"Do not pursue them!" Nobunaga ordered from atop Mount Wada, and the banners erected there so quickly could clearly be seen under the noonday sun. Covered with blood and mud, the men gradually collected under the banners of their own generals. Then, raising a shout of victory, they ate their noonday rations. A number of messages continued to come in from the direction of Mitsukuri. The Tokugawa forces from Mikawa, which had been positioned as the vanguard for Niwa and Nobumori, were just now fighting courageously, bathed in blood. Moment by moment, messages of success collected in Nobunaga's hand.
The report of Mitsukuri's fall reached Nobunaga before the sun had set. As evening neared, black smoke rose from the direction of the castle at Kannonji. Hideyoshi's forces were already pressing in. The command for an all-out attack was given. Nobunaga moved his camp, and the entire force of Mitsukuri and its allies were pushed back to Kannonji Castle. By the time evening fell, the first men had breached the walls of the enemy castles.
Stars and sparks filled the clear autumn night sky. The attacking forces surged in. Viclory songs were raised, and to those allied with the Sasaki, they must have sounded like the heartless voice of the autumn wind. No one had expected that this stronghold would fall in but a single day. The fortress at Mount Wada and the eighteen strategic points had been no defense at all against these billowing waves of attackers.
The entire Sasaki clan—from women and children to its leaders, Rokkaku and Jotei—stumbled and fought through the darkness, fleeing from the flames of their castles to the fortress at Ishibe.
"Let the fugitives flee as they will; there will be enemies still ahead of us tomorrow." Nobunaga spared not only their lives, but also ignored the vast amount of treasure they carried with them. It was not Nobunaga's style to tarry along the way. His mind was already in Kyoto, the center of the field. The castle at Kannonji stopped burning at the keep. As soon as Nobunaga entered what was left of it, he showed his appreciation to his troops, saying, "The horses and men should be given a good rest."
He himself, however, did not rest much. That night he slept in his armor, and as morning broke, he gathered his senior retainers for a conference. Again he commanded decrees to be posted throughout the province, and immediately sent Fuwa Kawachi off with the command to bring Yoshiaki from Gifu to Moriyama.
Yesterday he had fought at the head of an army; today he was taking the reins of the administration. This was Nobunaga. Temporarily giving four of his generals responsibilities as administrators and magistrates in the port city of Otsu, two days later he crossed Lake Biwa, nearly forgetting to eat as he issued order after order.
It was the twelfth of the month when Nobunaga struck into Omi and attacked Kannonji and Mitsukuri. Then, by the twenty-fifth, Nobunaga's army had gone from the aftermath of battle to setting up notices of the new laws for the province. One road to supremacy, to the center of the field! With that, the warships from the east shore of Lake Biwa were lined up, and they sailed for Omi. Everything from the preparation of the ships to the loading of the rations for the soldiers and feed for their horses involved the cooperation of the common people. Certainly they crouched in fear of Nobunaga's miliary strength. But more than that, the fact that the common people of Omi united in support of him was due to their approval of his style of government, which they trusted as reliable.
Nobunaga was the only man who had rescued the hearts of the common people from the flames of war and who had committed himself to them publicly. When they asked themselves what was to become of them, he reassured them. In such situations, there is no time to establish a detailed political policy. Nobunaga's secret was nothing more than to do things swiftly and decisively. What the common people clearly wanted in this country at civil war was not a talented administrator or a great sage. The world was in chaos. If Nobunaga was able to control it, they would accept a certain amount of hardship.
The wind on the lake reminded one that it was autumn, and the water drew beautiful long patterns in the wake of the myriad boats. On the twenty-fifth, Yoshiaki's boat crossed the waters of the lake from Moriyama and landed near Mii Temple.
Nobunaga, who had already landed, expected an attack by Miyoshi and Matsunaga, but it did not come.
He greeted Yoshiaki at the temple, saying, "It's the same as if we've already entered the capital."
On the twenty-eighth, Nobunaga at last pushed his troops toward Kyoto. When they reached Awataguchi, the army stopped. Hideyoshi, who was at Nobunaga's side, galloped forward at the same time that Akechi Mitsuhide was hurrying back from the van.
"What is it?"
"Imperial messengers."
Nobunaga, too, was surprised, and hurriedly dismounted. The two messengers arrived with a letter from the Emperor.
Bowing low, Nobunaga responded reverently, "As a provincial warrior, I have no other abilities than taking up the weapons of war. Since my father's time, we have long lamented the grievous condition of the Imperial Palace and the uneasiness in the Emperor's heart. Today, however, I have come to the capital from a far corner of the country to guard His Imperial Majesty. No other responsibility would be a greater honor for a samurai, or a greater joy for my clan."
Thirty thousand soldiers silently and solemnly swore an oath with Nobunaga that they would obey the Emperor's wishes.
Nobunaga made his camp at Tofuku Temple. On the same day, proclamations were set up throughout the capital. The disposition of the police patrols came first. The day watch was given to Sugaya Kuemon, and the night watch to Hideyoshi.
One of the soldiers from the Oda army was out drinking, and a victorious soldier will easily become arrogant. Drunk and having eaten his fill, he tossed down a few coins that amounted to less than half of what he owed, and walked out, saying, "That should do."
The proprietor ran out after him, yelling, and when he tried to grab the soldier, the man struck him and then swaggered away. Midway through his rounds, Hideyoshi witnessed the incident and immediately ordered the man's arrest. When he was brought to headquarters, Nobunaga praised the police, stripped the soldier of his armor, and had him bound to a large tree in front of the temple gate. The nature of the offense was then signposted, and Nobunaga ordered the man to be exposed for seven days and then beheaded. Every day, an immense number of people traveled back and forth in front of the temple gate. Many of them were merchants and nobles, and there were also messengers from other temples and shrines, and shopkeepers transporting their goods.
The passersby stopped to read the placard and look at the man bound to the tree. Thus the common people in the capital witnessed both Nobunaga's justice and the severity of his laws. They saw that the law posted on placards all over town—that the theft of even a single coin would be punished by death—was to be strictly enforced, starting with Nobunaga's own soldiers. No one uttered any discontent.
The phrase "a one-coin cut" became common among the people for the sort of punishment meted out by Nobunaga's rule. It had been twenty-one days since the army's departure from Gifu.
After Nobunaga had settled the situation in the capital and returned to Gifu, he turned away from the matters that had preoccupied him and found that Mikawa was no longer the weak, poverty-stricken province it had once been.
He could not help marveling secretly at Ieyasu's vigilance. The lord of Mikawa had not simply been content to be a guard dog at the back gate of Owari and Mino while his ally, Nobunaga, marched off to the center of the field. Rather than let the opportunity go by, he had expelled the forces of Imagawa Yoshimoto's successor, Ujizane, from the two provinces of Suruga and Totomi. This, of course, was not through his own strength alone. Connected with the Oda clan on the one hand, he was also in collusion with Takeda Shingen of Kai, and he had a pact with the latter to divide and share the two remaining provinces of the Imagawa. Ujizane had been a fool and had given both the Tokugawa and Takeda clans a number of good excuses to attack him.
Even though the country was in chaos, every military commander understood that
he could not start a war without some reason, and that if he did, the battle would be lost in the end. Ujizane was operating an administration against which the enemy could take just such a moral stand, and was weak-minded enough to be unable to see what the future held. Everyone knew he was an unworthy successor to Yoshimoto.
The province of Suruga became the possession of the Takeda clan, while Totomi became the Tokugawa clan's domain. On New Year's Day of the thirteenth year of Eiroku, Ieyasu left his son in charge of the castle at Okazaki, and he himself moved to Hamamatsu in Totomi. In the Second Month, a message of congratulations came from Nobunaga:
Last year, I myself mentioned my long-cherished desire and had some small success, but nothing could be more felicitous than adding the fertile land of Totomi to your own domains. Collectively, we have become all the stronger.
In early spring, Ieyasu went to Kyoto in the company of Nobunaga. Of course the purpose of the trip was to enjoy the capital in the springtime and to relax beneath the cherry blossoms, or so it appeared. From a political perspective, however, the rest of the world looked at the two leaders meeting in Kyoto and wondered what it was really about.
But Nobunaga's trip this time was really just a magnificent and leisurely progress. Alone, the two of them would spend the entire day hawking in the fields. At night Nobunaga held banquets and had the popular songs and dances of the villagers performed at their inn. All in all, it looked like nothing more than an outing. On the day Nobunaga and Ieyasu were to arrive at the capital, Hideyoshi, who was in charge of the defense of Kyoto, had gone out as far as Otsu to greet them. Nobunaga had introduced him to Ieyasu.
"Yes, I've known him for a long time. The first time I met him was when I visited Kiyosu, and he was among the samurai stationed at the entrance to greet me. That was a year after the battle of Okehazama, so it was quite a while ago." Ieyasu looked directly at Hideyoshi and smiled. Hideyoshi was surprised at how good the man's memory was. Ieyasu was now twenty-eight years old. Lord Nobunaga was thirty-six. Hideyoshi was going to be thirty-four. The battle of Okehazama had taken place a good ten years before.
When they had settled down in Kyoto, Nobunaga first went to inspect the repairs being done on the Imperial Palace.
"We anticipate that the Imperial Palace will be finished by next year," the two construction overseers informed him.
"Don't be stingy with the expenses," Nobunaga replied. "The Imperial Palace has lain in ruins for years."
Ieyasu heard Nobunaga's comments and said, "I truly envy your position. You have been able to demonstrate your loyalty to the Emperor in actual fact."
"That's so," Nobunaga answered without modesty, and nodded as though he approved of himself.
Thus, Nobunaga not only rebuilt the Imperial Palace, but he also revised the finances of the court. The Emperor was pleased, of course, and Nobunaga's loyalty impressed the people. Seeing that the nobles were at ease and that the lower classes were at peace and in harmony, Nobunaga truly enjoyed the time spent with Ieyasu during the Second Month, viewing the cherry blossoms, and attending tea ceremonies and concerts.
Who would have known that, during that time, his mind was preparing to strike through the next set of difficulties? Nobunaga initiated his actions as new situations developed, and moved ahead with the outlines of his plans and their execution even as he lay sleeping. Suddenly, on the second day of the Fourth Month, all of his generals received summonses to meet at the residence of the shogun.
The large conference room was full.
“This concerns the Asakura clan of Echizen," Nobunaga began, revealing what he had been planning since the Second Month. "Lord Asakura has ignored the numerous requests of the shogun and has not offered a single piece of lumber for the construction of the Imperial Palace. Lord Asakura was appointed by the shogun and holds the position of retainer to the Emperor, but he thinks of nothing but the luxury and indolence of his own clan. I would like to investigate this crime myself, and assemble a punitive force of soldiers. What are your opinions?"
Among those under direct control of the shogunate, there were a number of men who had old friendships with the Asakura clan and who supported the clan indirectly; but no one disagreed. And as a large number of men voiced frank approval quite readily, no one spoke under the added pressure of the large group.
To attack the Asakura would mean a campaign to the northern provinces. It was a major undertaking, but the plan was approved in a very short time. On the very same day a proclamation went out that an army would be assembled, and by the twentieth day of that month it had already been mustered at Sakamoto. Added to the troops of Owari and Mino, were eight thousand Mikawa warriors under Tokugawa Ieyasu. A force of close to one hundred thousand men now stretched along the lakeshore at Niodori, in the bright Fourth Month of late spring.
Reviewing the troops, Nobunaga pointed toward the mountain range to the north. "Look! The snow covering the mountains of the northern provinces has melted. We'll have the flowering of spring!" Hideyoshi had been included in this army, and led a contingent of troops.
He nodded to himself, thinking, "Well, while Lord Nobunaga was entertaining himself in the capital with Lord Ieyasu this spring, he was also waiting for the snows to melt in the mountain passes leading to the northern provinces."
But more than that, he considered how Nobunaga's real skill had been in inviting Ieyasu to the capital. Indirectly he had displayed his own strength and achievements so that Ieyasu would not begrudge the forces he would be sending. This was Nobunaga's skill. Even with the chaos the world is in, it's going to be united by his ability. Hideyoshi believed this was true, and understood more than anyone else that the significance of this battle was in its absolute necessity.
The army advanced from Takashima, passed Kumagawa in Wakasa, and marched toward Tsuruga in Echizen. On and on it went, burning the enemy's fortresses and border posts, crossing mountain after mountain, and attacking Tsuruga within the month.
The Asakura, who had been making light of the enemy troops, were astonished that they were already there. Just half a month earlier, Nobunaga had been reveling in the spring flowers of the capital. The Asakura could not believe, even in their dreams, that they were looking at his banners here in their own province, even if he had been able to make his military preparations so quickly.
The ancient Asakura clan, descended from the imperial line, had risen to prominence for helping the first shogun, and later had been granted the entire province of Echizen.
The clan was the strongest in all the northern provinces; this was acknowledged by itself and others. The Asakura ranked as participants in the shogunate, they were rich in natural resources, and they could depend on great military strength.
When he heard that Nobunaga had already reached Tsuruga, Yoshikage almost chided the man who had informed him. "Don't lose your head. You're probably mistaken."
The Oda army that fell upon Tsuruga made its base camp there and sent out battalions to attack the castles at Kanegasaki and Tezutsugamine.
"Where's Mitsuhide?" Nobunaga asked.
"General Mitsuhide is in command of the vanguard," a retainer replied.
"Call him back!" Nobunaga ordered.
"What is it, my lord?" Mitsuhide asked, hurrying back from the front lines.
"You lived in Echizen for a long time, so you should be especially familiar with the geography between this area and the Asakura's main castle at Ichijogadani. Why are you fighting out there for some tiny achievement with the vanguard, without devising some greater strategy?" Nobunaga inquired.
"I'm sorry." Mitsuhide bowed as though Nobunaga had somehow struck him deep inside. "If you will give me your order, I will draw you a map and submit it for you observation."
"Well then, I'll give you a formal order. The maps I have at hand are rather crude, and there seem to be places where they might be totally incorrect. Check them with the maps you have, correct them, and give them back to me."
In M
itsuhide's possession were finely detailed maps with which Nobunaga's could not compare. Mitsuhide withdrew and then returned with his own maps, which he presented to Nobunaga.
"I think you should look over the lay of the land. And I think I'd better make you an officer on my field staff." After that, Nobunaga would not let Mitsuhide stray far fron headquarters.
Tezutsugamine, the castle defended by Hitta Ukon, soon surrendered. But the castle at Kanegasaki was not so quick to fall. In this latter castle, Asakura Kagetsune, a twenty-six-year-old general, stood his ground. When he had been a monk in his youth, there were those who said it would be a pity for a warrior of his physique and disposition to enter holy orders. Thus he was forced back into secular life and quickly put in charge of a castle, distinguishing himself even within the Asakura clan. Surrounded by more than forty thousand troops commanded by such veteran generals as Sakuma Nobumori, Ikeda Shonyu, and Mori Yoshinari, Kagetsune looked down from the castle watchtower with an unperturbed expression, and broke into a smile.
"How ostentatious."
Yoshinari, Nobumori, and Shonyu staged a general attack, staining the walls with blood and holding fast like ants for the entire day. When they counted the bodies at the end of the day, the enemy had lost over three hundred men, but the corpses of their own forces exceeded eight hundred. That night, however, the castle at Kanegasaki stood majestic and indomitable under a huge summer moon.
"This castle is not going to fall. And even if it does, it will not be a victory for us,” Hideyoshi told Nobunaga that evening.
Nobunaga looked a bit impatient. "Why won't it be a victory for us if the castle falls?” There was, on such occasions, no reason for Nobunaga to be in a good mood.
TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN Page 49