Taiko. Part 51

Directly after the battle of the Ane River, n.o.bunaga returned home with such speed that the generals of his various units asked themselves if something had happened in Gifu. Quite naturally, the strategies of the field staff are not understood by the rank and file. A rumor now circulated among the soldiers that Hideyoshi had strongly advocated taking the main castle of the Asai at Odani and putting an end to them once and for all, but Lord n.o.bunaga had not agreed. Instead, the very next day he had made Hideyoshi commander of Yokoyama Castle, a branch castle that the enemy had abandoned, while he himself withdrew to Gifu.

The soldiers were not the only ones who did not understand the reasons behind n.o.bunaga's sudden return to Gifu. Very likely his closest retainers did not understand their lord's real intentions, either. The only man who might have had some idea was Ieyasu, whose impartial eye never strayed for long from n.o.bunaga: not too close at hand, but too distant; without excessive emotion, but not too coolly.

On the day n.o.bunaga left, Ieyasu returned to Hamamatsu. On the way, he said to his generals, "As soon as Lord n.o.bunaga takes off his bloodstained armor, he'll dress himself for the capital and whip his horse straight for Kyoto. His mind is like a restless young colt."

In the end, that is exactly what happened. By the time Ieyasu arrived at Hamamatsu n.o.bunaga was already on his way to Kyoto. Which is not to say that there was anything going on in the capital at the time. What n.o.bunaga feared was something that he could not see-a phantom enemy.

n.o.bunaga had disclosed his concern to Hideyoshi. "What do you think my biggest worry is? I imagine you know, don't you?"

Hideyoshi c.o.c.ked his head to one side and said, "Well, now. It isn't the Takeda of kai, who are always lying in wait at your rear, or the Asai or Asakura clan. Lord Ieyasu someone to be careful of, but he's an intelligent man and so shouldn't be feared altogether. The Matsunaga and Miyoshi are like flies, and there are plenty of rotting things for them to swarm around, as it's their nature to go after the dying. Your only really troublesome enemies are the warrior-monks of the Honganji, but they don't trouble my lord much yet, I think. That only leaves one person."

"And who is he? Speak up."

"He's neither enemy nor ally. You have to show him respect, but if that's all you do, you might quickly become trapped. He's a two-faced apparition-oh, dear, I've spoken improperly. Aren't we talking about the shogun?"

"Right. But don't mention this to anyone." n.o.bunaga's anxiety was about this man, who was indeed truly neither friend nor foe: Yoshiaki, the shogun.

Yoshiaki had shed tears of grat.i.tude over n.o.bunaga's past favors to him, and even said that he thought of n.o.bunaga as his own father. So why Yoshiaki? Duplicity is always found hidden away in places where one would least imagine it to be. Yoshiaki's and n.o.bunaga's characters were not matched at all; their educations were different, so were their beliefs. As long as n.o.bunaga had helped him, Yoshiaki treated n.o.bunaga as a benefactor. But once he had warmed the shogun's seat a little, his grat.i.tude turned to loathing.

"The b.u.mpkin is annoying," Yoshiaki was heard to say. He began to avoid n.o.bunaga, and even regarded him as a stumbling block, whose authority exceeded his own. He was not, however, brave enough to bring matters out into the open and fight him. Yoshiaki's nature was completely negative. And, opposed to n.o.bunaga's positiveness, it played itself out in secrecy to the very end.

In a secluded room deep within Nijo Palace, the shogun conversed with an emissary from the warrior-monks of the Honganji.

"Abbot Kennyo resents him too? It's not surprising that n.o.bunaga's unparalleled arrogance and high-handedness anger the abbot."

The messenger concluded before leaving, "Please make sure that everything I've said is kept secret. At the same time, perhaps it would be advisable to send secret messages to Kai and to the Asai and Asakura clans so as not to miss this opportunity."

On the very same day, in another part of the palace, n.o.bunaga was waiting for Yoshiaki in order to announce his arrival in the capital. Yoshiaki composed himself, a.s.sumed an air of complete innocence, and went into the reception room to meet with n.o.bunaga.

"I hear that the battle of the Ane River was a splendid victory for you. Yet another ex-ample of your military prowess. Congratulations! This is a happy event indeed."

n.o.bunaga was unable to suppress a bitter smile at this flattery, and he replied with some irony, "No, no. It was thanks to Your Excellency's virtue and influence that we were able to fight so bravely, knowing there would be no unhappy events in the aftermath."

Yoshiaki turned slightly red, blushing like a woman. "Put your mind at ease. The capital is at peace, as you can see. But have you heard of some untoward event? After the battle, you came here with such frightening speed."

"No, I came to pay my respects at the completion of the rebuilding of the Imperial Palace, to look after affairs of state, and, of course, to inquire after Your Excellency's health."

"Ah, is that so?" Yoshiaki felt slightly relieved. "Well, you can see that I'm healthy and that the government is moving along without any problems, so you shouldn't be so anxious and come here so often. But come, let me treat you to a banquet to congratulate you officially upon your triumphal return."

"I must refuse, Your Excellency," n.o.bunaga said, waving off the suggestion. "I still haven't sent words of thanks to my officers and men. I wouldn't feel quite right about accepting an invitation to an extravagant banquet on my own. Let us postpone it until the next time I'm in attendance on Your Excellency."

With this, he took his leave. When he returned to his lodgings, Akechi Mitsuhide was waiting to submit his report.

"A monk who appeared to be a messenger from Abbot Kennyo of the Honganji was seen leaving the shogun's palace. These recent comings and goings between the warrior-monks and the shogun are pretty suspicious, don't you think?"

n.o.bunaga had appointed Mitsuhide commander of the Kyoto garrison. In this capacity, he meticulously recorded all visitors to Nijo Palace.

n.o.bunaga gave the report a quick look and said only, "Very good." He was disgusted that this shogun was so difficult to save, but he also felt that Yoshiaki's behavior s really a blessing. That night he called in the officials in charge of the construction of the Imperial Palace, and as he listened to the reports on the progress of the rebuilding, his mood brightened.

The next morning he rose early and inspected the nearly completed buildings. Then, after paying his respects to the Emperor at the old palace, he returned to his lodgings as the sun was coming up, ate breakfast, and announced that he was leaving the capital.

When n.o.bunaga had arrived in Kyoto, he had been dressed in a kimono. On his return, however, he wore armor, because he was not returning to Gifu. Once again he made a tour of the battlefield at the Ane River, met with Hideyoshi, who was stationed at Yokoyama Castle, flew about giving orders to the units left in various places, and then laid siege to Sawayama Castle.

Having made a clean sweep of his enemies, n.o.bunaga returned to Gifu, but for him and his men there was still no time to rest from the fatigue of the lingering summer heat.

It was in Gifu that urgent letters reached n.o.bunaga from Hosokawa Fujitaka, who was at Nakanoshima Castle in Settsu, and from Akechi Mitsuhide in Kyoto. These letters informed him that in Noda, f.u.kushima, and Nakanoshima in Settsu, the Miyoshi had more than a thousand men building fortresses. These had been joined by the warrior-monks of the Honganji and their followers. Both Mitsuhide and Fujitaka stressed that there was no time to delay, and asked for n.o.bunaga's orders.

The main temple of the Honganji had been built during a period of civil disorder and confusion. It had been constructed to withstand the disturbances of the day: outside its stone walls was a deep moat, spanned by a fortified bridge. Although the Honganji was a temple, its construction was that of a castle. To be a monk here meant to be a warrior, and this place had no fewer warrior-monks than Nara and Mount Hiei. Very likely there was not a single priest living in this ancient Buddhist fortress who did not hate the up-start n.o.bunaga. They accused him of being an enemy of Buddhism who flouted tradition, a destroyer of culture, and a devil who knew no bounds-a beast among men.

When, instead of negotiating, n.o.bunaga had confronted the Honganji and forced them to cede some of their land to him, he had gone too far. The pride of the Buddhist fortress was strong, and the privileges it enjoyed were ancient. Reports from the west and other regions began to trickle in that the Honganji was arming itself. The temple had bought two thousand guns, the number of warrior-monks had increased manyfold, and new defensive moats were being dug around the fortress.

n.o.bunaga had antic.i.p.ated that they would ally themselves with the Miyoshi clan, and that the weak shogun would be seduced to their side. He had also expected that malicious propaganda would be spread among the common people, and that this would most likely set off a popular uprising against him.

When he received urgent messages from Kyoto and Osaka, he was not particularly surprised. Rather, he was more fully resolved to take the opportunity, and quickly went to Settsu himself, stopping in Kyoto on the way.

"I humbly request that Your Excellency accompany my army," he told the shogun. "Your presence will be an inspiration to my troops, and will speed the quelling of the insurrection."

Yoshiaki was naturally reluctant, but he could not refuse. And although it seemed that n.o.bunaga was taking along a useless hanger-on, it benefited him to have the shield of the shogun's name as one more ploy to sow dissension among his enemies.

The area between the Kanzaki and Nakatsu rivers in Naniwa was a vast marshy plain, dotted with occasional patches of farmland. Nakajima was divided into the northern and southern districts. The fortress in the north was held by the Miyoshi, and the small castie in the south by Hosokawa Fujitaka. The battle was centered in this area, and continued violently from the beginning to the middle of the Ninth Month, now with a victory, now with a defeat. It was open warfare, with the new style of both small and large firearms in use.

In the middle of the Ninth Month, the Asai and Asakura, who had remained barricaded in their mountain casties, meditating on the bitterness of defeat and watching for n.o.bunaga to make a mistake, took up arms, crossed Lake Biwa, and set up their camps on the beaches at Otsu and Karasaki. One unit went to the Buddhist stronghold of Mount Hiei. For the first time, all the warrior-monks of the various sects were united against n.o.bunaga.

Their common complaint was, "n.o.bunaga has arbitrarily confiscated our lands and trampled our honor and the mountain that has been inviolate since the time of Saint Dengyo!"

There were close ties between Mount Hiei and the Asai and Asakura clans. The three agreed to cut off n.o.bunaga's retreat. The Asakura army moved out from the mountains north of the lake, while the Asai army crossed the lake and went ash.o.r.e. The disposition of their troops indicated that they intended to grip the throat of Otsu and enter Kyoto. Then, waiting at the Yodo River, they would move in concert with the Honganji and destroy n.o.bunaga in a single offensive.

n.o.bunaga had been fighting hard for several days, confronting the warrior-monks and the large Miyoshi army from the fortress at Nakajima in the swamps between the Kanzaki and Nakatsu rivers. On the twenty-second, an alarming but cryptic report that a calamity was approaching from the rear reached his ears.

The details were not yet available, but n.o.bunaga inferred that when they came they would not be pleasant. He ground his teeth, wondering what this calamity might be. Calling Katsuie, he ordered him to take charge of the rear guard. As for himself he said, "I'm going to pull back immediately and crush the Asai, the Asakura, and Mount Hiei."

"Shouldn't we wait one more night for the next detailed report?" Katsuie said, trying to stop him.

"Why? Now is the time when the world is going to change!" That said, nothing was going to change his mind. He rode hard to Kyoto, changing horses more than once.

"My lord!"

"What a tragedy!"

Crying bitterly, a number of retainers crowded in front of his horse. "Your younger brother, Lord n.o.buharu, and Mori Yoshinari met with heroic deaths at Uji, struck down after two days and two nights of bitter fighting."

The first man could not go on, so one of his companions continued, his voice quavering, "The Asai and Asakura and their allies, the monks, had a great army of over twenty thousand, so their strength could not be withstood."

Seemingly unmoved, n.o.bunaga replied, "Don't just read the names of dead men who are never going to come back at a time like this-what I want to hear is what's going on now! How far has the enemy advanced? Where is the front line? I suppose none of you knows that. Is Mitsuhide here? If he's at the front, call him back immediately. Call Mitsuhide!"

A forest of banners surrounded the Mii Temple-the headquarters of the Asai and Asakura. The day before, the generals had inspected the severed head of n.o.bunaga's younger brother, n.o.buharu, before a large crowd. After that, they had examined the heads of other famous warriors of the Oda clan, one after another, until they were almost bored.

"That avenges our defeat at the Ane River. I feel a lot better now," one man muttered.

"Not until we've seen n.o.bunaga's head!" another man said.

Then someone laughed in a hoa.r.s.e voice, thick with the accent of the north. "We've as good as seen it already. n.o.bunaga's got the Honganji and the Miyoshi in front of him, and us behind. Where is he going to run? He's a fish in a net!"

They inspected the heads for well over a day, until they became sick of the smell of blood. When night fell, the sake jars were carried into the headquarters, helping to raise the spirits of the victors. As the liquor was ladled out and drunk, the discussion turned to strategy.

"Should we enter Kyoto, or seize the bottleneck of Otsu and take him by gradually shrinking the encirclement and drawing him in like a big fish in a net?" one general suggested.

"We should definitely advance to the capital, and annihilate n.o.bunaga at the Yodo River and in the fields of Kawachi!" another countered.

"That's no good."

If one man advocated one tactic, another immediately opposed him. For although the Asai and Asakura clans were united in their aims, when it came to a discussion within the upper command, each man felt that he had to demonstrate his own shallow knowledge and uphold his reputation. The result was that nothing was decided until midnight.

Tired of the fruitless discussion, one of the Asai generals went outside. Looking up at the sky, he commented, "The sky has turned awfully red, hasn't it?"

"Our men have set fire to the peasants' houses from Yamashina to Daigo," a sentry responded.

"What for? It's futile to burn that area, isn't it?"

"Not at all. We have to contain the enemy," the Asakura general who had given the order countered. "The Oda garrison in Kyoto under Akechi Mitsuhide is tearing aroud as if its members were eager to die. And we, too, should show our own ferocity."

Dawn had come. Otsu was the crossroads of the major routes to the capital, but there was not one traveler or packhorse to be seen. Then one mounted man rode by, followed moments later by two or three others. These were military messengers, riding from the direction of the capital, galloping to the Mii Temple as if their lives depended on it.

"n.o.bunaga is almost at Keage. The troops of Akechi Mitsuhide are in the vanguard, and they are smashing through with unstoppable force."

The generals could hardly believe their ears.

"Surely it's not n.o.bunaga in person! There's no way he could have withdrawn from the battlefield at Naniwa so quickly."

"Two or three hundred of our men in Yamashina have already been killed. The enemy is on the rampage, and, as always, n.o.bunaga himself is giving the orders. He's riding like a mounted demon or G.o.d, and he's coming right this way!"

Both Asai Nagamasa and Asakura Kagetake blanched. Nagamasa felt this especially keenly; n.o.bunaga was his wife's brother, a man who had formerly treated him kindly. The show of n.o.bunaga's fury made him shudder.

"Retreat! Fall back to Mount Hiei!" Nagamasa blurted out.

Asakura Kagetake picked up the urgent tone of his ally's voice. "Back to Mount Hiei!" At the same time, he screamed orders to his retainers. "Set fire to the peasants' houses along the road! No, wait until our vanguard has gone through. Then set the fires! Set the fires!"

The hot wind scorched n.o.bunaga's brow. Sparks had ignited his horse's mane and the ta.s.sels on his saddle. From Yamashina to Otsu, the burning beams of the peasants' houses along the road and the flames that seemed to swirl through the air could not prevent him from reaching his destination. He had become the flames of a torch himself, and his men, as they galloped on, were a horde of fire.

"This battle will be a memorial service for Lord n.o.buharu."

"Did they think we wouldn't avenge the spirits of our dead comrades?"

But when they came to the Mii Temple, there was not an enemy soldier to be seen. They had climbed Mount Hiei with all the speed of flight.

Looking up at the mountain, they saw that the huge enemy army of more than twenty thousand men, in addition to the warrior-monks, stretched as far as Suzugamine, Aoyamadake, and Tsubogasadani. Their fluttering banners almost seemed to say, We haven't run away. This battle array will speak for itself from here on.

n.o.bunaga looked at the towering mountain and thought, It's here. It's not the mountain that is my enemy; it's the mountain's special privileges. He saw it in a new light now. From ancient times, through the reigns of successive emperors, how much had the tradition and special privileges of the mountain troubled and pained the country's rulers and the common people? Was there even the faintest glimmer of the real Buddha on the mountain?

When the Tendai sect had been introduced to j.a.pan from China, Saint Dengyo, who had built the first temple on Mount Hiei, had chanted, "May the light of the merciful Buddha give its divine protection to the timbers that we raise up in this place." Was the lamp of the Law lit on this holy peak so that the monks could force their pet.i.tions on the Emperor in Kyoto? Was it so that they could interfere with government and grow ever more powerful with special privileges? Was it so they could ally themselves with warlords, conspire with laymen, and throw the country into confusion? Was the lamp lit so that the Law of Buddha might be accoutered with armor and helmet, and line the entire mountain with warriors' spears, guns, and war banners?

Tears of rage ran from n.o.bunaga's eyes. It was clear to him that this was all blasphemy. Mount Hiei had been established to protect the nation, and so had been granted special privileges. But where was the original purpose of Mount Hiei now? The main temple building, the seven shrines, the monasteries of the eastern and the western paG.o.das were nothing more than the barracks of armed demons in monks' robes.

All right! n.o.bunaga bit his lip so hard that his teeth became stained with blood. Let them call me a demon king who destroys Buddhism! The magnificent beauties of the mountain are nothing more than the false allures of an enchantress, and these armored monks are nothing more than fools. I'm going to burn them with the flames of war and let the true Buddha be called forth from these ashes!

On the same day he gave the order for the entire mountain to be surrounded. Naturally, it took several days for his army to cross the lake, pa.s.s over the mountains, and join him.

"The blood of my brother and Mori Yoshinari has not yet dried. Let their unswervingly loyal souls sleep in peace. Let their blood be like lanterns that will light up the world!"

n.o.bunaga knelt on the earth and folded his hands in prayer. He had made an enemy of the holy mountain and had ordered his army to surround it. Now, on a lump of earth, n.o.bunaga put his hands together in prayer and wept. Suddenly he saw one of his pages crying, with his hands together in the same way. It was Ranmaru, who had lost his father, Mori Yoshinari.

"Ranmaru, are you crying?"

"Please forgive me, my lord."

"I'll forgive you. But stop crying, or your father's spirit will laugh at you."

But n.o.bunaga's own eyes were becoming red. Ordering his camp stool moved to the top of a hill, he looked out over the disposition of the besieging troops. As far as the eye could see, the foothills of Mount Hiei were filled with the banners of his own men.

Half of the month pa.s.sed by. The siege of the mountain-an unusual strategy for n.o.bunaga-continued. He had cut off the enemy's supply of provisions and was going try to starve them out. His plan was in fact already working. With an army of over twenty thousand men, the granaries of the mountain had quickly been emptied. They had already started to eat the bark off the trees.

Winter set in, and the cold weather on the mountaintop caused more suffering for the defenders.

"It's about the right time, don't you think?" Hideyoshi said to n.o.bunaga.

n.o.bunaga summoned a retainer, Ittetsu. Receiving n.o.bunaga's instructions and accompanied by four or five attendants, he climbed up Mount Hiei and met with Abbot Sonrin of the western paG.o.da. They met at the main temple, the warrior-monk's headquarters.

Sonrin and Ittetsu had known each other for some time, and as a mark of that friendship, Ittetsu had come to persuade him to surrender.

"I'm not sure what your purpose was in coming here, but as a friend, I advise you not to carry this joke too far," Sonrin replied, shaking with laughter. "I agreed to meet you because I thought you had come to ask permission to surrender to us. How stupid to ask us to give up and leave! Don't you see that we are resolved to resist to the end? You must be mad to come here to talk such foolishness!"

Excitement burned in the eyes of the other warrior-monks, and they glared at Ittetsu. Having allowed the abbot his say, Ittetsu began to speak deliberately. "Saint Dengyo established this temple for the peace and preservation of the Imperial House and the tranquillity of the nation. I suspect it is not the monks' most fervent prayer to put on armor, to marshal swords and spears, to involve themselves in political strife, to ally themselves with rebel armies, or to make the people of the Empire suffer. The monks should return to being monks! Drive the Asai and Asakura from the mountain, throw down your weapons, and return to your original roles as disciples of the Buddha!" He spoke this from the very depths of his body, not giving the priests a moment to put in a single word. "Moreover," he went on, "if you do not follow his orders, Lord n.o.bunaga is determined o burn down the main temple, the seven shrines, and the monasteries, and kill everyone on the mountain. Please give this careful thought, and put away your stubbornness. Will you turn this mountain into an inferno or sweep away the old evils and preserve the single lamp of this hallowed ground?"

Suddenly the monks with Sonrin began to shout. "This is pointless!"

"He's just wasting time!"

"Silence!" Sonrin commanded them with a sardonic smile. "That was an extremely boring, worn-out sermon, but I'm going to answer it politely. Mount Hiei is an authority into itself, and has its own principles. You are just meddling unnecessarily. Master Ittetsu, it's getting late. Leave the mountain right away."

"Sonrin, can you say this on your own authority? Why don't you meet with the men of great learning and the elders, and discuss the matter carefully?"

"The mountain is of one mind and one body. Mine is the voice of all of the temples on Mount Hiei."

"Then, no matter what-"

"You fool! We'll resist military aggression to the very end. We'll protect the freedom of our traditions with our very blood! Get out of here!"