Warring States Survival Guide

What's there to argue about? If only I had such an Ashigaru Lang Faction of my own…

Mi Jiulang's expression shifted unpredictably. With a stomach full of complaints, he also started to suspect that Harano was playing him. Very likely, Harano just wanted to take Tinuma Castle by force in order to seize the top merit.

It wasn't impossible. If they could quickly take Tinuma Castle and chop off the head of the "Tiger of Eastern Minoh," it would absolutely send shockwaves through all the big and small clans at the Kisogawa-Changliang River junction. At that point, there'd be no need to send people door-to-door to negotiate anymore—those clans would show up with their pretty daughters, crying and begging to surrender, offering up men and grain, and proactively joining the campaign against the Saito family.

Oda Nobunaga would place even more value on Wanjin as an ally. Even if Harano wanted to claim a fief here, with such major achievements in hand, Oda Nobunaga would be forced to hand over a piece—if not willingly, then at least by holding his nose.

The more Mi Jiulang thought about it, the more his heart grew cold. He was almost certain Harano was out to steal the credit. Otherwise, there was no way he'd spend so much. But even if he wanted to stop it, there was nothing he could do. Just as he was feeling dejected, he suddenly noticed the Wanjin Army slowing down. The sharp bamboo whistle from the frontlines began to sound one after another. The fire oil grenades stopped flying; the muskets and battle cries also fell completely silent.

All of this happened as suddenly as the initial attack. The Wanjin Army ceased fire just as quickly. They stopped the moment the order was given, breaking contact with the enemy right away.

This showed that the Wanjin Army always had the initiative on the battlefield, strictly following orders—every unit remained under control. Nobody had lost their head yet or acted on their own.

Mi Jiulang was a clever man; no wonder Oda Nobunaga relied on him. Looking at the frontlines, which had shifted from chaos to calm so abruptly yet naturally, he swallowed a few times in a row. But business was urgent, and seeing that the guards no longer stopped him from approaching Harano, he hurried over and, with more respect than before, asked: "My Lord, is this…?"

Tonight was just too bizarre for him; he simply couldn't understand what was happening.

Harano gave him the same gentle smile: "I think that's about enough. Lord Ozawa Masahide should be willing to have a proper talk with you now, wouldn't you say, Mi Jiulang?"

Everything he wanted to find out, he'd already figured out. He now understood how the defenders manned this type of Yamashiro. Naturally, there was no need to keep fighting.

Mi Jiulang was still at a loss, unable to grasp why Harano fought this battle, why he'd thrown out so much money for nothing—the battle didn't last long, but the cost wasn't small. The oil burned, the gunpowder for the iron cannons, damaged vehicles, wounded men and horses—no matter how you tallied it, it ran at least two or three thousand kan. Any regular clan fighting a battle like this might as well declare bankruptcy on the spot.

But even if he didn't understand, he thanked him instinctively: "Thank you, my Lord. I suppose Lord Ozawa must be able to see the situation clearly now."

"Go get 'em!" Harano patted him on the shoulder from above and smiled. "I've lined the credit up right at your doorstep. Make sure you grab it tight—I'll be waiting for the day you become master of a castle, ruler of a domain."

"Yes, my Lord." Mi Jiulang could only bow again in reply, his heart burning hot once more.

Master of a castle, ruler of a domain… Harano was his target all along. If, in the future, he could be a man like Harano, he could die with his eyes closed.

......

Just as Harano said, the second time Mi Jiulang and the others went to negotiate with Ozawa Masahide, it was much more straightforward. At the very least, they could go straight up the mountain, no longer stopped outside the first wall.

The work of turning him was also much easier. Through that brother-in-law, Tsubouchi Katsutarou, Mi Jiulang and his people had figured out why Ozawa Masahide was so stubborn. In recent years, Ozawa Masahide had constantly opposed Oda Nobunaga here. Whenever Oda Nobunaga attacked Inuyama Castle, he'd attack Oda Nobunaga's territory or flanks. After years of friction, he'd killed quite a few Oda family Samurai—including Oda Nobunaga's cousins, nephews, and other close relatives.

Now Inuyama Castle was done for. The Saito family was fighting among themselves and looked about to go under as well. It's not that he didn't want to surrender, but he was afraid that, after surrendering, the Oda family would seek revenge and Oda Nobunaga would want his head.

Even if the Wanjin Army's assault was fierce enough—if they were willing to pay the price in blood and put a few hundred lives on the line, they really could gnaw Tinuma Castle down—he still hesitated, afraid that to surrender meant certain death. By then, both the Oda and Saito families would want him dead, and he wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Once they understood the reason, there was a way forward. Mi Jiulang didn't hesitate: he stripped off his upper robe, grabbed his dagger, and sat down right in Ozawa Masahide's courtyard. Then he sent Maeno Nagakane galloping off to find Oda Nobunaga, saying he'd already agreed to Ozawa Masahide's terms, and he requested a personal letter of pardon from Oda Nobunaga, promising Ozawa's fief and family name would be protected going forward.

If Oda Nobunaga refused, his mission would be a failure—and there'd be nothing left for him to do except commit suicide in Tinuma Castle by way of apology.

He felt confident about it though. He reckoned Oda Nobunaga would definitely agree—and Oda Nobunaga did indeed agree. To take Tinuma Castle so easily, what did losing a few cousins and nephews matter? The Oda family practically bred like rabbits—they weren't going to miss a few people.

He cursed Mi Jiulang with a few choice words and then dashed off that pardon letter, even showing full trust by letting Ozawa Masahide continue to defend Tinuma Castle—didn't even make him move out.

With the agreement in place, Ozawa Masahide was "full of admiration" for Oda Nobunaga's generosity, showered him with flattery, maybe genuine, maybe not—either way, he sent plenty of praise from afar. Then he and Igi Seibei both went to Komaki Castle to pay homage to Oda Nobunaga, declaring their utter submission.

So, after all that fighting, the enemy became an ally. Harano then led his troops back along the road to Matsukura Castle, and on the way, he even collected the three cantilever bridges the Wanjin Army had built.

Most of them were prefab parts—take them back to use next time. The only disappointment was for Mi Jiulang; he had a bridge-building task of his own, so his plan to save time and effort was shot. Still, he didn't have the guts to ask Harano for them, so in the end, he strung the Kawamata Group's boats together as a floating bridge.

After that, there wasn't much for Harano to do around here. This place wasn't even the frontline anymore—at most, he just helped Mi Jiulang watch over the recently surrendered Igi Mountain City and Tinuma Castle, to prevent any mischief, and occasionally threatened the neighboring minor lords to make sure they didn't rebel. As for Oda Nobunaga, he finally ran out of patience and, seeing that Inuyama Castle barely had any will to resist, launched a fierce assault directly on Inuyama Castle.

He even led from the front in person, taking more than 2,000 Banner Men to charge himself. Besides that, there was Katsuyori Shibata commanding over 3,000 Owari nobleman Lang Faction, Sakuma Nobumasa leading over 1,500 men, and Niwa Nagahide leading more than 2,000, all attacking from multiple directions in the south.

The defenders of Inuyama Castle were always busy deserting or secretly surrendering. Saito Ryuko was in dire straits and barely sent any reinforcements. Oda Nobuaki was left with less than one thousand men under his command—even counting folks from Minoh. Seeing the writing on the wall, he didn't even bother making a last-ditch stand in his manor atop the hill, nor did he go out with a blaze of self-immolation. He simply fled from the east side.

Oda Nobunaga didn't chase him—let him run into the mountains, and from the Minoh hills, he made his way to Kai and became a Takeda family Household Retainer.

As for his family, Oda Nobunaga didn't do anything to them. Anyone who wanted to stay, Oda Nobunaga even assigned them land in Tsubata Village—past sins forgiven, just farm quietly. Do well in the future, and your merits will count. Anyone unwilling to stay, Oda Nobunaga let them take their valuables and chase after Oda Nobuaki—do whatever they wanted.

And with that, the Inuyama Castle faction was finished. Saito Ryuko was now truly alone, without a single ally left.