Chapter 45: Hojo Akitoki Strikes Terror Across the Musashino Plain

Where was Hojo Akitoki, the man currently on Takeda Shingen's mind?

As it happened, Hojo Akitoki was stationed not far outside the camp of the Takeda coalition forces.

Furthermore, he had chosen the location with absolute convenience in mind: it allowed the cavalry sufficient distance to build up their charging speed, yet kept them completely concealed from the illumination cast by the Takeda camp.

What?

You might ask: didn't Takeda Shingen constantly dispatch ninja units to monitor the Hojo army's encampment? How on earth could Hojo Akitoki slip away to a place like this?

The answer is very simple.

It was not that Hojo Akitoki was cheating, nor had the Takeda ninjas collectively gone blind.

Let us not forget that during daylight, Hojo Akitoki had returned to camp accompanied solely by Akechi Mitsuhide. Amidst the chaos of the battlefield, they neither flew his commander's banner nor made a grand, publicized procession. The Takeda scouts were hardly immortals; how could they possibly notice Hojo Akitoki and his companion acting with such low profiles, blending in as ordinary samurai?

As for how the two of them managed to leave the camp at night without being detected, that was even simpler.

Had they headed toward the Takeda forces, they surely would have been spotted by enemy ninjas. But moving toward the rear of the Hojo camp—where the two of them looked for all the world like mere messengers—who would pay them any excessive attention?

Thus, taking a wide detour, Hojo Akitoki and Akechi Mitsuhide successfully rendezvoused with the main force returning from outside Maple Village.

After that...

Unlike the brightly lit streetscapes of the future world, the wilderness and even cities of ancient times were often described by the ancients in a very specific way.

You could not even see your fingers stretched out in front of your face.

While this certainly contained a degree of artistic exaggeration, it was nonetheless an authentic portrayal of ancient nights.

Without moonlight and starlight, the night was naturally pitch black. Beyond these objective natural conditions, due to poor nutrition, well over ninety-nine percent of ancient people suffered from night blindness. Simply put, when nighttime illumination was insufficient, the majority of people could see virtually nothing.

At this point, some friends might wonder: how were so many nocturnal raid battles fought in ancient times? It seemed that launching a night raid had become standard operating procedure, something any famous general would pull out of his sleeve.

Indeed, night raids did occur in ancient warfare.

However, you were only seeing the successful examples, projecting them onto the grand scroll of history. If you looked closer, you would be startled to discover how rarely such instances actually occurred. Moreover, every single successful case was carried out by strictly selected elites, and their numbers were subject to severe limitations.

Similarly, the Hojo troops who accompanied Hojo Akitoki to Maple Village had been meticulously handpicked by him, with considerable effort poured into their daily rations and training. Only through such exhaustive preparation could this army slowly and cautiously creep up beneath the very noses of the Takeda coalition forces.

Yet one must never assume that this meant all was well and that the surprise assault force could instantly achieve immortal military glory with a single raid.

Since everyone knew the lethality of night raids and the elite nature of the attacking troops, any general with a normal brain would make ample preparations against them.

Caltrops, wooden barricades, and watchtowers were naturally standard fixtures when pitching camp. If time and inclination permitted, they would even hastily dig moat-like trenches. Kindling bonfires outside the camp perimeter at night was also part of the routine. The governing philosophy was to prepare for any eventuality, and Takeda Shingen, who bore the moniker of the Tiger of Kai, executed such defensive measures to absolute perfection.

Therefore...

"Truly, he is worthy of being Lord Shingen, the Tiger."

Raising a monocular telescope to his eye and gazing at the Takeda coalition camp, which was ablaze with torches under the cover of night, Hojo Akitoki uttered a sincere exclamation of praise.

"If it were the army of some ordinary daimyo of the Eastlands, a night raid might well have succeeded."

"In terms of defense, they have indeed achieved perfection."

"Lord Master, everything is in readiness."

Akechi Mitsuhide remained indifferent to Hojo Akitoki's praise of the enemy. Having arranged the surprise assault force that had painstakingly crept into the attacking position, he came to stand beside his lord, staring intently at the enemy encampment ahead, eagerness burning in his eyes alongside a desperate thirst to establish merits and build a career.

"Then let us begin."

A smile touched Hojo Akitoki's lips at these words. He handed the telescope to a nearby foot soldier and began donning his armor with the assistance of his personal attendants. Akechi Mitsuhide, who was likewise arming himself, gestured toward the rear!

"Hey, did you hear something?"

As the Hojo assault force methodically set its plan into motion, a soldier on night watch atop a watchtower within the Takeda coalition camp caught a strange sound.

"What sound?"

Yawning, the questioned soldier replied with a hint of irritation. Although the night was not bitterly cold, standing watch atop a tower to catch the wind without being able to sleep was hardly a pleasant chore. Yawning, he rubbed his sleepy eyes and strained his vision into the distance, while also trying to catch the disturbance his comrade had mentioned.

"I think your mind is turning to mush; there's nothing wrong out there."

Dismissive at first, the soldier remained entirely unimpressed. As he spoke, he gave his companion a playful punch, as if venting his annoyance at being startled.

"Huh?"

To his surprise, Taro, standing right beside him, did not react at all—which was completely unlike his usual demeanor.

"Taro, what's wrong with you?"

Feeling a sense of unease, the soldier widened his eyes and glanced sideways. In the next instant, he saw the look of utter astonishment on his companion's face, along with eyes dilated to their limits.

"Enemy attack! It's an enemy attack!"

"Heavenly fire! There are fire meteors in the sky! Heijiro, those are fire meteors!"

Stuttering in utter bewilderment, the soldier named Taro—who had been the first to spot the anomaly—pointed frantically at the sky and shouted.

"What?"

Realizing that something terrible was happening, Heijiro, who normally favored slacking off, stiffened his neck and followed his companion's pointing finger.

And then, he truly beheld fire meteors filling the dark night sky!

Real, genuine, physically tangible fire meteors!

"You've got to be kidding me?"

In this impoverished land of the Eastlands, Heijiro would swear that even in tales of gods and ghosts, sights like the one before him rarely appeared—let alone manifesting live and in person right before his eyes.

"Oh, mother!"

With a loud shriek, unable to comprehend or accept the reality unfolding before him, the primal instinct for self-preservation drove him to flee desperately. Forgetting his duty entirely, without even performing the basic gesture of warning his comrades in the camp, Heijiro scrambled and stumbled, shedding his armor as he tried to climb down from the watchtower to save his life.

"Heijiro!"

Alas, while this soldier's movements were fast and his reaction speed commendable, his mind held only the thought of escape. In his panic, he tumbled straight off the watchtower.

Screaming as he clutched his broken leg, Heijiro writhed on the ground—a sight and sound heartbreaking enough to move anyone to tears.

Seeing his fellow townsman and childhood friend reduced to such a state, Taro, still stranded atop the watchtower, froze.

On one side loomed the threat of death brought by the blazing meteors across the sky; on the other echoed the desolate, heedless wails of his desperate friend.

"Hahaha, am I dreaming?"

With his mouth hanging wide open, foolish saliva drooling past his lips against a backdrop of blood-red skies, Taro stood completely motionless.

Meanwhile, amidst a spectacle of this scale and magnificence, there was actually no need for the sentries stationed on the watchtowers to sound any alarms; every single soldier in the Takeda coalition camp who had not yet fallen into a deep sleep saw it with their own eyes!

In an instant, the reaction of these soldiers was almost identical to that of Taro and Heijiro. With their meager knowledge and limited horizons, how many could possibly avoid losing their courage or maintain their composure upon witnessing such a divine punishment for the very first time?

Consequently, the entire encampment boiled over within the span of a single breath. The soundly sleeping soldiers were abruptly awakened by the commotion, and upon being startled awake while their minds were still muddled, they triggered an even more terrifying chain reaction.

It was the midnight phenomenon most dreaded by generals in ancient warfare—*camp panic* (Gyoshu)!

"Truly magnificent, Hojo Akitoki, master of the Hojo clan."

Standing outside his large tent, draped in a robe and gazing up into the firmament, Takeda Shingen was just like Hojo Akitoki who had praised him from outside the camp earlier.

At this moment, he truly admired the nineteen-year-old heir-apparent of the Hojo clan.