Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

Then he placed one leg on his chest and pulled out the arrows one by one. Three arrows had punctured his body. The samurai was already dead. Nobushige also must have lost his life just like this, Kansuke thought.

“Nobushige is dead, unfortunate man,” said Shingen.

“I am so sorry,” consoled Kansuke. Now Kansuke felt that he was responsible for everything, including Shingen’s brother’s death.

“Kansuke, I simply said that he was an unlucky man. Do not worry, today at the hour of the Sheep we will raise our shouts of victory.”

“Yes, My Lord.”

Kansuke could not lift his head. Is Shingen trying to cover up my mistake, thought Kansuke. Or does he really believe in his victory at the end. He never did blame Kansuke for his failures.

A violent emotion struck him. He wanted to do everything he could to help. He was sorry that he had only one life to give to Shingen. Kansuke mounted his grey horse and looked around in every direction from the Yahatahara camp.

Now the battle lines were erupting into total confusion.

There was no longer a distinct dividing line between the enemy and the allied forces. This was a battle to the death. Although the autumn sun was spreading its cold beams over the vast field, the place exuded a melancholy atmosphere. The sparkling swords and spears which could be seen everywhere were unexpectedly quiet.

If Kosaka were here! If Baba were here! If Obu were here!

How many times had these wishes crossed his mind! The troops of the selected elite who excelled in riding and long spears were far, far away from the battlefield on account of Kansuke’s own strategy.

Yamagata’s troops which replaced Takeda Nobushige’s troop had been attacking for a long time along the broad distance of the left wing and the center, but they too eventually fell back and were on the defensive; they were compelled to retreat step by step.

Under this situation, on the right wing, Morozumi Bungo-no-kami died in the melee. When their commander was killed, the right wing troop began to waver. At the moment he learned of Morozumi’s death, Kansuke sensed that their main camp at Yahatahara would turn into a battlefield. Because of the defeat of the right wing, Yahatahara had lost its protection and would eventually be faced with the front line of their enemy.

“My Lord!” called out Kansuke. Shingen also realized the imminent danger and said, “Yes, Kenshin’s main army will attack here, won’t they?”

“I presume so.”

“In that case, can we withstand for two hours?”

“Yes, we have to.”

“If we can, we will win. By that time, our front line of Kosaka will arrive behind them.”

“Yes, definitely.”

Kansuke sent the message in every direction. They had to fortify Yahatahara. At the main camp there were only 1,800 warriors. One thousand reserve troops of the left wing led by Hara Hayato and Takeda Shoyoken and 800 of the right wing reserves led by Takeda Yoshinobu 97and Mochizuki Kanhachiro advanced to the front. Thus, every last soldier of the Takeda camp was about to join the battle.

Soon Kansuke heard war cries which sounded as if they shook the earth. He saw 3,000 Echigo troops stampeding toward him over the plateau only several hundred yards away. It was exactly as they had expected.

For the first time, Shingen commanded. He ordered the entire army of the main camp to leave Yahatahara and to meet the enemy.

“My Lord, will you ride with your men?” Kansuke asked Shingen hurriedly.

Shingen was still sitting on his stool; he simply shook his head sideways. He did not move at all, sitting like a statue as if he were a warrior doll.

“My Lord, I am leaving.”

Now Kansuke was determined to lead his troops into war.

“Do you see any vanguard yet?”

“No, not yet, My Lord.”

“All right, then go!” said Shingen. The eyes of the young commander-in-chief were glaring.

Kansuke rode out onto the high field. He looked out at the far end of the vast space. He saw none of their allied warriors there. What has happened to Kosaka! How is Baba doing?

Kansuke was about to be driven mad by despair.

Kansuke made his troop of 200 men remain where they were and waited for the right moment for his own troops to advance as the last shield to protect Shingen.

Stray arrows constantly hit pine trees and fell to the ground.

The sound of gunfire was rampant. War cries were heard everywhere. A site of complete carnage was only a hundred yards ahead of him. Both armies were jostling back and forth and fighting for their lives.

Kansuke walked his horse back and forth over the same spot, time and time again, pacing. He was praying to God that a black speck of even the size of a poppy seed would appear at the far end of the plains. Their victory depended on those black specks.

There was no other way.

“My Lord,” Kansuke stepped up to him again.

Then Shingen said, “Was it not like this at the battle with Murakami Yoshikiyo? Not a single retainer was around me.”

Yes indeed and yet didn’t he raise shouts of victory at that battle with Murakami Yoshikiyo?! Kansuke felt that was what Shingen was implying. Even in a melee like this, Shingen seemed to be thinking only of victory. There was no shadow of death, or despair, within him.

Meanwhile, the formation of the troops of Takeda Shoyoken had broken in two, and Kansuke saw the enemy’s thirty mounted horses as the group dashed out of the split. They were advancing with full speed.

Kansuke gave an order to his waiting troops to advance. Now the time had come that every retainer, even to the last one, be committed to the bloody action.

The melee had been going on for over an hour. Kansuke had never experienced such a violent and difficult battle. The enemy was determined to destroy Shingen’s main camp in a single attack.

Groups of warriors cut into the defensive army of the main camp of the Takeda time and time again. Every time they did, a tremendous clash of shouts, cries, and the shrill whinneys of the horses rumbled through the earth. And every time the Takeda’s forces made a daring attempt to surround them and kill every one of them. It was literally an awe-inspiring mortal combat.

Kansuke was constantly moving his warriors to the right and the left. It was his duty not to let any of their enemies come close to the main camp where Shingen was. Yet his retainers were constantly decreasing in number every time they moved.

Each time he paused for breath, he checked the main camp in the pine forest. In the midst of the field where over 20,000 warriors were fighting, only that one block was quiet. The many flags of the Takeda were standing straight. None of the enemies had broken in there yet. However, it was all a question of time. It was a battle against time. Soon Echigo forces would fill even this area.

“Yamamoto Kansuke!”

Kansuke turned around to the voice. It was Shingen’s legitimate son, Yoshinobu dashing toward him. Twenty-four years old, this young general’s forehead was cut open and his right cheek was covered with blood.

“Look after my father, Kansuke. Don’t move from here.”

“And you, Master?”

“I am going to attack the enemy’s main camp. If we leave it, the allied troops will gradually be destroyed. Look after the rest.

I, Yoshinobu, will attack the enemy’s main camp.”

Sink or swim, he intended to break into the enemy’s main camp and aimed to capture Kenshin’s head. But it was not going to be easy even to reach Kenshin’s camp. Thousands of enemy warriors were blocking his way.

For a long moment Kansuke’s eyes dwelt on Yoshinobu’s face. He had long resisted the forces that surrounded this young man. From his forces, Kansuke had been protecting Princess Yuu and Shingen’s illegitimate children led by Katsuyori and others.