But the gunners of the Maeda army ran as quietly as water through all the screaming and, quickly spreading out at some distance outside the camp, lay down. Observing that action, Genba yelled out a command in a penetrating voice, and finally the confusion abated a little.
The knowledge that fresh troops from the Maeda had entered the field became an extraordinary source of strength for Genba's soldiers, as well as for Genba and his remaining officers.
“Don't retreat a step until we see that damned monkey's head at the end of one of our spears! Don't let the Maeda laugh at us! Don't shame yourselves!'
Spurring them on, Genba moved around through his officers and men. As might be expected, the soldiers who had followed him that far were alive to the feeling of honor.
Blood and gore, dried by a sun that had been shining brightly since the early hours of the day, stained the armor and spears of many. Dirt and bits of grass were mixed in with the filth.
Every man's face showed that he craved a drink of water, even if just a mouthful. But was no time for that. Great clouds of yellow dust and the sounds of the enemy's horses were already approaching from the distance.
But Hideyoshi, who had advanced thus far from Shizugatake with a force that had swept over everything, pulled back just before Moyama.
“This camp is under the command of Maeda Inuchiyo and his son, Toshinaga,' Hideyoshi announced.
With that observation, he suddenly brought the rushing advance of his vanguard to a halt. He then reorganized his his battle array and brought his men into formation.
At that point the two armies were out of firing range. Genba continued to command the Maeda gunners to take up a position in the path of the enemy's advance, but the dust covered Hideyoshi's army, which refused to advance into firing range.
After he had parted from Genba, Inuchiyo lingered at the edge of the mountain and watched the situation from afar. His intentions were a puzzle even to the generals around him. Two of his samurai, however, led out his horse.
Well, now he's determined to go out and fight. In their hearts, that is what his soldiers seemed to hope. But as Inuchiyo was stepping into the stirrups, he was whispering with a messengenger who had just returned with an answer from Toshinaga's encampment. Inumounted his horse but did not seem ready to move.
There was a noisy outburst in the direction of the foot of the mountain. When Inuchiyo and everyone else looked down that way, they could see that a frightened horse the rear of their formation had broken its tether and was running wild through the camp.
That would not have been a difficult situation in normal times, but at that juncture, confusion created more confusion and resulted in an uproar.
Inuchiyo looked back at the two samurai and signaled to them with his eyes.
“Carry on, everyone,' he said to the retainers around him, and hastened his horse forward.
At the same moment, rattling musket fire echoed across the plain. That would have come from their own gunners' corps, and Hideyoshi's forces must have opened their assault simultaneously. With those thoughts, Inuchiyo charged down the slope, looking at clouds of dust and gunpowder smoke off to the side.
“Now! Now!' he muttered, and struck his saddle incessantly.
Gongs and large war drums were being beaten in one section of the encampment at Moyama, adding to the confusion. It seemed that Hideyoshi's irresistible forces had stepped over their own casualties on the gunners' line of defense and were already breaking deeply into the heart of the Sakuma and Maeda corps. And, as easily as they hadthrown the central army into confusion, they were now coming with such fury that nothing could stop them.
Observing the violent fighting, Inuchiyo avoided the road, joined forces with his son, Toshinaga, and quickly started to withdraw.
Some of his officers were both angry and suspicious, but for Inuchiyo it was nothing more than the action he had decided upon earlier. In his heart of hearts, Inuchiyo had always been independent, and his wish had been for neutrality. Because of the position of his province, he had been sought after by Katsuie and had been compelled to join that man's side. But now, because of his friendship with Hideyoshi, he quietly retreated.
But Hideyoshi's advancing troops tore relentlessly into the Maeda army, and some of the rear guard were cut down.
In the meantime, Inuchiyo and his son led their almost completely uninjured troops out of camp; from Shiotsu they took a roundabout route through Hikida and Imajo and finally withdrew into Fuchu Castle. During the violent battle, which lasted two days, the Maeda encampment was like a solitary forest standing peacefully in the midst of the clouds of chaos.
* * *
What had conditions been in Katsuie's camp since the night before?
Katsuie had sent six different messengers to Genba, and each messenger had returned in complete failure. Katsuie then lamented that nothing more could be done and went to sleep with bitter resignation. In fact, he should not have been able to sleep at all: he was reaping what he himself had sown—his favoritism toward Genba had yielded the poison of blind love. He had made a grave mistake in being led by his emotions into confounding the flesh-and-blood bond of an uncle and his nephew with the solemn ties between a commander and his subordinate.
Now Katsuie fully understood. Genba had also been the cause of the rebellion of Katsuie's foster son, Katsutoyo, at Nagahama. And he had heard of Genba's unpleasant haughty behavior toward Maeda Inuchiyo, of all people, on the battlefield in Noto.
Even recognizing such flaws in the man, Katsuie was still sure that Genba's fiber was far above the average.
'Ah, but now those very qualities may prove to have been fatal,' he mumbled, turning over in his sleep.
At the moment when the lamps were beginning to flicker, a number of warriors came running down the corridor. In the next room and the room next to that, Menju Shosuke and others started up from their sleep.
Hearing voices in response to those footsteps, the men who had been guarding Katsuie's quarters quickly ran out into the corridor.
'What's happened?'
The bearing of the warrior who had rushed in as a spokesman was not normal. He spoke so quickly that his words jumbled together.
'The sky over Kinomoto has been red for some time. Our scouts have just returned from Mount Higashino—'
“Don't be so long-winded! Just give us the essentials!' Menju abruptly admonished the man.
“Hideyoshi has arrived from Ogaki. His army is making a great uproar in the vicinity of Kinomoto,' the warrior said in one breath.
“What? Hideyoshi?'
The agitated men had come as quickly as they could to report the situation at Katsui’s sleeping quarters, but Katsuie had already heard what had been said and came out to the corridor himself.
“Did you hear what they were saying just now, my lord?'
“I heard,' Katsuie replied. His face looked even more ashen than it had earlier in the venening. 'As for that, Hideyoshi did the same thing during the campaign in the western provinces.'
As might be expected, Katsuie remained calm and tried to quiet those around him, but he could not conceal his own residual emotions. He had warned Genba, and from way he was speaking now, it seemed almost as though he were proud that that warning had hit the mark. But this was also the voice of that brave general who had once been called Jar-Bursting Shibata or Demon Shibata. Those who heard it now could only feel pity.
“I can no longer rely on Genba. From here on I'll have to take my own stand, so we can fight to our hearts' content. Don't waver and don't be alarmed. We should be happy that Hideyoshi has finally come.'
Gathering his generals, Katsuie sat down on his camp stool and issued the orders for troop dispositions. He behaved with the vigor of a young man. He had anticipated Hideyoshi’s coming as only a slight possibility; as soon as the possibility became a real threat, np was thrown into confusion. Not a few men left their posts of duty with the excuse of illness, others disobeyed orders, and many soldiers deserted in confusion and panic. It was a sad
