The Battle of Mino Station was fought in December 1866 between the armies of the pro-Imperial Choshu Domain and the pro-Shogunate Nagoya Domain amid the Boshin War. The Choshu Domain's modern army crushed the last field army of the Nagoya Domain at a crossing of the Sakai River, albeit after suffering considerable losses at the hands of Nagoya's legion of bomb-throwing ninjas.
Background[]
Following the capture of Tsu in November 1866, the pro-Imperial Choshu Domain isolated the pro-Shogunate Nagoya Domain in its home of Owari Province, where the Nagoya Domain held out from its eponymous home city. Additionally, Emperor Meiji appointed Mori Takachika kanpaku (regent) in recognition of Takachika's achievements in his name, and the Choshu Domain's decision to press its advance on Nagoya triggered a realm divide. The Emperor rallied his bannermen, deciding to begin the unification of Japan, with no quarter to be shown to the supporters of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Emperor Meiji decreed that Mori Takachika would carry his divine banner into battle, and all forces loyal to the Emperor quickly rallied behind the Choshu Domain, coming to Takachika to propose new alliances.
At the same time, the Nagoya general Kojima Morimitsu rushed to assemble an army from the scattered remnants of the once-great Nagoya Domain's beleaguered army, retreating to the vicinity of a telegraph office near the Sakai River border with Owari Province called "Mino Station". He merged together the domain's feared ninjas with the last riflemen in Nagoya's service, and, in early December 1866, his army faced off against Mori Takachika's 1,919-strong, newly-christened "Imperial Vanguard" at a crossing of the Sakai River.
Battle[]
The Nagoya samurai launching their final charge
The Choshu Army and Nagoya Army were separated by the Sakai River, with a single bridge serving as the sole crossing. Mori first dispatched his army's rifle-wielding levies across the bridge, hoping to quickly crush Nagoya's army while sparing his more experienced troops heavy casualties. These troops first came up against the matchlock-wielding samurai of the Nagoya Domain, who, after suffering heavy losses to rifle fire, launched a suicidal banzai charge against the uniformed peasants of the Choshu Domain in a last display of brazen valor.
The Nagoya ninjas charging across the bridge
Not to be outdone in brave deeds, the Nagoya Domain's ninjas proceeded to charge the Choshu levies, hurling bombs at them and inflicting heavy losses before closing in for combat with swords drawn. The Choshu levies were thrown into chaos, and many of them broke and fled; the yari kachi spearmen in Choshu's service were routed. Takachika responded by having the survivors retreat across the bridge as his veterans approached the banks of the river to fire across the Sakai and attack the approaching Nagoya forces. The ninjas were raked with gunfire as they attempted to force their way across the narrow wooden bridge, and they were shot dead to the last man. The Nagoya rifle-wielding levies broke much faster, and Takachika ordered his cavalry to give chase and slaughter the fleeing Nagoya soldiers. In spite of the loss of his armies' weak levies, Takachika was able to annihilate the Nagoya Domain's army, enabling his army to cross the Sakai and advance on Nagoya later that same month.
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