Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 197 None of this is easy!

Okabe Motonobu was a hereditary retainer of the Imagawa family. His grandfather was even the winner of the previous round of succession dispute in the Imagawa family. The Okabe family made a great contribution to Imagawa Yoshimoto's success in becoming the head of the family.

Okabe Motonobu himself was a veteran of the battlefield. He had made military achievements in the Second Battle of Azusaka. He also played a role in climbing up to the top of Anjo Castle by piling up earth and capturing Oda Nobuhide's eldest son.

Therefore, he was highly trusted by Imagawa Yoshimoto, who replaced the Yamaguchi family and became the lord of Narumi Castle.

Now he showed his value. Amid the panic after the death of Imagawa Yoshimoto, he managed to defend the Narumi Castle despite the unstable morale of the army. The Oda clan's nephews attacked fiercely for three days and failed to take the castle even after leaving more than a thousand corpses behind.

Yuanye's prayer worked, and he finally met a decent samurai from the Imagawa family. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the opportunity to repair the city defenses, transport food, fodder and ammunition, build rock forts at key locations on the south bank of the Otaka River, and continue to send troops to drive the Chita clan out of the country.

Soon, an envoy from Oda Nobunaga came and asked Harano to withdraw from Odaka Castle and take his men to besiege Narumi Castle.

Yuanye refused without even meeting the messenger.

He was determined to swallow up the Chita Peninsula and was ready to fight Oda Nobunaga head-on.

The Imagawa clan was defeated and the Oda clan made a comeback. This was a rare window of opportunity on the Chita Peninsula. If he missed this chance, he would never have another chance to expand his territory.

Moreover, Oda Nobunaga has not yet taken over Mino, has not formed an alliance with the Tokugawa and Asai families, and has not completely subdued the Owari clan. His strength is not yet at its strongest.

If he doesn't seize this opportunity now, things will only become more and more difficult in the future, and he will most likely be trapped to death on the Chita Peninsula.

Of course, it is better not to fight if possible. He has spent so many years to barely build up two thousand field troops. If Oda Nobunaga rushes over with tens of thousands of people, even if he can wear down the Oda family by hiding in the city, he will also be badly injured.

So when Niwa Nagahide came to him on behalf of Oda Nobunaga to ask for an explanation, he received him well.

Niwa Nagahide had a good personal relationship with him and was considered a friend. He was also Oda Nobunaga's son-in-law and had a high status. When he saw him, he complained directly: "Saburo, what are you trying to do? His Highness Kazusuke is very angry. You should go to Ryusenji Castle and apologize!"

Oda Nobunaga is currently staying in Ryusenji Castle, commanding the siege of Narumi Castle.

Yuanye smiled, poured him a cup of tea (loose tea), and said directly without hiding anything, "I'm just expanding my territory and clearing out the remnants of the Imagawa family. There's no need for an apology, right?"

Niwa Nagahide didn't expect him to speak so openly. He was silent for a while before saying, "Your Highness will not agree if you act on your own."

Yuanye was unmoved, pushed the tea to him, and said calmly: "I have never been a retainer of the Oda family, nor a noble family member of the Oda family. I don't need others' permission to do anything."

Niwa Nagahide was stunned for a moment. During the Owari Unification War, Hara had always cooperated with him. He had never refused any tasks assigned by Oda Nobunaga. He also supplied military supplies such as gunpowder and cannons at low prices on a daily basis, acting like a very powerful and useful parasite clan.

After more than two years, he almost forgot that Harano was not a member of the Oda family. As long as he did not attack the Oda family or assist the enemies of the Oda family, he had no obligation to report any situation to them and was qualified to do things on his own.

What's more, Harano is not attacking the Oda family now. He is just taking over the territory left behind by the Imagawa family after their defeat. There is nothing wrong with it morally or legally.

As for the Chita clan who were driven away by him, although those people would naturally return to the Oda clan after the Imagawa clan fled, they were still members of the Imagawa clan when they were driven away. Niwa Nagahide could not blame Harano for this, otherwise it would be a bit too shameless. He was a decent and gentle person and would not do such a thing.

He was stuck for a moment, but Yuanye spoke directly and asked, "So, what does Your Highness Kamitsusuke mean now? Are you going to stand up for the remnants of the Imagawa family and take the initiative to betray your alliance and attack your allies?"

Niwa Nagahide looked at Hara in silence for a while. The Chita Peninsula belonged to Owari, and Owari belonged to the Oda family by default. Now Hara had occupied one of their counties, and was trying to pin the blame of betrayal on them...

But as before, from a moral and legal perspective, this still does not count as Harano launching the attack first. It can only be said that he was extremely lucky and reacted very quickly, taking over the "legacy" of the Imagawa family first.

He came to demand the culprit, but Yuanye was not able to slip away and was not involved in any violation of the covenant.

He gave up, feeling that this matter could not be resolved by "diplomacy" alone, and shook his head and sighed: "Forget it, I can't convince you, I'll let His Highness talk to you later!"

For a dispute of this magnitude involving an entire county, words alone are useless; the decision still has to depend on the strength of both parties and the weighing of interests.

Yuanye was also aware of this, otherwise he would not have put Xinwanjin into a wartime state so early. Now he has mobilized all the adult and strong men to make defense preparations - more than 4,000 people are all the capital he can come up with besides the necessary defense force for Xinwanjin. All production in Xinwanjin has now stopped, and the company is living off its old capital.

He did not dwell on who betrayed the alliance, and instead asked about the Niwa family's situation: "I heard that Lord Niwaemon died in battle?"

Niwaemon's full name was Niwaemon Genpei. He was the uncle of Niwa Nagahide. Before the Battle of Okehazama, he was asked by Oda Nobunaga to lead hundreds of people from Iwatsuki Castle to launch a desperate attack on Narumi Castle in order to cover Oda Nobunaga's main force as they sneaked all the way to Buruyama.

Niwa Nagahide had nothing to hide about this matter. When the funeral was held later, Hara would send people to accompany the funeral. He sighed and said, "Yes, not only my uncle, but also Lord Sasa Hayato Masato and Lord Maeno Kobei also died in the battle."

The "task force" that was formed to cover Oda Nobunaga's surprise attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto was basically wiped out. After all, more than a thousand people were divided into three groups, and actively attacking four or five thousand people was indeed a life-threatening mission.

Yuanye shook his head, feeling that one general's success was the result of the sacrifices of thousands of men, but he immediately asked with concern, "What about Lord Sasa Narimasa?"

"Lord Sasa Narimasa is seriously injured and is now recuperating in Atsuta." Niwa Nagahide thought that he had a good relationship with the Sasa family, and immediately comforted him, "But don't worry, he is the only male left in this generation of the Sasa family. His Highness has ordered people to take good care of him, so he should be fine."

Yuanye nodded slightly. The Sasa family was also unlucky. The Chixing territory was near the Atsuta Shrine, and as a result, the whole family was forced to go to the battlefield by Oda Nobunaga, and they were given the most unfortunate task. As a result, almost all the adult males in the Sasa family died, leaving only the only heir, Sasa Narimasa.

This is probably the main reason why Sassa Narimasa will be able to become the lord of a country and a city in the future. After all, the Sassa family really sacrificed their lives and blood and made great contributions at the most important turning point in Oda Nobunaga's life. Don't worry about whether the Sassa family did it voluntarily or was forced by Oda Nobunaga. Anyway, the Sassa family was almost completely destroyed, and Oda Nobunaga would definitely have to repay them.

Harano was thinking about it and asked about the situations of acquaintances such as Maeda Toshiie and Sawaki Yoshiyuki. He found that Maeda Toshiie seemed to be carrying out the undercover mission very smoothly. He really followed Shibata Katsuie to participate in the Battle of Okehazama and obtained three heads of enemy generals, one of which was a senior official of the Imagawa family. His contribution was not small.

But after he presented it to Oda Nobunaga in public, Oda Nobunaga ignored him and didn't even look at him. Instead, Shibata Katsuie said a few fair words for him. Now Maeda Toshiie has started to follow Shibata Katsuie, and it is estimated that he has successfully infiltrated the "enemy".

Sawaki Yoshiyuki also took advantage of the situation and achieved considerable military merits. He replaced the position left by Maeda Toshiie and became a new celebrity around Oda Nobunaga.

As for other things, Oda Nobunaga also promoted a member of the Lang party who had made extraordinary contributions. It is said that the plan to lure Imagawa Yoshimoto to Okehazama Mountain to rest was made by him and Shinsakemaru, and this person was Yakuro.

After Yuanye found out this, he was dazed for a moment. History was indeed not so easy to change. He secretly killed Hiyoshimaru, but then another Yakuro appeared to fill his position. It seems that heroes are always made by the times. As long as the general trend remains unchanged, there will always be someone to fill the vacancy.

There is never a shortage of talented and ambitious people in this world, many of them just don't have opportunities.

…………

Harano and Niwa Nagahide chatted for a long time and then sent him away, and then waited for Oda Nobunaga's reaction - if it were in a novel, he should replicate the miracle of Okehazama at this time, take two thousand people and make a desperate attempt to launch a surprise attack on Oda Nobunaga, kill Oda Nobunaga directly, and then swallow Owari whole, becoming a powerful daimyo who attracted worldwide attention.

Unfortunately, this is not a novel. With the strength of his two thousand soldiers, even if he could kill Oda Nobunaga by surprise, he would not be able to swallow Owari. Even the Chita Peninsula county alone could not be digested in a short period of time with the internal affairs manpower he had accumulated. If he really killed Oda Nobunaga, it would only benefit the Matsudaira family, the Saito family or other people in the Oda family.

After all, there are precedents for this kind of thing. For example, Akechi Mitsuhide killed Oda Nobunaga in Honnoji Temple without knowing why. However, due to his lack of background, he did not gain any benefit at all. Instead, he became the target of siege. In the end, he only managed to rule the country for three days and became a well-known clown in history.

So now Yuanye can only continue to build fortifications, continue to store ammunition and food, continue to make defense plans, and prepare for a fierce battle.

A few days passed quickly, and Narumi Castle finally surrendered. Now the Imagawa family was in complete retreat, and Okabe Motonobu was isolated and helpless. He could not continue to be the lord of Narumi Castle, so after being beaten for a few more days, he took the initiative to give up Narumi Castle on the condition that they were allowed to retreat safely to Suruga and return the head of Imagawa Yoshimoto.

Oda Nobunaga agreed, and not only returned the head, but also gave dignity to Imagawa Yoshimoto, a powerful enemy. He found a group of monks to chant sutras to pray for his soul to be reborn, and ordered the construction of a "Yoshimoto Tomb" for him in Atsuta.

Then, Oda Nobunaga led an army of 10,000 people across the Narumi Castle and headed straight for the Otaka Castle, but he did not launch an attack. He just circled around the north of the Otaka Castle, looked at the defense situation on the Otaka River line, and then returned the same way.

Yuanye breathed a sigh of relief standing on the top of Odaka Castle. There were over ten thousand people, endless. If such a large group of people really rushed up to beat him, his legs and feet would tremble even if he was prepared. Now that Oda Nobunaga was unwilling to start a war again, that would be the best - it was only because he did not believe in gods and Buddhas, otherwise he really should go and burn some incense to fulfill his wish.

Aman was fully armed and mentally prepared for a big battle. Seeing Oda Nobunaga retreat, he felt a little regretful and said hesitantly, "He just left like that? Without even trying?"

She has prepared her shit and is just about to boil it and pour it over the city wall to pour on people. Now that no one is attacking the city, wouldn't she have collected all that shit in vain?
"There is Saito Yoshitatsu to the north and the Matsudaira clan to the east. The Oda clan has also suffered heavy losses in two consecutive battles. If they fight us again, it is hard to say what will happen to the Matsudaira clan. Saito Yoshitatsu will definitely take action. He has not lost his mind yet."

Yuanye had thought so before. He felt that with Oda Nobunaga's character, he would not easily break the alliance and take action, and his subordinates might not be able to withstand the successive battles. But he couldn't be sure. After all, Oda Nobunaga had just created a miracle in Okehazama, and now his mentality was extremely high. It was very likely that he would rush up and fight him in a fit of rage.

However, it would be best if Oda Nobunaga still retained his sanity. He was completely relieved and turned to look south again.

To the south was the entire Chita Peninsula, which now belonged entirely to him, and his plan finally had a solid foundation.

Moreover, he will be a serious little celebrity in the future. As long as he can take care of the land and population, he will have a role on the stage of history.

All this is not easy!

It’s really not easy!

<End of this volume>
(End of this chapter)