On the evening of the twenty-sixth, Ieyasu received a confirmed report that Hideyoshi was in Gifu. Ieyasu, Sakakibara, Honda, and other retainers were seated in a room.  They were just being told that the construction of the fortifications at Mount Komaki had been completed.

"So Hideyoshi's come?" Ieyasu muttered. As he and the other men looked around ateach other, he smiled, the skin under his eyes wrinkling like a turtle's. It was happening just as he had foreseen.

Hideyoshi had always been quick to start, and the fact that he was not displaying his usual speed this time caused Ieyasu substantial concern. Would he make his stand in Ise or would he come east to the Nobi Plain? As Hideyoshi was still at Gifu he could go in either direction. Ieyasu waited for the next report, which when it came told him that Hideyoshi had built a bridge across the Kiso River and was at Inuyama Castle.

Ieyasu received this information at dusk on the twenty-seventh day of the month, and the look on his face announced that the time had come. Preparations for the battle were completed during the night. On the twenty-eighth, Ieyasu's army advanced toward Mount Komaki to the thunder of drums and the fluttering of banners.

Nobuo had returned to Nagashima, but upon receiving a report of the situation, he immediately hurried to Mount Komaki where he joined forces with Ieyasu.

"I've heard that Hideyoshi's forces here alone number more than eighty thousand men and his entire forces combined are well beyond a hundred and fifty thousand,' Nobuo said, as if he had never thought that he was the cause of this great battle. His trembling eyes revealed what could be not concealed within his breast.

*   *  *

Shonyu grimaced in the smoke of the evening kitchen fires as he rode out through the castle gate.

The Ikeda warriors were apprehensive of his frame of mind just from glancing at his face. They all knew that Shonyu's bad mood was due to Nagayoshi's defeat. Owing to his misjudgment, he had burdened his allies with a severe blow at the very outset of the war even before Hideyoshi, the commander-in-chief, had arrived on the battlefield.

Ikeda Shonyu had always been confident that no one had ever pointed a finger of scorn at him, and for a man who had lived a warrior's life for forty-eight years, this disgrace must have been unexpected, at the very least.

"Yukisuke, come over here. Terumasa, you come, too. The senior retainers should come up close, too."

Sitting cross-legged in the hall of the main citadel, he had called together his sons Yukisuke and Terumasa and his senior retainers.

"I want to hear your unreserved opinions. First, take a look at this," he said, producing a map from his kimono.

As the men passed the map around, they realized what Shonyu was suggesting.

On the map a line had been drawn in red ink from Inuyama through the mountain: and over the rivers to Okazaki in Mikawa. After looking at the map, the men silently waited to see what Shonyu would say next.

"If we put Komaki and Kiyosu aside and advance our men along one road to the Tokugawa main castle at Okazaki, there's no doubt that even Ieyasu will be thrown into confusion. The only thing we need to be concerned about is how to keep our army from being seen by the enemy at Mount Komaki."

No one was quick to speak. It was an unusual plan. If a single mistake was made, it might result in a disaster that could be fatal to all of their allies.

"I'm thinking of offering this plan to Lord Hideyoshi. If it works, both Ieyasu and Nobuo will be able to do nothing as we take them captive."

Shonyu wanted to perform some meritorious deed to make up for his son-in-law's defeat. He wanted to stare back in triumph at the people who were gossiping maliciously about him. Although they understood that those were his intentions, no one was ready to criticize  what he had in mind. No one was ready to say, "No, clever plans rarely invite merit. This is dangerous."

At the end of the conference the plan had won unanimous support. All the commanders begged to be put in the vanguard that would go deep into enemy territory and destroy Ieyasu in the very bosom of his own province.

A similar plan had been tried at Shizugatake by Shibata Katsuie's nephew, Genba.  Nevertheless, Shonyu was ready to advocate the plan to Hideyoshi and said, "We'll go to the main camp at Gakuden tomorrow."

He spent the night sleeping on the idea. At dawn, however, a messenger came from Gakuden and told him, "As he makes the inspection rounds today, Lord Hideyoshi is likely to stop at Inuyama Castle around noon."

As Hideyoshi felt the mild breeze of the beginning of the Fourth Month wafting over him, he rode out of Gakuden and, after carefully observing Ieyasu's camp at Mount Komaki and the enemy fortifications in the area, took the road to Inuyama accompanied ten pages and close attendants.

Whenever Hideyoshi met with Shonyu, he treated him like an old friend. When they were young samurai in Kiyosu, Shonyu, Hideyoshi, and Inuchiyo had often gone out drinking together.

'By the way, how's Nagayoshi?" he asked.

It had been reported that Nagayoshi had been killed, but he had only been badly injured.

'He made a mess of things with his hotheadedness, but his recovery has been extrordinarily quick. All he can talk about is getting to the front as quickly as possible and clearing his name."

Hideyoshi turned to one of his retainers and asked, "Ichimatsu, of all the enemy fortifications we saw at Mount Komaki today, which looked to be the strongest?"

That was the sort of question he liked to ask, calling the men around him and listening happily to the frank words of the young warriors.

At such times, the crowd of young personal retainers that surrounded him never minced their words. When they became heated, Hideyoshi became heated too, and such an atmosphere made it difficult for an outsider to tell whether the arguers were lord and retainers or just friends. Once Hideyoshi became a little serious, however, everyone immediately straightened up.

Shonyu was seated next to him and finally broke in on the conversation. "I have something I would earnestly like to talk to you about, too."

Hideyoshi leaned over to listen to him and nodded. He then commanded everyone to withdraw.

The room was empty of everyone but Shonyu and Hideyoshi. They were in the hall of the main citadel, and as there was a clear field of vision, it was not necessary for him to be on his guard.

"What is it about, Shonyu?"

"You've been making the inspection tour today, and I imagine you've made some decisions. Don't you think Ieyasu's preparations at Mount Komaki are perfect?"

"Well, they're splendid. I don't think anyone but Ieyasu could have put up such fortifications and positions in such a short time."

"I've ridden out and looked around a number of times too, and I don't see how we can make an attack," Shonyu said.

"The way it's set up, we're just going to be facing each other," Hideyoshi replied.

"Ieyasu's aware that his opponent is a true opponent," Shonyu went on, "so he's acting with prudence. At the same time, our allies know that this is the first time we'll be confronting the famous Tokugawa forces in a decisive battle. So it's naturally turned into a situation like this—staring each other down."

"It's interesting. For a number of days there hasn't even been the sound of gunfire. It's a quiet battle with no fighting."

"Well, if I may…" Shonyu advanced on his knees, spread out a map, and enthusiastically explained his plan.

Hideyoshi listened just as enthusiastically, nodding a number of times. But the expression on his face did not indicate that he was going to be drawn easily into a quick agreement.

"If you'll give me your permission, I'll raise my entire clan and attack Okazaki. Once we strike the Tokugawa's home province at Okazaki, and Ieyasu hears that it's being trampled beneath our horses' hooves, it won't make any difference how well prepared his ramparts at Mount Komaki are, or how great a military genius he may be. He'll crumble from within even without our attacking him."