CHAPTER 268: CHAPTER 196: ALL THIS, IT’S NOT EASY!_2

He didn’t press further about who broke the alliance, instead turning to ask about the situation of the Niwa Family: "I heard Lord Niwa Uemon died in battle?"

Niwa Uemon’s full name was Niwa Uemon Genpei, and he was Niwa Nagahide’s uncle. Before the Battle of Okehazama, Oda Nobunaga ordered him to take several hundred men from Iwakura Castle and launch a desperate assault on Nagami Castle, in order to cover Oda Nobunaga’s main army as it quietly moved towards Muro Mountain.

There was nothing Niwa Nagahide needed to hide about this. When the funeral was held, even Harano would have to send someone to offer condolences.

He simply let out a sigh and said, "Yes. Not only my uncle, but Lord Sasaki Junren (Shouji) and Lord Maeno Kobayashi also died in battle."

Back then, the "Task Force" assembled to cover Oda Nobunaga’s sneak attack on Imagawa Yoshimoto was basically wiped out. After all, more than a thousand men, split into three groups, went to attack four or five thousand enemies head-on—it was truly a suicide mission.

Harano shook his head, feeling that it was a case of "one general’s success built upon ten thousand bones," but soon showed concern and asked, "What about Lord Sasaki Nagamasa?"

"Lord Sasaki Nagamasa was seriously wounded and is currently recovering at Atsuta." Niwa Nagahide assumed he and the Sasaki Family were on good terms, so he added comfortingly, "But don’t worry, he’s the only surviving male of this Sasaki generation. His Lordship has already ordered people to take good care of him, so there shouldn’t be any problems."

Harano nodded lightly. The Sasaki Family really was unlucky: their domain was right next to Atsuta Shrine, and in the end the whole family was dragged to the battlefield by Oda Nobunaga, stuck with the unluckiest assignment, and just like that, most adult males of Sasaki were wiped out—only the lone sprout, Sasaki Nagamasa, remained.

This was probably also the main reason why Sasaki Nagamasa could become a lord of a city in the future. After all, at the biggest turning point of Oda Nobunaga’s life, the Sasaki Family had truly sacrificed their heads and spilled their blood, achieving great merit—you might say it didn’t matter if the Sasaki Family was willing or not, or if Oda Nobunaga forced them into it; in any case, the Sasaki Family was nearly wiped out, and Oda Nobunaga would surely have to reward them at least a little.

Harano’s thoughts wandered as he asked after familiar faces like Maeda Toshie and Sawaki Ryoji. He found out that Maeda Toshie’s undercover mission was going well—he was really following Katsuyori Shibata into the Battle of Okehazama, and had even taken three enemy heads, one of which belonged to a senior vassal of the Imagawa family, which was quite an accomplishment.

But when he presented them to Oda Nobunaga before everyone, Nobunaga didn’t even glance at him, let alone praise him. Instead, it was Katsuyori Shibata who spoke a few fair words on his behalf. Now Maeda Toshie was following Katsuyori Shibata, which probably meant he’d succeeded in infiltrating the "enemy’s" ranks.

Sawaki Ryoji also took the opportunity to achieve notable merit, filling the spot Maeda Toshie previously left and becoming the new favorite at Oda Nobunaga’s side.

As for others, Oda Nobunaga also promoted a lang faction member who achieved remarkable deeds. It was rumored that the plan to lure Imagawa Yoshimoto to rest at Mount Okehazama was devised by him and Shin Sakamoto together, and this person was Mi Jiulang.

After clarifying this, Harano was momentarily dazed—history really isn’t so easy to change. He had killed Hoyoshimaru in secret, and now another Mi Jiulang popped up to fill his place. It seems the times always create heroes; as long as the currents don’t change, someone will always step in to fill the gap.

In this world, there is never a shortage of talented and ambitious people. Most of them simply never get their chance.

......

Harano chatted idly with Niwa Nagahide for a long while before seeing him off, and then waited to see Oda Nobunaga’s next move—if this were a novel, this would be the time he’d replicate Okehazama’s miracle, take two thousand men, gamble it all to launch a sneak attack against Oda Nobunaga, kill him outright, and then swallow all of Owari whole, skyrocketing to become a dazzling powerful Daimyo.

But this isn’t a novel. With the strength of his two thousand war-tested soldiers, even if he could pull off the sneak attack and kill Oda Nobunaga, there was no way he could swallow Owari, not even just Chita Peninsula. With his currently accumulated internal affairs staff he wouldn’t be able to digest it in the short term. If he really killed Oda Nobunaga, all he’d do is hand things over for the benefit of the Matsudaira family, the Saito family, or another Oda Family branch.

After all, there’s a precedent for this sort of thing. For example, Akechi Mitsunari muddle-headedly killed Oda Nobunaga at Honnoji Temple, but since he lacked the foundation, he didn’t gain a bit of benefit—instead, he became everyone’s target, enjoying nothing but a "three-day reign," going down in history as a famous clown.

So now all Harano could do was continue strengthening defenses, storing up ammunition and provisions, drafting defensive plans, and preparing for a tough battle.

Time quickly passed by a few more days, and finally Nagami Castle surrendered. By now the Imagawa family was in full retreat; Okabe Motonobu, isolated and helpless, couldn’t keep hold of the lordship of Nagami Castle. After taking a few more beatings, he actively chose to give up Nagami Castle on the condition that his entire group would be allowed to safely withdraw to Jumogawa, and that Imagawa Yoshimoto’s head would be returned to them.

Oda Nobunaga agreed—not only did he return the head, he also gave this formidable enemy significant honor by summoning a group of monks to chant sutras in his memory, and ordered a "Yiyuan Tomb" built for him at Atsuta.

Then, Oda Nobunaga led his army of ten thousand across Nagami Castle, heading straight for Dagao City. However, instead of attacking, he simply circled around the north side of Dagao City, surveyed the defenses along the Dagao River, then returned the way he came.

Standing atop Dagao City’s walls, Harano let out a huge sigh of relief. With more than ten thousand soldiers as far as the eye could see, if all those men really rushed up to attack him, his legs would be trembling no matter how well prepared he was. Now that Oda Nobunaga wasn’t eager to start another war, that was for the best—if he believed in gods and buddhas, he’d probably be burning incense to offer thanks right now.

Ah Man was fully armored and mentally prepared for a great battle, so when she saw Oda Nobunaga withdraw she was actually a little disappointed, hesitating, "That’s it? He’s just leaving? Not even going to try?"

She’d even stockpiled dung, ready to boil it and pour it over the walls on the attackers—but now that no one’s storming the city, wasn’t all that dung collected for nothing?

"There’s still Saito Yoshitada to the north, and the Matsudaira family to the east. After two consecutive battles, the Oda Family has also taken heavy losses. If they fight us again, who knows what the Matsudaira family would do, and Saito Yoshitada will definitely make a move—he hasn’t lost his mind yet."

This was what Harano had thought all along; he figured that, with Oda Nobunaga’s temperament, it was unlikely he’d tear up the alliance and attack, and his troops probably couldn’t stand back-to-back battles. But he couldn’t be sure—Oda Nobunaga had just performed a miracle at Okehazama and was at the height of his confidence. If he got carried away, there was still a real chance he’d rush over and start a fight.

But it’s best that Oda Nobunaga is still rational. Harano was finally at ease, and turned his gaze southward.

To the south was the entire Chita Peninsula, which now completely belonged to him. His plan finally had a solid foundation.

Moreover, from now on he’d legitimately be a small Daimyo. As long as he consolidated what he had and absorbed the land and people, he’d have his part to play on the stage of history.

All of this... it wasn’t easy!

Really, it wasn’t easy!

End of this volume