Owari Yumeki Golden Day.

"It's better than having a boat coming every day before." Todo Takatora also came out to urinate and heard Shichibei's words.

Yes, even before the earthen ramparts on land were fully completed, Bessho Yoshichika was able to come down to the castle to collect grain. Now the long earthen siege is complete, and the siege on the water has been tightened.

Previously, the Mori army's ships could even row directly to the foot of Miki Castle, but now they can only use small boats to rush towards Miki Castle under cover of darkness. A single ship can carry 200 shi of rice, enough to keep Miki Castle from starving for ten days. A small boat can only carry 20 shi of rice, enough for one day, but tomorrow they will be starving again.

"How much grain is stored in the city?" Shichibei crossed his arms and turned back to the thatched hut.

"Supply for at most three months." Bessho Nagaharu vaguely remembered this.

Last May, Bessho Yoshichika was defeated in the Battle of Murari and retreated to Miki Castle. In June, Kawamura's army advanced to the castle and began a siege.

So the food in the city consisted of wheat and other grains harvested before May. The yield of these grains was not as high as that of rice. Otherwise, rice would not have become the most widely distributed staple crop in East Asia, and its harvest is considered the most cost-effective among crops domesticated by humans.

Potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes are a topic for later discussion and will not be included in this discussion.

After Bessho Yoshichika was forced into the castle, he began to demand money and provisions from the Mori clan through Miki Tsūshū of the Eiga Gobō. In order to keep Bessho Yoshichika in place and allow him to continue holding Miki, the Mori clan transported military provisions to Miki Castle several times by waterway.

During the six-month siege, Bessho Yoshichika mostly ate rice from Miki Michiaki (an Ikko-ikki) and Kobayakawa Takakage (of the Mori clan). Even if no more aid came in, he could survive for another three months by eating mixed grains.

"Oh dear..." Is there any way to quickly conquer the city?

A direct assault is definitely not going to work; Gao Huan had already acknowledged this in Yu Bi City.

They tried. They even tried maneuvering, but the castle was basically full of Bessho Yoshichika's die-hard loyalists. Shichibei asked Bessho Nagaharu if they could offer a large sum of money to find someone to open the gate. Bessho Nagaharu thought for a long time, but couldn't think of a single suitable person.

Let's outsmart them. How?

Cutting off the water supply is impossible. Miki Castle is located next to the Minang River and the Kako River. Even if the rivers are cut off during the dry season, there is still plenty of water in the soil of its high platform. The castle has both reservoirs and wells, and it is snowing right now.

Even if we run out of food, small boats can still enter the city, even with the city surrounded like this. Besides, we still have three months' worth of mixed grains to eat inside the city, so we are far from running out of food.

At this moment, Hashiba Hidenaga and Kuroda Yoshitaka, who were attacking Shikata Castle, were terrified and hastily retreated to Kakogawa Castle. The reason was simple: several soldiers in their army had contracted dysentery. And Shikata Castle, which they were attacking, had also been affected by dysentery.

This infectious disease continued to spread widely in Japan even after World War II. In January and February 1960, a large-scale epidemic of dysentery broke out in Murata Town, Miyagi Prefecture, infecting at least 1 of the town's 2 residents.

Before the war, the situation was even more severe. On average, at least [number missing] per year...

One hundred thousand people were infected with dysentery, and more than twenty thousand died. During the Hōreki flood control incident in the Edo period, 33 people died of dysentery at the Shimazu family's flood control construction site between Mino and Owari.

After Zhifang City was besieged, the city relied entirely on wells and pools for drinking water, which were contaminated at some unknown time. Hundreds of soldiers were infected almost immediately, and hundreds more died.

In an effort to control the epidemic, the castle lord, Masai Kushibashi, ordered the dead to be cremated or thrown out of the castle, which in turn affected the Hashiba army outside the castle.

Upon discovering the spread of dysentery, Hashiba Hideyoshi immediately withdrew his troops and ordered the isolation of the infected soldiers and those who had shared his quarters. By this time, the Japanese probably knew that the disease was caused by contaminated water and food, and that it could spread on a large scale.

To preserve his forces, Hashiba Hidenaga's actions were perfectly reasonable. Moreover, this was a war, and not executing the patients outright was already quite justifiable.

While dealing with the infected soldiers, Hashiba Hidenaga also relayed this important news to Hashiba Hideyoshi at Himeji Castle and Shichibei, who was besieging Miki Castle.

[Note]: The outbreak of a large-scale dysentery epidemic in Zhifang City is a historical fact.

422. Hideyoshi used a strategy of earth attack.

"Red dysentery epidemic! "

Damn it! Shichibei's mind went blank. This thing, while not as terrifying as the plague or some other infectious diseases, was still quite frightening.

Its main symptom is bloody stools, and it's often very profuse. Many patients die from this condition after just two days without receiving treatment. While the mortality rate isn't 100%, it's still around 30-50%.

Without medical assistance on the battlefield, the mortality rate could rise significantly, to around 70 or 80 percent.

“Apart from that envoy, we don’t have any other people coming and going here,” Takenaka Hanbei quickly said.

Hidenaga was originally stationed in the area around Takasago and Shikata, which was a separate battlefield from Shichibei's, several kilometers apart. Due to the fighting, many people in the two areas fled, leaving the area sparsely populated.

There's an outbreak of dysentery in Zhifang, but everything is normal here, so there's no need to worry too much.

"Quickly, quickly, get someone to boil water. We need to wash everything, including our clothes and armor." Since Shichibei didn't have high-concentration alcohol, they could only use boiling water.

Most germs can be killed by rinsing them with boiling water. Even if they aren't killed, it at least gives one peace of mind. Furthermore, thereafter, all samurai generals were only allowed to drink boiled water, in addition to alcohol.

Thinking about it carefully, the fact that so many military generals, both in China and abroad, preferred alcohol to water is probably related to unclean water sources. In Europe, people drink wine and beer. In East Asia, they drink low-alcohol rice wine, treating it like water.

"Of course, of course." Takenaka Hanbei was quite knowledgeable and knew that dysentery was probably related to eating unclean food.

Although he didn't understand the logic behind boiling water before drinking it, since Shichibei said so, he would definitely agree.

"Send someone to check again." Shichibei thought for a moment. He couldn't be disgusted by this. He should send someone to investigate the soldiers' feces every day.

Because dysentery is a highly contagious disease with a very rapid onset, it has almost no incubation period after infection, and symptoms will inevitably appear within 1-5 days. The main symptom is bloody stool, and it is a very obvious kind, completely different from the red stool caused by eating dragon fruit in later generations.

"Get everyone moving, each soldier in charge of their own duties. If anyone causes a problem, I will hold them accountable." After so many years without fighting, the first time he was the commander-in-chief was to encounter an infectious disease. Shichibei was truly speechless.

On the other side, Hideyoshi was also greatly alarmed. Every soldier he had was precious. Kobayakawa Takakage had only retreated, not been defeated. What if he returned after the New Year? If five out of ten Hashiba soldiers had fallen by then, the battle would be unwinnable.

Hideyoshi hurriedly urged his horse over to meet Shichibei.

My main concern is whether Shichibei, fearing a large-scale epidemic, will lift the siege of Miki Castle and retreat back to the Kinai region.

Although Hideyoshi no longer needs to confront Kobayakawa Takakage and has the resources to continue besieging Miki Castle, once his main force reaches the castle, he will lack mobile forces to deal with any unforeseen circumstances.

For example, Yoshikawa Tsuneyoshi's uprising at Kozuki Castle, or the Mori army's support for Eiga Gobō, could potentially cause localized incidents.

Upon seeing Hideyoshi arrive in the dead of night, my first thought was to ask him if he had entered Hashiba Hidenaga's camp. If there had been contact, then even if we were good brothers who came from Owari together, we could only chat through the fence.

Upon learning that Hideyoshi had not visited Hidenaga's camp and had come to find him first, Shichibei was relieved and invited Hideyoshi inside to warm himself by the fire. However, before entering, he made him wash his hands, feet, and rinse his mouth.

How to do?

The two sat down opposite each other, and Hideyoshi asked Shichibei for his thoughts. Since there was no outbreak of dysentery within Miki Castle, surrender was impossible. Lifting the siege would mean all their previous efforts were in vain. Moreover, lifting the siege would disobey Nobunaga's orders, a serious offense in Nobunaga's eyes.

“Things have come to this point, there must be a plan.” Seeing the two sitting silently, Takenaka Hanbei spoke first.

"Miki Castle is difficult to breach quickly. If the dysentery spreads, we will still have to lift the siege." Shichibei spoke the truth, not out of fear of death or concern for his life.

In this day and age, if any of our 10,000-plus people were to contract an infectious disease, it would be normal for half of them to die. So we can't gamble; if we do, we'll definitely lose.

"Let me see it first." Hideyoshi knew this principle, so although he came to Shichibei, he had no reason to speak.

"Alright." Shichibei wouldn't offend Hideyoshi; if he wanted to look, let him look.

The twelve-kilometer-long earthen rampart had been completed, and the two men, accompanied by several dozen attendants on horseback, circled the castle to observe it. In fact, Shichibei had already informed Hideyoshi and Nobunaga of the situation at Miki Castle, so Hideyoshi was aware of it. But people won't give up until they see it for themselves; they waited until they saw the main citadel of Miki Castle being built.

On the 58-meter-high platform, Hideyoshi was speechless.

Although the southern side of the main keep and the western side of the outer keep are not particularly strategic locations and could be attacked, taking them would be of little use. Important facilities such as the main keep, granaries, and gold storage are all located within the main keep. Destroying the outer keep would only result in the burning of some military installations and foot soldiers' barracks.

"So? Any ideas?" Shichibei hoped that Hideyoshi would display his divine power and smash Miki to pieces; that would be perfect.

When Miki Castle fell, Shichibei withdrew his troops, securing Hideyoshi's rear. What dysentery? That's Harima's problem; it has absolutely nothing to do with us.

"Hmm..." Even if Hideyoshi is good at attacking cities, he is still human, so of course he has no choice.

Great, he'd run a huge lap for nothing, taking over three hours to cover those twelve kilometers. It was already dark, and Hideyoshi was completely helpless.

While running laps, Shichibei was also looking at Miki Castle. He even had a method from his past life, often used in time-travel novels, in mind: throwing the corpses of those who died from plague into the castle to spread the disease and ultimately destroy the enemy town.

But there's a big problem here: dysentery can spread throughout the city.

The disease could also spread outside the castle, and Shichibei was unsure how it was transmitted, nor how to prevent its spread within Kawamura's army.

Furthermore, if Shichibei could throw the body into Miki Castle Honmaru, why not throw in a 100-pound oil bottle and a gunpowder bomb?

Let alone a hundred catties, even five or ten catties of roasted jade bullets, if they could be thrown into the main wall of Miki Castle, Shichibei would have already broken through the castle and gone home to celebrate the New Year with his wife.

Even with the Mongols' counterweight catapults, they couldn't have launched the missiles to such a high platform.

"Even the fire arrows can't reach that level?" Hideyoshi looked up at the Miki Castle Honmaru on the platform.

"It's not that high," Shichibei shook his head.

Because there's a moat at least 28 meters wide beneath the main keep, unless we completely fill in the moat and advance to the castle, we can try again. Alternatively, we could build a platform at least 20 or 30 meters high near the castle and launch the attack from there. That might be the only way to penetrate the Miki Honmaru.

"Shichibei, gather the most elite samurai in the army, divide them into two shifts, and have them guard the area day and night." Hideyoshi looked at Miki Honmaru on the high platform with an indescribably sharp gaze.

"How about it!" Gathering elite troops is certainly possible, but what should we do with them?

"Send a message to the farmers in the eight districts of Higashi-Harima: as long as they fill rice bags with soil and deliver them to the gates of Miki Castle, they will receive a reward of one liter of rice and ten mon for each bag of soil." Hideyoshi's voice suddenly became very imposing.

"You need to build an earthen platform!" Shichibei understood instantly.

Hideyoshi's plan was simple: have the elite troops of Kawamura's army block the gates of Miki Castle, preventing the Bessho army inside from launching an attack. This would ensure the safety of the construction site, which was only a hundred meters away from Miki Castle, and prevent any disruption to the construction work.

"This is the only way." At this moment, Hideyoshi radiated an incredible light.

He was short, ugly, bald, with small eyes, a thin beard, and as black as charcoal; when he smiled, several of his teeth were even rotten. But he was radiant and full of life, with a strange aura swirling around him, as if he were a celestial being.

"good! "

Shichibei immediately agreed, ordering all troops to remain at their posts and not to move around easily. He also asked Bessho Nagaharu, who was on very good terms with the local officials and village servants, to gather the farmers, who were usually at a winter's off-season. Regardless of gender, anyone who brought sacks filled with soil would receive money and provisions.

reward.

Having just circled around outside Miki Castle, Hideyoshi marked out an area outside the moat on the east side of Miki Honmaru, braving the possibility of cannons and arrows.

It's not just one earthen platform to be built; it's three earthen platforms.

If necessary, the three earthen platforms can be connected to form one, increasing the top area so that ten or eight fire arrows can be brought up to quickly ignite the Mikimoto-maru.

After more than six months of siege, the people inside the castle had become somewhat complacent and apathetic. Even when they saw Hideyoshi wandering around with his men below the main keep, they didn't react. In the end, only one arquebusier fired a single, symbolic shot to warn the others.

Bessho Yoshichika from inside the castle also came over and looked very seriously at the more than 20-meter-high cliff that had been carved out by man. It was impossible for humans to climb it. What was the Oda family looking at down there?

Are we going to fill in the trench?

Filling a trench with hundreds of arquebuses and bows from the main keep? Are you out of your mind? A 28-meter-wide trench would probably take 5,000 to 10,000 lives to fill.

The Oda army besieging the castle numbered only a little over ten thousand; it was impossible for them to launch a siege.

What a load of rubbish. They're going to arrest ordinary people to fill the hole? Changzhi is still there, how could they possibly arrest ordinary people?

What are you going to do?

Bessho Yoshichika quickly understood what was to be done. Two to three thousand of Kawamura's most elite arquebusiers and spearmen were dispatched, and numerous bamboo bundles and wooden shields were erected in layers in front of the Miki Honmaru moat. Hundreds of arquebuses fired indiscriminately at the castle walls, not intending to hit anything, but purely to suppress the firepower on the walls. This provided cover for the construction work on the earthen platform not far behind.

Upon hearing Hideyoshi's order, the people of Higashiharima, young and old, flocked to Miki Castle. A generous reward would surely inspire brave men. Hideyoshi also dispatched several hundred of his elite troops. The people handed over sacks of earth in one hand and received money and provisions in the other. These hundreds of soldiers were responsible for stacking the sacks to form a high platform.

Unless one is blind, anyone with sense would be able to see the three circles encircled by white lime and the Hashiba soldiers running back and forth filling sacks with soil. Even someone as stupid as Bessho Yoshichika could tell.

The cannons and arrows from the city walls rained down like a storm, which was one of the reasons why Shichibei hadn't used this tactic earlier. Being so close, even with cover, it was difficult to avoid stray arrows and bullets.

Whether it was Kawamura's army or Hashiba's army, they were all exhausted by the end of the day.

Quite a few. Especially the Yushiba Army, operating without cover, only a few dozen meters from the city, their long-range accuracy is poor, and they are moving targets. In just one day, twenty or thirty people were lying down, all of them veterans. If you're not a veteran, you wouldn't dare to come and earn this life-risking money.

Having already secured his position, Hideyoshi raised the rewards that very night, adding 100 mon a day to those who fired shots from behind wooden shields. Those who carried sandbags to build platforms received 500 mon a day.

You may earn money you're alive, but you might not live to spend it.