Odawara conquest (2/2)Hideyoshi unifies the country! The last war that defeated the Hojo family

In addition to sieging Odawara Castle, Toyotomi Hideyoshi had his generals attack other castles such as Nirayama Castle, aiming to isolate Odawara Castle. For example, Nirayama Castle, where Hojo Ujichika was imprisoned, endured for more than four months with just under 4,000 soldiers against the 40,000 Toyotomi army, but was persuaded by Ieyasu to surrender the castle. Shimoda Castle fell due to the action of the Suigun Stage. The Northern Army captured various castles including Matsuida Castle.

Actually, it is not a one-night castle, but “Ishigakiyama One-night Castle”

Ishigakiyama Castle, the headquarters of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, was built by 40,000 people in about 80 days during the siege of Odawara Castle, but it is said that the castle was secretly built in the forest so that it could not be seen by the Hojo side. The common name for overnight castle is that when the castle was built, a moat and turret framework were built in the forest, white paper was pasted on the wall to make it look like a wall, and surrounding trees were cut down overnight and the castle was unveiled. Because of what I did. Apparently it was a strategy to lower the morale of the Hojo side, and I feel that Hideyoshi's temperament as a man of ideas can be seen here.

Furthermore, during the war, Hideyoshi invited Sen no Rikyu to a tea party and received the Emperor's envoys. It seems that this event was held to prevent morale from declining due to the long siege of the castle, and to show the Hojo family of Odawara Castle that they had some leeway.

Date Masamune also submitted to Hideyoshi.

Two months after laying siege to Odawara Castle, Date Masamune made his move. Although they had an alliance with the Hojo family, they were requested by Toyotomi Hideyoshi to participate in the conquest of Odawara, and they must have wondered whether to side with the Hojo family or the Toyotomi family. Due to Nagamasa Asano's continued persuasion from Toyotomi's side, Masamune, who was leaning toward the Toyotomi family, left Kurokawa Castle in Aizu in April and arrived in Odawara in early June. Dressed in white, he had an audience with Hideyoshi and apologized for arriving late.

In response, Hideyoshi forgives Masamune's late arrival, but in the post-war settlement, his territory is reduced due to his late arrival.

Cage down or surrender? ``Odawara evaluation'' changes twice and thrice.

In June, all of the castles except Oshi Castle fell, and even Date Masamune, their last ally, sided with Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and the defeat of the Hojo family was decided. On June 24th, Hideyoshi advised Kuroda Kanbei and Takigawa Yuuri to surrender. In response to these movements, the military council was confused and turned around several times. This is how the legendary word ``Odawara Hyōjō'' was born, which means a meeting in which it is difficult to reach a conclusion.

Finally, on July 5, Hojo Ujinao advised surrender and appealed to the soldiers in the area to help in exchange for committing seppuku himself. Thus, the Odawara Conquest came to an end, and Hideyoshi unified the country.

The only battle that could not be defeated was “Oshino Castle”

Due to the onslaught of the Toyotomi army, the castles of the Hojo family fell one after another, but there is one castle that remained until the end. That is Oshi Castle in Musashi Province (Saitama Prefecture). Ishida Mitsunari attacked Oshi Castle, but he was unable to capture Oshi Castle until Odawara Castle fell.

The lord of Oshi Castle is Ujimanga Narita, but at that time he went to Odawara to reinforce the castle, leaving 3,500 people including Yasuki Narita, the castle lord, and his son Nagachika. Of these, about 500 were soldiers. In response, Ishida Mitsunari began attacking the castle with an army of 23,000 men.

Oshi Castle is a castle located in a wetland area between the Tone River and the Arakawa River, and was famous for being difficult to attack as it was surrounded by water moats, earthworks, and swamps that used the river. Therefore, Mitsunari and the Toyotomi army came up with a water attack strategy. The plan was to build a 28km long embankment around the castle over five days and draw river water in to submerge the castle, but because Oshi Castle was on a hill, the main keep was not submerged and remained. I did. Toyotomi's army also suffered damage when the embankment collapsed due to heavy rain. In the end, they were unable to attack, but after the fall of Odawara Castle, Oshi Castle was opened.

Legend has it that during the Battle of Oshi Castle, Princess Kai, the daughter of Ujiranaga Narita, was inside Oshi Castle. Princess Kai was famous for her beauty and martial arts talent, but it is said that she barricaded herself in Oshi Castle and fought against the Toyotomi army.

It is said that Princess Kai, wearing armor and leading 200 soldiers, defeated the Toyotomi army who tried to attack the main castle with reinforcements after the water attack failed and successfully defended the castle. Princess Kai was eventually recognized by Hideyoshi for her bravery and became his concubine. By the way, Princess Kai remains a mystery in the literature, except that she was Hideyoshi's concubine. It is not clear whether he was really in Oshijo.

The episode about the attack on Oshi Castle was made into a movie based on Ryu Wada's novel ``Nobou no Shiro.''

Hojo clan falls, Ieyasu gains Kanto

What happened to the Hojo family after the surrender? Ujimasa Hojo and Ujiteru, and their senior vassals Norihide Matsuda and Masashige Daidoji, took responsibility for the war and committed seppuku. On the other hand, Ujinao Hojo, who had committed seppuku, was ordered to live in seclusion on Mt. Koya, as he was the son-in-law of the princess. In August of the following year, he was forgiven by Hideyoshi and became a daimyo with 10,000 koku. However, his health deteriorated due to smallpox, and he died in November at the young age of 30. Ujiki Hojo was also living in seclusion on Mt. Koya, but was pardoned and obtained a total of just under 9,000 koku in Kawachi District and Tanna District in Kawachi Province (Osaka Prefecture). His son Ujimori Hojo received Ujinao's share and became the first lord of the Sayama domain during the Edo period. His descendants remained the lords of the Sayama domain until the Meiji Restoration.

The Kanto region, which had been ruled by the Hojo family, was replaced by Tokugawa Ieyasu. Ieyasu entered Edo Castle on August 1st. In this way, Ieyasu gained a base that lasted until the Edo period.