Mount & Blade: Warband in the Sengoku period of Japan

Shiba Senko of Takasui-ji Castle was very accommodating. Two days after the letter was sent, a team consisting of fifty elite Shiba samurai and a dozen ninjas arrived at Obo Fortress.

Ryokawa Shinji was also in this team, but he was not the captain. The one who truly led the team was a boy about the same age as Kita Shin'ai.

It was Shiba Tsuneaki's heir, who was also 17 years old at the time.

Chen Daoyuan looked at Shiba Akira, who was sitting in the main hall of the fortress, seemingly lost in thought. He then pulled Ryokawa Nobutsugu aside under a pretext and asked, "What is the Lord of the Palace thinking? Why did you send the young master out?"

Chen Daoyuan stayed in Gaoshui Temple Castle for two days, and managed to get a better understanding of the current internal situation of the Shiba family.

Known as the restorer of a generation, Shiba Tsuneaki is 64 years old this year. Although he still holds the position of head of the family, he has already made arrangements for his retirement and is gradually handing over power to his 41-year-old son, Shiba Tsuneaki.

The vigorous and capable Shiba Tsuneaki is not the mediocre person Kita Nobuaki described. Like his father, he is a man of outstanding talent. He is currently leading troops personally on the front line of Iwate County, west of Daibo Fortress, engaging in a back-and-forth battle with the main force of the Nanbu clan. He is fighting on equal terms with the "Hero of the South," Nanbu Harumasa.

The young lord Shiba Kenshin, who had only come of age less than two years prior, was practically invisible in Takasui-dera Castle. His reputation among the retainers and townspeople was even less than that of the princess. The most common rumor was that this young lord didn't like to go out and spent all his time staying in the castle, doing who-knows-what.

Liangchuan Xinji's answer was straightforward: "Young Master has not yet completed his first battle, so the meaning of the Imperial Palace is to rely on Lord Chen's prestige to help the Young Master establish some prestige with the Nanbu clan."

Oh... carrying the trumpet for the leader, Chen Daoyuan didn't dislike the task: "Lord Imperial Guard is quite carefree. Isn't he worried about the risk of this small-scale surprise attack going wrong?"

Nobushiro Ryokawa was quite optimistic: "The fifty men sent by the Imperial Guard this time are all elites from the Mabuchi, and the ten ninjas are also top-notch fighters selected from the Kirihara. With a general like you leading the army, at the very least, we should be able to retreat unscathed."

As he spoke, Ryokawa Nobutsugu leaned closer mysteriously: "Moreover, according to secret reports, the main force of the Nanbu clan is gathering in the west, and Nanbu Harumasa seems to be planning to make a move through Shizukuishi County to Senhoku."

"Is the information reliable?" Chen Daoyuan asked, but he was thinking about something else. Bei Xin'ai had introduced this Xianbei region to him a while ago. It was a rare plain in Yuzhou and quite fertile. Chen Daoyuan guessed that it was the main production area of ​​the later famous Akita rice.

"That's natural. Recently, the Onodera family and the Tozawa family, whom we drove out, have been fighting fiercely in Senhoku. Our Shiba family is temporarily unable to spare any resources, but the Nanbu family has been coveting that good land." Yanagawa Nobutsugu said, "Moreover, this news was said by the Imperial Lord himself, so it must be a military report from Shizukuishi County."

Chen Daoyuan nodded, then turned and led Liang Chuanxin back to the fortress, intending to have a chat with the young master of the Shiba clan.

Compared to Kita Shin'ai, who was the same age, Shiba Senjin gave Chen Daoyuan the feeling of being weak. It wasn't that he was physically weak; Shiba Senjin was tall enough to reach Chen Daoyuan's chin, which was significantly taller than most people in this era. He also had a well-proportioned physique. However, the boy in front of him gave Chen Daoyuan a familiar, pale feeling, the kind of shy, introverted, and quiet social anxiety that is common in the modern world.

"I wonder what advice the young master has for this expedition?" Chen Daoyuan asked politely.

With his fair, round face inherited from the Shiba family, Shiba Kenshin hesitated for a moment before slowly speaking, "Lord Chen, I am only a novice. Before I came, my grandfather instructed me to observe and learn more, and not to speak carelessly."

Chen Daoyuan nodded, reassuring the visibly nervous boy, "Understood, then leave it to me. By the way, how is your swordsmanship, young man?"

Quanzhen's eyebrows twitched slightly, and his eyes darted around: "My swordsmanship was taught by several masters since childhood, and it has also received my grandfather's... approval, but I have never truly fought an enemy..."

Chen Daoyuan waved his hand, continuing to reassure him, "It's alright, it's alright. It's not really necessary for the young master to personally go into battle. How is the young master's stamina on foot?"

Shiba Kenshin lowered his head and remained silent for a while: "My stamina... is probably acceptable. I've been traveling with those samurai since Takasui-dera Castle, and I haven't fallen behind or felt particularly tired."

Chen Daoyuan silently assessed the situation in his mind. At least this boy could run... right?

Quanzhen was also a sensible person and understood Chen Daoyuan's intentions. He added, "I understand what Lord Chen means. Although the Shiba clan is a branch of the Gokenin, they are still of samurai blood. My grandfather never allowed us to ride in carriages at will. When we went out, we had to ride horses or walk. We can certainly keep up with that when marching."

Chen Daoyuan, not wanting to push things too far, steered the conversation elsewhere: "I wonder if the young master usually studies military books and strategies?"

Quanzhen was still somewhat embarrassed: "Of course, my grandfather taught me some of these things. But when I was studying, I preferred other things..."

"Oh? Something else? What is it?" Chen Daoyuan replied casually.

Shiba Kenjin raised his head, his eyes shining brighter: "I've heard that you come from the Ming Dynasty... I wonder if you have studied Chinese poetry?"

"Poetry?" Chen Daoyuan blinked. He was an ABC (American-born Chinese), but as an ABC who spoke fluent, standard Mandarin and frequently browsed simplified Chinese websites, his educational background was naturally a bit different. His early Chinese language education came from his grandfather's family tradition of classical Chinese studies, starting with memorizing the Three Hundred Characters and the Thousand Character Classic. As a result, Chen Daoyuan had a basic understanding of classical Chinese literature and poetry; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to engage in such a literary exchange with Ryokawa Nobushi and Shiba Senko.

"I haven't studied poetry much, but I did put some effort into lyrics in my early years," Chen Daoyuan said frankly.

Spoken's eyes brightened even more: "Ah, I see. I wonder if you, sir, have any knowledge of Scholar Su?"

Chen Daoyuan clicked his tongue inwardly. Sure enough, the Japanese really favored Su Dongpo: "I've only read through Su Dongpo's poems, but I haven't studied them much. I prefer Liu Yong and Li Qingzhao, and I'm also very familiar with Xin Qiji."

Shiba Kenjin was slightly disappointed, but he quickly cheered up and shed most of his earlier social anxiety, enthusiastically discussing Song Dynasty poetry with Chen Daoyuan.

The amount of information available to modern people and ancient people is ultimately an order of magnitude different. Although Shiba Senzhen was very enthusiastic about studying Song poetry and Su Dongpo, his knowledge was only average. Chen Daoyuan could handle him without difficulty. However, the more he talked about poetry with this young man, the stronger a certain thought became in his mind.

Why does it feel like this guy in front of me has gotten the script of Li Yu, the last emperor of the Southern Tang dynasty?

In the time that followed, Shiba Ienjin's performance validated Chen Daoyuan's judgment.

In preparation for the attack, there was a lot of work to be done at the Daibo Fortress, such as preparing dry rations for the samurai and selecting some strong and capable men from the village's foot soldiers to serve as auxiliary soldiers accompanying the troops...

As for these military deployments, while it's not that Spoken had no interest in them, he considered them merely routine matters.

However, whenever he had free time after finishing these official duties, Shibo Quanzhen would pull Chen Daoyuan aside to chat about poetry and songs, which annoyed Chen Daoyuan to the point that his impression of Shibo Quanzhen as Li Houzhu deepened.

Fortunately, this frustration was quickly put to rest.

Shinji, the ninja sent out by Chen Daoyuan to scout, has returned.

The ninjas were highly capable, and their defenses along the route from Makibori Fortress northward to the Ibo Household Headquarters of the Kyuhobu were detected very clearly.

This pleased Chen Daoyuan greatly, and he personally rewarded Shinji with a gold bean.

Having gathered information on the enemy and made preparations for our side, Chen Daoyuan waved his hand and declared, "Let's have a banquet tonight and set off early tomorrow morning!"

Not to mention that at the banquet, Shibo Quanzhen was inspired to compose a poem on the spot, "Xijiangyue," and pestered Chen Daoyuan for his comments.

Early the next morning, a team of fifty samurai, ten ninjas, and forty foot soldiers lined up in front of the Ōba fortress, ready to depart.

These samurai were indeed the horse warriors directly under the head of the Shiba clan. They lined up quickly and neatly, each of them was at least 1.6 meters tall, and their armor was also very neat. In addition to the swords that each person had on their waist, thirty of them also carried bows and arrows, while the rest carried standard cross spears.

The foot soldiers standing behind the samurai were handpicked by Chen Daoyuan and Liangchuan Xinji. Thanks to Liangchuan Xinji's daily training, these carefully selected foot soldiers were no less imposing than the samurai.

At this moment, the samurai and foot soldiers were all in high spirits, especially after seeing Chen Daoyuan, their eyes revealed a bit of fanaticism.

Chen Daoyuan wore the battle robe that Yixia had newly sewn for him. The material was fine linen produced in the village, but the color was a blood-red dye that Yixia had somehow obtained. Chen Daoyuan liked it very much because he didn't mind being stained with blood. However, Chen Daoyuan's crimson robe, with a sword hanging at his waist and his imposing figure, appeared exceptionally majestic and exuded a murderous aura in the eyes of the samurai and foot soldiers.

After a brief inspection of the troops, Chen Daoyuan nodded to Shiba Kenshin and Liangchuan Xinji beside him: "Let's go."

It took about a hundred people half a day to cross the mountain ridge between Dafang Fortress and Juanhuo Fortress. Chen Daoyuan sent out a group of ninjas to act as scouts, and then led the group around Juanhuo Fortress under the cover of the mountains and forests, and continued to head northeast.

Chen Daoyuan's goal was the Gejukan (葛卷馆).

The so-called "guan" is actually a larger fortress. This Kuzumaki Guan is a "residence" built by the Kuzumaki clan, a powerful family affiliated with the Kujubu clan of the southern region. It is the southernmost strategic outpost of the Kujubu clan.

According to Shinji's intelligence, many of the foot soldiers who attacked Ōbōzan were drawn from the Kuzukikan. Although those 500 men were actually just scattered, not many people had returned home in the mountains even though only a few days had passed. This was a common practice for foot soldiers in the Sengoku period: after a defeat, they would hide in the mountains for a while to avoid facing the wrath of the local lord.

Therefore, the defenses of Kuzumaki-no-kan are relatively weak at present. In addition, the Egarashi River Valley near Kuzumaki-no-kan is the horse breeding ground of the Kyu-no-bu, so they can easily plunder a batch of warhorses. It is precisely for this reason that the attacking forces are all on foot, so that they can ride back on horseback later.

As dusk fell, Chen Daoyuan and his group finally made their way to the vicinity of Gejuan Hall.

Through the gaps in the forest, Chen Daoyuan looked at the Gejuan Pavilion not far away... No wonder it's called a pavilion instead of a city.

In the twilight, Gejuan Pavilion looked almost the same as Dafang Fortress, except that it occupied a larger area, the wooden fences that served as walls were higher and denser, a shallow moat was dug around the outside of the wooden fences, and some crooked barricades were erected outside the moat.

The only slightly troublesome thing was that there was an arrow tower built behind the main gate on the south side, but at this moment, Chen Daoyuan's eyesight showed that there seemed to be no one on the arrow tower.

Chen Daoyuan glanced at the warriors around him and ordered, "Rest for a while and wait until it gets dark."