Chapter 43: The Situation of Mikawa, Owari, and the Plan of Unification

Okazaki Castle – Matsudaira Motoyasu

1561. Fall.

“Is there something you need from me, my lord?”

“You’re here, Tadatsugu? Yes, there is. I need to discuss something with you.”

“I see. Please excuse me, then.”

Tadatsugu sat down in front of me and straightened his posture. He had probably known what it was that I wanted to talk about with him. After all, he had been serving me for so many years.

“Earlier, I was speaking with Masanobu. About the unification of Mikawa.”

“With Honda-dono? Unification of Mikawa entails?”

“Capturing every single one of Imagawa’s castle in Mikawa will take too long. Nobunaga-sama might lose patience with us if we spend too much time unifying Mikawa. Hence, we should focus on breaking the pillar that supports Imagawa’s control over Mikawa instead.”

“And that pillar is Yoshida Castle, I assume?”

Tadatsugu nodded as he stared at the spread-out map in front of him. However, just focusing on Yoshida might not be enough. In fact, it might just be dangerous for us. Hence, a new plan was necessary.

I pointed at another castle on the map.

“No, Kaminogō. First, we’ll capture it, then, we will work with Tōjō and advance eastward. I’ll assign Tōjō’s Yoshiyasu to guard our rear as we advance.”

I traced the coastline depicted on the map and pointed at the two castles located before Yoshida Castle. This should take care of Masanobu’s concerns a little.

“Are you suspecting that Imagawa’s forces will come by the sea, my lord?”

“Masanobu warned me of that possibility. He said that they might come to target our rear. More specifically, Tōjō Castle.”

“That possibility, do you think it’s likely, my lord?”

“The possibility of them seizing Yoshida Port and attacking our rear is likely, but I don’t believe they will go as far as besieging Tōjō Castle afterward.”

They could create an effective surprise attack by the sea route, but if they were to try to advance further, it’d be hard for them to secure an escape route. As long as we could recapture the port, they’d have nowhere else to go.

It wasn’t worth the risk to try and take Tōjō under such a circumstance.

“If it goes on like that, Kira Yoshiaki-dono will be enraged. After all, the people who had betrayed him are still in Tōjō.”

“Do you think so, Tadatsugu?”

“Yes.”

Would that really happen? Why did he look so sure?

Regardless, it would be too dangerous for us to make a move now. It’d give Imagawa a pretext to attack us.

“…Let’s wait and see for now. Keep our troops on stand by. Make sure they’d be ready to move at any time.”

“Understood.”

Still, given the situation, it’d be hard for us to move before the end of the year. Isshiki being in the picture meant that there were real possibilities that they might come by the sea, this meant we couldn’t afford to lose control of the castles near the sea. I heard that the merchants under Isshiki could subdue pirates with ease. And they were only merchants, not actual soldiers. We might need to build our own naval force to counteract theirs. Fast.

Maybe we could only start making our move after the rice planting season next year.

Which meant the unification of Mikawa would be postponed again.

Just thinking about it made me let out a sigh. Unification of Mikawa—a dream that Grandfather failed to achieve. On top of that, we had to build a force that was strong enough to compete with the surrounding lords. There were too many things to do to achieve that, and I just had too few retainers to help me achieve that.

After the clan’s decline, the retainers that once served us scattered. Some chose to serve Oda, some Imagawa. Some, like Tadatsugu, chose to serve me and supported me here in Okazaki, but that still wasn’t enough.

Should I continue to pressure Imagawa while building up my strength like what I’d been doing? But, the recent happenings in Imagawa must have significantly reduced the number of people who’d support us within Imagawa.

Maybe I should try to look elsewhere? But where—

“My lord…?”

“Huh? Ah, sorry. I was lost in thought. What were we talking about, again?”

Tadatsugu stared at me with concern.

“If you are feeling unwell, perhaps we should continue this at a later date.”

“That won’t do. This is a matter of importance that would determine the future of our Matsudaira. We can’t just postpone this.”

“If you say so, my lord. Then, continuing on. It appears that Oda-sama is preparing to launch a full-scale assault on Inuyama.”

“So it’s finally happening. If Inuyama falls here, then the Oda clan will be divided no more, and Nobunaga-sama will be able to focus on attacking Mino.”

“That means your importance will also increase, my lord. If we fail to unify Mikawa…”

“Nobunaga-sama could instead turn his fang against us. Next year, we will welcome Tokuhime to our Okazaki. Until then, we cannot afford to falter under any circumstances.”

“Understood. I will relay your instructions to all of our forces’ commanders. I shall gather them all immediately.”

Tadatsugu was about to stand up when I voiced out the question that had been bugging me.

“Are you not on good terms with Masanobu?”

“Me? With Honda-dono? No, we are going along just fine. Did someone tell you that, my lord?”

“No, no one. Sorry, that was a silly question, wasn’t it?”

“I see.”

Only after that did Tadatsugu leave the room. He didn’t seem to be lying, so why did Masanobu say what he said?

Perhaps this was another problem that I could only resolve at a later date.