods were not considered something out of the ordinary!
Then Matsudairo Nabuoki writes what the shooters should do. For example, that when loading, you need to move the ramrod up and down, and do not tilt the barrel, otherwise you can get it in the eye of a friend. That is, the arrows stood very closely, in a dense mass and acted as one whole. It was necessary to shoot first at the horses, and only then at the riders. If you miss the horse, you will hit the rider, which will cause more damage to the enemy. But if the enemy's riders come close, the arquebusiers will not be able to do anything, and then they will not be able to do without the protection of the spearmen.
If the enemy is in front of your nose, put the arquebus in the cover (!), Remove the ramrod, and use your swords. You need to aim at the helmet, but "if your swords are dull (this is how" fools and idlers were always and everywhere "!), Then you need to strike at the enemy's arm or leg in order to somehow damage them. “If the enemies are far away, take advantage of this and clean the barrel; and if they are not visible at all, but it is known that he is nearby - carry the arquebus on your shoulder."
The next in importance were the archers, commanded by ko-gashiru o-yumi. The first condition: do not waste arrows. It was the ko-gashiru who watched when to give the command to start shooting. Matsudaira emphasizes that it is difficult to determine when to do this in order for archers to fire effectively. Archers should be positioned between the arquebusiers, and cover them while they reload their weapons. If you are attacked by cavalry, then you need to shoot at the horses - this is the main rule.
But archers, like arquebusiers, had to be ready for hand-to-hand combat at any moment: If the arrows in the quiver were coming to an end, then all the arrows to one should not have been used. It was necessary to line up and boldly engage in hand-to-hand combat. If you retreat, then you should retreat under the protection of your spears, but only then, then to start shooting again. This is the only tactic that can be successful. And you don't have to look into the faces of the enemy soldiers. It gets in the way. You simply shoot arrows at the target with maximum strength and speed. It is advisable to repeat to yourself "Watakusi wa!" - (Jap. "I'm calm!")
"Dzhohyo monogotari" also reports on the new weapon yumi-yari - bows with a spearhead. They are not reported in the military chronicles, since they began to be used only in the early Edo period: “They could strike in the slits of the face mask and chain mail. Then you should get long and short swords and attack the enemy, and strike him on the arms and legs. The bowstring should be folded so that it does not break."
It turns out that the ancient and, one might say, sacred art of archery has now passed from the samurai to the peasants, and they used the bow only to help the arquebusiers while they were reloading the arquebus. The "ammunition" of the ashigaru bow consisted of 25 arrows, as in the English (24) and Mongolian archers (30). But ashigaru had an advantage over them in that they were served by wakato recruits and komono servants, who carried huge quivers-boxes on their backs, containing 100 arrows each.
Ammunition carriers. The left has gunpowder and bullets in his knapsack, the right carries arrows.
Well, the use of a bow instead of a spear can be considered a good find, because the Japanese bow was very long - 1800 - 2000 cm.
As already noted, that the samurai, that the ashigaru had to remain absolutely calm when fired and not think about the target itself, or about how to hit it! In the bow and arrow it was supposed to see the "way and means" to become worthy of the "great teaching" of shooting, and the arrows themselves had to find their own goal! Such shooting seems strange to us, but for the Japanese it was "normal", and the arrow of a Japanese bow could hit a target at a distance of about 500 m, and archers hit a target the size of a dog from a distance of 150 m.
Ashigaru archer. Rice. A. Sheps. The arrows were covered with a fabric cover for protection from the weather. Both on the helmet and on the shell are the emblems of the clan that this ashigaru serves.
Bows, even for ashigaru, were made of the finest bamboo. The arrow shafts were also bamboo or willow wood, and the plumage was from eagle feathers. The tips were forged from iron, cast from copper or bronze, carved from horn or bone, and the latter, even if they did not pierce the armor of the samurai, seriously wounded their horses.
Recent studies have established that ashigaru spears were much longer than previously thought, and resembled European pikemen's lances. Before the translation of Dzhohyo Monogotari, it was impossible to say for sure how they were used: after all, one had to be able to use a huge spear with a long blade. Therefore, it is not surprising that many of the most striking episodes of "Dzhohyo Monogotari" are devoted to the technique of fighting with a spear. Ashigaru nogo-yari spears could reach a length of five or more meters, and it is not surprising that they were very important in battle.
Before fighting with a spear, it was necessary to put a cover from it behind the muna-ita (metal breastplate). Covers or scabbards from spears, which have a long shaft, should be attached to the belt at the side. That is, both the tip in the case and the shaft in the case - and so it was customary for them! But if the samurai acted with a spear, just like the knights, the ashigaru used them to fight the enemy's cavalry.
Again, it was the horses that had to be hit first. “Striking a horse with a spear in the stomach will kill the horse and throw the rider off,” writes Matsudaira Nabuoki.
You need to line up at a distance of one meter from each other to meet the cavalry with a palisade of spears. "Get on one knee, place your spear on the ground and wait quietly." When the enemy is at a distance slightly longer than the length of the spear, quickly raise it, aim the tip at the horse's chest, and do your best to keep the spear in your hands when it pierces her chest! It doesn't matter at all who you pierce - a rider or a horse, you will feel that the spear is being ripped out of your hands. But it must be kept, and then re-aimed at the enemy. Chasing the retreating enemy should be no more than a few tens of meters, because running with a spear is hard, but you must try to stick it somewhere anyway. How deep should the spear be driven into the enemy's body? Not very deep, but only up to the mekuga - the device with which the blade was attached to the shaft; "It will be easier to get it back this way!"
As a general guideline, Matsudairo Nabuoki gives a number of recommendations to spearmen and their commanders:
1. Rows should be built at one meter intervals.
2. When exposing the weapon, keep the scabbard.
3. Cavalry must be met, standing on one knee, and the spear must lie nearby.
4. As soon as the command is heard, you must immediately stand up and raise the spear.
5. All ranks must keep their spears straight.
6. The spear is aimed at the target with the left hand, the blow is delivered with the right.
7. After driving the spear, try to hold it.
8. Pursue the enemy as indicated.
That is, we see that all the actions of the Japanese ashigaru are similar to the actions of the Swiss infantry, which, just like that, with a "wall of pikes" set one against the other, could repel any attack of the knightly cavalry chained in armor. At the same time, crossbowmen and arquebusiers fired at it, and did not fear that they would be defenseless with a discharged weapon in their hands. And ashigaru did exactly the same in Japan!
Typical Jingasa helmets from the 18th century with the Tokugawa clan emblem.
It is interesting that ashigaru carried their long spears in bundles of several pieces, and even hung bags with luggage on them. This bundle was carried by two people, putting it on their shoulders. At the halt, spears were used as hangers for drying clothes, it was a convenient pole to jump over the stream without getting your feet wet, and even … a ladder of two shafts with crossbars tied to them. One infantryman could lead his spear so that his flow dragged along the ground, but the book said that if the road is rocky, then this is not necessary.
Haraate-do - armor of ashigaru warriors. Rice. A. Sheps.
But, unlike European soldiers, almost all ashigaru and even arquebusiers had protective armor, however, lighter and cheaper than samurai. On his head, ashigaru wore a conical iron jingasa helmet - an exact copy of a peasant hat made of rice straw and a double-sided cuirass-do with a carapace skirt - kusazuri, which resembled the plate legguards of European pikemen. Metal plates for arms, legs and forearms could be used: they were either sewn onto fabric, or fastened over clothing with fabric ties. On the chest and back, as well as on the front of the helmet, the emblem of the clan to which this ashigaru belonged was usually depicted. So we can talk about certain identification marks that have already been used by ashigaru and even about some kind of "uniform", since the armor for them was often unified and ordered in large quantities.
The bronze hachimaki forehead protects the poorest warriors' heads.
