Larry, just where exactly do you think branches come from. Do you think the branch fairy comes in at night and grafts them on to your tree?
Given an amount of time, the leaf base that is beginning to harden off by turning brown will acheive bark and become next years, albeit, small branch. The tree is apical dominate, which is something that Carl and I have already discussed about this ash. If you notice, the leaf stem hardening off is going to try to be the new apex of the tree if you leave it alone.
We can all be sure that by next week you will be making a double trunk han-kengai out of this poor sapling
Regards, Bonsai-al