Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

Knowing that there was no hope of breaking out, Kusakari Hiratsugu finally ordered a surrender. Although he was unwilling to do so, facing an irreversible situation, in order to treat his eldest son's eye injury as soon as possible and to reduce unnecessary casualties, he finally let go of his arrogance, conceit and so-called dignity that he had held on to for many years, and lowered his noble head to the Takeda clan, whom he once looked down upon.

"My lord, charge again!" Some of the Kusakari warriors who were still resisting begged at the top of their lungs. They knew what fate Kusakari Kotsugu and his son would face if they surrendered at this time. Although there were many warriors who opposed Kusakari Kotsugu's fight with the Takeda clan to the end, they still stood on the side of the Kusakari clan and made the final resistance with the awareness of certain death.

"I said, stop it." This time, Kusakari Hirotsugu's voice was much louder than before. Only then did the remaining two or three hundred Kusakari soldiers slowly put down their weapons and let Oniwa Masaaki and Sakakibara Nagamasa lead the Takeda army to surround them.

Seeing this, Sakakibara Nagamasa and others, surrounded by more than a dozen samurai, walked to the front of the formation, and the Kusakari army wisely made way for them.

The Takeda army immediately took control of the Kusakari army on both sides of the passage, and the guards Sakakibara Nagamasa and others walked to the Kusakari Hiroshige and his son who were in the camp.

"I am Sakakibara Magojuro Nagamasa, a subordinate of Wuweidian, and I'm here to pay my respects to Kaga no Kami." Sakakibara Nagamasa was the first to greet Kusakari Hirotsugu.

"My apologies, my apologies." Kusakari Hengji responded absentmindedly, "Please send my son to see a doctor as soon as possible. If it's any later, I'm afraid..."

"Of course." Sakakibara Nagamasa immediately ordered two foot soldiers to bring a stretcher and send Kusakari Shigetsugu to the main camp at the foot of the mountain for treatment.

Seeing this, Kusakari Hirotsugu breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately made a request to Menmi Yoshishige: "Lord Sakakibara, I have surrendered to your army on behalf of the Kusakari clan. Please take good care of my soldiers and arrange for me to meet with Wue-dono as soon as possible."

"Since you have surrendered, we will take good care of you. However, the matter of meeting my lord will have to wait for his decision." Sakakibara Nagamasa replied angrily.

After that, he ordered the Kusakari army to take off their armor and weapons and follow the Takeda army to the temporary camp at the foot of the mountain. As for Kusakari Takatsugu, he was sent to Yamagata Morinobu, who personally escorted him to Yoshishige's main camp to await his fate.

At this point, the Kusakari campaign that lasted for a month came to an end, and the entire "Western Expedition" also ended two months after the war began with the great victory of the Takeda and Yamana coalition forces.

In fact, a careful analysis of this "Western Expedition" shows that it was composed of multiple offensives.

The first was the Battle of Yagi Castle, which served as the starting point of the entire war. The Takeda and Yamana armies worked together internally and externally to defeat the main force of the Inaba Yamana clan in one fell swoop, clearing the obstacles for subsequent battles.

The second was the Western Tajima Counterattack, which was short in duration but achieved remarkable results. In just a few days, the Western Tajima area was seized from the Inaba Yamana clan, laying the foundation for the Takeda clan to control the entire Tajima area.

Then came the Inaba Counterattack, also known as the "Inshu Raiders", which was the key to this Western Expedition. Its main purpose was to completely eliminate the Inaba Yamana clan and ensure the security of the western border of the Takeda and Yamana clans. This battle went relatively smoothly. With the surrender of Takeda Kuninobu and the capture of Tenjinyama Castle, the rule over most of Inaba was achieved. Next came the Battle of Kita-Harima. This offensive was mainly to seize as many cities as possible while the Amago clan withdrew from Bizen, Mimasaka, and Harima, to ensure the safety of the area around the Ikuno Silver Mine, and at the same time to create the premise for the subsequent advance into Central Harima and the expansion of strategic depth.

The above four offensives had long been in Yoshishige's plan and were also the main goals of Takeda's Western Expedition. According to his idea, after capturing Tenjinyama Castle and reaching peace with the Amago family, the mission would be accomplished and he could lead his army back home.

Unexpectedly, Kusakari Takatsugu would be so ungrateful that he actually wanted to compete with Yoshishige. In order to consolidate his rule in Inaba and demonstrate the power of the Takeda clan, Yoshishige had to "create complications" and launch the fifth offensive, which was the Kusakari campaign.

This punitive campaign was divided into two parts. One was the frontal battlefield, namely the "Innan Conquest" where the main forces of the two armies clashed around Yodoyama Castle; the other was the lateral battlefield, where the Takeda army led by Kumagai Takashige entered Mimasaka from Harima and launched the "Sakushu Conquest" against the Kusakari Domain in the north of Mimasaka.

This "unexpected" offensive not only achieved the intended goal and strengthened the Takeda clan's authority in Inaba, but also brought together the local powerful families in the eastern and northern parts of Bizen and the western and northern parts of Harima around the Takeda clan, making it a bridgehead for the Takeda clan to conquer the two countries and laying a solid foundation for Yoshishige to expand his influence into the Sanyo Province later.

In short, this battle that lasted for two months ended when Kusakari Hiratsugu surrendered. The Takeda army greatly shocked the surrounding forces with its powerful offensive, extremely high individual quality, and advanced weapons and equipment, and made the reputation of the Wakasa Takeda clan and Yoshishige widely spread in the western country.

On the sixth day of February, Yoshishige summoned Kusakari Hirotsugu and Kusakari Shigetsugu to the main camp in Kawahara.

Before the meeting, Kusakari Hiraji had already learned the tragic news that the entire Kusakari clan was massacred in Takayama Castle. Therefore, he had been losing his appetite and in a trance for several days. When he saw Yoshishige this time, he had lost the arrogance and arrogance he had when he refused to surrender, and he waited for Yoshishige's decision like a walking corpse.

Although Kusakari Shigetsugu, the eldest son, managed to save his life, the widespread infection caused by the arrow wound not only left him blind, but also caused him to lose his hearing and sense of smell. He could no longer survive alone in this world.

Looking at the father and son in front of him, Yoshishige felt a little sympathetic, but in order to deter those local forces who were fickle and not convinced at heart, he still announced a plan for the Kusakari clan, or more precisely, the only remaining father and son of the Kusakari clan:

First, the Kusakari clan was reformed, and all of its territories in Inaba and Mimasaka were temporarily placed under the direct jurisdiction of Yoshishige.
Second, Kusakari Takatsugu and his pro-war retainers were asked to commit seppuku;
Third, considering Kusakari Shigetsugu's injuries and Kusakari Kotsugu's surrender at the last moment, Yoshishige decided to allow Kusakari Shigetsugu to go to the Kusakari clan's family temple, Seikoji, to become a monk, and he was not allowed to leave the temple without permission.

The above three solutions, together with the massacre at Takayama Castle, meant that the Kusakari clan, a powerful clan that had dominated Inaba and Mimasaka for more than 200 years, was completely wiped out. At this time, it had only been more than a month since Kusakari Takatsugu officially launched his army against the Takeda clan.

As for other local people who participated in the fight against the Takeda army, Yoshishige referred to the suggestions of Uno, Shinmen and the Suga family, and gave them various treatments such as technical security, reduction of fiefdom, transfer of fiefdom and change of employment.

Through the above series of measures, the Takeda clan completely established a foothold in the border area of ​​In, Saku and Ban, not only setting rules, but also realizing actual rule. From then on, the light of "Wakasa Takee" shone even brighter in the west. (End of this chapter)