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28-403: Katsuie and Sakuma Morimasa attacked fortifications loyal to Hideyoshi at Shizugatake, defeating Nakagawa Kiyohide , but the other sieges by Toshiie and Kazumasu stalled. Katsuie ordered Sakuma to retreat but was ignored, and Hideyoshi launched a surprise counterattack that routed Sakuma and forced him to retreat. Hideyoshi pursued Sakuma and successfully besieged Kitanosho Castle which led to

56-656: A forced march through the night, covering nearly 50 miles in 6 hours, and linked up with the defenders of Tagami. Sakuma ordered his men to break the siege lines and prepare to defend themselves, but Hideyoshi's army pushed Sakuma's forces into a rout . After the armies of Fuwa Naomitsu and Kanamori Nagachika on the Shibata side began to retreat as well, Hideyoshi pursued Sakuma and his forces back to Katsuie's fortress at Kitanosho Castle in Echizen Province , located within present-day Fukui . Hideyoshi's men seized

84-442: A large mounted force of 20,000 men, Katsuie ordered Sakuma Morimasa to withdraw his troops to Ōiwa. Sakuma did not heed Katsuie's orders, calculating the castle would fall before Hideyoshi's army, assumed to be at least three days away, could arrive to relieve them. However, in midst of this fighting, the army led by Maeda Toshiie on the Shibata side, deployed on Mt. Shige, abruptly left the front lines. Later, Hideyoshi led his men on

112-640: A rescue in response to a demand by Maeda Toshiie and beat the Uesugi army stationed at the back of the Arayama Castle at Noto Province . In 1582, after the betrayal of Akechi Mitsuhide which led to the death of both Oda Nobunaga and his heir Oda Nobutada , Morimasa sided with Shibata Katsuie over making Oda Nobutaka (the third son of Nobunaga) as heir to the Oda clan whereas Hashiba Hideyoshi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi ) supported Lord Sanboshi. Sanboshi

140-529: Is now Shōwa-ku , Nagoya (situated in contemporary Aichi District , Owari Province ), He was a retainer of Shibata Katsuie and one of his top generals in many of his campaigns. Morimasa's first battle was the Battle of Kannonji Castle in 1568 against Rokkaku Yoshikata . Morimasa continued joining various battles, including the Siege of Tezutsuyama Castle in Echizen Province against Asakura clan in 1570,

168-528: Is remembered as being a capable commander of troops on the battlefield. He married Oda Nobunaga 's sister Oichi in 1564. Nobunaga desired peaceful relations with the Azai clan because of their strategic position in between Oda clan land's and the capital, Kyoto . In 1570, Oda Nobunaga declared war on the Asakura family of Echizen and besieged Kanegasaki castle . The Asakura and Azai had been allies since

196-423: The Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584. Hideyoshi's chief seven generals in the battle at Shizugatake earned a great degree of fame and honor, and came to be known as the shichi-hon yari or "Seven Spears of Shizugatake". Among these generals were men who would later become some of Hideyoshi's closest retainers, such as Katō Kiyomasa . The Seven Spears of Shizugatake were the following Samurai: According to

224-530: The Battle of Yasugawara against Rokkaku Yoshikata and the Battle of Makishima Castle against Ashikaga Yoshiaki in 1573, and performed distinguished war service. Morimasa was given the former Ikko Sect fortress Oyama Gobo in the Kaga prefecture by Oda Nobunaga; the fortress was subsequently named Oyama Castle in 1580 but went on to become Kanazawa Castle . In 1581, he beats Uesugi Kagekatsu from Shirayama Castle at Kaga Province . Later, Morimasa headed for

252-550: The Honno-ji Incident after being betrayed by Akechi Mitsuhide . Their surprise deaths created a power vacuum and a succession crisis within the Oda clan . Nobunaga's second and third eldest sons, Oda Nobukatsu and Oda Nobutaka , respectively, began to quarrel over who would succeed him. Nobunaga's retainer and general Hashiba Hideyoshi (later known as Toyotomi Hideyoshi) summoned a council to Kiyosu Castle to settle

280-653: The suicide of Katsuie and Oichi . The Battle of Shizugatake allowed Hideyoshi to consolidate his position as Oda Nobunaga's successor, and was one of the last challenges to his rule along with the Battle of Komaki and Nagakute in 1584. George Sansom states the Battle of Shizugatake "must be regarded as one of the decisive battles in Japanese history." In June 1582, Oda Nobunaga , the most powerful daimyō in Japan, and his eldest son and heir Oda Nobutada were killed at

308-496: The "Hitotsuyanagi Kaki," Ishida Mitsunari was in charge of a mission to spy on Shibata Katsuie's army and also performed a great feat of Ichiban-yari, being the first to thrust a spear at an enemy soldier, as one of the warriors on the front line. Yoshitsugu was said to have taken part within the Toyotomi ranks. One account states that Otani Yoshitsugu was the one who used his wits to convince Shibata Katsutoyo to surrender prior to

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336-568: The Asakura sent a relief force, Nobunaga defeated this force and chased the Asakura into their lands. Shortly thereafter, the Asakura were destroyed. Nobunaga then returned south to prosecute the siege of Odani Castle . Nagamasa had no hope of winning, and chose to commit seppuku . Before dying, he entrusted his wife Oichi and their three daughters to Nobunaga. Nobunaga later convinced Oichi to tell him where she had sent her infant son and Nagamasa's male heir, Manpukumaru, saying that he wanted

364-470: The Azai - who had fought against numerically superior forces in the past - Ieyasu's force was apparently quickly gaining the advantage against the Asakura. Ieyasu, or perhaps one of his battle commanders, decided to send part of the Tokugawa force into the Azai flank, forcing the Azai to retreat, and guaranteeing victory. However, the battle was strategically indecisive because the Oda shortly withdrew. Over

392-690: The Azai alliance with the Asakura clan, and fought against Nobunaga at major battles including the Battle of Anegawa . Nagamasa and his clan were destroyed by Nobunaga in August 1573, and he committed seppuku during the siege of Odani Castle . Azai Nagamasa was the son of Azai Hisamasa , from whom he inherited clan leadership in 1560. Hisamasa had been compelled to step down by many of his retainers in favor of his son, Nagamasa. Hisamasa retired, and would later commit suicide along with his son in August 1573. Nagamasa successfully battled both Rokkaku Yoshikata and Saitō Tatsuoki between 1560 and 1565. He

420-407: The battle. Sakuma Morimasa Sakuma Morimasa ( 佐久間 盛政 , 1554 – July 1, 1583) was the son of Sakuma Moritsugu, cousin of Sakuma Nobumori , a prominent Oda retainer to Oda Nobuhide and Oda Nobunaga . After several campaigns in which he had fought, he was given the nickname oni-genba which literally means "Demon Genba", Genba being his middle name. Morimasa was born in what

448-446: The boy to live with and raise him. However, Nobunaga had Hideyoshi execute Manpukumaru, and the head was displayed on a stake. Nobunaga ensured that his sister, Oichi, was uninformed of this but she eventually came to that suspicion. There are reports that Nobunaga bore a strong grudge against Nagamasa for his perceived betrayal of their alliance even though it was he who broke the agreement first. It has also been reported that Nobunaga had

476-479: The castle after three days, but not before Katsuie killed members of his household including his wife, Oda Nobunaga's sister Oichi , then setting the castle keep on fire and committing seppuku . Sakuma was captured by Hideyoshi's forces and beheaded. As a result of the battle, Oichi's young daughters with Azai Nagamasa (Katsuie's step-daughters) were allowed to leave Kitanosho Castle unscathed and became Hideyoshi's adoptive daughters. In June 1583, Oda Nobutaka

504-640: The course of the next two years, with the exception of occasional interventions by the Shogun, Azai Nagamasa was under constant threat of Nobunaga aggression into Omi. Often these threats manifested into sieges of the Azai capital of Odani. During this period the Azai are seen as being loosely aligned with numerous anti-Oda forces, including the Asakura, the Miyoshi, the Rokkaku, and several religious complexes. In 1573, Nobunaga laid siege to Odani Castle . Although

532-413: The early stages of the battle of Shizugatake . However, he ignored Shibata Katsuie's orders to fall back and this led to his defeat as Toyotomi Hideyoshi 's forces approached the next morning. Morimasa was captured and beheaded. The charge by Morimasa was the spark necessary for the battle of Shizugatake where Hideyoshi's troops were able to suppress any resistance led by Maeda Toshiie and prevented

560-537: The lordship. In May 1583, Katsuie coordinated a number of simultaneous attacks on Shizugatake, a series of forts in northern Ōmi Province , located in present-day Nagahama , Shiga Prefecture . These forts, Iwasaki-yama, Tagami, and Shizugatake, were held by Hideyoshi's generals including Nakagawa Kiyohide and Takayama Ukon . Katsuie's nephew Sakuma Morimasa attacked these forts on his orders, taking Iwasaki-yama and killing Nakagawa, but Shizugatake's defenses held. On hearing that Hideyoshi had made camp at Ōgaki with

588-461: The succession issue. However, the council declared that Nobutada's 3-year-old son Oda Hidenobu was the rightful heir. Hideyoshi, having defeated Akechi Mitsuhide at the Battle of Yamazaki and with Nobunaga's heir being an infant, was in a very strong position to unofficially succeed Nobunaga himself. Shibata Katsuie , one of Nobunaga's trusted generals, challenged Hideyoshi by changing his initial support for Hidenobu to supporting Nobutaka's claim to

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616-409: The support of Sassa Narimasa and Takigawa Kazumasu . In all, Hideyoshi's troops swelled to 120,000 whereas Shibata Katsuie's troops had only reached 25,000. This eventually forced Shibata Katsuie to commit seppuku along with his wife Lady Oichi (younger sister of Nobunaga) following the betrayal of Maeda Toshiie. Azai Nagamasa Azai Nagamasa ( 浅井 長政 , 1545 – 26 September 1573)

644-450: The time of Nagamasa's grandfather. This sudden war between two Azai clan allies is reported to have divided the clan. Many retainers wished to honor the alliance with the Asakura, while Nagamasa himself is reported to have favoured staying neutral, essentially siding with Nobunaga. In the end, the Azai clan chose to honor the generations-old alliance with the Asakura and came to their aid. Initially, this decision caused Nobunaga's army, which

672-457: The two sides met at the battle of Anegawa . The combined Azai and Asakura force numbered between 15,000-20,000 men. The outcome is recorded elsewhere, but briefly: The battle was strongly contested by both sides. Nobunaga is recorded as having decided that his force should directly confront the numerically inferior Azai clan force, while Ieyasu would engage the Asakura. While the Oda were being held at bay, and perhaps even slowly losing ground to

700-524: Was a Japanese daimyō of the Sengoku period known as the brother-in-law and enemy of Oda Nobunaga . Nagamasa was head of the Azai clan seated at Odani Castle in northern Ōmi Province and married Nobunaga's sister Oichi in 1564, fathering her three daughters – Yodo-dono , Ohatsu , and Oeyo – who became prominent figures in their own right. Nagamasa became one of Nobunaga's enemies in 1570 due to

728-449: Was marching upon the Asakura's lands, to retreat back to Kyoto. However, within a few months the forces of Nobunaga were again on the march, but this time they marched on Azai lands. In the summer of 1570, Oda Nobunaga and Tokugawa Ieyasu brought an army estimated between 20,000-30,000 men into Northern Omi. The Azai called upon their allies, the Asakura, for assistance. The Asakura responded by sending troops. In either June or July,

756-436: Was soon pressured by both Hideyoshi and Nobukatsu into committing suicide, eliminating him from the competition. Nobutaka wrote a death poem cursing Hideyoshi and implying that he had been involved in his father Oda Nobunaga's death. Hideyoshi had now consolidated his position and most of his influence over the Oda clan, but would continue to face competition from Nobukatsu, who had allied himself with Tokugawa Ieyasu , until

784-481: Was the heir to Oda Nobutada and was still an infant at that time. This argument led to the split of the Oda clan retainers into the two main factions led by Shibata Katsuie and Hashiba Hideyoshi. Armies of the two factions eventually came to war. In 1583, Morimasa led an offensive force against Takayama Ukon in Iwasakiyama. Morimasa then proceeded against Shibata Katsuie's orders, killing Nakagawa Kiyohide in

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