Bishamonten's Blessing

October 1561

Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen. Two warlords fighting for dominance of Shinano Province. For the fourth time, their armies exchanged blows at Kawanakajima. So far it was their bloodiest battle to date, which already claimed the life of Shingen's brother, Nobushige, and his talented general, Yamamoto Kansuke. A legendary duel took place when Kenshin reached Shingen's camp in a surpise assault. The two daimyos fought each other face to face, a rare event during that time. It was cut short, however, when Kenshin was forced to retreat due to Shingen's reinforcements. The Takeda army stood firm, but suffered enormous casualties, while the Uesugi forces retreated back to Chikumigawa. The battle, apparently, is turning into another stalemate.

But one unexpected moment would decide the final outcome of this war.

Shortly after his duel Kenshin, Shingen recuperated, only to suddenly collapse on his feet. An arrow was stuck on his neck. His retainers were horrified, and rushed to his aid. But as fate dictated, the Tiger of Kai never made it back to his home. [1] It was never known whn exactly took that fateful shot. Some say an ashigaru archer from the Uesugi, while others claimed it was an assassin from the Hojo clan. The debate still continues to this day.

After learning of his esteemed rival's demise, Kenshin was said to have wept for two days. Some sources allegedly quoted him saying, "I may have won this fleeting victory, but I forever lost a good friend."



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[1] The POD.
 
Welp...Shingen's dead...no Mikatagahara, no Tokugawa wetting his pants, no passing through Kyoto...no collecting 200,000 Tsuhos...

I'm still subscribing, am I'm not okay with this...Shingen was my favorite character in the Samurai Warriors series. :(
 
Welp...Shingen's dead...no Mikatagahara, no Tokugawa wetting his pants, no passing through Kyoto...no collecting 200,000 Tsuhos...

I'm still subscribing, am I'm not okay with this...Shingen was my favorite character in the Samurai Warriors series. :(

Well, I feel ya. Shingen's a badass. But this TL will revolve around Kenshin. The Takeda isn't screwed... yet.

Like I said, this is just a preview. I'm still gauging the level of interest for this. So far it isn't good. If this goes on I might scrap this idea and move on to others. :eek:
 
Well now your running into the problem I might be facing how do you write Takeda Yoshinobu. Having Shingen dead this early means Takeda Katsuyori is still Suwa Katsuyori of the Suwa clan, so Yoshinobu is now head of the clan. Also you might have saved the triple alliance between the Imagawa,Takeda, and the Hojo.

The one thing that did the alliance in, was in the fact Shingen was willing in invade the Imagawa, one of the things that led to relations souring between Yoshinobu and Shingen. Here Yoshinobu and Ujizane are brothers in law, with Ujizane also marrying a member of the Hojo clan.
 
Well, your right. Yoshinobu's one of my main problems when I planned this TL. Not much has been written about him except his issues with his father.

You have a point about the triple alliance lasting a bit longer. But the Imagawa is already declining and is under threat from the Oda and Matsudaira. So far, I have 2 scenarios for this:

1. The Hojo goes to war with the Oda to protect Imagawa while Takeda continue the war with the Uesugi (Shingen's generals will definitely attempt to avenge their fallen lord).

2. The Takeda and Hojo goes to war with the Oda, leaving the Uesugi some space to recover.

I'm also toying with the idea of a Takeda civil war with Yoshinobu supported by Hojo, and Katsuyori supported by Uesugi.
 
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