Mount & Blade: Warband in the Sengoku period of Japan

Chen Daoyuan certainly didn't allow anyone to dig up dirt indiscriminately.

In winter, he personally inspected the foothills of the Ou Mountains on the west side of Iwate County under the pretext of hunting and enjoying the snow.

There is coal here, no doubt about that. When they were making steel, Shiba Quan Gao helped Chen Dao Yuan collect a lot of coal, but the quality was uneven, so Chen Dao Yuan didn't dare to use it directly at the time. It's still stored in the warehouse in Mikabori.

This time, Chen Daoyuan personally surveyed the mine and easily found many black, shallow coal seams just as the winter snow in the mountains was beginning to melt.

As far as I can remember, there aren't many large coal reserves in this area, but these coal seams should be enough for his next use.

As for the black mud in the swamp, it was something Chen Daoyuan had noticed last year. It was called peat. It was dug out with a special square-headed shovel and dried to make good fuel. Although, according to the small chemical technology manual in his hand, the proportion of natural ammonia that could be obtained by dry distillation of peat was not as high as that of bituminous coal, it was still present.

In addition, Chen Daoyuan successfully found a high-quality ferrous sulfate mine that was very close to Iwate County.

Coal, peat, charcoal, ferrous sulfate, plus large kaolin vats fired in the kiln last year.

What Chen Daoyuan will do next is self-evident.

They set up large vats to simmer ferrous sulfate, and at the same time built several small dry distillation kilns to heat the coal and peat they had dug up.

The gas from the dry distillation of coal is collected using ceramic pipes and then introduced into the sulfuric acid solution produced by calcining ferrous sulfate.

Ta-da! The first industrially manufactured fertilizer in human history—ammonium sulfate—was thus created!

The ammonium sulfate produced was distributed to farmers in Iwate County, who were instructed to spread this "fertilizer powder" evenly on the ground, then plow it deep into the soil and cover it with a thin layer of soil. After the rice seedlings were transplanted and had recovered, shallow furrows were dug between the rice rows, and wood ash was sprinkled in and immediately covered with fresh soil to seal the ash.

These techniques weren't learned from books by Chen Daoyuan, but rather from a game nicknamed "Rice Planting Simulator"... Applying the farming knowledge he learned from this Japanese-made game here can be considered as fulfilling his filial duty to the ancestors of those game developers.

When summer arrives, the farmland in Iwate County is transformed into a "miracle" that amazes even seasoned farmers.

The rice in the field is a deep green color, and the number of shoots has increased from five or six in previous years to twenty, making the plants exceptionally robust.

This sight even alarmed Shiba Inugami, the old man who made a special trip from Takasui-ji Castle to inspect it.

Upon seeing the rice paddies of Iwate County and settling into Shingozen Castle, the old man Shiba exclaimed with a pained expression, "Dogen, why didn't you tell me sooner that this fertilizer powder was so effective?"

Chen Daoyuan resisted the urge to roll his eyes and spread his hands: "I could have given this fertilizer powder, along with the usage booklet, to Takamizuji Castle back then. What? You didn't use it?"

"Well... the old farmers near Takasui-dera Castle didn't dare use it directly in their paddy fields, so they chose some thin fields where they grow mixed grains to try it out. As for the villages outside Takasui-dera Castle, they have already been distributed to various retainers, and if they don't want to use it, there's nothing I can do. Fortunately, there's an example from Iwate County this year, so I think they'll be begging us for this fertilizer powder next year."

Spogong's expression also showed some helplessness. This was an inevitable obstacle in ancient feudal society, and he really didn't have any way to deal with it.

Chen Daoyuan didn't care about these things. The original territory of the Shiba clan was not in his plans. His goal this year was to manage his own fiefdom in Iwate County first.

Iwate County had experienced nearly two years of back-and-forth between the Shiba clan and the Nanbu clan. The local lords in the nearby villages had either fled or died, and when it fell into Chen Daoyuan's hands, it was a blank slate. Although the population was not as large as that of Shiba County and Hiegan County, it was obviously easier to plan.

"Grandfather," Chen Daoyuan comforted him, "After the rice harvest, we can plant a round of wheat in September. This fertilizer powder is equally effective for wheat."

Spoquangao's eyes widened suddenly: "You mean with this fertilizer, we can start doing manual labor like in Northeast China?!"

"Two-grain rotation" refers to rice and wheat rotation, which was already quite common in Japan at this time. People in the Kanto region had long been eating udon noodles and bako.

Chen Daoyuan nodded: "That's right. However, Grandfather, you need to find a way to send a caravan to Kanto to purchase wheat seeds. Otherwise, we'll only be able to grow rapeseed and barley in the winter. Remember, we need seeds from Echigo. The weather in Echigo is cold, and the seeds there are more frost-resistant. They should be able to survive the winter safely here."

"Yes." Shiba Kenko nodded very firmly this time: "I understand. Once we return to Takasui-dera Castle, I will immediately send a caravan to Echigo."

If we were any later, we might miss it. It was already July, and a round trip by caravan would take about two months.

After discussing agricultural matters, Shiba Kenko raised another issue: "Dogen, after the autumn harvest this September, I plan to launch an attack on Senhoku. If all goes well, we might as well take down the Onodera clan in Yokote as well. What do you think?"

Chen Daoyuan thought for a moment: "Grandfather must have already figured out the details of the Tozawa and Onodera families by now, right?"

Shiba Takashi nodded. Just recently in May, another battle was fought in Shizukuishi County. This time, with the help of armored soldiers, the Shiba army completely drove the Tozawa family, who had been roaming around the Ou Mountains, out of the Iwate region and back to their hometown of Senhoku.

Therefore, Shiba Tsugaku's vision extended beyond the Ou Mountains to the Yokote Basin—a plain comparable in size to the Kitakami River Valley. Moreover, due to the obstruction of the Ou Mountains, the Yokote Basin was protected from the famous "back winds" of the east coast, thus avoiding the severe summer cold snaps and resulting in higher grain yields than the Kitakami River Valley.

Geographically speaking, the only obstacle when heading west from Shizukuishi County and entering the Ou Mountains is the Tozawa family in the Senhoku region.

However, this family had been beaten by the Shiba clan and the Nanbu clan in turn over the years, and was already on its last legs. For the Shiba clan's army, if they really wanted to fight, the Tozawa clan would just be a speed bump.

The real problems begin after entering the Yokote Basin via Senhoku. The Onodera family in the Yokote Basin is actually not worth mentioning. The Tozawa family was repeatedly beaten in Shizukuishi for several years, but after returning to Senhoku, they were still able to go south and suppress the Onodera family. It can be seen that the Onodera family is just a small fish in the Yokote Basin. However, the real problem is logistics if we want to cross the Ou Mountains and invade the Yokote Basin.

Especially if troops are dispatched after the autumn harvest in September, and the war is delayed, what awaits the Shiba family is the Ouyama Road, which will be completely blocked by heavy snow after the winter temperature drops.

Therefore, the key issue is whether they can break through the Tozawa clan and defeat the Onodera clan within a month, establish a foothold in the Yokote Basin, and at least survive the winter so that supplies and support can be replenished after the snow melts in the following spring.

"The Onodera family controls the three counties of Hirano, Ogatsu, and Senhoku, with a koku of 60,000. They usually have around 2,000 soldiers, and if they mobilize foot soldiers, they can increase their strength to 4,000," Shiba Tsugaku explained. The strength of the Onodera family was almost the same as that of the Shiba clan before Chen Daoyuan's arrival.

However, the Shibo clan is no longer what it used to be. After pondering for a moment, Chen Daoyuan said, "These four thousand men are nothing. If we can mobilize five hundred armored soldiers and a thousand foot soldiers, then it will not be difficult to wipe out their four thousand men in one battle."

Last year's decisive battle with the Nanbu clan was also fought with 500 armored soldiers as the main force. In one day, they wiped out hundreds of Nanbu cavalry, hundreds of elite foot soldiers, and scattered hundreds of conscripted foot soldiers who were just there to fill the ranks. If it weren't for Chen Daoyuan's reckless actions later, the losses of the Shiba clan could have been kept to within 100 men.

This year, Chen Daoyuan didn't just farm. During the past six months in Xinyuqian City, he recruited many more warriors and gathered a full 300 armored soldiers.

Moreover, these three hundred armored soldiers are not the same as before. In the past six months, Chen Daoyuan has put a lot of effort into providing them with extra meals. The autumn harvest has not yet arrived, and the grain reserves are limited, so he cannot give them more rice. However, when Chen Daoyuan built the city last year, he also organized people to fish in the Beishangchuan River using modern technology.

Kitakami River is a famous salmon migration river, and the Iwate area is the final destination of the migration. Last October, the river was full of big fish. Chen Daoyuan didn't care about the possibility of catching them all with his netting; he just kept fishing.

Thanks to the salted fish and dried fish made from these large fish, the three hundred armored soldiers known as the "Chen Clan Hesitant Men" were all trained to be extremely strong and fit, looking a level above Ma Hui, whom Sibo Quan had recently recruited.

Last year, during that steelmaking operation, Chen Daoyuan produced a full thousand manganese steel full-body armors for the Shiba clan. Now, Chen Daoyuan has three hundred of them, Shiba Tsuneaki, who is in charge of defending against the Nanbu clan at the Numamiya Inner Castle, received two hundred, the two main members of the Inugami Castle and Shizukuishi Castle each have one hundred, and the old man Takasuiji Castle has three hundred.

With the hesitant soldiers at Nobugozen Castle as the core, and drawing armored soldiers from Takasui-ji Castle, Inugami Castle, and Shizukuishi Castle, Chen Daoyuan felt that gathering six hundred armored soldiers should be enough.

Chen Daoyuan explained his plan: "I'll bring six hundred armored soldiers, and fewer elite foot soldiers, so let's make it four hundred to round it up. We'll need to bring more laborers, though. Once we've entered Senhoku and defeated the Onodera clan, I can have the laborers cut timber and start kilns on the spot. Last year, we built Shingozen Castle in just one month. It shouldn't be difficult to build a brick and stone fortress strong enough for our army to get through the winter in about the same amount of time."

Shiba Takashi nodded and silently calculated for a moment: "That's a good solution. I'll go back and have Hosokawa and the others calculate the military rations again... Originally, it wasn't enough, but since your farmland in Iwate County has thrived so much because of the fertilizer powder, the autumn harvest should be quite good. So I'll trouble you to provide more military rations."

Chen Daoyuan didn't care about these things. Once the fertilizer was widely used in the Shizukushi Basin and Kitakami River Valley, along with winter wheat, grain would become the least valuable resource in the Shiba clan's territory next year.

The two also discussed some production and construction matters, such as asking Takasui-ji Castle to put in some effort to find a coal mine.

After finishing their business, old man Shiba sighed again: "By the way, Dogen, it's been half a year since you and Nobuko got married. Is there any good news yet?"

"Uh... not yet." Chen Daoyuan said somewhat awkwardly, "I'm sorry to disappoint my grandfather."

"Well, it's not that I'm impatient or forcing you," the old man said in a distant tone. "It's just that I received some news that the Osaki clan is at risk of extinction."