Divine Wind - Chapter 5

Chapter 5



On the road east several of the pleas for help were answered. Among some of the men who came to Hideyoshi’s aid were Takayama Ukon and Niwa Nagahide. Their combined ranks boosted Hideyoshi’s force to twenty thousand. On the other side, Akechi Mitsuhide had not drawn the support he had counted on. His army was outnumbered two to one.



Also, surprise was not on Akechi’s side. It only took Hideyoshi four days of rigorous marching to get into Settsu province, where Akechi was on his way west. He was, needless to say, shocked at this great army that had come from seemingly nowhere.



And so it was on June, 30, that the Battle of Yamazaki was fought. It began as most major battles of that century with each army almost parading itself before the other while getting into position. Both were positioned with a front line of matchlock men, a center group of cavalry, and ashiguru on the sides. Toyotomi Hideyoshi and his close advisors including, Masaharu, Nobateru, Ukon, Nagahide, and Kobayashi, were in the back of the group of cavalry. Hideyoshi’s “golden gourd” battle standard was seen everywhere. Omo was riding right behind Kobayashi on his horse.



“I can’t see anything.” He often remarked.



The battle was fought just south of Shoryuji castle. Akechi Mitsuhide had his right flank on the Yodo River. His left flank was at the base of an elevated bit of land that rose sharply like a cliff two hundred and fifty meters high. Hideyoshi’s first battlefield decision was to control that cliff.



The first volley of fire erupted from Mitsuhide’s and Hideyoshi’s Tanegashima. During that time Kuroda Kanbei, Mikoda Masaharu, and their soldiers charged around and up the elevated land to achieve a height advantage for their riflemen. Akechi soon sent his own force to claim that part of the battlefield. They were soon beat back and were ordered to give up.



To further his advantage Hideyoshi then assaulted Akechi’s line on the other side of the river. Ikeda Nobateru led that advance. Simultaneously, Takayama Ukon and Nakagawa Kiyohide drove a wedge right up the middle. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was good but he had good men working with him.



Outnumbered and outsmarted, the troops of Akechi Mitsuhide could only keep falling back. In only two hours the battle had become a rout. When victory looked to be assured Toyotomi Hideyoshi rode his horse right up to Kobayashi’s.



“It appears our former lord shall soon be avenged.” Hideyoshi said triumphantly, his sunrays helmet extended straight up, covering his bald head.



“Don’t be so sure.” Kobayashi said bluntly. “I know Akechi better than you. I don’t think he will surrender himself he would rather see his whole army dead before him.”

“Humph!” snorted the general. “But where would he run?”



Kobayashi thought for a second. “It is obvious from his small army that he has not had much support among the daimyo. However, I doubt even his brother would refuse him shelter. Sakamoto. He’ll be retreating to Sakamoto, which is held by his brother, Hidemitsu. Probably soon too, with only a small guard. The rest of his men will be ordered to cover his ass with their lives.” Among anyone else the samurai would have watched his language. Hideyoshi was somewhat of a crude man though. Coming from a largely mysterious background he preferred drinking and women perhaps as much as Umetada did.



Hideyoshi nodded and slapped Kobayashi on the shoulder. “Then we must hurry.” He said. “Take some of my men and patrol the roads to Sakamoto. He may likely be fleeing now.”



Kobayashi nodded in turn and rounded up a dozen of the fastest riders he could find on short notice. Riding hard away from the battle he could hear loud shouts of triumph.



Way to go Saru, Kobayashi thought.



*******



The riders were armed with matchlocks and Kobayashi set them up on every likely path to Sakamoto. He fully believed they had arrived before Akechi. Kobayashi himself waited on the mostly likely path, a small path that ran into woods and also straight to Sakamoto. Three men were with him, not including Omo who was certain Kobayashi had just forgotten to let him off the horse and let him get on with his life. They were all hidden from the road behind mounds of dirt, matchlocks at the ready.



It was an hour later that he came. There were twelve of them, all in Akechi’s yellow lacquered armor. The horses strode at a fast pace. Kobayashi gave the order to light the matchlocks. They were already stuffed with gunpowder and pellets so it took only a few seconds before they were ready to fire.



Akechi and his guard created a dust storm as they rode. Steadily that cloud grew towards the awaiting ambush. Kobayashi waited until the right moment and then signaled to fire. Three rifles and the samurai’s own pistol erupted like four simultaneous thunderclaps. Four of the guards were killed as the cloud grinded to a halt.



Quickly the men hiding behind the dirt mound piled in more powder, loaded another bullet, and forsaking the hiding place, rose and fired again. Kobayashi’s pistol was aimed at the heart of Akechi Mitsuhide but the bullet missed its mark completely, neither did the other men’s shots. He threw down his gun in anger and drew his wakizashi, tossed it to his left hand, and drew Masamune’s last katana for the right. He charged into the line of guard spinning his dual swords like a whirlwind. It was generally a move too dangerous to perform but that day it found three victims.



Giving up on their rifles the other men joined Kobayashi in melee combat. Akechi’s men were too grouped together on horseback and so dismounted. Two of Kobayashi’s men got quick kills while the other was faring off two men. He did not last long and was stabbed by one with a spear.



Foolishly, Hideyoshi’s soldiers bellowed at Akechi, still on horseback, and charged at him. His white horse trampled one and Akechi’s swordsman skills made short work of the other.



The two remaining guards attacked Kobayashi who spun around and kicked the hand of one, causing him to drop his sword. Going down to pick it up he looked up just in time to see Kobayashi cross his swords and bring them together. His head was severed clean off like a giant pair of scissors cutting a carrot.



The last guard was hesitant to fight. Kobayashi wasn’t, he threw his wakizashi wildly. The man seemed to freeze at death coming his way. The short sword sunk into his stomach.



Only now did Akechi Mitsuhide, in grand fashion, get off his horse. Kobayashi stared him down. His hatred for the general guiding him now, the samurai pulled down the face armor from his helmet. Now behind the face of a grotesque iron demon, Kobayashi took slow deliberate steps towards his lord’s killer.



“It doesn’t have to be like this.” Akechi said. Kobayashi gripped his sword tightly with both hands. “You could come with me to Sakamoto-“



“Never.”



“Very well then.” The general said. “It seems you would rather-“



“No more! All that’s left is for you to die!” Kobayashi’s slow steps turned into an all out sprint. A loud clang echoed through the forest when their swords met. The samurai furiously attacked Akechi. Never before has he fought with such intensity.



Akechi Mitsuhide was by no means a slouch when it came to the katana. Initially Kobayashi sent him reeling. When Kobayashi wasn’t expecting it he tripped him up by kicking in the back of the knees causing the samurai to fall. He barely managed to roll out of the way when Akechi’s sword came down for his neck. When Kobayashi was on his knees getting up Akechi kicked him square in the chin, knocking off his helmet and causing him to drop his sword.



Scrambling on the ground looking for the sword Kobayashi soon found his searching hand stepped on. He began to reach for the dagger next to his waist when the edge of a sword came into his vision.



Akechi was standing over him, gloating. Confident in this small victory he raised up his sword for a deathblow. It was then that a gunshot sounded throughout the woods and Akechi’s sword was broken in half. Kobayashi looked towards the direction of the blast. There was Omo, shaking nervously, Kobayashi’s matchlock smoking in his hands.



Akechi looked over too. “Why you little son of a whore..” he began.



In the distraction Kobayashi drew his steel tanto and stabbed Akechi’s left thigh. He pushed until the dagger was in to the hilt. Akechi screamed in pain as Kobayashi found his sword and rose to his feet.



The samurai was poised to hit with a powerful swing. It was blocked by Akechi’s shattered remains of a sword. Kobayashi kept his momentum going and twirled around and sliced Akechi’s back with a similar hit. When Akechi closed his eyes in pain Kobayashi turned around and slashed his chest with an upward thrust. Akechi, bleeding profusely, fell to his knees. Kobayashi stabbed him through the heart.



In exhaustion, Kobayashi fell to his own knees. Now, his lord, Oda Nobunaga, was avenged. He struggled pulling his tanto out of Akechi’s leg. Kobayashi removed his armor and shirt. He wiped the blood off of his knife with his shirt. For a moment he sat on the ground staring at his stomach and the knife.



Omo had not yet stopped shaking. “W-what are you doing?” he called. “Isn’t he dead.”



Kobayashi slowly glanced at the little man. Before he had been blinded by rage and now he saw what was surrounding him. Between himself and Omo there was a score of dead bodies. Severed limbs and blood covered the ground.



His lord was killed and so he killed in turn. He didn’t know how far he would have gone. Then looking at the knife he knew exactly how far he would go. Nobunaga was avenged, there was no reason for Kobayashi to take his life. His innocence had long been gone but his life had much ahead.



He threw the knife away in disgust. “Nothing, Omo-sahn.” He said. “It seems you saved my life.”



Omo finally stopped shaking. He laughed looking down at the gun. “I missed.” He said. “I meant to shoot him in the head.”



Kobayashi joined him in his laughter.



“You are a good man, Omo-sahn.” The samurai began. “I need you to do something for me.”



*******



Hours later one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s scouts happened upon a scene of great carnage. The only one left standing was a midget.



Omo explained to him what had happened. How Kobayashi fought bravely with the other men. Akechi was slain during the fighting. However, when all seemed over a dying member of his guard found enough strength to fire a gun killing Kobayashi. Omo showed him a body in black lacquered green laced armor. His face had been torn apart by gunfire but his dead hands still held a sword. The scout cut the cloth on the handle to reveal the signature of its maker, Masamune.



Later that day the sword was presented to Hideyoshi along with Akechi’s head. He went on to act as the center of Oda Nobunaga’s funeral days later. Akechi’s head was placed before Nobunaga’s grave.



Toyotomi Hideyoshi soon became shogun and continued to unify Japan as Nobunaga had done. History remembers him as a great leader.



After World War II the Emperor donated a sword to the Tokyo Museum of Japanese History. It was the last weapon ever made by the great smith Masamune and is declared a National Art Treasure, and is a centerpiece of the museum’s wing on the samurai.



*******



Noriko was sleeping uneasily that night. That was until she was awoken by an intruder in her room. She was about to scream until she saw who it was. She jumped out of bed and hugged Kobayashi.



He put a finger on his lips as a signal for her to be quiet. She smiled very wide and was about to cry. He held up a monk’s robe for her to put on. Kobayashi was wearing similar garb.



As soon as he and Omo stuffed one of the dead men into his armor he said goodbye and retrieved his horse. The rest of the time he was riding to Kyoto. Akechi’s guards were still in the part of the temple that hadn’t burned down. Noriko was still here awaiting her marriage. It was a simple matter for Kobayashi, unarmed, to ride right inside of the city. He knew of a monk at the temple who took walks late at night. The monk was happy to supply his robe for a brief while.



In the monk’s robe Kobayashi walked into the temple and found another robe for Noriko. With their hoods over their faces, the two passed straight through the night guards. After returning the robes to the monk they left the city, the moon smiling down at them.