It was huge! That was all I could think as I looked up at the walls of the complex. Not that it was towering, no, it was tall all right, but what amazed me was the complex system of buildings and stalls that crowded around me. All squawking and squealing, and I had only made it to the second district!
I wandered up to to the registration stall, eyes as wide as saucers. So many new sights and smells. Granted they were not all good, as the lower districts were full of animals and unwashed peasants. But I was raised in the provincial governor's estate. I was the child of a minor official there and, while I sometimes caught a hint of such urban odors, never in close contact, and never to such an extent.
The officer at the stall was sympathetic to my lost expression. It turned out that this stall was particularly for those called in from the official class. We were all too be lieutenants due to our birth. While I knew that this was not particularly fair, as we had no more experience than any other conscript, I was grateful not to be lumped together with the farmers and convicts.
After signing in we were released to gather any supplies we thought we might need, and to find rooms. We were to report to the upper sixth district at dawn to muster and to hear our commander. It was tradition, at that time, for the commander to meet his officers, down to the lowest lieutenant, and to give a speech to rouse the moral of the army. Many of the lower class had no idea why or for whom we were fighting, so this was a good approach. Generally, a man will fight harder for a leader he knows than for an untouchable figure.
We were to be an elite force in the name of the emperor. Not part of the everyday unwieldy force of the previous conscript armies. No we were chosen. All of us had some form of training with the sword, horsemanship or archery, to varying degrees, but none of us had fought as a large force. Just the everyday defending from bandits or police work.
Now we were fighting for a cause. The retired emperor, may he live forever, had sent out a call to Minamoto Yoritomo to rid the capital of this "barbaric tyrant," Yoshinaka. Yes this was a high cause indeed. We were to dispel the cousin of Yoritomo's cousin, the one he had allied with in order to defeat the Taira and conquer the capital. This was a front of course, the retired emperor was obviously best served by creating dissension between the factions of his conquerors. No this was a move for consolidation by Yoritomo for, apparently Yoshinaka had become too grandiose, too arrogant of his power in the face of Yoritomo's true superiority. Blood kin, it turns out, means next to nothing to these higher ups.
Our commander was young, that was all I could think at first. He was about the same age as me, just barely into his adult years, but he looked even younger with the bright eyed assurance and energy of one who has not fully experienced life. Granted, I was little better, but this was the one who was going to lead hundreds into battle. It is only in hindsight that I realise this. At the time, I too held the naivete of fresh exposure to the world, and the grandeur of his armor and sword overwhelmed me then.
He made a good show of it at least. There was no fear or indecision in his voice. He told us we were fighting to save his cousin from the demon that posessed him, and that in order to do so, we must fight his warriors to take back the capital and recapture the retired emperor. Such propaganda was influential to many of the newcomer.
That was the day we set out. It was a long road to the capital, fortunately I had brought along one of the sturdier members of my family's stable, rather than the flashiest, as many of my peers had chosen. I was reassured at this choice with the small nod of approval from one of the older veterans.
A warrior never speaks of the long path between battles. He never speaks of the aches or the stench, nor does he remember the nerves that riddled him as he approached his first blooding. That said, it was terrible.
My young audience stirred, and I looked up from my meanderings. Yes perhaps he was old enough. Perhaps I could lessen the weight upon my shoulders by speaking of it. He would hear of the false glories of battle, and the bloody deeds done on that field.
It was a red sunrise, that day, as if the skies already told the tale of what would happen. We had reached the outskirts of Kyoto and had set up camp surrounding the capital. Yokinasha was still inside, unsuspecting, when we saw smoke rise from the first district. He had set the Hojuji Palace aflame.
We were ready when Yoshinaka and his forces exited the city. They were not expecting us, so they died quickly when we sent in our torrent of arrows. A shower of death. Those who survived broke ranks and raced for the bridge across the Uji river.
They raced across without order, but once they had made it, their commander forced them into order again. And they destroyed the planks of the bridge across the Uji. The river was to vast and to deep for us to cross easily, but not impossible on a strong horse.
Our young commander sent the first rank across without checking the river bed for traps. They were gutted as their horses ran up against the spears pushed into the mud at the bottom of the river. Perhaps not so wild of a retreat after all. This, I suppose could be excused by karma, but then our commander ordered the second rank forward, and they went willingly. Such bravery would be honored in the next cycle of their souls. The screams of the horses still wake me up at night.
We rode over the bodies of those first ranks. They had slowed the current enough for us to pass without being dismounted and drowned. The river ran red.
The enemy had not rested on their heels as we crossed, and many fell to their arrows. But our army outnumbered them, and they feared to wait for our reinforcements. They skirmished, for no true warrior would turn his back on an opponent, but they stayed too long. Yoshitsune's army arrived. They had been guarding the southern gate of the capital and missed out on the earlier bloodshed, so they were eager to prove themselves.
Yoshinaka ordered a retreat and we pursued them for a day and a night, picking off the stragglers or those too arrogant to run faster.
Finally they reached the shores of Lake Biwa in the Awazu area, and they turned to face us. There numbers had been lessened drastically, and they were exhausted from the long flight, but they fought valiantly. Throughout the battlefield names and ranks could be heard shouted out from each side. I added mine to the clamor.
"Saburo no Takanaga no Minamoto seeks a worthy match! Cut off my head and show it to Yoshinaka!"
Yes I was something of an arrogant fool then.
Before I could conclude my stupidity with an actual challenger, the commander called on us to fall back. Yoshinaka's forces had succeeded in holding us off, now it was time for Yoshitsune's fresh forces to finish them off. As I was moving back to the shelter of the forest, I caught a glimpse of a woman out of the corner of my eyes. "Strange, what is a woman doing here?" I wondered. I saw her ride up to one of our soldiers, who blithely leered at her. And she stabbed him in the gut and proceeded to chop his head off. As I stared at this unnatural sight, she proceeded to discard her helmet, letting her hair trail behind her as she galloped to the east. Many of our men stared at her escape, but strangely enough, one did not look with astonishment, but with eyes of longing and pain. I could not worry about this for long. We were soon preoccupied with going through the now silent field to list the dead and finishing off the almost dead.
That night, as are camp had settled down and Yoshitsune's triumphant forces had returned with the head of his cousin, the shock wore off. I lurched off my cot and ran to the bushes at the edge of camp. The contents of my stomach were soon expunged from my young body. As I croutched there, retching even after I had no more to lose, a hand fell on my shoulder and pulled back the hair that had fallen out of my topknot.
"It's all right, son" a deep voice reassured me. "Everyone must have their first blooding."
I could not see his face as I looked up at him. He was enclosed in shadows. The only things I could see were the hilts of his two blades and the tassles of high office, though not what color.
I straightened in embarassment, garbled some form of reply as I bowed, and hastily rushed back to my cot, hoping he had not been able to identify me.
I would not meet that stranger again until the end of the war. Only then would I discover his identity.
But perhaps you are tired of my story now. It is not a tale of glorious duels and fair maidens, at least my part of it. And there is much in between before you reach his. No?
I smile as Kage shakes his head emphatically. Although he does not make the loud protests of most boys his age, he is still so young.
With Yoshinaka taken care of, Yoritomo turned his attention to finishing off the Taira. He received a mandate from our slippery emperor. Basically, it granted him emergency powers, theoretically only for taking out the Taira, but haven't you heard the saying? Power corrupts.
Yoshitsune's and Noriyori's forces were given the command to set out for the Western Provinces and towards Settsu Province. The KotoyTaira had fled to a powerful fortress in that area called Ichi no tani. It was a tactically sound maneuver. Not only was its location a possible staging area for a return to the capital and surrounded by a web of smaller outposts, but it was protected by the natural geography. It was covered from the rear by a steep incline.
Yoshitsune's forces were to move north and attack from the west, but we were sent to the east for a frontal assault. We moved in at night, supplementing Yoshitsune's surprise attack.
It was pitch black and we were ordered not to make any kind of light. Many of us stumbled before we reached the walls of the fort. We did succeed in surprising them and taking out a large number of the soldiers who were outside the walls, but we did not breach the inner fort.
It was only the next day that we succeeded in routing them. Yoshitsune had decided upon a three-pronged assault. Noriyori would attack from the front and Yoshitsune would split his forces. The majority would attack from the front while he personally led three thousand down the incline to attack from the rear. It worked of course. We were beginning to realise that most things Yoshitsune thought up worked.
Seeing that they were surrounded, and believing that Yoshitsune was, if not demonic, at least posessing of god-like powers, the Taira fled to their ships.
They took with them their recently appointed child emperor Antoku. The defeat shook many of the Taira to the point that they committed suicide at the loss of their honor by jumping overboard. Antoku's nurse was one of these, but she did not go alone. She took the young emperor with her. Perhaps he received a kinder death than the Minamoto would have granted. At the very least, it was an honorable death.