Yasushi Inoue - The Samurai Banner of Furin Kazan

However, now Kansuke thought that he had hated this young general for the wrong reason, simply because he was the son of his master’s legitimate wife.

The autumn sun was shining softly on Yoshinobu’s helmet which was decorated with the Takeda crest, the dragon’s head on a diamond shaped piece of metal. The purple woven thread with which his armor was sewn was torn, and his horse was already injured.

After a few minutes Kansuke said quietly, “I shall do that job instead of you. As you mentioned, if we leave it, we will not last even one hour. Our allied vanguard, which we have been expecting, have not arrived for some reason.”

As he talked, he cast his eyes toward the horizon. Their 12,000 troops who were led by Kosaka had not appeared on the field, not even a single warrior.

“I, Kansuke, will attack the enemy’s main camp. You, Master Yoshinobu, remain here, and when both the right and left wing can no longer withstand, you will take our lord and cut a way through the enemy and escape to Kaizu Castle.”

“No,” Yoshinobu shook his head vigorously and tried to say something. Kansuke interrupted him and said, “Do not handle your life carelessly. Your life is different from mine. You are an important legitimate son of the Takeda family.” The very life Kansuke once wanted to destroy, for Katsuyori (Princess Yuu’s son), he was now protecting. Unexpected and dangerous, destiny was approaching the Takeda. At a time like this, no matter who it was, as long as he has the Takeda blood, he must be protected.

“No!” Yoshinobu was not going to listen to Kansuke, and he tried to turn his horse’s neck abruptly.

“Don’t you understand?” yelled Kansuke. “Don’t move from this spot. If you do not protect our lord, who else will?”

Kansuke slowly advanced, then turned around and started to climb up to the main camp where Shingen was watching.

Shingen was standing up straight, leaning his right hand on a pine tree. He was looking at the battlefield calmly with composed dignity.

My Lord, you certainly became a great commander-in-chief, Kansuke wanted to tell him. He had never seen him looking so magnificent. Up to this time, whenever a battle started he was always mounted on his horse. And he always wanted to direct and lead the troops himself. But today, in this battle in which he had a large chance of losing, he was very calm and composed right from the beginning, as if he were a different person. He left almost everything to his retainers, everything except the most important decisions.

Leaving his hand lightly on the pine tree, he was moving his eyes slowly from one side of the battlefield to the other as if he were sight-seeing. It was not the face of a commander-in-chief who was observing a losing battle. Kansuke wished he could show this Shingen to Princess Yuu. It was the face of the most notable commander-in-chief in the country.

Kansuke turned his horse around and collected all his surviving retainers.

“Now we are going to gallop through the enemy’s field and attack their main camp. Simply gallop through to the main camp.

Do not pay any attention to what is going on around you. Now your lives are mine!”

With the loud war cry of “Ahhhhh!!” there an indescribable uproar was raised among his retainers.

The next moment Kansuke was galloping to the opposite corner of the melee. Halfway through he turned his head and saw a group of his retainers, far larger than he had expected, following him.

Now enemies surrounded him. Kansuke was dashing and bending his body in half; he appeared as if he were licking his horse’s neck. He held his sword at an angle, the tip of the blade beside his cheek.

Over the course of time, Kansuke felt pain all over his body.

He was constantly cutting into an enemy and being cut himself.

When he chanced to look forward, it was into a wall of spear tips. Suddenly his horse jumped and changed direction and started to gallop as if it had gone mad. It kept running for about sixty yards. It stopped suddenly and bent its hind legs as if it were going to sit down. It was at the foot of a small hill.

Kansuke was thrown to the ground.

As he tried to get up, Kansuke held his breath. Surprisingly he could see the open field in front of him from where he was standing. He could see the rice fields and the plains filled with ears of susuki and a pond. And at the far end of the vast field he saw numerous black specks like poppy seeds spread all over the place. And they were spreading in all directions.

They are here at last, Kansuke thought. When he turned to see the pine forest, several mounted horses passed beside him galloping at full speed.

Kansuke stood up. Several enemy samurai pressed in on him from the right side. He started to walk toward them unsteadily.

He killed one, but his shoulder was also cut. He killed another, but his legs were swept from under him and he sat on the ground.

My Lord, our vanguard has arrived. Now you will win and shout your cry of victory!

A spear went through his abdomen from the side. He stood up holding its handle.

The black specks on the field were increasing in number.

On the corner of the pine forest where Shingen was, there still stood the flag of Furin Kazan, and surrounding the flag many other flags of the Takeda remained standing. The troops of Takeda Yoshinobu must be protecting the camp well. In this melee, the arrival of 12,000 soldiers promised only victory. The victory was approaching by the minute. He had to live, Kansuke thought.

“Yamamoto Kansuke, I shall have your head,” Kansuke heard a very young voice. He tried to look in that direction, but he could not. Holding the handle of the spear that had gone through his body, he wielded his long sword. There was no reaction.

My Lord! Shout out our victory! They will be here in no time.

Piercing pain shot through his shoulder again. Kansuke stumbled several feet, as if someone were pulling him with the spear handle, which was sticking out of him and banged against a pine tree. He was leaning against the tree, still holding his sword ready to attack.

The quietest hour of his whole life arrived. Thoughout the battle shouts and cries were filling the sky between heaven and earth, it gave him a sense of quiet. The face of Itagaki Nobukata appeared. He said, “You have lived for a long time. Ten years after I died!”

Then, Princess Yuu’s face appeared. She laughed the way she used to when she was happy. The laugh was approaching like a pearl rolling toward him.

“Look at your wounds. You were born with such an ugly face to start with, and you added more scars to it!” Princess Yuu’s typical way of reproaching him sounded pleasant, and Kansuke was enraptured by it.

“I believe it is Yamamoto Kansuke, but give your name anyway,” Kansuke heard a young voice, breaking his sense of euphoria. For no reason, Kansuke was satisfied with being killed by the young samurai.

“Yes, indeed, I am the war strategist of the Takeda Clan, Yamamoto Kansuke.”

The moment he said it, he felt the cold blade that would end his life run through his neck.

Blood splashed. The distinctive head of the war strategist Yamamoto Kansuke left its short body.

At that moment, at one corner of the plain, the group of the mounted force of Kosaka, Baba, and Obu, which had crossed the river, was dashing forward to attack the rear of the Echigo army.

And, at the same time, the commander-in-chief of Echigo, Uesugi Kenshin, who had wrapped his gold helmet with white and soft silk material like a priest 98pulled out his two and a half foot sword and was about to whip his slightly brownish white horse. It was to attack Shingen single-handedly and decide the winner at a single stroke.

There was still more than two hours till the hour of the Sheep when Shingen was to raise a cry of victory, as he had prophesied.