Chapter 189: A New Ruler of the World is About to Emerge!
Later Japanese accounts of the Battle of Okehazama are numerous, as it was a pivotal battle that transformed Oda Nobunaga from a country bumpkin into a ruler of the world. However, the process is difficult to ascertain, with too much embellishment. It seems Oda Nobunaga was holed up in Kiyosu Castle, facing the formidable advance of Imagawa Yoshimoto, felt despair, then grabbed a folding fan, danced to the song of “Murasaki” 《, and charged out of the castle with a death wish. Miraculously, he found Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was also miraculously taking a break away from his main force, and was somehow killed by Oda Nobunaga.
In those stories, Oda Nobunaga seems to have succeeded only through sheer luck, while Imagawa Yoshimoto appears more like an unlucky buffoon, disfavored by heaven, whose sole purpose was to serve as a footnote to Oda Nobunaga’s victory, and a rather pathetic footnote at that, making the Imagawa family seem weak and easily defeated, utterly lacking the demeanor of the foremost daimyo of the era.
However, Yuan Ye had been in this era for a long time and had interacted with Oda Nobunaga frequently. He knew that Nobunaga was not simply an “eccentric” or that his eccentricity was merely a facade. Many of his actions, which were perceived as “foolishness,” “whims,” or “the big fool acting silly again,” were actually deliberate.
Furthermore, the Imagawa family had been coveting Owari for over half a century. Nagoya Castle itself was built by the Imagawa family. Even counting from the Battle of Azukizaka, the Imagawa family and the Oda Danjō no Chū family had been in direct conflict for over twenty years. If Oda Nobunaga had any sense at all, or if his brain had even slightly more folds, he would not have underestimated this mortal enemy.
Therefore, the Battle of Okehazama was by no means a coincidental surprise attack, nor was it Oda Nobunaga’s desperate gamble that he won through sheer luck. It was a planned and premeditated action.
While Imagawa Yoshimoto was preparing to march on the capital, Oda Nobunaga was already preparing to kill him.
In that context, the Battle of Okehazama had actually already begun. Historically, the Monkey likely participated in it, achieved merit, and thus rose to prominence, becoming a mid-to-high-ranking samurai after the battle, gaining command of the Kawana Group, becoming the vanguard for the invasion of Mino, and gradually growing into a ruler of the world.
Based on the movements of “Monkey Number Two,” Yuan Ye seemed to glimpse a corner of history that would not be recorded. He suddenly realized that Monkey was waiting for the Imagawa and Oda families to clash. He hadn’t expected Oda Nobunaga to strike first. However, he couldn’t currently determine what Oda Nobunaga was sending Yaguro to do.
Of course, even if he could figure it out, it would be useless. He couldn’t move at the moment. Otherwise, during Imagawa Yoshimoto’s western campaign, he would likely have turned off course at the Shirakawa Entrance to deal with him. All he could do was instruct the Life Preservation Style to shift their focus and begin actively investigating the situation at the Shirakawa Entrance.
Time seemed to slow down. Yuan Ye cautiously observed the changes in the situation. He had to seize territory during the brief window after the battle between the Oda and Imagawa families. Otherwise, with just the small area of Xin Wanjin, it was already his limit to raise so many troops.
If he missed this period of being left alone, he might very well be trapped on the Chita Peninsula, and it would be extremely difficult to increase his strength further.
At least on land, it would be difficult. He would probably have to disband some field units and redevelop and train the navy, to see if he could seize new territory in the Seto Inland Sea.
That would be a huge expense, as shipbuilding requires both technology and a large labor force. His progress in this area had been minimal over the years, and the navy was mostly used for transportation. If he were to sail to the Seto Inland Sea and fight the water bandits who lived there year-round, he wouldn’t be confident.
The waiting made him anxious. Even though he knew this battle was bound to happen, he still waited anxiously. Meanwhile, A Man continuously relayed information from various sources to him, and even “Monkey Number Three” and “Monkey Number Four” appeared. Oda Nobunaga was secretly sending out personnel, including some quite capable Oda followers, who also resembled Monkey’s “successors.”
Historically, Oda Nobunaga probably didn’t put all his eggs in one basket. He arranged for many trusted individuals to carry out various covert operations. Monkey likely emerged from a fierce competition.
In short, after Oda Nobunaga’s maneuvers, Yuan Ye was also a bit confused about which ones were Monkey’s “successors.” He could only wait until after the Battle of Okehazama to see who Oda Nobunaga intended to marry Nene to. Nene was probably the best prize Oda Nobunaga had prepared. Whoever married Nene would be the grassroots samurai Oda Nobunaga intended to support.
At the same time, in addition to these “Monkeys,” A Man’s “Life Preservation Style” had also repeatedly discovered traces of the “Kyōdan-shū.” These “ninja units” of Oda Nobunaga had suddenly become active around the Shirakawa Entrance, seemingly plotting something. However, A Man couldn’t confirm it. Shinshu Maru was also an old hand, and the “Kyōdan-shū” were reorganized from mountain and river bandits. The “Life Preservation Style” was not yet qualified to provoke them. Their styles were different: the “Life Preservation Style” seemed to be purely intelligence personnel, while the “Kyōdan-shū” were more like special operations teams capable of combat missions. If they were to clash head-on, the “Life Preservation Style” would suffer heavy losses.
Amidst this surface calm but underlying turmoil, the new year soon arrived.
The New Year period was still peaceful, and Yuan Ye had a comfortable New Year. However, just over a month after the New Year, A Man rushed to deliver the latest news: “Yamaguchi Noritsugu might be dead.”
“Yamaguchi Noritsugu?” Yuan Ye was stunned for a moment before recalling who he was. “The lord of Narumi Castle?”
He was quite a talent. Originally a vassal local lord of the Oda Danjō no Chū family, after the death of the “Tiger of Owari,” Oda Nobuhide, and shortly after Oda Nobunaga took over, he killed the warrior official sent by the Oda Danjō no Chū family and defected to the Imagawa family.
His defection directly led to the entire Chita District falling into the hands of the Imagawa family, and over a third of Aichi District was lost, causing the vital Atsuta Port of the Oda Danjō no Chū family to come under direct threat from the Matsudaira family and the Imagawa family.
Simply put, this person should rank among the top five most hated individuals by Oda Nobunaga.
A Man immediately nodded and said, “It’s him. The current rumors are that he was summoned to Sunpu Castle by Imagawa Yoshimoto, and then, for reasons unknown, Imagawa Yoshimoto ordered him to commit seppuku. His heir, Yamaguchi Noriyoshi, also died. It is said he was besieged and killed while attempting to escape.”
“What about Narumi Castle?”
This was a key node controlling the defense line of the Shirakawa Entrance and the gateway to the root of the Chita Peninsula. Yuan Ye didn’t care much about Yamaguchi Noritsugu’s death, but he was very concerned about the castle’s ownership.
A Man flipped through her small notebook and replied, “The news is not yet fully confirmed, but it should have been taken over by the Imagawa family. The new commander is Okabe Motonobu （ Tanba no Kami ）. The branch castles controlled by the Yamaguchi family have all been taken over by people from the Imagawa and Matsudaira families. The whereabouts of the Yamaguchi family are unknown.”
She paused and added, “I suspect they’re all dead. I’ll verify it later.”
Yuan Ye didn’t care much about the fate of the Yamaguchi family, only musing, “The local power is gone…”
The Yamaguchi family’s nature was similar to the Aragiko Maeda family; they were local overlords whose words carried more weight than a daimyo’s. Now that the Yamaguchi family had suddenly been eliminated by the Imagawa family, the Imagawa family’s actual control over the root of the Chita Peninsula had weakened. With the death of one, others would feel the chill, making it difficult to gain the support of the local people.
After thinking for a while, Yuan Ye asked A Man, “Was this Oda Nobunaga’s doing?”
A Man shook her head. “I don’t know. Our strength in the Suruga region is weak, and our response is not that fast. We can’t confirm what happened in Sunpu Castle yet, but… it probably has something to do with Oda Nobunaga? Perhaps a counter-espionage tactic?”
Yuan Ye also thought so. Oda Nobunaga had sent “Monkeys” to infiltrate the Shirakawa Entrance, and with the cooperation of the “Kyōdan-shū,” they created various disturbances, secretly colluded with members of the Yamaguchi family, or perhaps simply spread rumors, arousing the Imagawa family’s suspicion? Fearing resistance on the way to the capital, they lured Yamaguchi Noritsugu and his son to Suruga and assassinated them, seizing their territory?
Of course, it was also possible that Imagawa Yoshimoto simply felt that with the march on the capital approaching, it was unreliable to have someone who wasn’t completely loyal at a key point on the route, and he couldn’t rest easy, so he decided to eliminate the Yamaguchi family first. That was also possible.
It was difficult to ascertain these internal details. Oda Nobunaga’s secrecy was excellent. The followers and family retainers A Man had infiltrated could not obtain any information on this matter. The Imagawa family’s headquarters were too far away; just relaying messages back and forth was a life-threatening task, let alone placing a spy near Imagawa Yoshimoto.
Yuan Ye pondered for a while, but without any leads, he set aside this minor doubt. It was no longer important to ponder these things now; it was enough to confirm that something had changed.
As it stood, the Battle of Okehazama was happening this year. Whether they would feast or starve depended on this year!
Yuan Ye made up his mind and, without further hesitation, immediately convened various meetings, beginning to mobilize Xin Wanjin, shifting from a production state to a war state, increasing the training intensity of the peasant soldiers, organizing peasant soldiers to take over the defensive positions of the Wanjin Army, forming auxiliary units, and preparing a large quantity of military rations, gunpowder, horses, and vehicles.
These changes were gradual to avoid causing too much upheaval in Xin Wanjin. Strict controls would only be implemented at the very end. While he was preparing Xin Wanjin for war, Oda Nobunaga was also not idle.
With the Yamaguchi family inexplicably eliminated by Imagawa Yoshimoto, Oda Nobunaga also took active steps, dispatching a large number of personnel to… build rock fortifications, to surround Odaka Castle. Odaka Castle was located near Atsuta Port and resembled a dagger pointed at Atsuta Port. It seemed Oda Nobunaga intended to remove this thorn while the Yamaguchi family was suddenly wiped out.
He truly spared no expense, dispatching a vast number of men. In just over a month, he built Washizu and Marune Forts, stationed a large number of followers and ashigaru there, and used them as launching points to begin attempting to destroy the defensive fortifications around Odaka Castle.
Almost simultaneously, Imagawa Yoshimoto also made his move, appointing Ii Naomori as the vanguard general, leading five thousand men westward along the main road to open a path for the march on the capital.
Two days later, Imagawa Yoshimoto ordered his son, Imagawa Ujizane, to garrison Sunpu Castle, and he himself personally led a two-thousand-man army in a palanquin, swaying precariously, officially beginning his march on the capital, striking fear throughout the land.
All eyes turned towards them, as a new ruler of the world was about to emerge!
