Council in the Tokugawa camp
NarratorIn the eighth month of Tensho 13, beneath Shinano's summer sky, seven thousand Tokugawa soldiers filled the Ueda basin. Inside the command tent sat Ieyasu's seasoned hereditary retainers.
Torii MototadaWell then. What of Ueda Castle, where the Sanada are holed up?
NarratorThe impatient voice belonged to Torii Hikoemon Mototada, effectively the army's senior commander.
NarratorFiercely loyal to Ieyasu and intolerant of deceit, this stubborn warrior saw the campaign as mere punishment for an inferior lord. An infantry captain, just returned from scouting, timidly raised his head to report.
Infantry captainMy lord. The castle... is still under construction. There is a little stonework around the gate, but most of the defenses are piled earth. The moats hold no water; they are simply dry trenches.
Infantry captainThe road from the town to the main enclosure is blocked only by hastily built, staggered wooden fences. It hardly seems a position from which to face the mighty Tokugawa.
NarratorA dry laugh rang through the tent. It came from the young Okubo Hikozaemon Tadataka, later the author of Mikawa Monogatari.
Okubo TadatakaDid you hear that, brother? A mud bank that scarcely deserves to be called a castle! When I heard that Sanada Awa-no-kami intended to face us warriors of Mikawa, I expected a fortress. Instead, it is a makeshift hut!
NarratorHikozaemon turned to his elder brother, Okubo Shichiroemon Tadayo, and shrugged. Tadayo was a veteran commander whose elusive strength had earned praise even from Oda Nobunaga. Stroking his chin, he spoke cautiously.
Okubo TadayoSanada is a cunning man. He has slipped like a fox among the Oda, Uesugi and Hojo. He may have something planned.
NarratorTorii Mototada snorted at this caution.
Torii MototadaYou think too much, Tadayo. That sly fox cannot see the bigger picture. Even with men borrowed from the Uesugi, the Sanada barely number two thousand—not a third of our strength. And look at that castle!
Torii MototadaHis attachment to Numata made him forget his place and anger Lord Ieyasu. That was the end of him.
NarratorMototada struck the table with his command fan and surveyed the gathering.
Torii MototadaWhat can a petty lord with less than fifty thousand koku do in a hastily built, unfinished castle? Our men of Mikawa will crush those mud walls in one assault—half a day, at most—and drive straight into the main enclosure!
NarratorHiraiwa Kazue-no-kami Chikayoshi, listening quietly beside him, nodded. He had shared Ieyasu's hardships since childhood and trusted absolutely in Tokugawa strength.
Hiraiwa ChikayoshiMototada is right. We have faced Takeda cavalry and Oda gunners. Whatever Sanada has prepared, we will break it head-on.
Torii MototadaGood! We will not even need to wait for sunset!
NarratorMototada rose, an arrogant smile of certain victory on his face.
Torii MototadaWe attack through the main gate. I will bring Sanada Masayuki's head to Lord Ieyasu. Men, crush that castle of mud!
Tokugawa commandersAye!
NarratorThe Tokugawa commanders' war cry thundered through the tent. They did not yet know...
NarratorThe maze of earthworks and wooden fences they scorned as a shabby, unfinished castle was the deadly trap Masayuki had staked his life on—a pit ready to swallow seven thousand men.
Council in Ueda Castle's main enclosure
NarratorThe eighth month of Tensho 13. In the nearly finished main enclosure of Ueda Castle, Sanada officers burned with urgency and anxiety. As reports of seven thousand approaching Tokugawa troops arrived, those in the headquarters could not hide their unease at the castle before them.
Sanada senior retainerMy lord, do you truly mean to face the Tokugawa here? There is stonework only around the main gate. Most of our defenses are piled earth. And the moats are dry trenches without a drop of water...
Sanada senior retainerTheir cavalry will ride straight up them!
NarratorA senior retainer pressed his lord with an anxious voice. Seated deep within the main enclosure, Sanada Awa-no-kami Masayuki listened as calmly as if sipping cold rice gruel. His face showed not the slightest fear of the approaching army.
NarratorInstead, he narrowed his eyes and smiled defiantly.
Sanada MasayukiDo not worry. It is precisely because the moats are dry and the walls are mud that the Tokugawa will fall.
NarratorMasayuki tapped the map of Ueda beside him.
Sanada MasayukiIeyasu's retainers have destroyed the Takeda and fought the Hojo. Their pride now knows no bounds. They think they can crush a local lord worth less than fifty thousand koku in a single blow. That arrogance will destroy them.
NarratorMasayuki stood and laid narrow wooden pieces across the map. They represented the staggered fences lining the approaches from the town into the castle.
Sanada MasayukiWhen their vanguard arrives, make a show of resistance, open the main gate and draw them into the second enclosure. Eager for glory, they will crowd through the narrow gate, each trying to be first. That is our moment.
NarratorMasayuki's eyes hardened into those of a ruthless strategist.
Sanada MasayukiThe deep, dry moats will become graves from which they cannot climb. The instant their advance stalls in the maze of fences, fire together from behind the earthworks and from the scattered watchtowers. Rain arrows upon them.
Sanada MasayukiDrop great stones. Their own men and horses will trample the fleeing soldiers until they cannot move. We will make the entire castle a vast pitfall.
NarratorThen his eldest son, Sanada Genzaburo Nobuyuki, entrusted with the defense of Toishi Castle, spoke quietly.
Sanada NobuyukiFather, when they fall into confusion inside the castle, I will strike from Toishi and attack their flank. We will drive the fleeing Tokugawa toward the swollen Kamikawa.
Sanada MasayukiYes, Genzaburo. You understand well.
NarratorMasayuki nodded with satisfaction.
Sanada MasayukiThe castle is not our only battlefield. Ueda's mountains, rivers and town are all our battle lines. With these mud walls they mock as an unfinished ruin, we will cut down the famed warriors of Mikawa.
NarratorAnxiety left the assembled officers' faces, replaced by the thrill of battle. In Masayuki's mind, the unfinished castle of mud, earth and wooden fences was already a formidable fortress ready to devour seven thousand enemies.