Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Chapter 180: North and South Meet
With the successive fall of the outer fortifications, the fall of Dianshan City was only a matter of time.

On the morning of March 2nd, the punitive army led by Kumagata Takanao arrived at Niimi River and joined forces with Yamagata Morinobu, increasing the number of Takeda troops south of Yodoyama Castle to 6,000.

Together with the 5,500-man coalition force of Takeda and Yamana in the north of the city, there were actually more than 11,000 troops gathered under the small Yodoyama Castle.

Such a large-scale siege not only excited the people of Mimasaka and Harima such as Uno and Shinmen who were outside the city participating in the Takeda army's operation for the first time, but also made the Kusakari army who were fighting desperately inside the city.

Upon learning that Kumagata Takanao had joined forces with Yamagata Morinobu, the soldiers in Yoshishige's main camp in the north of the city were immediately boosted and cheered. Because they knew that Kumagai Takanao's arrival meant that the established goal in the direction of Mimasaka had been achieved. Next, as long as Yodoyama Castle was captured, this "unexpected" Kusakari campaign would be over.

As expected, at noon, Kumagai Takanao led the Suga clan and the leaders of Mimasaka and Harima such as Uno and Shinmen to Yoshishige's main camp and reported to Yoshishige on the battle situation of the Mimasaka and Harima campaign.

In order to stabilize the newly occupied territories and expand the prestige of the Takeda clan in the local area, Yoshishige warmly received Unomura Yoshihiro and Shinmen Munemasa and his party. He not only took them to review the elite horsemen under his command, but also issued them with a certificate of security on the spot to ensure that after the Takeda clan replaced the Kusakari clan to control Meimeisaku and Kitaharima, the land and power held by these local forces would remain unchanged.

"My lords, our family has just arrived. From now on, I will have to trouble you with some matters concerning Bimasaka and Harima." At the welcome banquet that followed, Yoshishige bowed solemnly to a group of local leaders sitting next to him.

These people had never expected that these country warriors from poor and remote areas would receive such a high-level reception from Yoshishige. Not only that, they were also given skills and protection on the spot. Therefore, they were extremely excited and even flattered. They bowed to Yoshishige in fear and trepidation. Many of them even sobbed uncontrollably.

"Thank you for the warm hospitality of Wuweidian and Jinwudian. We are truly flattered and humbled!" Unomura Yasushi, who was the first to express his submission to the Takeda clan, took the lead in expressing his sincere gratitude to Yoshishige and Yamana Yutoyo.

"You are too polite, Shimotsuma-no-Kami." Yoshishige smiled in response and said cordially, "I heard from Shigegoro that if it weren't for you, my Takeda army wouldn't have been able to enter Mimasaka so smoothly, and everyone here wouldn't have trusted our family so much and led their troops to gather under our family's banner. If you want to express your gratitude, I should be the one to say it."

"I am deeply moved. Gathering under the banner of 'Shiwari-Hyo' is the most correct decision we have ever made." At this time, Unomura Yoshiro had quietly changed the way he addressed himself. This can be regarded as a reflection of the Harima man's awareness of the times.

"What Shimotsuma-no-kami said is correct," said Arimotosaku, the leader of the Suga clan and the head of the Arimoto clan, who was not willing to be left behind. He quickly expressed his loyalty to Yoshishige with a smile, "If it weren't for the lord sending troops to Bimasaka, we, the people of the country, would have been bullied by the Kusakari clan for who knows how long."

Hearing the word "Lord" coming out of Arimoto Saganori's mouth, the other people hurriedly changed their words, especially the dozen or so leaders from the Suga family, who called Yoshishige "Lord" one after another and tearfully complained to Yoshishige about the oppression and ravages they had suffered from the Kusakari clan for decades. They kowtowed repeatedly to express their gratitude to Yoshishige and Yamana Tasukuyoshi.

"You have followed the right person this time. With the Wuwei Palace here, I guarantee that you won't have to worry as much as before. You can live a good life in your own territory from now on."

Seeing that the leaders of the countrymen also kowtowed to him and thanked him, Yamana Yufeng was very tactful and pushed all the credit to Yoshishige. After all, his 1,000 troops were not on the same level as the Takeda army in terms of scale and combat power. This time, following Yoshishige, the Yamana army basically played a role of boosting momentum and waving flags. In the real battles to overcome difficulties, it was the Takeda army that rushed to the front. Knowing this, Yamana Yufeng must recognize his position and be as humble and cautious as possible in exchange for Yoshishige's appreciation and trust.

Seeing that Yamana Yufeng was so sensible, Yoshishige was quite satisfied. He had originally had some concerns about placing the Yamana main family in Nishi-Inaba, but now he let down his guard a little. He thought that as long as he was obedient enough, leaving him an acre and three mu of land and letting him become a buffer zone between the Takeda clan and the Amago clan would not be a bad thing.

"Thank you very much for your protection, my lord! Thank you very much for your protection, my lord!" After hearing what Yamana Yutoyo said, Unomura Yoshihei, Arimoto Sanori and others once again expressed their gratitude to Yoshishige for protecting them, and told Yoshishige that as long as the Takeda clan needed them, they were willing to lead their troops to charge forward and swear allegiance to the Takeda clan until death.

Yoshishige certainly benefited from these flattery and expressions of loyalty, but he could also tell what was sincere and what was compliment. Most of these Kokumin's men were a hastily assembled army, and their combat effectiveness was estimated to be ranked behind that of the Yamana Army.

If they were sent as the vanguard to attack Dianshan City, where more than a thousand people were still stationed, they would find it difficult to achieve any major results even with the help of the Portuguese cannons. Not only that, they might even be defeated by the fierce resistance of the Kusakari Army who were determined to fight to the death.

"I am very pleased that you can follow Shigegoro to annihilate the Kusakari army castle in Mimasaka. The next battle of the general attack on Yodoyama Castle will be handed over to our family." Since they have shown enough sincerity and loyalty, that is enough. Imagine if they were sent to the front line to die just after they surrendered to the Takeda clan. If this matter spreads, those forces that want to surrender or succumb to them will probably think twice before doing so.

After exchanging greetings with the people from Mimasaka and Harima, Yoshishige officially announced that a general attack on Yodoyama Castle would be launched from both the north and south tomorrow morning.

At this moment, Yuan Zuoze stood up and begged Yoshishige to wait for two days.

As far as he knew, many people who originally belonged to the Suga party were forced to lead their troops to participate in the siege of the city due to the intimidation of the Kusakari clan. Among them were some well-known people in the Suga party such as Minamiki and Fukuda.

At the beginning, they were forced into Yodoyama Castle by Kusakari Kōtsugu's soft and hard tactics without knowing the strength of the Takeda army. Now that the city is about to fall, they will definitely not be willing to be buried with the Kusakari clan. As long as they can send ninjas into the city and give them the handwritten letter from Yuan Sanshen, they will most likely be able to take advantage of the situation to rebel against them. By then, it will be easier to take Yodoyama Castle by internal and external cooperation than by force.

Yishige thought for a moment, then slowly stretched out three fingers and said, "Three days, give them three days at most. I will launch a general attack in three days. If they can get ahead of others and open the city, I will acknowledge their contribution. If they fail to take any action, they will die with the Kusakari clan and Yodoyama Castle."

After hearing Yoshishige's statement, Arimotosuke immediately kowtowed to express his gratitude. Although the Minamiki, Fukuda and other clans were temporarily intimidated by Kusakari Hengji and betrayed him, he was after all a sovereign of the Suga clan, and he would try his best to win them back. Even if he failed, he would have tried his best.

Therefore, without paying attention to the ongoing banquet, Arimoto Sawa immediately went forward and wrote a letter and handed it to the Takeda clan ninja.

(End of this chapter)