Chapter 142: Aren’t Our Lives Lives Too?
The Imagawa Army, after launching a large-scale harassment operation that day, became completely subdued.
Their casualties were too high, significantly depleting morale, making it not cost-effective. Furthermore, it had little impact on the enemy’s castle construction; the enemy’s construction teams were very tenacious, and a small number of casualties wouldn’t scare them away. They resumed work shortly after the combat stopped, even letting out cheers, their morale extremely high—Yuan Ye employed a “money-raining” tactic, distributing bonuses on the spot and announcing that participation in frontline construction during this period would be equivalent to that of combat soldiers, enjoying the same treatment. Post-war commendations would prioritize selection into the camp, matchmaking, and the right to exchange for land and housing usage.
Well, Yuan Ye is currently implementing a unique form of “state ownership of land,” meaning that land, the most fundamental and important means of production, nominally belongs to him. He then allocates usage rights to others and protects these rights from infringement. Simultaneously, these usage rights are not transferable. Only under certain special conditions can he repurchase them at a high price or, after compensation, change their location. Others do not have this qualification.
He is unsure if this approach is correct, but for now, Wanjin’s land policy will be executed as is, and they will deal with it later.
The first day ended like this, and Asahina Yasunaga suffered a significant loss. Therefore, on the second day, he changed his operational mode, dispatching small units composed of samurai followers skilled in archery to conduct sneak attacks with arrows, aiming to reduce his own casualties while maximizing the killing of enemy construction personnel.
However, unexpectedly, the enemy, having defended for a day, seemed to have learned something. They simultaneously changed their tactics, focusing fire in units of five matchlock gunners, specifically targeting samurai—it was easy to distinguish them; in this era, samurai feared not being found, wearing all sorts of peculiar helmets, so even with poor eyesight, they couldn’t be mistaken.
Both sides exchanged fire for another full day. The Wanjin Army suffered casualties of over ten construction personnel and two matchlock gunners, while the Imagawa Army lost sixteen low-ranking samurai and many more were severely wounded. However, the Imagawa Army quickly retaliated that night. Construction required illumination at night, creating a situation where one side was in the light and the other in the dark. The Imagawa Army, hidden in the darkness, successfully launched repeated sneak attacks, killing and wounding several construction personnel without any cost. Yuan Ye was forced to urgently halt nighttime and late-night construction work.
However, he was not one to suffer losses passively. He learned from their example and immediately organized a counterattack, dispatching small units carrying matchlock guns to sneak out of the city and attack the Imagawa Army’s camp. They slowly infiltrated to extremely close positions before opening fire fiercely, bombarding the camp of the rookies and Ashigaru. This immediately caused the rookies and Ashigaru to panic, screaming and collapsing, rolling and crawling everywhere, swarming the entire camp. Over a hundred people were killed in confusion, and dozens went missing.
Asahina Yasunaga had no choice but to switch to defense, first reinforcing and supplementing the camp to prevent Yuan Ye from tasting success and launching another attack.
The two sides thus engaged in a back-and-forth, reaching a temporary stalemate.
Yuan Ye discovered that the enemy dared not launch a large-scale assault, lacking the courage to fight him to the death. He resumed castle construction, though the speed decreased by more than half. After the completion of the port’s rock fortress in the rear, he mobilized several more construction teams and began segmented construction, at which point the speed became barely acceptable again.
Asahina Yasunaga, on the other hand, was temporarily unable to deal with the enemy in the city. He could only watch as the enemy’s sheep wall grew longer and higher. Several times he wanted to resolve to launch a full-scale attack, at least to destroy the enemy’s construction site and the sheep wall currently under construction, but he was unwilling to sacrifice so many of his own followers. This resolve never hardened, and he could only continuously urge the Matsudaira Family in the rear to bring their forces quickly.
The Matsudaira Family was obedient. Ten days later, the Matsudaira Family, stationed north of the Shirakawa Entrance, under the command of Commander-in-Chief Sakai Tadamoto, arrived with the utmost speed, bringing over seven hundred followers.
After all, the Matsudaira Family had suffered more persecution from the Oda Danjō no Chū family, and they were extremely wary of Oda Nobunaga’s attempt to “reclaim” Chita District. From here, it was very convenient to charge into Mikawa, and they truly did not want to be neighbors with the Oda Danjō no Chū family anymore. Committing heavy troops did not require much hesitation—these seven hundred followers represented almost all of the Matsudaira Family’s strength outside of Mikawa.
However, upon arriving at the battlefield, Sakai Tadamoto was also bewildered by the situation. After a long pause, he gripped his sword hilt and asked Asahina Yasunaga, “Lord Asahina, what is this wall?”
He had heard about the enemy’s situation before coming, and it completely did not match what he saw. He was told the enemy only had three rock fortresses in the mountains and by the river, and a single stone city. But upon arrival, he saw that the enemy had already built a high wall, connecting all of them, completely blocking the front. Furthermore, construction had not stopped, and from a distance, a large group of enemies could be seen working enthusiastically, reinforcing and heightening the battlements.
Sakai Tadamoto could not comprehend the scene at all. It was only because Asahina Yasunaga was from the Imagawa Family, and the head of the Asahina Family was a senior retainer of the Imagawa Family, that Sakai Tadamoto did not draw his sword and strike him down on the spot—what an epic fool, how did he become Commander-in-Chief, to actually watch the enemy build a castle and allow them to build it to such an absurd extent!
This was simply a crime, punishable by military law!
Asahina Yasunaga was speechless, but he did not want to be branded as incompetent. After a moment of silence, he sighed, “Lord Sakai, you do not understand the situation. The enemy is backed by a strong fortress, and their morale is very high; we cannot stop them. Moreover, the enemy builds walls very easily and very quickly, and we cannot prevent it.”
After speaking, he beckoned, and his subordinates brought over a piece of broken concrete. This was a “treasure” he had snatched back the previous night, at the cost of seven or eight lives. But now, it was impossible to obtain such a thing. The enemy’s sheep wall had already closed, and it had been built to a height that normal people could not climb over with their bare hands. Obtaining such “treasures” was now basically impossible.
He gestured for Sakai Tadamoto to examine it himself. Sakai Tadamoto, full of doubts, stepped forward and examined the concrete. He found it to be very hard, with sharp edges and corners, not much different from ordinary stones. However, within this “stone,” he could see two broken pieces of bamboo. The bamboo and the stone fit together perfectly, as if they had grown there naturally.
Asahina Yasunaga explained from the side, “This is a strange kind of mud. It shattered after being struck a couple of times, but after bringing it back, it hardened like stone in less than half a day. The enemy builds the wall layer by layer, as if playing with mud.”
Mud?
Sakai Tadamoto drew the katana of a retainer beside him and struck it. Sparks flew instantly. After several more blows, even his sword broke, but the concrete remained largely unaffected. He immediately fell silent, unable to comprehend this… thing that seemed like magic.
Seeing that he finally understood the situation, Asahina Yasunaga breathed a sigh of relief and immediately proposed sincerely, “Lord Sakai, the enemy’s methods are strange. I believe we cannot wait any longer; we should resolve this quickly and launch an attack immediately. What do you think?”
His tone was very sincere. After all, given the enemy’s construction speed, if they waited a few more days, who knew what they would build behind the wall. Therefore, after his ally arrived, he wanted to launch a full-scale assault immediately and did not want to delay any longer.
Sakai Tadamoto understood his meaning after hearing only half of it: this was asking the Matsudaira Family to lead the charge! But he looked at the city, the sheep wall, and the rock fortresses opposite. He felt that this place, except for the lack of a large river as a barrier, was even more outrageous than the Shirakawa Entrance defense line. He truly wanted to plunge his broken sword into Asahina Yasunaga’s chest—you Imagawa Family beasts arrived so early, and instead of attacking, you watched the enemy build their castle, and now that the enemy’s city is complete, you want us to lead the charge?
Are our lives not lives?
But he dared not speak directly. Currently, the Matsudaira Family was nominally an ally of the Imagawa Family, but in reality, they were vassals. The current head of the Matsudaira Family was being held under house arrest in Sunpu Castle, also known as Fuchu Castle or Shizuoka Castle. All matters concerning the Matsudaira Family were actually decided by the Imagawa Family.
However, he truly did not want to charge headfirst into such a solid defense. After a moment of silence, he asked indirectly, “Have you spoken with that Nohara Saburo?”
His implication was whether Asahina Yasunaga, after being here for so long, had tried to bribe the enemy’s Commander-in-Chief. There were many successful precedents for such actions; if the benefits were sufficient, local powerful families could betray anyone. Deserting to the enemy or even directly rebelling and killing their foster father and lord was commonplace.
Asahina Yasunaga had naturally tried. He immediately said with a dark expression, “I tried. No matter what conditions were offered, that Nohara Saburo refused to leave. Furthermore, he has no samurai dignity and refuses to acknowledge himself as a vassal of the Oda Danjō no Chū family, constantly spouting nonsense about wanting to pioneer here. He also spoke of wanting to coexist harmoniously with us, promising that as long as we retreated, he would not expand outwards before the Imagawa Family left Chita District, and would not make any minor moves against the Shirakawa Entrance defense line. It was utter nonsense and showed no sincerity!”
Sakai Tadamoto felt that these conditions were actually acceptable; it didn’t matter if this piece of land was given to the enemy. However, he also understood Asahina Yasunaga’s concerns. If it were him, he wouldn’t trust the other party to keep their promise either, unless they completely withdrew from the Chita Peninsula and ceded it, then he could be at ease.
That means there’s no room for negotiation; an attack is necessary!
Sakai Tadamoto gave up and could no longer refuse. But looking again at the enemy’s well-organized defense system, he still felt a chill. He turned to Asahina Yasunaga and asked again, “May I ask how you plan to attack?”
If they were truly going to send the Matsudaira Family alone to their deaths, to charge headfirst into the city walls, then don’t blame him for turning hostile… don’t blame them for not putting in their full effort!
“Come, Lord Sakai, let’s go back and discuss in detail!”
Asahina Yasunaga’s attitude was very good. He did not intend to let the Matsudaira Family and the Chita Local Lords fight alone to the death. Although he initially wanted the Matsudaira Family to lead the charge while he reaped the benefits, that idea was now gone. He was prepared to shed some blood himself, striving for a decisive victory to capture the enemy’s city.
After all, the enemy’s castle construction speed was too fast. If they allowed the enemy to continue building so recklessly, it might be that even if he poured all of the Asahina Family’s resources into it, they might not be able to capture the enemy’s city.
…
Asahina Yasunaga and Sakai Tadamoto spoke privately for a long time, deciding to launch a full-scale assault on the enemy’s city that very night, aiming to decide the outcome through a night battle.
Night battles were indeed feasible. Japan’s summer diet includes a large amount of fish, shellfish, and snails. In other seasons, fish and radishes are also consumed frequently, so there is no shortage of vitamin A, and night blindness patients are extremely rare or have mild symptoms, at least much less so than in northern China. Moving at night is not a major issue. However, only trained Ashigaru and followers could be deployed; rookies and Ashigaru of that caliber could not participate. These untrained individuals would get lost at night or simply flee under the cover of darkness.
After the two of them privately agreed, they convened a military council to inform the Chita Local Lords of the decision. Then, amidst the Chita Local Lords’ grim faces, preparations began. They also dispatched more personnel to harass the Wanjin Army, engaging in ranged combat with them, aiming to deplete their stamina as much as possible during the day.
After dark, they quieted down and rested in silence, waiting until deep into the night. The over three thousand people who had already assembled then moved, pushing large quantities of bamboo fences and wooden fences, carrying numerous scaling ladders and fire oil, and silently departed from the camp, heading straight for the quietly resting “stone city.”
