Owari Yumeki Golden Day

After his death, the power of the Tamba Naito clan declined rapidly, and within two or three months, the entire Naito clan was on the verge of collapse. Naito Niyasu and his sister had already defected to Matsunaga Hisahide.

Without his support, the Miyoshi family's position as the head of the clan was naturally lost. Matsunaga Hisahide retreated from Iimori Castle and returned to Tamonyama Castle.

But would he be content to live a lonely life guarding his own small piece of land in Yamato? Of course not. So after the Miyoshi Three supported Ashikaga Yoshiei to go to Sakaimachi and seek the throne, the Matsunaga father and son immediately turned to Ashikaga Yoshiaki, intending to use Ashikaga Yoshiaki's righteousness to continue the Miyoshi family led by the Miyoshi Three.

"The situation in Kinai is so complicated..." Sakuma Nobumori nodded continuously.

After all, Sakuma was merely a retainer under the former Kiyosu Sanbuyoshi. He was no longer a retainer of a retainer, but a retainer of a retainer of a retainer. He had spent the first half of his life as a local tycoon, so how broad could his horizons be?

As a person, you must step out step by step. Only by seeing more can you broaden your horizons. If you always sit in a well and look at the sky, what can you know? Don't believe the saying that a scholar can know everything in the world without leaving home.

"I have already written the petition and submitted it to the city." He came to talk to Sakuma Nobumori because they were friends, and reporting to Nobunaga was his mission.

"It's my duty, it's my duty." Even if Nobumori Sakuma was angry, he would not be angry with Nobunaga.

I simply lamented how quickly the situation was changing. The Matsunaga father and son, who had recently murdered Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru, were now surrendering to Ashikaga Yoshiaki. The human heart is like water; it truly does not deceive me.

"That……"

"You go ahead and do your thing, Jinkuro." After asking, Sakuma Nobumori sent his son to see Shichibei out. The future Sakuma Nobuyoshi was neither annoyed nor anxious, and he sent him out very obediently.

By the way, Sakuma Nobuyoshi seems to have ended up as a member of Oda Nobutada's stable, so he could be considered a potential stock in a sense. But the premise is that Nobutada is still alive, otherwise it would be useless.

After leaving the Sakuma residence, Shichibei returned to Kawamura's house at the foot of Komakiyama Castle. During the winter, he had hired farmers who were off-farm and built three houses on the land Nobunaga had granted him. At least now, we were at the foot of Komakiyama Castle, so we didn't need to stay at other people's homes or at taverns.

It’s better to have your own doghouse.

Seeing that Ashikaga Yoshiaki's stock was being pushed up by market makers again, Nobunaga immediately ordered his men to Yajima to deliver a New Year's gift to Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Due to internal strife within the Miyoshi clan, which controlled Kinki, the Hatakeyama clan, which had previously been suppressed by the Miyoshi clan, also began to rise.

Hatakeyama Takamasa asked Ashikaga Yoshiaki to grant him a taboo for his younger brother Kojiro. As a result, Hatakeyama Kojiro was named Hatakeyama Akitaka (later Hatakeyama Akitaka), which meant that he was on the side of Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

Kawachi's guardian Yusa Shinkyo, who was hostile to the Miyoshi clan, actually restored peace with the Matsunaga father and son and supported Ashikaga Yoshiaki.

As expected, things these days are all linked together, with one thing growing while another declines.

So, after Nobunaga gave Ashikaga Yoshiaki a New Year's gift, he once again convened a meeting of the Oda clan's retainers. They decided that Sunomata Castle had to be built. With Sunomata Castle, they could easily decide whether to further attack Mino or march south to the eight counties of Kitai-Ise.

At first, Nobunaga seemed to favor his adopted son-in-law, Niwa Nagahide, but Niwa Nagahide was ordered to go to deliver a gift to Ashikaga Yoshiaki. Although Yajima Island was not far away, it would take at least a month to go back and forth.

Nobunaga didn't want to wait that long, as the busy farming season would arrive with the arrival of spring, making it difficult to mobilize the people en masse. His plan was to take advantage of the situation and set out as soon as the snow melted. He planned to complete the construction of Sunomata Castle within ten to fifteen days, sending the farmers home. Nobunaga would personally lead the standing ashigaru (foot soldiers) to station themselves inside Sunomata Castle to guard against Saito Tatsuoki.

In this case, we can no longer wait for Niwa Nagahide. After looking at the several great kings of the Oda clan, I think Sakuma Nobumori is more reliable.

Hirate's son, Hirate Hanhide, doesn't seem to be a very strategic person, but he is quite brave in battle. Hayashi Hidetada is even more straightforward, saying he is an old traitor. If he were not a hereditary retainer, Nobunaga would have kicked him and his family out long ago.

Nobumori Sakuma, who was named, was not in a hurry. He had been planning it last year and the plan was already ready.

While the snow has not melted yet, please ask Oda Nobunaga to mobilize all villages and towns to transport at least 4,000 pieces of wood as thick as an arm and as long as a room and a half to Komaki Castle.

Then there are the ropes, the more the better. If you don't need them, you can tie them to small sticks or stick them into the ground to trip your feet. They won't hurt anyone, but they're annoying.

it is good!

no problem!

After Nobunaga heard what Sakuma Nobumori said, he roughly understood Nobumori's idea. He then made an agreement with Nobumori that if Nobumori could dig the trench in seven days, he would bring 2,000 regular foot soldiers, small-name soldiers, and horse-carriage soldiers to support him.

Even with the support of trenches and stockades, Takeda Katsuyori couldn't break through the Oda army, let alone the Saito army. With Saito Ryuoki, could he compare with Takeda Katsuyori?

In addition, Sakuma Nobumori also asked Nobunaga to pay wages to the farmers who were mobilized to perform ordinary service.

Working for the government, right? There's always work to be done, so why risk your life? You won't get anything good from working so hard. In the end, it's the warriors who get the credit, while the peasants have to bring their own tools. Who are they trying to impress?

We must encourage ordinary farmers to dig a large trench at least four meters wide surrounding 3,000 square meters of land within six to seven days.

If you want to motivate, give money. Money is the most real and touching thing.

No problem. Nobunaga was very decisive when it came to spending money. He immediately announced that he would give double wages to the farmers who participated in the general recruitment. As long as they could complete the entire trench project within seven days, they would also be given five liters of rice when they returned to Komaki Castle.

Inspire the farmers' subjective initiative and make them work hard for Nobunaga.

With this, Nobumori was filled with confidence. His next step was to mobilize Owari's available transportation resources. As expected, Shichibei received the order to take all his horses, using carts as pullers if available and horses as loaders if not, and to bring as much timber as possible to Sunomata with the army to assist Nobumori in building the fortress.

Having already agreed on the matter, Shichibei immediately got busy. Fujikichiro, who had been preparing earlier, also came over with Hosuka Koroku and withdrew another 200 kan.

They first needed to purchase sufficient logs from the forest farms upstream. Cutting wood boards was a major undertaking, and these days it was either done manually or hydraulically, both of which were cumbersome. It would be far easier than the future, where machines could whittle a single log into several boards in just minutes.

Even if they bought hundreds or thousands of logs and mobilized the men, women, and children of the Hosuka clan to cut them, two hundred kan might not be enough. Shichibei told them to come and get them if they needed more, as that was their promise.

According to Hosuka Koroku's estimate, they'll need until April or May just to carve the wood. Thousands or even tens of thousands of planks that can be directly joined together—it's a massive undertaking.

Come on.

Back to Nobumori Sakuma's assignment. Since it was just after the Lunar New Year, there was no other business. Furthermore, this time, all 200-plus horses were being dispatched, so Shichibei had to be in charge. With his entire fortune riding on these horses, the company's president had to personally take charge.

Nobunaga, fearing that Sakuma Nobumori's fences would be insufficient, mobilized several hundred oxen to help him pull carts and carry wood to Sunomata. These weren't just a few thousand arm-thick logs; if you count the logs each hired farmer carried, there must have been tens of thousands.

Indeed, it was enough for Nobumori to set up three layers of fences on the small island of Sunamata. If he used it this time, he could leave it outside the city as an outer defense when the city was built.

Shichibei, driving his packhorses, walked the entire way. The convoy of four to five thousand men seemed endless. Fortunately, the streets had been paved by Niwa Nagahide the previous year; otherwise, with thousands of people and over a thousand large animals trampling on them, the muddy roadbed would have collapsed.

Crossing the Kiso River floating bridge and entering Mino, the population of the villages between the Nagara and Kiso Rivers has largely fled, most of which have settled into the former Inuyama domain. Once Sunomata Castle is completed, the people of Nakanos who have fled south will fill the area between the two rivers. They are all fleeing the war, and the lives of ordinary people are worthless, so who cares?

At two or three in the afternoon, the team arrived at Sunomata in a chaotic, zigzagging, and chaotic manner. Perhaps because it was near the flowing water, the snow in Sunomata melted earlier, and some snow still remained below Komakiyama Castle.

There is no trace of Shibata Katsuie's battle last year. Whether it is the bodies of the dead or the discarded tools and weapons, they should have been cleaned up by the Saito army.

Everyone looked at Nobumori Sakuma and asked, "Master, what do you think we should do?"

While Nobumori ordered his soldiers to restrain the peasants, he led several of his closest associates on a horse race across Sunamata Island. He had seen the map before arriving, but the map of Japan at that time was, well, just a look; it was boring. Arriving at the scene, Nobumori still trusted his own judgment.

When a horse gallops, the distance of each step is not much different, so the distance can be calculated by the number of steps. Then dismount, take out a strong bow, and shoot in all directions, marking the direction by where the arrow lands.

There's no need to test-fire the cannon, because once the bullet flies out, we don't know where it will end up.

The farmers then set up camp within the roped-off area, built fires and sheds, and prepared to begin work. The Sakuma family's soldiers then began to advance on guard, ready for any possible battle.

Shichibei was only responsible for unloading the large amount of wood and ropes into the area of ​​the "rope barge", and then handed them over to reliable families or servants to guard along the river in units of twenty or thirty horses.

It's too late to rush back today. Once it gets dark, there are many people with night blindness. A lost person can be found the next day, but a lost horse may not be found.

Since I can't leave yet, I'll just take a look.

The Owari farmers were promised wages and rice when they returned, so they were still motivated. Although Nobunaga was a big fool in Owari before, he was still quite popular in Lower Owari.

The image of Narita Nagachika in "Castle of Golems" is somewhat similar to the early Nobunaga. The peasants of Shimo-Owari did not regard the ten-year-old Nobunaga as a lord, and the children ran behind his horse and stole melons together.

It is said that there was a monster in a pond in Owari, and people were afraid to fetch water. So Nobunaga mobilized everyone to drain the water, but they found that there was nothing in the pond in the end. He just had fun with the common people.

Since Nobunaga promised to give rewards and rice, he will definitely give them.

With wages and rice, everyone was naturally very motivated. Anyway, there was no time to do anything big today, so let's just sit down and tie up the horses and fence.

It's very simple: cross two pieces of wood, place six pairs of wood on a beam, tie them with ropes, and you have a very standard horse fence. Even an elementary school student can tie it.

After Nobumori tied them up, he ordered his men to move them out and spread them out. His goal was to have a horse-proof fence with seven or eight layers. If the Saito army came to move it, he would order his men to shoot with arrows and guns.

Seven or eight layers of horse-proof fences must be several dozen meters deep. As long as the shields brought with the army are erected and covered in front of them, only the Oda army will be able to fight the Saito army.

Or what if the Saito army doesn't come to move the horse fence and then shoot at you? That's great. Let's shoot at you for six or seven days. I'll dig the trenches and Nobunaga's foot soldiers will arrive. Who can still capture Sunomata Castle?

At nightfall, Sakuma Nobumori ordered his men to light a bonfire and continue tying as many bundles as they could. They would tie until they could no longer open their eyes, and then go to sleep. Their energy was truly abundant.

Maybe there is a chance of success...

Logically, Shichibei had placed his bets on Fujikichirō and Hachisuka Koroku, so he should have expected Sakuma Nobumori to fail. However, if Sakuma Nobumori could succeed, that would be fine. The Hachisuka Party's planks could be sold to the Oda clan at a reasonable price; they would be needed for the castle after all.

It's nothing more than the loss of a man's wages, but Fujiyoshiro will lose the opportunity to make a name for himself.

Why don’t we stay and see? If things go wrong, we can just run. Others run on two legs, but we can run on horses.

46. ​​A bad battle has its own rules

The next day, Shichibei got up early and inspected the horses. The horses were up even earlier than the humans, and some were already picking at the fuzzy young grass shoots by the river.

After another inventory, all the horses were there, none missing, and none injured. Great, now I could get up and fetch water for tea, soup, and dinner.

Be careful, when you go outdoors, if necessary, remember to fetch water upstream.

Anyway, Shichibei saw someone urinating directly on the riverbank. Although this kind of thing is common, it is still seen with his own eyes. Drinking well water at home is fine, but if you are outside, you still drink water from upstream.

As for whether there is anyone urinating further upstream on the Kiso River, it depends on one's feelings. There must be some, but out of sight, out of mind.

While boiling water, Shichibei saw Sakuma Nobumori also got up. As soon as he woke up, he clapped his hands and called everyone to get up quickly, eat their fill, and repair the fence. He was worried that he would not be at ease until the fence was fully built at six or seven levels.

At this time, Nobumori Sakuma was really motivated. When did he start to give up?

Remember that when Nobunaga scolded Nobumori in the future, he would say that Nobumori was a man of eating, drinking, gambling, and whoring, and had no ambition to make progress. After Mizuno Nobumoto committed seppuku, his territory was handed over to Nobumori, but Nobumori did not recruit Mizuno's retainers, but instead left the territory vacant and used the annual tribute to enjoy himself.

Now it seems that Xinsheng has no such intentions. He is very diligent and ambitious. I wonder if he really became a lazy dog ​​in the end, lying on the credit book without working hard?

Seeing Shichibei releasing his horse, Sakuma Nobumori came over to greet him and asked him if he was leaving immediately.

There was no rush. After breakfast, Shichibei would have Iekai and the men take the horses away, and he would stay behind. The main purpose was to see how Nobumori performed in an independent military mission, and also to see if Sumata could be built.

Although Nobumori didn't explicitly say he was trying to win him over, his intentions were quite obvious, so Shichibei had to observe. Logically, it would have been best to join Kinoshita Tokichirō, but Tokichirō's moods had become unpredictable since he became the ruler of the country.

Hidetsugu's death was quite unjust, and even Maeno Nagayasu, who had served Hideyoshi since his humble beginnings, was implicated.

Matsudaira Ieyasu was also a stingy person. His sons and grandsons were extremely harsh in their treatment of outsiders, often changing their sentences. He was definitely not a good master.

Niwa Nagahide will die suddenly from cancer, Shibata Katsuie is all muscle but no brains, Ikeda Terumasa is a decent man, but if he died in the battle between Komaki and Nagakute, the Ikeda family would also be a failure.

Alas, human nature is so complicated.

It is very difficult to meet a good master and play a harmonious relationship between the king and his subjects.

Send Nobumori away, and Shichibei will have his family and his men leave Sunomata as quickly as possible. Shichibei will be relieved only when the horses return to Owari. We'll take two horses with us, one for each other, to facilitate our escape. Even if one dies, it won't be a big deal.

Nobumori was quite happy to learn that Shichibei was staying. He told Shichibei to organize the peasants to dig a trench. The management was already overwhelmed with manpower, and having more Shichibei and his men would free up two more Sakuma warriors to prepare for battle.

It's a small matter, no problem.

Why build in sections? It has nothing to do with any of those in-game skills that increase construction speed or save money. It's simply because Japanese castles rarely have perfectly square walls.

Just look at Osaka Castle, Edo Castle, Himeji Castle, Nagoya Castle. Even though you can see many straight sections of city walls, they are actually a series of rings inside each other, and are definitely not square. This is to leave shooting holes and increase the difficulty of siege.

The crooked shape of the city wall makes it easier for the enemy to attack from all directions. When the Chinese built cities, they also built horse-faced enemy towers, which protruded from the city wall to attack the enemy.

Anyway, when it comes to building a city, there must be some similar ideas.

If the city walls weren't straight, then the moats certainly weren't either. Polygons, rhombuses, or even star shapes were all normal. Even the city gates were deliberately built into trapezoidal shapes with corners.

Take Osaka, a city that will become a tourist attraction in the future. Its gates are a kind of modified urn-style city. Breaking through one gate is useless, and you have to turn inside and continue attacking. When you attack the second gate, the bows and cannons above will rain down like rain.

"Let's dig," Shichibei immediately threw himself into the work of supervising the farmers to dig ditches. Because it was an "empty hole," they had to insert wooden spikes into it after digging it to a depth of two meters.

But Sunomata was a good place. If you dug a pit deeper, groundwater would seep out. You didn't have to use wooden spikes. Just fill it with water and it would become a "water moat," which would be a bit more defensive than one filled with wooden spikes.

If necessary, it can also serve as a source of water for the defenders. Of course, if someone dies inside, the water source will be wasted and cannot be used anymore.

Seeing that water would seep in after digging two meters, Sakuma Nobumori was also happy, almost shouting that it was safe. As long as the trench was dug around it, it would be stable.

He was shouting and people on the other side of the Nagara River were also shouting.

The Saito clan's scouts naturally discovered that the Oda army was not giving up and was coming to Sunomata to build a castle. First, ordinary people dressed as ordinary people observed from a distance, running back and forth to confirm the length of the area.

Soon, a group of men wearing Domaru armor appeared. They were few in number, likely the Saito warriors on the ground. Sakuma Nobumori ignored them and simply sent a dozen or so riders to the other side to provide security.

Just shoot at anything within bow and arrow range, but don't worry about whether you hit it or not.

Anyway, the Saito army would definitely find out that Sunomata was building a city, so killing a scout was useless. The Sakuma army didn't have the ability to kill all the scouts, so they just had to make do.

However, the appearance of armored soldiers from the Saito army did cause a small commotion at the construction site. If you were a farmer working on a construction site, you'd open your mouth and ask questions if the enemy appeared.

They were all farmers who made a living during the Warring States Period. They have grown up to this age and are still alive, so they must have some wisdom from the Warring States Period.

This was the episode that happened on the second day. The Oda army set up fences in an orderly manner. Due to their thorough preparation and sufficient manpower, by the evening, they had set up four fences surrounding the Sunamata Castle site.

Seeing the fence being erected, Sakuma Nobumori breathed a sigh of relief.

If we rush forward tomorrow, we'll have at least five rows of fences between us and the enemy. It's still not enough, but at least it's a support. To assist Nobumori, Nobunaga also sent an additional fifty arquebusiers.

As soon as the war started, they fired guns and shot arrows, and they could always hold out for five or six days.

They were all seasoned warriors, and who knew who? A warrior's loyalty was to his duty, but that required orders. If they could get the orders to push the fence away, that would be the best. If they couldn't, they could just "retreat" and continue their attack.

What happened to Isono Tomomasa during the Battle of Anegawa? How many Oda troops did he disperse by himself?

You only get a salary of ten or eight strings of cash a year, plus the support of two or three people. What are you doing with your life?

If I could fire three shots in battle, I would be doing justice to Lord Oda Nobunaga.

The next day passed peacefully, but on the third day, the scene was truly different. Sakuma Nobumori was up early in the morning, fully clothed in his ancestral armor and helmet. His attendants, armed with bows and arrows, patrolled the northern bank of the Nagara River.

The farmers below also knew that they might have to mobilize troops at noon today, so they couldn't help whispering to each other while working.