Chapter 1673: The Fall

The sudden, deafening roar plunged Itakura Shigemune and Takagi Kiyoshi into near-simultaneous vertigo, their ears ringing to the point of deafness. Yet even stripped of hearing, they could still feel the sheer force of the erupting calamity — with those thunderous blasts, the tenshu they stood in began to tremble faintly, as if struck by an earthquake.

At the same time, a sky-churning cloud of dust, splinters, and broken bricks was hurled into the air. A sun-blotting black haze spread in every direction, swallowing nearly all the daylight. Itakura Shigemune and Takagi Kiyoshi exchanged a sudden, stunned glance, for a moment utterly unable to grasp what had just happened.

But Itakura Shigemune, after all, had lived through far too much. He swiftly regained his senses, then abruptly shot to his feet and rushed madly to the window, straining his eyes to observe the situation in the direction of the Western Bailey.

The smoke was so dense now that visibility was extremely poor, and the roaring and shaking had not ceased for an instant. Yet he shut out all these distractions, observing intently amidst the chaos. Under his fixed gaze, he could dimly make out flashes of pale yellow-white light bursting continuously from within the Western Bailey. These fiery glares shot straight toward his position, and every time one died away, it brought with it another earth-shattering boom.

Seeing this, Itakura Shigemune finally understood: his current position was now under a fresh round of bombardment. It seemed the Han bandits had already hauled their cannons into the castle and were shelling him from their occupied zone in the Western Bailey.

The ferocity of the Great Han army's cannon fire was a fact he had long since known; the rapid, one-by-one fall of the castles across Kyushu had already proven it.

Earlier, when the Han bandits first began their assault on the city, they had already used bombardment as their vanguard. It was precisely because of such ferocious cannon fire that they had so easily blasted open the outer walls and surged into the castle. He had already witnessed the power of these siege cannons, a power that could turn any city wall into a laughingstock.

But back then, the Great Han army's bombardment had come from outside the city, still at a distance from him. Now, however… the tenshu he occupied and the remaining castle wards had become the direct targets of the Han bandits' cannons. Feeling this bombardment at close range, feeling a destructive power that seemed capable of annihilating everything, a tremor ran through his entire body. Had the whole tenshu not been shaking, he feared he himself would have become a laughingstock.

Moreover, he knew that this bombardment could never be an isolated event; it was the prelude to a new offensive by the Han bandit forces. Before long, the Han bandits would launch an all-out assault — perhaps it was already underway even now.

With such cannon fire supporting them, the Han bandits' attack would be like adding wings to a tiger, making resistance all the more difficult. Even if everyone fought with desperate valor and managed to repel this assault, the losses would surely be immense, inevitably allowing the Han bandits to expand their occupied zone further.

Himeji Castle could no longer be held. A flash of grim clarity passed through Itakura Shigemune's mind.

As the shogunate's highest-ranking official in the western provinces, and as the supreme commander personally holding the line at Himeji Castle, no one understood the situation inside the castle better than he did. These past days, he had directed the defense from here, witnessing batch after batch of his subordinates die within these walls, personally ordering one reinforcement unit after another into the castle to continue the bloody struggle against the Han bandits. He knew just how weak the forces in his hands had become, and he knew even better what kind of losses this merciless, casualty-ignoring assault by the Han bandits would inflict upon him.

Over these days of attrition, the defending troops had suffered massive casualties, their morale had plummeted to rock bottom, and even their supplies were no longer sufficient. And now, forced to endure this terrifying bombardment, Itakura Shigemune knew they would surely be unable to withstand it.

In that case… Himeji Castle is falling. And what am I to do?

I have already committed the grave offense of losing the Imperial Court and the Cloistered Emperor. Now, I have added the crime of losing the army and yielding territory. The Shogun will absolutely never forgive me.

Now, all I can do is lay down my life here in loyal service to the Shogun.

Amid the unceasing roar of the bombardment, he suddenly recalled the Elder Naito Tadashige, who had died for his country in Kurume Castle on Kyushu. In a daze, he seemed to see that Elder standing among the clouds, staring down at him with an expressionless face.

The tenshu shook more and more violently, but Itakura Shigemune remained utterly oblivious.

"Takagi, take your men and leave!" Abruptly, he spun around and shouted at Takagi Kiyoshi beside him. "There is nothing left here for you to do!"

The noise of the bombardment interfered, so Takagi Kiyoshi did not hear Itakura Shigemune's words clearly at first. But he soon managed to make them out, and then stared at Itakura Shigemune in disbelief. "My lord… I am here under orders. How can I leave this place?"

"Orders…? What orders are left?" Itakura Shigemune gave a bitter laugh. "The battle has reached such a desperate pitch. Even if you remain in Himeji Castle, it is utterly meaningless. The Han bandits… it seems the Han bandits will no longer lower their demands now."

"My lord! Weren't you just now still planning to send me to negotiate peace with the Han bandits again, to see if a compromise could be reached?" Takagi Kiyoshi could not quite grasp Itakura Shigemune's thinking. "Why are you telling me to leave now?"

"Just now… just now I thought there was still a chance to turn things around. At the very least, I could hold out here stubbornly and give you some leverage to negotiate with the Han bandits. But now…" Itakura Shigemune let out a heavy sigh, then extended a hand toward the window. "The Han bandits have already begun their bombardment, and it's clear they are about to launch a general assault. Even if I struggle desperately, I cannot hold out much longer. Once Himeji Castle falls, the Han bandits will surely become even more arrogant. It would be better to let you return now and wait for another opportunity to negotiate peace with the Han bandits later."

Following Itakura Shigemune's pointing finger, Takagi Kiyoshi cast his gaze outside the castle. The intensity of the Great Han army's bombardment had now lessened, and the shaking of the tenshu had subsided considerably as well. But it was precisely because of this that Takagi Kiyoshi could now see the devastation within the castle.

As far as the eye could see, the once orderly streets below the tenshu were now pitted and cratered. Some areas had been reduced to broken walls and rubble, still wreathed in flames. Other places were much the same, all sharing the same ghastly devastation. He did not know how many casualties these cannons had inflicted on the defenders, but he imagined the number was not small.

These past days, fierce fighting had raged continuously within the castle, and he had remained here as well to embody the shogunate's spirit of shared hatred and unity from top to bottom, though he had not taken part in the direct combat.

He did not know the specific details of the situation inside the castle, nor did he interfere with Itakura Shigemune's command. But he could see clearly that the defending forces were being driven back step by step and were already hard-pressed to expel the Han bandits from the castle. The situation was far from optimistic.

Yet originally, he had still believed the castle could hold out a while longer, inflict a few more casualties on the Han bandits, and show them the shogunate's will to resist, thereby lowering their demands and leading to peace negotiations. But today… that dream had been shattered by the Deputy's own hand.

The Deputy had first hinted, and then explicitly told him, that he believed Himeji Castle could no longer be defended, that its fall was now only a matter of time, and that he no longer had any confidence.

The Deputy would certainly not joke with him about such a thing. Since he said this, it meant the shogunate's forces inside the city had truly reached a dead end.

"My lord… why is your spirit so defeated?" Takagi Kiyoshi looked at him in astonishment. "Has the situation truly deteriorated to such an extent?"

"Yes, it has deteriorated to this extent. At the very least, I can see no hope of driving out the Han bandits…" By now, Itakura Shigemune had no intention of telling him falsehoods. "But rest assured, I will definitely remain here and resist the Han bandits to the very last moment. If… if… this castle truly falls, please return and report to the Shogun: Itakura Shigemune has not shamed his family name, and fought for Your Excellency until his final breath!"

"My lord!" Seeing Itakura Shigemune's ashen, deathly expression, Takagi Kiyoshi could not help but grow anxious. "Does my lord intend to die with the castle?"

"As Deputy, I bore the Shogun's immeasurable trust, yet I have betrayed that trust… How could I have the face to go on living?" Itakura Shigemune gazed into the distance, then made his resolve. "When the situation became hopeless, Lord Naito died for his duty, setting an example for us all. As Lord Naito's subordinate, how… how could I cling to a wretched life?"

"My lord!" Hearing Itakura Shigemune speak this way, Takagi Kiyoshi could finally hold back no longer. "Now, with the shogunate in peril and the situation so dire, this is precisely the time when the Shogun leads us in a bitter, desperate struggle. How can you insist on seeking death because of your own personal feelings? If you die for honor, what will become of the Kinai region afterward? What will become of the entire western provinces? Can you bear to wash your hands of it all and abandon us?"

"The shogunate still has so many capable men to use… it will manage even without me." Itakura Shigemune shook his head. "I am a man burdened with crimes, having committed so many grave errors. If I end things myself, at least I won't cause trouble for everyone else."

"Your lordship, for two generations, father and son, has guarded Kyoto. You know the situation and strategies of the Kinai and the western provinces like the back of your hand. You are the most instrumental official in the shogunate. How can you simply wash your hands of it all so easily?!" Takagi Kiyoshi, however, completely disagreed with his view. "The Imperial Court's escape cannot be blamed entirely on you. The enemy schemed with all their might against the shogunate; even if someone else had been in your post, they might not have been able to prevent it. As for now… as for being unable to withstand the Han bandits, you cannot be blamed for that either. All these days, you have been racking your brains and exhausting yourself to resist the Han bandits. I have witnessed all of this with my own eyes. If anyone dares say you have not done your utmost, I will certainly speak in your defense!"

"Ah… thank you for comforting me." Soothed by Takagi Kiyoshi's earnest persuasion, Itakura Shigemune's expression softened slightly. "But it is too late to say such things now. After these repeated failures, there is no place left for me within the shogunate. You need not defend me any further. If I perish here with the Han bandits in a blaze of mutual destruction, that will be enough to cleanse my name."

"My lord, this is not merely my own opinion; it is the Elder's will!" At this juncture, Takagi Kiyoshi decided to hide nothing more and spoke plainly to Itakura Shigemune. "When I came here, the Elder specifically instructed me to ensure that you do not fret over past events, and that you do not fight the Han bandits to the death. Rather, you must preserve your useful life and continue to entangle the Han bandits, ensuring at the very least that they cannot easily occupy Kyoto… My lord, the Elder has given his orders. You absolutely must not throw your life away!"

"The Elder…?" Itakura Shigemune's eyes widened.

"Yes, these are all the Elder's orders." Takagi Kiyoshi nodded. "The Elder's intention is for you to resist the Han bandits in Himeji Castle with all your might, but if you cannot hold out, you are forbidden to die. You must return to Kyoto, continue to atone for your crimes through service, and fight to preserve Kyoto for the shogunate. I kept this from you earlier to strengthen your resolve to fight, but now the time has come. I beg you, my lord, to consider the greater picture. You must not act willfully!"

Itakura Shigemune stared blankly at Takagi Kiyoshi. He had not imagined that, before the battle even began, the Elder Doi Toshikatsu had already foreseen the possibility of Himeji Castle's fall and had even formulated a corresponding countermeasure — a countermeasure that, astonishingly, involved not pursuing his failures but instead allowing him to continue leading troops to confront the Han bandit army in the Kinai region.

Yet, this was probably the most advantageous arrangement for the shogunate. After all, with the loss of Himeji Domain in Harima Province, the gateway to the Kinai was thrown wide open. The Han bandits would surely drive straight in and strike directly at Kyoto. At such a time, the Kinai would need someone intimately familiar with the situation to take charge, and he, having served as the Kyoto Deputy for over a decade, was undoubtedly the best candidate.

In all honesty, he did not necessarily want to die right now. It was only because he had previously fallen into despair over the situation and feared the shogunate's retribution that he had felt compelled to make the decision to die with Himeji Castle. But now, hearing this news, and with such a sound and reasonable justification, his resolve slowly began to shift.

"The Elder's benevolence… I shall never forget it, for all eternity." After a long, pensive silence, he finally spoke, his voice brimming with gratitude.

"It is best that my lord thinks this way." A faint smile appeared on Takagi Kiyoshi's face. "Very well, my lord. Although the Elder has permitted you to withdraw, we cannot simply retreat at the first opportunity. We must resist until the very last moment, making the Han bandits shed more blood before we pull back. That way, you will also have something to account for to Edo. My lord, in your estimation, if we exert our full strength now, how much longer can we hold out?"

Itakura Shigemune was momentarily at a loss for words. He raised his head again and gazed at the smoke-shrouded vista in the distance.

"If we continue to resist desperately, I can probably hold out for another three to five days." After a moment, he said in a low voice, "Beyond that time, I cannot guarantee I will be able to withdraw intact."

If they were to retreat, they would have to leave behind a rearguard force to delay the enemy and buy time and space for their own withdrawal. Otherwise, they would clearly be pursued and hounded to death. Itakura Shigemune's statement that he could hold out a few more days was already an indication of extreme danger.

"Very well then, my lord. Exert yourself a while longer. Hold out for three more days. After three days, we will all withdraw together, return to Kyoto, reorganize the army, and fight the Han bandits again." Takagi Kiyoshi answered immediately. "During these three days, I must ask you and your men to continue fighting with desperate valor. Killing even one more Han bandit is a good thing…"

By now, he too had seen the reality of the situation and realized that the Great Han army's relentless advance, perhaps even reaching Kyoto, was no longer unimaginable. Under such circumstances, trying to expel the Han bandits was nothing short of a fool's dream. The only viable objective now was to exhaust the Han bandits' military strength with all their might, making them bleed slowly until they could no longer bear such losses. Then, they could negotiate peace with the Han bandits — though the terms would surely still be extremely harsh, they would at least not be as utterly unacceptable as they were now.

"Very well… we shall proceed according to this strategy. I will first reorganize the troops to resist the Han bandits' new offensive… and simultaneously make preparations for the withdrawal." Itakura Shigemune also breathed a sigh of relief, his expression regaining some of its earlier vitality.

Without a doubt, under the current circumstances, even if he retreated, he would only be able to take a small portion of his men with him. The bulk of the defending forces were already scattered across every corner of the castle. He had no time to gather them, and he also needed to leave them behind to tie down the Han bandits and facilitate his own group's escape.

The loss of these troops did not matter. There were still considerable numbers of the various provincial armies and shogunate forces he had summoned remaining in Kyoto, and the Kanto region had been continuously sending reinforcements to bolster Kyoto. Even if the army here was largely lost, he could quickly assemble a large force there and continue to contend with the Han bandits.

"My lord, then make haste with your preparations. Do not miss the opportune moment!" Takagi Kiyoshi sighed softly. "If the Elder's predictions are not mistaken, there must be no small number of rebels and scoundrels stirring restlessly within the Home Provinces right now. I implore you, my lord, to return as soon as possible, lest chaos erupt in the Kinai."

"I will absolutely not fail the Elder…"

Just as Itakura Shigemune was still deliberating with Takagi Kiyoshi, the inner castle, which had fallen silent after the bombardment ceased, suddenly erupted into a wave of commotion. The noise of the disturbance was so loud that it reached all the way up into the tenshu.

Had the Han bandit army already come charging in? A chill ran through both men's hearts. They immediately rushed to the window to observe the situation.

Yet, what unfolded before their eyes completely defied their expectations.

The commotion did not come from the battle zone between the two armies, but from deep within the area held by the defenders. Though their line of sight was very blurred, they clearly saw a group of people rush out from the garrisoned houses and strongpoints, and they were running toward the rear city gate.

A unit inside the castle had fled! This fact shook both of them deeply.

"Honda Masatomo! That bastard!" Itakura Shigemune quickly regained his composure, then directly cursed out loud.

It was obvious that those fleeing were Honda Masatomo, the lord of Himeji Domain, and his trusted vassals.

Even before the battle began, he had already lost his nerve and wanted to flee, but was forcibly kept here by Itakura Shigemune. No one expected he still had not given up, and had now directly fled with a small portion of his domain troops.

This act, which betrayed his family name and the shogunate's grace and obligation, naturally made Itakura Shigemune gnash his teeth in hatred, so much so that he cursed out loud without regard for decorum.

But Takagi Kiyoshi quickly came to his senses. "My lord, arrange the retreat today! Do not delay any further!"

The situation was now very clear. The castle had already been hanging by a thread, and now with Honda Masatomo fleeing with a group of men, the defenders were even more insufficient. If they remained here, in the end, neither he nor the Shoshidai would likely leave Himeji Castle alive.

"I must report this to the Shogun! I will make sure this shameless wretch dies without a burial place!" Itakura Shigemune let out another furious curse, then turned and left the great tenshu.

Himeji Castle could no longer be held.