Chapter 128: Let’s start by robbing his uncle!
“Only three *ken* at most?”
Yuan Ye, using the spear-handling techniques he learned during his last “advanced study,” held a three-and-a-half *ken* long spear. He first stood upright and tried a mid-stance hold, then a rear-stance lunge. He indeed felt his center of gravity leaning forward heavily, making his footing unstable. It seemed Oda Nobunaga wasn’t messing around; spears longer than three *ken* were very uncomfortable to use. No wonder Oda Nobunaga didn’t continue to lengthen the spears.
This project was A Qing’s responsibility. She took the experimental spear from Yuan Ye’s hand and nodded slightly, saying, “The best length should be set at three *ken*. Some people can’t handle three and a half *ken*, and their performance hasn’t been good these past two days.”
Yuan Ye glanced at the spearmen sweating profusely under the scorching sun not far away. There were indeed too many short individuals among them. His current troop recruitment couldn’t demand height, so he could only nod helplessly and say, “Then let’s standardize it. Three *ken* for now!”
Japanese people are just built this way, around 1.45 meters tall. He couldn’t do anything about it. If he wanted to make the spears slightly longer than Oda Nobunaga’s, it wouldn’t be easy. So, everyone would just have to use the same length.
In the future, when the recruitment pool expands, he might be able to raise the weight and height standards, perhaps adding another foot or two to the length. For now, this is all he could do.
A Qing softly acknowledged and turned to continue directing the five-spear thrusting drills and the four-direction sword technique training.
These were battle formations and techniques that Yuan Ye had copied and then had A Qing refine. They were simple and practical. Their overall nature was similar to the “Iron Rod Three Forms” he had been diligently practicing, focusing on “stabbing and cutting the enemy before they stab and cut me,” emphasizing various rapid and fierce power application methods. There wasn’t much technical complexity beyond that.
Yuan Ye stood in place, watching the ten small flag teams repeatedly practice the side-body arm-thrusting motion to the shrill and rhythmic sound of bamboo whistles. After watching for a while, unable to help, he turned and headed back to the archery range.
After over a month of being beaten, his first batch of soldiers had deeply “understood” what discipline was. Subsequently, they began drill training, march training, woodworking training, and individual tactical training. They also continued to focus on physical fitness every evening.
This aspect took another month of training. Everything was going relatively smoothly. After all, these individuals had spent at least half a year in the workshop, so they had already been screened. They could all distinguish left from right and could barely line up before entering the barracks. Moreover, they were all from hardship backgrounds and weren’t afraid of hard labor, though some had more bad habits. In this era, if you gathered commoners, getting them to distinguish left from right, having a sense of time and queueing awareness, and not crowding into a ball when doing things was already quite difficult.
He walked along, observing the training, and then went to the archery range to watch the matchlock gun training for a while. However, the situation here was somewhat dire. In this era, firing a matchlock gun involved over a dozen steps, requiring significantly more technical skill than stabbing someone with a spear. Furthermore, A Man had a more volatile temper than A Qing, so people here would frequently make mistakes and be dragged out to be beaten, their screams echoing, before being kicked back into the ranks to continue practicing until it became muscle memory.
As for the archer training…
He had temporarily abolished this troop type. He was currently short on recruits, and Japanese bows had too little power. On the battlefield, the phenomenon of “standing death” was common – soldiers were shot like hedgehogs but could still charge and cut, only dying when their blood ran dry. This illustrated the lethality of bows and arrows in the Japanese Medieval Period.
Therefore, he planned to focus on spears and heavy matchlock guns. Only the “Military Police” would continue archery training for emergencies. Archers would be set aside for now!
Yuan Ye watched for a while at the archery range, unable to offer much help. Although screams could be heard from time to time, the overall situation was proceeding smoothly. He didn’t want to interfere and waste time by giving unnecessary commands.
What he was currently in charge of was actually the “Camp School,” the place where Yuan Datou selected and trained junior and mid-level military officers.
Based on their training performance, he had already filled all the junior officer positions and selected over a dozen non-commissioned officers, who served as junior officer reserves. In the future, their performance in training and actual combat would determine their advancement; the capable would rise, and the incapable would fall.
However, he hadn’t selected any staff officers, whom he greatly desired. To this day, he hadn’t found anyone with significant military talent, organizational ability, or a keen military sense. He could only wait until after future battles to see if any “military talents” emerged after being tempered by war.
There was nothing he could do about it. Everyone in this barracks, including himself, was strictly speaking, a group of raw recruits. He could only sigh that all beginnings are difficult, and it’s impossible to achieve everything in one go.
He stood there watching for a while. When A Man finally had a moment, he quickly beckoned her over. A Man, after giving a few instructions to some military police to keep a close eye on these idiots and threatening to sun them to death if they didn’t all meet the standard today, then jogged over. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and said with an annoyed expression, “What is it? I’m busy here. They’re all a bunch of idiots. Even dung beetles are smarter; yet some people are still making mistakes!”
Yuan Ye pretended not to hear her complaints and led her to a shaded area, asking as they walked, “How is the matter I assigned you going? Have you investigated the situation over there?”
“You mean the matter in Chita District?” A Man recalled her identity as the “Director of the Eastern Depot” and immediately pulled out a small booklet from her bag. She quickly flipped through it and said, “About half of them haven’t returned yet. We’ll have to wait a few more days.”
“No rush,” Yuan Ye led her under a tree, poured her a cup of light saltwater, and handed it to her. “Tell me what you’ve figured out so far, so I have an idea.”
He had been training the New Army for over three months. From the initial group of over 130 people （ he had dismissed over a dozen ）. Every few days, new recruits were added, bringing the total to over 170 people （. In the middle, a few more were dismissed to enforce military discipline, though not as many as at the beginning ）.
This already accounted for one-third of his territory’s population, which could be considered militaristic. Furthermore, supporting so many full-time soldiers, even though he was good at making money, put a significant fiscal pressure on him. Labor was also severely lacking. Endo Chiyo had been indirectly complaining, stating she couldn’t hold on any longer and that finances were heading into deficit. Therefore, he had to go out and recoup some losses by seizing some population to serve as “workers.”
As for the enemies, they were easy to find; they were readily available.
The local lords in Chita District, which is on the Chita Peninsula, had collectively sided with the Imagawa Family. The Imagawa Family and Owari had been engaged in intermittent warfare for over forty years, with deep-seated animosity between them. Attacking forces belonging to the Imagawa Family was an absolute political correctness in Owari; even Oda Nobunaga couldn’t say anything about it.
Moreover, these were all soft targets, usually of middling strength. This was perfect for him to use combat as training, allowing the soldiers to fight in low-intensity engagements and experience the battlefield atmosphere. This would prevent tragedies like Oda Nobunaga’s last year, where he picked an evenly matched opponent for his first battle, failed to break through in one go, and completely collapsed.
Of course, besides recouping some losses, the more important thing was to lay the foundation for his future true territory.
He was currently staying in Wanjin, and his situation was still not free. Despite the current peace, if his strength truly expanded, Oda Nobunaga had a 99% chance of dealing with him, at least forcing him to stop expanding his power. It was even possible that one day, Oda Nobunaga might have a whim and decide to take his saltpeter business.
Therefore, staying in Owari long-term was a dead end. He had to move out, at least to acquire a new territory outside of Oda Nobunaga’s sphere of influence, a territory that truly belonged to him. Only then would he have the capital to protect himself.
There was no place more suitable than the Chita Peninsula. It was close to Wanjin, yet Oda Nobunaga couldn’t easily reach it. Sea routes could connect the two locations, allowing for both offense and defense, at least preventing him from being wiped out in one fell swoop.
However, this would inevitably involve a fierce fight with the Imagawa Family. But fighting the Imagawa Family was much better than fighting Oda Nobunaga. The Imagawa Family’s base was in Suruga, and the power projected from Mikawa was relatively limited. But if he fought Oda Nobunaga, it would most likely mean the Lower Four Districts of Owari ganging up on him, which he definitely couldn’t withstand now.
Moreover, as long as he didn’t completely fall out with Oda Nobunaga, if he couldn’t hold his ground on the Chita Peninsula, he could retreat to Wanjin, rest for about half a month, and try again. After three to five such attempts, the Imagawa Family would likely go mad and simply surround him with rock fortresses, no longer caring about reclaiming lost territory. Then, the new territory would be his.
This was the plan he made after being severely beaten by Hayashi Hidesada in Takeuchi Manor, suffering broken ribs. He wanted to truly own a piece of land for himself but had lacked the capability to execute it. Now that the New Army was initially established, he finally had some capital and felt it was time to start trying. The first step was to seize some population and make himself stronger.
A Man had already been ordered to make preliminary preparations. Seeing his urgency, she handed him the partially drawn map and said, “It’s not finished yet. According to your requirements, the focus is on the coastal area west of Chita District. Currently, we’ve only roughly figured out the situations of the Takeda Family, Ebina Family, and Oya Family. We haven’t investigated the others yet.”
Yuan Ye didn’t concern himself with these details. He took the map and examined it closely, then inquired about the strength of these three families. He found that they were not as strong as the Aragiko Maeda Family. They were likely composed of about five or six samurai plus seventy or eighty followers. Even if they pulled all the farmers out to serve as ashigaru, they could at most muster three to five hundred people, and their combat effectiveness would be limited.
They were indeed soft targets. He had previously considered the combat effectiveness of the Aragiko Maeda Family. Now, looking at it, he realized he had overthought things. The Aragiko Maeda Family was probably considered mid-to-upper tier in Owari.
He carefully reread the current, still rudimentary map several times, pondering the terrain. He then asked with concern, “Do these three families have any marital ties with the Hayashi Family?”
A Man also cared about the Hayashi Family, as she also resented Hayashi Hidesada. She flipped through the booklet and said, “They all have some connections. The Hayashi Family is a major local lord at the border of Owari and Mikawa. Many local lords in Chita District have married into the Hayashi Family. However, in this generation, the Takeda Family is the closest to the Hayashi Family. The head of the Takeda Family, Takeda Hyōemon, is Hayashi Hidesada’s paternal uncle by marriage, his actual uncle!”
Yuan Ye nodded slowly. He had hoped the Ebina Family would have a deeper relationship with the Hayashi Family, as the Ebina Family’s territory seemed more promising, with a large area of tidal flats that could be developed for the salt industry. However, this time, he was only going out to plunder labor. With his current strength, it was unlikely he could stay there permanently. Therefore, attacking the Takeda Family first was also acceptable. He was going to plunder someone anyway, so why not plunder those who had wronged him? The Takeda Family should blame Hayashi Hidesada for being too greedy and causing trouble for his relatives.
In any case, he hadn’t provoked Hayashi Hidesada, yet Hayashi Hidesada had come to attack him, broken his ribs, shot A Man several times, and still harbored resentment towards him. Therefore, it was reasonable for him to plunder Hayashi Hidesada’s relatives. This was how the world worked; being a coward led nowhere. He had to fight!
This was something Hayashi Hidesada had taught him. He was now going to start repaying this “kindness” slowly, starting with plundering his uncle by marriage.
