Chapter 358: Chapter 358

At a time of difficulty for the Hokitate Family, they were unable to gather military forces, and frequent harassment failed to achieve success, as they watched the Wanjin Army build a small blue-gray city with volcanic ash cement, with its defense system becoming ever more complete.

Because the city was located on the coast on the east side of the Deer Bell Plain, Harano named it "Deer Harbor," disregarding the fact that there was already a Deer City built by the river in Deer Bell County. Anyway, his naming skills were not strong, so he simply named the future administrative center of Ise Province.

Given the situation, the Hokitate Family increasingly found it difficult to make up their minds for a full attack; even after mobilizing forces for half a month, they were only a thousand or so more than the Wanjin Army, and their morale was quite unstable. Forcing a charge on the Deer Harbor defense line would result in casualties so concerning that just thinking about it made people feel uneasy.

Even if they could win, the Hokitate Family would most likely suffer significant damage. Moreover, after half a month of sporadic battles, the more they fought, the less confident they became.

Just then, Japan’s traditional typhoon season arrived, with temperatures suddenly falling and frequent rainfall creating a muddy terrain. At this point, even if Harano agreed to a dignified battle with the Hokitate Family, it would likely devolve into both sides rolling around in the mud, making it difficult to reach a decisive victory.

The situation was becoming increasingly awkward. The Hokitate Family lacked the capacity for a full attack to completely smash the Wanjin forces. In contrast, due to the increased risks of sailing during typhoon season, Wanjin’s reinforcements were almost cut off, and they were even more huddled in their positions.

The two sides continued to endure the standoff for another month.

In the context of Middle Ages warfare, a month was nothing. Often, sieges of fortified cities would last for at least half a year. However, famine was worsening in Ise Province. Paying tribute plunged many commoners into bankruptcy, and even more discovered that not only were their fields affected by disaster this year, but another important food source for commoners – various dried fruits from the wild – had also strangely experienced a significant reduction, while rats were increasing.

This era has reached a point where even rats are competing with people for food. Many commoners hoped to find something to eat in the wild in autumn, only to find that winter might be unbearable for their families, let alone complete spring cultivation the following year, leading to despair.

Everyone in the Hokitate Family now knew that they had to provide disaster relief, at least to ease the internal situation in Ise Province. But knowing was one thing; accomplishing it was another. Who would provide the relief?

Should the Hokitate Family provide unified relief, or should the samurais and the large clans individually offer aid?

Such matters requiring the offering of true silver are usually unwelcomed by the large clans. Back in the day, Oda Nobunaga tried to fix roads in Owari to boost the economy and sent people to urge compliance daily. Despite his efforts for half a year, not a single clan cooperated; all of them pretended, and the Ise clans were no different from those in Owari.

If the Hokitate Family finances all disaster relief on its own, they’re somewhat reluctant to do so. If their reserves are fully distributed to the commoners, what if they’re seized by local samurais and clans?

Moreover, if all their grain goes into disaster relief, how would they support the inevitable large battle with the Wanjin?

The Hokitate Family also considered purchasing grain urgently. After all, they earned some money from Wanjin this year. But the impact of the "empty ear disease" was larger than expected, with the whole Ise Peninsula being affected. Grain prices even soared after the autumn harvest, and even at high prices, not much grain could be bought quickly. Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs N0veI.Fiɾe.net

Typically, post-harvest is when grain prices are cheap, usually around six to seven hundred wen per shi, but within just over a month, grain prices on the Ise Peninsula have skyrocketed to over two kan per shi. Even in the Kinki area, prices increased significantly, and even miscellaneous grain prices were high.

Yes, Harano caused all of this. He purchased owls and frogs at high prices, and there were wise people on the Ise Peninsula as well. They bought cheaply from the Kinki area to exchange low-cost salt from Wanjin, causing a significant production drop in Kinki this year, although not as severe as on the Ise Peninsula.

As for further transportation, grain is a heavy commodity, and few dare to transport it by land, risking giving money to clans along the route. Even knowing that transporting grain to Ise this year would be highly profitable, few dared to do it.

Regarding sea transport...

The Wanjin Navy is no decoration. If anyone dares to transport, Harano will dare... Direct robbery gives a bad reputation, as Wanjin has always supported free trade and is fighting against water thieves, so they can’t play the role of water thieves but can intercept to forcibly purchase. In any case, grain is not going to flow into Ise.

After much attempt, the Hokitate Family couldn’t buy much grain even with money; only their allied Rokkaku family offered them a batch of miscellaneous grains to ease the situation, but no more. The Rokkaku family was busy fighting with Asai Nagamasa themselves; they didn’t have much to spare.

With local disasters and minimal external grain input, Harano comes to confront them, leading over six thousand soldiers from the Hokitate Family to eat army rations. They also have to conscript numerous Ashigaru to bring their own dried food and act as transport teams and laborers, escalating the famine in Ise, which finally exploded due to quantitative changes triggering qualitative changes.

Yes, Ah Man contributed to this. She actively commanded the "Life-saving Group" to spread rumors among the masses, learning fox cries and book-of-belly-fishing, based on stories Harano previously shared with her, conjuring various tricks. Some villages were ready to endure, but after instigation and incitement by the "Life-saving Group," seeing so many rioters, they took the opportunity to rise up, at least demanding local clans and even the Hokitate Family return some grain, so they could hold out until wild vegetables emerged next spring.

The five counties of the Hokitate Family were in complete chaos, with samurais rushing around suppressing unruly people, only to have troubles pop up elsewhere immediately after dealing with one.

Many commoners began banding together to conduct "samurai hunts." Given that they might not survive to the next spring, they decided to settle scores directly with the samurais.

After the typhoon season ended, having done nothing, Harano saw the Ise samurais entangled in a mess with their subjects, with the number of "Iki-zu" increasing rapidly.

Although commoners didn’t stand a chance in head-on battles against samurais, they knew local terrain well and excelled at sneak attacks and ambushes. They were even intricately connected with local clans and samurais, easily finding insiders, leading to several incidents of attacks against Earth Warriors’ residences and minor clan cities.

With smoke rising behind them and the proportions of unruly and rebellious people increasing, the major force of the Hokitate Family finally couldn’t hold on at the Wanjin military blockade at Deer Harbor. Several transport teams were robbed, becoming increasingly bold. Although there was little loss militarily, it was surely an ominous sign.

Furthermore, morale declined steadily; Kitahata Giyou isn’t like the mad Oda Nobunaga who had a complete separation of "farmers and soldiers." His Lang Faction was usually scattered in manors and villages farming, and with the rear a mess, naturally worried their homes might be robbed, completely unwilling to confront the Wanjin in this desolate spot.

The Ashigaru conscripted were in worse condition, with families on the brink of starvation. They were barred from returning to find food and instead commanded to prepare for warfare against Wanjin, dig trenches, and build fortifications...

Directly rebelling was daunting for them, as they didn’t want to die in vain facing the samurais of Lang Faction, but they could flee.

Numerous Ashigaru and even some Lang Faction started escaping, initially three or five slipping away at night, gradually evolving into whole teams exiting for tasks and never returning, even incidents where low-level samurai were surrounded and killed, with their Ashigaru collectively escaping.

By late autumn and early winter, the Hokitate Family themselves couldn’t hold on anymore. Without having fought a major battle or significant loss of life, they abandoned entrapping Wanjin here and withdrew proactively towards the Nongzhen City area.

Once they left, Harano no longer practiced the "Turtle Divine Skill" and finally extended his head slowly, harnessing horses to fortress carts, beginning to sweep the surroundings.

He had established his position firmly in Ise, and this ripe fruit of Ise was now ready for him to harvest.