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CA : 94 End of Era!
🕑 Added 2025-01-11 16:00:01 +0000 UTCAfter the goal of dominating Hinomoto was proposed, the warriors of Aragane Station were filled with excitement. In a country with a long history of the lower class overtaking the upper, the idea of replacing the Shogun and ruling Hinomoto was met with great enthusiasm. Of course, this was also due to Altair's significant strength.
If Kenshou had suggested ruling Hinomoto, the outcome would have been very different.
After Altair declared his intention to dominate Hinomoto, Aragane Station mobilized. Kenshou took charge of logistics, while Altair began leading the warriors into action.
Throughout Hinomoto, aside from Kongoukaku and the northern regions, there were many other strongholds. Altair's task was to conquer them one by one.
The training exercises Altair planned were popular among the samurai. Their previous battles against the Kabane, to be honest, didn't give them much experience. Recently, their attacks on the Kabane had mostly relied on sheer numbers. In the past, they didn't have the weapons to fight the Kabane, but now that they did, they could charge in and cut them down.
In reality, fighting humans was what the warriors were most skilled at. The samurai class was created to oppress the lower class, so fighting other humans required little training.
After a brief training period, Altair led the samurai out in the armored train, ready to conquer other strongholds.
With Altair present, the samurai could conquer other strongholds with ease. City walls? Drawbridges? Those meant nothing to Altair.
While the people of other strongholds were still confused by the arrival of the armored train, Altair had already diminished his presence, sneaked into the stations, and manually lowered the drawbridge. Anyone who tried to stop him would find themselves ambushed by his open attack and swiftly eliminated.
A city would fall to the samurai in no time.
As for the station lords or the nobles within, those who surrendered could live, but anyone who dared argue was immediately beheaded by Altair.
In this era, no noble was worth sparing.
In this manner, Altair advanced rapidly, conquering one city every two days. In just one month, he had taken over the entire Kansai region. As for Kyushu and Shikoku, they would be dealt with later. For now, he left them alone.
After conquering the Kansai region, Altair returned to Aragane Station. During this period of development, especially after taking over Kansai, the population of Aragane Station grew significantly.
Every time a city was conquered, Altair had the warriors round up many civilians to replenish the population of Aragane Station. These civilians provided both labor and future soldiers. By reducing the population of these fortress stations, Altair also ensured they lacked the strength to resist.
Altair couldn't afford to station troops in every city. If he spread his forces too thin, his main army would dwindle. For now, the strategy was to conquer, loot the nobles, take some civilians, and then leave the cities alone.
Once Aragane Station's population increased and new soldiers were trained, he would send armies to garrison the cities.
This strategy was borrowed from a certain country.
You pay for our troops to garrison your city... everyone wins!
After conquering Kansai, Aragane Station began focusing its efforts northward. The drama within Kongoukaku had not yet come to an end.
Using spies placed within Kongoukaku and other fortress stations, Kenshou was well-informed of every major event happening around Kongoukaku.
The internal struggle within Kongoukaku had temporarily ceased. The third son had gained control of Kongoukaku but not entirely. The youngest son had not been killed; instead, he was imprisoned within Kongoukaku. Though he seemed to be out of the running, a portion of the power still lay with him. Additionally, the Shogun's daughters each controlled a part of the forces, but for now, the third son had suppressed them.
Meanwhile, the second son, leading forces from Hokkaido, had taken over a stronghold north of Kongoukaku. He was now very close, and a battle could break out at any moment. The two sides were in a stalemate, with the third son refusing to let the second enter the city and the second determined to force his way in. What had started as a standoff had now escalated into small skirmishes, leaving plenty of time for both sides to continue their conflict.
After Kenshou reported all this to Altair, Altair was unfazed. He ordered both the Koutetsujou and the armored train to depart, loaded with fully armed samurai, heading straight for Kongoukaku.
The strongholds surrounding Kongoukaku tried to resist but were easily overwhelmed by Altair, who blasted open their gates. Once the gates were breached, they had no way to defend themselves. As always, Altair decapitated the station lords and nobles, while half of the civilians were taken to populate the outer city being built around Aragane Station.
Soon, the area around Kongoukaku was divided. The third son controlled Kongoukaku itself, the second son held all the northern territories, including Hokkaido, and Altair controlled everything south of Kongoukaku, including the entire Kansai region.
Thus, the power struggle across Hinomoto became a three-way standoff centered on Kongoukaku.
The third son was dumbfounded. After finally securing control of Kongoukaku, the north had fallen to his second brother, and now the south was overrun by Altair. He had nothing left but Kongoukaku itself!
Desperate, the third son sent emissaries to Altair, proposing peace. He acknowledged that while his second brother only controlled Hokkaido and one other station, Altair had conquered so much more, making Altair the more formidable threat. The third son hoped to hold off Altair for now, deal with his second brother first, and then unite the north before facing Altair.
He told Altair that if Altair insisted on attacking, he would ally with the second son to resist him.
Altair wasn't in a hurry to strike, curious to see how the third and second sons would play their hands. He agreed to the peace talks but demanded that the third son supply him with abundant resources or he wouldn't withdraw his forces.
Kongoukaku was stockpiled with supplies, meant to sustain the city's inhabitants in case the outer stations fell. After agreeing to the terms, the third son handed over a third of these supplies to Altair.
And thus, the era of a three-way power struggle in Hinomoto began!
This era, however, came to an end just one month later.
