Then, from the midst of those attending the war council, a voice shouted out, "No! No!" It was Hideyoshi, who had hurried from Nagahama, bringing the troops under his command.

"I suppose the castle at Nagashino does not seem very important at this point," he went on, "but after it becomes a foothold for an invasion by Kai, the Tokugawa's defenses are going to be just like a broken dike, and if that happens, it's clear that the Tokugawa will not hold Kai for long. If we give that sort of advantage to Kai now, how will our own Gifu Castie have any security at all?" He spoke loudly, and his voice rang with emotion. Those present could do nothing other than look at him. He continued, "There is no military strategy I know of that advocates a passive deployment of troops once they are mobilized. Instead of that, shouldn't we march out immediately and confidently? Will the Oda fall? Will the Takeda win?"

All the generals thought that Nobunaga would send six or seven thousand troops— no more than ten thousand—but on the following day he gave the order to make preparations for a huge army of thirty thousand men.

Although Nobunaga had not said that he agreed with Hideyoshi during the council, he was showing it now by his actions. His decision was in earnest and he was going to lead his troops himself.

"We may be calling these men reinforcements," he said, "but it is the fate of the Oda clan that hangs in the balance."

The army left Gifu on the thirteenth and reached Okazaki the next day. Nobunaga's army rested only one day. By the morning of the sixteenth day of that month, it had reached the front.

Horses throughout the village began to neigh as the clouds of dawn became visible. Banners rustled in the breeze, and the conch sounded far and wide. The number of troops that started out from the castle town of Okazaki that morning was indeed enormous, and the people of the small province were awed. They were both relieved by and envious of the number of troops and equipment mustered by the mighty province with which they were allied. When the thirty thousand Oda soldiers marched past with their various banners, insignia, and commanders' standards, the number of corps they were divided into was difficult to determine.

"Look at all the guns they have!" the people along the roadside exclaimed with surprise. The Tokugawa soldiers were unable to hide their envy: out of Nobunaga's thirty thousand soldiers, close to ten thousand were gunners. They also pulled along huge cast iron cannons. But what was strangest of all was that almost every foot soldier who was not carrying a gun shouldered instead a stake of the kind used to make a palisade, and length of rope.

"What do you think the Oda are going to do with all those stakes?" the onlookers wondered.

The Tokugawa army that had set off for the front lines that morning had numbered fewer than eight thousand men. And that was the bulk of the army. The only thing they did not fall short in was morale.

To the Oda, this was foreign territory—an area they were coming to as relief troops. But to the warriors of the Tokugawa clan, this was the land of their ancestors. It was land the enemy was not to take a single step into, and from which there was absolutely no place to retreat. Even the foot soldiers were filled with the spirit of this belief from the time they started out, and they shared a certain tragic feeling. Comparing their equipment with that of the Oda army, they could see that they were sadly inferior; in fact, there was no comparison at all. But they did not feel inferior. When they had distanced themselves several leagues from the castle town, the Tokugawa forces quickened their pace. When they approached the village of Ushikubo, they changed their direction, hurrying away from the Oda troops and toward Shidaragahara like storm clouds.

Mount Gokurakuji stood directiy in front of the plain of Shidaragahara, and from its peak one could point to the Takeda positions at Tobigasu, Kiyoida, and Arumigahara.

Nobunaga set up his headquarters on Mount Gokurakuji, while Ieyasu chose Mount Danjo. The thirty-eight thousand Tokugawa and Oda forces deployed on these two mountains had already finished their preparations for the coming battle.

The sky filled with clouds, but there was no hint of lightning or wind.

On Mount Gokurakuji, the generals of both the Oda and Tokugawa clans gathered in a temple at the top of the mountain for a joint military conference. In the middle of the conference it was announced to Ieyasu that the scouts had just returned.

When Nobunaga heard this, he said, "They've come at a good time. Bring them here, and we can all listen to their reports on the enemy's movements."

The two scouts made their reports in a rather pompous way. The first began, "Lord Katsuyori has made his headquarters to the west of Arumigahara. His retainers and cavalry are, indeed, quite hale. They seemed to number close to four thousand men, and appeared to be quite composed and self-possessed."

The second went on, "Obata Nobusada and his attack corps are overlooking the battlefield from a low hill a little to the south of Kiyoida. I could see that the main army of about three thousand men under Naito Shuri is encamped from Kiyoida to Asai. The left wing, which also numbers about three thousand, is under the standards of Yamagata Masakage and Oyamada Nobushige. Finally, the right wing is under Anayama Baisets and Baba Nobufusa. They look extremely impressive."

"What about the troops laying siege to Nagashino Castle?" Ieyasu asked.

"About two thousand troops have remained around the castle and are keeping it tightly in check. There also seems to be a surveillance corps on a hill to the west of the castle, and it's possible that about a thousand soldiers are concealed in the fortresses around Tobigasu."

The reports of the two men were, for the most part, rather incomplete. But the generals of the units they mentioned were famous beyond measure for their ferocity and valor, and Baba and Obata were both strategists of immense reputation. As the Oda and Tokugawa generals listened to the scouts' account of the enemies' positions, the vehemence of their will to fight, and their composure and self-confidence, the color drained from their faces.

They were silent, like men consumed by dread just before a battle. Suddenly Sakai Tadatsugu spoke, in a voice so loud it surprised the men around him.

"The outcome is already clear. There is no need for further discussion. How is an enemy of such scant numbers going to be a match for our own huge army?"

"That's enough conferring!" Nobunaga agreed, and slapped his knee. "Tadatsugu has spoken admirably. To the eyes of a coward, the crane that flies across the paddies looks like an enemy banner and makes him quake with fear," he laughed. "I feel greatly relieved by the reports of these two men. Lord Ieyasu, we should celebrate!"

Having been praised, Sakai Tadatsugu got a bit carried away and said, "My own opinion is that the enemy's greatest weakness is at Tobigasu. If we took a roundabout route and struck at their weak point from the rear with some lightly armed soldiers, the morale of their entire army would be thrown into confusion, and our men—"

"Tadatsugu!" Nobunaga said sharply. "What good is such a ploy in this great battle? You're being presumptuous. I think everybody had better withdraw!" Using the reprimand as an excuse, Nobunaga adjourned the conference. Shamefaced, Tadatsugu left with the others.

When all had left, however, Nobunaga said to Ieyasu, "Forgive me for rebuking that brave Tadatsugu so severely in front of all the others. I think his plan is excellent, but I was afraid that it might leak out to the enemy. Would you console him later?"

"No, it was clearly an indiscretion on Tadatsugu's part to reveal our plans, even though he was among allies. It was a good lesson for him. And I learned something, too."