Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 136 My younger brother has gone astray. Why does the Uesugi family teach him everything?

The Mori family certainly wouldn't actually give them 30,000 koku of grain.

Lin Weizhong immediately rushed back to Jinshan City and reported the matter to Lin Tong'an.

Lin Tong'an panicked when he learned of this.

If the Sanada family really abandons the family if they don't provide food, how will the Mori family fight the Ikki now?

But if they gave it to them, the Mori family would go bankrupt.

Left with no other option, Lin Tong'an quickly complained to Hideyoshi Hashiba of Komakiyama Castle, claiming that the Sanada family was ignoring Lord Hashiba's orders and refusing to send troops, hoping that Hideyoshi Hashiba could intervene.

When Hideyoshi Hashiba heard this, he immediately laughed.

“Kyutaro, Genzaburo is holding a grudge.” Hashiba Hideyoshi said with a smile to Hori Hidemasa beside him.

Hori Hidemasa neither confirmed nor denied this, but simply said, "After all, Sanada Hyogo-no-kami has a very close personal relationship with Musashi-no-kami, and he probably wanted to take this opportunity to express his dissatisfaction with us."

"Haha, Genzaburo is an honest man."

"If he really has no qualms about this, then I'm actually a little worried."

It would be abnormal for someone praised by Mori Nagayoshi as "the most loyal and righteous man in Shinano" and recognized by Uesugi Kagekatsu as "a righteous general of Shinano" to show no interest in the matter of the Mori family's successor.

Either Sanada Nobuyuki's previous display of loyalty was an act, or Sanada Nobuyuki harbored resentment towards him.

Neither of these scenarios is what Hideyoshi Hashiba wants to see.

"The Sanada family has just taken over Shinano, and now they have mobilized several thousand troops to fight in Mino. It is certain that they will run out of food."

"However, the Mori family is not in a good situation either."

"It's just 30,000 shi of grain. Tell Lin Tong'an that I'll give him the grain." Hideyoshi waved his hand, "I'll give him the money."

Hori Hidemasa immediately said he understood, and then wrote a reply to Mori Tadamasa and Sanada Nobuyuki respectively.

Nobuyuki Sanada was delighted upon receiving the letter.

The siege of Iwamura Castle has been lifted, and now we have so much more grain. If this battle is fought quickly, we might even make a profit.

"Lord Tsumagi, how is the mobilization of the foot soldiers and shinobi going?"

Tsumagi Yoritada quickly replied, "300 foot soldiers and 500 garrison men have been mobilized."

"Very good. Go to Komakiyama Castle yourself and bring back every single grain of grain for me, understand?"

"Ha!" Tsumagi Yoritada nodded immediately, but then cautiously asked, "And this Tsumagi Castle..."

"Don't worry, I will personally explain to Lord Hashiba after the war that Tsumaki Castle is still yours."

"Thank you, Lord Sanada!" Tsumagi Yoritada might not believe what others said, but he would definitely believe what Sanada Nobuyuki said.

Whenever Mori Nagayoshi drank in Mino, he would boast to everyone he met about how he had narrowly escaped death in Shinano after the Honnoji Incident, and Sanada Nobuyuki's name was mentioned many times.

While Tsumagi Yoritada may not be known in other places, in Higashi Mino, Sanada Nobuyuki's name is even more famous than Hashiba Hideyoshi's.

"Brother, Lord Yamagami and the others have set out from Iwamura Castle and are about to arrive at Kosato Castle."

"The forces of the Ogasawara and Kiso clans have already passed through Naegi Castle and are expected to reach the vicinity of Oyama Castle tonight."

"The enemy is currently besieging Naegi Castle, Kosato Castle, and Myoji Castle. Lord Yamaue is asking what the next course of action should be?"

Nobuyuki Sanada stared at the map in front of him, lost in thought.

Having previously traveled to Kyoto twice and returned to Shinano from Mino, and having also passed through Nagakute this time, Nobuyuki Sanada now has a deep understanding of the terrain of eastern Mino.

This place is even more remote than Shinano, and all the castles are built on mountaintops.

Sanada Nobuyuki wanted a quick victory to defeat the Toyama clan and drive the Tokugawa clan's forces out of Mino as soon as possible.

Because Hideyoshi Hashiba's forces could withdraw at any time, once he left, Mino would be directly exposed to the Tokugawa-Oda alliance.

Even though Tokugawa and Sanada had a ceasefire agreement, it was just a thin veil, and both sides knew perfectly well that it was only a temporary measure.

With the conflict between Hideyoshi Hashiba and Nobuo Oda, a battle between the two sides is inevitable.

The only problem is that the Sanada clan is now facing a threat from the Hojo clan, and the Tokugawa clan is focused on fighting Hashiba Hideyoshi in Owari and has no time to deal with the Sanada.

Once Toyotomi Hideyoshi withdraws his troops, the pressure on the Tokugawa clan will decrease, and the ceasefire agreement will become a worthless piece of paper.

We need to find a place.

"What place are you looking for?" Sanada Nobuyuki asked, unable to resist hearing him mutter to himself.

Nobuyuki Sanada sighed. "I'm thinking about how to gather the enemy together."

“But these people who have finally managed to reclaim their castle will not leave easily.” Sanada Nobuyuki felt a bit overwhelmed.

The Sanada family is now in a very difficult situation.

On one hand, Hideyoshi Hashiba might withdraw his troops at any time. Would the Tokugawa clan then take action against Sanada?

On one side, the Hojo clan was launching a relentless offensive in the Kanto region, and it was unclear how long the Satake coalition could hold out.

Sanada Masayuki has already sent two letters, both expressing his concerns about the situation in the Kanto region.

The Hojo clan has now mobilized 70,000 troops and is launching a fierce attack on Ueno and Shimotsu.

On the Ueno side, Hojo Takahiro, supported by the Uesugi clan, rallied the local lords of Ueno and put up a steady resistance, while on the Shimotsuke side, the Kanto coalition forces, including Satake and Utsunomiya, confronted the Hojo clan along the Oyama Castle line.

The Hojo clan could hold their own against the entire Kanto region single-handedly, and if they were to win, the Sanada clan would suffer the same fate.

Therefore, Sanada Nobuyuki must defeat the Toyama Ikki as soon as possible, otherwise once Higashimino falls into the Tokugawa family's sphere of influence, the Ina and Chikuma districts of Shinano will be in danger.

If Ueno, Kai, and Mino attack simultaneously, the Sanada clan, with its limited resources, will likely be wiped out in an instant.

These people of Shinano who have just submitted to the Sanada family will surely rebel again.

There's no way around it; Shinano has always been a place where people sit on the fence.

The Sanada family was one of the most prominent families in history.
"Brother, I have an idea!"

Just as Nobuyuki Sanada was worrying about how to quickly end the battle, Nobushige Sanada suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Say it."

Sanada Nobushige scratched his head and grinned, "We can send troops to raid enemy territory."

The term "ran-ko" means to order foot soldiers to plunder enemy territory, while "hito-ko" means to plunder people.

During Japan's Sengoku period, the vast majority of ashigaru (foot soldiers) who participated in the wars were impoverished farmers. Their purpose in becoming ashigaru and participating in the wars was to plunder wealth and sell people for profit, which was a fairly common phenomenon.

Daimyo encouraged such behavior in order to reduce expenses, but there were also downsides. If people indulged in taking things indiscriminately, it would lead to various units acting on their own and leaving their main camp. Imagawa Yoshimoto realized this too late, otherwise he would not have been able to have his main camp directly destroyed by Oda Nobunaga's 2000 men.

This phenomenon was only curbed after the implementation of the "separation of soldiers and farmers" policy, which allowed daimyo to begin providing stipends to regular foot soldiers.

"Hehe, I learned it from Lord Uesugi and the others when I was in Echigo," Sanada Nobushige said somewhat embarrassedly.

Nobuyuki Sanada: 6
As expected of the Uesugi family, Sanada Nobushige even learned this after studying abroad in Echigo?
“If we send troops to raid enemy territory, the enemy will certainly not stand idly by and will definitely take the initiative to attack us,” Sanada Nobushige continued.

“But the farmers have already hidden their grain when the war broke out, so even if we search randomly, we won’t get much results.” Sanada Nobuyuki shook his head, indicating that it was too difficult. However, Sanada Nobushige smiled slightly, “That’s not a problem. I learned a trick from the Uesugi family that will guarantee that we can find these hidden grains.”

? ? ? ?
Nobuyuki Sanada was completely stunned. There was such a method?

It's not Sanada Nobuyuki's fault. The main reason is that the Takeda clan rarely engaged in plundering. Starting from the era of Takeda Shingen, the practice of foot soldiers participating in plundering was gradually prohibited, so the Sanada clan really didn't have this tradition.

"Are you confident, Genjiro?"

"Leave it to me!" Nobushige Sanada nodded confidently.

After thinking for a moment, Sanada Nobuyuki said, "In that case, let Doki and Kiso's army set up their positions around Kosato Castle, without having to besiege it."

"As for the matter of taking things without permission, I'll leave it to you, Genjiro. Let's choose the area around Kosato Castle as the location."

"Why choose Kosato Castle?" Sanada Nobushige asked, puzzled. Logically, Naegi Castle was more worth taking, as it had more valuable things in the castle town.

Sanada Nobuyuki patted Sanada Nobushige on the head. "Are you stupid? After defeating the enemy, Ena County will be our territory. How can we steal from our own land?"

"How can I not go stupid if you keep filming me like this every day?" After making this comment, Sanada Nobushige ran away in a flash.

April 21st, the twelfth year of Tianzheng.

The Sanada clan's forces suddenly appeared near Kosato Castle and began to deploy.

Kosato Mitsuaki, the lord of Kosato Castle, remained completely calm, even after learning that there was a Sanada army of 5000 men outside the castle.

His son, Osato Mitsunao, died fighting alongside the Tokugawa family in Nagakute. To honor Osato's achievements, Tokugawa Ieyasu specially ordered some grain to be sent to him.

With the food supplies sent by the Tokugawa family, they could hold out for a month or two without any problems if they were to besiege the castle.

"I heard the Sanada family sent people to plunder outside the city?" Kosato Mitsuaki lay comfortably in his residence. Although his son had just died, the Kosato family had gained the favor of the Tokugawa family, which was worthwhile for him.

"Yes, some farmers did see it," a samurai reported in a low voice.

Xiao Li Guangming couldn't help but laugh, "Randomly taking things? Hahaha!"

“Yesterday I ordered everyone to hide the grain and let them find it slowly.”

Meanwhile, in a village outside Xiaoli City.

Sanada Nobushige led a squad of foot soldiers in a leisurely search.

Generally, in areas where fighting occurs, farmers would hide their grain in advance and then take refuge in the nearby mountains. This made it difficult for them to steal the grain.

"Don't bother searching, the things have been hidden for a long time, it's no use searching."

"In groups of five, search around the village."

"See the frost on the ground? Focus your search on areas not covered by frost. Everything is hidden underground, understand?" Sanada Nobushige shouted to the people in front of him.

Oh!
The group of foot soldiers were overjoyed at the prospect of looting, as if it were a holiday. They might not be good at fighting, but they were experts at robbing.

Normally, farmers would pack their money, goods, and grain in pots, pans, or jars and bury them in the ground so that they wouldn't be easily discovered from the outside.

However, when there is frost in the morning, the buried items will melt prematurely because the underground soil temperature is high.

On the vast white ground, the bare patches of soil stood out starkly.

"found it!"

“It’s available here too!”

"Don't fight over it, I found it first!"

"Damn it, let go, or I'll get rough."

For a moment, the scene was in chaos.

The foot soldiers, who had just been "like brothers," immediately began fighting over the buried valuables.

"Lord Genjiro, shouldn't we just leave it be?" Oyamada Tokishige stared in disbelief at the scene before him. As a samurai of the Takeda clan, he was still young and had never participated in such plundering.

Nobushige Sanada shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Send orders to the foot soldiers in other villages: within three days, each village may plunder at will."

"Ha!" Tokishige Oyamada quickly went to relay the order.

This method is only suitable for the first two days. As time goes on, even the soil around the buried item will gradually cool down. Once the soil temperature around the burial site becomes uniform, this method will no longer be effective.

An hour later, the foot soldiers returned, each carrying several jars, beaming with joy.

Sanada Nobushige glanced at the surrounding mountains and forests, then ordered, "Withdraw!"

"Whoa!" Sanada Nobushige was met with an even more enthusiastic cheer.

After the Sanada family's foot soldiers left, the farmers who had been hiding nearby came out upon hearing the news.

Looking at the land around the village, which had been dug up beyond recognition, many people burst into tears.

An elderly man named Yi, trembling all over, came to the place where he had buried his things, supported by his son. When he saw that the place he remembered was empty, he suddenly fainted.

This was his savings of decades, and it was all gone in an instant.

Soon, more farmers returned in a daze, frantically searching for what they had buried. The village was surrounded by people.

Sanada Nobushige lay prone on the earthen slope behind the village, watching the farmers busily working in the distance. Suddenly, he raised his spear and shouted, "Now!"

"Only arrest women and children; they run slowly. Follow me!"

"Oh!"

The return of the Sanada clan's foot soldiers caught the farmers off guard, and the farmers, who were just immersed in grief, scattered like frightened birds.

Some of the young and strong ran faster, but these were not Sanada Nobushige's targets; they only grabbed women and children who didn't have time to hide.

"Reporting to my elder brother, everything is going smoothly."

"what!"

In Xiaoli Castle.

When Xiao Li Guangming heard about the losses suffered by the nearby villages, he was surprised but not anxious. The lost goods were not his, so he was naturally unperturbed.

But the foot soldiers and samurai of the Kosato family wouldn't have it.

The Sanada clan's large-scale plundering resulted in the greatest losses for the foot soldiers and samurai of the nearby villages.

Panic gripped the city, and many warriors rushed to Kori Kyouko to request immediate action.

Xiao Li Guangming isn't stupid. He only has a few hundred people in the city. Going out would be suicide, wouldn't it?
However, the people within Kozato Castle were in a state of high spirits, and if nothing was done, the samurai might rebel. In order to appease his retainers, Kozato Mitsuaki quickly sent people to Naegi Castle and Meichi Castle for help.

Soon, letters requesting assistance also arrived in Naegi, Meichi Castle, and other places. Toyama Tomotada and his son Toyama Tomomasa, who lived in Naegi Castle, immediately contacted Suganuma Sadatoshi.

　Battle of Numajiri: According to records, the Hojo clan mobilized a total of 70,000 troops. However, given the Hojo clan's mobilization capacity, a large portion of these 70,000 troops were likely non-combatants such as garrison soldiers, making the figure quite exaggerated.

　　Regardless, the Hojo clan remains the dominant force in the Kanto region, even though their fighting strength is a mystery.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)