Greatest Battles
The battle for Japan’s future at Sekigahara
By the end of the 16th century, Oda Nobunaga had changed Japan forever. The samurai warlord had conquered his way across the country, taking control of the fractured military fiefdoms one by one. Slowly but surely Nobunaga’s bloody campaign led to the unification of a third of Japan, forming a mighty land far removed from the warring states that had existed before. However, a swift and shocking end was put to this unification when his own samurai general, Akechi Mitsuhide, ruthlessly betrayed him and the warlord was forced to commit ritual suicide, or seppuku.
However, Mitsuhide would not rule for long. Nobunaga’s loyal vassal, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, vowed to avenge his master and faced the usurper in battle – forcing him to flee just two hours after
the fighting began at Yamazaki. Mitsuhide’s reign as shogun had lasted only 13 days. The man who had defeated him, Toyotomi, came from humble beginnings. Not the son of a samurai or a daimyo, (a feudal lord), he was peasant-born and had been given no surname at birth. Nevertheless, Toyotomi was fiercely loyal to his master and continued the work of unifying the warring states of the country. He steadily consolidated power until his death in 1598, leaving his clan to take control of the evergrowing and powerful Japanese nation.
Many didn’t like the idea of being ruled by a previously peasant clan, and Toyotomi’s failed invasions of Korea also cast doubts over its power. With the ruling clan’s right to reign in doubt, a huge power vacuum formed in the Japanese government, and one man in particular was very keen to fill it.
Tokugawa Ieyasu, unlike Toyotomi, came from a privileged background and was born to rule.
His father had been a daimyo and his mother the daughter of a samurai lord – noble blood pulsed through his veins. He had been surrounded by war and death since the day he was born and he believed with every fibre of his being that he was the right person to rule the united land. He had previously caused unrest by pledging his allegiance to Oda Nobukatsu, the heir of Oda Nobunaga opposed to Toyotomi, and he decided to rise up against the same family once more. For two years he plotted, schemed and persuaded various daimyo to side with him against the Toyotomi clan. With perfect timing for Tokugawa, the oldest and most respected of the Toyotomi regents died, so the ambitious lord made his move. He took over Osaka castle, the residence of the young Hideyori, son of Toyotomi, in a brutal and obvious snatch for power.
Ishida Mitsunari stood as the main opposition to Tokugawa’s aggression. This powerful daimyo had a long history with Toyotomi – as well as fighting side-by-side with the ruler he was also a top administrator of the regime. A man of rigid character with a calculating brain, Mitsunari had trouble maintaining relationships with men whose power he needed.
He immediately recognised Tokugawa as a threat to the Toyotomi rule, so headed an unsuccessful plot to have him assassinated. While provincial regents built up their military forces amid accusations of betrayal, outraged condemnations of clans and families attacking one another, Tokugawa finally summoned together all his supporters into a
powerful force. Mitsunari also took advantage of the chaos, bringing together all those who were loyal to the Toyotomi clan.
THE TWO ARMIES ASSEMBLE
Tokugawa wasn’t the only one with powerful friends. While his rival was distracted hunting down a wayward clan that had taken up arms, Mitsunari gathered a group of powerful samurai and government figures, including Otani
Yoshitsugu and Mori Terumoto. The force he brought together became the western army to counter Tokugawa’s eastern army. Terumoto took the near-abandoned Osaka castle as his base, but when Tokugawa learned of his enemy’s movements he split his forces, sending several daimyo to engage the main western army while he marched towards Osaka.
Both armies were now marching towards Gifu Castle, where the roads to Osaka converged. Mitsunari intended to take the castle and use it as a staging area for his planned takeover of Kyoto. However, his enemy got there first, and the general was forced to retreat south against a violent storm.
Wet, cold and tired, with gunpowder rendered useless by the rain, Mitsunari and his men halted at the town of Sekigahara, expecting the eastern army to attack at any time. He arranged his men in a defensive position with two streams either side of them. On 20 October, Tokugawa finally learned of the disposition of his enemy’s troops after his advanced guard accidentally stumbled right upon the awaiting army in thick fog. Both sides panicked and withdrew before any fighting could take place, but battle was now inevitable.
To many it seemed that Tokugawa’s army was completely outmatched. Mitsunari’s formidable western forces numbered some 120,000 men, over 40,000 more than the eastern opposition. Mitsunari also held all the tactical advantages: he had men positioned high on the hills around the terrain, and his own army was placed between two rivers. But Tokugawa was nobody’s fool, and had managed to sneak in a supply of arquebuses – powerful muzzle-loading firearms that could easily turn the tide of battle against a swordequipped foe. Perhaps most importantly, his scheming had taken root among the ranks of the western army, as he had promised swaths of land to any daimyo who would change sides during the battle. But first he needed to demonstrate that his was the winning cause.
THE EASTERN ARMY ATTACKS
As soon as the heavy mist masking the field lifted, Tokugawa’s vanguard, led by Fukushima Masanori, charged north, following the Fuji River. They crashed into the western army’s defensive line positioned in the right-centre, where persistent rain had softened the ground into a muddy, sludgy mess. The organised lines quickly descended into complete chaos and the fighting became brutal, with men desperately tearing into one another, but neither side was able to gain an advantage in the desperate madness.
Tokugawa, witnessing Fukushima’s attack failing to make any ground, commanded his right and his centre to charge the enemy’s left, hoping that sheer numbers would overwhelm them and Fukushima would finally be able to break through. The large number of samurai streaming across the field caught Mitsunari’s attention, causing him to turn his as-yet unscathed centre force. This simple command began to show the cracks in not only Mitsunari’s army, but also his own leadership. Shimazu Yoshihiro, in control of the centre, flat-out refused to ride to the aid of the right flank, and the powerful daimyo proclaimed he would only listen to respected commanders. Mitsunari’s stubborn centre remained firmly in place, and he could only watch as Tokugawa’s attack sliced through his men.
With Mitsunari’s centre refusing to move, Masanori’s attack finally gained some ground, but this only served to put them in more danger. As the eastern force advanced along the Fuji
River, Otani Yoshitsugu, one of the few powerful samurai who Mitsunari had somehow managed to convince to defect to his side, stood positioned across the river. His forces were able to pounce on the advancing eastern army, slowing Fukushima’s attack once more.
THE SPLINTERED WESTERN SHIELD
Also positioned across Fuji River, on Mount Matsuo, Kobayakawa Hideaki began by fighting for the western alliance. However, Tokugawa had courted the general before the battle and Kobayakawa had secretly promised he would defect to fight with the eastern army when the time was right. With Yoshitsugu’s surprise forces just past him, the time was ideal for Kobayakawa to act – but he hesitated. With Mitsunari sending frantic signals for Kobayakawa to aid Yoshitsugu, and Tokugawa aware that his entire cause could hang on whether Kobayakawa moved, the general was frozen with indecision. Tokugawa decided to take action. He commanded his men to fire their arquebuses at Kobayakawa’s position, forcing him to make a choice. As the shots rained down on Mount Matsuo, Kobayakawa’s force finally charged down the hill into the fray. Kobayakawa’s soldiers ignored Masanori and directed their attack at the western leader, Yoshitsugu. Kobayakawa, although it had taken some persuasion, kept his promise and betrayed his western allies.
However, Yoshitsugu and Mitsunari had suspected Kobayakawa’s potential betrayal long before the battle, and had prepared for his defection. Kobayakawa’s force of 15,000 men crashed into Yoshitsugu’s sturdy ranks, who had turned to face the traitors head on, and fought them back bravely thanks to their fresh, dry gunpowder. Although this rendered Kobayakawa’s charge largely ineffective, Yoshitsugu came under immense and growing pressure. With these extra opponents on the field, under the command of several mighty samurai, there was absolutely no denying it – he was totally outnumbered.
Seeing Yoshitsugu barely holding out against such odds, one by one four western generals and their troops switched sides and swarmed upon the exposed Yoshitsugu forces from all sides. The effect was decisive – the bolstered eastern forces overwhelmed the western defenders on the left flank. Seeing this, and that a crushing defeat was inevitable, Yoshitsugu took the only decision that honour left him and opened his stomach with his own sword to end his life.
FUKUSHIMA’S UNENDING CHARGE
With Yoshitsugu’s defeat, his forces quickly retreated from the field and left the western army’s right flank there for the taking. Fukushima and Kobayakawa, now united in one huge, powerful force, thundered towards the right flank and destroyed it. At this point the eastern samurai outnumbered what remained of the loyal western force and their attack was swift and brutal. They continued the attack and advanced on the western centre. Mitsunari, his confidence shattered by the numerous betrayals, realised that with his shield
decimated, defeat was imminent. With the same calculated intelligence that prompted the formation of his army, he ordered the retreat and fled up the northern hill slopes, hoping to find shelter on Mount Ibuki, the highest mountain of the region. The western army followed his lead, scattering and fleeing into the mountains. Although some managed to escape unscathed, Tokugawa’s forces chased them, captured and triumphantly killed many of the fleeing commanders.
Tokugawa’s eastern army had won, but later into the day forces absent from the battle finally began to arrive at Sekigahara. His own son, Hidetada, faced his father’s wrath when he arrived late with over 38,000 men – a force that could have won him the battle far quicker and cleaner. Hidetada had been distracted attempting to capture another castle, Ueda, against his father’s orders. Even some of Mitsunari’s men had been held up – 15,000 troops slowed down by another conflict along the way. Had some of these troops arrived quicker, the result, and Japan’s future, may have been very different.
THE FUTURE OF JAPAN
Mitsunari’s escape didn’t last for long. Villagers loyal to the now all-powerful Tokugawa caught the fleeing samurai and handed him over to his enemies, who beheaded him in Kyoto along with several other powerful western daimyo. Tokugawa had to be sure his rule wouldn’t be challenged by any other powerful men with dubious allegiances. As an example to others, Mitsunari’s head was put on a stand for all to see – a gruesome warning to anyone who dared rise up against the new shogun.
Tokugawa was true to his word: after the battle he redistributed the lands to those who had fought by his side and who’d come good on their vows to change sides. Those who’d fought against him paid dearly. Toyotomi territories fell into his hands and pockets of Toyotomi support quickly faded away after the public executions of the western leaders.
Three years after the Battle of Sekigahara, Emperor Go-yozei appointed Tokugawa shogun of Japan, and the battle soon became celebrated as one of the most important victories in the nation’s history. At 60 years old, Tokugawa outlived and rose above all the powerful men of his generation. Aware he was in his twilight years, he began to concentrate on strengthening his shogunate and eliminating the last remaining Toyotomi clan members in a final clash at Osaka Castle. With nobody around with enough power to challenge his rule, Tokugawa ensured his ancestors would rule the country for another 250 years. Although it emerged through bloody means, the Edo period under the shogunate is remembered as the last period of traditional
Japan, before aggressive Westernisation began in the 19th century.
But the Mori, Shimazu and Chosokabe clans remained hostile to the Tokugawa family, and their disdain was so strong it would pass down to their descendants. They would eventually rise together to bring down not only the Tokugawa dynasty but also a way of life that had endured for centuries.