The realm of the Mountain
- Thread starter maverick
- Start date
)maverick
Banned
As promised!
This Town is Not Big Enough for the Both of Us
The weeks that followed the disaster otherwise known as the Battle of Mimigawa, the island of Kyushu became a scenario to a convulsion of events and a comedy of errors better known as the Shimazu-Otomo war.
As what remained of the Otomo Armies began a hurried and desperate retreat to the safety of the Otomo castles, the marauding armies of Shimazu Yoshihisa wasted no time before regrouping and restarting their campaign by reinvading Higo and Hyuga, occupying the castles and towns of Obi and Minamata and engaging in a series of diplomatic and military operations in central Kyushu with the intent of supplanting the Otomo sphere of influence in the island.
Hyuga offered little resistance after the destructive march of the Otomo army back and forwards. Several warriors and local lords joined the Shimazu were wise enough to see which way the wind was blowing and offered their fealty.
Higo nevertheless proved to be a tougher nut to crack, and offered at least some resistance in the form of Sagara Yoshiaki of Minamata, the main daimyo of the region, who refused to allow the passage of the Shimazu armies through his land.
The stand at Minamata led to a five day siege which the Shimazu armies won by force of arms and speed against the smaller and unprepared force of Yoshiaki. The Lightning Campaign of late 1582 and early 1583 led to the near complete conquest of Higo and Hyuga by the Shimazu, thus giving Yoshihisa control of the southern half of the island.
These campaigns, occurring in the aftermath of Mimigawa, were at the same time joined by the entrance of yet another Kyushu daimyo into the scene: Ryuzoji Takanobu, who took the opportunity given to him by the Shimazu to expand his own domains at the expense of the Otomo, the traditional regional power.
Now the scene was dominated by two rising powers, the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu, taking advantage of the downfall of the Otomo yet finding themselves at opposing ends of a fight; had they joined forces or even ignored each other, the Otomo would have been vanquished in the spring and the summer of 1583 before the Takeda could come in their aid, but blind ambition proved to be a greater foe for Shimazu Yoshihisa’s and Ryuzoji Takanobu’s dreams of a Kyushu unified under their Banners.
Shimabara and Funai
The peninsula of Shimabara, in western Kyushu, had been under the rule of the daimyo Arima Haronobu since the death of the previous lord, Arima Yoshisada.
Haronobu’s northern neighbour, Ryuzoji Takanobu, had first made his expansionists intensions clear in the late 1570s, when Shimabara was first threatened and the daimyo was forced to follow the same policy as his uncle Omura Sumitada, and ask for the help of the Jesuits. Portuguese weapons and ships in 1579 following Haronobu’s baptism as Protasio gave him time. The intervention and mediation of Otomo Sorin finally put an end to the conflict. Then the battle of Mimigawa took place.
Takanobu’s invasion of the Shimabara domain came in earnest in late 1582 following the defeat of the Otomo at the hands of the Shimuza; as two vultures preying on a carcass, the Shimazu and the Ryuzoji launched their hordes upon the Otomo domains.
The Shimazu began expanding their areas of influence over Hyuga and Higo as the Ryuzoji did the same attacking the Arima and the Omura at Hizen while also trying to expand their domains east of Hizen, invading the province of Chikugo, defeating the undermanned Otomo garrisons there and entering northern Higo, just in time to meet with the invading armies of Shimazu Iehisa.
Thus what had initially begun as a two way war in the contest of a national civil war, had now turned into a regional three-way war for regional supremacy.
The Spring of 1583 saw what was left of the Otomo armies and establishment barricading themselves at Funai castle, gathering men and supplies, while the Shimazu were forced to engage the more assertive Ryuzoji before dealing a coup de grace to the Otomo. Ryuzoji Takanobu, in the meantime, had made the tactical mistake of splitting his forces, sending only a token force of 6,000 men to Shimabara castle while 12,000 soldiers stood at Higo.
Even when Nabeshima Naoshige’s army of 12,000 men outnumbered anything that Shimazu Iehisa could bring to northern Higo, the fact that Shimabara refused to fall meant that a significant amount of men and resources were being diverted to the Shimabara peninsula when they were needed in the east.
Both Nabeshima Naoshige and Shimazu Iehisa were first engaged in a series of meaningless skirmishes until the battle of Yanagawa, near Yanagawa castle.
The Ryuzoji had conquered that castle upon their invasion of the Chigoku province in early 1583, but Shimazu Iehisa was aggressive enough to push the numerical superior Ryuzoji northwards from Higo towards Chigoku through a series of flanking manoeuvres and feigned attacks through late July of 1583.
The ultimate defeat of the Ryuzoji army, 4 times bigger than their opponent force, came in early August of 1583 as the two forces were approaching Yanagawa castle; Shimazu Iehisa launched a bold attack with his 2,500 men through the unprepared enemy lines. The swordsmen reached the enemy command post where Takanobu and his generals were discussing the battle strategy and the rest was history.
Only two men were nowhere to be found in the ensuing carnage: General Nabeshima Naoshige, whom had been supposedly sidelined and overruled by Takanobu earlier that day as the daimyo took supreme command of his armies; and Ryuzoji Masaie, Takanobu’s son, who was camping with a minor force north of the Castle and did not take part of the battle or the rout that took place following the massacre at the command post.
Peace was brokered between the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu. Masaie and Naoshige agreed to evacuate Higo and Shimabara, therefore ending the siege of Shimabara Castle, whereas their occupation of the Chigoku province would be accepted as a fait acommpli.
September of 1583 was the zenith of Shimazu Yoshihisa’s power; the Otomo could not move from their castle at Funai until the Takeda were done with the Mori, and the Ryuzoji had been eliminated as a threat to his dreams of domination. Now, the only true menace stood to the other side of the island, at the castle of Funai.
This Town is Not Big Enough for the Both of Us
The weeks that followed the disaster otherwise known as the Battle of Mimigawa, the island of Kyushu became a scenario to a convulsion of events and a comedy of errors better known as the Shimazu-Otomo war.
As what remained of the Otomo Armies began a hurried and desperate retreat to the safety of the Otomo castles, the marauding armies of Shimazu Yoshihisa wasted no time before regrouping and restarting their campaign by reinvading Higo and Hyuga, occupying the castles and towns of Obi and Minamata and engaging in a series of diplomatic and military operations in central Kyushu with the intent of supplanting the Otomo sphere of influence in the island.
Hyuga offered little resistance after the destructive march of the Otomo army back and forwards. Several warriors and local lords joined the Shimazu were wise enough to see which way the wind was blowing and offered their fealty.
Higo nevertheless proved to be a tougher nut to crack, and offered at least some resistance in the form of Sagara Yoshiaki of Minamata, the main daimyo of the region, who refused to allow the passage of the Shimazu armies through his land.
The stand at Minamata led to a five day siege which the Shimazu armies won by force of arms and speed against the smaller and unprepared force of Yoshiaki. The Lightning Campaign of late 1582 and early 1583 led to the near complete conquest of Higo and Hyuga by the Shimazu, thus giving Yoshihisa control of the southern half of the island.
These campaigns, occurring in the aftermath of Mimigawa, were at the same time joined by the entrance of yet another Kyushu daimyo into the scene: Ryuzoji Takanobu, who took the opportunity given to him by the Shimazu to expand his own domains at the expense of the Otomo, the traditional regional power.
Now the scene was dominated by two rising powers, the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu, taking advantage of the downfall of the Otomo yet finding themselves at opposing ends of a fight; had they joined forces or even ignored each other, the Otomo would have been vanquished in the spring and the summer of 1583 before the Takeda could come in their aid, but blind ambition proved to be a greater foe for Shimazu Yoshihisa’s and Ryuzoji Takanobu’s dreams of a Kyushu unified under their Banners.
Shimabara and Funai
The peninsula of Shimabara, in western Kyushu, had been under the rule of the daimyo Arima Haronobu since the death of the previous lord, Arima Yoshisada.
Haronobu’s northern neighbour, Ryuzoji Takanobu, had first made his expansionists intensions clear in the late 1570s, when Shimabara was first threatened and the daimyo was forced to follow the same policy as his uncle Omura Sumitada, and ask for the help of the Jesuits. Portuguese weapons and ships in 1579 following Haronobu’s baptism as Protasio gave him time. The intervention and mediation of Otomo Sorin finally put an end to the conflict. Then the battle of Mimigawa took place.
Takanobu’s invasion of the Shimabara domain came in earnest in late 1582 following the defeat of the Otomo at the hands of the Shimuza; as two vultures preying on a carcass, the Shimazu and the Ryuzoji launched their hordes upon the Otomo domains.
The Shimazu began expanding their areas of influence over Hyuga and Higo as the Ryuzoji did the same attacking the Arima and the Omura at Hizen while also trying to expand their domains east of Hizen, invading the province of Chikugo, defeating the undermanned Otomo garrisons there and entering northern Higo, just in time to meet with the invading armies of Shimazu Iehisa.
Thus what had initially begun as a two way war in the contest of a national civil war, had now turned into a regional three-way war for regional supremacy.
The Spring of 1583 saw what was left of the Otomo armies and establishment barricading themselves at Funai castle, gathering men and supplies, while the Shimazu were forced to engage the more assertive Ryuzoji before dealing a coup de grace to the Otomo. Ryuzoji Takanobu, in the meantime, had made the tactical mistake of splitting his forces, sending only a token force of 6,000 men to Shimabara castle while 12,000 soldiers stood at Higo.
Even when Nabeshima Naoshige’s army of 12,000 men outnumbered anything that Shimazu Iehisa could bring to northern Higo, the fact that Shimabara refused to fall meant that a significant amount of men and resources were being diverted to the Shimabara peninsula when they were needed in the east.
Both Nabeshima Naoshige and Shimazu Iehisa were first engaged in a series of meaningless skirmishes until the battle of Yanagawa, near Yanagawa castle.
The Ryuzoji had conquered that castle upon their invasion of the Chigoku province in early 1583, but Shimazu Iehisa was aggressive enough to push the numerical superior Ryuzoji northwards from Higo towards Chigoku through a series of flanking manoeuvres and feigned attacks through late July of 1583.
The ultimate defeat of the Ryuzoji army, 4 times bigger than their opponent force, came in early August of 1583 as the two forces were approaching Yanagawa castle; Shimazu Iehisa launched a bold attack with his 2,500 men through the unprepared enemy lines. The swordsmen reached the enemy command post where Takanobu and his generals were discussing the battle strategy and the rest was history.
Only two men were nowhere to be found in the ensuing carnage: General Nabeshima Naoshige, whom had been supposedly sidelined and overruled by Takanobu earlier that day as the daimyo took supreme command of his armies; and Ryuzoji Masaie, Takanobu’s son, who was camping with a minor force north of the Castle and did not take part of the battle or the rout that took place following the massacre at the command post.
Peace was brokered between the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu. Masaie and Naoshige agreed to evacuate Higo and Shimabara, therefore ending the siege of Shimabara Castle, whereas their occupation of the Chigoku province would be accepted as a fait acommpli.
September of 1583 was the zenith of Shimazu Yoshihisa’s power; the Otomo could not move from their castle at Funai until the Takeda were done with the Mori, and the Ryuzoji had been eliminated as a threat to his dreams of domination. Now, the only true menace stood to the other side of the island, at the castle of Funai.
So the phoenix rises to dazzle us once more.
It definitely is not light reading, have to carefully procvess the abundant information. Reads like a history text from university.
The map is much appreciated. Lacking a workingknowledge of Japanese geography it can be difficult to grasp the geopolitical situations you describe.
I admit what I most look forward too is the shape of the shogun's peace. The order esrtablished by Toyotomi Hideypshi endured until Perry. I wonnder if the Takeda can establish a similar stabilioty, after all Toyotomi was one of great politicans in history, rising to rul a stratified society from being born a peasant.
It definitely is not light reading, have to carefully procvess the abundant information. Reads like a history text from university.
The map is much appreciated. Lacking a workingknowledge of Japanese geography it can be difficult to grasp the geopolitical situations you describe.
I admit what I most look forward too is the shape of the shogun's peace. The order esrtablished by Toyotomi Hideypshi endured until Perry. I wonnder if the Takeda can establish a similar stabilioty, after all Toyotomi was one of great politicans in history, rising to rul a stratified society from being born a peasant.
maverick
Banned
Fortress
Funai Castle was built in 1562 by order of the lord of Funai, Otomo Sorin, and had since then served as a stronghold and capital of the vast Otomo domains that stretched through northern Kyushu. 20 years later, what had once been the most powerful clan of the island found itself on the run, preparing to make a desperate stand at their own fortress against an invading army that had once only been a backwater and a minor threat.
The once mighty Ôtomo shichikakoku no zei, The Seven Province Host of the Otomo, was now mostly in ruins; the domains predated by its neighbors, the clan’s allies deserting their master along with several disloyal retainers that have chosen either to be neutral or ally with the invading Shimazu.
While Otomo Sorin had been the most powerful daimyo of Kyushu and his domains the most vast, with the north and east of the island under his banner, the lord had never achieved the same control over his retainers and vassals as other daimyos of the same period had, in many cases these retainers being more like allies than vassals and operated with such a degree of independence that some were like daimyo themselves. This was the case of minor clans such as Tachinaba and the Tamura. Embracing Christianity and the Portuguese missionaries that brought it with them did not do much to endear him with his vassals either.
Winter was rapidly approaching in late 1583, yet the Shimazu wanted to move fast after their lightning victory overt the Ryuzoji, and thus their armies gathered once more at Hyuga with the intention of rallying a big enough army to march upon Funai, on the northeastern corner of Kyushu.
The invasion was swift, as 30,000 men carrying the Shimazu banners marched into Bungo and facing no resistance, reached Funai by late January of 1584, laying siege to the Otomo fortress as they arrived.
The Siege
The third stage of the Kyushu campaign began in the winter of 1584, when Shimazu Yoshihisa led an invasion of Bungo in northern Kyushu. Between September of 1582 and January of 1584, that is nearly 15 months, the Otomo waited and observed as their rivals, the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu, launched themselves at each other’s throats for the opportunity of devouring the carcass of the Otomo domains.
The time was nevertheless well spent by the Otomo, who did their best to rally their allies and troops, prepare and improve their defenses and gather supplies as emissaries sent to the east returned with nothing with bad news; the Takeda and the Mori were still battling and no reinforcements could arrive.
Of the mighty 50,000 men strong army that marched on Satsuma over a year ago, the Otomo have only been able to save a force with figures just above the 20,000 men. No immediate help or reinforcements are expected. The Portuguese are allegedly helping the Christian daimyo of Shimabara in the west, but they are unable to reach Funai castle. The Takeda are otherwise engaged, and several former vassals are either deserting, making deals with the Shimazu or preoccupied with defending their own domains, as is the case of the Tachinaba at Buzen.
The siege itself, in its length and rather colorful development have given the siege of Funai a rather distinguished place in the history of the Otomo Clan, Bungo province and the island of Kyushu as a whole.
The campaign started when an impatient Shimazu Yoshihisa offered the Otomo the chance to surrender, to which the aging lord of Bungo replied with a long and rather messy letter that most sources call a “long list of thinly veiled insults, overtly dramatic dares and even a reference to having Kagoshima burnt”
Having lost his temper, Shimazu hurled 10,000 tired and poorly organized men at Funai trying to force an entrance. The results were rather miserable. A second and a third attempt to enter Funai by force brought similar results, with the added complication of having lost a week in the attacks, taken several casualties and needing nearly two weeks to recover.
While Yoshihisa still fell outraged, he was persuaded to continue the campaign with a more conventional tactic of simply starving the defenders.
The Otomo were nevertheless prepared and had enough supplies to resist the Shimazu for considerable time. Sorin was nevertheless determined not to sit down and wait for help until the Takeda were able to ‘rescue’ him. An even more bizarre episode than the one involving the letter took place on May of 1584, when a retainer of the Otomo whose name has been long forgotten by history, led his men under the cover of a rainstorm into the Shimazu camp and set a number of fires and generally created chaos.
The ensuing anarchy at the Shimazu clan claimed the life of over 500 men. The similarity of this tale with a similar move made during the Fourth siege of Odani 12 years earlier, in which an Asakura retainer under similar circumstances achieved the same at the Oda camp, has led some to doubt the veracity of either tell, even when most tellings of the story include said tale as historical.
Nevertheless, just as happened at Odani, the Otomo were unable to take advantage of the fiasco at the enemy camps, as the attack that followed was bogged down and ultimately unsuccessful due to its lack of organization, hasty execution and the poor terrain and weather conditions that the storm had left, making the battlefield hardly suitable for an operation such as the Otomo launched after the camp fires.
The next months, the siege would continue more or less as a chaotic and fluctuating maelstrom of attacks and counterattacks as the results proved more and more indecisive…
Funai Castle was built in 1562 by order of the lord of Funai, Otomo Sorin, and had since then served as a stronghold and capital of the vast Otomo domains that stretched through northern Kyushu. 20 years later, what had once been the most powerful clan of the island found itself on the run, preparing to make a desperate stand at their own fortress against an invading army that had once only been a backwater and a minor threat.
The once mighty Ôtomo shichikakoku no zei, The Seven Province Host of the Otomo, was now mostly in ruins; the domains predated by its neighbors, the clan’s allies deserting their master along with several disloyal retainers that have chosen either to be neutral or ally with the invading Shimazu.
While Otomo Sorin had been the most powerful daimyo of Kyushu and his domains the most vast, with the north and east of the island under his banner, the lord had never achieved the same control over his retainers and vassals as other daimyos of the same period had, in many cases these retainers being more like allies than vassals and operated with such a degree of independence that some were like daimyo themselves. This was the case of minor clans such as Tachinaba and the Tamura. Embracing Christianity and the Portuguese missionaries that brought it with them did not do much to endear him with his vassals either.
Winter was rapidly approaching in late 1583, yet the Shimazu wanted to move fast after their lightning victory overt the Ryuzoji, and thus their armies gathered once more at Hyuga with the intention of rallying a big enough army to march upon Funai, on the northeastern corner of Kyushu.
The invasion was swift, as 30,000 men carrying the Shimazu banners marched into Bungo and facing no resistance, reached Funai by late January of 1584, laying siege to the Otomo fortress as they arrived.
The Siege
The third stage of the Kyushu campaign began in the winter of 1584, when Shimazu Yoshihisa led an invasion of Bungo in northern Kyushu. Between September of 1582 and January of 1584, that is nearly 15 months, the Otomo waited and observed as their rivals, the Ryuzoji and the Shimazu, launched themselves at each other’s throats for the opportunity of devouring the carcass of the Otomo domains.
The time was nevertheless well spent by the Otomo, who did their best to rally their allies and troops, prepare and improve their defenses and gather supplies as emissaries sent to the east returned with nothing with bad news; the Takeda and the Mori were still battling and no reinforcements could arrive.
Of the mighty 50,000 men strong army that marched on Satsuma over a year ago, the Otomo have only been able to save a force with figures just above the 20,000 men. No immediate help or reinforcements are expected. The Portuguese are allegedly helping the Christian daimyo of Shimabara in the west, but they are unable to reach Funai castle. The Takeda are otherwise engaged, and several former vassals are either deserting, making deals with the Shimazu or preoccupied with defending their own domains, as is the case of the Tachinaba at Buzen.
The siege itself, in its length and rather colorful development have given the siege of Funai a rather distinguished place in the history of the Otomo Clan, Bungo province and the island of Kyushu as a whole.
The campaign started when an impatient Shimazu Yoshihisa offered the Otomo the chance to surrender, to which the aging lord of Bungo replied with a long and rather messy letter that most sources call a “long list of thinly veiled insults, overtly dramatic dares and even a reference to having Kagoshima burnt”
Having lost his temper, Shimazu hurled 10,000 tired and poorly organized men at Funai trying to force an entrance. The results were rather miserable. A second and a third attempt to enter Funai by force brought similar results, with the added complication of having lost a week in the attacks, taken several casualties and needing nearly two weeks to recover.
While Yoshihisa still fell outraged, he was persuaded to continue the campaign with a more conventional tactic of simply starving the defenders.
The Otomo were nevertheless prepared and had enough supplies to resist the Shimazu for considerable time. Sorin was nevertheless determined not to sit down and wait for help until the Takeda were able to ‘rescue’ him. An even more bizarre episode than the one involving the letter took place on May of 1584, when a retainer of the Otomo whose name has been long forgotten by history, led his men under the cover of a rainstorm into the Shimazu camp and set a number of fires and generally created chaos.
The ensuing anarchy at the Shimazu clan claimed the life of over 500 men. The similarity of this tale with a similar move made during the Fourth siege of Odani 12 years earlier, in which an Asakura retainer under similar circumstances achieved the same at the Oda camp, has led some to doubt the veracity of either tell, even when most tellings of the story include said tale as historical.
Nevertheless, just as happened at Odani, the Otomo were unable to take advantage of the fiasco at the enemy camps, as the attack that followed was bogged down and ultimately unsuccessful due to its lack of organization, hasty execution and the poor terrain and weather conditions that the storm had left, making the battlefield hardly suitable for an operation such as the Otomo launched after the camp fires.
The next months, the siege would continue more or less as a chaotic and fluctuating maelstrom of attacks and counterattacks as the results proved more and more indecisive…
Last edited:
maverick
Banned
The Cavalry Arrives
Siege operations continued during June of 1584 at an alarmingly slow pace. Following the disaster suffered in their camps on may, the Shimazu army was forced to move and fortify their positions around Funai, changing their tactic to a plan of out-waiting the Otomo until they ran out of supplies and dissent spread through their ranks.
Morale and strength within the walls of Funai castle began to wane by the third week of June, and with a lack of truly loyal allies and retainers, support for the Otomo began to dissipate and desertion began to be a common practice amongst the defending forces.
Nevertheless, Shimazu Yoshihisa refused to accept deserters, with the intention of reducing Funai’s foodstuffs as quickly as possible. The desperate situation was of course worsened by the absence of Sorin’s son, Yoshimune, who had gone to Kyoto to plead for assistance and relief from the Takeda clan. The disappearance of the daimyo’s son along with several retainers, along with renewed attempts by the Shimazu to encircle and break through the fortress caused panic to spread life wild fire within the walls of the castle.
Emboldened by the growing calamities falling upon Funai and angered after weeks of waiting, the Shimazu generals finally convince Yoshihisa to lead an attack against the fortress, not with the intention of overwhelming the defenses but of destroying the will of the defenders.
The attack that came on June 22nd of 1584, began with a double thrust against the Otomo camps north of the Castle, and was only interrupted on June 23rd, when disturbing news arrived from the eastern shore of Bungo: Otomo Yoshimune had returned, with a relief force sent by Takeda had landed and was ready to march to the defense of Funai.
The rumors that arrived on the Shimazu camp on June 23rd paralyzed operations against the Otomo for three days until they were confirmed. Yet the panic had been to a degree senseless; the Takeda auxiliary force under Urano Shigenari numbered only 3,000 men, all that could spared from the main campaign against the Mori.
The rumors, mostly spread by agents of the Otomo clan, nevertheless proved quite useful for the defenders of Funai: first, it stopped the Shimazu attack for a moment, forcing them to regroup in panic; and secondly, it temporarily restored the morale of the Otomo clan, while buying some time to allow for the Takeda force to arrive and the Otomo forces to regroup.
The 3,000 warriors that arrived carrying the Takeda banners boosted the Otomo numbers just north of 18,000 men. Their presence was nonetheless enough by itself to convince the defenders to resist until a proper relief force could arrive. Yet even this boost was not enough to keep the number of deserters from rising, and retainers of the peace party to meet and whisper in the darkness.
Two more skirmishes in mid July of 1584 cleared the path for a major battle on a date that most experts agree to be July 19th of that year.
In the main island of Honshu, the Takeda had begun their grand invasion of the Mori domains and were besieging Hiroshima and Tottori castle, whereas in Shikoku, Chosokabe Motochika calmly waited, sitting on the throne of a unified island of Shikoku.
Across the Oita River, the two armies set camps in anticipation for the battle. As the war in the east was seemingly approaching its climax, the two most powerful clans of Kyushu decide to end the stalemate in a single move, with the intention of presenting their victory as a fait acomplii to whoever stands victorious in the Honshu showdown.
The battle begins in the early hours of the day, when Urano Shigenari spearheads the Otomo offensive with his 3,000 men, with the support of 2,000 Otomo infantry soldiers, and despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, great progress is made on the battlefield in the first moments of the attack.
The tide does not turn until midday, until after the Otomo commit up to 7,000 troops on the attack, when Yoshihisa finally reacts by flanking Shigenari with his reserves while the main troops keep the Otomo, father and son, occupied at the center of the formation.
Seven hours after the beginning of the table, both sides of the Oita River are covered by the remains of both camps, lost banners, armors, spears and bodies. Urano Shigenari and 2,000 of his men lay dead on the battlefield along with 1,200 soldiers of the Otomo clan and 1,350 of the Shimazu army.
Beaten and hopeless, what remains of the once great Otomo host retreats to the other side of the Oita river leaving a trail of blood and despair behind them.
*******************************************************
Well, the next update should end the war in Kyushu once and for all, thus allowing me to concentrate on the post-war and unification...
Siege operations continued during June of 1584 at an alarmingly slow pace. Following the disaster suffered in their camps on may, the Shimazu army was forced to move and fortify their positions around Funai, changing their tactic to a plan of out-waiting the Otomo until they ran out of supplies and dissent spread through their ranks.
Morale and strength within the walls of Funai castle began to wane by the third week of June, and with a lack of truly loyal allies and retainers, support for the Otomo began to dissipate and desertion began to be a common practice amongst the defending forces.
Nevertheless, Shimazu Yoshihisa refused to accept deserters, with the intention of reducing Funai’s foodstuffs as quickly as possible. The desperate situation was of course worsened by the absence of Sorin’s son, Yoshimune, who had gone to Kyoto to plead for assistance and relief from the Takeda clan. The disappearance of the daimyo’s son along with several retainers, along with renewed attempts by the Shimazu to encircle and break through the fortress caused panic to spread life wild fire within the walls of the castle.
Emboldened by the growing calamities falling upon Funai and angered after weeks of waiting, the Shimazu generals finally convince Yoshihisa to lead an attack against the fortress, not with the intention of overwhelming the defenses but of destroying the will of the defenders.
The attack that came on June 22nd of 1584, began with a double thrust against the Otomo camps north of the Castle, and was only interrupted on June 23rd, when disturbing news arrived from the eastern shore of Bungo: Otomo Yoshimune had returned, with a relief force sent by Takeda had landed and was ready to march to the defense of Funai.
The rumors that arrived on the Shimazu camp on June 23rd paralyzed operations against the Otomo for three days until they were confirmed. Yet the panic had been to a degree senseless; the Takeda auxiliary force under Urano Shigenari numbered only 3,000 men, all that could spared from the main campaign against the Mori.
The rumors, mostly spread by agents of the Otomo clan, nevertheless proved quite useful for the defenders of Funai: first, it stopped the Shimazu attack for a moment, forcing them to regroup in panic; and secondly, it temporarily restored the morale of the Otomo clan, while buying some time to allow for the Takeda force to arrive and the Otomo forces to regroup.
The 3,000 warriors that arrived carrying the Takeda banners boosted the Otomo numbers just north of 18,000 men. Their presence was nonetheless enough by itself to convince the defenders to resist until a proper relief force could arrive. Yet even this boost was not enough to keep the number of deserters from rising, and retainers of the peace party to meet and whisper in the darkness.
Two more skirmishes in mid July of 1584 cleared the path for a major battle on a date that most experts agree to be July 19th of that year.
In the main island of Honshu, the Takeda had begun their grand invasion of the Mori domains and were besieging Hiroshima and Tottori castle, whereas in Shikoku, Chosokabe Motochika calmly waited, sitting on the throne of a unified island of Shikoku.
Across the Oita River, the two armies set camps in anticipation for the battle. As the war in the east was seemingly approaching its climax, the two most powerful clans of Kyushu decide to end the stalemate in a single move, with the intention of presenting their victory as a fait acomplii to whoever stands victorious in the Honshu showdown.
The battle begins in the early hours of the day, when Urano Shigenari spearheads the Otomo offensive with his 3,000 men, with the support of 2,000 Otomo infantry soldiers, and despite the numerical superiority of the enemy, great progress is made on the battlefield in the first moments of the attack.
The tide does not turn until midday, until after the Otomo commit up to 7,000 troops on the attack, when Yoshihisa finally reacts by flanking Shigenari with his reserves while the main troops keep the Otomo, father and son, occupied at the center of the formation.
Seven hours after the beginning of the table, both sides of the Oita River are covered by the remains of both camps, lost banners, armors, spears and bodies. Urano Shigenari and 2,000 of his men lay dead on the battlefield along with 1,200 soldiers of the Otomo clan and 1,350 of the Shimazu army.
Beaten and hopeless, what remains of the once great Otomo host retreats to the other side of the Oita river leaving a trail of blood and despair behind them.
*******************************************************
Well, the next update should end the war in Kyushu once and for all, thus allowing me to concentrate on the post-war and unification...
I just found and read this timeline all the way through today. I am very excited to find a good piece of Asian alt-hist; they are far too rare. Congratulations on ressurecting this timeline from last year and I look forward to your next update!
maverick
Banned
An update! as messy and complicated as ever!
Truce
Following the massacre that took place on late July, the siege of Funai reaches its final stages. The fate of the entire campaign and even of the Otomo clan had been risked in one last gamble and Sorin had lost.
After the disaster on the battlefield and the obliteration of the Otomo forces, Shimazu Yoshihisa sees his chance and reverses his policy on deserters: by accepting them now, the defending forces are now even more depleted and weakened. A week after the battle along the Oita River, only the most loyal of retainers remain behind their master, whereas a majority of allies and former vassals have fled to save their lives.
The ceasefire that took place on the first week of August of 1584 signaled not only the fall of Funai and the end of the campaign, but an effective end of the Otomo dominance over Kyushu and their direct control over the northern half of the island. With the Ryuzoji controlling the west and the Shimazu the south and the center, the domains of Otomo Sorin and his son were turn asunder; several vassals and allies such as Akizuke Takezane had rebelled during the course of the war, dissent was running high, and with the loss of their capital, the fate of the once great clan was sealed.
Shimazu Yoshihisa’s greatest victory would nevertheless prove to be only temporary. Even as a definitive military triumph had been achieved, there were more pressing matters at hand: firstly, news had arrived from Honshu: Tottori castle was about to fall and Hiroshima, the Mori capital, was directly threatened by the Takeda.
While this meant that it would take the Takeda army months if not years to directly threaten his domains in Kyushu, if the Mori were defeated, then nothing else in the entire empire could stop Takeda Katsuyori. The only choice left was to present the unification of Kyushu as a done deal and negotiate with the Takeda daimyo upon his arrival.
The second main problem was the general situation with Kyushu itself: the Otomo domains in Bungo had disintegrated, but where order once reigned now chaos prevailed. Several if not most of the former vassals and allies were in open rebellion and seeking their independence from the Otomo, and in many cases, entering into alliances with the other two clans, the Shimazu and the Ryuzoji.
Even worse, matters in the west with the Ryuzoji clan had not been properly dealt with or even concluded, to the point in which the situation at Hizen and Chikugo were even worse than when the Shimazu had left a year before.
Upon the Ryuzoji defeat at the hands of Yoshihisa and the death of his son Ryuzoji Takanobu, a power struggle erupted, mere weeks after stability had returned to the region.
The eldest son Masaie, a weak and indecisive man, lost the allegiance of the most powerful retainer of the clan, Nabeshima Naoshige, who formed an alliance with Masaie’s brother Ryuzoji Ietane.
What at first seemed a common war of succession over the lands and titles of the Ryuzoji clan became a regional conflict that engulfed three provinces in western Kyushu (Hizen, Chikugo and Chikuzen) as minor daimyos and retainers began to take and exchange allegiances in the midst of the Ryuzoji war.
By August of 1584, Nabeshima Naoshige was in alliance with two of the Ryuzoji brothers, the strong willed Ietane and the Christian sympathizer Ienobu, as well as the Christian daimyo Arima Harunobu of Shimabara, and Akizuki Tanezane of Chizuken.
Ryuzoji Masaie, the weakest brother was assisted by his uncle Ryuzoji Nobuchika and a coalition of local daimyos that remained loyal to him, but he nonetheless had several military and political disadvantages that forced him to ask for the help of Shimazu Yoshihisa on September of 1584.
Shimazu Yoshihisa intervened in earnest a month later, but after years of war, his strategy revolved around diplomacy at first, hoping that his recent victory over the Otomo would compel the rebel factions to accept his authority and submit to him.
The lord of Kagoshima was nevertheless sadly mistaken. His token force of 5,000 men arrived at Saga castle was barely enough to deter Nabeshima and his allies, but it showed that the de facto ruler of the island had chosen a side.
Evasion
The war in western Kyushu, representing more than an inner power struggle but a great battle for the domination of the island, while starting as a minor nuisance to the Shimazu designs for regional domination, had become by late 1584 into a bloody labyrinth without exit.
The bulk of the Shimazu forces were elsewhere, pacifying the island, overseeing the recently conquered or occupied territories and preparing the clan’s armies and fortresses for the eventuality of a Takeda invasion.
Thus, when Nabeshima Naoshige began his final drive towards Saga on October of 1584, a much delayed move thanks to months of preparation, diplomatic battles between daimyos and minor skirmishes throughout the province, the Shimazu-Ryuzoji forces were barely able to take the blunt force of the attack.
Furthermore, thanks to his alliance with the Christian daimyos of Shimabara and Nagasaki, Arima Harunobu and Omura Sumitada, Nabeshima and the two rebel Ryuzoji brothers were in alliance with the Jesuits and were able to exploit their support to obtain weapons and even the help of Portuguese ships, thanks to the ambition and greed of some of the European captains.
The three sieges of Saga are of course only a minor conflict within a regional conflict for the domination of Kyushu, whereas the main battle for the domination of Japan takes place elsewhere.
The distraction that keeps Shimazu Yoshihisa occupied in a minor dispute to the other side of the island is nonetheless the perfect opportunity for the fallen Otomo clan. News of the siege operations in the western provinces arrived to Bungo in only a matter of days, and thus Otomo Sorin hatched his plan.
Abandoning his place of mandatory retirement, Sorin left Usuki on November of 1584 in the company of the few loyal servants that had been allowed to stay by Yoshihisa, and upon eluding the Shimazu guards and soldiers at the town and throughout the province, Sorin finally reached Osaka in early December, with the intention of meeting with Katsuyori himself at Hiroshima.
To be continued...
(This map just has to help, and if you can keep up without it, then you deserve a freaking medal)
Truce
Following the massacre that took place on late July, the siege of Funai reaches its final stages. The fate of the entire campaign and even of the Otomo clan had been risked in one last gamble and Sorin had lost.
After the disaster on the battlefield and the obliteration of the Otomo forces, Shimazu Yoshihisa sees his chance and reverses his policy on deserters: by accepting them now, the defending forces are now even more depleted and weakened. A week after the battle along the Oita River, only the most loyal of retainers remain behind their master, whereas a majority of allies and former vassals have fled to save their lives.
The ceasefire that took place on the first week of August of 1584 signaled not only the fall of Funai and the end of the campaign, but an effective end of the Otomo dominance over Kyushu and their direct control over the northern half of the island. With the Ryuzoji controlling the west and the Shimazu the south and the center, the domains of Otomo Sorin and his son were turn asunder; several vassals and allies such as Akizuke Takezane had rebelled during the course of the war, dissent was running high, and with the loss of their capital, the fate of the once great clan was sealed.
Shimazu Yoshihisa’s greatest victory would nevertheless prove to be only temporary. Even as a definitive military triumph had been achieved, there were more pressing matters at hand: firstly, news had arrived from Honshu: Tottori castle was about to fall and Hiroshima, the Mori capital, was directly threatened by the Takeda.
While this meant that it would take the Takeda army months if not years to directly threaten his domains in Kyushu, if the Mori were defeated, then nothing else in the entire empire could stop Takeda Katsuyori. The only choice left was to present the unification of Kyushu as a done deal and negotiate with the Takeda daimyo upon his arrival.
The second main problem was the general situation with Kyushu itself: the Otomo domains in Bungo had disintegrated, but where order once reigned now chaos prevailed. Several if not most of the former vassals and allies were in open rebellion and seeking their independence from the Otomo, and in many cases, entering into alliances with the other two clans, the Shimazu and the Ryuzoji.
Even worse, matters in the west with the Ryuzoji clan had not been properly dealt with or even concluded, to the point in which the situation at Hizen and Chikugo were even worse than when the Shimazu had left a year before.
Upon the Ryuzoji defeat at the hands of Yoshihisa and the death of his son Ryuzoji Takanobu, a power struggle erupted, mere weeks after stability had returned to the region.
The eldest son Masaie, a weak and indecisive man, lost the allegiance of the most powerful retainer of the clan, Nabeshima Naoshige, who formed an alliance with Masaie’s brother Ryuzoji Ietane.
What at first seemed a common war of succession over the lands and titles of the Ryuzoji clan became a regional conflict that engulfed three provinces in western Kyushu (Hizen, Chikugo and Chikuzen) as minor daimyos and retainers began to take and exchange allegiances in the midst of the Ryuzoji war.
By August of 1584, Nabeshima Naoshige was in alliance with two of the Ryuzoji brothers, the strong willed Ietane and the Christian sympathizer Ienobu, as well as the Christian daimyo Arima Harunobu of Shimabara, and Akizuki Tanezane of Chizuken.
Ryuzoji Masaie, the weakest brother was assisted by his uncle Ryuzoji Nobuchika and a coalition of local daimyos that remained loyal to him, but he nonetheless had several military and political disadvantages that forced him to ask for the help of Shimazu Yoshihisa on September of 1584.
Shimazu Yoshihisa intervened in earnest a month later, but after years of war, his strategy revolved around diplomacy at first, hoping that his recent victory over the Otomo would compel the rebel factions to accept his authority and submit to him.
The lord of Kagoshima was nevertheless sadly mistaken. His token force of 5,000 men arrived at Saga castle was barely enough to deter Nabeshima and his allies, but it showed that the de facto ruler of the island had chosen a side.
Evasion
The war in western Kyushu, representing more than an inner power struggle but a great battle for the domination of the island, while starting as a minor nuisance to the Shimazu designs for regional domination, had become by late 1584 into a bloody labyrinth without exit.
The bulk of the Shimazu forces were elsewhere, pacifying the island, overseeing the recently conquered or occupied territories and preparing the clan’s armies and fortresses for the eventuality of a Takeda invasion.
Thus, when Nabeshima Naoshige began his final drive towards Saga on October of 1584, a much delayed move thanks to months of preparation, diplomatic battles between daimyos and minor skirmishes throughout the province, the Shimazu-Ryuzoji forces were barely able to take the blunt force of the attack.
Furthermore, thanks to his alliance with the Christian daimyos of Shimabara and Nagasaki, Arima Harunobu and Omura Sumitada, Nabeshima and the two rebel Ryuzoji brothers were in alliance with the Jesuits and were able to exploit their support to obtain weapons and even the help of Portuguese ships, thanks to the ambition and greed of some of the European captains.
The three sieges of Saga are of course only a minor conflict within a regional conflict for the domination of Kyushu, whereas the main battle for the domination of Japan takes place elsewhere.
The distraction that keeps Shimazu Yoshihisa occupied in a minor dispute to the other side of the island is nonetheless the perfect opportunity for the fallen Otomo clan. News of the siege operations in the western provinces arrived to Bungo in only a matter of days, and thus Otomo Sorin hatched his plan.
Abandoning his place of mandatory retirement, Sorin left Usuki on November of 1584 in the company of the few loyal servants that had been allowed to stay by Yoshihisa, and upon eluding the Shimazu guards and soldiers at the town and throughout the province, Sorin finally reached Osaka in early December, with the intention of meeting with Katsuyori himself at Hiroshima.
To be continued...
(This map just has to help, and if you can keep up without it, then you deserve a freaking medal)
maverick
Banned
The unification is almost complete
Invasion
Otomo Sorin accompanies Takeda Katsuyori in his conquest of the Mori Domains throughout 1585, serving as an involuntary witness as he awaited for his chance to talk to the rising super-daimyo on his path to unification, and convince him to intervene in the tribulations of Kyushu on his behalf.
The last days of Tottori and the entirety of the Hiroshima campaign passed, as did the surrender and near destruction of the Mori clan, with Sorin as an unwilling and impatient spectator yet he waited.
It wasn’t until the summer of 1585 that the war against the Mori was concluded and the Takeda Armies were free to eliminate the last remnants of resistance to Katsuyori’s rule: the Chosokabe and the Shimazu.
Chosokabe Motochika was the first to suffer the consequences of his disobedience, and following a six weeks campaign he saw his domains occupied and reduced to his province of Tosa, denying him the dream of unifying Shikoku once more. [1]
The rush campaign through Buzen and Shikoku was followed by the invasion of Kyushu on September or 1586, with over 30,000 men under the personal command of Takeda Katsuyori while his ally Mori Terumoto joined him with a host of 60,000 troops.
In the time between Otomo Sorin’s escape to Kyoto and the arrival of the Great Takeda army, Shimazu Yoshihisa spent his resources consolidating his position in the island and pacifying the provinces that refused to acknowledge his rule.
The rebellious daimyo of the north had been crushed just in time for the Shimazu to barely be prepared to meet the Takeda, and even then, the Ryuzoji succession war still raged in the western provinces when Yoshihisa was forced to leave his allies to his own devices. Having to leave his allies to prepare his own forces would cost them the war, as Nabeshima Naoshige captures Saga two months later, on August of 1585.
Following the landings at Northern Kyushu, the Takeda and Mori forces advanced southwardly at fast pace, facing little to no resistance from the Shimazu armies. With his numbers just barely north of 40,000 men, Yoshihisa decides to abandon his conquest in Bungo and Katsuyori raises his banners over Funai Castle by mid September, being followed by Mori Terumoto and Otomo Sorin.
The conquering armies march through Hyuga effortlessly as the Shimazu prepare for the inevitable, fortifying their positions at home, at their capital of Kagoshima.
The only resistance before Satsuma proper is invaded is seen at the Sendai River on October of 1586, when Shimazu loyalists under Niiro Tadamoto led a fanatical charge against the vastly superior Takeda army, delaying their advance by a day but losing nearly 500 men and his own life before his forces were forced to retreat.
Kagoshima became the main target on November of 1586, and as winter approached, it was feared that a prolonged siege would take place as had happened during the wars against the Mori and the Uesugi. Nevertheless, the final conflict is anticlimactic.
Even though over 30,000 men were ready to fight the Takeda Juggernaut, Yoshihisa saw his fate sealed and took the most reasonable road: surrendering to Takeda Katsuyori as his armies surrounded Kagoshima from land and sea.
World Peace
Shimazu Yoshihisa, who had for nearly two years come closest of any daimyo to achieve the unification of Kyushu, presented himself with his head shaved and with a submissive attitude at the Takeda Clan, presenting his respects to the son of Shingen.
The Shimazu domain was reduced to Satsuma, Osumi and southern Hyuga and most lives spared, while Yoshihisa would be forced to abdicate and his younger brother Yoshihiro would take the reign of the Clan.
The Otomo domains were restored, but the clan’s power and influence was virtually none and they had become puppets of the Takeda Clan in Kyushu with little power by themselves, as had happened to the Uesugi relocated in Kanto.
Peace was elsewhere forced down upon the people of Kyushu: the minor lords that refused to obey were punished and their land redistributed amongst the loyal generals and the local daimyos that became part of the Takeda camp. The last include men like Nabeshima Naoshige, virtual lord of Hizen and Chiguko, joined by his vassals, the Ryuzoji brothers.
An unexpected effect of the new system of allegiances was the growth of the Christian influence in Kyushu, especially in the west and in the north, as the catholic daimyos of Nagasaki, Bungo and Shimabara saw their influence grow and the Catholic faith brought mainly by the Portuguese and the Jesuits soon expanded through the island, especially in ports such as Nagasaki, Hakata (later Fukuoka) and Kagoshima.
The path to Unification had been cleared and the only group not directly under the rule of the Takeda banners was those daimyo of the west and the north in Honshu, whom Katsuyori would visit soon enough.
Notes:
1. See page 3 for more details (“Tosa”)
Invasion
Otomo Sorin accompanies Takeda Katsuyori in his conquest of the Mori Domains throughout 1585, serving as an involuntary witness as he awaited for his chance to talk to the rising super-daimyo on his path to unification, and convince him to intervene in the tribulations of Kyushu on his behalf.
The last days of Tottori and the entirety of the Hiroshima campaign passed, as did the surrender and near destruction of the Mori clan, with Sorin as an unwilling and impatient spectator yet he waited.
It wasn’t until the summer of 1585 that the war against the Mori was concluded and the Takeda Armies were free to eliminate the last remnants of resistance to Katsuyori’s rule: the Chosokabe and the Shimazu.
Chosokabe Motochika was the first to suffer the consequences of his disobedience, and following a six weeks campaign he saw his domains occupied and reduced to his province of Tosa, denying him the dream of unifying Shikoku once more. [1]
The rush campaign through Buzen and Shikoku was followed by the invasion of Kyushu on September or 1586, with over 30,000 men under the personal command of Takeda Katsuyori while his ally Mori Terumoto joined him with a host of 60,000 troops.
In the time between Otomo Sorin’s escape to Kyoto and the arrival of the Great Takeda army, Shimazu Yoshihisa spent his resources consolidating his position in the island and pacifying the provinces that refused to acknowledge his rule.
The rebellious daimyo of the north had been crushed just in time for the Shimazu to barely be prepared to meet the Takeda, and even then, the Ryuzoji succession war still raged in the western provinces when Yoshihisa was forced to leave his allies to his own devices. Having to leave his allies to prepare his own forces would cost them the war, as Nabeshima Naoshige captures Saga two months later, on August of 1585.
Following the landings at Northern Kyushu, the Takeda and Mori forces advanced southwardly at fast pace, facing little to no resistance from the Shimazu armies. With his numbers just barely north of 40,000 men, Yoshihisa decides to abandon his conquest in Bungo and Katsuyori raises his banners over Funai Castle by mid September, being followed by Mori Terumoto and Otomo Sorin.
The conquering armies march through Hyuga effortlessly as the Shimazu prepare for the inevitable, fortifying their positions at home, at their capital of Kagoshima.
The only resistance before Satsuma proper is invaded is seen at the Sendai River on October of 1586, when Shimazu loyalists under Niiro Tadamoto led a fanatical charge against the vastly superior Takeda army, delaying their advance by a day but losing nearly 500 men and his own life before his forces were forced to retreat.
Kagoshima became the main target on November of 1586, and as winter approached, it was feared that a prolonged siege would take place as had happened during the wars against the Mori and the Uesugi. Nevertheless, the final conflict is anticlimactic.
Even though over 30,000 men were ready to fight the Takeda Juggernaut, Yoshihisa saw his fate sealed and took the most reasonable road: surrendering to Takeda Katsuyori as his armies surrounded Kagoshima from land and sea.
World Peace
Shimazu Yoshihisa, who had for nearly two years come closest of any daimyo to achieve the unification of Kyushu, presented himself with his head shaved and with a submissive attitude at the Takeda Clan, presenting his respects to the son of Shingen.
The Shimazu domain was reduced to Satsuma, Osumi and southern Hyuga and most lives spared, while Yoshihisa would be forced to abdicate and his younger brother Yoshihiro would take the reign of the Clan.
The Otomo domains were restored, but the clan’s power and influence was virtually none and they had become puppets of the Takeda Clan in Kyushu with little power by themselves, as had happened to the Uesugi relocated in Kanto.
Peace was elsewhere forced down upon the people of Kyushu: the minor lords that refused to obey were punished and their land redistributed amongst the loyal generals and the local daimyos that became part of the Takeda camp. The last include men like Nabeshima Naoshige, virtual lord of Hizen and Chiguko, joined by his vassals, the Ryuzoji brothers.
An unexpected effect of the new system of allegiances was the growth of the Christian influence in Kyushu, especially in the west and in the north, as the catholic daimyos of Nagasaki, Bungo and Shimabara saw their influence grow and the Catholic faith brought mainly by the Portuguese and the Jesuits soon expanded through the island, especially in ports such as Nagasaki, Hakata (later Fukuoka) and Kagoshima.
The path to Unification had been cleared and the only group not directly under the rule of the Takeda banners was those daimyo of the west and the north in Honshu, whom Katsuyori would visit soon enough.
Notes:
1. See page 3 for more details (“Tosa”)
Well another island down, congratulations are in order.
The only concern is whether or not a true shoguns peace can be established after the conquest. For the immediate future the wars should have exhaisted the competent and killed off the fanatics. The peril is that like many conquerors ruling a largh territory can be difficult, especially when you still have yesterday's losers still around.
I am intrigued by the post war developments on Kyushu. Are we going to see a Christian majority on the island? If the shogunate allows that and no rebellons occur it could greatly affect Japanese development. Even as only a regional religion there are many tasty butterflies that could emerge.
The only concern is whether or not a true shoguns peace can be established after the conquest. For the immediate future the wars should have exhaisted the competent and killed off the fanatics. The peril is that like many conquerors ruling a largh territory can be difficult, especially when you still have yesterday's losers still around.
I am intrigued by the post war developments on Kyushu. Are we going to see a Christian majority on the island? If the shogunate allows that and no rebellons occur it could greatly affect Japanese development. Even as only a regional religion there are many tasty butterflies that could emerge.
maverick
Banned
Unification
By the winter of 1586, peace had returned to the empire of Japan, as all the lords of the Great Clans, the Uesugi, the Shimazu, the Mori, the Otomo and so many others fall under the banners of the Takeda Clan and the marching armies of Takeda Katsuyori.
But even as the daimyo of Kai returns to Kyoto in the spring of 1587 at the head of an ever victorious conquering army, a small quarter of the nation remains independent from the central government at the Imperial Capital: the North.
Beyond the western borders of the Takeda and Uesugi domains at Echigo and Kanto, beyond the control of the great lords of central and western Honshu, the local clans acted with great autonomy and in many times with indifference to events in the central provinces, even as Takeda Shingen and Katsuyori began their quest to bring the nation under one banner.
The destruction of the Hojo and the Uesugi, the return of the Uesugi to the Kanto, all served as signs to show them the shape of things to come. The northern provinces of Dewa and Mutsu were ruled by several warring clans including the Ashina, the Date, the Nambu, the Hatakeyama, the Mogani and several others.
Two reasons explain why Takeda Katsuyori didn’t bother to subdue the region and its daimyos, or even care about Dewa and Mutsu until the summer of 1588.
Firstly, the Takeda were always preoccupied with more immediate concerns and threats. Following the war against the Uesugi and the Hojo in the 1570s, the Takeda faced the new administrative and military challenges of controlling such a large domain, and then a war against the Mori and the Shimazu. And once this new menace was dealt with, Katsuyori was forced to spend considerable time in Kyoto dealing with the administration of a unified Japan.
Secondly, the region lacked any significant political or economic importance that could have warranted the attention of the Takeda Daimyo. It was the personal ambition of Katsuyori, the goal of having the entire nation under his control, what drove him to the northern confines of Honshu in 1588.
Now, as opposed to the bloody wars against the Oda, the Uesugi and the Mori, or the shorter military campaigns against the Shimazu and the Chosokabe, marching from Kyoto to Sendai was more of a political show of will than a military show of strength.
Having destroyed the greatest armies that the rivaling clans could yield on the field, there were no battles left to fight, no one to resist. By July of 1588, the hegemonic power in Mutsu was a Daimyo by the name of Date Masamune, a resourceful and intelligent tactician known as the “One-Eyed Dragon.”
In the years spent between 1573 and 1588, the fight for supremacy in northern Japan had devolved in a two-way war between the Date led by Masamune and whatever coalition was formed to stop him, generally led by the rival Ashina clan.
Upon taking the reins of power in 1582, Masamune soon found himself entangled in conflicts with the Ashina, over the defection of several Date retainers, and the traditional rivals of the Date, the Hatakeyama. The wars against these two clans would come to show the great ability and the ruthlessness of the man Masamune. [1]
Having marched south and defeated the Ashina of Aizu in a surprising victory at Hibara, he inflicted a terrible vengeance on the traitors to the clan, putting nearly 800 men of all ages to the sword. News of the massacre soon reached the Ouchi at Obama Castle, causing them to panic and flee. [2]
But his reputation as a warrior without pity came when fighting the forces of Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu, who after failing to negotiate with the young and hot-blooded daimyo, asked his father Terumune to mediate between the two. Yoshitsugu nevertheless kidnapped Date Masamune’s father in a trap. Masamune and his men caught up with them near the Abukuma River.
In the ensuing confrontation, Terumune ordered his son and his men to open fire regardless of his own safety. Without hesitating [3], the men fired at the Hatakeyama party, killing everybody including the Hatakeyama lord and Date Masamune’s own father.
Following the incident, Masamune marched upon Nihonmatsu castle. A few months later, a general war erupted as the Hatakeyama rallied the Ashina, the Satake, the Soma and other clans to fight the Date. The coalition would nevertheless proved to be shortlived, as the Satake would be forced to leave the war in order to defend their own lands from the Satomi, upsetting the balance of power and giving the Date the chance to broke new deals and clear his path to regional hegemony.
When Katsuyori met Masamune on August of 1588, he had subdued the Soma and was in the process of besieging the Ashina headquarters at Kurokawa. By the end of the operation, the Takeda recognized the Date as the main clan of Mutsu, whereas Masamune presented Kurokawa and a over 2,000 enemy heads on pikes as a sign of respect and vassalage.
The conquest of Aizu and the lands of the Hatakeyama, authorized by Katsuyori in the fall of 1588, would put the Date domain at the height of its power; coincidently just as the Takeda themselves were at the pinnacle of their own.
Notes:
1. IOTL, Masamune took over in 1584;
2. IOTL, Masamune was stopped at the Hibara by Iwashiro Morinuki, not present ITTL;
3. IOTL, two versions exist: a. Masamune hesitated before shooting, and the Hatakeyama lord escaped; b. Masamune did not hesitate, and killed them all...I'm going with version B for ITTL;
By the winter of 1586, peace had returned to the empire of Japan, as all the lords of the Great Clans, the Uesugi, the Shimazu, the Mori, the Otomo and so many others fall under the banners of the Takeda Clan and the marching armies of Takeda Katsuyori.
But even as the daimyo of Kai returns to Kyoto in the spring of 1587 at the head of an ever victorious conquering army, a small quarter of the nation remains independent from the central government at the Imperial Capital: the North.
Beyond the western borders of the Takeda and Uesugi domains at Echigo and Kanto, beyond the control of the great lords of central and western Honshu, the local clans acted with great autonomy and in many times with indifference to events in the central provinces, even as Takeda Shingen and Katsuyori began their quest to bring the nation under one banner.
The destruction of the Hojo and the Uesugi, the return of the Uesugi to the Kanto, all served as signs to show them the shape of things to come. The northern provinces of Dewa and Mutsu were ruled by several warring clans including the Ashina, the Date, the Nambu, the Hatakeyama, the Mogani and several others.
Two reasons explain why Takeda Katsuyori didn’t bother to subdue the region and its daimyos, or even care about Dewa and Mutsu until the summer of 1588.
Firstly, the Takeda were always preoccupied with more immediate concerns and threats. Following the war against the Uesugi and the Hojo in the 1570s, the Takeda faced the new administrative and military challenges of controlling such a large domain, and then a war against the Mori and the Shimazu. And once this new menace was dealt with, Katsuyori was forced to spend considerable time in Kyoto dealing with the administration of a unified Japan.
Secondly, the region lacked any significant political or economic importance that could have warranted the attention of the Takeda Daimyo. It was the personal ambition of Katsuyori, the goal of having the entire nation under his control, what drove him to the northern confines of Honshu in 1588.
Now, as opposed to the bloody wars against the Oda, the Uesugi and the Mori, or the shorter military campaigns against the Shimazu and the Chosokabe, marching from Kyoto to Sendai was more of a political show of will than a military show of strength.
Having destroyed the greatest armies that the rivaling clans could yield on the field, there were no battles left to fight, no one to resist. By July of 1588, the hegemonic power in Mutsu was a Daimyo by the name of Date Masamune, a resourceful and intelligent tactician known as the “One-Eyed Dragon.”
In the years spent between 1573 and 1588, the fight for supremacy in northern Japan had devolved in a two-way war between the Date led by Masamune and whatever coalition was formed to stop him, generally led by the rival Ashina clan.
Upon taking the reins of power in 1582, Masamune soon found himself entangled in conflicts with the Ashina, over the defection of several Date retainers, and the traditional rivals of the Date, the Hatakeyama. The wars against these two clans would come to show the great ability and the ruthlessness of the man Masamune. [1]
Having marched south and defeated the Ashina of Aizu in a surprising victory at Hibara, he inflicted a terrible vengeance on the traitors to the clan, putting nearly 800 men of all ages to the sword. News of the massacre soon reached the Ouchi at Obama Castle, causing them to panic and flee. [2]
But his reputation as a warrior without pity came when fighting the forces of Hatakeyama Yoshitsugu, who after failing to negotiate with the young and hot-blooded daimyo, asked his father Terumune to mediate between the two. Yoshitsugu nevertheless kidnapped Date Masamune’s father in a trap. Masamune and his men caught up with them near the Abukuma River.
In the ensuing confrontation, Terumune ordered his son and his men to open fire regardless of his own safety. Without hesitating [3], the men fired at the Hatakeyama party, killing everybody including the Hatakeyama lord and Date Masamune’s own father.
Following the incident, Masamune marched upon Nihonmatsu castle. A few months later, a general war erupted as the Hatakeyama rallied the Ashina, the Satake, the Soma and other clans to fight the Date. The coalition would nevertheless proved to be shortlived, as the Satake would be forced to leave the war in order to defend their own lands from the Satomi, upsetting the balance of power and giving the Date the chance to broke new deals and clear his path to regional hegemony.
When Katsuyori met Masamune on August of 1588, he had subdued the Soma and was in the process of besieging the Ashina headquarters at Kurokawa. By the end of the operation, the Takeda recognized the Date as the main clan of Mutsu, whereas Masamune presented Kurokawa and a over 2,000 enemy heads on pikes as a sign of respect and vassalage.
The conquest of Aizu and the lands of the Hatakeyama, authorized by Katsuyori in the fall of 1588, would put the Date domain at the height of its power; coincidently just as the Takeda themselves were at the pinnacle of their own.
Notes:
1. IOTL, Masamune took over in 1584;
2. IOTL, Masamune was stopped at the Hibara by Iwashiro Morinuki, not present ITTL;
3. IOTL, two versions exist: a. Masamune hesitated before shooting, and the Hatakeyama lord escaped; b. Masamune did not hesitate, and killed them all...I'm going with version B for ITTL;
The Takeda Shogunate is shaping up to become more of a primus inter pares thing than the complete domination of the Tokugawa in OTL. I wonder what this bodes for the future.
BTW, will there be a sword hunt? Most(if not all) of the reasons for it still apply, but Takeda Katsuyori is different from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He might pull something different.
BTW, will there be a sword hunt? Most(if not all) of the reasons for it still apply, but Takeda Katsuyori is different from Toyotomi Hideyoshi. He might pull something different.
maverick
Banned
In a way, yet the Uesugi and the Otomo are merely puppets with little power of their own, the Shimazu and the Chosokabe were never big threats to central power to begin with, and that leaves the allies, the Date and the Mori. It's actually more stable than it seems (at least for now) although far less absolute that the Tokugawa domination.
All good points, and thankfully, the next update should take care of administrative matters in the late 1580s now that the unification war is over...
The Sandman
Banned
I would assume that the Ikko Ikki would have to be dealt with at some point. Perhaps Christianity survives due to a perception that, as a foreign religion without the same emphasis on the overthrowal of the existing order, it would provide a useful replacement for the Ikko Ikki as a safety valve for the peasantry?
Are the Shimazu going to look towards the outside as an alternative route to power and influence, whether by trade or outright conquest (likely directed at the Ryukus and Taiwan)? With Takeda control not as monolithic as the OTL Tokugawa Bakufu, the Takeda might see Shimazu foreign adventures as a useful way to keep that clan from causing problems on Kyushu. Also, if the Shimazu don't Christianize, they and the Otomo would provide a balance for each other in dealing with Europeans coming from the south.
What's happening in Kyoto, by the way? Is the Takeda clan still centered on Gifu, or have they moved some of the governing apparatus there similar to the Ashikaga? And on a personal note, I hope that Kiyomizu-dera is still going to built as OTL (well, the present buildings at least); it was my favorite of the ones I visited in Kyoto. Except maybe for Kinkaku-ji, but Kiyomizu-dera is more of an active temple than Kinkaku-ji is.
Are the Shimazu going to look towards the outside as an alternative route to power and influence, whether by trade or outright conquest (likely directed at the Ryukus and Taiwan)? With Takeda control not as monolithic as the OTL Tokugawa Bakufu, the Takeda might see Shimazu foreign adventures as a useful way to keep that clan from causing problems on Kyushu. Also, if the Shimazu don't Christianize, they and the Otomo would provide a balance for each other in dealing with Europeans coming from the south.
What's happening in Kyoto, by the way? Is the Takeda clan still centered on Gifu, or have they moved some of the governing apparatus there similar to the Ashikaga? And on a personal note, I hope that Kiyomizu-dera is still going to built as OTL (well, the present buildings at least); it was my favorite of the ones I visited in Kyoto. Except maybe for Kinkaku-ji, but Kiyomizu-dera is more of an active temple than Kinkaku-ji is.
Seconded.
This thread really does not get the feedback it deserves.
Personally I think a less oppressive regime is for the best. The existence of trade and foreign ventures should allow Japan to advance across the board econmically and technologically. Also with a thriving Christian minority they should be better prpared to recieve the Europeans as equals rather than the usual union jacking.
Samurai fighting abroad, I believe read this in another thread. But with good reason, tht is an excellent and entertaining idea. Taiwan is probably better off seperated from the mainland anyway.
This thread really does not get the feedback it deserves.
Personally I think a less oppressive regime is for the best. The existence of trade and foreign ventures should allow Japan to advance across the board econmically and technologically. Also with a thriving Christian minority they should be better prpared to recieve the Europeans as equals rather than the usual union jacking.
Samurai fighting abroad, I believe read this in another thread. But with good reason, tht is an excellent and entertaining idea. Taiwan is probably better off seperated from the mainland anyway.
maverick
Banned
Thank you guys...
Interesting comments, and of course, part of the challenge of writting this TL is for it not to become The Dragon Rises High 2.0, in which I already explored a Japan that was opened to Christianity and foreign relations.
Well, the Takeda were never centered at Gigu...
The Takeda capital is technically still at Kofu, but Katsuyori is effectively governing from Kyoto, although not officially as a Shogun...maybe as Kampaku for his son, Nobukado, whom Shingen preferred as a successor over Katsuyori.
Interesting comments, and of course, part of the challenge of writting this TL is for it not to become The Dragon Rises High 2.0, in which I already explored a Japan that was opened to Christianity and foreign relations.
Well, the Takeda were never centered at Gigu...
The Takeda capital is technically still at Kofu, but Katsuyori is effectively governing from Kyoto, although not officially as a Shogun...maybe as Kampaku for his son, Nobukado, whom Shingen preferred as a successor over Katsuyori.