Taiko. Part 62

He sang in a loud voice, and danced as though he had not one other thing in his mind. But before his dance had ended, gunfire rang out from one section of the castle wall. Then came the sound of return fire from a shorter distance. It seemed that the forces both inside and outside the castle had started to fire on each other at the same moment.

"d.a.m.n it!" Hideyoshi swore, throwing down his fan. It was not yet the Hour of the Boar. The men outside the castle had known nothing about that, however. Hideyoshi had given no second signal. Thinking that they would not make an attack, he had felt more or less secure. But now it seemed that the generals at headquarters had lost patience and decided to press n.o.bunaga to take immediate action.

d.a.m.n it! Hideyoshi's fan fell at the feet of the castle's commanding generals, who had all stood up together, and this brought their attention quite clearly to Hideyoshi, whom until now they had not thought of as an enemy.

"An attack!" shouted one man.

"The coward! He lied to us!"

The crowd of samurai split into two. The larger group dashed outside while the rest of the men surrounded Hideyoshi, ready to hack him to pieces with their swords.

"Who ordered this? Don't strike him! That man is not to be killed!" Nagamasa suddenly yelled at the top of his voice.

His men shouted back as though they were challenging him, "But the enemy has started a general attack!"

Nagamasa ignored their complaints and called, "Ogawa Denshiro, Nakajima Sakon!"

The two men were his children's tutors. When they came forward and prostrated themselves, Nagamasa also called for Fujikake Mikawa. "The three of you are to protect my wife and children and guide Hideyoshi out of the castle. Go now!" he commanded.

Then he looked sternly at Hideyoshi and, calming himself as much as possible, said, "All right, I'm entrusting them to you."

His wife and children threw themselves at his feet, but he shook them off and shouted, "Farewell." With that one word, Nagamasa grasped a halberd and ran off into the howling darkness.

One side of the castle was engulfed in mounting pillars of flame. Nagamasa instinctively shielded his face with one hand as he ran. Splinters of burning wood, like wings of flame, grazed his face. A thick black smoke was winding its way over the ground. The first and second Oda samurai to breach the castle walls had already called out their names. The flames had reached the mansion in the keep and were running up the gutters faster than the rain had ever gone down them. Nagamasa spied a corps of iron-helmeted men concealed in that area and suddenly lunged to the side.

"The enemy!"

His close retainers and family members stood around him and struck at the invading troops. Above them were the flames, all around them was black smoke. The clanging armor rang out, spear against spear, sword against sword. The ground was soon covered with the bodies of the dead and wounded. The larger part of the soldiers in the castle followed Nagamasa and fought as long as they could, each achieving a glorious death. Few of them were captured or surrendered. The fall of Odani Castle was nothing like the defeat of the Asakura in Echizen or of the shogun in Kyoto. So it could be said that n.o.bunaga's judgment in choosing Nagamasa as a brother-in-law had not been wrong.

The troubles of Hideyoshi, who had saved Oichi and her children from the flames, and those of Fujikake Mikawa, were not concerned with the battle. If the attacking troops had only waited another three hours, Hideyoshi and his charges could have been led out of the castle easily. But only minutes after they had left the keep, the inside of the castle was engulfed in flames and fighting soldiers, so that Hideyoshi was finding it very difficult just to protect the four children and get them out.

Fujikake Mikawa carried the youngest girl on his back, her elder sister, Hatsu, went on the back of Nakajima Sakon, and Manju was strapped on the back of his tutor, Ogawa Denshiro.

"Hop up onto my shoulders," Hideyoshi told Chacha, but the little girl refused to leave her mother's side. Oichi held the girl close as though she would not let her go. Hideyoshi wrenched them apart and scolded them. "It would not do for you to be hurt. I'm begging you, this is what Lord Nagamasa asked me to do."

This was no time to treat them sympathetically, and even though his words were polite, his tone was frightening. Oichi put Chacha on his back.

"Is everybody ready? Stay by me. My lady, please give me your hand." Shouldering Chacha, Hideyoshi pulled Oichi by the hand and started out straight ahead. Oichi stumbled along, barely able to keep from falling. Soon she pulled her hand free from Hideyoshi's grasp without saying a word. She followed as a mother would follow, half-crazed with distraction for the children who were in front of her and behind her in the midst of the fury.

n.o.bunaga was now watching the flames of Odani Castle, which were almost close enough to burn his face. The mountains and valleys on all three sides were red, and the burning castle roared like a huge smelting furnace.

When the flames finally turned to smoking ashes and it was all over, n.o.bunaga could not hold back his tears over his sister's fate. The fool! he cursed Nagamasa.

When all the temples and monasteries on Mount Hiei had been consigned to the flames along with the lives of every monk and layman on the mountain, n.o.bunaga had watched unmoved. Now those same eyes were filled with tears. The slaughter on Mount Hiei could not be compared with the death of his sister.

Human beings possess both intellect and instinct, and they often contradict each other. n.o.bunaga, however, had great faith in his destruction of Mount Hiei-that by destroying one single mountain, countless lives would be promised happiness and prosperity. The death of Nagamasa held no such great significance. Nagamasa had fought with a narrow-minded sense of duty and honor, and thus n.o.bunaga had been forced to do the same. n.o.bunaga himself had asked Nagamasa to abandon his stunted sense of duty and to share his own larger vision. Certainly he had treated Nagamasa with a large degree of consideration and generosity to the very end. But that generosity had to have a limit. He would have been lenient with the man right up to this evening, but his generals woul not permit it.

Even though Takeda Shingen of Kai was dead, his generals and men were still in very good health, and his son's abilities were supposed to excel his father's. n.o.bunaga's enemies were only waiting for him to stumble. It would be folly to wait pa.s.sively in northern Omi for a long time after he had defeated Echizen with one blow. Listening to this sort of reasoning and argument from his generals, even n.o.bunaga had been unable to speak up for his sister. But then Hideyoshi had requested permission to be n.o.bunaga's envoy for just one day. And although he had sent a signal of good news while it was still light, evening came, and then night, and he had sent no further report whatsoever.

n.o.bunaga's generals were indignant.

"Do you think he was tricked by the enemy?"

"He's probably been killed."

"The enemy is planning some scheme while we're off guard."

n.o.bunaga resigned himself and finally gave the order for an all-out attack. But after making his decision, he wondered if he had not sacrificed Hideyoshi's life, and his regret was nearly unbearable.

Suddenly a young samurai wearing black-threaded armor ran up in such a hurry that he almost hit n.o.bunaga with his spear.

"My lord!" he gasped.

"Kneel!" a general ordered. "Put your spear behind you!"

The young samurai fell heavily to his knees under the stares of the retainers surrounding n.o.bunaga.

"Lord Hideyoshi has just returned. He was able to get out of the castle without mishap."

"What! Hideyoshi is back?" n.o.bunaga exclaimed. "Alone?" he asked hurriedly.

The young messenger added, "He came with three men of the Asai clan, and with the lady Oichi and her children."

n.o.bunaga was trembling. "Are you sure? Did you actually see them?"

"A group of us guarded them on the way back, right after they ran from the castle, which was collapsing in flames. They were exhausted, so we took them to a place of safety and gave them some water. Lord Hideyoshi commanded me to run ahead and make this report."

n.o.bunaga said, "You're Hideyoshi's retainer; what is your name?"

"I'm his chief page, Horio Mosuke."

"Thank you for bearing such good news. Now go and take a rest."

"Thank you, my lord, but the battle is still raging." With this, Mosuke quickly took his leave and dashed out toward the faraway clamor of warriors.

"Divine help..." someone mumbled off to the side with a sigh. It was Katsuie. The other generals also congratulated n.o.bunaga.

"This is an unantic.i.p.ated blessing. You must be very happy."

A thread of emotion found its way wordlessly among them. These men were jealous of Hideyoshi's accomplishments, and were the very ones who had advocated abandoning him and hastening a general attack on the castle.

Nevertheless, n.o.bunaga's joy was overflowing, and his excellent mood immediately caused a brighter spirit to spread through his headquarters. While the others were offering their congratulations, the shrewd Katsuie said privately to n.o.bunaga, "Shall I greet him?"

Receiving n.o.bunaga's permission, he hurried off with a few retainers down the steep slope toward the castle. Finally, under the protection of Hideyoshi, the long-awaited Oichi climbed up to the headquarters on the plateau. A small corps of soldiers went in front, carrying torches. Hideyoshi panted along behind the men, still carrying Chacha on his back.

The first thing n.o.bunaga saw was the sweat on Hideyoshi's forehead, glistening in the light of the torches. Next came the old general, Fujikake Mikawa, and the two tutors, each carrying a child on his back. n.o.bunaga gazed at the children silently. No emotion showed on his face at all. Then, from about twenty paces to the rear, Shibata Katsuie came up, a white hand holding the shoulder of his armor. The hand belonged to Oichi, who was now half-dazed.

"Lady Oichi," Katsuie said, "your brother is right here." Katsuie quickly led her to n.o.bunaga.

When Oichi had fully regained her senses, all she could do was weep. For an instant the woman's sobbing blotted out every other sound in the camp. It wrung the hearts of even the veteran generals who were present. n.o.bunaga, however, looked disgusted. This was the beloved sister he had worried about so much until just a few moments before. Why wasn't he greeting his sister with wild joy? Had something ruined his mood? The generals were dismayed. The situation pa.s.sed even Hideyoshi's understanding. n.o.bunaga's close retainers were constantly troubled by their lord's quick changes of mood When they saw the familiar expression on his face, not one of them could do anything but stand by silently; and in the midst of the silence, n.o.bunaga himself found it difficul to cheer up.

There were not very many of n.o.bunaga's retainers who could read his inner thought; and disentangle him from his moody and introverted self. In fact, Hideyoshi and the absent Akechi Mitsuhide were about the only ones who had this ability.

Hideyoshi watched the situation for a moment, and since no one seemed about to do anything, he said to Oichi, "Now, now, my lady. Go to his side and greet him. It won't do just to stand here crying for joy. What's the matter? You're brother and sister, aren't you?'

Oichi did not budge; she could not even look at her brother. Her mind was set on Nagamasa. To her, n.o.bunaga was nothing more than the enemy general who had killed her husband and had brought her here, a shamed captive in the enemy camp.

n.o.bunaga could tell exactly what was in his sister's heart. So, along with his satisfaction at her safety, he felt an uncontrollable revulsion for this foolish woman who could not understand her brother's great love.

"Hideyoshi, let her be. Don't waste your breath." n.o.bunaga stood up abruptly from his camp stool. He then lifted a section of the curtain surrounding his headquarters.

"Odani has fallen," he whispered, gazing at the flames. Both the battle cries and the fires burning the castle were dying down, and the waning moon cast a white light on the peaks and valleys as they waited for the dawn.

Just then, an officer and his men ran up the hill, yelling victory cries. When they set down the heads of Asai Nagamasa and his retainers in front of n.o.bunaga, Oichi screamed, and the children clinging to her started to cry.

n.o.bunaga shouted, "Stop that noise! Katsuie! Get the young ones out of here! I'm putting them in your care-both Oichi and the children. Hurry up and take them of someplace where no one will see them."

Then he summoned Hideyoshi and told him, "You will be in charge of the former Asai domain." He had decided to return to Gifu as soon as the castle had fallen.

Oichi was helped away. Later she would marry Katsuie. But one of Nagamasa's three young daughters who had come down the fiery mountain that night held a fate even stranger than her mother's. The eldest, Chacha, was later to become Lady Yodogimi, Hideyoshi's mistress.

It was the beginning of the Third Month of the following year. Good news had come to Nene, which, of course, was a letter from her husband.

While some of the walls of Nagahama Castle are still a bit rough, it's been so long that I can hardly wait to see the two of you. Please tell Mother to start preparations to move here soon.

With such a short note, one could hardly have imagined what was going on, but actually a number of letters had been pa.s.sing back and forth between husband and wife since the New Year. Hideyoshi had no leisure at all. He had been campaigning in the mountains of northern Omi for many months, and having to fight battles here and there, even when he did have some small respite he was soon sent running off to some other place.

Hideyoshi's services had been unsurpa.s.sed during the invasion of Odani. n.o.bunaga awarded him by granting him his own castle for the first time, and a hundred eighty thousand bushels of the former Asai domain. Until then he had only been a general, but in one leap he joined the ranks of the provincial lords. At the same time, n.o.bunaga awarded him a new surname: Hashiba.

Hashiba Hideyoshi came into prominence that fall and now stood shoulder to shoulder with the other veteran Oda generals. He was not satisfied with his new castle at Odani, however; the castle was a defensive one, good for retreating into and withstanding siege, but not a suitable base for an offensive. Three leagues to the south, on the sh.o.r.e of Lake Biwa, he found a better place to reside: a village by the name of Nagahama. Receiving n.o.bunaga's permission, he began construction immediately. By spring the white-railed keep, the st.u.r.dy walls, and the iron gates had been completed.

Hachisuka Hikoemon had been given the task of escorting Hideyoshi's wife and mother from Sunomata, and he arrived from Nagahama a few days after Nene had received Hideyoshi's letter. Nene and her mother-in-law were carried in lacquer palanquins, and their escort consisted of one hundred attendants.

Hideyoshi's mother had asked Nene to pa.s.s through Gifu and to ask for an audience with Lord n.o.bunaga to thank him for the many favors he had bestowed upon them. Nene felt this duty to be a heavy responsibility and considered it to be an ordeal. She was sure that if she went up to Gifu Castle and presented herself alone before Lord n.o.bunaga, she would be able to do nothing but sit and quake.

Nevertheless, the day came and, leaving her mother-in-law at the inn, she went alone to the castle, bringing gifts from Sunomata. At the castle she seemed to forget all of her anxiety. Once there, she looked up to her lord for the first time and, contrary to her expectations, found that he was completely open-minded and affable.

"You must have really exerted yourself, taking care of the castle for such a long time and looking after your mother-in-law. More than that, you must have been very lonely," n.o.bunaga said with such familiarity that she realized that her own family was in some way connected to n.o.bunaga's. She felt that she could be completely unreserved.

"I feel unworthy to be living peacefully at home while others are out on campaign. Heaven might punish me if I complained of loneliness."

n.o.bunaga stopped her with a laugh. "No, no. A woman's heart is a woman's heart and you shouldn't have to conceal it. It's by thinking about the loneliness of caring for the household alone that you'll come to a deeper understanding of your husband's good points. Somebody wrote a poem about this; it goes something like, 'Off on a journey the husband understands his wife's value at the snow-laden inn.' I can imagine that Hideyoshi too can hardly wait. Not only that, but the castle at Nagahama is new. Waiting alone during the campaign must have been difficult, but when you meet, you will be like newlyweds again."

Nene blushed all the way to her collar, and prostrated herself. She must have remembered being a new bride. n.o.bunaga guessed what she was thinking and smiled.

Food and lacquered vermilion sake cups were brought in. Receiving her cup from n.o.bunaga, Nene sipped her sake gracefully.

"Nene," he said, laughing. Finally able to look at him directly, she raised her eyes, wondering what he would say. n.o.bunaga spoke suddenly. "Just one thing: don't be jealous."

"Yes, my lord," she answered without really thinking, but she blushed right away. She, too, had heard a rumor about Hideyoshi visiting Gifu Castle in the company of a beautiful woman.

"That's just Hideyoshi. He's not perfect. But then a tea bowl that is too perfect has no charm. Everyone has faults. When an ordinary person has vices, he becomes a source of trouble; but very few men have Hideyoshi's abilities. I've often wondered what kind of woman would choose a man like him. Now I know after meeting you today, that Hideyoshi must love you, too. Don't be jealous. Live in harmony."

How could n.o.bunaga have understood a woman's heart so well? Although a little frightening, he was a man both her husband and herself could rely upon, She didn't know whether to be pleased or embarra.s.sed.

She returned to her lodgings in the castle town. But what she spoke about most of all to her anxiously waiting mother-in-law was not n.o.bunaga's admonition about jealousy. "Whenever someone says the name n.o.bunaga, everyone shakes with fear, so I wondered what kind of person he would be. But there must be very few lords in this country who are as tender as he is. I couldn't imagine how a man who is so refined could turn into the fearsome demon they say he is on horseback. He also knew something about you, and said that you have a wonderful son and should be the happiest person in j.a.pan. He told me that there are very few men like Hideyoshi in the whole country, and that I had chosen a good husband. Why, he even flattered me and told me I had discerning eyes."

The journey of the two women continued peacefully. They crossed through Fuwa and finally looked out from their palanquins at the springtime face of Lake Biwa.

5.

THIRD YEAR OF TENSHO 1575.

Characters and Places.

Takeda Katsuyori, son of Takeda Shingen and Lord of Kai.

Baba n.o.bufusa, senior Takeda retainer Yamagata Masakage, senior Takeda retainer Kuroda Kanbei, Odera retainer Myoko, name taken by Ranmaru's mother when she became a nun Uesugi Kenshin, lord of Echigo Yamanaka Shikanosuke, senior Amako retainer Mori Terumoto, lord of the western provinces KIKKAWA Motoharu, Terumoto's uncle Kobayakawa Takakage, Terumoto's uncle.

Oda n.o.butada, n.o.bunaga's eldest son Ukita Naoie, Lord of Okayama Castle Araki Murashige, senior Oda retainer Nakagawa Sebei, senior Oda retainer Takayama Ukon, senior Oda retainer Shojumaru, Kuroda Kanbei's son.

Sak.u.ma n.o.b.u.mori, senior Oda retainer Nagahama, Hideyoshi's castle Kofu, capital of Kai.

Azuchi, n.o.bunaga's new castle near Kyoto Himeji, Hideyoshi's base for the invasion of the west Western provinces, domain of the Mori clan Itami, Araki Murashige's castle.

Sunset of Kai.

Takeda Katsuyori had seen the coming of thirty springs. He was taller and broader than his father, Takeda Shingen, and it was said that he was a handsome man.

It was the third year after Shingen's death; the Fourth Month would be the end of the official period of mourning.

Shingen's final command, "Hide your mourning for three years," had been followed to the letter. But every year on the anniversary of his death, the lamps of all the temples of Kai-and particularly those of the Eirin Temple-were lit for secret memorial services. For three days Katsuyori had forsaken all military matters and stayed shut up in the Bishamon Temple, deep in meditation.

On the third day, Katsuyori had the doors of the temple opened to let out the smoke of the incense burned during Shingen's memorial service. As soon as Katsuyori had changed his clothes, Atobe Oinosuke requested an urgent, private audience.

"My lord," Oinosuke began, "please read this letter immediately and give me an answer. A spoken one will do; I'll write the reply for you."

Katsuyori quickly opened the letter. "Well, now... from Okazaki." It was clear that he had been expecting the letter for some time, and it was no ordinary expression that moved across his face as he read. For a moment he seemed unable to come to a decision.