Iga Ninjutsu is Good (Hattori: Legendary, Domination, V5445)

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Chisato: "How about Chosokabe's army? That full stack with bow samurai is still a serious threat."
Goemon: "Sanetomo is taking it over from us. No worries."
Chisato: "But if that stacks remains parked on the road, Master's army cannot pass..."
Goemon: "Yeah. Momochi will have to wait until the Chosokabe's army dissolves before he can work on the rebel-controlled provinces in eastern Shigoku. :on_sweat:".
Chisato: "Hm... I remember seeing a tiny stack of Chosokabe army somewhere. Where did it go?"
Goemon: "There is a free army roaming nearby?" :on_angry:

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Goemon: "There is a free Chosokabe army? I must tell Momochi about it right away!"

***

Goemon: "Momochi said he already took care of it. That's why he is now a level-3 general. Nice." :on_saturated:
Chisato: "But now I remember there is another tiny free army..."
Goemon: "Why don't you tell me about it just now?!" :on_furious:
Chisato: "So what will happen?"
Goemon: "The tiny free army is laying siege on Iyo castle!"
Chisato: "Do we have defenders in Iyo?"
Goemon: "No! Only janitors from the contracted cleaning company. They also dress like samurais for people to take pictures..."

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(In the meantime, in Iyo...)

Samurai Retainers: "Captain, we are being attacked by Chosokabe Yari Ashigaru! There are a couple hundreds of them. We only have 45... What should we do?"
Samurai Captain: "What do you think? We fight to the death! Our contract includes that castle defence! We have been trained for this!"
Samurai Retainers: "Let's show them what samurais are made of!" :on_furious:
Samurai Retainer A: "Take that, Ashigaru Captain!"

Note: Chosokabe Ashigaru Captain wears blue.

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Samurai Retainer A: "Argh... I was over-cofident..." :on_dead:
Samurai Retainer B: "I will revenge for you!"

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Samurai Retainer B: "Taste my blade!"
Chosokabe Ashigaru Captain: "Argh..." :on_vred:

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Samurai Retainer C: "Ommmph!" :on_punch:
Chosokabe Ashigaru Captain B: "Er..."

Note 1: Killing the captain of a unit apparently has no effect on its morale. There is no "taisho" assigned to any particular soldier in the captain unit.

Note 2: The battle is rather straight forward. The samurai retainers charge the weaker Ashigaru unit first, rout it, then charge the second unit and fight to the death.

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Samurai Retainer D: "Captain, we are down to the last 12 men!"
Samurai Captain: "We fight until the last man!" :on_devil:
Chosokabe Ashigaru: "We can't beat these monsters! We are losing! Run for your lives~" :on_yell:

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Momochi Sandayu: "Such an heroic battle... I must present medal of honors to these two samurai and all those who fell. Go to Iyo and collect their names!"

***

Ninja Sanetomo: "Master, the cleaning company said these are just contractors... when I visited Iyo, there were another 45 randomly selected janitors working there..."
Sandayu: :on_bird:

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(In the meantime...)

Hojo Emissary: "Great Hattori daimyo! I represent the most powerful clan in eastern Japan, Hojo. It would be a great pleasure if Hojo and Hattori establish a trade relationship. Together we provide much stability and prosperity for Japan."
Hattori Yasunaga: "Hm... what does Hojo wish to gain from this trade?"
Emissary: "Much. Hattori holds various resources that are of core interests of the Hojo clan. We are willing to pay all our accumulated fortune for it."
Yasunaga: ":on_angry: All? You mean everything?"
Emissary: "Yep."
Yasunaga: "Sounds too good to be true. Are you going to ask for my account number and PIN?"
Emissary: "Well, some resources are really important for us. Our heavenly rich income will take us back there in no time anyway."
Yasunaga: :exhausted: "You had my admiration. Please take this 6633 koku as gift~"
Emissary: "We certainly feel your sincerity. But we are giving them all back to you anyway~"
Yasunaga: :on_sweat:

Note: Here comes another valued trade partner and an oppurtunity to present a free, fat gift. Hojo currently has about 17000 koku, which they are willing to ship every koku to Hattori. (It is crazy, I know.) But instead of signing the trade deal right away, we first give 6633 koku to Hojo for a large boost of relationship of +100. Then we sign a trade deal to gain 23128 koku from Hojo (all their cash). We instantly get the 6633 koku back, but with extra good feelings from Hojo. It is unlikely that the extra relationship points really mean anything, and it will drop back down to 0 after 20 turns.

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard Wako pirates have appeared in southern Kyushu. What are they upto?"
Goemon: "They are supposed to raid our trade route and give us headaches. But due to a glitch in their ship factory, all they could make was trade ships. So they are here to give us trade ships."
Chisato: :on_wet:

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Chisato: "I heard Chosokabe has lost their last province to rebels! So master Momochi can finally proceed. I wonder what will be the First army's next mission?"
Goemon: "I heard that the HQ is considering having a second port province connected to Iga. Right now we can only make ONE sea trade partner, which is Hojo. We still have a lot of potential customers. If there are more like Hojo... :on_sing:"
Chisato: "Only two port province are available, Ise and Harima."
Goemon: "Ise's Kitabatake is a good buffer between Hattori and the eastern clans. The First army will go after Harima's Bessho then."
Chisato: "Isn't Bessho our new ally?"
Goemon: "Yeah."
Chisato: "Does that mean we will betray our ally, making Hattori one of the dishonorable bastards of western Japan?" :on_furious:
Goemon: "We do not betray our ally! Not literally. :on_blush:"

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Chisato: "How about the Second army? What have they been doing after taking Buzen?"
Goemon: "I heard they were still recruiting local Ashigaru, and waiting for a chance to expand to Chugoku."
Chisato: "Yeah. Now the rebels have taken Urakami's Aki. There is no better timing than this. But Aki used to be Mori's home province, and the resistance there would be fierce."
Goemon: "I heard that the HQ has reassigned the commissions. The commander of the Second army, Minamoto Tomokata, is the new development commissioner. He should be able to calm down the Mori followers better."
Chisato: "How?"
Goemon: "By promising them that their farms will be rezoned to become commercial zones?" :on_sweat:

Note: Swapping commission is easy. For example, originally we have:

General A: Commission A
General B: Commission B

When we click on General A's portrait and click on Commission B, General A will be reassigned to Commission B, while General B will automatically be reassigned to Commission A.

Although such swapping seems harmless to the generals' feelings, frequently this still lowers the subjects' loyalty. Two negative modifiers are possible: (1) Commission lost to an inferior general; (2) stripped off a comission.

The first penalty can be easily avoided by swapping two generals of equal level. The second penalty is obviously a bug, and it sometimes cannot be avoided. The penalty is always applied on the general who is the subject of the operation (in the above example, General A). Therefore, we should always "strip off" the commission from the general with higher loyalty (who joins the clan later) in order to avoid getting dangerously low loyalty on a veteran general.

By the way, I find that AI's metsuke can easily bribe away our 6-loyalty general (about 50% success rate). That really sucks.

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Chisato: "Welcome to Chugoku, general Minamoto. The Aki castle is that way!"
Tomotaka: "Thanks. What's the situation with Urakami?"
Chisato: "I heard a large Urakami army is in the north, attacking Ouchi clan in Nagato. Every season they assault the castle, every season they lost. :on_injured:"
Tomotaka: "Please keep a close eye on them. My order is to go north next."
Chisato: "Sure!"

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Tomokata: "Ha, that was easy!" (manual fighting to cut down casualty)
Chisato: "I heard the second army is huge. How come we do not have everyone here?"
Tomokata: "Indeed, I am only leading half of the second army. The other half is under the command of general Sawada Takamochi. Somebody has to defend Buzen from Ouchi, right?"
Chisato: :on_sweat: "Sorry, I forgot about them..."
Tomokata: "But soon we will join force! If Ouchi remains hiding in their castle, we will storm that castle!"

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Goemon: "Oh? It seems that Kitabatake is getting destroyed by Oda, again."
Chisato: "I was wondering why Oda took this long. Kitabatake has almost no army thanks to my colleague."
Goemon: "Yep. Now the HQ has to worry about Oda again. Their impolite daimyo is leading the invasion himself. I wonder whether that means war with Hattori next? :on_hmm: How would the HQ respond to the new threat?"

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Goemon: "One thing is certain - we can use Kitabatake's unspend koku~"
Chisato: :on_sing: "Let's hope they come back again~"

(In the meantime, Omi province)

Ninja Masakata: "My Lord, there is no chance that Kitabatake can survive Oda's attack. What's your order?"
Hattori Yasunaga: "We do not entirely object to Oda's return, as long as they are willing to maintain peace with Hattori and trade with us."
Masakata: "It could be difficult to deal with Oda's daimyo Nobuhide. People call him the last impolite samurai of Japan."
Yasunaga: "It would be nice if we can deal with a nicer Oda. :on_sweat:"
Masakata: "I understand my Lord's wishes."

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Masakata: "My Lord, Oda Nobuhide suffered from a terrible diarrhea after his dinner noodle. Then, while he was in the outhouse he again suffered from a terrible stroke. Then, while he was struggling to stay afloat in the pool of..., he again suffered a terrible spasm. Oda Nobuhide's wife resumes commands the clan until her son Oda Nobunaga becomes an adult."
Yasunaga: :on_tears: "Now let's restore trades with Oda~"

Chisato: "Goemon, how does the Hattori clan support all the construction projects and ninja missions? From selling military access and trade deals?"
Goemon: "They look fancinating, but only make up about 5% of the clan's total income in the end. The clan stays afloat mainly from taxing its people."
Chisato: "Yeah. It sucks that when I namely get a 15% discount from stores, after tax the amount even goes over the marked price by 15%. :on_furious: I have heard so much complain. If the tax is hiked one bit higher, many will either starve to death or take a chance and revolt."
Goemon: "From a government's point of view, the ideal tax level IS the threshold before people start revolting."
Chisato: :on_exhausted: "Can't we put higher tax on the rich people? Those who hire hundreds of peasants working on their very fertile farms? They don't need to revolt to stay alive..."

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Goemon: "Indeed! That's why we have Metsuke. By stationing them in the richest province, they will squeeze a lot of extra koku from the rich."
Chisato: "How does a Metsuke do that?"
Goemon: "Holding charity dinners, accepting bribes, running VIP golf clubs..." :on_panda:
Chisato: "Nice!"
Goemon: "Actually we have been training our Metsuke in Kinki. In average, Monks in Kyoto get arrested within the first two months of their graduation from the Buddhist school." :on_whip:

Note: With the ideal retainers, a level-4 Metsuke could achieve 11 green stars in Town Overseeing, bringing in 55% extra taxable income, which is later subject to admin cost. For example, if a town earns 5000 koku of taxable income at 30% tax rate and under 40% admin cost, the leve-4 Metsuke earns 55% x 5000 x (1-40%) = 1650 koku per turn for the clan. When all five Metsukes are in action, the clan's income is usually boosted by more than 5000 koku per turn.

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Hattori Ninja: "Master, Bessho's army has finally left its castle!"
Momochi Sandayu: "Finally our chance has come! :on_ohlala: Proceed with our plan!"
Hattori Ninja: "I will put up detour signs on the road so the Bessho army travels slowly!
Hattori Monk: "I will incite a rebel army!"
Sandayu: "Boys, prepare to sail back to Honshu!"

Note: The Awaji island had terrible farming output and was left to rebels. There is a limit on the number of provinces we can rule before triggering Realm Divide. Skipping poor provinces not only increases our power to face the Realm Divide, but also leaves less provinces for the future enemies.

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Trusted and respected generals and agents, welcome to Hattori clan's spring festival general meeting of 1551! Your hard works have certainly been noted and appreciated. Happy New Year!"
Everyone: "Happy New Year!"
Yasunaga: "I am pleased to announce that the Hattori clan has finally figured out what's happening in the rest of Japan. :on_sweat: Let's take a good look."

(1) Eastern Japan

After six years of cruel warfare, four clans emerged victorious in eastern Japan: Hojo, Takeda, Oda, and Date. The four clans are currently friendly with each other, which is very rare considering how much war has been going on.

Hojo-Takeda Alliance
The Hojo-Takeda Alliance is the most powerful force of eastern Japan, or the entire Japan. The Hojo clan is currently very friendly with Hattori due to the well-publized twenty-thousand-koku trade agreement. It is likely that Hojo and Takeda's friendship will last longer, because each of them still has other clans to fight.

[B]Hojo vs. Date
Hojo, while currently is at war with no one, will certainly face Date, who has no other place to expand except into Hojo. However, Date is also at war with Honma, which is famous for its tireless and shameless sea invasion. It is safe to predict that Hojo and Honma will eventually eliminate Date.

Oda's expansion
Takeda is also allied with Oda. This leaves Oda two options (1) expand west and attack Hattori (2) expand east and attack Hojo. If Oda declares wars on Hojo, there is a good chance that Takeda will side with Hojo. So it is more likely that Oda will expand west. We have to keep a close eye on Oda's intention.

(2) Western Japan

We the Hattori clan has been steadily expanding in western Japan, among a bunch of dishonourable oppurtunists. Chosokabe, Urakami, Takaoka have all violated samurai's code and suffered from nation-wide hit in reputation.

Urakami
Urakami has become a public enemy in the region. In the next year or so, they will be taken out by the surrounding clans. Our second army, commanded by general Minamoto and Sawada, will play an important role there.

Minamoto Tomokata: "Do we have permission to declare war on Ouchi? Their full stack has been parking inside the castle of Nagato."
Yasunaga: "Go ahead!"

Takaoka
Takaoka will be our primary competitor in Western Japan. War is inevitable, although clash before the fall of Urakami is unlikely. Agents, please direct your effort to Takaoka afterwards.

Chisato & others: "Yes!"

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Yasunaga: "As to how to discourage Oda from attacking Hattori... at least now we are glad to see Oda's attitude returning to neutral. Now let's restore trades with them! And don't forget to renew 20 turns of military access. :on_aww:"

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Yasunaga: "Takaoka have declared war on Urakami! Since these two clans were allies not very long ago, Takaoka has suffered another serious diplomatic hit with all other clans in Japan. It won't be long for Takaoka's relationship with Hattori dips to the negative side. Get ready for their 3rd dishonourable betrayal!" :on_furious:

End of Chapter 9

Chapter 10. Dawn of Naginata

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Chisato: "Goemon, I've had this question in my mind for very long."
Goemon: "Go ahead!"
Chisato: "Where does Wako come from? Wako is literally short bandits. They are named after the... not very tall Japanese at the time. But I have never heard about a Wako base in Japan."
Goemon: "I don't know... I only know they are now doing charity, donating trade ships from time to time..." :on_exhausted:

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard there are large construction projects going on in Satsuma. What is it about?"
Goemon: "They are upgrading the castle to a... castle, from a fortress. The tensho will bigger. Essentially for increased unit recruiting capacity."
Chisato: "Hm... when I visit castles around Japan, one common feature keeps popping up. They are all hit by lightning and burnt :on_sweat:, and later rebuild."
Goemon: "And that provides employment for the civil engineers!"
Chisato: "What kind of soldiers are Hattori recruiting?"
Goemon: "Primarily Naginata Samurai, with state-of-the-art armor. The Hattori line will take ages to break!" :on_groucho:

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Chisato: "Why does the Hattori line will be formed by Naginata Samurai? I heard Date uses No-Dachi Samurai for that role, and it is the most feared in Japan."
Goemon: "Well, Date gets cheaper and better No-Dachi Samurai. But seriously when there are a lot of men involved in battle, it will be difficult for a commander to issue charge orders to each unit individually. A passive line is more managable in a large-scale battle."
Chisato: "Hm... I heard legends that thousands of soldiers could receive their orders simultaneously. How can they do that?" :on_yell:
Goemon: "It won't happen here~ well maybe our enemies can do it."
Chisato: "And now we have Naginata Samurai, what will happen to our old line - the Yari Ashigaru?"
Goemon: "We don't need their service anymore. They will be fired."
Chisato: "Even if they are in the middle of the sea?" :on_scared:
Goemon: "Yeah. Swim home!"

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Chisato: "But now Master's First Army has sent all its Yari Ashigaru swiming home. Can he still take Harima?"
Goemon: "Ranged unit is all he needs to assault the rebel castle. Plus he will get helps from some garrison units in Kinki. He will do fine."
Chisato: "But there is a huge rebel garrison in Harima. How about we pay a visit to Master using our accumulated vacation time?"
Goemon: "Sure~ There is not much to do besides vandalizing castles gates anyway." :on_sweat:

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Chisato: "Master, how have you been? I hope you allow me to observe the siege of Harima castle."
Sandayu: "Huh? What siege? Oh... you mean that target practice. It is over already." :on_whistle:
Chisato: "So quickly?"
Sandayu: "Yeah. The corpses are all piled up there, go take a look if you want."
Chisato: "Two large piles of corpse..." :on_bibber:

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Chisato: "So how many men we have lost?"
Sandayu: "You mean died from the battle? No... it was only a target practice. A few of them twisted fingers, that's it."
Chisato: "No casualties..." :on_angry2:

Note: Apart from the "Defender's Bane" featured in the previous video, a few other castle designs contain terrain features friendly to the attacker. This particular design contains a high walkway to the back of the castle, accessible if the attackers circle behind along the shore. At first and second levels (Fort and Stronghold), the patrolling defenders come directly in front of the attackers to get shot at.

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Chisato: "Master, now we have Harima's trade port, which clan is our sea trade partner?"
Sandayu: "Unfortunately we have not met new clans we a trade port. The only candidate is the Ikko Buddhists."
Chisato: "But they are unfriendly with everyone."
Sandayu: "Actually they are willing to sell their pants to trade, just like Hojo!"
Chisato: "How much savings do they have?"
Sandayu: "Only about two thousand koku. In order to make them feel better about us, we give them 6633 koku first, which they will give right back to us. Now they are very friendly with us, and our trade relationship can probably last a few more turns." :on_bath:

Note: This proves to be a damaging move as there is a -20 diplomatic penalty on "attacked a friendly clan". When another clan declares war on Ikko-Ikki, they will hate Hattori as well.

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Minamoto Tomokata: "Welcome back to Chugoku, Chisato. We missed your scout reports. Is it time to take Iwami?"
Chisato: "The rebels have overrun the province. But please be careful as the garrison is quite powerful."
Tomokata: "No problem! I will supervise the assault personally!"

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Tomokata: ":on_lol: Haha, this is nothing!" (manual fighting)
Chisato: "Why bother building castle... a big death trap :on_idle:"

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Hm... it looks like we have a visitor. Oda's army wants to take Omi? If I go to battle, they will shatter the small rebel armies."
Ninja: "Why not? Then we will own Omi province."
Yasunaga: "Omi is a dangerous place. If we own this province, we should be prepared to be attacked by Oda and possibly other eastern clans from Mino and Echizen. We are not ready for it yet. On the other hand, if we maintain the siege on the rebels, Oda's ambition in the west is indefinitely paused at Omi." :on_panda:
Ninja: "I see. So unfortunately my lord's training here has come to an end."
Yasunaga: "It looks like I can use a classified ad to look for a new general..."

Note: The trick was mentioned in my earlier stories. As the AI's army acts after the human's, they are unable to assault the castle. However, since the rebel's garrison acts after the AI clan's, when they sally at the end of the turn, the human general can retreat and come back at the beginning of the next turn. This results in a permenant siege on the castle by the human. The Oda will never get a chance to take Omi. And the AI is not smart enough to realize this.

Chisato: "Goemon, what does the Ikko-Ikki export to us?"
Goemon: "Buddhism scultures? Echizen is the home of fine craftsmen. Last time I checked there were lots in the shop where you get 15% discount."
Chisato: "Great! I always wanted a Bishamon (God of War) statue!" :on_aww:

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Chisato: "DOH! They have sold out. The new shipment is on hold because the castletown in Echizen is besieged by Takeda! :on_bash:"

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Chisato: "Goemon, what's the mission of this season? Bruning another Urakami castle?"
Goemon: "Urakami clan? It does not exist anymore."
Chisato: :on_angry: "Huh? What happened to their last provinces?"
Goemon: "Takaoka backstabbed them. Very good ally, huh?"
Chisato: "Now there are only three clans in western Japan - Hattori, Takaoka, and... :on_picknose: Ouchi."
Goemon: "It is time to close the door and beat up Ouchi."

Note: Long time ago there was an opportunity to sell military access to Ouchi, but I purposely avoided it in the fear that Hattori will have to declare war on it later. The rebel army incited in Nagato are is usually not very functional.

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Chisato: "But Ouchi has a full stack defending Nagato. I don't think general Minamoto's Second Army has that many archers."
Goemon: "Don't forget that's only half of the Second army. The other half is under Sawada's command in Buzen. His army will sail to the siege!"
Chisato: "Must be a huge battle! Let's go take a look!" :on_aww:

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(auto-resolved)

Chisato: "What do you mean it is already over... more than 3000 men died?! :on_yell:"
Sawada Takamochi: "The HQ asks us to make a serious cut after this battle, so we figured it is probably easier to just pile the corpses and re-group the survivors." :on_sweat:

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard Takeda has taken Echizen. Has Beshamon statue been restocked?"
Goemon: "Nope, our trade with Ikko-Ikki has been cancelled."
Chisato: :on_angry: "But Ikko still has a functional trade port in Wakasa..."
Goemon: "I know. Somehow our trade deal with them specify Echizen to be the trade port..." :on_exhausted:
Chisato: "Hm... so the HQ could at least re-establish with Takeda, who know owns Echizen."
Goemon: "And they did!"
Chisato: "So what can we buy from Takeda?"
Goemon:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...0/IMG_0449.JPG
Fu-Rin-Ka-Zan Hello Kitty~ :on_sing:

Note: I took this picture when I travelled to Japan in '08.

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(In the meantime, Nagato Castle)

Takamochi: "Congratulations, Minamoto, for the successful merger and... weight loss of our Second Army!"
Tomokata: "Indeed, Sawada. I wonder what the HQ will asks us to do next."
Chisato: "Generals, there is a small broken rebel army wandering in the wild. They beg us to take them out, for they have been lost in the wild for years..." :on_scared:
Takamochi: "Poor rebels..."

Note: That rebel army was incited a few years back, but never had a chance to take the castle as Ouchi's full-stack defended in it.

awesome stuff, man!!! been trying this strategy xD but I may need to chant more Iga Ninjutsu is Good for it to work properly xD

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Chisato: "Takaoka's castle in sight! How do you like to have it cooked? All charcoal or medium?" :on_sing:
Goemon: "That has to wait. There is an urgent request from the HQ."
Chisato: "Let's hear it!"
Goemon: "The Hattori clan's advance in western Japan has alarmed the Ashikaga Shogunate. We shall take two more provinces, and then we stop completely. The HQ is undecided about which two provinces to take and requests more information from ninjas and monks."
Chisato: "Hm... I think the bigger and richer the provinces, the better."
Goemon: "That's from an economic perspective. What if the clan will be rich enough? Any recommendations for military?"
Chisato: "I heard that Hoki is famous for its bow crafts, and Inaba is famous for its shipyards. There is an extra trading port in Inaba, which shares a tiny border with Harima, so the trade port should be functional for trading purpose." :on_idea:
Goemon: "Sounds good."
Chisato: "But we are already building up Buzen and Hizen for ranged units and ships. Do we need a second base for that?"
Goemon: "Normally we don't. But if we really want to rush-produce a large number of high-end units to take over Japan, this is the way to go."
Chisato: "Are we rich enough for it?"
Goemon: "Our foreign trades should be able to support the construction fee. The HQ should hire accountants to figure out how much army our economy will be able to sustain..." :on_read:

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Chief Accountant: "My lord, we estimate that the Hattori clan's economy will be able to sustain five full-stack armies, three of them consist of elite soldiers, two of them are made up by ashigaru."
Hattori Yasunaga: "That should be enough to conquer Japan!" :on_panda:
Chief: "My Lord, we are meeting in Settsu! The Shogunate's spy is all around us!"
Yasunaga: :on_sweat: "I mean we will have enough soldiers to join the New Year parade. What about our recruitment process?"
Chief: "We approached the problem this way. Each recruitment center, at the Castle level, provides 3 recruitment points per season. A full stack army, if all Ashigaru, requires 10 recruitment points for melee and 9 recuirtment points for ranged units. This way we can figure out (1) whether our current recruitment centers for melee and ranged units will provide enough recruitment points to meet our desired army composition; and (2) when we will accumulate enough recruitment points for five full-stack armies."
Yasunaga: "And the answer to the first question is..."
Chief: "We need a second recruitment center for ranged units."
Yasunaga: "That's not a problem, we will build up Hoki to be the second recruitment site for ranged units. That means we will also take Inaba to connect Hoki. Send orders to the Second Army!"
Messenger: "On my way, My lord!"
Yasunaga: "And the answer to the second question is..."
Chief: "We need 24 seasons to complete the recruitment process."
Yasunaga: "So we will trigger Realm Divide 24 seasons later! I mean to join the parade 24 seasons later. :on_sing:"

End of Chapter 10

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Chapter 11. 24 Seasons Later

Chief: "My Lord, but that does not include shipping..."
Yasunaga: :on_furious: "Why didn't you just tell me?! We have released that in the news!"
Chief: "It is a rough estimate anyway... :on_sweat:

***

Goemon: "Looks like your advise was highly valued, Chisato. The HQ wants Hoki and Inaba!"
Chisato: :on_lol: "And here goes Takaoka fertile attempt to stop the rebels in Hoki!"
Goemon: "The HQ also released a 6-year ban of aggression with the exception of the above two province."
Chisato: "That should make the Shogunate more comfortable."
Goemon: "But doesn't that also tell the Shogun that we are coming to get you 6 years later?" :on_exhausted:

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Chisato: "I wonder what's going to change in Japan over the next 6 years. Will the eastern clans unite under one banner? Or will they stay divided and fighting each other?"
Goemon: "So far the only big clans at war are Hojo and Date, as we expected. Let's hope for more drama. :on_aww:"

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Goemon: "The Second Army has taken Hoki. Our monk has worked out a rebellion in Inaba. Our new mission is to sabotage Takaoka daimyo's army so it cannot interfere. :on_panda:"
Chisato: "Any thoughts on how?"
Goemon: "Hm... isn't Takeda going to wipe out Ikko-Ikki in Wakasa? How about an imminent attack of Takeda from the east?"
Chisato: "Rumor is not very convincing..."
Goemon: "How about hiring farmers to pretend to be Takeda soldiers to appear on Takaoka's border to Wakasa?"
Chisato: "That would work!" :on_idea:

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Yasunaga: "How's financial situation?"
Chief Accountant: "Everything goes well, my lord. We are now saving up funds for a clan-wide land consolidation. This will not interfere with the army recruitment."
Yasunaga: "Excellent work. By the way, do you want to be promoted to a House Officer of the Hattori clan? Besides a raise in salary and 1000 koku of sign-on bonus, your family also enjoys medical benefits should you... er, did not make it during a battle."
Chief: "Certainly, my Lord! It is my dream to become a samurai!" :on_gwow:

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Yasunaga: "And what's your name?"
Chief: "Abe Noriaki." :on_please2:
Yasunaga: "Ok Abe, welcome to the Hattori clan! Here is your first assignment. Replace me in Omi province. All you need to do is to maintain a siege on the castle. When the rebels sally, you run. When they return to the castle, you return."
Abe: "Sure. For how long?"
Yasunaga: "About six years."
Abe: "So that's what a samurai does?" :on_idle:
Yasunaga: "You are very important! You alone is equivalent to a full stack army defending against Oda. Keep it up and we might have some more exciting tasks for you later!"

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Minamoto Tomokata: "That's it ~ the 22nd province of Hattori. Hail to the 5-year long vacation!" :on_woo:
Chisato: "My lord, the HQ has a new order for you. Please report to the training center in Mimasaka. Your training is to run in front of the rebels for 5 years."
Tomokata: :on_beg:

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Chisato: "Goemon, it looks like Takaoka is taking our fake Takeda army seriously. They are preparing for an attack to Ikko-Ikki's last stand, Wakasa."
Goemon: "Good. I heard that the HQ is working out a trade agreemtn with Ikko-Ikki again."
Chisato: "Why is it good? There will be no Ikko-Ikki to trade."
Geomon: "But remember they always give us all their cash in signing the trade deal~"
Chisato: :on_sing:

Note: I have yet to figure out what causes AI clans willing to pay everything to trade with human after a certain point. Could it be a specific resource? Or the economic/military strength of human?

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Yasunaga: "Welcome to the spring festival meeting of 1553! First let me announce an important diplomatic breakthrough..."

(drum roll)

Yasunaga: "We have finally met every clan in Japan! :on_sweat: And here is our assessment of what is going to happen in the next few years."

(1) Date to be defeated by Honma and Hojo

Date has learned to dislike Hattori before we even met them, because Hojo is very friendly to Hattori. This means that we also have something to gain from Date's downfall.

(2) Takeda and Takaoka to declare war

Takaoka had taken out Ikko-Ikki, making it a direct neighbor of Takeda. Since Takeda is allied with Hojo and Oda, the only way Takeda could expand is into Takaoka, a notorious backstabbing-my-best-friend clan for the rest of Japan. Strangely, Takaoka's army has left the province immediately after it took Wakasa. So Takaoka seems to have no ambition expanding into Takeda. Maybe it has its eyes on Hattori? Our ninjas must keep a good eye on them.

(3) Hatakeyama to declare war on Takeda

Hatakeyama has nowhere else to expand (or regain its past glory) except into Takeda. But it is likely that it will be destroyed by Takeda's famous super stack bundle - not if the bundle already travelled to somewhere else.

(4) Oda trapped in Omi, war with Hojo uncertain

Oda might declare war to Hojo if they can manage a second army to go east. Or maybe that second army will be trapped in Omi, too. :on_exhausted:

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Abe Noriaki: "My Lord, did you summon me? How can I be of service?"
Yasunaga: "Last time you tell me that we are planning for a clan-wide Land Consolidation project, right?"
Noriaki: "Yes. It will commence 6 seasons later."
Yasunaga: "What kind of arts should we research afterwards?"
Noriaki: "Right now we still lack the arts to recruit Bow Warrior Monks, Kisho Ninja, and Hattori Bandits. The monks are very useful units in any circumstance. The ninja is... just for show. :on_sweat: The Bandits are an interesting replacement to Bow Ashigaru."
Yasunaga: "I heard about Bandits... they robbed our house when I was 3. :on_bash: But what can they do in the army?"
Noriaki: "They can shoot whille under cover, so the enemies can't see who made the shot... if they are sufficiently far away. They are also slightly more accurate than the Bow Ashigaru, but with 25% less men in the unit."
Yasunaga: "Hm... I don't like last bit. This makes them inferior to Bow Ashigaru's damage output in most situations. Change the recruit plan! We will hire Bow Ashigaru first!"
Noriaki: "Yes, my lord~" :on_sweat:

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Goemon: "Chisato, did you read the latest Pocket News?"
Chisato: "Yep. The famous Takeda stack of doom is feared to arrive in Wakasa in the near future."
Goemon: "That's the front line. Did you read the 4-point subtitle font?"
Chisato: "There is one? Let me see..."

Chisato: "Take... take out Takeda?" :on_angry:
Goemon: "The HQ must be worried about the imminent dominance of the Hojo-Takeda alliance. A balance of power must be restored in eastern Japan. Let the Hattori agents pour into Takeda lands!"
Chisato: "I shall sabotage their farm in Echizen!"
Goemon: "How?"
Chisato: "Burn it!"
Goemon: "It is a fertile farm, they grow rice in the water."
Chisato: "So I will hand-pull each rice sapling at night!" :on_tears:

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Chisato: "I am exhausted... :on_beg: Why don't we let Takaoka weaken Takeda?"
Goemon: "Because Takaoka has cancelled our alliance and become openly hostile."
Chisato: :on_blush: "After we turned most of their lands into smokes? Probably a reasonable response..."
Goemon: "If Takaoka's reputation holds, they will declare war before the buffer period is over."
Chisato: "What does the HQ want us to do?"
Goemon: "There is already a ninja keeping a Takaoka's main army sabotaged in Tajima. Let's see how long we can hold Takaoka for!"

Chisato: "A Takeda army is heading toward Wakasa! It is not a huge stack, but still a threat!"
Goemon: "Sabotage them!"
Chisato: "How?"
Goemon: "er... tier up their shoes at night!"
Chisato: "But my back still hurts from the farm sabotage..." :on_down:

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Momochi Sandayu: "Congratulations, Chisato! You have shown true modesty of a ninja, approaching your missions with nothing but patience and determination."
Chisato: "Master? Weren't you training in Bizen?"
Sandayu: ":on_sweat: The better we are, the more humble we should be. A mature rice stalk bows down. The sea is lower than the river so it receives their water. The large trees attract the wind. The fat pigs goes to the slaughter house first. You are now ready to become a level-6 Ninja in the Hattori clan, the most respected Ninja!"
Chisato: "I am? I am finally there?"
Sandayu: "Yes. Here I present you this mask. From now on your name should be no longer Chisato. But the anonymous. You have no name nor fame, so you can focus on your missions. Clans shall fear your mask, for there are many."
Chisato: "I am not the only level-6 ninja?"
Sandayu: "You are actually the fourth who received this honor. :on_sweat: It is OK, that only shows your modesty to let others reach the finish line first. At the end you all get the same mask. There is no difference."
Chisato: "But I want to advance further like the Master."
Sandayu: "This is already the highest level of ninja."
Chisato: "But doesn't Iga Ninjutsu states that we have to keep pursuing higher levels? Once I reach the higher level, I can understand the secrets of Iga Ninjutsu and the true law of the universe..."
Sandayu: "That's just a saying to shut up the beginners so they stop asking questions that I cannot answer. There are no higher levels. I know as much as you in terms of Ninjutsu... :on_sweat:"
Chisato: :on_eeek:
Sandayu: "Oh by the way here is a helmet you can use."
Chisato: "A bamboo basket covering my head?"
Sandayu: "Double protection!" :on_sing:

Chisato: "So Master, am I going to see you ever again?"
Sandayu: "Of course, there are annual clan meetings... :on_sweat: Oh I almost forgot. You can now shop completely free in Iga Ninjutsu's associated stores."
Chisato: "Free? Like... take whatever I want?"
Sandayu: "Yes. They won't call the Metsuke when you walk out with unpaid merchandise. So don't bother with tag swapping."
Chisato: "So... I can live for free every day? :on_aww:"
Sandayu: "Oh there is a time restriction. You can only shop for free between 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. from Sunday to Thursday."
Chisato: "Does any store open during that period?"
Sandayu: "Who said you have to wait until they open?"
Chisato: :on_exhausted: "So I have to break in? Then of course I do not have to pay..."
Goemon: "Have Iga Ninjutsu stores insured for thievery?"
Sandayu: "Of course~" :on_sing:

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Chisato the anonymous: (murmuring)
Goemon: "I can't hear you with your double protection. Take them off!" :on_furious:
Chisato: "I wonder which clan will be connected to our new trade port in Inaba?"
Goemon: "Oh, the HQ has signed a deal with Honma."
Chisato: "Did they pay all their cash?"
Sandayu: "Of course~" :on_sing:
Chisato: "Master, please return to Bizen to continue your training..."

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Goemon: "Ha, Takeda and Hatakeyama has declared war. Hatakeyama already stole Takeda's Kaga! And our monk has incited a rebellion in Echizen. I wonder where Takeda's stack of doom is..."
Hattori ninja: "Chisato, please leave this Takeda stack to me. You go ahead and see what else to sabotage!"
Chisato: "OK!"

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Chisato: "There is no sighting of Takeda army in Mino! But of course there is smoke in Mino." :on_panda:
Hattori Monk: "Thanks, we will work something out in Mino right away."

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Goemon: "Chisato, Oda has declared war on Hojo! And Takeda has declared war on Oda!" :on_yell:
Chisato: "The HQ's judgment was correct - we must act fast to prevent the domination of Hojo-Takeda alliance in eastern Japan."
Goemon: "And I heard that Oda has sent an emissary to Hattori, requesting an alliance."
Chisato: "So Oda wants to divide Japan up to two sides, Hojo-Takeda vs. Oda-Hattori..."
Goemon: "Yeah. But why would the Hattori goes to war when it cannot expand any further for 4 more years?"
Chisato: "Let's hope Oda can hold off Hojo..."
Goemon: "Yeah. When Date is defeated by Hojo and Honma, Oda will be the next..."

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Chisato: "Goemon, what's going on? People are organizing protests on the streets."
Goemon: "Not very long ago the clan decided to give merchants higher status compared to farmers. The farmers are not very happy about this, fearing that they will be ripped off by the merchants."
Chisato: "Hm... merchants pursue profits whenever they can. This goes against our societies' core values. That's why merchants were purposely suppressed so they can't buy anything with their money."
Goemon: "But a rich clan is a winning clan. :on_sweat: Both Farming and Town are both important sources of income. Early on we rely on farming, but towns will provide progressively more income..."

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Chisato: "So what should the HQ do about the unhappy farmers?"
Goemon: "I guess there will be a temporary reduction of clan-wide tax."
Chisato: "But won't this also lower the tax on the rich merchants?" :on_huh:
Goemon: "You would think the clan could set different tax levels on different things..."

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Chisato: "The Ninja team advance to North Shinano! Still no sign of Takeda's monster stack! But there is always smoke whenever Hattori ninjas go."
Monk: "And a rebel army follows the monk!" :on_gmegap:

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Yasunaga: "Welcome to the spring festival general meeting again! It seems that the last meeting was just yesterday." :on_sweat:

"We will keep an close eye on the eastern clans. For now, our agents are unleashed onto Takeda! :on_sung: We must topple Takeda before Hojo and Honma defeat Date!"

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Chisato: "What's up with the long line up in our recruitment centers? Is half of the public restroom on repair?: "on_sweat:
Goemon: "They are here because Hattori's military power has achieved the highest ranking of "Terrifying". Before people hesitate to join because they are afraid to die. Now they know the chance of they get to sent to the frontline is low... not really." :on_groucho:

Chisato: "Hm? Takaoka has declared war on us? I have not even noticed..."
Goemon: "We already expected them to backstab us... spiritually. They have nothing to stab us. :on_sweat: Our ninja permenantly paralyze their full-stack army, and they can't afford another full-stack. So they are stuck in a permenant checkmate mode."
Chisato: "Hm... the only thing that keeps them alive is that we want to avoid triggering the Realm Divide."

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Chisato: "It looks like Date is about to be defeated, down to their last province."
Goemon: "It is time to use Date's remaining cash! :on_sing:
Chisato: "What a memory for Date's last moment, at least they traded with the Legendary Hattori clan of the west..." :on_exhausted:

End of Chapter 11

Chapter 12. Musashi Gathering

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Chisato: "We have caused total chaos in Takeda's territory! They are suddenly down to two provinces, which were owned by Hatakeyama a year ago... and Hatakeyama has taken some of Takeda's provinces..."
Goemon: "These clans only know about attack, so they will keep going forward, leaving their rear completely undefended."
Chisato: "At least we weakened Takeda in time. What's the status of Oda and Hojo's war?"
Goemon: "When Hojo focused their military in the north against Date, Oda actually managed to steal Hojo's capital, Sagami!"
Chisato: :on_angry: "Hojo did not defend their capital against a clan at war?"
Goemon: "Apparently no." :on_sweat:

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Chisato: "Hm... the Hatakeyama army is making rapid advance on the rebel provinces. Maybe soon they will replace Takeda."
Monk: "Hatakeyama never forgives us for taking their Kinki provinces. Let's topple Hatakeyama!"
Chisato: "Yes, let's do it! I will tie up their shoes at night!"
Goemon: "Now you can shop for free, why don't you try some extravagant approach?"
Chisato: "Like what?"
Goemon: "Like... dump truckloads of instant noodle on the road side? Soldiers love them~"
Chisato: "Yeah!" :on_panda:

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Chisato: "Goemon, I know that Hattori is famous for its Ninja. How about other agents like monks?"
Goemon: "Thanks to our early control of Yamato, we had a good start of hiring capable monks. I think we just had the first level-6 monk in the clan."
Chisato: "Do they have to wear masks, too?"
Goemon: "On the contrary, the higher level the monks, the less clothes they wear. The level-6 monk is half-naked. Nothing on the head."
Chisato: :on_yell: "Why are they not afraid of being targeted?"
Goemon: "There is a Nobel Peace Prize waiting if they get targeted..." :on_panda:

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Welcome back to the general meeting~ It seems that we just had the previous one earlier today...":on_sweat:

Hojo and Honma has defeated Date. This means that Hojo will be able to pull back all its army to fight Oda, unless Honma suddenly decides to attack Hojo. We expect Hojo's power to quickly grow and fill in the vaccum left by Takeda. Agents, remove Takeda and Hatakeyama as soon as possible, so you can focus on Hojo! :on_furious:

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Abe Noriaki: "My Lord, did you summon me again?"
Yasunaga: "Yep. I just noticed one mistake in our plan... Bow Warrior Monk requires level-2 Bow Dojo, so we need to get Way of the Bow first!" :on_sleep:
Noriaki: "Does that mean we will have a delay in triggering the Realm Divide?"
Yasunaga: "Hm, maybe not, because we can train Bow Ashigaru first. But we will have to rearrange the research sequence."
Noriaki: "It is OK, the Kisho ninja and Bandits can wait. They are not very useful anyway." :on_sweat:

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard that Takaoka has a large fleet on the sea. Has our navy fought them?"
Goemon: "Yeah. Our Medium Bune crushed them like bugs." :on_picknose:
Chisato: "So the Hattori naval strategy is to use nothing but Medium Bune? Sounds risky."
Goemon: "The HQ made the tough decision to delay naval techs to post-Realm Divide. The rationale is if we trigger the Realm Divide early enough, the enemy clans will not have ships better than Medium Bune." :on_sweat:

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Chisato: "Hm... now there is a nother long line-up outside our recruitment centers. Must be about the recruitment commercial featuring warrior nuns. :on_sing:"
Goemon: "Actually they are not warrior monks, they are samurai!"
Chisato: "So we will have some elite Naginata for the future First Army!"

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard that our trade with Hojo was disrupted because Oda took Hojo's capital, and Hojo moved their capital to Ito peninsula, which does not have a port..."
Goemon: "Yeah. We have addressed that problem."
Chisato: "How?"
Goemon: "Our monk has turned Ito into rebels. So Hojo's capital is again linked to a port."
Chisato: "So we can again sign a trade deal with Hojo. I wonder whether Hojo is willing to pay all their cash?"
Momochi Sandayu: "Of course~" :on_sing:
Chisato: ":on_yell: over 20000 koku earned from this... this is insane!"

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Goemon: "Chisato! Takeda and Hatakeyama have been toppled by our agents! The HQ has issued the new order - Hojo!"
Chisato: "On my way! I am Kozuke province, and I can see Hojo's Metsuke coming!"
Goemon: "Remove them from service!"
Chisato: "Yes!" :on_sung:

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Chisato: "I heard Hojo is planning a counterattack to retake their capital Sagami. Any update?"
Goemon: "Our agents have arrived at the border. Their daimyo Hojo Ujiyasu suddenly had back muscle spasm..."
Chisato: "So that means Hojo will be unable to attack Oda temporarily?"
Goemon: "It seems that there are more Hojo coming down. Our agents will be overwhelmed quickly. :on_stress:"
Chisato: "I will meet them in Musashi!"

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Chisato: "Nice, I heard we have just started hiring elite Bow Ashigaru from Buzen and Hoki."
Goemon: "Yes. The strength of the Hattori army will increase very quickly from now on." :on_groucho:

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Chisato: "Hm... there is another report of Takaoka's navy. They probably wanted to block our trade port in Hizen."
Goemon: "We have been pumping out elite navy non-stop from Hizen. This is just dessert for us. :on_panda:"

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Chisato: "Here I am in Musashi! Let me see.. together there are more than 4 full stacks of Hojo army!" :on_lightning:
Goemon: "It looks like they are gathering around their daimyo. If we stop one of their stacks on their way, maybe the rest of the stacks will wait for them?"
Chisato: "Good idea! Let's try it! Here comes a truck load of *** megazine on the roadside!" :on_sing:

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Welcome back to the annual clan meeting. There is only one simple objective - weaken Hojo as much as possible before we trigger Realm Divide!"

Commissionner of Supply - Sawada Takamochi: "Oh I have one thing to report! We have started shipping new units to Kinki from three recruitment centers. Due to a carefully planned relay chain, all units arrive at their destination the same season it came out from the recruitment center."
Yasunaga: "Excellent work!" :on_lol:

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Chisato: "Report: When we distract the Hojo Horde in Musashi, our monks have been hyperactive, inciting rebellion in many Hojo provinces!" :on_panda:
Goemon: "Good work! Keep it up! But the HQ wishes to leave the two northern provinces of Hojo untouched."
Chisato: "Why?"
Goemon: "Because there is Honma behind Hojo. After Realm Divide they are all our obstacles. Hojo actually serves as a firewall that blocks Honma's expansion. It is better we keep it that way."
Chisato: "Understood!"

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Chisato: "Goemon, I heard that the Wako has reached a breakthrough in technology. They no longer make Trade Ships exclusively." :on_sweat:
Goemon: "Yep, the age of easy free Trade Ships is over. But that changes little of our naval strategy - lots of Medium Bune never fails. And when we park the right-sized fleet at the right place, the Wako actually actively seek battle. Saves a lot of work!" :on_bath:

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Hattori Yasunaga: "Generals and agents, welcome back! It felt like we just had a meeting less than an hour ago... :on_sweat: But we have an urgent situation! Hojo has been severely weakened, and there is no point to wait further to trigger Realm Divide!"

Commissioner of Warfare - Fujiwara Norioki: "But we don't have five armies yet. Enough for four, though."
Yasunaga: "Good enough. We will have three armies in Kinki, one army in the north to take care of Takaoka."
Commissioner of Supply - Sawada Takamochi: "No problem!"
Yasunaga: "The Kinki army will be led by our three best generals!"
Commissioner of Finance - Minamoto Tomokata: "How about the Fifth army promised to me? :on_beg:"
Yasunaga: "The recruit process will continue. So you will get your fifth army as planned."
Commissioner of Development - Momochi Sandayu: "So I will be leading an invasion along Tokaido?"
Yasunaga: "Yes. Tokaido is full of great-clan provinces: Owari, Migawa, Kai, Sagami. So it has to be done by a Development expert. :on_aww:"

Yasunaga: "All agents, slowly pull back from Hojo and work on Oda! They are our closest obstacle!"
Anonymous x 5: "Yes!"