Hakari koto wa

A lot of the lame stream media of late has been ripping Trump on his Syria pullout and the killing of that thug terrorist Al- Baghdadi.  The Democrats were pissed since they were not informed about raid.  Good on the President for not telling them since loose lips sinks ship.  It was the smart decision.  I would not trust them either.  The old Japanese phrase: Hakari koto wa mitsu wo motte yoshitosu.  A plan should be carried out in secret.  Now this brings up some similarities on Nobunaga's bold plan for the Battle of Okehazama.

As stated in earlier posts:

1. Nobunaga had a plan from the start.
2. He did not tell anyone about the plan since he was betrayed by his retainers in the past.
3. Hired someone on the outside, The Men of the Fields to do his dirty for him.

Nobunaga had a plan to attack Yoshimoto when the time was right.  That being said, he had to play the role of the fool to keep the Imagawa spies and his own retainers off guard.  It was not easy.  Months before the Imagawa invasion, Nobunaga would often visit Ikoma mansion to see his concubine Kitsuno and the kids.  Often, he would fish at the rivers or perform song and dance.  This would convince the Imagawa and Nobunaga's retainers that he was not interested in military affairs and would rather see the Oda house wiped out.  It was the complete opposite.  While at Ikoma mansion, Nobunaga was secretly working out a plan with the Men of the Fields to crush the Imagawa.

Since Nobunaga took over the Oda House, everyone tried to push him out.  It failed.  They tried it on the battlefield.  It failed.  Shibata Katsuie and Hayashi Hidesada learned the hard way at the Battle of Ino in 1556.  Both of them barely made out alive.  Nobuyuki rebelled not only once, but twice and eventually killed off for his betrayal.  Nobunaga had a hard time trusting people.  To be honest, during the Sengoku Era, trust and loyalty was rare.  Any sign of weakness, and you were killed off or banished.  Nobunaga's retainers never knew that he had a plan, a bold plan that one mishap meant death.  Nobunaga did not trust them one bit.  Nobunaga's reatiners had their own soldiers to take care of.  If the Imagawa came knocking on the door with an option to serve them and keep their lands, of course they would accept.  The key was staying alive and being on the winning side.  Nobunaga was no fool.  He knew this from the start and that is why everything was kept in secret.

Nobunaga's decision to hire the Men of the Fields was superb.  He had the flexibility to do it since he was not tied to anyone.  The Men of the Fields were body guards, security agents, quartermasters, arms dealers, merchants and the like.  Hachisuka Koroku and Maeno Shoemon had strong ties to the Ikoma family.  The same family Kitsuno was from.  With this bond, Nobunaga had more trust in them and his own retainers. They would provide all the logistical and intelligence support Nobunaga needed.  Also they were excellent in adapting to any situation without failure.  Once everything was worked out, they were able to stall the Imagawa army by providing refreshments.  The weather was a factor too.  It was extremely hot on the day of the battle and of course, the rainstorm which caused the Imagawa army to run for cover.

Baghdadi was bagged and tagged while Nobunaga would say.  "Heads taken thousands, fucks given zero!"

Tenka no tame!