Strategist Kanbe Episode 10

Kanbei won against an army five times larger than his.

Nobunaga strove for unification, which alarmed the 15th Shogun Ashikaga Yoshiaki, after being driven out of Kyoto by Nobunaga. He turned to the Mouri clan to help him reclaim his position. The Mouri would become the military backbone of the anti-Nobunaga alliance. They joined hands with the Hongan-ji temple to form an iron ring around Nobunaga.

In 1576, Nobunaga personally led his army in Settsu in battle against the Hongan-ji temple. This battle would continue endlessly.

Meanwhile, the Mouri came to Himeji to start a battle, with an army of 5,000 troops while the Kodera only had nearly 1,000. They encamped at Aga–mido, a temple of the Ikko Sect. Many Buddhists gathered nearby and supported them, including some of the Kuroda’s former maids who left the clan in the previous episode. The aid from Nobunaga or the Bessho and Akamatsu would not come because they were scared of the Mouri’s huge force. That would be the first time the Kuroda had ever fought against 5,000 troops.

Tahe told his fellows that he would kill 1,000 out of 5,000 alone, while Zensuke was spying on the enemy in their camp. He later informed the Kodera that the Mouri would likely attack in the next morning. They took the Kodera lightly because they were confident in their large army. Kanbei came up with a brilliant plan to attack them from the forest at the crack of dawn and used the thick fog to trick their enemy. They gathered the remaining old men in the village and let them hoist the flags, beat the drums, blow the horns and raise their voices loudly to pretend the aid was coming to join hands with the Kuroda army. Kanbei’s strategy worked and they merely chased their enemy away this time. However, they had to be prepared for their next attack at any time. It served their purpose as a threat to Harima Province. The real battle would start soon. Probably even a much larger army might attack the Kuroda. They couldn’t rely on the Bessho or Akamatsu either.

Anyway, the Kuroda won the battle against 5,000 troops, and Kanbei was praised by his Lord. Nobunaga was also impressed and sent a letter to praise Kanbei for the victory. Kanbei said the victory was thanks to everyone. In the battle, not only villagers but the Kuroda clan’s women and kids also helped to sew flags and prepare food for the army.

Only after his victory, Kanbei showed his vulnerability with his wife, Teru. He confided to her that he couldn’t stop trembling because he was scared of the huge army and thought he would have died in the battle. Teru comforted him and told him that he succeeded in protecting Himeji despite his fear.

After the battle, the Kuroda’s former maids returned to the castle for help because they got hurt and had nowhere to go. Kanbei and Teru forgave them and helped them treat their injuries. One maid didn’t survive, while the other two maids were injured. Zensuke was thankful to one of the maids, Omichi, as she saw him but didn’t point him out when he was spying on the Mouri in the battle. Inoue Kurouemon told Zensuke to be careful as he didn’t trust Omichi and figured out Zensuke had fallen for her.

Meanwhile, Hideyoshi’s wife got pissed off because of his womanizing habits. She visited Lord Nobunaga in Azuchi to complain about it with Nobunaga and his wife. Nobunaga praised her as a perfect wife and that she was too good for Hideyoshi. Then she asked him to write his praise words in a letter to show her husband. Nobunaga was impressed by her boldness and told her to sit proudly as Hideyoshi’s wife.

Teru’s old maid misunderstood that Kanbei and the other injured maid had an affair and told Teru to confront Kanbei. In fact, he was just applying medicine to the maid. Although Teru said she wouldn’t mind if Kanbei took a concubine to give birth to another boy, she felt relieved when she heard Kanbei said it was all a misunderstanding.

In July of 1576, the Oda navy lost a battle against the Mouri and their allies at the mouth of Kizu River. Their defeat would trigger another crisis for the Kuroda.

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