In Search of the Niinja (55 page)

16

Hiya ‘fire arrows’ – a tool needed when you burn down military quarters

End of the 16 tools

The author with Meiko Koizumi and Mr Yoshida, an expert on scrolls and manuals.

Youchi no Sho
, The Night Attack Scrol
l

Transcribed in 1689, presumably by Ito Jin-emon Yukiuji, it is believed that Koike Jin-no-jo Sadanari wrote this scroll earlier and it is considered to be a part of
Ogasawara-ryu
. Primarily this is a night attack scroll and the skills listed are for conventional samurai to use. However it is a great look into how commanders used shinobi during night raids. Some additional text has been inserted in brackets to aid understanding.

•
  If the enemy have travelled over a steppe or difficult area or have traversed a long distance you should obtain information on their situation and status in secret and commence a night attack.

•
  After a full day’s battle or after you have been defeated you should gather the remnants of your men and conduct a night attack.

[This is a regular theme in military manuals and plays on the enemy’s neglect after they feel they have secured a victory; therefore other military manuals caution that after a victory should come prudence and attention to defence.]

•
  You should attack an enemy position when they have been encamped for a prolonged portion of time and have thus become neglectful. To know the situation of their camp you should send shinobi.

•
  On the night when the enemy arrives to construct battle camps you should commit surprise attacks.

•
  On a night of heavy wind and/or rain make sneak attacks
.

•
  When the enemy are retreating over a long distance you should attack and take advantage of the gap they create during the move.

•
  A night attack troop should be fifty in number and you should assign
Kashira
-captains for every unit of ten men and all the people on the night raid should be dressed in black.

•
  On a night raid you should bind the tongues of the horses and wrap cloth around the metal sections of the bits that jangle.

•
  On night attacks you should not take long weapons with you, however that being said, long swords
are acceptable. Also, bows should be the primary weapon in the first attack.
210

•
  Passwords should be arranged before you set off on a night raid.

•
  Identifying signals
should be arranged before you set off on a night raid.

•
  When making your way to the enemy position, it is often the case that your troops may lose their way. Place one unit in the middle of the route behind the troops so that they can make sure of the direction they are going by calling to each other.

•
  
Shinobi no mono
should be sent to observe the internal set-up of the enemy forces or position.

•
  In the case where you attack an enemy camp by surrounding it, prepare torches for use.

•
  War cries should be made from a direction that the enemy do not expect you to be – this is a stratagem.

•
  Instruments should be used to send signals.

•
  Ambush troops
should be used.

•
  Send
shinobi no mono
to ignite fires in the enemy camp.

•
  Perform hit and run actions, whether or not to make further repeat attacks depends on the extent of the enemy’s negligence.

•
  Before you infiltrate the enemy camp, do not light any torches – then upon the order of a
Kashira
-captain, throwing torches should be utilised in unison.

To date, no references have been found to
Shuriken
throwing stars in any of the known ninja manuals, but this may change.

•
  Torches should not be carried by combatants.

•
  Night attacks should be done in the Hours of the Boar or the Rat [between ten and two o’clock] or also when horizontal clouds appear above the mountains [at dawn] – however, you should not always stick to these ways, especially if the enemy are negligent at night.

•
  When you return from a night raid, identifying signals [as described above] should be used to identify your men before you let them enter the compound.

•
  When troops are returning from a victorious night raid, a reserve troop should be stationed [around your camp] as the enemy may try to follow the returning men – have this reserve troop deal with the enemy and let those who have returned enter the camp [and rest].

•
  Construct watch fires on both sides of a castle gate and question everyone before they enter.

•
  When your troops return from a night attack and go through the gate, send out
monomi
scouts and investigate before they enter the gate. When the enemy soldiers persistently follow your troops back and try to infiltrate your castle you should secure the castle gate and have ambush troops placed there to kill them.

•
  In the case where the enemy is far away and you have to travel over a long distance to commit the night attack and it is not easy for you to reach them quickly, in this case you should send
monomi
scouts and/or shinobi in the daytime to observe them closely. Next divide your entire attack number in to groups and then following signals from these aforementioned scouts, send these groups one at a time.