Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 237 Underestimating the Heroes of the World!
"This Prince Nohara is not a bad person at all; he's not as terrible as the rumors say."

After leaving Matsukura Castle, having drunk his fill of Wanjin's specialty fruit-flavored shochu and taro shochu, Maeno Nagayasu, already six or seven parts drunk, couldn't help but comment on Haruno, saying that he didn't seem like a greedy, lustful, despicable, capricious, and tyrannical "Kabuki-sha" (a type of Japanese kabuki-sha). The Owari lords' assessment of him was somewhat questionable.

On the contrary, Haruno, as Oda Nobunaga's most valued brother-in-law, a staunch ally of Oda Danjo-chū, a minor daimyo who ruled the Chita Peninsula, and a wealthy castle lord, could speak to these commoner samurai in a gentle and courteous manner, and even personally offer them sake. One could say that he had a very good character and the demeanor of an ancient sage.

"There are many mediocre people in the world, and one should not believe everything people say!"

Having achieved his goal, Nakamura Yakuro now had a rather good impression of Harano and echoed Maeno Nagayasu's words.

Haruno is an eccentric individual. Two or three years ago, he went crazy and forcibly expelled all the samurai families on the Chita Peninsula. He also killed many well-known samurai in Owari and demolished seven or eight shrines and three or four temples. To this day, he has not apologized or admitted his mistakes, which has caused his reputation in Owari to deteriorate. He is almost becoming the public enemy of the Owari gentry.

It was only because he had a strong army and an alliance with Oda Nobunaga that ordinary people could not subdue him; otherwise, someone might have already rallied thousands of people to cause him trouble.

Yakuro's situation wasn't much better than Harano's. Anyone with eyes could guess what Oda Nobunaga wanted to use him for. The Owari clans were quite wary of him. Even with Oda Nobunaga around, they didn't dare to do anything to him in secret, but when they met in private, they couldn't avoid making sarcastic remarks.

In particular, powerful clan heads like Shibata Katsuie and Sasa Narimasa would constantly cause him trouble. They would either push someone to compete with him and steal his chance to shine, or they would secretly sabotage him when he was carrying out a mission, making him look foolish.

Various methods were employed, leaving him with no way to express his suffering.

In fact, Oda Nobunaga sent him ahead of time to the Kiso River area and entrusted him with the "Kawanai-shu" (a military force) because during the siege of Inuyama Castle, due to the lack of cooperation from his subordinates, he made a major mistake while defending the Miyako Fortress, inexplicably allowing hundreds of Mino reinforcements to enter Inuyama Castle, and he was almost held accountable to the point of having to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) as an apology.

It wasn't that he wasn't working hard or serious when he was on defense; it was that he genuinely couldn't distinguish which of his subordinates were from the Owari clans. In other words, almost everyone in Owari, regardless of whether they were human or not, had some connection with the Owari clans, making it impossible to guard against them all.

Therefore, he understood Haruno's bad reputation. After all, he was "Haruno the Second," and his reputation in the Owari clan circle was not good either, even worse than Haruno's. At least Haruno was 1.8 meters tall, had fair skin, straight teeth, and was quite handsome. He looked like he came from a noble family, so no one would attack his lineage or give him a nickname like "country rat."

In short, the Owari clans thought Haruno was insane; as an outsider, he showed no respect for the Owari clans and acted too recklessly, eliciting a mixture of disgust and fear. As for Haruno, they held him in blatant contempt; even glancing at him made them feel disgusted and they wanted to cover their noses.

Nakamura Yakuro defended Haruno, then, reflecting on his own situation, felt a pang of sympathy. He realized he could try to get closer to Haruno in the future, after all…

They were kindred spirits, essentially the same kind of people, and their roles were similar—both were tools used by Oda Nobunaga to balance, restrain, and provoke the Owari lords to obey him.

However, Yuan Ye, who had taken a desperate gamble nearly three years ago, forcibly seized the Chita Peninsula and successfully survived two consecutive years of famine without collapsing. His foundation was now in place and he was ready to play a role. On the other hand, Mikuro had stumbled along for the past three years and accomplished nothing.

This attempt to win over the powerful clans of the Kiso River region was likely his last chance to achieve merit. If he failed again, and Oda Nobunaga became disillusioned, then…

Back then, Oda Nobunaga had high hopes for Hiyoshimaru, the "horse-headed man," and was preparing to give him a chance to make a name for himself. However, Shibata Katsuie and others discovered this early on and secretly murdered Hiyoshimaru.

If he fails again, his fate will be the same as that of his predecessor, Hiyoshimaru: he will be silently killed by Shibata Katsuie, Sasa Narimasa, and their ilk, so that his tragic end can serve as a warning to those who come after him, letting them know the consequences of opposing powerful clans.

This is absolutely unacceptable! I must rise above others and become the ruler of a city and a country!
Thinking of this, Nakamura Yakuro's good mood vanished instantly, replaced by a renewed sense of urgency. He wished he could fly to the "Kawabe-shu's" lair immediately, gather warships, and launch the operation right away. He had two tasks: one was to win over the local lords in the Kiso River area, and the other was to build a bridge across the Kiso River to facilitate resupply for the army after crossing the river. However, he didn't mention that he didn't need Harano's help in building the bridge.

He hurriedly led his new subordinates back to the temporary camp, and after much persuasion and encouragement, he finally managed to convince the former river pirates, who were full and unwilling to move, to continue their journey.

He was going to take a gamble and learn from Yuan Ye. This mission was a do-or-die situation; he was determined to claim his Zhixing territory!
…………

Two days later, he returned with the former "Kawanai-shu" and now the "Oda Inland Water Force", totaling more than 500 people and more than 60 boats of various sizes.

They were all inland river boats, and none of them were very big. The larger boats could only carry twenty or thirty people, and some of the smaller boats were simply fishing boats used by families. They would sink if they carried three or five people. Moreover, regardless of the size of the boats, they all mainly relied on boarding operations and had virtually no additional protection or firing points. After all, in the past, the "Kawa-nai-shu" (rivers and lakes) only robbed scattered merchants on the Kiso River and Nagara River and had no need for large-scale frontal battles.

This was the full strength of the notorious Owari river pirates, the "Kawanai-shu." More than sixty boats sailed downstream and were placed on the river. Putting aside their fighting ability, their sheer presence was quite impressive.

Nakamura Yakuro commanded the river naval forces to stop near Matsukura Castle. Soon, his men, whom he had sent ahead, returned to report, "My lord, Lord Nohara said they can cross the river on their own, and all you need to do is provide cover."

"Don't you need our help?"

Nakamura Yakuro was slightly surprised. He didn't seem to have seen the Kawazu people bring their navy. He originally planned to use the "Kawabe-shu" ships to transport the Kawazu army across the river first, but Harano didn't need it.
He was momentarily baffled. How could the Wanjin army cross the river? And if they didn't cross, how could they put pressure on the Iki and Osawa families?

Is it because he didn't personally go and invite him?
He was on the boat, feeling suspicious, when he suddenly noticed that the Wanjin army had moved. A large number of soldiers poured out of the city and began to gather on the riverbank. They moved very quickly but in an orderly manner, as if they had practiced hundreds of times. Before the gathering was even complete, a group of soldiers wearing leather armor began to drive stakes into the riverbank, and other soldiers used foot-operated blowers to inflate the cowhide rafts. Once inflated, they dragged the iron chains and ropes and quickly rowed to the other side.

Overall, the leather-armored soldiers working were equally fast and possessed a unique aesthetic that had been practiced dozens or hundreds of times. Moreover, whether it was the leather-armored soldiers working or the rapidly assembling black-lacquered soldiers, they were all silent. If you excluded the "bang bang" sound of driving piles and the occasional bamboo whistle commands, it was like a unique pantomime that sent chills down your spine.

Nakamura Yakuro, standing on the ship, was momentarily stunned, but the Wanjin Army clearly didn't want them to be idle. Soon, a low-ranking officer with a gourd-shaped flag on his back rode over and shouted sternly from afar, "His Highness has ordered you to set up defenses on the north bank. Obey the order immediately!"

"Uh, okay!" Nakamura Yakuro realized that Haruno clearly didn't want his men to cross the river in a chaotic manner on their boats and wanted to build a bridge himself. Well, let him do as he pleases; he couldn't control Haruno anyway.

He immediately directed the ships of the "Kawabinshu" to dock on the north bank of the river and line up to prevent them from being ambushed by small groups of Mino troops and killing the Wanjin engineers who had crossed the river to drive piles earlier.

Actually, they weren't really needed. After the engineers from Wanjin pulled the ropes and chains, the vanguard of the Wanjin army had already come over on rafts to set up defensive positions. The reason for sending the "Kawabe-sama" over first was probably to prevent them from causing chaos by running around in the river.

In fact, the initiative in this operation inexplicably shifted to the hands of the Wanjin Army, and Nakamura Yakuro and his more than 500 men became mere spectators with nothing to do.

In this day and age, might makes right. Harano's status was far higher than Yakuro's, so Nakamura Yakuro, Maeno Nagayasu, Hachisuka Masakatsu and the others had no complaints. However, Maeno Nagayasu looked at this scene and hesitated, saying, "Is this in time? Should we do what we agreed on and connect the boats into a pontoon bridge for the Nohara family to use right now?"

They had a plan to link these sixty-odd ships together to form a pontoon bridge. This was proposed by Yakuro, but not at the beginning of the operation; it would be after they had taken down Igiyama Castle and Uminuma Castle. Otherwise, if the Mino people refused to submit and insisted on fighting them head-on, and they lost the battle, they would have nowhere to run after the Mino people had linked the ships together.

However, Haruno wanted to build a bridge over the Kiso River from the very beginning. Was there enough time?

When Iki Seibei and Osawa Masahide have reorganized their troops and led a large army to attack, there will be at least three to five thousand men. How long can they hold out with their five hundred unarmored soldiers and the hundred or so men from the Wanjin Army who came by raft?

Fighting with our backs to the river is no easy task. There's no way to retreat, morale is low, and there's no room to reposition. It seems like we have no chance of winning!
"Wait, something's not right, the Nohara family is so fast..."

Nakamura Yakuro, Maeno Nagayasu, and others hadn't yet decided whether to string the boats together to make a pontoon bridge in advance, to avoid Harano making a mess of things. However, Hachisuka Masakatsu, who had been speaking very little, quickly noticed something was amiss. It seemed that the Nohara family's leather-armored soldiers were specially trained, and they had prepared everything from tools to construction materials in advance.

They used a raft to pull the rope across and then pulled it back, attaching pulleys to both ends. They were already easily moving precast piles, beams, crossbeams, diagonal beams, and planks to the other side of the river, and began horizontally installing the first layer of cantilever beams from the bridge piers towards the center of the river.

One end of the cantilever beam is inserted into the reserved hole of the pier and fixed with iron nails, while the other end extends out in the air.

Below each cantilever beam, diagonal support beams are installed, with one end resting on the cantilever beam and the other end fixed to the support structure of the lower layer, forming a triangular support system.

With the iron cables serving as the reference point, the bridge was constructed layer by layer from both banks towards the center, with the taut iron cables providing additional support. There was no need to spend time and effort building bridge piles in the river. Even before the bridge was completed, its basic shape could already be seen – an iron cable cantilever bridge nearly two meters above the river surface.

Moreover, the construction speed was extremely fast. All the cantilever beams, crossbeams, and diagonal beams were pre-drilled, inserted, and then nailed for reinforcement. Iron cables were also tightened and suspended in the air in advance. Agile soldiers could put on ropes and hang on the iron cables to carry out the construction in sections in advance. They just stared blankly for a while, and one-third of the bridge was already taking shape.

Nakamura Yakuro, Maeno Nagayasu, and Hachisuka Masakatsu finally understood the difference between regular and irregular armies, not only in armor and weapons, but more importantly in training. It was impossible for these leather-armored engineers to be building such bridges for the first time. They had probably built and dismantled them hundreds of times, and each step had likely been repeatedly improved. Otherwise, such an astonishing speed would not have been possible.

Of course, the expenses were certainly not small. Just look at the pre-prepared timber and various types of professional tools that had been prepared in advance. If you said that Yuanye had spent tens of thousands of dollars on these people, they would believe it.

Yuanye was also very satisfied with the speed of the engineers from Wanjin, and was even somewhat surprised himself.

Although he was the one who requested this subject, he had too many things to do. He was always busy plotting something or launching expeditions, so he couldn't keep a close eye on the training of a particular unit. I never expected that the engineers in Wanjin would evolve to this extent. I guess they must have been pushing themselves to their limits within the team.

Perhaps it was due to the demobilization during the famine? Those who refused to join the army or performed poorly were dismissed and sent to serve as sheriffs or militia training officers?
Competitive recruitment does have its benefits. We should still lay off some people from time to time to weed out those who are unwilling to improve. We can't let the military develop a complacent mentality.

Of course, this is also because the benefits and compensation for Taiwanese soldiers are good enough that many people don't want to lose this respectable and high-paying job; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get involved.

"Good. Record the merits of the engineering officers later. This year, the selection of model engineers should be doubled, and individual rewards should be given extra favors." Yuan Ye gave the order. Such hardworking subordinates should certainly be recognized and given substantial benefits to encourage them to continue to push themselves and become better and better.

Engineers were still very important, especially in medieval Japan.

In this era, there were powerful clans of all sizes everywhere. Every local lord wanted to occupy a village and become king. A large number of daimyo, such as Oda Nobunaga and Imagawa Yoshimoto, were very disgusted by this and wanted to take control of all the local areas. However, they were unable to do so, mainly because of the limitations of the terrain.

Japan is an island nation with many mountains and rivers. It is normal to have a mountain every three miles and a river every ten miles. This naturally divided terrain makes it very difficult to conquer, especially with the transportation conditions of that era. You would encounter a river with no ferry after walking a few steps, or a wetland or muddy area after walking a few steps. Sometimes there was really no way to deal with it.

Unlike individuals, soldiers cannot easily cross rivers. Sometimes, a small river can block an army for three to five days, and it is also very easy for supplies to run out, causing the army to collapse as it marches on.

The Japanese army during the Warring States period adopted a strategy of relentless advance, looting wherever they went. They would seize rice, grains, and even chickens from villages to ensure adequate supplies. More importantly, with so many natural barriers behind them, it would be difficult to escape and minimize losses if they lost the battle.

There is a precedent for this: Oda Nobuhide, the "Tiger of Owari," led about 10,000 men to attack Inabayama Castle, but was unexpectedly defeated by Saito Dosan. He was chased all the way to the river, but there was no bridge. Seven or eight thousand men tried to seize a few dozen boats, and more than a thousand drowned on the spot—more than that many people died in a direct battle!

This is also why Haruno refused to cross the river by boat; he didn't want to follow in Oda Nobuhide's footsteps.

There is no battle that can be won without a reason. Before winning, one must consider the possibility of defeat. Even if the Wanjin Army is strong enough, one must insist on ensuring that the rear is unobstructed and that there is a way to retreat even if the battle is lost. Therefore, he insisted on building a bridge before leading his troops across the river.

The idea of ​​a desperate battle, a do-or-die counterattack, and a resounding victory is something to read in novels. If any of his officers dared to do that, he would be the first to be court-martialed, and if the execution took less than five minutes, it would be his fault.

It would be absolutely justified to execute such a person.

He probably wasn't cut out to be a great general. He preferred the saying, "A skilled warrior achieves no great feats," believing that this was the true way to wage war.

Take steady and cautious steps, avoid taking risks, try to weaken the enemy, train and improve yourself every day, only fight battles you are confident of winning, and even if you suffer a temporary setback, you must not be seriously injured.

Having served as the commander of the Wanjin Army for so many years, he has developed his own tactical philosophy, perhaps a lingering effect from the several times he was forced to fight desperately in the early days of the war. Under this philosophy, the Wanjin Army has not disappointed him, becoming increasingly capable and efficient.

More than an hour later, the iron chain cantilever wooden plank bridge spanning the Kiso River was completed. The piercing sound of bamboo whistles rang out, and the two thousand Wanjin soldiers crossed the river in order, their morale high and their fearlessness undiminished.

Construction continues. According to the plan, the Wanjin engineers need to build two more cantilever bridges and construct a makeshift position to ensure the defense of the area and allow the Wanjin army to quickly retreat to the south bank.

Nakamura Yakuro, Maeno Nagayasu, and the others were completely stunned, while Hachisuka Masakatsu also looked rather grim.

He could deduce three things from one instance. Taking the Wanjin Army as his hypothetical enemy, he only needed to observe them crossing the river methodically to realize that they were extremely difficult to deal with. Without a numerical advantage of two or three times, he could not make them unable to attend to both ends and lose sight of one thing while trying to do another. For a moment, he did not have the courage to engage in battle with the other side.

I underestimated the heroes of the world; I never expected that such a person was hidden in Owari!
(End of this chapter)