Chapter 131: Spitting a mouthful of old blood onto his face
Takeda Castle and Aragiko Castle were similar, both being earthen castles built on hills. The city walls were equipped with arrow towers and watchtowers, and moats were dug around them. Outside the moats were villages and fields. Aragiko Castle was simply unfinished, not even completed to this day, while Takeda Castle was much more normal, at least having all the necessary structures built.
After landing, Yuan Ye headed straight for Takeda Castle. He also took the opportunity to raid villages along the way, but he didn’t let his troops go on a rampage. The vast majority of villagers cried out and fled into the wilderness and mountains, and he only managed to capture a few people here and there.
At this point, the Takeda family finally discovered the foreign invasion. Their villages were being attacked, and the enemy had come from the sea to the west. Their first assumption was that some reckless water bandits had landed, intending to plunder. They immediately dispatched troops from Takeda Castle, gathering over a hundred men to intercept the enemy, intending to drive them away directly, or at least prevent them from causing widespread destruction.
They couldn’t afford to wait in the castle. Everyone was very poor in this era. If the enemy were allowed to roam freely and ruin the fields of the villages around Takeda Castle, they wouldn’t even have bran to eat that year.
As they approached and scouted, they discovered that the enemy didn’t seem to be water bandits. Their equipment was incredibly good, and they had more men than them. However, it was too late to realize this. The enemy’s scattered outer forces had also spotted them. At the same time, the enemy hadn’t stormed into the villages to loot and plunder. They didn’t even need time to regroup and reform. The moment they were spotted, the enemy unhesitatingly charged towards them, their desire for battle extremely urgent.
The Takeda family fought this battle in a muddled state, collapsing at the first contact. They left behind thirty to forty corpses and lost over thirty men before barely escaping the battlefield and retreating back to Takeda Castle to defend it.
Yuan Ye tested his strength with a small feat. After dealing with the easy target, he didn’t hold back and continued to press forward, pursuing them all the way to Takeda Castle. However, he was wary of the complex terrain within the villages and the fact that he currently lacked siege capabilities. He didn’t directly threaten the castle to pressure them further, but stopped just outside of bow and arrow range, content to block them inside the castle to prevent any attacks on his rear during population transfers.
…
Takeda Hyōemon was a native of Chita District and the head of the Takeda family. He was fifty-two years old, which was considered quite old for this era. His cardiovascular health was not good. At this moment, standing on the city wall with several vassals and followers, his heart rate fluctuated, his temples throbbed, and he felt waves of dizziness and surging blood.
He couldn’t help but feel dizzy. He was at home when disaster struck. It was a perfectly ordinary day when a group of people suddenly burst into his home and, without any explanation, grabbed him and started beating him. Anyone in his situation would have their temples throbbing.
He had already taken a beating, and he still didn’t know who the enemy was. Furthermore, his eldest son, who was known for his bravery in Chita District and led the sortie, had gone missing and hadn’t escaped back. His life and death were unknown, which only added to his already precarious family situation.
He stood on the city wall, carefully observing this mysterious enemy. The more he looked, the more alarmed he became. The enemy indeed seemed extraordinary. The front ranks were all clad in black iron plate armor, and each man looked strong and robust, clearly elite followers who ate their fill every day. The clothes under their armor also appeared to be uniform, all black cloth, with a unique cut. The clothes were form-fitting, the sleeves were narrow, and even the Ōhakama had been altered to be smaller and narrower, no longer the loose and baggy style of the past.
Their hairstyles were also uniform. At this moment, the enemy was resting, and their iron-reinforced jingasa hats were removed. From a distance, they looked like a group of bald heads sitting together. None of them had topknots, but upon closer inspection, it was evident that these men did have some hair, just very short. They were likely not warrior monks.
Takeda Hyōemon watched for a while, but still couldn’t identify the enemy. Suddenly, he noticed that the enemy’s followers were sitting in neat formations, with their weapons and jingasa hats placed beside them, clad in armor and sitting cross-legged on the ground to rest. Not a single person was whispering to each other, nor was anyone looking around curiously. Despite the hot weather, no one intended to loosen their dōmaru for comfort. Their posture was as if cast from the same mold; even monks in meditation would appear more lively than them. They even took water from their bamboo tubes in unison, following orders with such uniformity that it created a chilling, eerie beauty.
These followers didn’t seem human. They lacked the usual fidgeting and individual quirks of ordinary people. From a distance, one could even get the illusion that they didn’t breathe.
Takeda Hyōemon felt an inexplicable chill and dared not look at these eerie followers any longer. His gaze shifted to the Commander-in-Chief behind the enemy formation.
The enemy’s Commander-in-Chief, however, looked rather humble. He hadn’t enclosed himself with a tent made of cloth, nor had he erected any magnificent uma-jirushi banners. He also had few page samurai serving him. Compared to the resting followers, he only had a folding stool beneath him, not sitting directly on the ground, and he certainly didn’t exude any authority.
However, he didn’t dare to underestimate this Commander-in-Chief. The man was huge, clad in black heavy armor like a giant. Even sitting on the folding stool, he was not much shorter than Takeda Hyōemon. He looked like an unparalleled fierce general who could hack his way from one end of the enemy formation to the other. He dared not treat him lightly in the slightest. Takeda Hyōemon was a little over 1.4 meters tall, and if Yuan Ye sat on the folding stool, he could indeed contend with Yuan Ye without being at a disadvantage.
Takeda Hyōemon observed the enemy’s general for a while longer. When he turned back, he found that the enemy’s followers were still sitting motionless, resting, with no change whatsoever. His heart grew colder, his head grew dizzier, and he felt that the enemy was absolutely the elite of the elite. Once they finished resting, they would charge forward en masse and forcibly attack the castle. With his current handful of dozens of defeated soldiers and the commoners gathered in the castle, he might not be able to hold them off. It was possible that his family would be destroyed today.
He quickly leaned on the wall to let the dizziness pass, then clutched his chest and took a few deep breaths. He pointed to an enemy’s back flag and asked, “This… you all take a look, whose family crest is this?”
These enemy back flags were also somewhat strange. Some carried “blue gourd flags,” while others carried “red gourd flags.” Moreover, the numbers were incorrect. Only a few men had back flags inserted behind their dōmaru; most men had no identifying markers, or their identifying markers were their uniform and peculiar clothing, making back flags unnecessary to distinguish friend from foe.
Takeda Hyōemon couldn’t recognize the “gourd flags,” and his senior retainers and vassals had no impression of them. They had no idea where these people had come from. So, a vassal suggested, “My Lord, why don’t we try to negotiate with them!”
This battle had been fought in such a confused manner that they didn’t even know who the enemy was, so all they could do was ask them.
Takeda Hyōemon had no other good options and immediately agreed, “Alright, thank you for your trouble!”
This vassal samurai was not afraid. Warfare in this era had unwritten rules, or rather, it adhered to etiquette. As long as an envoy didn’t court death and maintained proper manners, no one would generally kill them; it would ruin their reputation.
He directly lowered himself down the wall by a rope and headed towards the enemy’s position.
The enemy indeed did not make things difficult for him. After he loudly announced his identity as an envoy, someone came to meet him and led him through the formation. Takeda Hyōemon was surprised to find that as his envoy passed through, the followers sitting and resting merely cast a sideways glance at him as he passed. Not a single one looked back or discussed with others; they remained rigidly in place.
Then, this envoy met the enemy’s Commander-in-Chief. The enemy’s Commander-in-Chief seemed to have a very gentle demeanor and did not employ any tactics like dismounting to intimidate him. He sat steadily on his folding stool and conversed with the envoy. Shortly after, it was the envoy who became agitated, suddenly jumping up from his kneeling position and waving his hands, shouting loudly. Following this, the envoy was kicked to the ground by the Commander-in-Chief’s personal guards, dragged out of the enemy formation, and thrown in front of it.
Takeda Hyōemon felt a slight sense of relief. It seemed the enemy’s Commander-in-Chief was not an extremely cruel person; at least he observed basic etiquette, which was good news. When the vassal who had acted as envoy returned, looking disheveled, he quickly asked, “What’s the situation?”
The vassal quickly replied, “The enemy claims to be the Yuan Ye family from Wanjin. They have come to demand an explanation, saying that we attacked their cargo ship.”
This was indeed what Yuan Ye himself had told him. The various local lords of Owari had long-standing marital ties, and their relationships were intricate. Moreover, he had taken back so many people that it would be impossible to hide it. Sooner or later, his identity would be discovered, so there was no need to conceal his origin. He stated it directly, which was fine. Perhaps it would also prevent the Takeda family from frantically inquiring everywhere and causing the entire Owari to know.
“We attacked their cargo ship?” Takeda Hyōemon was stunned and immediately turned to ask his senior retainers and vassals, “Did this happen?”
The senior retainers and vassals exchanged glances and shook their heads in unison. The Takeda family didn’t even have ships, so how could they attack the Yuan Ye family’s cargo ship? Swim to it? They couldn’t even swim that far, and they didn’t even know where Wanjin was!
The vassal was aware of this; it was utter nonsense. He quickly added, “I’ve already explained, but they insist it was us and demand we hand over the culprits. Otherwise, they won’t let this matter rest easily.”
Takeda Hyōemon’s chest felt heavy again, and he couldn’t figure out what was going on. He then asked, “Where exactly is Wanjin? Where did they come from?”
This was the first time he had heard of this place name, and he felt that there was no such place in Owari. The vassal, however, was quite clever and had already inquired. He directly replied, “They say it’s in the coastal area south of Nagoya Castle.”
South of Nagoya Castle, by the coast? The base of the Chita Peninsula? Near Atsuta Port? That area belonged to the core territory of the Oda Danjō no Chū family. So, these people were from the Oda Danjō no Chū family?
Takeda Hyōemon looked out at the castle again and suddenly understood. Only the Oda Danjō no Chū family would have such financial resources to arm their followers to this extent. Furthermore, the enemy possessed dozens of matchlock guns, likely part of the previously renowned “Oda Matchlock Corps.”
However, he still couldn’t understand why Oda Nobunaga’s men would cross the sea to attack him. Even if the Takeda family had defected from the Oda family, it was out of necessity. If the Oda family could drive away the Imagawa family, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to pledge allegiance to the Oda family again. There was no need to specifically deal with him.
As expected of Oda the Big Fool; the rumors were true, his actions were indeed like a madman…
But now, the two sides were definitely hostile, and there was no room for negotiation. If he were to pledge allegiance to the Oda family again, the Imagawa family would be the ones beating him tomorrow. He could only suppress the surging blood in his chest, forcefully slap the city wall, and say in a deep voice, “Since that is the case, then we can only fight to the death. No matter what the Oda family intends, we will make them lose a few teeth!”
The senior retainers and vassals all responded in unison, preparing for a fight to the death. After all, they had nowhere to retreat. They only hoped to inflict as many casualties as possible on the enemy, forcing them to abandon the idea of annihilating the Takeda family. However, they waited for a long time and did not see the enemy building siege equipment. They remained sitting there, resting, at most taking turns to stand up and move their limbs.
After waiting for another hour, a small group arrived from a distance. After a brief conversation with the enemy’s Commander-in-Chief, a series of bamboo whistle sounds rang out. The enemy troops collectively stood up, turned, and marched forward rhythmically, returning the way they came.
Takeda Hyōemon was once again bewildered. Didn’t they say they wouldn’t let this matter rest easily? Why did they leave? What was the purpose of this visit?
After a long wait, he finally received a report: the Takeda family’s small village closest to the sea had become a ghost village. All its inhabitants had disappeared, and the Takeda family’s strength had been reduced by 20%. The Takeda family only had four villages and one castle in total.
At this point, he could no longer suppress the surging blood in his chest. He spat out a mouthful of blood, directly onto his vassal’s face, feeling as if the entire world had become chaotic, a mixture of illusion and reality.
