Chapter 251: Winning with Virtue
Guo Tailang came from humble beginnings and had mediocre abilities. In his twenties, he was conscripted as a rookie and ashigaru to the battlefield, subsequently defeated and captured, which was quite unlucky.
Theoretically, he should have been sold to some place to continue repairing the earth. If he had bad luck, he would be sent to the battlefield again to die an untimely death. If he had good luck, he would settle down, have a litter of children, and repeat his fate.
But fate played a trick on him, and he happened to be sold to Wanjin, from which his destiny was changed.
In Wanjin, he entered a workshop, then the army, and even a camp school. Although his academic performance in cultural subjects, training results in tactical subjects, and actual combat achievements were all rather average due to fierce competition, far from being as smooth as his younger brother Shi Pusa’s development, through his studies, he was no longer the ignorant villager he once was.
Later, due to Wanjin’s lack of grassroots management personnel, he was ordered to change professions and went to work in a small town in Southern City, where he began to be responsible for rural work.
In this job, his performance was much better than in the army. After all, he had lived in the village since he was young, was skilled in farm work, familiar with the villagers, and genuinely enjoyed rural life. More importantly, although he wasn’t smart and his abilities were relatively mediocre, he was very honest and obedient, with excellent compliance. No matter how strange Yuan Ye’s requests seemed in this era, or how undignified they were, he was always willing to execute them diligently.
He remained true to himself in Songshan Village, genuinely working alongside the villagers with a hoe. His lack of success in the army was mainly due to insufficient decisiveness and a reluctance to go all out. However, in rural work, daring to go all out wasn’t important. Instead, his “big brother” like approachability easily earned him trust and goodwill from others.
In the short span of over ten days in Songshan Village, he, relying on his past work experience, led by example, working alongside others. He also reasoned with the villagers, spoke of the future, cared for the lonely and widowed, was approachable, and very considerate. However, towards certain troublemakers, he would pit villagers against villagers and directly strike them with heavy blows, even hanging them up to be beaten without any hesitation or sign of being easily bullied.
Furthermore, they were an entire work group, each with their own responsibilities. Some administered medicine and treated illnesses, alleviating the villagers’ pain. Others established schools, teaching the village children to read and write. Some investigated local specialties, preparing to develop them next year to help the village earn some money.
Everything was very rudimentary. For instance, the primary school teacher himself only knew over a thousand Chinese characters and could barely manage addition and subtraction. Yet, they set up a dilapidated room and started classes, without regard for whether they might mislead the students. The one treating illnesses was better at treating livestock than people, and most of the medicine used were pills produced by Wanjin’s “suicide squad factory,” which seemed to disregard human life.
Yet, these actions still greatly shocked the villagers of Songshan Village.
They had never seen such methods before. They had lived their entire lives without ever encountering such “samurai lords.” Were these even “samurai lords”?
In just over ten days, the more than two thousand people of Songshan Village were subdued, truly convinced from the heart. They worked tirelessly under the command of Guo Tailang and others without any complaints.
Some had even begun to believe the “beautiful future” that Guo Tailang and his group spoke of: a future where the village wouldn’t have to pay all sorts of annual tribute, where agricultural tax would be at most “two parts for the government and eight for the people,” where eating bitter wild vegetables wasn’t a necessity but merely a change of taste, and where there would certainly be enough grain. In fact, by learning techniques like “fertilizing” and “mud-burying the fields,” the yield could be further increased, allowing them to sell it for money and buy many good things.
They had no choice but to believe. It wasn’t as if Guo Tailang and his group had traveled a long distance to suffer and toil just to trick them for fun, right?
Even if Guo Tailang and his group wanted them to go to the battlefield, they could force them with swords; there would be no need for such trouble.
As life began to show signs of improvement, many couldn’t help but worry about the situation on the frontline.
Could the Wanjin Army hold out? Would the Kitabatake Family fight back? We couldn’t just stand by and do nothing, could we? We had to help somehow, right?
And what about this “Lord Yuan Ye”? I heard he’s also on the frontline. Isn’t that a bit too dangerous?
He can’t die! If he dies, what happens to this good life? The next local lord might not be satisfied with just this much!
Songshan Village’s change of allegiance was outrageously smooth, mainly because “you don’t fear goods that aren’t recognized, only goods that are compared.” The Kitabatake Family had been too inhumane before, practically sucking the marrow out of these villagers. If Wanjin acted even slightly human, the villagers of Songshan Village wouldn’t even have to think; they would instinctively vote to follow Wanjin and see if they could become Wanjin people in the future.
Whoever in Ise wants to be one can be one. They can’t even eat. It’s better not to be one!
Under this wave of sentiment, and during the winter lull, the village’s labor force was organized without difficulty, taking over transportation work and the expansion and widening of roads. Even a militia team was organized, with over a hundred people beginning to train, providing security for the village and its surroundings. They even unexpectedly captured two Kitabatake spies – reported by the villagers themselves. By the time Guo Tailang received them, these two spies were already close to death.
Similar incidents were frequently occurring on the land between Deer Ferry Port and Anno Castle. Wanjin had dispatched dozens of work groups like Guo Tailang’s, large and small, and they were beginning to snowball, transforming the Kitabatake Family’s strength into Wanjin’s strength.
This is victory over others through virtue.
…
Northwest of Songshan Village lies Anno Castle.
Kitabatake Tomonori, dressed in a monk’s robe and holding prayer beads, sat cross-legged. There was no hint of a “sword master” about him. Before him stood a group of samurai who had come to greet him, but their expressions were far from enthusiastic; they were all stunned.
Notsuki Castle had fallen. As a branch castle of Anno Castle and an important barrier to the southeast, it was breached in less than twenty days.
This was even with the enemy’s slow movement speed and their diversion of troops to sweep through the area.
If the enemy had ignored everything else and charged directly at Notsuki Castle, with its defenses and surrounding rock fortresses, it would have held for at most two days.
However, the Kitabatake Family’s losses were not too significant, with only over a thousand dead. The main force had successfully retreated to Anno Castle.
Well, Notsuki Castle was a branch castle. Although its defenses were strong, it couldn’t accommodate the Kitabatake Family’s army of six thousand. Originally, the Kitabatake Family intended to use Notsuki Castle to block the Wanjin Army, with most of their forces positioned to the rear to act at any moment. However, the Wanjin Army, while slow in movement, was incredibly fierce in combat. Upon arrival, they leisurely destroyed the nearby rock fortresses and launched a large-scale night raid that very night.
By the time the Kitabatake Family reacted, Notsuki Castle had already become a large inferno. The flames were so intense that they were like a beacon in the dark night, illuminating several miles. The troops that rushed to its immediate rescue fell into a Wanjin Army ambush, and a fierce melee ensued in the dim firelight. In the end, the Kitabatake Family suffered a crushing defeat, fleeing and leaving behind over three hundred bodies and all their wounded.
By dawn, Notsuki Castle had changed hands, or rather, it had been destroyed. The over a thousand defenders inside were almost completely wiped out, with only a few dozen lucky ones escaping in the darkness, familiar with the terrain.
This kind of battle situation greatly exceeded the expectations of everyone in the Kitabatake Family. Originally, Yuan Ye had stubbornly hunkered down at Deer Ferry Port, appearing like a giant turtle. Who would have thought that the turtle would bite so fiercely? Moving slowly and steadily, it suddenly poked its head out and bit off such a large piece of their flesh, causing them deep pain.
The offensive and defensive positions had already shifted between the two sides. Now, the situation had taken a sharp turn, even causing some of their plans to fall completely through.
Originally, the Kitabatake Family had planned to tie down the Wanjin Army for several months in the Notsuki area, allowing them to dispatch some troops to clear out the “uprising forces” in various counties. But now, the Wanjin Army was slowly moving towards Anno Castle like a giant turtle again, and they couldn’t leave.
Even Kitabatake Tomonori couldn’t attend to the peasant uprisings in the other four counties, which were in complete chaos. He could only urgently dispatch a few hundred banner soldiers to take charge of the situation.
After all, Anno Castle was the center and pivot of the Kitabatake Family’s rule in Shimokyū County. If this fell, Shimokyū County would be completely devastated in an instant.
This was something the Kitabatake Family could absolutely not accept. Suzukaze and Shimokyū Counties were the fundamental strategic areas of the Kitabatake Family, and they absolutely could not be lost.
Kitabatake Tomonori also couldn’t understand how these fools, wielding more than half of the Kitabatake Family’s military strength, could have fought like this. With instability in the rear and wavering morale, he could understand that the frontline troops didn’t want to throw their lives against the Wanjin people’s fortifications. But even after retreating to solid defenses, they couldn’t hold them. This was truly unbelievable.
Wanjin was merely a vassal of Oda Nobunaga. Yet, they couldn’t even stop a mere vassal?
If Oda Nobunaga himself attacked, would the Kitabatake Family simply surrender?
However, he was, after all, a figure of the same generation as the “Tiger of Owari.” Being old, he could remain calm. Seeing the subordinates who came to greet him, he didn’t get angry. After sitting down, he adjusted his prayer beads, calmed his mind, and asked in a deep voice, “What is going on? Why was Notsuki Castle lost so easily? I need an explanation!”
Everyone’s gaze shifted to Yasuda Genkatsu, the castle keeper of Notsuki Castle at the time. Fortunately, his retainers were capable enough to fight to the death to cover his escape. If blame were to be assigned, he would undoubtedly be the primary responsible party.
However, Yasuda Genkatsu had been listless since his escape, appearing as if his spirit had died with his body. He just sat there, out of his senses, with no intention of stepping forward to bravely accept responsibility and commit seppuku as an apology.
Perhaps the Wanjin Army’s ferocity that night, which had swept away his followers and retainers like a destructive force, had dealt him too great a blow, and he hadn’t recovered yet.
Finally, it was Hirado Tōbei, the Chief Magistrate of Okōchi Castle and the Kitabatake Family’s “Niwa Nagahide,” who couldn’t bear it any longer. He bowed and sighed, “My Lord, our previous judgment was flawed. The Yuan Ye Family… is very strong, a rare powerful army in this era.”
When Wanjin suddenly landed and began a forceful standoff, the Kitabatake Family unanimously judged that they were there to take advantage of the situation and likely intended to plunder heavily. However, the current situation was clearly not right. They had already allowed Wanjin to plunder half a county, yet Wanjin was still advancing step by step towards Anno Castle, their intention to swallow it whole being very obvious. They had clearly been planning this for a long time.
Hirado Tōbei, responsible for advising his Lord and analyzing the situation, then invited Kitabatake Tomonori to the courtyard, where a corpse of a Wanjin soldier had already been placed.
He pointed to the corpse and said, “My Lord, please look. This is a Wanjin ashigaru. Truly… truly unexpected. Their equipment is very fine, and… and they are extremely fierce and warlike. Even when surrounded, they refused to surrender. At that time, five of them were surrounded, and in the end, none surrendered; all died in battle.”
This was a reconnaissance team from the Wanjin Army, responsible for scouting the terrain ahead and paving the way for the main force. However, while carrying out their mission, they accidentally ran into an enemy force. The five men couldn’t escape and failed to hide by fleeing into an abandoned small village. They were immediately surrounded, but refused to surrender. After igniting signal flares for rescue, they held their ground, relying on matchlock guns, incendiary bombs, and long swords to resist, killing two low-ranking samurai and injuring or killing over ten followers and ashigaru.
During this time, the Kitabatake Family also attempted to bribe them into surrendering, offering gold, silver, and land. However, these five men remained silent, resolutely resisting until the end. Not a single one survived; all were killed in the siege.
However, the Kitabatake Family’s unit at that time did not fare well either. A Wanjin Army of over a hundred men, seeing the rescue signal, rushed to their aid, and the two sides engaged in another fierce battle in that abandoned village. In the end, the Kitabatake Family suffered a crushing defeat, losing over thirty men before being forced to flee. However, they brought back a corpse of a Wanjin soldier, which was considered a rare spoil of war.
Many similar incidents occurred. After all, the Kitabatake Family had not yet decided to engage in a decisive battle with the Wanjin Army. With one side deliberately avoiding battle, large-scale field battles could not take place. Most of the engagements were small skirmishes involving a dozen or a few dozen men. The combat will and tactical skills displayed by the Wanjin Army had greatly demoralized the Kitabatake Family’s low-ranking samurai and followers.
Hirado Tōbei had collected a lot of related intelligence: there were instances of over a hundred Wanjin soldiers besieging a local earth warrior’s residence, repeated struggles for a mountain rock fortress during the standoff phase, ambushes that inflicted casualties on the enemy, and ambushes that were turned into victories…
In short, the Wanjin Army’s equipment was not only excellent and their firepower extremely fierce, but their combat objectives were clear, and their desire for battle was strong. As long as they needed to take a certain place, they dared to launch a desperate charge, vowing not to stop until their objective was achieved.
This was truly a strong army, far superior to the followers of ordinary daimyo and local lords. The Kitabatake Army in Shimokyū County wasn’t unwilling to fight a decisive battle; it was just that even with a stable rear and normal morale, they probably couldn’t stop the Wanjin Army. At best, the casualties they inflicted on the enemy would vary.
After Hirado Tōbei finished speaking, the former Notsuki Castle keeper, Yasuda Genkatsu, seemed to recall the scene of the Wanjin Army silently swarming in that night. He seemed to see his attendant vassals and followers being cut down one by one. Suddenly, he shivered and let out a groan. He seemed to have woken up, as if from a nightmare.
Kitabatake Tomonori glanced at him without responding, his gaze falling on the Wanjin Army’s corpse. He noticed that the opponent was indeed well-equipped and couldn’t help but start examining it. After a moment, he picked up an object and asked curiously, “What is this?”
