Chapter 42: Sparks Within the Clan

Okazaki Castle – Matsudaira Motoyasu

1561. Fall

“What brings you here, Masanobu?”

“Now that the festive atmosphere in the castle town has subsided, I figured that we would be proceeding with the talk of war. Hence I came to see you, my lord.”

This man was the man I consulted the most—aside from Tadatsugu—Honda Masanobu¹This is Honda Masanobu, a trusted advisor of Motoyasu’s, and also someone that he thought of highly, though his other retainers thought otherwise. In history, he once betrayed Motoyasu to side with a revolt started by Ikko-Ikki, (if you don’t remember, the battle monks), but he later on returned to serve Motoyasu for the rest of his life.. With Tadatsugu, I usually consulted about matters concerning general affairs, but with him, it was all about war.

During the Invasion of Owari—which turned out to be Lord Yoshimoto’s final campaign—our clan was tasked to capture the Marune Fortress²This was the fortress that the Matsudaira captured during the Invasion of Owari. The Siege of Marune was just an ordinary siege, really, but it was worth noting because it happened around the same time as the Battle of Okehazama. Basically, the Siege kept the Matsudaira busy and they failed to rejoin the Imagawa at Okehazama in time. and to transport supplies to the Ōdaka Castle³This castle was one of the castles that Imagawa managed to occupy during their Invasion of Owari. It had a long history, but most of it isn’t really relevant to the story. The castle was only mentioned because Matsudaira was supposed to help out the castellan installed there, Udono Nagateru, defending the castle after the Siege of Marune, but then Yoshimoto was killed at Okehazama, so Motoyasu instead rebelled and declared his independence.. However, during the Siege of Marune, his knee was injured, and he had to depend on a cane to go around due to that. Since then, he was unable to participate in battles, and instead became a trustworthy advisor of mine when it came to warfare.

“It’s as you’ve said. Now that the matter of marriage is done, I will proceed to continue our effort in eliminating the rest of Imagawa’s forces in Mikawa and unify it for good.”

“But, do you truly wish to proceed with that, my lord? That will put you at odds with Isshiki.”

Masanobu asked, knowing full well what the answer to that question was. There was no way for us to avoid becoming enemies. Masataka-sama had always been loyal to Imagawa since his childhood. He was in a different situation from our Matsudaira who once held power in Mikawa, but fell from our graces to the point that we couldn’t even survive without clinging to a powerful daimyō.

“That’s an outcome I’ve already prepared myself for. I didn’t send Ohisa-sama as a bride so we could mediate the relationship between our clans. Had I truly meant to use her as a diplomatic piece, I would’ve sent her to Nobunaga-sama instead. But I didn’t, why? Because it would raise Ohisa-sama’s standing. If that happens, our clan might be torn in two and we can’t have that. That’s how fragile the current state of our clan is, and why we can’t even stand up to Imagawa on our own.”

“…I see. Then, I assume that we’re going to launch an attack on Kaminogō first?”

“Mm. Now that Tōjō has pledged their allegiance to us, we can’t let Imagawa keep Kaminogō. Hence we’ll take it, then using the momentum, we’ll capture Nagasawa, Ushikubo, and finally, Yoshida.”

I pointed to the spread out map with my fan, gesturing Masanobu to speak his opinion on the matter.

“Indeed. If we are able to capture those four castles, the remaining castle lords of Mikawa will either surrender themselves to us or flee. But, do you believe that things will go that smoothly, my lord?”

“Do you think they won’t?”

Masanobu just tilted his head at my question, neither confirming nor denying my question.

“Those four castles are located close to the sea. Furthermore, I heard that the former lord of Tōjō, Kira Yoshiaki-dono, has taken up residence in Yoshida…”

“What are you trying to say?”

“If Tōjō is captured, then Okazaki will be in danger. That’s the equivalent of having a sword held to our throats.”

“…Are you suggesting that Imagawa is going for Tōjō?”

“It’s a castle that they once owned, and I believe we should assume that Yoshiaki-dono knows best how to attack it. I only feel like we shouldn’t take this information too lightly.”

I see. Tōjō, huh? I’ve left the castle in Kira Yoshiyasu’s hands, but now that I’ve heard all this, I started to feel a little uneasy…

However, I couldn’t just transfer the castle lords around as I pleased if I wanted to unify Mikawa swiftly. Besides, Tōjō was a little further away from the rest of the castles that we controlled, making a change in personnel would be dangerous. Perhaps, later after we succeed in capturing Kaminogō…

“Got it. I’ll give it more thought.”

“…”

Masanobu bowed his head without saying anything. I couldn’t guess what was on his mind.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

“…I believe… we should be more wary of the sea route.”

“The sea route?”

“Isshiki-sama used the sea route to come here, didn’t he? Though he was with a merchant fleet back then, we couldn’t rule out the possibility that he had assembled a naval force to attack the Yoshida Port. This is just a possibility, of course, but it is still something we should keep in mind nonetheless.”

“You’re saying that if they landed behind us while we’re attacking those four castles, it will be dangerous for us?”

“Yes. And that the enemy won’t just advance by land. Isshiki-sama had shown us that.”

“I see your point. Still, I wasn’t at the port when he came, so I’d like to know the details of it.”

“Then you’ll have to ask Tadatsugu-dono about it yourself, my lord.”

I sent a guard who was standing nearby to go and summon Tadatsugu. Meanwhile, Masanobu picked up the cane that had been lying beside him.

“Aren’t you going to listen to what Tadatsugu has to say, Masanobu?”

“Tadatsugu-dono doesn’t seem to like me very much, my lord, so I will come back again later to hear it from you instead.”

He left the room after saying that. Still I’d never heard anything about those two being on bad terms. Maybe this was just an elaborate act or something?

Well, it didn’t matter. This was a matter of importance for Matsudaira, so I’d properly discuss it with Tadatsugu, including Masanobu’s earlier concerns. Depending on the outcome, we would decide whether to raise our army immediately, or to wait until winter had passed.

With this, I felt like I could finally walk the path of being Matsudaira’s true leader.