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

Chapter 8: Su Yi's Surrender
The three-story castle tower of Gozeyama Castle is the only castle tower in the barren land of Wakasa, and is also a symbol of the power of the Wakasa Takeda clan.

At this moment, after the baptism and destruction of war, the bright and beautiful appearance is no longer there, the walls are blackened by smoke, and the carp-shaped decorations decorating the main ridge of the roof have fallen to the ground and shattered along with the broken bricks and tiles.

Takeda Nobutaka's rebels surrounded the castle tower. A group of foot soldiers holding torches cleared a path. Awaya Mototaka, protected by several samurai, strode along the path to the castle tower.

This old minister who had served three dynasties, Takeda Motonobu, Takeda Motomitsu, and Takeda Nobutoyo, silently raised his head and looked up at the castle tower that witnessed the former glory of the Takeda clan, with mixed feelings in his heart.

"Your Highness Izu-no-kami, as I said before, as long as you become a monk and live in seclusion and give up the position of family head, Miyakawa-dono is willing to guarantee the safety of your life and the lives of your soldiers." Awaya Mototaka no longer addressed Takeda Nobutoyo as "Lord", and calling him by his official title retained the last bit of respect.

There was total silence in the castle tower and no response was given to the conditions proposed by Awaya Mototaka.

In desperation, he ordered his men to bring straw and firewood and pile them under the base of the castle tower, then poured kerosene on them. He took the torch from a samurai beside him, walked to the firewood pile, and said loudly again: "Your Highness, I have waited until now for the sake of our relationship. If Your Highness still does not make a decision, then I will do it for you."

"Wait a minute!" Suddenly, a young man in straight clothes staggered out of the castle tower and knelt down in front of Awaya Mototaka with a plop.

Awaya Mototaka took a closer look and said with a contemptuous smile, "It turned out to be Heihachiro. Why did you leave Izu-no-kami behind and run away by yourself?"

This Heihachiro was a young man who lived with Takeda Nobutoyo. He had fair skin and handsome looks, and was deeply loved by Takeda Nobutoyo. Especially after Nobutoyo succeeded to the position of head of the family, the two became inseparable. Even when discussing military and political affairs, Heihachiro would follow and occasionally interject. Takeda Nobutoyo did not take it seriously, but over time, the retainers began to dislike him.

Heihachiro raised his head and smiled charmingly, "Yes, the lord asked me to come and inform Ukyo Ryo that he is willing to accept the conditions proposed by Miyakawa-dono, but it will take some time to bathe and change clothes."

"That's great." Awaya Yuanlong snorted coldly, turned around and waved his hand, saying: "You go back and serve, and tell His Highness that I can't wait too long."

"Yes, sir." Heihachiro stood up, brushed the dust off his clothes, and trotted back to the castle tower.

To prevent any fraud, Awaya Mototaka ordered his men to strengthen the defense and had foot soldiers holding shields stand in front to guard against flying arrows that might be shot from the castle tower at any time.

But it turned out that his precautions were unnecessary.

About half an hour later, the gate of the castle tower opened, and the remaining soldiers in the city filed out and lined up on both sides of the gate. With the support of Heihachiro, Takeda Nobutoyo slowly walked out of the gate in a single white robe and with disheveled hair, his head hung, completely devoid of the dignity and pride of a ruler of a country.

"Your Highness, thank you for your hard work and stay at Hoshinji Temple for a while. Once things here are settled, our family will hold a ceremony to hand over the family heir. I will trouble you again then." Under Awaya Mototaka's seemingly respectful demeanor, his expressionless face revealed contempt and indifference.

"Let's go to Hoshinji Temple, haha." Takeda Nobutoyo sneered, "Yes, I haven't seen my father for a long time. It's a good opportunity to take this opportunity to visit him."

"Oh, there is one more thing." Awaya Mototaka asked, "Where is the head of Lord Terai now?"

"This..." Takeda Nobutoyo hesitated, fearing that any carelessness would give Awaya Mototaka an excuse to punish him.

"it's here!"

Awaya Mototaka followed the sound and saw Muto Mitsuyu slowly approaching with a wooden box in his hands. "Here is the head of Lord Terai." Muto Mitsuyu carefully opened the box, and Awaya Mototaka took a glance and motioned him to close it, his expression full of grief.

"I'm sorry." Muto Mitsuyu bowed to him.

"The best fate for a warrior is to die on the battlefield. There's no need to apologize." Awaya Mototaka sighed and patted Muto Mitsuyu's shoulder. He then asked, "What are your plans for the future, Zuo Bingwei?"

"My lord 'almost' committed hara-kiri, this is all due to my incompetence as a minister." He glanced at Takeda Nobutoyo beside him and said to himself, "I am not worthy of staying in the Takeda family no matter what. I plan to go to Kinki to try my luck from now on."

"Almost" is a complete irony to Takeda Nobutoyo. Not long ago, Muto Mitsuyoshi hoped that Nobutoyo would commit suicide to protect the honor of the samurai, and he was willing to be his kaishakunin. However, Nobutoyo looked at the glaring wakizashi in front of him, and after thinking for a long time, he couldn't do it. So he sent Heihachiro to surrender despite the dissuasion.

Thinking of his previous cowardly behavior, Muto Mitsuyoshi completely lost confidence in Nobutoyo, which is why he felt that he was "unworthy" to stay in the Takeda family.

Of course, Awaya Mototaka knew that there was something else behind his words. The two of them had a feeling of heroes appreciating each other, so much so that he hoped that Muto Mitsuyuki could join his team.

However, Muto Mitsuyoshi knew that the future of the Takeda clan in Wakasa, which was plagued by frequent internal strife, was hopeless, and that Wakasa Province was not a place for him to settle down. Therefore, he politely declined Awaya Mototaka's invitation.

Seeing this situation, Awaya Mototaka did not try to keep him by force, but instead gave him a large sum of money and let him leave on his own.

The Battle of Gozeyama Castle came to an end, and Takeda Nobutaka was only one step away from becoming the official head of the family. At this time, disagreements arose among his generals.

Awaya Mototaka believed that if the name was not right, then the words would not flow, and that he should first hold a ceremony to officially become the head of the family and grasp the moral responsibility before retaking Miyagawa Castle; Naito Katsutaka believed that the longer the night, the more trouble he would have, and that he should immediately lead his troops eastward and not give Nobushige a chance to catch his breath.

As the two factions were arguing, Takeda Nobutaka finally discussed a compromise plan: prepare for the relevant matters of the handover ceremony overnight, spend the whole morning after dawn to complete the ceremony, and then immediately send troops to Miyagawa Castle. It would only delay the whole process for half a day, and it was believed that Nobushige would not cause much trouble.

Although Naito Katsutaka had his doubts, he could not persuade Takeda Nobutaka and Awaya Mototaka, so he had to agree.

While they were happily preparing for the ferry crossing ceremony, the flying kyaku sent by Nobushige had already returned to the army. However, the army had already left Miyagawa Castle and arrived at Karatake Castle controlled by the Yamagata clan under the cover of night.

This small castle was built when Yamagata Morinobu's grandfather was alive, and has existed as a branch castle of the Yamagata clan for decades. It controls a mountain road leading to Hoshinji Temple. Compared to Miyagawa Castle, it is closer to the Gozeyama area and can be reached in less than half a day.

There were three main reasons for moving the army here. In addition to the distance mentioned above, the more important thing was to avoid the heavily guarded Tango Street. This road from Miyagawa Castle to Takeda's mansion must have been heavily guarded by Takeda Nobutaka. If they acted according to the original plan, they would probably be caught in a passive position under the attack of the well-rested rebels.
In addition, Hoshinji Temple is located on a plateau, at the intersection of mountains and plains. It has a higher altitude than the Takeda clan's mansion, and the mountain roads are not conducive to the movement of large troops and are easily overlooked. If a sudden attack is made from here, not only will there be the advantage of being high above, but it will also be possible to catch the rebels off guard to the greatest extent possible.

The news brought by Hikyaku was crucial to Nobushige. He thought the battle would not end until the next morning, and initially allowed the soldiers to set up camp, get a good night's sleep, and set out again at dawn, but now it seems that they can't wait any longer.

"Pass the order down, the army will march out immediately, target: Faxin Temple!"

Thank you all for your support. Xiong Zai has to go to work, so I write in my spare time. I can’t finish two chapters a day, but I will definitely keep writing. Please forgive me!

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(End of this chapter)