Japan's Sengoku Period: The Sanada Clan's Ambition

Chapter 26: The Situation in Northern Shinano

Many readers may not understand the current situation in the northern Shinano region.

The current situation is that the Hojo clan has launched a large-scale invasion. Yes, the internal cause of this situation is the collapse of the Oda clan's rule in Shinano after the Honnoji Incident, while the external cause is the invasion by the Hojo clan.

In order to prevent the Hojo clan from occupying Shinano and threatening Echigo, the Uesugi clan also sent troops.

Tokugawa is currently still conquering Kai, so we won't discuss that for now. In other words, the ones who can directly influence Shinano right now are Uesugi and Hojo.

Faced with the intervention of Hojo and Uesugi, the entire Shinano vassal state only had two choices.

Either vote directly, or choose between Uesugi and Hojo.

Either resist or fight back.

In real history, there was no other option. When the Hojo clan invaded Shinano, the local populace, including the Sanada clan, surrendered without resistance.

However, our protagonist had planned ahead and gained "legitimate status" from the Oda clan. Because after the Takeda clan was destroyed, the Oda clan controlled Shinano, and therefore had the right to dominate the territory of Shinano.

Immediately afterward, before the Honnoji Incident, Sanada Nobuyuki found Uesugi Kagekatsu, who was already on the verge of committing seppuku after being attacked by the Oda clan.

In exchange for the Uesugi clan's betrayal of the Oda clan's attack plans, an agreement was reached with the Uesugi clan: if the Oda clan withdrew its troops and the Uesugi clan survived, the three counties originally controlled by the Uesugi clan in Shinano (which had already been occupied by Mori Nagayoshi) would belong to the Sanada clan.

Then came the Honnoji Uprising and the Hojo clan's invasion. Because of the legitimacy granted by the Oda clan (Mori Nagayoshi and Takigawa Kazumasu), and because of the prior deal reached with the Uesugi clan, the Sanada clan was able to take the opportunity to unite with other local lords to form the "Anti-Hojo Ikki".

In other words, the Sanada family now operates under a cooperative model with other northern Shinano lords, rather than a direct superior-subordinate relationship.

This is the "Kokujin Ikki" that often appears in Japanese Sengoku history and various videos, movies and TV dramas. It is an uprising launched by the Kokujin people to achieve the same goal - the "Northern Shinano Kokujin Anti-Hōjō Invasion Ikki" organized by the Sanada family.

Today, some readers questioned why the Sanada clan had such an easy time, saying that they conquered northern Shinano in just 20 chapters.

So let me explain: the Sanada clan did not conquer northern Shinano; they simply reached an agreement with the local populace of northern Shinano to jointly resist the invasion of the Hojo clan.

The Sanada family was the initiator, so they temporarily acted as the "leader" of the alliance, just like Yuan Shao in the Three Kingdoms period when the eighteen warlords attacked Dong Zhuo.

Whether the Sanada family will ultimately be able to occupy Shinano and turn it into their territory is something that will be covered in later episodes.

Finally, Kira would like to say that my book has been as historically accurate as possible in terms of historical research, character portrayal, historical events, and historical background. Kira has spent a lot of time and effort verifying many people's unfamiliar figures and events.

By the way, I'd like to ask for another round of monthly votes, in recognition of Kira's hard work and dedication.

thank you all.

(End of this chapter)