Chapter 141: Fortifying Under the Enemy’s Nose
Yuan Ye stood on the city wall, staring at the Imagawa Family forces building a camp in the distance, utterly bewildered. The situation had been dire before, and he had prepared for a bloody battle. Yet, two days had passed, and things were not as he had anticipated…
Of course, it wasn’t that there had been no combat. The Wanjin Army and the Imagawa Family had been constantly expelling each other’s scouts. In these two days, there had been twenty to thirty small-scale engagements in the wilderness. Moreover, the Imagawa Family, leveraging their numerical advantage, had attempted several attacks after successfully driving off his scouts. However, these attacks were small in scale, retreating with minor casualties. Today, they had even gone so far as to construct a camp, ceasing even tentative assaults.
The intensity of this combat was far, far lower than he had anticipated, barely even a tickle. It seemed abnormal.
He pondered for a while, unable to figure it out. He turned to the “Camp School” trainees and asked, “What do you think is going on?”
These junior officers and non-commissioned officers exchanged glances. One of them, a Flag Captain named Watatsuki （, who commanded five small flags as a mid-level officer ）, cautiously stated, “Are the enemy trying to lull us into a false sense of security? The enemy’s attacks for the past two days have been concentrated on the front. Perhaps they want us to become complacent, and then they’ll launch a surprise flank attack? For example, crossing the river suddenly in the dead of night to strike our rear…”
Yuan Ye had been encouraging the junior officers and non-commissioned officers in the “Camp School” to think actively. He regularly conducted map exercises and primitive wargames with them, hoping to gain a few more military assistants. Even though he didn’t believe the enemy had the capability to organize a large force to cross the river silently in the dead of night, he still encouraged them, saying, “That’s a possibility. We definitely need to be vigilant on the flanks.”
After speaking, he looked at the others, “What about you? What do you think?”
Someone chimed in, “The enemy might be waiting for reinforcements…”
Another person disagreed, “But their numbers are already sufficient to launch an attack. They should at least conduct a few real assaults. If they find they can’t take us, then they’ll request reinforcements, right?”
“Indeed, there seems to be no need for the enemy to wait.”
Under Yuan Ye’s leniency, these junior officers and non-commissioned officers dared to speak loudly and express their opinions. They began to discuss why the Imagawa Family was being so sluggish. However, their ideas lacked novelty until Shi Pusa, a non-commissioned officer who had only joined the “Camp School” a few months ago, scratched his head and said sheepishly, “The enemy is afraid of us!”
The scene fell silent. Yuan Ye’s gaze shifted to him, and he asked curiously, “Why do you say that? According to previous intelligence, the enemy has at least fifteen hundred armored soldiers, plus the armored followers of the Chita Local Lords, their numbers can only be greater. Their advantage is very clear. What are they afraid of?”
Shi Pusa continued to scratch his head. He wasn’t nervous facing the top BOSS of Wanjin and directly stated, “But we have several thousand people. We look like we have more people than them, so they must be afraid!”
“We only have six hundred and seventy armored combat troops, less than half of the enemy’s,” a small flag officer reminded him. “The people behind them can’t fight.”
“But the enemy doesn’t know that,” Shi Pusa said, not very skilled with words, gesturing with his hands. “Before I used to steal things, I always felt like everyone was watching me, and I always felt like someone would rush over and hit me at any moment. So I’d hesitate, feel guilty, and wouldn’t dare to actually do it… Uh, I can’t explain it well, but I think the other side is like my past self. They’re feeling guilty, afraid of getting hit, afraid of us.”
A few laughs erupted from the surrounding officers and non-commissioned officers, finding his idea a bit amusing. But Yuan Ye didn’t laugh. Instead, he patted Shi Pusa’s shoulder and encouraged him, “It’s good to have your own ideas. There is indeed such a possibility.”
He had a strong impression of this non-commissioned officer. He had fought very bravely in the last battle, charging and fighting fiercely with blood all over his face, breaking through the enemy lines first. However, after entering the “Camp School,” he couldn’t pass the literacy class. After several months, he still hadn’t learned a hundred characters. He had been preparing to send him back to be a regular soldier. But this fellow’s thinking seemed a bit unconventional, perhaps he could observe him further.
As for whether the other side was truly afraid of them…
He couldn’t tell. His officer corps was currently quite poor, and he couldn’t confirm the enemy’s intentions. However, he could clearly see that the enemy’s eagerness to fight was not urgent.
After collecting opinions, he pondered for a moment and directly ordered, “Disperse, everyone return to your posts. Recall a few more construction teams. We will continue to reinforce our defenses!”
He didn’t have much military talent. Since he couldn’t determine the enemy’s intentions, he decided to stick to his original plan of responding to change with constancy, relying on the advantage of defense to wear down the enemy. If the enemy didn’t want to fight him, he would continue to strengthen his defenses until he had built a turtle shell. If the enemy attacked him as soon as they saw him building defenses, that would be fine too, as it was better than not knowing what the enemy was planning!
His orders were quickly relayed. Under the coordination of civil officials like Endo Chiyo, several construction teams, carrying their tools, soon arrived from the port in neat formations. These were the best construction personnel, mostly former workshop workers, considered reserve soldiers. They cooperated relatively well, generally obeyed commands, and would not easily fall into chaos if attacked.
Behind them were a group of new immigrants with poorer discipline. These were the true labor teams, pulling large quantities of building materials on human-powered carts, following in a disorderly fashion, temporarily serving as a transport team.
Yuan Ye watched from the city wall for a while. After Shi Pusa’s reminder, a thought struck him.
Hadn’t the enemy mistaken these construction teams for followers? These workers, promoted from labor teams to workshops, had long developed the habit of coming and going in formation. From a distance, they looked similar to the followers of this era who farmed and trained simultaneously, only lacking equipment like dōmaru and jingasa.
However, after a few glances, he didn’t dwell on the issue. The enemy couldn’t misjudge forever. He actually only had so many combat troops, and he couldn’t conjure more at the moment. Ultimately, it would still come down to hard power.
In any case, if the enemy didn’t attack him, he would continue to build defenses. That’s how it would be for now!
…………
Yuan Ye began building defenses again right under the enemy’s nose.
He didn’t lack manpower now. In fact, due to the excessive number of people he had brought back, there was even a surplus of labor, forcing him to send soldiers out of the barracks to eat and drink heavily to alleviate his resettlement pressure. Furthermore, volcanic ash cement and other materials were abundant. Digging earth cost nothing, lime cost nothing, and the wood for burning lime was free for the taking. These cements were essentially free, only requiring him to provide food for the labor teams. Even if the new immigrants weren’t digging volcanic ash or burning lime, he still had to feed them; he couldn’t just watch them starve. Therefore, overall, there was virtually no cost.
Since these were cost-free materials, he naturally collected a large quantity. He stored several hundred boats’ worth over the winter. Now, as long as Oda Nobunaga didn’t raid his home base, he could continuously transport cement, allowing him to waste it freely.
With ample manpower and materials, and not needing to construct a tens of kilometers long aqueduct or a vast Roman Colosseum, he only intended to build a city about half the size of a football field （. Given the different national conditions, even this would be considered a city in Japan, especially since Aragiko Castle was only over seven hundred square meters ）. He was also building a sheep wall connecting north and south （, a connecting wall between castles, which was shorter and narrower than a city wall ）, and required little technical skill. Consequently, progress was extremely rapid.
His audacity naturally displeased Asahina Yasunaga, but it also made him more cautious, confirming that Yuan Ye’s strength was indeed formidable, otherwise, he wouldn’t be so brazen.
He didn’t rush to harass him immediately, wanting to see what Yuan Ye was truly planning. He didn’t believe the nonsensical claims of “city walls growing one to two feet a day.” However, by the second day, he was almost forced to believe it. After only working for half a day and through the night with fires lit, the two flanks of that strange city had indeed gained dozens of low walls, about two feet high and extending outwards. They appeared to be wooden and were still wet, as if someone had been continuously watering them, even through the night.
Simultaneously, a few scattered low walls had appeared to the rear of the enemy’s city. Judging by their shape, the enemy seemed to be planning to build two small rock fortresses there.
Asahina Yasunaga dared not continue watching. If he did, he would become an epic-level fool. He quickly ordered his samurai followers to eat, preparing to launch a harassing attack. During the time he was arranging his troops for the attack, the enemy had not stopped working. Some had already begun dismantling the outer wooden planks of the low walls adjacent to the city, revealing a smooth, dark blue-black wall surface inside. They then moved the removed planks upwards, preparing to further heighten the low walls.
This was a tiered construction method. With about 18 hours of watering and maintaining moisture, once the first layer of concrete surface had hydrated and solidified, the formwork could be removed without causing surface cracks, effectively becoming “bricks.” A new layer could then be cast on top. The bonding agent and structural reinforcement in between would be made directly from cement and fine bamboo. Yuan Ye didn’t require these walls to be exceptionally durable. He only had seven months’ worth of rations. If the Imagawa Family wasn’t gone in seven months, he would leave automatically. Therefore, these walls only needed to stand for seven months to be considered acceptable!
Asahina Yasunaga was completely dumbfounded. He had never imagined such a miraculous castle construction method existed in the world. The city walls truly could grow one to two feet a day. He felt that if Yuan Ye continued his unrestrained construction, he would block all the roads in front within at most three to five days. If given another seven to eight days, even if the sheep wall was breached, there would likely be a series of rock fortresses behind it for defense.
He dared not wait any longer. He repeatedly urged them on, personally overseeing the operation, and was forced to launch an attack. He ordered his followers to urge the auxiliary soldiers provided by the Takeda Family, Oya Family, and other Chita Local Lords to push forward with the wooden fences and bamboo fences built over the past two days, advancing with shouts of “Oh-oh-hey!” The wooden and bamboo fences were large Japanese shields, with various styles like four-eyed fences, lattice fences, and running fences. They were used in defense to block arrows and in field battles to resist cavalry charges. Now, they were intended to reduce the damage from the Wanjin Army’s matchlock guns.
Asahina Yasunaga didn’t expect to capture the enemy’s city with this. He only intended to disperse the enemy’s construction teams. However, he didn’t anticipate that the enemy’s construction teams, in the face of such a grand offensive, would only be in momentary chaos before quickly regaining order. They continued with their tasks, their movements even becoming more agile, and their construction speed actually increased significantly.
At the same time, a giant, golden “gourd uma-jirushi” was erected on the enemy’s city. The piercing sounds of bamboo whistles and iron whistles began to ring out continuously. From the battlements of the city walls, hundreds of dark gun barrels instantly emerged.
The enemy on the northern mountain seemed to have received instructions as well. A small group of enemies left the rock fortresses and began moving towards the mountainside, forcing Asahina Yasunaga to divert some of his men to suppress them, lest they be bombarded from the flank.
The enemy by the riverside to the south also moved, similarly compelling Asahina Yasunaga to divert some men to suppress them. At this moment, the Imagawa Army in front finally reached the maximum range of their bows and arrows, immediately launching volleys of arrows to forcibly drive away the “followers” who were under construction. However, the distance was too great, and the enemy dodged quickly under orders, so the driving effect was not very good, and hardly anyone was hit.
At this point, the Wanjin Army’s matchlock guns on the city walls finally opened fire. Instantly, over a hundred streams of gray-white gunpowder smoke erupted. The Wanjin Army, with its high vantage point, had a significant advantage in range and field of fire. The wooden and bamboo fences were immediately shattered into splinters, and over ten people in the Imagawa Army immediately fell to the ground with screams.
Following that, another wave of arrows flew high into the air from the city walls, then turned and plunged down, felling another ten or so people.
The Imagawa Family was forced to deploy a large number of archers to engage in a ranged duel with the city walls, attempting to suppress the enemy’s ranged firepower. However, the enemy had battlements, arrow-blocking shelters, and superior matchlock guns with great power. Even though both sides were at maximum range and their accuracy was poor, the Imagawa Family suffered greatly, with over ten men falling in each volley.
Yuan Ye was also firing a matchlock gun steadily, feeling nothing for the construction teams being beaten. This was a battlefield. If the Imagawa Family was willing to exchange a large number of their samurai followers for some of his construction personnel, he was willing to comply!
For his new territory, he had long been mentally prepared to lose half his men. The Imagawa Family should also have a corresponding resolve!
If not, this piece of land should belong to him!
