The Heike Story (30 page)

"Ya, ya! Who comes here?"

"Some nobleman—by his carriage."

"Careful now, he has a large retinue with him."

A wicker coach followed by a carriage ornamented with fine metalwork was approaching. Some twenty armed soldiers accompanied them.

"Halt, you there!" Motomori's soldiers shouted, barring the road. They had heard that Yorinaga might be returning to Kyoto by this route and were certain that this was he. The occupants of the vehicles, however, proved to be two courtiers who produced documents to show that they had gone to Uji on private matters. Yorinaga, in the meantime, had made his way to the capital in a litter by another route and was already safe at his headquarters at Shirakawa.

Motomori and his men were disappointed at not apprehending the Minister Yorinaga. The sun was setting, and they had set about feeding their horses and preparing their evening meal, when they saw some ten horsemen and thirty foot-soldiers hurrying toward them from Uji. Motomori quickly rode out to meet them.

"Halt! Where are you from and which way are you going?''

The horsemen instantly came to a standstill, and the foot-soldiers drew up behind them. A splendid figure in black leather armor and horned helmet lowered his head in greeting. "We come from the near-by district in response to news of disturbances in the capital. Who bars our way?"

Motomori replied: "We have orders to guard this road. Those who go to the aid of the Court will pass, but all others may not proceed. I am the grandson of Tadamori of the Heike, second son of Kiyomori, Lord Aki; Motomori, officer of Aki, aged seventeen!"

Motomori's soldiers advanced with their bows drawn, when the stranger announced that he was Chikaharu of the Genji, on his way to the ex-Emperor Sutoku. A shouting arose and the whizzing of arrows began to fill the air. Chikaharu and the ten horsemen suddenly charged with heads lowered on their horses' manes, their swords drawn, spears leveled. Failing light and the dust, curling up in clouds from under the galloping hoofs, combined to obscure the oncoming horses, and Motomori's troops retreated hastily to a near-by shrine to regroup themselves. Looking down from the knoll on which he stood, Motomori rallied his soldiers: "You men of Isй—there are not more than forty-five of them. With five or six of you to their one, we can force them to surrender."

Motomori's troops rushed to the assault once more and this time succeeded in wounding or killing several of their opponents and capturing the rest. But Chikaharu fought on alone to the last, until the thrust of a grapnel-spear unhorsed him. Then Motomori was soon on his way to the capital with his prisoners.

As Motomori prepared to leave the Court for the Uji Road, he was detained for a brief ceremony in which a higher rank was conferred on him.

Early next morning, when Kiyomori finally appeared at the Court, he was received eagerly and with congratulations on Motomori's success in capturing Chikaharu of the Genji alive. Flushed with pride and smiling broadly, Kiyomori made a round of calls on his fellow captains to make known his arrival and to offer apologies for his tardiness. Last of all he greeted Yoshitomo.

"Ah, Kiyomori of the Heike!"

"And you, Yoshitomo of the Genji!"

Their eyes met. A silence ensued as each recalled their first meeting one autumn afternoon long ago at Toba Sojo's funeral. Yoshikiyo Sato had made the introduction. Yoshitomo had then spoken of going to Kamakura. Yoshikiyo soon after had fled his home, taken the tonsure, and become the wandering monk poet Saigyo. Sixteen years had gone by, though it seemed to have happened only yesterday. Many changes had taken place in the capital since then. Some of their youthful companions were now dead or had left Kyoto. Neither had dreamed of meeting again thus—comrades in the cause of the Emperor. They were rivals, too—Genji and Heike—but a common purpose now bound them as brothers-in-arms.

"I was anxious about you," Yoshitomo began, "for there were any number of rumors concerning you. I am greatly relieved that you've come after all to join us here."

"I sent my son with some of my troops and stayed behind to attend to the mobilizing of my men. My apologies for this delay."

"But you must be pleased to know how your son has already distinguished himself."

Kiyomori laughed deprecatingly. "And to think that these young ones are making out better than their elders—stealing our triumphs!"

"I envy you,, Yoshitomo said, "for your house is not divided against itself as mine is."

The smile vanished from Kiyomori's lips. In his elation over Motomori it had not occurred to him what this fratricidal war must mean to Yoshitomo. The unaccustomed weight of his armor made Kiyomori feel even more ill at ease; he groped in his mind for words of sympathy that somehow refused to come, stared awkwardly before him, then with a few abrupt words, turned and left.

Yoshitomo winced at the blunt, unsympathetic back suddenly turned on him.

That same day the Court moved to the Imperial Palace at the north center of the capital, where the headquarters of the Emperor's forces was established. On Yoshitomo's advice it was decided that the first blow would be struck that night by a surprise attack on the palace at Shirakawa, where Yorinaga's reinforcements could not be expected to arrive earlier than noon of the following day. This move, Yoshitomo maintained, would forestall a three-column attack on the Imperial Palace itself.

In the meantime Tameyoshi and his sons with their horse and foot militia arrived at Shirakawa, where they found the ex-Emperor and his advisers in a frenzy of anxiety. News of Chikaharu's capture on the previous evening increased the disquiet over the failure of Yorinaga's other troops to arrive from outlying provinces. Yorinaga had counted on three thousand horse and foot to arrive in time for a combined attack on the capital, and no more than sixteen or seventeen hundred had yet reported in. Nor could he expect the monks from Nara and Yoshino, who had promised aid, to come for another twenty-four hours. The fevered atmosphere heightened that night as Yorinaga looked out across the Kamo River and saw the glow in the western sky change to dense columns of smoke. Before long, messengers arrived with the news that the Willow-Spring Palace, where part of Yorinaga's troops were garrisoned, was in flames. Although the Minister ordered an auxiliary force to be sent there, Tameyoshi of the Genji and Tadamasa (Kiyomori's uncle) prevailed on him to desist, pointing out the wisdom of further strengthening the defenses of the Shirakawa Palace.

Tadamasa and his three hundred horse and foot, to which were added a hundred of Yorinaga's own forces, took up their post at the eastern gate of the Palace, facing the foothills of Mount Hiei. On the opposite side of the Palace, overlooking the Kamo River, Tameyoshi stationed himself and his well-appointed forces at the main western gate. His youngest son, Tametomo, and an additional one hundred mounted and foot-soldiers, commanded a smaller gate of the same wall.

Yorinaga, who inspected the defenses of the Palace, could not suppress his dismay at the paucity of his troops, though Tameyoshi's presence, he assured himself, was almost as good as ten thousand. Yorinaga's spirits rose, however, when he saw Tametomo and his twenty-eight mounted soldiers. They had been trained in the arts of war in Kyushu, where Tametomo's fame as a fighter had become legendary. He eyed the youth with curiosity. Tametomo stood a head taller than the tallest around him. He wore heavy armor threaded with white lacings, under it a dark-blue tunic, and carried a long sword in a scabbard of bearskin. One of his soldiers carried his iron helmet. This was the notorious Tametomo, who as a wild, headstrong lad had caused his father much trouble, and at thirteen had finally been sent to his kinsmen in Kyushu; there, at only seventeen, he had gained a name as a fearless warrior and was acclaimed as one of the local chieftains.

Yorinaga approached Tametomo to obtain his views on strategy, and was told: "We cannot expect to win unless we make a night attack. Tonight is not too soon. I am rather surprised by the hesitation to do so."

"A tactic that would occur to even the most inexperienced soldier"—Yorinaga smiled—"and we have already prepared for that."

"That being so," Tametomo continued, "we must cripple the enemy in the capital on both flanks and from the rear by flame, and then throw in our troops from the front. We can thus trap the enemy and at the same time make the best use of our inferior numbers."

"What if your brother Yoshitomo attacks first?"

"I'll send an arrow through his helmet and force him to turn tail."

"Kiyomori of the Heike, I hear, is in the field."

"There's nothing to brushing aside his troops and making straight for the Palace and taking the Emperor prisoner. This is the moment to strike. Now—before dawn."

"A daring bit of strategy, I dare say," Yorinaga said smiling scornfully, "and good enough, I imagine, when ten or twenty horses are engaging in one of your local skirmishes down in Kyushu, where I hear you have quite a name, but you must realize that our operations here are not on such a petty scale. I fear, Tametomo, that your opinion carries little weight with us here."

Sullen-faced, Tametomo returned to his post, and there lay down on his large shield to find sleep until dawn.

"The enemy have attacked!"

"The enemy have crossed the river!"

Shouts and cries rang out shortly before dawn of the 12th. There was confusion in the Palace, the clangor of arms and the neighing of horses. Bowmen, who lined the walls of Shirakawa Palace, were already aiming their shafts at the approaching enemy.

Yoshitomo, at the head of more than a thousand mounted warriors and foot soldiers, arrived on the right bank of the Kamo River, opposite Shirakawa, and was preparing to ford it, when he saw dawn whitening the shoulder of Mount Hiei. Realizing the disadvantage of advancing with the rising sun full in their faces, he turned back and led his troops downstream a short distance before fording the river; then began a slow march northward until he reached a point just out of reach of the enemy's arrows.

Tameyoshi of the Genji ordered the south and west gates to be opened and was about to ride forth when Tametomo galloped out ahead of him shouting: "Let me be first to the attack!" He was pursued by his elder brother, Yorikata, protesting Tametomo's right to be the first in the field. Tametomo forthwith, impatiently calling out that he did not care, made off toward the western gate by the river.

In the half-light of the dawn Yorikata galloped toward the enemy line and challenged them: "Who comes there, Genji or Heike? This is I, Yorikata, fourth son of Tameyoshi of the Genji!"

One of Yoshitomo's soldiers replied to the challenge, giving his name and rank as retainer of Yoshitomo, Lord Shimotsukй. Demanding that the general himself appear, Yorikata sent two arrows flying in rapid succession close to where Yoshitomo sat astride his horse. He saw two horsemen succumb to his shafts, and then turned to go back, when an arrow glanced off his helmet. Without more ado, Yorikata galloped back to his cheering comrades.

Roused to fury by the sight of his wounded soldiers, Yoshitomo started in pursuit of Yorikata, vowing he would chastise his brother for his insolence, but his soldiers restrained him by force.

Kiyomori, meanwhile, rode upstream along the left bank with more than eight hundred horses to a point north of Shirakawa Palace and waited for Yoshitomo to open the attack. As the sun rose and the heavy mist over the river lifted, he saw how Yoshitomo's troops were deployed. Though neither side showed any movement, Kiyomori's heart began to drum wildly. Savage shouts and cries rose from either side in a barbaric crescendo. Between the dispersing mist, he saw how the distance between the opposing lines narrowed imperceptibly. Suddenly fifty horsemen detached themselves from Kiyomori's troops and advanced to the river-bank opposite the gate guarded by Tametomo. Three warriors then rode forward, demanding the name of him who stood at the gate, announcing themselves as retainers of Kiyomori of the Heike.

A strong young voice rang out above the rushing sounds of the river:

"This is I, Tametomo, Tameyoshi's son. I have no arrows to spare for such as you. Even your leader, Kiyomori of the Heike, is a sorry match for me. Go back and tell him to come."

As three arrows whistled past Tametomo in unison, his carelessly aimed shaft climbed through the air with a weird whine and pierced clear through the chest of one warrior and lodged in the shoulder-piece of a second. The riderless horse reared, whinnying madly; horsemen to the rear quickly came forward in a phalanx, their bows set, to give cover to the two warriors and their wildly plunging mounts, while a rain of arrows came from the enemy.

The ground shook and rumbled under Kiyomori; his horse, nostrils aquiver, suddenly trembled and tossed its mane. "What's that?" he demanded sharply. The crowding of mounted soldiers around him kept him from reining round his horse, when a warrior galloped up to Kiyomori .shouting: