e target of his shafts.
But Sato Tsuginobu, member of the band of trusted comrades who had
accompanied the Minamoto hero from Mutsu, interposed his body and
received the arrow destined for Yoshitsune. Kikuo, Noritsune's
squire, leaped from his boat to decapitate the wounded Tsuginobu, but
was shot down by the latter's younger brother. Yoshitsune pillowed
Tsuginobu's head on his knees and asked the dying man whether he had
any last message. The answer was: "To die for my lord is not death. I
have longed for such an end ever since we took the field. My only
regret is that I cannot live to see the annihilation of the Taira."
Yoshitsune, weeping, said, "To annihilate the Taira is a mere matter
of days, but all time would not suffice to repay your devotion."

BATTLE OF DAN-NO-URA

The fight at Yashima was followed by a month's interval of
comparatively minor operations, undertaken for the purpose of
bringing Shikoku completely under Minamoto sway. During that time the
two clans prepared for final action. The Taira would have withdrawn
altogether into Kyushu, but such a course must have been preceded by
the dislodging of Noriyori, with his army of thirty thousand men,
from Bungo province, which they had occupied since the beginning of
March. It is true that Noriyori himself was unable to make any
further incursion into Kyushu so long as his maritime communications
with his advanced base in Suwo remained at the mercy of the Taira
fleet. But it is equally true that the Taira generals dared not enter
Kyushu so long as a strong Minamoto force was planted on the left
flank of their route.

Thus, a peculiar situation existed at the beginning of April, 1185.
Of the two provinces at the extreme south of the main island, one,
the eastern (Suwo), was in Minamoto occupation; the other, the
western (Nagato), was mainly held by the Taira; and of the three
provinces forming the northern littoral of Kyushu, two, the western
(Chikuzen and Buzen), were in Taira hands, and the third, the eastern
(Bungo), was the camp of Noriyori with his thirty thousand men.
Finally, the Strait of Shimonoseki between Chikuzen and Buzen was in
Taira possession. Evidently the aim of the Taira must be to eliminate
Noriyori from the battle now pending, and to that end they selected
for arena Dan-no-ura, that is to say, the littoral of Nagato province
immediately east of the Shimonoseki Strait.

We have seen that ever since the Ichi-no-tani fight, the Minamoto