Battle of Asainawate (2/2)Sekigahara in Hokuriku, Toshinaga Maeda VS Tanba Ju

Next, Toshinaga invaded Echizen Province. In contrast, the Western military commanders tried to avoid war. Tadamoto Aoyama of Maruoka Castle expressed his obedience, and Kazunori Aoki, citing illness, sent a letter stating that he would not stand up against Maeda's army. In addition, Katsunari Toda of Yasui Castle (Fukui City, Fukui Prefecture) explained that he had no choice but to side with Mitsunari Ishida, and said, ``In the situation where Ieyasu was not on the march, the military commanders who were on the west side in front, and Komatsu Castle in the back. In certain situations, it's difficult to move upwards unscathed. I suggest you reconsider your strategy with Ieyasu."

Rumors such as ``The Western Army won the Battle of Fushimi Castle and took control of the upper region,'' ``Kagekatsu Uesugi is planning to gain Echigo and attack Kaga,'' and ``Yoshitsugu's relief force is heading for Kanazawa'' were rumored. begins to flow. When Toshinaga heard this rumor, he must have felt very anxious.

In fact, this was all a plot by Yoshitsugu Otani to return Toshinaga to Kanazawa. As soon as Yoshitsugu, who was participating in the Battle of Fushimi Castle, learned that Toshinaga was preparing to march with the eastern army, he moved from Fushimi to Echizen, and on August 4, he moved to Kitasho Castle where Kazunori Aoki was located. It had arrived at .

On the same day, Yoshitsugu captures Mitsushige Nakagawa (Sohan Nakagawa, Toshinaga's younger sister-in-law) and threatens him, forcing him to write a letter to Toshinaga. The letter stated that Yoshitsugu was leading an army of 40,000 troops to the relief of Echizen, and that 30,000 of them were heading for Kanazawa by sea.

The news from my brother-in-law is very reliable. Toshinaga, panicked by this letter, left a small number of soldiers as a check on Komatsu Castle and returned to Kanazawa with the rest of his soldiers. While returning, the Battle of Asainawate occurred.

Who won the Battle of Asainawate?

Maeda Toshinaga began his retreat towards Kanazawa on August 8th (both August 6th). Most of the army went to Miyukizuka Castle (Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture), and Toshinaga went to Mitōyama Castle (Nomi City, Ishikawa Prefecture). As a result of a military council, the military commanders of Miyukizuka Castle decided to break through the vicinity of Komatsu Castle. Komatsu Castle was still being defended by Niwa Nagashige, but the generals of Maeda's army apparently felt that it would be a shame for the Kaga samurai to take a detour, and in the end they decided to organize seven units and advance. became.

He would like to secretly pass through Komatsu Castle, but that is not possible, and Toshinaga's movements are known to Nagashige of Komatsu Castle. Nagashige leads his army to the front. Thus, on August 9th, a field battle broke out at Asainawate. Maeda's army had 25,000, while Niwa's army had 3,000. It seems that Niwa's army is at an overwhelming disadvantage, but Nagashige, who is well aware of the geographical advantage, and Asainawate's location can be used to their advantage.

Asainawate's Nawate is a narrow rope-like path. Maeda's military advantage could not be utilized on narrow roads through swamps and rice fields. Moreover, it was raining that day, and guns could not be used, so the hand-to-hand combat began. In this battle, the Chorenryu troop, which served as the main force, suffered heavy damage, and nine of Nagashi's vassals and 20 to 30 of his followers were killed. On the other hand, in the Niwa army, Magosaburo Matsumura, Hyōbu Saiga, Kanzaemon Teraoka, and others were killed in action.

By the time Maeda's advance troops returned to help, Niwa's army had withdrawn, and the battle ended without a victory for either side. Some say it was a draw, or that Niwa's army lost because they pulled up, but since Komatsu Castle was not captured and remained, in a sense it could be said that Niwa's army won.

After that, Mr. Maeda and Mr. Niwa

After the Battle of Asainawate, Maeda Toshinaga safely returned to Kanazawa Castle. After discovering that Yoshitsugu Otani's attack on Kanazawa was a lie, he tried to go to war for Ieyasu with his younger brother Toshimasa Maeda who was in Nanao Castle in Noto Province (Nanao City, Ishikawa Prefecture), but Toshimasa took a neutral position. The ____ doesn't work. Finally, on September 11, Toshinaga alone headed southward again. On September 18th, Niwa Nagashige surrendered to Toshinaga. At this time, Toshinaga offered Toshiie Maeda's fourth son, Toshitsune Maeda, as a hostage. At this point, the Battle of Sekigahara had ended, and in the end, the second generation of the Oda family's senior vassals, the Maeda clan and the Niwa clan, did not get involved in the Battle of Sekigahara.

However, Tokugawa Ieyasu appreciated Toshinaga's move. As a result, at the time of the award for meritorious conduct after the Battle of Sekigahara, Toshinaga was given additional possessions such as Komatsu Castle and Daishoji Castle in addition to his younger brother's Nanao Castle, making him a daimyo with 1.2 million koku in three countries: Kaga, Noto, and Etchu. It was.

Toshinaga later adopted Toshitsune Maeda as his successor. In the 5th year of the Keicho era, Toshitsune entered into a betrothal ceremony with Tamahime (3 years old at the time), Ieyasu's grandson, as originally promised. Tamahime then moved to Kanazawa in 1601. In this way, the Maeda clan and the Tokugawa clan became related, and their ties grew even stronger.

On the other hand, Niwa Nagashige had his fiefs confiscated, but in 1603 he returned to the daimyo status with 10,000 koku in Furuto, Hitachi Province (Inashiki City, Ibaraki Prefecture). Later, due to his military exploits at the Osaka Siege, he became a fairy tale troupe of Hidetada Tokugawa, and his net worth was increased to 100,700 koku in Shirakawa, Mutsu Province (Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture).

By the way, it seems that the relationship between Nagashige and Toshitsune was not bad. It is said that when Toshitsune became Nagashige's hostage, Nagashige took pity on the young Toshitsune and peeled a pear for him, and Toshitsune remembered the story every time he ate a pear until his later years. There are some heartwarming episodes left behind.