Nobunaga’s Ambition Realized: Dawn of a New Rising Sun

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 73: State of Religion in Japan ​

Among all the powers it interacted with in Europe and Asia, Oda Japan stood out as a relatively agnostic realm when it came to the overlap of religion and politics. The emperor held a symbolic role and a direct connection to Shinto mythology, compared by many European chroniclers in the 16th and 17th centuries to the pope, and the imperial court as well as the Oda clan to some extent patronized Buddhist temples. However, the Oda rulers generally had a hands off approach when it came to religious affairs, especially Nobunaga and Nobutomo, and only intervened to suppress signs of organized religion they saw as a threat to their political authority. This could be seen with the war against Ishiyama Honganji during Nobunaga’s quest towards Japanese unification and the violent ban on Roman Catholicism during the Iberian-Japanese War. Aside from symbolic participation in Shinto-Buddhist rites and ceremonies as the highest ranking subject of the Japanese emperor and modest patronage of shrines and temples, the only significant action taken was the legitimization of the Yamato Church to help stamp out Catholicism from the realm. However, local lords and daimyo were more religiously involved within their own domains. This was particularly true of those either of Christian faith or ruling over populations with large Christian minorities. Before the ban on Catholicism, for example, Catholic daimyo heavily patronized the faith and in certain parts of Kyushu even incorporated Jesuits and Franciscans into their administrations. After the implementation of the ban, many daimyo in Kyushu and others with large Catholic populations would support the Yamato Church on the local level in converting ex-Catholics with varying levels of success. In southern Kyushu, meanwhile, the growing number of Calvinist merchants, samurai, and even commoners saw the faith and Dutch interests in general loom large in Shimazu clan politics.

It was within this context of modest political-religious admixture that Yamato Christianity grew into the void left by the Oda suppression of Roman Catholicism. Its founding from the official split of several Kirishitan churches from the Roman Catholic umbrella meant that outside of independence from Rome, the theology of the church stayed the same similarly to the new Church of England just after its separation from Rome in 1536. It developed a new priestly hierarchy centered around a patriarchal authority in Azuchi and 4 archdioceses in Nagasaki, Yamaguchi, Musashino, and Aparri, and 1 diocese in Iriebashi. Unlike the Church of England which underwent an internal Protestant Reformation within 15 years, the Church of Yamato did not alter its theology through Protestant influences, its leadership outright rejecting Dutch Calvinism. However, some of the church’s recent converts were open to Shinto-Buddhist and other native Japanese influences and would be fiercely active in the Yamato Church’s first major controversy, the “Communion Heresy”. When the Roman Catholic Church still operated in the realm, the wine used during Mass to represent the blood of Christ was either purchased at reduced rates from Spanish and Portuguese merchants or for free from the Iberian priesthood. Outside of religious functions, however, wine was a seldomly consumed luxury beverage. Thus, with the expulsion of Spanish-Portuguese merchants and priests from the country, the Church of Yamato found it more difficult to acquire wine for ceremonial usage without forking more money. As a result, some newly established churches in the countryside began to substitute wine with sake or tea. When this became known, a huge debate broke out between the “orthodox” (正統派) and “universal” (全般派) factions, resulting in the Council of 1638 in Azuchi. The former stressed the need to follow ceremonial tradition as practiced by every other church, particularly the Roman Catholic Church that the new church had split from. By contrast, the latter argued on the theory that drinks like sake were acceptable in place of wine as wine was drunk in the last supper by Jesus Christ and his followers due to it being a primary alcoholic drink of the region. According to the “universal” argument, material differences in the churches across different parts of the globe were not only acceptable but expected as Jesus Christ died for the sins of all humanity, not just occidental humanity. After a heated discussion between the bishops and other important figures in the church, the orthodox position won out.​

Art of the church complex in Azuchi prior to the ban on Catholicism and the rise of Yamato Christianity​

This controversy would, however, have two other long term outcomes. Firstly, the Church of Yamato would look into solutions and deals to overcome the high cost of imported wines, ultimately investing in creating church-run vineyards in the realm itself and birthing Japan’s own wine industry. These first vineyards would spring up around Hyogo in Settsu province and in Hikone (彦根) in Oumi province. Secondly, the 1638 Council elevated the universal faction and their theological arguments within the church despite their loss on the “Communion Heresy''. Their arguments opened the door for native cultural influences and although the theology did not fundamentally change, the concept of wabisabi would gradually be incorporated aesthetically and develop an austere simplicity in the appearance and style of the Yamato Church compared to the greater grandeur of Roman Catholicism. This small but significant admixture of Christian and native concepts would also set a precedent and eventually lead to the creation of a new faith down the line: Kyuusei-kyo (救世教) or Salvationism.​

Modern day privately operated winery near Hyogo, formerly owned by the Church of Yamato​

In its first 15-20 years of existence, the Church of Yamato easily brought over Kirishitans in most of the realm, particularly in the Kinki region and large urban centers where Japanese priests had already begun to take on a major role compared to Spanish-Portuguese Jesuits and Franciscans. However, the brutal crackdown of the banned faith in Kyushu disillusioned many ex-Catholics, especially peasants in the rural areas, from the faith and many institutions in general. The initial establishment of a Yamato Christian church in Nagasaki was even met with a deluge of hateful graffiti by anonymous ex-Catholics. Those Kirishitans who didn’t join the new native Christian church either continued their “true faith” underground and passed down their beliefs to new generations as kakure katoriku (隠れカトリック) [1] until the eventual legalization of Roman Catholicism 2 centuries later or joined local Pure Land and Nichiren Buddhist (日蓮宗）temples. As a result, the Yamato Church could claim 7% of the population in the home islands by 1650, less than the 10% Roman Catholicism achieved at its apex in 1630. The Church of Yamato could claim 10% of Bireitou as its adherents, however, and it would find greater success in the new province of Luson where newly settled Japanese Kirishitans and Catholic Filipinos would join it from its outset and make it among the biggest faiths in Luson province.

Buddhism also saw changes and developments after the consolidation of the Oda regime. After the destruction of Ishiyama Honganji in 1580 following the truce between the temple and Nobunaga, Kennyo (顕如) withdrew to Honganji’s Saginomoribetsu-in (本願寺鷺森別院) in Kii province and his many followers remained rudderless. Despite his efforts, he would fail to re-establish a new Honganji in his lifetime [2]. After his death, local support for its re-establishment was suppressed by Nobunaga and his son Nobutada and it was only under the rule of Oda Nobunori and his inspector general Saito Yoshioki that a new Honganji was permitted to be re-established in the Sakai exurb of Osaka with Kennyo’s second son Junnyo (准如) as its helm in 1614. However, Honganji and Jodo Shin-shu in general would never achieve the popularity and strength it had accumulated in the 15th and 16th centuries, although Junnyo’s successor Ryounyo (良如) would find some success in increasing the sect’s followers in de-Catholicized rural Kyushu. The void left by Honganji’s long absence would be filled by Jodo-shu temples and other branches of Jodo Shin-shu, most notably its Takada subsect (真宗高田派).

Meanwhile, Buddhist schools preferred by merchants and samurai like Zen, Tendai (天台宗), and Nichiren would take hold in both Bireitou and Luson alongside Catholicism and later Yamato Christianity in the former. Zen and its Chinese progenitor, Chan Buddhism, would end up predominating in Bireitou, with Chinese immigrants to the island followed by monks from the mainland and the indigenous Bireitoans finding the faith most ingratiating with their animist traditions. One Chinese monk in particular, Yinyuan Longqi, would rise to prominence and eventually be patronized by many local lords and chieftains after his arrival to the island in 1637 [3]. It was there that he founded the Oubaku school of Zen (黄檗宗) in 1646 [4], one that would eventually become the most prominent school of Buddhism on the island. Oubaku-shu characteristically melded many Chinese and Japanese elements of Chan/Zen Buddhism together, with the traditional Zen concepts of zazen (座禅) and koan (公案) emphasized alongside rituals like the recitation of nenbutsu, a practice chiefly associated with Pure Land Buddhism. The school would eventually spread to Luson province as well but would find little headway in the home island themselves outside of ports with large numbers of Chinese merchants. Meanwhile, temples aligned with other schools of Zen as well as Tendai-shu would be limited in reach in Luson outside of Japanese samurai and merchants, with only Nichiren Buddhism successfully breaking into the lower classes and the Filipino population alongside Yamato Christianity.​

Portrait of Yinyuan Longqi​

Finally, interactions and dialogue with Buddhist monks from Siam and other countries would lead to the beginning of the tradition of pilgrimage to the holy sites of the Buddha in India, known as the Busei-junrei (仏生巡礼). After trips by Japanese Buddhist monks to other Buddhist realms like Siam gave them a taste of oceangoing travel outside Japan and a few Japanese merchants began to operate on the eastern coast of India, a Shingon-shu (真言宗)monk named Sonzen (尊然) made the first pilgrimage to all the holy sites of the Buddha in 1635 in the subcontinent, including the Bodhi tree under which the Buddha was said to have achieved enlightenment, and was the first Japanese eyewitness to local society and culture in that area. After he returned to Kyoto in 1638, he recounted his experience in his writings that came to be known as the Buseiki (仏生記). The Busseiki quickly circulated in Kyoto and beyond and in the 1640s, temples and sects sponsored numerous pilgrimages of groups of monks. Although still an uncommon and expensive phenomenon by 1650, the Bussei-junrei would enshrine itself in Japanese culture as yet another tradition and more importantly a link to the wider world.

[1]: Inspired by OTL’s kakure kirishitan

[2]: IOTL, Kennyo is permitted to re-establish Honganji in Kyoto, the present day Nishi Honganji (西本願寺), in 1591 with the permission of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.

[3]: Yinyuan Longqi left China in 1654 on the invitation of Chinese merchants in Nagasaki.

[4]: Oubaku-shu was founded 15 years earlier than IOTL.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 74: The Nguyen-Trinh War and the Siamese Intervention​

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Since the late 16th century, the nominally united Dai Viet kingdom was divided between the Trinh and Nguyen families in the north and south respectively. Their role in Vietnamese politics began when Nguyen Kim and Trinh Kiem backed Le Trang Tong against the Mac dynasty that had recently usurped the throne, starting a struggle between the Later Le and Mac dynasties that lasted for decades until the latter was driven to Cao Da province in the far north in 1592. The two bloodlines developed a rivalry over the course of the century as they began to be established in their respective regions. During this time, the Trinh family established themselves as the puppet masters of the Le rulers. The near-complete defeat of the Mac dynasty ended any sense of unity as Trinh Tung tightened his grip on court affairs, leading to Nguyen Hoang adopting the princely title of Vuong and effectively declaring independence from Hanoi in 1600. The Nguyen lords in the south also began friendly relations with European merchants, particularly the Portuguese, and were producing their own bronze cannons from 1615 onwards. Finally, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen refused to pay taxes to Hanoi in 1620 and after a demand by Trinh Trang to submit fell on deaf ears, conflict broke out in 1627.

The first years of the war saw a continuous stalemate, with the Nguyen defenses and their bounty of advanced gunpowder weaponry and Portuguese advisors unable to be broken by the more numerous Trinh forces. However, an ever-changing web of alliances would alter the situation. Siam, an external foe of the Nguyen lords, began closer relations with the Spanish and Portuguese amidst rising Spanish-Japanese tensions, loosening Portuguese commitments to the Nguyen lords. The resulting Iberian-Japanese War would permanently weaken Portuguese presence in Southeast Asia, further weakening Portuguese ties with the family. Furthermore, the Trinh lords would take advantage of inter-European rivalries and turn to the ascendant Dutch for military aid. These changing circumstances would reflect upon the Battle of the Gianh River in 1643 when a Trinh army of 10,000, armed with the latest European cannons and arquebuses, broke through the Nguyen-constructed fortifications with the help of 5 VOC warships led by Pieter Baeck [1]. Although the land forces initially couldn’t break through the second and final wall, a successful Dutch victory at sea against a fleet of Nguyen junks enabled the 222-strong crew to make an amphibious assault from behind, forcing the encircled Nguyen army to retreat. This victory was followed by a successful siege of the Nguyen capital in 1646, forcing Nguyen Phuc Lan to flee further south with his supporters and relatives. The struggle between the two sides would continue but it was clear that the Trinh family had the momentum.​

Gianh River in the modern day​

It was at this low point when the Nguyen lords would swallow their pride and ask for assistance from a historical rival, Siam. By this time, Siam had taken advantage of the Viet infighting and once again made Cambodia its tributary while also defeating a Myanman attempt to wrest Lan Na from Siamese subjugation in 1637 [2]. Despite its success, however, the kingdom watched the Trinh momentum with alarm as a fully reunited Dai Viet under the rule of one family would no doubt pose a threat, particularly in retaining control over Cambodia and the Mekong Delta. Therefore, Prasat Thong was all too eager to intervene in the civil war and ensure the survival of a Nguyen-controlled south. At the capital of Ayutthaya, a large army was quickly gathered to be commanded in the field by the crown prince Chaofa Chai and his uncle Si Suthammaracha. They would be joined en route to southern Dai Viet by allied Cambodian troops. Combined, the Siamese intervention in the Trinh-Nguyen conflict involved 18,000 men.

With Siam jumping into the conflict, Trinh Trang knew he would have to muster a great army against the pro-Nguyen coalition. As the lord by now exceeded 70 years in age, he would have his son Trinh Tac lead any military campaign in the south. He himself would send his representatives into Cambodia and the lands of the Champa, hoping to trigger rebellion behind the backs of his enemy. The Trinh lord would also send an envoy to the VOC asking them for more assistance specifically against the Siamese. Before any of these other plans would come to fruition, however, the Trinh and Nguyen armies with their various allies would clash at Vijaya in 1649. The Nguyen-Siamese coalition army numbered 30,000 while the Trinh army numbered 25,000. Although the former held the numerical advantage, it was unbalanced in terms of skill. The Nguyen portion of the army, numbering around 12,000, had a disproportionate number of raw recruits due to heavy losses in the recent Trinh offensive while the Cambodians were the least well-equipped in terms of technological progress. By contrast, the Siamese had years of modernization and had many experienced men, most notably 2,000 samurai cavalry drawn from Kirishitan exiles and the retinue of the Honjo clan. The Nguyen forces formed the center while the Siamese composed the wings, the cavalry positioned on the right, and the Cambodian levies served as the reserves. Compared to their diverse foe, the Trinh army was relatively homogenous, equipped with many Dutch arquebuses and cannons with elephants in the middle of the army. Elephants were in the Trinh army as well, albeit more in the back.​

Red=Cambodian, Salmon=Siamese, Blue=Nguyen, Brown=Trinh​

Understanding that the soft spot of the coalition army was its center, Trinh Tac aimed his artillery inwards, disproportionately shelling the Nguyen center. This was followed by a charge from the center and almost immediately the Nguyen center began to be pushed back. The Siamese infantry on the left confronted the Trinh offensive only for the Trinh right to counter-charge, creating a stalemate. However, the cavalry-heavy left, fronted by the samurai cavalry contingent, was mopping up the Trinh left, only to be temporarily halted by the Trinh elephants. Nguyen artilleryfire, however, broke the elephants and they stampeded off the battlefield, throwing the Trinh ranks into disorder. Pressed on all sides, Trinh Tac ordered a retreat but not before suffering heavy losses. The battle ended in a clear Nguyen-Siamese victory with the Cambodian reserves not even having been deployed.

The victory at Vijaya completely changed the balance of power in Dai Viet, with the Nguyen lords backed by Siam beginning to recapture their lost lands. However, Trinh Trang’s machinations from afar began to kick in. 7 Dutch warships sailed near the bay of Ayutthaya and attempted a blockade, although the Siamese royal fleet were able to drive them out. Dutch ships would periodically harass the Siamese coastlines over the next few years without much material success while somewhat keeping the realm on their toes. The stirring within Cambodia aided by the activities of Trinh agents would prove to be a much more serious affair for the Siamese-Nguyen war effort. At the time, its ruler Ramathipadi I was controversially a Muslim in the Buddhist-majority kingdom, going by the name Ibrahim. This created much resentment among the populace and so were receptive to the Trinh-backed rebellion of Ang Non, a son of the late Outey and a Buddhist. The eruption of the rebellion and its initial success forced Siam to divert attention towards cracking down on Ang Non and his Trinh-backed supporters, halting the Nguyen reversal in southern Dai Viet. However, it wasn’t enough for Trinh forces to once again overwhelm enemy troops and Trinh Trang began to accept that a total victory was probably impossible. In 1652, after a quarter century of conflict, the Trinh and Nguyen lords finally agreed on peace, the latter recognizing the Le emperor in Hanoi once again while retaining autonomy through control of a reduced part of southern Dai Viet.

As for the Cambodian rebellion, Prasat Thong would resolve the situation by forcing Ibrahim off his throne, replacing him with Ang Non’s younger brother Ang So, crowned as Barom Reachea V of Cambodia in 1653. This reversed the momentum of Ang Non’s rebellion and it would conclude in 1655 with his death. Barom Reachea V’s new court in Oudong, unlike that of his predecessors, would see unprecedented levels of Siamese intrusion into Cambodian politics and encroachment upon the kingdom’s sovereignty. This fact, along with a weakened Nguyen realm, expanded Siamese political power in Indochina and increased the tripolarity of the region between them, the Myanma, and the Trinh lords.

[1]: The battle was a Nguyen victory IOTL.

[2]: Lan Na was never retaken by the Myanma in 1622.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 75: The Karafuto Expedition​

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Like his father, the new daijo-daijin Oda Nobutsugu had taken charge of affairs in a period of crisis even before his ascension to the helm of the chancellorate when he commanded the defense of Gifu Castle during the Furuwatari War. However, despite having been a capable surveyor of the main Oda lands he lacked his father’s all-encompassing vision for the realm and was driven more by personal ambition and a desire to prove his worth. These personality traits would be exacerbated by the big shoes Nobutsugu obviously would have to fill, as his father Nobutomo’s death is said to “have been heard round the world and mourned universally” according to later writers. At the very minimum, though, his succession was somewhat secure with the birth of his son Manchiyo (万千代), the future Oda Nobuhiro (織田信煕) [1].

Nobutsugu’s overriding ambition would center around one enticing goal: territorial expansion. To that end, he gathered the Sangi-shu in 1650 and laid out plans to annex southern Luzon, Karafuto, and the Amur coast. After more than 10 years of continuous peace, the daijo-daijin was confident that his councilors would eagerly support his plans. To his surprise, many members balked at the prospect of a new cycle of warfare, particularly with Spain, for financial and political reasons. In particular, a war in the Philippines would be an expensive endeavor like the Iberian-Japanese War and prematurely breaking the peace with Spain would immediately end the 5% tribute Japan was receiving from the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. More importantly, some of the more conservative members cited the fact that the realm had never engaged in conflict for solely expansionist reasons and that previous wars and expansions had defensive and economic justifications. It became clear that unless circumstances changed, Nobutsugu lacked the support needed to successfully wage war against the Spanish Philippines. However, he would proceed with his plans in the far north and commissioned an expedition to Karafuto to establish a permanent foothold, receive the submission of the local Ainu and Nivkh tribes, and expand the fur trade to the large island.​

Sketched portrait of Oda Nobutsugu​

Hardly anyone was surprised when the daijo-daijin appointed Sakuma Moritora to take charge of the expedition. The brilliant and cunning commander from the Furuwatari War, now 31, had spent the 1640s assisting in the suppression of region-wide peasant revolts as a deputy of eastern Shogun Date Norimune and tending to the internal affairs of his lands. During the decade, he had also gained the high confidence of both Nobutomo and Nobutsugu. Upon his appointment, Moritora would send his brother Torahide (佐久間虎秀) with several hundred men and 15 ships to the island to establish a port on the southern coast and instructed him to prepare for Moritora’s own arrival alongside a small army. Moritora would also work with the Kakizaki clan under the control of its young lord’s guardian Tomohiro (蠣崎友広), employing many of their retainers experienced with Ainu relations and the Ezo wilderness as translators and guides. The vanguard of the expedition would depart in summer 1650 and land in southern Karafuto, founding the town of Oodomari (大泊) [2] upon the site they landed on. The town quickly established itself and Torahide began to interact with the local Ainu people in the area. As many of the Ainu in southern Karafuto had some familiarity with Japanese fur traders and fishermen, they accepted the creation of the town and would even send provisions to the town through the winter of 1650-1651.

After the winter had passed and Oodomari proved resilient in the face of harsh weather conditions, Moritora arrived with a large fleet of transports and a few warships, carrying a force of 5,000. The army consisted of men from his domain as well as from the Kakizaki and Nanbu clans. Upon his arrival, Moritora would gather intelligence on the island, its geography, and its inhabitants before embarking upon a northern march with his army. He, however, intended to use his army as a show of awe and force to receive the voluntary submission of the local tribes and only wanted to deploy his men if attacked by the locals. Initially, as Moritora and his force marched northwards the Ainu and Orok chieftains they would come across offered their nominal allegiance to him and Azuchi and provided the army with gifts and provisions. However, some of the Ainu chieftains further south felt threatened by the sudden military presence on top of the establishment of a permanent Japanese settlement. Therefore, on April 30th, 1651, 1,000 Ainu warriors assaulted Oodomari and made an attempt to wipe it off the map. Despite being outnumbered and lacking adequate defenses, the garrison in the settlement fought off the attack and even used the warships to bombard the coastline surrounding Oodomari. However, the retaliatory Ainu were able to cut off all communication between the settlement and Moritora’s army. With this moderate success, more Ainu would join the effort and continue to raid the outskirts of Oodomari. It was only through an Ainu defector that Moritora learned of the attack.

In response, the expeditionary commander decided on a daring attack to break through the siege. To not alert the enemy of his impending presence and to continue his mission, Moritora gathered 500 men and would personally lead them while the rest of his force would continue onwards. After a week’s march, he and his men arrived in the vicinity of the settlement. On May 19th, Moritora’s force would launch a night attack upon the Ainu camp and despite being outnumbered 3 to 1 easily routed them, the general himself leading the charge. The Ainu dispersed because of the attack but would regroup 2 days later for one final attack upon Oodomari. With Moritora himself once again at the helm, the Japanese defeated the opposing Ainu chieftains and their warriors and successfully liberated Oodomari from the siege. The chieftains who organized the assault would subsequently be executed in exchange for pardoning the tribes involved.​

Portrait of Sakuma Moritora on horseback from the 1650s​

After the tumult in Oodomari, Moritora returned north where he would complete the task at hand. By the end of the year, the southern half of Karafuto had nominally submitted to the Japanese although any possibility of long-term integration was still far off. To continue towards this goal, Moritora would be appointed the governor of Karafuto with his brother serving as his on site deputy for most of the year while the former dealt with the governance of the Sakuma domain back home and with Azuchi directly. The Karafuto expedition of 1650-1651 had been a success and would stand as one of the two legacies of Oda Nobutsugu’s tenure as daijo-daijin. It would also cement Sakuma Moritora’s reputation as a competent administrator on top of being a talented hands-on commander and brave samurai warrior.

Ironically, the other legacy the Oda chancellor would leave was his early death that would create a political crisis in Japan. what his early and undignified death would unleash upon the Japanese realm. On September 9th, 1653, while riding his horse on a hunting trip near Oogaki (大垣) in Mino province, he suffered a fall after his steed tripped over a large rock. Completely crippled from the fall, he would pass away the next day from his injuries. Nobutsugu was only 31 and his son Manchiyo was just 5. Without a will from the late daijo-daijin, the Japanese realm was about to enter a period of uncertainty and infighting once again.

[1]: Different kanji from Nobunaga’s older illegitimate brother Oda Nobuhiro (織田信広).

[2]: Located where IOTL's Oodomari was on Sakhalin.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 76: Kōbu Kanpaku​

After the death of daijo-daijin Oda Nobutsugu, the Japanese realm was thrown into political limbo. His son, Manchiyo, was far too young to take on the reins of power and govern Japan. Nevertheless, the Sangi-shu was summoned by Nobutsugu’s younger brother Konoe Toshishige who also happened to be the imperial regent and would meet for the first time since the late chancellor’s death on October 27th, 1653, and they alongside Toshishige would decide on the political future of Japan. At this time, the composition of the Sangi-shu was as follows:​

Ukita Nobuie (宇喜多信家): 1625-
Akechi Mitsutada (明智光忠): 1633-
Kanbe Tomoyoshi (神戸朝吉): 1633-
Oda Tomoaki (織田朝昭): 1633-
Takigawa Kazutoshi (滝川一利): 1635-
Nanbu Shigenao (南部重直): 1636-
Kitabatake Takanaga (北畠高長): 1637-
Maeda Noriyuki (前田則之): 1639-
Date Norimune (伊達則宗): 1641-
Kajuuji Tsunehiro (勧修寺経広): 1641-
Ikeda Yoshinori (池田由則): 1646-
Kudō Kanetada (工藤包忠): 1649-
Mizuno Katsutoshi (水野勝俊): 1650-
Shimazu Norihisa (島津則久): 1651-
Seikanji Tomofusa (清閑寺共房): 1652-
Nijou Norimichi (二条則道): 1653-
Chosokabe Tadachika (長宗我部忠親): 1653-​

It was agreed almost immediately that Manchiyo could not take over as daijo-daijin until he was deemed old enough to assume the helm of Azuchi. In the meantime, to prevent someone from outside the main Oda line from usurping the chancellorate, the position would remain vacant. Instead, a guardian would be assigned to the young Oda lord who would guide Manchiyo and preside over the affairs of the Sangi-shu, the Shinka-in, and the central bureaucracy. With Manchiyo’s mother, Imperial Princess Teruko (照子女王), having passed away in 1651, there would be intense deliberation among the Sangi-shu on who would take up the guardianship. Initially, the overwhelming choice among the body to be Manchiyo’s guardian was Kanbe Tomoyoshi, a great uncle of the child and regarded as the realm’s most experienced general. However, Tomoyoshi would decline, preferring to continue to guard the realm’s southern borders in Luson province. Because of this, the position of guardian would be contested in the Sangi-shu between the imperial regent and Manchiyo’s uncle Toshishige and Oda Tomoaki, another great uncle. In some ways, the two men represented different agendas and paths for the realm. Tomoaki, as a trailblazer of Japanese foreign policy particularly in regards to the French, would be a continuation of the trade expansionism and reformism his older brother Nobutomo based his reforms and achievements on. By contrast, Toshishige had grown up as the head of one of the Sekke, the noble families that had taken up the post of imperial regent for hundreds of years. Therefore, even though he was a blood member of the Oda clan in blood, Toshishige was closer to conservative and traditionalist elements of the Japanese ruling class as well as the long-standing Shinto-Buddhist institutions. While not an isolationist, he was more inward-looking and notably held anti-Christian sentiments.

These differences divided the various members of the Sangi-shu. This inevitably even created a personal rivalry between uncle and nephew. Ultimately, those in the council who emphasized unity would successfully push to pick a third person, Kudō Kanetada, as the guardian of Manchiyo. While a more distant relative of the young Oda lord, Kanetada had been Oda Nobutsugu’s second guardian in Gifu and therefore was felt to have the direct experience necessary for the job while also being a neutral figure in Azuchi politics. The divisions sowed by deliberations preceding this final selection, however, would remain and fester. While Kanetada had been a capable mentor and senior advisor in the past, he would prove unable to suppress the increasing factionalism in the capital of an increasingly complex and complicated Japanese realm. Toshishige in particular would be impossible to please and although somewhat relegated away from central affairs in his position as the imperial regent, his high position and prestige would enable him to strengthen his support base. The only person who was able to effectively assist Kanetada in maintaining some measure of stability in the central government was the 81 year old Ukita Nobuie, the most senior member of the Sangi-shu and the last daimyo lord from before the unification of Japan by Oda Nobunaga [1]. However, he would pass away on December 17th, 1655 at the age of 83, removing yet another pillar from under Azuchi.​

Portrait of Kudō Kanetada​

1656 would see the arrangement made in 1653 fall apart through events instigated by an off-color remark at a dinner party in Azuchi. On February 4th, Tomoaki hosted a private banquet which featured a noh (能) play and plenty of sake. Notable attendees included Tokugawa Noriyasu (徳川則康), Ikeda Yoshitomo (池田由朝), and Amago Nariyasu. Also present at the party was Tomoaki’s 16 year old son and heir, Tsuguaki (織田嗣昭). After the noh ended, an attendee praised Tsuguaki for being such a noble and strong samurai. In response, Ikeda Yoshitomo exclaimed, “Better than our current lord!” for which he was received with disapproving looks and comments on his inappropriateness. However, he continued and rambled about the need for strong leadership and exclaimed, “Indeed it is to those like Tsuguaki-sama that we must entrust our future to”. Noriyasu would subsequently pull a clearly drunk Yoshitomo aside and reprimand his actions, for which he later apologized for the next day to Tomoaki. Notably, however, Tomoaki made little effort to push back against his behavior, something which some observers noted. The next day, Amago Nariyasu reported what had transpired to Kanetada. The guardian immediately summoned many of the attendees, including Tomoaki and Yoshitomo. Initially, Kanetada planned nothing beyond putting Yoshitomo under house arrest for blasphemy. However, the imperial regent and his allies pounced upon this opportunity and lobbied for more severe punishments including towards Tomoaki and Tsuguaki for their failure to push back against Yoshitomo and even suggested that their silence and “inappropriate behavior” constituted acquiesence to treason towards the young Manchiyo. Ultimately, Ikeda Yoshitomo would be ordered to commit seppuku while Tomoaki would be ordered into confinement. These events increased the power of Toshishige’s faction in Azuchi politics as it effectively removed his main rival.

The following year, Kudō Kanetada passed away from illness under suspicious circumstances. Modern-day historians debate whether he was poisoned by Toshishige. In any case, with the guardianship of Manchiyo vacant, it seemed inevitable that the imperial regent would fill the position. However, Toshishige would go beyond even this victory. After the death of Kanetada, he used his position as imperial regent to summon the entire Shinka-in where in the name of the emperor, he not only took over as guardian but as Seii-tai-shogun, which had been vacant since the death of Nobutsugu in 1653. He would also force the emperor to retire, replacing him with one of his older brothers, Prince Tsuguhito (紹仁新王), who took on the regal name Go-Koumyou (後光明天皇). Toshishige would very quickly consolidate his newfound power and establish a new governing apparatus centered around his authority as imperial regent combined with his positions as guardian and grand shogun. He himself would henceforth be referred to as the Koubu Kanpaku (公武関白) for his unified position over both the imperial court and the samurai clans.​

Portrait of the Kobou Kanpaku, Konoe Toshishige​

This era saw relatively little change in policy in the realm and Japan would continue to progress in its expanding prosperity and trade, greater urbanization, and progressing economic development. The recently established Japanese presence in Karafuto would also slowly expand as fur traders and fishermen began to concentrate in Oodomari. However, Nobutsugu’s expansionist ideals were abandoned and no plans were made for the Philippines or the Amur region. Indeed, when the extended Treaty of Gapan finally expired in 1654, negotiations went nowhere and the Spanish-Japanese truce established at the Treaty of Gapan ended for good. With that went the 5% collection of the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade Azuchi had relied on to some extent, forcing Kanetada to look for other revenue sources. He found his solution in his hatred and suspicion of organized faith, particularly Christianity. Toshishige rescinded the privileges the Church of Yamato previously enjoyed in their places of worship in Oda lands and urban areas and to a lesser extent Nichiren and Pure Land Buddhist temples and Calvinist institutions in southern Kyushu. Under him, Kyoto and Azuchi would continue to patronize other Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, displaying the most overt religious preference in government policy in nearly a century.

The unprecedented concentration of power under one man through nearly usurping methods was very controversial. Toshishige’s overriding ambition and arrogance did not gain him any favors and as a result, many daimyo, merchants, and even court nobles privately disapproved of the Koubu Kanpaku. This fact would not be lost on Oda Tomoaki, Driven emotionally by the loss of Tsuguaki to smallpox in 1657, he was secretly planning a comeback along with many of his longtime supporters. Fate had it that when he finally took a stand, Japan would face conflict from both the inside and from the outside.

[1]: Nobuie succeeded his father Ukita Naoie (宇喜多直家）at the age of 10 in 1582.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 77: Ming Reinvigoration Under Emperor Hongguang​

On March 12th, 1641, Zhu Yousong succeeded his father as emperor of Ming China, adopting the regal name of Hongguang. Upon his ascension, Emperor Hongguang had to deal with the plague that had taken the life of his father. It would dissipate by 1645 but not before killing 200,000 people, including 20-25% of the population in and around Beijing. Once it cleared, he was finally able to focus on the greater governance of China. Fortunately for the emperor, his father had shepherded the realm throughout his own life from collapse as China faced the Jurchens, famines, natural disasters, disease, and peasant rebellion. Emperor Zhenchun had also maintained a cautious foreign policy, ensuring that Ming China’s commercial relations were free from foreign control and influence. Thus, Hongguang found himself with a realm without any serious threats. Taking advantage of this, the emperor would focus on the agricultural and economic revitalization of provinces stricken by the recent disasters and turmoil. He elevated a minor bureaucrat named Song Yingxing in this task in order to utilize the man’s vast knowledge of technical processes, all compiled in the encyclopedic work Tiangong Kaiwu. The literary work illustrated many Chinese innovations and processes, from agricultural cultivation to sericulture and metallurgy, and its enormous detail greatly impressed the imperial court. Song Yingxing would travel to the stricken regions and directly supervised many of the recovery efforts, walking amongst the local bureaucrats and farmers and distributing the knowledge imparted in his encyclopedia. Thanks to his efforts, provinces like Shaanxi were able to bounce back from their calamitous years. The contributions of Song Yingxing as a civil servant and writer would not be forgotten, for the Tiangong Kaiwu would quickly become a widely circulated book throughout Ming China albeit with moderate distributive regulation by Beijing [1].​

Illustration from the Tiangong Kaiwu of the puddling process of smelting iron ore, where wrought iron is derived from pig iron​

Emperor Hongguang also focused on reinvigorating Chinese influence in its traditional sphere of extension via its tributary system. During his father’s reign, other Asian powers had risen in strength and influence, most notably Japan, Joseon, and Siam. In particular, Beijing could not help but continuously watch Azuchi send embassy after embassy to far-flung lands and establish a new network of diplomatic relations with a sense of both concern and jealousy. The Middle Kingdom had previously always been the front-facing face of the region to the rest of the world, the realm of unimaginable power, prestige, and wealth that everyone else desired to trade with. Now, though, a previously decentralized archipelago had come together under the might and direction of the Oda clan and they were now the ones attracting the latest global attention. They had already briefly seized complete control of foreign trade along the Chinese coasts until Macau was reopened by Emperor Zhenchun in 1638. Although merchants across the world still prized trade with Ming China for its large supply of exotic luxury goods and vast resources as well as being a main importer of silver, the emperor knew some change had to occur for his realm to not fall behind in political and hegemonic relevance. On September 5th, 1646, Hongguang celebrated his 39/40th birthday [2] and for this occasion invited dignitaries from not only all of the Ming’s longtime tributary nations but also representatives from the English and Dutch East India Companies as well as the Casa da India [3] and the Spanish Philippines as a way to impress upon the world the power and prosperity of Ming China. The highlight of the day was a parade that was the largest recorded up to that time meant to display the splendid wealth and sophistication of Ming China. Masses of dancers, including lion dancers, followed flower girls covering the road leading to the Forbidden Palace with petals. The highlight of this display was the emperor himself, carried in a golden yellow palanquin and surrounded by imperial troops, including cavalry and arquebusiers. The firework show was last and it was said to be the biggest one yet according to first-hand sources surviving from this day. The next week saw Hongguang receive every single dignitary and their tribute and praise. Importantly, the representatives of the East India companies did as well, albeit they probably were no doubt biting their tongue submitting to a foreign power outside Europe.

The celebration was just Hongguang’s first step towards reinvigorating Ming prestige abroad. In a move that stirred the criticism of a minority of the Confucian-aligned bureaucracy, the port of Guangzhou was opened to European merchants to allow them access to Chinese goods outside of Macau. The opening of Guangzhou would in particular increase trade with the English and later the French. The English East India Company’s power was marginal compared to that of the Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish in the Far East and they had not previously been able to break through and establish a strong base in Macau. Thus, Guangzhou’s opening would be a particular blessing for them. Emperor Hongguang would also ease restrictions upon native merchants and incentivize greater activity among them overseas in an effort to indirectly export Chinese political and economic influence.​

Sketch of 17th century Guangzhou​

Hongguang’s moves towards reinvigorating Chinese influence and prestige through the tributary system also strengthened ties with polities beyond the northern frontier in Beijing’s favor, namely the Northern Yuan and the remnants of the Jin khanate. By Abhai’s death in 1643, the Jin khanate had split into two unstable halves. Abhai’s eldest son, Hooge, succeeded his father in the southern half, to be known as the Lesser Jin. The northern half, meanwhile, centered in the Amur river basin, became known as the Amur Khanate and was ruled by a Jurchen noble outside of the Aisin Gioro clan named Sahaliyan [4]. The two khanates conducted raids against one another’s lands and frequently engaged in border skirmishes, with the more Sinicized Lesser Jin covertly supported by Joseon. To keep the region stable but sufficiently divided enough to pose no threat to the dynasty, Beijing used its symbolic supremacy and power to force a truce upon the two khanates in 1649 under the guise of excluding them from the tributary system and its benefits if they refused to agree. Meanwhile, infighting had emerged among the tumens of the Northern Yuan after the death of Ligdan Khan’s eldest son and successor, Ejei Khan, in 1641. The latter had actually been in the middle of building a pan-Mongolian coalition with the remnants of the Four Oirat Confederation, including the Dzungar Khanate, when he passed. His 6 year old brother, Abunai, succeeded him, putting a halt on the coalition as different tumens began to squabble for influence and power in Karakorum. Beijing would intervene and prop up the young khan to similarly keep the northern frontier stable but also to prevent antagonistic forces from taking over and successfully build a pan-Mongolian coalition against powers like the Ming and the Kazakhs.

For all of these moderate successes, however, Ming China would not be saved from one issue: succession woes. Emperor Hongguang, having sired no sons, elevated his cousin Zhu Yousi as the heir to the throne. Hongguang would die in 1651 at the age of 44 and the 38 year old Zhu Yousi became the new emperor, adopting the regnal name of Titian. However, his accession would be disputed on the basis of primogeniture by Zhu Ciran [5], the grandson of the executed first son of Emperor Wanli, Zhu Changluo. In contrast, Emperor Titian was the son of Wanli’s 5th son, Zhu Changhao. Zhu Ciran quickly gained supporters and began organizing a rebellion from the city of Luoyang. Before the rebellion could progress further, the emperor ordered an army to march against Luoyang. This combined with Zhu Ciran’s paranoia and impatience alienating many of his supporters caused his coup attempt to disintegrate and the prince himself would be beheaded by a turncoat, his severed head sent directly to Beijing. The new emperor for now had been saved from internal strife and civil war and could begin to forthrightly lead China.​

Official portrait of Emperor Titian​

[1]: IOTL, the Qing dynasty’s heavier economic interventionism prevented this from happening and most of the work's original copies have been discovered in Japan.

[2]: In Asia, you’re 1 year old upon your birth, hence his birthday being celebrated in 1646.

[3]: The Portuguese state-run commercial entity that oversaw Portuguese trade and its overseas possessions

[4]: Inspired by the Manchu name of the Amur river, Sahaliyan Ula.

[5]: Zhu Ciran is the son of OTL’s Emperor Tianli who died in the Wangchonggang Explosion. Tianli himself had been spared ITTL and allowed to be an imperial prince even after his father had been executed.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 78: Tomoaki Takes Up Arms - The Beginning of the Manji War​

​

At long last, the tension between Konoe Toshishige, now the de facto ruler of Japan, and his confined rival Oda Tomoaki finally broke into direct conflict on the night of June 14th, 1659. That night, he and an army of 5,000 gathered at Hiragata Suwa Shrine (平潟諏訪神社) in the town of Nagaoka. Surrounded by loyal retainers and warriors, he paid homage and prayed for victory. He then turned to his men and declared that he was standing against the imperial regent for his supposed usurpation of power in Azuchi and the resulting corruption of the power, stating that he intended to restore righteous governance and honor. He ended by taking a personal jab at Toshishige:

​

“It has been the Oda clan that built Japan up to where it exists now, and it cannot be a fake Oda who leads us,
for such a leader will fail us as we already have been witnessing."

Present-day Hiragata Suwa Shrine​

The next day, Tomoaki departed his capital of Shibata (新発田) began a march towards the domain of Nagao Kagesada (長尾景貞), a pro-Toshishige daimyo in the area, leaving the nominal lord and son Nagaaki (織田長昭) in charge back home. It was around this time that his messengers began to deliver their letters to various daimyo across Japan, old friends and previous allies whom he hoped would join his cause. Among these included Tokugawa Noriyasu, Ikeda Yoshinori, and Chosokabe Tadachika. When the rebellion began, however, Tomoaki only had the support of a few minor lords in Shinano province. Among these was Sanada Yukitoshi (真田幸利), the great grandson of former Takeda vassal Sanada Masayuki who had clung on after his submission to Nobunaga.

To gain more support, Tomoaki needed a victory. This was going to be difficult as Azuchi quickly found out about Tomoaki’s activities. Toshishige immediately ordered the mobilization of 2 armies, one led by the Eastern shogun Shibata Katsuoki and the other led by the Chinjufu shogun Sakuma Moritora himself. In the meantime, Tomoaki faced his first challenge when an army led by Mori Tomoyoshi entered Echigo province to assist the Nagao clan. Thus far, his campaign had been successful. Although he only possessed a small army and could not raise more men so as to not alert Azuchi, Tomoaki had built up an elite core of infantry under the guise of “personal leisure”. This unit had been trained in the French style of line infantry he had witnessed and read up on while in France while incorporating samurai melee equipment and fighting traditions along with the latest firearm technology, making them a lethal force. Thus, the rebels had some of the best infantry throughout the entire realm and were able to make up for their lack of numbers. The effectiveness of Tomoaki’s new infantry would be demonstrated best at the Battle of Matsudai (松代の戦い). Tomoaki’s forces had earlier captured Matsudai Castle (松代城）and had begun to march towards the Nagao’s main castle of Kasugayama Castle. However, the Mori advanced upon Matsudai Castle, risking Tomoaki’s supply lines and forcing the Oda lord to pivot back and confront the enemy besiegers. In the meantime, the garrison of 750 in Matsudai Castle resisted the 10,000-strong Mori army. On September 9th, Tomoaki’s army of 8,000 gathered in the mountainous town of Matsudai just north of the castle itself. Already outnumbered with the Mori army holding the high ground, they were tailed by a Nagao force of 3,000 that arrived to Tomoaki’s north 2 days later.​

Yellow = Nagao forces, Salmon = Tomoaki’s men, Blue = Mori Tomoyoshi's men​

Despite being outnumbered, Tomoaki decided to split his army into two halves in Matsudai and take action on September 12th. One half remained encamped, prepared for a Mori offensive from the mountains. The other half, including the elite infantry, charged the Nagao position which was still solidifying having just arrived. The discipline and gunfire of the rebel infantry supported by samurai warriors overwhelmed the Nagao forces and the latter soon broke into a retreat. Meanwhile, seeing the outbreak of battle between the Nagao and the rebels, Mori Tomoyoshi ordered a general assault upon the main rebel camp, not knowing that only part of Tomoaki’s army were on the offensive against the Nagao forces. In fact, this was a trap by Tomoaki to get the Mori off the high ground and their defenses. Although Tomoyoshi himself stayed back in his camp along with a few thousand men to keep surrounding Matsudai Castle, Tomoaki still faced an enemy that outnumbered him. Nevertheless, he was able to hold off the Mori through his men’s own resilience and his camp’s well-positioned cannons long enough for the Nagao to be routed, allowing the rest of his army which had suffered only minor casualties to come back. With the decisive entry of the elite infantry, Tomoaki forced the Mori back up the mountains and began to encroach upon the periphery of Tomoyoshi’s main position. Fearing a pincer between Tomoaki’s approach and a sortie from the castle itself, the Mori lord ordered a retreat and an end to the siege. The pro-Azuchi forces had suffered nearly 4,000 casualties combined among the Mori and Nagao forces, whereas Tomoaki only suffered 800.

The Battle of Matsudai would prove to be the propaganda victory Tomoaki needed to finally receive defections from previously loyal daimyo lords. Over the next few months, many would join his cause, including Gamou Noriharu, Sassa Katsutoyo, Anekouji Noritsuna, Tokugawa Noriyasu, and several minor lords in the Kanto region. Both Mori Tomoyoshi and Nagao Kagesada would also choose to defect to Tomoaki after witnessing his army’s prowess and morale. To the west, Chosokabe Tadachika, Ikeda Yoshinori, and even Kudō Kanetada’s uncle and successor Kanemasa (工藤包当) [1] who suspected Toshishige of poisoning Kanetada defected and ensured that the war would be a national rather than a regional affair. In some areas, certain congregations of the Church of Yamato would make commitments against being levied to service for someone who hated their faith and its practitioners. Beyond those who now sided with Tomoaki, it was obvious that many daimyo hoped to stay out of the conflict, either for self-preservation or because of their dissatisfaction towards the kōbu kanpaku. This not only included Shimazu Norihisa and Mōri Tsugumoto (毛利嗣元) but also many lords in Bireitō and Luson.​

Western-style portrait of Oda Tomoaki, the first of its kind​

However, Azuchi retained the loyalty of much of the realm and Toshishige still held several advantages against the rebels. One of these was his political position, which he used to declare Oda Tomoaki an enemy of the imperial court in late 1659. Another of these was the army of Sakuma Moritora, which had gathered under the command of the Chinjufu shogun. Numbering 30,000 and possessing many veterans with years of experience, it was fast approaching Echigo province. After his victory at Matsudai and the subsequent surge in support for his cause, Tomoaki pledged to focus on the overthrow of his nephew and march straight towards Azuchi along the Hokurikudo. However, Moritora’s movements necessitated a confrontation before he could commence his trek westwards. The Manji War (万治の乱) [2] had started, and the Tiger of the North was about to leave his mark on the conflict.

[1]: Kanetada had no sons.

[2]: Named so because the era name was Manji in 1659.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 79: Manji War Part I - A Clash of Titans and a Conflict of Attrition​

Throughout the 1650s, Sakuma Moritora had focused on integrating the Ainu and other indigenous tribes in southern Karafuto and expanding Japanese presence in the area. The increasingly profitable fur trade expanded as a result of Japan’s expansion into the far north and fur trappers and traders began to venture further beyond to northern Karafuto and the Amur region, where they increasingly came into contact with the Jurchens in the Amur khanate and recent Russian arrivals from Okhotsk. Moritora and Japan overall were fated to engage with the two groups in the future, and indeed the rumblings of confrontation on the mainland could begin to be felt. However, for the time being, Japan remained uninvolved in these relations and Moritora’s focus in 1659 was to the south in his capacity as Chinjufu shogun. In early November 1659, his army of 30,000 entered Echigo province, consisting of the retinues of the various Oshu lords, chiefly among them being his and that of the Date, Mogami, and Nanbu clans. Accompanying him personally as part of his guard and strikeforce were 1,000 Ainu mercenaries from Ezo and Karafuto who were armed with harpoons and firearms and acted as melee shock troopers complementing the regular samurai infantry and cavalry, musketeers, and cannons.

He quickly approached Shibata Castle where Oda Nagaaki was located with a few thousand men. The young lord sent messengers to his father, who was gathering a large army near the Echigo-Etchu border in anticipation of Moritora’s arrival. Upon receiving news from his son, Tomoaki departed to confront the Tiger of the North, now commanding an army of 22,000 which included 4,000 of his elite French-influenced line infantry. By the time he arrived, Nagaaki had been forced out of Shibata Castle by Moritora and joined his father’s moving army. Tomoaki strived forward and moved towards the northern army, which was still in the area consolidating their victory. Moritora quickly received word, however, and prepared for battle. Leaving a few hundred men in Shibata Castle, he arranged into battle formation on the plains of Ijimino (五十公野). He placed himself on the frontlines of the right wing on the battlefield along with his Ainu mercenaries and handpicked samurai mounted warriors, while his younger brother Torahide oversaw the main body of musketeers and yari ashigaru in the middle along with the reserves. Mogami Yoshisato led his and those from minor clans behind the Chinjufu shogun while the new Date lord Tsugumune’s (伊達嗣宗) older brother, Tamura Muneyoshi (田村宗良) led the left wing. Tomoaki’s arrival soon followed, and the rebel Oda lord quickly arranged his forces across from Moritora’s position. He chose to place all of his cavalry on the wings except for a few hundred reserves of his close retainers in the center, the right and left being led by Sassa Katsuoki (佐々勝興), the younger brother of Sassa clan head Sassa Katsutoyo, and Sanada Yukitoshi respectively. Tomoaki, in the center himself, placed his elite infantry at the very front, supported by artillery, yari ashigaru, and swordsmen.​

Salmon= Tomoaki rebel army, Blue= Moritora Chinjufu-Azuchi army​

The battle began in the late morning when Moritora gave the signal and initiated a headstrong charge, with the rest of his army soon following his lead. Tomoaki’s wings followed while strategically Tomoaki slowly approached the enemy’s center, stopping thrice in case they needed to brace for impact in a sign of brilliant discipline from his men before readying their gunfire. At his signal, the Chinjufu army’s center was showered with cannonfire and musketballs unlike anything seen in Japan and the former began to suffer big losses. Things were not as impressive for the rebels elsewhere, however, for on their right the Date and Sassa fought viciously to a standstill, both clans known for their martial prowess. Meanwhile, Sakuma Moritora and the Chinjufu right wing was busy overrunning the rebel left wing, made up of Tomoaki’s men from the Nagao clan and Shinano province. It was here that the Ainu mercenaries proved their metal, tackling samurai off their horses and spearing the enemy with their harpoons. After Sanada Yukitoshi was killed, the rebel left wing broke into a panicked retreat, Moritora now turning to the suddenly vulnerable center. Seeing the precarious situation he was now in, Tomoaki quickly gathered his reserves and turned to meet Moritora. At the same time, he ordered the artillery in the center to be rotated to the left to support his efforts. Tomoaki’s swift actions enabled an effective counter against Moritora’s flanking charge although the latter would still begin to push back the former. Feeling the pressure on all sides, Tomoaki decided to withdraw while he could, although he was forced to abandon much of his cannons to the enemy. Ultimately, the battle would end with Tomoaki’s army suffering 7,000 casualties while Moritora’s army suffered 3,000.

The Battle of Ijimino (五十公野の戦い) resulted in a pro-Azuchi victory as Tomoaki would be forced to retreat further south. Nevertheless, Moritora had experienced his toughest battle yet fought and the perseverance of the rebels allowed them to retain their unity and fight another day, preventing the rebellion from collapsing. This allowed the more favorable conditions in other theaters to play out and induce a stalemate for the rest of the year while giving the rebellion time to grow even further. The Sassa and Mori clans shielded Echigo from the west and south. Meanwhile, Shibata Katsuoki’s army in Kaga province was left in a precarious position, unable to pass through Etchu province while strangled of reinforcements from the Kinki region due to the rise of arms by the Ikeda, Kudō, and Tokugawa clans. Konoe Toshishige and his government was also preoccupied with conducting espionage across different daimyo households, the imperial court, and even the Church of Yamato. Azuchi also focused on building up the defenses of Owari and Gifu provinces against an expected Tokugawa offensive. The early months of 1660, however, did see more movement in central and western Japan. Western shogun Kitabatake Takanaga deployed his men against the Kudō in Iga province. Meanwhile, Toshishige ordered an army to be directed against the Ikeda in Settsu province and the Azuchi navy, led by naval shogun Kuki Takasue, to blockade the province. Miyoshi Yasunori also began to march upon Tosa province and the pro-Tomoaki Chosokabe clan under the authority of the kōbu kanpaku. These movements would set up months of protracted fighting and attrition as well as extended sieges.

Things would pick up in the north and east once again when spring arrived. The Tokugawa, led by the lord Noriyasu himself and numbering 15,000, entered Owari province with the objective of capturing Gifu and cutting off the entire east from Azuchi as well as the main communication line between the regime and Shibata Katsuoki’s army. Noriyasu also hoped that Oda samurai with sympathies for Tomoaki would rise up and join his force. However, this last assumption would be proven wrong in his attempt at capturing Kiyosu Castle. The entire populace, regardless of how they felt about the kōbu kanpaku, viewed the Tokugawa siege as an attack upon the Oda clan and its head Manchiyo himself and rallied to the defense of the castle, and yet another engagement would become bogged down amidst a siege. As for Echigo, the beating heart of the rebellion, Sakuma Moritora’s men had made small gains throughout the winter. Realizing that winning a field battle against the Chinjufu general was next to impossible, Tomoaki switched tactics and began engaging in guerrilla warfare in the mountainous forests of Echigo. The early spring did see a major battle between Shibata Katsuoki and Sassa Katsutoyo near the village of Shirakawa (白河村) in Hida province, which resulted in a Shibata, pro-Azuchi victory.​

Modern day Kiyosu Castle, a rallying cry for the people and samurai of Owari in 1660​

In April 1660, the war had descended into a series of sieges and attrition-heavy conflict rather than the decisive maneuvers and battles that defined the Furuwatari War more significantly. This in turn benefited the prospects of the government, for although Tomoaki’s rebel faction were putting up a fierce resistance, most of Japan nominally still followed the leadership of Konoe Toshishige and his regency over the Oda clan and Manchiyo as well as the imperial court and it looked likely that numbers would eventually triumph. However, Japan was just a month away from two incidents that would change everything, and one of them would be triggered by an old enemy that had been eyeing the situation for months: Spain.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 80: Spain and Western Europe in the 1650s​

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At the conclusion of the Franco-Spanish War in 1648, Spain was a thoroughly defeated and humiliated crown, having directly lost major wars to the Japanese, Dutch, and French since 1631. It had been forced to make significant territorial concessions in the Low Countries and even now faced rebellion in its vicinity in Catalonia and Portugal. Additionally, Spanish ties with the Austrian Habsburgs had weakened due to the former’s failure to properly assist in the Imperial Liberties’ War. Not even the sacking of the Count-Duke of Olivares from the Castilian court in 1643 could reverse the cascade of disasters for King Philip IV. A sort of recovery would begin for Madrid after 1648, however. Deprived of French support, the Catalan rebels suddenly found themselves rudderless and vulnerable. This allowed Spanish forces under the new Catalan viceroy, the Marquess of Leganes, to turn the tide, culminating in the successful siege of Barcelona in 1651. In the aftermath, much of the revolt’s leadership was captured and subsequently executed, the rebellion now reduced to guerilla forces in the countryside and mountains which continued to resist Madrid over the next few years.

Spain, having largely pacified Catalonia, now turned their full attention to the Portuguese front, which had seen intermittent fighting through most of the 1640s as Madrid’s armies were busy fighting in the Netherlands, Catalonia, Italy, and Lorraine. Portugal itself had been busy fighting the Dutch overseas in South America and Africa, reconquering Dutch Brazil and securing Angola, while also consolidating its own sovereignty domestically through the Braganza monarchy. Lisbon had also begun to concentrate its commercial and colonial efforts more efficiently around its Indian possessions [1]. John IV of Portugal, however, would once again face a concerted Spanish effort to reincorporate the kingdom. Expecting a tough struggle, the king would reach out to an old ally that had surprisingly been absent from western Europe’s recent shakeup.

England had been preoccupied with political and religious strife over the past decade. King Charles I’s reign had been marked by aloof arrogance, overtaxation, and religious alienation, with Parliament sidelined and dissolved after the king and the legislative body butted heads early on. The Stuart king, however, was forced to bring back Parliament in 1640 to raise money after Charles attempted to enforce uniformity between the Church of England and the Church of Scotland, resulting in a revolt by the Presbyterian Scottish Covenanters in 1639. Although the Bishops’ Wars, as the conflict became known as, was resolved in 1640, the recall of Parliament opened Pandora's box, with the body prosecuting the king's ministers and passing the Grand Remonstrance, a list of demands and grievances towards Charles I. Tension grew between the two sides, the breaking point being when rumors of the possible impeachment of the queen over involvement in Catholic plots as well as secret collaborative efforts between the Scottish and certain MPs during the Bishops’ Wars reached the royal court. On January 4th, 1642, Charles I marched with 400 men into the House of Commons to arrest the 5 allegedly guilty MPs, only to find them gone already. This caused a massive uproar in London, forcing the royal family and triggering the English Civil War. In the conflict that followed, the parliamentarian forces beat the cavaliers, as the royalists were known as and by 1645, the king had been taken prisoner by the Covenanters who had allied with the English Parliamentarians [2]. After negotiations with a highly obstinate king, the Putney Settlement was agreed upon, under which future parliaments were to be summoned biennially, the body would appoint all state and military officials for 10 years, the Covenant would be adopted, and the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland would adopt Presbyterianism together [3]. The isles, however, would continue to see conflict with the Irish Catholic Confederation, which had formed in 1642, continuing their resistance against the now reunited English Protestant forces and pro-parliamentarian dissenters like the congregationalist Independents and egalitarian Levellers causing civil unrest within the realm [4].​

19th century painting of Charles West Cope of the attempted arrest of the 5 MPs by Charles I, the incident that eventually led to the English and subsequently a Presbyterian England​

Despite the emotional protest of the French Catholic Queen Henrietta Marie, Parliament passed a law restricting royal marriages of the royal princes and princesses to Protestants, and England would strive to forge closer ties with Protestant nations. This resulted in the marriage of the Prince of Wales, another Charles, to Gustavus Adolphus’ daughter, Christina, and better Anglo-Swedish relations. The new Presbyterian-influenced trajectory on foreign policy, however, would be swept aside in 1652 when the resumption of active Spanish-Portuguese conflict loomed on the horizon. Although Portugal was a Catholic nation, it had been a longtime English ally and presented a lesser affront compared to the inquisitorial Spanish. Spanish success against Portugal also presented a geopolitical risk to English interests. Therefore, when a representative from Lisbon arrived in London requesting aid, England obliged to help. A brigade of 3,000 men would be raised and sent to support the war effort, to be led by Sir Thomas Fairfax, the Lord of Cameron and prominent commander of parliamentarian forces in the civil war [5]. Although initially treated with contempt by the Portuguese because of their Protestant faith, the “Fairfax brigade” as they would be nicknamed would prove their worth on the field.

In 1653, Philip IV’s illegitimate son John Joseph of Austria led a sweeping offensive into southern Portugal and with the capture of the city of arbors even looked poised to capture Lisbon. However, a lack of supplies amongst the Spanish delayed further moves, giving the Anglo-Portuguese forces time to prepare. The latter fielded 16,000 men, including the Fairfax Brigade, and were led by Antonio Luis de Meneses, the Marquis of Marialva and one of the Forty Conspirators. At the Battle of Ameixial that followed, the Spanish were defeated, losing all of their baggage, artillery and even John Joseph’s standard which was later presented to the Portuguese king. In this decisive victory and others that soon followed, the Fairfax Brigade earned the respect of the Portuguese, particularly at the 1654 siege of Valencia de Alcantara where the English bore the brunt of the casualties. A renewed offensive campaign in late 1656 attempted to take advantage of the death of King John IV, but Spanish forces commanded by Luis Mendez de Haro were routed for good at the Battle of Montes Claros. Philip IV, realizing that Portugal was beyond the grasp of Madrid at that point, sued for peace and the Treaty of Lisbon was signed in 1668, confirming Spanish recognition of Portuguese independence with the concession of Ceuta, a North African holding of Portugal that had never recognized the Braganza monarchy. Portugal’s decades-long struggle against Spain had ended, and Thomas Fairfax and his men returned home as heroes to be honored by King Charles II, who had succeeded his father in 1654.​

17th century engraving of the Battle of Ameixial​

Simultaneously, England engaged in a mostly naval war with Spain with the West Indies with the objective of seizing Spanish possessions there for England. This endeavor, however, would prove unsuccessful for the English. Despite the buildup of the English navy under Charles I, it proved unable to sufficiently support the realm’s designs on Hispaniola and Jamaica. The English attempt at seizing the latter was initially successful when the unfortified island was captured in 1655 [6]. However, a Spanish fleet commanded by Cristobal Arnaldo Isasi landed a sizable force on the island and defeated the depleted English forces at the Battle of Ocho Rios. This side conflict to the larger Portuguese Restoration War ended in English defeat and would end in a truce within the larger Treaty of Lisbon.

Accepting the inevitable defeat, Spain looked for other opportunities to make up for their years of losses. Seeing the internal strife Japan was experiencing, they soon found a potential target in Japanese Luzon. Manila, in fact, had wisely prepared not only for a possible Japanese offensive towards the heart of the Spanish Philippines but also for a possible comeback. After the Spanish loss in the Iberian-Japanese War, it became clear that Japan was no second-rate power and in fact could field large armies and navies that matched Europe in sophistication, tactics, and technology. The new governor general, Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, initiated administrative and military reforms that sought to better integrate Filipinos in the governance of the Philippines and make them more loyal to the colonial government in Manila. In particular, he established several new companies composed of native Filipinos and Sangleys [7] that nearly matched Spanish conquistadors in training and prowess while being much cheaper to maintain. Through close relations with Siam, Corcuera also managed to employ Siamese and Chinese mercenaries into Spanish service. Under him and his successors, natives were brought into the civil service and even the ecclesiastical orders of the Catholic Church in the Philippines. Therefore, by 1659, the Spanish Philippines was a more cohesive and unified colony less reliant on direct aid from Madrid and had become a suitable staging point for a reconquest of lost lands.​

Portrait of Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera​

In the early Dawn of May 29th, 1660, 2,500 Filipino soldiers and a few hundred local Catholic collaborators launched a surprise assault upon the port city of Lingayen, the main urban center of Japanese Pangasinan. The Japanese garrison was quickly overwhelmed and attempted to retreat. However, the attackers cut down most of the fleeing men and only the commander and his entourage escaped death or capture. In a humiliating display, the captured prisoners were beheaded by the vengeful Catholic natives and many of their heads were stuck on pikes. Following the capture of the city, governor-general Sabiniano Manrique de Lara declared Manila’s intent on reconquering Japanese Luzon. The Luzon War had begun.

[1]: Results in the Portuguese retaining Ceylon ITTL for now.

[2]: English Civil War ends earlier in a parliamentarian victory due to the absence of Prince Rupert due to the Protestant victory in the Imperial Liberties’ War.

[3]: Essentially a less harsh Newcastle Propositions. English Presbyterians are able to prevail due to the New Model Army never forming due to the war ending earlier.

[4]: The Levellers are similarly suppressed but are not immediately crushed with force as they were IOTL, allowing them to linger on albeit very marginalized.

[5]: No marriage agreement between Portugal and Englands means that Bombay and Tangiers remain in Portuguese hands.

[6]: IOTL, England successfully takes Jamaica. The loss is due to a smaller English navy without the ambitions of Oliver Cromwell and a Spanish navy not so preoccupied as IOTL.

[7]: Filipino-Chinese mestizos​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 81: Luzon War Part I - Tomoyoshi Left To His Own Devices​

News of the fall of Lingayen quickly reached the capital of Luson province, Awari, and the ears of longtime provincial governor Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Ever since the breakout of war between his brother and his nephew, he had withdrawn from Azuchi politics and entered a sort of semi-retirement, leaving more and more affairs in the province to his 25 year old son and heir Tomozane (神戸朝実). Renewed conflict with the Spanish, brought him out of semi-retirement as he quickly took charge of the situation. Tomoyoshi would send messengers to Azuchi as well as to the governors of Bireizen and Bireigo, Wakamatsu Tomohide (若松具秀) [1] and Tarui Norishige respectively. He also sent letters to the French and Dutch East India Companies as well as the Maguindanao Sultanate, asking for their assistance. Tomoyoshi would stay in Awari for the time being, charging Tomozane with the task of mobilizing an army against the Spanish. Tomozane would not only gather troops from the retinues of the Kanbe clan and subordinate lords in Luson but also draw men from the autonomous highland tribes and levy native and Japanese infantry from the lowlands. Within 2 months, Tomozane had marched into the Cagayan Valley, now leading a field army of 12,000.

Meanwhile, the Spanish focused their efforts on taking Pangasinan, the region with the highest percentage of pro-Manila natives, and planned on using the area as a launchpad to reconquer the rest of Japanese Luzon. After capturing Lingayen, bands of Filipino soldiers and loyalist natives scattered across the forests and villages, sweeping through the region. However, they encountered unexpected resistance from Lusonese Muslims, who had emerged as a significant community in the region. These Muslims would assist the local lord, Kashiwabara Yoshinao (柏原吉直), in combating the enemy. However, Yorihiro did not have enough men to fight the enemy bands who utilized hit and run tactics to harass Yorihiro’s men. The Kashiwabara lord was ultimately forced to retreat, leaving much of Pangasinan to the Filipino-Spanish forces. Meanwhile, governor-general Sabiniano Manrique de Lara was gathering an army not only consisting of mercenaries and native levies but also of the elite, heavily armored conquistadors that would act as the main muscle of the invasion force. Without the Philippines also combating the Maguindanao Sultanate to the south for the time being, Manila was able to gather the invasion force swiftly. De Lara also prepared his navy and awaited reinforcements from Madrid itself.

Unfortunately for Tomoyoshi, he would not get all the support he hoped to receive. The French and Dutch would decline to get involved in the new conflict between Spain and Japan, the former only just establishing a presence in Asia recently and the latter dealing with internal strife between the Orangist and Republican factions after the death of William II, the Prince of Orange, in 1650. The Maguindanao sultanate was divided on whether to enter the war as Japan did not promise support for territorial gains. Meanwhile, Azuchi would give less support than expected. However, the Kyushu tandai, Shimazu Norihisa, would be commanded to send troops to Luson. Additionally, the Mōri clan as well as the governors of Bireitō would send men. Finally, the Iriebashi squadron of the Azuchi navy would bolster the naval defenses of Luson. Its admiral was none other than Zheng Zhilong’s son Zheng Chenggong, better known in Japan as Tagawa Seikou (田川成功). Seikou was half-Japanese and therefore not only inherited all of his father’s Chinese connections but also was readily more accepted among high Japanese society. As a result, he had been able to rise through the ranks of the Azuchi navy and eventually become one of the most powerful individuals in Bireitō.​

Statue of Tagawa Seikou​

Before reinforcements could arrive, the military preparations Tomoyoshi had built up over the years in anticipation of renewed conflict with Spain would be tested. The army Tomozane commanded, although small in comparison to the armies present in the home islands, was diverse, well-trained, and experienced. As a result, the initial Spanish strategy was to avoid open battle at all costs and instead employ guerrilla tactics in deep brush and in the jungles, as the Spanish and Filipinos feared the might of the Japanese samurai on the battlefield. Because of this precaution and tactical strategy, Tomozane’s army faced waves of hit and run sorties as it marched southwards through the Cagayan Valley. This not only inflicted casualties but threatened his supply lines and depleted his provisions as many of these raids saw said provisions stolen or trampled. The march southwards was slowed considerably as a result. Nevertheless, Tomozane persevered and continued onwards. Seeing his undeterred progress, Manila finally decided to switch their plans up and send a proper field army to engage with the Japanese. Juan Manuel de la Pena Bonifaz led an army out of Manila in late August and would be joined by many of the marauding native companies in Pangasinan. In total, he commanded 15,000 men, 5,000 of which were elite Spanish soldiers. Pena Bonifaz would face off against Tomozane’s army on September 22nd at Pantabangan near Lake Pantabangan. Tomozane had a depleted army of 10,000 low on provisions but nevertheless strong in spirit. It was made up of 6,000 samurai, 500 skirmishers from the mountain tribes ,and 3,500 Lusonese musketeers and spearmen. Most of the samurai were on the wings, whereas most of the non-Japanese troops were concentrated in the center. The Pantabangan River separated the two sides.​

Salmon = Japanese, Blue = Filipino-Spanish​

The Spanish army started the battle, approaching the riverbank and firing their heavy guns and arquebuses from across the river. Initially, the Japanese suffered more losses. However, Tomozane ordered the mountain skirmishers to the front and had them shower arrows upon the Spanish center. Meanwhile, conquistadors and mounted samurai clashed on the northern bridge and fought for control. Further south, however, both sides exchanged some fire but little occurred otherwise due to the concerns of the conquistadors and samurai that their armor would drag them towards a watery death in the Pantabangan. Eventually, Tomozane was forced to retreat due to his army’s disadvantage in firepower, although he only suffered moderate casualties. Nevertheless, the outcome was a Spanish victory and the Japanese were pinned down, preventing them from retaking Pangasinan from the Spanish. However, the battle didn’t decisively change the balance of power and it would take influxes of reinforcements on both sides for that to even be a possibility.

[1]: In 1649, Wakamatsu Tadahide died without any sons. His cousin and a younger brother of Kitabatake Takanaga, Tomotame (北畠具為), changed his name and became the new governor of Bireizen.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 82: Manji War Part II - Intraclan Strife and the Rising of Ronin​

After Date Norimune passed away in 1658, he was succeeded by his 6th son, Tsugumune. Unlike his father, Tsugumune was an ineffective lord, known for his alcoholism and unrestrained love of women. He displayed such unacceptable behavior not only in his domains but also in Azuchi. Eventually, Tsugumune’s actions became so scandalous that his vassals and relatives jointly petitioned the Sangi-shu to intervene and order their lord’s very early retirement in favor of his infant son, Kamechiyomaru (亀千代丸). Toshishige and the Sangi-shu accepted this proposition and in early 1660, while Tsugumune was in Azuchi himself, he was put under house arrest and forced to sign off on his retirement in favor of his son as the new lord. Tamura Muneyoshi and Tsugumune’s uncle, Munekatsu (伊達宗勝) were named the new regents of the infant lord and all seemed stable within the Date clan. However, Munekatsu who unlike his co-regent was in Yonezawa rather than on campaign quickly proved to an incompetent and greedy governor [1] and by the middle of spring 1660, pressure mounted upon Muneyoshi to leave the Chinjufu shogun’s army and clean up the mess in the Date clan. The commander of the Date forces eventually bowed to the wishes of his many supporters and returned to Yonezawa, leaving command to another uncle, Date Munezane (伊達宗実). Munezane, however, would prove to be less capable than Muneyoshi and unprepared for the Date discord to come as it came to also affect his own men on campaign.​

Portrait of Date Tsugumune​

The observant Tomoaki would take advantage of this situation and assign one of his spies operating in the Oshu region to approach Date Muneshige (伊達宗重), promising to back the latter as Munekatsu’s replacement as regent in return for the clan switching sides in the civil war in favor of the rebels. At the same time, his agents caused discord and plunged morale among the Date ranks in the Chinjufu army by spreading exaggerated rumors of intraclan turmoil, injecting anxiety in the enemy’s minds. Tomoaki’s psychological warfare took time to take its toll, and throughout the late winter and early spring, his forces were on the defensive as they continued to lose ground to Sakuma Moritora’s army in Echigo province. However, with Muneyoshi’s absence, the Date contingent with Moritora began to succumb to the manufactured discord and the clan’s problems at home and became a weak link that Moritora began to pay extra attention to. As a result, he was unable to march onto Kasugayama Castle. Tomoaki seized upon this delay and sent reinforcements to the struggling Sassa army.

Soon afterwards, it all fell apart for the Date. Muneshige orchestrated the assassination of Munekatsu before Muneyoshi could return and resolve the situation in Yonezawa and proceeded to become Kamechiyomaru’s new de facto regent. This triggered what would be known as the “Date Disturbance” [1] that saw the clan get caught up in a cycle of political division and violence that would not be resolved until the end of the wider civil war due to Azuchi’s inability to intervene and resolve the situation. Although during this period Muneshige would be unsuccessful in switching the clan’s allegiances in favor of Tomoaki, the internal strife effectively ended their involvement in the Manji War. Upon hearing the news of the outbreak of strife within their clan, the Date contingent fell into disarray with the violence and division spreading into their own camp. Eventually, Munezane along with the majority of the troops went home while others deserted the clan, some even defecting to Tomoaki. These events not only weakened and destabilized Sakuma Moritora’s ranks but also kicked off a series of risings by groups of ronin throughout the Oshu region, who sought to take advantage of the instability in the realm and in the Date clan. The disorganized ronin groups were mostly motivated by a desire to regain what they had lost, although some did genuinely support Tomoaki. Whatever their motives, they proved to be yet another problem for the war effort by the Chinjufu shogun who now was forced to divide attention between two different theaters. He ended up using his shogunal military authority to order the local daimyo to suppress the ronin groups but was deprived of much-desired reinforcements to Echigo province. Due to these circumstances, he was reduced to engaging the enemy in small-scale battles, raids, and sieges rather than major campaigns.

Bands of unemployed ronin would also rise in 1660 in response to Oda Tomoaki’s rebellion in the Kanto region. In contrast to their northerly counterparts, however, they were more well-organized and more committed to participating in the rebellion as opposed to the more scattered Oshu ronin who saw Tomoaki’s rising against Azuchi from a more opportunistic lens as a means to regain former lands. These ronin were also mostly former Hojo retainers or the children of former Hojo retainers who either did not become independent lords or decide to serve Oota Nobufusa in Izu province. The unity was further aided by Nobufusa’s successor Sukefusa’s (太田資房) decision to join the rebellion, providing a banner for ex-Hojo ronin to rally under. Many minor lords of former Hojo allegiance also joined the rebellion on Tomoaki’s side through the influence of Sukefusa. They along with the ronin prevented the Murai and Musashino clans from immediately overwhelming Izu province as they provided enough of a disruptive distraction in Musashi province to divert manpower away from the pro-Azuchi force’s main target. Under the orders of Sakuma Moritora, however, Satake Yoshitaka ordered his clan’s forces to attack the minor lord’s fiefs, which were mostly concentrated in Shimousa province. This gave the forces of Musashino Toshinao and Murai Munemasa (村井宗昌) the breathing room necessary to sufficiently push back Sukefusa’s efforts to capture Odawara Castle. Like other theaters in the war, the Kanto theater could be summarized as a stalemate marked by attrition, skirmishes, and sieges with the rebels at a distinct disadvantage.​

Japanese print of a wounded ronin driven by his dedication towards his love​

The rising of ronin largely in favor of Tomoaki for various reasons, the triggering of the Date Disturbance, and the commencement of the Luzon War breathed new life into Tomoaki’s beleaguered men and allies. For the moment, Moritora was too distracted to effectively deal the killing blow to the rebellion that had seemed to be possibly just around the corner earlier on. Most importantly, the persistence of the rebellion due to said factors gave Tokugawa Noriyasu the time he needed to overcome the heavy resistance in Kiyosu Castle and other strongholds in Owari province through force, diplomacy, and espionage. By the beginning of the summer, they had largely fallen thanks not only to Tokugawa strength but also key defections by local lords. Noriyasu proceeded to confront an army composed of Mino, Owari, and Shinano samurai led by Gifu castle lord Kitabatake Nagamasa (北畠長政) [2], defeating it at Kiso River (木曽川) and driving Nagamasa into the city. He now began his siege of Gifu Castle, and with Azuchi’s forces preoccupied in Settsu and Iga provinces and the Shibata army in Etchu province, it looked like the rebellion was one step closer to achieving its first main objective.

[1]: IOTL, the Date Disturbance happened. ITTL, it manifests directly within the context of the civil war in contrast to OTL.

[2]: Usually, the lord of Gifu Castle is the Oda heir. Since there really is no heir, Konoe Toshishige picked Kitabatake Takanaga’s second son as its lord.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 83: Military Tactics and Technology from Unification To the Manji War​

The evolution of the tactics and weaponry of Japan’s samurai armies in the 16th and 17th centuries was convergent to that of Europe. Both being feudal societies in medieval times with a specialized warrior class, their armies incorporated large numbers of common infantry wielding long spears in pike formations at the dawn of the early modern period. Eventually, these infantry units would increasingly adopt gunpowder weapons, starting with the matchlock and arquebus, as their primary if not sole weapon, reducing the significance of melee weapons like swords and spears as well as that of mounted warriors. These changes would also make European and Japanese armies less feudal and more professional and mass-based. The convergent evolutionary trends in such far-flung regions can be attributed to not only their earlier warrior class feudalism but also the constant state of warfare they were both in in the 16th century in particular, albeit for different reasons. Nevertheless, the military tactics, traditions, and technology of Japan was certainly unique and distinct and would remain so even with slight Western influence.
​

Infantry​

The shift of ashigaru weaponry from melee weapons to range-based gunpowder weapons continued unabated and by 1600, the Japanese realm possessed the most guns in the world. Towards the end of the unification wars, as many as one-fourth of all troops were arquebusiers. After the unification wars, however, 48 years of peace followed which saw the demobilization of the mass armies that defined the late Sengoku period and the confiscation of weapons from the peasantry. Nevertheless, clans continued to train and keep a reserve of ashigaru alongside their samurai retinues. Ironically, the long peace and demobilization would accelerate the switch to arquebuses and matchlocks as they were much easier to train newly levied men with as opposed to swords and spears, which required more long-term skill and training. Another factor that contributed was the fact that Azuchi and the samurai clans consciously chose to increase the share of arquebusiers in response to fighting a technologically advanced enemy in the form of the Spanish and Portuguese. In fact, mass formations of yari ashigaru would see their last usage in the Furuwatari War, particularly by the Hojo and other rebellious clans in the Kanto and Oshu regions who lacked the same consistent interactions with foreign merchants, who mainly operated in western Japan, and their goods, knowledge, and technology. Those formations would afterwards be regarded as obsolete, especially with the knowledge of the state of warfare in Europe. By this time, archers had also completely disappeared from samurai armies, although they maintained their historic prestige and continued to be for ceremonial, martial, and hunting purposes.

Replacing them would be combined arms formations influenced by both contemporary samurai warfare and new European tactics. Infantry lines mixed arquebusiers, yari ashigaru, and blade-wielding samurai in succeeding lines. This formation had begun to emerge in the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars but did not displace older formations until the 1640s through the Kanei reforms and the standardization of the newly established regional standing armies. The emergence of combined arms warfare in Japan also saw the final disappearance of standing shields in samurai warfare, already gradually becoming obsolete with the advent of arquebuses. These formations instead would incorporate the line infantry marching tactics of the Franco-Dutch and Swedish armies used in the Imperial Liberties’ War, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Dutch War of Independence. The strength of the new combined arms formations was that they had a high degree of flexibility, being able to quickly engage in melee combat in forested areas or in instances of close confrontation. Their lethality would also be increased by the gradual adoption of more advanced muskets like flintlocks.​

17th century drawing of the arquebusier​

During the Manji War, Oda Tomoaki would take it a step further and utilize line infantry tactics to their greatest extent, retaining an elite unit of flintlock-equipped musketeers focused on rapid fire tactics. Instead of being supported by yari ashigaru and blade-wielding samurai, these elite units were trained to immediately switch to melee combat if charged using swords and the butts of their muskets. These units, unlike the average musket ashigaru, were mostly made up of middle and high-ranking samurai and were fully armored.
​

Cavalry​

Samurai cavalry would change little in terms of their equipment and tactics through the 16th and 17th centuries. The biggest change was the increased incorporation of the bajouzutsu in combat. During the Sengoku period, samurai cavalry were of three different types: mounted infantry, medium cavalry, and heavy cavalry. The first cavalry type would fade away with the increased importance of ashigaru and mass armies in the home islands. However, they would continue to exist in Bireitō and Luson, where the large swaths of jungle made the use of cavalry-specific tactics less common than in the home islands. Similar to during the Sengoku period, medium cavalry remained more prevalent in western Japan while heavy cavalry was more common in eastern Japan. Medium cavalry, which primarily wielded swords and bajouzutsu and focused on skirmishing and flanking maneuvers, would also predominate in armies in Bireitō and Luson. So-called heavy cavalry, which specialized in frontal charges and always used the spear as the primary weapon rather than their sword or bajouzutsu that they still equipped, would however form the core of the Konoe Cavalry, Azuchi’s elite cavalry force made up of young samurai and nobles. Sakuma Moritora’s elite core of samurai were themselves heavy cavalry, with the Chinjufu shogun himself famously leading cavalry charges.​

Depiction of cavalry from the Budou-geijutsu-hidenzue (武道藝術秘傳圖會) manual​

​

Artillery​

Unlike Europe, cannons did not see widespread adoption in Japan especially in field battles. This would change somewhat in the 17th century after the development of the Azuchi navy had increased Japanese familiarity with European-style cannons. The Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars would see the introduction of field guns that would prove crucial for Azuchi’s victories in those two wars. Japanese armies preferred to use smaller guns like demi-culverins rather than the larger culverins and demi-cannons due to the mountainous and forested terrains of the home islands and Luson. They were also easier to use during sieges against castles, although in many cases the terrain made their usage difficult if not impossible. Rather, muzzle-loading hand cannons and breech-loading swivel guns as well as smaller cannon pieces like the saker were most often used against castles and other fortifications during this time. The former two were also used extensively by the besieged. Many castles were perfectly designed to incorporate the strengths of these pieces being that many of them were already designed to maximize the lethality of arquebuses
​

Bireitō and Luson​

Being overseas provinces in the tropics host to large populations of indigenous peoples, samurai tactics and fighting styles in Bireizen and Bireigo on the island of Bireitō as well as Luson diverged from those seen in the home islands to adapt properly in these new lands. Towards the end of the 16th century, the katana (刀) began to replace the longer and more curved tachi (太刀) as the primary sword used when fighting on foot and carried around in civilian everyday functions in the home islands, although the tachi would continue in use among samurai cavalry units and for ceremonial purposes by high-ranking samurai and the nobility. However, the tachi would continue on as the signature melee weapon in the overseas provinces, especially in forested areas and smaller open clearings. This was due to the militaries there relying more on heavy samurai infantry rather than ashigaru masses or cavalry because of the terrain, the nature of the foes they faced, and absence of a native Japanese peasant population. Wakizashis (脇差) were also more heavily utilized in close combat situations as well, as were bajouzutsus and arquebuses.​

Tachi of Oda Tadataka, governor of Bireitō and commander-in-chief of land forces in the Iberian-Japanese War​

Commonly filling the role of the ashigaru were the Chinese colonists in Bireitō and the indigenous Lusonese in the lowlands of Luson, both generally wearing traditional Japanese armor except for the jingasa hat (陣笠). These levies, however, were not as well trained as their Japanese counterparts due to their lower utility and smaller amount of open plains where ashigaru masses were most ideal. By contrast, troops from the Bireitoan aborigines and the Luson highlands were employed more frequently, serving as light skirmishers and archers in their traditional styles. The Bireitoan elite, however, were fully trained in the samurai fighting style and integrated in the Bireitoan military apparatus as such. Additionally, the retinue of the Zheng clan was militarily distinct from everyone else, wearing Ming armor and wielding yao swords and spears although they did use Japanese firearms. These non-Japanese auxiliaries further distinguished the militaries of Bireitō and Luson from that of the home islands.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 84: Manji War Part III - Gifu Besieged Yet Again​

On July 4th, 1660, Tokugawa Noriyasu and his army of 13,000 began their siege of Gifu. Compared to Saito Keizan and the Furuwatari rebels who had besieged Gifu 23 years earlier at the outbreak of the Furuwatari War, the anti-Azuchi forces had more men and faced a weakened garrison that had been defeated earlier on the Mino-Owari border at the Battle of Kisogawa (木曾川の戦い). Tens of thousands of men were also already preoccupied fighting on other fronts against the rebels, principally against Ikeda Yoshinori in Settsu province and Kudō Kanemasa in Iga province, so a large army could not easily be deployed against the Tokugawa besiegers. Nevertheless, preparations were being made on two fronts to combat the Gifu besiegers: one from the north by the Maeda clan and the other from the west in Azuchi directly overseen by Konoe Toshishige himself. Forces would even be diverted away from Settsu province to be replaced by men levied from various daimyo in the Chugoku region. Eventually, an army of 16,000 would be gathered in Azuchi, which included the elite Konoe cavalry that had previously been fighting in Settsu province. In a somewhat controversial decision, the kōbu kanpaku would decline to take charge of the army, insisting his presence in Azuchi and Kyoto was necessary for political stability. Instead, Konoe cavalry commander Nijou Tomohira (二条朝平) would be appointed the general of this army. They would be assisted by the Maeda army which numbered 5,000 as well as a few thousand reinforcements from Mino province.

Early attacks from contingents of Mino samurai failed to dislodge the Tokugawa as they continued to assault Gifu Castle. These contingents would proceed to coalesce with the Maeda army, led by Maeda clan councilor Okumura Harukiyo (奥村栄清) which launched a full-scale attack upon the Tokugawa camp. Although Noriyasu’s men were initially caught by surprise, he was able to rebuff the numerically smaller force. It would take the arrival of Nijou Tomohira’s army for the Tokugawa to be driven out of the castle town but not before a fierce battle in the streets of Gifu itself. Although a talented cavalry commander and mounted warrior, Tomohira was ill-suited for the task of relieving the siege and leading engagements in very close quarters. As a result of this inadequate generalship, the Azuchi army would suffer unnecessary casualties against the Tokugawa in their efforts to push through the main gates and the street barricades constructed by the latter. Eventually, the sheer difficulty of fighting three separate forces and their numerical disadvantage forced Noriyasu to end the siege and retreat back across the Kiso River. Azuchi, however, had not achieved a clean victory. They had lost many men due to the inexperience of Nijou Tomohira as an army general. Furthermore, the prolonged fighting had laid waste to several tracts of Gifu and left the city in a weakened state of destruction significantly worse than how it was at the end of the 1637 siege. These factors prevented the pro-Azuchi forces from pursuing the rebels, allowing the Tokugawa to retreat to Kiyosu Castle in a wounded but orderly state and begin to fortify their position in Owari province.​

Blue= Pro-Azuchi forces, Salmon=Tokugawa forces​

Meanwhile, intense fighting without any conclusive end in sight defined Settsu and Iga provinces throughout most of 1660. Akechi Mitsunori (明智光則) led the 35,000 or so troops ordered by Azuchi to defeat the Ikeda under clan head Yoshinori, who numbered 15,000 in Settsu. Although Mitsunori’s army easily outnumbered their foe and were assisted in the seas by Kuki Takasue and the Azuchi navy, the Ikeda used their vast wealth from their lands’ proximity to Sakai and trade connections with Bireitō through the junior branches of the clan to their advantage, equipping themselves with the latest muskets and artillery pieces and buying up large reserves of food provisions to be stored across the province’s strongholds, especially the main Ikeda castle of Hanakuma Castle (花熊城) in Hyogo. Yoshinori employed a strategy of protracted warfare, avoiding open battle whenever possible and focusing on hit and run attacks upon the Akechi-led forces. Meanwhile, checkpoints and main gates were reinforced with swivel guns, making every key point in Settsu province a bloody fight between the government and rebel forces. Finally, Yoshinori was successful in getting Takayama Tsugufusa (高山嗣房) of northern Izumi province to defect from Azuchi with the promise of ending the increasingly discriminatory treatment of the Church of Yamato in the realm [1]. Tsugufusa’s decision to join the rebellion also invigorated many of the Church’s followers to participate as volunteers in central Japan. As a result, the Azuchi forces as a result could only make moderate progress against the rebels and men from the western daimyo would be drawn to bolster Mitsunori’s army. Rebel resources in Settsu province, however, were strained due to the ongoing naval blockade and their continuous numerical disadvantage. Time and victory in the east was what the rebels in Settsu and now northern Izumi ultimately counted on.​

Drawing of a 17th century swivel gun​

Furthermore, Tsugufusa’s defection and the now clear sympathies of many Kirishitans towards the rebel cause would not be without its consequences. In June 1660, Konoe Toshishige ordered the arrest and imprisonment of the church’s Patriarch in Azuchi, Houjou (法縄), who also happened to be a distant relative of the Takayama lord. He then issued a decree that established the death penalty upon any congregational leader in the Yamato Church who “allowed” their members to assist the rebellion in any way. In practice, there was a loose interpretation of this decree and what counted as “allowing” participation in the rebellion and many priests would be executed as a result over minor infractions of the decree. Although this decree dampened enthusiasm and sympathy for the rebellion somewhat among Kirishitans, it mostly served to stir hatred against Azuchi among the church’s followers. Thus, the kōbu kanpaku had alienated yet another segment of the Japanese population.

Not far from Settsu, Kitabatake Takanaga was deploying an army of 16,000 against the Kudō clan in Iga province whose men numbered nearly 5,000. Much like the Settsu front, the Iga front was yet another stalemate. In a throwback to Oda Nobunaga’s own attempts at subjugating the province, Iga’s mountainous terrain and historical presence of shinobi and auxiliary militias would make defeating the Kudō rebels an arduous and difficult task, one whose outcome fated to not be decided for months. In one theater, however, Azuchi would see victory within the year. Shikoku tandai Miyoshi Yasunori would be successful at mobilizing the troops of his domain and the other daimyos in Shikoku against the Chosokabe clan in Tosa province. Unlike every other clan, the Miyoshi clan had veterans who had experience fighting in the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars from years earlier, giving Yasunori’s men a deadly advantage aside in addition to their numerical superiority. At the Battle of Motoyama Castle (本山城の戦い), the Chosokabe army of 10,000 was defeated by Yasunori’s army of 25,000, made up of the retinues of the Miyoshi, Kawano, and Sogo clans. After this defeat, Chosokabe Tadachika was driven to Urado Castle (浦戸城) while the rest of the province quickly fell to the pro-Azuchi forces. Finally, on August 18th Tadachika surrendered and would subsequently commit seppuku. As a consequence of their participation in the rebellion, the Chosokabe clan would be formally abolished and their fief confiscated. Yasunori would temporarily occupy Tosa province under the premise that it would be awarded to someone after the civil war ended. The defeat of the Chosokabe also meant that very soon, the Shikoku army would shift its focus towards the Ikeda in Settsu province and potentially hasten their defeat.

[1]: The Takayama clan was a traditionally Christian clan, with 70% of those living in its domain adhering to their lords’ faith.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 85: Luzon War Part II - Tomoyoshi Triumphs Again​

Throughout September, reinforcements from Bireitō and Kyushu landed in Luson province. First to arrive were 5,000 from Bireitō commanded by Wakamatsu Hisahide (若松尚秀), the eldest son of Wakamatsu Tomohide. Following them was the Iriebashi squadron of the Azuchi navy as well as Tagawa Seikou’s private fleet of Chinese junks. From Kyushu, a vanguard army of 10,000 commanded by Tachibana Tanenaga would arrive at the end of the month, with more men in the process of getting mobilized by Shimazu Norihisa. A further 8,000 men would arrive in Awari in October from the Mōri domain in the home islands in addition to those levied from Mōri possessions in Luson province. The arrival of such reinforcements significantly boosted the military strength of the Japanese. However, the Spanish would also see a boost in their military strength as well in late October, with a fleet of 17 warships led by Diego de Egues y Beaumont bringing both naval and land reinforcements. The land reinforcements included professional Spanish soldiers much more effective and experienced than the native companies that made up most of the Spanish army in the Philippines, as formidable as the latter were. The participation of the reinforcements in the war would thus shape late 1660 to be a particularly intense affair.

Meanwhile, after the Battle of Pantabangan, Kanbe Tomozane had retreated to the southern Cagayan Valley to regroup and levy more men from the region. They were tailed by Filipino-Spanish bands who not only repeatedly harassed the Japanese but also attempted to organize a Lusonese uprising against the Japanese in the region. The latter, however, surprisingly went nowhere for the most part. Ever since the acquisition of northern Luzon by the Japanese, a new social hierarchy had developed in the region with the samurai taking over as the new ruling class atop the native population, and many Lusonese natives did resent their new overlords. Crucially, however, Japanese rule contrasted with the old Spanish-Catholic regime through its policy of general religious tolerance and relative hands-off approach towards many cultural traditions of the Lusonese, particularly that of the highland tribes. As a result, whatever issues the natives had with the Japanese ruling class could not match memories of Spanish oppression and forced conversion to Roman Catholicism. This made recruitment of the Cagayan natives to the Spanish cause nearly nonexistent, and efforts towards that distracted from further attacks upon the Japanese army. Tomozane’s army successfully retained enough strength and cohesion to return to Carig [1].

In mid October, Kanbe Tomoyoshi would leave Awari at the head of an army of 14,000, composed of his personal retinue and the reinforcements from Bireitō and Kyushu. He left his 12 year old Tomomoto (神戸朝基), who had recently undergone his manhood rites, in the provincial capital under the guardianship of Tsuda Nobutaka (津田信高). Shortly afterwards, the Mōri troops under the command Kikkawa Hiroyoshi (吉川広嘉) began to march westwards, hugging the Lusonese coast with the ultimate destination being Pangasinan. Within a month, Tomoyoshi’s force would coalesce with Tomozane’s men and from there would march southwards, determined to lay waste upon any Filipino-Spanish army between Carig and Manila. Meanwhile, the main Spanish army led by governor general Juan Manuel de la Pena Bonifaz continued to gather more levied native troops from across the Philippines and would also incorporate 4,000 Spanish professionals brought from Madrid by the fleet. This main force would subsequently enter the southern Cagayan Valley as well. Several of his subordinates urged caution when confronting the Japanese as compared to the Filipino-Spanish troops, the former were better trained and more experienced being a mostly samurai army and this made fighting a field engagement very risky. Pena Bonifaz, however, was confident and decided to ignore his subordinates’ advice, concluding that the Japanese field army was too big of a threat to simply be ignored.

The Spanish army thus marched northwards on the eastern banks of the Magat River, maintaining supply lines through control of the river. In response, Tomoyoshi sent native archers on canoes to sail downstream and harass the enemy and their provisions. This grew into such a problem that Pena Bonifaz was forced to move away from the river, eventually encamping along a tributary, the Caliat River. This was exactly what Tomoyoshi had hoped for. As the Spanish settled in, the Japanese general moved based on the intelligence gathered by spies and the archers and managed to surround the Spanish army on two sides, from the western river plain and the northern hills. The Japanese numbered 21,000, with Lusonese auxiliaries, Bireitoan samurai and auxiliaries, Tomoyoshi’s elite retinue, and the Ryuzōji clan atop the hill under the command of Tomoyoshi himself and Tomozane leading the rest of the force on the river plain along with all the Japanese cannons. Realizing the position he was in, Pena Bonifaz immediately prepared his men for battle, fortifying his position with cannons and wagons to his north and west. He had 19,000 men with him.

The hasty Spanish defenses only delayed the inevitable Japanese victory. Tomoyoshi would deploy his 1,000 Bireitoan and Lusonese archers first, having their projectiles arc over the cannoneers and wagons and hitting the infantry. While this was going on, a formation of musketeers and Bireitoan heavy tachi swordsmen came down from the hills and slowly approached the Spanish formation, stopping intermittently to fire their muskets. These men proved to have a more difficult time, as Pena Bonifaz deployed his artillery and companies against them but the latter’s ranks were weakening from the arrow fire. On the river plain, meanwhile, the battle had begun with barrages of cannonfire followed by a traditional field engagement. The decisive moment came when the samurai cavalry on the hilltop finally decided to dismount and jumped into the fighting as heavy infantry. This broke the Spanish infantry on the north and they began a hasty retreat. The Japanese would begin to stream into the encampment, isolating those fighting the Japanese to the west. When the enemy realized their predicament, their morale and discipline plummeted for the most part, the professional Spanish soldiers being the only ones to stand their ground, and they retreated only to be caught by the Japanese already in the encampment. By the evening, Pena Bonifaz had left the battlefield and half of the Spanish army lay dead or injured and abandoned to be captured and executed by the Japanese, whereas Tomoyoshi’s force suffered 2,000 casualties.The Spanish were forced to retreat out of the Cagayan Valley.​

Salmon = Japanese, Yellow = Filipino-Spanish​

A decisive battle also took place at sea between the Spanish and Japanese. Tagawa Seikou’s fleet sailed towards Manila on a mission to initiate a blockade upon the Philippine capital and conduct raids on the Visayas. On November 1st, his fleet of 34 ships met Beaumont’s Spanish-Philippine fleet of 27 ships at the Battle of the Dasol Bay. Whereas the entire Spanish fleet was entirely made up of European-style warships, 10 Chinese junks in the possession of Seikou himself composed part of the Japanese fleet, although these junks were specially outfitted with heavy guns. As a result, in terms of firepower, they were on par. Nevertheless, due to the greater mobility of the Japanese ships, Tagawa Seikou would achieve a minor victory, sinking 4 Spanish ships as opposed to losing only one of his own. However, it wasn’t enough to clear the way to Manila as the Spanish fleet sailed back to Manila damaged but in fighting shape. Seikou would subsequently request more naval support from the home islands.

Even with only a marginal victory in the seas, the Japanese had clearly retaken the upper hand in the Luzon War thanks to the leadership and experience of the great Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Because of the victory at the Caliat River, the Cagayan Valley would remain secure for the rest of the war and the Spanish would be thrown onto the defensive once again. Tomoyoshi’s competence and skills, attributes long noticed by the rest of the realm, however, would ultimately bring him away from the southern frontier of the Japanese realm and towards the fight for the heart, soul, and future of the Oda Chancellorate. In January 1661, this journey would begin when a merchant from Mikawa province reached him just before the general resumed his march upon Manila. The merchant, Chaya Nobumune (茶屋延宗), would hand Tomoyoshi a letter from Tokugawa Noriyasu containing shocking news about the situation in the home islands.​

Portrait of an older Kanbe Tomoyoshi​

[1]: The city of Santiago was renamed to its original native name of Carig.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 86: Manji War Part IV - A Twist of Events​

With Sakuma Moritora briefly distracted by growing instability in the Oshu region and among the Date men in his army and unable to launch a renewed campaign against the rebels, Oda Tomoaki would coordinate a large-scale counterattack across multiple fronts. He would send reinforcements to Etchu province to bolster the Sassa-Anekouji army struggling against Shibata Katsuoki and with this extra manpower, the latter’s advance began to be reversed. Tomoaki himself would lead his main army into Kozuke province and coalesce with the forces of Mori Tomoyoshi and the minor lords of northern Shinano to confront the Takigawa army led by their new lord, Kazumasa (滝川一昌) [1], who had been exerting significant pressure upon the Mori in southern Echigo and northern Shinano provinces. The two sides clashed near Iwabitsu Castle (岩櫃城) in July, with the Tomoaki-Mori army emerging victorious after hours of fighting under the hot summer sun. The victory allowed the rebels to take Iwabitsu Castle and northwestern Kozuke in general, with Mori Tomoyoshi targeting the strategically important Numata Castle next. Additionally, Tomoaki coordinated the diplomatic subjugation of Shinano and Kai provinces with the exception of the Kiso clan through pressure from Tomoaki, the minor Shinano lords, and the Tokugawa. Noriyasu’s younger brother Nagami Nagayori (永見長頼) in particular was instrumental in forcing the Mizuno and Inaba clans to defect from Azuchi and join the rebellion. These successes created a contiguous area of control for the rebellion from Echigo to the Tokugawa lands.

With these accomplishments under his belt, Tomoaki would resume his activities in Echigo in the late summer. By then, however, Sakuma Moritora had brought about enough stability within his ranks and in the Oshu region for him to resume his campaign, although the Date disturbance proved too much for even the great general to untangle and resolve. He moved almost immediately against Tomoaki as soon as the latter marched his army to retake Nagaoka Castle. Moritora directly engaged the rebel cavalry with his strike force, defeating them and scaring Tomoaki into a retreat. Like many other rebel armies throughout the realm, Tomoaki chose to avoid direct battle with the Chinjufu shogun, fearful of the latter’s talent, instead engaging the enemy in a series of smaller battles, sieges, and maneuvers in the early autumn months. Unlike his allies, however, he wasn’t seriously outnumbered and would receive reinforcements that brought his numerical strength up to par with Moritora’s force. Using a smaller force, he lured Moritora westwards, allowing Tomoaki and his army to slip through and march upon the town of Uonuma (魚沼). This trickery was soon discovered, however, and Moritora and his army rushed back to confront Tomoaki with his entire force. They would face off on October 23rd at Uonuma, the rebels numbering 20,000 and the Chinjufu shogunal army 23,000. In the hopes of countering Moritora’s strike force of samurai cavalry and Ainu mercenaries, Tomoaki placed his elite infantry on the left directly across the former. He himself would remain in the center, assigning command of the unit to chief retainer Tsuda Masazane (津田正真) [2]. The rebel right meanwhile was led by Nagao Kagesada. On the other side, Moritora as usual positioned himself on the right wing, with his brother Torahide once again taking charge of the center. Due to the previous disarray of the Date ranks, Mogami Yoshisato was assigned leadership of the left wing.​

Salmon = Tomoaki’s army, Blue = Moritora’s army​

On the morning of November 6th, the Battle of Uonuma began with exchanged salvos of cannonfire from both sides, poking holes into both sides’ formations. Then, the infantry of the center and the Chinjufu left/rebel right began to clash. For the majority of the battle, these areas witnessed a stalemate with attempts at flanking maneuvers mirrored and checked. The decisive action instead was found where Tomoaki’ line infantry and Moritora’s cavalry and Ainu mercenaries came to blows with one another. Unable to charge directly upon Tomoaki’s ranks due to the lethality of the musketeers, Moritora split his contingent into three parts. The center, entirely made up of cavalry, skirmished with the line infantry, galloping back and forth while firing their bajouzutsu towards the musketeers. This distracted Tomoaki’s men enough for the rest of the cavalry and the Ainu mercenaries to pincer the enemy left by conducting flanking maneuvers on both sides. Once the pincer move began to apply pressure upon the enemy, the galloping cavalry then initiated a frontal charge, surrounding the rebel left on all sides. While the musketeers were adept at close quarters combat, they began to sustain heavy losses. Seeing this situation unfold, Tomoaki took charge and led the reserves towards the Chinjufu right. This action reinvigorated the morale of the elite musketeers and the rest of the rebel left and Moritora’s momentum began to be reversed. Eventually, the rest of the Chinjufu army began to noticeably be pushed back. Seeing the writing on the wall and unwilling to suffer heavy losses, the Chinjufu shogun ordered a retreat, suffering his first defeat ever in his illustrious military career. He suffered 6,000 casualties whereas the rebels suffered 2,000.

Oda Tomoaki’s rebels had won an important victory in Echigo against someone considered the most talented commander in all of Japan. The victory at Uonuma coincided with another decisive battle between Azuchi and the rebels, this one taking place near Mt. Komaki (小牧山) in Owari province on October 14th. The Tokugawa, numbering 10,000, ambushed and defeated the Azuchi army that outnumbered them 2 to 1, its general Nijou Tomohira barely escaping with his life. Uonuma, however, would not come without a devastating loss for the victors. During the battle, Tomoaki had been stabbed in the left armpit area by a spear and knocked off his horse but continued fighting and rallying his men against the enemy. His wound, however, proved mortal and three days later, the great rival of Konoe Toshishige, Francophile diplomat, and brother of the late Oda Nobutomo would succumb to it.​

Folding screen depiction of the Battle of Mt. Komaki (小牧山の戦い)​

Tomoaki’s death would leave the rebellion leaderless and rudderless. His son Nagaaki was far too young at the age of just 16 to take up his father’s mantle against the kōbu kanpaku. Noriyasu eventually emerged as the rebellion’s unofficial leader as he was the most powerful daimyo amongst the rebels and was the closest physically to Azuchi. However, he knew that he could not provide the rebellion the legitimacy it had begun with. It was in this context that Noriyasu wrote a letter to Kanbe Tomoyoshi and instructed the merchant Chaya Nobumune in Mikawa province to covertly sail to Luson province and deliver it. That letter contained news of what had transpired and a plea for the governor of Luson province to take up the mantle of leadership for the rebellion.

Tomoyoshi’s initial reaction was sadness as he grieved the death of his brother, knowing that he was the last living son of Oda Nobunori (his younger sister, Nison-in (二尊院), still lived ironically as the mother of Nijou Tomohira, ironically making the latter Tomoyoshi’s nephew). He then contemplated the matter of leading the rebellion. Tomoyoshi knew that if left leaderless, the rebellion would be finished in a year and Konoe Toshishige’s rule would be completely solidified and untouchable, possibly for decades to come. As Manchiyo’s regent, Toshishige had begun to minimize the voices and influence of daimyo in or invested in Bireitō and Luson in favor of the nobles and samurai in central Japan. Tomoyoshi, having already rejected the regency in 1653, had previously resigned himself to these developments and focused on internal matters. If he wanted to help change course, it was now or never.

After making his decision, Tomoyoshi would first confide with his son before making his grand speech to all the officers and commanders in his army. The Luson governor started by announcing the death of Oda Tomoaki, which was met with glum silence among the mostly sympathetic and shocked men. By contrast, Tomoyoshi’s reveal of Tokugawa Noriyasu's letter saw gasps heard from the mass. He then stated that he had the intent to accept the offer, sail to Kyushu with an army, and “restore proper governance” as he put it. He ended his speech with the following
​

“If you wish to regard me as a traitor to Azuchi and the emperor himself, I shall gladly slit my belly. But why not seize the opportunity to correct central politics and show what we southern samurai are capable of?!”​

A brief and uncertain quiet was broken when Kashiwabara Yoshinao stood up and declared, “It would be an honor to accompany a great leader like you wherever you go!!”. He was followed by proclamations and standing cheers from the rest of the men with the exception of Wakamatsu Hirohide, who gave a modest nod of approval. With this sequence of events having occurred, Kanbe Tomoyoshi and all of Luson joined the rebellion, with the governor himself set to become its new leader.​

Depiction of Kashiwabara Yoshinao’s declaration of allegiance and support in the movie Tomoyoshi​

Having won over the hearts and minds of his men, Tomoyoshi began to write and send letters to prospective allies, including Tarui Norishige, Tagawa Seikou, Shimazu Norihisa, and Mōri Tsugumoto. Chaya Nobumune would also be entrusted with a letter to Noriyasu informing the Tokugawa lord of his decision and asking him to hang on until Tomoyoshi landed in Kyushu. Notably, Wakamatsu Tomohide was initially not written a letter as it became clear that Hirohide was undecided on whether to join the rebellion, hence his suspicious reaction to Tomoyoshi’s speech. Hirohide was eventually persuaded to back Tomoyoshi on the promise that his blood relatives in the Kitabatake clan, who had become among Konoe Toshishige’s biggest backers, would not be severely punished. Ikeda Tadamasa (池田忠政) would help reassure Tomohide as well, thus preventing Bireitō from becoming a battleground in the civil war. As for the war against Spain, Tomozane would remain in the province with 10,000 men, supported by Kikkawa Yoshihiro’s 8,000 men. The rest would cross over into Kyushu with the assistance of Tagawa Seikou’s navy.

With the entry of Kanbe Tomoyoshi on the rebel side, the conflict which previously had been restricted to eastern and central Japan was about to spread to the west and more blood would be spilled. For the first time, however, it could be argued that perhaps the rebels, not Azuchi, held the strategic edge and even the momentum in early 1661.

[1]: Takigawa Kazutoshi died that year of natural causes at the age of 77.

[2]: No relation to the Tsuda cadet branch of the greater Oda clan.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 87: Amsterdam, Antwerp, and a Divided Dutch Republic​

​

The Peace of Antwerp had not only brought upon Spanish recognition of Dutch independence but also the acquisition of northern Flemish and Brabantine lands as well as Upper Guelders. However, Dutch territorial expansion also resulted in a great increase in the Catholic share of the population as the southern Netherlands had been converted from Calvinism in the early 17th century by the Spanish, with many Protestant holdouts having moved north. As a result, the Peace of Antwerp would also indirectly trigger a period of religious friction in the Republic. The first question was how the new Catholic-majority areas would be incorporated and administered. Hardline Calvinists advocated for the region to be consolidated into one entity and be governed directly by the States-General as the Lands of the Generality [1]. Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, and the Holland regents, however, recognized the need to integrate the Catholic-majority lands fairly without brewing resentment. The new lands would subsequently become the provinces of Brabant, North Flanders, and Venlo. The Hague would select the Brabantine Catholic Duke of Aarschot, Philip Francis de Ligne, as the new stadtholder of Brabant, while Maurice Frederick of Nassau-Siegen became the stadtholder of North Flanders. Frederick Henry himself would become the stadtholder of Venlo. Additionally, whilst Catholicism would continue to be suppressed in the original seven provinces, it would be allowed in the new provinces, although the Dutch Reformed Church would remain the official church of the Dutch Republic. The toleration of Catholicism in the south would see many closet Catholics in the north move southwards.​

Philip Francis van Ligne, Duke of Aarschot and the 1st stadtholder of Dutch Brabant​

However, the question over the governance and integration of the Catholic provinces soon became another ideological divide between the pro-prince Orangists and the pro-republican States Party. This was due to a new rivalry developing between Amsterdam and Antwerp. For much of the 16th century, Antwerp was the undisputed trade hub of the Netherlands and the sugar capital of Europe, attracting merchants from across the continent and becoming a booming artistic center. However, the Dutch Revolt saw a sovereign Netherlands in the north attract much of this newfound trade as the Dutch Republic grew into a major overseas and colonial powerhouse, with Amsterdam becoming the new center of trade in the region. Antwerp had not completely fallen off, however, and the incorporation of Antwerp into the Netherlands became an opportunity for the city to recover any of its lost economic power. Said opportunity, however, threatened Amsterdam and the political and economic influence of the Holland regents within the Republic. They therefore pushed to restrict the activity of Brabantine and Flemish merchants in Amsterdam and keep Antwerp out of the governance of the Dutch East and West India Companies. The Holland regents also joined hardline Calvinists in advocating for the active conversion of the southern provinces to Calvinism. Frederick Henry however remained steadfast and used his influence and authority to prevent any of these anti-Antwerp measures from going through and Antwerp would be included in the affairs of the India companies [2]. This earned the House of Orange-Nassau the trust and loyalty of the southern provinces, especially Philip Francis and the merchants of Antwerp.

The conflict between the Orangists and the States’ Party would continue after the death of Frederick Henry and the accession of his son, William, as the new Prince of Orange and the stadtholder of 7 of the 10 provinces of the Netherlands. The Holland regents and the new Prince argued over the maintenance of a large federal mercenary army in peacetime and in the process the constitutional theory of provincial supremacy over the matter was adopted by the majority of the Holland States’ General. In response, William decided to collude with Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz, the stadtholder of Friesland [3], and intimidate the regents. On July 30th, 1650, William had 6 regents arrested in the Hague while Henry Casimir attempted to take Amsterdam using federal troops. Although the latter was unsuccessful, Amsterdam was intimidated into purging William’s foes from the city council and the Orangists emerged victorious. Shortly afterwards, however, William would be afflicted with smallpox, dying in November within the year. A week after his death, his son William would be born.

William II’s death completely flipped the political order, as the captive regents were released and Holland pressed for the summoning of a Great Assembly to amend the Union of Utrecht. Additionally, on the provincial level the Holland States’ General assumed the powers and responsibilities of the stadtholder and would be followed by Zeeland. Holland pressured the other states whose stadtholder was formerly William II while Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz pushed them to appoint William II’s infant son. All of the provinces would choose to make their at the upcoming Great Assembly. Between January and August 1651, the Great Assembly took place. On the Orangist side were Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz, Maurice Frederick of Nassau-Siegen, and Philip Francis van Ligne of Aarschot. Meanwhile, Amsterdam regent Cornelis de Graeff and Dordrecht pensionary Johan de Witt represented the States’ Party. Ultimately, the 5 of the 6 provinces previously under William II’s stadtholdership [4] chose to not appoint a new stadtholder, with Venlo appointing the infant Prince of Orange as its new stadtholder and Henry Casimir as his lieutenant. This resulted in a deadlocked States-General between the States’ Party and the Orangist faction. As a result, the federal offices of captain general and admiral general would be vacated and not filled by Henry Casimir, as the Orangists wanted, its responsibilities taken up by the States’ General and the Raad van State. Nor would Holland’s desired restrictions on Brabantine and Flemish mercantile activity be taken up. With this, the General Assembly ended, having accomplished little in the matters of constitutional reform and leaving the Dutch Republic hopelessly divided politically.​

Painting of the Great Assembly of 1651 by Dirck van Delen​

While Henry Casimir undoubtedly led the Orangists, Johan de Witt would emerge as the main leader of the States’ Party as the new Grand Pensionary of Holland. In addition to advocating for a more republican form of government, De Witt pushed for the primacy of Amsterdam over a rebounding Antwerp in Dutch commercial interests. As the Orangists relied on support from the southern Catholic provinces, the Grand Pensionary courted hardline Calvinist support and the blessings of prominent members of the Public Church, despite his Erastianism and supported the active conversion of North Flanders and Venlo, exempting Brabant from the proposal as a “Catholic homeland” within the United Provinces. As long as the deadlock lasted, however, de Witt could not have his way on these policies nor could the power of its advocates be satisfied or suppressed by the Orangists. As a result, the various interest groups within the Dutch Republic would engage in extra-governmental actions to achieve their goals. Catholics secretly practicing their faith in the north faced greater persecution than ever before from Calvinist zealots. Meanwhile, the merchants of Antwerp organized the Guild of the Scheldt with the covert backing of Philip Francis to collectively control their financial and trade interests against those of Amsterdam and Holland overall.

In addition to exacerbating the activities of extra-governmental interests, the political deadlock undermined the ability of the Hague to effectively make decisions. This left the Dutch Republic unable to address its issues effectively. Dutch Brazil was unable to be retaken, with the Netherlands formally acknowledging Portugal’s total victory in 1654 in the Treaty of the Hague and the Ceylon War ultimately ending in a VOC defeat [5]. English trade interests, previously weakened by the end of Dutch-Spanish hostilities in 1644 [6], began to claw back with the passage of the Navigation Act in 1651, which restricted commercial activity between its colonies and foreign ships. Denmark and Sweden also responded with their own mercantilist measures, including an increase in the Sound tolls. The Republic’s inability to react effectively combined with the rivalry between Amsterdam and Antwerp to such issues saw its commercial power wane in the 1650s after an upswing in the 1640s.

Inevitably, the deadlock would be broken. In 1654, Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand III promoted Henry Casimir of Nassau-Dietz from a count to an imperial prince and this action paved the way towards a Orangist victory through the invocation of imperial authority [7]. It took some time for Henry Casimir’s elevation to bear fruit but in 1656, the Orangist prince circulated a letter accusing Johan de Witt and his faction of holding the political stability of the Netherlands hostage in favor of their own interests, arguing that only a prince could rightfully lead the Republic. This broke the dam as discontent bubbling under the surface erupted as riots broke out across the provinces controlled by the States’ Party. Opposition towards de Witt’s faction was only strengthened when Frederick William I, the elector of Brandenburg-Prussia, [8] declared sympathy and support for Henry Casimir while secretly promising the prince of Nassau-Dietz military support if necessary. Even many Calvinist zealots supported the prince due to theological preference for a princely government. The popular outburst eventually led to Zeeland and Utrecht flipping, appointing William III as their new stadtholder and Henry Casimir as the young Prince of Orange’s lieutenant. The new Orangist majority would appoint Henry Casimir as the new captain general of the United Provinces the following year, and the Prince of Nassau-Dietz became the new de facto leader of the Republic. What would later be known as the Seven Years Interregnum had concluded.​

Portrait of Henry Casimir, Prince of Nassau-Dietz​

The end of the Interregnum did not mean the end of the Republic’s problems, however. Under Henry Casimir’s leadership, the power of the States’ Party was significantly curbed and Johan de Witt was forced to resign as Grand Pensionary. A mercantile policy of moderate primacy in favor of Amsterdam was established that also ensured that Antwerp would continue to rebound as a port from its decline amidst the Dutch Independence War , especially in the sugar trade. In general, the Dutch Republic was now more able to tackle its commercial issues abroad. Nevertheless, lingering resentment remained and could not be fully contained. Despite their defeat, the States’ Party still maintained a level of support, especially in Holland. Calvinist zealots and many in the Public Church continued to prove to be a problem internally, unwilling to accept any solution other than the aggressive conversion of the southern provinces and the disempowerment of any high-ranking Catholic officials, including the Brabantine stadtholder. Finally, years on the receiving end of persecution and hatred bred separatist sentiment among some in the southern provinces who felt that their needs would be better served by a Catholic nation, France or Spain. This last fact would not be lost on Paris or Madrid, who would keep an eye on North Flanders, Brabant, and Venlo as potential opportunities for territorial gain in future wars.

[1]: Outcome of OTL

[2]: How Brabantines were involved in the unsuccessful defense of New Holland

[3]: Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz doesn’t die at Hulst in 1640 like IOTL and so succeeds his father Ernest Casimir I instead of his young brother William Frederick.

[4]: Like IOTL, Groningen immediately picks the Friesland stadtholder as their new stadtholder, ITTL Henry Casimir I of Nassau-Dietz.

[5]: ITTL, the Dutch took Ceylon in the mid-17th century.

[6]: Like in OTL, English merchants benefited from Dutch-Spanish conflicts as they were able to replace the Dutch on the Iberian Peninsula. The only difference is this difference erased 4 years earlier.

[7]: ITTL, this actually matters because the Netherlands is still a part of the HRE.

[8]: Tied to the House of Orange-Nassau through his marriage to Louise Henriette, a daughter of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 88: Manji War Part V - Uncle vs. Nephew​

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By March 1661, Kanbe Tomoyoshi, the new self-proclaimed leader of the rebellion against Azuchi and the government of his nephew, Konoe Toshishige, had received the support of the governors of Bireitō, the Shimazu clan, and the Mōri clan as well as Tagawa Seikou. Now secure enough to sail from Awari, he departed Luson alongside Tagawa’s fleet and an army of 10,000, headed towards Kagoshima. Awaiting his arrival on April 6th was Shimazu Norihisa and his army of 7,500 to be shortly joined by 1,000 more men from Bireitō. Many Shimazu samurai who were Calvinists proudly wore necklaces with crosses as a sign of defiance and pride against the oppressive regime. Accompanied by this combined and spirited force, Tomoyoshi began marching through Kyushu with the Kyushu Tandai helping to garner support for him. It took little persuasion, for many of the daimyo not only preferred the Luson governor over the imperial regent but resented Toshishige’s recent edicts against Kirishitans as they were either Kirishitan themselves or ruled over sizable populations of agitated Kirishitans. Many adherents to the Yamato Church also volunteered to the rebel cause. By the time Tomoyoshi’s army arrived in Hakata, it numbered 42,000, the new rebel leader having received the support of virtually all of Kyushu. They would be joined by 10,000 mobilized men in the Mōri lands and 2,000 Chinese mercenaries in the service of Tagawa Seikou. In total, Tomoyoshi commanded the loyalties of 54,000 men.

Tomoyoshi’s arrival could not be more fortuitous for the rebel cause in the east, for they had struggled after the death of Tomoaki. His absence caused much disarray in Echigo province in particular, where despite losing at Uonuma Sakuma Moritora took advantage of the chaos and had successfully taken over most of the province. Etchu was also under siege as Shibata Katsuoki’s army retook the initiative against the Sassa-Nagao forces. In the Kanto region, Oota Nobufusa had been forced to retreat all the way to Nirayama Castle (韮山城) despite aid from the Tokugawa by Musashino Toshinao and Murai Munemasa. Meanwhile, after a grueling battle, Kitabatake Takanaga’s forces finally overcame Kudō Kanemasa in Iga province in December 1660. His son Kanesuke (工藤包相) was killed in the final showdown while Kanemasa committed seppuku. Kanemasa’s grandson, Kanenao (工藤包直), however, managed to escape the province with a few hundred men and began to run towards Owari province with the hopes of meeting up with the Tokugawa. He wouldn’t make it far, getting captured near the Sunomata River (墨俣川). Shortly afterwards, he would be sent to Azuchi where his execution would take place a few months later. With this, the bloodline of Oda Nobukane, a brother of the great Oda Nobunaga, met its end, and Takanaga would shift his forces towards Owari and Shinano provinces, exerting greater pressure upon the rebel forces.​

State of the Manji War, spring 1661 (Orange=rebels, Pink=Azuchi)​

News of Tomoyoshi’s decision to join and take over the rebel cause as well as his army’s landing in Kagoshima and the subsequent defections in Kyushu and the Chugoku region that followed greatly alarmed Azuchi. Realizing the precarious situation his regency was found in, Toshishige decided on taking to the field himself. Accompanied by a force of 2,000 men, he would quickly gallop towards Settsu province where the Ikeda were nearly on their last legs, having rapidly lost territory when Miyoshi Yasunori’s large army landed nearby and after Takayama Tsugufusa had succumbed to Azuchi’s forces. After he arrived, he convened a military conference of the top generals on the Settsu front. Although some opinions called for finishing off the Ikeda at Hyogo and its surroundings before making any moves against Tomoyoshi directly, it was decided that a portion of the combined army would stay behind in Settsu while the majority would proceed westwards, with Konoe Toshishige at the helm of the army.

The battleground would be the middle Chugoku region. Although most of the provinces in the region remained loyal to Azuchi, significant victories could shift their loyalties. This was especially the situation in Bitchu and Bingo provinces, which were already divided in their allegiances. Many minor lords and Itou Sukemichi (伊東祐由) sided with Tomoyoshi, while the other minor lords as well as Hachisuka Tomotaka (蜂須賀朝隆) and Kuroda Tomoyuki (黒田朝之) remained on the kōbu kanpuku’s side. Tomoyoshi would take the bulk of the army through the two provinces as the expectation was that Toshishige planned on marching through there, while a second, primarily Mōri-led, army led by Mōri Tsugumoto himself would confront the Urakusai and Amago clans in Izumo province.

When Tomoyoshi entered Bingo province, Kuroda Tomoyuki saw the writing on the wall and retreated to the north of the province, recognizing the futility of resisting a pincer from both east and west and focusing on gathering support from the minor lords. To counter this, Tomoyoshi would send a contingent of 10,000 under the command of Hori Chikamasa while the former continued onwards, meeting up with Itou Sukemichi to confront Hachisuka Tomotaka in Bitchu province. By then, however, Toshishige’s army of 45,000 had arrived on the scene. Lacking any military experience and raised more as a court noble than as a proper samurai, the kōbu kanpaku delegated the running of the army to Miyoshi Yasunori. The 53 year old general and councilor was a proven commander , his career spanning both the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars as well as the ongoing conflict. Once a fellow battlefield colleague of Tomoyoshi, he would prove to be a worthy combatant.

Yasunori initially planned to surprise Tomoyoshi’s army, who had set up camp in the recently captured Nariwa Castle (成羽城), and wipe them out before they had a chance to react. At that moment, he possessed twice the number of men accompanying Tomoyoshi at the time. Yasunori’s cover would only be blown by a number of Lusonese archers hunting for deer and boars in a nearby forest. Tomoyoshi began a retreat back into Bingo province but with the enemy nipping at his heels, he assigned the rear guard, led by Horiuchi Ujihira (堀内氏衡), to hold off Toshishige as long as possible. Given several pieces of artillery, he formed up in a defensive position and delivered several bouts of cannonfire upon the enemy. However, the enemy eventually overwhelmed the rear guard, with Ujihira getting killed in the action and the survivors led by his younger brother Ujinari (堀内氏成) making it out.

Tomoyoshi understood that the decisive clash against Azuchi drew near. He called upon Tsugumoto, who had just led his men to a decisive victory against Urakusai Nagaie at the Battle of Kute (久手の戦い), as well as Chikamasa to join with him to confront Toshishige and Yasunori. Simultaneously, Kuroda Tomoyuki maneuvered to meet up with his overlord, keeping enough men in northern Bitchu to hold down pro-Tomoyoshi lords in the area. The two armies would shortly face off in eastern Bingo province, with Kanbe Tomoyoshi setting up camp in the vicinity of Kibitsu Shrine (吉備津神社) near Fukuyama Castle (福山城). The clash on August 9th would go down in history as the Battle of Bingo-Kibitsu (備後吉備津の戦い). Tomoyoshi commanded an army of 51,000, composed of samurai from Bireitō, Kyushu, Luson, and the Chugoku region as well as a handful of Lusonese native infantry and Chinese mercenaries. The left wing was led by Hori Chikamasa and the northern Kyushu contingent while the right wing was led by Mōri Tsugumoto and the Mōri troops. The center was composed of the remainder, directly led by the general himself. Tomoyoshi would place the archers and Chinese mercenaries at the front, assigning a lieutenant of Tagawa Seikou, Shun Zhixi, command of the front rank. Across from them was the main Azuchi army, led by Konoe Toshishige and Miyoshi Yasunori. Yasunori directly oversaw the center, made up of men largely from Shikoku. Commanding the wings, meanwhile, were Kuroda Tomoyuki on the right and Niwa Tomoshige on the left respectively. In total, they numbered 52,000, holding an advantage in cavalry and artillery over the rebel army.​

Blue = Tomoyoshi’s army, Salmon = Azuchi army​

The battle began at the break of dawn with an exchange of cannonfire, by now a customary exposition in samurai battles. As the smoke and fog gave way to bright sunlight and the Azuchi army frontlines began their march, Shun Zhixi ordered the archers to shoot into the sky, showering them with an unexpected spray of arrows. This somewhat softened up the front ranks. Once their job was finished, the archers were recalled to the ranks of the reserves. It was at this point that the infantry slog of musket fire and metal clangs commenced, particularly in the center. The cavalry also clashed, mostly on the wings. At this phase, the battle was in balance, neither side holding a decisive advantage. Seeing an opportunity, Yasunori ordered an intense barrage of cannonfire across the board, pounding the rebels hard and weakening the left and right wings. However, the center was fortified with heavy samurai infantry from Bireitō and elite Chinese mercenary infantry, who proved their metal and persevered through the explosions and smoke. In fact, the bombardment had intensified their fighting spirits and they charged the center along with accompanying musketeers, pushing back the Azuchi army’s ranks. It was now Tomoyoshi’s turn to reveal an ace up his sleeves. He ordered a barrage of his own cannons and sent up his archers forward to unleash a storm of arrows upon the center. The center of the army, despite being made up of some of Azuchi’s most experienced men, finally buckled under the intense pressure of arrow fire, cannonfire, and Tomoyoshi’s own elite men, and they began to rout. This was followed by the wings, who saw the impending retreat and decided to abandon the fight as well. The bloody confrontation had ended in a victory for Tomoyoshi, but not without heavy losses. He had lost 9,000 men while the main Azuchi army of Toshishige and Yasunori had lost around 17,000.

Although Tomoyoshi had won a critical victory, the civil war was far from over. Azuchi still had plenty of men they could field against him and throughout most of the rest of the realm, the rebels were on the losing end. Instead, it would be events in Kyoto and Echigo that would be key in deciding the final outcome of the war.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 89: Manji War Part VI - A Betrayal and a Coup​

The rest of the realm did not remain quiet during the leadup to the Battle of Bingo-Kibitsu between uncle and nephew. In the north, Kasugayama Castle fell in May to Sakuma Moritora’s army and the rest of Echigo province soon followed along with the Nagao clan. Remnants of Tomoaki’s Echigo army along with men from the retinues of Shinano daimyo and Mori Tomoyoshi gathered at Kawanakajima where they confronted the Tiger of the North, whose forces were further reinforced by the Takigawa clan. At what is often labeled as the 6th Battle of Kawanakajima on July 17th in reference to the 5 previous battles between Uesugi Kenshin and Takeda Shingen at the same location, Moritora won another decisive victory against the rebels, further scattering their forces. The Tokugawa forces also began to weaken in the face of reinforcements in Owari from Kitabatake Takanaga’s contingents and on the border of Suruga province from men from the Kanto region. Aside from Tomoyoshi’s triumph over Konoe Toshishige and Miyoshi Yasunori, the only other signs of hope for the rebellion were in the Seto Inland Sea, where the combined naval forces of the Mōriand Shimazu clan as well as the Nagasaki squadron of the Azuchi navy took control and ended the blockade of Hyogo, allowing much-needed aid to reach the Ikeda, who were completely encircled on land and heavily outnumbered.​

The battlefield of Kawanakajima, the site of countless battles including the 6th one in 1661​

Meanwhile, the defeated Azuchi army had retreated back to Harima province in the domain of Hashiba Hidemitsu where Miyoshi Yasunori devised a new plan. Having suffered significant losses at the hands of Tomoyoshi, Toshishige’s main man on the battlefield sought to avoid direct battle for the time being. Instead, he reinforced and supplied many of the castles between him and the enemy, hoping to weigh Tomoyoshi down in a series of sieges, attrition, and hit-and-run assaults by contingents of the Azuchi army until Hyogo fell and men could be diverted from the promising eastern front. This grand strategy by Yasunori, however, would never play out for his loss at Bingo-Kibitsu would reverberate across the rest of the realm, particularly in the imperial court and in the camp of the Chinjufu shogun, Sakuma Moritora.

Moritora received the news of the Battle of Bingo-Kibitsu shortly after his victory at Kawanakajima and was shocked that not even Miyoshi Yasunori, with his wealth of experience and the legitimacy of the government behind him, could stand against the might of Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Deep in his heart, he knew that the rebels now had the momentum, with Tomoyoshi even likely to reinvigorate the rebellion in the east, but that under the current circumstances any path to victory for either side would be prolonged and bloodstained. Under such a scenario, it was inevitable that his men would bear the brunt of the bloodshed and for Moritora, that alone was unacceptable. If the war came down that way, the sanctity of his clan and his domain was in jeopardy, and amidst the prolonged strife the Russians might even swipe Karafuto from Japanese hands. On one chilly night in his camp, the Tiger of the North decided on a course of action no one would’ve or could’ve predicted.

The next day, he sent a messenger to Oda Nagaaki, indicating that he was interested in switching sides against Azuchi and the regime of the kōbu kanpaku for the sake of peace and stability sooner rather than later. He promised to fully return the lands he had seized in Echigo and Shinano in return for greater support from Azuchi in the northern reaches of the Japanese realm, namely Ezo and Karafuto. As eager as his counterpart for peace, the 17 year old Oda Nagaaki accepted the terms and upon confirmation, the two men, once enemies, would stand together against Toshishige’s regime. Moritora’s defection to the rebel side would prove monumental, for over the next few weeks all of the daimyo in the Oshu region would follow his lead with the exception of the Date clan, which remained embroiled in its own political chaos. Many Kanto lords would do so as well, although the Satake, Musashino, and Murai clans would remain on Azuchi’s side for the time being.

Events in Kyoto would also turn in favor of the rebellion. Under Konoe Toshishige’s regency over the court and the chancellorate, the court nobility had largely been supportive due to their expanded power and their interests being attended to more than ever. One notable reception was Takatsukasa Norihira (鷹司教平), one of the heads of the 5 sekke (摂家) families who historically monopolized the position of imperial regent. Not only did Toshishige’s political rise threaten the tradition of the heads of the sekke taking turns being the imperial regent but the kōbu kanpaku left Norihira out of political affairs, as the latter was considered Toshishige’s chief rival among the court nobility. Norihira had therefore consigned himself to de facto political exile for the rest of his life. However, he found newfound opportunity in the changing situation in the civil war, particularly after Toshishige left the area, leaving a handful of lower-ranking loyalists to look after Oda Nobuhiro in the kōbu kanpaku’s absence. A month after the Battle of Bingo-Kibitsu, in what would be known as the Kanbun Coup (寛文の政変) Norihira along with sympathetic nobles returned to the imperial palace, orchestrating a nonviolent coup of the court and installing the retired emperor Go-Mizunoo, by now an elderly man of 73, back as the chief authority at court. Through the guidance of Norihira, Go-Mizunoo issued a series of decrees, or inzen (院宣) [1], that made Takatsukasa Norihira the new imperial regent and charged any enemies of the deposed Konoe Toshishige with the duty of disposing of him and any who supported him. Now, Konoe Toshishige was the enemy of the imperial court, not the late Oda Tomoaki or any of the rebels.

The Kanbun Coup together with the key defection of Sakuma Moritora dropped the morale of the armies of the old government and incurred even more defections to the rebel side, now legitimized as the pro-imperial faction. In a move of desperation, Konoe Toshishige would leave Miyoshi Yasunori to the task of defending against Tomoyoshi’s onslaught, leading a small army to tend to the recent upheaval in Kyoto, to ideally resolve the recent coup and secure the loyalty of Azuchi and its surroundings. Meanwhile, Yasunori would reverse his decision to fight Tomoyoshi’s forces in a drawn out series of sieges, resolving to confront him in pitched battle in the hope of beating him and regaining momentum. He marched towards Tomoyoshi in October, who was besieging Tsuyama Castle (津山城) in Mimasaka province, and the two armies clashed at the village of Misaki (美咲). Yasunori led an army of 24,000, while Tomoyoshi led a total force of 32,000.​

Blue = Yasunori’s army, Salmon = Tomoyoshi’s army​

This time, Tomoyoshi had the numerical advantage as well as in artillery, on par with Yasunori’s army in terms of cavalry. As a result, his barrages of cannonfire and arrows punched holes into the enemy before the initial infantry and cavalry charges. Intense fighting followed, with Yasunori himself participating in the battle as he sought to maintain morale and discipline among his men. It would be all for naught, for after 2 hours, his army’s lines broke and the formation began to disintegrate as his men began to retreat. The battle would end in a huge victory for Tomoyoshi, losing only 1,000 men while inflicting over 10,000 casualties upon the enemy. Among the dead samurai was Miyoshi Yasunori himself, who received a fatal musket ball wound while rallying his men amidst the chaotic retreat. His head would be presented to the victorious general himself, who would reminisce of the time he spent with the fallen general, a fellow young samurai commander in the Iberian-Japanese War once upon a time.

The outcome of the Battle of Misaki led to a wave of defections and series of desertions as it became crystal clear that the rebellion, now with the backing of the imperial court, held an overwhelming advantage. Tomoyoshi took advantage of this and would coerce the rest of the Chugoku region towards surrender by the end of the year, and in February 1662, he was able to liberate Ikeda Yoshinori in Hyogo from the 2 year long campaign to wipe out the Ikeda clan by Azuchi. Tomoyoshi graciously thanked Yoshinori for hanging on against overwhelming odds for so long, promising that the greater Ikeda clan would be generously rewarded for their dedication to the cause. Meanwhile, the pro-Azuchi forces in the east were in full retreat, the rest of the Kanto region submitting to Nagaaki and Moritora. The end of the war was near, although more blood would be spilled before it would truly be over.

[1]: An inzen is specifically a decree issued by a retired emperor, one issued by a current emperor called a senji (宣旨).​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 90: Manji War Part VII - Tomoshige’s Last Stand and a New Government​

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Toshishige’s side of the war was rapidly disintegrating in the face of defeats on the battlefield, defections to the rebellion, and the coup in Kyoto. In October, he also lost his most talented general, Miyoshi Yasunori, at the Battle of Misaki. Subsequent developments saw the Akechi and Nagaoka clans switch sides, and in February 1662 the encirclement of Hyogo had been broken by Tomoyoshi after the latter’s army defeated the forces of Azuchi loyalist daimyo Hashiba Hidemitsu. In the east, the combined forces of Oda Nagaaki and Sakuma Moritora pushed Shibata Katsuoki out of Etchu and Hida provinces completely while Tokugawa Noriyasu took back Owari province, making his presence felt in the outskirts of Gifu once again. Toshishige himself had returned to northern Yamashiro province, where he began gathering men in the hopes of storming Kyoto and overturning the Kanbun Coup. However, he faced waves of desertions as morale dropped with news of ongoing events continually pouring in. The final straw was when Azuchi itself flipped sides, the remaining leaders and magistrates in the city voting to change allegiances to Kyoto and Kanbe Tomoyoshi. Toshishige’s hopes now lay in Kitabatake Takanaga and his army of 30,000 in Gifu province as well as other scattered forces across the realm.

He would never be given the opportunity to make a full comeback, however. Akechi Mitsunori’s men picked up on Toshishige’s activities and quickly moved his forces towards his position. Tipped off by these sudden movements, the former regent would retreat to Sakamoto Castle (坂本城). Mitsunori’s army followed, and a siege on Sakamoto Castle would fatefully begin on March 13th, 1662. Toshishige only had 7,000 men accompanying him against Mitsunori’s 20,000, a paltry number for a man who once reigned supreme as the kōbu kanpaku of the Japanese realm. Toshishige did his best to defend against the besiegers but he proved to be an inadequate commander and after 10 days, Sakamoto Castle fell to Mitsunori. Unwilling to be captured or killed at the hands of the enemy, Konoe Toshishige escaped on a boat onto Lake Biwa, where according to legend, he set the boat on fire, slit his throat, and fell into the water, wearing nothing but a white undergarment. To this day, his body has never been found, likely having completely disintegrated at the bottom of the lake.​

Depiction of the 1662 siege of Sakamoto Castle​

Toshishige’s final stand was quickly reported across the realm, resulting in the surrender of any armies still resisting the rebellion. Scattered bases of support for the now-dead regent would quickly dissipate and all resistance to the victors of the war was dead by mid-1662. The Manji War was finally over, leaving a swath of human and economic destruction in its wake much more significant than that of the Furuwatari War. Over half a million had perished, particularly in the Hokuriku region and the provinces of Iga, Tosa, and Settsu. The Kirishitan population had endured persecution and mistreatment while the commercial activity of Sakai had been disrupted. Most of all, Gifu had suffered yet another siege, this particular one by the Tokugawa being more destructive than the one committed by Saito Keizan in 1637. As a result, it would decline as an urban center for years to come as other political changes sidelined the former importance of the city, once the golden child of Oda Nobunaga. By contrast, western Japan as well as Bireitō escaped much of the wartime chaos, nearly all of its regional lords siding with Kanbe Tomoyoshi upon his landing in Kagoshima. Because of this, they were destined to play an outsized role in central politics over the next 3 decades, particularly through the Shimazu and Mōri clans. The same could not be said for those who stuck with Toshishige to the very end and they would subsequently be forced to retire from public life, most notably the 72 year old Kitabatake Takanaga. Toshishige himself left a 5 year old son in Azuchi who would be forced to take the tonsure, spending the rest of his life in Daigo-ji Temple (醍醐寺) until his death in 1708. The Konoe clan would subsequently be abolished as well, although in a fortunate twist the Chosokabe clan would be reinstated in Tosa province once again.

In April 1662, Kanbe Tomoyoshi entered Kyoto with a sizable army to greet Emperor Go-Koumyou, the retired emperors Go-Mizunoo and Hachijou, and imperial regent Takatsukasa Norihira. He would subsequently meet with Norihira, where the new political order would be arranged. There was some speculation that Norihira would seek to replace the chancellorate with a new government much more centered around the imperial court. However, the fall of Toshishige had significantly dented the influence and trust the court nobility had held and they were too fragmented between those who supported the Kanbun Coup and those who up until recently favored Toshishige’s regime. Instead, Tomoyoshi would directly be thrust upon the main sea of power. Emperor Go-Koumyou would be forced to retire, making way for ex-Emperor Hachijou’s eldest son to take the throne as Emperor Takamatsu (高松天皇).

Not too long after his arrival in Kyoto, the longtime governor-general of Luson and the leader of the rebellion after Oda Tomoaki’s death would be appointed the new daijo-daijin. Simultaneously, the young Oda Nobuhiro would be called to Kyoto and would be made the Minister of the Right, or udaijin (右大臣), making him the designate heir of Tomoyoshi. Tomoyoshi would make this clear before the first summoning of the Shinka-in since the beginning of the war in Azuchi later in the year, announcing that he would serve as daijo-daijin for 3 years and step down after Nobuhiro was of age and fully prepared to take the helm of state. This arrangement would prove much more streamlined within the existing political system compared to the multiple pillars Konoe Toshishige had to set up in order to take power as a universal regent.​

Illustration of the appointment ceremony of Kanbe Tomoyoshi as the new daijo-daijin​

The 57 year old daijo-daijin faced a multitude of challenges upon his appointment. The country was devastated from the civil war, its economy weakened and its manpower exhausted from the tens of battles waged by both sides. Power imbalances lay exposed in the samurai and court spheres that definitely needed to be resolved. Finally, his son Kanbe Tomozane and admiral Tagawa Seikou were still fighting the Spanish in the Luzon War as Manila stubbornly held on despite the overall success of the Japanese after Tomoyoshi left for the home islands. The future of the Yamato realm lay in Tomoyoshi’s hands, and the new chancellor was determined to not let any of his late brothers down. Japan was about to witness a second wave of reforms.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 91: The Decade of Children​

The 1650s in East Asia is known today as the Decade of Children (少年の十年) as Japan, Joseon, and Ming China all saw the ascension of children to the helm of their respective realms. Only Japan would see this result in a power struggle between opposing factions culminating in a full-blown civil war. However, Joseon and Ming China would be hamstrung by the youth of their rulers and the personal interests of their ministers and regents, allowing an increasingly encroaching power to further expand its influence from the new northern frontier.

After the death of the great Gwanghaegun in 1641, Joseon’s crown prince and the late king’s eldest son Hyeonjo ascended to the throne. Hyeonjo would largely continue his father’s administrative and economic policies while presiding over an era of peace and prosperity. It was during his reign that the Jurchen Jin khanate split between the Lesser Jin and the Amur Khanate in the north. Still wary of the potential threat the Jurchens posed to Joseon, Hyeonjo sought to exert hegemony in the region through various means. His court financed economic missions to the two khanates, boasting of Joseon’s rich trade connections with Japan, Southeast Asia, and beyond. Also part of these missions were Confucian scholars from the peninsula who were gifts to the khans as advisors in their service. These gestures were readily accepted and deemed a win for Joseon as the peninsular kingdom began to incorporate the Jurchens within a northerly sphere of influence. Ties between Joseon and the Jurchens were further strengthened by the latters’ entrance into the Ming tributary system in 1649. In the realm of domestic politics, the king also dealt with religious controversy when growing numbers of local craftsmen and merchants in Busan began converting to Protestantism through their interactions with English and Dutch merchants. Hyeonjo would reinforce a ban on Christianity, putting to death native converts while exiling Europeans deemed responsible for the spread of the religion. Although he upheld the court’s continued adherence to Buddhism and Confucianism, many Confucian scholars privately criticized what they perceived as a soft response.

King Hyeonjo died in 1651 and was succeeded by his son Sohjong. However, the following year, the latter succumbed to illness, leaving his 13 year old son Gyeongseon as the new sovereign of the peninsula. Initially, his mother and queen dowager Inseon became the young king’s regent. However, poor health forced her to step back from politics, allowing a cabal of Confucian scholars led by the new chief minister, Kim Yuk, to rise to power. They took advantage of the declining influence of the military, whose power and prestige had peaked during Joseon’s campaigns against the Jin khanate under Gwanghaegun but had begun to wane in the 1640s due to Hyeonjo’s peacemaking diplomacy. The neo-Confucian cabal turned its focus inward, seeking to revive the conservative status quo that existed before the reign of Gwanghaegun by upholding proper Confucian courtesy and practices, perfecting fiscal soundness in government, and pushing back against the perceived excesses of the merchant class. Although Kim Yuk’s policies brought some relief to the common people, it also restarted factional infighting between Confucian thinkers and hurt trade with the wider world. This, in turn, weakened Joseon’s military and political power over the Jurchens, particularly over the northern Amur khanate.​

Portrait of Kim Yuk​

In Ming China, Emperor Titian started his reign dealing with a revolt by another relative seeking the throne and claiming greater legitimacy through the latter’s direct blood ties with Zhu Changluo, the first son of Emperor Wanli executed for attempting to usurp the position of the future Emperor Zhenchun [1]. Having ascended to the throne as a middle aged man of 40, much of his attention early on was focused on further securing his and his bloodline’s position within the realm, maintaining his predecessor’s expanded tributary system and appointing loyal and just civil servants to Ming China’s most important positions. Nevertheless, his sudden death in 1657 caught the Middle Kingdom off guard and unprepared as his son, the 13 year old Zhu Linyue became the new sovereign as Emperor Yongwu. Pouncing upon this opportunity was the 23 year old Abunai, khan of the Northern Yuan and an ambitious young man. like his father, Ligden, Abunai dreamed of reviving Mongol power. Although as a child ruler himself he had been supported by the Ming court, as he got older he shed his dependence, building his own authority among the tumens through his assistance of his Dzungar subjects against the Kazakh khanate and the establishment of trade relations with Moscow. Now fully independent of Beijing, he gathered an army of 40,000 and invaded the Ming realm in early 1658, overcoming the Great Wall and ravaging the countryside. Abunai’s opportunistic campaign against Beijing would preoccupy the Chinese until 1661, with cities like Lanzhou experiencing brief but unsuccessful sieges during the conflict.​

Official portrait of the new Ming Emperor, Yongwu​

Although neither realm became embroiled in chaos and internal turmoil to the same extent that Japan did, both would be distracted from their own affairs, their attention drawn away from the Amur river valley and the far north where a new power began to take hold: Russia. After the establishment of the outpost of Okhotsk in 1647, Russian adventurer Yerofey Khabarov continued expanding Russian presence in the region, establishing forts at Albazin and Achansk on the northern side of the Amur River in the early 1650s. His men and accompanying Cossacks would subsequently engage in the violent suppression of the local Daur people and their unspeakably brutal conduct garnered them the moniker Ioucha, after demons in Buddhist mythology. Alarmed by this aggressive activity, Sahaliyan ordered an army northwards to drive out the Europeans in 1652. However, Khabarov and his men would successfully hold out in Achansk and endure a poorly coordinated siege by the Amur Jurchens, who were used to open battle on flat terrain and not drawn out and complicated encirclements of fortifications. After this, Sahaliyan made plans for a concerted campaign led by himself to defeat the intruders, but was forced to change course when conflict with the Lesser Jin broke out as Joseon’s influence that had helped broker between the two rival khanates waned amidst their own court politics. This gave Khabarov and his successors free reign to slowly grow Russian presence in the far north over the next couple years [2].

In 1658, Kim Yuk died and Joseon king Gyeongseon, now 19, began to exert his own influence within the royal court in Hanseong. His first priority was to reinvigorate his kingdom’s influence over the Jurchens. On the advice of the still powerful neo-Confucian scholars empowered during his minority, Gyeongseon would give preference towards the more Sino-friendly Lesser Jin, influencing its khan Gutai to join Joseon in assisting Beijing against Abunai while favoring the southern realm at the expense of Sahaliyan’s Amur Khanate. The latter, sandwiched between its southern rival ostensibly backed up by the Ming and Joseon and the ever-growing Russian presence to the north, desperately searched for an outside power to save it from inevitable defeat and collapse. They would find that power to its southeast beyond the mainland and begin to recover from civil war in the early 1660s.

[1]: Refer back to Chapters 24 and 80

[2]: Unlike IOTL, no serious efforts are made against the Russians after the unsuccessful siege of Achansk.​

 

[Ambassador Huntsman]

Chapter 92: Tomoyoshi’s Administration and the Conclusion of the Luson War​

Kanbe Tomoyoshi, a brother of the great Oda Nobutomo, now presided over the governance of Japan. He brought with him 29 years of experience as the governor of Luson province and a vast military record in both Luson and in the home islands. As the former governor of Luson, he was also uniquely knowledgeable about Japan’s foreign trade relations and the kingdoms and realms distributed across Southeast Asia. This knowledge along with his vast experience made him the right man to lead a realm reeling from the effects of civil war and still fighting Spain in the Philippines.

Firstly, he focused on reforming and stabilizing the fundamental politics of Azuchi. The previous succession edict decreed by Nobutomo as part of the Kanei Reforms was expanded further to address situations when the new head of the main Oda bloodline was underage. Under the expanded succession edict, in the case of the new clan head too young to take on the responsibilities of government, a senior member of the Oda clan would be appointed to become the daijo-daijin until the head of the Oda clan became of age to take over. Furthermore, the Oda heir would no longer serve as the lord of Gifu Castle as an adolescent, instead growing up in Azuchi Castle surrounded by his immediate family and the state apparatus. The Oda clan’s direct vassals in Mino province and appointed magistrates would subsequently have a greater role in governing the lands under the direct control of the central Oda clan. Gifu, already impacted by two sieges in two different wars, would decline in importance after its special status as the heir’s stronghold was removed.

Tomoyoshi also resurrected the Kudō clan, whose bloodline had been exterminated by Azuchi during the Manji War, by making his younger son Tomofuyu (神戸朝冬) its new head, the latter changing his name to Kanefuyu (工藤包基冬). Kudō Kanefuyu would be assigned as a page to the young Nobuhiro and would play a big role by his liege’s side throughout the latter’s later tenure. Finally, to avoid sowing resentment among those who had remained loyal to Azuchi and Konoe Toshishige during the civil war, Tomoyoshi followed a policy of amnesty, only confiscating lands from the Shibata and Kitabatake clans in Kaga and Kii provinces respectively. Oda Nagaaki, son of the late Oda Tomoaki, himself would be transferred from northern Echigo to Kaga province.​

Portrait of Oda Nagaaki, son of the late Oda Tomoaki​

Tomoyoshi’s most significant reforms, however, dealt with the military power and structure of the realm. The daijo-daijin came to the conclusion that the regional daimyo lords were too capable of raising sizable armies relatively quickly and that the shogunal structure had been too ineffective to suppress the rebellion, even if he now governed Japan as a result of said rebellion. To remedy this, he summoned the Shinka-in for a special session and convinced them to agree to a new recruitment ratio wherein the various lords would commit more money and resources towards the maintenance of the regional shogunal armies and capping the size of their own individual armies and retinues. At the same time, the size of the shogunal armies would be regulated to dissuade any thoughts of future rebellion by the regional shoguns. This had the long-term effect of demilitarizing Japan as in future wars, the number of combatants relative to the population would be smaller, and the local daimyo would spend less time and resources towards the maintenance of their militaries. Finally, he oversaw the demilitarization and even deconstruction of many castles in order to reduce the defenses of each individual lord, limiting each lord to much smaller numbers of functional castles. On the other hand, Tomoyoshi understood the importance of having a strong navy to protect Japan’s mercantile and geopolitical interests at home and abroad and so sought to expand and upgrade it, making Tagawa Seikou the new naval shogun and the highest ever ranking non-Japanese deputy of Azuchi and the imperial court.

Tomoyoshi’s government also worked towards economic recovery as swaths of the countryside in central and northern Japan had been devastated due to the civil war, starting with relaxing taxation. Azuchi coordinated land reclamation efforts with the daimyo lords, paying particularly close attention towards transitioning landless ronin to agricultural and commercial work. Additionally, Tomoyoshi’s military reforms pushed many samurai retainers towards their domains’ central commercial enterprises, increasing the latter’s importance within Japan’s economy on the regional level. Finally, Tomoyoshi expanded the customs house of Sakai to accommodate the resumption of trade negatively affected by the civil war and future mercantile expansion. This last act was taken on the advice of the wealthy merchant Saidaniya Gonpei (才谷屋権平), Sakai’s biggest freight shipper. Gonpei had built his wealth and enterprise upon expanding Sino-Japanese trade from the 1630s and had at one point headed Sakai’s urban council of merchants and craftsmen and his successors would become one of Japan’s most influential non-samurai families in the coming decades.​

Sketch of Saidaniya Gonpei, Sakai’s biggest freight shipper​

Although the civil war had ended, the Luson War still raged to the south. Between when Tomoyoshi had departed for Kagoshima and the conclusion of the Manji War, the Japanese had made both progress and hit roadblocks on the path to victory. Pangasinan was retaken in the first half of 1661, with only disparate unrest persisting for the rest of the year. This was followed by a march on Manila by Kanbe Tomozane with another army fielded by the Spanish easily defeated. However, in the seas Tagawa Seikou was unable to break the Spanish navy and blockade Manila. As a result, governor general de Lara was able to bring in Siamese mercenaries to bolster the defenses of Manila in anticipation of a Japanese siege. When it did happen, these mercenaries proved invaluable in fending off the Japanese. Due to Manila’s stubborn resistance and Spanish control of the city’s waters, the siege dragged on for a few months and after enduring harsh weather and outbreaks of disease Tomozane’s army was forced to halt the siege and fall back for the time being. This was the situation the Japanese found themselves in against the Spanish when the civil war finally ended.

Upon Tomoyoshi’s appointment as the new daijo-daijin, Kanbe Tomozane was officially made the new governor of Luson province. Shimazu Norihisa was charged with sailing south along with 25,000 men and joining the new Luson governor in taking Manila and defeating the Spanish. Most of these men were veterans who had directly fought under the command of Tomoyoshi and ranked among the realm’s best troops, and it was expected that their arrival would finally bring Manila under Japanese control. However, these men would not face the Spanish in battle, as Japan’s decisive victory that would end the war would take place in the ocean. After Tagawa Seikou was made the new naval shogun, he was able to consolidate the various squadrons in the Azuchi navy towards the war effort against the Spanish and gathered a large fleet to confront Beaumont’s Filipino-Spanish navy at the 2nd Battle of the Lingayen Gulf on September 19th, 1662. Seikou’s navy numbered 70 ships, including 25 Chinese junks, while Beaumont’s numbered 45, and Japan’s numerical superiority as well as Seikou’s own tact as an admiral led to a crushing victory, with Spanish naval strength in the Philippines reduced to tatters. This left Manila vulnerable to a Japanese blockade and overnight Manila’s chances of holding out until the Japanese would be forced to retreat evaporated. Left with no other choice, governor general de Lara sued for peace. Although some in Azuchi wanted Japan to take over the rest of Luzon island including Manila, Tomoyoshi knew all too well how difficult it had been to suppress Roman Catholic zealotry even within the borders of Japanese Luson and how dependent Asia was on Spanish silver and goods from the Americas. Finally, Azuchi simply needed more money.​

Depiction of the 2nd Battle of the Lingayen Gulf​

In 1663, under what would be known as the Peace of Manila, Azuchi would once again directly collect 10% of the galleon trade. Furthermore, Spain was forced to agree to reduce the Manila fleet to just 20 ships. However, Japan would not demand the cession of further lands, avoiding having to subjugate an incensed native Catholic population. Indeed, the Peace of Manila overall was not the humiliation Manila expected, allowing it to be a long-lasting peace. In the long run, however, it would permanently weaken Spanish power in Southeast Asia and further tarnish the reputation of the Catholic faith in the East. A sign of this was Siamese king Chaofa Chai’s pivot away from the kingdom’s longtime ally in Spain, moving towards stronger ties with other European powers and direct imposition of its own power upon native kingdoms and sultanates throughout the region. Spanish commercial decline also allowed Japanese mercantile and political power in Southeast Asia to continually expand and fully recover from the disruption of the Manji War.​