Chapter 148: I Will Never Leave!
Large numbers of rookie and ashigaru soldiers, sweating profusely, wielded shovels and picks, digging frantically and piling the rubble and dirt in front of the ditch to form a low wall. Suddenly, a row of white smoke erupted from atop the sheep wall, and silver-white lead shot flew diagonally downwards through the air, striking the ground in front of and behind the low wall, kicking up dirt and sending debris flying. Several rookie and ashigaru soldiers cried out and fell into the ditch.
A conch shell trumpet sounded, and from behind a dirt mound not far away, countless light arrows with white feathers rose into the sky. This was followed by two more waves, and then these three waves of arrows turned downwards in the high sky, directly targeting the front and back of that section of the sheep wall. A continuous series of dense “poof poof bang bang” sounds rang out. The anti-arrow bamboo fences and bamboo sheds on the sheep wall were filled with arrows, and many light arrows struck the hard wall, being deflected. Among them were also a few muffled groans and screams.
A bit further south, there was also intense exchange of fire. A massive matchlock gun roared, and the huge bullet it fired struck the wooden fence heavily, collapsing half of it. The flying wood splinters and debris caused a round of screams, but the other rookie and ashigaru soldiers, disregarding it, continued to push the wooden fence forward. Behind them followed more rookie and ashigaru soldiers with numb expressions, who, under the urging of the samurai followers, quickly filled in the trap pits. It wasn’t until several wooden fences were hit by the enemy’s oil jars and burst into flames that they were forced to retreat back into the ditch.
This kind of attack and defense was repeatedly staged in front of the entire sheep wall, gradually ceasing only at sunset. Then, at night, combat erupted fiercely again, even several levels more intense than during the day.
After a day of rest and recuperation, a large number of Imagawa family followers, at the sound of the conch shell trumpet, leaped out and swarmed towards the sheep wall along a certain road cleared by the rookie and ashigaru soldiers during the day.
Arrows rained down from the sheep wall immediately, and matchlock guns also fired in succession. Small arm-swinging catapults behind the city wall continuously hurled gunpowder jars and fire oil jars, constantly knocking down and overturning the charging enemies, and burning their siege equipment. The samurai followers behind the enemy responded with even fiercer volleys of arrows, occasionally interspersed with fire arrows, causing the Wanjin Army on the city wall to also pay a bloody price.
Occasionally, Imagawa Army soldiers succeeded in erecting scaling ladders and, led by heavily armored samurai, charged onto the city wall. The two sides then engaged in bloody close-quarters combat around a small section of the sheep wall, until Wanjin Army reinforcements arrived and they were forced to retreat when they could no longer hold on.
By the time the Imagawa family ceased their attack, it was almost dawn, and a new round of exchange of fire was about to begin. As soon as the Wanjin Army showed any sign of slackening, the Imagawa family would attempt to send carts loaded with a large amount of soil to approach a certain section of the sheep wall, hoping to build an earthen ramp leading up to it.
At the very least, by raising the ground there, they could reduce the number of steps they had to climb with ladders during the next attack.
The Wanjin Army could not afford to slacken. As soon as they discovered the enemy’s carts approaching the city wall, they could only send someone to pour oil down at the risk of being shot to death on the spot, and burn them. But no matter how many they burned each day, the enemy would build just as many, seemingly without end.
This situation had been going on for five days. The offensive had grown from weak to strong. Once the Imagawa family stopped caring about casualties and began to desperately exchange attrition with Yuan Ye, Yuan Ye had no recourse.
This was not within his expectations. Based on his observations over the past two years, Daimyo and local lords cared greatly about casualties, as their followers were also their productive force, and too many deaths and injuries would severely affect the harvest in the following year. However, the Imagawa family was different from the Oda family. They occupied the Three Provinces, and their personnel seemed to be overly abundant. In order to remove him, this suddenly appearing iron nail, they completely disregarded how many people died.
At least, they seemed to be able to accept the loss of one or two thousand people, not considering it an unbearable loss. With a strength at least six times that of the Oda Danjō no Chū family, perhaps they truly had the confidence.
This put immense psychological pressure on Yuan Ye. Several times he began to waver internally, and emotions such as annoyance and regret surged into his heart, attempting to erode his determination and reason.
Perhaps this was a mistake. Perhaps he should have honestly followed Oda Nobunaga and served as his vassal. Many modern people who transmigrated and fell into hardship in ancient times also kowtowed and were scolded like grandsons, enduring it until it passed.
Perhaps he was too hasty. It would have been better to wait another year or two. His forces would have been more abundant, and Oda Nobunaga might not have paid much attention to Wanjin’s continuous expansion of its strength, nor felt threatened.
Perhaps he was being too suspicious. Oda Nobunaga might not have cared at all who controlled saltpeter production, as long as he was supplied with enough gunpowder each year, he might not have done anything to Wanjin.
Perhaps it had already failed. The Imagawa family’s determination to take this place was firm. If they continued to consume resources like this, they could hold out. Perhaps it was time for him to flee.
Life after transmigration was not easy. He had probably made another mistake, made another wrong decision…
Plans were one thing, but facing extreme pressure was another. Yuan Ye sat alone under an arrow-sheltering shed, not even looking at the accumulated casualty reports. He simply touched his hair, finding that it had started to fall out, with seven or eight strands coming off with a casual touch.
The situation seemed to be getting worse. Even his hair seemed to sense the danger and wanted to leave him…
“Lord, please eat something!” A Qing entered, knelt beside the folding stool, and took out two warm rice balls from her embrace.
Yuan Ye snapped back to attention, quickly and secretly flicked away the fallen hair, and asked her with concern, “Have the others eaten?”
“The food has been brought up from the rear, and the others are taking turns eating.”
Yuan Ye nodded in relief, then pushed away the rice ball in A Qing’s hand and smiled, “You eat first. I’m… not very hungry right now.”
“You haven’t eaten since last night. Please have some!” A Qing’s expression was cool, her eyes lowered. She did not retract the rice ball, but brought it to him again, showing a rare persistence, insisting that he must eat something.
“I haven’t eaten since last night?” Yuan Ye was stunned. He hadn’t even realized how much time had passed and truly wasn’t hungry. But at a time like this, maintaining physical strength was most important. He immediately took the rice ball and stuffed it into his mouth, smiling at A Qing, “Thank you. Now that you mention it, I am indeed a bit hungry.”
A Qing raised her eyes to look at him, then fetched a bamboo tube for him to drink water. After he had drunk, she hesitated for a moment, lowered her eyelids, and softly said, “Lord, have you considered… going to the port to take charge?”
Yuan Ye’s hand paused, and he slowly put down the bamboo tube. He wasn’t angry and asked softly, “You also think we can’t hold on?”
A Qing lowered her eyelids and remained silent for a long time.
Yuan Ye also fell silent for a while. He was slightly moved by A Qing’s suggestion, but quickly hardened his heart again and said softly, “I cannot leave. If I retreat now, this place will not be held.”
In just these five days, over a hundred Wanjin Army soldiers had become incapacitated. The auxiliary soldiers forcibly brought up to serve as archers had suffered heavy casualties, with nearly over three hundred wounded or dead. But this was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that the enemy had adopted a desperate stance, their attacks were incessant, creating immense psychological pressure on the defenders. The reason the defenders could still hold the city walls was solely due to strict military discipline, capable junior officers, him, the first generation, still fighting on the front lines where everyone could see him, and the sea behind them, leaving most people with nowhere to escape.
If he were to transfer to a safe place now, this defense line might not even last through the night. The enemy, including rookie and ashigaru soldiers, numbered over six thousand. It was possible that the Imagawa family had summoned all the local lords they could from the Chita District. The difference in numbers between the two sides was too great.
A Qing, while somewhat understanding the current difficulties, insisted with her eyes lowered, “I will leave your Uma-jirushi behind!”
Yuan Ye chuckled wryly, “Our men aren’t fools. They know in their hearts whether I’ve run or not.”
“But now…”
Yuan Ye took her hand. It was rough, with thick calluses like broad beans covering it, but it was reassuring. He smiled bitterly, “It’s too late to say these things now. We’ll see this mistake through to the end! Now, we have no other choice but to keep fighting.”
He might indeed have been wrong. He hadn’t expected the Imagawa family’s resolve to eliminate outsiders to be so firm. His plan to claim a piece of land on the Chita Peninsula was indeed a bit foolish. But after fighting for so long, with so many lives lost, his temper had flared up. Even though he was anxious and worried, he didn’t want to flee like this. Reason also told him that fleeing would be useless. If he fled to a small island in Ise Bay to eke out an existence, his value was so great, with so many avenues for making money, he would eventually be dealt with.
At the very least, Oda Nobunaga would definitely deal with him, forcing him to make some principled mistakes. By then, he would have no ability to resist. Even if he were stubborn, he would still die.
Rather than that, it was better to fight to the death now, to bleed the Imagawa family as much as possible, and let them all suffer together.
After all, survival always required a desperate struggle, and only through desperate struggle could one survive! This place was not originally Imagawa territory. The Imagawa family could come to seize it, but they wouldn’t let him seize it. Even though he had sworn solemn oaths and repeatedly declared that he only wanted this small piece of idle wasteland, they were still unwilling. Then the Imagawa family shouldn’t expect to have it easy either; let them all die together!
However, not wanting to be controlled by others and wanting to maintain personal dignity and freedom was his personal selfish desire, unrelated to A Man or A Qing. The situation was very unfavorable now. He paused slightly and then said, “If you and A Man want to…”
A Qing immediately clasped his hand in return, gently shook her head, and did not let him continue.
Yuan Ye did not continue either. He tightened his grip on A Qing’s hand, drawing courage from her. Their relationship had long since changed; they were now essentially two sides of the same coin. Saying more pointless words would only damage their feelings.
So be it. If they could get through this, he swore that even if A Man had to pry food from his mouth later, he wouldn’t utter a single complaint. As for A Qing, that would have to wait another two or three years. A Qing was still a bit young, and some things were inconvenient to say too early…
Of course, it wasn’t just A Man and A Qing. It was the same for everyone else. As long as they could get through this hurdle and miraculously survive, their loyalty would be rewarded. He would never be stingy with even the slightest bit.
He and A Qing held hands silently for a long time. His anxiety gradually disappeared, and his resolve grew stronger. The situation was critical, and they were constantly being beaten by the enemy, with more and more combat-capable people dying, making it increasingly difficult to sustain the defense line. The influence of Meng Ziqi’s father, which had been rapidly weakening, was diminishing. His innate ferocity began to surface, and he completely gave up on himself. He pulled A Qing up and said, “Relay my orders: block the shipping lanes with sunken ships, send all armed sailors ashore to reinforce the front line, and then tell everyone that this is the new home of the Wanjin people. Until the last Wanjin person dies, we will not leave!”
…
“Your Highness, we… we need two days to rest.”
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto, with their hearts in their mouths, requested an audience with Toba Hirotsugu, hoping that this “supervisor” would show some mercy and allow them to rest before attacking. After all, they were truly finding it difficult to continue. The enemy’s will was extraordinarily tenacious, completely disregarding casualties, charging forward relentlessly, and yielding not an inch. They had been attacking continuously for five days, yet they hadn’t even captured the enemy’s sheep wall, let alone stormed the city walls, killed, or captured the enemy Commander-in-Chief.
Conversely, they had reached their limit. The enemy had suffered six to seven hundred casualties （ including a large number of unarmored auxiliary soldiers, mostly due to arrow wounds ）. Their own casualties would only be greater. Even though most of them were followers and ashigaru soldiers of the Chita local lords, the attrition was becoming unbearable. At least the Chita local lords could not bear it anymore. Many of them had openly refused to obey orders, and despite threats and urgings, they were unwilling to charge the city walls again.
At the same time, the desertion of rookie and ashigaru soldiers was also increasing significantly, forcing them to surround and guard the rookie and ashigaru soldiers.
Toba Hirotsugu did not scold the two. He had also witnessed the enemy’s madness and tenacity over these five days. He had even seen the legendary “Nohara Saburo” from afar, personally leading men to rush along the sheep wall, enduring arrow rain, and commanding the matchlock units to fire in volleys. Unfortunately, the selected sharpshooters had failed to kill him several times, as he was blocked by the close attendants and samurai around him.
He fell silent for a moment and couldn’t help but ask again in a low voice, “Why is Nohara Saburo still refusing to retreat? What is there here that is worth him fighting to the death and not retreating?” He was even beginning to suspect that there was gold buried beneath this wilderness, or perhaps a super gold mine that no one had discovered yet, otherwise, this bizarre scene could not be explained.
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison, still unable to understand Yuan Ye’s thoughts, or rather, still disbelieving that Yuan Ye simply wanted to move here to live.
Toba Hirotsugu did not ask further. He had repeatedly asked this question over the past five days and had never received an answer. However, after only a slight waver, he rejected the proposal of the two and directly stated, “We are five times their strength. If we cannot hold on, they should be even less able to. The attack cannot stop!”
He was also in a difficult position now. If they stopped now, all the people who had died before would have died in vain. With such heavy casualties, even he would have difficulty explaining himself upon his return.
“But the casualties… and the complaints from the Chita local lords…”
“I will negotiate with the Chita local lords, but the attack must not stop!” Toba Hirotsugu was a ruthless man who had come up through the hardships of the Imagawa family, and his will was quite firm. He insisted, “Not only must it not stop, but we must also continue to increase the intensity of the attack. This place must be taken, and we cannot let our previous efforts be in vain!”
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto exchanged glances, seeing the bitterness in each other’s eyes, but there was no room for refusal. They could only grit their teeth and obey the order, “Yes, Your Highness! Tonight, we will personally lead our men to attack the city and ensure its capture!”
