"I'll think about it," Hideyoshi said, avoiding a quick answer. "But you think about it one more night too—not as something of your own, but objectively. It's a clever plan and a heroic undertaking, so it's dangerous on that account alone."

Shonyu's strategy was indeed an original idea, and it was clear that even the prudent Hideyoshi was impressed, but Hideyoshi's thoughts were quite different.

By nature, Hideyoshi did not care for clever strategies or surprise attacks. Rather than military strategies, he preferred diplomacy; rather than easy, short-term victories, he preferred mastery over the total situation, even if it took a long time.

"Well, let's not be in a hurry," he said. Then he relaxed a little. "I'll make my mind up by tomorrow. Come to the main camp tomorrow morning."

Hideyoshi's personal retainers had been waiting in the corridor and now came to his side. When they got as far as the entrance of the main citadel, a strangely dressed samurai was crouched in obeisance next to the place where the horses were tethered. His head and one arm were bandaged, and the coat over his armor was of gold brocade against a white background.

"Who's that?"

The man raised his bound head a little.

"I'm ashamed to say that it's me, Nagayoshi, my lord."

"Well, Nagayoshi? I heard you were confined to your bed. How are your wounds?"

"I was determined to be up by today."

"Don't push yourself so hard. If you'll only let your body recover, you will be able to wipe away your disgrace at any time."

At the mention of the word "disgrace," Nagayoshi began to cry. Taking a letter from his coat and reverently handing it to Hideyoshi, he prostrated himself once again.

"I would be honored if you would read this, my lord."

Hideyoshi nodded, perhaps feeling compassion for the man's misery.

After finishing the day's inspection rounds of the battlefield, Hideyoshi returned to Gakuden at dusk. His camp was not on high ground like the enemy's on Mount Komaki, but Hideyoshi had used the forests, fields, and streams in the vicinity to their fullest advantage, and his army's position was surrounded by two square leagues of trenches and palisades.

As a further precaution, the compound of the village shrine was disguised to look as though it was the place where Hideyoshi was staying.

From leyasu's point of view, Hideyoshi whereabouts were unclear. He could have been at either the camp at Gakuden or Inuyama Castle. Security at the front lines was so tight that not even water could seep through, so surveillance by one side or the other was certainly impossible.

“I haven't been able to take a bath since leaving Osaka. Today I want to wash the sweat off for once."

An outdoor bath was immediately prepared for Hideyoshi. After digging a hole in the earth, his attendants lined it with huge sheets of oiled paper. Filling the hole with water, they next heated a piece of scrap iron in a fire and threw it in to warm the water. Then they lined up planks around the hole and erected a curtain around the area.

“Ah, the water's great." In that simple open-air bath, the master of a less-than-splendid body soaked in hot water and looked up at the stars of the evening sky. This is the greatest luxury in the world, he thought as he rubbed the dirt from his body.

Since the year before, he had been clearing away the land around Osaka and setting in motion the construction of a castle of unprecedented majesty. His own greatest human pleasures were in places like this, however, rather than in the golden rooms and jeweled towers of the castle. He felt a sudden nostalgia for his home in Nakamura, where his mother would wash his back when he was small.

It had been a long time since Hideyoshi had felt so relaxed, and it was in that state that he walked into his quarters.

“Ah, you're all here already!" Hideyoshi exclaimed when he saw that the generals he had summoned that evening were waiting for him.

“Take a look at this," he said, taking a map and a letter from his coat and handing it over to his generals. The letter was a petition written in blood by Nagayoshi. The map was Shonyu's.

What do you think of this plan?" Hideyoshi asked. "I want to hear everyone's frank opinions."

For a while no one said a word. Everyone appeared to be sunk in thought.

Finally one of the generals said, "I think it's an exquisite plan."

Half of the men were in favor, but the other half were opposed, saying, "A clever plan is a risky gamble."

The conference was deadlocked.

Hideyoshi simply listened with a smile. The subject was so momentous that a council resolution was not going to be settled upon easily.

"We'll have to leave it to your own wise decision, my lord."

The generals returned to their own camps at nightfall.

The truth was that Hideyoshi had already made up his mind on the return trip frorr Inuyama. He had called a conference not because he could not make up his own mind. In fact, he had invited his generals to a brief conference because he had already made his decision. Again it was a matter of psychological leadership. His generals returned to their camps with the impression that he would probably not put the plan into use.

But in his own mind Hideyoshi had already settled on action. If he did not accept Shonyu's suggestion, his and Nagayoshi's positions as warriors would become onerous. Moreover, it was certain that if their obstinate temperaments were repressed, they would somehow be manifested at a later time.

It was a dangerous situation in terms of military command. More than that, Hideyoshi feared that if Shonyu became discontented, Ieyasu would certainly try to tempt him to change sides.

Ikeda Shonyu is my subordinate now. If he imagines himself to be the butt of dishonorable rumors, his haste is not unreasonable, Hideyoshi thought.

The present situation was deadlocked, and a positive move to invite some sort of change would have to be played.

"That's it," Hideyoshi said aloud. "Rather than wait for Shonyu to come here tomorrow morning, I'll send a messenger to him tonight."

Upon receiving the urgent letter, Shonyu flew off toward Hideyoshi's camp. It was the fourth watch, and the night was still dark.

"I have decided, Shonyu."

"Good! Are you going to favor me with the command to make a surprise attack on Okazaki?"

The two men finished all the preliminaries before dawn. Shonyu joined Hideyoshi for breakfast and then returned to Inuyama.

On the following day, the battlefield outwardly appeared to be in the doldrums, but there were subtle signs of delicate movement.

Resounding in the thinly clouded afternoon sky, both enemy and ally gunfire could be heard coming from the direction of Onawate. From the Udatsu Road, sand and dust could be seen far off, at the place where two or three thousand soldiers of the westerr army were beginning to attack enemy fortifications.

"The general attack is starting!"

As they looked out into the distance, the generals felt a wild surging excitement. This was, indeed, a turning point in history. Whichever man won, the age would belong tc him.

Ieyasu knew that Hideyoshi had feared and respected Nobunaga more than anyone else.  Now there was no one he feared or respected more than Ieyasu. Not a single banner in the entire camp on Mount Komaki moved that morning. It was almost as though strict orders had been given not to react to the small attacking sorties from the western army that would be testing the eastern army's resolve.

Evening arrived. A corps of the western army that had withdrawn from the fighting delivered a sheaf of propaganda handbills they had picked up along the road to Hideyoshi’s main camp.

When Hideyoshi read one of them, he became enraged.

hideyoshi caused the suicide of Lord Nobutaka, the son of his former lord, Nobunaga, to whom he owed so much. He has now rebelled against Lord Nobuo. He has instantly caused turmoil within the warrior class, has brought disasters to the common people, and has been the chief instigator of the present conflict, using every means to achieve his own ambitions.