Warring States Survival Guide

Chapter 248 Rebellion against Tiangang
The Kitabatake clan's samurai were seasoned veterans, and they were quite decisive.

After a brief military discussion, they decided to launch a preliminary attack, even if they were not currently at a disadvantage, to test the waters.

Of course, this is also because the Wanjin Army has been holed up in the area of ​​the nameless beach since the landing. Since the Wanjin Army is unwilling to attack, then they have no choice but to go over there themselves.

After all, they don't even know the number of the Wanjin army. The Wanjin army's outer defenses are very tight, and the Wanjin people's clothing and accents are very different from those of the Ise people. The spies they sent out don't even know what's going on on the other side of the beach.

We must find out the situation no matter what!

The Kitabatake clan, with over two thousand men, broke camp and left Nozu Castle, forced to launch a probing attack.

The Wanjin army had already occupied a mound a few kilometers outside the nameless beach, and based on this, with a large number of "wagon forts" as support, they dug trenches, poured rock fortifications, erected arrow towers, and even began pouring bamboo-reinforced concrete foundations for the city walls, and had made defensive preparations.

The defense line was relatively simple, after all, the Wanjin army had only been there for three or four days and had landed in batches. However, the Wanjin army's civil engineering capabilities were exceptional for that era. Simple as it was, it was not lacking in defensive strength. The Kitabatake clan ran headlong into this simple yet sturdy defense line.

A series of small-scale battles broke out between the two sides around the mound. By the end of the day, the Kitabatake family had not only failed to gain any advantage, but had also suffered a great loss.

However, the trial attack was still successful. After mobilizing the Wanjin army, they built observation towers to get a general idea of ​​the Wanjin army's strength.

The Wanjin Army had approximately three thousand armored soldiers (professional soldiers) here, in addition to a large number of unarmored soldiers (construction workers) doing odd jobs, totaling more than four thousand people.

After figuring out the number of soldiers in the Wanjin Army, the Kitabatake samurai were stunned. They couldn't understand how Harano, with only one district, could support so many soldiers.

This is completely unreasonable in this era. The Kitabatake clan has five counties, and they have five counties with considerable control. The number of foot soldiers in the armored lords is only a little over four thousand. Even if they call on all the host families under their command, they can only raise a little over ten thousand. Yet, Harano, with only one county, Chita, has raised half of the Kitabatake clan's military strength.

Moreover, this doesn't seem to be the full strength of Wanjin. Fleets are still transporting people and supplies from across the sea. Who knows how many more people are waiting to come over?

Well, actually there aren't many people left. Even if Haruno wanted to seize Ise, he couldn't abandon his base. The Wanjin Army currently has about 5,600 men. He also needs to maintain the Otakagawa defense line in case Oda Nobunaga or Matsudaira Ieyasu suddenly have malicious intentions—the possibility is slim, but he can't gamble on such a thing.

So he could only transport a maximum of four thousand Wanjin Army soldiers, plus the construction workers he was constantly recruiting in the rear, and another two thousand or so, and then he would have no one left to transport.

This is already the maximum mobilization capacity of Wanjin. It is only because Wanjin has developed industry and commerce that it cannot support so many soldiers who are not engaged in production, nor can it hire so many workers who are willing to risk their lives for subsidies.

The fleet was also affected. The Wanjin navy mainly consisted of warships and did not have the capacity to quickly deploy so many personnel and supplies. This operation also hired a large number of Wanjin merchant ships, and there were still one or two thousand sailors who were not involved in the fighting.

With all this chaos and infatuation, Haruno was already struggling. To maintain the size of the army, he almost sold off the dowry of the Inu Princess. Maejima Juro was already balding at a young age, and Endo Chiyo was also losing some hair. In order to improve and maintain combat power, the internal affairs system of Wanjin, including Haruno, was actually quite painful during this period.

However, every effort pays off. Faced with the forces that the Kitabatake clan had painstakingly mustered by the desperate measures of Wanjin, the Kitabatake samurai were completely at a loss.

The mobilization system in medieval Japan was actually somewhat similar to the Fubing system, which required about 15 households to support one armored soldier. Based on old impressions, the Kitabatake clan estimated that Harano had a strength of about 800 men. Even if Oda Nobunaga sent reinforcements, he could only muster a maximum of 1,000 men.

As a result, the number of troops in the field has increased three or four times, and they are still transporting people. The armored troops are even better equipped, and their strength can be described as "unfathomable".

No wonder they dared to attack an entire country from a single prefecture; this is a formidable enemy. The Kitabatake clan cannot be defeated without a full mobilization of their forces!

Moreover, Haruno is shameless. Despite having an overwhelming advantage in this area, he refuses to take the initiative and doesn't want to fight fair and square. Instead, he relies on his shipping fleet to play the turtle shell, as if he can stay here and pretend to be a turtle for ten thousand years as long as the Kitabatake family doesn't come to attack him.

The enemy has a numerical advantage, yet he refuses to take the initiative to attack, occupy cities, disperse his forces, and lengthen his supply lines. Instead, he is desperately building fortifications, waiting for the enemy to run into him. What is he trying to do?
The Kitabatake samurai quickly discovered his sinister intentions, judging that he was waiting for the uprisings in Ise Province to escalate further, waiting for the Kitabatake clan's strength and resources to gradually deplete, attempting to gain the greatest benefit with the least loss, but...

We know the answer, but how should we respond? Should we use inferior forces to charge at the enemy, risking casualties in front of their fortifications to gain a chance to drive them into the sea, or should we quickly report to the authorities and request the Kitabatake clan to mobilize all its forces for a decisive battle?

But if we're going to fight to the death, we'll have to break through that strange defensive line. Besides, there are uprisings happening in all the districts of Ise right now, so we can't mobilize everyone. Are we just going to focus on driving out the enemy and let our homeland be ruined by the scoundrels?
The Kitabatake clan's troops were completely at a loss. After attempting to attack for a day, they quickly called for reinforcements and retreated a short distance before digging trenches to trap the enemy.

At least if the people of Wanjin come up with a plan, they can hold them off for a while.

Yuanye didn't care about this; he wasn't planning to leave until he had built this place up to be impregnable.

Based on some experiences summarized from ancient times, it is enough for a country to trigger social change when 3.5% of its people are driven to desperation; it is enough for 7.5-12.5% ​​of its people to be driven to desperation when civil war breaks out.

This number is much lower than most people imagine, but it is a summary of historical experience. In any case, if even one in ten people goes hungry, social order is in danger of being destroyed, and at least a major upheaval is inevitable.

Otherwise, the ruling class in other countries wouldn't care so much about the unemployment rate, nor would they suddenly become charitable and provide welfare to the lower classes—social welfare is for survival, for the survival of the rulers, and to ensure that social wealth doesn't vanish overnight.

Now Ise is starting to suffer from "empty grain disease," and the Kitabatake family refuses to exempt them from annual tribute—it's too late to exempt them now—there are so many people who can't afford to eat, and the situation can only get worse.

For a concrete example, one can refer to the famine at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Even if Wanjin hadn't come, it would have been enough to give the Kitabatake clan a hard time. Now that Wanjin has come and is entangled with the Kitabatake clan, preventing them from fully suppressing the "Ikki," this famine is enough to cause the collapse of the Kitabatake clan's rule.

Anyway, Harano wasn't in a hurry, so he calmly built the city walls, dug the moats, and constructed the fortress, waiting for the Kitabatake clan to die on their own.

It's ugly to fight like this, but it saves lives, so let it be. He never wanted to be a famous general anyway.

…………

Haruno adopted a wait-and-see approach, embarking on a massive construction project on this unnamed beach. His scheme succeeded, and the Kitabatake clan, despite their long-term preparations, found themselves overwhelmed by the fires raging on all sides and were unable to mobilize all their forces to organize tens of thousands of people to besiege him.

Of course, the Kitabatake clan did not sit idly by. While using even more brutal methods to suppress the "Ikkyu" who resisted taxes and labor service, they also sent reinforcements here one after another, at least to a force equal to that of the Wanjin army, in order to prevent the Wanjin army from suddenly launching an attack and rushing into the heart of the Kitabatake clan, making the situation even more chaotic.

The harassment never stopped.

The Kitabatake clan was determined to drive the Kawazu people away sooner or later. Seeing the Kawazu people desperately building fortifications, they were also anxious. After accumulating enough troops, they began to launch harassing attacks, but with little effect. The Kawazu people had too much firepower, and their soldiers relied on fortifications. Even though matchlock guns and bows and arrows were evenly matched, the Kitabatake clan ultimately suffered the most.

Kitabatake had also considered luring the Wanjin army out, deliberately revealing a flaw and feigning an emergency in the rear. A large number of Lang faction foot soldiers pretended to rush back to reinforce, hoping that the Wanjin army would break away from the fortifications and fight head-on. Whether they could win or not was another matter. The situation in the rear was indeed getting worse and worse, and the Wanjin people were getting tired of staying here with them.

But Haruno acted as if he couldn't see it at all, not caring whether the Kitabatake family left or not. Even if the Kitabatake family slaughtered all the "Ikki" (rebels), he didn't care. He could wait until they were exhausted and then deal with the Kitabatake family.

The Kitabatake clan also considered using a "provocation tactic" to lure the enemy out. They sent an envoy to denounce Haruno and even presented him with a rather gorgeous set of women's clothing. However, Haruno immediately gave the women's clothing to Kiyoshi and still refused to go out.

The situation became increasingly strange, and slowly it turned into the Kitabatake clan wanting to fight but being unable to get a battle. Everyone was numb and couldn't figure out who the "invader" was. It was clearly Harano who started the trouble first, coveting the land and people of Ise and wanting to seize it by force. He should have been attacking and plundering the territory, but instead he was hiding in the fortifications, watching the Kitabatake clan headfirst against the rocks.

This is simply rebellion against Tiangang!

The Kitabatake clan tried everything to have a decisive battle with Haruno, at least a fair fight in the open field, but Haruno was extremely thick-skinned and resolutely implemented his strategic plan, refusing to go out no matter what.

After dragging on for more than half a month, his city was almost finished, just waiting to be officially named, but the two sides still did not fight.

(End of this chapter)