During the Warring States period, even parents and siblings were often enemies.
Taiga drama Kirin ga Kuru But the battle of Nagara River, which will probably be drawn, is Saito Dosan and Yoshitatsu . It is a battle in which parents and children collided with each other, and it is also famous as the final battle of Dosan Saito. At this time, the anecdote that his son-in-law, Nobunaga Oda, rushed to the reinforcements but did not make it in time and received a letter from Dosan stating that he would inherit Mino Province is too famous.
This time, I will introduce the battle of Nagara River.
What is the Battle of Nagara River?
This battle was April 1556 It is a battle between parents and children of Saito that took place near the Nagara River in Mino.
As a result, Firstborn Yoshitatsu won Saito Dosan Will end up dying.
Background of the Battle of Nagara River
Around 1542, Saito Dosan ruled Mino Province on behalf of Mr. Toki, the guardian of Mino Province. He handed over his reign to Yoshitatsu in 1554 and retired. However, Dosan and Yoshitatsu did not agree with each other, and they gradually became in conflict.
The following causes are thought to be the cause of the conflict between Dosan and Yoshitatsu.
Parent-child feud
Dosan handed over the family to Yoshitatsu, but it is said that the two did not agree. NHK Taiga drama [ Kirin ga Kuru ] However, there was a depiction that Yoshitatsu was leaking the dissatisfaction of his father, Dosan, to Mitsuhide.
Gradually, Dosan will be fond of his grandchildren, Shiro and Kiheiji, who are Yoshitatsu's younger brothers.
There is a reason for this, and Yoshitatsu's mother, Miyoshino, was in Dosan's concubine, but originally she became pregnant with Yoshitatsu immediately after she married Dosan in the guardian Toki Yorinari's concubine. Therefore, isn't it a child of her ex-husband Toki Yorinari? It is believed that he had doubts.
So, did Dosan want his grandson Shiro and his grandchildren to take over the family instead of the suspicious Yoshitatsu?
Retirement was not Dosan's intention! ??
In fact, it is said that Dosan's retreat itself was carried out by the forcible vassals of the Yoshitatsu school.
Dosan gave up the reign of the family in front of the building, but he didn't want to give him the real power yet, so he can't help but talk about Yoshitatsu's method. I had a bad deal with it, so the relationship between the two just got worse.
Therefore, Dosan thought that he would gradually eliminate Yoshitatsu and let his young grandchildren succeed to the family, so that he could take control of himself. In this era when it was important to leave blood, it is no wonder that Yoshitatsu, who does not know his own child, thinks as a successor to the grandchildren of his younger brothers who are confirmed to be their own children.
Progress of the Battle of Nagara River
From Yoshitatsu's point of view, it was natural to consider Dosan himself and his younger brothers' children to be excluded.
Brother's assassination
First, Yoshitatsu invited his grandchildren, Shiro and Kiheiji, who came to pretend to be ill, and had the sake cut off by a behaving vassal. His uncle, Michitoshi Nagai, was also involved in this case, and Shiro and his colleagues would have forgiven it because they had a relative they trusted.
Dosan, who felt dangerous due to this murder case, burned his castle and escaped to the Nagara River. Starting with this, he heads for the Battle of Nagara River, but the Dosan camp is in an overwhelmingly disadvantaged situation.
Oda Nobunaga's reinforcements
Many of the Saito family were dissatisfied with Dosan's side, and many vassals could not be brought in. It is said that the Mino Triumvirate, Shigeomi Saito, was also on the Yoshitatsu side.
As a result, there was a battle between Yoshitatsu 17500 and Dosan 2700, and Dosan was overwhelmingly disadvantaged. However, Dosan was waiting for a secret plan called his son-in-law, Nobunaga Oda.
Dosan immediately asks Nobunaga Oda for reinforcements and leaves Owari to rescue him. Even with the Oda army, there are few Dosan soldiers and only Yoshitatsu. Moreover, there was a report that Dosan was struck shortly after Nobunaga's army arrived.
Death of Dosan Saito
In addition to the beginning of the battle between the two who collided on the banks of the Nagara River, Dosan's predominance began. However, due to the overwhelming force difference, the Dosan army could not control the Yoshitatsu army that was pushed by numbers.
Michikatsu Nagai who has rushed into the three roads Tryes to capture Dosan alive, but other vassals who are impatient with his martial arts decapitate him. On the other hand, it is said that Michikatsu was furious, and it is believed that he was trying to capture him alive without intending to defeat him from the beginning.
Battle of the Great River
It was Nobunaga Oda who had sent out reinforcements, but without waiting for its arrival, Dosan Saito Will be beaten up. With the victory of the Yoshitatsu army, the morale remained at its peak and the Oda army was charged.
From Nobunaga's point of view, he has no reason to fight now that the mustard to help has been struck. And he immediately set up the system and retreated to Owari.
Here, Nobunaga is doing his own martial arts to retreat his army.
It is unusual for the general to serve as the general himself, and it seems that Dosan's death was shocking to Nobunaga.
Saito Dosan's will
As I mentioned at the beginning, Dosan will to his son-in-law Nobunaga. Is said to have been passed.
Among them, a guy who can do more war tactics than his son Yoshitatsu, who was accused of being incompetent It is said that it was. Dosan seemed to be disappointed that he would win against Yoshitatsu, but he seemed to be surprised at how good he was.
The vassals on the Yoshitatsu side may have been more brilliant than Dosan, who was aware of his dexterity and was fond of his grandson. The youngest child of Dosan who survived this battle [ Toshiharu Saito ] Will escape to the Oda clan and live in Owari.
After the Saito family
Yoshitatsu, who defeated his father Dosan, is priestly priest, probably because of his conscience.
After that, when he died at the young age of 35, his son, Tatsuoki, would succeed the family, but he would allow Nobunaga Oda to invade, and the Saito family would be destroyed in the third generation. ..
In this article, Yoshitatsu's father is a former guardian Toki Yorinari . I explained it with the theory, but the true meaning is unknown because the source is the genealogy of the Mino provinces of the Edo period. It is also believed that some researchers fought to eliminate Dosan himself, who had Yoshitatsu's chief vassals.