Grabbing his long spear, he yelled, "Let's go fight!"

Sporadic gunfire could be heard in the distance, from the foot of the mountain. Then suddenly it was heard unexpectedly close, from a wooded area on the southwest slope.

"They've taken the shortcuts too."

Because of the thickness of the mist, the enemy banners could not be seen clearly, and that had the effect of making the Nakagawa forces even more fretful.

Sebei called out once again. His voice echoed in the heart of the mountain.

The thousand-man Nakagawa corps defending the mountain was now awakened by the attack coming in right before its eyes. It had been taken completely by surprise. As far as the men knew, the main Shibata position was a great distance away—a belief that had put them off their guard. The enemy would surely not attack such a safe place! But before they even realized that their belief had been mistaken, the enemy had already descended like a gale.

Sebei stamped the earth and upbraided his men for their complacency and negligence. One by one his officers sought him out and, either sighting his commander's standard or recognizing his voice, they and their soldiers hurriedly gathered around him and formed a real army.

"Is Genba in command?"

"Yes, my lord," a retainer replied.

"How many men does he have?" Sebei continued.

"Fewer than ten thousand."

"One line of attack or two?"

“There appear to be two armies. Genba is attacking from Niwatonohama, and Fuwa Hikozo has taken the path from Mount Onoji."

Even with all of its men assembled, the fortress was defended by no more than a thousand men. The attacking forces of the enemy were reported to be close to ten thouand.

Both shortcuts and the barrier gates at the foot of the mountain were inadequate. It was easy to see that it would only be a matter of time before they were annihilated. “Confront the enemy at the shortcut!" Sebei sent his right-hand man off first with three hundred soldiers, and then encouraged his own men. "The rest of you come with me. The Nakagawa forces have never been bested since coming out of Ibaraki in Settsu.  Don’t step back a single pace from the enemy in front of us now!"

At the head of the commander's standard and the banners, Nakagawa Sebei took the lead and whipped his horse toward the foot of the mountain at full speed.

*  *  *

On the morning of the same day, six or seven warships moved north across Lake Biwa like a flock of water birds. On the curtain enfolding the bridge of one of the ships, a large iris crest fluttered in the wind.

Niwa Nagahide was standing on the bridge of the ship when he suddenly saw black smoke rising from a mountain on the north side of the lake and yelled out to the men around him. "Is that near Oiwa or Shizugatake?" he asked.

“It looks like Shizugatake," one of the members of his staff replied.

In fact, as one looked out in that direction, the mountains appeared to be piled one on top of another, so that the flames from Mount Oiwa looked quite convincingly as though they were rising from Shizugatake.

It's hard to understand." Niwa knitted his brow and continued to gaze steadily out onto the distance.

It was surprising how overly accurate his premonition was. At dawn that day—the twentieth of the month—he had received a message from his son, Nabemaru:

There have been suspicious movements in both Katsuie's and Genba's camps during the night.

At that time he had guessed that what he must be seeing was an enemy attack. Hideyoshi was busy attacking Gifu. And if their enemies were aware of it, they would know it was the moment to strike at Hideyoshi's unguarded position.

Niwa felt apprehensive as soon as he heard his son's report. Boarding his meager force of a thousand men aboard five or six ships, he had them cross the lake to the vicinity of Kuzuo.

Just as he had feared, there were flames from the direction of Shizugatake, and when they finally approached the shore at Kuzuo, he could hear gunfire.

“The enemy seems to have overrun the fortress at Motoyama. Shizugatake is also in danger, and I doubt if Mount Iwasaki will be able to hold out."

Niwa asked two of the staff officers for their opinions.

"The situation certainly doesn't look good," one of the men answered. "The enemy has sent in a large force, and it would appear that our numbers are not going to be sufficient to help our allies in this emergency. The best plan would be to return to Sakamoto and entrench ourselves in the castle there."

"You're talking nonsense," Niwa said, dismissing the suggestion. "Disembark the entire army immediately. Then take the ships to Kaitsu and bring a third of Nagamaru's forces."

"Will there be time, my lord?"

"Everyday calculations have absolutely no value when it comes to war. Our mere presence will have an effect. It will take them some time to realize how few of us there are And that will delay them. Get the troops landed, and hurry back to Kaitsu."

The army landed at Ozaki, and the ships set sail immediately. Niwa brought his horse to a stop in a village to question the locals.

The villagers told him that the battle had begun at dawn and was completely unexpected. Just as they had seen the flames from Mount Oiwa, they had heard war cries like the sound of tidal waves. Then, warriors from the Sakuma forces, perhaps a reconnoitering party, had whipped their horses through the village from the direction of Yogo. Rumor had it that Nakagawa Sebei's forces defended the fortress but were cut down to the last man.

When asked if they knew anything about Kuwayama's men in the area of Shizugatake, the villagers answered that just moments ago, Lord Kuwayama Shigeharu had led all of his forces from the fortress at Shizugatake and was now hurrying along the mountain road in the direction of Kinomoto.

This information left Niwa in openmouthed surprise. He had come with reinforcements, ready to entrench himself here with his allies, but the Nakagawa forces had been annihilated and the Kuwayama forces had abandoned their posts and were fleeing as fast as they could. What disgraceful conduct! What had they been thinking? Niwa pitied Kuwayama's confusion.

"And this happened just now?" he asked the villagers.

"They couldn't be much farther than half a league away," the farmer replied.

"Inosuke!" he called out to a retainer. "Run after the Kuwayama corps and talk with Lord Shigeharu. Tell him that I've come and that we'll defend Shizugatake together. Tell him to turn back immediately!"

"Yes, my lord!"

The man whipped his horse and hurried off in the direction of Kinomoto.

Kuwayama had tried two or three times that morning to persuade Nakagawa to retreat, but had offered him no help at all and had completely lost his head at the onslaught of the Sakuma forces. As soon as he heard of the destruction of the Nakagawa corps, he wavered all the more. Then, in the face of the rout of the central camp of his allies, he abandoned Shizugatake without firing a single bullet or wielding a spear in resistance, fleeing with a pace that left every man for himself.

His intentions were to join up with their allies at Kinomoto and then wait for Hidenaga's orders. But now, en route, here was a man from the Niwa clan informing him of

Niwa’s reinforcements. Suddenly gaining courage, he reorganized his troops, made a turnaround, and went back to Shizugatake.

In the meantime Niwa had reassured the villagers. Ascending Shizugatake, he was finall united with Kuwayama Shigeharu.

He wrote a letter at once, sending it by dispatch to Hideyoshi's camp in Mino, informing him of the urgency of the situation.

The Sakuma forces at Mount Oiwa made a provisional camp there and, secure in their feeling of triumph, rested quietly for more than two hours from about the Hour of the Hrse. The warriors were weary after the intense battle and the long march that had started the night before. After eating their provisions, however, they took pride in their blood-soaked hands and feet; lighthearted talk arose here and there, and their fatigue was forgotten.