Japan's Warring States Period: The Rise of the Wakasa Tiger

While the two heroes of the western country, Akihisa Amago and Yoshitaka Ouchi, were planning a war, a far-reaching war also took place in Mikawa Province in the Tokaido. This was the "Battle of Anjo Castle", also known as the "Anjo Castle Offensive and Defense Battle".

Anjo Castle, also known as "Anjo", is located in the Bikai County, west of the Yahagi River, at the border of Mikawa Province and Owari Province. It is an important town in the western part of Mikawa. Before the "Battle of Anjo Castle", it existed as the residence of the Matsudaira clan for a long time.

The Matsudaira clan originated in the valley of Rokkasho Mountain in the northern part of western Mikawa. Because there were many pine trees planted around the area, they named their hometown "Matsudaira", and the family then adopted "Matsudaira" as their surname.

When the family was passed down to Matsudaira Yasuchika, he led his son Matsudaira Nobumitsu and moved down the mountain to Kitaiwanzu in Okazaki Township, where they built a house and settled down. When Matsudaira Nobumitsu grew up, he was strong and powerful, participated in quelling the rebellion in the surrounding areas, and made a name for himself in the local area.

In 1471, he seized Anjo Castle, which had been run by the local Wada clan for years, by force and became the new lord of the castle. After that, the four generations of Matsudaira Chikatada, Nagachika, Nobutada and Kiyokasau spent more than years here to gather their strength and prepare for the opportunity.

By the time of the seventh head of the family, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu, this great lord of the Matsudaira clan first captured Okazaki Castle, the most important castle in western Mikawa, and then expanded it, using it as a base to start the road of outward expansion. After years of fighting, in 1534, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu defeated Kamo County and completely pacified the opposition forces in Mikawa, successfully unifying Mikawa.

In December of the following year, riding on the momentum of pacifying Mikawa, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu led an army of more than 10,000 troops from Okazaki Castle to attack Owari, aiming directly at Moriyama Castle, which was guarded by Oda Nobumitsu, the brother of Oda Nobuhide. But at this time, Matsudaira Kiyoyasu was assassinated by his retainer Abe Yashichiro (Abe Masatoyo).

This incident, known as the "Shoyama Collapse", directly led to a change in the offensive and defensive situation. The morale of the various Matsudaira troops was greatly disrupted, and they retreated to Okazaki Castle one after another.

Oda Nobuhide, known as the "Tiger of Owari", saw that the new head of the Matsudaira family, Matsudaira Hirotada, was young and mediocre, so he decided to take the opportunity to launch a counterattack. In August of this year, when the Amago clan was preparing to take military action against the Mori clan, he captured Anjo Castle, which had been the Matsudaira clan's castle for more than 50 years. This was the "Battle of Anjo Castle" that shook Mikawa.

The most direct result of this war was that Oda Nobuhide successfully expanded his sphere of influence to the western Mikawa area west of the Yahagi River.

Matsudaira Hirotada, who had retreated to Okazaki Castle, had to ask for help from the Imagawa family, which controlled Totomi and Suruga, as his castle was lost and his people rebelled. Imagawa Yoshimoto, who had just taken over the position of head of the family, did not want the Oda family to interfere in Mikawa, so he agreed to Matsudaira Hirotada's request.

It can be said that the "Battle of Anjo Castle" became another fuse for the decades-long war between the Oda and Imagawa families, and its significance was no less than the upcoming Battle of Yoshida-gunyama Castle.

The reason why it is called "another" fuse is because the Oda and Imagawa families had already become enemies when Oda Nobuhide captured the Furuno Castle.

Before telling the story of how the two families became enemies, it is necessary to first understand who this Oda Nobuhide was, who offended both the Matsudaira and Imagawa families at the same time.

Oda Nobuhide was born in 1511, four years younger than Ouchi Yoshitaka and three years older than Akihisa Niwa. He was from the family of Oda Danmasatada and was the eldest son of Oda Nobumasa, the lord of Owari Katsubata Castle and one of the three magistrates of Kiyosu.

The Oda Danmasatada family was a commoner clan of the Oda Yamatonomori family, the guardian of the lower four counties of Owari. In the early Warring States period, their residence was Katsubata Castle, located at the junction of Nakajima and Kaito counties in western Owari.

This castle was built along the Miyake River. Although it was a flat castle, it was one of the largest castles in Owari and the entire Tokaido. It was said that its size was comparable to that of the Asakura clan's Ichijodani Castle. In 1533, when Yamashina Gentsugu and Asukai Masaga visited Oda Nobuhide, they were amazed by the Katsubata Castle, which was being expanded at the time.

Oda Danmasatada was just a commoner, but he was able to build a city of such a scale, and later supported the huge army that went to Mikawa. This was due to the strong financial resources controlled by his family. The source of these financial resources was closely related to the control of Tsushima by Oda Nobuaki and Oda Nobuhide.

Tsushima, located at the southwestern end of Owari, is a delta area developed from the mouth of the Tenno River. In ancient times, it was a small ferry crossing between Owari and Ise.

The local Tsushima Gyuto Tenno Shrine is a more powerful religious center besides Owari Atsuta Shrine. In addition, it is located between the Tokaido route to the east and Kinki, forming a trade circle with Ise's Kuwana and Mikawa Bay.

Therefore, in the early Warring States period, the area gradually developed from a border crossing to a transit point from Ise to Surumasan, with Tsushima Gyuto Tenno Shrine as the center. The strong economic strength also gave rise to an autonomous organization jointly managed by the townspeople.

Oda Nobumasa, who had long coveted Tsushima's wealth, led an army to capture Tsushima in 1524. Although the people of Tsushima resisted, they were eventually forced to reconcile with them and gradually accepted the rule of Oda Danmasatada.

The capture of Tsushima was of great significance to the "take-off" of the Oda Danjotada family.

In the early Warring States period, the relationship between daimyo and merchants and townspeople was not simply one of domination and subordination, but more importantly, it was about maintaining mutual benefit.

After taking control of Tsushima, Oda Danmasatada's family maintained good relations with the family of the chief priest of Tsushima Shrine, which had great influence in the local area, as well as their clans such as the Horita and Himuro families. Oda Nobumasa even betrothed his daughter to the powerful local clan Ohashi as his wife.

With strong financial support, the sixteen-year-old Oda Nobuhide immediately set about expanding his power after inheriting the position of family head. The first attack he made was against his nominal lord, Oda Yamato no Morie.

In 1532, Oda Nobuhide and his lord Oda Tatsukatsu were in conflict for some reason. The following year, although the two reached a reconciliation with the help of the mediation of the court nobles, Oda Nobuhide had already achieved his goal through this incident, that is, he completed the challenge to the prestige of his lord and consolidated his own position.

In 1534, the eldest son, Master Yoshi, was born.

In 1537, knowing full well the impact of the "moriyama collapse" on the situation, Oda Nobuhide designed a plan to capture Nakuno Castle in Aichi County.

Nagoya Castle is located in Aichi County in the south-central part of Owari, which later became Nagoya City. The castle was built by Imagawa Ujimoto and was the main castle of the Nagoya Imagawa clan. The lord of the castle, Imagawa Ujitoyo, was the son of Imagawa Ujimoto and the brother of Imagawa Yoshimoto. For many years, the castle has been the bridgehead for the Imagawa clan to move westward into Owari.

Nobuhide captured Nagoya Castle and eliminated the Imagawa clan's power from Owari Province in one fell swoop, but this also created hatred between the Oda and Imagawa families.

In 1539, Oda Nobuhide built the new castle, Furuto Castle, near Naguruno Castle, and acquired the economically developed Atsuta as his second economic center.

With the support of the two major economic centers of Tsushima and Atsuta, Oda Nobuhide was not satisfied with the four counties under Owari, and began to covet Mikawa Province, which had fallen into chaos due to the death of Matsudaira Kiyoyusa. The "Battle of Ansho Castle" broke out against this background.

After their castle was seized, the Matsudaira clan basically lost control over the people of Mikawa. Not only that, even Matsudaira Kiyoyus's younger brother and uncle of Matsudaira Hirotada, the successor to the family head, Matsudaira Nobutaka, defected to Oda Nobuhide. The Matsudaira clan was on the verge of disintegration.

Under this situation, many retainers of the Matsudaira Kiyokusa era were unwilling to serve Oda Nobuhide, nor were they willing to follow Matsudaira Hirotada to join Imagawa Yoshimoto. They began to want to leave the Matsudaira family and seek other places to go. For a time, the entire Matsudaira clan was in a panic.

At this time, Yunfeng Longxing, who had just arrived at the foot of Okazaki Castle and was preparing to go to Sunpu to visit his senior brother Taiyuan Xuesai, had to go to the nearby Ueno Castle under the escort of several samurai to avoid looting by the fleeing soldiers, and stayed in a village outside the city for some time.

Yunfeng Longxing's trip to Sunpu had actually been delayed for more than a year. As early as 1538, after the "Miyagawa Rebellion" was quelled, he should have set off eastward, but the Wakasa Takeda clan had been in turmoil for more than a year, and considering his friendship with Yoshishige, he repeatedly postponed his departure.

It was not until half a month ago that he could no longer bear the repeated urging letters from Taiyuan Xuezhai and, after obtaining Yizhong's consent, he officially set off.

For his safety, Yoshishige specially arranged for Kuchiki Hidemitsu to lead ten elite horsemen to escort him throughout the journey. For safety reasons, they dressed up as a caravan and acted as low-key as possible to avoid unnecessary trouble.

But the fact is, the more you don't want to cause trouble, the more trouble will come to you.

The outbreak of the "Battle of Ansho Castle" and the defeat of the Matsudaira army caused chaos in Nishi-Mikawa. After discussing with Kuchiki Hidemitsu, Yunfeng Ryuoki decided to avoid Okazaki Castle and stay in a village outside Ueno Castle for a few days, waiting for the war to subside before setting off again.

After asking the elders in the village, Yunfeng Longxing and others learned that Ueno Castle was the residence of Sakai Tadanori, a hereditary retainer of the Matsudaira clan, who had taken the initiative to achieve peace with Oda Nobuhide after the "Battle of Ansho Castle". Therefore, staying in the village for a few days was also a good choice.

Hearing that a group of outsiders had come to the village during the war, the village's local samurai informed the matter to Sakakibara Nagamasa, a retainer of the Sakai clan who was in charge of several surrounding villages. The latter also became suspicious of the visit of Yunfeng Longxing and others, and under the guidance of the local samurai, he came to the house where Yunfeng Longxing stayed.

This Sakakihara Nagamasa was from the Sakakihara clan, which claimed to be a branch of the Mikawa Jinki clan. Because they moved to Sakakihara in the Washi County of Ise Province, they took "Sakakihara" as their surname. More than 20 years ago, part of the Sakakihara clan returned to Mikawa Province and served the Sakai clan, the successor of the Matsudaira clan, so they were considered to be vassals of the Matsudaira clan.

Upon learning that Sakakibara Nagamasa was coming, Yunfeng Ryuoki did not dare to neglect him at all. He first ordered his men to hide the weapons, and then, accompanied by Kuchiki Hidemitsu and another horse mahjong, he received Sakakibara Nagamasa very politely.

Looking at the plain-dressed monk in front of him, Sakakibara Nagamasa did not feel anything strange. After all, it was not uncommon for a merchant caravan to have monks accompanying it these days. However, it was Kuchiki Hidemitsu, who was sitting behind Yunfeng Longxing, who alerted Sakakibara Nagamasa.

"Master, where are you from and where are you going?" asked Sakakibara Nagamasa angrily.

"I am from Kennin-ji Temple in Kyoto, and I am planning to ship some goods to Kanto for sale." Yunfeng Longxing replied respectfully.

"Kenninji? That's a precious temple." Although Sakakibara Nagamasa did not believe in the Rinzai sect, he was aware of the fame of Kenninji, the sect's head temple.

"Your Excellency is too kind," Yunfeng Longxing said politely, "At this time every year, the temple town will prepare some goods, and we monks will follow the townspeople and merchants to sell them in various places to earn some money to subsidize the daily expenses of the temple."

"I see." Sakakibara Nagamasa nodded, seemingly in agreement, but his eyes were still on the two people behind Yunfeng Longxing.

"Master, may I ask who are the two people behind you?" asked Sakakibara Nagamasa.

"Oh, these two are businessmen selected by Teramae Town. With them traveling with us, we can take care of each other on the road." Yunfeng Longxing replied.

"Merchant?" Sakakibara Nagamasa looked up and down at Kuchiki Hidemitsu and his eyes revealed a trace of suspicion: "The way they sit, their figures, and their faces... From what I see, they don't seem like merchants."

"Oh?" Yunfeng Longxing responded calmly, "Your Highness, you are worrying too much. They are really just ordinary businessmen."

"If you are really businessmen, could you two turn your hands upwards so that I can take a look?" It sounded like a negotiating tone, but Yunfeng Longxing could hear a firmness that could not be refused.

After hearing this, Kuchiki Hidemitsu and the other man looked at each other. They knew what Sakakibara Nagamasa wanted to see, so they did not open their hands as he requested. Instead, they subconsciously reached for their waists. The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense.

Looking at the actions of Kuchiki Hidemitsu and the other man, Sakakibara Nagamasa felt that his guess was correct, and he also tightened his hands on the swords at his waist. Beads of sweat the size of beans slid down the faces of both parties, and a conflict was about to break out.

Yunfeng Longxing was keenly aware of the tension between the two sides, and immediately turned his head to Kuchiki Hidemitsu and ordered: "Yahachiro, don't be rude."

After hearing this, Kuchiki Hidemitsu took his hands away from his waist, and the two of them returned to their sitting position.

Seeing this, Sakakibara Nagamasa also let go of his sword, and the tense atmosphere in the room eased.

"Your Excellency has a keen eye for detail. I admire you." Yunfeng Longxing bowed.

"Master, thank you for the compliment. In that case, please introduce yourselves to avoid hurting the atmosphere." Sakakibara Nagamasa's words also returned to a friendly tone.

"Master, this..." Xiu Mu Xiu Man asked Yun Feng Long Xing with an embarrassed look on his face.

"Now that it's like this, let's just talk it out. Yahachiro, just tell the truth." Yunfeng Longxing gestured.

"Ha, as you command." Kuchiki Hidemitsu hesitated for a moment, but finally told Sakakibara Nagamasa his identity: "I am Kuchiki Yahachiro Hidemitsu, a foot soldier general under Wakasa Mue-dono. The man next to me is the head of the family, Awaya Mataebe Tadahisa."

"Wakasa Takeedon... Kuchiki Hidemitsu..." Sakakibara Nagamasa's brain was working rapidly. After a while, he suddenly realized and asked, "Are you from the Wakasa Takeda family?"

"That's right." Yunfeng Longxing nodded slightly, "We did come from Wakasa. We are passing through here, so I hope you can give us some convenience."

"Master, you are too polite!" Sakakibara Nagamasa said hurriedly, "I have heard of the reputation of the Wakasa Takeda clan for a long time. It is a great honor to meet you all today!"

"Your Excellency, that's not true," Yunfeng Longxing replied with a smile, "Our family is only located in a small corner of the Northern Continent, and we really don't deserve such praise from you, Your Excellency."

"You are too modest," said Sakakibara Nagamasa respectfully, "In recent years, I have heard of the reputation of Wakasa Wueden and the Wakasa samurai from the envoys and merchants traveling to Tōkaidō. Please don't be modest, don't be modest!" (End of this chapter)