MEDIEVAL JAPAN AND ITS UNIFICATION.

 

In the year 1551 Japan fell into bad times. There was no central government and the land fell into civil war and was split among Daimyos or feudal war lords who fought for power and territory. Then into one such family in the small province of Owari was born ODA NOBUNAGA. His father was the head of the Oda clan which was surrounded by much larger clans.

When his father ODA NOBUHIDE died, he chose his eldest son ODA NOBUNAGA to head the family. His father controlled a large part of the OWARI province in Central Japan. Nobunaga faced a rebellion from his brothers and cousins who thought they would do a better job on being the head then him. Nobunaga was a very badly behaved guy who had a terrible temper. Many of his clansmen viewed him as a fool.

His behaviour at his father’s funeral where he violated tradition enraged some people so much that the nominated to be Chief Councillor of Oda Nobunaga, HIRATE MASAHIDE  committed “SEPPUKU” or ritual suicide by slitting his belly open. It was a way of expressing his protest. Seppuku was also performed in times of defeat and dejection.

From THE day he became the head of ODA clan, Nobunaga’s life was at peril. That was known as the SENGOKU period and then murder in the family was very common for seizing power. There were suspicions on his wife NOHIME who happened to be the daughter of his deadliest enemy SAITO DOSAN. She was married to Nobunaga to make peace between the 2 clans.  There were suspicions that she was conspiring with his younger brother ODA NOBUYUKI  who was considered to be sober and was admired in the family.

One of his retainers tipped off Nobunaga that his younger brother Nobuyuki was planning a coup. Nobunaga got Nobuyuki caught and he himself beheaded him with his sword. He was very brutal and this act of his clearly displayed his character. This of course was Nobunaga’s way of announcing to his clansmen that he was ready to do anything to hold his lordship and can go to any extent.

After removing all the threats to his leadership, now Nobunaga turned his attention to his most dangerous threat to control the Owari province, his cousin ODA NOBUKATA. Nobukata controlled Northern Owari. He had 3000 men at his command. Nobukata was a fierce opponent. Both of them controlled about half of Owari province, both were ambitious men and both wanted to expand their territory. They were also competing to become the head of the Oda family. It was inevitable that they had to clash.

To curtail his cousin Nobunaga was looking for a decisive battle that may either make him or break him. For Nobunaga to fight a war, he needed an army of SAMURAI. About 800 years before Nobunaga, no one wanted to be called a Samurai, because it meant servant. But gradually the term got associated with mounted fighting warriors or BUSHI. Their most powerful weapon was the KATANA, the Japanese sword. It was considered to be one of the finest swords to be made in the world. It had a slightly curved blade and enabled the Samurai to deliver a blow from the scabbard. If a blow of the Katana was directed at a foot soldier, it would take in the momentum of the horse and slice him into two.

The Samurai were athletic warriors who knew nothing but battle for about a century. They are one of the greatest warriors the history has ever known. Nobunaga knew that warfare was getting modernized and industrial and he needed a large army. Nobunaga was the most innovative military leader in Japan at that time and he was receptive to all kinds of new ideas in war.  

Till the time of Nobunaga in Japan, battles and wars were small affairs fought with a limited number of men. The army was limited by the number of Samurai available. Nobunaga then started recruiting commoners for war. They were known as ASHIGARU. They were actually peasants who were recruited to fight, or the foot soldiers. For 400 years these commoners spent their lives at the beck and call of the Samurai and the great lords like slaves and Nobunaga hit upon the idea of recruiting them as soldiers and training and equipping them thoroughly.

These Ashigaru with good training and equipment which gave them loyalty, became a powerful force to reckon with, even for the Samurai. So, this is completely a Nobunaga innovation. In 1558 with his army of 3000, most of which  was Ashigaru, Nobunaga went to Northern Owari to meet his rival Nobukata. Nobukata in turn sent his battle hardened Samurai of 3000 warriors to intercept Nobunaga.

Now, Nobunaga has no battle experience, but fortune smiles on him. In 1543 a Portuguese ship while sailing was blown off course and was shipwrecked on one island. That ship had Arqebus’s stored in it. The Arquebus is a gun which worked on gunpowder. Many Daimyos tried them but hesitantly and they felt it did not suit them as it is too slow to load after the charge is fired and did not fire in rain. Nobunaga realised the potential of the Arquebus and he decided to take the gamble. He purchased many guns for his army and trained them in their use.  

Nobunaga moved his forces towards IWAKURA castle where Nobukata’s forces were. As already mentioned Nobunaga had 3000 soldiers, he also had 500 guns.  Nobukata’s 3000 battle hardened troops of Samurai were equipped with better armour than Nobunaga’s. Nobukata commanded his troops to advance and Nobunaga made his troops wait till they reached the gun killing range of 100 meters. Nobukata’s troops met with volley after volley of gunfire and the battle of UKINO commenced. However, as the loading time is too long, the battle turned into a hand to hand combat for the troops. After 3 hours Nobunaga’s men got the upper hand. They Broke  through Nobukata’s forces and routed them.

1200 men or 20% of the soldiers who participated died in the battle. The forces of Nobukata retreated to the Iwakaura castle which fell after 3 months of seize. Nobukata is killed and Nobunaga is now the unchallenged head of the Oda family and he now controlled the entire Owari province 9 years after his father’s death.

After this victory over what is considered a superior enemy and the use of guns Nobunaga now developed higher ambitions. He wanted to use that prowess elsewhere.  

However, a new threat arose to his authority. IMAGAWA YOSHIMOTO one of the most feared Daimyos of Japan from the East was on the move with his massive army. His target was KYOTO  the imperial capital and the traditional centre of military power. But for getting there he has to march straight through Owari. There were then about 6 to 8 very powerful Daimyo in Japan. Imagawa Yoshimoto is one of them.

Obviously Nobunaga is not going to sit there watching while Imagawa matches through his province, he is going to prevent him from doing so. For this Nobunaga has to fight with Imagawa. But Imagawa has a very large, rich and powerful domain. He had an army of 25000 troops. That is far more than what Nobunaga could field. So Imagawa imagined that he could easily defeat Nobunaga and continue on his way to Kyoto.

First Imagawa started attacking Nobunaga’s border fortresses and captured them easily. The Samurai he sent to lead this mission was TOKUGAWA  IYEYASU. Iyeyasu is young, a brilliant tactician and is extremely ambitious.

Nobunaga’s generals see their position as hopeless and advise Nobunaga to take a defensive position in a castle and somehow manage the siege assuming that luck would be theirs. But Nobunaga had a very different idea. He was a brilliant tactical commander and an organizer. Nobunaga had better intelligence. He had scouts all over the province giving him information about the enemy every day.

Nobunaga’s scout found Imagawa encamped atop a hill named OKEHAZAMA with 5000 men. The rest of his army was camping elsewhere. Nobunaga knew that if he killed Yoshimoto then the rest of the army would be left leaderless and directionless.

Nobunaga decided that he would mount a surprise attack on Yoshimtos camp. At that time in Japan battles were fought conventionally in open spaces or in sieges of castles. No one till that time had ever mounted a surprise attack. It is Nobunaga’s unconventional thinking that gave him the advantage. His army took positions around Yoshimoto’s camp.

The camp including Yoshimoto was eating, drinking and celebrating their victories. But it was a risky proposition with lesser number of men Nobunaga had, but he had no option in that. Yoshimoto and his forces were taken completely by surprise. One of the Oda soldiers attacked Yoshimoto himself and beheaded him. The Imagawa forces now fled. The other Imagawa forces encamped elsewhere hear the news and decide to retreat. The Battle of Okehazama lasted just 15 minutes, but it was one of the most decisive battles in Japanese history. This battle thrust Nobunaga into the limelight in Japan.  

Battle of Okehazama gave Nobunaga 2 very important alliances that would serve him long and help him in his future victories. One was TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI who joined Nobunaga’s troops as an Ashigaru and became a Samurai. Hideyoshi would later unify all of Japan after Nobunaga’s death. Nobunaga greatly appreciated Hideyoshi’s fighting skills as well as his leadership qualities.

Hideyoshi had a meteoric rise in the Oda army and became one of most trusted Generals of Nobunaga.  It was Hideyoshi who beheaded Yoshimoto at the battle of Yokehazama.  

The 2^nd one was TOKUGAWA IYEYASU who later went on to become the SHOGUN in Japan and started the TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE. Iyeyasu threw in his lot with Nobunaga after his master Imagawa was defeated and killed by him.

The battle of Okehazama has made the 3 men that are going to shape Japanese history come together. They are ODA NOBUNAGA, TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI and TOKUGAWA IYEYASU. With them by his side, Nobunaga launches many bloody campaigns and expands his domain. Finally he marches on the Imperial Capital Kyoto. From here Nobunaga wants to launch his boldest plan, the reunification of Japan.