Rumor had it that Takeda Nobutora was insane. He had miraculously survived the geisha assassination attempt but the poison had supposedly affected his mind. The generals he had called to a meeting were apprehensive. The fact that he was stroking his ear with a feather and chewing on his pinky while his top general advised him did not ease their anxiety.
"My lord" his advisor said, "an empire divided can not stand"
Nobutora nodded his head in agreement. Perhaps this wouldn't be so bad after all the generals thought. His advisor relaxed a little and continued:
"We should abandon Aki to the Mori and launch an all out assault on Musashi. With you leading us we will secure the rich farmland that is worth more than Aki Bingo and Bitchu combined!"
"Nonsense!" said Nobutora. "It is quite clear that we must conquer the provinces in between. Japan must be split in half, straight down the middle, the pigeon god demands it!"
One of the generals protested, and was immediately killed by the daimyo's bodyguard. The others agreed that the plan was excellent. Mimasaka, Harima, Tamba, Yamashiro, Omi, Mino and Shinano would connect the two halves once conquered. A mere 7 provinces the most optimistic of the generals said. The more realistic minded thought to themselves that such a chain would be indefensible. Suo, Kozuke, Shimotsuke and muwa would complete the split of honshu, and then all that remained would be awaji, sanuki, iyo, bungo, and chikugo would complete the split. It was a daunting task but the generals had no choice other than to make the best of it and wait for Nobutora to die. The rules he had laid out were that no other provinces were to be occupied although they were allowed to raid, that they were not to assassinate the royalty of other clans and were to leave them alive on the battlefield if possible. As for nobutora himself he declared that he was to old for battle (despite being in his 30's) and that he would not leave the castle in Kai.
(Sengoku Jidai, Expert, conquer japan or last 70 years)
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Starting of the campaign I decide I must face the mori first. Taking and holding shinano would require all my strength and lord mori will be coming for me on day one. I build a gold mine in Kai, an archery dojo in Aki, and train an ashigaru in Kai. Shifting troops over to the west.
Not a great start. Mori had 300 troops vs my 180 in bingo and if I recall correctly the Mori don't have many ashigaru. I decline combat. He sends a yari samurai and an archer unit against my CA in Bitchu which I wipe out with a loss of 1. I see that Mimasaka is empty, it won't be for long of course but I can wipe out a couple infantry units with a cavalry archer. I send it into Mimasaka and the bulk of my troops into bingo. Hopefully I can destroy the buildings of Mimasaka and cripple the mori early.
Ouch. Lord mori himself defends Mimasaka. Impossible to win but I can't retreat since the Mori army has taken bitchu. I take out half the ashigaru unit accompanying lord mori before routing. My only ranked general gone. I simply can't let them get entrenched in bitchu though, especially since it's one of the few decent koku value provinces over here.
Youch, not used to losing battles on shogun. Mori moves to defend bitchu and brings troops with him. I have about a 150 less than them. I try my luck anyway and get defeated, about 150 lost for 90 killed. I'm going to have to settle back and build up. Fortunately things are going well economically, gold mine in Kai and a silver mine in Aki. Only managed to get one alliance (hojo) before my emissary was assassinated though.
Invading Suo. Can't have the Mori training troops over there and need to close down that front as much as I can (hah). Not my best battle, I'm a bit rusty I'm afraid, lost a unit of CA. I've been training archers and Aki and cavalry in Kai and sending them over, reinforced Kai a bit as well.
Hmm, Mori suggests peace...
To be continued...
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