Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun
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Chapter 126: Oda Nobuie and his Ezo Campaign
Chapter 126: Oda Nobuie and his Ezo Campaign
Although the Genroku era (元禄) officially began in 1688, the broader Tenwa-Jokyo era is viewed to have ended in 1689 with the death of Mōri Tsugumoto, one of the three members of the Nobuhiro Triumvirate and the most influential daimyo up to that point. Without a co-equal in power unable to exude and exert influence over the daimyo lords, the Kanbe brothers saw their power weaken as daimyo lords on the Sangi-shu like Nanbu Shigenobu and Inaba Kagemichi (稲葉景通) began to flex their opinions independent of the preeminent Azuchi regime. Shigenobu would especially prove to be formidable, exhibiting much confidence and energy even at 73 in his calls for greater attention to the far northern frontier and the fur trade as well as to the great many swaths of the rural interior that lagged behind in economic prosperity compared to the cities and western Japan in general. Additionally, the dominance of the two brothers was increasingly alienating many of the other Oda clan members including Musashino Toshikatsu and Miyoshi Yasutsugu. Within a year of Tsugumoto’s death, a new opposition had already begun to crystallize.
It was in this environment that the man destined to steer Japan into the 18th century began to firmly establish his footprint. The Oda heir Oda Nobuie had been born in 1667 to daijo-daijin Nobuhiro and Takatsukasa Nobuko (鷹司信子), a daughter of imperial regent Takatsukasa Norihira. He had grown up under a daijo-daijin weak and helpless before the factionalism of the 1670s, unable to effectively take charge of the helm of state. With the governance of the realm largely out of his hands, Nobuhiro would preoccupy himself with arts and luxuries alongside his court noble friends. Nobuie, however, would be very different, displaying signs of martial talent early on and showing promise to be a politically involved and authoritative chancellor. Among those who would train and tutor him was Tsuda Takeakira, a former councilor of the Kaga clan who had retired and committed himself to self-exile. However, an interested Nobuie would invite Takeakira to his personal residence located outside of Azuchi Castle where he would learn much from a former retainer of his late little brother Kaga Hiroaki. By the early years of the post-Tenwa-Jokyo era, the Oda heir had matured into a confident young man who easily exceeded his old man in political savvy and martial prowess. He even had a son born to him in 1687 named Hatsuomaru (初王丸), the future Oda Nobuhisa (織田信久). It was in this time period when he would unexpectedly be thrust to the forefront.
It was in this environment that the man destined to steer Japan into the 18th century began to firmly establish his footprint. The Oda heir Oda Nobuie had been born in 1667 to daijo-daijin Nobuhiro and Takatsukasa Nobuko (鷹司信子), a daughter of imperial regent Takatsukasa Norihira. He had grown up under a daijo-daijin weak and helpless before the factionalism of the 1670s, unable to effectively take charge of the helm of state. With the governance of the realm largely out of his hands, Nobuhiro would preoccupy himself with arts and luxuries alongside his court noble friends. Nobuie, however, would be very different, displaying signs of martial talent early on and showing promise to be a politically involved and authoritative chancellor. Among those who would train and tutor him was Tsuda Takeakira, a former councilor of the Kaga clan who had retired and committed himself to self-exile. However, an interested Nobuie would invite Takeakira to his personal residence located outside of Azuchi Castle where he would learn much from a former retainer of his late little brother Kaga Hiroaki. By the early years of the post-Tenwa-Jokyo era, the Oda heir had matured into a confident young man who easily exceeded his old man in political savvy and martial prowess. He even had a son born to him in 1687 named Hatsuomaru (初王丸), the future Oda Nobuhisa (織田信久). It was in this time period when he would unexpectedly be thrust to the forefront.
Later portrait of Oda Nobuie as daijo-daijin
In 1690, Kakizaki Norihiro requested aid against the Ainu-Menashir polity occupying most of eastern and northern Ezo that it had engaged in several border skirmishes with. Azuchi would use this opportunity to authorize its full conquest and Nobuie would be given command of the campaign through the direct order of the daijo-daijin who saw more potential in his son than in himself. In the late spring, Nobuie departed Sakai with a core of 5,000 men gathered from the main Oda lands and other provinces in central Japan, mostly consisting of musketeer infantry. His army would be transported by the navy to Hakodate where it would be joined by men sent by the various Oshu lords, particularly the Sakuma and Nanbu clans, as well as the retinue of the Ezo Kakizaki clan. Not including frontier garrisons or any potential Ainu allies and mercenaries in Ezo’s interior, Nobuie would be overseeing a total force of 12,000 men. His close advisor Tsuda Takeakira had accompanied him, as had Nanbu Shigenobu’s son and heir Yukinobu (南部行信) and Kakizaki Norihiro himself.
Facing off the Japanese would be Shakushain’s grandson Kamokutain, a formidable leader who had built up a core of arquebusiers and had begun conducting other centralization and modernization reforms in the Menashir polity, even taking some inspiration from the Japanese. These noticeable changes alarmed the Kakizaki samurai colonies and in response they began beefing up their garrisons and defenses. Fearing that they were preparing an invasion of his chiefdom, Kamokutain countered with his own military buildup. The dual escalation eventually led to the series of small skirmishes that turned into Azuchi’s casus belli against Menashir. Once he heard news of the impending invasion, he began a full mobilization and gathered a sizable force from among his warriors. Kamokutain would even send messengers from independent Ainu tribes in Ezo and even north of Karafuto province. The results of this outreach would be mixed, with some joining his side and others either staying out or firmly allying with the Japanese.
Statue of Kamokutain
On paper, the Japanese were destined for an easy victory, holding a numerical and technological advantage against Menashir. However, the Ainu were more familiar with the terrain and better fit to melt back into the vast forests and engage with the Japanese in guerrilla warfare. Additionally, winter came early in Ezo, something most of Nobuie’s army would not be prepared for. Although Nobuie initially wanted to march straight into Menashir and face off Kamokutain in a pitched battle that would likely be a sweeping victory for the Japanese, many of the Kakizaki clan members advised against such a strategy, arguing the Ainu would immediately resort to hit and run tactics that would overtime bleed the army. The Kakizaki retinue suggested instead to split the army, a larger and a smaller contingent. The larger, the main army led by Nobuie himself, would gradually march towards the Menashir capital of Kusru [1] while the smaller contingent, composed of the bulk of the Kakizaki men as well as a good portion of the Oshu cavalry would split off and target many of the outlying villages in the northern interior within the polity as well as allied villages nearby. This latter group inflicted devastation upon these villages, torching the settlements and massacring even the women and children in what would be chronicled later as a brutal campaign of terror. This distracted the Ainu chieftain from the main army, forcing him to divert reinforcements to counter this force of destruction.
By the time Kamokutain realized that he had been tricked, Nobuie had managed to occupy and encamp in Akan (阿寒), a sizable village only a stone’s throw away from Kusru. The Ainu chieftain quickly gathered what men he could and prepared to directly confront the Japanese from the north. This set the stage for what would be the Battle of Oniyoppu, which would occur in the western vicinity of Akan on November 11th, 1690. Nobuie left 500 men to hold down Akan and mobilized the remainder of 7,500 men onto the battlefield. His force was unusually lacking in cavalry for a 17th century Japanese army, composed of only 1,000 samurai cavalry with the rest being musketeer and spear infantry along with a handful of artillery pieces. Opposing them was a similarly sized force with more cavalry, which consisted of Ainu warriors trained in a similar style as Sakuma Moritora’s legendary Ainu bodyguard cavalry, but had no cannons to speak of. Kamokutain’s force was also unique in having 2,000 archers to make up for the numerical advantage the chief had in infantry trained to use arquebusiers, Kamokutain betting on arcs of arrow storms to immobilize the Japanese center. The commanders of both sides placed themselves in the mix of their men as a sign of strength and honor. The Japanese cavalry, despite being outnumbered 2 to 1, positioned themselves on the wings, Nanbu Yukinobu leading the right and Mōri Sukekatsu (毛利介勝) [2], son of Dewa daimyo Mōri Tomokatsu, leading the left.
Battle of Oniyoppu, blue = Ainu-Menashir, salmon = Japanese
The battle began with the cavalry wings of both sides rushing at one another, sword blades and harpoon points clashing against one another. Although the samurai were better equipped, the Ainu horsemen’s numerical advantage and ferocity immediately halted any momentum the Japanese had. In the center, as Kamokutain hoped, the Ainu arrow showers slowed the Japanese advance, only interrupted by volley exchanges which the Japanese got the better of by a little bit. Half an hour into the battle, however, the samurai cavalry suddenly retreated, the Ainu cavalry immediately giving chase. This was a trap, though, for as soon as they were in range, the Ainu were bombarded by cannonfire which had perfectly been pre-positioned. In fact, this maneuver had been planned by Nobuie in advance. As the Ainu cavalry broke formation, the Japanese center received a morale boost and noticing this, Nobuie yelled for a full-frontal assault. This charge, further supported by the samurai cavalry, enveloped the Ainu infantry formation. Despite this, they provided fierce resistance and remained steadfastly committed to the end. Finally, Nobuie himself managed to track down the Ainu chieftain and slew him personally, conclusively shattering Ainu morale and the discipline of their ranks. The battle was a definitive victory for the Japanese, though not without heavy losses. Among the casualties was Sukekatsu, who was pulling up the rear of the left wing when he was stabbed through with a harpoon.
Nobuie had both literally and figuratively decapitated the leadership of the Ainu-Menashir polity, leaving it disorganized and shattered. It seemed initially that the entire affair would wrap up quickly. However, the seasons were changing fast and so Japanese forces quickly entered winter quarters. This gave the Ainu some time to recover and even reverse some of the Japanese gains. As a result, Nobuie’s campaign would last for several more months into 1691 suppressing any further resistance and forcing claimant successors to Kamokutain to submit to him. This campaign, which would known as the Menashir War (メナシリの乱), not only eliminated the most cohesive Ainu polity in existence but accelerated the Japanese annexation of Ezo and the lands of the Ainu people that had been more gradual up until now. By the end of the century, every Ainu settlement and tribe had either a subservient military or economic relationship with the Japanese, especially the Kakizaki clan.
Two men would benefit significantly from this war. The first was the Kakizaki lord Norihiro, whose power and authority over his relatives and retainers had already been growing. The long decentralized nature of his domain was coming to an end, and Norihiro would come to take advantage of this and centralize Ezo politically and economically. His status in the realm would also go up and he would go on to be an important future ally for Oda Nobuie. Nobuie himself would see his popularity and influence skyrocket from before his campaign, being met with cheering crowds when he returned to Azuchi in the fall of 1691. This was unwelcome news, however, to Kanbe Tomozane and Kudō Kanefuyu, who wished to continue their grip on power and feared that Nobuie would become a rallying point for their foes. Only time would tell if the ascendant heir would realize those fears, intentionally or unintentionally.
[1]: OTL’s modern day Kushiro (釧路)
[2]: Confusing, but not the Mōri clan of the Chugoku region but the Mōri lineage descended from the famous Mōri Shinsuke.
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After a sort of hiatus, I'm glad to be back!! I had a lot of stuff going on and also reworked a lot of the events ITTL that were to take place in the near future. Hoping to return to my regular schedule, a lot of exciting material to cover over the next few months.
Can't wait but take your time, this comeback chapter was amazing
Very nice chapter. I expected the Ainu to be annexed by the Oda Japan. Hopefully they’ll have a somewhat better fate than OTL then entirely supplanted by Japanese settlers x, and maintain some Ainu identity
Also, don’t stress too much. Life is important, so take all the time you need to make such a well made timeline
Also, don’t stress too much. Life is important, so take all the time you need to make such a well made timeline
Thank you!!
Yup!!
A part of it was writer's block, I scrapped a lot of my original plans for the 1690s and then had to figure out major figures and stuff like that. Writing this TL has definitely become more challenging overall due to being over 100 years after the original PoD. Things are calming down tho and the road is clearer with the story now. I appreciate the support and readership all these (now) years.
I would more likely see the Napoleonic Wars result in the complete or at least severe displacement of European influences from East Asia, and then a dozen or so years later we will have something equivalent in the region. E.g. The short-lived domination of the peninsular kingdom, caused by the conquest of all/most of China by the Korean Bonaparte's ITTL?
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I think the Japanese will be important in Asia and South East Asia long before then, we already see that Japan had neutralised Spain in the Philippines with their navy already.
I think when colonising SEA the Europeans would carve out spheres of influence that would include the Japanese's sphere of influence.
tbf other than the possibility of a Napoleon-esque war not happening, I don't see there being full European displacement from Asia, as Japan would want them in as a counterbalance against local influences such as Joseon and other native powers.
Unless Japan fully colonies Australia I don't see Oceania not being part of 'European influence' too.
But a Joseon that conquers China after colonising Manchuria (in the 1700s to 1800s) would be very possible.
Colonising the Jin is harder now considering their Sino-centric orientation both in foreign diplomacy and state ideology, much less the Amur Khanate that is now increasingly modernising under the influence of the Japanese and may as well be starting to orbit around it like how the Ainu already do.
However, the Sino-centrism of the Jin Khanate can make them come up with the idea of getting some rounds of occupying the Central Plains region whenever a crisis arises —and from there — to pull-off an attempt of the Ming-Qing transition (x Napoleonic Wars) from there, this time with proper musketry and artillery.
Perhaps — that very crisis in China started due to a revolution in the vein of the French's beginning within it.
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