Sunset of Kai
Takeda Katsuyori had seen the coming of thirty springs. He was taller and broader than his father, Takeda Shingen, and it was said that he was a handsome man.
It was the third year after Shingen's death; the Fourth Month would be the end of the official period of mourning.
Shingen's final command, "Hide your mourning for three years," had been followed to the letter. But every year on the anniversary of his death, the lamps of all the temples of Kai—and particularly those of the Eirin Temple—were lit for secret memorial services. For three days Katsuyori had forsaken all military matters and stayed shut up in the Bishamon Temple, deep in meditation.
On the third day, Katsuyori had the doors of the temple opened to let out the smoke of the incense burned during Shingen's memorial service. As soon as Katsuyori had changed his clothes, Atobe Oinosuke requested an urgent, private audience.
"My lord," Oinosuke began, "please read this letter immediately and give me an answer. A spoken one will do; I'll write the reply for you."
Katsuyori quickly opened the letter. "Well, now… from Okazaki." It was clear that he had been expecting the letter for some time, and it was no ordinary expression that moved across his face as he read. For a moment he seemed unable to come to a decision.
The song of a bush warbler could be heard coming from amid the young greenery of approaching summer.
Katsuyori stared at the sky through the window. "I understand. That's my answer."
Oinosuke looked up at his master. "Will it be enough, my lord?" he asked, just to make sure.
“It will," Katsuyori replied. "We shouldn't miss this heaven-sent opportunity. The messenger has to be a trustworthy man."
"This is an extremely important matter. You need have no worries about that." Not too long after Oinosuke had left the temple, the Office of State Affairs issued a call to arms. Soldiers could be seen moving throughout the night, and there was constant activity inside and outside the castle. When dawn broke, fourteen or fifteen thousand men, wet with the morning dew, were already silently waiting on the assembly ground outside the castle. And still more soldiers were coming. The conch shell proclaiming the departure of the troops rang out over the sleeping houses of Kofu several times before the sun rose.
Katsuyori had slept only a little during the night, but now he was in full armor. He did not look like a man suffering from lack of sleep, and his extraordinary good health and his dreams of greatness shone forth from his body like the dew on the new leaves.
He had not been idle for even one day during the three years since his father's death. Mountains and swift rivers formed strong natural defenses around Kai, but he was not content with the province he had inherited. He had, after all, been given more courage and resourcefulness than his father. Katsuyori—unlike the offspring of many great samurai clans—could not be called an unworthy son. Instead, it might be said that his pride, sense of duty, and his military prowess were excessive.
No matter how secret the clan had tried to keep it, news of Shingen's death had leaked out to the enemy provinces, and many had considered it too good an opportunity to miss. The Uesugi had made a sudden attack; the Hojo had also changed their attitude. And it was certain that if the opportunity were to arise, the Oda and the Tokugawa would make incursions from their own territories.
Katsuyori, like the son of any great man, found himself in a difficult position. Still he had never disgraced his father's name. In almost every engagement he fought, he came away with the victory. For this reason, rumors had spread that Shingen's death was just a fabrication, because he seemed to appear whenever an opportunity presented itself.
"Generals Baba and Yamagata have requested an audience before the campaign begins," a retainer announced.
The army was on the point of leaving when this message was delivered to Katsuyori. Both Baba Nobufusa and Yamagata Masakage had been senior retainers in Shingen's day.
Katsuyori asked in return, "Are they both ready to march?"
"Yes, my lord," the messenger replied.
Katsuyori nodded at the man's reply. "Show them in, then," he said.
Moments later the two generals appeared before Katsuyori. He already knew what they were going to say to him.
"As you can see," Baba began, "we hurried to the castle without a moment's delay at the call to arms last night. But this is extraordinary; there was no war council, and we were wondering what the prospects of this campaign are. Our situation these days does not allow us the luxury of frivolous troop movements." Yamagata continued, "Your late faher, Lord Shingen, tasted the bitter cup of defeat too many times when he attacked the west. Mikawa is small, but its warriors are stouthearted men, and the Oda have had time come up with a number of countermeasures by now. If we were to get in too deep, we might not be able to extricate ourselves."
Speaking in turn, the two men outlined their objections. These men were experienced veterans trained by the great Shingen himself, and they had no great regard for either Katsuyori's resourcefulness or his valor. On the contrary, they saw them as a danger. Katsuyori had felt this for some time, and his character would not let him accept their conservative advice—that the best thing to do would be to guard the borders of Kai for several years.
"You know I wouldn't start out on a rash campaign. Ask Oinosuke for the details. But this time we are sure to take Okazaki Castle and Hamamatsu Castle. I'll show them how to accomplish a long-cherished dream. We must keep our strategy a secret. I don't plan on telling our men what we're doing until we're pressing in on the enemy."
Katsuyori deftly avoided the remonstrances of his two generals, who both looked unhappy.
The advice to ask Oinosuke did not sit well with them; they were not used to being spoken to in this way. Of the same mind, the two men exchanged glances and for a moment looked at each other in blank amazement. Troops were being moved without anyone having consulted them—Shingen's veteran generals—and decisions were being made with the likes of Atobe Oinosuke.
Baba tried to speak to Katsuyori one more time. "We will listen to everything Master Oinosuke has to say later on, but if you would first tell us just a word or two about this secret plan, old generals like us will be able to make a stand with our eyes on a place to die."
"I'm not saying anything else here," Katsuyori said, looking at the men around him. Then he added severely, "I'm pleased that you're concerned, but I am not unaware of how important this present matter is. Moreover, I cannot now abandon the plan. Early this morning I swore an oath on the Mihata Tatenashi"
When they heard the sacred names, the two generals prostrated themselves and said a silent prayer. The Mihata Tatenashi were sacred relics venerated for generations by the Takeda clan. The Mihata was the banner of the war god Hachiman, and the Tatenashi was the armor of the clan's founder. It was an unbreakable rule of the Takeda clan that once an oath was sworn on these objects, it could not be broken.
Katsuyori's declaration that he was acting under this sacred oath meant that there were no further grounds upon which the two generals could continue to raise objections. At that moment the conch signaled the troops to get into formation and prepare to march out, forcing the two generals to take their leave. But, still worried about the fate of the clan, they rode to see Oinosuke at his position in the ranks.
Oinosuke cleared the area and proudly informed them of the plan. In Okazaki, which was now governed by Ieyasu's son, Nobuyasu, there was a man in charge of finances by the name of Oga Yashiro. Some time before, Oga had changed his allegiance to the Takeda clan and was now a trusted ally of Katsuyori.