To break through the mountain, the troops were organized as follows: the front troop led by Shuichiro KONO and HENMI, the middle troop led by KIRINO and Shinpachi MURATA, and the rear troop led by NAKAJIMA and KIJIMA, with approx. 60 soldiers led by IKEGAMI and Shinsuke BEPPU for guarding SAIGO (according to "Chinzeisentoteigen" (the battles in Kyushu in country dialect), MURATA and IKEGAMI led the middle troop and SAIGO and KIRINO took supreme command of the Satsuma army).
突破の隊編成として、前軍に河野主一郎・辺見、中軍に桐野・村田新八、後軍に中島・貴島をおき、池上・別府晋介は約60名を率いて西郷を護衛した（「鎮西戦闘鄙言」では村田・池上が中軍の指揮をとり、西郷と桐野が総指揮をとったとしている）。