Chosokabe Motochika is a Sengoku warrior who ruled Tosa Ichikoku from a weak lord of Tosa Province, and eventually conquered the whole of Shikoku in one generation. Along with Mr. Mori of China and Mr. Shimazu of Kyushu, he is considered to be one of the three major families in western Japan.
Tosa Province was a remote area where people who were exiled from the Heian period were sent. Even during the Warring States period, the center of Japanese culture was beyond the Shikoku Mountains. Even when the former parents were active, Tosa no Kuni was a backward land.
As evidence, it is said that the vassals of Mr. Chosokabe, who participated in Hideyoshi's attack on Odawara, were so ignorant of the central culture that there was an anecdote that he did not know to put a saddle on a horse and was riding a horse as it was. increase. The number of guns was also extremely small and lagging behind that of Shimazu in Kyushu and Mouri in China.
Chosokabe's road to unification of Shikoku
Chosokabe Motochika started with a small lord of Yutaka Oka in Tosa. I would like to write about how Chosokabe, who was a small lord of an already disadvantaged area, came to take the hegemony of Shikoku, in the Shikoku Mountains in the north and the country of Tosa surrounded by the Pacific Ocean in the south. think.
Seven powers of Tosa Province
Chosokabe When he was the 18th head of the family and a male parent, Tosa Province had seven powers.
- Mr. Chosokabe
- Mr. Motoyama
- Mr. Tsuno
- Mr. Ohira
- Mr. Kira
- Mr. Ichijo
- Mr. Aki
It was Mr. Ichijo of the Five Regents who had the overwhelming power among these seven powers.
The 19th generation, Chosokabe Kanetsu, had a friendly relationship with Mr. Ichijo and the Kanrei Hosokawa, which caused the opposition of other Tosa lords. The base, Toyooka Castle, is dropped and all the territories are robbed.
In this dispute, Chosokabe Kanetsu was suicide, and Chosokabe as a daimyo was temporarily destroyed. To recover. However, after 10 years, there were many people who served other families among the former vassals of Mr. Chosokabe.
Ichiryōgusoku's own military organization
Chosokabe Kokuchika, who regained his former territory through the mediation of Mr. Ichijo, did not return his former vassals. Therefore, we will build an economic base and strengthen our troops, and appoint promising farmers to reorganize a new vassal corps.
This is Mr. Chosokabe's original military system [ Ichiryōgusoku ] It became the basis of.
It was called Ichiryōgusoku because the farmers who usually do farm work always had their spears and armor beside them even when they were farming so that they could immediately respond to the convocation of the lords. that's right.
Kazutoyo Yamauchi was given Tosa Ichiryo as the successor to Mr. Chosokabe after Sekigahara, but Tosa's Ichiryōgusoku did not welcome the new lord, and he and Mr. Chosokabe were so angry that they often burned their hands. It seems that the Ichiryōgusoku were tied together with a strong bond.
In this way, Chosokabe Kokuchika sought to enhance domestic affairs and armaments, 1544 . I married his nemesis, Motoyama's firstborn, and his daughter. 1547 He succeeded in conquering the southern part of Nagaoka-gun and almost getting the southwestern part of Tosa-gun.
In this way, he managed to overcome the downfall of his house, but 1560 In order to further expand the territory, he raised soldiers to abandon the alliance and avenge Mr. Motoyama. However, during the battle, Kokuchika will end his 57-year-old life.
Birth of Chosokabe Motochika
The successor was the former parent, [ tall, fair-skinned, and introverted . ], So he was called Himewakako by his vassals. The first team was also late at the age of 22 at the time of the battle with Mr. Motoyama, and Mr. Motoyama, who had heard the rumors of his illness and Himewakako, was licking his ex-parents.
Moreover, it seems that the senior vassals were very anxious as they asked the vassals how to use the spear before the battle. However, when the battle began, there was a battle demon there, not Himewakako.
There are people who often change their personality when they hold the steering wheel of a car, but it seems that their former parents changed their personality when they had a spear and became a war demon. This Battle of Nagahama Was overwhelmingly inferior in terms of troops, but Chosokabe won the victory due to the great success of his former parents, and Motoyama fled to Urado Castle.
From Himewakako to Oniwako by the work of the former parent demon god Needless to say, it came to be called.
His father, Kokuchika, left the will to subdue Mr. Motoyama, and his former parents started marching to the castle where Mr. Motoyama stands in 1562. At this time, the Chosokabe army was defeated by Mr. Motoyama's struggle, but Mr. Motoyama's power steadily declined, and a series of vassals who gave up.
Mr. Motoyama's resistance continued, but the head of the family, Shigetatsu Motoyama Died of illness, and Shigeru, who succeeded him, 1568 Surrender to This parent Shigeru is the child of an older sister who married Motoyama in a political marriage, and was appointed as a vassal for her ex-parents because she was a nephew.
In this way, the central part of Tosa, which was governed by Mr. Motoyama, was also taken into consideration.
Battle of Yanagare, the biggest battle of Tosa
Mr. Aki, who ruled on the east side of Tosa, was attacked by the castle while fighting with Mr. Motoyama, and temporarily made peace with Mr. Ichijo's mediation, but eventually he had to settle. ..
Therefore, the former parents issue the following letter to Mr. Aki.
[ Let's flush the past and deepen mutual friendship. I want you to come to Toyooka ]
It was the content to say.
Originally, it was a practice to go to the vicinity of each other's borders when concluding a consensus. However, to come to the base means to [ surrender to Nagamune Gabe . ] It corresponds to the meaning.
Naturally, Mr. Aki gets angry when he sees this.
Mr. Aki takes the provocation of his ex-parents and decides to fight with his ex-parents without hearing the vassals stop him. On the other hand, former parents also gathered 7,000 soldiers and marched to Aki Castle, the battle of Tosa's world division, Battle of Yanagare I will proceed to.
Chosokabe Motochika divided his army into two and started marching at 5000 from the seaside and 2000 from the inland.
On the other hand, Mr. Aki intercepts 2000 soldiers using the narrow road of Yanagare, but the momentum of the Chosokabe army cannot be stopped strongly and he is defeated.
The remaining 3000 soldiers of Mr. Aki are also backed by the Chosokabe army that attacked from the inland and withdraw to Aki Castle. With that momentum, the ex-parents join the two troops and siege Aki Castle. Mr. Aki's wife was from Mr. Ichijo, but it was only a matter of time before reinforcements came and the castle's troops were exhausted.
So, the ex-parents [ poisoned the well ] And Fake news and confuse the castle Fall into.
Aki Kunitora, who had exhausted all the measures, committed suicide in exchange for the lives of his soldiers, and Mr. Aki was destroyed.
Tosa's prestigious Mr. Ichijo is a vassal
Only Mr. Ichijo finally remained in Tosa after invading and subduing all the surrounding forces.
Mr. Ichijo of Tosa is the 5th generation, Kanesada, and it is said that there was a difficulty in humanity, such as taking care of a senior vassal who had no blame. 1574 There was a coup d'etat in which some of the elders imprisoned Kanesada and expelled him to his wife's parents' home, the Otomo family.
Instead, Kanesada's child, domestic affairs, was established, and guardian was asked to Chosokabe Motochika . Did.
According to a recent study, the coup d'etat has become too samurai-colored for the Ichijo family, and it is said that the Ichijo family in Kyoto was trying to complete the text as the original public house.
The ex-parent who took over his guardian married Ichijo Tadamasa and his daughter I decided to rule Otsu Castle. And at Tosa Ichijo Gosho, his younger brother Kira Fellow And got the territory.
The exiled Ichijo Kanesada couldn't keep an eye on this, and with the help of Mr. Otomo, 1575 . In addition, with Mr. Hoketsu, a powerful tribe of Minami-Iyo, we will take the opportunity to recapture the old territory by robbing Kurimoto Castle with 3,500 soldiers.
Upon receiving this news, the former parents gathered 7,300 soldiers and confronted them across the Shimanto River . To do.
[ Battle of Watagawa ] of the summit decisive battle for Tosa's hegemony ] However, Ichijo Kanesada was defeated in just a few hours due to the demonstrative battle of his ex-parents. Then, he will be exiled to a small island in Seto.
In this way, Chosokabe Motochika seized the power of Tosa Province . It was.
Chosokabe Motochika's Road to Shikoku Unification
After the unification of Tosa, Oda Nobunaga was strengthening the power in the center. And alliance Invasion of Iyo, Awa and Sanuki provinces in Shikoku To do. However, in the Awa / Sanuki area, Sogo Nagayasu and Miyoshi Yasunaga I didn't carry things as I expected due to the resistance of.
1577 Choji Miyoshi When he died in the war, Miyoshi's decline became remarkable.
1578 Former parents defeated the influential forces in Sanuki Province, Mr. Kagawa, Mr. Onishi, and Mr. Hadoko, and almost controlled Sanuki. The country was almost the territory of Chosokabe.
In the direction of Iyo, Mamoru Iyo, Mr. Kono Iyo Heisei was prolonged because he resisted with the support of Mr. Mori. However, in 1580 Oda Nobunaga Do not accept Chosokabe's Shikoku pacification , Request to recognize only Tosa and Awa Southern Peninsula as territories and obey them However, the ex-parent refuses to do this.
In this way, he became more confrontational with Nobunaga Oda, 1582 . The Shikoku Campaign was organized with Nobutaka Oda as the general, and was scheduled to travel to the sea on June 2 for the attack on Shikoku. It will be.
Nobunaga's death created a political gap, and fortunately he headed for Awa's capture, but to prevent it, he collided with his nemesis, Sogo Nagayasu. This First Battle of Sogo Castle The ex-parent who defeated the Togawa army in was able to obtain most of Awa.
Hideyoshi Hashiba and Katsuie Shibata When there is a conflict, Chosokabe Motochika is Katsuie's side and opposes Hideyoshi . To do. At this time, Sogo Nagayasu, who had been asking Hideyoshi for help, attacked Yashima Castle and Takamatsu Castle in Chosokabe with Hideyoshi's army, but was defeated.
1584 In addition, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu Tokugawa Conflict, Battle of Komaki and Nagakute Ieyasu's side to Hideyoshi I resisted. Hidehisa Sengoku was dispatched from Hideyoshi to Shikoku, but with that momentum, he dropped a part of Iyo and Sogo Castle in Sanuki and settled Sanuki.
However, it took until 1585 to settle the whole of Iyo, and it was possible to bring the whole of Shikoku under its control. However, when the battle between Komaki and Nagakute ended with Nobukatsu Oda's solo peace, and Ieyasu Tokugawa obeyed Hideyoshi, Hideyoshi's spear turned to Chosokabe Motochika.
Toyotomi Hideyoshi's invasion of Shikoku and Chosokabe's destruction
Initially, Hideyoshi and his ex-parents were looking for peace through negotiations, but the negotiations broke down because the territorial allocation could not be reached. Thus, 1585 Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent more than 120,000 soldiers to Shikoku with Kuroda Kanbei as the forerunner.
The ex-parents sought a thorough fight against the advantage of the land, but he could not overcome the overwhelming force difference. Still, as a result of searching for peace while resisting, the destruction of Mr. Chosokabe was avoided and somehow Tosa Ichikuni's relief Got it.
Under the Toyotomi administration, Kyushu subjugation, Odawara attack, Korean troops To do.
In the Battle of Hetsugigawa to subdue Kyushu, his beloved son, Nobuchika, is killed at the discretion of Hidehisa Sengoku, the general of the Shikoku region. As expected, he had only a promising son, and it is said that he was killed in action after showing a splendid military commander who cut down eight people at once.
Too sad, the ex-parent tries to commit suicide, but is stopped by his vassals. Hideyoshi may have been guilty of the mischief of his vassals, adding Osumi . However, it seems that the former parents' hearts declined his offer rather than that.
After returning to Shikoku, the ex-parents set aside his second son, the third son, and the fourth son, Morichika, as his head. Of course, there are some oppositions, but those who said that were purged one after another and reorganized their wives.
1599 When the ex-parent died, Chosokabe Motochika as the Sengoku daimyo was the last owner of Morichika . Will be succeeded. He belongs to the Western Army at Sekigahara, which is the division of the world, and returns to Japan without fighting as a defeat, and follows Ieyasu Tokugawa. However, Ieyasu accused his vassals of causing a riot, and his territory was confiscated, and Chosokabe as a daimyo was destroyed.