Orders were given, and the officers were told to relay them from corps to corps.

“Sleep! Sleep! Close your eyes for a while. No one knows what's going to happen tonight!"

The clouds overhead looked like the clouds of summer, and the cries of the season's first cicadas could be heard in the trees. The wind wafted pleasantly over the mountains from lake to lake, and the soldiers—who had now satisfied their empty stomachs—finally felt themselves becoming drowsy. Still holding their firearms and spears, they sat down.

In the shade of the trees, the horses closed their eyes as well, and even the group commanders leaned against the trunks and fell asleep.

Everything was quiet, but it was the kind of silence that comes after an intense fight.  The camp of their enemies—who had been wrapped in dreams until just before dawn—had been turned to ashes, and all of its soldiers become corpses left to the clusters of grass.  It was now fully day, but death was in the air. Except for the alertness of the sentries everything was subdued, even the atmosphere in the staff headquarters was hushed,

The loud snores of the commander-in-chief, Genba, leaked happily through the curtains.  Suddenly, five or six horses came to a halt somewhere, and a group of men in helmets and armor ran in the direction of the field staff headquarters. The members of the staff, who had sat sleeping around Genba, quickly looked outside.

“What's up?" they yelled.

“It's Matsumura Tomojuro, Kobayashi Zusho, and the other scouts."

“Come on in."

The man who invited them in was Genba. Awakened unexpectedly, his eyes were wide with surprise and still red from a lack of sleep. It appeared that just before taking a nap, he had gulped down a good deal of sake. A large red sake cup lay empty next to his seat

Matsumura knelt in a corner of the curtained enclosure and then reported what they had observed.

“There's no longer even a single enemy soldier at Mount Iwasaki. We thought there was a chance that they had hidden their banners and were planning to lie in wait for us, so we looked around to make sure. But the commanding general, Takayama Ukon, and everyone under his command have gone to Mount Tagami."

Genba clapped his hands.

"They ran away?" He laughed out loud and looked around at his staff officers. "He says Ukon ran away! He's a fast one, isn't he!" He laughed again, sending his entire body into convulsions of glee.

It seemed he had not yet sobered up from the drunken state he had fallen into after the victory sake. Genba could not stop laughing.

Just then, the messenger who had been sent to Katsuie's main camp to report on the war situation returned with Katsuie's instructions.

"Are there no enemy movements in the area of Kitsunezaka?" Genba asked.

"Nothing in particular. Lord Katsuie seems to be in very fine spirits."

"I imagine he was quite pleased."

"Yes, he was." The messenger continued to answer Genba's repeated questions without even the chance to wipe the sweat from his brow. "When I described the details of this morning's battle to him, he said, 'Is that so? Well, that's just like that nephew of mine.

"Well, what about Sebei's head?"

"He examined it immediately and said that it was definitely Sebei's. Looking around at the men who were with him, he declared it to be a good omen, and his mood seemed to improve even more."

Genba was in a very good mood himself. Hearing of Katsuie's happiness, he exulted in his own triumph and burned with the desire to surprise his uncle with even greater joy.

"I suppose that the lord of Kitanosho still doesn't know that the fortress at Mount Iwasaki has also fallen into my hands," he laughed. "He gets satisfied just a little too quickly."

"No, the capture of Iwasaki was reported to him at about the time I was taking my leave."

"Well then, there's no need to send another dispatch, is there?"

"If that were the only thing."

"At any rate, by tomorrow morning Shizugatake is going to be mine."

"Well, as for that…"

"What do you mean?"

"Lord Katsuie said you might get carried away with this victory and start viewing the enemy as being too easy to deal with, and this might begin to put you off guard."

"You're talking foolishness," Genba said, laughing. "I'm not going to get drunk on this one victory."

"But just before you left, Lord Katsuie gave you that one warning in particular, telling you to make a clean retreat when you've entered deep into the enemy's territory. It's dangerous to stay here very long. Today again, he told me to tell you to return right away."

"He said to withdraw immediately?"

"His words were that you should withdraw quickly and unite forces with our allies to the rear."

"How weak-willed!" Genba grunted, showing a thin derisive smile. "Well, all right.'

At that point, several scouts entered with their reports. Niwa's three thousand men had joined forces with the Kuwayama corps, and together they were reinforcing the defenses at Shizugatake.

That simply threw oil on the fire of Genba's eagerness to attack. Such news will make a truly brave general want to fight all the more.

“This will be interesting."

Genba brushed aside the camp curtain and went outside. Looking out over the new greenery of the mountains, he could see Shizugatake at a distance of about two leagues to the south. Closer and below where he stood, a general was climbing up from the foot of the mountain, accompanied by a number of attendants. The defending commander of the wooden barrier gate was hurrying ahead to show him the way.

Genba clicked his tongue and muttered, "That must be Dosei."

As soon as he recognized a general always at his uncle's side, he guessed the man's errand. before meeting him.

“Ah, here you are."

Dosei wiped the sweat from his brow. Genba simply stood there without inviting the man inside the curtained enclosure. "Lord Dosei, what are you doing here?" he asked flatly.

Dosei looked as though he did not wish to say anything there and then, but Genba spoke out first.

"We'll camp here tonight and withdraw tomorrow. This was reported to my uncle already." He looked like he did not want to hear anything else about it.

"I've been informed." Dosei politely introduced his remarks with a greeting. He then conratulated Genba at length on his great victory at Mount Oiwa, but Genba was not to bear his roundaboutness.

"Did my uncle send you here because he's still anticipating trouble?"

"As you've conjectured, he's extremely anxious about your plan to camp here. His wishes are for you to withdraw from enemy territory by tonight at the latest and return to his main camp."

"Don't worry, Dosei. When my picked troops advance, they have explosive power; when they stand to defend a place, they're like steel walls. We have not been shamed yet."

"Lord Katsuie has had faith in you from the very beginning, but when you look at from a military standpoint, to be delayed when you've penetrated deep inside enemy territory is not really the accomplishment of your strategy."

"Wait a moment, Dosei. Are you saying that I don't understand the art of war? And those your words or my uncle's?"

At that point even Dosei was getting nervous, and there was really nothing he could do but stay silent. He began to feel that his role as a messenger was putting him in danger.

"If you say so, my lord. I shall report the extent of your conviction to Lord Katsuie."

Dosei hurriedly took his leave, and when Genba returned to his seat he quickly sent out orders. Dispatching one corps of men to Mount Iwasaki, he also directed a number of small reconnaissance parties to Minegamine and the vicinity of Kannonzaka, between Shizugatake and Mount Oiwa.

Soon thereafter, another voice was heard making an announcement. 'Lord Joemon has just arrived on orders from the main camp at Kitsune."