* * *
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 state of affairs: of seven thousand soldiers, not even three thousand now remained.
This was the army that had departed from Echizen with a will firmly set to fight Hideyoshi. Those men should not have been ready to run away at the first actual threat from him.
What had led them to that point—an army of over seven thousand men? It had been one thing only: the lack of an authoritative command. Also, Hideyoshi's actions had been unexpectedly swift, and that only dumbfounded them all the more. Rumors and false reports ran rampant, and thus cowardice was encouraged.
When Katsuie observed his troops' ugly confusion, he was not merely disheartened, but enraged. Gnashing his teeth, he seemed unable to keep from spitting out his indignation to the officers around him. First sitting, then standing, then walking around, the warriors around Katsuie had been unable to calm themselves down at all. His orders had been relayed two or three times, but the answers had been unclear.
“Why are you all so flustered?" he asked, rebuking those around him. "Calm down! Leaving posts of duty and spreading rumors and gossip only causes our men to become more confused. Anyone committing such acts will be severely punished," he said, adding one rebuke to another.
A number of his subordinates dashed out a second time, announcing his strict orders. But even after that, Katsuie could be heard shouting in a high-pitched voice, "Don't get excited! Don't get confused!" But his intentions to suppress the turmoil only resulted in adding one more voice to the wild commotion.
Dawn had almost come.
The war cries and musket fire that had moved from the area of Shizugatake to the western bank of Lake Yogo echoed across the water.
"The way things are going, Hideyoshi should be getting here soon!"
"At least by noon."
"What! You think they're going to wait until then?"
Cowardice engendered more cowardice, and finally fear enveloped the entire camp.
"There must be ten thousand of the enemy!"
"No, I think there must be twenty thousand!"
"What? With that kind of power, there must be thirty thousand of them!"
The soldiers were caught up in their own fears, and no one felt comfortable without the agreement of his companions. Then a rumor that sounded like the truth started to circulate.
"Maeda Inuchiyo has gone over to Hideyoshi!"
At that point, the Shibata officers were no longer able to control their troops. Katsuie finally mounted his horse. Riding around the area of Kitsunezaka, he personally berated the soldiers in the separate encampments. Apparently he had come to the conclusion that it would be ineffective to let his own generals pass on the strict orders coming from headquarters.
"Anyone leaving camp for no reason will be cut down immediately," he screamed. Chase down and shoot any cowardly deserters! Anyone spreading rumors or dampening the martial spirit of the men is to be killed on the spot!"
But the situation had advanced too far, and the revival of Katsuie's severe martial spirit was in vain. Over half of his seven thousand troops had already deserted, and the remaining men hardly had their feet on the ground. In addition, they had already lost confidence in their own commander-in-chief. Reduced as he was to a position lacking in respect, even Demon Shibata's orders sounded hollow.
He rode back into his main camp, which was already under attack.
Ah, he thought, the end has come for me, too…. Seeing his dispirited army, Katsuie realized the futility of the situation. His fierce spirit, however, pushed him on relentlessly toward his own desperate death. As dawn began to break, horses and men were scattered thinly over his sparse camp.
"My lord, this way. Over here for just a moment." Two warriors held on to either side of Katsuie's armor as though they were supporting his large body. "It's not like you to be this quick-tempered." Leading him forcibly through the maelstrom of horses and men and out of the temple gate, they shouted desperately at the others, "Hurry up and bring his horse! Where is our lord's horse!"
In the meantime Katsuie himself was shouting. "I will not retreat! Who do you think I am! I'm not running away from this place!" His fierce words came with increasing vehemence. Once again he glared and yelled at the staff officers who would not leave hisSide. “Why are you doing this? Why are you keeping me from going out to attack? While you hold me down, why aren't you attacking the enemy?"
A mount was brought up. A soldier carrying the beautiful commander's standard emblazoned with the golden emblem came and stood next to it.
“We can't stem the tide here, my lord. If you die in this place, it will be in vain. Why don’t you fall back to Kitanosho and put your thoughts into a plan for another attempt?"
Katsuie shook his head and yelled, but the men around him hastily forced his body into the saddle. The situation was urgent. Suddenly the captain of the pages, Menju Shosuke, a man who had never distinguished himself in battle, ran forward and prostrated himself in front of Katsuie's horse.
“Please, my lord! Allow me to take your commander's standard."
To ask one's lord for permission to carry the commander's standard meant that one was volunteering to make a stand in his place.
Shosuke said nothing more but remained kneeling in front of Katsuie. He displayed no particular preparedness for death, desperation, or ferocity; he looked as he usually did when he appeared before Katsuie as the captain of the pages.