Signore Part V

The Signore (pp. 59-60)

"He had only one military and political principle: to win by power in a world of power. Having laid down this principle, he acted on it with every means at his disposal, regardless of such considerations as personal safety. His pages were fond of telling how, even when defeated in battle, he seemed quite calm, almost as if he viewed his own possible demise as just another move in the power contest. He was not one to shed tears of chagrin, and seemed an utter stranger to regret. A defeat meant simply that, in a meeting between a stronger and a weaker force, one's own had been the weaker; and for the Signore, after suffering defeat, the only possible course of action was to bolster the strength of the inferior force. I imagined that the look of composure on the Signore's face was a feature common to the men of his sort--men such as Cortes or Vespucci (whom my father had known in Florence)--who constantly confronted crises and who managed to overcome them with reason as their chief weapon."

The message is clear: When you are knocked down, get up quickly as possible and get back into the fight, and never give up. A great example is the conquest of Mino. It took Nobunaga seven long years after the Okehazama victory in 1560 to have Mino in his hands. He had some defeats along the way, but quickly recovered and finally defeated the Saito in 1567. This characteristic gave Nobunaga to conquer his enemies and eventually, most of Sengoku Japan.


Nobunaga no tame!