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

Chapter 94: Climbing Yamazaki Castle

On March 28th, witnessed by Ashikaga Yoshiharu and Hosokawa Harumoto, the Wakasa Takeda clan was officially promoted to the shogunate's companions, and Nobushige himself was appointed as the guardian of Wakasa and Tango, and the guardian of Aki Sato and Anboku counties. He was officially recognized by the shogunate and became the daimyo of Kunimochi, spanning three countries.

As soon as the ceremony was over, Nobushige, in accordance with the agreement, led Kagawa Morihisa, Kumagaya Takanao, Yamamoto Shigeyuki, Yamagata Morinobu, Awaya Katsuhisa and a thousand troops from Matsuzaki Castle to Yamazaki Castle on the border between Yamashiro Province and Settsu Province.

Yamazaki Castle is also called Tennosan Castle because it was built on Tennosan Mountain. Tennosan Mountain, where the castle is located, is located at the southern end of the Nishiyama mountain range west of the Kyoto Basin. It forms an isthmus with Mt. Otoko to the east. The Katsura River, Uji River, and Kizu River merge into the Yodo River at this isthmus. The castle has been regarded as a strategic location since the Northern and Southern Dynasties, as it controls the main roads in and out of Yamashiro and Kyoto from the Settsu direction.

Akutagawa Castle, also known as Akutagawa Mountain Castle, was occupied by Miyoshi Toshinaga. It was originally built by Hosokawa Takakuni, and was captured by Hosokawa Harumoto after the Battle of Katsura Gawahara as his residence (guard post) in Settsu Province. The castle was built on a mountain as high as 183 meters. It is a typical mountain castle with connected castles. It is adjacent to Daishiyama in the east and surrounded by a valley named Settsu Gorge on the other three sides. It is an easy-to-defend and difficult-to-attack castle.

In short, the Hosokawa coalition and the Miyoshi army were confronting each other on the border of Settsu and Yamashiro, and the main camps of both sides were in mountain castles that were easy to defend but difficult to attack, so it would be difficult to determine the outcome in a short period of time.

Therefore, Hosokawa Harumoto decided to adopt Nobushige's suggestion and use the threat of force to force Miyoshi Toshinaga to voluntarily abandon the castle and cross the sea back to Awa.

On April 1, Nobushige led his army to Oyamazaki Town at the eastern foot of Mount Tenno and stationed there. Upon hearing that the Takeda army was coming to help, the important retainers of the Hosokawa clan, such as Miyoshi Masanaga and Hatano Hidetada, who had arrived earlier, were overjoyed, and the morale of the Hosokawa army was further boosted.

"I heard that the head of the Takeda family was recently awarded the title of Right Guard Governor by the imperial court, and was then promoted to a companion by the kubō. He is favored by both the imperial court and the kubō at the same time. He is really a rare treasure." Hatano Hidetada, the actual ruler of Tamba Province and lord of Yakami Castle, could not help but sigh.

"That's right," said Miyoshi Masanaga, the lord of Settsu Enokinami Castle and deputy governor of Kawachi Jujuuke. "This man is a guardian of two countries and two counties at such a young age. He was invited to Kyoto this time. It seems that the lord (Hosokawa Harumoto) wants to win him over."

"I'm not afraid of being won over, but I'm afraid that he will become the second Miyoshi Iga no Kami, and turn his back on us after he has grown strong." The person who said this was Kizawa Nagamasa, the guardian of the three counties of Kawachi Province and Yamashiro Province (Minamiyama Castle), the lord of Kawachi Iimoriyama Castle and Yamato Nobukiyama Castle, and was arguably the most popular figure under Hosokawa Harumoto.

However, unlike Miyoshi Masanaga and Hatano Hidetada, Kizawa Nagamasa was a "double retainer". He was originally a deputy official of the Hatakeyama family, and later served Hosokawa Harumoto, but still retained his status as a retainer of the Hatakeyama family. Therefore, he was somewhat out of tune with other important retainers of the Hosokawa family.

Miyoshi Masanaga and Hatano Hidetada disagreed with his concerns: "It's hard to compare Iga no Kami and Wakasa Mue. The former grew up under the protection of the lord. It's abominable that he is biting back now. The latter is a daimyo who ruled a certain area. He came to Kyoto this time probably to improve his relationship with the lord. It's impossible for him to become a retainer of the Hosokawa clan. As for Sakyo Ryo, we can't figure it out now. Are you from the Hosokawa clan or the Hatakeyama clan?"

Kizawa Nagamasa was puzzled by this sudden attack: "I am from both the Hosokawa family and the Hatakeyama family. You two don't need to ask me this question even though you already know the answer."

"The Hatakeyama family has been ruined by you. You are not doing your job as a retainer." Hatano Hidetada continued in a sarcastic tone.

The so-called "this state" refers to the fact that the Hatakeyama family gradually declined, became a puppet, and fell apart under the turmoil of Kizawa Nagamasa.

Simply put, after the death of Hatakeyama Yoshiyasu of the Hatakeyama Soshu family, Kizawa Nagamasa and Yusanagi, the then guardian of Kawachi Province, supported Hatakeyama Uenaga of the Hatakeyama Oshu family as the head of the family. In 1534, Kizawa Nagamasa and Yusanagi exiled Hatakeyama Tanenaga and replaced him with his brother Hatakeyama Nagatsune as the head of the family. Two years later, the two killed Hatakeyama Nagatsune. Kizawa Nagamasa welcomed Hatakeyama Tainauchi (son of Hatakeyama Yoshiyasu) of the Soshu family as the head and served him in Iimoriyama Castle; while Yusanagi supported Hatakeyama Masakuni (younger brother of Hatakeyama Uenaga and Nagatsune) of the Oshu family as the head and stationed in Takaya Castle. From then on, the small Kawachi Province was divided into two, which were actually controlled by Kizawa Nagamasa and Yusanagi respectively. The Hatakeyama family, once one of the "Three Kanrei", was completely reduced to a puppet at the mercy of others.

Therefore, what Miyoshi Masanaga and Hatano Hidetada meant was that Kizawa Nagamasa should not just blame Miyoshi Toshinaga, but you yourself are not clean. Not only did you undermine the Hatakeyama clan, but you also murdered the head of the clan. Your deeds are even worse than those of Miyoshi Toshinaga.

"What happened to the Hatakeyama family is an internal matter of our main family. You two should focus on the things at hand." Kizawa Nagamasa knew that he was in the wrong, so he didn't intend to argue with the two of them. Instead, he tried to divert everyone's attention to Miyoshi Toshinaga and Nobushige.

"I heard that Wakasa Takee is planning to go to Akutagawa Castle in person to persuade Iga no Kami to withdraw his troops. His courage is truly unmatched." Kizawa Nagamasa exclaimed.

"You're exaggerating a bit," Hatano Hidetada responded, "Iga no Kami and Takee have never met before, let alone any grudges, so there's no such thing as risking your life alone. If you and Sozo really dare to go to Akutagawa Castle, I'll really admire you."

"Bizen no Kami, why did you drag me into this?" Miyoshi Masanaga said with an unhappy look on his face.

He and Kizawa Nagamasa knew exactly what Hatano Hidetada meant by this. It was at the instigation of the two that Hosokawa Harumoto decided to plot to kill Miyoshi Toshinaga's father, Miyoshi Motonaga. If the two dared to enter Akutagawa Castle, they would probably be used by Miyoshi Toshinaga to commemorate Miyoshi Motonaga before they even opened their mouths.

Just as the two were feeling awkward, a messenger came to inform them that Nobushige had arrived outside Yamazaki Castle with his retainers and dozens of horsemen. The three of them stopped bickering and hurried to the Otemon Gate to greet them.

Although they had known that Xin Zhong was young, when they actually saw him in person, the three old officials still sighed with emotion: "His Highness Wu Wei is really handsome and promising at a young age."

"Thank you for your praise, my three lords. I am new here, so please give me your guidance." Xinzhong bowed to the three of them, and then introduced the retainers who came with him.

The three of them realized that, except for Yamamoto Shigeyuki, all of them were young generals, all of them were energetic and full of vigor. This made them wonder, "Your Highness defeated Asakura in the east and Isise in the west, was it because of these young adults?"

Hearing this, Nobushige looked back at Kagawa Morihisa, Awaya Katsuhisa and others behind him, and couldn't help but laugh: "We in Wakasa are not like Kinki, where there are so many talented generals. We can only rely on unknown guys like us to barely support it. Fortunately, God has protected me and let my Takeda clan's military fortune continue, so that I can barely survive in this chaotic world."

"Your Highness is really too modest." Miyoshi Masanaga was very satisfied with Xinzhong's answer and thought to himself: "Such a team can achieve today's results. It can be seen that this head of the family is definitely not an ordinary person."

(End of this chapter)