Imagawa campaign: "Short Letters to Mariko"

Hello folks,
thanks for the interest in my campaign report. It is Imagawa, Starting in 1530 with difficulty Expert, aiming to Conquer all Japan.
I will give the report a bit the character of a one-player roleplay game. I hope you don't mind. I will try to balance the battle reports and the decorating story as good as possible. If I am failing at this, feel free to tell me.
Please note that this is mainly fictional, with some historical influence.
Enjoy!

Short Letters to Mariko

The following letters signed by Hayashi Minoru were found in the house of a Chinese carrier pidgeon breeder in the late 17th century. They draw the subjective picture of Japan during the Epoque of the Warring States.

Initial letter
"Beloved Mariko,
I miss you.
The pain of loss keeps making me restless. I cannot stay in one place for too long, I can hardly sleep and it must be 3 years ago since I last attempted to read a book. I am even lacking the adequate dedication to Buddha but I do not dare to cleanse my mind of mundane things. Thoughts are quick, quicker than swords. I can dodge blades and arrows that threaten my life, but I cannot avoid the piercing vigor of my troubled mind.
It took me a while to decide writing this letter and I hope this bird finds its way so you get to read it. I have spent years hardly talking to anyone, trying to absorb my sentiments but I cannot hold them any longer. I have to share them with someone and I have always shared them with you.
I have seen 3 winters since you died and so much has happened. Our daughter Yoshiko is fine. She is 6 years of age now and really smart. I am afraid you would dissaprove, but I am already teaching her to handle a wooden sword. I am far away from being a good teacher, but she moves faster and smoother than any child of her age I have seen so far.
It is spring in the 4th year of Go-Nara Tenno and I am in service of Great Imagawa Yoshimoto, Daimyô of Hizen in Northern Kyûshû, Totomi and Suruga in Central Honshû, for 2 years now. I do not know how, but I must have impressed him in some way while I was practising sword fight in the yard of Nagasaki castle in Hizen. Listening to some of my thoughts on castle defense he suddenly chose me to command the garrison of Hizen and to ensure the infrastructural expansion in that province. I am still residing in Nagasaki and grateful for this opportunity. It keeps me busy the whole day with war preparations. The authority of the Ashikaga Bakufu has declined from moon to moon and many local warlords seek to expand their influence.
You might recall that the Shimazu family has eversince been a decisive political power on this isle. Lord Imagawa expects them to attack us in near future in order to bring whole Kyûshu under their control. Therefore I am preparing to defend my borders while considering to take provinces from the minor clans of Kyûshû. It is a tough mission since for me, a former peasant, it is nearly impossible to execute the necessary authority on the mostly noble unit leaders.
My past seems to be my most vicious enemy in those days. With one hand I am trying to achieve honour and respect amongst my fellow warmen, while the other is struggling to cope with my loneliness. But the sound of blades is heard on this isle. The minor clans sense the instability threatening their authority and they are becoming aggressive and suspicious.
The war is about to begin.

実



Letter from Summer 1530
Mariko,
the pidgeon has returned, without my letter! This means it must have delivered it! I thank Buddha for this wonderful fortune!
Summer has come, our daughter is now 7 years of age. Though I am feeling a lot of joy in my heart every time I see her, things are getting troublesome. The men are sensing the growing threat and get aggressive. As I already told you I have problems controlling them. We are 360 men in Hizen but to expand I need a lot more.
Lord Imagawa is in Totomi at the moment, but he already informed me that he might arrive within a year to support the expansion. With his message came additional 120 archers, lead by Inoue Kagemochi, a first rank general. He asks me to be ready to invade Northern Kyûshû at the time of Lord Yoshimoto's arrival.
Still, my biggest problem is to not run out of koku. I ordered to build watch towers along our border in order to get a glimpse at the strenth of the surrounding clans. I want to take Chikuzen and Chikugo within two years. From Imagawa Yoshimoto's message I know, that he is behaving similar in Honshû. He also told me to raise tax rates to a maximum. I am reluctant, but I have to give in. I cannot protect the peasants in times like these, although I would like too.
Imagawa seeks to form an alliance with Lord Takeda. This would secure his Eastern border and he could concentrate on Kyûshû.
I will occasionally try to draw you a picture of our current situation, but in this busy times I lack the proper concentration.

Ogenkide,

実


Letter from Autumn 1530
Mariko,
not much has happened since my last letter, but again the bird has returned. Construction of border watchtower is still ongoing, but he minor clans remain silent.
Lord Hôjô Ujitsuna has attacked and taken Izu. Apart from that, there is nothing new from the East.
I feel myself getting impatient. Kagemochi is a very able and nice person. He is teaching me the proper use of bow and arrow. I am getting better and might finally have found my weapon of choice.

実


Letter from Winter 1530
Mariko,
the towers are ready, I visited them today. The guards say that the Kikuchi Clan of Chikugo have several archers and yari ashigaru, some of them apparently already fight the Shimazu army, but lost. Chikuzen is controlled by the Akizuki family and has no archers, as it seems.
Although the latter might be a lot easier to overwhelm we need to march south to reach the river before the Shimazu do so. I will await spring to come, though. I am expecting support from Yoshimoto as soon as the snow fades.
Takeda accepted our alliance proposal. Since we now share a common border with Lord Hôjô I proposed allying to him as well. As far as I know he is becoming a major force in Honshû.

Ogenkide,

実


Letter from Spring 1531
Mariko!
Lord Yoshimoto arrived and we are preparing to attack. I will assist the Great Daimyô as part of Kagemochi's archer unit while he is staying in Hizen to guard the castle with 120 bowmen. This could be my chance to prove my worth.
Altough taxes are hardly bearable we are only slowly generating funds. This slows down the process significantly. I hope this will change with acquisition of Chikugo.
Lord Hôjô accepted our proposal. As long as they keep their promise we will be safe in Honshû.

実


Letter from Summer 1531
Mariko!
We won in Chikugo! It was a great battle. Talking with Yoshimoto about the best tactic of advancing, we both agreed in trying to lure the Kikuchi onto the bridge in range of our archers. It worked, they took heavy casualties when trying to push our infantry from the bridge. Seeing this, they withdrew quickly, leaving their dead general behind. And we chased them. Although they turned another time to resist Lord Yoshimoto fought them down with his own hands. I have never seen a fighter like this. He alone must have killed 10 men that day.
But a lot more has happened: coming back from the battlefield there were two messengers. One arrived from Lord Takeda. He told us that his master and the Hôjô were at war with each other and they seeked our aid in this conflict. Lord Yoshimoto asked me for my opinion on the matter, and I spoke: "I wish not to insult Lord Takeda, nor do I wish to abandon him in troubled times. But it was Hôjô Soun-sama who Shinkurō mediated the succession dispute between supporters of Great Imagawa Yoshitada's son Imagawa Ujichika and Yoshitada's cousin, Oshika Norimitsu. I think that we owe the Hôjô too much to openly offend them by abandoning our alliance. I ask Lord Takeda to forgive me and pray to the Great Buddha for his sake."
Yoshimoto agreed and the matter was settled.
The second messenger came from Inoue in Hizen. He told us that he was attacked by 240 men of the Akizuki clan and that he killed 220 of them, only loosing 7 of his 120 formidable archers. As a reward, he was promoted to the Second Rank.
Despite the good news, our situation is critical. We saw a major Shimazu army in Higo, the defeated Kikuchi rebels fled to Chikuzen merged with the Akizuki, now forming a considerably threat to the small Hizen garrison. We would barely be able to hold our position in Honshû if Takeda would attack now and we still do not have the money to build up considerable armies. In order to avoid a revolt in Chikugo, we had to lower the tax rate to a minimum.
Reinforcents are expected to arrive Hizen from Totomi until the next full moon. All we else can do, is wait.

実


Summary:
My position is a bit instable, but as long as the Shimazu crushes rebels and Takeda and Hojo fight themselves I can hold it. Still, I need to expand, I not generating enough cash to hold off Shimazu in the long run.

Excellent read so far my friend. Much better written than my Oda Campaign. Imagawa are usually a very tough proposition, they are my favourite clan to play as and I was going to do them in my next campaign but you have beaten me to it lol. If I may make a reccomendation, I would suggest taking Mikawa as soon as possible. Its very easily defensible, away from the dangers of most of the other clans and has a reasonable income from farming. I usually take it immediately and build it up as a fall back position if things don`t go to plan in that part of the map.

Thanks for your attention. It is quite a lot of text, I must admit. :book:
I had to perform some updates on the text to ensure the consistency with the story:
- I removed Minoru's surname Hayashi. Since he is a peasant he is not entitled to carry one.
- Hôjô attacked Izu and not Ise. Thanks for telling me, Wishazu.
- I decreased Minoru's initial authority in Hizen a bit. I think it was way to exagerated. He is now to command the garrison and ensure the infrastructural expansion of Hizen.

Yeah, the Imagawa are a tough one. Still, you were in a similar position in your Oda campain. I think I should not let Shimazu grow to strong, though this will be a hard piece of work.
As for Mikawa, I totally agree. By now I did not dare to face the 4 star general there with my busy troops, but I think I will weaken the garrison in Musashi in order to conquer Mikawa before Oda does.

Great read start so far, good luck with the campaign. I agree with grabbing Mikawa if its feasible.

Letter from Autumn 1531
Mariko,
I am still in the camp near Chikugo-kawa. Inoue reports reinforcements from Totomi.
My Lord Imagawa visited my tent this afternoon. I served him tea and tried hard to show the adequate manners. He observed me with calm interest, but fortunately did not look insulted.
We spoke:
"Minoru."
"Imagawa-sama?"
"How come, that a peasant like you acquired so much talent for the Art of War?"
"I do my very best to please you my Lord. I hope my humble services are of some value in your honourable campain."
"You traded your yari for a bow, I saw?"
"Yes, my Lord. Inoue-san liberally taught me the proper use of a bow. I think by now my arrows are of better use to your army than my pike was."
"The Bow is a Samurai weapon, Minoru. There are opinions that I must not grant privileges like that to a mere peasant."
"If you wish me back in my old unit, my Lord, I will inmediat-"
"Minoru."
"My Lord?"
"I know better than listening to the tongues of envy. You have a good overview on the battlefield. Bowmen suits you better than infantry, I think. I will ask Watanabe Nuotaka to take you into service. Once you returned to Hizen you can then remain with Inoue Kagemochi."
"I thank you, my Lord."
"But still... you must work on your comportment, your prestige. There are men in my army that do not respect you. First of all, you need a surname."
"I beg your pardon, my Lord, I do not understand well."
"Why did you set up your tent away from the bakuei, among the trees of this grove? There are rumours you are conspiring and avoid being seen."
"Honestly... I find it... easier to defend."
"Ahaha! Against which attackers you seek to defend yourself?"
"Please excuse, Imagawa-sama, but I am afraid that in times like these there is no lack of potential attackers."
"True."
"I was able to hear you and your guards approaching sooner than if you had been walking on grass. Additionally I could draw advantage of the trees if I was outnumbered in a fight."
"So be it then. If you prefer groves to camps, you shall from now on be called Hayashi, Hayashi Minoru-san, a warrior peasant in service of Imagawa Yoshimoto."
"I cannot thank you enough, my Lord, for the honour that you are granting me."
Lord Imagawa stood up and left the tent. I felt thunderstruck, as you can imagine. I will now sign the first letter with my new name. I love you, Hayashi Mariko-san.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1531
Mariko,
Inoue moved into Chikuzen against the Akitsuki and Kikuchi clans with about 230 men before winter came. Imagawa sent him 63 men for support. Though he was succesfull he had losses and is now facing a major army of the Kikuchi that might attack from Buzen.
Shimazu keeps expanding and apparently has taken Butcho some days ago. He strikes with big armies, bigger than any one I have seen so far. I do not dare to imagine how we could face him if he turns against us. I am hoping for him to expand over Shikoku.
Imagawa-sama rose taxes a bit because the situation in Chikugo is calming down. Still, it remains unstable and we had a poor harvest, leaving us behind with hardly any money at all. Loyalty to our forces is barely seen. Despite the rather low taxes we have to fear peasant uproars, claiming their independence.
Surprising news: Katagiri Nobutaka from Totomi has abandoned Suruga and taken Mikawa. Rebels from Shinano have put Suruga under their control. Our position in Honshu is now nearly desperate. We have a border to the Great Oda Clan now, from what I heard they could overrun us in half a year. We have a emissary on the way to propose an alliance. I hope the Oda agree.
I miss Yoshiko, I hope she is fine.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1532
Mariko,
the Oda accepted the offer and there was neither a revolt nor another attack from Shinano. If we can make it over this year we might be able to gain some strength.
I visited Yoshiko in the castle of Nagasaki. She asked a lot of questions, but she is fine. Still I have to remain in Chikugo. Shimazu drew his troops together in Butcho. I wonder whether he is aiming for us, the Buzen rebels or Shikoku.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1532
Mariko,
everything quite. An amazing silence lies above the fields. The sun warms my troubled heart. Still there is no sign of further aggression.
Shimazu Takahisa's son has now come of age and is serving in his army.
I decided to draw you a picture of our current situation, so you can follow my descriptions better. Please excuse that I am such a poor painter, but the constant use of the bowstring makes my fingers numb.

https://img297.imageshack.us/img297/2706/firstcn1.jpg

https://img186.imageshack.us/img186/4002/secondkk0.jpg

Loyalty in Mikawa still is reported to be too unstable for a tax raise. Perhaps I demand too much, but could you provide me with some advice? Since the weapons are getting cold I do not have frequent chance to serve my Lord in suficient manner. This might become a severe thread for my further career in this army.

林 実


Summary:
Puh, this campain is a lot of gambling. I could be whiped out completely in no time. I think I have a good position to turtle and be friends with everyone until I have the strength to strike. Taking Mikawa this early without considerable forces was good but risky.

Letter from Autumn 1532
Mariko,
Shimazu Takahisa has attacked and taken Buzen. All rebels were put to the sword. He is now in the position to attack Chikuzen and Hizen without passing Chikugo-kawa. We would thereby loose the tactical advantage of the river.
Imagawa rose taxes to the common level. The garrison in Mikawa must therefore pay attention to the peoples loyalty.
Apart from that I am spending my spare time with training bow and arrow.

Ogenkide,

林 実



Letter from Winter 1532
Mariko,
night has fallen and I am back in Nagasaki. Lord Yoshimoto and I rode up here to meet the emissary Abe Hanzo, who proved himself being a very able diplomat. He is on his journey to meet Shimazu Takahisa-sama in order to form an alliance and ensure that he directs his highly expandatory potential towards Shikoku.
He confirmed what was already indicated. The whole country had a good harvest! Mikawa remaint silent and we now have over 1600 koku to spend. I convinced Lord Imagawa to invest in infrastructure as well as in recruiting new Samurai Archers. We are building a castle in Mikawa and support the farmers in Hizen and Chikugo. This will approximately take half a year. By then, the new bowmen should be sufficiently prepared, too.
I spent the day with our daughter. Despite my absence she has neither neglected her studies nor did she lack physical activity. They say she was running throughout the whole castle, climbin up walls, houses and trees, asking everyone out, but always polite and with her wooden sword, like a little Samurai. It was her teacher Kimura-sensei who looked after her during my time in Chikugo.
Lord Imagawa granted me another visit this evening. He brought his Go game and asked me to play with him. Do you remember how I loved to play Go, always imagining it to be a real battlefield? You always disapproved of me wanting to become a General, a military genius like Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Well, as you see it must somehow be my destiny. I still recall the first part of our conversation.
"So Minoru, why didn`t you as well build your house among the trees of a grove?", Yoshimoto-sama said and laughed.
"My Lord, I probably would have done so if this was my house. I am sharing this little hut with 4 of my fellow ashigaru soldiers. It belongs to the father of Kutoshi. He is a local merchant who travelled to Chûgoku two years ago."
"I understand. And the little girl in the kitchen is your daughter?"
"Yes, she is helping Kutoshi with the supper."
"Why isn`t your wife looking after her?"
"My wife died 5 years ago."
"How come?"
"We were accidentally involved in a Ninja assault. It was during a public theater in Suruga. Two Ninjas suddenly came out of nowhere and went for a local nobleman standing next to us. When they threw their daggers at him he quickly pulled my wife in front of him, using her to shield himself against the blades. Before I realized what had happened the nobleman had escaped and the Ninja were slain by his guards. My wife had died instantly."
As you may imagine, I felt like I was cooked alive. I could not afford not to talk openly to my Lord, but the tension inside me was hardly possible to hide. Still he did not inmediately change the topic and asked me if I would blame the Ninja, their employer or the targeted nobleman for your death. I told him, honestly, that I was unable to figure that out in all these years. He responded that he would make the nobleman responsible and asked me if I knew his name. Again honestly I said that I do not know his name. After that he remained silent.
Some turns late he told me, "Minoru, if I find out that you are letting me win I will have you executed."
He was right, at the first glance he had considerable advantages that I granted him on purpose because I could not yet imagine what would offend him more, a defeat or a potentially faked victory.
"I am sorry, my Lord, but you are not winning.", I told him.
Two turns later I was equal again, another four and I was dominating the game. Lord Imagawa looked surprised, even a bit amused. Can you remember how your father always got mad at me because I used to turn the tide when he thought he had finally secured his victory? I was always letting my deployment appear weaker than it was. I wish this would as well apply to the Imagawa troops, but I am afraid it does not.
"This was a very challenging game, Minoru. I thank you."
Yoshimoto-sama won by performing some well thought moves towards the end of the game. I caught myself not paying enough attention to the match as I was slowly carried away thoughts. In any way I am glad to keep my head well situated on my shoulders.
He told me that tomorrow he would be heading back to the camp, without me. I would be to go with Abe-san to see Lord Shimazu. Yoshiko wants to come with me but I am not letting her. It is not unusual to execute unlucky emissaries and everyone travelling with them. As Imagawa-sama said, Abe-san is to teach me appropriate manners and the Art of Diplomacy. He is said to be a great swordsmen, too.
This will be an interesting journey.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1533
Mariko,
fortunately there was no attack from Shimazu and as far as we know he has returned to Bungo. We are in Chikuzen at the moment and heading south. It is already getting confortably warm on midday, so Abe-san is teaching me advanced techniques in sword fight when we rest. During the journey we talk a lot about manners and diplomacy. He is very wise and must be older than I thought, despite looking still very young and vital.

林 実



Summary:
My situation is still not secured and depends much on the benevolence of the Oda and Shimazu. Diplomacy is a major issue, as it seems. The good thing is that I am now able to generate some cash and build troops without needing to expand. My longterm plan is to either get a grab at Kyushu if Shimazu somehow gets weakened or inattentive or, if not, build up a strong position in Honshu with a Mikawa-Shinano-Suruga border.

Great campaign and write up so far. The format is very original. As I said in the other thread you also may need to employ the services of some of the "men in black pyjamas" to stop your provinces rebelling and allow you to raise taxes.

I'd say your situation in the east is precarious, though it's early days yet of course. You could bide your time and go for Owari, which has a good farm income, but I'd say your priority is Suruga to use as a buffer zone to protect Totomi which will be one of your major developed provinces. If you do go for Owari, t's best to wait until Lord Oda invades Omi or Ise of course.

In the west you have more opportunity and you are in posession of fertile lands. I would go after Shimazu as soon as possible and have your warriors and his dishonour, chase him to his grave (sorry couldn't resist that one). With Hizen, Chikuzen and Chikugo already secured you should be getting a half decent income as it is, though if Shimazu gets any ideas of going on tour with his Satsuma No Dachis, your plans in the region could be ruined.

yep, shinobi and embassies will be handy here, maybe you could risk weaking totomi some more to strengthen mikawa, oda are in a terribly good position to strike, same as shimazu, i think you have over reached yourself a little, but if your borders clans dont attack im sure you'll pull through :beam:

If you can I would reccomend training up a group of 4-5 Shinobi and send them together on a tour of Kyushu. If you can ignite rebellion there then Shimazu will be too distracted to attack you.

Very interesting write up. I'd get a couple of Shinobi up and running, keep an eye on Shimazu and Oda and look for any potential weaknesses.

At the moment I am working on the next update, "Men of Shadows" already in progress, but thanks for the advice. I wanted to have enough troops to hold my position, so I was a bit short in cash, as you cannot deal with ronin via Shinobi.
Now the cash situation got a lot better, but I am still undecided what to do first. You'll see.


Because I forgot to comment on that:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Wishazu

Much better written than my Oda Campaign.

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Don't you dare! Your Oda campain is a masterpiece. My campain lacks a certain thrill at the moment and I'm afraid I'm getting boring. This never happened in your campain, maximum action, from start on. :dizzy2:


Still thanks for the compliment, I'm trying hard. :laugh4:

Here is a crazy suggestion, but a strategy I use almost all the time as Imagawa. Withdraw all your southern forces to central Japan with the idea of delivering a knockout blow to Oda and gaining access to the much richer regions of Ise and Omi, and eventually Iga (great for Imagawa with the ninja bonus), Yamashiro and Kawachi. You end up with much richer provinces and more of them have some kind of bonus. You are also concentrating your forces.

The down side of this is that Shimazu gets a free hand and often forms an alliance with Mori to threaten your southern flank, so a rollback of Mori is needed early.

To the north you need to decide where to form a defensive line......push out a bit to Suruga (which is much more defensible than Totomi, especially against Takeda cavalry), or Mikawa (and abandon Totomi......scorched earth in order, here).

In any case, it's a fun and non-conventional way to play Imagawa, and avoids the difficult split-empire problem.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by patdj

Don't you dare! Your Oda campain is a masterpiece. My campain lacks a certain thrill at the moment and I'm afraid I'm getting boring. This never happened in your campain, maximum action, from start on. :dizzy2:


Still thanks for the compliment, I'm trying hard. :laugh4:

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Cheers mate. Though I will 100% agree that my Oda campaign was the most exciting campaign I have played in years, and I`m glad I was able to transmit that excitement onto the pages here, this Imagawa campaign appears to me to be unique in the way you are presenting it. I love it. Keep it up :2thumbsup:

P.S Reluctant Samurai makes some good points there. But I would disagree on going for Oda`s lands early on, you will get bogged down by large armies of ronin packed full of Monks.

The strategy sounds interesting but daring. I am not sure whether I have the unit and player quality to manage kicking Oda that easily (despite the 2 bridge map of Owari). I'm not at my PC at the moment, but I will calculate that one when I'm home.
Still:
- I am afraid giving Shimazu whole Kyûshû will end up him being my major foe again (see Hojo campain).
- Additionally, concentrating in Honshû will be very much alike my Hojo campain, too.

At the moment I'm favouring the turtle&trouble tactic. Means gathering everything I need to defend myself properly, while creating disturbance and irritation by the "Men of Shadows". I hope to apply some handy diplomacy and grab everything thats easy to get and to be hold.

Still, thank you both very much for your advice and your interest in the campain!

Quote:

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But I would disagree on going for Oda`s lands early on, you will get bogged down by large armies of ronin packed full of Monks.

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Not necessarily the case if you play with patience. The largest contingent of monks usually resides in Kawachi. Ise, Omi, and Iga are cleared fairly easy, Yamashiro places you in close proximity to fairly the large contingent in Kawachi. I wait for Shimazu and/or Mori to bang their heads against that wall until the rebel forces are worn down, then step in and snatch it. My last three Imagawa camps (expert lvl) have all gone that same way:2thumbsup: If they choose to attack you, they have to leave some kind of contingent in Kawachi. Monks are very vulnerable to archer fire, especially with no armor upgrades. I've had them attack me in Yamashiro before and my archers, both foot and cav whittle 'em down to less than half strength before melee is even joined. The map in Yamashiro contains many tactical possibilities for traps and flanking......even monks will rout when decimated and flanked:beam:

Quote:

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The strategy sounds interesting but daring. I am not sure whether I have the unit and player quality to manage kicking Oda that easily (despite the 2 bridge map of Owari).

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It's really not that tough, especially since the AI usually has Oda running all over the place fighting rebels.

Quote:

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- I am afraid giving Shimazu whole Kyûshû will end up him being my major foe again

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This is usually the case, often made more difficult by a Shimazu-Mori alliance. However..............

........if you reach the goals of Kawachi/Yamashiro/Wakasa as a defensive front, this is very easy to hold. Shimazu will bleed himself white trying to take Kawachi, and Mori usually tries for Yamashiro which also has excellent defensive possibilities. What usually happens then is they turn on each other.

Compare the koku income from Owari/Ise/Yamashiro to Hizen/Chikugo/Chikuzen. It's nearly double! Add to that the ninja bonus from Iga (tailor-made for Imagawa, AFAIAC), the Ashi bonus from Owari (great for teppo), and the +1 bonus for any unit trained in Yamashiro, and you have not only have considerable koku at your disposal, but a training edge as well.

Might I suggest that you make a save-game of your current position, and give this strategy a whirl? If it doesn't work for you, you can always go back and try a different approach. I had similar misgivings when it was first suggested to me. After trying it, I was hooked. Much more exciting than the usual way I was playing Imagawa.

I think its a really interesting way its been written, looking forward to the dramatic developments as much as the campaign!!

i think ReluctantSamurais strategy is an interesting one.

I would use this strategy if I have a full stack army spare. However I think your underestimating the number of warrior monks in the area, in my recent Oda campaign(posted here) every rebel force had at least 1 or 2 contingents of monks that when combined(Rebels would abandon province after province then counter attack with a large stack packed full of monks) can be a serious threat. Also came across a large force in Yamashiro. I like the idea though, I definately give it a try in my next Imagawa campaign.

The strategy is certainly not without its risks......but I don't find the monks to be all that troublesome. Like I said, they are vulnerable to archer fire and I retain at least three or four in each army (either foot or cav or both). It's a challenge to fight monks early on, but the rewards are very good.

Quote:

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I would use this strategy if I have a full stack army spare.

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That's the whole idea behind abandoning the south......after razing all your provinces there to the ground, and taking Owari, you have enough koku to get the job done.

The problem with abandoning one side of a split domain is that you're then presented with - what is essentially - a "quasi Shimazu" campaign involving the same typically linear west to east sweep of the map. I prefer to try and hold both regions and then join them up. This makes for a much more interesting and less predictable campaign. It also means that you're less likely to be facing a massive horde on the other side of the map once you get there.

-Edit: Another interesting aspect to this is shipping troops from east to west, or vice versa, to reinforce your armies there.

:bow:

I too prefer the challenge of maintaining both parts of a split empire and only very rarely give one part up. Though I do like Reluctant Samurai`s plan and intend to give it a shot next time I play Imagawa.

Letter from Summer 1533
Mariko,
we are about to leave Shimazu Takahisa's camp. He has finally accepted our proposal, though he hesitated very long in making a clear announcement.
Before our first meeting, Abe-san intensively told me what to do and what not to do, to speak only if I was asked directly and not to stare at the Daimyô.
Abe-san took over most of the speaking. He introduced me as Hayashi Minoru, his personal assistant and body guard. Then they started talking about the current political situation of the country, about Lord Oda Nobuhide's expansion in Honshu and the ongoing quarrel between the Hôjô and the Takeda. When Abe-san finally moved on towards the main topic, Takahisa-sama became serious and annoyingly self confident.
"Are you fearing an invasion of Shimazu troops?", he asked us.
"We do not doubt that your intentions are the most honourable ones, Lord Shimazu Takahisa-sama."
"But still the acquisition of your provinces would fortify our position in Kyûshû."This sudden forthrightness astonished me and I could not avoid seing Takahisa-sama directly into his face. Our eyes met and I quickly looked down again, embarrassed, while Lord Shimazu was smiling autocratically. Abe-san on the other hand did not seem surprised at all.
"But at what cost, Lord Shimazu? There would be even more bloodshed among the inhabitants of this isle. Instead you could lead your forces eastwards, over Shikoku towards Kyôtô, to save our Great Emperor from the influence of the minor remaints of the Ashikaga Bakufu. Is this not what the Great Takahisa is aiming for?"
Lord Shimazu did not speak. He looked serious. Abe-san might have had crossed a line.
"Lord Shimazu, please forgive me if I talk openly. Our troops could not stand one single wave of your attacks. Still, rest assured that my Lord Yoshimoto will not withdraw his influence in Kyûshû without a fight. This could become expensive, for both of us. Additionally, there are rumours coming from the Chûgoku-jin. Foreigners from far lands are coming by sea and it might only be a matter of time until they reach our shores. A civil war in Kyûshû would be a perfect opportunity for them to easily gain influence without being supervised. They could bring riches as well as death. Let the Imagawa clan guard your back until you have the Emperor's blessing."
"You speak true words, Abe. Still, true words are the cloak of false intentions."
"I would not dare."
"I shall think about it."
"And I thank you for your consideration."
We backed out of the room and awaited to be called again. Abe-san explained me that he had striked the right note and that Lord Shimazu will probably accept. Despite Abe-sans confidence we had to wait 3 more days until being called again. Lord Shimazu seemed as reluctant as during our first meeting. He said he would approve in case we would stop strengthening our garrisons in Chikuzen and Chikugo and give word that we will direct our troops towards Honshû, in order to distract Lord Oda Nobuhide, obviously his most feared rival concerning the benevolence of the Great Emperor.
Abe-san told me that we can hardly rely on his word, but we probably had won some years time.
I am looking forward to return to Hizen.




Letter from Autumn 1533
Mariko,
we are passing Chikuzen and met Inoue Kagemochi yesterday. He told us that recruiting of another unit of Totomis Ashigaru had started last winter and that archer reinforcement had arrived in Hizen. Furthermore he received orders from Yoshimoto-sama for Abe-san to see Lord Uesugi in Musashi and that a ship was waiting for him in Hizen.
Apart from that his scouts had reported that Shimazu Takahisa-sama invaded Iyo on Shikoku and that his son was still supervising the army in Buzen. Looks like Abe-san was right in the end.
We will probably arive in Hizen in some weeks time. I really enjoyed the year with Abe-san.

Ogenkide,



Letter from Winter 1534
Mariko,
I arrived in Hizen a week ago. Lord Yoshimoto frankly gave orders to Abe-san before his ship departed. Then he asked me for a secret meeting for yesterday afternoon. I was inducted into Yoshimoto-samas most secret plans and must ask you again to keep my letters secret. They have an ilimitable political explosiveness bound to them.
We met in a hidden room in Hizen castle. Lord Imagawa had a sort of bodyguard with him. This man, he was introduced as Hattori Yasunaga-san, had a very dark aura despite seeming very young. Lord Yoshimoto told me different things, none of them would really have explained why the meeting was held secretly. It must have had something to do with Hattori-san. From what Lord Imagawa reported, we had another good harvest and he had rosen taxes in autumn. We now had 1842 Koku to spend, all of them already planned. Another unit of archers was being trained in Totomi. Additionally a castle would be build in Chikugo. Then he came to the real topic of this meeting.
"Do you have financial problems, Minoru?"
"No, my Lord, you treat me very well.", I contested. "Well" was to be seen rather relative in times like these but as you know I was never very demanding or even lavish.
"What would you do if someone offered you a bag of gold for betraying me?"
"Of course I would reject, my Lord!"
"And if someone threatened your life to force you to do so?"
"I would defy him if..."
"If?"
"...if you would take care of my daughter in return."
He nodded.
"Do you know, Minoru, why you are in such high services at my court?"
"I am very thankful for the responsibilities you grant me, my Lord, but still I must admit that I do not understand how I earned this honour."
"My father taught me one thing about the difference between peasants and the Samurai. "A Samurai fights best when he is generously rewarded. Compared to that, paid peasants are poor fighters. They do not care about a bag of gold if they loose their head over it. They will turn and run for their lives. They always did. But know one thing: a peasant that traded his scythe for a yari out of free will, in order to stand up against a cruel lord, to defend his what he is believing in or to put an end to violence and exploitation, is one of the most unhesitant enemies as well as one of the most loyal vassals you may have.""
He paused and I did not know what to say.
"I have the impression, Minoru, that you are one of those peasants. Someone who left his field to achieve something, to change the flow of history. I trust you, because I think that you are believing in me and my line."
"My Lord, I certainly-"
"Apart from that you are an able tactician and showed potential on the battlefield."
Again he paused and I felt like being stunned.
"My line is weak, Minoru. I am young and my brother is not old enough to overtake in case I might decease. There are very few men I can trust. One of these is Abe Hanzo, the second is Hattori Yasunaga. The third, Hayashi Minoru, will be you. You will assist me as Secretary of War, while Abe will supervise the economic expansion and diplomacy. Hattori will..."
Hattori-san nodded slightly into my direction as if to ensure that I knew of whom Lord Imagawa was talking.
"...yes. This was the other issue I needed to talk to you about. You do know the "Men of Shadows", right?"
A hot dagger flew straight into my chest and violently rended me out of the trance of disbelieve I had fallen into.
"Cer... certainly."
"Hattori is the son of an old friend of my fathers. He came to me with a very useful idea. Now being the head of the Yoshi clan, I minor Samurai family that recently fled from Iga because of Lord Odas pillages, he is the leader of a small squad of Ninja and Shinobi and willing to offer us their services and supervise the training of further agents. In our difficult tactical position we could gain great benefit from this sort of disturbance behind our rival`s lines."
Mariko, can you imagine how I felt? Until today I suffer from nightmares because of these men, and now I am asked to cooperate with them! I recall how I heard myself speaking carefully of my doubts and the potential thread of such alliances.
I admit that this was after all rather empty argumentation. Yoshimoto-sama perfectly knew why I was reluctant. Suddenly Hattori-san spoke.
"A Ninja that fails to kill his target is without honour and will set an end to his life if he is not killed in the first place. What happened to your wife was a tragic accident. But it has nothing to do with the alliance Yoshimoto and I are going to form."
His words are still vividly in my head. And you did not misread my sentence, he really adressed my Lord merely as "Yoshitomo". I will certainly have problems dealing with this man in near future. He continued:
"There is a belief which I strongly share and spread across my followers. It says that the Ninja's purpose is to save lives, not to destroy them. The times are full of hatred, full of war and full of blood. But it is not the people, that hate each other, it is their Lords. Kill one of them and everyone putting himself in the position to continue the warmongering and there is peace. Lifes are spared."
"Minoru, I respect your concerns, but I am determined to draw my advantage of Yasunaga's services, for the sake of my line, for the sake of peace and for the sake of Nihon."
"And I will follow you, my Lord.", I merely contested, knowing that there was nothing left to discuss.
"And so do I." was added by the young man in the dark Kimono.
We three "agreed" on building a hidden training facility in the castle of Hizen and that Hattori would start training Ninja as soon as this was finished.
Apart from that, there is not much to add. I am Secretary of War now, though I am still unsure how this is to be enforced. I will remain calm, do my duties and wait. I have little time for Yoshiko at the moment and I am feeling guilty about that.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1534
Mariko,
Abe-san has travelled to Honshû in vain. An emissary of Lord Uesugi arrived today and proposed an alliance. Hattori-san and I agreed that it would be best to apply an open-minded diplomatic policy until we are in the position to strike. Yoshimoto-sama agreed on that and send orders to Abe-san, to give the court of our alliy, the Great Oda clan, a visit. Furthermore I Hattori-san enforced the building of a major tea house as a secret meeting point for his spies in Mikawa. I am still not very enthusiastic about the "Men of Shadows".

Ogenkide,

林 実



Letter from Summer 1534
Mariko,
new archers arrived in Hizen 2 weeks ago. Nothing of much interest, but I saw high officials of the Shimazu clan at the market place. They were very curious about the reinforcements we were gathering in Kyûshû and did not make the impression to have visited us because of commercial reasons.
A new Ashigaru unit was trained in Totomi. Furthermore the archers brought a report from Abe-san about Lord Oda's troop strength. He describes it as "striking".
Apart from that I am training myself in melee fight and horseback riding. So does Yoshiko, by the way.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1534
Mariko,
Uesugi invaded Shinano and took it! Scouts saw Takeda forces there as well but could not tell whether they were there by coincidence or part of a new and powerful alliance of the two Houses. Abe-san reports Oda-sama mooving a major army into Ise and that the war between Takeda and the Hôjô has been settled by a peace agreement.
Hattori-san has stated that the Ninja- as well as the tea house have been completed and that training is starting from now on with the funds Abe-san has approved of. He expects the first Shinobi spies within 3 months, the first Ninja assassins within 5.
My part of the report was less enjoyable. My scouts report Shimazu troop movements alongside our border. Takahisa-sama might have smelled treachery. In fact, although we are not keeping our word, his suspicion arouse faster than I would have expected.

Ogenkide,

林 実



Letter from Winter 1534
Mariko,
Suruga, a province of tactical importance has been taken from the Ronin by a Hôjô-Takeda-Uesugi alliance. It was granted to the Hôjô.
Shimazu Takahisa-sama has returned to Bungo and I am pretty sure that he is not trusting us.
Due to risen taxes we have now 2346 Koku to spend and the Ninja training is in progress. Abe-san spend a big part of that in infrastructure, enlarging the castle in Totomi.

Ogenkide,

林 実



Letter from Spring 1535
Mariko,
Lord Shimazu joined his son in Buzen.
Abe-san reports that Uesugi and Oda attacked the Ronin garrison in Mino, achieving a great victory and claiming the province to be ruled by Lord Oda. Abe-san abandoned Oda Nobuhide-sama before the battle started and headed to Kai to see Lord Takeda, the head of the last family we are not allied to. Hattori is sending Shinobi to Hizen, they will have to distract the Shimazu forces from launchin an attack on our lands.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1535
Mariko,
the Shimazu froces remain calm but are growing. So do the forces of the Honshû clans. I am curious against whom the will direct their power once they have got rid of the remaining minor families.Abe-san's infrstructural program is nearly finished now, but ate all our funds. We will have to wait for the next harvest until we launch further expansion.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1535
Mariko,
Shinano has been invaded by a joined army of rebel forces but Uesugi Tomosada-sama, heir to the Uesugi Daimyô, managed to hold the province. Still more riots are expected to occur. Lord Takeda accepted our proposal. Apart from that, it is all quit. We are waiting for the storm to come.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1535
Mariko,
our harvest was acceptable, but all our funds are already spend. We are building a port in Chikugo and more archers are trained in Totomi. Furthermore we are enlarging the Archery Dojo there. Hattori-san reported an assasination failure on a Hôjô emissary. This contributes to my campain of convincing Lord Imagawa of the idleness of this sort of measures.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1536
Mariko,
nothing of real importance happened. Building is in progress, as well as training. The Shinobi that mooved into Higo reported to Hattori-san that with some further help they could cause peasant riots against their current owners. I am curious if this will work out.
I heard an interesting opinion of one of my fellow bowmen today, stating that the current circumstances in central Honshû might be adequate for a fast and heavy strike against the Oda clan to acquire the rich provinces aroung Iga. This would imply to leave Kyûshû to the Shimazu. When I talked about that proposal to Lord Imagawa he was attracted by the keen and daring character of such a moove but feared a terrible disaster in case of a loss.
Still I have to keep the name of the young Samurai in mind that invented this tactic. He might become a valuable adviser in times when daring moves are inevitable. They called him Reraku Tandô.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1536
Mariko,
Imagawa Ujizane, the younger brother of my Lord has entered the army as a formidable bowman. He is taking over the command of the Totomi garrison.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1536
Mariko,
the dead body of the Hôjô emissary that was once targeted before was found dead in the streets of a village in Totomi. Apparently he was on his way back to report to his Lord. I guess I know who prevented him from doing so. At least we know now that Ninja sometimes DO aim correctly. I hope you can excuse my dark humour at this point.
I finally found time to spend some days with Yoshiko. She is now 12 years of age and more agile then I am. She climbs and runs like a cat: fast and without making but the tiniest sound. Her sword handling is near to be perfect. She asked me to give her a real one for her next birthday but I doubt this would be a good idea. Still, I am unsure what to do about her further education. She is smart but neither interested in literature nor in young men, except for Hattori Yasunaga-san, whom he evidently likes very much. When I ask her about this topic she replies that she wants to become a fighter, like me.
She is all I have. I somehow cannot tell her what a poor fighter I am nor what a poor chance she has to succeed in these menmade wars.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1536
Mariko,
Hattori-san reported another assassination failure in Mikawa. By now I am fed up with spending money into this rediculous projects. We are only drawing attention to ourselves. The harvest was good but again our funds are quickly spend. Lord Shimazu is reorganizing his troops. This might help the Shinobi on their mission. At least these are not found dead on the street every half year.

林 実


Summary and comment:
First of all, I kept a saved game of the earlier status and I will give ReluctantSamurai's advice a try when I am through with this. As for now I am trying to distract Shimazu as good as possible and handle him some serious blows when the opportunity is there. I continued playing and need to post another update, but I am far too tired now.
Next, I am sorry for masses of text. As I announced it may be more of a single player RPG, which is not much fun for you, cause you can hardly participate. I promise to post less text and more screens (I forgot them again!!! :shame: ) when the initial matters are more or less established.

More excellent material to absorb here. Good job Patdj. Could you post a screenshot of the campaign map?

Excellent story, patdj. Please continue. ~:wave:

Brilliant, really absorbing story. Spot the future Geisha lol.

Letter from Spring 1537:
Mariko,
from a military point of view there is not much to report. More of our agents are getting into position in Higo. Lord Shimazu keeps shifting his troops from north to south, east to west and vice versa as if he thereby wanted to confuse us.
My inauguration was held yesterday. I did not think it to become much of an event. Me and my fellow soldiers already got used to the fact that I was now in charge of the overall troop organisation, although I, from time to time, still sense reluctance among them.
The ceremony, being only a formality, was progressed without much ado. After I had delivered my pledge and Lord Imagawa accepted my services there was a restless muttering among the invited army officials. I saw Hattori-san whispering something to Yoshimoto-sama, who then started to speak:
"Is there anyone disapproving of this nomination?"
No one spoke but there was an uncomfortably silence among the people.
"Saketomo, what do you think?"
He was speaking to Toshie Saketomo-san, a rough and brave leader of a Yari Samurai unit. The addressed stood up and made his way through the lines of sitting Samurai. From his attitude one could easily tell that he himself was a very proud one. He walked determined like a military drum beat and had a firm grip on his sword. He positioned himself next to me and I stood up and bowed to show my respect. I temporarily forgot that I was his superior. He spoke:
"My Lord, this is nothing but a scandal. I must refuse to be led by a mere peasant."
"If your are afraid of loosing your honour, Saketomo, you are free to set an and to your life although I am sure that Minoru will find it as regrettably as I do to loose such an able soldier to his own sword."
"My Lord, may I propose instead that I take his head right here?"
He backed up and drew his sword, ready to strike. Before I could even move, a clean and shiny blade of a Samurai sword swiftly flew at him and and stopped inches before cutting his neck.
"You`d loose yours before even attempting to strike."
Hattori-san had quickly but silently stepped forward and taken Toshie-san completely by surprise.
"Hattori-san!", he shouted, "this has nothing to with you! I do not doubt your respectability!"
"But I doubt yours, Toshie."
I was still to stunned to move, but relieved seing Toshie-sans sword heading back to his sheath. Hattori-sans did this not until Yoshimoto-sama told him so.
"Well, be it then.", said Toshie-san and bowed to Lord Imagawa, "I wish to quit my service and commit Seppuku."
"And I will not grant you this honour because of your rampant behaviour."
Toshie showed no emotion on his face, he merely nodded and backed out of the room. Four or five of his fellow Samurai followed him after having showed a respectful bow to Imagawa-sama.
The rest of the evening went on without much happening, but I am still shaken by the incident.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1537:
Mariko,
apparently Toshie-san and his followers have left the castle on that same evening and headed for the Shimazu lands. I am very worried about this, though Yoshimoto-sama and Hattori-san do not share this preocupation. Still, some tension remains between me and my soldiers.
Apart from that there is not much to tell. Shimazu-samas troop movements continue, but so does our supply of shadow agents.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1537:
Mariko,
there is nothing to report. I still do not see much success of Hattori-sans agents.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1537:
Mariko,
we had a poor harvest. Two of Hattori-sans Ninja managed to kill an Uesugi emissary in Mikawa. One of them was killed in the incident, but his body got dragged away by his colleague before investigations started. Still we are struggling to keep our face with the growing number of assaults on the diplomats behind our borders.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1538:
Mariko,
there is a peasant uproar in Higo! The Shinobi are ordered to move into Satsuma, the Shimazu capital. Although I still doubt the overall success of this operation I am glad to see that the money we spend into the training is finally paying off. In order to ensure that the spies remain unseen, Abe-san is travelling their route in advance to secure their way.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1538:
Mariko,
there is another revolt in Satsuma. Hattori-san brought this message today. Despite this success he remained calm as usual. He wanted to talk to about something serious.
He told me that now our daughter Yoshiko turned 15 I should think of an appropriate husband. I immediately understood what he was up to and turned cold, nearly as cold as you would have turned. He said he had talked to Yoshiko about this issue and that she had approved. In fact, they were getting along rather well with each other but still I could not imagine giving her away. He argued good, very good indeed. He would take care of her while I, sooner or later, will risk my life on the battlefield. He could provide her with an adequate standard of living and supervise here further studies. I told him that I needed time to think and to talk with my daughter about this.
He thanked me and left without another word.
I wish you could send me a sign, stating your opinion about the matter.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1538:
Mariko,
I gave Yoshiko and Hattori-san my consent. I desperately was looking for a sign of you, but I found none. But how could I blame you? Weighting all the circumstances I decided that he can look after her better than I can. Still there is one thing I have to worry about. Hattori-san is encouraging her to continue her combat training. I would not have expected that and I do not know out of what reasons he is doing so.
Lord Shimazu is dealing with the revolts in a very precise manner. He has to divide troops, but he does so very successfully. We need to expand because of rising cost. If we could weaken Shimazu significantly we would gain control of Kyûshû.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1538:
Mariko,
we had a good harvest. The brother of our Lord, Imagawa Ujizane sent report from Totomi that Lord Oda is struggling to keep the rebels of central Honshû under control. A peasant uprise was initiated by our men in Tosa, a newly conquered province of the Shimazu. Still we are far away from hindering him sufficiently.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1539:
Mariko,
Yoshiko confessed to me today that after she has become a member of her future husbands Yoshi clan, she will to enter the order of the "Men of Shadows". She said this has been planned by Hattori-san and her for over a year now and that he thinks that she has the premises to become a highly qualified Ninja.
I was unable to talk to her about that how you would have done, I merely left the room. I can not even express my feelings to you, I just do not find the appropriate words.
More rebels have been seen in Tosa, still the Shimazu Clan is commanding large armies and puts the rebellions down with hardly any difficulty. Another thing that worries me is the growing force of the Hôjô in Suruga. There is hardly another purpose than an attack on our land that could justify this process. These are troubled times and I search for some distraction in drawing. This is our current situation, if you just could provide me with advise how to overthrow the rough Shimazu troops and how to deal with the Hôjô thread...

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/5509/leftrg1.jpg

https://img217.imageshack.us/img217/9218/rightxh1.jpg

I feel trapped, badly trapped. Or am I just too cautious?

林 実



Summary and Comment:
So, I finally managed to take up to date screens. I am still able to change some things about it. My main problem is how to cause enough distraction among the Shimazu to snatch them. A successful attack on Bungo and Buzen would take their daimyô, the only heir is in Tosa, training on rebels. Still the counterattack could be unbearable and I would have to retreat to the original border. Loyality in Hyuga is 30%, don't know if it revolts, my Shinobi in any case moved to Higo.
The other problem is that the Hôjô are mass building troops. These are mainly Ashigaru, I think my Totomi garrison, mainly archers, would stand them. Still this paralyzes me because I cannot send them to overthrow the Shimazu. I don't trust the Oda or Uesugi either, the former is already training Yari Cavalry and will soon become a major threat again (he crushed against rebel armies with monks, like Wishazu did :beam: ). Finance is more or less stable, but my armies eat a lot by now. +700 a year only atm.
Looking forward to advise.

Quote:

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The problem with abandoning one side of a split domain is that you're then presented with - what is essentially - a "quasi Shimazu" campaign involving the same typically linear west to east sweep of the map.

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I respectfully disagree. If anything, the campaign takes on an Oda-like quality as you are occupying lands that are traditionally his. And the campaign is anything but typical. You must subdue the ikko-ikki, which is a daunting task early on, and be prepared for a two-front war.

The outlook of the whole camp is designed to take advantage of short internal lines to transfer troops quickly from one front to another, generate high levels of koku from farm-rich provinces, and take advantage of bonus provinces, especially the ashi bonus in Owari for teppo. I make the push to get guns as quickly as possible to make Kawachi and Mikawa killing fields for my armies. The guns are not a necessary ingredient for this approach, but are simply my preference.

It's just an alternative suggestion to the typical split-empire approach, but the camp as being conducted by patdj is still very interesting to watch.

@patdj: The problem with fighting on Kyushu is that you need a third army. Distilling one out of the two you have leaves you weak to counterattack. Bingo is almost out of the question because Shimazu can send troops from 4 different provinces to counterattack. Buzen will do nothing to ease the koku situation and has no castle. Higo has a castle but is a poor province and once again you will be exposed to counterattack from several provinces. You have a lot of koku invested in shinobi to what gain? I myself love the subterfuge of shinobi, so don't get me wrong there. Rebellions are almost always put down, though, unless you can generate them in adjacent provinces and coordinated with an attack of your own. Then either your advance succeeds, or one of the revolts does as your opponent will have to decide where to move troops. Without a ninja to assassinate the generals you are creating, your subterfuge war is only generating better Shimazu generals, IMHO.

OTOH, Oda looks awfully thin in Owari..........................:idea2:

Jepp, Oda suffered from some rebel monks I guess, but if i recall it right he has some more in Ise and surroundings and his troops are of rather high quality, I will check in that. Eventually it might even be wise to pull troops to Honshu, risking a Shimazu attack in Kyushu but snatching Owari. Problem: it leaves me with 3 provinces to defend afterwards, two of them with river though.
I am still thinking of a good way to coordinate the rebellions with a good attack on the Shimazu troops. Cutting the way for the Daimyo army by (temporarily) taking Bungo might not be the wrst I could do. It depends on the outcome of the battles.

My Shinobi were not too expensive as I am playing Imagawa. Still they do not have an overwhelming impact, the general training is a huge drawback, too.


Thank you very much for your advise, Reluctant Samurai. Same to Wishazu, it is very usefull to have to advisers with opposite opinion, this shows you nearly all the pros and cons of each of the approaches. :)
Thanks to Adam and Ludens for the interest.

Quote:

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Still they do not have an overwhelming impact, the general training is a huge drawback, too.

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Which is why I made the suggestion to flood adjacent provinces at the same time. I've had much better success when doing it that way......a good percentage of the time, one of the revolts will succeed, but you must be prepared to take advantage. You're Imagawa.........where's your ninjas? Take those up-and-coming generals out:laugh4:

One thing I learned from playing chess was to have a plan. No matter if you take me up on my other suggestions or not, form a plan and put all your efforts into achieving it. Plans can change depending on the situation, especially when opportunities present themselves.

My 2cents.

I would still continue with the Shinobi though I would stop training more as you appear to have plenty and the money would now be better spent on troops. Divide the shinobi into 2 equal size groups and move them around still, get revolts in multiple provinces at the same time. At the moment I would consider stripping to a bare garrison in Chikugo, there isnt much to attack it as Shimazu should be busy putting down rebellions, you could thenuse all available troops in Kyushu to attack that Shimazu army. With his largest army destroyed and his garrisons stuck dealing with revolution you should be free to gobble up the island as you please.

Good points, guys, thank you!

As for the Ninja, they were too costsy because I am always running on minimum amount of money and faced growing enemy troops among my borders. And they did not have much success either, but I will get back to that once I have my money back. I don't think that they are of much use against Shimazu now.

Another question: is there an elegant way of abandoning an alliance? I hate this "Are you sure you want to break the alliance?"-question. Makes me feel bad about me not announcing my attack first. :laugh4:

Talking of diplomacy: I am allied to nearly everyone. Still I do not trust them (Uesugi, Hojo and Oda in my case). Is this stupid because the AI does usually NOT break an alliance unless invited to?


Lol, I just noted that I spelled campaign wrong. :help:

Get your Kyushu shinobi into 2 sqauds and try and get simultaneous rebellions going in 2 provinces at once. Get most of your Kyushu amries into one stack, commanded by the Daimyo and get ready to launch it at Shimazu when the rebellions occur. Leave Chikugo with the minimum, don't think Shimazu will be in that much of a position to counterattack. I think all that was said by Wishazu so think were on the same wavelength.

As for Honshu I think Hojo is gearing up for something. maybe have a scout around with a spare shinobi if possible, I'd anticipate some sort of thrust from him so just get the defences ready. If its possible to grab Owari then consider it, but if Oda's looking strong then keep on good terms.

One enemy at a time i think, cripple Shimazu and gain Kyushu should give you a nice platform to build on, then weaken Hojo.

Quote:

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Another question: is there an elegant way of abandoning an alliance? I hate this "Are you sure you want to break the alliance?"-question. Makes me feel bad about me not announcing my attack first.

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Ehh...the AI has no qualms about busting you when it's suitable to its plans, and neither should you:skull:

Quote:

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Is this stupid because the AI does usually NOT break an alliance unless invited to?

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The AI will almost always break an alliance, in my experience, especially if you have a common border with whoever you are allied to. In all my time playing STW, I could count on one hand the number of alliances that have lasted until we were the last two standing.......................

Quote:

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I am always running on minimum amount of money

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That's the challenge of holding in the north and conquering Kyushu...the provinces are generally poor to average in producing koku................

Thanks for the help. I am making progress. For a change I took some more screens but I do not have the time write the text now. Will be interesting though. :)

Second Letter from Spring 1539:
Mariko,
our daughter’s wedding was beautiful. My doubts concerning Yasunaga-san are fading more and more with every day I see Yoshiko this happy.
Apart from being granted the honour of a visit by Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama there was something else of importance to happen today. Before the start of the wedding it was Yoshimoto-sama who spoke:
"I ask the audience to forgive me. But one of my most honourable Samurai is marrying this woman, the daughter of a mere peasant in my service. I will not tolerate a social intermarriage in this case."
There was dead silence. I felt my heart bumping in my chest. Then I saw something I had never seen during my service for Lord Imagawa. The young man was smiling like a ten-year-old.
"...therefore I will grant Hayashi Minoru-san the honour of wielding the Daishô from this day on, as a true Samurai in the service of Imagawa Yoshimoto."
There was an approving muttering among the guests and Yoshimoto-sama sat down again, still looking very pleased of himself and this rather unusual joke. Two of his guards approached me and handed me the two swords he must have brought from Honshû when he had visited his brother last summer. I took them and consecrate them to him with what I thought was the adequate respect, never having experienced a apart from my own.
Then I withdrew to the background in order to not suppress my daughter’s Great Day under a minor star.
Later this evening Yoshiko insisted on showing me her Ninja suit and weapons. She herself had made the suit while Yasunaga-san had bought the weapons from a secret contact in Iga. When I asked her if she was ready to do this she hesitated. Then she told me that Yasunaga-san would take her to Higo in two weeks time in order to provide her with her first operational experience. They wanted to assist the Shinobi in provoking uneasiness about and rebellions against the peasants` current landlord.
I do not think that there is much chance of dissuade her from this project, so I decided to let her believe that she has my absolute support though I am unsure whether she does... ...or does not have it.
Some days ago Lord Yoshimoto-sama held another secret meeting with Yasunaga-san and me. We considered our winning chances if we launched a major attack on Bungo and Buzen. As Lord Shimazu Takahisa is residing in Buzen, the benefits of such an open war are obvious. Yasunaga-san claimed the being far too risky and that if one the attacks failed we could hardly stand our ground.
The attack on Bungo would have been led by Yoshimoto himself and therefore was the minor problem. I did not forget to communicate my total faith in Inoue-san`s ability of overthrowing the Daimyô-army in Buzen, still I did not insist on the attack.
Instead we agreed in splitting up the Shinobi squad in order to complicate the control of the Shimazu backland and distract the enemy from our borders. They will remain in Higo and Hyuga.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1539:
Mariko,
I got a proof of life from Yoshiko today. Yasunaga-san and she joined the squad in Higo and moved on to Satsuma. They other group entered Hyuga some days ago.
There are political news from Honshû. Apparently Lord Oda Nobuhide was beaten on the battlefield by a fanatic monk army and committed Seppuku out of shame. His son Nobuhiro-sama has taken over the reign. As far as we know he is isolated in Owari and reorganizes his army. Lord Uesugi, maybe the strongest Daimyô in Honshû, was joined by his son who is now old enough to command. They send troops against the remains of the monks that bet the Oda.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1539:
Mariko,
there are reports of rebellions in Satsuma and the Shinobis returned to Higo. I just held a meeting with Lord Imagawa-sama to convince him of a precautionary strike against Bungo. I feel uneasy about me favouring the start of a war but this wettrüsten eats up our funds and would end up in a massive warfare anyway.
As for the timing of our attack, I pointed out a number of advantages. First the weather tends to be fog or rain and our Shinobi report a decisive share of Samurai bowmen in Lord Takahisa`s troops. Additionally, the coming winter will make a possible counterattack a very daring attempt. And third, the rebellion in Satsuma will draw troops from Higo and decrease the possibility of a surprise attack against Chikugo.
Lord Imagawa agreed, an open war is about to begin.
We agreed in invading from Chikugo, leaving a small defensive garrison behind. Our army will be mainly Samurai infantry, no archers. Inoue-san was informed and is to guard his borders in case Takahisa-sama reacts quickly. A successful attack would isolate him in Buzen, but we agree that ordering Inoue-taisho to attack could end in open backland in case of defeat.
I hope this not being my last letter, Mariko, and that I will be able to send you word from the process of battle.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1539:
Mariko,
as you can see I am still alive. I copied the following battle notes and pictures for you.

Autumn 1539, Battle of Bungo
Second day after departure
It is night, we rest. The climate is very humid and we hope for heavy fog for the following day. We crossed the border today under the cover of foggy weather and wish this to continue. Our forces are complete now, 720 men. No sign of Shimazu activities, we avoided the settlements and hope that we are still under cover.

Third day after departure, morning
I slept badly. Still, I was relieved to spot a thick cloud of fog in the valley we are about to cross. We travel downhill, I thank Buddha for that as I can hardly ride nor walk anymore.

Third day after departure, nearly midday
Suddenly there is action. The scouts report a Shimazu archer unit approaching. I order a unit of Samurai to engage them and the Ashigaru to flank their right side. Lord Imagawa rides up the slope to our right, followed by a unit of Lord Shimazu`s Yari Samurai that emerged out of the woods. I order warriors of equal quality to assist them.
The battle in middle is quickly decided for our benefit, as the bowmen were totally taken by surprise due to the fog. The quickly retreat to the remaining army. A Samurai approaches me from my left flank and reports that Shimazu bowmen put them under archer fire from the mountain to our left. I order them to approach them and avoid fire by loose formation. He adds that he spotted the main Shimazu army in a clear patch right ahead of us, all archers, ready to fire into the fog. I thank him and he returns to his unit.
I command the main body of my army to follow the routing archers slowly and without a sound.
Meantime I spot Yoshimoto-sama, pulling the persecuting infantry down the hill again. The Samurai I sent for support will now charge into their rear.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ightbutcho.jpg

Arrows! Shimazu archers are firing into the fog, hardly hitting anything. The next wave ends lethal for some of my comrades. I order to charge.
Battle goes on well. The enemy is deployed very narrow and again the Ashigaru flank them, deciding the battle.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ightbutcho.jpg

One of my yari samurai units is following an archer unit uphill to our right. A messenger from Yoshimoto-sama reports that he routed his persecutors with help of the infantry sends them to support our right flank and goes to support Tandô-san, who requested help against the left archer unit.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...aidsbutcho.jpg

The enemy taishô decides in favour of his own life and retreats, causing mass routing of his army.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...routbutcho.jpg

I command half of my army to follow them carefully and impede rehording.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...killbutcho.jpg

The death of the enemy taishô is called out over the whole battlefield. There is hardly anything that could prevent us from winning now. The last thing to do is to break the last resistance in the woods to our right. They are successful.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...hersbutcho.jpg

One of Yoshimoto-sama`s Hatamoto reports that the left Shimazu flank was beaten too, but Tandô took heavy losses and is badly wounded. I feel guilty.
The battle is finally won and we reach the castle of Usuki by nightfall.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...bnisbutcho.jpg

Forth day after departure, morning
As the beaten army has locked itself in the castle we have spent the night outside the city. The villagers seem relieved that the pillaging concentrated on military infrastructure. Still, they are hostile and try to get the fires under control.

Forth day after departure, evening
The head of the city, merely called Mura, asked for an audience of Lord Imagawa. Yoshimoto-sama denied but told me to speak with him to see what it was about.
Mura-san tells me that the local noblemen feel uneasy about Bungo being the main fighting scene and will eventually set up a civil army to attack us. He proposes that we leave these lands.
I do not think that he is making this up and I will reconsider the information when deciding about our next move.

End of battle notes.


In fact, Mariko, we withdrew to Chikugo. Not without making a theater out of it. Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama himself spoke to the villagers, assuring that our aggression was not directed against the inhabitants of this lands but against the growing Shimazu troops that threatened our borders. Then we marched, leaving nothing behind that could be of usage against us, but having distributed free rations of rice among the villagers.
It is now 2 weeks after the battle and I am still floating on the cheer of victory. I have to take care that I do not get too proud but I got used to the honourable attitude of the Samurai surprisingly quickly. After having returned there were several messengers arriving in the following days. Lord Takeda, as well as Lord Hôjô and the young Lord Oda communicated their indignation concerning our aggression against the peaceful Shimazu and declared our alliances as abandoned. Immediately Lord Imagawa-sama ordered for Abe-san to renew our bonds by stating the "real" circumstances of the attack. Additionally we made preparations to defend Chikuzen against a counterattack of the Daimyô army in Buzen. Apparently we had moved very carefully and were not discovered soon enough for Lord Takahisa-sama to aid his Bungo garrison.
Lord Imagawa sent orders to the Shinobi today. They are to concentrate in Higo because the splitted Squads do not have the desired impact. Additionally the Shinobi reinforcements will arrive in Iyo. If they withdraw from there to aid their garrison in Bungo they will loose this province to revolting peasants.
I expect reports of a Shimazu counterattack every day now, but everything is quiet.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1540:
Mariko,
there was no counterattack as it seems and Inoue-san had a peaceful winter. Lord Yoshimoto-sama wants to continue weakening the Shimazu troops by strong attacks on weak targets. We leave a minor garrison in Chikugo that can easily defend itself against the rather small army from Bungo that, until now, was not reinforced, and attack Higo. Shinobi groups are moved to adjacent provinces to distract defending forces.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ng1540left.jpg
https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...g1540right.jpg

This time I am more confident of victory.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1540:
Mariko,
we won in Higo. Enclosed I send you a copy of my battle notes.

Spring 1540, Battle of Higo

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...higoattack.jpg

Fourth day after departure, evening
We made first contact with the foe. Since these were only scouts they quickly withdrew but we expect the encounter for tomorrow morning.

Fifth day after departure, early morning
The first light of the day reveals a foggy day. Drums announce the approaching Shimazu troops, my confidence is fading.

Fifth day after departure, nearly midday
A unit of archers is approaching us quickly with their main army following in constant distance. I think they have not spotted us yet. Lord Imagawa sends our archer unit up the left slope and heads for the near woods to guard their flank against an ambush.
The battle starts. Imagawa-sama`s Shakuhachi reports "woods - clear - flank - enemy". The first arrows rain down into our infantry and our bowmen answer immediately. A sound of crushing bones occurs and because of the thick fog we can hardly figure out its source.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...rgearchers.jpg

Then I see it: Lord Shimazu and his Hatamoto crashed into the right flank of the archers and were cutting them down severely.
We are deployed very broadly and can easily close in on the rather narrow Shimazu army, mainly bowmen. Our archers are effective and Lord Yoshimoto manages to drag the enemy infantry off the battlefield. My heart misses a beat as I see how close he escapes them.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...loseescape.jpg

At some point in time he is in the very back of the enemy and calls a charge into their main formation.
The enemy archers, trying to skirmish our infantry at any price has given up any reasonable battle formation and their taishô struggles with approaching infantry and our archer fire.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...pproaching.jpg

Lord Imagawa is right in the middle of the fighting, slaughtering the surprised archers. Then I see how the distracted Yari Samurai arrive and hit Yoshimoto-sama into his rear. He looses half of his Hatamoto by that and tries to push through the enemy line back towards me.
As if the enemy taishô had not noticed how close his army was in taking my lord's head he called to withdraw.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/higorout.jpg

My enemies immediately lost any sense of military reason and just ran for their lives.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ersecution.jpg

We try to persecute them but can not catch many.
Still, the battle is won.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...goergebnis.jpg

Sixth day after departure, morning
This was a busy night. The villagers of Udo castle put up a hell of fight while the remaining Shimazu troops fortified the castle. As nearly all the important buildings were destroyed in that struggle we withdraw from the city at this very moment. We are heading for a near hill to control the garrison's movements.

Seventh day after departure, morning
The city is all quiet but we expect serious resistance of the population that might eventually become a loyalist’s revolt. Lord Imagawa and I decide to withdraw towards Chikugo and wait for Takahisa-sama's next move.

End of battle notes.


Mariko, actually we did not return to Chikugo. Instead, considering the current situation we will re-attack the garrison in Bungo in a few days time. We expect reinforcements coming from Chikugo, led by Fukushima Nobushige-san. According to a scout that arrived yesterday, Lord Shimazu is still residing in Buzen and has hardly reinforced the troops in Bungo. There are even rumours that Lord Shimazu's son is on his way to Bungo. If we succeed there a second time, Lord Takahisa is trapped and his son in severe danger. Lord Imagawa therefore sent the scout to inform Inoue-san in Chikuzen that he might approach and attack Takahisa-sama if he considers it reasonable.
This might become a decisive manoeuvre.
Another interesting thing happened while we were passing near our homelands. A delegation of merchants crossed our way and they were actually looking for us. These merchants apparently are arms dealer and interested in supplying our lands with fine swords and armours. They said that Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama's excellent performance in sword fight authorizes him to found an own Sword Dojo in order to train swordsmen for the battlefield. We agreed in contacting them if we have the funds for this venture.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../swordsman.jpg

Further decisions were to cause unrest in the Shimazu backland by moving the Shinobi to Satsuma. They managed to cause a major rebellion in Hyuga that might overtake the province.
So far, everything is going fine. We are still waiting for Abe-san to report news from Honshû.

林 実


Summary:
Wow, took time to write all that stuff, I think I have to get back to basics step by step now or I will do this campain for some months. :2thumbsup:
The progress is well, the next attacks on Bungo and Buzen are totally winnable. If I get the general in Bungo, the Shimazu should die out.

Excellent.

Letter from Autumn 1540
Mariko,
we are in Bungo. I was looking forward to a battle against the only heir of Shimazu, whose name is Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama, as I learned just before crossing the border. We were right, he arrived from Iyo to assist his father in the battle against us. As it seems, they have secured Iya as well as Tosa rather well now. In any case, Takahisa Yoshimoto-sama was warned in advance. After arriving with his ship he immediately set off towards Hyuga with the whole garrison, knowing that coming to aid his father in Buzen would be possibly pointless and even very risky.
Inoue Kagemochi-san sent news from Buzen yesterday. He reports a glorious victory for our forces. After their defeat, Lord Takahisa's army knew that they would be captured when trying to flee through Bungo and committed Seppuku.
Their fight though does not seem to have been that honourable. Enclosed are Inoue-san's battle reports.


Summer 1540, Battle of Buzen

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...tackscreen.jpg

We find the enemy army on a small plateau in front of us as we cross a grassy field. We try to circle them from right and climb the same plateau to bring our archers in position to strike as early as theirs.
They dodge to their left, climbing down the plateau. We approach them quickly to send arrows in until something unexpected happens: Lord Shimazu Takahisa-sama, a young man of the size of a bear charges towards us without the backup of his men. He dodges the first wave of arrows and crushes against a wall of Yaris, not without taking the lives of a few brave bowmen that retreated too late.
The rest of my infantry closes the circle around him. His Hatamoto die fast and the Daimyô will not escape.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...hisafights.jpg

After having killed 37 men together with his Hatamoto, Lord Shimazu's left leg is chopped off by one of my Yaris. He falls of his horse, but only needs seconds to get to onto his remaining foot. My Samurai, impressed by this toughness, give ground. Bleeding heavily, he picks up a Yari of one of my dead soldiers, aims and launches it directly into the face of the Samurai that had wounded him. Then he raises his swords and calls out the name of his dynasty.
The cry dies out under the clinging of metal. The most honourable death I have ever witnessed.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...kahisadead.jpg

The rest of the battle is not honourable at all. The Taishô in charge now is playing on time, sending peasants to die in a rain of arrows, wandering through a forest of blades, mainly to retreat his unit from the battle. We persecute them over the whole field until they finally, in a wood, stand their fate. Not much of their soldiers get away with their lives.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...zenvictory.jpg

We find their bodies 2 days after the battle near the border of Bungo. They committed Seppuku. Furthermore I have to report that a major army of the Ouchi clan is holding Nagato and have enough ships to set over at any time of the year. As for now I think it will be best to defend Buzen against them. The population feels uneasy about us, but I doubt that there is enough potential to set up an army against us.
I am awaiting your orders, Hayashi-san.
End of notes.

Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama gave Inoue-taisho his thanks and congratulated him to have been awarded the third rank in his army. Concerning privileges and admiration he is now equal to Lord Imagawa's younger brother.
So this is the end of Shimazu Takahisa, Daimyô of the great Shimazu empire. One could say that even if he was a rather cautious and defensive general, he was a daring and aggressive warrior of decent quality. May he find the same glory in the other world.
Since his son, Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama got away from Bungo we expect him to have taken over the control of his father's empire. He will not have an easy reign. There have been Shinobi-independent riots throughout their whole country, except for Higo and Shikoku, where the strongest armies are stationed. Our current tactical position unfortunately is too complicated to draw advantage of this. Inoue-san is bound to defend Buzen against the opportunistic Ouchi Yasumichi from Nagato. If we leave Bungo we must expect an invasion from Shikoku. If Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama decides to leave southern Kyûshû in rebellion he could attack Chikugo within the next few weeks. Therefore we are expecting additional reinforcements from Totomi within the next days.
Lord Imagawa lowered taxes in order to show his "compassion" to his newly acquired subjects.
Abe-san sent interesting news from Lord Oda the other day. He said that negotiations were going well and finally, Lord Oda accepted his proposal. He was about to leave the castle, when a messenger approached him, telling him that Lord Oda had changed his mind because of the recent and unnecessary attacks on Shimazu lands. Abe-san therefore stayed at the court in order to renegotiate the issue.

Letter from Winter 1540
Mariko,
everything remained quiet. Shimazu Yoshimoto put down the rebellion in Osumi. We are retraining troops, waiting for a good moment to strike. My hope is that Lord Shimazu struggles with recuperating his forces because of the constant rioting in his land.
Abe-san reported that Lord Oda is reluctant to accept our proposal. He turned even a bit hostile because of Abe-san's constant approaching. We sent him to Lord Hôjô and hope him to be wiser.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1541
Mariko,
Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama moved to Hyuga, he is in range for a quick and final strike. Still, we are not in position to move because of the dangerous garrison in Iyo. Interesting is, that he is apparently supervising the fortification of his borders in order to control our Shinobi movements. I hope for Yoshiko to be all right.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1541
Mariko,
Shimazu Yoshimoto retreated very early this summer. We would not have been able to get a grip on him. Apparently they have problems in holding Satsuma against constant peasant rebellion. Two units of Yari Samurai are ready and joined our forces in Chikugo. We are waiting for a good opportunity.
Abe-san reports that Lord Hôjô did not even receive him. He apologizes for having decided to visit Lord Takeda in Kai before consulting Lord Imagawa but he thought this would have been the inevitable conclusion in any way and he feared hostility at the court of Lord Hôjô. Abe-san, as a skilled emissary, knows perfectly when to back off. I am glad he did so and although my Lord Yoshimoto-sama did not seem pleased about the message, I think he does so, too.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1541:
Mariko,
young Lord Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama moved back to Hyuga and seems to be the only armed force there. A big Shimazu army is manoeuvring in Higo. If we could attack both armies simultaneously there would be no escape for Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama. Lord Imagawa is favouring a quick strike against them. He fears that the Shimazu regain their strength. Their lands in Shikoku are very rich and provide him with the necessary funds to constant retraining of troops. Lord Imagawa would lead the attack from Bungo, joined by forces of Chikugo. Additionally we would send a minor force to attack Lord Yoshimoto in Hyuga. Inoue-taishô could take over control of Bungo, leaving Katagiri Nobutaka in charge of Buzen.
I thought this attempt through overnight. I refuse to do so. The chance of not being outmanoeuvred is too low and I still hope for Shimazu to attack first. Meantime we could gather strength and keep their troops busy with rebellion. I would move all Shinobi to Higo, because Hyuga's fortification was completed and are death traps for our Men of Shadows now.
Lord Imagawa does not like the idea of waiting. I therefore thought of an alternative approach.
I proposed him to move some Shinobi and a minor garrison to Bungo while our main army attacks the garrison in Iyo. We thereby could seriously damage Shimazu's infrastructure and avoid being backstabbed by this force if we move further into Kyûshû.
He promised me to think this alternative over.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...utumnright.jpg
https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...tumnleftv2.jpg

林 実



Summary:
Despite my battle victories I am in a tricky situation. I have three border provinces, and since Higo is mostly too fortified to attack I can not advance without having four afterwards. I personally am favouring to attack Iyo. I do not know if I want to retreat after that, depends on the strength of the surrounding garrisons and how many of their soldiers die in the quarrel. In any case I would snatch a mine and a farm upgraded province from Shimazu and cut his troop training severely. He definetely has forces in Tosa but I am not sure how well he is doing in Osumi and Satsuma.

Looks as if there is a rebellion in Satsuma, and I would have thought Higo might rebel soon as well. Go for Iyo, damaging that army there should help, but be careful of your losses. At some point your going to have to go into Higo as well even if its only just to try and decimate that army there.

Worked out nicely, Shimazu are giving ground. I'll post the enxt update asap, but I'm writing an exam on Tuesday. Worst case would be to post my update on Tuesday evening. :dizzy2:

Thanks for the help!

Letter from Autumn 1541
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa agreed and we are carrying out my plan. A preventive strike against the garrison in Iyo was carried out under my command in this late Autumn. Katagiri Nobutaka-san took control of Bungo for this season.

Autumn 1541, Battle of Iyo

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../iyoattack.jpg

Eigth day after departure, morning
We are weary from the sea trip and a two days walk until we finally see a minor group of Shimazu soldiers at the other end of the meadow. It is raining.
We stop. Lord Imagawa wants to have a better overview. We ride up the hill, accompanied by 10 of Lord Imagawa`s hatamoto. From there we have a good view over our army formation and the enemy.
"They are way too few to be the whole army."
"I agree, Hayashi-taisho."
"So we must watch out for an ambush. May I ask you something, Yoshimoto-sama?"
"Go ahead."
"I feel guilty, commanding my men into battle while always staying behind the secure lines. I want to lead my man into battle like you do, with sword and bow, in the first line.
"Have you ever killed a man, Hayashi-taisho?"
"I was part of an archer unit in the battle against the Kikuchi clan at Chikugo-kawa. I expect my arrows to have hit at least one foe."
"I am sorry, Minoru, but that does not count. There is a world’s difference between the anonymous killing by archer fire and a victory in a man to man sword fight. If the enemy infantry approaches and an archer must draw his sword he has too fight the enemy in vicious melee battle like any other swordsmen. You have trained the handling, Minoru, and you are not doing badly at it. But you were never trained to trust your blade into the soft flesh of an ashigaru that is trying to penetrate you with his yari out of fearful zeal."
He pauses. I have pictures of the bridge fight still vividly in my head... the cries, the sound of metal crushing against metal, stone and bones, the blood and the corpses carried away by the current.
"Please, Hayashi Minoru, postpone your first swordfight to a battle that can not be lost by a slaughtered taishô. The men will understand, stay behind our line with Tamura."
"You are probably right, Yoshimoto-sama."
"Wise of you to admit that."
With these words he gives his horse a start and rode towards the near woods, where he probably expected enemy ambushers. Tamura, a tall and closemouthed Hatamoto brought me to the back of my army that was now moving slowly towards the group of archers and Ashigaru, approximately 160 men.
Then Lord Imagawa's Shakuhachi reports "ambush - woods - left". I quickly reorganize troops: withdraw the left, advance the right. I command my right flank to approach the bait, which is now marching towards us, knowing that the ambush was discovered in advance. Apparently the taisho unit, archers, was hiding in the woods with another group of archers and a unit of Yari Samurai. We are closing in on them after having exchanged some archer fire with minor effect. The Samurai in the woods engage in a melee fight and cause heavy losses. It is reported that the bait was crushed on the open field and is routing. After one hours of bloody fight the enemy taisho calls the retreat. Only 60 archers survived the struggle and are now fleeing. We manage to catch some of them, the rest managed to get to Tosa.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...yoergebnis.jpg

Nineth day after departure, midday
We must decide quickly. We lost many men to the sword. Men that are needed in Bungo. We set fire to the copper mine and the rice fields. We burn down the guard towers. Some Shinobi from Bungo arrived to ensure that the population imputes this iniquity to the fleeing Shimazu troops.
End of battle notes.

At the moment we are heading back to the port, Mariko. Winter is coming. I feel bad about the destruction in Iyo. Lord Imagawa does not share my compassion. This is probably what I need to learn if I want to lead an army into battle myself.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1541
Mariko,
we are back in Bungo. No Shimazu attacks. There is a major rebellion in Higo from which we want to draw advantage. Lord Imagawa is setting up an invasion army at the moment, I am to stay in Bungo in case of an attack. Until today there is no report of the Tosa garrison claiming back Iyo.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1542
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa succeeded in Hyuga. He burnt down the border forts to ease our Shinobi's movements. Enclosed I send you a copy of his battle report:

Winter 1541, Battle of Hyuga

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...yugaattack.jpg

We found the enemy on a rainy day, hiding in the trees of a mountain. We climbed the mountain on the shadowed side, avoiding the archer fire. They thereby lost their height advantage and approached us quickly. I led an Ashigaru unit and my Hatamoto to the left side of a major rock, while my Yari Samurai were attacking the enemy, only archers, on the right side. Having circled the rock I command a charge into the archers’ right flank. The cowards try to skirmish the melee fight but fight bravely against my infantry.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...gafighting.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...afighting2.jpg

We have light advantages until they finally flee.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...gaergebnis.jpg

End of battle notes.

He gave me the battle report just today. He is back in Bungo and told me that there is a major Shimazu army in Higo that threatened to cut his way if he would not have retreated. I had the honour to deliver formidable news to my Lord:
His wife gave birth to a healthy son, he will be named Tokugawa, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
We lost Iyo to a minor group of local noblemen. That isolates the Shimazu forces in Tosa, and gives us at least a time advantage if the Tosa garrison decides to aid their Lord.
We hope that there will be no loyalist revolt in Hyuga, our Shinobi are moving in.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1542
Mariko,
Lord Shimazu reclaimed Hyuga alone without the help of an army. Now we are in the position to strike against Higo. Because we have the upper hand anyway we invade Hyuga a second time.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1542
Mariko,
both Shimazu armies retreated without a fight. I wanted to meet Yoshiko in Hyuga but her fellow Shinobi told me that Hattori Yasunaga-san and her had to flee to Honshû because local noblemen potentially recognized Yasunaga-san. I hope they are healthy.
Lord Imagawa took Higo and put 300 of their men under siege, including one of the last decorated Shimazu generals. We are awaiting counterattack of Lord Shimazu to free his men. Our Shinobi reported a strange ship at the Satsuma coast. We do not know what this is about but in case this is to strengthen our enemy we will hurry to put this to an end.

林 実



Summary:
Looks like I am addicted. :laugh4:
Shimazu stands with his back against the wall. But I think I must hurry now before he draws advantage of the arriving Portuguese. When I am finally through with this I must think of a purpose for my massive army of rank 4 Ninja. :beam:

This keeps getting better and better. Have you decided yet whether or not your going to convert to christianity when the portuguese come knocking?

Given my current financial situation and the power that Lord Uesugi acquired by now I think I should if I do not want to loose my Honshu provinces. Additionally I have two rather strong Clans living next door, dwelling in their little lands, unable to expand into anything but Uesugi or me... Oda might as well decide that ronin are stronger than I am...

Good going, time to stabilise and integrate the acquired territory and prepare to finish Shimazu off and maybe acquire Shioku as well. As for back over on honshu, if Uesugi is looking too powerful maybe slip some Shinobi's in to give him some trouble.

Aye, Shinobi are always good for keeping people off of your back.

Thats if he's not beefed his security up too much, but a couple of shinobi/ ninja's in there causing him some trouble should slow him down.

Gnarr, I feel like in a dead end! Update is in progress, a lot happened in Honshu and I cant really react to it because I am unable to finish Shimazu off. What can you do against a 700men Daimyo army with mostly 400 high honour archers when attacking Satsuma? They are a fortress...

Letter from winter 1542
Mariko,
a messenger arrived from Imagawa Yoshitsune-sama, the Lord's brother, today. He said that Hojo forces have invaded Totomi with a massive army, but he was able to push them back. Since we do not see us abel to defeat the remaining Shimazu forces in the mountains of Satsuma we decide to move forces to Honshû to assist Yoshitsune-sama. I am to accompany them and take over the command from Yoshitsune-sama. Lord Imagawa told me that since his son Ieyasu is too young to leed his clan he need his brother alive.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1543
Mariko,
I arrived in Totomi. What a journey! Imagawa Yoshitsune-sama welcomed my in person and quickly brought me to his residence. He was gratefull fore the reinforcements and immediately wanted to tell me about the battle. He seemed a lot more vivid than his rather restrained brother.

Winter 1542, Battle of Totomi

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...omi1attack.jpg

Yoshitsune-sama stood up and gesticulated dynamically while describing the battlefield. Totomi is very flat but he said that they found a small slope very near the castle. If they had fallen there, there would have been no space to regroup. Everything would have been lost. Yoshitsune-sama apparently tended to dramtize his reports a bit.
"The Hôjô, these untrustworthy sons of a dog, advanced through thick snow, slowly. I spotted a large army, consisting of mainly infantry. As soon as they were in range my archers became impatient. I told them: "Hold it... hold it..." and then, when the Hôjô were to close to withdraw from the lethal rain... "FIRE!""
His guards risked a glance into the room to make sure that everything was all right. Then Yoshitsune-sama continued, obviously very thrilled by his own story.
"Like the Fist of the Gods the arrows crushed down on their main body. Their lines lightened, but drew together quickly as if they were awaiting the second wave.
"Taisho-niii!" I shouted and we concentrated fire on their general, apparently marching with an Ashigaru unit. They were heavily decimated, but the infantry was approaching steadily.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...omi1fight1.jpg

We launched a volley into a Yari Samurai unit, only a few meters away from us. The effect was devastating, but they were too much to be impressed by that."
He made a stage wait.
"Then... we had to draw swords. I commanded the other archer units to guard my flank and keep firing at the taisho, into the mess of reoganising troops. "Doooooo!" I shouted and charged."
He ran into my direction, as if he was charging me. Luckily he did not draw his sword to this purpose but acted as if wielding one.
"The Yari soldies of the Hôjô were taken by surprise, constant archer fire hindered them in forming a straight line. We crushed into them and slaughtered down their first line. Then they fled. Seing this, the taisho decided to do the same. I shouted insults at him and cleaned my sword. I decided not to pursue. These soldiers just lost their honour, this was even more punishement than being killed by one of our swords.
We regroup and, you will not believe, the Hôjô rally - and return. Obviously Lord Hôjô is not too empathic with routing Ashigaru generals. Still, his second wave is ridiculous. Two volleys are perfectly enough to convince them to retreat again, and this time they do not have the guts to return."

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...otomi1rout.jpg

I asked him for losses and he had prepared a detailed analysis.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...i1ergebnis.jpg

End of battle report.

Now came the part that I had feared. I had to tell him that he was to move his unit to Mikawa because I was taking over command in case the Hôjô returned. I hoped that he would understand, but he did not. Luckily his anger was directed against his brother, not against me. He told me that a Samurai Archer unit was in training and would be ready in summer. I could take over its command.
He told me he would set off tomorrow to be consistend with his brother's wishes. I pity him, he is a good warrior.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1543
Mariko,
Yoshiko and Yasunaga-san visited me today! They told me that they went into hiding in Mikawa for the last 3 years and avoided contact to Imagawa officials because of the suspicion that fell onto them. Since Yasunaga-san and Yoshiko are Samurai with a "second identity", they have to take care that they are not uncovered. But what is more important: they have a son! He was born tow years ago during their exile in Mikawa and is named Hattori Hanzô. Additionally, Yoshiko is pregnant again. We celebrated this the whole night and I was able to forget about the constant worries that are troubling me.
I received several other messages of importance, too:
First, Lord Imagawa has invaded Osumi in Spring and took it without a fight. He does not want to keep it, but tempt Shimazu to split his troops and burn the border forts that were recently build. He says that Shimazu's army in Satsuma is way too big for an attack. I am glad that even the impatient Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto admits this fact.
Second, Lord Uesugi assured me that he will remain allied to me and turn against his former ally, the Hôjô.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...omi1uesugi.jpg

Third, Abe-san informed me that Lord Takeda is still reluctant to renew his alliance with us. This Shimazu struggle is messing up our diplomacy network.
I caught myself being interested in the fate of the Ashigaru Taisho leading the Hôjô forces into battle. From what I heard we was still alive last spring, his name is Ota Yasusuke. Still, there are rumours that the Hôjô send a much more experienced General to lead the Suruga garrison. Looks like they are not interested in peace. I decided not to counterattack because I hoped for the Hôjô to give in. But they are constantly reinforcing their troops at our borders.
I already wrote a report for Lord Imagawa, also mentioning that Hattori Yasunaga-san is residing with me in Totomi.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1543
Mariko,
Lord Shimazu did not take back Osumi in summer. He seems to smell a trap. Lord Imagawa wants to bleed him out and moved Shinobi into Tosa to get to know the economic potential there because out of Satsuma Shimazu can not generate the rice to feed his soldiers.
Abe-san moved into Izu to spy on the Hôjô backland.
A powerfull alliance of Uesugi and Oda are invading the ronin provinces of Central Honshû.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1543
Mariko,
we had a bad harvest and our expansion slows down significantly. Barbarian traders arrived in autumn at the coast of Hizen.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...tdj/gaijin.jpg

Lord Imagawa granted them residence in Hizen and assured them to think over their proposal as soon as we have the funds to act.
Tosa is apparently not expanding economically but definitely the rice source of Lord Shimazu. Still, Shimazu must slowly go bankrupt. In fact, that does not help us much. We need him to attack us first, otherwise many of our soldiers will die in the highlands of Satsuma.
Hôjô is now strong enough to strike again. I am awaiting him next spring.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1544
Mariko,
Lord Hôjô attacks again. At the moment I am in my tent on the very field where Imagawa Yoshitsune-sama defeated his troops.

Spring 1544, Battle of Totomi
We deploy near to the spot where Yoshitsune did. The Hôjô are approaching with an army even bigger than the previous one. Still, I see mainly peasant in their lines.
As they approach I command my archers to decimate the lightly guarded ashigaru first. Many of them rout even before they come close. The army is led by a new general, an archer, well guarded in the back of the army.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...tomi2fight.jpg

I have deployed infantry to our left flank and command them to slowly approach the decimated ashigaru units.
The latter do not withstand long and rout. We concentrate fire on the taisho, convincing him of our superiority. He flees and despite being highly decorated he does NOT have the guts to return.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...otomi2rout.jpg

We wait till night falls before we retreat to the castle. The Hôjô wave ran into a massive rock.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...i2ergebnis.jpg

End of battle notes.

Returning to the castle, I am informed that Lord Hojo launched an attack into Uesugi land, too. Lord Takeda attacked Shinano, an Uesugi province, now forming a new alliance of the Takeda and Hojo that now threaten to undercut Uesugis authority in Eastern Honshû.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1544
Mariko,
we have another grandchild! His name is Hattori Yoshitoki. I am very glad that my daughter and her family is still staying with me in Totomi.
Rebels are engaging into the quarrel of Shinano. Takeda and Hojô attack Uesugi constantly, but the garrison of Suruga is preventing me from aiding my ally. Lord Oda seems to help Uesugi holding of the Takeda. Though I would like to become part of the powerful Oda-Uesugi alliance and backstab the Hôjô I am afraid that due to hostilities against Shimazu Lord Oda refuses to trust me. There must be close bonds between these two families.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1544
Mariko,
there has not happened much. Shimazu remains very patient, but so does Lord Imagawa-sama.
There have been multiple battles in the northern territories but it is still hard to tell which alliance is winning this war.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1544
Mariko,
another poor harvest. This means that we will have to cancel all expansion plans.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1545
Mariko,
Hattori Yasunaga-san returned to Kyûshû to assist Lord Imagawa with the Shimazu problem. Apparently, Lord Imagawa does not dare to attack Shimazu Yoshimoto-samas best men in the hills of Satsuma.
Rumours are told that a Shimazu general in Tosa was assassinated by one of Yasunaga-sans Ninja. I hope to hear more from that in near future.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1545
Mariko,
it is true. All the experienced Tosa generals were assassinated. Lord Imagawa ordered Inoue-san to take Iyo in case we want to draw advantage of this.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1545
Mariko,
Hôjô and Takeda drove Uesugi out of Shinano. It looks like the tide is turning. Lord Oda is isolated in Echizen with an allied Uesugi province between him and his homelands.

林 実



Letter from winter 1545
Mariko.
Inoue-san took Iyo without fight but has to fear a peasant revolt.
We had an regular harvest, finally! Training of new troops was ordered in Honshû as well as in Kyûshû. Additionally, a highly ranked general of the ronin garrison in Nagato was killed by a Ninja dagger. Yasunaga-san trustfully informed me that this outstanding Ninja is Kotega Mototsugu-san, an old friend of his from Iga.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1546
Mariko,
Lord Oda and Uesugi took back Hida, still the Takeda are a major opponent with very large armies that could easily crush us under their hooves.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1546
Mariko,
Abe-san reports that Lord Oda is still reluctant to ally. Owari was attacked by a large rebel army but the Oda troops withstood the storm.
According to our information, Lord Shimazu has made a contract with the gaijin and converted to their religion. I bet that he has large benefits from that and we must do something about it. I sent a message to Yasunaga-san and proposed to move Shinobi into Satsuma now and cause a religious uproar. Once the revolt is supported by the monasteries it becomes a lethal weapon against our enemy, whom we fear to attack.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../ikkoikki1.jpg

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1546
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa reports that there are loyalist tendencies in the Shimazu provinces and that he has to split troops to hold the lands under control. The rebellion failed but cost over a hundred Shimazu soldiers their life. Yasunaga-san moved Shinobi into Tosa to spy on the expansion there. The Oda clan is at war with Lord Uesugi, so my alliance is crumbling. We need to finally get a hold on Kyûshû or we will not be able to withstand the troubles in Honshû.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1546
Mariko,
there has been another monk-led revolt in Satsuma and we had an average harvest. Things are getting better now. Still, Shinobi have reported that Shimazu is trading with the gaijin. They call themselves Porutogeisu and show the Shimazu soldiers how to throw fire out of long metal weapons. I think this sounds ridiculous, but the report was rather serious. I am a bit worried about this.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../ikkoikki2.jpg

林 実



Letter from Spring 1547
Mariko,
another revolt in Satsuma. The previous was put down mercilessly. I am not sure whether this leads us anywhere. Lord Shimazu's army is decreasing but the remaining soldiers seem to get more and more skilled with every battle they fight.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1547
Mariko,
the forth revolt is marching towards Lord Shimazu's castle. I fear that there will be more and more bloodshed. Shinobi reported that the Porutogeisu set up a firethrower unit for the Shimazu which is now commanding the troops in Tosa. Inoue-san reported that he will not withstand an invasion of that quality and quantity.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1547
Mariko,
the rebellion was put down again and the motivation of the religious fanatics is fading. Lord Imagawa asked my to come to Kyûshû and meet him and Yasunaga-san to decide what to do. I wish I would have a proposal, but I do not.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...utumn15471.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...utumn15472.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...utumn15473.jpg

林 実



Summary:
Dear me, I'm stuck. The monk revolts prooved to be quite usefull but they have a declining effect. With the massive high honour archers Shimazu has they put down every revolt. I see multiple options:
- I keep revolting him to death, problem is, that he obviously is generating money with the Portuguese and I do not know, how many revolts I need to put him down. Additionally he will start training units to replace the old ones.
- Start a massive battle against him. I am outnumbering him nearly 2 to 1. After I saved I tried that out to see how strong he really is. His army is nearly unroutable, they all fight to death, including the daimyo himself. With the massive slopes in Satsuma I have to manouvre carefully, if he withdraws to the very back I can hardly avoid fighting uphill.
- I try to assassinate the Daimyo. He is rank 3, with the constant revolts he may turn 4 eventually. I have a rank 4 Ninja handy but has a very low chance (around 17%). Additionally I do not have the money to create a Ninja army to help him.
- I need to do something about Tosa. Funny that they did not drive me out of Iyo by now. In any case that would help me revolting the backland. But Shimazu did not even take back an unguarded Osumi. I guess he SEES Shinobi and does not want to run into another rebellion wave.
At the moment I am favouring to let the monks hit as hard as possible and then attack and concentrate on winning this thing. From what I experienced it is pointless to attack together with a rebellion since both armies than just remain where they are and wait for you? Is it possible to lure them together so that they engage?

Note:
I had to change something about this letter for consistency.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by patdj

Letter from Autumn 1542
Mariko,
both Shimazu armies retreated without a fight. I wanted to meet Yoshiko in Hyuga but her fellow Shinobi told me that Hattori Yasunaga-san and her had to flee to Honshû because local noblemen potentially recognized Yasunaga-san. I hope they are healthy.
Lord Imagawa took Higo and put 300 of their men under siege, including one of the last decorated Shimazu generals. We are awaiting counterattack of Lord Shimazu to free his men. Our Shinobi reported a strange ship at the Satsuma coast. We do not know what this is about but in case this is to strengthen our enemy we will hurry to put this to an end.

林 実

---

It is problematical. they just wont lie down! I think you've tried everything i would have suggested.

Assassinating him seems to be out the question.

Wahst the possibility of moving a few troops and taking Iyo? if thats where most of his money is coming from and you killed off the top generals over there maybe thats might be the next thing to try???

Either that or one costly battle in Satsuma. Maybe i'm missing something...

Your revolts in Satsuma won't help. All you're doing is training the enemy Daimyo and he is gaining command stars from it. I would advise on an all out attack or trigger the revolt and invade the same season yourself. Let Shimazu and the ronin have at it and then try to take advantage. Once you've taken Satsuma leave an Ashigaru garrison and an a few of those high honour shinobi and get that army off to the front line (Nagato or Tosa being worthwhile targets).

Thanks for the advise, Adam and Caravel.

I managed to beat him, update is in progress. I did an all-in attack and concentrated on effective troop usage and weather advantage. Was a hard battle though. Post it tomorrow.

Glad ypu beat, look forward to seeing the update and battle reports.

In 3-way battles with another clan and ronin, the ronin will often not take sides but they do force the opposing taisho to pay attention to them and maybe change deployment area...........also, if the ronin army is large enough they usually will attack one of you:sweatdrop:

Btw, if I haven't said so before, I think "Short Letters to Mariko" is the most novel method of presenting a campaign I ever seen. Very well done:2thumbsup:

Quote:

---

I did an all-in attack and concentrated on effective troop usage

---

Sometimes you just have to wade in and go toe-to-toe and take your losses.

Second Letter from Autumn 1547
Mariko,
I hate the sea. Not only that is brings death to those travelling over her but also to those living next to her. The journey was terrible, windy and cold, but I arrived Hizen today in the morning hours. I feel sad about leaving Yoshiko behind, alone with two kids. Especially now that her husband has gone for Kyûshû, too. But the Shimazu problem is a grave one that could cost us all that we have fought for.
I had time to think when I was on the boat, struggling with sea sickness. I thought about who was the aggressor of this war. If our preventive attacks on Shimazu Takahisa-sama were rightful or opportunistic? All the soldiers, trying to defend their Lord and their lands and their families, found their way to Sword and Arrow of the Imagawa army. We do not even know if they would ever have threatened us. The good thing about a Cold War is that, in fact, no soldier has to die in it. Imagawa Yoshitsune-sama, the Lord's brother, once told me that I was much more alike him rather than alike his brother. He told me that his brother was an attacker, he was the one to grab the things he wanted. A military genius in undercutting the enemies defence as well as an extraordinary swordsman. Concerning himself and my person he stated that we were more the defenders. We were able to put down any aggression against us or the people we loved, even if force was needed. He told me that as far as he thought that was the reason for sending me to Honshû under the pretext of aiding him. He said that probably I was being to defensive and that in Lord Imagawa's opinion I slowed down the process in Kyûshû. But then, why was he calling me back there?
As far as I got to know when I arrived, troops have already been sent to Higo and will arrive there in no time. Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama is planning an attack, I sense that.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1547
Mariko,
there have been rebellions in Satsuma. Yasunaga-san informed me that all Shinobi have left the province by the end of last year. They are heading for Tosa, to prevent the local Shimazu garrison from invading Iyo.
I am on my way to Lord Imagawa's camp, but my entourage is travelling slowly. I suspect that Lord Yoshimoto does not want me to arrive too early. Perhaps he fears that I could intervene in his battle preparations.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1548
Mariko,
I arrived at the camp 2 days ago. I was merely informed that we will have a rather poor harvest and that Lord Shimazu is still patrolling the borders, ready to defend in case of an attack. When I asked about the purpose of my visit, my Lord told me that the matter is to be postponed until Yasunaga-san returns. Yasunaga-san had left the camp only some hours before this conversation and I wonder what sowed this recent mistrust in my person.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1548
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa is attacking Satsuma. I am to follow the army and ensure that the reinforcements from Osumi and Hyuga arrive in time to merge under Lord Yoshimoto-samas command. Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama is cornered, our Shinobi burnt the few ships anchoring at the Satsuma coast. They will by all means fight to death. Although the constant monk revolts have weakened their number there is no doubt that Lord Imagawa is encountering the toughest and most battle-experienced Samurai on this whole isle. I pray for the sake of the 1340 men attempting to deliver Shimazu the final blow.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1548
Mariko,
enclosed you will find the notes I took when observing the battle as part of the rearguard.

Summer 1548, Battle of Satsuma

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...sumaattack.jpg

My Lord decides to attack under the sheltering cover of the heavy summer rain. We were informed that Lord Shimazu is guarding the last slope on the way to Kagoshima castle with a decent army of bowmen. It is the same spot where all the rebellions of the last years were crushed bloodily and without any mercy. I am still distracted by the worsening of my relationship to my Lord but I keep track of the manoeuvres. Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto leads his men to the left side of the slope, I can see woods there. Maybe he is suspecting an ambush. It would definitely not be the first time that the deceitful Shimazu try to hit us into our back.
Then he advances towards the Shimazu forces. They are deployed along the slope and take note of our movements rather late. A small unit of bowmen tracks our army first and advances . Even I am hearing the insults and battle roaring coming from them, despite wind and distance. The silence suggests: bowmen started firing on both sides. I convince my men to accompany me a bit nearer to the place of action since it is hard to see through the walls of water. From what I am seeing none of the bowmen is making process. Slowly the Shimazu troops approach, one after the other, without clear formation. They will be mopped up one by one, is Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama getting careless? Lord Imagawa is sending infantry to his right flank and some units to his left, uphill. I get a glimpse on the Lord Shimazu Yoshimoto, climbing the hill on the other side, towards our left flank. Meantime our infantry starts engaging with the Shimazu samurai. I can see some Yari samurai and some Ashigaru in green armour, apart from that there are only Shimazu bowmen joining the melee. Lord Imagawa sends his archers to decimate the cavalry archers unit that is trying to fire into the rear of our infantry superiority.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...sumafight1.jpg

Slowly our troops are closing in on the Shimazu army. Moving even closer I get a good impression of the carnage. Lord Imagawa climbed the hill through a gap in our and the enemies lines and charged into the back of a samurai archer unit in swordfight. Despite their desperate situation they fight like wildcats while others keep themselves on reserve, trying to rain arrows onto our infantry with minimal effect.
The tide is turning clearly towards us with every minute. The cavalry archers got trapped by our flanking infantry and took crucial losses, resulting in fast retreat. They will probably warn the castle about the upcoming siege.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...sumafight2.jpg

Demotivated by the routing more and more Shimazu units give up fighting. I see some archers committing Seppuku in the middle of the combat. A victorious roar emerges from the right flank, the few Shimazu survivors are retreating while our troops are moving towards our left to close in on the still fighting Shimazu Daimyo.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...sumafight3.jpg

Lord Imagawa in person joins the struggle but I can not figure out if the two noblemen actually are duelling themselves. The cheers I hear about some instances later clearly state that Lord Shimazu Yoshimoto-sama was killed in the battle - which is in fact not over: our archers in the meantime persecuted the remaining Shimazu samurai up to the woods in the north east. I follow them quickly.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...sumadaimyo.jpg

They are put down easily as far as I can tell. I am still not realizing the momentousness of this victory.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...maergebnis.jpg

End of battle notes.

The celebrations were pompous but short. With the castle still under control of ownerless samurai it took place at the edge of the city. Still something of outstanding importance occurred: the head of a major Satsuma Samurai family, the Masamune, approached Lord Imagawa to propose to him the foundation of a Sword Dojo in Satsuma. He claimed the Satsuma swordsmen being the best of all Japan and that it would be a great honour for him to supervise the training of No Dachi Samurai for Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama, who had proved himself an extraordinarily able sword fighter on the battlefield. Lord Imagawa agreed but is already heading for Tosa. We still do not have information if the news of Lord Shimazu's death has already reached the last Shimazu forces or if they still await orders from their dead Lord. I was left here, in charge of assaulting the besieged castle as soon as it is reasonable and initiating the foundation of the Dojo in cooperation with Masamune-san. I expect the garrison being near to starvation by the end of the year. An attack then should be an easy business.
I received message from Abe-san who is now on his way to Honshû in order to settle our diplomatic problems. Since the line of the Shimazu has ended in the bloodshed of Satsuma he expects our old allies to reunite at our side. Additionally he stated that he ordered infrastructural expansion in agriculture for the north of Kyûshû.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1548
Mariko,

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...eliminated.jpg

the Shimazu troops of Tosa have faced the death of their Lord with remarkable composure. Message arrived of Inoue-san from Iyo. The garrison has, without exception, declared itself part of the Hôjô empire and already shipped troops to their new homeland. Apparently they joined Hôjô because of their hostility against the Imagawa clan. Given this evil motivation I would expect it only to be a matter of time until they invade Iyo. Since Lord Imagawa probably thinks similar I expect him to lead a preventive strike against Tosa in summer of next year.
Concerning my situation here in Satsuma I am dwelling in anger and boredom. The castle occupiers will not surrender but are already struggling with internal conflicts, disease and hunger. It is strange, but I do not pity them. This is so much not alike me, but since they somehow constrain me to remain here I want them to die slowly. The general in charge of the remaining troops, Katagiri Nobutaka-san, proposed to assault them earlier than I had planned, in order to give them a soldier's death. I refused. Lord Imagawa ordered me to take the castle without loosing to many men in the assault.
I will do so, in the coming autumn.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1549
Mariko,
Abe-san informed me that with the good harvest we had last year he will continue his infrastructural program. That is building castles in the Kyûshû provinces and improving the fortifications of Totomi.
Lord Imagawa-sama must by now have arrived in Iyo. Since there were no reports of a Hôjô invasion I guess that the two armies will meet in Tosa.
I decided to leave Satsuma earlier than planned and give the command to Katagiri-taisho. The number of men holding the castle declines moon by moon and if we assault before they burn the castle it should be not much of a problem to overthrow the remaining garrison. I decided to send reinforcements to Bungo since they are not needed anymore to hold the province against the minor castle garrison of Kagoshima and ordered an attack in midth of autumn and will head north to Hizen in order to take a ship back to Totomi. I am done with dwelling in Satsuma, I will feel better when I am back in Honshû, with my daughter and her family.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1549
Mariko,
I just crossed reached the border to Higo. Satsuma was deserted, most of the villages I passed were totally abandoned. The constant state of civil war has pressed its mark onto the lands.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1549
Mariko,
I am passing Higo and met a messenger from Lord Imagawa on his way to Kagoshima castle. He informed me about the recent happenings in Shikoku. Lord Imagawa had not wasted much time and immediately attacked Tosa.

Summer 1549, Battle of Tosa
The Hôjô hid in the woods and where quickly surrounded. Lord Imagawa attacked in rainy weather and apparently the fire throwers of the gaijin were unable to use their weapons. It was a massive slaughter and the Hôjô quickly decided that it would be better to try to reach the harbour and fled.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/tosarout.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../tosarout2.jpg

Only a few of them were caught before reaching the ships. We do not know if the remaining managed to arrive in Honshû. Stormy weather was expected at that time.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...saergebnis.jpg

End of battle notes.

Lord Imagawa had left Asano Harufusa with 200 men behind in Iyo. Apparently they were attacked by the Ronin of Awa after these had noted that Iyo was not properly guarded. The attack took place some days ago and the messenger was lucky to get one of the last ships off the isle.

Autumn 1549, Battle of Iyo
As far as we know Asano-san tried to defeat the invading army but was heavily outnumbered.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../iyodeploy.jpg

Still his men were able to take many heads before they fell.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ergebnis-1.jpg

End of battle notes.

The messenger asked me if we would be able to hold Bungo if the Ronin decided to ship over to Kyûshû. I though if the reinforcements I sent to Bungo and if they would arrive in time. This could become a severe problem. I decided to head for Bungo immediately to prepare the defence.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1549
Mariko,
the Bungo troops arrived in time and prevented the rebels from shipping over to Kyûshû. In fact we are preparing to counterattack Iyo and free Lord Imagawa from his isolation.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...winter1549.jpg

I met Yasunaga-san who came here because of the ronin-threat, too. He had some information for me that clarify the picture of the past years. Apparently Katagiri Nobutaka-san is a close relative to Toshie Saketomo-san, the man that defied me during my inauguration and then left to one of the Shimazu provinces. He was one of the soldiers that defended Satsuma against us, survived and held the castle in the resulting siege. Thinking about it you will note the irony: I left Katagiri-san in charge of assaulting the castle held by his relative Toshiee-san. This explains why he wanted to give them a soldier’s death, while I ordered to let them starve or die of disease.
Katagiri-san ordered the early attack on Kagoshima as soon as I was out of reach, during the last summer. There are rumours that he assisted Toshie-san in committing Seppuku. I am not planning to confront him about this open disobedience, but I think I created myself another opponent.
From what Yasunaga-san told me it was Katagiri-san who also discredited me during my absence in Kyûshû.
I do not know what scares me more: the fact that I have already conspiracies running against me or that Yasunaga-sans Shinobi seem to keep track of our own people, too.
Apart from that there is good news, too. We had a rich harvest and Abe-san acquired funds to continue with his expansion. Katagiri-san has also ordered the construction of a sword dojo in Satsuma.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...oodharvest.jpg

林 実



Letter from Spring 1550
Mariko,
we counterattacked Iyo and the rebels withdrew without a fight. I am now going to meet with Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama in Tosa to settle some matters. Yasunaga-san agreed on assisting me in the correction of certain issues Katagiri-san had stated. I am afraid I totally forgot about my plans of travelling back to Honshû.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1550
Mariko,
the castle in Tosa has fallen some days before my arrival. The whole garrison was starved to death and I can literally smell the misery. My conversation with Lord Imagawa-sama went well. He told me to stay with him, he is planning to bring whole Shikoku under his control.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...summer1550.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...ummer1550r.jpg

林 実



Summary:
Yay, with the Shimazu whiped out Shikoku and Western Honshû are mine fr the taking. This will be my long term plan: defend my holdings in Honshû and expand linear (as usual :wall: ) from West to East. As soon as I have a good grip on my lands I will eventually turn Christian. I do not think that I really NEED the gaijin but I have by now never used them and am eager to see how they are like.

Comment:
Thanks everyone for interest and advice. I am glad that someone is actually reading it. I think that the masses of text scare many people off. And sorry that the update took me that long. Had some exams to be written. I have not continued by now. If you have any superb tactics to propose I am eager to read from it. :bow:

Quote:

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As soon as I have a good grip on my lands I will eventually turn Christian. I do not think that I really NEED the gaijin but I have by now never used them and am eager to see how they are like.

---

Any campaign can be won without muskets. But it's been my experience that the later the starting date of the campaign, the more important they become. And your opposing clans will field them, and not just the arquebus but the musket, as well.

If you ever take on the 1580 Oda campaign without guns, you could, IMHO, add one more level to the difficulty slider.........nightmare mode:sweatdrop:

I think, story wise its absolutely brilliant.

As for suggestions, mop up Shikoku, and keep an eye on that large Hojo stack next to Totomi.

The Hojo stack is growing turn by turn. Still, they have been smashed twice in Totomi, they will be smashed the third time as well.

Thanks everyone for the interest. I think I will turn Christian, but with Kyushu just recently conquered and Shikoku not fully under control I am afraid the monks would instantly want to see me on the battlefield. So I'll postpone that for some years.

Quote:

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I think I will turn Christian, but with Kyushu just recently conquered and Shikoku not fully under control I am afraid the monks would instantly want to see me on the battlefield. So I'll postpone that for some years.

---

You can accept the Portuguese offer anytime. You do not incur the wrath of the Buddhists until you build that first church or trading post. Sometimes is good to have the option in your back pocket to use when you're ready. The AI can be quirky at times about offering you the option. I had a recent campaign where after 48 yrs I still hadn't received an offer from either the Portuguese or the Dutch, so you never know...........

I think accept it and get the shinobi bumping up loyalty.

Personally I'd launch a pre-emptive raid on Hojo to trim that stack down a little, but thats just me. I think your situation means your probably better on the defensive for the moment. I'd expect an attack from the Hojo in the next 3 or 4 turns or the nearest summer.

Letter from Autumn 1550
Mariko,
two weeks ago, Lord Imagawa-sama went into negotiations with some major landowners of Tosa. Apparently they tried to bargain on the affirmation of their estates by offering cooperation concerning infrastructure and population loyalty. They also intended to persuade Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama to make Tosa to Shikoku's main province and a major base for troop recruitment, since especially Tosa's land population was well known for her fighting spirit. Today my Lord announced his decision: the landowners' efforts were successful.
Although I openly dislike these people I have no choice but cooperate with people who, without any doubt, are the root of the Tosa peasants' fighting spirit. Yet in some way it our development really benefits from this alliance. Construction on a larger castle in Kochi has already started and Lord Imagawa is gathering his forces to strike against the sneaky Ronin of Awa who are responsible for the death of Asano Harufusa-san.
Another letter from Abe-san arrived the other day with formidable news. The Great Lord Oda has accepted our offer of an alliance. Abe-san reports a very tense conversation:
"So why, estimated emissary Abe, could your struggle with my passed friend Shimazu Takahisa not be settled by words but the Sword?"
"My Great Lord Oda, the Imagawa are no children of war, as you will surely know. Still we seek safety for our wives and children. Shimazu Takahisa-sama, a noble man and great commander, openly threatened to take over our possessions in Kyûshû. The battles were inevitable, so we decided to let them take place on the Shimazu provinces rather than in ours. We feel ashamed to have disturbed the peace of this isle and imbued the fruitful grounds of Kyûshû with the blood of honourable Samurai and we do not want this misery to happen in the lands of central Honshû. Therefore we seek the shoulders of the Great Clans, the Uesugi as well as the Oda, to defend this wonderful peace against anyone threatening to harm it."
"You speak very wonderful words, Abe. But haven't you spoken similar to Takahisa before invading his lands?"
"Lord Shimazu Takahisa-sama and my Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto agreed on an alliance against the possible threats that emerged from the West. The gaijin of this past times were unknown and feared, unlike today. But instead of fortifying his coasts like we did, Lord Shimazu let his troops gather at our borders, always ready to opportunistically grab our lands and hit us into the rear. We could no longer watch both sides and needed to act."
"Is it true that you infiltrated the Shimazu provinces with Men of Shadows, like it is told on the streets? That you disturbed the peasants' peace to use them for your campaign against Takahisa?"
"My Lord Oda, I must fiercely repudiate these rumours as deliberately sowed disrepute of our honourably family. I beg your pardon if I speak openly: it is undeniable that the Imagawa family has always had a good contact to the Men of Shadows. Still they were always used to avoid the bloody battles and not to encourage them. The rebellion in the Shimazu lands came because of the excessive tax rates Lord Takahisa-sama had to impose to finance his expansion into Shikoku and the fierce reign he executed on his vassals."
"Assuming that your words are true, Abe. How would our cooperation look like?"
"My Lord, again I have to beg your pardon for vocalizing my thoughts openly: the Oda clan is in a critical position. Desite the friendly attitude of Lord Uesugi you are defending a multiple front. Rely on our strong back, Mikawa, and defy the rebel forces coming from the south, from Ise. Rest assured that we will not take advantage of a weak position but help defend your lands as if they were ours, for the sake of your admirable line."
"Be it then. Please communicate to your Lord that I am glad to offer the Oda clan's shimmering swords to a new trustworthy ally."
Additionally Abe-san states that our Archer Dojo in Totomi is known all over Japan now and is to be considered Legendary.
Apart from that there is not much to add. Yasunaga-san is restarting the Shinobi recruitment and planning to return to his wife and our grandchildren in next year's summer.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1550
Mariko,
we had an average harvest. After all our taxes were collected, Lord Yoshimoto declared the state of war to be terminated and decreased the tax rate to a normal level. I feel good about lifting the burden of the peasantry a bit, but am equally eager to know what is the real motivation behind this surprisingly charitable act.
The Sword Dojo in Satsuma is going to be finished by the end of winter. Another letter of Abe-san arrived. He states that he is trying to see Lord Takeda and persuade him of abandoning his alliance with the filthy Hôjô who, apparently, managed to rescue some troops from Tosa and ship them to Izu.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1551
Mariko,
another Hôjô attack was smashed into the snowy ground of Totomi last winter. Sadai Tadatsugu-taisho, a very honourably bowman and exceptionally gifted painter I left in charge of the Totomi army when I left 2 years ago sent me these pictures of the attack, including a short report of the battle.

Winter 1550, Battle of Totomi

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi31.jpg

It came as it was to be expected. Over many moons had the Hôjô increased their army and now they invaded. It was a very cold day with light snowfall when my scouts reported the advancing army. It was led by Hôjô Uiyasu, the only heir to the current Hôjô daimyô performing his second try to snatch these lands from its Great Bowmen's hands. We were prepared to offer them another piercing welcome.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi32.jpg

The light fog that lay on the field slowly revealed the Hôjô forces tramping through deep snow like intimidated animals on their way to the shambles.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi33.jpg

The closer they came the more confidence arouse in my men's hearts. An army of peasants, without any armour or shelter against our death rain was slowly marching towards us. My right flank reports an Ashigaru unit with strange metallic weapons. This must have been the so-called "Esupingaruda" or "Rifure" or whatever these gaijin call these coward's weapons. The will not help here and they will soon find out.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi34.jpg

As soon as their main body is in range my men start the fire. The first volley is devastating. There are shouts to my left: "Kamiame!" I like the word and make it my fire commando. "KAMIAME!" My men echo the roar, followed by the death cries of our enemies. The Hôjô speed up and their unskilled archers send their arrows without any concept into my rows.
The constant approach of the decimated Hôjô units forces me to send in my Yari soldiers, providing them with easy mopping. Hôjô Uiyasu's left flank is routing at the sight of my well trained soldiers, only the main body around him puts up a fight. To my left a Hôjô archer unit tries to skirmish some of my infantry and I command my left archer flank to move around them and attack from they rear.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi35.jpg

Soon the matters to my left are settled and the man claiming to lead the clan after his fathers death decides to get away with his life.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi36.jpg

The struggle caused some of my men to retreat, a minor flaw on our glorious victory. To my right the routing Ashigaru with the strange weapons rally and approach, calling for some more volleys. Satisfied but decimated they rout a second time and do not come back.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi37.jpg

A Great Victory for my Lord. Have enclosed the casualty report.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/totomi38.jpg

End of battle notes.

Nearly at the same time arrived a letter from Lord Oda, who assured his total loyalty to our alliance and abandoned the bond to the aggressive Hôjô. Apart from that he announces the maturity of his son, Oda Nobunaga and wishes that the bond of our Great Clans will last beyond the time his son takes over the lead of the Oda clan.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/oda1.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...danobunaga.jpg

Abe-san reports that his attempt to diplomatically isolate the Hôjô failed and that the Takeda Nobutora-sama remains allied to Hôjô Ujitsuna-sama, despite showing friendly tendencies.
Our expansion is going on as planned.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...dj/takeda1.jpg

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...dj/takeda2.jpg

Ogenkide,

林 実



Summary:
The Hôjô are just too funny. I would attack and smash them if that would not totally expose me to the Takeda. Well, I think I will let them run into me until they decide to turn against Takeda or Uesugi. As for now I am perfectly fine with defending my lands against these poor attackes and thereby slow down their expansion significantly. Apart from Uesugi I have no really strong rival in Honshu, and I think even Uesugi is struggling with keeping his lands under control.
Was a short update that only covered part of my progress. Not much time atm.

Good progress. Let Hojo keep attacking, seems to be a winning strategy. I would think about maybe looking at Nagato. Irs Ronin, would seal off Kyushu. It could maybe bring more fights though, but worth a look to see whats there...

Already checked Nagato. They will follow soon, the back provinces' garrisons are ridiculous and I may take it without much effort as soon as I can spare troops. But thanks for the advice. :2thumbsup:

Not a problem, wouldn't want to see all that hardwork in Kyushu wasted if some bunch of Ronin comes in through Nagato. Almost had that happen to me once. Happily though I managed half an hour on Shogun yesterday for the first time since re-installing it.

Anyway looks like Hojo are going to keep battering on your door in Totomi, let them, and maybe look for a way to slip a knife in their back whilst their doing it. Keep friendly with Oda, but keep an eye on them, and maybe have a look around Takeda, Uesugi and Mori, for alliances/ opportunities.

Letter from Summer 1551
Mariko,
another letter from Abe-san reports that there are only few Hôjô forces in Izu. Apparently they are sending everything they have to their eastern frontier in order to get a hold on Totomi. Poor fools, this way they are exposing themselves to Uesugi, who might soon get the idea to conquer their lands. Equally there could be a chance to raid Izu by sea. We discussed on that idea today but concluded that we would need spare troops for such a risky adventure.
Although there are no signs of regional unrest, Yasunaga-san is strengthening his Shinobi net in Kyûshû. Asking him I only got to know that it was direct order from Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama. I am afraid my son in law is not telling me the whole truth.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1551
Mariko,
only weeks before collecting the rice tax from the peasants, Lord Imagawa urgently issued a decree raising the rates of taxation back to a level of warfare. Taking this into consideration I might have found the reason for the Shinobi activities on our own territory. They prevent overthrowers from organising revolts and ensure loyalty of the local noblemen.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...1sworddojo.jpg

I was informed that the training of the famous Satsuma swordsmen is making good progress. I am looking forward to seeing their effect on the battlefield.
Additionally there are have been completed several other building projects, such as the border watchtowers in Iyo and a magnificent palace in our homelands in Totomi. I am looking forward to visit the building, erected to honour our Great Daimyô Imagawa Yoshimoto. I wonder if Yoshiko already saw it from inside.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1551
Mariko,
happenings of epic importance are taking place. I was called to an urgent meeting with Yasunaga-san and my Lord Imagawa. To my surprise, a delegation of the gaijin was present, too. I happened to see them sometimes in the village, struggling to communicate citizen and peasants, but these were talking our language quite understandable. For the first time I noticed their weird appearance in detail. I knew from the times I met them that they looked strange, but the hours of talking provided me with enough time to carefully analyse their appearance and behaviour.
Despite not seeming strong they were all rather tall built, but equally nervous. One of them had snow-white hair and was nearly bold on top of his head. He wore a black sort of Kimono that looked very tight and had golden buttons to hold the vesture together. The other two were dressed more colourful, I would have guessed that they were merchants, in fact one was, the other was captain of one of the gaijins' ships. It was mainly the black one, a religious man as it seemed, who spoke, and the others merely nodded, bowed and added polite phrases to please my Lord.
The gaijin told us that they had started trading with the Shimazu, we already knew that and it literarily made them our enemy. They advertised their modern way of fighting and talked about how superior our clan would be with their "rifuresu". They were surprised about the poor impression we had from their fire weapons when the Hôjô used them against us. They claimed that they would happily show us their effect, if we were interested. Despite our doubts it would still be interesting for us to start trade with them, they argued. They have experienced a great demand for their goods among the Shimazu noblemen and suspect a great potential income for our Daimyô. All they asked for was the right to propagate their religion among the subjects of our domain with the blessing of our Lord. This would require my Lord to openly avow to "kurisutiyanisumo". I was taken aback by this disrespectful offer, but Lord Imagawa seemed to consider it seriously. He asked for respite and we withdrew to our back room. I was able to observe the gaijin party through a spy-hole in the Shôji, they were gesticulating wildly, like if they were bargaining on a marketplace.
Lord Imagawa talked seriously and calm. He stated that a deal with the gaijin could bring a great benefit to our campaign and that he would not mind converting to the gaijin religion in order to secure its success. I carefully argued that this could eventually be understood as open blasphemy and that the local Buddhist monasteries could provoke religious unrest among the people, like during the Satsuma rebellions against the Shimazu Daimyô. Yasunaga-san immediately assured that his Shinobi were controlling the provinces and we could react very quick if anything was about to happen.
I was asked for further doubts and I thought it over for a while. I asked if the officials to the Daimyô would be required to convert as well. Lord Imagawa contested that the gaijin asked for him and only him to convert, everything else was up to every single one of us. He would not expect this from us.
The sequel of the meeting was very technical: Lord Imagawa "converted" to the gaijins' religion by participating in some rituals and the gaijin agreed on - in deed very lucrative - trade terms. Messengers were called and send to inform the local province administrators of the recent happenings and to give selected gaijin officials certain rights and privileges. Lord Imagawa ordered the construction of gaijin temples in Hizen, Satsuma, Tosa, Bungo and Totomi and asked Yasunaga-san to take a careful control of religious unrests and expand in pro-gaijin-propaganda.
The meetings summed up to one and a half sun and I still feel every moment of it in my bones. I am to meet gaijin weapon masters in the castle of Tosa in a few days' time. They are to show me the functionality of their weapons.
We had a good harvest and Lord Imagawa lowered taxes again, promising that this emergency raise, how he called it, would not happen again. I suspect that he is running a careful policy now because of his conversion. As an immediate effect of last year's high tax rate and the good harvest, several new construction projects, including the temples, are going to start. I feel uneasy about my Lord's carelessness in religious matters. I was already approached twice by gaijin priests and they are close to really harassing me. Maybe I am a bit disappointed. I am sure that this deal was planned far in advance, without me being inducted.

林 実



Comment:
I am sorry for the late and little progress. I have the campaign on ice and still some notes to put into text. This just requires a lot of time and I am busy with loads of other stuff at the moment. I will bring the next update as soon as possible and the eventually continue playing. :dizzy2:

Letter from Spring 1552
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa ordered the training of new troops since the past conflicts have cost a lot of substance and the majority of our army is stationed in Central Honshû. As for now there have been no revolts. Yasunaga-san reports some potentially dangerous tendencies in Osumi, but he intensified Shinobi activities in that region, so we would have nothing to worry about.
The gaijins' weapons somewhat may have a certain potential. Apparently these iron pipes shoot hard little balls straight along the direction they are aiming. These projectiles pierce flesh like a sword cuts through soft grass. In addition it penetrates every known sort of armour on that isle. They use a black powder, similar to the powder that was used by the Chinese and Mongol armies, and put fire to it to accelerate it through the pipe. Maybe the Hôjô just were unable to use it correctly. I asked the gaijin if he was able to train peasants on the usage of these weapons. He responded that if I provided him with necessary funds he would train me an army in no time. I still have doubts on the benefit of this method, but I will not miss to try it out.
The Takeda clan proudly announced the maturity of Takeda Nobukado-sama, son of the Takeda Daimyô.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1552
Mariko,
today a Takeda emissary passed our lands in Tosa. Yasunaga-san always sends Shinobi to tail the diplomats that pass our domain and apparently this one is on his way to bribe some army's general, since the Shinobi found a deed of a large ownership in the Takeda Empire in his luggage. Yasunaga-san ordered one of his best Ninja to tail and kill him. He does not want Takeda to gain influence in the remaining provinces of Shikoku. It is unknown where the emissary is aiming.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/bribe.jpg

Apart from that the lands are calm. No signs of religious unrest, the Shinobi propaganda is working well and the gaijin try hard in learning our language. They do not seem as ignorant as I had suspected first and finally gave up on trying to convert me.
Imagawa Yoshitsune-sama reports that the Hôjô keep increasing their army size at the borders of Totomi and could invade any time. He is looking forward to see them slaughtered them again and tells us not to worry. He wished that the Uesugi took the chance of invading his backlands.
A letter from Satsuma states that the first Samurai wielding No Dachi swords have finished their training and started their march towards the Shikoku frontier. I am looking forward to see their effect on the battle field.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1552
Mariko,
all over our country gaijin temples were completed. I am glad that this did not end up in revolts, it even attracted some interested townsfolk. The gaijin already started to educate the first priests of their religion with Japanese origin. Still, there are Buddhist monks claiming that the Wrath of our Gods evoked into a Taifun, devastating Osumi this autumn.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...tdj/taifun.jpg

All the big clans in Honshû are intensively manoeuvring. Still there are no fights. Abe-san ordered the construction of a Horse Dojo in Totomi. The idea is to train archers on horseback, a unit that Abe saw in Oda-samas armies. They are of great tactical value.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1552
Mariko,
there was a Taifun in Osumi plus a poor harvest for this year. Still the population remains loyal. I have deep respect for Yasunaga-sans Shinobi and their propaganda work. The first priests are sent out for the provinces where no churches had been built in order to spread the Word of their God. The relation to the gaijin is strengthening; trading posts have started to be constructed in Tosa and Hizen.
Yasunaga-san reported that the Takeda emissary escaped to central Honshû.

林 実



Letter from Spring 1553
Mariko,
the Takeda are still reluctant to abandon their alliance with Lord Hôjô.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/.../takeda1-1.jpg

It was reported that the No Dachi unit arrived Iyo.
An interesting Shinobi-report that was sent to Yasunaga-san was as well handed to me today:

"Hattori-san.
I was able to follow infiltrate Lord Oda's castle and overheard the audience of one of the Hôjô emissaries at Lord Oda's court:
"My Lord, a new power has risen in the West. After the last of the Shimazu Daimyô was put to the blade the Imagawa clan quickly assimilated the isles of Kyûshû and Shikoku into their domain and is gathering strength to expand into Western Honshû."
"Expansion is a natural goal of all the major Daimyô. I am glad that the campaign to overthrow the rebellious Ronin of Nippon my friend and ally Imagawa Yoshimoto is running is blessed by success."
"Estimated Lord Oda, with the due respect, the Imagawa pose a severe threat to your holdings. Owari, your most precious land, lies within perfect range of an ambitious as well as savage warlord and may soon be attacked. Launch a major attack into Imagawa Mikawa, while the Hôjô forces overthrow Totomi, and you will have kept these raiders at distance."
"In my opinion, not mine but your holdings are the ones threatened by the Imagawa forces - with good reason, if I am not mistaken. Did Hôjô Ujitsune not recently fail in the third attempt to grab Totomi? And now you want me to assault easily defendable Mikawa, thereby break my alliance with Imagawa Yoshimoto without having to expect a massive counter attack on Owari AND Mikawa, because the Hôjô peasants succeeded in the forth try?"
"Lord Oda, please consider-"
"Please consider this conversation terminated."
"Very well, Lord Oda. I wish you the pride to not call the Hôjô for help when you need assistance with the Imagawa clan."
"In times when the Oda need assistance in dealing with Imagawa forces, the Hôjô will surely be no more."
The emissary backed out of the room, obviously flustered. My researches state that this was a real conversation and no staged production.
I will now move into Shinano, hopefully I am able to provide you with more information soon."

There are two aspects about the letter that are seriously worrying me: first, the Hôjô are apparently conspiring against us. We will certainly have to watch our allies’ moves and I sent orders to Abe-san to keep a close watch on them while residing at their courts. Secondly I did not know about Shinobi spying on our allies. I am planning to confront Yasunaga-san about the dangers of such operations.

林 実



Comment:
Still some notes to go, next "chapter" will include two battle reports, so hold on. :smash:

Letter from Summer 1553
Mariko,
Lord Imagawa led an attack on Awa. It was only a matter of time for this to happen since we were gathering strength for such an attack the whole past year. The Awa Ronin were the ones that opportunistically took Iyo while we overthrew the new Hôjô of Tosa. Now was to come there humiliating punishment.

Summer 1553, Battle of Awa

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa0.jpg

Lord Imagawa decided it was time for me to take immediate part in the battle. I was to mount one of his spare horses and ride as one of his Hatamoto. Although I was by now well trained in melee and ranged fighting as well as in riding war horses I felt rather uncomfortable.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa1.jpg

As we had expected, the Ronin tried to minimize our army size advantage by encountering us at one of the few crossing points of the local river. Essentially this is why we brought a large stack of Samurai bowmen with us. By the way, the No Dachi arrived in time from Iyo to join us.
Lord Imagawa ordered his Hatamoto to loosen their formation and ride in rows of two. First I thought that Yoshimoto-sama was to tempt his fate and lead a frontal attack over the bridge when he gave his horse the spurs. We came to a halt in the very middle of the crossing.
I could hear loud voices from the enemy, their meaning blurred by wind and the sound of the current. In any way I knew what was coming.
It is funny, but in my years of commanding men on the battle field I was never exposed to archer fire. The rain fell hard. Most of the arrows now stuck in the wooden bridge, some fell to the water. Two of my fellow Hatamoto chocked down a cry of pain, but merely their legs were injured and they remained on horseback. Two horses also got hit, but their riders controlled them competently.
Lord Imagawa did not even turn his head, he somehow knew that nobody fell of his horse. Apparently to needle the enemy he broke into a loud and arrogant laughter, into which all of the Hatamoto, including me, quickly joined.
Further commands were heard from the other side of the river and a second rain of arrows threatened to crush down on us. The light breeze that I felt while the arrows were in the air must have had a way stronger impact on the arrows' trajectory than I would have expected. The arrows were carried to our left and fell into the water, only some of them hit the bridge and none of them hit us.
Lord Imagawa roared a bunch of insults towards our enemy, achieving the desired effect: a ashigaru infantry unit was marching towards us and a third volley was sent to the air.
This time two of the Hatamoto fell off their horse. One of them got hit into his shoulder, spying blood onto the arrow covered bridge base. The other one was thrown into the water by his horse, which had two arrows stuck into his neck and went totally berserk before breaking down some distance behind us.
Lord Imagawa again did not turn his head, he merely raised his sword to the air, roaring "COME HERE! You bandit dogs!"
Apparently this was a sign to our archers since they took formation on the edge of the slope from which we came.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa2.jpg

The Ashigaru were approaching quickly travelling downhill. Imagawa Yoshimoto-sama muttered "Remain calm, do not look at their Yaris, look at the fear in their eyes.". The forth volley killed another Hatamoto instantly: two arrows into each of his legs, a third in his shoulder, only inches from his head. Three other, including me, got hit into our legs. The pain was terrifying and I struggled to remain concentrated. The Yari Ashigaru were very close now.
"Arrows!" First I wondered how quick the enemy archers were firing, but the call came from the approaching Ashigaru. All our archers had fired simultaneously, creating a death rain I had never seen before. One third of the peasants lay on the floor, the rest was clearly hit in the face. Their commander, also injured in his shoulder and barely able to stand reordered his men and drove them to a quick march towards us.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa3.jpg

Lord Imagawa turned his horse, and so did we. Then we rode back towards our army, slowly. The second volley came down only a few feet behind us. The insults the unit leader was roaring at our retreat immediately died out.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa4.jpg

A different voice roared "RETREAT! THIS IS HELL HERE!" and the Ashigaru ran off the bridge towards their army.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa5.jpg

A third volley came down on them before they managed to get out of range.
Lord Imagawa turned again, riding back towards the enemy. He suddenly switched to a very fast gallop. The injured Hatamoto, including me, struggled to keep pace. We ran off the bridge, towards the enemy and suddenly turned right. Arrows rained down on us, costing another Hatamoto's life.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa6.jpg

To our left a unit of Yari Samurai was rushing towards us. They came very close but luckily did not manage to grab one of us.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/awa6b.jpg

Finally out of their deadly range and looking back I saw that the whole army seemed to pursue us. What a stupidity! I saw that our infantry was already crossing the bridge without much resistance.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa7.jpg

I later heard that, noticing that, the enemy general turned his Yari samurai towards us and rushed downhill into Lord Imagawas men that were waiting at the end of the bridge, preparing to absorb the impact. By doing this, the enemy infantry entered range of our archers and the effect was devastating.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa8.jpg

It took only minutes for the general to call a retreat, the supporting infantry unit had not even reached us.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...patdj/awa9.jpg

Meantime, the Yari samurai were still pursuing us without much prospect.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/awa10.jpg

The retreat of the enemy created a dynamic that was unstoppable. None of the Ronin looked back or hesitated, they ran for their lives. Lord Imagawa, seeing the considerably distance between us and our pursuers, ordered a charge into the fleeing enemy that was coming towards us.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/awa11.jpg

Seeing this the fleeing men tried to climb the mountain in front of them rather than moving towards our cavalry. Imagine hundreds of men trying to climb a very steep cliff at the same time.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/awa12.jpg

Our army quickly caught up on them, creating vicious slaughtering. The pursuing Yari Samurai, seeing that our reinforcements had arrived, quickly decided to withdraw, too.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...atdj/awa13.jpg

The rest was simple killing. I sat on my horse and merely watched. So did Yoshimoto-sama. He, too, was injured and had 2 arrows in his right thigh.
"You did well, Minoru."
"I just rode after you, my Lord."
"Well, that is what Hatamoto are good for."
He smiled and turned to ride towards our approaching archers, to collect their report.

End of battle notes.

This great victory shields Tosa, a very important strategic point for our Shikoku operations, from potential invasion. Furthermore the story of my Lord Imagawa Yoshimoto's strategic quality will be spread all over Nippon.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...dj/awarank.jpg

Yasunaga-san, who went to Iyo instead of joining us in battle, received a report stating that Kyûshû as well as the rest of Shikoku are still under control of his Shinobi.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...summer1553.jpg

So far, everything going well for us.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1553
Mariko,
we are resting in Awa. I suspect that we attack Sanuki as soon as spring comes. Apart from the minor adjacent isles, Shikoku will then be totally under our control. In our domains everything is perfectly calm and the gaijin report good progress concerning their conversion efforts. I feel uneasy about all the people around me abandoning Buddha, although I saw many of them mixing rituals or still practising the old. Yasunaga-san is reluctant to change, too. He states that he has not much sympathy for the "new" Believe and sees it more a strategic factor, coming in quite handy. He says that it is good to keep our Faith in Buddha, since it may happen that we turn against the gaijin if the get too ambitious. Eventually, when our Lord dies, we as well as our children will have to serve his heir who might think differently about this matter.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1553
Mariko,
our harvest was average. It is stated that about 15% of our subjects already converted to the gaijins' religion and constructions on another trading post in Totomi were started.
Yasunaga-san reported that Kotega Mototsugu-san, his best Ninja, accidentally got killed in Sanuki when attempting to assassinate the local general. These are bad news, but clarify our short term plans very well, to me as well as to our target...

林 実



Letter from Spring 1554
Mariko,
news from Honshû tell that Hôjô ujimasa matured and entered the Hôjô army. Another heir to run from our Totomi Kamiame.

林 実



Letter from Summer 1554
Mariko,
the attack on Sanuki came later as I had expected, but it came. Enclosed have the report I wrote under terrible pain.

Summer 1554, Battle of Sanuki
We found the enemy hiding in the woods of a hill after only half a day of march. Apparently they hoped we wood pass them in order to attack our rear. Because of the failed attempt of assassination they were well prepared.
Our army was led by my old friend Inoue-san and I had asked him to give me the chance of distinguishing myself in battle. He therefore asked me and Yasunaga-san to lead the No Dachi infantry to the enemy's right flank while our yari infantry was pinning them down.
We were already moving to the left while our archers were drawing a circle around the woods and starting fire.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/kanuchi1.jpg

I saw that their archers were responding, but Inoue-san and his men were superior.
Their infantry came storming towards us, but as Inoue-san had planned they were blocked by our wall of Yaris while we were moving around them. My sword felt even heavier than it really was when we ordered a quick march through the woods. The battle sounds became louder and we were to attack their infantry from behind.
Yasunaga-san killed the first. It seemed that he was wounded and withdrawing from the battle, he had no time to warn his fellow soldiers. Being slower than the trained Samurai around me it took some time for me to get hands on one of the enemies. I imagined this being all like training: my opponent stormed towards me, aiming at me with his Yari and roaring his family name "Ishiroooooo!". I jumped aside, and made a spinning blow into the still running Samurai. He fell to the floor in aching pain. I quickly stepped towards him and cut his head, nearly automatically. His crying died out and it was not before I took his head into my hands before I realised that I had killed a man with the Sword.
I dropped the head and stormed towards the fighting. It was strange, first I was afraid of experiencing this again, then I looked forward to it. A thrill emerged. I would not call it blood thirst or pleasure of killing, but eagerness of being tested again. Competition. I spotted an enemy that just had pierced the back of one of my fellows. I marched towards him slowly but steadily. He took note of me, drew his Yari out of the still standing Samurai and marched towards me at same speed. He hurled his weapon to keep me at distance, I held my Sword low, nearly touching the ground, as I was taught to do in those situations. I approached him and withdrew quickly several times, making him nervous. His sweeps became wider and angrier and therefore with declining frequency. Then... I jumped forward in the right moment, when his Yari was at the turning point of his sweep, thrusting my sword right into his underbelly. The handle of his weapon hit me, but the blade was far away. I saw my Sword sticking out of his back and I saw death in his eyes. His weapon fell to the ground, I jumped back and beheaded the corpse in his fall to the floor. The experience of all these Sword techniques, working in practical with such effectiveness motivated me to further deeds.
I dashed towards more fighting. My men were hacking through the enemy quickly and we reached the edge of the forest where they were encountering our Yari Samurai. I suddenly found myself in the middle of action. I had trained fighting multiple men but this was different. I blocked two Yari chops that were aimed at me and injured on of their originators. He was felled seconds later by one of our Yari Samurai. Another chop was aimed at me. I blocked it with the sword, breaking the enemy's weapon. My following thrust killed him instantly, but I was attacked again by two others. I blocked one, dodged the other, jumped forward to kill the one that was off guard and cut open his knee. He broke down, but before I could kill him I felt a burning pain in my waist. I could not turn, or run, or move in any way, I was like stunned.
The rest happened very quickly. I heard Yasunaga-sans voice and the death cry of an enemy behind me, I was grabbed and pulled away from the fight, back to the woods. I struggled not to faint. Yasunaga-san talked to me "You watch you guard a little better, old man. How could I tell my wife that I let her father being killed?" He ordered another Samurai, only lightly injured, to watch after me and headed back to the fighting. Because of the slope my eyes followed him easily and I gained a good overview of the situation:
Our Yari infantry was being pushed back and was outnumbered, so the enemy started turning against us. Me and some other had pushed deep into their lines and had found ourselves surrounded. Yasunaga-san pushed towards them with some men and created a corridor, allowing them to return to our lines.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/kanuchi2.jpg

I saw that the enemy archers had decided to charge and were put down by Inoue-sans arrows. My No Dachi were defeating the enemy infantry, which fought till the bitter end. I heard calls of retreat and victorious roaring, I guessed that we were winning this. Apparently the remains of the enemy were running uphill towards the coast. With my men pursuing them I saw that we had payed a high price for the victory: many of the corpses at the edge of the forest were of my army.

https://i575.photobucket.com/albums/...j/kanuchi3.jpg

End of battle notes.

The victory was expensive. On top of it there is a dangerous tension between us and the local people. A monastery is probably intriguing against us and could organise a revolt in the worst case.
My wound is deep but I am doing better day by day. Yasunaga-san says that I was lucky. I could easily have been killed. In fact I am happy to still be here, but otherwise I could be with you, which would at least be equally good.
Lying here in pain gives me time to think. I still miss you, and I miss Yoshiko. I think I should return to Honshû but I am not sure if I am able to travel with with my injury.

林 実



Letter from Autumn 1554
Mariko,
I'm fine but still somewhat slow in walking. No revolt so far. I will be in Tosa next year and probably take a ship to Honshû.
Apart from that there is nothing to report.

林 実



Letter from Winter 1554
Mariko,
still there has been no revolt and I do not expect one to come any more. In Totomi the training of cavalry archers started and another trading post was built in Bungo. Apart from that the funds of this years harvest are used for the training of No Dachi and the gaijins' fire throwers.

林 実



Comment:
Shikoku done. Finally my notes are done, too and I can continue to actually play. :smash: So this is the current situation, not much of a change in Honshû, I will try to post an overview with the next update.

Hi patdj,

Good read! (As always)

I am curious of your next moves. I would probably try to reach Kawachi first and after that wrap up southern Honshu. Or will you take on the Hojo first?

:bow:

Thanks for your interest. :bow:

I think I will spare the Hôjô for now. They isolate me from Takeda and I could not stand a massive cavalry army with my archers. Additionally I would have to defend a lot more provinces then or run a massive blitzkrieg against all the big houses there.
I am planning to remain in Totomi and Mikawa like a rock against eveyone willing may run against. And see if the moves of the other clans provide me some opportunities. :idea2:

I havn`t been keeping track of this for the last couple of weeks, sorry Patdj :embarassed: However, I have just spent the last hour so getting up to speed :book: and I`m loving how the campaign is going - Imagawa always seem to be the most interesting and most difficult faction to play. Keep up the good work mate.

Well great update, Shikoku done, the story still as fascinating as ever, fantastic!! Long may it continue. Would the Kawachi route bring conflict with Oda? Are they in the area in strength?

I have no concrete information about that, but I guess not. Several strikes from rebels, the funny isolation of Lord Oda by Uesugi and the war with the Takeda have left the Oda rather weak.

I am sorry to announce that I can not keep that report up the way it was. It is just way to much work, and, since I am living in Tokyo now for one year I have plenty of other stuff to do. Still I will finish this campaign report the usual way, posting screens of crucial battles and situations.

Hope you enjoyed what I did so far and do not hate me for an unfinished story. :bow:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by patdj

Hope you enjoyed what I did so far and do not hate me for an unfinished story. :bow:

---

Don't worry about it. Real life is always more important. Thanks for taking us so far.

It was a great campaign mate, I`m sure it will be interesting no matter it is presented to us.

:bow:

It was a good read nonetheless, will be interesting to see how you finish the campaign off.

:bow:

Letter from Spring 1555
Mariko,
Spring in Tosa is wonderful, it reminds me so much of you. Still, my ship is leaving tomorrow morning for Totomi, so I will not be able to enjoy it any longer. It makes me sad, and adds up to the fact that I, as usual, have a bad feeling concerning my sea trip. I guess seeing Yoshiko and her family again is worth this torture, so I will just bite my teeth. Also, the fact that Yasunaga-san is coming with me gives me strength. I feel safer in his company, we could not have got a better son in law.
Our troops are resting and waiting for reinforcements. Shikoku is under good control now and the ronin do not seem eager to counter attack. I am confident that our progress will remain stable.

林 実


With this letter the series breaks. One must assume that General Hayashi Minoru either died, was prevented from continuing writing or the following letters were delivered to a place where they have not yet been discovered. Still, one can reconstruct a considerable part of the further progress of Imagawa's campaign with help of different, less accurate, documents found all over Japan and even find hints to the fate of Minoru.


Awaji Battle Report, 1556
The Ronin retreat, the population seems grateful for the fact that there is no fighting on their isle. Reinforcements are arriving every other half year and we will soon reach Kawachi.


Poem found in Mikawa, assumingly dated 1556
The pain of loosing the father
feels like a dagger
the pain of loosing the husband
feels like a sword
the love of a child
is the only known cure.


Eye witness report of the Battle of Nagato, assumingly dated 1557, found in Totomi
I witnessed the Battle of Nagato not from far and a recording this for the following ages. I could perfectly hear the screams of dying men. The Imagawa general leading the attackers is named Inoue, but they call him the Eagle of Kyushu. They are advancing fast and push our local samurai back quickly. Amako Kageyama, a man I know from my childhood, fields the defenders. The split up, forcing Inoue-taisho to do so, too. It causes a considerably amount of losses in the attacking infantry. I am a bit surpised, since Inoue brought many untrained peasants to fight this battle. From what I heard the Imagawa troops are supposed to be very superior.
The fighting takes 4 hours to end. It seems like Inoue-taisho routed or killed the Nagato samurai, but his army has lost a lot of substance. I am eager to see how quick the reinforcements arrive and how they ensure control over the province.


Undated report of a Nagato peasant
Every moon there are new Imagawa soldiers ariving. The population by now seems happy about the presence of a new Lord and is slowly adapting to the new religion. Imagawa-sama brought with him security and wealth. He is building mines and provides us with work in construction and war infrastructure.


Record of a Takeda general, Aki, 1560
Imagawa troops are at our door step. A fleeing ronin army raided some of our border villages and I sent warning to Izumo, since there are reports of more Ronin fleeing from the Imagawa offense in Iwami.
I also sent worl to Lord Takeda in person. I am perfectly sure that Imagawa will launch attack on our lands in near future and proposed to either strike first or provide me with reinforcements for defense.



Comment:
I think I will continue it this way.

Records of Takeda Shingen, dated 1560 and 1561
It fills my heart with anger that our Great Emperor was blinded by the filthy Oda scum. As he announced this moon, Oda Nobuhiro was appointed Shôgun over all Japan. Not that the appointment without the necessary military gives him more authority, but seeing this important title in such unworthy hands makes my blade tremble. I sense that there will be more war in central Honshû.
Not only that the Hôjô, as well as the Uesugi began manouvring with considerable army sizes, but also do the Imagawa come very close to our western Honshû belongings and need to be treated carefully.

News from western Honshû state that the Imagawa forces have withdrawn from Iwami, probably due to Buddhist resistance against a Christian regime. It makes me happy to see that there is such a strong faith in my believing brothers.
Still, with the new General, young Tokugawa Ieyasu, a military genius will take lead over some of the Imagawa forces. He is said to be closely related to Imagawa Yoshimoto, who even seems to treat him like a son and possible heir to his considerable estate. I need to convince my father to take action against the Imagawa as long as they are weak enough.

Imagawa pushed forward into Kawachi and thereby set foot on mid western Honshû. He will be able to hold this province against massive armies, having pulled down most of the bridges on one's way into the province.
Still, he is surrounded by the massive Samurai armies that resist against Oda's campaign of bringing Kyôto under control. If they bring themselves to strike they will surely be victorious.


Record of Oda Nobuhiro, dated 1563
These honourless dogs field massive armies around Kyôto and will require time to be dealt with. My friend and ally Imagawa reported problems keeping his own borders and therefore can not assist me in my campaign of securing our Great Emperor's capital.


Record of Takeda Shingen, dated 1564
A great victory was reported today. My father's trusted general Obata Toramori took Mikawa out of the untrustworthy Imagawa hands and made it part of our Great Empire. From what I heard, the incapable brother of Imagawa Yoshimoto, Imagawa Yoshitsune, was way to slow in blocking out storm on the bridge and there got overrun by Takeda hooves. That cost him not only his head, but also his honour and his brother's province. Totomi will be the next to fall, so our lands can be cleared of the filthy Christians!
On behalf of my father I ordered to double security at our wester Honshû borders. Since Imagawa is weak in Totomi and knows that he does not stand a chance he will probably strike where he is strong.

Last Words of Lord Takeda Nobutora, Noto, 1577
The Oda forces have crossed the border, and hundreds of ships have appeared on the horizon. They flag the light blue Imagawa emblem. It's Tokugawa.
This battle will be decisive. Our informant in Sado has reported a very large amount of cavalry entering the ships. My army is waiting in the very north of Noto to face it's fate withut being attacked from two sides. We will either defeat these filthy intruders or die as heroes.
Still, facing my likely death on the battlefield, I want to speak honestly: the glory of the Great Takeda Clan has crumbled in my hands. Tokugawa has taken the heads of both my sons and pushed us out of the Kantô.
The downfall started after successfully taking Mikawa. Our invasion of Totomi was joined by Hôjô forces from the East, but the Imagawa troops routed both armies by taking their generals' heads with the despicable use of fire weapons.
In the meantime their was civil war in the Chûgoku area. Imagawa troops as well as ronin forces slowly took over our lands, raiding, burning and slaughtering. Roaming armies engage in nonstatic fights aorund Aki while Hôjô and my forces keep invading Totomi without success.
The Imagawa Men of Shadows started organising loyalist rebellions in Mikawa, eventually allowing Tokugawa Ieyasu to win his first victory against our forces. The battle was joined by the coward Uesugi forces, which were totally slaughtered down by my brave men, but tired them out enough to let Tokugawa snatch an easy victory.
At the same time the last Takeda banner is burned in Chûgoku chihô and Imagawa troops move forward towards Kyôto, not without buying ronin armies to speed up their progress. As it is clear now, Imagawa aimed for a stable border against the increasing Oda forces that were terrorising the Kansai.
Tokugawa sent a considerable amount of men by sea against the weakened Hôjô in Izu. The counterattack of the fanatic Lord Hôjô requests my plenty of men from Kai, but it succeeds. Still our losses are considerable, among them is Lord Hôjô himself. What is even worse is the simultaneous attack on Musashi by Tokugawa himself. Again their forces came by sea and despite being joined by Uesugi victorious.
Subsequently fell Sagami and Suruga into Tokugawa's hands and the Hôjô clan was extinguished. Young Tokugawa, apparently already assigned heir to the Imagawa domain and in charge of all holdings east of Kyôto, aimed for Kai. His attack was to massive to withstand, so we withdrew to Shinano, loosing our richest province. Still the prospects were good, since from mountaneous Shinano we can very much attack everywhere without being spotted early enough to shift forces. Going and taking back Kai was perhaps one of the big mistakes of this war.
Another one is to allow Shingen to attack Musashi. Tokugawa knew that we needed Kai's mines to feed our soldiers, so he snatched Shinano from our back. Although Shingen's troops took Musashi in a bloody battle, my son lost his life, pouring the blood of my family into the water of Kanagawa.
Tokugawa used our difficult defensive situation to take over our rich backlands, Echigo, Dewa and Mutsu, and started mooving south, closing in on Musashi from both sides. We lost Kai to sheer majorities and got isolated in Musashi. I went to Noto, leaving my second son to die in another Kantô battle and being followed by my routing armies half a year later.
And this is where I stand. Seing both my sons die, being expelled from my homelands and facing to massive armies mooving towards the last castle I own.
If the Great Buddha still has a smile for me, may he grant me my last wish: let me take Tokugawa's Christian head today.


Report of the Noto Garrison to Lord Oda, 1577
My Lord,
Noto was taken and put under your command. Tokugawa Ieyasu agreed on leaving Noto to the Oda forces in exchange for the proposed amount of Koku. Still he insisted on having Takeda Nobutora's body, so I can not, as you requested, send you his head. I beg your pardon, my Lord.
Enclosed I send you the detailed battle report. As you had expected, Tokugawa really managed to let our troops take the major casualties by skirmishing with quick horse units and harassing the enemy troops from behind. For details, please consider the following documents.
Achika Motonaru

[...]



Comment:
Sorry for keeping it that short but, since I'm pretty busy atm I can not provide you with details not screens on this whole bunch of fights.