Chapter 88: Manji War Part V - Uncle vs. Nephew
By March 1661, Kanbe Tomoyoshi, the new self-proclaimed leader of the rebellion against Azuchi and the government of his nephew, Konoe Toshishige, had received the support of the governors of Bireitō, the Shimazu clan, and the Mōri clan as well as Tagawa Seikou. Now secure enough to sail from Awari, he departed Luson alongside Tagawa’s fleet and an army of 10,000, headed towards Kagoshima. Awaiting his arrival on April 6th was Shimazu Norihisa and his army of 7,500 to be shortly joined by 1,000 more men from Bireitō. Many Shimazu samurai who were Calvinists proudly wore necklaces with crosses as a sign of defiance and pride against the oppressive regime. Accompanied by this combined and spirited force, Tomoyoshi began marching through Kyushu with the Kyushu Tandai helping to garner support for him. It took little persuasion, for many of the daimyo not only preferred the Luson governor over the imperial regent but resented Toshishige’s recent edicts against Kirishitans as they were either Kirishitan themselves or ruled over sizable populations of agitated Kirishitans. Many adherents to the Yamato Church also volunteered to the rebel cause. By the time Tomoyoshi’s army arrived in Hakata, it numbered 42,000, the new rebel leader having received the support of virtually all of Kyushu. They would be joined by 10,000 mobilized men in the Mōri lands and 2,000 Chinese mercenaries in the service of Tagawa Seikou. In total, Tomoyoshi commanded the loyalties of 54,000 men.
Tomoyoshi’s arrival could not be more fortuitous for the rebel cause in the east, for they had struggled after the death of Tomoaki. His absence caused much disarray in Echigo province in particular, where despite losing at Uonuma Sakuma Moritora took advantage of the chaos and had successfully taken over most of the province. Etchu was also under siege as Shibata Katsuoki’s army retook the initiative against the Sassa-Nagao forces. In the Kanto region, Oota Nobufusa had been forced to retreat all the way to Nirayama Castle (韮山城) despite aid from the Tokugawa by Musashino Toshinao and Murai Munemasa. Meanwhile, after a grueling battle, Kitabatake Takanaga’s forces finally overcame Kudō Kanemasa in Iga province in December 1660. His son Kanesuke (工藤包相) was killed in the final showdown while Kanemasa committed seppuku. Kanemasa’s grandson, Kanenao (工藤包直), however, managed to escape the province with a few hundred men and began to run towards Owari province with the hopes of meeting up with the Tokugawa. He wouldn’t make it far, getting captured near the Sunomata River (墨俣川). Shortly afterwards, he would be sent to Azuchi where his execution would take place a few months later. With this, the bloodline of Oda Nobukane, a brother of the great Oda Nobunaga, met its end, and Takanaga would shift his forces towards Owari and Shinano provinces, exerting greater pressure upon the rebel forces.
State of the Manji War, spring 1661 (Orange=rebels, Pink=Azuchi)
News of Tomoyoshi’s decision to join and take over the rebel cause as well as his army’s landing in Kagoshima and the subsequent defections in Kyushu and the Chugoku region that followed greatly alarmed Azuchi. Realizing the precarious situation his regency was found in, Toshishige decided on taking to the field himself. Accompanied by a force of 2,000 men, he would quickly gallop towards Settsu province where the Ikeda were nearly on their last legs, having rapidly lost territory when Miyoshi Yasunori’s large army landed nearby and after Takayama Tsugufusa had succumbed to Azuchi’s forces. After he arrived, he convened a military conference of the top generals on the Settsu front. Although some opinions called for finishing off the Ikeda at Hyogo and its surroundings before making any moves against Tomoyoshi directly, it was decided that a portion of the combined army would stay behind in Settsu while the majority would proceed westwards, with Konoe Toshishige at the helm of the army.
The battleground would be the middle Chugoku region. Although most of the provinces in the region remained loyal to Azuchi, significant victories could shift their loyalties. This was especially the situation in Bitchu and Bingo provinces, which were already divided in their allegiances. Many minor lords and Itou Sukemichi (伊東祐由) sided with Tomoyoshi, while the other minor lords as well as Hachisuka Tomotaka (蜂須賀朝隆) and Kuroda Tomoyuki (黒田朝之) remained on the kōbu kanpuku’s side. Tomoyoshi would take the bulk of the army through the two provinces as the expectation was that Toshishige planned on marching through there, while a second, primarily Mōri-led, army led by Mōri Tsugumoto himself would confront the Urakusai and Amago clans in Izumo province.
When Tomoyoshi entered Bingo province, Kuroda Tomoyuki saw the writing on the wall and retreated to the north of the province, recognizing the futility of resisting a pincer from both east and west and focusing on gathering support from the minor lords. To counter this, Tomoyoshi would send a contingent of 10,000 under the command of Hori Chikamasa while the former continued onwards, meeting up with Itou Sukemichi to confront Hachisuka Tomotaka in Bitchu province. By then, however, Toshishige’s army of 45,000 had arrived on the scene. Lacking any military experience and raised more as a court noble than as a proper samurai, the kōbu kanpaku delegated the running of the army to Miyoshi Yasunori. The 53 year old general and councilor was a proven commander , his career spanning both the Iberian-Japanese and Furuwatari Wars as well as the ongoing conflict. Once a fellow battlefield colleague of Tomoyoshi, he would prove to be a worthy combatant.
Yasunori initially planned to surprise Tomoyoshi’s army, who had set up camp in the recently captured Nariwa Castle (成羽城), and wipe them out before they had a chance to react. At that moment, he possessed twice the number of men accompanying Tomoyoshi at the time. Yasunori’s cover would only be blown by a number of Lusonese archers hunting for deer and boars in a nearby forest. Tomoyoshi began a retreat back into Bingo province but with the enemy nipping at his heels, he assigned the rear guard, led by Horiuchi Ujihira (堀内氏衡), to hold off Toshishige as long as possible. Given several pieces of artillery, he formed up in a defensive position and delivered several bouts of cannonfire upon the enemy. However, the enemy eventually overwhelmed the rear guard, with Ujihira getting killed in the action and the survivors led by his younger brother Ujinari (堀内氏成) making it out.
Tomoyoshi understood that the decisive clash against Azuchi drew near. He called upon Tsugumoto, who had just led his men to a decisive victory against Urakusai Nagaie at the Battle of Kute (久手の戦い), as well as Chikamasa to join with him to confront Toshishige and Yasunori. Simultaneously, Kuroda Tomoyuki maneuvered to meet up with his overlord, keeping enough men in northern Bitchu to hold down pro-Tomoyoshi lords in the area. The two armies would shortly face off in eastern Bingo province, with Kanbe Tomoyoshi setting up camp in the vicinity of Kibitsu Shrine (吉備津神社) near Fukuyama Castle (福山城). The clash on August 9th would go down in history as the Battle of Bingo-Kibitsu (備後吉備津の戦い). Tomoyoshi commanded an army of 51,000, composed of samurai from Bireitō, Kyushu, Luson, and the Chugoku region as well as a handful of Lusonese native infantry and Chinese mercenaries. The left wing was led by Hori Chikamasa and the northern Kyushu contingent while the right wing was led by Mōri Tsugumoto and the Mōri troops. The center was composed of the remainder, directly led by the general himself. Tomoyoshi would place the archers and Chinese mercenaries at the front, assigning a lieutenant of Tagawa Seikou, Shun Zhixi, command of the front rank. Across from them was the main Azuchi army, led by Konoe Toshishige and Miyoshi Yasunori. Yasunori directly oversaw the center, made up of men largely from Shikoku. Commanding the wings, meanwhile, were Kuroda Tomoyuki on the right and Niwa Tomoshige on the left respectively. In total, they numbered 52,000, holding an advantage in cavalry and artillery over the rebel army.
Blue = Tomoyoshi’s army, Salmon = Azuchi army
The battle began at the break of dawn with an exchange of cannonfire, by now a customary exposition in samurai battles. As the smoke and fog gave way to bright sunlight and the Azuchi army frontlines began their march, Shun Zhixi ordered the archers to shoot into the sky, showering them with an unexpected spray of arrows. This somewhat softened up the front ranks. Once their job was finished, the archers were recalled to the ranks of the reserves. It was at this point that the infantry slog of musket fire and metal clangs commenced, particularly in the center. The cavalry also clashed, mostly on the wings. At this phase, the battle was in balance, neither side holding a decisive advantage. Seeing an opportunity, Yasunori ordered an intense barrage of cannonfire across the board, pounding the rebels hard and weakening the left and right wings. However, the center was fortified with heavy samurai infantry from Bireitō and elite Chinese mercenary infantry, who proved their metal and persevered through the explosions and smoke. In fact, the bombardment had intensified their fighting spirits and they charged the center along with accompanying musketeers, pushing back the Azuchi army’s ranks. It was now Tomoyoshi’s turn to reveal an ace up his sleeves. He ordered a barrage of his own cannons and sent up his archers forward to unleash a storm of arrows upon the center. The center of the army, despite being made up of some of Azuchi’s most experienced men, finally buckled under the intense pressure of arrow fire, cannonfire, and Tomoyoshi’s own elite men, and they began to rout. This was followed by the wings, who saw the impending retreat and decided to abandon the fight as well. The bloody confrontation had ended in a victory for Tomoyoshi, but not without heavy losses. He had lost 9,000 men while the main Azuchi army of Toshishige and Yasunori had lost around 17,000.
Although Tomoyoshi had won a critical victory, the civil war was far from over. Azuchi still had plenty of men they could field against him and throughout most of the rest of the realm, the rebels were on the losing end. Instead, it would be events in Kyoto and Echigo that would be key in deciding the final outcome of the war.
