Chapter 150: The Bold Fear the Reckless, the Reckless Fear Those Who Risk Their Lives
The Imagawa Army’s camp.
Toba Hirotsugu, Asahina Yasunaga, and Sakai Tadamoto sat together in silence.
They had just finished interrogating the captured Wanjin auxiliary soldiers—this was the first time they had captured anyone from the Wanjin Army since the war began, and the interrogation results were quite grim. The enemy had blocked their own retreat, burned their bridges, and were prepared to fight to the death in this desolate land where not even a bird or rabbit could be found, completely disregarding the survival of the Yuan Ye Family.
This was absolutely not something an ordinary local lord would do.
Even more absurdly, the enemy had prepared for a large-scale loss of territory in the front long ago and had built numerous defensive structures in the rear. If they continued to advance one nail at a time…
Merely forcing the capture of the sheep wall was enough to make them ache, and this time was different. Previously, they had mostly used personnel from the Chita local lords, and even with heavy casualties, they didn’t feel much. However, last night’s most powerful assault was personally carried out by the Imagawa and Matsudaira families, and the casualty figures made their hearts stop.
Even with a “casualty quota” and even if it concerned “family grand plans,” such casualties could not be endured a second time.
Morale was also a serious issue. The Chita local lords, forced into siege warfare, were already full of resentment. It was possible that if someone dared to step forward and rally them, they would start fighting amongst themselves within the camp. Furthermore, after this period of continuous attacks, the followers of the Imagawa and Matsudaira families were also beginning to waver. Even with large rewards, it was difficult to stabilize their hearts. If pushed further, they might also start looking for ways to escape.
Toba Hirotsugu had originally thought that a powerful strike would be enough to make Yuan Ye collapse, and that Yuan Ye would flee to the sea if he didn’t die. Instead, he preferred to be trapped and die in the city rather than flee, determined to fight the Imagawa Family to the bitter end…
Toba Hirotsugu truly wanted to go over and slap him twice, asking him what he was thinking!
The current situation was different from his expectations. They had paid a heavy price in casualties without achieving a decisive victory, and he had nothing to say. As for Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto, they had been in the military for so many years and had never experienced such a brutal siege warfare. They truly didn’t want to go through it again. The last time the Imagawa Family forcefully attacked Anshō Castle and captured the eldest son of the “Tiger of Owari,” Oda Nobuhide, it hadn’t been this terrible. This was simply too outrageous.
Even now, with the enemy having no retreat and fighting like cornered beasts, the ferocity of the assault would likely increase another notch.
Asahina Yasunaga’s heart grew cold. Seeing that no one spoke for a long time, he slapped his thigh forcefully and said hatefully, “If he’s not afraid of death, then we’ll starve him to death!”
No one in the room responded. After a moment, Toba Hirotsugu said in a low voice, “Send an envoy. First, ask him if he’s willing to surrender. If he’s willing to surrender, the Imagawa Family is willing to treat him as a castle lord. He can choose a daughter from the Imagawa Family’s one-family retainers and important vassals to marry, and the land grant can also be discussed. If he’s not willing… if he’s not willing, then we’ll say we want to talk to him, talk face-to-face.”
He paused and added, “Be polite, and ensure all courtesies are observed.”
“Offering him the position of castle lord? And allowing him to choose a noble lady to marry?” The Imagawa Family’s status was very high; in a sense, they were reserves for the Great General of the Pacification of the East. The daughters of the one-family retainers were naturally highly valued, and the accompanying political significance was also immense. Asahina Yasunaga was shocked and couldn’t believe it, “Your Highness, he just killed so many of our men…”
Toba Hirotsugu raised his hand to stop him and said calmly, “I will write to Priest Taihara Yukisai. I believe Priest Taihara Yukisai will not object. If he hadn’t killed so many of our men, how would he be worthy of marrying a noble lady of the Imagawa Family, and how would he be worthy of talking to us?!”
“But we’ve already gained an advantage over him…”
“But he neither fled nor asked for surrender. What do you plan to do next?”
“We’ll starve him to death!”
“How long will that take?”
“Three months…” Asahina Yasunaga said, then felt uncertain and changed his mind, “Let’s try to starve him for half a year and see how things go.”
Toba Hirotsugu pressed, “Can we stay here for half a year?”
Most of the samurai followers and local lords currently besieging the Yuan Ye Family were drawn from the Shirakawa Entrance line, which was already extremely empty. If they stayed here for half a year, and the Oda Danjō no Chū family reacted and crossed the river to attack the Yamaguchi Family, they would likely have to return. Let alone half a year, perhaps the Oda Danjō no Chū family was already stirring, just needing time to confirm the real situation.
Asahina Yasunaga fell silent. However, Sakai Tadamoto hesitated for a moment and tentatively asked, “Your Highness, can we request another thousand men from Suruga?”
Toba Hirotsugu gave him a cold look. “And let those thousand men perish with the Yuan Ye Family?”
Sakai Tadamoto naturally agreed with the Imagawa Family losing more men. He had been the most insistent on attacking before, but he didn’t dare to say it and lowered his head in silence.
The three of them argued for a while in the camp, feeling like they had finished a round and it was time for negotiations again. This was how it was in Medieval Japan: fighting and talking, with the price increasing or decreasing based on the enemy’s tenacity.
As they were calling for an envoy to give instructions, they heard muffled sounds from afar. The muffled sounds merged into a loud roar, giving people the illusion that the ground was undulating. This was followed by a wave of panicked shouts, causing commotion throughout the camp.
The three of them quickly climbed to a high point on the stockade wall to look. In the distance, near the sheep wall, dust filled the sky. Several watchtowers on the sheep wall had completely collapsed, and even the sheep wall below was only a short stub, revealing numerous jagged gaps.
The earthen slopes attached to the sheep wall had also lost more than half their volume. A large amount of soil had been blown away by the intense and continuous vibrations, also causing widespread collapse. Yuan Ye had truly given up all hope, and if the Imagawa Family insisted on killing him, he would fight them to the death. Seeing teams of Imagawa archers entering various watchtowers, they directly ignited fuses and blew up the walls beneath the watchtowers from the inside.
Ninety-nine percent of the people in these watchtowers were doomed. If they weren’t killed by the blast, they would be killed by the fall. At the same time, intense matchlock gun fire could be heard from behind the sheep wall, but with the dust filling the sky, the exact situation there could not be determined.
Soon, information came back from the samurai in the front. The Yuan Ye Family, taking advantage of their unstable footing and the chaos caused by the collapse of the watchtowers, suddenly opened the rear city gate and charged out. They were attacking the Imagawa Family’s forces between the “stone city” and the port, attacking anyone they encountered. The area was in chaos, with units fighting independently, and urgently needed instructions.
Asahina Yasunaga’s scalp tingled again. He felt that starving the opponent to death might also be difficult. The opponent would likely do this after eating all their supplies, directly charging out to break through. They had even prepared the tunnels in advance and wouldn’t be trapped by the sheep wall they had built. Even if they could annihilate the entire enemy force, they would have to sacrifice at least an equal number of their own lives.
The Commander-in-Chief was in an even more precarious situation, possibly facing a one-for-one exchange. Moreover, the enemy’s supplies were too abundant. They fired matchlock guns non-stop every day and still had so much gunpowder. Had the enemy discovered a saltpeter mine?
Given their vast supply of gunpowder, their provisions must also be plentiful. Saltpeter is said to be worth its weight in gold, and a pound of saltpeter starts at three guan coins, equivalent to about three to four *shi* of grains, enough for a person to eat for nearly two years. With so much saltpeter, the enemy must have exchanged it for sufficient provisions long ago, right?
“Withdraw the men first, and have the envoy depart immediately!” Toba Hirotsugu said, then turned to leave, preparing to carefully consider how to negotiate with Yuan Ye later.
They had lost a lot of men to capture the sheep wall, only to have it blown up by the enemy. They wouldn’t even let them use it for a day, their determination to fight to the death was evident. There was nothing more to say, they had to negotiate quickly!
…
Yuan Ye was no longer concerned about his own life. He wasn’t considering how to at least preserve half of his forces to deal with Oda Nobunaga’s potential arrest and confiscation of property later. Clenching his fists, he focused all his attention on fiercely attacking the Imagawa Family, ensuring that even if they managed to defeat him and ruin his plans, they would know what it meant to suffer bone-deep pain. It was like when he fought other children as a child; he could never beat a group alone, but he could always beat one of them until their nose was bloody and they cried home to their mother.
As it turned out, the tough feared the reckless, and the reckless feared those who didn’t care about their lives. He wasn’t planning to risk his life, and the Imagawa Family’s envoy had arrived, offering him even more favorable and dignified surrender terms, even willing to marry him to a daughter of an important Imagawa vassal. But he definitely couldn’t accept. If he was willing to become a vassal, he might as well become a vassal to Oda Nobunaga, and he could eventually become a castle lord. Why should so many people die?
A territory that was independent and autonomous was not only about preserving his personal freedom and dignity but also involved a larger, long-term plan. He could not compromise on this matter.
He rejected the dignified surrender terms without hesitation, but he did not object to Toba Hirotsugu’s request to talk face-to-face.
If his basic demands could be met, and he could be guaranteed to become a “minor daimyo” without restrictions, he had no intention of being enemies with the Imagawa Family. The Imagawa Family of this era was not to be trifled with; Taihara Yukisai was still alive. This was a force that could fight on three fronts, attacking Oda Family to the west, Takeda Family to the north, and Hojo Clan to the east.
This was also the main reason why Oda Nobunaga’s victory at Okehazama, which killed Imagawa Yoshimoto, immediately shocked the entire country, and no one dared to mention the name “Big Fool” again. During this period, if Imagawa Yoshimoto claimed to be the strongest Shugo Daimyo in all of Japan, no one would dare to object. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to lead tens of thousands of troops to march on Kyoto, considering it his own.
In fact, if Yuan Ye had nowhere else to go, he wouldn’t have come to the Chita Peninsula to provoke the Imagawa Family. And the facts proved that provoking the Imagawa Family was indeed difficult.
Oda Nobuhide, the “Tiger of Owari,” attacked Inabayama Castle for nearly a month. He couldn’t bear it after losing five to six hundred direct forces and retreated, only to be counter-attacked by Saito Dosan, his entire army collapsing. In the end, he lost about four thousand men. Although the Imagawa Family’s assault was shorter, they definitely lost enough to kill a thousand men, not counting the personnel from the Matsudaira Family and the Chita local lords. Even so, they were still holding on, and it was no exaggeration to say they were six to seven times stronger than the Oda Danjō no Chū Family.
Therefore, if peace talks were possible, they should be pursued.
Thus, the battlefield gradually returned to silence. Envoys from both sides went back and forth, beginning to discuss how they could meet face-to-face while ensuring their own safety.
This time, the other party showed considerable sincerity and quickly agreed to Yuan Ye’s main conditions: first, withdraw the troops from the sheep wall and retreat a certain distance from the positions. After all, the sheep wall had already been blown up by Yuan Ye himself, creating several large breaches. If negotiations failed and fighting resumed, they could always return at any time.
Of course, Yuan Ye also promised that during the communication period, he would not attempt to further reinforce defensive facilities or try to repair the sheep wall. He agreed to allow a small team to monitor and guaranteed their personal safety.
As for the number of other attendants, the quantity and types of weapons they could carry, the meeting location, and the number of escort personnel, these were also troublesome matters. Both sides had to ensure that even if the other party launched a surprise attack on the spot, their important figures would not be killed immediately.
Yuan Ye was primarily constrained in this regard. His reputation for bravery was well-known, and neither Asahina Yasunaga nor Sakai Tadamoto had the courage to duel him. He was also implicated by the Oda Family. The news of Oda Nobumitsu betraying the sacred oath and sneak attacking Kiyosu Castle had spread throughout the Tōkaidō. Most people from the Oda Family were now on a “list of untrustworthy individuals” and would be guarded against. Yuan Ye had fled from the Oda Family and was smeared with mud, so the other party feared that he might draw his sword and kill people during the meeting, achieving a triple kill and reversing the situation.
After a full day of discussions, these meeting details were finally finalized. After both sides had lost many men, they officially began their first peace talks.
