21 OCT 1600
How the eastern forces, led by Tokugawa Ieyasu, beat their western foes at the Battle of Sekigahara
01 The first charge
The leader of Tokugawa’s advanced guard, Fukushima Masanori, charges north from the left flank towards the western army’s right-centre. The ground is muddy from rainfall so the resulting clash quickly descends into a close-quarters struggle.
02 Help arrives
Witnessing Masanori’s struggling forces, Tokugawa sends his right and centre troops to take down the western army’s left. They launch an attack and overwhelm the western right-centre.
03 Limited power
Ishida notices his army being overpowered and orders his unscathed centre to join his struggling right flank. However the daimyo Shimazu Yoshihiro, who’s commanding this unit, refuses as Ishida is not a respected commander.
04 The shield to the advance
Due to the lack of reinforcements, Masanori’s forces overcome their foes and slowly gain ground. As they’re moving along the Fuji River this exposes them to an attack from Otani Yoshitsugu’s forces, who act as a shield to Masanori’s advance.
05 Forcing his hand
Noticing the strong defence of Yoshitsugu’s forces, Tokugawa is reliant on the support of Kobayakawa Hideaki, who lies close by. However, when he is hesitant to act, Tokugawa fires at his position and Hideaki finally joins the eastern army.
06 The eastern army overwhelms
Hideaki and his 16,000-strong force charges down from Mount Matsuo towards Otani. However, Otani’s troops fire on the advancing army, rendering their attack virtually useless. However, the buffer he has established faces attacks from three other units and he struggles to maintain any semblance of control.
07 West becomes east
Seeing the final buffer unlikely to stay strong, many western army generals deflect and switch sides, overwhelming Otani’s forces. He is forced into a retreat, leaving the path to the western army’s right flank wide open.
08 Eastern victory, western retreat
Fukushima and Kobayakawa rush towards the right flank, destroying it easily. Ishida admits defeat and his forces retreat. The western commanders scatter and flee – some manage to escape, but others are not so lucky and are captured and killed.