Chapter 139: How many human lives will it take to exchange for this?
Yuan Ye waited another two days before receiving new information from A Man, finally understanding why Oda Nobunaga had so easily captured Kiyosu Castle this time – Oda Nobunaga’s own third uncle, the Lord of Moriyama Castle, Oda Nobumitsu, was an exceptionally ruthless individual.
Oda Nobunaga clearly would not let Kiyosu Castle go. Oda Nobutomo and his senior retainers were well aware of this, but they had lost both battles against Oda Nobunaga. At Shingenji Temple in Agi Village, they had suffered heavy losses, with over thirty samurai alone killed. Shingenji Temple, which served as a crucial defensive point, was burned down, making even defending the castle difficult. Therefore, the Kiyosu Oda Family had no hope of defeating Oda Nobunaga.
Thus, they devised a cunning plan: to directly incite a rebellion among Oda Nobunaga’s important family members, specifically his third uncle, Oda Nobumitsu, the Lord of Moriyama Castle.
They offered a substantial reward: if Oda Nobumitsu cooperated in killing Oda Nobunaga, the Kiyosu Oda Family would support him as the new head of the Oda Danjō no Chū family. They also pledged to recognize him as the “Minor Shugodai of Owari,” which meant further dividing the Lower Four Districts of Owari, granting him two districts, and handing over the southern turret of Kiyosu Castle, formerly inhabited by the Shiba Clan.
This was a significant investment, capable of elevating Oda Nobumitsu to unprecedented heights. Oda Nobumitsu seemed unable to resist the temptation, and after some thought, he directly agreed.
The Kiyosu Oda Family remained uneasy, as they were sacrificing too much and taking on immense risk. They demanded that Oda Nobumitsu make a “sacred oath.” If Oda Nobumitsu broke the oath, he and his descendants would be cursed for all eternity, meeting tragic ends.
Oda Nobumitsu was also a straightforward man and did not refuse. He swore an oath before the gods in the presence of the Kiyosu Oda Family. Then, the two families united and prepared a “scheme within a scheme” to lure and kill Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobumitsu would inform Oda Nobunaga that the Kiyosu Oda Family was plotting against him and propose to feign betrayal to gain entry into Kiyosu Castle and open its gates. Oda Nobunaga would then only need to lead a small, elite force to rush in and launch a surprise attack, easily capturing this premier castle of the Lower Four Districts of Owari.
In reality, as soon as Oda Nobunaga led his small force into the castle, both families would immediately surround and kill him within its walls.
This was a poisonous scheme using Kiyosu Castle as bait to directly eliminate Oda Nobunaga. Once this menace was removed from the Lower Four Districts of Owari, everyone could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Oda Nobumitsu cooperated fully and proceeded with the plan. And then… there was no “then.” His feigned undercover role turned into a genuine one. He truly opened the gates of Kiyosu Castle and genuinely let Oda Nobunaga in, even secretly allowing him in beforehand. The two families then jointly attacked the Kiyosu Oda Family. In the end, a large number of the Kiyosu Oda Family’s vassals were killed. The remaining portion fled back to their own territories to resist, while some abandoned their homes and fled to join the Imagawa Family to prepare for future revenge. The head of the family, Oda Nobutomo, was trapped in his residence and committed suicide in despair.
After reading the detailed intelligence, Yuan Ye was momentarily speechless. The Kiyosu Oda Family was powerless against the increasingly powerful Oda Nobunaga. After all, they had lost two battles, and their castle town had been burned twice. Another such event would spell their doom. Therefore, their desire to lure and kill Oda Nobunaga was understandable, but the stratagem they employed…
It wasn’t entirely unfeasible. Oda Nobunaga deeply trusted his third uncle. If Oda Nobumitsu had truly been willing to betray him, the plan might have had a genuine chance of success. It was just that Oda Nobumitsu was so ruthless towards himself, treating even a sacred oath as worthless. In this era, he was undoubtedly a formidable figure. The nature of a sacred oath in China was akin to “swearing by the Luo River,” where one swore before the guardian deity their family had worshipped for generations. If the oath was broken, one immediately became “god-forsaken,” their family would lose divine protection, and their reputation would be utterly ruined.
Many modern people, even those with higher education who understood what feudal superstition was, still dared not easily swear oaths to gods or Buddhas. For someone from ancient times to dare to do so, and to use the curse of eternal suffering for his descendants as an oath, and then to dare to break it directly, the psychological pressure must have been immense.
One could only say that the Kiyosu Oda Family died unjustly, yet not entirely without reason. They did not wish for a slow demise and took a gamble. In the end, they encountered a ruthless individual, leading to their downfall. Oda Nobunaga reaped a great reward, capturing Kiyosu Castle with little cost.
After finishing the intelligence, Yuan Ye sighed for a moment, then felt disappointed for another moment. He then asked A Man, who had just arrived by boat, “Has Oda Nobunaga discovered our movements?”
A Man looked exhausted. She had been ordered to guard Wanjin, isolate the inside from the outside, observe Oda Nobunaga’s movements to determine whether to activate emergency plans, and supervise the transport of personnel and supplies. She hadn’t dared to sleep much and was utterly worn out. Even after dozing off on the boat, she hadn’t recovered. She replied groggily, “Not yet. He’s preparing to move his main residence to Kiyosu Castle and is ordering people to clear out Oda Nobutomo’s remnants around Kiyosu Castle and stabilize the region. He doesn’t have time to worry about us right now.”
“What about Nagoya Castle?”
“I heard it was given to Oda Nobumitsu,” A Man said, her Dou Dou eyebrows drooping, mustering her strength. “Oda Nobunaga also publicly promised to co-govern the Lower Four Districts of Owari with Oda Nobumitsu to reward his extraordinary achievements. But Oda Nobumitsu didn’t agree and repeatedly declined even accepting Nagoya Castle. Only when he could no longer refuse did he agree to move his main residence from Moriyama Castle to Nagoya Castle.”
Yuan Ye nodded gently. Making Oda Nobumitsu the Lord of Nagoya Castle was an extremely significant reward and a sign of absolute trust. Oda Nobumitsu’s gamble with his entire family had not been in vain. This should also be good news. Oda Nobunaga was busy relocating, and Oda Nobumitsu was busy moving in. They should not notice any anomalies at Wanjin for some time, which would buy them considerable time. It seemed that emptying Wanjin would not be significantly affected.
This was good enough!
He finally inquired about the specific situation at Wanjin. Upon learning that most of the personnel had been transported, and that the Military Police had also been largely brought over this time, leaving Wanjin as an empty shell with only a small contingent of Military Police remaining to guard the pier and warehouses for continued supply transport, he felt relieved. He dismissed A Man, who had successfully completed her important mission, to go and sleep, and after waking, to supervise and continue to increase the pace of construction.
A Man didn’t utter a word and lay down on the spot. Currently, this was a major construction site, and everyone was living in makeshift shelters again. Only Yuan Ye’s quarters were still presentable. She didn’t bother finding another place and simply slept there.
Yuan Ye didn’t mind. He casually picked up a piece of clothing and covered her stomach. He felt that although the plan hadn’t met its best expectations – the enemy took seven or eight days to discover them, and Oda Nobunaga was locked in a fierce struggle with the Kiyosu Oda Family, making it impossible to attack his rear even if they wanted to – perfection was unattainable in this world, and this was acceptable.
Next, it would depend on their hard power.
If they could hold on, they would be free to govern themselves and lay a solid foundation for realizing their ultimate plan. If they couldn’t hold on, their efforts over the past year would have been in vain, and they might even end up as water bandits on some island.
…
Asahina Yasunaga, the Commander-in-Chief of the Imagawa Family’s forces on the Owari front, did not pay much attention to the affairs of Chita District. After all, the combat strength of these local lords was questionable, and they were all fickle opportunists who sided with the stronger power. They were not trustworthy. Once the Imagawa Family took Owari, the Chita Peninsula would certainly be purged and replaced with samurai from Suruga Province who were relatively more reliable. However, for now, they were still required to pay their annual tribute on time to supply the Shirakawa Entrance defense line, which was why he hadn’t acted against them.
Previously, local lords like the Takeda Family had also sought aid, claiming Oda Nobunaga was constantly sending people to raid their populations. It was for this reason that he had ignored them, even scolding them and telling them to resolve such trivial matters themselves and stop bothering him. However, the current situation was different: the Oda Family had actually sent people to build a castle on the Chita Peninsula.
Although he didn’t understand what kind of insane idea this was, it was completely inexplicable. But if the Oda Family succeeded, it would be like planting a nail behind them, creating the possibility of a pincer attack. At the very least, it could cause constant trouble on their flank, making it difficult for them to focus on breaking through the Oda Family’s defenses.
Therefore, Asahina Yasunaga took this matter seriously. He even heard that Oda Nobunaga’s most elite “Oda Matchlock Corps” had arrived, which could be considered a cautious approach. He began assembling elite troops and ordered the local lords of Chita to mobilize, preparing to strike with full force and eliminate the enemy. In his view, driving the enemy away was easy. To truly achieve military merit, the enemy had to be completely annihilated on the Chita Peninsula. If they could even capture several hundred matchlock guns, obtaining this immense wealth worth tens of thousands of koku would be a massive profit, potentially leading to him being appointed Lord of a Castle immediately.
With the intention of a decisive battle, he led fifteen hundred men south. Along the way, he gathered local lords, collected provisions, horses, and vehicles. In less than ten days, he arrived at Oya Castle. Without even attending the welcome banquet, he personally went to scout. However, after a single glance from afar, he was stunned and turned to the head of the Oya Family, asking in surprise, “How long have they been here?”
Given the current situation, he would believe it if someone told him the enemy had been here for a year!
The head of the Oya Family had also just returned with the army and hadn’t even spoken to his own vassals. He was also stunned by the scene before him, saying in disbelief, “Less than… less than fifteen days… it should be less than fifteen days, this…”
Although he said it, he didn’t believe it himself. On the previously barren wilderness, a gleaming, brand-new “stone city” had suddenly appeared. Only the top of the city walls were strangely covered with a layer of wet linen. Apart from that, it was an absolutely fine city, entirely constructed of stone, which could even be called extravagant.
Not far from this “stone city,” on a nearby hilltop, a rock fortress of the same material and beauty had also suddenly appeared. A group of people were busy around this rock fortress, digging randomly on the ground, continuing to intensify the pressure on the attackers.
On the other side of the city, by the riverside, things had also become abnormal. Two small rock fortresses, serving as mutual support, had appeared. Their positions were slightly further back, allowing them to receive long-range fire support from the peculiar “stone city.”
This…
There was nothing here just ten days ago when he left!
He couldn’t understand what had happened, completely unable to comprehend it. It felt as if the castle and rock fortresses had descended from the sky. Asahina Yasunaga’s expression also darkened. Open warfare and siege warfare were two different matters. With the sudden appearance of castles and rock fortresses, how many lives would it take to conquer them?
