Chapter 147: Precarious
“Your Highness Toba!”
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto, leading their vassals, samurai, and Chita local lords, rode fifteen ri from the camp to personally welcome Toba Hirotsugu, a family member and senior retainer of the Imagawa Family, the elder brother-in-law of the current head of the family, the governor of Shida District in Suruga Province, and the castle guard deputy of Sunpu Castle, whose tsūna was Jibu-no-jō.
This man was the de facto power in the Imagawa Family, his status roughly equivalent to Hayashi Hidesada of the Oda Danjō no Chū family—Hayashi Hidesada before his rebellion—an important personage to whom even the current head of the family would show respect.
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto hadn’t expected him to come in person; he generally didn’t concern himself with such trivial matters. For a moment, they stood by the roadside, obediently like common soldiers, bowing in unison. Toba Hirotsugu, riding a white horse, looked down at them for a long time, until beads of sweat appeared on their foreheads, before slowly asking, “What exactly is going on? Why has it taken so long to handle such a small matter?”
Only then did Asahina Yasunaga dare to straighten up, but he didn’t mention the welcoming feast that had been prepared. Hesitating, he said cautiously, “Your Highness, it is not a small matter. If possible, please take a look first…”
“Let’s go!” Toba Hirotsugu said, and then, leading his retainers, he spurred his horse towards the camp. Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto quickly mounted their horses and followed behind.
The group soon arrived at the camp. Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto accompanied Toba Hirotsugu to the watchtower, and upon seeing it with his own eyes, Toba Hirotsugu was stunned.
Hearing about it and seeing it with one’s own eyes were two different things. He had only heard that the enemy had built a strong castle in this wilderness, but he never expected it to be such… such a magnificent collection of buildings. The dark green city walls stretched from the mountain all the way to the riverside, with varying heights forming two layers. There were also towers on the city walls, from which large plumes of gray-white smoke would occasionally erupt, bombarding the rookie ashigaru who were desperately digging trenches in the wilderness. Each shot would take a human life or cause minor chaos in a certain area.
“All of this was built in a month and a half?”
Toba Hirotsugu instinctively didn’t want to believe it. He could believe it if it took a year and a half to build, but a month and a half was almost legendary, so much so that it would be considered impossible even in a storybook.
Asahina Yasunaga quickly explained the “Turn Mud into Stone” spell, understanding Toba Hirotsugu’s reaction. Before he had personally witnessed “the city walls growing one to two feet each day,” he too wouldn’t have believed that there was a type of “mud” that could be molded at will, and once molded, it would become incredibly hard, making it difficult to break even with a hammer.
Toba Hirotsugu listened silently, then looked at the lingering gray-white smoke from an enemy tower and asked, “What is that?”
“A type of large matchlock gun,” Asahina Yasunaga replied immediately, having suffered greatly from these weapons during the ten-plus days he waited for reinforcements. “A very large matchlock gun that requires two or three people to operate together. It has a support leg underneath the barrel. When firing a lead bullet, it can shoot very far. At close range, it uses iron sand and many lead balls, capable of hitting multiple people simultaneously, making it very difficult to deal with.”
Toba Hirotsugu watched from afar for a while, then sighed softly, “Firearms…” After his sigh, he turned and asked, “Have you tried attacking in the rain?”
“We have, Your Highness,” Sakai Tadamoto said in a low voice. “The enemy is inside the castle and was not significantly affected; their firing rate remained very fast. A normal matchlock gun can fire once every two breaths, while a large matchlock gun is slower, but generally not exceeding ten breaths.”
Toba Hirotsugu nodded slowly, gazing at the strong castle without speaking further.
After waiting for a long time, Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto exchanged glances. Asahina Yasunaga cautiously asked, “Your Highness, what do you think now…”
“Originally, both of you should have been severely punished, but…” Toba Hirotsugu finally turned his gaze to the two men, his expression very stern, but it slowly softened. “Let’s forget it for now. Facing such an enemy and such a castle, it is indeed difficult to resist with human strength. This is not your fault.”
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto first felt a slight relief, then shame appeared on their faces, and they were momentarily speechless. Toba Hirotsugu’s gaze shifted back to the city walls, and he said softly, “Prepare to attack!”
Asahina Yasunaga snapped back to attention and hesitated, “A frontal assault? Your Highness, the casualties will be very high…”
“We cannot let him remain here; he must be eliminated!” Toba Hirotsugu’s tone was extremely firm, but he glanced at the two men, not being an autocratic person. He explained to them, “Sixteen days ago, the alliance of the three provinces was completed.”
“Monk Yukisai’s alliance of the three provinces is complete?” This news was too sudden. Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto exclaimed in surprise. However, Asahina Yasunaga’s voice was filled with joy, while Sakai Tadamoto’s voice held a hint of bitterness.
“It is complete. Sixteen days ago, our Imagawa Family, the Takeda Family, and the Hojo Family met at Zendji Temple, formed marital ties, and became one. We now have no worries behind us and can focus westward.” Toba Hirotsugu’s voice was still not loud, but his words carried a sense of joy.
This was a strategy that the Imagawa Family had been pursuing for a long time. The Imagawa, Takeda, and Hojo families were close neighbors and had been in constant conflict for years, consuming a great deal of energy. However, now that they had married princesses and forged alliances, they agreed to respect each other’s territories, watch over and assist each other, and unite against external threats. Their previous grievances were no longer an issue, and the strength that had been tied up could now be used for more important matters:
The Takeda Family would develop northwest and north, aiming to conquer and pacify the Shinano region and become the lords of Kai.
The Hojo Family would develop eastward, competing with the Uesugi Family for dominance in the Kanto region.
The Imagawa Family would develop westward, aiming to unify the Tōkaidō and even march on the capital, controlling the world.
This was the strategic vision proposed by the Imagawa Family’s “strategist,” the teacher of the current head of the family, the great monk Taihara Yukisai, who had supported his student in obtaining the position of family head. The Imagawa Family had worked towards this for many years, actively negotiating with the Takeda and Hojo families, and even making significant concessions in certain areas, which finally led to its success.
They were not far from dominating the world, but the joy on Toba Hirotsugu’s face vanished in an instant. He turned back to look at the city walls and said, “Therefore, anyone who could affect the family’s future grand strategy must be eliminated promptly. The western passage must be kept safe.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto had no further doubts. The importance of the Shirakawa Entrance line had now further increased. They absolutely could not allow the “Yuan Ye Family” any possibility of causing trouble. They immediately bowed their heads in unison—it concerned the march on the capital, it concerned the world, and even if they had to sacrifice thousands of lives, they would drive the “Yuan Ye Family” back to their homeland!
“Very good. I am not as skilled at warfare as you are. I have brought fifteen hundred men, and they will be under your command.” Toba Hirotsugu nodded gently, but his eyes did not leave the city walls. He hesitated, “I will give you five days… fifteen days… a month. Take this place, and preferably leave Nohara Saburo there as well!”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto responded again, full of confidence. With this, they would have nearly three thousand followers, plus the retainers and followers of the Chita local lords and a large number of miscellaneous soldiers. Launching another fierce assault would be no problem.
Toba Hirotsugu said no more, still gazing at the dark green “stone city.” He felt the city was very beautiful, possessing a unique aesthetic that seemed out of place for this era. Its location was also good; it could connect to Atsuta Port to the north and cut across the peninsula to the east, forming a trap for the enemy and intimidating the local lords of southern Chita. Perhaps in the future, he could find a way to send one of his sons here to be the castle lord, securing another valuable territory for the family’s legacy.
In this era, this peculiar “stone city” was quite respectable and suitable as a main residence.
Incidentally, it could also prevent Yuan Ye from returning. If he wasn’t killed here, it would prevent him from coming back to build castles and cause trouble.
…
While Toba Hirotsugu held a high position, he was primarily responsible for overall coordination, diplomacy, and logistics, and was not considered a famous general. In this era, Japan had several thousand “famous generals,” with basically three to five in every county. He hadn’t even earned the title of “famous general,” so naturally, he was not skilled in military affairs. Thus, he contentedly sat in the camp as a “supervisor,” while Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto, the two “famous generals,” fought the battles.
With a “supervisor” watching and the matter concerning the family’s overall strategy, and having been granted a large “casualty quota,” Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto naturally worked diligently. However, they did not rush to launch a frontal assault. After all, the enemy’s castle was too strong, and it had been further reinforced over the past ten-plus days, becoming even more outrageous. Even with a large number of reinforcements, a simple frontal assault might not succeed. Therefore, they continued to dig towards the city walls, aiming for both earthworks and frontal assault—they had already been digging for over ten days while waiting for reinforcements, and they might as well use it now.
They committed fresh troops and pressured the Chita local lords even more fiercely, disregarding their casualties, greatly increasing the speed and quality of excavation, and approaching the city walls day by day.
Yuan Ye had not expected the Imagawa Family to invest so much. They had sent another one to two thousand men. The combined force should now exceed the standing army of the Shirakawa Entrance defense line. The Imagawa Family, barely holding three provinces, could only mobilize seventeen to eighteen thousand men in total. For one-sixth of their forces to be sent to attack him was truly unreasonable.
However, he had no room to retreat now and could only push forward. Furthermore, since construction could no longer continue, he immediately reassigned the male workers from the construction team to auxiliary troops on the spot. A small number were equipped with the enemy’s dōmaru they had collected earlier. If they lacked armor, they made do with “bamboo and hemp armor,” and then they were given jingasa hats and placed on the city walls and towers as archers to maximize defensive capabilities.
He himself was stationed on the city walls day and night, personally watching the enemy, boosting morale, and preparing to deal with any large-scale enemy attacks.
Five days later, the enemy, under fire from matchlock guns and arrows, and with casualties of three to four hundred miscellaneous ashigaru, dug the trenches all the way to the front of the city. They could dig no further. The range was already quite accurate for matchlock guns, and Yuan Ye’s defenses were strict. Anyone who dared to move around excessively would surely die.
Facing this situation, Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto personally led their retainers to the front lines. They launched several probing attacks day and night and carried out the original plan, sending a “suicide squad” to try and collapse the city walls. However, they soon discovered that the enemy’s foundations were also extraordinary, using the same material as the city walls, and even thicker and stronger.
At the same time, attempting to collapse the city walls resulted in a sharp increase in casualties. From the city walls, they threw exploding clay jars, poured boiling oil down, and even maliciously poured down boiled excrement and urine. Ramming logs and broken stones were thrown down like rain. The “suicide squad” of ten men would not return alive. The attempt to forcibly collapse the city walls completely failed.
However, Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto had anticipated this and were not concerned. They ordered the digging of trenches horizontally, extending to the sheep walls on both sides, to forcibly expand the attack surface and leverage their numerical advantage. Simultaneously, they loaded large amounts of soil into sacks and built earthen mounds to exchange fire with the city, aiming to deplete the enemy’s forces.
For a time, with their superior numbers and archers, they gained an advantage. The “stone city” was in imminent danger, and casualties surged.
