Chapter 46: The Takeda Family's Conquest of Nishijō

  In January of the fifth year of Eiroku, at the main castle of the Takeda family, Tsukasagihara, a mobilization of troops was carried out. Compared to the mobilization in August of last year on Nakajima Island in Otai River, this time the scale was much smaller.

  On the twentieth day of the first month, the Takeda army marched out from Tsukigasaki Mansion. When the 'Four Heavenly Kings' banner and the Suwa Daimyōjin flag appeared in the advancing Takeda army's formation, the people of Kai couldn't help but exclaim: "The lord of the mansion has sent out his troops."

  Last year's Kawanakajima war was a heavy loss for the Takeda family, so when the people of Kai saw the Takeda army's military appearance again, they were very delighted and excited. It can be seen that the Takeda army's fighting spirit is still there!

  In fact, the Takeda family's mobilization this time was not large, and with the forces of various local castle owners, the total number of troops was around 3,000. The commander-in-chief was not Takeda Shingen himself, but rather Takeda Katsuyori, who served as his proxy.

  At this moment, Takeda Shingen himself is recuperating at the Shimoyu hot spring not far from Tsukigasaki Palace. Takeda Shingen's physical health has always been poor, suffering from chronic tuberculosis. This disease cannot be cured and tends to relapse due to overexertion and excessive lust.

  Takeda Shingen had both, so every year he had to take some time out to soak in hot springs and recuperate.

  So this time, the Takeda family accepted the invitation of the Hojo family and launched a campaign against Nishijō in Kozuke Province. Takeda Shingen made his younger brother Takeda Nobuyori act as his shadow warrior, advancing into Nishijō under the banner of Takeda Shingen. Of course, the Takeda family's decision to send troops at this time was also because Uesugi Kenshin of Echigo Province would not go out in winter due to heavy snowfall, following the usual practice.

  Without the intimidation of the military god, the Takeda and Hojo clans can temporarily advance to Kozuke with ease.

  Before entering Nishikōji, the Takeda army of 30,000 gathered and was reorganized. The 1,000 troops from Tsukigasaki were the direct vanguard led by Tarō Takeda Yoshinobu, while the remaining reserve units consisted of soldiers from various castles in Shinano, including 700 men from Takatō Castle lord Morozumi Katsuyori, 700 men from Torisaki Castle lord Obata Masamori and his son Obata Nobusada, 300 men from Fukashi Castle lord Akiyama Yoshikane's heir Akiyama Toshinaga, and 300 men from Bisai Castle lord Sanada Yukitaka's heir Sanada Nobutsuna.

  The Takeda army of 3,000 marched along the rugged mountain path and entered the western part of Kōzuke Province via the entrance to Mt. Myōgi in the vicinity of Hakone, whereupon they quickened their pace.

  Takeda's army of 3,000 cavalrymen, with the 700 troops led by Obata Toramori and his son Nobusada, who were native to the area, as vanguard, arrived first at Kanayama Castle in western Kozuke Province, which was guarded by the Nagano family.

  The Karasu Castle of the Nagano family, located on a plateau of Mt. Ontake, with its outer walls facing the Ontake River, is a world-famous fortress castle. On the cliff beside the Higashi- Otaki River to the east of Karasu, there is a subsidiary castle called Takaokajo, sharing an outer wall with Karasucastle.

  After many years of operation, Nagano Ieyasu had established, in addition to the main castle at Matsumoto, a number of supporting castles in the area. These were garrisoned by local daimyos known as the "Nineteen Spears of Nagano".

  Nagano Yoshimasa was indeed a dragon and tiger in his lifetime, and he had twelve daughters. These daughters were married to the Ueno country or the Kanto clan, with political marriages, alliances, and mutual support agreements.

  If the Kawanakajima Castle is attacked, these powerful clans will rise up like a big net and pounce on the attacker. At the peak of the Takeda army, Takeda Shingen personally led more than 10,000 troops to attack Kawanakajima Castle several times. The four ministers of Takeda took turns to fight, plus fierce generals such as Ii Naochika and Anayama Nobutada, they used all their strength but still returned in defeat.

  Fortunately, 'Jōshū no Kōhan' Nagayo is no longer around today.

  "The flag of the four true words" and "the great Ming flag" had not yet appeared under the castle of Joren, but the Nagano family was already desperately accumulating food and mobilizing the military power of their territory to prepare for a desperate defense of Joren Castle.

  When the 3,000-strong Takeda army arrived at Kinoshita Castle and formed a battle array, the defenders of the castle, despite having several thousand elite soldiers, did not dare to make any rash moves due to their fear of Shingen's reputation. In response to the repeated challenges from the Takeda forces, the Nagano clan remained inside the castle, apparently preparing for a siege.

  At that time, in the Takeda Shingen camp, looking at the cloud-shrouded Aragaki Castle (tiered flatland mountain castle) attached to Mt. Komagatake, Li Xiao personally heard Yamamoto Kansuke, who had participated in the Western Kōshin'etsu campaign with Takeda Shingen several times, let out a long sigh and say: "Nobutada is dead, there's no one left in the Nagano house."

  Yamamoto Kanbei's words revealed a deep sense of regret, as if he were reminiscing about the deceased opponent.

  Nagano army hid in Minowa Castle and didn't come out, so the Takeda army swaggered past Minowa Castle and entered the Kanra district of Kōzuke Province, surrounding Kuniyakajo.

  Kanetsugu Kuniyuki, the lord of Kunishiro Castle in Gamo County, was a Shugo assistant and belonged to the same clan as Kanetsugu Norishige, who led the Takeda army. His son was also one of the twelve sons-in-law of Nagano Nariyasu.

  But in reality, people treat each other differently, even if they have the same surname Kobayakawa and are both sons-in-law, as a father-in-law he would still turn against them ruthlessly.

  In the third year of Eiroku (1560), Kuniyuki's castle, Kokufu-jo, was still under the control of Obata no Tsunehide. At that time, the Obata family was the second most powerful force in western Kozuke Province, next to the Nagano family. Although they were nominally subordinate to the Nagano family, they had already become a source of concern for Nagano Nariyasu. Moreover, rumors that Tsunehide was secretly collaborating with the Takeda family had spread throughout western Kozuke (in fact, these were false rumors spread by Takeda Shingen's ninja).

  As the father-in-law of Obata Nobusada, Nagano Nariyasu made a great decision to destroy his own family and led a large army together with Obata Kagenori's forces, who had been eyeing Obata Norishige's territory for a long time, and broke through Obata Norishige's residence Kunimine Castle and also the Obata family's Obata Castle.

  Nagano no Okina is expelling Kobatake Kanesuke, father and son, along with his own daughter from Nishikōen, and then giving Kokufu Castle to Kobatake Kanezumi as a residence.

  Afterwards, Obata Toramori and his son Nobuhide defected to Takeda Shingen, along with 500 cavalrymen from Kōzuke Province. This cavalry corps was also equipped with all-red armor, so it was called "Obata's Red Corps" (小幡赤備), and together with the Kai "Red Corps" under the command of Imafuku Toshitsuna, they were known as the two great cavalry corps of the Takeda clan.

  Takeda Shingen used the counter-espionage strategy, and effortlessly obtained a powerful Akahori cavalry unit. At the same time, he was generous to Obata Masamori and his son, granting them 5,000 koku of land in Shinano Province as their fiefdom.

  Also let Kobayakawa Hiromichi's clan use Totizawa Castle as a base, manage the pasture land in southern Shinano, and provide for the cavalry.

  At present, the 3,000-strong Takeda army is besieging Kuniyoshi Castle. Faced with the hatred of losing the city and the shame of being a stray dog, if this revenge is not avenged, Koan Ogawa will be inferior to even Hu Han San.

  After the siege, on the next day, Obata no Kunimaro volunteered to take charge of attacking the main gate of Kōyasan's Tiger Mouth. The two houses of the Obata clan belonged to the same tribe but again engaged in a fierce battle.

  After attacking for half a day in the morning, although Kobayakawa Kagekane, who was on the defensive side, was very exhausted, the main gate of Kokufu Castle still did not fall. However, just as the defenders focused their attention on the main gate, the rear gate of Kokufu Castle, which was also known as the "Kosshōmon Gate", was opened wide by Kobayakawa Kanesuke's insider who had been planted inside the castle and killed the guards.

  At this time, Takeda Katsuyori's army, which had been waiting for a long time, suddenly broke into the Sakasamono Gate and made a direct attack on the Honmaru of Kunofuji Castle.