Reincarnated as a Warlord in a Sengoku Era - Chapter 2.2

A Crushing Defeat, and a Letter (2)

“Our ally has been defeated!!”

“WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!?”

It’s a man’s surprised voice. Though for me, our loss isn’t that much of a surprise.

Let’s see… the current situation is…

Under the request of Hosokawa Harumoto, my grandfather, Takeda Nobutoyo, sent soldiers along with his senior vassal, Henmi Masatsune, to Tanba Province. They fought with Miyoshi and suffered a defeat. A crushing defeat.

The commander in Miyoshi side is Matsunaga. Not Matsunaga Danjou^[6] but his younger brother Matsunaga (Bizen Kami)^[7] Nagayori.

Though no matter which Matsunaga they fought, the result won’t change. Both brothers are skilled generals. Or rather, Wakasa is probably the one that’s too weak.

Other than losing in terms of commander, the biggest reason they lost is that they underestimated the Miyoshi clan. The current head of the Miyoshi clan, Chikuzen Kami, Miyoshi Nagayoshi, is a famous historical figure who will later be known as the ‘Viceroy of Japan.’ Still, the people in this era had no way of knowing that.

They only know that the Miyoshi clan is the vassal of the Hosokawa clan, the kanrei^[8] of the Ashikaga clan. From the Ashikaga’s perspective, Miyoshi is the vassal of its vassals. When everyone realizes how strong Miyoshi is, it’s already too late.

Even before the current war, it’s already evident that the Miyoshi side was superior to the Hosokawa side, but grandfather still sent soldiers to Tanba. Foolish move. I know that the Hosokawa are on the same side as my uncle, the shogun, but sending soldiers should be based on the benefit we reap, not some familial ties.

I can imagine civil unrest will occur soon. After all, no one will follow a ruler who makes a foolish decision. The civil unrest will start countless battles, be it between father and son, siblings, or lord and vassal. This incident will also cause Henmi Masatsune to resent grandfather, father, and me.

Sigh… Grandfather is an inept ruler. That’s why the Wakasa Takeda clan fell in the future. He spent too much time on renga.

If I just let the clan be, it will head full speed toward destruction. I need to do something, but what? With the body of three years old, I can’t even draw a bow.

Hmm… There’s one thing that I can use. Connection. This alone Wakasa Takeda clan had an abundance. First, mother is the younger sister of the 13th Sei-I Taishogun.

Second, grandmother is the daughter of the renowned wise ruler, Rokkaku Sadayori^[9]. Unfortunately, Sadayori had passed away, but his son Yoshikata was also a capable ruler.

Third, grandaunt, grandfather’s younger sister, daughter of Takeda Motomitsu. She married the second son^[10] of Konoe Hisamich. Hisamichi is a kampaku^[11] and daijou daijin^[12] of the emperor. With that, the Wakasa Takeda clan also had a connection to the imperial court.

Though the second son is no longer a member of a Sekke house^[13] He’s still a member of a Seiga house who’s ranked right below Sekke. He’s the genji chouja^[14]  and the current head of the Koga clan. It won’t be difficult to foster a good relationship with the imperial court with his existence.

It’s troublesome that the clan is currently hostile to Miyoshi. Because of that, the clan keeps getting attacked by Miyoshi and its vassal, including the Matsunaga Clan. I need to think of a way to defend the clan from Miyoshi’s attack. Will they accept if the clan surrender….

…Nope. I don’t think so, at least now. Then my only choice is to defend, and for that, I need to think about who among the many connections that the clan has that I can rope in to be my ally. A talented person who will support me, and in return, I will also make sure to support them. Most importantly, they must become my ally, not the Takeda clan.

As I walked with Denza, that had just returned, I dug into my memories to search for a suitable person. Excellent vassals currently receiving cold treatment from their lord will be the easiest to persuade.

Then, is it better to aim for someone who is still unknown? Or is it better to aim for someone who is already known?

Maybe Gamou^[15] of Rokkaku clan? He’s skilled. Plus, I can also foster my relationship with the Rokkaku clan… No. I don’t even know him. How can I suddenly contact him? How about… Hosokawa Fujikata, who’s serving the Ashikaga Clan…Same problem with Gamou.

Anyone else? A skilled person who I can contact easily…Ah!

“Denzaemon. Write a letter in my stead and deliver it.”

“A letter?”

I decided on one person. A truly excellent person who had carved his name into the history book.

You need to strike the iron while it’s hot. Denza immediately prepared tools to write a letter. I asked him because now, It’s still hard for me to read, let alone write. The Japanese used in this era is different from the Japanese I’m used to.

“The letter is for my grandaunt.”

“For Maki-sama? Understood. Then, what the content of the letter will be?”

“Tell grandaunt that I really wanted to talk to her, so please if she has time, ask her to visit Obama to play.”

Maki. Takeda Nobutoyo a.k.a grandfather’s elder sister. She’s married into the Akechi clan and the mother of that Akechi Jubei Mitsuhide^[16].

Though according to historical records she’s supposed to be father’s elder sister. That would mean that Grandaunt Maki is around the same age as her son, Jubei. That’s impossible.

The historical record must have gotten mixed up somewhere.

A normal thing to happen to a few centuries-old historical records. Not to mention that the record of women in the Sengoku Era is few.

No matter what, I need to persuade Jubei to become my ally. Only with that, I can be a bit relaxed.

The situation in the clan keeps worsening every minute. One of the clan’s senior vassals, The Awaya clan had started to make its move. There’s also the Henmi clan who held doubts toward the Wakasa Takeda clan because of the incident with Masatsune.

The relationship between father and grandfather also started to crack. I can’t say I’m safe either.

Sigh… Why am I reincarnated into The Wakasa Takeda clan, not the Kai Takeda clan?

?????????????

[Current state of affair]

Takeda Magoinumaru – 3 years old (Sengoku era age)

Vassal: Kumagai Denzaemon

Equipment: None.

Position : Heir of Wakasa Takeda clan.

Territory: None.

Specialty: None.

Currently investing: Nothing

?

T/N:

[6] Another famous military commander and daimyo (provincial lord) in Sengoku era. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/person/Hisahide%20MATSUNAGA.html? 

[7]Kami is a title of a provincial lord appointed by the emperor but like any others court title It has no power. ?

[8] Shogun’s regent. Originally position given to steward of Ashikaga clan but later on because Ashikaga clan influence weaken kanrei become a shogun’s regent https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/title/Kanrei.html  ?

[9] Famous for being a well rounded ruler https://sengokujidai.org/characters-and-clans%E3%80%8C%E4%BA%BA%E7%89%A9%E3%83%BB%E6%B0%8F%E3%80%8D/sengoku-daimyo%E3%80%8C%E6%88%A6%E5%9B%BD%E5%A4%A7%E5%90%8D%E3%81%AE%E4%B8%80%E8%A6%A7%E3%80%8D/rokkaku-sadayori%E3%80%8C%E5%85%AD%E8%A7%92%E5%AE%9A%E9%A0%BC%E3%80%8D/ ?

[10]Koga Harumichi/Haremichi. He was ‘given’ to the Koga clan to be adopted because Koga clan had no heir. That’s why his surname is Koga, not Konoe. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/person/Haremichi%20KOGA.html  ?

[11]Originally position of emperor’s regent, but in the Sengoku era, kampaku had weak political power. It’s still the highest rank among court nobles and commands the most authority in the imperial court.?

[12] Highest rank among the daijin a.k.a court minister. It’s always only an honorary position given to the emperor’s teacher with no political power, even when the emperor still ruled Japan.?

[13] Highest rank of nobility house https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_regent_houses ?

[14] hereditary title given to the person with highest court rank among member of Genji, i.e clan who had blood relation to the imperial family. Koga clan is one of the Genji. https://www.japanese-wiki-corpus.org/title/Genji%20choja.html

info about the genji: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamoto_clan ?

[15] Gamou Katahide, another well-known samurai clan. https://sengokujidai.org/characters-and-clans%E3%80%8C%E4%BA%BA%E7%89%A9%E3%83%BB%E6%B0%8F%E3%80%8D/characters/gamo-katahide%E3%80%8C%E8%92%B2%E7%94%9F%E8%B3%A2%E7%A7%80%E3%80%8D/ ?

[16] The man who is famous for assasinating Oda Nobunaga. Oda Nobunaga is the person that nearly succeded in unitng Japan.

https://sengokujidai.org/characters-and-clans%e3%80%8c%e4%ba%ba%e7%89%a9%e3%83%bb%e6%b0%8f%e3%80%8d/daimyo%e3%80%8c%e5%a4%a7%e5%90%8d%e3%81%ae%e4%b8%80%e8%a6%a7%e3%80%8d/akechi-mitsuhide%e3%80%8c%e6%98%8e%e6%99%ba%e5%85%89%e7%a7%80%e3%80%8d/ ?