Night had fallen, so it was difficult to see clearly, but there appeared to be a single line of flames flowing like a river all the way from Nagahama to Kinomoto near the foot of the mountain they were on. The flames stretched from point to point as far as the eye could see—a steady stream of fire with circles of light.

"What's that?"

Dazzled for a moment, they suddenly came to their senses.

"Let's go! Quick!"

The sentries scrambled down the cliff face almost as if they'd lost their grip, and ran off to inform the main camp.

With glorious expectations for the next day, Genba had gone to sleep early. His soldiers too were already asleep.

It was close to the Hour of the Boar when Genba sat up, aroused from his light sleep.

"Tsushima!" he called out.

Osaki Tsushima was sleeping nearby, and by the time he got up, Genba was already standing before him, grasping a spear he had taken from the hand of a page.

"I just heard a horse whinny. Go out and check."

"Right!"

As Tsushima lifted the curtain he ran headlong into a man yelling for his life.

"This is an emergency!" the man said, panicked.

Genba raised his voice and asked, "What do you have to report?"

In his agitated state the man was unable to report on the urgent situation with conciseness.

"There are a great number of torches and bonfires along the road between Mino and Kinomoto, and they're moving along in an alarming red line. Lord Katsumasa thinks it's got to be an enemy movement."

"What! A line of fire on the Mino road?"

Genba looked as though he still did not understand. But one step behind that urgent report from Shimizudani came a similar dispatch from Hara Fusachika, who was camped at Hachigamine.

The soldiers in camp began to wake up in the dark commotion. Ripples spread out immediately.

Curiously, Hideyoshi was coming back from Mino. But Genba could not quite believe it; he still wore the unwavering look of someone who persists in his own convictions.

“Tsushima! Go verify this!"

With that order he demanded his camp stool and consciously put on an air of composure.  Certainly he understood the subtle feelings of his retainers as they looked to see what was written on his face.

Osaki returned quickly. He had ridden to Shimizudani, then to Hachigamine, and then continued from Mount Chausu to Kannonzaka in order to ascertain the facts. And the facts were these:

“Not only can you see the torches and bonfires, but if you listen carefully you can hear the whinnying of the horses and the clattering of their hooves. It's nothing to joke about.  You'll need to plan a counter strategy as quickly as possible."

“Well, what about Hideyoshi?"

“It’s thought that Hideyoshi is in the van."

Genba was now so taken aback that he could hardly find the words to speak. Biting his lip, he looked up silently, his face pale.

After a while he said, "We'll retreat. There's nothing else we can do, is there? A large army is on its way, and our troops are isolated here."

Genba had stubbornly refused to obey Katsuie's orders the night before. Now he himself ordered his panicked troops to make preparations to strike camp, and hastened his retainers and pages.

“Is the messenger from Hachigamine still here?" Genba asked the retainers around him as he mounted his horse. Told that the messenger was still in camp, he summoned him.

“Go back immediately and tell Hikojiro that our main corps is now beginning a retreat, pulling back through Shimizudani, Iiurazaka, Kawanami, and Moyama. Hikojiro's forces should follow us as a rear guard."

As soon as he had finished giving the order, Genba joined his retainers and started down the pitch-dark mountain path.

Sthus, Sakuma's main army began its general retreat during the second half of the Hour of the Boar. The moon was not out when they set off. For about half an hour they burned no torches, to prevent the enemy from discovering their whereabouts. Instead, they stumbled down the narrow paths by the light of their fuse cords and the stars.

Comparing their movements in terms of time, Genba must have started to strike

camp just as Hideyoshi had climbed up Mount Chausu from Kuroda village and was taking a rest.

It was there that Hideyoshi talked with Niwa Nagahide, who had come in haste from Shizugatake to have an audience with him. Nagahide was an honored guest, and Hideyoshi’s treatment of him was polite indeed.

“I hardly know what to say at present," he said. "You've gone to great trouble since this morning."

With those few words, he shared the commander's seat with Nagahide, later askingabout matters like the enemy's situation and the lay of the land. From time to time the laughing voices of the two men could be heard on the night wind blowing across the mountaintop.

During that time, the soldiers following Hideyoshi continued coming into camp in groups of two and three hundred.

"Genba's forces have already started to retreat toward Shimizudani and have left a rear guard in the area of Hachigamine," a scout reported.

Hideyoshi then issued an order to Nagahide to relay the following information and commands to all the fortresses of their allies:

At the Hour of the Ox, I will begin a surprise attack on Genba. Gather the local people and have them yell battle cries from the mountaintops at dawn. Just as dawn breaks, you will hear gunfire, which will signal that the opportunity has come for getting the enemy in our grasp. You should know without being told that the firing before dawn will be coming from the muskets of the enemy. The conch shell will be the signal for the general attack. The chance should not be missed.

As soon as Nagahide departed, Hideyoshi had the camp stool taken away. "They say Genba's running away. Follow his path of retreat and pursue him furiously," he said, telling the warriors around him to relay that order to the entire army. "And be sure not to fire your muskets until the sky begins to turn light."

It was not a level road they were on, but really just a mountain path with a good many dangerous spots. The attack began with one corps after another starting out, but they could not advance as fast as they would have liked.

Along the way, men dismounted and led their horses through swamps or along cliff faces where there was no road at all.

After midnight the moon rose to the middle of the sky and helped the Sakuma forces along their path of retreat. Its light, however, was also a blessing for Hideyoshi's pursuit of them.

The two armies were no more than three hours apart. Hideyoshi had sent an overwhelmingly large army into this one battle, and his warriors' morale was high. The probable outcome was clear before the fighting began.

The sun was high. It was almost the Hour of the Dragon. There had been fighting on the shore of Lake Yogo, but the Shibata had fled once again, collecting themselves in the area of Moyama and the Sokkai Pass.

Here, Maeda Inuchiyo and his son were camped, their banners flying peacefully. Very peacefully. Seated on his camp stool, Inuchiyo no doubt had coolly observed the gunfire and sparks that had been spreading over Shizugatake, Oiwa, and Shimizudani since dawn.

He commanded a wing of Katsuie's army, which put him in a truly delicate position, for his personal feelings and his duty to Katsuie were in conflict. One mistake and his province and entire family would perish. The situation was very clear. If he opposed Katsuie, he would be destroyed. If he abandoned his long friendship with Hideyoshi, however, he would be betraying his emotions.

Katsuie… Hideyoshi…

Comparing the two men, Inuchiyo very likely would not make a mistake in choosing between them. When he had left his castle at Fuchu for the battlefield, his wife had been worried about her husband's intentions and had questioned him closely.