The flyer went on to claim that Ieyasu had risen up with a true justification for war and that he led the army of moral duty.

An expression of rage—rare for Hideyoshi—contorted his face. "Which one of the enemy wrote this tract?" he demanded.

“Ishikawa Kazumasa," a retainer replied.

“Secretary!" Hideyoshi yelled, looking over his shoulder. "Have placards raised everywhere with the same message: The man who takes Ishikawa Kazumasa's head will receive a reward of ten thousand bushels."

Even with that command, Hideyoshi's anger did not subside, and calling for the generals who happened to be present, he gave the order for a sortie himself.

So this is how that damned Kazumasa behaves!" he fumed. "I want you to take a reserve corps and help our men in front of Kazumasa's lines. Attack him throughout the night.  Attack him tomorrow morning. Attack him tomorrow night. Follow one attack with another, and don't give Kazumasa the chance to take a breath."

Finally he called out for rice and pressed for his evening meal to be brought in right away.  Hideyoshi never forgot to eat. Even as he was eating, however, messengers continued to go back and forth between Gakuden and Inuyama.

Then the final messenger arrived with a report from Shonyu. Mumbling to himself, Hideyoshi leisurely drank the soup from the bottom of his bowl. That evening, the sound of musket fire could be heard far behind the main camp. The firing had been echoing here and there on the front lines since dawn and continued until the following day. Even now this was considered to be the opening action of a general attack by Hideyoshi's western army.

The first blow of the day before, however, had been a feint by Hideyoshi, while the real movement had been the preparations at Inuyama for Shonyu's surprise attack on Okazaki.

The strategy was to divert Ieyasu's attention, while Shonyu's troops took back roads and struck at Ieyasu's main castle.

Shonyu's army consisted of four corps:

First Corps: Ikeda Shonyu's six thousand men.

Second Corps: Mori Nagayoshi's three thousand men.

Third Corps: Hori Kyutaro's three thousand men.

Fourth Corps: Miyoshi Hidetsugu's eight thousand men.

The vanguard First and Second Corps naturally constituted the main strength of these forces—warriors who were ready for victory or death.

It was now the sixth day of the Fourth Month. Waiting until the dead of night, Shonyu's twenty thousand troops finally departed Inuyama in the utmost secrecy. The banners were lowered, the horses' hooves muted. Riding through the night, they met the dawn at Monoguruizaka.

The soldiers ate their provisions and had a short rest, then went on and made camp at the village of Kamijo, from which a reconnaissance party was sent out to Oteme Castle.

Earlier, the commander of the Blue Herons, Sanzo, had been sent by Shonyu to Morikawa Gonemon, the commander of castle, who had promised to betray Ieyasu. But now, just to make sure, Sanzo was sent out again.

Shonyu was now deep inside enemy territory. The army advanced, step by step, hourly approaching Ieyasu's main castle. Ieyasu, of course, was absent, as were all of his generals and soldiers, who had gone to the front lines at Mount Komaki. It was toward this vacant house, the empty cocoon that the core of the Tokugawa clan's home province had become, that Shonyu would aim his lethal blow.

The commander of Oteme Castle, who had been aligned with the Tokugawa, but tempted by Shonyu, had already accepted his pledge from Hideyoshi for a domain of fifty thousand bushels.

The castle gate was open, and its commander came out to greet the invaders himself, showing them the way. The samurai class under the old shogunate did not have a monopoly of immorality and degradation. Under Ieyasu's rule, both lord and retainer had eaten cold rice and gruel; they had fought battles; they had taken up the hoe, worked in the fields, and done piecework to survive. Finally they had overcome every hardship and had become strong enough to stand against Hideyoshi. Still, even here, there existed such samurai as Morikawa Gonemon.

"Well, General Gonemon," Shonyu said, his face aglow with happiness. "I'm grateful that you haven't gone back on your promise and have come out to greet us today. If everything turns out as planned, I'll send that proposal for fifty thousand bushels directly to Lord Hideyoshi."

"No, I already received Lord Hideyoshi's pledge last night."

With Gonemon's reply, Shonyu was once again surprised at Hideyoshi's vigilance and reliability.

The army now divided into three columns and started out for the plain of Nagakute. It passed another fortress, Iwasaki Castle, which was defended by only two hundred thirty soldiers.

"Leave it alone. A little castle like that hardly merits taking. Let's not play along the way."

Looking askance at the castle, both Shonyu and Nagayoshi rode by as though it was Not even dust in their eyes. But just as they were passing by, they were showered with gunfire from inside the castle, and one of the bullets grazed the flank of Shonyu's horse, horse reared, nearly throwing Shonyu from the saddle.

“What impudence!" Raising his whip, Shonyu shouted at the soldiers of the First Corps. "Finish off that little castle now!"

The troops' first fighting action had been approved. All of their pent-up energy was released. Two commanders each led about a thousand men and charged the castle. Even a much stronger fortress would not have been able to withstand warriors with their kind of spirit, and this castle was defended by a small force of men.

In the twinkling of an eye, its stone walls were scaled, its moat was filled, fires were set, and the sun was blotted out with black smoke. At that point, the castle's commanding ral came out fighting and was killed in battle. The castle's soldiers were all killed with the exception of one man, who escaped and raced to Mount Komaki to inform Ieyasu of the emergency. During the short battle, Nagayoshi's Second Corps had put a good distance between itself and the First Corps. The men now rested and ate their provisions.

As the soldiers ate their meal, they looked up and wondered what the reason for the rising smoke might be. Very soon, however, a runner from the front lines informed them of the fall of Iwasaki Castle. The horses nipped at the grass while laughter reverberated across the plain.

Upon learning the same information, the Third Corps naturally stopped and rested both men and horses at Kanahagiwara. At the very rear, the Fourth Corps also reined in the horses and waited for the corps in front to start advancing again.

Spring was departing in the mountains and summer was near. The azure of the sky beautifully clear, deeper even than the sea. Shortly after stopping, the horses became drowsy, and the high-pitched songs of the skylark and bulbul could be heard in the barley fields and forests.

Two days before this, during the evening of the sixth day of the Fourth Month, two farmers from the village of Shinoki had crawled through the fields and run from tree to tree, avoiding the lookouts of the western army.

“We have something to tell Lord Ieyasu! It's very important!" the two men yelled as they ran into the main camp at Mount Komaki.

Ii Hyobu led them to Ieyasu's headquarters. A few moments before Ieyasu had been talking with Nobuo, but after Nobuo had left, Ieyasu had taken the copy of the Analects of Confucius from the top of his armor chest and began to read silently, ignoring the sounds pf distant gunfire.

Five years younger than Hideyoshi, he was forty-two years old this year, a general in his prime. His appearance was so mild and good-natured—and he had such such soft and pale skin—that an observer might have doubted that he had been through every extremity, and had fought battles in which he had rallied his troops with nothing more than the look in his eye.