Guide of Bait Tactics

[Maltz]

One. Attack, or Defend


"Did you summon me, my lord?"
"Yes. I have a hard decision to make, so I wish to hear about your opinion."
"I am extremely honored. What is the decision to make?"
"We have successfully taken two provinces from Shimazu, but as you know, there were hardly any defenders in the castle. Now our ninja reports that Shimazu's army is marching straight at us, led by their Daimyo Shimazu Takahisa."
"Shimazu must be very angry that we stole two provinces from them."
"Our ninja reported that Shimazu Takahisa really likes to drink tea at night. So he offered to try poisoning him..."
"I see. So the decision is whether to proceed with poisons. My lord, from a Buddhist's point of view, all creatures are equal and..."
"Oh that's not the decision. Shimazu Takahisa has been sent back to Hyuga on a stretcher. We leave him alive so the commander of the army, Shimazu Yoshihisa, remains as the heir of the clan, and does not inspire his men as much as a daimyo does."
"That... was very thoughtful, my lord."
"What we want to decide is how to approach the following battle. Our power is not as strong as Shimazu's army, which consists of mainly Katana Samurai. We will be hurt badly."
"What are our options?"
Option One: we can defend in the Osumi castle. Option Two: We give up Osumi and let the Shimazu take the castle. Then we counterattack and assault the castle, looking for a way to hurt their Katana Samurai with our numerous Bow Ashigaru from outside the walls. Option Three: We meet them on the field of Hyuga."
"Hm... according to my cousin, option One is probably the worst. Option Two sounds good but there is no guarantee that Shimazu will stay inside the castle. Option Three sounds like certain death, but wouldn't meeting them on the field gives us a chance to use Bait Tactics? What is it about?"
"Actually I could not find it in Sun-Tzu's The Art of War..."
"Too bad..."
"But I accidentally found it in another book! The Art of Gore by Sun-tzu's contemporary Mao-tzu. "
"I have never heard of this Mao-tzu..."
"Neither have I. But here is actually a chapter dedicated to Bait Tactics. Let me quote the second line:"

2. In order to use Bait Tactics, we have to attack on the field.

"Hm... we can do that..."
"So let's do it!"
"But we are not even sure whether Bait Tactics will work!"
"Here I quote the first line:"

1. If you have no confidence to win a battle the hard way, why not try the easy way?

"There is a laughing drawing on the book!"



"To battle!"
"To my cousin's prophecy!"

Note: Ikko-Ikki will lose the combat if it is automatically resolved.