Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 117 Deploy troops and generals
"Master, please be patient." Yamana Masamichi said with a smile, "I have indeed felt the sincerity of the Takeda family. However, the matter of sending troops involves a wide range of issues, and one move often affects the entire body. Master Inaba may have heard about the situation, so before sending troops, we still have to seek the opinion of the Amago family."

"It seems that the Takeda family overestimated the independence of your Inaba Yamana."

Yunfeng Longxing's words really made Yamana Makoto and his retainers feel ashamed. After a long while, Yamana Makoto forced a smile and said, "Master, what you said is not right. The Amago family has given our main family a new life. If it weren't for them, Yamana Kingo would have sent troops to annex our Inaba. It is reasonable for the main family to show respect to the Amago family. Please understand, Master."

"These are all internal affairs of your Shanming family. You don't need to explain them to me." Yunfeng Longxing responded calmly, "But Your Highness, time waits for no one. I hope you can make a decision as soon as possible to avoid wasting the opportunity."

"That's for sure," Yamana Chengtong assured Yunfeng Longxing, "In three days at most, I will give an explanation to the Master and the Takeda family."

After pacifying Yunfeng Longxing, Yamana Masimichi immediately set out for Tsukiyama Tomita Castle and explained the matter of sending troops to Tajima to Amago Nobuhisa and Amago Akihisa in person.

After a short discussion, the grandfather and grandson of the Amago family gave the green light for Yamana Masimichi to lead his troops to attack Tajima.

The reason for this was that, on the one hand, the Amago clan also wanted to use Inaba Yamana as a springboard to expand their sphere of influence to Tajima when Yamana Masimichi invaded Tajima.

On the other hand, they also wanted to take this opportunity to see if the Takeda army was as strong and tenacious as others had described. If so, the Amago clan would have to prepare early to deal with the conflict with the Takeda clan that might arise at any time; if not, the Amago clan could continue to move eastward to expand its sphere of influence.

"Samasuke, although you have the support of the main family, sending troops to Tajima is no joke. You must be extremely cautious, especially when you are formally in contact with the Takeda family. You must not take it lightly and must find out the details before making any judgment."

Every word spoken from the long-raucous and low voice of Nizi was firmly remembered by Yamana Makoto. He would never forget that it was this bearded old man in front of him who allowed the Inaba Yamana family to survive to this day.

"Ha! I will follow your highness's instructions!" After getting the approval of the Amago clan, Yamana Makoto smiled happily. He did not even bother to accompany the Amago clan for a long meal and hurriedly rode back to Tenjinyama Castle.

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yamana Masamichi returned to Tenjinyama Castle and formally agreed to Yoshishige's conditions. He handed a letter to Yunfeng Longxing, telling him to hand it to Yoshishige personally. At the same time, he immediately ordered all his retainers to prepare for full mobilization.

Two days later, Yunfeng Longxing lived up to the trust and finally returned to Obama with a handwritten letter from Yamana Makoto.

The moment he read the letter, Yoshishige breathed a sigh of relief. He said to Kagawa Morihisa and others, "Now that everything is settled, it's time to send troops to Oi County."

At this time in Oi County, the palace of Suidoyama Castle was shrouded in a depressing atmosphere. Naito Katsutaka sat cross-legged in the middle of the palace, listening to Itsumi Masatsune's reproaches with a serious expression.

"The ninja was killed, such an important thing, why didn't you tell me earlier?" Yijian Changjing's anger reached its peak.

"I thought that with Nagato no Mori's ability, there shouldn't be any mistakes along the way, and I would be able to deliver the letter to Your Highness quickly. But when I returned to Suidao Mountain City, I found that he had disappeared without a trace, and that's when I realized something was wrong. After that, I sent people to look for him several times, but to no avail. That's when I reported this to Your Highness, and I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"It's unclear whether Fujibayashi Nagato no Kami took the letter and surrendered to Wuweidian, or met with an accident on the way." Itomi Masaki was worried about this. However, Naito Katsutaka had full confidence in Fujibayashi Masayasu: "Nagato no Kami has protected me for nearly a year. I know his character. He would never betray his master for fame. The only possibility is that something went wrong on the way."

"If this is the case, what should we do?" Yi Jianchangqing glanced at Yi Jianchangjing who was frowning in the hall, and his heart was also losing confidence: "If the secret letter is intercepted by the Wuwei Hall, our family will be passive."

"We must prepare for the worst." Itomi Masahide pondered for a moment and finally made up his mind: "Immediately mobilize the entire territory. According to the plan, we will first capture Takahama Castle, Ishiyama Castle (Muto clan), Hongo-kan (Hongo clan), and seize control of the entire Oi County. Then we will send troops to Kasa and Yosa counties and join the Yamana army to attack Miyazu Castle."

"Miyazu Castle is currently garrisoned by Shirai Tamori. Your Highness can entrust the task of attacking this fortified castle to Isshiki Yoshiyuki's Tango group," suggested Naito Katsutaka.

When Yijian Changjing heard this, he thought it made sense: "That's right, let Isshiki Yoshiyuki go and try to deal with some obstacles first, so as to consume some of the defenders of Miyazu Castle. This way, it will be easier to fight later."

"It's not just this reason," Naito Katsutaka further analyzed:

"Your Highness, if you take Oi County, you will inevitably face a counterattack from the Takeda army. By then, there must be enough troops left on the Wakasa front. In this case, it would be powerless to divide the troops to attack Miyazu Castle. Let Isshiki Yoshiyuki lead the troops to attack the castle. On the one hand, it can indeed consume some of the defenders first. On the other hand, after all, Miyazu Castle is now the guardian of Tango. Having the former guardian Isshiki clan attack it can be regarded as a gesture of goodwill."

"You make sense," Yi Jianchang nodded. "If we can take it down, we'll just do it as a favor. If we can't, we'll take over later, and he can't blame us."

The matter was settled, and Itomi Masaki immediately began to deploy, preparing to mobilize all the troops and divide them into three groups to control Oi County. Among them, Itomi Masaki led a thousand troops to attack Ishiyama Castle, and Naito Katsutaka led the 500 recruited troops to capture Takahama Castle, and at the same time sent envoys to persuade the Hongo clan to surrender.

At the same time, envoys were sent to Tango Katayama Castle and Tajima Kosumiyama Castle to invite Isshiki Yoshiyuki to attack Miyazu Castle and Yamana Tasuku to attack Kumano and Takeno counties. A war involving the three countries was about to break out.

Of course, the news of Itsumi Masatsune's movements had already been passed on to the Takeda clan's mansion through the ninjas of Wakasa and Tango.

At this time, Yoshishige had already begun to prepare for war. Except for the 500 troops in Kirei, the three places of Wakasa were basically mobilized. Among them, there were 1,800 Tsuruga people (including Miyabo Nagami of Doyama Castle, Toba Nobuniwa of Goanyama Castle, etc.), 1,000 Wakasa people (including Matsumiya, Hisamura, Kumagaya, Kagawa, etc.), 750 Tango people (including Sugi, Inatomi, etc.), and then there were Yoshishige's Umakai people of 2,200 people (including the Red Cavalry).

In summary, as of the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Yizhong had mobilized more than 5,700 troops.

While the mobilization was going on, Yoshishige still tried to make a final effort for peace. He sent envoys to Suidoyama Castle, asking Itami Masatsune and his two sons to immediately go to the Takeda clan's mansion to "report on their work." Naturally, this request was declined by Itami Masatsune on the grounds of illness.

"It seems that the plan has been exposed." Yi Jianchang sighed, then solemnly ordered everyone: "The first to strike is the strongest, the last to strike will suffer. Now that things have come to this, let's act immediately."

Just two days before Yoshishige completed the mobilization, Itsumi's troops attacked in three directions, and the first to bear the brunt of the attack was Takahama Castle, which had weak defenses.

(End of this chapter)