Mount & Blade: Warband in the Sengoku period of Japan

Chen Daoyuan naturally understood the significance behind the news that the Osaki clan was about to die out.

One has to admit that the Shiba family of Takasui-dera has indeed improved, and Shiba Tsuneaki's courage and ambition have also grown.

The most legitimate form of annexation during the Warring States period was actually similar to that in Europe: marriage alliances for succession.

In the Tohoku region of Japan, the Osaki, Mogami, and Kiyomizu-dera Shiba families all share the same origin. They were all branch families sent by the Owari Shiba clan to their ancestral home in Shiba County to protect their family property. They do not need to intermarry with each other; they are all cousins ​​and can directly inherit from one another.

However, judging from the past, the Osaki clan had the purest bloodline, the Mogami clan was powerful enough, and the Takamizu-dera Shiba clan had only inherited the main family name and guarded the ancestral graves in Shiba County. Their strength had always been the weakest among the three branches, and for a long time, the Shiba family had to rely on the Osaki clan for support in various aspects.

Therefore, in the past, the succession was always from the Osaki family. The most famous example is Shiba Tsuneaki himself, who was originally the youngest son adopted from the Osaki family.

Now that the Shiba clan's territory has expanded and they have a powerful figure like Chen Daoyuan, Shiba Tsuneaki is starting to covet the Osaki clan's small territory.

As for why it is Chen Daoyuan's offspring rather than the direct descendants of Quanzhen's side?

According to Bei Xin'ai's analysis, it's naturally because of Chen Daoyuan. Once Chen Daoyuan's son is sent south, Chen Daoyuan will be motivated to operate in the south.

Chen Daoyuan was, after all, a Ming Dynasty immigrant with no roots in Japan. Even if his marriage to Nobuko wasn't considered a formal marriage, outsiders would still see him as a son-in-law of the Shiba family. Sending him south would undoubtedly be the best outcome for the Shiba family. If Chen Daoyuan remained loyal and could take over the Osaki clan's territory, the two families would be closely connected and supportive of each other. However, if Chen Daoyuan had other intentions, the Kasai, Date, and even the Mogami clans in the south could hinder him. The worst-case scenario was that Chen Daoyuan failed to take over the Osaki clan's territory. In that case, he could lose some of his ambition and obediently return to continue managing the Oshu region with the Shiba family, which would also be a good outcome.

Chen Daoyuan probably thought the same way, but he didn't have any intention of going south for the time being. First, he didn't know where his son was. Second, in his own plan, regardless of whether he wanted to carry on the succession, he would definitely make some plans in the south. However, that would be something to do after he had settled the Yokote Basin, wiped out the two branches of the Ando clan, unified the modern Iwate and Akita prefectures, and even annexed the Tsugaru and Nanbu clans, which were the two halves of Aomori prefecture.

When we have control of three prefectures, we can march south and conquer Kasai, Osaki, Mogami, and Date. It will simply be a matter of how we do it.

Therefore, after seeing off Shiba Tsugaku, Chen Daoyuan did not set his sights on the southern territory of the Osaki clan, but instead began preparations for launching an attack in the autumn.

In terms of combat strength and equipment, Chen Daoyuan no longer needed to worry too much; the key issue was logistics.

Chen Daoyuan was not worried at all that the Iwate County's rice fields would have a bumper harvest this year, but that was all in September.

Now, Chen Daoyuan's plan is to mobilize manpower to go hunting in the mountains.

The prey hunted was a wild boar.

At this time of year, after the spring breeding season, the sows are in the final stage of raising their piglets. The half-grown piglets, whose stripes have faded, have survived their fragile infancy and, although still following behind their mothers, are now capable of living independently.

After killing the sow, catch all the piglets and raise them. Select the larger boars to keep as breeding boars, and castrate the rest.

The main reason why Japanese people don't eat meat is that they haven't developed the technology to domesticate and raise livestock. Eating wild deer and wild boar, whose strong smells need no further explanation, would be too much for their bodies to handle, no matter how good they are at fighting parasites. Therefore, they abstain from meat for the reason of "meat impurity".

But castrated pigs are different; at least the stench in their meat is reduced by an order of magnitude. As for parasites... Chen Daoyuan had a dog when he was a child, and that unfortunate big dog had been infected with parasites several times. It served as a lesson for Chen Daoyuan on simple treatments for everything from skin parasites to intestinal parasites. What works on dogs can probably work on pigs too.

Anyway, Chen Daoyuan only knew the method of castrating pigs but not the reasoning behind it. He would just have to wait until the piglets were caught and then slowly try it out.

The northeastern region of Japan has never lacked hunters, and many of the newly recruited soldiers were sons of hunters. Experienced hunters were plentiful in the villages. With Chen Daoyuan's current high prestige, these people were naturally happy to respond.

One hundred and fifty hunters were selected, along with veteran hunters, a large pack of dogs, and some assistants. The hunting party was quickly organized.

Chen Daoyuan also joined in personally, riding his special Zhou and taking Xinzi with him as they went up the mountain amidst the entourage of the hunting team.

Hunting wild boars is an extremely dangerous and difficult task even in modern times, but Chen Daoyuan's hunting team is different from modern hunting teams.

Since the main force came from the Hesitant Clan, Chen Daoyuan simply let them bring their armor up the mountain and use the hunt as a training exercise.

After going up the mountain, the hunting team split into several small groups and dispersed in the forest. Chen Daoyuan and Xinzi followed one of the groups and went into the deepest part of the forest to the west.

Thirty hesitant men wielded their three-day knives; these cleavers were swift in killing and equally adept at clearing mountains and opening roads.

Chen Daoyuan dismounted and, together with the hesitant men, donned the armor that had been transported up the mountain by assistants and packhorses. The old hunters and their hounds had already dispersed into the dense forest to search for and drive away their prey.

Nobuko also dismounted, holding in her hand a bamboo and wood composite bow that Chen Daoyuan had personally crafted for her.

Chen Daoyuan is not only proficient in swordsmanship and armor making, but he has also dabbled in archery. He has watched many videos online of people making hunting bows by hand using super glue and bamboo strips. The bow he made himself may be of inferior quality in terms of materials and craftsmanship, but it is a standard long-tipped recurve bow. Paired with heavy steel needle arrows, it would definitely be much better for shooting wild boars than the Japanese Great Bow. However, its lifespan is questionable, so Xinzi wore heavy leather gloves on her small hands.

"After we surround the wild boar, you can get closer and shoot it," Chen Daoyuan instructed.

"Mmm." Nobuko responded obediently, her big eyes curving into crescent moons with a smile.

Soon, the frantic barking of hunting dogs and the sharp roars of wild boars echoed through the forest. A wild boar, half a person's height, darted out of the bushes and charged into the hunting grounds that had been cleared by the hesitant group.

Chen Daoyuan saw the direction the wild boar was charging, strode forward, and slammed the large wooden shield he was carrying in his left hand into the ground.

The same was true of the hesitant men in the first row beside him; a wall of shields quickly rose up in the woods, while a row of warriors behind him raised their spears, extending their tips through the gaps between the wooden shields.

The wild boar had a large head and a thick neck, and looked extremely robust. Although it had no tusks, it did not diminish its ferocious power in the slightest. After charging into the hunting ground, it did not slow down at all, but instead ran faster and faster.

The warriors were a step too slow in raising their spears. Before the spears could reach their destination, the wild boar had already transformed into a brown cannonball, rapidly enlarging in Chen Daoyuan's eyes.

Bang! Crack! The wild boar slammed into Chen Daoyuan's shield in the middle of the formation. The makeshift wooden shield couldn't withstand the impact and broke instantly. The huge boar's head slammed into Chen Daoyuan's thigh, sending him tumbling forward.

Chen Daoyuan was quickly pulled up by the warriors on either side, and turned around, feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The wild boar that smashed through the shield and sent Chen Daoyuan flying lost its momentum and was instantly pierced into a porcupine by the spearmen of the second row.

Chen Daoyuan rubbed his thigh... It was alright. The wooden shield had absorbed a lot of the impact, and his thigh was a little sore, but it shouldn't be a serious injury. After all, this wild boar was much smaller than the cavalryman who had knocked him away outside Hachimanhei Castle last year.

Limping over to the still convulsing carcass of the wild boar, Chen Daoyuan pointed to the arrow deeply embedded behind the boar's ear and laughed at Nobuko, who was rushing towards him, "Nobuko, your archery skills are quite good."

Nobuko ignored Chen Daoyuan and rushed over to frantically remove his leg armor: "Daoyuan-kun, are you alright?"

This time when he went up the mountain, Chen Daoyuan did not wear chainmail under his lamellar armor, but instead wore an extra layer of soft silk armor for cushioning. After taking off the soft armor and lifting his long trousers... it was alright, there were only some slight redness from the impact.

Chen Daoyuan, also intending to show off, said to Xinzi and the surrounding warriors, "Don't worry, I had the old hunters find toothless sows with piglets. Although they are more ferocious than boars, at least they can't break through our armor."

Soon, three of the old hunters who went out to hunt returned, each carrying eight half-grown pigs that were trapped and struggling.

The piglets at this time of year are only three or four months old, about the size of a dog. The spoils were put into a makeshift wooden fence, and the hunt continued.

The area around the Ou Mountains was clearly much richer than the Kitakami Mountains east of Kitakami River, which Chen Daoyuan frequently visited. In the middle of the day, the hunters found four sows and a boar that had unexpectedly wandered in, allowing Chen Daoyuan and his men to catch thirty-one piglets.

The sow with piglets was indeed fierce, but without long tusks, these meat cannonballs could hardly cause any real damage to the heavily armored warriors. At most, they would be knocked over like Chen Daoyuan.

The boar, however, posed a significant threat. In its desperate charge, it broke three spears and sent two warriors flying. Even after losing speed, its ferocity remained undiminished. Carrying the three broken spearheads, it spun around, tearing and ramming. It took Chen Daoyuan and his warriors quite a bit of effort to subdue the giant and execute it with a steel blade.

After the battle, the warriors were all injured to varying degrees and their strength was almost exhausted. Since they had already caught a considerable amount of prey, Chen Daoyuan decided to call off the hunt and head down the mountain, while sending the veteran hunters to contact the other hunting teams.

The auxiliary team tied up and led the big and small pigs as they needed to be. Chen Daoyuan took off his lamellar armor and climbed onto the special week... Ouch, the spot on his thigh where the wild boar had gored him while riding was a bit painful.

The samurai in the group were the same; everyone was exhausted and in pain, but when they saw the captured wild boars, smiles returned to their faces.

In this bittersweet atmosphere, the group walked back along the way they had come. Then, after walking for less than a quarter of an hour, a deafening roar suddenly came from the forest. The hunting dogs in the group tucked their tails between their legs and lay on the ground whimpering. The packhorses carrying the goods were also startled. Even Chen Daoyuan's special horse showed signs of weakness and was unwilling to move forward.

Chen Daoyuan turned around and glanced at Xinzi. She looked a little nervous, but when she saw Chen Daoyuan turn around, she nodded slightly to him firmly.

Chen Daoyuan glanced at the warriors in the group again. They were also somewhat surprised and uncertain, but there was no panic. Chen Daoyuan was very satisfied and raised his hand, saying, "Dismount. Those who are not injured, put on your armor and come with me to see what this thing is."