Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 193: At around : p.m., dark clouds covered the sky

Imagawa Yoshimoto started out from Suruga in mid-May and headed westward, passing through Totomi and stopping at Okazaki Castle in Mikawa for a rest. There he gathered the powerful families of Mikawa to follow him to Kyoto. He also left some of the Imagawa family's men in Okazaki Castle to ensure that there would be no worries for his retreat.

He then set out from Okazaki Castle, led by 12,000 men led by Matsudaira Motoyasu, Ii Naomori, and Katsurayama Nobumasa, and officially entered Owari. He himself stayed in Katsukake Castle, preparing to enter Mino along the line of Ōtaka, Narumi, Atsuta, Nakono Castle, and Kiyosu.

Overall, his battle plan was executed smoothly. Matsudaira Motoyasu successfully rescued the trapped Otaka Castle and took down Marugane Fort. Ii Naomori also successfully captured Washizu Fort and wiped out the nearby Oda clan's forces.

Combined, the two made the road between Odaka Castle and Narumi Castle open again, enough for a large army to pass through.

The "naval surprise attack team" led by Katsurayama Nobumasa also captured Kanie Castle in Kaisai County in one fell swoop. They only needed to rest for a few days and gather their troops to create chaos in the rear of the Oda family, making it impossible for them to take care of both ends.

In short, the Oda family is already trapped, and it is within reach, but the Saito family in Mino...

Imagawa Yoshimoto was half lying in the carriage, gently patting his thighs with a folding fan, already thinking about how to deal with the Saito family.

The Imagawa family also attached great importance to trade and had always coveted Owari, a place located on the Tokaido land trade route and with two sea trade ports, Shimazu and Atsuta. Even the development of Atsuta Port, like Tsukuna Furuno Castle, was initiated by the Imagawa family, and now naturally they want to take it all back.

However, the trade atmosphere in Mino is not that strong, and there are a lot of mountains in the north, which are not of high value. Perhaps it would be enough to just control the road to Kyoto in the Nobi Plain area, without having to resort to force alone.

Imagawa Yoshimoto, as the 11th head of the Imagawa family, was a 43-year-old man. He had been taught by famous teachers such as Taihara Yusai for a long time and could be said to be quite strategic. He was thinking intently when the carriage paused slightly, which immediately disrupted his train of thought.

He knocked on the wall of the sedan chair with his folding fan in displeasure, called his attendants over, and asked, "What's wrong?"

The attendant immediately replied, "Some local people heard that Your Highness was passing by, so they came to offer tribute."

Imagawa Yoshimoto became interested and asked, "Is it a local samurai?"

The attendant turned around and gave an order, and soon someone ran forward to inquire, and soon came back to report: "Your Highness, it's a villager from the local Youfu Temple Village."

"Common people..."

In this era, scenes like "welcoming the royal army" were very common. After all, robbery was normal during wars, and human trafficking was even more natural. So when a large army passed by, many villages would try to sell themselves, beg for mercy, and bleed themselves if they were obviously unable to resist, so as to avoid being robbed by the army and having the village directly destroyed.

Imagawa Yoshimoto suddenly lost interest and waved his fan, signaling the carriage to continue moving forward. Soon he saw a large group of people kneeling on the side of the road. There were hundreds of them, of all ages, and almost all of them were men. It seemed that the heads of the entire village had come, and they brought a large amount of tribute, appearing to be very sincere.

This really has some of the meaning of "food and drink".

In view of their sincerity, Imagawa Yoshimoto was in a very good mood. He asked someone to bring the village leader over, intending to give a few words according to the routine, and then write it down in the military record to be passed down to future generations as a good story.

The village leader came over quickly. He was in his thirties but looked quite old, with rough skin and a slightly hunched back. He didn't even dare to raise his eyes when he approached. He just fell down in the mud on the side of the road and said tremblingly: "I am Fujizaemon... I greet Your Highness. I wish Your Highness long-lasting military fortune and a prosperous family business."

"Don't be alarmed." Imagawa Yoshimoto showed a friendly smile on his face and asked casually, "Are you here for something?"

"I dare not... uh, I have nothing to ask for." Fujizaemon still did not dare to raise his head. With his status, he would be beheaded immediately if he looked directly at Imagawa Yoshimoto. He could only bury his face in the mud of the rainy season and said in a trembling voice, "It is only because I heard that Your Highness is of noble status and a citizen of the world, and that you passed through my village, that I dared to come here to offer tribute."

"People in the world?" Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled, then sighed, "That's true. It's not that easy to be a person in the world..."

The Oda family, Saito family, Asai family, and Rokkaku family along the way were nothing and could only tremble in fear under his tens of thousands of troops. However, the Ashikaga family in Kyoto had already lost power, the Shogun was only a figurehead, the Emperor and the ministers had their own thoughts, and the local daimyo were even more ambitious. How to unify the world, how to restore the authority of the shogunate, and how to truly become the "master of the world" were still full of difficulties.

Now we can only say that we have traveled one mile out of a hundred miles, and there is still a long way to go.

Fujizaemon could understand his sigh to some extent, but he could not show it. He could only bury his face in the mud and forcefully said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness is famous far and wide, he will definitely be able to do it..."

Halfway through his speech, he turned around and waved, signaling the villagers to bring over a plate of "Katsukuri" - a traditional Japanese pastry, also called Kurikanemaru. It is essentially made of mashed chestnuts and shaped to mean "victory", but the production methods vary from place to place, and the forms of the auxiliary ingredients also vary greatly.

Fujizaemon took the carefully prepared "Katsuki" and held it high above his head, and continued, "With this 'Katsuki', I wish Your Highness success in your endeavor."

"Oh?" Imagawa Yoshimoto was really interested. It was only early summer, and there was still a season before the new chestnuts were ready to bear fruit. A commoner giving him a "victorious chestnut" could be considered a good omen, and it could take up a page in the military record. He ordered someone to take a piece of "victorious chestnut" cake, but of course he didn't eat it. He just held it in front of his nose and sniffed the chestnut fragrance. It seemed to have a sense of victory. He couldn't help but smile with relief and said, "You are thoughtful."

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it." Fujizaemon still looked frightened, but he responded appropriately. He turned around and waved his hand to signal the villagers to pass the tribute forward, saying repeatedly, "Your Highness, please look, there are a lot of 'Katsuki' and a lot of 'radish'..."

Radish (pronounced "daigen" in this era) can grow tenaciously and grow into a huge shape even in harsh environments. At this time, it also has the meaning of "success", "long-lasting", and "finally achieving the goal". The homophones are also somewhat similar, so Fujizaemon's words sound very auspicious - there are many victories and many successes.

Imagawa Yoshimoto was in a better and better mood. He had a feeling that God had sent common people to "reveal secrets" to him, as if God wanted him to accomplish great things. Then he looked and saw that Fujizaemon had really brought a lot of good things - one bushel of chestnuts, one stone of chestnut cakes, ten baskets of boiled radishes, ten baskets of boiled taro, one bushel of rice cakes, fifty bundles of kelp, and ten barrels of wine.

For the military entertainment of that era, it really cost a lot of money, and the items were all very auspicious, each with a story to tell. You could feel their sincerity at a glance.

"Good! Good! Good!" Imagawa Yoshimoto couldn't help but sit up in the carriage, knocking on the wall with his folding fan and saying three good words in a row. He looked at Fujizaemon with more and more favor and said with a smile, "Touzaemon from Yufukuji Village, right? I'll remember you."

Such a well-behaved and sensible commoner, even if he is not even considered a citizen, but just an impostor in the countryside, it is a great achievement for him to bring auspicious signs. When he takes over Owari, it will not be a big deal to grant him that small village as his territory.

"Thank you, sir!" Fujizaemon's voice was no longer as trembling, and he buried his head in the mud again, his tone full of joy.

Imagawa Yoshimoto smiled and turned his gaze to the "Katsukuri". He thought that as long as his attendants checked and found no problems, he should eat this "good omen" so as not to let down God's kindness. Besides, it was almost noon, the early summer sun was extremely strong, and the air was hot and humid, so it was a good time to take a break.

He thought about it and asked Fujizaemon, "Is there any shady place nearby where the army can rest?"

Fujizaemon's heart beat like a drum. He lowered his head and said in a hoarse voice, "Of course, Your Highness. A little further north is Okehazama Mountain. There is a shady valley called Denraku-tsubo, which is perfect for Your Highness to stay."

Imagawa Yoshimoto nodded slightly and ordered his retainers, "Order the front and rear teams to stop, and the main team to rest at Okehazama Mountain."

…………

"It's really crazy..." This is the sigh of many people.

At noon, Oda Nobunaga received an urgent report from the "Xiangdanshu" in the area of Zenshoji Castle, and ordered everyone to set off again. In order to cover up their tracks, he also sent Sasa Masatsugu and Chiaki Shiro to lead a party of 300 men to launch an active attack on Narumi Castle on the west side. The Sasa family and the Chiaki family were both local powerful families in the Atsuta area, so Sasa Masatsugu and Chiaki Shiro were not alone, and their retainers were also coerced by Oda Nobunaga to come along.

Now Oda Nobunaga directly assigned them the task of luring the enemy, and at the same time sent the Mother Ebi-shu to convey military orders and supervise the army. He ordered Sasa Narimasa, the defender of Ryusenji Castle to the north of Narumi Castle, and Niwa Gensuke and Maeno Kobei, the defenders of Iwami Castle to the northeast, to immediately abandon the cities and come out in full force to attack Narumi Castle.

Don’t worry about casualties. Even if everyone dies, we must ensure that Minghai City will not be able to look east this afternoon.

However, Narumi Castle is now in the hands of the Imagawa family, and the defending commander is Okabe Motonobu. He has more than 3000 direct subordinates of the Imagawa family, not to mention the power of the Yamaguchi family. The three teams of the Sasa brothers, Niwa Gensuke, and Maeno Kobei have barely 1000 people in total. This order is almost a suicide mission.

But under the threat of Oda Nobunaga with red eyes, Sasa Masatsugu and others were forced to set off.

Afterwards, Oda Nobunaga took advantage of the siege of Narumi Castle and headed straight south with more than 2000 people and the leaders of the powerful families they had taken with them, all the way to Nakajima Fort.

At this point, it can be said that the Oda army was surrounded - to the north were Okabe Motonobu's 4,000 men, to the west were Ōtaka Castle and Asahina Yasutomo's 4,000 men, to the east were Imagawa Yoshimoto's former unit Asai Masatoshi's 2,000 men, and to the south were Matsudaira Motoyasu's 1,000 men.

Once discovered, they would be surrounded on all sides, and Oda Nobunaga and most of the Owari clan leaders would inevitably die here.

Shibata Katsuie, Hayashi Hidetada and other elders and powerful families did not want to continue going crazy anymore, and started a new round of persuasion, but they were now alone and had no say at all. Oda Nobunaga's eyes were red and he was in high spirits. He did not listen at all, but directly ordered everyone to abandon their horses, and suddenly turned around and went into the hilly area east of Nakajima Fort.

At this time, a large number of "Xiangtanzhong" also began to join the team, leading more than 2000 people to wander around the hills, pass Taiziling to Shengshan, and then climb up Wulu Mountain from the Shengshan ravine. Miraculously, they bypassed Imagawa Yoshimoto's front team and were never discovered.

Yuanye, the guy who came to watch the fun, followed silently all the way. When he climbed to the top of Buruyama, he could already see Okehazama Mountain in the distance, the Imagawa Yoshimoto shogunate located on Denraku-tsubo, and even the large and magnificent carriage of Imagawa Yoshimoto.

It was a little after 1:00 p.m. and dark clouds covered the sky.

(End of this chapter)