At the beginning of the Sengoku Jidai period, the Teshokabe clan was one of the smaller clans in Tosa Province. Its neighbors were constantly at war with each other, engaging in endless skirmishes. Among them, Yosokabe Kunitika stood out as a military strategist of extraordinary talent. It was thanks to these abilities that he managed to defeat the neighboring clans step by step by the middle of the 16th century, expanding the influence of his clan. At that time, the clan's headquarters was Oko Castle.
Back in 1508, when Kunitaka was a child, Oko Castle was attacked by the Motoyama clan. The fortress fell, and Kunitaka's father, Yosokabe Kanetsugu, was captured and executed. It was only ten years later, in 1518, that Kunitika managed to regain the castle with the support of the Itijo clan's troops.
By 1560, Kunitika had gathered enough strength to challenge his long-time enemy, the hated Motoyama clan. In May of that year, he seized Nagahama Castle, which belonged to Motoyama, in a swift attack. News of the fall of the fortress quickly reached Motoyama Shigetoki. He immediately assembled an army of 2,500 men and marched out of Asakura Castle.
Kunitaka, having gathered only 1,000 warriors, moved to meet the enemy. The armies met at the walls of Nagahama Castle, where a battle took place that went down in history as the Battle of Tonomoto, also known as the Battle of Nagahama. This battle is also particularly famous because it was the first time that Kunitika's son, Toshokabe Mototaka, took part in it. Mototaka was to become a great daimyo of the clan and a loyal vassal of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
At the time of the battle, Mototaka was already 23 years old. For samurai of the Sengoku Jidai era, this was an age when many had already proven themselves in battle many times over. However, Mototaka was distinguished by his calm and quiet character, with a fair complexion and gentle appearance. Because of this gentleness and effeminacy, his father's fierce warriors mockingly called him “little princess.” Kunitaka himself was troubled by how his heir had grown up and finally decided to take him with him on a campaign.
Mototaka led a small detachment of twenty mounted samurai. When he left Oko Castle, he asked his vassal, Jinzendji Bungo, to show him some spear techniques.
The battle at Nagahama turned out to be bloody. At one point, both sides were so exhausted that they dispersed to regroup. At that moment, Kunitika asked where his son and his detachment were. It turned out that Mototika's men had been hiding in the woods on the left flank all this time and had not yet entered the battle. The irritated father angrily called them “lazy fools.”
However, at that very moment, about a hundred horsemen from the Motoyama clan spotted Mototika's hidden unit. Considering it easy prey, they rushed towards it. To the surprise of many, Mototika suddenly let out a battle cry that echoed across the battlefield and was the first to rush into the attack, drawing his vassals after him. The swift and furious onslaught was so strong that the Motoyama warriors faltered and could not withstand the blow.
Seeing the success of the small detachment, the main forces of the Tōsokabe clan went on the offensive across the entire front. Despite the fact that the enemy outnumbered them by more than two to one, Kunitika's warriors managed to win and defeat Shigetoki's troops.
Shigetoki himself fled to Urato Castle. Kunitika followed and began a siege of the fortress, but illness soon forced him to abandon the campaign.
See also
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Battle of Tennoji
The confrontation between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Toyotomi Hideyori during the “Osaka Winter Campaign” ended with the signing of a peace treaty. On January 22, 1615, the day after the treaty was signed, Ieyasu pretended to disband his army. In reality, this meant that the Shimazu forces withdrew to the nearest port. On the same day, almost the entire Tokugawa army began filling in the outer moat.
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Siege of Shuri Castle
The Ryukyu Kingdom was established in 1429 on Okinawa, the largest island of the Ryukyu (Nansei) archipelago, as a result of the military unification of three rival kingdoms. In the following years, the state's control spread to all the islands of the archipelago.
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The Siege of Fushimi Castle
Fushimi can perhaps be considered one of the most “unfortunate” castles of the Sengoku Jidai period. The original castle was built by Toyotomi Hideyoshi in the southeast of Kyoto in 1594 as his residence in the imperial city.
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The Siege of Otsu Castle
The siege of Otsu Castle was part of the Sekigahara campaign, during which the so-called Eastern Coalition, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu, fought against the Western Coalition, led by Ishida Mitsunari. Otsu Castle was built in 1586 by order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi near the capital Kyoto, on the site of the dismantled Sakamoto Castle. It belonged to the type of “water castles” — mizujō — as one side of it faced Japan's largest lake, Lake Biwa, and it was surrounded by a system of moats filled with lake water, which made the fortress resemble an island.
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The Siege of Shiroishi Castle
The siege of Shiroishi Castle was part of the Sekigahara campaign and took place several months before the decisive battle of Sekigahara. The daimyo of Aizu Province, Uesugi Kagekatsu, posed a serious threat to Tokugawa Ieyasu's plans to defeat the Western Coalition, and Ieyasu decided to curb his actions with the help of his northern vassals. To this end, he ordered Date Masamune to invade the province of Aizu and capture Shiroishi Castle.
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The Second Siege of Jinju Castle
During the two Korean campaigns of the 16th century, the Japanese repeatedly had to capture enemy fortresses and defend occupied or constructed fortifications from the combined Korean and Chinese forces. Among all the operations of that time, the second siege of Jinju Castle is considered the most interesting from the point of view of siege warfare.
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The Siege of Takamatsu Castle
The siege of Takamatsu Castle in Bitchu Province is considered the first mizuzeme, or “water siege,” in Japanese history. Until then, such an original tactic had never been used.
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The Third Siege of Takatenjin Castle
The history of the castle prior to the conflict between the Tokugawa and Takeda clans is rather unclear. According to one version, the castle was built in 1416, when Imagawa Sadayoshi (1325–1420) was governor of Suruga Province and half of Totomi Province. Allegedly, it was he who ordered Imagawa Norimasa (1364–1433) to build this fortification. However, no reliable evidence has been found to support this. Another version is considered more plausible, according to which the castle was built during the conquest of Totomi Province at the end of the 15th century by Imagawa Ujitsuna (1473–1526) and his general Ise Shinkuro (Hojo Soon). In this case, another of Ujitsuna's generals, Kusima Masashige (1492–1521), is considered responsible for the construction.
