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

Hisayuki Amagi was the younger brother of Nagahisa Amagi and the great-uncle of Akihisa Amagi. He enjoyed a high prestige in the Amagi family.

In 1518, the eldest son of Amagi Nagahisa died in battle at Moshi Castle at the age of . At that time, Amagi Nagahisa intended to pass the throne to Amagi Hisayuki, but Amagi Hisayuki refused and suggested that Masahisa's son Akirahisa be the successor. After careful consideration, Amagi Nagahisa accepted the proposal.

From this we can see that now that Akihisa Niwa can ascend to the position of family head, he has to thank his great uncle.

However, at this moment, Akihisa Niwa completely ignored the seniority and did not remember the favor of recommendation. Because of the matter of sending troops to Aki, he sneered at Akihisa Niwa in front of everyone: "It is said that Shimono-no-kami is cautious and good at strategy, but in my opinion, he is just a coward. From now on, I will just call you 'Hysterical Yashu'."

"I don't care what you call me, my lord." Niko Hisayuki was not angry at Niko Akihisa's ridicule, but continued to insist on his own opinion:
"The Mori clan is different now than it was in the past. It is now considered a small leader in Aki. You should have been able to see from the defeat in the last advance battle that the Mori clan is not fighting alone now, but has the support of a large number of people in the country.

More importantly, he has the support of the Ouchi clan. Once the two sides go to war, Ouchi will definitely send people to support. In this way, the main family will not be able to quickly capture Yoshida-gunyama Castle, but will fall into a passive situation because of the long expedition and multi-party attacks.

Therefore, please consider the matter of going to Aki carefully, and do not ruin the good situation of the family because of a momentary rashness. "

"A great situation?" Niko Akihisa responded disdainfully:
"Why do I have to conquer Aki? Isn't it to consolidate the current situation?

"The main family has been going smoothly on the eastern front in recent years, and has successively conquered Bingo, Mimasaka, and Harima. It seems that the road to Kyoto is about to be opened. This Mori family colluded with Ouchisuke to cause trouble for the main family from time to time. If this thorn is not removed, how can you let me go to Kyoto with peace of mind?"

"But you said that you want to mobilize all the people in the territory to join the battle. In this way, other lines of defense will inevitably be left empty. I am worried that someone with ulterior motives will take advantage of the situation." Niwa Hisayuki continued to express his concerns, hoping that Niwa Akihisa would not mobilize all his people and leave some people at the border just in case.

"Shimono-no-kami, with the current strength of our main clan, even if we mobilize all of them, we will only have 30,000 to 40,000 men. It's OK to fight the Mori clan, but if the Ouchi clan gets involved, we'll be stretched to the limit.

In this situation, instead of trying to win more support from our countrymen and increase the number of troops to go into battle, you asked me to keep some troops in the country. Do you know what the result of doing this will be?
That is, we have insufficient troops, and we can neither capture the city nor repel the enemy, and eventually we will be defeated in a long-term war of attrition. This is what our family needs to do everything possible to avoid. "

After hearing what Niko Akihisa said, Niko Hisayuki felt that he could not convince him, so he said angrily: "If the lord insists on sending troops, then I have another request."

"What's the matter?" asked Akihisa Niwa.

"Please be sure to report this matter to Lord Nagahisa and hear his opinions," replied Amako Hisayuki.

"Don't worry, I will tell my grandfather." Akihisa Niwa agreed.

A pre-war assessment ended in a heated argument between Akihisa Niwa and Hisayuki Niwa. Akihisa Niwa, who thought he had done nothing wrong, then went to the inner courtyard to pay a visit to Hisahisa Niwa who was lying on the hospital bed.

The octogenarian "Wolf of Yunzhou" was now dressed in plain clothes, lying weakly on the sickbed, breathing faintly, as if every breath had exhausted all his strength.

When you get closer, you can see that his face is haggard, his skin is like dry bark, and deep wrinkles show the traces of time. His gray eyebrows are sparse and messy, but he still maintains a sense of majesty and composure.

The pair of eyes that were once bright and sharp had now become deep and dim, as if they were gradually being swallowed by the darkness. Even so, there was still a hint of determination and hope in the eyes, as if it was a desire for life and an unyielding attitude towards death.

Upon hearing that Akihisa Niwa wanted to see him, Akihisa Niwa wanted to sit up, but after trying for a long time he failed. He had to lean on the arms of the maid and meet his grandson in a half-lying position.

"Grandfather." Nizi Akihisa walked into the bedroom and saw Nizi Tsunehisa's sickly appearance. He couldn't help but feel sad. With trembling lips, he greeted him: "Have you taken the medicine prescribed by the doctor? Do you feel better?"

Nizi nodded weakly for a long time and forced a smile: "I'm taking the medicine on time, don't worry. How come you have time to come and see me today?"

Seeing how weak he was, Akihisa Niwa decided to get straight to the point and make it short, telling him the truth about their plan to send troops to Aki.

Unexpectedly, Nizi Nagakuni was not surprised by this, but said leisurely: "It seems that my guess was right, you will take this step after all."

"Grandfather, do you think what I did was right?" Akihisa Niwa frowned slightly, waiting for Nagahisa Niwa to express his attitude on the matter. Although he was the head of the Niwa family, Nagahisa Niwa's opinion could not be ignored.

"In recent years, you have focused your attention on the east and have indeed achieved good results. Now, it is time to consolidate the western front." Niwa Nagahisa responded.

"You mean, you agree that I should use troops against the Mori family?" Akihisa Niwa said in surprise.

"It is not necessary to send troops to consolidate the western front," Niwa Nobunaga corrected, "In my opinion, we should mainly use strategy to win over the enemy, supplemented by military suppression. Aki is not a monolithic entity. Apart from the Mori family, other people can be won over. To defeat the enemy without fighting is the best strategy in war."

"Without a large army approaching, those guys will not surrender obediently." Nizi Akihisa expressed a different opinion, "Don't worry, as long as the army enters Aki, those people who are wavering will surrender on their own initiative. Any strategy will be futile in the face of a huge military advantage."

"It seems that you have made up your mind." Niwa Nagahisa looked calm, as if he was not surprised by Niwa Akihisa's opinion.

"The opportunity is fleeting. While the eastern front is still stable, our family must work hard to resolve the problems on the western front." Akihisa Niwa replied solemnly.

"It has taken me more than 20 years to gain a foothold in Aki, but you are thinking of achieving success in one fell swoop. Isn't that a bit too optimistic?" asked Niwa Nagakuni.

"Things are different now. I believe that our family is now capable of achieving the goal of suppressing Aki." Akihisa Niwa answered confidently.

"What do Genshiro (Nago Hisayuki) and Magoshiro (Nago Kunihisa) think?" Seeing that his grandson was full of confidence, Nago Hisayuki wanted to hear other people's opinions. "Kii-no-kami (Nago Kunihisa) didn't say anything, but Shimono-no-kami was very cautious and always wanted me to think long-term. I just had a quarrel with him." Nago Akihisa replied.

"In the previous advance battle, Sun Shilang was defeated, so he wanted to make up for his mistakes and perform well on the battlefield. It's okay if he doesn't say anything. But Yuan Shilang is different. He is good at considering everything when doing things and fighting. You should also know that I followed his advice and made up my mind to make you my successor. You should be grateful to him, so how can you contradict him?"

After hearing what Niwa Nagakuni said, Niwa Akihisa felt a little regretful, thinking that Niwa Hisayuki was over 70 years old, and it was indeed wrong for him to quarrel with him like that. But after all, he was the current head of the Niwa family, and he still had to maintain his dignity. Therefore, although he felt a little ashamed, the decision to send troops to Aki could not be changed.

"I will apologize to Shimono-no-kami later," Akihisa Niwa replied, "But I have made up my mind to send troops to Aki. I hope you can support me, grandfather."

"You are now the head of the Amago family. Do whatever you want. But if something goes wrong, you must be able to take responsibility and not disappoint your retainers and countrymen."

Niwa no Nagakuni acquiesced to the plan to send troops to Aki, thinking that his grandson had never suffered a serious loss until now, and it was time to let him experience some setbacks, which was also a necessary process for him to grow into a qualified family head.

"Thank you, grandfather. I will definitely be able to capture Yoshida-gunyama Castle. I will send someone to report the good news to you as soon as possible!" Akihisa Niwa promised excitedly.

"There is one more thing. Before sending troops, it is best to let the people of Bingo, Bimasaka, Iwami and other countries send hostages to Izumo. The people in these places are not like those in Izumo, Hoki and Oki. They are fickle, sometimes submitting and sometimes rebelling. Only by holding their families in your hands can you ensure that they will do their best on the battlefield and will not change their minds or turn against you at the last minute." Niwa Nobunaga gave the last bit of advice.

However, Niko Akihisa did not want to do this, and he gave his own reasons:
"Grandfather, you also said that the people in these places are new and fickle. If I force them to hand over the hostages, it will most likely anger them. Even if they dare not do it openly, they will secretly have opinions about our family. Maybe they will secretly communicate with Mori and Ouchi before they even go to the battlefield.

On the other hand, if I treat them with leniency and do not threaten them with hostages, they may be more willing to obey my family. This kind of voluntary loyalty is much more reliable than the method you mentioned."

"It is very dangerous to put your hopes on others instead of taking the initiative into your own hands." Nizi Jiji coughed twice and then reminded breathlessly.

"I will think about this carefully." Niko Akihisa did not respond directly to Niko Nobuhisa's reminder, but was eager to end the meeting: "It's getting late, and you should rest. I will discuss the follow-up matters with Shimono-no-kami and Kii-no-kami."

"In that case, then you go and get busy first." Nizi Nagakuni knew that his grandson was in high spirits and would not listen to his kind reminder, so he waved his hand and asked him to leave first, as he really needed to "have a good rest."

When I walked out of Nishikawa Nobunaga's dormitory, the sky was already dark, with the stars and the bright moon shining brightly.

Akihisa Niwa looked up and saw that the lantern hanging in the corridor had been lit. The "Four-Eyed Knot" family crest printed on it swayed in the wind, flickering in the flickering candlelight.

His eyes became firm, and he clenched his fists and swore to himself, "This time when we go to Amai, we must let those fickle guys know how powerful the Niwa family is!"

That night, a ninja from the Wakasa Takeda clan, at the instruction of Takeda Motomitsu, delivered the news that the Amago clan was preparing to send troops to Aki to Miyazu Castle in Tango, and the news was personally delivered to the Takeda clan's mansion by Taroko Mitsugu, the senior ninja in charge of the Tango group.

In fact, Yoshishige had already known at this moment that the Amago clan would take action in the near future, and he had already taken action before the secret letter from Takeda Motomitsu arrived.

First, the castle was built in Ikuno, Asago County, near Harima in Tajima. Yes, the castle was built near the Ikuno Silver Mine, but the Ikuno Silver Mine had not been "discovered" at that time, so the construction of the castle here did not attract much attention from the surrounding forces.

In Yoshishige's conception, Ikuno Castle actually consisted of two parts, one was Ikunoyama Castle located on the top of Furujoyama on the north bank of Ichikawa, and the other was Ikunodaira Castle located in the valley not far from the mountain.

The mountain castle is mainly for defense. The flat castle is currently used for garrisoning troops. The subsequent mining of silver mines will help build the castle town and attract more merchants, craftsmen and common people to gather here, forming a large-scale commercial city.

Of course, the construction of Ikuno Castle is mainly for military purposes. This castle is close to Harima, and the "Tajima Road" near the Ichikawa River Valley can directly reach Harima. It is the fastest and most convenient place to enter Harima among the territories currently controlled by the Wakasa Takeda clan. Therefore, Yoshishige's purpose in building this castle is self-evident.

Although the Amago clan is currently the "Lord of Harima", in fact, they only control the eight western counties of Harima, while the eight eastern counties are in the hands of the Bessho clan.

However, even in the eight western counties, there were more than a dozen people of varying sizes, many of whom were only nominally subject to the Amago clan, and secretly maintained contact with the expelled Akamatsu clan. Therefore, at this time, Harima seemed to be the only dominant force, but in reality it was a mess.

Yoshishige's idea was that when Akihisa Amago failed in his expedition against the Mori clan, he would inevitably shrink his defense and transfer the troops stationed in distant countries such as Harima, Bizen, and Bimasaka back to Izumo. In this way, Harima Province, especially the Harizai area, would inevitably fall into a power vacuum.

At this time, if troops were sent south from Tajima Ikuno Castle, even if they could not capture the entire Harima area, they would be able to gain a foothold in the northwest of Harima and lay a solid foundation for the subsequent management of Harima.

However, Yoshishige also knew that if he wanted to advance to Harima, he had to ensure the safety of the rear. In particular, Asago County, where Uchiono Castle was located, was surrounded by three forces: Tamba to the east, Harima to the south, and Yabu County to the west, which was in the hands of the Yamana clan.

Tamba to the east was the territory of the Hatano clan. After Hatano Hidetada married his daughter to Yoshishige, the relationship between the two families was very harmonious, so there was no need to worry.

Harima in the south will be in chaos after the Amago clan withdraws, and it will be the main attack direction of the Takeda army, so there is no need to worry.

The only problem was that although the Yabu County in the west was in the hands of Yamana Yutoyo, he was afraid of Yamana Makotoshi's strength and therefore maintained close contact with Yoshishige, so there should not have been any problem.

But the fact is that just a few days ago, he personally came to the Takeda clan's mansion to ask Yoshishige for help, hoping that the Takeda family could come forward to restrain Yamana Masimichi and prevent the Yamana main family from being gradually eroded.

After hearing what he said, Yoshishige thought, "Harima may have to be put aside for a while." (End of this chapter)