Taiko. Part 41

"It can't be helped. Well, go ahead and laugh. You'll find out." With this parting shot, he called for his horse and went off indignantly with his retainers.

It seemed that there was someone with discrimination in Mino. Osawa Jirozaemon's prediction hit the mark, before ten days had pa.s.sed. The construction of the castle at Sunomata advanced rapidly within only three nights.

When the guards got up in the morning after the third night and looked across the river, the castle was nearing completion.

Fuwa rubbed his hands and said, "Shall we go and cheat them out of it?"

Fuwa's troops were skilled in night attacks and river crossings. As they had done before, they closed in on Sunomata in the dead of night, planning to take it with a surprise attack.

But the response was quite different this time. Tokichiro and his ronin were ready and waiting for them. They had built this castle with their blood and spirit. Did the Saito think they were going to give it up? The fighting style of the ronin was completely unorthodox. Unlike n.o.b.u.mori's and Katsuie's soldiers, these men were wolves. During the battle, the boats of the Mino forces were soaked with oil and set on fire. When Fuwa saw that his men did not have the advantage, he gave out the order to retreat. But by the time he had cleared the words from his hoa.r.s.e throat, it was already too late.

Chased from the stone walls of the castle to the riverbank, the Mino soldiers barely escaped with their lives, leaving nearly a thousand dead. A number of the soldiers whose rafts had been destroyed were forced to flee up- and downstream, but the men of Hachisuka had no intention of letting them get away. How could the Mino troops escape from ronin who were so at home on rough terrain?

The attack stopped for the night. Fuwa doubled his forces and once again stormed Sunomata. The sandbar and river were dyed red with blood. But as the sun rose, the castle garrison struck up a victory song.

"Breakfast this morning will be all the tastier!"

Fuwa became desperate, and waiting for the storm that evening, he planned his third all-out a.s.sault. The Saito troops attacked from both upstream and downstream.

Upstream at Unuma Castle, the soldiers of Osawa Jirozaemon were the only ones who did not respond to the call for a general offensive. The battle was so harrowing that even the ronin suffered heavy casualties in the surging, muddy waters of the river that night, but the Mino forces had to write off the battle as an overwhelming defeat.

Snaring the Tiger That year saw no more surprise attacks from Mino. In the meantime, Tokichiro nearly completed the remaining construction on the interior and on the outer defenses of Sunomata Castle. Early in the first month of the following year, accompanied by Koroku, he visited n.o.bunaga to give him New Year's greetings while making his report.

In his absence, there had been great changes. The plan that he had once advocated had been adopted: Kiyosu Castle, poorly situated in terms of terrain and water supply, was being abandoned, and n.o.bunaga was moving his residence to Mount Komaki. The townspeople were also moving to be with their lord, and were building a flourishing town under Mount Komaki Castle.

When n.o.bunaga received Tokichiro at his new castle, he said, "I made a promise. You will take up residence at Sunomata Castle, and I am increasing your stipend to five hundred kan!' Finally, in an extraordinarily good mood at the end of their audience, n.o.bunaga gave his retainer a new name: Tokichiro would henceforth be called Kinos.h.i.ta Hideyoshi.

"If you can build it, the castle is yours" had been n.o.bunaga's original promise, but when Hideyoshi returned to report the castle's completion, n.o.bunaga had only said, "Take up residence there," and had mentioned nothing about its possession. It was almost the same thing, but Hideyoshi considered this as an indication that his qualifications to be the lord of a castle had not yet been proven. This he reasoned from the order given to Koroku (who had recently become a retainer of the Oda clan through Hideyoshi's own recommendation) to take up duty at Sunomata as Hideyoshi's ward. Instead of harboring a grudge against his lord for these actions, Hideyoshi simply declared, "In all humility, my lord, instead of the five hundred kan of land you have offered me, I would like your leave to conquer the same amount of land from Mino." After he had received n.o.bunaga's permission, he returned to Sunomata on the seventh day of the New Year.

"We built this castle without injury to one of His Lordship's retainers and without using a single tree or rock from His Lordship's domain. Perhaps we can take the land from the enemy as well, and live off a stipend from heaven. What do you think, Hikoemon?"

Koroku had given up his ancient name and, from the New Year, had changed his name to Hikoemon.

"That would be interesting," Hikoemon replied. He was by now completely devoted ro Hideyoshi. He behaved as if he were Hideyoshi's retainer, and forgot all about their earlier relationship.

Sending out soldiers when the opportunity presented itself, Hideyoshi attacked the neighboring areas. Of course, the lands that he was taking possession of were formerly a part of Mino. The land n.o.bunaga had offered him was worth five hundred kan, but the land he conquered was worth more than a thousand.

When n.o.bunaga learned this, he said with a forced smile, "That one Monkey would be sufficient to take the entire province of Mino. There are people in this world who never complain."

Sunomata was secured. n.o.bunaga felt as though he had already swallowed up Mino. but even thought they had been able to encroach into Mino, the Saito heartland, which was separated from Owari by the Kiso River, was still intact.

With the new castle at Sunomata as a foothold, n.o.bunaga tried to break through on two occasions, but failed. He felt as though he were beating against an iron wall. But this did not surprise Hideyoshi and Hikoemon. After all, this time it was the enemy who was fighting for survival. It would have been impossible for Owari's small army to conquer Mino with normal tactics.

And there was more. After the castle was built, the enemy realized their former neglience and took a second look at Hideyoshi. This Monkey had risen out of obscurity, and although he hadn't been put to particularly good use by the Oda, he was clearly an able and resourceful warrior who knew how to employ his men well. His reputation grew in the enemy's eyes even more than in the Oda clan, and as a consequence, the enemy strengthened its defenses all the more. It knew it could no longer afford to be negligent. With two defeats, n.o.bunaga retreated to Mount Komaki to wait out the end of the year. But Hideyoshi did not wait. His castle had an unbroken view of the Mino Plain to the central mountains. As he stood there with arms folded, he thought, What shall we do about Mino? The large army he was going to call up was quartered not at Mount Komaki or at Sunomata, but within his mind. Coming down from the watchtower and returning to his quarters, Hideyoshi summoned Hikoemon.

Hikoemon appeared immediately, asking, "How can I be of service?" Without any thought of their former relationship, he paid his respects to the younger man as his master.

"Come a little closer, please."

"With your permission."

"The rest of you withdraw until I call you," Hideyoshi said to the samurai around m. He then turned to Hikoemon. "There's something I want to talk about."

"Yes. What is it?"

"But first," he said, lowering his voice, "I think you're more familiar with the internal conditions of Mino than I am. Where do you suppose Mino's fundamental strength lies? What prevents us from sleeping in peace at Sunomata?"

"In their ablest men, I think."

"Their ablest men. It's certain that it has nothing to do with Saito Tatsuoki."

"The Three Men of Mino swore an oath of loyalty in the time of Tatsuoki's father and grandfather."

"Who are the Three Men?"

"I think you've heard of them. There's Ando Noritoshi, the lord of Kagamijima Castle." Hideyoshi put his hand on his knee and put up one finger as he nodded. "Iyo Michitomo, the lord of Sone Castle."

"Uh-huh." A second finger.

"And Ujiie Hitachinosuke, the master of Ogaki Castle." A third finger.

"Anybody else?"

"Hm." Hikoemon c.o.c.ked his head to one side. "In addition to them, there's Takenaka Hanbei, but for a number of years he's stopped serving the main branch of the Saito clan and is living in seclusion somewhere on Mount Kurihara. I don't think you have to take him into account."

"Well then, first we can say that the Three Men underpin Mino's strength. Is that right?"

"I believe so."

"That's what I wanted to talk about, but don't you suppose there's some way we could pull away that support?"

"I doubt it," Hikoemon a.s.serted. "A true man is a man of his word. He's not moved by wealth or fame. For example, if you were asked to pull out three healthy teeth, you surely wouldn't, would you?"

"It's not that clear-cut. There must be some way...," Hideyoshi answered softly. "You know, the enemy made several attacks on us during the construction of the castle, but throughout, there was one enemy general who stayed put."

"Who was that?"

"Osawa, the lord of Unuma Castle."

"Ah. That's Osawa Jirozaemon, the Tiger of Unuma."

"That man... the Tiger ... I wonder if we couldn't approach him through some relative?"

"Osawa has a younger brother, Mondo," Hikoemon said. "For some years both my brother, Matajuro, and I have been on friendly terms with him."

"That's welcome news." Hideyoshi was happy enough to clap his hands. "Where does this Mondo live?"

"I think he's serving in the castle town of Inabayama."

"Send your brother at once. I wonder if he'll be able to find Mondo."

"If need be, I'll go myself," Hikoemon answered. "What's the plan?"

"Using Mondo, I'd like to alienate Osawa from the Saito clan. And then use Osawa to detach the Three Men of Mino one by one, just like pulling teeth."

"I doubt that you yourself would be able to do it, but fortunately, Mondo is not like his older brother, and is very alert to his own personal gain."

"No, Mondo is not going to be enough to move the Tiger of Unuma. We'll need another player to get that tiger into our cage. And I think we can put Tenzo to work on that."

"Brilliant! But what kind of plan do you have, using those two?"

"It's like this, Hikoemon." Hideyoshi inched closer and whispered his plan into Hachisuka Hikoemon's ear.

For a moment Hikoemon stared at Hideyoshi. A head is nothing but a head, so where did these flashes of genius come from? When he compared Hideyoshi's ingenuity with his own, Hikoemon was amazed.

"Well, I'd like to get Matajuro and Tenzo moving right away," Hideyoshi said.

"I understand. They'll be going into enemy territory, so I'll have them wait until midight to cross the river.

"I'd like you to explain the plan in detail to them and give them their orders."

"Of course, my lord."

Knowing what he had to do, Hikoemon withdrew from Hideyoshi's room. At this time, more than half the soldiers in the castle were men who had formerly been ronin from Hachisuka. Now they had settled down and become samurai.

Hikoemon's younger brother, Matajuro, and his nephew, Tenzo, received their orders from Hikoemon, disguised themselves as merchants, and left the castle late that night for the heart of enemy territory, the castle town of Inabayama. Both Tenzo and Matajuro were well suited for this kind of mission. A month later, their work done, they returned to Sunomata.

Across the river in Mino, rumors began to spread: "There's something suspicious about the Tiger of Unuma."

"Osawa Jirozaemon has been in collusion with Owari for years."

"That's why he didn't obey Fuwa's command during the construction of the castle at Sunomata. It was supposed to be a combined effort, but he didn't move his troops at all."

The rumors triggered more speculation.

"Lord Tatsuoki is going to order Osawa Jirozaemon to Inabayama Castle soon and ask him about his responsibility for the defeat at Sunomata."

"Unuma Castle is going to be confiscated. Right after the Tiger goes to Inabayama."

These rumors spread around Mino as though they were the truth. The origin of these wildfires was Watanabe Tenzo, and behind him was Hideyoshi, who sat in the castle at Sunomata.

"Don't you think it's about the right time? Go to Unuma now," Hideyoshi said to Hikoemon. "I've written a letter I'd like you to give to Osawa."

"Yes, my lord."

"The central point is to entice him. Arrange the day and the place for the meeting."

Carrying Hideyoshi's letter, Hikoemon secretly visited Unuma.

When he heard that a secret envoy from Sunomata had arrived, Osawa wondered wiat it could be about. The fierce Tiger of Unuma had begun to look despondent and unhappy. Feigning illness, he avoided everyone. Recently he had received a summons to go to Inabayama, and his family and retainers were apprehensive about it. Osawa himself let it be known that he was too ill to travel, and seemed in no mood to leave. The rumors had reached Unuma, too, and Osawa was aware of the danger to himself. He resented this frame-up by slandering retainers. He also lamented the disorder of the Saito clan and Tatsuoki's stupidity. But there was nothing he could do, and he could see the day when he would be forced to commit seppuku. At this point, Hikoemon visited him secretly from Sunomata. Osawa decided to act.

"I'll meet him," Osawa said.

Hideyoshi's letter was handed to him. As soon as Osawa read it, he burned it. Then he delivered his reply orally. "I'll let you know the time and place in a few days. I hope Lord Hideyoshi will be there."

After that, about two weeks pa.s.sed. A message from Unuma arrived at Sunomata, and Hideyoshi, accompanied by only ten men, including Hikoemon, proceeded to the meeting place, a simple private house exactly midway between Unuma and Sunomata. While the retainers from both sides remained on the banks to stand watch over the area, Hideyoshi and Osawa took a small boat onto the Kiso River by themselves. As they sat knee to knee, the others wondered what secret conversation they might be having. The little boat was like a leaf left to the current of the big river, and for quite some time it was kept far away from the eyes and ears of the world, floating in a lovely scene of wind and light. The talk ended without incident.

After they returned to Sunomata, Hideyoshi told Hikoemon that Osawa would probably come within a week. And so, within a few days and in extreme secrecy, Osawa went to Sunomata. Hideyoshi received him with much courtesy, and before anybody in the castle was aware of his presence, he took him on the very same day to Mount Komaki where Hideyoshi had a preliminary audience alone with n.o.bunaga.

"I've come here with Osawa Jirozaemon, the Tiger of Unuma," Hideyoshi told n.o.bunaga. "After listening to my arguments, he's had a change of heart and is determined to abandon the Saito and join forces with the Oda. So if you would kindly speak with hin directly, you will have added an outstandingly brave general and Unuma Castle to the Oda forces without having lifted a finger."

n.o.bunaga, with a surprised look on his face, seemed to be considering the details of what Hideyoshi had said. Hideyoshi was mildly discontented, wondering why his lord did not seem pleased. It was not a matter of being praised for his own efforts, but to have pulled the fierce Tiger of Unuma, like a tooth right from the enemy's mouth, and to have brought him to meet n.o.bunaga, should have been a great present.

He had a.s.sumed that n.o.bunaga would be happy. But when he thought about it later this was not a scheme he had devised with n.o.bunaga's consent. Maybe that was the reason. n.o.bunaga's expression seemed to indicate that it was. As the old saying goes, the nail that sticks out too far will be hammered down. Hideyoshi understood this well, and constantly admonished himself that his own head was sticking out as much as the head of a nail. Yet he was unable to sit on his hands and not act on what he knew would be good for his own side.

Finally, n.o.bunaga gave what seemed to be reluctant permission. Hideyoshi brought in Osawa.

"You've grown up, my lord," Osawa said in a friendly manner. "You may think this is the first time we have met, but today is actually the second time I've had the pleasure of meeting you. The first time was fifteen years ago, at the Shotoku Temple in Tonda, when you met my former master, Lord Saito Dosan."

n.o.bunaga responded simply, "Is that so?" He seemed to be evaluating his guest's character.

Osawa did not presume to flatter him. Neither did he humbly humor the man. "Even though you are my enemy, I've been impressed with what you've done in recent years. When I first saw you at the Shotoku Temple, you seemed to be a mischievous young man. But from what I have seen today, I realize that the administration of your domain belies popular opinion."

Osawa was speaking as an equal, frankly and candidly, he was not simply a brave man, but he was rather good-natured, Hideyoshi thought.

"Let's meet again on another day and talk at our leisure. I have a number of things to do today," n.o.bunaga said, standing up and summarily terminating the interview.

Later he summoned Hideyoshi for a private audience. Whatever was said at their meeting, Hideyoshi looked terribly perplexed afterward. But, without informing Osawa of anything, he played the part of the cordial host and entertained the general at Mount Komaki Castle.

"I'll let you know in detail what His Lordship said, after we return to Sunomata."

Once they were back at Hideyoshi's castle and the two of them were alone, Hideyoshi said, "General Osawa, I have put you in an impossible position, and I think I can only atone for this with my death. Without consulting Lord n.o.bunaga, I believed that His Lordship would feel exactly as I do, and happily welcome you as an ally. But his opinion of you was completely different from my own," Hideyoshi let out a sigh. Then, pausing, he looked down sadly.

Osawa had realized on his own that n.o.bunaga's feelings were not very favorable. "You seem terribly upset, but there's really no reason why you should be. It's not as though I can't live without a stipend from Lord n.o.bunaga."

"The fact is I'd be happy if that were all." Hideyoshi could hardly speak, but he sat a little straighter, as though he had suddenly found his resolve. "I'd better tell you everything. General Osawa, when I was about to leave, Lord n.o.bunaga summoned me in secret and scolded me for not understanding the military art of the double-cross. Why, he asked, would Osawa Jirozaemon, a man of character with such a high reputation in Mino, be taken in by my glib tongue and become his ally? I didn't foresee this at all."

"Yes, I can imagine."

"He also told me that it was this very Osawa of Unuma Castle who, as a general on the provincial border, had been the tiger protecting Mino and causing so much trouble in Owari for many years. He suggested that perhaps it was I who was being deceived by your clever words and manipulated by your daring. You can see he's full of doubts."

"Indeed."

"He also felt that if you stayed any longer at Mount Komaki, we would be letting you see the defenses of the province, so I was ordered to take you back to Sunomata immediately. Take you back and..." Hideyoshi cut his words off short as though they stuck in his throat. Even Osawa was upset, but he looked Hideyoshi straight in the eye, encouraging him to say the rest of the sentence.

"This is difficult to say, but it was His Lorship's order, so I'd like you to hear it. I was ordered by him to take you back to Sunomata, lock you up in the castle, and kill you. He thought this was a grand opportunity-one not to be missed."

When Osawa looked around, he realized that he was accompanied by not one single soldier and was inside the enemy's castle. And fearless as he was, his hair stood up on the back of his neck.