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

The Kawachi area controlled by the Anayama clan was the land along the Fuji River that bordered the Imagawa clan of Suruga. Not only was the land vast, but it also had resources such as gold mines. The abundant resources almost allowed the Anayama clan to compete with the Takeda clan.

The Nanbu clan, another branch of the Takeda clan, originally lived here. However, during the Nanbu-cho period, the Nanbu clan joined the Southern Court. Although they gained a large area of ​​land in the Mutsu region, they were suppressed by the Takeda clan and the Anayama clan, who belonged to the Northern Court, in the Kai region. In 1392, when the Southern and Northern Courts were united, the Nanbu clan abandoned their old territory in Kai and moved all to Mutsu. The Anayama clan then gained the old territory of Nanbu.

Since then, the Anayama clan has developed a large-scale commercial town with Shimoyama Castle as its center, and has a huge military mobilization power with its mineral and commercial resources. In the era of Takeda Shingen, in order to win over the Anayama clan, he married his daughter, Takeda Harunobu's sister, to Anayama Nobutomo.

Earlier this year, Anayama Nobutomo's legitimate son Katsachiyo was born, who later became Anayama Nobukuni.

Anayama Nobutomo was certainly no ordinary person. From Takeda Nobuharu's words, he roughly guessed that the second son of the Takeda clan did not want to return to Kai.

Logically speaking, since Anayama Nobutomo had accompanied Takeda Nobushige here, he should have gone back with him, otherwise how could he report to Takeda Shingen? However, as the saying goes, "The emperor is far away", Takeda Nobushige, who was in Tango, did not want to go back, so could Anayama Nobutomo force him?

At this time, Anayama Nobutomo was struggling for a long time whether to follow Takeda Nobushige or return to Kai first as Takeda Nobushige wanted. In the end, considering that he was the head of the Anayama clan and his eldest son was young, Anayama Nobutomo decided to proceed from practical interests and accepted Takeda Nobushige's suggestion and returned to Kai first.

"Your Highness, are you sure you don't want to return to Kai with me?" Anayama Nobutomo still tried to make a final effort.

But Takeda Nobushige answered decisively: "I will consider going back later, but not now. If you are worried about being punished by father, I can write a letter and give it to you to take back. After father reads the letter, he will probably not blame you."

"In that case, I will set off back to Kai tomorrow...that letter..." Anayama Nobutomo hesitantly said.

"Don't worry, I'll give it to you later." Takeda Nobushige replied.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Please take care of yourself." After saying that, Anayama Nobutomo turned around again, bowed deeply to Yoshishige, and said respectfully: "Wuweidian, I leave the stablemaster to you. Please make sure he is safe."

"Of course." Yoshishige could understand Anayama Nobutomo's dilemma and knew that it was a difficult decision, so he nodded and said, "Sir, just go back to Kai without worry. I will take good care of the stables."

After getting Yoshishige's promise, Anayama Nobutomo relaxed a little, while Takeda Nobushige returned to the courtyard, wrote a letter and handed it to Anayama Nobutomo. After saying a brief goodbye to him, he left Atago Mountain with Toranosuke and several followers, and leisurely set out for Amanohashidate.

After seeing off Takeda Nobushige, Yoshishige immediately returned to Hiryukan to have final discussions with the family elders on the preparations for the first assessment after the upcoming Western Expedition.

The main task of this assessment was to reward retainers who had performed outstandingly and made contributions in the Western Expedition by issuing letters of appreciation and certificates of honor, and to appoint deputies to govern the newly annexed territories, so as to quickly incorporate the local powerful families in these territories into the ruling system of the Wakasa Takeda clan.

Just as everyone was discussing and finalizing the final list of rewards, a grand post-war evaluation was being held in Tsutsujizaki-kan, the residence of the Takeda clan in Kai, thousands of miles away. Led by Takeda Shingen, rewards were being given to important retainers of the Takeda clan who had made military achievements in the "Battle of Uminodaira" not long ago.

Tsujizuki-kan is located on a low plateau and is named after a hill called "Tsujizuki" that extends westward on its east side.

Tsutsujizaki-kan was not originally a direct territory of the Takeda clan. After Takeda Shingen conquered the local lords of Tsutsujizaki, the Awaya clan and the Itsumi clan, he built the Takeda clan's new castle, Tsutsujizaki-kan, here in 1519, and then led the Takeda clan's relatives and family elders to move from the Takeda clan's original castle to this new castle.

Although Tsutsujizaki-kan is located in a relatively flat area of ​​the Kofu Basin, it is surrounded by a natural barrier formed by a series of natural mountains and hills. Highlands such as Yumurayama, Ogasayama, Yumemiyama, and Atagoyama protect Tsutsujizaki-kan like "spread bird wings".

In order to make up for the lack of defensive properties of Tsutsujizaki-kan itself, Takeda Shingen used these natural highlands as a base and mobilized manpower and material resources in Kai to build solid mountain castles and fortifications. Among them, the more famous ones include the Key Mountain Castle, Kawakubo Castle, Yumura Mountain Castle, and Ichijo Small Mountain Castle.

After more than 20 years of construction by Takeda Shingen, a tall earthen wall and deep water moat were built around Tsutsujizaki-kan, forming a relatively complete set of fortifications. Although this kind of fortification is much weaker than that of Yama Castle and Hirayama Castle, it is considered to be the best effort for Tsutsujizaki-kan, which mainly undertakes peacetime political functions.

The key mountain castle not far from it was the wartime residence of the Takeda clan. When the Imagawa general Fukushima Masashige invaded Kai on a large scale, Takeda Shingen sent his family to the key mountain castle to besiege it. Takeda Harunobu was born there.

The atmosphere in Tsutsujizaki-kan was lively at this time. All the retainers of the Takeda clan were immersed in the joy of their recent victory in the "Battle of Kainodaira". Takeda Shingen sat at the top seat, proudly announcing the rewards to his retainers and accepting their gratitude and praise.

The Battle of Uminodaira was a battle launched by Takeda Shingen, Murakami and Suwa against the Umino clan, a group of people from the small county of Shinano.

In this battle, the head of the Umino clan, Umino Mutsuna, led his army in a fierce battle with the Takeda army, the Suwa army, and the Murakami coalition, but was defeated again and again. Finally, Umino Mutsuna's legitimate son, Umino Yukiyoshi, and others were killed in the battle of Uminodaira. Umino Mutsuna and his family members, including Fukai Mutsuna, Onozawa Moriyoshi, and Sanada Yukitsuga, fled to Ueno. Umino Mutsuna went to Hirai Castle to rely on the Yamanouchi Uesugi family, while Sanada Yukitsuga and others went to Minowa Castle to join Nagano Yoshimasa.

After that, most of the territories of the Kaino clan were taken over by Murakami Yoshikiyo, the Takeda clan occupied Mochizuki, Ashida and other places, and the area east of the Ida River belonged to Suwa Yorishige, and the people of Shinano who originally followed the Kaino clan were also divided up among the three families.

The victory in this war enabled the Takeda clan to further expand its sphere of influence in Shinano into its hinterland, laying an important foundation for the Takeda clan's future invasions of Shinano.

"This time, the great victory of Uminohadaira is all thanks to you all!" Takeda Shingen said proudly to His Highness's retainers.

"We are terrified. It is only thanks to your wisdom and courage that we can defeat the enemy in one battle and dominate Shinano!" Led by Itagaki Nobukata and Amari Torayasu, a group of Takeda generals bowed and saluted Takeda Shinonomaru. This scene made Takeda Shinonomaru laugh heartily: "It's too early to talk about dominating Shinano now! But you wait and see, as long as we unite as one, it won't be long before we can take Shinano into our pocket!"

After accepting everyone's praises, Takeda Shingen mentioned his next plan, which was to seize the opportunity to launch an attack on Suwa, Ina and other counties, and gradually gain control of Southern Shinano.

When the prince heard that Takeda Shingen was planning to continue the war against Shinano and was targeting his son-in-law Suwa Yorishige, there was some unrest among his retainers.

The Kai Takeda clan at that time had the famous "Nijo" and "Niyama".

Among them, the "two positions" refer to the highest persons in charge of the military and civil systems in the family. At this time, the people holding these two positions were Takeda Harunobu's mentors Itagaki Nobukata and Amari Torayasu.

The "two mountains" refers to the "two mountain system" composed of the Oyamada clan and the Anayama clan.

Needless to say, the Anayama clan's Kawachi domain served as a buffer zone between the Takeda clan and the Imagawa clan, playing an important role in defending against the Imagawa clan's invasion. The Oyamada clan's Gunnai domain served as a buffer zone between the Takeda clan and the Hojo clan, and the Oyamada clan had always served as a negotiator between the Takeda clan and the Hojo clan.

Just as Anayama Nobutomo married the daughter of Takeda Nobutora, in order to win over the Oyamada clan, the Takeda clan used the same routine and married Takeda Nobutora's sister to the former head of the family, Oyamada Nobutaka. In other words, the current head of the family, Oyamada Nobuari, is the nephew of Takeda Nobutora.

Compared with the "Two Rivers System" of the Mori family in history, the "Two Mountains System" of the Takeda family focused on using marriage to win over powerful people to be loyal to themselves. History has already given the answer to which of the two systems is better.

At this moment, among His Highness's retainers, Oyamada Nobuaki was one who expressed uneasiness and quietly complained about Takeda Shingen's continued attack on Shinano.

As for why they complained, it was simple. Years of endless wars brought endless military service and taxes, which made it difficult for strong people like Oyamada and Anayama who had to bear heavier military service to support it.

As early as 1529, Oyamada Nobuyuki informed Takeda Shingen that the continuous wars with the Hojo clan had made the local lords and the people in the territory suffer. In addition, Takeda Shingenki forcibly implemented "Horyu" (i.e. economic blockade, severing trade between the two sides) against the Hojo clan, which led to the decline of business in the territory. Therefore, he hoped to exempt the "Dobetsu money" of that year.

Although Takeda Shingen agreed to his request, he did not realize the crisis and continued to wage war against foreign countries.

In the twelve years that followed, Takeda Shingen never stopped his foreign conquests, and the military service and taxation on the people of Kai never stopped. Even though he occasionally tried to appease the anger of the people by exempting some taxes, this approach was tantamount to trying to stop a boiling pot by adding more water, and it could not fundamentally solve the problem.

Therefore, when Oyamada Nobuharu, who had suffered from years of war, heard that Takeda Shingen was going to send more troops to Shinano, he could not help but complain to Iitomi Toramasa beside him: "If we continue to fight like this, I am afraid that before we can take Shinano, my Oyamada clan will be overthrown by the uprising in the territory."

"Who says it's not true?" Iito Toramachi, who was standing by, shook his head helplessly and said, "Although the lord has given me Uchiyama Castle in Saku County, the people in my territory have been suffering from years of war. Now that Saku County has been annexed, it is really draining the pond to catch fish."

Although this Iitomi Toramasa was not a "Nijo" or "Niyama", he was also from the Kai Minamoto clan and was a descendant of Iitomi Tadamune, the son of Yoshitada, the fourth son of Minamoto no Yoshiie.

Unlike other family elders, Iitomi Toramasa and his younger brother Iitomi Genshiro (Yamagata Masakage) had a history of fighting against the Takeda clan. In 1531, the two brothers, along with Imai Nobumoto and Kurihara Hyogo, raised the banner of rebellion against Takeda Shingen, but after they were defeated and surrendered, they were forgiven and became vassals of Shingen.

In 1536, when Hojo Ujiyasu invaded Suruga Province, Iitomi Toramasa and Takeda Shingen joined the battle as reinforcements of the Imagawa clan and defeated the Hojo army. In 1538, they fought against the coalition forces of Suwa Yorimitsu and Murakami Yoshikiyo, defeated the enemy several times with a small number of troops, and took nearly heads, making military achievements. As a result, the Iitomi clan became a powerful force that Takeda Shingen relied on.

It is worth mentioning that it is said that Iitomi Toramasa often led an army in red armor on the battlefield. Therefore, some people believe that the elite Red Guards of the Takeda family that later became famous all over the world were developed based on Iitomi Toramasa's army.

What is puzzling is that upon hearing the whispers of Oyamada Nobuari and Iitomi Toramasa, Itagaki Nobukata and Amari Torayasu, who were the "second positions" of Takeda, did not say anything to stop them. Instead, Itagaki Nobukata turned aside and whispered to the two of them, "My two lords, after the evaluation, can we talk alone?"

Although they didn't know what Itagaki Nobukata was up to, Oyamada Nobuyuki and Iitomi Toramashi still nodded and agreed. Then, Itagaki Nobukata winked at Takeda Harunobu, who was sitting next to Takeda Nobutora, and the latter immediately nodded in understanding.

Takeda Shingen did not notice the change in the atmosphere and was still immersed in the joy of his great victory. However, in order to create a good external environment for the subsequent use of troops in Shinano, Takeda Shingen decided to go to Sunpu to have a face-to-face conversation with his son-in-law Imagawa Yoshimoto in order to gain the support of the Imagawa family.

"At the beginning of next month, I will go to Sunpu to visit Imagawa Osamu and Azi. At that time, Taro will take care of the affairs at home. I hope the two tutors and the adults will assist me. Don't worry, I won't stay in Sunpu for too long this time. I will be back in a month at most. By then, we will hold a pre-war assessment and discuss the matter of conquering Shinano again."

"Ha! We obey your command!" everyone responded in unison.

"By the way, where is Jiro now?" Takeda Shintora suddenly asked, "He went to Wakasa about a month ago, but there is still no news. Could something have happened to him?"

"My dear father, Jiro wrote to me two days ago, saying that Wakasa and Tango are beautiful and he wants to stay there for a while." Takeda Harunobu answered first. (End of this chapter)