When he had finished, the entire room was silent. But there were no signs of discontent. These men, who ordinarily lived without giving much thought to the future, were reflecting on his words.
One man broke the silence: "I have no objection."
He was followed by the others who made the same reply, and all the voices in the room were raised in agreement. They knew they were risking their lives by committing imselves to the Oda, and a fierce resolution burned in their eyes.
* * *
The sound of an ax cutting a tree… then a splash as the tree falls into the Kiso River. A raft is lashed together and pushed out into the current, where it flows downstream to meet the waters of the Ibi and Yabu rivers coming from the north and west, and then comes to a broad sandbar crisscrossed by waterways: Sunomata. The boundary between Mino and Owari. The site for the castle, on which Sakuma Nobumori, Shibata Katsuie, and Oda Kageyu all had met with identical failure.
"What a stupid waste of time. They might as well be sunk in a stone ship under the sea!" From the far bank, the soldiers of the Saito looked across the river, shading their :s with their hands and joking.
"This is the fourth time."
"They still haven't learned."
"Who's the General of the Dead this time? It's kind of sad, even though he is the enemy. I'll remember his name, if nothing else."
"He's called something like Kinoshita Tokichiro. I've never heard of him."
"Kinoshita… he's the one they call Monkey. He's just a low-ranking officer. He can't beworth more than fifty or sixty kan."
"A low-ranking fool like that is their general? The enemy can't really be serious, then."
"Maybe it's a trick."
"Could be. They could have a plan to draw our attention here, and then cross over somewhere else."
The more the soldiers of Mino looked at the construction on the opposite bank, the less seriously they took it. About one month passed. Tokichiro led the spirited ronin of Hachisuka, who had begun to work as soon as they had arrived. It had rained heavily two or three times, but that made it all the easier to float timber rafts. Even when the river overflowed the sandbar one night the men rallied as though it were nothing. Would the rain clouds come before they could finish the earthen enclosure? Would nature win, or would man?
The ronin worked as though they had forgotten how to eat or sleep. The two thousand who had departed from Hachisuka had swelled to five or six thousand by the time they reached their destination.
Tokichiro hardly needed his general's baton. The men were alert and hardworking, and day by day the work advanced right before his eyes.
The ronin were used to traveling through the mountains and plains. And they unstood the laws of flood regulation and earthwork construction far better than Tokichiro did.
Their aim was to make this place their own. With this work, they took a leap away from their former lives of debauchery and indolence, and felt the satisfaction and pleasure of knowing that they were doing something real.
"Well, this embankment is not going to budge, even if there's a flood or the rivers flow together," one of the ronin said proudly.
Before the first month had passed, they had leveled an area larger than the castle grounds, and had even built a causeway to the mainland.
On the opposite bank, the men of Mino looked over toward the site.
"It seems to be taking shape a little, doesn't it?"
"They still haven't put up any stone walls, so it doesn't look like a castle, but the foundations have come right along."
"I can't see any carpenters or plasterers."
"I'll bet they're still a hundred days away from that."
The soldiers looked lazily across the river to relieve their boredom. The river was wide. When it was sunny, a thin mist rose from the surface of the water. It was difficult to see clearly from the other side, but occasionally there were days when the sounds of stone being cut and voices yelling from the construction site were lifted on the wind and carried from the opposite bank.
"Will we make a surprise attack this time? Right in the middle of construction work?"
"It seems not. There's a strict order from General Fuwa."
"What's that?"
"Not to fire a single shot. Let the enemy work to his heart's content."
"We've been ordered just to watch until they finish the castle?"
"The first time, the plan was to crush the enemy with a single surprise attack when he began work on the castle; the second time, to attack when the castle was half-built and smash it to smithereens. But the command this time is just to stand here and watch with our arms folded until they've finished the job."
"Then what?"
"Take the castle, of course!"
"Aha! Let the enemy build it, and then take it over."
"That seems to be the plan."
"Hey, that's clever. The other Oda generals were a bit tough, but this new commander, Kinoshita, is nothing more than a foot soldier." As the man wagged his tongue and prattled on happily, one of the others gave him a rebuking look.
A third man hurried into the guardhouse. A boat that had been poled down the river landed on the Mino bank. A general with bristly whiskers stepped onto the bank, followed by several attendants. A horse was led off the boat after them.
"The Tiger is coming!" one of the guards said.
The Tiger of Unuma, here!" Whispers and quick glances passed between them. This was the lord of Unuma Castle, upstream; known as one of the fiercest generals in Mino, his name was Osawa Jirozaemon. So frightening was this man that the mothers of Inabayama said, "The Tiger is coming!" to quiet their crying children. Now Osawa came striding up in person, with his eyes and nose thrusting out of his tiger-like whiskers. “Is General Fuwa here?" Osawa asked.
"Yessir. At the camp."
“I wouldn't mind calling on him at his camp, but this is a better place for a talk. Call him over here immediately."
"Yessir." The soldier ran off.
Very soon, Fuwa Heishiro, followed by the soldier and five or six officers, walked briskly toward the riverbank.
"The Tiger! What does he want?" Fuwa muttered, his ill-humored strides indicating how tiresome he thought this interview was going to be.
"General Fuwa, thank you for taking the trouble to come."
"It's no trouble at all. How can I be of assistance?"
"Over there." Osawa pointed to the opposite bank.
"The enemy at Sunomata?"
"Indeed. I'm sure you're keeping watch on them day and night."
"Of course! Please rest assured that we are always on guard."
"Well, although the castle I am in charge of is upstream, I am concerned with more than just the defense of Unuma."
"Yes, of course."
"Occasionally I board a boat or walk along the shore to see what conditions are like downstream, and when I came today, I was surprised. I suppose it's too late, but when I look over this camp, it's rather carefree. What do you have in mind at this point?"
"What do you mean, 'too late'?"
"I'm saying that construction of the enemy's castle has advanced to a surprising extent. It appears that, as you've sat watching nonchalantly from this bank, the enemy has been able to build a second line of embankments, rope off a foundation, and finish about half of their stone walls."
Fuwa grunted, annoyed.
"Couldn't the carpenters already be fitting the timbers for the citadel in the mountains behind Sunomata? And couldn't they have already finished almost everything from the drawbridge to the interior fittings, not to mention the keep and walls? This is my view of the situation."
"Hm…I see."
"These days the enemy must be tired at night from the construction work they've done during the day, and they've neglected to set up defensive positions of any kind. Noto nly that, but the workers and craftsmen, who would only be an impediment during a fight, are living together with the soldiers. Now if we made a general attack, cross
ing the over under cover of darkness, and attacked from upstream, downstream, and straight across, we should be able to rip this thing out by its very roots. But if we're negligent, we're going to wake up some morning soon and find that a very solid castle has suddenly sprung up overnight. We should not be taken off guard."
"Indeed."
"Then you agree?"
Fuwa burst out laughing. "Really, General Osawa! Did you really call me all the way here because you were worried about that?"
"I was beginning to doubt that you had eyes, so I wanted to explain the situation to you right here at the riverbank."
"Now you've gone too far! As a military commander, you're remarkably shallow. I’m allowing the enemy to build his castle this time exactly as he wishes. Can't you see that?
"That's obvious. I suppose you plan to let them finish the castle, then attack, and use it as a foothold for Mino to gain supremacy over Owari."
"That's right."
"I'm sure those were your instructions, but it's a dangerous strategy when you don't know whom you're up against. I can't just stand by and watch the destruction of our own troops."
"Why should this mean the destruction of our troops? I don't understand."
"Clean out your ears and listen carefully to the sounds coming from the far bank, and you'll realize how far the castle construction has got. There's enough activity there for all the soldiers to be working as well. This is different from Nobumori and Katsuie. This time the baton of command has spirit. It's clear that the command has fallen to a man of real character, even if he is from the Oda."
Fuwa held his belly and laughed, ridiculing Osawa for overestimating their opponents. Although they were allies and fighting on the same side, the two men were not of one mind. Osawa clicked his tongue loudly beneath his tiger's whiskers.
"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 passed. 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 Nobumori'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 hoarse 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 assault. 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 Nobunaga 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 Nobunaga 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 Nobunaga 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, Nobunaga gave his retainer a new name: Tokichiro would henceforth be called Kinoshita Hideyoshi.
"If you can build it, the castle is yours" had been Nobunaga's original promise, but when Hideyoshi returned to report the castle's completion, Nobunaga 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 Nobunaga'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 Nobunaga had offered him was worth five hundred kan, but the land he conquered was worth more than a thousand.
When Nobunaga 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. Nobunaga 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, Nobunaga 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 reputa
tion 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, Nobunaga 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 cocked 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."
TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN Page 40