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Siege of Kanegasaki (1570)

1570 siege

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The 1570 Siege of Kanegasaki (金ヶ崎の戦い, Kanegasaki no Tatakai) occurred in 16th century Japan, during Oda Nobunaga's struggle against the Asakura claninEchizen province, which was allied with Azai Nagamasa.

Asakura Yoshikage, head of the Asakura clan and the regent of Ashikaga Yoshiaki, refused to come to Kyôto and attend a certain banquet, an act Nobunaga declared disloyal to both the shogun and the emperor. Nobunaga raised an army and marched on Echizen.^[1]

Several reports from Mikawa Monogatari, Nobunaga Koki, Tokugawa Jikki, and a supplement from Ietada Nikki recorded that Ieyasu and his forces also participated in this punitive campaign when they fought at Mount Tenzutsu castle, capturing the castle, while the Oda-Tokugawa forces manage to kill 1,370 enemies in April 25. They continued the next day to besiege Kanegasaki castle^[2] Oda Nobunaga forces besieged Kanegasaki castle, who held by Maeba Yoshitsugu. Hashiba Hideyoshi, one of Nobunaga's chief generals, led the attack on the fortress of Kanegasaki and Sassa Narimasa leading a few armed forces of horse guards, and worked to support Hideyoshi using a firearms troop. Azai Nagamasa, who had been Asakura's longtime ally, led an army to relieve the besieged Kanagasaki castle with the help of the Rokkaku clan and Ikkō-ikki.^{[citation needed]} Later, Nobunaga found himself surrounded by Azai-Asakura, Rokkaku and Ikkō-ikki forces. When defeat looked certain, Nobunaga retreated from Kanegasaki castle. Ikeda Katsumasa led 3,000 soldiers and helped Nobunaga escape. Akechi Mitsuhide joined Hideyoshi to serve as the rear-guard for the departing forces. This act was the first mark of Nagamasa's betrayal of the Oda clan.^{[citation needed]} Nobunaga retreated without contacting Ieyasu. After dawn, Ieyasu was guided by Kinoshita Tokichi (later Toyotomi Hideyoshi), an Oda vassal, to withdraw from the battle.^[3]

Aftermath[edit]

The fighting retreat at Kanegasaki enabled Nobunaga to once more cheat death, and to amass an army which would be victorious against the Azai-Asakura army at the Battle of Anegawa. Hideyoshi's rear defense for his lord's escape is one of his fabled accomplishments under Nobunaga.

See also[edit]

• Siege of Kanegasaki (1337)

References[edit]

• Turnbull, Stephen (1998). 'The Samurai Sourcebook'. London: Cassell & Co.

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