'It would be a different matter if we had made such a decision before leaving Kiyosu.'
'It's just as Lord Genba says. If people hear that we came this far and then retreated, we’ll become a laughingstock for generations to come.'
'How about retreating after fighting an engagement?'
'They're only Monkey's soldiers, anyway.'
The younger warriors all shouted out their support of Genba.
The only man who remained silent was Menju Shosuke.
'What do you think, Shosuke?'
Katsuie rarely asked Shosuke for his opinion. Recently, Shosuke had been out of favor with Katsuie, and he usually refrained from speaking. He answered docilely, 'I think Genba's opinion is absolutely correct.'
Among the others, who were all hot-blooded and ready to fight, Shosuke had appeared to be as cold as water and lacking in courage in spite of his youth. But he had responded as if there were no alternative.
'If even Shosuke can speak like this, we'll follow Genba's advice and push straight on through, just as we are. But we should send out scouts as soon as we've crossed the river, and not hurry down the road carelessly. Move out plenty of foot soldiers first, and have a spear corps follow them immediately. Place the gunners ahead of the rear guard. When soldiers are lying in ambush, firearms are not apt to be of much use up front. If the enemy is there and the scouts give us the signal, sound the drum immediately, but don't show them a hair's-breadth of confusion. The unit commanders should all wait for my orders.
Its direction settled, the army crossed the Ibi River. Nothing happened. As it began to advance toward Akasaka, there was no sign of the enemy.
The reconnaissance units were far ahead and approaching the neighborhood of the village of Tarui. Nothing unusual could be discerned there, either. A lone traveler approached. He looked suspicious, and one of the soldiers from the reconnaissance unit ran up ahead and took him into custody. Threatened and questioned by the scouts, the man was quick to talk, but it was those who did the threatening who were dismayed.
'If you're asking me if I saw Lord Hideyoshi's men on the road, well, yes, I most certainly did. Early this morning, in the area of Fuwa, and just now passing through Tarui.'
'About how many men were there?'
'I'm not sure, but certainly it was a force of several hundred.'
'Several hundred?'
The scouts looked back and forth at each other. Dismissing the man, they immediately reported back to Katsuie.
The news was rather unexpected. The enemy was such a small force that Katsuie and generals now had even more misgivings. However, the order to push ahead was given, the army marched on. Just at that moment it was reported that an envoy from Hideyoshi was riding in their direction. When the man finally came in sight, they could see he was not an armored warrior but was, instead, a striking youth wearing a printed gossamer silk coat and a wisteria-colored kimono. Even the reins of his horse were ornately decorated.
'My name is Iki Hanshichiro,' the youth announced, 'Lord Hidekatsu's page. I am here to offer my services as a guide to Lord Katsuie.'
Hanshichiro trotted right past the scouts, who were completely taken aback. Yelling in a confused voice, their commander chased after him, nearly falling off his horse in pursuit.
Katsuie and his field staff looked with suspicion at the young man. They had anticipated a battle, and their excitement and anticipation of a fight had soared. Then, in the midst of their spears and burning fuse cords, this elegant young man gracefully dismounted and bowed politely.
'Lord Hidekatsu's page? I have no idea what that means, but bring him here. Let talk with him,' Katsuie ordered.
Katsuie had stamped down the grass by the roadside and was standing in the shade of some trees. Having his camp stool set down, he managed to conceal the rigid tension of his subordinates, as well as his own. He invited the envoy to sit down.
'You have a message?'
'You must be exhausted from the long trip home in this heat,' Hanshichiro said formally.
Oddly, his words sounded exactly like those of a peacetime greeting. Taking a letter box that was hanging from his shoulder by a red cord, he continued, 'Lord Hideyoshi sends his greetings.' Then he handed the missive to Katsuie.
Katsuie received the letter suspiciously and did not open it right away. Blinking, he looked at Hanshichiro.
'You say you're Lord Hidekatsu's page?'
'Yes, my lord.'
'Is Lord Hidekatsu in good health?'
'Yes, my lord.'
'I imagine he's grown up.'
'He'll be seventeen years old this year, my lord.'
'Well, he's that old already? Time passes quickly, doesn't it. It's been a long time since I've seen him.'
'Today he was ordered by his father to come as far as Tarui to extend a welcome.'
'What?' Katsuie stammered. A pebble beneath one leg of his camp stool was crushed by the weight of his heavy body, which equaled the surprise in his heart. Hidekatsu, who was Nobunaga's son, had been adopted by Hideyoshi.
'Welcome? Welcome who?' Katsuie asked this time.
'Why, Your Lordship, of course.'
Hanshichiro covered his face with his fan and laughed. His adversary's eyelids and mouth were twitching uncontrollably, so he could hardly suppress a smile.
'Me? He's come to welcome me?' Katsuie continued to mumble to himself.
'First take a look at the letter, my lord,' Hanshichiro requested.
Katsuie had been in such a daze that he had completely forgotten about the letter in his hand. Katsuie nodded repeatedly for no particular reason. As his eyes followed the written words, a range of emotions swept across his face. The letter was not from Hidekatsu at all, but was unmistakably from Hideyoshi's brush. It was quite openhearted.
The road between northern Omi and Echizen is one you've traveled many times before, so I assume you know the way. Nevertheless, I am sending my foster son, Hidekatsu, to guide you. There is a baseless rumor abroad, unworthy of our notice, that Nagahama would be an advantageous place from which to hinder your return home. In order to contradict such mean-spirited reports, I have sent my foster son to greet you, and you may take him as a hostage until you have passed through with peace of mind. I would have liked to entertain you at Nagahama, but I have been sick since leaving Kiyosu…
Reassured by the words of the envoy and the letter, Katsuie could not help reflecting his own timidity. He had been cowering before what might have been in Hideyoshi's heart, and now he was relieved. For some time he had been regarded as a clever strategist, and was acknowledged to be so full of intrigue that whenever he did anything, people were quick to say that Katsuie was up to his old tricks again. At moments like these, however, he was not even going to bother to cover up his emotions with a feigned nonchalance. It was that part of his character that the late Nobunaga had understood well. He considered Katsuie's courage, conspiratorial mind, and honesty to be distinctive features that could be put to good use. Thus he had given Katsuie the heavy responsibility of being commander-in-chief of the northern campaign, had put numerous warriors and a large province into his charge, and had relied upon him fully. Now, when Katsuie thought about the lord who had known him better than anyone else and contemplated the fact he was no longer in the world, he felt that there was no one in whom he could put his trust.
But now he was suddenly touched by Hideyoshi's letter, and the emotions he had harbored toward his rival were completely reversed in an instant. He now frankly reflected on the fact that their enmity had been based entirely on his own suspicions and timidity.
So Katsuie rethought the situation.
“Now that our lord is gone, Hideyoshi will be the man in whom to put our trust.' That night he talked
