"Well, let's start our raid," one of the men said, and Hikoemon and the others trembled with excitement, tying the cords of their armor and adjusting their leggings.
"No, wait. Let's eat first," Hideyoshi said.
While the sun came out over the vast ocean of clouds, they finished the second of the two meals Mosuke had prepared the night before. The gourd was empty, but the rice mixed with millet and wrapped in oak leaves, tasted so sweet they thought they would never forget it as long as they lived.
When they had finished eating, the mist in the valley below began to clear. They could see a precipice and a vine-covered suspension bridge. Beyond the bridge was a stone wall covered with thick green moss. The place was dark, and a desolate wind blew constantly.
"Where's the flare tube?" Hideyoshi asked. "Give it to Mosuke and teach him how to set it off."
Hideyoshi stood up and asked Mosuke if he understood how to use the flare, then said, “We’re going down now to cut our way in. Keep your ears open. As soon as you hear shouting, set off the flare. All right? Don't slip up."
"I understand." Mosuke nodded and stood next to the signal tube. Seeing his master and the others off as they descended into the valley in high spirits, he looked a little unhappy. He would have liked to go with them. The clouds began to look like raging billows, and the plain between Mino and Owari became visible beneath them at last.
Since it was still early fall, the sun shone down harshly. Very quickly the castle town of Inabayama, the waters of the Nagara River, and even the crossroads among the houses came into sight. Yet not a soul could be seen. The sun rose higher.
What's happening? Mosuke asked himself nervously. His heart was pounding. Then, suddenly, he heard the echoing reports of firearms. The smoke of the signal he fired trailed into the blue sky, like a squid squirting ink.
Hideyoshi and his men had walked toward the rear of the castle with faces completely composed, looking here and there around the wide, empty space where the grass was growing thick.
The first soldiers of Inabayama Castle to see the party thought that it was composed of their own men. Stationed at the neighboring fuel warehouse and rice storeroom, they ate their morning rations and gossiped. Even though there had been several days of steady fighting, this was a large citadel, and all of the action had been taking place around the front gate. Here at the rear of this natural fortress, it was so quiet you could hear the chirping of birds.
When there was fighting at the front of the castle, the soldiers at the rear could hear the sound of firearms crackling from the direction of the tortuous path to the front gate. But the few soldiers who guarded the rear thought they would not take part in the battle until the very end.
"They're really having it out, up front," one of the soldiers said complacently.
Eating their rations, the soldiers watched Hideyoshi and his men, and finally began to regard them with suspicion. "Who are they?"
"You mean those men over there?"
"Uh-huh. It's sort of strange, the way they're hanging around, don't you think? They're looking into the guardhouse by the stockade."
"They've probably come from the front lines."
"But who are they?"
"It's hard to tell when they're in armor."
"Hey! One of them's come out of the kitchen with a firebrand! What do you suppose he’s going to do with it?"
As they watched with chopsticks in hand, the man carrying the firebrand ran into the fue1 warehouse and ignited the piles of firewood. The others followed, carrying torches and throwing them into the other buildings.
"It's the enemy!" the guards yelled.
Hideyoshi and Hikoemon turned in their direction and laughed,
How did this seemingly impregnable stronghold fall so easily? First, the interior of the castle was thrown into confusion by the outbreak of fire at the rear. Second, the shouts of Hideyoshi and his men panicked the defenders, and they started to fight among themselves, thinking there must be traitors in their midst. But the most important factor in their defeat, understood only afterward, was the result of someone's advice.
Several days before, the dimwitted Tatsuoki had brought the wives and children of the soldiers fighting outside the castle, as well as the families of wealthy townsfolk, into the castle as hostages, so that his soldiers would not submit to the enemy.
The man who devised this policy, however, was none other than Iyo, one of the Three Men of Mino, who had already allied himself with Hideyoshi. So this "strategy" was nothing more than a seditious plot. Because of this, the confusion inside the castle during the attack was terrible, and the defenders were unable to put up full resistance to the attackers. Finally, Nobunaga, who was always looking out for an opportunity, sent Tatsuoki a letter at the height of the confusion:
Today your immoral clan is engulfed in the flames of divine punishment and will soon be overwhelmed by my soldiers. The people of this province look for a sign of rain that will put out these fires, and shouts of joy are already rising from the castle town. You are the nephew of my wife. For many years I have pitied your cowardice and folly, and cannot bear putting you to the sword. Rather, I would gladly spare your life and grant you a stipend. If you wish to live, surrender and quickly send an envoy to my camp.
As soon as Tatsuoki read the letter, he ordered his men to surrender, and he and members of his family left the castle, accompanied by only thirty retainers. Attaching his own soldiers to them as an escort, Nobunaga exiled Tatsuoki to Kaisei, but he promised to give his younger brother, Shingoro, some land so that the Saito clan might not vanish.
With the unification of Owari and Mino, the value of Nobunaga's domains rose to one million two hundred thousand bushels of rice. Nobunaga moved his castle for the third time, from Mount Komaki to Inabayama, which he renamed Gifu, after the birthplace of China's Chou Dynasty.
"Be a Friendly Neighbor"
The castle town of Kiyosu was now deserted. There were few shops and samurai residences. Nevertheless, through that very desolation there shone the satisfaction of shedding a skin. It is a principle of all living things: once the womb has carried out its function, it must be content to decay and fall away. And very much in this way, it was a joy to everyone that Nobunaga was not going to be trapped forever in his hometown, even if it meant the town's decline.
And here, such a woman who had given birth was growing old. This was Hideyoshi's mother. She would be fifty this year. For the moment she was peacefully tending to her old age, living with her daughter-in-law, Nene, at their house in the samurai district of Kiyosu. But until two or three years before she had been a farmer, and the joints of her earth-chapped hands were still calloused. Having given birth to four children, she was missing many of her teeth. Her hair, however, was still not all white.
One letter that Hideyoshi wrote to her from the field was typical of many:
How is your hip? Are you still using moxa? When we lived on the farm you always said, "Don't waste food on me," no matter what it was. So even here I worry that you're not eating properly. You must live a long life. I'm worried that I won't have time to take care of you as I'd like, because I'm such a dunce. Happily, I have not been sick here. My fate as a warrior seems to be blessed, and His Lordship holds me in high regard.
After the invasion of Mino, it would be difficult to count the letters he sent.
"Nene, read this. He always writes like a child." Hideyoshi's mother said to Nene.
Every time, his mother would show the letters to her daughter-in-law, and Nene would show the old lady the letters that came to her.