The Vengeance of Oda Nobunaga III

The Oda clan was at war on all fronts, if not for the disloyalty the other Daimyo had towards one another, the Oda would have certainly fallen. There was also disloyalty among the family of Nobunaga which was a constant thorn in his side. With Kyoto in his grasp and the Ikko-Ikki peasants revolt sparking up all over the country the enemy now lies within. Just as the Oda begin to make some ground they are once again betrayed and attacked by the great Takeda Clan of the East. With Nobunaga's greatest ally the Tokugawa Clan annihilated on the field of Mikatagahara, can the Oda maintain control?
 
 Topics Covered
 Ikko-Ikki
 Ishiyama Hongan-ji War
 The Slaughter at Mt. Hiei
 The Demon King and Nobunaga's Fascination with Europe
 The Siege of Iwamura Castle
 The Great Takeda Clan Attacks
 The Battle of Mikatagahara
 Vengeance Is Taken upon The Asakura and Azai

Transcript

The Vengeance of Oda Nobunaga III

Different Samurai clans began answering the Shogun’s secret call for aid,

The Miyoshi, who had puppeted Yoshiaki’s s successor were kicked out of Kyoto when Nobunaga arrived and deposed their puppet, they joined the secret alliance of the new Shogun, they were among the clans who answered the Shoguns call

They formed an uneasy alliance with the Ikko-Ikki

IKKO-IKKI movement

 Ikkō-ikki translates to something like "devoted league", but also had the connotation of "single-minded riots"

Choas reigned throughout the land during the Sengoku period. It wasn’t a bad time to be a noble as the instability led to the aristocracy expanding their power, but if you weren’t apart of the small Samurai or Daimyo class, famine, disease, and constant warfare made it difficult to survive.

A lot of anger was directed at the Samurai for this. Peasants, merchants, and Artisans began joining the Ikko-Ikki movement, 

This was a religious movement, that followed a specific sect of Shinto Buddhism called Jodo Shinshu. Normally Buddhist are thought of as peaceful, but these guys were warrior monks.

Buddhism, like Christianity diverged into numerous sects, some of which taught doctrines not so dissimilar to the Vikings, For example one said that only Nirvana can be reached through death on the battlefield.

The Ikko-Ikki were a loose confederation of groups, this caused fighting over the different interpretations and sects of Buddhism

This is one of the reasons Nobunaga was so successful, He had one consistent ally to rely on, the Tokugawa clan led by Ieyasu. The other Daimyo all formed loose alliances with one another to take on Nobunaga which didn’t really amount to much due to do their distrust and disloyalty to one another. Had they or the Ikko-Ikki for that matter unified and fought Nobunaga together Nobunaga would have most likely been overthrown.

This wasn’t the first time the Oda-Tokugawa forces or other Daimyo had fought against the Ikko-Ikki, 
 Tokugawa Ieyasu years earlier famously defeated them in his home province of Mikawa

The battle of Azukizaka was fierce and Ieyasu took the field personally, issuing challenges to enemy samurai and fighting in the front line where he received several bullets that pierced his armour but failed to wound him.

Ieyasu’s brave conduct in the battle convinced many of the samurai turncoats in the Ikko-Ikki to switch sides and the Ikko-Ikki were defeated. Nevertheless, the battle did not spell the end of the Ikko-Ikki in Mikawa, Ieyasu continued his campaign to pacify the Mikawa province from them

Nobunaga saw how dangerous the Ikko-Ikki were, their numbers swelled due to the growing resentment at the upper classes and the chaos they seemed to constantly bring to the land. Nobunaga turned his attention to their stronghold Ishiyama Hongan-Ji located in modern day Osaka (just outside of Kyoto) in 1570 Nobunaga launched the Ishiyma Hongan-Ji war

He besieged the cathederal-fortress While simultaneously fighting his Samurai enemies.

For 11 years Nobunaga’s soldiers camped outside of Ishiyama Hongan-Ji, making it the longest siege battle in Japanese history.

One of the things that made the Ikko-Ikki extra dangerous is that they weren’t a clan, they could set up temples all over Japan where the Samurai clans like the Oda or Azai had to stay in their controlled provinces.

Nobunaga besieged another Ikko-Ikki stronghold, Nagashima, a series of fortifications in his home province of Owari, when his troops were ordered to charge, the swampy land surrounding the temples caused the soldiers to sink into the ground, weighed down by their heavy armor, the Monks had also buried pots into the swamp that caused the soldiers to get stuck further.

3,000 warrior monks armed with arquebusiers then began firing on the trapped soldiers

The samurai that managed to drag themselves to shore while being fired on were further slowed by ropes stretched across stakes, which tripped up their horses further. Many were then drowned when the defenders opened a dike and flooded the area. Many samurai were lost; this first attempt was a definite failure for Nobunaga. His men did manage to set a few villages aflame, however, as they withdrew.[

The Monks had also taken refuge in Mount Hiei, located directly outside of Kyoto and formed an alliance with the Asakura-Azai. Nobunaga realizing the severity of the situation had to swallow his pride and make peace with his Brother-in-law.
 He then turned his full attention to the Ikko-Ikki

Located in Mount Hiei was a castle fortress similar to Nagashima, Nobunaga learned from his defeat at Nagashia and instead surrounded the mountain fortress, lighting the entire mountain on fire, killing monks, laymen, women, and children. Nobunaga ordered anyone trying to escape the flames to be killed.

20,000 people died that day.

It is said that "The whole mountainside was a great slaughterhouse and the sight was one of unbearable horror."[7]: 284  This action gained him renown as the Demon Daimyo or Devil King.

Another story goes the whole “demon king” thing came from him joking to a Jesuit Father that he held the title of Demon King of the Sixth Heaven. Which in Buddhist mythology is the title of the demon who sought to seduce the Buddha with earthly pleasures like women and money.

Translation: He joked with a missionary that he was Buddhist Satan!

Nobunaga had a motto - Rule With Absolute Force

Nobunaga had a keen interest in European culture which was brand new to Japan at the time, he kept many European trinkets and even dressed in western clothing.. Once he was established in Kyōto, he extended his protection to the Jesuit missionaries and assisted them in building a church in the capital and a seminary in Azuchi. He allowed Christians to settle in Japan as he regarded the encouragement of Christianity as a further means of restraining the influence of the Buddhist temples (specifically the Ikko-Ikki movement). Nobunaga was a nonbeliever; his attitude toward Christianity was frankly political.

Nobunaga was also notoriously sarcastic and on more than one occasion had shamed his generals. He was also seen as a bit of a dick in regards to tradition. - at least in the eyes of most of the Japanese nobility. He didn’t consider status when it came to justice, and pretty much everyone - high or low - was treated the same under his laws. Because he was very harsh on anyone he considered his enemy, that meant he refused to give any nobles brought before him special treatment when they were tried for any crimes they committed such as rebellion against him. He made a lot of enemies in the highly traditionalist Japanese court of the time doing this. As Japan at the time was a society where the nobility were of special heritage. And you were expected to dress and accessorize yourself in a way that was specific to your station and position in the pecking order.

Lady Otsuya, a female samurai and aunt of Oda Nobuaga was described as having “unmatched beauty.” She was stationed with her husband and her adopted son, the future lord of the castle, Nobunaga’s 5th son a seven-year-old boy named Oda Katsunaga. Iwamura castle was on the eastern edge of Owari province.in 1572 Iwamura Became besieged by a great rival clan to the east, the Takeda led by a man of great renown and respect known as Shingen. Takeda Shingen had come to aid the Ashikaga Shogunate, march on Kyoto and defeat Oda Nobunaga.

After just a few days of resistance the husband of Lady Otsuya died of illness and she became the lord and retainer of Iwamura.

Takeda Shingen, sent one of his famous 24 generals Akiyama Nobutomo to negotiate for the surrender of Iwamura castle, which Lady Otsuya had refused.

While Lady Otsuya defended her castle Takeda Shingen marched an army to Mikawa province, home of the Tokugawa clan who had taken up much of the lands of their former ally the Imagawa clan.

Tokugawa Ieyasu requested aid from Nobunaga who sent 3,000 to reinforce Ieyasu’s army of 8,000. The Takeda didn’t seek to fight The Tokugawa they wanted to pass them and save their strength for the main forces of Nobunaga. 

Nobunaga advised Ieyasu to let the Takeda simply pass through his territory, however the rampage and destruction the Takeda forces would have caused would have been a major drain on the economy of the Tokugawa, so Ieyasu decided to meet them on the field of Mikatagahara. 

The Takeda were famed for their cavalry charges something their lord Shingen had revolutionized. Ieyasu figured with his large number of Arquebusiers he could defeat the famous Takeda cavalry charge.

In the late afternoon as snow began to fall, the Tokugawa forces began firing upon the Takeda cavalry formation. Gun’s were a well known detterant to cavalry however this wasn’t the case at Mikatagahara. 
 Takeda cavalry crashed into the right flank of The Tokugawa, which disintegrated, the Oda reinforcements caught in the rear were then attacked and began a route.

Luckily the Tokugawa right flank held off better and managed to maintain their ground, preventing a complete encirclement of the Tokugawa forces.

The Takeda retreated and gave their cavalry some time to rest, a tactic which Shingen had created. They then attacked with fresh horsemen followed by foot soldiers.

The Tokugawa forces were in disarray and now completely encircled by the Takeda. 

At Ieyasu’s castle of Hamamatsu, the main guard of the castle a samurai named Natsume Yoshinobu witnessed his forces being destroyed by the Takeda, he took the few remaining men left at the castle, about 20 men and rode out to save his lord.

Ieyasu had been detached from his army and desperately sought to re-engage the Takeda and force a breakthrough so his trapped soldiers could escape back to Hamamatsu, Yoshinobu caught up with Ieyasu and desperately pleaded with him to return to the castle, as his life was too important.

 Ieyasu was too dumbstruck to respond to his original plea so Yoshinobu patronized, "What good would a spiritless one such as yourself do me!? Off with you!" The words were enough to finally get Ieyasu moving.

Yoshinobu then posing as Ieyasu, led the few remaining soldiers under his command in a suicide charge against the advancing Takeda, to buy enough time for the real Ieyasu to return safely to the castle.

Yoshinobu was cut down in combat,  Ieyasu would never forget Yoshinobu and honored his family, telling his son years later that “had it not been for your father I wouldn’t be alive here today”

When Ieyasu returned to Hamamatsu Castle, he was accompanied by only five men. The town was on the verge of panic as rumor had already reached Hamamatsu that the battle had gone badly.[6]

Nevertheless, Ieyasu commanded that the castle gates remain open and that braziers be lit to guide his retreating army back to safety. He had one retainer beat a large war drum, seeking to persuade the returning men of their courageous retreat. When the Takeda vanguard heard the drums and saw the braziers and open gates, they mistakenly assumed that Ieyasu had planned a trap and stopped to make camp for the night at their present position short of Hamamatsu.

With his forces utterly annihilated, Ieyasu had to be clever or faced the complete destruction of his clan. In the night, a small band of about one hundred Tokugawa foot soldiers and 16 matchlock gunners attacked the Takeda camp,[3] throwing the vanguard of the Takeda army into confusion. Uncertain of the remaining strength of the Tokugawa forces, and worried that reinforcements from Oda Nobunaga may soon come, The Takeda leader decided to withdraw his forces back to his own territories and to try again the following year….

The battle of Mikatagahara was Tokugawa Ieyasu's most decisive defeat, featuring the effective annihilation of Ieyasu's army and the daimyo himself only narrowly escaping death through a bluff and perilous night attack.

Nobunaga seeking revenge returned to the lands of his family and those that had betrayed him

At Ichijōdani Castle, the castle home of the Asakura lord. Nobunaga marched with an army of 30,000

Saito tatsuoki after his defeat had fled to to asakura and fought against the oda. In the battle of tonezaka he was slain, after their defeat the lord of the asakura fled while his castle burned

The lord of the asakura was later captured and made efforts to negotiate with nobunaga for his life based on his status, but Oda nobunaga never caring much for status executed him.

Nobunaga then turned to his treacherous brother-in-law in azai.

Nobunaga took Odani Castle from his brother-in-law who. The Azai lord knew from the beginning that he would lose the battle, so he gave his wife Oichi (Nobunaga's sister), and their three daughters back to Nobunaga, saving them from death.

Before Azai Nagamasa’s death he decided to make one last attack on Nobunaga's main camp; in the end, however, he failed and was instead captured and forced to commit seppuku

Lady Otsuya at Iwamura castle eventually negotiated a peaceful surrender with Akiyama Nobumoto. The conditions were that the castle would be ceded to the Takeda, Nobunaga’s son would be taken hostage back to the Takeda homeland of Kai province, and Lady Otsuya would marry the castle’s besieger, Akiyama Nobumoto…

Nobunaga once again attacked by a Samurai lord, Once again betrayed by his own flesh and blood and with his greatest ally’s army annihilated was enraged…

Nobunaga returned to Iwamura castle where for the 2nd time it was besieged. Lady Otsuya soon surrendered. she left the castle to respond to Nobunaga who had offered her a false plea for peace and clemency. However Nobunaga reneged on his word and had Otsuya and Nobutomo crucified as traitors

It is said that as she was dying, Lady Otsuya cursed Nobunaga, prophesizing that if he killed family, his punishment would be doubled. 

Nobunaga now at war on all fronts against both samurai and peasant alike, turned his attention to the great clan Takeda to the east.