Taiko. Part 114

Hideyoshi turned to the runners and addressed them directly. "Today is a day like no other in our lives. It is a great blessing for you to have been chosen to be the heralds of this day."

He continued with individual orders. "Twenty of you will announce to the villagesOn the road between Tarui and Nagahama that torches should be set along the roads at nightfall. Also, no obstructions like handcarts, stock, or lumber should be left in the way. Children should be kept indoors and bridges should be strengthened."

The twenty men on his right nodded simultaneously. To the remaining thirty men he gave the following instructions: "The rest of you go to Nagahama at top speed. Have the garrison prepare itself, and tell the elders of the towns and villages that military provisions should be placed along the roads that we'll be traveling." The fifty men ran off right away.

Hideyoshi immediately issued a command to the retainers around him and then mounted his black horse.

Just then Ujiie ran up unexpectedly. "My lord! Wait a moment!" Clinging to Hideyoshi's saddle, the warrior was weeping silently.

Leaving Ujiie alone in Gifu, with the possibility that he might communicate with n.o.butaka and rebel, had been a source of anxiety for Hideyoshi. To forestall betrayal, he ordered Horio Mosuke to stay with Ujiie.

Ujiie was mortified not only by the thought that he had been doubted but also by the realization that Mosuke would be left out of the most important battle of his life just because of him.

It was in response to those deep emotions that Ujiie now clung to the bridle of Hideyoshi's horse. "Even if it's not right for me to accompany you, I beg you to allow General Mosuke at least to be at your side. I'll be happy to disembowel myself right here to remove your anxiety!"

And he put his hand on his dagger.

"Keep your head, Ujiie!" Hideyoshi shouted, striking the man's hand with his whip. "Mosuke can follow me if he wants to come with me that much. But he should come after the army has left. And for that matter, we can't just leave you. You should come along too."

Almost insane with joy, Ujiie turned toward the staff headquarters and called out in a loud voice, "Lord Mosuke! Lord Mosuke! We've received permission to go! Come out and show your grat.i.tude."

The two men prostrated themselves on the ground, but all that remained was the sound of a whip in the wind. Hideyoshi's horse was already galloping off in the distance. Even his attendants were caught off guard and had to scramble to catch up.

The men on foot, as well as those who quickly mounted their horses, chased after their master all at once without any formation or order.

It was the Hour of the Ram. Not even two hours had pa.s.sed between the arrival of the first courier and Hideyoshi's departure. During that time, Hideyoshi had turned a defeat in northern Omi into an opportunity for victory. He had created a new strategy for his entire army on the spot. He had instructed couriers and sent them out with orders along the thirteen-league road to Kinomoto-the road that would be his path to all or nothing.

He had been resolved in both body and mind.

With the impetus of that resolve, he himself and a force of fifteen thousand men sped straight ahead, while five thousand men remained behind.

Hideyoshi and his advance guard entered Nagahama that afternoon at the Hour of the Monkey. One corps followed another, and the last men and horses to leave Ogaki must have been departing just about the same time the advance guard was entering Nagahama.

Hideyoshi was not negligent when he arrived at Nagahama, but immediately made preparations for taking the initiative against the enemy. In fact, he never even dismounted. After eating rice b.a.l.l.s and slaking his thirst with a ladle of water, he quickly departed from Nagahama and hurried on through Sone and Hayami. He arrived at Kinomoto at the Hour of the Dog.

It had taken them only five hours to travel from Ogaki, because they had come the entire way without stopping.

Hidenaga's fifteen thousand men were at Mount Tagami. Kinomoto was actually a post station on the road that skirted the eastern slope of the mountain. A division of the army on the peak was stationed there. Just outside the village of Jizo, the men had constructed an observation tower.

"Where are we? What's the name of this place?" Hideyoshi asked, pulling his galloping horse to an abrupt halt and holding on tightly.

"This is Jizo."

"We're close to the camp at Kinomoto."

The answers came from some of the retainers around him. Hideyoshi remained in the saddle.

"Give me some water," he ordered. Taking the ladle offered him, he swallowed down the water in one gulp and stretched for the first time since he had left Ogaki, then dismounted and quickly walked to the base of the watchtower and looked up to the sky. The tower was unroofed and had no stairway. The soldiers simply climbed up by stepping on roughly s.p.a.ced wooden footholds.

Suddenly Hideyoshi seemed to recall his days as a young foot soldier. Tying the cord of his commander's fan to the sword he was wearing, he began to climb to the top of the tower. His pages pushed him up by his hindquarters, and a sort of human ladder was formed.

"This is dangerous, my lord."

"Don't you need a ladder?"

The men below called to him, but Hideyoshi was already well over twenty feet from the ground.

The violent storm that had pa.s.sed over the plains of Mino and Owari had abated. The sky was clear and full of stars, and Lake Biwa and Lake Yogo were like two mirrors thrown onto the plain.

When Hideyoshi, who had seemed weary from the journey, stood on the tower-his resolute figure outlined against the night sky-he was far more happy than tired. The more dangerous the situation and the deeper his hardships, the happier he became. It was the happiness that arose from surmounting adversities and being able to turn and see them behind him, and he had experienced it to greater and lesser degrees since the time of his youth. He himself claimed that the greatest happiness of life was to stand at the difficult border between success and failure.

But now, as he gazed out over nearby Shizugatake and Mount Oiwa, he looked like a man who was confident of victory.

Hideyoshi, however, was far more cautious than most men. Now, as was his habit, he fully closed his eyes and placed himself in a position where the world was neither enemy nor ally. Extricating himself from earthly inconsistencies, he himself became the heart of the universe and listened for the declaration of heaven's will.

"It's just about finished up already," he muttered, finally displaying a smile. "That Sak.u.ma Genba came out looking so fresh and green. What could he have been dreaming of?"

Descending the tower, he immediately climbed halfway up Mount Tagami, where, he was greeted by Hidenaga. As soon as he finished giving Hidenaga his orders, Hideyoshi once again descended the mountain, pa.s.sed through Kuroda, crossed over Kannonzaka, went along the east of Yogo, and arrived at Mount Chausu, where he rested for the first since departing Ogaki.

He was accompanied by two thousand soldiers. His persimmon-colored silk armor coat was covered with the sweat and dust of the day. But it was in that dirty coat, and the steady movements of his military fan, that he gave out the instructions for the battle.

It was already late at night, somewhere between the second half of the Hour of the Boar and the first half of the Hour of the Rat.

Hachigamine lay to the east of Shizugatake. Genba had brought up a single corps there during the evening. His plan for the attack on Shizugatake the following morning was to act in concert with the vanguard at Iiurazaka and Shimizudani to the northwest and to isolate the enemy fortress.

Stars filled the entire sky. The mountains, however, covered with trees and shrubs, were as black as ink, and the path that wound through them was nothing more than a narrow woodcutters' trail.

One of the sentries grunted.

"What's going on?" another man asked.

"Come here and take a look," yet another man called from a little farther off. The sound of men rustling through the undergrowth could be heard, and then the figures of sentries appeared on the ridge.

"There seems to be a sort of glow in the sky," one of them said, pointing toward the southeast.

"Where?"

"From the right of that big cypress all the way to the south."

"What do you think it is?"

They all laughed.

"It must be the farmers near Otsu or Kuroda burning something."

"There shouldn't be any farmers left in the villages. They've all run away to the mountains."

"Well then, maybe it's the bonfires of the enemy stationed at Kinomoto."

"I don't think so. On a night when the clouds are low it would be different, but it's strange to see the sky colored like this on a clear night. There are too many trees blocking our view here, but we should be able to see if we climb up to the edge of that cliff."

"Hold up! That's dangerous!"

"If you slip, you'll fall all the way into the valley!"

They tried to stop him, but he climbed out onto the rock face, clinging to the vines. His silhouette looked like that of a monkey on top of the rocky mountain.

"Oh no! This is horrible!" he suddenly called out.

His exclamation startled everyone below.

"What is it? What do you see?"

The man on the ridge stood silently, almost as though he were in a daze. One after another, the men below climbed up to where he was. When they reached the top, they all trembled. Standing on the rocky clifftop, they could see not only Lake Yogo and Lake Biwa but also the road to the northern provinces that wound its way south along the lake. Even the base of Mount Ibuki was visible.

Night had fallen, so it was difficult to see clearly, but there appeared to be a single line of flames flowing like a river all the way from Nagahama to Kinomoto near the foot of the mountain they were on. The flames stretched from point to point as far as the eye could see-a steady stream of fire with circles of light.

"What's that?"

Dazzled for a moment, they suddenly came to their senses.

"Let's go! Quick!"

The sentries scrambled down the cliff face almost as if they'd lost their grip, and ran off to inform the main camp.

With glorious expectations for the next day, Genba had gone to sleep early. His soldiers too were already asleep.

It was close to the Hour of the Boar when Genba sat up, aroused from his light sleep.

"Tsushima!" he called out.

Osaki Tsushima was sleeping nearby, and by the time he got up, Genba was already standing before him, grasping a spear he had taken from the hand of a page.

"I just heard a horse whinny. Go out and check."

"Right!"

As Tsushima lifted the curtain he ran headlong into a man yelling for his life.

"This is an emergency!" the man said, panicked.

Genba raised his voice and asked, "What do you have to report?"

In his agitated state the man was unable to report on the urgent situation with conciseness.

"There are a great number of torches and bonfires along the road between Mino and Kinomoto, and they're moving along in an alarming red line. Lord Katsumasa thinks it's got to be an enemy movement."

"What! A line of fire on the Mino road?"

Genba looked as though he still did not understand. But one step behind that urgent report from Shimizudani came a similar dispatch from Hara Fusachika, who was camped at Hachigamine.

The soldiers in camp began to wake up in the dark commotion. Ripples spread out immediately.

Curiously, Hideyoshi was coming back from Mino. But Genba could not quite believe it; he still wore the unwavering look of someone who persists in his own convictions.

"Tsushima! Go verify this!"

With that order he demanded his camp stool and consciously put on an air of composure. Certainly he understood the subtle feelings of his retainers as they looked to see what was written on his face.

Osaki returned quickly. He had ridden to Shimizudani, then to Hachigamine, and then continued from Mount Chausu to Kannonzaka in order to ascertain the facts. And the facts were these: "Not only can you see the torches and bonfires, but if you listen carefully you can hear the whinnying of the horses and the clattering of their hooves. It's nothing to joke about. You'll need to plan a counter strategy as quickly as possible."

"Well, what about Hideyoshi?"

"It's thought that Hideyoshi is in the van."

Genba was now so taken aback that he could hardly find the words to speak. Biting his lip, he looked up silently, his face pale.

After a while he said, "We'll retreat. There's nothing else we can do, is there? A large army is on its way, and our troops are isolated here."

Genba had stubbornly refused to obey Katsuie's orders the night before. Now he himself ordered his panicked troops to make preparations to strike camp, and hastened his retainers and pages.

"Is the messenger from Hachigamine still here?" Genba asked the retainers around him as he mounted his horse. Told that the messenger was still in camp, he summoned him.

"Go back immediately and tell Hikojiro that our main corps is now beginning a retreat, pulling back through Shimizudani, Iiurazaka, Kawanami, and Moyama. Hikojiro's forces should follow us as a rear guard."

As soon as he had finished giving the order, Genba joined his retainers and started down the pitch-dark mountain path.

Sthus, Sak.u.ma's main army began its general retreat during the second half of the Hour of the Boar. The moon was not out when they set off. For about half an hour they burned no torches, to prevent the enemy from discovering their whereabouts. Instead, they stumbled down the narrow paths by the light of their fuse cords and the stars.

Comparing their movements in terms of time, Genba must have started to strike camp just as Hideyoshi had climbed up Mount Chausu from Kuroda village and was taking a rest.

It was there that Hideyoshi talked with Niwa Nagahide, who had come in haste from Shizugatake to have an audience with him. Nagahide was an honored guest, and Hideyoshi's treatment of him was polite indeed.

"I hardly know what to say at present," he said. "You've gone to great trouble since this morning."

With those few words, he shared the commander's seat with Nagahide, later askingabout matters like the enemy's situation and the lay of the land. From time to time the laughing voices of the two men could be heard on the night wind blowing across the mountaintop.

During that time, the soldiers following Hideyoshi continued coming into camp in groups of two and three hundred.

"Genba's forces have already started to retreat toward Shimizudani and have left a rear guard in the area of Hachigamine," a scout reported.

Hideyoshi then issued an order to Nagahide to relay the following information and commands to all the fortresses of their allies: At the Hour of the Ox, I will begin a surprise attack on Genba. Gather the local people and have them yell battle cries from the mountaintops at dawn. Just as dawn breaks, you will hear gunfire, which will signal that the opportunity has come for getting the enemy in our grasp. You should know without being told that the firing before dawn will be coming from the muskets of the enemy. The conch sh.e.l.l will be the signal for the general attack. The chance should not be missed.

As soon as Nagahide departed, Hideyoshi had the camp stool taken away. "They say Genba's running away. Follow his path of retreat and pursue him furiously," he said, telling the warriors around him to relay that order to the entire army. "And be sure not to fire your muskets until the sky begins to turn light."

It was not a level road they were on, but really just a mountain path with a good many dangerous spots. The attack began with one corps after another starting out, but they could not advance as fast as they would have liked.

Along the way, men dismounted and led their horses through swamps or along cliff faces where there was no road at all.