TAIKO: AN EPIC NOVEL OF WAR AND GLORY IN FEUDAL JAPAN

by Eiji Yoshikawa

  No one was quick to speak. It was an unusual plan. If a single mistake was made, it might result in a disaster that could be fatal to all of their allies.

  "I'm thinking of offering this plan to Lord Hideyoshi. If it works, both Ieyasu and Nobuo will be able to do nothing as we take them captive."

  Shonyu wanted to perform some meritorious deed to make up for his son-in-law's defeat. He wanted to stare back in triumph at the people who were gossiping maliciously about him. Although they understood that those were his intentions, no one was ready to criticize what he had in mind. No one was ready to say, "No, clever plans rarely invite merit. This is dangerous."

  At the end of the conference the plan had won unanimous support. All the commanders begged to be put in the vanguard that would go deep into enemy territory and destroy Ieyasu in the very bosom of his own province.

  A similar plan had been tried at Shizugatake by Shibata Katsuie's nephew, Genba. Nevertheless, Shonyu was ready to advocate the plan to Hideyoshi and said, "We'll go to the main camp at Gakuden tomorrow."

  He spent the night sleeping on the idea. At dawn, however, a messenger came from Gakuden and told him, "As he makes the inspection rounds today, Lord Hideyoshi is likely to stop at Inuyama Castle around noon."

  As Hideyoshi felt the mild breeze of the beginning of the Fourth Month wafting over him, he rode out of Gakuden and, after carefully observing Ieyasu's camp at Mount Komaki and the enemy fortifications in the area, took the road to Inuyama accompanied ten pages and close attendants.

  Whenever Hideyoshi met with Shonyu, he treated him like an old friend. When they were young samurai in Kiyosu, Shonyu, Hideyoshi, and Inuchiyo had often gone out drinking together.

  'By the way, how's Nagayoshi?" he asked.

  It had been reported that Nagayoshi had been killed, but he had only been badly injured.

  'He made a mess of things with his hotheadedness, but his recovery has been extrordinarily quick. All he can talk about is getting to the front as quickly as possible and clearing his name."

  Hideyoshi turned to one of his retainers and asked, "Ichimatsu, of all the enemy fortifications we saw at Mount Komaki today, which looked to be the strongest?"

  That was the sort of question he liked to ask, calling the men around him and listening happily to the frank words of the young warriors.

  At such times, the crowd of young personal retainers that surrounded him never minced their words. When they became heated, Hideyoshi became heated too, and such an atmosphere made it difficult for an outsider to tell whether the arguers were lord and retainers or just friends. Once Hideyoshi became a little serious, however, everyone immediately straightened up.

  Shonyu was seated next to him and finally broke in on the conversation. "I have something I would earnestly like to talk to you about, too."

  Hideyoshi leaned over to listen to him and nodded. He then commanded everyone to withdraw.

  The room was empty of everyone but Shonyu and Hideyoshi. They were in the hall of the main citadel, and as there was a clear field of vision, it was not necessary for him to be on his guard.

  "What is it about, Shonyu?"

  "You've been making the inspection tour today, and I imagine you've made some decisions. Don't you think Ieyasu's preparations at Mount Komaki are perfect?"

  "Well, they're splendid. I don't think anyone but Ieyasu could have put up such fortifications and positions in such a short time."

  "I've ridden out and looked around a number of times too, and I don't see how we can make an attack," Shonyu said.

  "The way it's set up, we're just going to be facing each other," Hideyoshi replied.

  "Ieyasu's aware that his opponent is a true opponent," Shonyu went on, "so he's acting with prudence. At the same time, our allies know that this is the first time we'll be confronting the famous Tokugawa forces in a decisive battle. So it's naturally turned into a situation like this—staring each other down."

  "It's interesting. For a number of days there hasn't even been the sound of gunfire. It's a quiet battle with no fighting."

  "Well, if I may…" Shonyu advanced on his knees, spread out a map, and enthusiastically explained his plan.

  Hideyoshi listened just as enthusiastically, nodding a number of times. But the expression on his face did not indicate that he was going to be drawn easily into a quick agreement.

  "If you'll give me your permission, I'll raise my entire clan and attack Okazaki. Once we strike the Tokugawa's home province at Okazaki, and Ieyasu hears that it's being trampled beneath our horses' hooves, it won't make any difference how well prepared his ramparts at Mount Komaki are, or how great a military genius he may be. He'll crumble from within even without our attacking him."

  "I'll think about it," Hideyoshi said, avoiding a quick answer. "But you think about it one more night too—not as something of your own, but objectively. It's a clever plan and a heroic undertaking, so it's dangerous on that account alone."

  Shonyu's strategy was indeed an original idea, and it was clear that even the prudent Hideyoshi was impressed, but Hideyoshi's thoughts were quite different.

  By nature, Hideyoshi did not care for clever strategies or surprise attacks. Rather than military strategies, he preferred diplomacy; rather than easy, short-term victories, he preferred mastery over the total situation, even if it took a long time.

  "Well, let's not be in a hurry," he said. Then he relaxed a little. "I'll make my mind up by tomorrow. Come to the main camp tomorrow morning."

  Hideyoshi's personal retainers had been waiting in the corridor and now came to his side. When they got as far as the entrance of the main citadel, a strangely dressed samurai was crouched in obeisance next to the place where the horses were tethered. His head and one arm were bandaged, and the coat over his armor was of gold brocade against a white background.

  "Who's that?"

  The man raised his bound head a little.

  "I'm ashamed to say that it's me, Nagayoshi, my lord."

  "Well, Nagayoshi? I heard you were confined to your bed. How are your wounds?"

  "I was determined to be up by today."

  "Don't push yourself so hard. If you'll only let your body recover, you will be able to wipe away your disgrace at any time."

  At the mention of the word "disgrace," Nagayoshi began to cry. Taking a letter from his coat and reverently handing it to Hideyoshi, he prostrated himself once again.

  "I would be honored if you would read this, my lord."

  Hideyoshi nodded, perhaps feeling compassion for the man's misery.

  After finishing the day's inspection rounds of the battlefield, Hideyoshi returned to Gakuden at dusk. His camp was not on high ground like the enemy's on Mount Komaki, but Hideyoshi had used the forests, fields, and streams in the vicinity to their fullest advantage, and his army's position was surrounded by two square leagues of trenches and palisades.

  As a further precaution, the compound of the village shrine was disguised to look as though it was the place where Hideyoshi was staying.

  From leyasu's point of view, Hideyoshi whereabouts were unclear. He could have been at either the camp at Gakuden or Inuyama Castle. Security at the front lines was so tight that not even water could seep through, so surveillance by one side or the other was certainly impossible.

  “I haven't been able to take a bath since leaving Osaka. Today I want to wash the sweat off for once."

  An outdoor bath was immediately prepared for Hideyoshi. After digging a hole in the earth, his attendants lined it with huge sheets of oiled paper. Filling the hole with water, they next heated a piece of scrap iron in a fire and threw it in to warm the water. Then they lined up planks around the hole and erected a curtain around the area.

  “Ah, the water's great." In that simple open-air bath, the master of a less-than-splendid body soaked in hot water and looked up at the stars of the evening sky. This is the greatest luxury in the world, he thought as he rubbed the dirt from his body.

  Since
the year before, he had been clearing away the land around Osaka and setting in motion the construction of a castle of unprecedented majesty. His own greatest human pleasures were in places like this, however, rather than in the golden rooms and jeweled towers of the castle. He felt a sudden nostalgia for his home in Nakamura, where his mother would wash his back when he was small.

  It had been a long time since Hideyoshi had felt so relaxed, and it was in that state that he walked into his quarters.

  “Ah, you're all here already!" Hideyoshi exclaimed when he saw that the generals he had summoned that evening were waiting for him.

  “Take a look at this," he said, taking a map and a letter from his coat and handing it over to his generals. The letter was a petition written in blood by Nagayoshi. The map was Shonyu's.

  What do you think of this plan?" Hideyoshi asked. "I want to hear everyone's frank opinions."

  For a while no one said a word. Everyone appeared to be sunk in thought.

  Finally one of the generals said, "I think it's an exquisite plan."

  Half of the men were in favor, but the other half were opposed, saying, "A clever plan is a risky gamble."

  The conference was deadlocked.

  Hideyoshi simply listened with a smile. The subject was so momentous that a council resolution was not going to be settled upon easily.

  "We'll have to leave it to your own wise decision, my lord."

  The generals returned to their own camps at nightfall.

  The truth was that Hideyoshi had already made up his mind on the return trip frorr Inuyama. He had called a conference not because he could not make up his own mind. In fact, he had invited his generals to a brief conference because he had already made his decision. Again it was a matter of psychological leadership. His generals returned to their camps with the impression that he would probably not put the plan into use.

  But in his own mind Hideyoshi had already settled on action. If he did not accept Shonyu's suggestion, his and Nagayoshi's positions as warriors would become onerous. Moreover, it was certain that if their obstinate temperaments were repressed, they would somehow be manifested at a later time.

  It was a dangerous situation in terms of military command. More than that, Hideyoshi feared that if Shonyu became discontented, Ieyasu would certainly try to tempt him to change sides.

  Ikeda Shonyu is my subordinate now. If he imagines himself to be the butt of dishonorable rumors, his haste is not unreasonable, Hideyoshi thought.

  The present situation was deadlocked, and a positive move to invite some sort of change would have to be played.

  "That's it," Hideyoshi said aloud. "Rather than wait for Shonyu to come here tomorrow morning, I'll send a messenger to him tonight."

  Upon receiving the urgent letter, Shonyu flew off toward Hideyoshi's camp. It was the fourth watch, and the night was still dark.

  "I have decided, Shonyu."

  "Good! Are you going to favor me with the command to make a surprise attack on Okazaki?"

  The two men finished all the preliminaries before dawn. Shonyu joined Hideyoshi for breakfast and then returned to Inuyama.

  On the following day, the battlefield outwardly appeared to be in the doldrums, but there were subtle signs of delicate movement.

  Resounding in the thinly clouded afternoon sky, both enemy and ally gunfire could be heard coming from the direction of Onawate. From the Udatsu Road, sand and dust could be seen far off, at the place where two or three thousand soldiers of the westerr army were beginning to attack enemy fortifications.

  "The general attack is starting!"

  As they looked out into the distance, the generals felt a wild surging excitement. This was, indeed, a turning point in history. Whichever man won, the age would belong tc him.

  Ieyasu knew that Hideyoshi had feared and respected Nobunaga more than anyone else. Now there was no one he feared or respected more than Ieyasu. Not a single banner in the entire camp on Mount Komaki moved that morning. It was almost as though strict orders had been given not to react to the small attacking sorties from the western army that would be testing the eastern army's resolve.

  Evening arrived. A corps of the western army that had withdrawn from the fighting delivered a sheaf of propaganda handbills they had picked up along the road to Hideyoshi’s main camp.

  When Hideyoshi read one of them, he became enraged.

  hideyoshi caused the suicide of Lord Nobutaka, the son of his former lord, Nobunaga, to whom he owed so much. He has now rebelled against Lord Nobuo. He has instantly caused turmoil within the warrior class, has brought disasters to the common people, and has been the chief instigator of the present conflict, using every means to achieve his own ambitions.

  The flyer went on to claim that Ieyasu had risen up with a true justification for war and that he led the army of moral duty.

  An expression of rage—rare for Hideyoshi—contorted his face. "Which one of the enemy wrote this tract?" he demanded.

  “Ishikawa Kazumasa," a retainer replied.

  “Secretary!" Hideyoshi yelled, looking over his shoulder. "Have placards raised everywhere with the same message: The man who takes Ishikawa Kazumasa's head will receive a reward of ten thousand bushels."

  Even with that command, Hideyoshi's anger did not subside, and calling for the generals who happened to be present, he gave the order for a sortie himself.

  So this is how that damned Kazumasa behaves!" he fumed. "I want you to take a reserve corps and help our men in front of Kazumasa's lines. Attack him throughout the night. Attack him tomorrow morning. Attack him tomorrow night. Follow one attack with another, and don't give Kazumasa the chance to take a breath."

  Finally he called out for rice and pressed for his evening meal to be brought in right away. Hideyoshi never forgot to eat. Even as he was eating, however, messengers continued to go back and forth between Gakuden and Inuyama.

  Then the final messenger arrived with a report from Shonyu. Mumbling to himself, Hideyoshi leisurely drank the soup from the bottom of his bowl. That evening, the sound of musket fire could be heard far behind the main camp. The firing had been echoing here and there on the front lines since dawn and continued until the following day. Even now this was considered to be the opening action of a general attack by Hideyoshi's western army.

  The first blow of the day before, however, had been a feint by Hideyoshi, while the real movement had been the preparations at Inuyama for Shonyu's surprise attack on Okazaki.

  The strategy was to divert Ieyasu's attention, while Shonyu's troops took back roads and struck at Ieyasu's main castle.

  Shonyu's army consisted of four corps:

  First Corps: Ikeda Shonyu's six thousand men.

  Second Corps: Mori Nagayoshi's three thousand men.

  Third Corps: Hori Kyutaro's three thousand men.

  Fourth Corps: Miyoshi Hidetsugu's eight thousand men.

  The vanguard First and Second Corps naturally constituted the main strength of these forces—warriors who were ready for victory or death.

  It was now the sixth day of the Fourth Month. Waiting until the dead of night, Shonyu's twenty thousand troops finally departed Inuyama in the utmost secrecy. The banners were lowered, the horses' hooves muted. Riding through the night, they met the dawn at Monoguruizaka.

  The soldiers ate their provisions and had a short rest, then went on and made camp at the village of Kamijo, from which a reconnaissance party was sent out to Oteme Castle.

  Earlier, the commander of the Blue Herons, Sanzo, had been sent by Shonyu to Morikawa Gonemon, the commander of castle, who had promised to betray Ieyasu. But now, just to make sure, Sanzo was sent out again.

  Shonyu was now deep inside enemy territory. The army advanced, step by step, hourly approaching Ieyasu's main castle. Ieyasu, of course, was absent, as were all of his generals and soldiers, who had gone to the front lines at Mount Komaki. It was toward this vacant house, the empty cocoon that the core of the Tokugawa clan's home province had bec
ome, that Shonyu would aim his lethal blow.

  The commander of Oteme Castle, who had been aligned with the Tokugawa, but tempted by Shonyu, had already accepted his pledge from Hideyoshi for a domain of fifty thousand bushels.

  The castle gate was open, and its commander came out to greet the invaders himself, showing them the way. The samurai class under the old shogunate did not have a monopoly of immorality and degradation. Under Ieyasu's rule, both lord and retainer had eaten cold rice and gruel; they had fought battles; they had taken up the hoe, worked in the fields, and done piecework to survive. Finally they had overcome every hardship and had become strong enough to stand against Hideyoshi. Still, even here, there existed such samurai as Morikawa Gonemon.

  "Well, General Gonemon," Shonyu said, his face aglow with happiness. "I'm grateful that you haven't gone back on your promise and have come out to greet us today. If everything turns out as planned, I'll send that proposal for fifty thousand bushels directly to Lord Hideyoshi."

  "No, I already received Lord Hideyoshi's pledge last night."

  With Gonemon's reply, Shonyu was once again surprised at Hideyoshi's vigilance and reliability.

  The army now divided into three columns and started out for the plain of Nagakute. It passed another fortress, Iwasaki Castle, which was defended by only two hundred thirty soldiers.

  "Leave it alone. A little castle like that hardly merits taking. Let's not play along the way."

  Looking askance at the castle, both Shonyu and Nagayoshi rode by as though it was Not even dust in their eyes. But just as they were passing by, they were showered with gunfire from inside the castle, and one of the bullets grazed the flank of Shonyu's horse, horse reared, nearly throwing Shonyu from the saddle.

  “What impudence!" Raising his whip, Shonyu shouted at the soldiers of the First Corps. "Finish off that little castle now!"

  The troops' first fighting action had been approved. All of their pent-up energy was released. Two commanders each led about a thousand men and charged the castle. Even a much stronger fortress would not have been able to withstand warriors with their kind of spirit, and this castle was defended by a small force of men.