Battle of Yamazaki (2/2)The end of Mitsuhide Akechi's "Three Days of Tenka"

It was Ikeda Tsuneoki's team that completely changed this situation. They stealthily cross the river and flank Mitsuhide's main force in a surprise attack that is successful. Taking this as an opportunity, Hashiba's army made a comeback, and Akechi's army completely collapsed. Sadaoki Ise, who served as Shingari, died in the battle. After about three hours of fighting, the battle ended with the defeat of Akechi's army.

By the way, the Battle of Yamazaki was previously called the "Battle of Tennozan." The phrase ``Tennozan'' is known as an idiom that expresses ``a critical turning point between victory or defeat,'' and it is said to have originated from the Battle of Yamazaki. By the way, Tennozan was not the main battlefield, so be careful about that.

Battle of Yamazaki ③ Death of Mitsuhide Akechi

Akechi Mitsuhide, who was defeated in the Battle of Yamazaki, retreated to Shoryuji Castle, which was behind the main camp. Shoryuji Castle was a flat castle and could not accommodate a large army, and soldiers from Akechi's army deserted and dispersed one after another. At this point, the number of troops had decreased to about 700. On the other hand, the front line troops of Hashiba's army were exhausted. However, due to the darkness of the night, we were unable to actively pursue them.

Meanwhile, Mitsuhide secretly escapes from the north gate of Shoryuji Castle. He ran towards his home, Sakamoto Castle, but on the way he encountered farmers hunting fallen warriors in the Ogurisu bush (Fushimi Ward, Kyoto City), and died from exhaustion with a bamboo spear. He passed away at the age of 55.

As for the cause of his death, there is also a theory that although he escaped the hunt for fallen warriors, he sustained fatal injuries and committed suicide through the intervention of Shigetomo Mizoo. Shigetomo Mizoo tries to bring back the head, but he is attacked again by samurai hunters, so he hides it in a bamboo thicket. He then escaped to Sakamoto Castle. Mitsuhide's head was delivered to the Hashiba army by a farmer on the 14th, and was later exposed at Honnoji Temple and Awataguchi in Kyoto. In this way, Mitsuhide's reign ended in just over ten days (both the 11th and 12th). This is where the phrase ``Three-day Tenka'' comes from. By the way, there is a theory that Mitsuhide was actually alive and was Nankobo Tenkai who served Tokugawa Ieyasu, and just like Oda Nobunaga, Mitsuhide's death also became the inspiration for the creation of romantic stories.

After that, the Hashiba army entered Shoryuji Castle on the 14th to search for Mitsuhide. At this time, he fought against Hidemitsu Akechi's army and defeated them. Defeated, Hidemitsu gave his opponent a family heirloom at Sakamoto Castle, then killed Mitsuhide's wife and child as well as his own wife and child, set the castle on fire, and committed suicide along with Akechi Mitsutada and Shigetomo, who had also escaped. In addition, the Hashiba army had Mitsuhide's son, Akechi Mitsuyoshi, commit suicide at Tamba-Kameyama Castle (Kameoka City, Kyoto Prefecture), and as a result, the Akechi clan was almost wiped out, except for those who had become priests.

By the way, speaking of the remaining Akechi Goshukuro, Fujita Masashi committed suicide in the defeat. Toshizo Saito fled, but was captured in Katata, where he was hiding, and was beheaded at Rokujo Kawahara on June 17th.

Battle of Yamazaki ④ Who were the Oda vassals other than Hideyoshi at that time?

In the end, Hideyoshi Hashiba fought a decisive battle with Mitsuhide Akechi, but what on earth were Oda Nobunaga's powerful vassals other than Hideyoshi doing at that time? The following is a summary of the movements of military commanders other than Hideyoshi.

●Katsuie Shibata

He was at war with the Uesugi clan in the ``Battle of Uozu Castle'' in Etchu Chugoku (Toyama Prefecture). On June 6th, they received the news of the Honnoji Incident and withdrew, but they were unable to move due to interference from Uesugi's side, and as a result, Hideyoshi took the lead.

●Kazumasu Takigawa

The Hojo army was held back at Umanabashi Castle in Ueno Province (Maebashi City, Gunma Prefecture). After that, on June 7th, he learned of the Honnoji Incident and tried to kill Mitsuhide, but he fought against the Hojo clan, who had also learned of the Honnoji Incident and attacked, and was ultimately defeated. I was unable to attend the Kiyosu Conference on June 27th as I was busy dealing with post-war issues.

●Nobutaka Oda and Nagahide Niwa

The Honnoji Incident occurred during the formation of an army in Sakai for the conquest of Shikoku. Apparently they had received information on the day, but as the motley crew of soldiers fled one after another, they were not talking about military action, but instead were on passive defensive mode. After that, he joined Hideyoshi's army and participated in the Battle of Yamazaki.

●Tokugawa Ieyasu

Sightseeing in Sakai (Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture) with about 30 subordinates. On the same day, he received news of the Honnoji Incident, but since there was a possibility that he would be killed by Mitsuhide, he hurriedly moved back to Mikawa Province (Shizuoka Prefecture). That route is the ``Kamikun Igagoe'' route. He arrived in Mikawa Province on June 4th, and then departed on the 14th day of Hikaru leading the Hide subjugation army, but Hideyoshi had already surpassed him.

In this way, it seems that no one other than Hideyoshi could go to kill Mitsuhide due to various reasons. Of course, Hideyoshi's quick judgment paid off, but you could also say that he was very lucky.

Hideyoshi after the Battle of Yamazaki

Thus, the Battle of Yamazaki, which could be called the funeral battle for Oda Nobunaga, ended with Hideyoshi Hashiba's victory. Afterwards, Hideyoshi expanded his power at the Kiyosu Conference, which was held to decide on Nobunaga's successor and the distribution of his estate. After a conflict with his rival, Katsuie Shibata, he decided to become a Tenkajin.