Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

“Oh…oh…, it is you, Princess Ogoto.”

“Please look after yourself, Kansuke.”

Kansuke bowed and passed her by, but he came back to her again. He dismounted and said, “Please be helpful to Master Katsuyori from now on. Nobody knows who will win this war. If something happens, I would like you to look after him…”

“Why do you say such a thing so suddenly?” questioned Princess Ogoto. She continued, “I will not be able to be very much help, but there are two princesses and Nobumori. Nobumori is already twelve years old. As you mentioned to me a long time ago, I am sure they will be a good help to Master Katsuyori.”

“I am glad to hear that. I will be able to go to war in peace,”

said Kansuke as he remounted his horse.

Once he left the gate of Takato Castle, he had no more regrets. He felt that he could die peacefully. His only remaining desire was to capture Kenshin’s head with his own hands.

The main army of 10,000 warriors left Kofuchu on the eighteenth, as scheduled. It then passed over Daimon Sunset Point, where it added 3,000 warriors, and arrived at Koshigoe on the twenty-first and then stayed at Ueda that night.

Post-horses arrived one by one with messengers bearing urgent news. Shingen had learned that Kenshin had crossed the Chikuma River and flew his flag on Mount Saijo near Kaizu Castle. It was an extremely audacious and daring move. It was established tactics in a case such as this to set their camp across from Kaizu Castle placing the Chikuma River between them, but the fact that Kenshin had crossed the Chikuma River meant that he had cut off his own line of retreat.

Shingen acquired another 5,000 warriors at Ueda who came from several fortresses around northern Shinano. His total number of samurai had grown to 18,000.

Shingen left Ueda on the twenty-third; in the early morning they crossed the Chikuma River and set their camp opposite Kenshin’s camp on Mount Saijo. They spent five days enduring an ominous silence. On the twenty-ninth, Shingen crossed the Chikuma River again and moved his entire army into Kaizu Castle.

In September, both Kenshin on Mount Saijo and Shingen in Kaizu Castle were still facing each other without movement on either side. Suddenly autumn was there, in the mountains and fields, the sunbeams weakened, and it became cold. On September the ninth, the day of the Chrysanthemum Festival, all the generals in Kaizu Castle gathered around the main part of the building and held a celebration banquet. Since it was a banquet in camp, everybody that attended was in armor. The subject of their conversation was when they would attack the Kenshin army on Mount Saijo.

“We have close to 20,000 warriors, while the enemy has only 13,000. If we dash out of the castle and push them as hard as we can, it is guaranteed that we will win simply through sheer numbers. I do not think it is a good idea for our fighting spirit to prolong this war,” said Obu Toramasa. The argument was very much like Obu himself, who believed in regular tactics for attack.

Akiyama Haruchika and Kosaka Masatada held the same opinion.

“What do you think, Kansuke?” asked Shingen.

“Well,” said Kansuke, before answering. What he understood now was that as long as they shut themselves in the castle, they would never be defeated. Kaizu Castle was an absolutely invincible fortification which Kansuke himself had supervised the building of. It was solely for defensive purposes. They would never be defeated. This he was sure of. If they went out of the castle and blindly attacked, they might win, but they might lose as well.

“I do agree with General Obu, indeed we might win, but, we might lose too,” said Kansuke.

“It is exactly true,” laughed Shingen. He felt it was amusing that Kansuke had been so cautious and almost timid over the strategy of this war. First they had crossed the Chikuma River and set up their war camp with much trouble on the opposite beach. It was simply because of Kansuke’s forceful recommendations that they had gathered all their armies and brought them to Kaizu Castle.

“All right, then what would you do to win?”

“Wait until they move. We will decide our strategy according to their moves. If we move before they do, the army of Mount Saijo will move accordingly. Then, it will be to their advantage.”

“So, we have to wait forever, until they move, right?”

laughed Shingen again. Shingen was always compassionate and protective of him. Kansuke’s idea was not necessarily the same as Shingen’s, but he always respected the suggestions of this old strategist even at the cost of suppressing his own opinion. He wanted to give the last opportunity of success to his retainer, Kansuke, who had lived through a tremendous amount of trouble for this very battle against Kenshin.

That night, Kansuke, who had retreated to his camp, received a visit from Kosaka Masanobu.

“Old master, I have something which you should know,” he said.

“What is it?”

“Nothing much, but I believe that the allied troops will leave the castle and attack Mount Saijo in a couple of days.”

“Is that right?”

“I believe that our lord is also inclined to do so.”

“Hmm, for what reason?”

“All the generals in addition to both General Obu and Kosaka are pushing this idea.”

“And you?”

“Me? I am not against the idea, sir. I am not sure if it was the war at Kawanakajima Island with the river in the middle, but in the situation we are in, I believe the superiority of numbers would give the advantage to us.”

Kansuke was thinking in silence. Notable and skilled experts of war are all recommending this plan of action; Kansuke knew that it was a sound plan. And yet, he had no confidence that they would win. Maybe nobody had confidence in this war. But, if there is any hesitation, was it safe to risk the Takeda’s fortune?

“If you think the same way, then I shall think about it more seriously. But I must meet my lord and discuss it directly with him,” said Kansuke with a wan look. As soon as he excused Kosaka, he went to see Shingen immediately.

As Shingen saw Kansuke, he said abruptly, “You’ve heard it already.”

“Yes, indeed. You too, My Lord, are thinking to attack them immediately?”

“Yes, I am.”

“And the reason?”

“You ask me a difficult question. There is no reason. I just feel a need to attack them right away.”

“I cannot find a good reason in such an answer.”

“But that is the truth…. That is what you always wanted to do, is it not?’” Shingen laughed out loud.

“I beg your pardon, sir?!” Kansuke lifted his face quickly.

“‘That is what you always wanted to do, is it not?’” Kansuke murmured under his breath.

He locked eyes with Shingen for some time, a look of stout disapproval on his face.

“I have visited Princess Yuu’s grave.”

“Oh, is that right?” Shingen responded, “And I also heard that you locked Katsuyori in Takashima Castle.”

“You’ve heard about it?”

“That kind of news travels very quickly.”

“I have decided to have his first campaign postponed one year.”

“What is the reason for this postponement?”

“This battle is a crucial battle, one in a thousand…”

“If you have prepared that well, why do you hesitate to attack? There is nothing left to worry about, is there? We have Katsuyori to continue the war!”

“Yes, My Lord.”

“Princess Yuu had confidence and told me to do what I always wanted to do. ‘Attack them, if you want to,’” said Shingen imitating Princess Yuu again.

Suddenly Kansuke felt as if new courage was springing out from him. He felt as if he also heard Princess Yuu’s voice.

“My Lord!” Kansuke leaned forward and said, “if we are going to attack, we will divide our army into two. Then, with one army, we will attack Mount Saijo, and the other will cross the river and take up position at Kawanakajima. The Echigo army will come down to attack, abandoning their camp on Mount Saijo, and cross the Chikuma River. Then, we will put an end to them with our troops waiting for them at Kawanakajima.”