The Kawanakajima Plain is located at the confluence of the Saigawa and Tikumagawa rivers in the Japanese Alps. Between 1553 and 1564, five battles took place on this plain between the forces of Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen.
The provinces of both daimyo were separated by mountain ranges, and the Kawanakajima Plain was the most suitable place for combat operations. The landscape here was flat enough for large armies to meet in open battle.
The first clashes
The first three battles at Kawanakajima ended without a definite outcome. They were more like unfinished clashes than decisive battles. However, in 1561, Uesugi Kenshin seemed to sense the inevitability of a decisive battle.
He led 15,000 warriors to the plain and immediately laid siege to Kaizu Castle. Takeda Shingen, having received news of the enemy's actions, mobilized his army and moved to help.
Confrontation at the river
The armies of the two daimyo found themselves in a difficult position: neither side wanted to cross the Saigawa River. The situation increasingly resembled the course of events in the second battle of Kawanakajima.
It was at this moment that one of Shingen's generals, Yamamoto Kansuke, proposed a plan called “Woodpecker.” His plan was to launch a surprise attack on Uesugi's troops from the rear. Part of the army was to climb Mount Saijo (Saijoyama) at night and strike from behind, while Kenshin's main forces would wait for the retreating enemies below.
Takeda approved the plan and divided his army, which numbered 20,000 men. He kept 8,000 with him and entrusted 12,000 warriors to Kosaka Masanobu.
Kenshin's cunning
Uesugi Kenshin must have sensed something was amiss. Under cover of fog, he led his army to the foot of Mount Saijo and crossed the Tikumagawa River. He left Amakasa with 3,000 soldiers to guard the ford. Naoe was sent with 2,000 soldiers to the ford on the Saigawa River. The remaining 10,000 men under Kenshin's personal command formed a “coiling wheel” battle formation and moved towards Takeda's army.
Shingen, meanwhile, arranged his forces in a “crane wing” formation, expecting the enemy to retreat from the mountain. However, instead of fleeing troops, the entire Uesugi army descended upon him.
The Great Battle
The vanguard of the Uesugi clashed with the troops of Takeda Nobushige. A fierce battle ensued, in which Nobushige fell. Unlike Kenshin, Shingen could not easily bring reserves to the battlefield. The Uesugi, on the other hand, had a well-established system of rotating fighters: a tired warrior would leave the ranks and be replaced by a fresh one. This allowed them to maintain their momentum, and Takeda's exhausted troops gradually began to lose ground.
Yamamoto Kansuke, realizing that his plan had failed, threw himself into the battle. After being wounded, he resigned from his duties and committed seppuku.
From that moment on, Uesugi personally joined the battle with Hatamoto Shingen. According to legend, at the decisive moment, a horseman armed with a katana rushed straight to Shingen's headquarters. Shingen did not have time to draw his weapon and fended off the blows with a fighting fan until the horseman was driven away. Some claimed that the horseman was Kenshin himself, while others claimed that it was his double. There were also versions that there was a double of Shingen himself in the Takeda camp.
Meanwhile, Shingen's brother and the commander Morozumi fell in battle. Despite the partial success of the Obu and Anayama troops, Takeda's army was barely holding on. Shingen looked anxiously into the distance, waiting for Kosaka to arrive.
Kosaka's maneuver
Kosaka reached the Uesugi camp with his army, but found it empty. Hearing the noise of battle, he quickly moved to the ford where Amakasa's forces were located. A fierce battle ensued, and all the Uesugi warriors covering the ford were destroyed.
After that, Kosaka moved his troops directly to the main battle site and struck the flank and rear of Kenshin's army. Takeda gradually managed to seize the initiative and push Uesugi's army back. What at first looked like defeat turned into victory for Shingen.
The price of victory
Can this be called a victory? Both armies suffered terrible losses. Uesugi's army lost 72% of its men, while Takeda's forces lost 62%. Many prominent military leaders on both sides were killed in the battle.
Later, in 1564, another battle took place on the Kawanakajima plain. But its outcome only repeated the fate of the first three clashes.
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.
