Chapter 10: Kanetsugu's Military Strategy

  The restored Ankoku-ji Temple is more magnificent than before. In addition to serving as the Bodhi Temple for the Kira family's ancestors, it is also a famous Guanyin dojo on the Tokaido Road. The temple enshrines the Nyoiho Guanyin and is well-known in Owari, Totomi, and Suruga provinces along the Tokaido Road. Moreover, the Myoshin-ji school is one of the most powerful branches within the Rinzai sect, with not only the Kira family but also other prominent samurai families such as the Imagawa and Takeda clans being followers of the Myoshin-ji school.

  If the real Jikōan Kokushi of Sainen-ji Temple, who was a resident priest of the Western Mountain sect, really acted on the orders of Taigen Sūkei in the Kira residence, the consequences would be unimaginable. The influence of Myōshin-ji school in Mikawa is not small, especially in the Kira domain, it has always been the largest religious faction. Many of the vassals and people of the Kira family followed their lord's faith and also believed in the Myōshin-ji school.

  In the vicinity of Hongan-ji Temple, the Hōjō and Jizamurai were drawn into the temple's fold as followers of the Ikkō sect. If the chief priest of Bodai-ji Temple were to betray them and defect to the Imagawa clan, the Yoshida clan's will to resist would quickly collapse, not to mention gathering a large army to besiege and defend the castle; it would be fortunate if they were not secretly betrayed by the Hōjō and forced to surrender.

  "It turns out that Taigen Sōsho has a bit of a connection with our family, but as a vassal of the Imagawa clan, he's destined to be at odds with us. He must have wanted to use his influence over Ankoku-ji Temple to persuade us to surrender. Indeed, it's courtesy before arms; if I don't comply, they'll have an excuse to send troops to Totomi Province, and even if they defeat us, no one will blame the Imagawa clan - who can blame them for our lack of foresight? This is truly a clever calculation!"

  Kira Mōzammaru may have had some insight, but this insight is truly too bitter. Knowing that these famous generals are not easy to deceive, the Imagawa family has always had the ambition to annex Mikawa, and they still wishfully think that others will not come to attack them, which is a naive and childish disease that cannot be forgiven.

  "This is hopeless! The Imagawa clan takes the initiative to attack, and our main house is passively defending. Before the enemy's offensive has even begun, our own army is already in disarray. This is just waiting for us to make a mistake! Now, no matter what we do, it will only lead to more mistakes. Thinking back to Taiyuan Xuezhai's military strategy, last year's small bean hill battle, with 10,000 troops against the 4,000-strong Takeda army, he still set up ambushes and launched a surprise attack on the left flank. How can this old fox possibly win?"

  He really couldn't think of a way to deal with Taigen Sōsho, and he couldn't just block the Western Mountain Sect's extension from leaving the temple. But once he made a move, the senior officials in the household would be shaken, and at that time, whether to fight or surrender was uncertain. Fighting was absolutely impossible against the tens of thousands of troops of the Imagawa family, and surrendering would make it impossible to avenge his brother's death, Yoshishige Kira, and the death of the Higashi-jō family's Yoshitaka Kira. Moreover, those hereditary senior officials would not easily submit to the Imagawa clan, which was a branch of the Kira family. This was simply a dead end.

  Kira Yoshimasa felt very wronged. His father, Kira Yoshiyori, had opposed Imagawa all his life but to no avail. His elder brother, Kira Yoshiyasu, had lost his life due to opposing Imagawa. He himself knew that the Imagawa family was too powerful for him to resist with just his own strength. However, the will of his vassals was not under his control, and every time they mentioned Imagawa, they would shout loudly like a chicken being slaughtered. What could he do?

  The Kira family has inherited the territory of Mikawa Province since the early Kamakura period, and the branch families have also controlled eastern Mikawa. Regardless of whether the Muromachi Shogunate appointed the Hosokawa or Isshiki clans as the shugo of Mikawa, they could not escape the strong influence of the Kira family. Even the Imagawa clan, which was a relative of the emperor, only completed the annexation of Totoumi Province and still had no power over the part of Mikawa Province.

  All this changed with the decision of Yoshida Katsuhisa, the previous head of the Lower Yoshida family. From the time he entered Tōjō Castle, Yoshida had always harbored ambitions to absorb the Sōma clan. In his generation, he quickly seized the opportunity and realized that Shigetada, who was a vassal of his father Yoshida Katsukiyo and shared a character in his name with him, was an exceptional military commander. With Yoshida's support, Matsudaira Shigekata rapidly defeated many powerful relatives and retainers of the Sōma clan, escalating the Two Yoshida Conflict to an even more intense level.

  His shortsighted actions soon paid the price, and Matsudaira Kiyoyasu gradually stopped listening to Kira Yoshinaka's orders. His intention to stand alone could no longer be suppressed, although the unexpected collapse of Moriyama ruined his conspiracy. However, once the idea of independence took root, it was unstoppable, just like how Owari Toyotomi quietly completed the coup with the help of its widespread branches in various provinces. The Matsudaira clan also had many branch families scattered throughout Mikawa, and they had the idea and ability to emulate Toyotomi's usurpation of Mikawa Province, and worked hard to put it into practice.

  Kirishima Mochihira, who was not willing to give up yet, took the initiative to contact the Imagawa family and sent his younger brother Arakawa Yoshifuyu to make contact with the Imagawa family. He let this starving wolf into Mikawa Province, creating a gap in the solid defense wall that had been built up until then, and from that time on, it was decided that the Kirishima family's rule over Mikawa would come to an end.

  Unfortunately, things happened quickly. The old and cunning Taiyuan Xuezhai constantly manipulated the people of Mikawa Province, causing the influence of the Imagawa family to gradually infiltrate eastern Mikawa. Originally, the people who belonged to the upper and lower Yoshida began to waver, and in the eight counties of eastern Mikawa and Seto County, there were cases where the people were bought over one after another. Some even became vassals of the Imagawa family's invasion of Mikawa.

  Because of the collapse of the Mori mountain, the Matsudaira family faced extinction. The head of the Matsudaira family, Matsudaira Hirotada, who had received a courtesy name from Kira Uta-no-kami, quickly defected to his new lord, Imagawa Yoshimoto. Imagawa Yoshimoto took advantage of this opportunity to force both the upper and lower Kira families to acknowledge that the Matsudaira family was completely independent from the Kira family.

  It was also from then on that the Kira family came to their senses, and in order to recover from defeat and atone for their sins, Kira Yoshichika sent his own son to Owari Province and welcomed back Kira Yoshiaki as the head of the house. However, by the time he did all this, it was already too late, and the influence of the Imagawa family had already penetrated deeply into Mikawa and could not be stopped.

  Ten years ago, the Battle of Yamazaki took place. The large army of the Imagawa clan and the 10,000-strong army formed by Arakawa Yoshizumi, who was related to the Imagawas, defeated the hastily organized 6,000-strong force of the two Kira clans at Yamazaki. Kira Yoshiyasu, the head of the Upper Kira family, Kira Uehisa, the head of the Lower Kira family, and many members of the clan were killed in battle. The Kira clan was almost annihilated, with 800 people being executed, and their estate on the verge of collapse.

  It's good that the heavens have given the Kira family another chance, and the invasion of Nishi-Mikawa by the Oda family has temporarily lifted the crisis of the extinction of the Kira family. However, even so, the two Kiras are only barely holding on, and the original system in Mikawa is already rotten to the core. Most of the people in Higashi-Mikawa have turned to the Imagawa family, and the two Kiras are like an old man on his deathbed, who could pass away at any moment.

  "This has been on his mind for years, until today he finally understood: 'This is the bloody jungle law suitable for the superior! The martial family's distorted and harsh demands for land have evolved into a tragic drama, because this will lead to father-son opposition, brotherly strife, national rebellion, all originating from this. Wanting to cultivate the land and become a small lord? Forget about it.'"

  "...Master of the mansion! I have served this house for several years and trained eight hundred ashigaru, which should be helpful to the great cause of the Kira family!" Yamamoto Kansuke was as if comforting him, bringing up again the old matter of training troops a few years ago. A few years ago, Yamamoto Kansuke was promoted to Jitō-daishō for his meritorious service in rebuilding the western castle, and then he volunteered to train a standing ashigaru corps for the Kira family.

  At that time, his father Kira Yoshinaka was still the head of the house, and in order to save the declining family business, he agreed to this proposal as a dead horse doctor. Before his father's body collapsed, he also went to see him several times, each time saying that he had not practiced well and needed to continue training, etc. As for when these troops would be trained, Yamamoto Kansuke kept it secret.

  It's been over a year since Yoshida Umanosuke took power, and I hadn't heard Yamamoto Kanbee mention this matter for a long time, so I had forgotten about it. This time, when he mentioned it again, I remembered that every year, the Yoshida family's expenses included a large amount allocated to Yamamoto Kanbee for training new soldiers, which has been going on for over five years. What kind of soldier needs to be trained for over five years? Are they planning to train 800 samurai?

  "Are you well-trained? How's the standard of these lightly-equipped troops?" Upon hearing this, the training officer suddenly became spirited. In this era, having soldiers and food is fundamental; without them, even if you're from a prestigious family, you won't be of much use. Haven't you seen that the Emperor in Kyoto has to sell paintings to make a living? The nobles have to go on the streets to sell vegetables to survive. All the officials in the imperial court regard going abroad to beg for food as a delicacy. No matter how high your family name is, if you can't eat well, it's still useless.

  "These eight hundred men are mostly from the same clan as our countrymen, and have been selected through layers of screening to be the cream of the crop. I dare say that more than half of the elite of Saigō's three rivers are concentrated among these eight hundred men!" It seemed to satisfy the fastidious Yamamoto Kansuke, who looked quite pleased.