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

Yamazaki is a mountain valley located not far southeast of the Uno clan's castle, Nagami Castle.

Thanks to the fact that several streets from Harima to Inaba, Tajima, and Mimasaka all converged here, this basin gradually formed the considerable Yamazaki Town, which also became an important source of tax revenue for the Akamatsu clan in northern Harima.

The Akamatsu clan originally ordered the Uno clan to build Changshui Castle in order to guard the Yamazaki town.

Unfortunately, with the passage of time, as the Akamatsu clan gradually declined, its power slowly withdrew from Shishia County and continued to shrink to the south. The Uno clan took this opportunity to control Yamazaki Town, which became the economic lifeline of the Uno clan.

After learning that the Takeda army had attacked Krize's Nabeshima Castle, Unomura Yoshiro, who felt that he would be in danger if his teeth were cut off, immediately mobilized the people within his territory. When the Takeda army advanced to the outskirts of Yamazaki-cho, he finally gathered a thousand troops and vowed to drive the Takeda army out of Shishia County.

However, the Takeda army's westward attack on Shishia County was not initially intended to destroy the Uno clan. Kumagai Takanao's main purpose was to capture Yamazaki Town, and then quickly advance to the border of Mimasaka and Harima, coordinating with the Takeda army's actions in the direction of Inaba Yodoyama Castle, forming a pincer attack on the seven Inmasaka counties controlled by Kusakari Takatsugu.

However, Kumagai Takanao's attempt to seize Yamazaki Town would indeed harm the interests of the Uno clan, so the Battle of Yamazaki was inevitable.

However, the result of this battle did not lead to the Takeda army leaving the Yamazaki area as Unomura Yoshiro had hoped. Instead, after two days of fierce fighting, the Uno army was the first to withdraw from the battlefield after losing several generals and more than a hundred soldiers. The Takeda army took advantage of the victory and not only occupied Yamazaki Town, but also captured the Uno clan's branch castle Shinomaru Castle in the western suburbs of Yamazaki, thus gaining a foothold in Shishia County.

Unomura Yoshiro thought that he could take advantage of the chaos to get a piece of the pie after sending the Amago army away. However, he never expected that after the battle of Yamazaki, he was defeated by the Takeda army that came from afar.

Once Yamazaki was lost, the connection between the Uno clan's home castle, Nagamizu Castle, and the Shiroyama Castle that they had seized not long ago was cut off. Unomura Yoshiro, who was not sure of the Takeda army's intentions, had to pick up his traditional art, bring a lot of gifts and go to Shinomaru Castle in person to express his willingness to submit to the Takeda clan to prevent Nagamizu and Shiroyama Castle from being divided and annihilated by the Takeda army.

At this time, Kumagaya Takanao actually had no intention of attacking Nagashige Castle or Shiroyama Castle. All he was thinking about was how to cooperate with Yamagata Morinobu to defeat the arrogant Kusakari Hiratsugu.

Upon learning that Unomura Yoshiro had come to visit him personally, Kumagai Takanao did not want to meet him, but Shirai Mitsutane, the deputy commander, disagreed. He reminded him:
"The Uno clan has lived in Shishisoku County for generations, and has close ties with the local nobles in Tajima, Inaba, and especially in Bimasaka. Your Excellency, why don't you take this opportunity to ask them and see if there is any way to accomplish the war against the Kusakari clan with half the effort?"

"Yes, Minbu is still very thoughtful!" After Shirai Mitsutune's reminder, Kumagai Takanao suddenly realized and immediately ordered someone to invite Unomura Yoshi to the castle lord's residence for a meeting.

As soon as he met Kumagai Takashige, Unomura Yoshiro bowed respectfully and expressed his gratitude to him for being willing to meet him in his busy schedule.

Kumagai Takashige looked at this plain-looking, short old man, and first exchanged a few token greetings with him, and then went straight to the point and asked him why he came here.

"It's to stop the war." Yunomura Yoshi answered respectfully with a smile on his face.

"I heard that just a few days ago, you wanted to take back Nabeshima Castle and drive your family out of Shishia County?" Kumagai Takashi sneered at Unomura Yoshi.

"It's all my fault for being so arrogant and conceited that I have offended the Takeda family and the adults. I beg you and all the adults to forgive me!" Unomura Yoshi bowed deeply to Kumagai Takashi and apologized sincerely with his head on the ground.

Seeing this, Kumagai Takashi raised his hand calmly, motioning him to sit up: "Well, since Shimonomachi sincerely wants to cease fire, then tell me your conditions."

"On behalf of the Uno clan, I am willing to submit to the Takeda family and Wakasa Takedono." Unomura Yoshi said sincerely.

"Submit submission? Is that all?" Shirai Mitsutane interrupted at this time.

Hearing this, Unomura Lai immediately looked embarrassed: "To be honest, our family's ability is limited, and most of our income comes from Yamazaki Town. Now that this place has been taken by you, our family really can't show anything decent to express our sincerity."

"If I remember correctly, before this, you should have been a vassal of the Amago clan, right?" asked Shirai Mitsutane.

"Yes, yes." Unomura nodded awkwardly, but immediately defended himself, "But that was before. Now the Takeda army has entered Harima, and they are unstoppable and invincible. I think there is nothing wrong with being a subordinate to a strong man."

"That's right," Shirai Mitsutane nodded slightly in approval, "but if one day our family encounters the same predicament as the Amago family, and a new force takes advantage of the situation, will Shimosa-no-kami also kneel at their feet and say the same thing as he did today?"

"This..." After being asked by Shirai Mitsutane, Unomura Lai was speechless for a moment. After a long while, he stammered, "Don't you, my lords, believe in my sincerity?"

"Mr. Shimosuma, sincerity is not something that can be expressed with empty words or casual remarks," Shirai Mitsutane responded.

"Then tell me, how do I need to prove it?" Unomura Lai asked solemnly.

"It's very simple, just two things." Shirai Mitsutune stretched out two fingers and gestured.

"Which two items? Please tell me clearly, sir." asked Yunomura Lai.

“First, send the legitimate son to serve Takeda in my house;

Secondly, I heard that Shimotsuma-no-michi took advantage of the withdrawal of the Amago army a few days ago and went south to seize Shiroyama Castle. That is a good place. If Your Highness can hand over this city to the family, I believe that no matter the adults present or Mue-dono in Inaba, no one will doubt your sincerity. "

Seongsan Castle is a historic castle located on Kameyama Mountain in Yeisei County. It can be traced back to the second year of Tenji (663). At that time, the Japanese and Baekje coalition forces were defeated by the Tang and Silla coalition forces at Baekchon River. After that, Japan was worried that the Tang army would invade its homeland, so it built mountain castles in various places for defense. Seongsan Castle was built at this time.

After that, after several generations of construction by the Akamatsu family, the castle gradually expanded in size and the fortifications were continuously improved, thus it once became the residence of the Akamatsu family.

In the first year of Kakitsu (1441), Akamatsu Mitsusuke, who was the guardian of Harima, Bizen and Mimasaka, assassinated Ashikaga Yoshinori, the sixth shogun of the Muromachi shogunate, and rebelled in Harima, which was known as the "Kakitsu Incident".

The shogunate summoned daimyo from all over the country to attack, and in September of the same year, they captured Sakamoto Castle, forcing Akamatsu Mitsusuke to flee to Shiroyama Castle. On September 1538, Shiroyama Castle fell, and Akamatsu Mitsusuke led members of the Akamatsu clan to set fire to themselves. The Akamatsu clan's territory was then transferred to the Yamana clan, who had made great contributions to the attack, and the latter's power gradually expanded. The conflict between the Yamana clan and the Hosokawa clan eventually led to the "Onin War". For nearly a hundred years thereafter, Shiroyama Castle remained in a state of disrepair until , when Akihisa Amago went on an expedition to Harima in the east, renovated the castle, and used it as a center to launch a strategy to attack the eight states of western Harima.

Shirai Mitsutane had a very clear idea, which was to take over this city that could radiate to the entire western Harima area while the Uno clan was recently defeated, in order to consolidate and expand his effective rule in Harima.

But Unomura Lai was not stupid. He also knew the importance of this city, otherwise he would not have sent troops to occupy and take over as soon as the Amago army retreated.

Therefore, in response to the two conditions proposed by Shirai Mitsutune, Unomura Yoshi expressed his willingness to send his second son Uno Masasuke to Wakasa as a hostage for the first one; as for the second one, he begged Kumagai Takanao and Shirai Mitsutune to give in and leave Shiroyama Castle to the Uno family.

However, at this time, Kumagai Takanao also realized Shirai Mitsutune's intention. Considering that the Takeda army urgently needed a strong city in order to gain a firm foothold in Nishi-Harima, he rejected Unomura Yoshi's request.

"Mr. Shimotsuma, as far as I know, there are only about 200 Uno soldiers in Shiroyama Castle. Do you think you can defend the castle with your current capabilities?" Kumagai Takashi asked. "Now that the Amago army has retreated, Urakami and Akamatsu have made a comeback. Instead of leaving the castle in your hands, it is better to give it to the main family. With the presence of my Takeda army, Urakami and Akamatsu will not dare to covet Shishiso County. What do you think?"

After hearing what Kumagai Takashige said, Unomura Yasushi was silent for a long time. Indeed, with his current ability, it was not easy to defend such a big city, especially when Yamazaki was occupied and the roads were blocked.

"Even if we don't give it to the Takeda family now, it will inevitably be taken away by Akamatsu and Urakami in the future, right? Instead of that, why not do them a favor and let the Takeda family take the lead?"

Thinking of this, Unomura Lai nodded helplessly: "In this case, then I will listen to the two adults and hand over the Shiroyama Castle to you."

Now that the main conditions have been agreed upon, the subsequent dialogue between the two sides will be much easier.

Perhaps to show goodwill, or out of sincerity, Unomura Yoshitsugu suggested to Kumagai Takanao: "Since you have taken Shiroyama Castle, why don't you go one step further and take Okiya Castle? That is the residence of the Akamatsu family. As far as I know, the Amago army has just withdrawn, and the Akamatsu family should not come back to seize territory so soon. If you can take this city, it will definitely be of great benefit to your future strategy in Banshu."

After the Onin War, Akamatsu Masanori, who came from the Akamatsu clan, took back the post of guardian of Harima. Since Shiroyama Castle had been destroyed, he built Okishio Castle on Okishioyama in Shikama County as the new residence of the Akamatsu clan. After three generations of construction, it eventually became the largest mountain castle in Harima.

When Akihisa Amago invaded Harima, he defeated the Akamatsu army at Kamitsuki Castle. The head of the Akamatsu clan, Masamura Akamatsu, was very afraid of the Akihisa Amago army, so he abandoned the city and fled to Settsu Province. The city thus fell into the hands of Akihisa Amago.

Kumagai Takashi accepted Unomura Yoshi's suggestion and expressed his gratitude: "Thank you for your advice, Shimotsuma-no-Mori, but after the Battle of Yamazaki, I sent 500 soldiers to seize Okiyan Castle. It's almost time to take it now."

"Your Excellency is really prepared for the rainy day and anticipated the enemy in advance." Unomura Yasushi expressed his sincere admiration for Kumagai Takanao.

"Thank you, Shimosuma-no-kami." Kumagai Takanao has been serving as deputy governor of the three eastern Tajima counties for a year. During this period, he has stepped up his investigation and espionage in Harima in accordance with Yoshishige's request, and has a clearer understanding of the local intertwined forces and the overall situation. Therefore, after receiving the order to enter Harima, he was able to have a clear goal and seize the initiative.

"When it comes to preparing for a rainy day, I can't compare to you. Isn't Shiroyama Castle the best example?" Kumagai Takashige said with a smile.

Unomura Lai blushed and said, "It was just a coincidence, just a coincidence."

"Don't be modest. If you don't understand the situation in Nishi-Harima, you won't be able to make such an accurate judgment and seize the city first." Kumagai Takashi said politely.

"My family has lived in Shishio County for generations, so we are more familiar with Nishi-Harima. This is also a bit of an advantage," responded Unomura Yoshi.

"Speaking of which, I have something I would like to ask Your Highness."

"Please speak, sir. I will tell you everything I know."

"You have lived in Busei for a long time. I wonder if you know the situation in Sakushu?" Kumagai Takashiro got back to the point.

"Our family's territory adjoins In and Zuo, and we are quite familiar with the powerful families in these two places. I wonder what you want to ask, sir?" Unomura Yoshi answered respectfully.

"I want to know how much Your Highness knows about the Kusakari family, which occupies the seven counties of two states in Insaku?" asked Kumagai Takashiro.

"The Kusakari family..." Unomura Rai thought for a moment and answered with some embarrassment: "To be honest, sir, our family is not adjacent to the Kusakari family, so we don't know much about them. I only know that the current head, Kusakari Kaga-no-kami, is quite capable and has been calling the shots in Inso for many years. He is quite arrogant."

"That's not right. Aren't the two counties of Eida and Yoshino occupied by the Kusakari family bordering on Shishia County?" Kumagai Takashi asked in confusion. He believed that the two places were adjacent, and Unomura Yoshiro should have a deeper understanding of the Kusakari family.

"Occupy Eida and Yoshino? Your Highness must have been fooled by Kaga no Kami." Unomura Yoshiro said with a smile, "The Kusakari family said they occupied seven counties, but in fact they only controlled three counties. They only occupied a small part of the two counties you mentioned just now. Most of them are in the hands of the Suga clan, and the Suga clan is the force that borders the main family."

"Suga family?" Kumagai Takanao felt very unfamiliar with this special group.

"You have lived in Tajima for a long time, so it is normal that you don't know the Suga clan. Let me explain in detail."

From Unomura Yoshiro, we learned that the so-called "Suga Party" was also called the Mimasaka Sugawara clan. It was a general term for a force entrenched in the eastern and northern parts of Mimasaka, with Katsanan, Katsukita, Yoshino, and Eida counties as its main areas of activity.

They claimed that their ancestors were descendants of Sugawara no Michizane. After taking root in Mimasaka, they gradually branched out and formed a local samurai group with the Sugawara clan's main branch, the Arimoto clan, as the leader, and covering many families including the "Seven Branches of the Suga Clan" such as the Fukumoto, Emi, and Harada clans.

"Let's put it this way. The Suga clan stood between the main family and the Kusakari clan. With them, the main family was able to avoid being harassed by the Kusakari clan." Unomura Yoshi explained. (End of this chapter)