Yashiro the Blind

Looking at the open ground outside the city, it was filled with layers of fences and wooden spikes, and the gaps in the city wall were completely covered with mud. Even if soldiers wanted to climb the wall to attack, there was no place to get their hands on.

This arrangement made Xingu Mountain City resemble an incredibly hard tortoise shell, indicating that the people inside were determined to defend the city to the death and wait for an opportunity.

"This is a bit tricky..."

As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. Ashikaga Yoshiteru didn't have many opportunities to lead troops into battle in his life, but through his exposure to the world, he had a solid theoretical foundation. After taking a quick look around, he knew that this siege would probably be difficult.

But this situation was exactly what he had expected. If Matsunaga Hisahide were truly an opponent he could easily handle, the Tsutsui family wouldn't have been forced to retreat to the mountains and fight a guerrilla war despite possessing the power of an entire nation.

As the enemy's long-established base, Xinguishan City certainly cannot be conquered overnight.

But since we're already here, no matter how hard the turtle shell is, we still have to try to take a bite.

With these thoughts swirling in his mind, Ashikaga Yoshiteru pulled on the reins, turned around, and looked at the men following behind him—Tsutsui Junsei, Tenfu Hachishiro, Yagyu Muneyoshi, Ii Naotora, and others. They had come to scout out the situation around Shigiyama Castle and decide on the specific attack plan. As the general commanding the army, these men naturally had to come along.

However, he felt that it was pointless for a blind girl to come along, and judging from the expressions of Tsutsui Junsei and Yagyu Muneyoshi, they seemed to be thinking about similar things... But since Yashiro herself didn't find it troublesome, there was no need for outsiders to worry about her.

Besides, everyone else is here, and she's the only one left in the group. Anyone who didn't know better would think she was involved in some kind of clique bullying.

anyway……

Looking at the two beautiful figures riding together, Ashikaga Yoshiteru's expression couldn't help but become somewhat subtle.

According to the customs of the time, samurai were not only forbidden from bringing their wives and concubines to the battlefield, but they were also forbidden from having sexual relations for three days before going into battle, and were also forbidden from having any contact with pregnant women, as these behaviors were believed to bring bad luck.

So regardless of whether they are married or not, or whether they love their wives, once they go to the battlefield, they are all lonely bachelors. Some who really can't resist will "replace" their wives with pretty young men, but most people are not actually that desperate.

But as the saying goes, it's not scarcity that's the problem, but inequality. It's fine if everyone is treated the same normally, but now that there's a special case, it's hard not to feel a bit unbalanced—why can't I take my wife out, but you two can stick together in public?

Even the most conservative and stubborn old man couldn't say anything about it.

Are female relatives prohibited from being brought into the camp?

But these two are both unparalleled masters. Either one of them could probably easily defeat everyone else present—including the famous Yagyu Muneyoshi and Ashikaga Yoshiteru himself—not to mention that Yashiro himself is a lord of a region, so how could he be absent?

However, it wouldn't be right to say that the two of them couldn't ride one horse, since the blind girl couldn't ride a horse.

Logically speaking, a samurai who cannot ride a horse would be laughed at and looked down upon. However, it seems quite normal for a blind woman to not be able to ride a horse. Who would dare to make fun of this? Not to mention whether it would anger Yashiro, it would be morally untenable.

Nor should anyone be allowed to follow on foot.

So...just pretend you didn't see it.

Ashikaga Yoshiteru shook his head, smiled wryly, and looked away.

But the next moment, another thought suddenly popped into his head, and he couldn't help but look at the two people on horseback again:

If we really want to get to the bottom of this, and say that family members are not allowed to come along, then who of these two should be considered the family member?

In theory, Ii Naotora, currently a commoner, would be more suitable for this role than the blind woman who would protect a country. But after a brief look and a moment's thought, Ashikaga Yoshiteru silently nodded.

As expected, this topic should not be brought up.

This army can't be without the imposing lord of Iga Province.

……

Chapter 414 The Enemy is at the Gates

The so-called siege is, most of the time, actually a battle of endurance.

Although this country also possessed various siege weapons—some learned from the neighboring Tang Dynasty, and others invented on its own—it was unfortunately limited by cost, and furthermore, due to years of war, documents and blueprints were lost, and there were very few people in the world who knew how to manufacture them.

Moreover, Japan has its own national conditions. Most of its castles are built on hilltops with only a narrow path for passage. Catapults would not be very effective when hurling them from below, and it would be difficult to safely transport siege engines to the city gate.

To be precise, the most common siege tactics employed were using readily available materials like long ladders, bamboo bundles, and well towers, combined with swarming attacks. However, such swarming assaults inevitably resulted in heavy casualties, so unless absolutely necessary, it was best to adopt a siege-based approach to minimize losses.

Ashikaga Yoshiteru was no exception this time. Even though he was eager to take Shigiyama Castle as soon as possible, his five or six thousand troops, which he had cobbled together, each had their own leader. The shogun could only issue orders, but could not directly command them.

The only people he could directly mobilize were a hundred or two loyal servants. If those few heads were thrown into Xinguishan City, they probably wouldn't even make a ripple.

Among these 6,000 men, the main force was the Tsutsui army, whose general, Tsutsui Junsei, was a notoriously cautious man. Getting him to risk his life to attack the castle was practically impossible. Therefore, Ashikaga Yoshiteru didn't even mention the word "strong" in a strong attack—it would have been pointless anyway. After wandering around the vicinity of Shigiyama Castle for a while and roughly surveying the terrain, he led his men back to the main camp and began to discuss the steps for besieging the castle.

There's really not much to discuss about this. Considering our strategic objectives, the ideal scenario is to surround the city on three sides while leaving one side open, luring the enemy to abandon the city and flee to Izumi Province. However, besieging a city is not as simple as it sounds, especially for a large city like Shigiyama. When it was built, several, or even a dozen, smaller branch cities would definitely have been built in nearby strategic locations.

These small towns, garrisoned with anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred soldiers, have managed to hold out for a long time thanks to their advantageous terrain, their forces supporting each other like stars around the moon. If one focuses solely on attacking the main city, it risks exposing weaknesses, allowing the defenders to turn the tables and launch a pincer attack, resulting in a crushing defeat.

Therefore, when it comes to attacking a city, a portion of the army is usually left to surround the main city, and then the surrounding auxiliary cities are gradually removed until the main city is isolated and helpless. Then, the army is slowly "exhausted and starved."

Specifically regarding the attack on Shigiyama Castle, to prevent Yuki Tadamasa from making a desperate gamble and launching a fierce attack, the besieging side needed sufficient troops. This task naturally fell to Tsutsui Junsei. As for Yagyu, Tenfu, and the ronin samurai assigned to Ii Naotora, they used this time to separately attack the smaller towns and outposts—a standard and unremarkable strategy.

However, when one has the advantage, playing fair and square, steadily and surely, is far better than recklessly using any strange or unorthodox tactics.

After Ashikaga Yoshiteru gave his instructions, everyone received their orders and left. Yagyu Muneyoshi, along with Naotora, headed north, while Yashiro led a separate army south.

Her own army was not large, only a little over a thousand, but don't forget that among these thousand men were more than three hundred of the "Flying Monkeys" she had cultivated. These men were not particularly skilled in battle, but when it came to conquering cities and seizing territory, no one in Iga could match them. With the two leaders, Big Monkey and Little Monkey, present, their morale was even higher, and they were all eager to take the opportunity to show off.

Yashiro also understands that the key to victory or defeat in this war does not lie with them, but with the combined forces of the Hatakeyama and Rokkaku families, totaling 30,000 men.

Once Shigiyama Castle is captured, they will have free access to Kawachi Province, allowing them to cooperate with Hatakeyama Takamasa to further expand their gains. However, if the situation is reversed, and Hatakeyama Takamasa is defeated and forced to retreat, allowing Miyoshi Yoshitsugu and his group to recover from the crisis, then the people of Yamato Province can pack up and return home to await the Miyoshi family's retaliation...

Therefore, the situation they faced was one of racing against time, with little time to waste. While Xingu Mountain City was fortified and difficult to attack, the surrounding hilltop towns were not. Rather than dragging their feet and taking things slowly, they should first seize one or two fortresses with lightning speed. This would not only intimidate the garrison of the other outposts but also demoralize the troops within Xingu Mountain City.

Once the decision was made, the blind woman did not hesitate. She held a meeting with the generals and then divided the troops again. She ordered the Twin Apes to lead 600 men to attack Tatsuta Takayama, while she herself led 500 men straight to Oji Kataoka Castle. Although the former was small in scale, it was located near the only large river in Shigiyama. If it was not captured in a day, the soldiers would not be able to rest and fetch water in peace.

The latter is the gateway to the southern border of Shigiyama. If this castle is captured, the connection between Shigiyama Castle and the southern regions of Kuzushima and Hirose can be severed, leaving them isolated and helpless.

But none of them were fools. As the builder of Shigiyama Castle, Matsunaga Hisahide certainly understood the importance of these two places. With the tax revenue he collected from Izumi, he built the two fortresses as solid as a rock. Although they were small, they were complete in every way. It would not be easy to take them by force.

Not to mention that Yashiro only has a little over a thousand troops. In the eyes of many people, even if she were to lead a single force to conquer a city, she would likely suffer heavy losses, let alone if she were to divide her forces into two groups.

I really don't know how to live or die!

Regardless of what others think, that's what the lord of Kataoka Castle thought.

……

"Hmph, I heard that the Iga gang has lost their minds. A bunch of grown men actually recognized a blind little girl as their master. Aren't they afraid of being ridiculed!"

The gruff voice, loud as a bell, almost made the entire ceiling shake. The spider on its web in the corner trembled and nearly fell.

But in the end, all that falls is a little bit of dust.

The speaker was a tall, burly man in his forties or fifties with a full beard. He had a broad back and a thick waist, and a scar on his face that ran from left to right across the tip of his nose, almost splitting his face in two, making him look even more fierce.

This man's name is Kataoka Shinjiro. Judging from his surname, you can tell that he comes from a local powerful family and is a proper lord of the country. To be honest, the Kataoka clan of Yamato is indeed a family with a long history. It's just a pity that while they have the weight of history, they lack the "weight" of their fists. They don't have the ability to stand on their own and can only rely on a leader to make a living.

He initially submitted to Tsutsui, but later surrendered immediately when Matsunaga Hisahide attacked, thus retaining his territory and continuing to serve as the lord of Kataoka Castle.

However, the ability to surrender quickly is a natural talent of the local people and has little to do with personal ability. Kataoka Shinjiro himself is a brave and skilled samurai. He comes from the Nen-ryu school and is highly skilled in martial arts. Over the past few decades, he has defeated more than a dozen generals and soldiers.

This number might not seem like much to top-tier warriors, but for a local tycoon like Kataoka Shinjiro, it was a remarkable achievement. Therefore, Kataoka Shinjiro, always confident in his martial prowess and arrogant in nature, rarely impressed anyone.

Upon hearing of the unrest in the Kinki region and the invasion of Ashikaga Yoshiteru's army, they were still gathering troops to rescue Shigiyama Castle when they suddenly received a report from their subordinates that a force carrying a banner with the character "侠" (knight) was heading towards Kataoka Castle.

Several years had passed since the turmoil in Iga. Even the most oblivious neighbors had heard some related news over time and realized that the banner with the character "侠" (xia, meaning chivalrous) belonged to the current ruler of Iga, Tenka Hachihiro. Kataoka Shinjiro was initially a little flustered and hurriedly sent people to find out the exact number of people before deciding whether to fight or flee.

But this investigation led to something completely baffling.

"How many of them do you think there are?"

"Report! Only about five or six hundred!"

“Five or six hundred… but we have a full seven hundred men on our side.” Kataoka Shinjiro was somewhat bewildered. Theoretically, the Iga had sided with Ashikaga Yoshiteru this time, and their attack was undoubtedly aimed at capturing the castle.

But how can there be a situation in this world where the attacking side has fewer troops than the defending side?

Could it be that the lord of Iga Province has other plans, or... perhaps he simply came to surrender?

With this in mind, and considering the somewhat frightening rumor of a blind girl's consecutive victories, he did not rashly choose to go out of the city to fight. Instead, he proceeded step by step, gathering the surrounding people into the city while observing the situation.

Until the valiant warriors, their banners fluttering in the wind, arrived at the city walls—and upon closer inspection, it was clear that the enemy numbered only five or six hundred—there was no negotiation, nor were any messengers sent. Instead, they immediately dispersed their forces, appearing intent on seriously besieging the city.

A mere five hundred men wanted to surround a castle with seven hundred men.

"What a joke!"

Upon realizing this, Kataoka Shinjiro was instantly enraged. Even when Tsutsui Junsho and Matsunaga Hisahide came to beat him up, they had brought several thousand soldiers. Yet this blonde girl in front of him dared to challenge him with only five hundred men.

"You've confirmed there are no ambushes, right?"

"Yes, there were no ambushes!"

"Fine, fine...you brat, you've gone too far!"

His anger was so intense that he could no longer contain himself. Although some retainers had initially advised Kataoka Shinjiro to defend the castle and buy time, seeing that he was so furious, and knowing the lord's fiery temper, no one dared to provoke him. Moreover, samurai valued face the most. If you surrounded them with thousands or tens of thousands of troops like Tsutsui or Matsunaga, it would be understandable if they couldn't win and surrendered.

However, given the current numerical advantage within the city, it would be unreasonable to remain holed up inside like a tortoise, allowing the enemy to swagger around.

Moreover, it's not just a matter of dignity. It's autumn harvest season, and if they don't leave the city, they can only watch helplessly as the Iga people harvest the crops that rightfully belong to them. This is intolerable!

So, after confirming that there were no ambushes or conspiracies, and that the enemy truly numbered only six hundred or even five hundred, even the most cautious retainers in Kataoka Castle began to lose patience and echoed the call to go out into the field and fight the enemy to the death.

This move perfectly aligned with Kataoka Shinjiro's intentions. Seeing that the emperor and his ministers were of one mind, he immediately held a banquet, treated everyone to drinks, and performed divination and other rituals. Choosing an auspicious day, he donned his armor, drew his sword, opened the city gates wide, and charged out with overwhelming momentum.

"A reward of five strings of cash will be given to whoever kills Tenfeng Iga, and an additional ten strings of cash will be given to whoever captures him alive!"

On the eve of battle, Shinjiro Kataoka raised his sword and spear and loudly proclaimed.

"Hey, hey, oh!"

The soldiers inside the city immediately cheered, their voices shaking the heavens and earth, like thunder from the sky, and their spirits were shaken.

With morale high and the troops in good spirits, the lord of Kataoka Castle, his eyes wide and his hearty laughter echoing, seemed to already envision the imminent victory, the bloodied heads soon to be washed clean and presented before him—

……

"What a terrifying face."

"is it?"

"Yes, it's a good thing Mio isn't here, otherwise she might have been scared and cried."

"That must have been pretty scary... Luckily I can't see it."

Several voices rang out from inside the makeshift tent.

Kataoka Shinjiro's eyes remained wide open, his face covered in undried blood, his mouth agape like a ferocious beast about to devour someone. Unfortunately, this face, usually enough to stop a child's crying, now failed to elicit even the slightest ripple.

Because his eyes had long lost their luster, and his neck was completely empty, what was here was no longer the renowned Lord Kataoka Castle, but merely a lifeless human head.

With 700 against 500, it seemed like I had the advantage, but the moment they decided to go out of the city for open battle, their tragic ending was already sealed.

If we only talk about the lowest-ranking foot soldiers, the difference between the two sides might not be too great. However, Kataoka Shinjiro only has twenty or thirty hatamoto samurai at most. On the Iga side, apart from Mumei and Ashu, who are the elite of the Chuye Yashu, Minjimaru's greatsword skills and Ryuko's divine archery skills are enough to terrify ordinary soldiers and make them lose all their fighting spirit.

The entire battle, from the Kataoka family's army charging in with great momentum to their lines collapsing and scattering in all directions, lasted less than half an hour. Yashiro didn't even have a chance to personally participate; he could only sit in the tent and listen to the sounds of battle outside.

Despite being a commander-in-chief, he somehow felt like he was sitting on the sidelines.

It is embarrassing.

At this very moment, Wuming and her group were leading people to clean up the battlefield and take over Kataoka Castle, while the others were routinely inspecting the heads.

The blind girl is no longer the naive newcomer she once was. She no longer asks questions like, "Why am I staying here if you're looking at my head?" Instead, she skillfully retrieves a military book from her memory and begins to study military theory diligently.

On the surface, she maintained a calm and composed demeanor, leaning on her cane, sitting in the center of the main camp, a faint smile on her lips, approachable yet somehow enigmatic. This is one of the advantages of closing your eyes; as long as it's not too obvious, no one will notice you're daydreaming.

Aside from close friends and family like Ryuko, Minjimaru, and Saiga Hotaru, sitting at the very front were Hagoromo Ishinomiya and a little boy of about seven or eight years old.

Earlier, Hattori died on the battlefield with his sword. The once mighty Iga Hattori clan was also dismantled. Those die-hards who opposed Yashiro either committed seppuku to show their loyalty or rose up in rebellion and were completely killed. After a cleanup, the territory that originally belonged to the Hattori family shrank by more than half, leaving only the Senga Castle of their ancestors.

Even so, the position of head of the Hattori clan could not be handed over to the branch family of the sword-wielding line. Yashiro and Hagoromo Ishinomiya discussed it and decided to ask the main family for their opinion first. After all, Hattori Yasunaga was an acquaintance of theirs, and even though he was no longer in Iga, they still had to give him some face.

Upon asking, Hattori Yasunaga thought for a moment and simply handed over one of his youngest sons: "If you don't mind, let him inherit the Chiga estate... Until he comes of age, you, Hagoromo, will be his guardian."

"Is this an attempt to do us a favor?" Yu Yi Shi Gong asked with great interest.

Hattori Yashiro was quite frank: "Miss Yashiro is young and promising, with a bright future ahead of her. I can't miss such a great opportunity."

After this incident, many members of the Hattori clan in Iga must harbor resentment or even hatred towards Yashiro. Hattori Yasunaga's actions were tantamount to personally vouching for the blind girl. This favor, though not a huge one, could save some trouble.

With the assistance of Hagoromo Ishinomiya, a renowned figure from Koga, even if some villains were secretly plotting, they were destined not to cause any trouble.

In the years that followed, Hagoromo Ishigami spent time dealing with some undercurrents and conflicts within the clan. Just as she had freed up her hands, she happened to encounter this war. After some consideration, she volunteered to take the young patriarch with her to fight alongside him. While supporting Hachiro, she also wanted to make some contributions to further solidify the position of the young Hattori patriarch.

Although the boy was young, he was very brave. He wasn't afraid of the clean human head. After staring at it for a while, he started looking around. Perhaps he was interested in the surrounding decorations. His eyes were shining and his face was full of curiosity.

If it weren't for the fact that Yu Yi Shi Gong made him sit obediently on the bench, he probably would have jumped up and run around everywhere by now.

The boy's eyes darted around, and Yu Yi Shi Gong gently tapped the back of his hand before looking away.

With familiar faces like Igasaki Michijun and Kosaka Jinnai in charge of overseeing Iga, and Shimotsuke and the two monkeys busy attacking Tatsuta Takayama Castle elsewhere, there were a few slightly unfamiliar figures in the Yashiro headquarters at this time, in addition to the few faces she was used to seeing in Tenmae Castle.

For example, those two brothers, she remembered that one was named Tarozaemon and the other Jiroemon. They seemed to have followed Yashiro for many years and were quite skilled, but they had never made any great contributions.

For a while, these two disappeared without a trace, and no one knew where they had been transferred or what they were doing. At first, some people speculated that they had died or angered Yashiro and been exiled, but this time, the two brothers naturally reappeared when they went on the expedition.

and……