The sound of a man screaming in agony and pain echoes throughout the camp of the Takeda clan and a brightly lit fire in the middle of Katsuyori Takeda northern camp catches the attention of nearly everyone around the area. In the center of the fire is the condemned prisoner chained to a wooden stake who is a poor soul who was once a samurai under the Takeda clan, but he has done the unforgivable and will now serve as a warning to the rest of the army. The poor retched soul fell asleep on guard duty and after the Imagawa clans surprise night attack and Shingen had given the order that any guards found asleep on duty would pay with their lives. Barely three days after the Imagawa attack a guard stationed near the supply depot was found dozing off near the rice storage and upon discovery of his neglect was immediately brought before Shingen who passed judgement on him with no mercy. Everyone upon seeing the fate of this samurai understood the seriousness of the situation and wanted to avoid that fate of this soldier and stayed extra vigilant while on guard. The next morning the ditch was finally completed and the encirclement around Sunpu castle was complete despite the heavy price that was paid in blood this new formation would now allow the Takeda to begin a new phase of the siege.

  Ryuzen finally fully recovered from destroying Shimazu ships sat in his tent with Enkai playing go, and he makes his first move in the game and then speaks, "Enkai I have been thinking on how to break this siege, but I would like your input" Enkai replied, "I am at your service my lord what is on your mind?" "A frontal attack is impossible as we would lose half the army in scaling the outer wall, if we try to wait to starve them out, they have enough supplies to last at least a year hold up in the castle. I have considered bombardment of the castle but with the thickness of the walls we may not be able to penetrate it enough to effectively break through the castle. Shingen has assigned me with figuring out a way to break the outer wall and I have been noticing as the ditch has been dug that the soil is quite soft an easy to remove because of the fertile plain. Is it possible to dig under the walls?" Enkai then took a sip of his green tea from his cup and moved his next piece on the board and replied, "Hmm, dig a tunnel under the wall and moat a most challenging plan, I assume we are to breach these walls by collapsing then with fire and gunpowder and there by opening a way for the army to take the outer wall before we go at the rest of the castle. It is possible and I have contacts with miners who know how to build a proper tunnel without it collapsing in our heads. The risk I see is that if we are discovered before we complete the tunnel, they could build a tunnel or hole to either smoke us out or burn us out. A risky endeavor but not impossible, we would need the enemy's attention to be elsewhere while we dig. Although are artillery is ineffective since they destroyed are bigger cannons, but I believe it is enough to keep the enemies heads down while we start digging the tunnel. Once the tunnel entrance is complete, we can then dig without notice. This is obvious but we should use the ditch as cover through as we dig toward the western part of the outer wall. The dirt can easily be removed through northern camp into the woods in the mountain via the ditch at night with no torch light. I will have Hanbei message the miners in secret in Kai to have them come right away although it may take a couple of days for them to arrive" "Excellent Enkai exactly what I was looking for once the miners arrive, we will coordinate the necessary supplies for wood and equipment needed as well as the bombardment to start. Please coordinate and supervise the digging and keep me informed of any changes" "As you command my lord" With the conversation over Enkai rose and bowed to Ryuzen and left to find Hanbei to fetch the miners in Kai.

  Meanwhile at the supply depot on the eastern side of the camp Gensei is sitting on a mat playing his biwa to the enjoyment of the servants and soldiers working at the supply depot. The sound of his rhythmically music playing that very few musicians could match his talent and to the delight of the soldiers who enjoyed listening to this blind musician gave them relaxing respite to not think about the siege and war for just a little while eased the tensions in the camp. Yet among the relaxed atmosphere the blind musician listened for breathing, and heartbeats, whispers of conversations. Hanzo disguised as a samurai assigned to guard Gensei is observing the supply depot workers as they move about moving supplies in and out of the depot to be distributed to various kitchens in the camp. There are officers observing workers as they measure rice to be put into sacks, workers leaving with sacks to be taken to the kitchens and just a hub of busy activity trying to feed a hungry army of 14.000 soldiers. Yet among the activity there was one with labored breathing that caught Gensei ear and this particular person heartbeat was beating too rapidly to be exhausted by work was moving back and forth in the supply depot and would thunder in the ears of Gensei as he played that he then nodded his head. It was a signal to Hanzo that something was wrong and to observe the supply depot. Hanzo had been watching the activity when he notices something odd by one of the workers that seemed out of place. He is dressed in peasants clothing in a drab gray trousers and shirt with straw sandals and dressed the same as the other workers, but he wasn't carrying any rice sacks and actually not doing anything accept pacing around the depot. He would be almost unnoticed among all the activity if Gensei had not signaled Hanzo something was off; this strange worker was a little taller than the other workers and unlike the regular workers who were thin and malnourished from a poor diet this one was looked too healthy and fit. He looked young and not beaten down and wrinkled by life. His dark hair looked clean and groomed. Hanzo experience was telling him he was a spy or saboteur. As he watched him walk and pace it appeared as if he was measuring the layout of the supply depot as he would stop at certain intervals and turn. Hanzo had a choice let this man go and follow him but risk the supply depot being sabotaged at some point later if he failed to follow him and lost him or take him now and interrogate him and find out who is he, but it may let his compatriots know that their plans are discovered and they will escape. Hanzo made his way discreetly to the entrance of the supply depot and informed the guards to keep this exit blocked, he then moved to where the young man was pacing and the young man noticed Hanzo walking toward him that the color from his face drained and then he attempted to run toward the exit. Hanzo dashed toward him and tackled him to the ground and slammed him to the ground pinning him and guards from the entrance assisted him and quickly tying him and restrained him. The whole incident was done in less than two minutes. The whole supply depot was shocked by the unexpected scene that worked stopped and everyone was staring at Hanzo and his prisoner. Gensei quickly put his instrument away and rolled his mat and then stated to Hanzo, "Shall we take this man to our lord to interrogate" Hanzo nodded and with an escort of guards they brought this young man before Ryuzen tent.

  Ryuzen then exited the tent and upon seeing the prisoner he observed that he was trembling with fear and shaking. Gensei was standing next to him and Hanzo was standing behind him. Ryuzen then gestured for them to bring the prisoner in his tent and once he was placed in the center of the tent on his knees with Hanzo and Gensei on his right and left side with a guard behind the prisoner the interrogation began. Ryuzen then spoke, "Who are you and why were you in the supply depot?" The prisoner would not speak and only look at the ground. "Understand if you do not speak this will go very badly for you fast. So, tell me who are you?" Again, the prisoner would not speak. Ryuzen then gestured his hand at Hanzo and as the young man was tied with both hands behind his back, he went around grabbed his left index finger and began to put pressure on it. Ryzunen did not like using such methods in his heart, but he knew lives were at stake if this young man did not speak" Speak or suffer the consequences of your silence" Again the young man said nothing. Then Ryuzen gestured Hanzo and he broke the young man's index finger, and he screams in pain and begins breathing heavier because of the pain. "I am Saito Haronobu he cried out" "Why were you in the depot?" Again, silence and then Hanzo breaks his left pinky finger, and Saito cries out with tears. "I was to measure the distance of the depot for sabotage to burn the rice with oil lamps" The young man then began to explain he was from the Kanto region in the Hojo lands and was hired by the Fuma clan to burn the rice in exchange for money. He was the son of a minor samurai and was desperate for money to pay his father's debt owed to the Hojo clan in taxes. He did not know the name of the ninja who hired him, but Ryuzen suspected it was Kotaro Fuma as he was the same ninja who tried to kidnap Isabell and was actively working for Melanios. Once the interrogation was complete the young man was brought to the stockades and confined to one of the cells while Shingen was informed of the spy and his attempt to burn the supply depot. Ryuzen already knew this poor young man's fate and sympathized with his plight but if he had succeeded, many more lives would have been lost and any spy or saboteur found would be an automatic death sentence if caught. As expected, Shingen was grateful for Ryuzen and his men in finding the saboteur and the young was sentenced to death and by sundown his head was on a pike as a warning to any other would-be spies.

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  A few days later and the miners hired by Enkai had arrived and the preparations for the tunnel had begun. Wood for the tunnels was secretly being harvested from the trees on the mountain near Sunpu Castle at night and within two days all the wood and equipment was ready for the tunnel to begin. Then Shingen on that evening after sundown ordered a bombardment on the castle to begin. Enkai with the miners, peasant workers, and engineers all sat low in the trench waiting for the bombardment to begin. The designated spot in the ditch had been marked where the digging was to begin. Then a thunderous noise rang out on the plain and several small cannons began firing into the walls of the castle. Twenty-five cannons of various sizes all firing at once caught the Imagawa clan off guard and several men on the walls had been injured or killed at the initial volley and the rest began to run for cover as firing continued. In the early evening sky plumes of black smoke began to billow into the sky as well as small glowing fires from the outer wall. With the sound of cannons firing Enkai ordered the digging of the tunnel to begin. The dirt was being carried out in buckets handed off to a long line of hands all the way to the northern camps section and then loaded onto wagons and under the cover of darkness unloaded in the mountains. With reckless speed and ingenuity, the entrance was finished by dawn as the bombardment had ended. Enkai looked with satisfaction at the tunnels progress and then left orders for the next shift of workers digging the tunnel and then went to his tent for rest. Over the next two weeks as the miners dug the tunnel, they finally reached under the moat and another twenty feet to go before they were under the wall. At same time during the all the tunneling Okabe was sending out teams of samurai to hit the frontlines of the Takeda causing some damage but never realized the tunnel was being dug under the wall. Even though these minor raids were a constant source of annoyance, Shingen respected their tenacity and samurai spirit and even though he planned on executing the brat, but he was thinking of giving the surviving samurai a choice to join his side when the siege was over. Dirt was becoming an issue as a mountain of dirt began to pile up in the forest and it was becoming apparent to the casual observer that something was amiss with all this new dirt piling up in the mountains. Luckily the tunnel was finally complete, and Enkai then ordered the gunpowder barrels to be placed under the walls in the tunnels and extremely long fuse was placed in the tunnels.

  Meanwhile Okabe is eating in his private chambers and drinking a cup of sake when all of sudden the entire castle shakes violently and he hears a thunderous roar. He races to the inner wall to see what has happened and to his horror the western part of the outer wall has collapsed under an explosion. On plain he sees thousands of Takeda samurai rushing towards the breach of the wall. He knows his remaining men on that side of the wall have no chance of fighting off an army of that size. He then orders a general retreat into the inner wall of the castle. He then orders his remaining archers and muskets to line the inner wall and to fire at any pursuing Takeda samurai pursuing the retreating Imagawa. Then he sees the first elements of the Takeda soldiers making their way through the rubble of the outer wall and they are met by the surviving samurai on the western wall, and a small battle begins of Imagawa samurai desperately fighting to hold off the Takeda for the rest of the people in the outer wall courtyard to retreat to the inner wall. Spears, katanas, rocks, and bare hands are used to fight off the Takeda but there are only 110 samurai against several thousand enemy soldiers pushing forward into the breach and after twenty minutes the fight by the breach in the wall is over. However, there sacrifice allowed the remaining samurai and people to enter the inner wall courtyard and close the gates shut. The Takeda chose not to pursue and simply occupied the remaining parts of the outer wall that were still intact. Okabe knew the situation was now almost at a foregone conclusion that the siege was now over and now he would need to negotiate a surrender. He did all he could do to try to hold the Takeda back and now he must negotiate with the Tiger of Kai who is one of the most cunning and ruthless daimyo in all of Japan.

  By the next morning a messenger from the Takeda was sent to speak with the daimyo of the Imagawa. It was then revealed to the Takeda from Okabe that the daimyo had fled the castle before the Takeda had surrounded Sunpu castle. Then the next person in charge of the castle was asked to join Shingen at his meeting tent for negotiations. Okabe agreed to meet the daimyo and before he left the castle he stared at the men, women, and children and Lady Keisho in the castle and inner wall and knew that their lives were all that mattered and if had to forfeit his life for them to be spared he would gladly give his life and prepared his mind for that end and made peace with it.

  Under a flag of truce Okabe was escorted by the Takeda guards to Shingen's meeting tent. When he made his way into the entrance he saw Shingen in his famous Buddhist monk robes with shaved head and holding jade Buddhist prayer beads and to his left was his son in red crimson samurai robes with the Takeda crest on his clothing must be Katsuyori Takeda and to his right he saw a young man with hideous scars on his face with well-groomed mustache and clean shaven in all black samurai robes with a crest of a dragon circling the rising sun and Okabe assumed in his mind that this must be the famed general nicknamed Dragon of the Fields Ryuzen Kuroda. After he entered the tent Okabe immediately bowed face down to Shingen as he was daimyo and Okabe was not. Shingen then spoke, "So you are the one responsible for all the trouble during this siege against my army. I must commend you for a job well done in defending your lord's castle. Honestly, I am relieved to hear it was you and not actually your lord since I feel that brat has no true talents except for self-preservation. You may rise and speak to tell me about your proposal on how to end this siege" Okabe rose and still sitting looking at Shingen and said, "My lord I have only one request, please spare Lady Keisho and the remaining samurai and peasants inside the castle and I will gladly forfeit my life for their protection" "No that is not good enough" Okabe almost panicked after Shingen said that was not good enough and was about to speak when Shingen waived at him to stop and he continued. "You will not die and I will furthermore spare the lives of Lady Keisho and all the people in the castle provided that you and the remaining samurai swear your loyalty to my clan and Lady Keisho will be allowed remain in Sunpu castle to live out her days in peace" Okabe overcome with relief and joy and bowed immediately and swore his undying loyalty to his new lord and clan. Thus, with the negotiations over the siege of Sunpu castle had ended and Ryuzen first step in surrounding the Hojo was complete and all that remained in this campaign was how to divide the spoils and whatever Ryuzen was given would be used in one day helping him defeat the Hojo and getting the orb of fate.