Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 220 Unworthy to be compared with the Master!
In this era, it was difficult to expand ports by manpower. To become a major port with a place to dock and anchor a large number of ships, one had to be blessed by nature and have natural shelter from the wind. Moreover, the local area had to have gentle tidal flats, solid seabed, and no large number of reefs or shoals nearby, so as to facilitate the passage of ships and the construction of infrastructure such as docks, piers, and warehouses.

Such terrain is extremely rare, with only two locations in Ise Bay, and in the Izu Sea, only Shimoda Port can be considered a natural deep-water port.

The coastline here is recessed, forming a semi-circular bay. Shimoda Port is located at the apex of this semi-circular arc. Before the Satomi Navy appeared, most of the merchant ships in Wanjin had already entered this semi-circular bay and were queuing up to unload their cargo at the docks and piers.

But now, chaos has broken out at the dock. A large number of Wanjin merchant ships are no longer following the rules. Shouts are rising in unison as they begin to weigh anchor and turn around. Moreover, many Wanjin people who have come ashore to trade are crowding onto small boats and rowing hard, trying desperately to get back onto the merchant ships.

Those who couldn't squeeze onto the small boats shouted and yelled on the dock, while others carried out boxes of copper coins and started scattering them around.

Kasahara Yasuhisa and the other Hojo samurai glanced at the scene from afar and then quickly sent someone to inquire about the situation. Soon, a member of the Hojo clan returned and reported: "My lord, the merchant ships of Wanjin are preparing to set sail to join the battle."

Kasahara Yasuhisa was startled: "Who gave the order?"

They had previously sent messengers to the "Chita" to ask Nohara to come to port for temporary refuge. Satomi's navy generally dared not rush into the bay to fight, as it would be too easy to be attacked from both land and sea. However, they did not see anyone from the "Chita" come back to relay the order. The lords of the Wanjinbo who came ashore to trade were also scattered, in small groups, and there were no Nohara samurai among them.

The man hesitated for a moment before replying, "It seems no one gave the order; it appears to have been spontaneous on the part of the merchants. Some people heard that the Satomi Navy had appeared in the open sea, so they started shouting, and then all the people of Wanjin started running to the dock, yelling that they wanted to fight the Satomi Navy."

The Hojo samurai exchanged bewildered glances. After a moment, one of them pointed at a group of Wanjinbozu (a type of Japanese merchant) throwing money around on the dock and asked curiously, "What... are they doing? Why are they throwing money everywhere?"

The man from Langdang straightened up, glanced at the scene from afar, and then lowered his head and said, “Those merchants are recruiting dock laborers to help with the fighting. When I came over, they had already offered three strings of cash per person… uh, as long as you go out to sea to fight, you can get three strings of cash. Taking enemy heads is a separate deal, and you get an extra three strings of Yongle cash for each head.”

Three city passes are basically equivalent to a year's salary for an average party member, which is already very tempting. Moreover, if you are lucky enough and dare to fight, you can earn an extra year's salary for killing one enemy. If you are incredibly lucky, you can even wipe out the entire enemy ship and achieve financial freedom, allowing you to enjoy your retirement.

Frankly, the price was outrageous. This Lang faction member almost couldn't resist taking the gamble, not to mention that the Wanjin merchants were willing to provide weapons, and some even shouted that they were willing to pay compensation, even if they died in battle, they would still get money, double the amount. The Wanjin lords directly swore in public that if they were not abandoned by the gods and men, their descendants for eighteen generations would not die a good death. In this era, such oaths were highly credible, and no one would doubt them.

Kasahara Yasuhisa and the others were even more bewildered.

The idea of ​​merchants spontaneously joining the war already seemed somewhat fantastical to them. Now, these merchants were even willing to pay out of their own pockets to hire people to fight for the wilderness, which was even more incomprehensible to them. It felt like they were seeing a Cthulhu from the Deep Sea, and their brains were about to explode.

Every time the Hojo clan went to war, it took a lot of effort just to conscript miscellaneous soldiers and foot soldiers and pay for their provisions. There were always people who wanted to desert, and there were always people who would rather flee into the mountains than honestly hand over their money and provisions. They were no match for the Nohara clan's subjects.

Not to mention those merchants, they even tried to evade taxes. If they had been willing to go bankrupt to help the Hojo Navy fight against the Satomi Navy, Shimoda Port wouldn't have fallen into such a sorry state.

"Um... the commoners of the Nohara family are really obedient. How do they manage to do that?" After a while, one of the samurai from the Hojo clan, including Kasahara Yasuhisa, finally spoke up, seemingly wanting to learn about Wanjin's methods of governance.

No one responded; everyone was baffled as to how such an effect could be achieved through governance. But soon, another samurai pointed at the group of money-splurging merchants and asked, "Should we stop them?"

"Isn't it necessary?"

"It's just some manual labor; we can recruit more from nearby villages later..."

"It's worth it to lose some laborers if it means more people die in the Mu Zheng family."

This time, the Hojo samurai chimed in with their opinions, feeling that since Wanjin was willing to fight the Satomi navy to the death, it wouldn't hurt to give them seven or eight hundred civilians as support. However, someone soon asked, "Should we go out and help them out too?"

The Hojo navy is no longer up to par, and they don't even dare to venture out of Shimoda Port. However, they are not completely without fighting power. There are still five or six shoal ships and more than ten small boats in the port. If they suddenly rush out of the bay, they can't be of much help, but they should be able to distract the enemy and relieve some of the pressure on the Wanjin navy.

But the psychological trauma inflicted on them by the pirates Kijima Tokitada, Boso, and Kazusa over the years was too great. When they were actually asked to rush out of the port to fight, these samurai fell silent, pretending not to hear, and no one responded.

With the Hojo samurai completely deaf and blind, Shimoda Port became the domain of the Wanjin people. Soon, a large number of dockworkers infiltrated the Wanjin ranks, boarding Wanjin merchant ships to collect weapons. As reinforcements arrived in a desperate situation, some merchant ships, unable to unload their cargo in time, simply threw heavy and bulky items into the sea to lighten their load and speed up their journey.

Subsequently, once these merchant ships were ready, they immediately gathered in small groups and rushed out to sea one after another.

This sparked another round of surprised discussion among the Hojo samurai. They were surprised to find that the Wanjin merchant ships were actually quite well-trained, at least maintaining a good order in their participation in the battle, unlike what they had imagined—a chaotic rush that might lead to collisions and sinkings. Indeed, almost all the Wanjin lords had worked for Haruno, in what was essentially a "state-run factory." Haruno, being an engineering student, placed great emphasis on discipline during production. These Wanjin lords were no longer ordinary commoners; they no longer possessed the carefree and undisciplined manner often associated with agricultural workers.

This trait is now showing its value. The Wanjinfang masters will naturally band together, and will naturally assume that one of them is the manager. Then they will maintain the queue, obey orders, and act according to the manager's requirements.

Wanjin's performance boosted Kasahara Yasuhisa and others' confidence in Haruno.

Of course, it wasn't that they expected Haruno to win, but rather that they felt that if these merchant ships were willing to participate in the war, they could inflict greater losses on the Kisei family and the Satomi pirates. And for every additional loss the Wanjin people inflicted on the Satomi navy, they would gain an extra point.

Some Hojo samurai even began to criticize Harano, arguing that after discovering the Satomi navy's attack, he should not have chosen to meet the enemy at sea, but should have moved towards the bay, organized the merchant ships, and then launched a coordinated attack. They believed that this would have at least made the defeat look better. In their view, merchant ships did not have much fighting power. Merchant ships were inherently inferior in maneuverability and were even less able to withstand fire attacks. Even in boarding battles, ordinary sailors could not defeat the pirates.

Even so, Haruno could use these merchant ships as a shield. The merchant ships' spontaneous counterattack could cause some losses to the pirates. It would be unwise for the Hojo samurai to engage in battle without them.

…………

The chaos at the dock may seem slow, but it actually only took about ten minutes. The Wanjin merchant ships had already begun to move out to sea; otherwise, some of them wouldn't have started throwing away bulky cargo—it was all to save time.

In naval warfare, ten minutes is nothing. The top speed of the "Chita" was only 6 knots, and the top speed of a normal large Atakebune like the "Ryuo Maru" was only 8-9 knots. It wasn't like the two sides were heading towards each other; it was one fleeing and the other chasing. They were still within visual range for ten minutes and could still be seen from the towering observation deck.

Of course, this is also why neither the "Chita" nor the "Ryuohmaru" were running at full speed. The oarsmen's stamina is limited, and it is impossible to accelerate suddenly. It is impossible to maintain the maximum speed all the time. Otherwise, if they really engage in battle, they will be exhausted when they need to maneuver quickly.

At the same time, Kijima Tokitada had no intention of ordering the "Ryuo Maru" and the Hundred-Headed Water Pirates to shake off the "Chita". He brought people to drive Harano away, not to embarrass himself, so how could he possibly run away directly?

Using the higher speed of the "Ryuo Maru", he led the Wanjin Navy in an arc-shaped circle, never going too far from Shimoda Port. When the position was right, he immediately ordered an acceleration and turn, pointing the bows of the "Ryuo Maru" and the large and small ships of the Hyakushu pirates toward the "Chita", preparing to block them.

As long as the Wanjin navy is blocked, the hundred-headed pirates centered around the "Ryuo Maru" can form a solid "anvil." Meanwhile, the light, small boats led by the Fangzhou, Shangzhou, and Soshu pirates have already circled around and cut into the rear upwind position of the Wanjin navy. They are now using both sails and oars and are accelerating wildly, heading straight for the Wanjin navy's rear, fully demonstrating the ability of the Kisei family to dominate a region of the sea.

Back then, the Kijima family used this "anal-cleansing tactic" to burn the Hojo navy to the ground, and now it seems unlikely that the Wanjin navy would be any different.

Standing on the deck of the "Ryuo Maru", Kijima Tokitada was filled with pride and said to the samurai attendants around him, "I heard that even the Imagawa family couldn't take down the Nohara family back then. Now look, Nohara Saburo is nothing special."

He was initially unsure of the tactics of the Wanjin Navy and Haruno, but he felt that since they dared to venture into the Izu Sea to seize territory, they must have some ability. He was still somewhat cautious, but he didn't expect that they didn't even need to go through the more complicated process of maneuvering and circling. Haruno was so foolish that he fell into their trap so easily, just like a silly roe deer that could be captured at will.

Too weak, really too weak. The Nohara family must be new to the business world. They probably haven't even learned to swim before trying to run a maritime trade business, and they've just become easy prey.

The samurai who served the Kisei family all shared the same thought, and one of them immediately chimed in, "Nohara Saburo is just an unknown nobody, he is not worthy to be compared with you, sir!"

Kijima Tokitada nodded slightly, a smile on his face, and gave the attendant samurai an approving look, feeling that it was indeed true. It was hard to say on land, but at sea, he could easily take on ten of them by himself.

Seeing that his companion had won the prize, another samurai attendant immediately took a different approach and chimed in from another angle: "Your Highness, I heard that the Imagawa navy has allowed the Nohara family to pass through Shimizu Bay and Sunpu Bay. It seems that their strength is not as great as the Nohara family's. Your Highness can also take us to Suruga Bay later. I heard that it is quite lucrative there, with many merchant ships."

“That’s true!” Musashi Tokita nodded slightly again, feeling that there was some truth to what he said. He pondered to himself: The Imagawa family seems to be getting worse day by day. Even their former ally, the Matsudaira family, has started to turn against them. It seems not impossible that they will also annex the Imagawa family’s sea area.

He was deep in thought, pondering future strategies, when he suddenly heard a small exclamation. He quickly looked up and saw that the "Chita" was closing in, only three or four miles away. The formation of the Wanjin navy had also changed. The small and medium-sized warships that had been protecting the "Chita" were now scattering to the left and right, splitting into two groups and fleeing to the sides. Only the "Chita" remained on course and was still charging headlong at the "Ryuo Maru," seemingly trying to ram it and sink it.

How is this going?

Kinoshita Tokitada was a veteran naval officer who had fought in dozens of naval battles, but he was still baffled. The Kobayashi ships behind him were about to catch up with the Wanjin navy, but the escort ships of the "Chita" had all fled. Wasn't that just letting the "Chita" be besieged?

Was they so terrified that they abandoned even their flagship and the head of the clan? Or perhaps Saburo Nohara wasn't even on that magnificent ship? But even if he wasn't, the Nohara clan still lost because their largest, most important ship was captured and sunk, didn't they?
Kinoshita Tokitada was suspicious and confused. Suddenly, he saw a large plume of white smoke burst from the "Chita" and more than ten "iron rods" with thick white smoke trails streaking across the sky as they rushed towards the "Ryuohmaru".

(End of this chapter)